Ghosts from the Future

Chapters

Prologue - First Contact
Chapter 1 - First Contact Redux
Chapter 2 - That Old Black Magic
Chapter 3 - Plan of Action
Chapter 4 - Gathering Intel (Part I)
Chapter 5 - Gathering Intel (Part II)
Chapter 6 - Mind Games
Chapter 7 - Tick, Tock, Ding, Dong
Chapter 8 - A Conflict of Many Factions
Chapter 9 - Unique Talents
Chapter 10 - What Makes a Shard?
Chapter 11 - Training Montage (Day I)
Chapter 12 - Training Montage (Day IV)
Chapter 13 - Three Fateful Flights
Chapter 14 - Rallying the Troops
Chapter 15 - The First Front
Chapter 16 - The Second Front
Chapter 17 - The Third Front
Chapter 18 - What Breaks a Shard?
Chapter 19 - The Aftermath
Chapter 20 - Goodbye
Epilogue - Conference in the Inferno

Prologue - First Contact

Prologue – First Contact

Herbal Brew, or Herb to his friends, was a moderately attractive middle-aged earth pony stallion. He was the owner of one of the most successful and popular tea shops in Manehattan. After closing his shop each afternoon he would either meet up with some of his friends and play hoofball in the nearby park, or train in the gym downtown, and he was proud of his athletic chestnut-coloured body. He was well-known, well-liked, and well-respected.

He was also currently collapsed against a dumpster in a back alley, in the middle of the night, drunk out of his mind.

It was therefore unfortunate that he was the only pony to witness the pivotal event that was about to occur.

Herb was not entirely sure where he was. It didn’t help that there seemed to be no streetlamps along this road. Somewhere in his mind he registered that this was unusually narrow for a road, but that did not seem important. The chestnut stallion slipped further to the ground as he looked around him, trying to identify any of the buildings he could see. He had taken the trip back from Grape’s bar often enough before, but he didn’t remember coming this way in the past. Perhaps it was some sort of shortcut?

The sound of hooves scrabbling against metal echoed along the deserted alley as the drunken stallion tried to pull himself back to his feet. Wherever he was it certainly wasn’t his house, and although part of him wanted nothing more than to go to sleep where he was, another part seemed to disagree, and that part was evidently in control of his limbs.

After a few false starts Herb found himself upright and facing down the passage once more. He couldn’t remember from which direction he had come, but that also seemed unimportant. All that was really important was finding a light so he could see something. Anything.

As if in response to his desire a sudden blare of light and sound rung out from behind him. In a panic Herb threw himself to the side to get out of the way of whatever monster it was that was approaching, although in his confusion each leg seemed to want to dive in a different direction and he ended up face first on the ground, his face in something damp and suspiciously warm. Pleased at his success Herb remained as still as he could, praying to the Princesses that whatever it was would leave him alone.

Herb slowly counted to ten, taking a few attempts to make sure he had the numbers in the right order, before slowly lifting his head and looking over his shoulder. A little way behind him, in a similar prone position on the floor, was a highly attractive young earth pony mare. Her slender grey body was mostly covered by some sort of outfit he couldn’t identify in the darkness, but despite the dark her silvery hair seemed to be glowing and rustled in the gentle breeze.

After admiring the mare’s body for a little longer Herb pulled himself back to his feet as rapidly and as suavely as he could, which was both not very quick and not very suave. As he made to approach her however, there was a horrific wheezing sound and the mare pulled herself up onto her haunches, coughing inelegantly. After she had recovered from her short fit she glanced around, eyes wide, and spotted Herb stumbling towards her. She squinted and then scanned the ground at her hooves.

“My glasses…”

It took Herb a few moments to realise what the mare meant, another few to realise he couldn’t see any glasses anywhere, and another few moments to decide it wasn’t important.

“Now don’t you worry about your glasses miss,” Herb said in his most charismatic voice, slightly ruined by how slurred he currently sounded. “I’ll get you home.”

“Ha! I doubt that.” The mare turned back to squint at the stallion in front of her, then shook her head as if to clear her thoughts, her braided mane whipping back and forth. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. Listen whoever you are, this is really important. Where am I?”

Herb slumped to the ground and groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re lost too? I swear I’ve lived in Manehattan all my life and I’ve never seen this road.”

“Manehattan? It still stands?” The mare looked up at the tall buildings visible in the distance. “Then it worked! I need to-” She broke off abruptly when her forelegs collapsed beneath her and she let out another hacking cough.

“Are you alright miss? Got a cold or something?”

The silver-maned earth pony rubbed her head gently and then looked impassively at the foreleg she had used to do so, upon which black splotches were visibly spreading down to her hoof. “No it’s just… The Infection is spreading quickly again. I don’t have much time.”

“Whoa, infection?” Herb stumbled backwards more rapidly than he would have believed possible in his current state.

The mare let out an amused snort, although it sounded somewhat pained. “Don’t worry, it’s not contagious.” She tried to get to her feet once more, but her strength seemed to have left her. “But please listen, this is critical.”

“But… infection? What’s wrong with you?”

“Oh everypony has the Infection in the future, that’s not important. Well it is, but that’s why I’m here.”

“Huh? The future?”

“Yes, I’m from the future.” Another drawn out cough. “Please, listen carefully, the Princesses sent us back to warn everypony about what happened so that we could avoid it.”

“Wow, you’re a time traveller!” Herb got to his feet, wide eyed, his body suddenly under his control once more in his excitement. “That’s amazing! I’ve always wanted to travel through time. Can I ask you questions about the future? Is it nice? Do you know if I ever remarry? What about-“

“Shush please! You wouldn’t want to live in the future I came from!” The mare then winced and swung her head around to see that her back hooves were completely coated in blackness and crystals were starting to form, covering them. She really did not have long. Just her luck the one pony she met was off his face. Still, she couldn’t give up.

“Listen, and listen carefully:

“The future is awful. There aren’t many of us left, and we’ve all lost our strength. The pegasi can barely fly, the unicorns can hardly use any magic, and even the Princesses are weak. Equestria is in ruins, the north has been completely taken over by the Infection, and Shards are everywhere and seem more organised than ever. Ponies are afraid to sleep because their dreams are haunted by nightmares and demons. The EDF is on its last legs, and since we lost the Commander ponies are deserting in droves. Within a week it would have been all over, so the Princesses sent us all back so we could warn everypony.” There were tears in her eyes, although it was not clear whether this was due to her memories or the pain that was surely agonising her as the strange black crystals started to spread up her flanks. “Please, you have to help.”

Herb sat there blinking. He had tried to listen. Really he had. But it was taking all his effort to stay on his feet, and to stave off the exhaustion that was threatening to overwhelm him. He couldn’t tell her that he hadn’t paid attention though, that would surely make her said, and she was too cute to make sad. Instead he decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while.

“What’s that you’re wearing?”

The grey mare looked down at the tight jacket that covered her front and spread along her back to cover her hips, a logo of a shield coated with a crescent moon adorning the spot where her cutie mark would be. It would be generous to call it armour, but it was light and comfortable and had proved invaluable.

“This is the uniform all EDF scouts wear.”

For the second time Herb scrabbled back from the mare, this time more in shock than in self-preservation. “Whoa? You’re a filly scout? You look much older than that! Phew, am I glad you told me now though, I would not want to get in trouble for that again…”

“No arrgh, I’m not a filly scout! I scout for-” She let out another hacking choking sound, this one longer than any before. “Urrgh, never mind,” she mumbled as she recovered.

The light of the moon may have been dim, but it was clear now that the blackness that had been absorbing the mare’s body was now spreading up to her head. Her mane was growing rigid and ominous crystals were forming along it. She scrunched her eyes shut and took a deep breath.

“Please, you have to tell somepony what I told you. The Princesses, the Elements, anypony. Can you do that?”

Herb gulped. What was it she’d said? Something about time travel and filly scouts? “Uh, yes. I can do that.”

The mare let out a sigh and a smile appeared on her lips for the first time since she had appeared. “Thank you.”

The mare’s face suddenly became as rigid as a statue, black crystals almost immediately swarming over and coating the last of her body. There was a splintering sound and jacket she had been wearing was torn to shreds as crystalline shards tore through it, and as it fell to the ground Herb was able to see her entire body for the first time. It was not a pretty sight. The creature standing in front of him was a mockery of a pony, formed of a transparent jagged glass-like material covering a swarming inferno of dark mist within. Her violet eyes were fixed on his, but lifeless, and there was a strange glow coming from them.

Then with a resounding smash the body in front of him splintered into a thousand pieces, each falling haphazardly to the ground, releasing the eerie mist which slowly dissipated into the breeze, leaving behind no evidence there had been a pony in the alleyway at all. Herb looked with horror at the small fragments of crystal left on the ground which even now seemed to be disintegrating. With a yelp he turned and ran, stumbling along the passageway and into the darkness.

By the morning the fragments in the alleyway had disintegrated into dust, ready to be washed away in the rain. Herbal Brew awoke with the worst hangover of his life and remembered nothing.

Chapter 1 - First Contact Redux

Chapter 1 – First Contact Redux

The day had started out so well. Twilight Sparkle had been looking forward to this day all week. The library was to be closed all morning, and she would be able to spend the time putting her mind once again towards researching that mysterious chest she and her friends had found by the Tree of Harmony, with no distractions.

Or at least she had thought there would be no distractions, but after waking with the sun as usual, completing her morning checklist as usual, eating Spike’s amazingly well prepared breakfast as usual, and settling down under a blanket with a pile of books as usual, she had been rudely interrupted. As usual.

This interruption came in the form of a blast of noise as three of her best friends in all of Equestria came charging into the room at exactly the same moment. Twilight barely even needed to look up to identify who they were. By the resounding crash of the library door, it could only have been forced open by Applejack, the strongest mare Twilight knew and the cause of the loss of seven previous library doors when the orange earth pony had been too agitated to be careful, as it seemed was the case now.

Similarly the sound of a smashed window could only be because Rainbow Dash had decided nothing, and particularly not Twilight’s protection from the elements, was more important than speaking to Twilight at this exact moment, and the groan from the other side of the room was probably the reckless pegasus re-evaluating that decision as she pulled herself out from a pile of books.

That only left the presence on the bench right next to her, and seeing as there was no rational way anypony could have got there in such a short space of time, it could only be Pinkie Pie.

They all started speaking at the same time.

“Heya Twilight, something really funny is going on, and I don’t mean laugh your head off that’s such a great joke funny, but reeeallly weeeeird funny. I know the differences between different types of funny.”

“Twi, Ah’m glad Ah found you. Me and Big Mac jus’ saw somethin’ real strange down at Sweet Apple Acres. Ah don’t like it one bit. Y’all should definitely check it out.”

“Hey Twilight, I saw something really suspicious in the Everfree Forest and thought we could go take a look! Maybe it’s some monster that needs to be taught a lesson!”

Twilight blinked a few times as she tried to interpret the flood of information that had just been directed at her. She then shook her head and levitated up the books from around Rainbow Dash, who was still flinging her hooves through the air as though beating up an invisible foe. After directing them back into the shelves they came from she stood up and eyed the three ponies in the room with her.

“Okay girls, slow down, one at a time. Pinkie you said there was something funny going on?”

Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly. “I did Twilight! And not laugh your head off funny, but reeeeaa-”

“Hey wait,” Rainbow interrupted, saving everypony from a repeat of Pinkie’s explanation of the intricacies of the word funny. “My news is way more important than anypony else’s!”

“And how’d you figure that?” challenged Applejack, narrowing her eyes and walking forward to butt foreheads with Rainbow. “Ah reckon mah news is way more important than anythin’ you dreamed you saw in the Everfree while nappin’!”

“Napping!” Rainbow exclaimed, apparently outraged. “I was flying, and you know just how awesome I am at spotting things when I’m flying, or have you forgotten that?”

“Wait wait wait wait.” Pinkie sprung up between them and held them apart with her forelegs. “I’ve just remembered another bit of news that I think might be more important than everything else.”

“Oh come on! I was just-”

“GIRLS!”

The three ponies stopped grappling and turned to face a very impatient Twilight with sheepish looks on their faces.

“One. At. A. Time.” The lavender alicorn slumped back down on the bench. “Please.”

The three guests shifted on their hooves and glanced at each other, none of them wanting to deal with an angry Twilight, before Pinkie eventually stepped forwards to take the floor.

“Well okay Twilight, I’ll go first:

“So it was late last night, and I was giving Gummy a wash because he had been a veeery naughty little pet yesterday and had gone stomping in all the mud puddles on the way back from our walk. Or, well, actually I think I was the one who stomped in them, but he got splashed with mud and so he needed a niiice hot bath, and I was just giving him one when I felt it!”

There was a few seconds of silence and Twilight was just about to speak when Pinkie continued.

“It started with an ear twitch, and then another ear twitch, and then an itchy knee, and then another itchy knee, and then my tail shook, and then my head shook, and then my ear twitched again, and I thought ‘I hope my other ear twitches next’ because that would mean that I’m about to find some surprise cupcakes, and I love surprise cupcakes, but I since I was washing Gummy I knew it probably wasn’t that and really I just didn’t want to feel my nose itch because that’s the saddest combo ever meaning the worst possible thing has happened to one of my friends, and I was hoping so hard but then it did happen, and my nose did itch and I was so sad that I don’t think even surprise cupcakes would have cheered me up.”

“Wait, what does that combo mean?” Rainbow dash asked, but Pinkie continued regardless.

“And I was sad all the way through the night until this morning when I went to see her family, and even though I knew that surprise cupcakes wouldn’t be enough to cheer them up I thought I might give them some anyway, because nopony would ever say no to surprise cupcakes, and I had a recipe I’d been wanting to try for ages, so I quickly whipped some up and headed out but when I got to the Silver household I saw her!”

There were a few seconds of beautiful silence which Twilight didn’t even consider interrupting, before the Pinkie train started rolling again.

“She was there in their house just fine! So I gave them the cupcakes anyway, because why waste good cupcakes, except I thought that because nothing sad had happened maybe they didn’t need aaaalll the cupcakes, so I had a couple myself and because I hadn’t been expecting them they were like surprise cupcakes to me too, which made me really happy until I realised ‘oh no! My Pinkie Sense is broken’, and so I ran to tell you that ‘oh no! My Pinkie Sense is broken!”

The silence lasted only until Twilight was sure Pinkie had finally finished, and then the alicorn mare let out a long groan. “Urgh, Pinkie, I’ve told you before I just don’t understand your Pinkie Sense, so if you have nothing else to say-”

“No wait, I do have something else to say, because I remembered an even more important bit of news! I upgraded my party cannon, and now it can hold five more streamers than it could before. Isn’t that great! I’m so excited I just needed to get all my friends to come and watch me try it out.”

The silence lasted far longer this time. After almost a minute Applejack and Rainbow Dash simultaneously held their hooves against their faces and Twilight sighed and levitated a quill and paper towards her.

“Well we’ll put that on the maybe list for now Pinkie, but I’ll just check what Applejack and Rainbow want first, on the slight off chance that what they have to say is more important.”

“Okay then,” Pinkie replied cheerfully, leaping back to the bench and settling down with some popcorn. “Applejack! You’re up!”

As Applejack stepped forwards Rainbow lay back in the air with her hooves crossed behind her head. “Please don’t tell me your news is you’ve upgraded your buckets and they can hold five more apples.”

Applejack grinned, “Naw, its way more serious. You’ll like it, we saw a pony who said he’d come from the future, and then he shattered into pieces like Twi’s door when Ah buck it too hard.” She grimaced. “Actually, it was sure creepy.”

Rainbow’s ears perked up and she spun around in the air, staring wide eyed at Applejack. “That sounds awesome! Who cares about my story, it was probably just some timberwolf or something, I’m sure it’s gone now. I want to hear about the time-traveller. That sounds way cooler!”

“I don’t know,” Pinkie said thoughtfully, “I think my new party cannon might be a little bit cooler.”

“No way, this is gonna be epic,” Rainbow continued happily.

Twilight was also intrigued and moved her quill back to the paper in front of her ready to take notes. “That does sound fascinating Applejack. What exactly happened?”

Applejack tapped her chin with her hoof. “Well…”

Applejack swept her hoof across her forehead, wiping away the sweat that had already gathered. She had been up since before dawn working to fix the broken barn wall which had fallen over in a particularly strong wind the previous day. She would have to remember to get on Rainbow Dash’s case about that. Now that the sun was up she had started her apple bucking, and had made her way through a third of the southern orchard. Nearby she could see Big Mac pulling the plough diligently through the cornfield, not looking tired in the slightest.

Sighing, she turned back to the trees she had yet to tend to. Whenever she worked within sight of her brother she always worked harder than normal, her competitive streak forcing her to work at least as hard as he was. She doubted he noticed, but she still felt a sense of achievement if the great red stallion was the first to take a break.

Grabbing another stack of empty buckets to collect the apples in, Applejack turned back towards the trees and was almost out of earshot of her brother when she heard him speak.

“Uh, Applejack?”

Applejack almost dropped all the buckets she was carrying in surprise, before dropping them intentionally and rushing back towards her brother. It was relatively unusual for him to address her while they were working, but there had been an edge to his voice when he had spoken this time that she did not think she had heard before.

“What is it Big Mac?” She raced towards the field where he had been working and saw that he had extricated himself from the plough and was standing a few feet away staring at something at the other side of the field. She pulled up next to him, followed his gaze, and then took an unconscious step back as she identified what had made him so nervous.

Running along one of the furrows in the field was a collection of small fragments of some sort of dark crystal, and a strange black mist was emanating from them. At the head of the line of crystals, as though leaving them behind like a snail trail, was a pony. At least, Applejack assumed it was a pony, but it was a kind of pony she had never seen before. From his hind legs up to the middle of his back the pegasus’ body was completely translucent and rough, as though he were made out of jagged glass, and the same roiling mist that was surrounding the fragments behind him was visible inside. His wings were limp and looked almost as though they were welded to his sides. The front half of his body looked more normal, as though he were a regular black pegasus, but upon closed inspection Applejack could see that the black colouration was not natural and that it was covering his natural olive fur.

The stallion was sprawled on the ground, and it was clear that he had been pulling himself towards them for some time, based on the distance the trail behind him spread. Pulling herself together after her shocked first reaction, and ignoring the chill the sight of the mysterious looking pony sent down her spine, Applejack stepped towards what was clearly an injured pegasus in need of help.

“Hey there sugarcube, y’all look mighty tired. Ah’d be happy to help you out, why don’t you rest yourself a spell.”

The stallion’s eyes had until now been unfocussed, but at Applejack’s words his ears perked and he stared directly at her, sending another shiver down her spine, before he turned his eyes towards Big Macintosh who had stepped forward beside his sister.

“C… Captain…” he wheezed, coughing harshly. “And… and Miss Applejack.”

“What’s this about a captain now?” Applejack tilted her head and glanced sideways at her brother. “You ever been a captain Big Mac?”

“Nnope.”

Applejack turned back to the strange pony with concern mixed with caution in her eyes. “You sure don’t look well, Ah’m guessin’ you’re some sort of crystal pony? Ain’t never seen a half crystal pegasus before.”

“No… I’m just a pegasus, this is what the Infection does to us… it turns us like this.” He pointed at himself and as if in response his hoof crystalized in front of their eyes, the crystals slowly starting to spread up his foreleg.

“Ah’ll get Fluttershy,” Applejack decided. “She knows all about weird diseases and she ain’t too far from here. Don’t worry sugarcube, we’ll get you better.”

“No…. wait.” He crawled another step forwards and instinctively Applejack and Big Mac both took a step back. “It’s too late for me.”

“Aw, don’t say that,” Applejack replied automatically, but although she had absolutely no clue what was afflicting the poor stallion in front of her it certainly didn’t look good. Even as she watched, the strange dark crystals covering his body were spreading up his chest.

“No, it is. Please listen. I’ve come from the future, I-” he stopped as a hacking cough overtook him and Applejack blinked rapidly as she tried to take in what she had just heard. From the future?

“Is this some sort of prank?” Applejack asked warily, although part of her knew that this seemed too real for a prank.

“No… not a prank. Lots of us have been sent back. I’m Nimbus and I’m originally from Cloudsdale. But I moved to Canterlot after-” Once more he was interrupted by a wheeze and he gulped for air as the strange infection spread closer to his head. “No time… please, you’re an Element, you know Princess Twilight…”

Applejack nodded and stepped forward to better hear Nimbus’ fading voice.

“You have to tell her… there are others coming back, she needs to talk to them, the future is… so bad… we need to avoid the Infection… please…”

No more words would come as the crystals finally reached and covered the stallion’s face. Applejack looked on with wide eyes as the pegasus’ body became stock still, and then she leapt back with a yelp as there was a splintering explosion and Nimbus’ form shattered into hundreds of small pieces, each of which fell and embedded themselves into the mud. The black mist that had been contained inside dissipated slowly into the air as Applejack looked on in horror at what had become of the pony she had just been speaking with.

Applejack looked at the faces around her in the library as she finished explaining. The expressions she could see mirrored the expression she had seen on her brother’s face when they had watched it happen first hand.

“After that Ah didn’t rightly know what to do. Ah was gonna look closer at the shards he left behind but Big Mac pulled me back and said Ah weren’t to touch anythin’ until Ah’d talked to you first.” She couldn’t help herself from shivering. “Twi, Ah think Ah just saw somepony die.”

The silence after that statement was broken by Rainbow dash slumping to the ground. “Aw, AJ, that was so not a cool story.”

“Sorry, Ah guess Ah was trying not to think about how awful it was.”

Pinkie hadn’t moved from her seat on the bench, although her popcorn had fallen to the floor forgotten and her hair was somewhat deflated. Twilight meanwhile was rereading the notes she had taken while Applejack was speaking.

“Twilight?”

“Hmm?” Twilight looked up. After seeing her three friends staring back at her waiting for some sort of explanation she sighed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you any answers. I don’t know what any of that means. A disease that infects you with crystals? Never heard of it. A spell that would allow a pegasus to travel through time? Never heard of it.” She looked directly at Applejack. “Do you think he was telling the truth? I mean, I’m not doubting what you said, but really, time travel seems just so unlikely. After what we all went through when I used a time travel spell I recommended to Princess Celestia that those spells all be shut away so nopony could use them again, and I’m pretty sure she followed my advice.”

“Ah don’t know Twi. He certainly seemed to come from nowhere. That trail he left began out of nothin’ and so unless he somehow teleported… And anyway, why would he lie?”

“I just don’t know how a pegasus would travel through time at all!”

“It’s not important how he did it,” Rainbow said, re-joining the conversation. “What about why he did? He said the future’s horrible! That’s what we should care about!”

“I don’t want the future to be horrible,” said Pinkie, sounding so morose that Twilight couldn’t help but sit back down and wrap a foreleg around her.

“Don’t worry Pinkie, I’m sure everything will be fine.” Twilight had no idea how it would be fine, but that didn’t matter right now. “SPIKE?” she yelled.

“Yeah?” came the reply from right next to her, causing the alicorn to shriek and fall inelegantly onto the ground. She had not noticed the baby dragon arrive. How long had he been there?

“Spike! I need you to take a letter to the Princess. If there’s any chance this is true she’ll need to know about it. How much did you hear of Applejack’s story?”

“Most of it, it all sounded far-fetched to me.”

“Yeah, I know.” Twilight pulled herself to her hooves. It was time to take charge of the situation. “Right then. Spike, you write a letter with as much of Applejack’s story as you can remember. Pinkie, you stay here and help him fill out the bits he missed. Rainbow, you find Rarity and Fluttershy and bring them here, I have a feeling we’ll want to work together for this. And Applejack, you take me to see these strange crystals.”

Everypony got down to work immediately, Spike grabbing a quill and Pinkie trotting up beside him, Rainbow saluting and launching herself out the still broken window, and Applejack charging back out the door with Twilight in pursuit.

It wasn’t long before the library filled up once again with ponies, plus one dragon. Twilight and Applejack were unsurprisingly the last to return, although their task had not gone as Twilight would have hoped. By the time they had reached the cornfield in Sweet Apple Acres that Applejack had lead them to, the crystals had all but disintegrated and all that remained was a fine dust from which Twilight could conclude nothing. She was not too keen on touching it without knowing more about what it was, and so for the time being they had left it and returned to talk with the others, and hopefully get a reply from Princess Celestia giving them some indication of what a good plan of action would be.

As Twilight entered she caught the end of the recap Rainbow Dash was giving to Fluttershy and Rarity, both of whom were just as open mouthed about the situation as the others had been.

“Oh that sounds truly dreadful,” Rarity exclaimed, turning to face Applejack as she entered. “Darling I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to witness that. Most unpleasant.”

“That poor pony.” Fluttershy seemed close to tears. “Imagine if he hadn’t found you in time. And he said that there were others out there. Just think how many might be suffering all alone…” She shrank behind her mane as though that would protect her from the harshness of the situation. “Maybe dying all alone,” she mumbled with a sniff.

“That’s a good point Fluttershy,” Twilight said, stepping back towards her desk and trying to inject authority into her voice, ready to take the role of leader once more. “If nothing else, our priority must be to find more of these ponies. We need more information from them before we know what to do, or what to avoid doing.”

“But where should we look? Just Ponyville? I don’t think we can exactly search the whole of Equestria.” Rainbow spread her wings wide. “It’s a big place.”

“I don’t know Rainbow. Like I said, whatever magic sent this pony, and potentially others, back in time is not magic I am familiar with. The only time spell I know of is very complex, and all other research into time spells concludes the same way: that it is generally too unpredictable to be of use.”

“Well maybe I am going out on a limb here,” began Rarity, “but maybe it was unpredictable magic that was used, hmm? If the future is truly so awful, then perhaps this magic was used as a last resort.”
“You might be right Rarity. I wish we knew for sure.”

The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a belch from Spike and a scroll materialised in the middle of the room, falling towards the floor before being caught in Twilight’s magic and rapidly unrolled.

“A response from the Princess!” she said excitedly, pulling it towards her so that she could read it aloud.

Dear Princess Twilight,

This is grave news indeed. I too have heard rumours of ponies claiming to be from the future, although reports were vague and contradictory, and so I had not realised the severity of the situation until now.

I would appreciate it if you could find the time to come to Canterlot to report to Luna and me directly. I am sure that you are planning to study time magic after this, and I would suggest that the Starswirl the Bearded Wing would be a better place than any to do so.

Princess Celestia

Twilight finished reading and almost immediately flared her wings.

“I need to go to Canterlot as soon as possible!”

“Whoa there sugarcube, don’tcha think you might be rushin’ things?”

“But Celestia confirmed that the stallion you saw was right. There really are more ponies returning from the future! How are they doing it? Do you think they’re all infected in the same way?” On autopilot Twilight started pulling books out of shelves with her magic, before catching herself and placing them back. “And Celestia is right that the Starswirl the Bearded Wing will be the best place to study this. I need to go there now!”

“Okay then Twilight,” said Spike, “but we’ll come with you.”

“Actually I think you should all stay here. Applejack I’d like you to collect the fragments of crystal and get them examined if you can. Try not to touch them in case they’re toxic. Maybe Zecora could tell you something.”

“Of course, Twi. Ah’ll get right to it.”

“And I’ll take a look too!” shouted Pinkie, bouncing up and down. “I grew up on a rock farm, so I know all about rocks and that includes crystals. I may not know as much as my sister Maud, but I still might be able to help!”

“Well they’re not really crystals so much as dust now Pinkie,” Twilight began, but as Pinkie visibly deflated she changed track. “But I’m sure you can help Applejack out.” She turned back to Spike as Pinkie cheered and cartwheeled around the room in success. “You should stay here so you can get messages to us in Canterlot.”

“Okay Twilight,” Spike said, saluting smartly.

“But why can’t I come? This sounds like a cool adventure!”

“Uh, actually Rainbow, I think you’d find it really boring. I’ll be mostly sitting reading complex books about magic. I don’t think you could really help.”

Rainbow groaned and floated to the ground. “Fiiiine. Maybe I’ll fly around Ponyville and see if I can spot any other creepy ponies from the future.”

“Good idea. The rest of you can do that too if you want.” While Twilight was speaking she levitated the last few items she would need for her trip into her saddlebags and rested them across her back. “Okay then, good luck everypony, I’ll see you soon. Hopefully.” And with that Twilight leapt into the air and, taking a leaf out of Rainbow Dash’s book, launched herself out of the splintered window frame.

Spike looked after his adoptive sister and groaned. “I’m going to have to fix that window aren’t I?”

“Eeyup,” answered Applejack as she walked back out of the library, her friends following behind her.

Chapter 2 - That Old Black Magic

Chapter 2 – That Old Black Magic

In the end, all of the remaining element bearers went together into the Everfree Forest to find Zecora. Rarity had carefully levitated the shadowy dust from the field in Sweet Apple Acres into one of the jars the Apple family would normally use for Zapp Apple Jam (prompting much speculation from Pinkie on how it would taste), and the white unicorn was now levitating it alongside her.

Only a few years ago, the path they were taking would have filled them with terror, but time and experience had dulled their fear and it was almost with easy familiarity that the five ponies trotted between tall intimidating trees, ignoring the distant howls of Celestia-knows-what and the shadowy figures visible slinking between the branches above. As it was, the five element bearers were likely making more noise than anything else in the forest as they followed the trail towards Zecora’s hut.

“I’m just saying, it seems weird doing this without Twilight with us.” The cyan pegasus swooped through the air above the others gesticulating wildly. “More and more often she’s off doing her own thing. Ever since she became a princess she’s leaving us all behind!”

“I think you might be exaggerating somewhat, Rainbow darling. Of course she has extra duties now, but she still always makes time for us.” Rarity sniffed. “I will admit I would have liked it ever so much if we could have sat with her at the Equestria games. But she is a princess, and she has an image to maintain.” Rarity struck a regal pose at this. “If anything, it sounds like you might be a little jealous…”

“Ha! Me? Jealous!” Rainbow swooped down to land in front of Rarity. “As if! If anypony’s jealous here it’s you Rarity,” the pegasus jabbed a hoof at her. “You’ve always wanted to be a princess.”

“Well it has been my dream for as long as I can remember, true, and I did so love those wings Twilight gave me that one time, but I would never begrudge a friend their success. And besides, a lady is never jealous.”

“Well Ah don’t understand why anypony would even want to be a princess. All Twilight does is wave at this event here, and sit in this seat there. Don’t sound like much fun to me.”

“Oh but you just don’t understand Applejack,” Rarity began, her voice gushing and her eyes glazed over. “Just think of all the ponies you would meet! And the dresses you could wear! I’ve never quite persuaded Twilight to wear suitable regal dress all the time, but that’s up to her I suppose.”

“I’d love to be a princess!” Pinkie said suddenly, continuing her perpetual bouncing alongside them.

The conversation fell silent as the other four ponies tried to imagine a Pinkie with wings and magic, before all shuddering simultaneously and continuing their journey. The sight of smoke rising above the trees in the distance told them that they had almost reached the hut, and they made care to step around the field of blue flowers as they went on their way. It took Rainbow Dash all of her self-control to refrain from pushing Rarity into the poison joke to witness a return of ‘Hairity’.

“We’re here,” Fluttershy said happily as the hut came fully into view, and it wasn’t long before they had knocked and the zebra had let them all inside. Fluttershy helped Zecora make drinks while Applejack did her best to explain once again exactly what she had witnessed. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were already playing some sort of game that involved them wearing the giant masks adorning the inside of Zecora’s hut and making ghost noises at each other, and Rarity was watching on with her nose raised, occasionally sniffing her disapproval, but just as occasionally breaking into a small smile at their antics.

Rarity had set down the jar of mysterious powder on a shelf in the corner of the room when they had first entered, and as Applejack’s story came to a close Zecora walked up to the jar and peered inside.

“An incredible tale, and if it is true, Equestria surely has much to do.” Zecora grabbed the jar and started collecting up ingredients. “Of the nature of this magic, I haven’t a clue. But I can learn more about it by making a brew.”

“So it’s a magical disease then?” Fluttershy asked as she handed out drinks, giving Rainbow and Pinkie scolding looks which quickly settled them down.

“This is no normal illness to do what you claimed. Only the darkest of magic could make one so maimed.”

The hut was silent as Zecora started filling her cauldron with the cavalcade of ingredients she had gathered. Then as she unscrewed the jar and let the crystalline dust fall to join the bubbling mixture, the ponies all leaned forwards, although none of them knew what they were hoping to see.

Whatever it was they had been hoping to see, nothing prepared them for what actually happened. As a black mist started slowly drifting up out of the cauldron, the wisps suddenly formed an outline of a pony, a pegasus to be precise. As the surrounding ponies watched in awe, the mist became increasingly solid, until the outline became a frame and then more, as though an apparition of the pegasus were in the room with them.

“That’s him,” Applejack exclaimed in surprise. “That’s the pony Ah met, sure as sugar.”

Zecora narrowed her eyes at the image in front of her. It seemed even she was surprised at the result of her mixture. But it did not stop there, as without warning the liquid inside the cauldron itself started flowing upwards to fill out the floating frame above them, like watching a bath draining but in reverse. As the apparition became more and more complete the liquid solidified into a jagged crystalline form that caused Applejack to take a step back in shock and Zecora to open her eyes wide, but it was only when the shadowy crystal pony was fully formed and a sudden red glow appeared in its eyes that anypony acted.

Zecora quickly grabbed the glass of water from out of Fluttershy’s hooves and flung it towards the base of the cauldron, extinguishing the flames, but it was too late. The newly formed mockery of a pegasus let out a keening wail and swooped down towards the zebra, grabbing her with its jagged hooves and pushing her roughly against the wall of the hut. It then opened its mouth and the same black mist from before rushed out towards the trapped zebra. She struggled in its hooves, trying to lean her head away so that she would not come into contact with the mist.

Rainbow Dash was the first to react. With a quick flap of her wings, the resulting rush of air caused the dark mist emanating from the creature’s mouth to dissipate harmlessly against the far wall. The crystalline form released Zecora, who slumped to the floor, before turning to see who had interfered. In doing so the creature opened up its side to an attack from Applejack, who spun around on her forehooves and gave it a sharp buck in the ribs, or at least, where ribs would be in a normal pony. There was a yelp of pain from Applejack as the jagged surface of the pegasus’ crystal body sliced into her hind legs, but the result was immediate as the creature was flung bodily across the room, smashing against a far wall and causing one of its forelegs to shatter into a familiar shadowy dust.

This did not seem to bother the unearthly creature however, as it merely spun around and, with a quick flap of its wings, launched itself towards the orange mare. Applejack brought her hooves up to defend herself, but this proved unnecessary as the beast’s course was diverted by the sudden arrival of a saucepan wrapped in blue magic slamming against the side of its head. There was a resounding crunch as the crystal form clattered into the ground, more fragments bursting forth. Applejack responded by letting loose another solid buck, launching the creature across the room once more, landing at the hooves of Fluttershy who did not seem to have moved since the impromptu fight began.

Fluttershy looked down in horror at the form before her and hesitated, not knowing what she was supposed to do, or what she was even capable of doing. That brief moment was enough for the pegasus to pull itself to its feet once more, and Fluttershy was just ducking under the serrated hoof it swung towards her when there was another resounding crunch with an air of finality about it, and then a splintering sound as the body disintegrated into thousands of small shards. Fluttershy looked up to see a heavily breathing Zecora holding out a staff through the spot where the attacking pony had just been.

There was a pause as everypony gathered their breath, before, predictably, everypony started speaking at once.

“Wow, Zecora that was so cool! I’ve got to get a stick to fight with!”

“Eurgh, some of that filthy dust got on me, get it off, get it off!”

“Oh, is everypony alright? I’m sorry I wasn’t more helpful.”

“Zecora what was that thing? It looked just like the pony Ah met before!”

“That was so amaaazing! Do it again, do it again!”

Zecora waited for everypony to settle down before getting to action once more. Reaching over to pull Pinkie away from trying to pour the newly formed powder back into the cauldron, she addressed Rarity first. “That dust has no power itself, so there’s no need for alarm. Give yourself a good wash and you’ll come to no harm.” She turned to the rest of the room. “As for the beast, I am afraid this is tragic, but I have no knowledge of that foul dark magic. I will dispose of these shards as best as I can,” she said, gesturing to the pile of ominously glowing black crystals, “but other than that I do not have a plan.”

Fluttershy looked down at the shards at her feet. “Did anyone else think that maybe, um, that looked a lot like King Sombra’s magic?”

“What? That guy again? Didn’t we off him already?”

“Now Rainbow, I think Fluttershy here does raise a valid point. Sombra did seem intent on besmirching the beautiful Crystal Empire with foul dark crystals like these.”

“But we destroyed Sombra,” Rainbow continued unabated, spreading her hooves as she hovered in the air. “And we were awesome! And we were thorough! And I guess by ‘we’ I mean mostly Spike, but still! Sombra should be gone!”

“You may have defeated your unicorn foe,” Zecora started, speaking up once more. “But that does not mean that it is all over, oh no. The Empire is clear of the magic he brought forth, but some of it may remain deep in the frozen north.” Zecora pointed at the pile of crystals. “If you want to know more about this magic most dire, your answers surely lie in the Crystal Empire.”

“But that’s what I was saying aaaalll along!” Pinkie exclaimed suddenly, ending a bout of uncharacteristic silence. After seeing the surprised and confused expressions on everypony’s faces she snorted to herself. “Or maybe I was just thinking it, ha! Silly me. I don’t often make that mistake but when I do it’s so embarrassing! Like the time I was going shopping for some paint and Pastel Brush asked me what colours I needed and I thought to myself, ‘well I really need some fresh cerulean and jasmine because I used up all of them the last time I made a poster for our cake sale, but it would also be good to get some cobalt and magenta because I’m low on those, and I should always get some fresh heliotrope…’” She interrupted her story by sidling up to Rarity and whispering to her conspiratorially, “but that’s really just because I like the word heliotrope.” She sidled away again. “And so anyway, I was thinking all that and then realised ‘oops! Silly me, I’ve been thinking and not saying!’ And so I giggled and said aloud, ‘Well I really need some fresh cerulean and…’”

By this point only Zecora seemed to be listening diligently to Pinkie. The rest were all leaving Pinkie’s rambling to run its course and were helping to tidy up the mess they’d made of Zecora’s hut, Fluttershy tending to the cuts Applejack had received on her hind legs.

“…and so anyway. Crystal. Empire.”

Rarity stopped sweeping the floor and turned to face everypony. “So we really think our answers are in the Crystal Empire?”

“Of course they are!” Pinkie beamed. “If there’s something mysterious happening with shadowy crystals then it just has to be in the Crystal Empire.”

Meanwhile, there was something mysterious happening with shadowy crystals in the Crystal Empire.

More specifically, there was something mysterious happening with shadowy crystals in the Crystal Mountains just east of the Crystal Empire.

Even more specifically, there was something mysterious happening with shadowy crystals in one of the networks of tunnels below the Crystal Mountains just east of the Crystal Empire.

Azure Prism did not care for more specifics. Azure Prism did not care for where he was going. The tunnels he was galloping through were truly beautiful, with unique crystal formations decorating the walls and glittering lights of many colours shimmering through the many facets. Azure did not care for that. The passage in front of him split into multiple directions and the crystal pony took one without a thought as to where it was heading. Azure did not care for that. He had lost track of the others that had been part of his team. Azure did not care for that. All he cared for was continuing to run for his life away from the twisted creature that had once been his friend.

Far behind him in the darkness, a black crystalline form paused in its pursuit. It looked like a unicorn moulded out of an uncooperative piece of ice, jagged shards jutting out of his body and the protruding spike on his forehead looking more like an icicle than a horn. Around him a black mist was swirling to match the storm visible within the unicorn’s translucent body.

The creature’s glowing eyes moved across the passage in front of him as it split into four separate tunnels. With a spark of erratic red magic from his horn, the unicorn manipulated the mist around him until three other shapes started forming. After a few seconds the outline of the same unicorn stallion was visible three times over, and with a final flash of red the mist solidified into shadowy crystal until there were four identical looking forms standing in the tunnel. Then, with an eerie synchronicity and a keening wail, they all ran forwards at the same time, each taking their own tunnel and continuing the hunt.

Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and Princess of Equestria, launched the most recent book she had been reading across the room, flung her head back, and groaned. Her research had not been going well. It had been three days now since she had started trying to uncover all she could about time magic, and she had made almost no progress.

Upon her arrival to Canterlot things had gone smoothly. The young alicorn had arrived in the Canterlot Castle throne room to find both Princess Celestia and Luna waiting for her. After retreating into the nearby study, the three of them took seats around the central table and Twilight recounted everything she had heard from Applejack, as well as all she could remember of the appearance of the shadowy dust when she had gone to see it herself. The princesses had listened patiently, waiting for her to finish talking before speaking up themselves.

“…and that’s about it I think,” Twilight finished, looking up at her one-time mentor expectantly. “Do you know any spells that could send a pegasus back in time?”

Celestia let out a deep sigh and looked down at the table. “I am afraid I am no more knowledgeable than you are in this matter Twilight. Perhaps even less so, considering that you are possibly the only pony alive who has travelled through time themselves.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.” Celestia looked up at Twilight with a frown. “You were the only unicorn I trusted to be allowed access to Starswirl’s notes on time magic, and I must admit I have never had the patience to read them myself. Starswirl’s writing is really a bit long winded for my tastes…”

Luna and Celestia shared a chuckle at Twilight’s horrified expression at these words, but the lavender alicorn quickly recovered and spoke up again.

“So what should we do?”

Celestia and Luna turned to each other for a moment, before turning back to Twilight.

“I think you are right that the best approach to understanding the situation is to try to speak to any more ponies that may appear from the future,” Celestia began, “and studying time magic is probably the best way to find them.” The sun princess smiled warmly. “I can think of nopony more qualified than you to do that research.”

Twilight blushed at this. “So what will you two do?”

Luna spoke up first. “We will keep our eyes and ears open for whispers of time-travel ourselves. I can travel the mindscape and see if I can discover anything that way, and Tia can listen out for any more strange reports.” The dark blue alicorn turned to her sister. “If all the ponies from the future ask to have messages passed to you then you may find you do not have to look very hard.”

Celestia nodded and turned back to Twilight. “Other than that, well, we still have a kingdom to run.” She smiled wearily. “We’ll do our best to keep panic to a minimum. The last thing Equestria needs is rioting from ponies who do not understand the situation.”

“It sounds like nopony understands the situation,” Luna said with a sigh.

“True,” Celestia responded, giving a matching sigh. “So we should try to address that. Twilight, you should find all the books you need on a desk prepared for you at the back of the Starswirl the Bearded Wing. I suggest you get to work right away.”

And so it was that Twilight found herself three days later at a now empty desk, every one of the books she had been provided in a heap against the far wall as she had tossed them away one by one when they proved inadequate. The brief notes she had made were inconclusive, and in her current state, having not slept properly since she had arrived, they made no more sense to her than Pinkie’s explanations of her Pinkie Sense.

The trouble was that time travel was just so complicated. There were huge numbers of different theories of how it would work, all of which contradicted each other and none of which matched what she herself had experienced. When she had gone back in time it had been only for a few moments and was only usable once. In hindsight, she hadn’t even changed the past at all, she had just completed what had already happened in a sort of self-fulfilling loop. It certainly wasn’t an experience she would want to go through again, even if she could reuse the spell.

And that spell was the only one Twilight had been able to find that even worked. There were many incomplete spells, mostly by the same unicorns who had written the implausible theories of time travel, and even these never suggested a method by which anypony other than a unicorn could travel through time. Starswirl had written less than Twilight would have hoped about the subject; the spell Pinkie had found when they were last in this wing being little more than a footnote at the end of some ramblings on a different topic. Twilight was beginning to see what Celestia had been getting at. When you were looking for specific details Starswirl did seem a little long-winded.

The alicorn sighed and looked around her. At least her working environment was pleasant. The Starswirl the Bearded Wing was as empty as ever, and this meant there were very few distractions. The slow trickling of sand from the huge hourglass in the centre of the room was a noise Twilight found very relaxing, and helped her keep her focus. Of course there were still some distractions, as Twilight had realised many times when she had come across an interesting passage on some unrelated magic or a scroll containing an interesting but irrelevant spell. She had already moved a scroll into her saddlebags that contained a particularly interesting spell that purported to turn the caster’s voice into a replica of any pony she put her mind to. She would study that one later.

The other benefit of this working environment was that the lack of librarians meant that there was nopony around to chide her from mistreating the books she had been reading. Twilight guiltily looked over at the pile she had formed, and was just about to levitate them back up to her desk when there was a flash of light and the books re-formed into a tall stack, rocking back and forth under the weight of the draconequus that was suddenly seated at the top.

“Discord,” Twilight said flatly.

“Oh Twilight, or should I say Princess Twilight, whatever is the matter? It sounds like you’re not pleased to see me.” There was another flash and Discord was laying back across the desk in front of her. “And here I thought I would pop in to see my good friend so that we could have fun times together. I thought that was what good friends do, but if you aren’t happy to see me then perhaps I was wrong.” He pulled an exaggerated frown.

“This is not a good time Discord.”

“Oh I know,” Discord continued, and with a further flash he was now laying on the sand in the bottom half of the giant hourglass, the falling sand from the top bulb turning around in the air above him and flowing back up. “I hear you’re having some problems with time travel. Nasty business.”

“How did you know that?”

Discord teleported back to the desk in front of her. “Well why wouldn’t I know? Infected ponies from the future appearing all over Equestria? That’s just my sort of chaos! And also Fluttershy told me in her letter yesterday, she’s such a dear.” Discord pulled a letter out of nowhere and started rereading it.

Twilight sighed. A couple of days ago she had received a message from Spike detailing the misadventure her friends had had in Zecora’s hut, and their conclusion that the mystery lay somewhere in the Crystal Empire. Twilight had not wanted to jump to conclusions however, and felt that their best option was still to try and talk to any more future-ponies. Her confidence in that decision was fading more and more as her research ground to a halt though.

“Well you’re right Discord, I am studying time magic, and I would like to carry on, so if you could leave me alone…?”

Discord frowned at her. “Well it doesn’t look like you’re getting anywhere.” He pointed at the now suspiciously blank notes in front of her. “Some element of magic you are.”

Twilight groaned as the notes in front of her folded themselves into birds and started flying around her head. “That’s because time travel is impossible to understand.”

“Impossible to understand? Oh Twilight Twilight, surely you know by now that only I am impossible to understand.” The draconequus tapped his nose, which promptly fell off onto the floor before crawling back up his body to reattach itself. “Besides, I know all about time travel.” There was a flash and a second Discord appeared next to the first, throwing streamers and shouting “Tada!” Barely a moment passed before the first Discord said, “I can even travel through time myself, just watch,” and vanished with a pop.

Twilight blinked and tried to take in what had just happened. She had always known that Discord seemed to have magic that didn’t play by the rules, but she had never considered just how far it could be stretched until now.

“Wait, did you just travel through time?” Twilight leaned forwards, eyes wide. “Could you send someone else through time? A pegasus maybe?”

“Alas no,” Discord said, visibly drooping to the floor. “Even my power has its limits.”

“Oh.” Twilight tapped her chin in thought, before turning back to Discord and narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “Can you even travel through time at all, or was that some sort of trick?”

A sword suddenly appeared through Discord’s body and he staggered around the room. “Such accusations! They wound me! I can’t believe that you, a good friend, would suggest such things.” The sword vanished. “It was a trick, but I’ll have you know that I can travel through time. In fact I’m doing it right now.” A clock appeared in each of his claws, one labelled ‘Discord’ and one labelled ‘Everything Else’. They both ticked at the same rate. “I’m currently travelling through time at the rate of one second per second.” He looked up at Twilight and gasped. “And so are you! Twilight you didn’t tell me you knew how to travel through time too!”

Twilight had had enough. “Discord, I do NOT have time for this. This is really important, possibly something that will affect the whole of Equestria, and I need to get back to my research RIGHT NOW.”

“Fine, fine.” The clocks disappeared. “I only wanted to say that you’re going about this research all wrong. You don’t need to understand how to send a pony through time, you just need to be able to detect when and where they’re going to arrive. But then I’m not an alicorn princess,” large wings and an oversized horn appeared on his body, “or the element of magic,” a huge tiara appeared on his head that slipped down to rest on his shoulders, “so what do I know?”

Twilight almost dismissed Discord before what he had just said properly sunk in. He was right, there was no need to work out what spell would send a pony back in time. Obviously a spell like that existed, because it was being used, but all she really needed to do was to find a way of detecting its use. Maybe she could work from the magical signature of the time travel spell she had used herself, and create a scanning spell that would let her locate any magical disturbances that matched that signature as and when they happened. She grabbed one of the still flying paper birds out of the air and starting scribbling down some notes. Yes, that would work!

“Discord, you’re a genius!” She looked up expecting to be face to face with the draconequus once more, but the room was now as empty as it had been for most of the last few days. Shrugging, Twilight returned to her notes. Now that she had her enthusiasm back, nothing would distract her.

In just a couple of hours of solid work Twilight felt she had a spell that would do the trick. She didn’t know exactly what she’d be able to detect, but with any luck it would all become clear momentarily. Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated on the spell in her mind, picturing the magical signature of Starswirl’s time travel spell.

After a few excruciating moments where she felt nothing, Twilight finally sensed a weak ripple. With her eyes still closed she focussed on the ripple, forming a map of Equestria in her mind so that she could pinpoint its location. To her relief it seemed to be coming from somewhere within Canterlot, and when she was convinced she would be able to locate it she released the spell and galloped out of the room, launching herself through a nearby window and into the sky. To her surprise it was dark outside. That made it the fourth night since she had come to Canterlot. She should definitely get some proper sleep soon.

After days spent cooped up inside, the cold night air rushing through her feathers felt wonderful, but Twilight would not allow herself to get side-tracked. Flying up so that she had a pegasus’ eye view of the city, Twilight spotted the likely intersection of streets and swooped down, landing with a less-than-graceful thud.

Disappointment started welling up inside Twilight as she looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. The streets were deserted, as would be expected at this time of night. She looked to the ground, hoping to see a tell-tale trail of dark crystals, but there was nothing. As a last resort Twilight cast her scanning spell again. Maybe she had landed in the wrong street? This time upon casting the spell however, Twilight felt far more than a faint ripple. A pulsating force was coming from the area right in front of her.

Twilight stepped back in shock just in time, as there was a resounding bang and the alicorn was launched back against the ground. When her ears had stopped ringing, Twilight looked up at the small crater in front of her. The first thing she spotted was a charred purple hat, arrayed with a collection of stars. Sprawled on the ground next to her hat was a familiar azure unicorn, albeit covered in unnerving looking black blotches, groaning as she tried to pull herself to her hooves.

“Trixie?”

Chapter 3 - Plan of Action

Chapter 3 – Plan of Action

It was a clear night, and the moon and stars were shining brightly down onto the quiet streets of Canterlot. The city was deserted, save for a few ponies making their way to or from their late night jobs, a few ponies stumbling home after a little too much to drink, and, facing each other in an otherwise deserted street in the south side of the city, two old rivals.

They locked eyes for a few seconds before the azure unicorn let out a harsh laugh.

“Ha, it figures! Trixie is sent on a journey through time and space, and even then she cannot escape from you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“You’re one of the ponies who came from the future, aren’t you?”

“I suppose this was your plan all along? Why else would you be standing here waiting for me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh don’t play coy, Twilight Sparkle. You never really explained what you were doing, now I see you must have been planning this from the start. Was it just to mess with Trixie? Surely even you would not be that petty.”

“Hold on Trixie, what exactly are you accusing me of?”

“Trixie is saying…” There was a short pause as Trixie lowered the hoof she had just been pointing accusingly at Twilight. “Well, Trixie is not sure exactly what she is saying. But something strange is happening. How did you know I’d be here?”

Twilight sat back on her haunches. “I just created a spell to detect time travel magic.”

Trixie mirrored Twilight and slumped to the ground in frustration. “You know it really isn’t fair that you became an alicorn. Now Trixie cannot prove she is better at spellcasting than you, because you have fancy magic the Great and Powerful Trixie has no access to.”

“Well that’s not exactly how it works,” Twilight began, but then she realised she was getting off topic and changed track. “Listen Trixie, I really have no clue what is going on, I only know ponies are coming back from the future at all because one of my friends already met somepony who had.”

“Oh.” Trixie tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Trixie supposes that makes sense.” There was a crunch as she let her foreleg fall back to the ground, and she picked it back up and eyed the newly formed crystals on the base of her hoof with a dispassionate expression.

“You’ve got that strange infection too! That’s what Applejack was telling me about.”

“Yes yes, everypony has caught the Infection by now.” Trixie waved her hoof in the air dismissively.

“But not now they haven’t! You’ve come back to the past remember? What exactly is that infection anyway? There must be something I can do to stop the effects.”

Trixie scrambled backwards at this. “Oh no Twilight Sparkle, Trixie is not going to spend her last moments being your guinea pig.”

Twilight blinked at this, mouth agape. “You’re saying you know you’re going to die, and you don’t want me to try and help?”

Trixie sighed, and the usual haughtiness left her voice. “It’s inevitable Twilight. It’s been a long time coming really. For all of us.”

“But there must be something I can do!”

“As soon as we caught the Infection we were effectively already dead Twilight, we’re little more than ghosts of ponies at this point. There’s really nothing anypony can do, you said so yourself.”

“I did?”

“Yes, you in the future. A lot of ponies were not very happy about that. I think most ponies thought the spell you were working on was going to fix everything, not do this.” She waved her hooves at the quiet streets around her. “Trixie never really got her hopes up however. Sending everypony to the past is just the sort of convoluted plan Princess Twilight Sparkle loves.”

“Hold on, are you saying that I am the one who created the spell to send ponies back in time?”

Trixie looked at the alicorn in front of her with a blank expression. “Well, yes. You really don’t know anything, do you?”

“No, that’s what I’ve been trying to say!”

“Well who else would have created the spell? The love princess? Your alicorn friends did all help you cast it though. I suppose the four of you are all sitting there by yourselves in the future doing whatever it is princesses do.”

“I don’t know if time travel works like that. Believe me, it’s complicated.” Twilight started trotting backwards and forwards to try and clear her head. At the sound of a harsh cough from the immobile unicorn however, she remembered that there was likely not much time and turned back to face Trixie. “So why exactly is the future so bad that I apparently decided to send everypony back in time? Is it because of this infection thing?”

“Mostly, yes, although it’s also because of the Shards. I’m sure the two things are related.” Trixie glared at Twilight. “If a certain princess had been more upfront about things, maybe I could tell you more.”

“Well it’s not my fault,” Twilight began, although she knew it was likely a pointless argument. “It wasn’t me who kept things from you. Or I haven’t done it yet. Or won’t do it at all. Or something…”

Trixie snorted and looked down at her slowly darkening body. “The worst thing about the Infection is what it does to your magic. It takes all of my power to cast even a simple spell.” Trixie looked back up at Twilight. “Watch!”

Twilight did as she was told and eyed Trixie’s horn as it started glowing. The young alicorn could see immediately that something was wrong. The usual light magenta hue of Trixie’s magic had been replaced with a darker more ominous tone, and the aura itself was flickering wildly. There was also evident strain on Trixie’s face, and, as she concentrated, more and more sparks started bursting from the tip of her horn. Twilight was just about to say that she had the idea and Trixie could stop, when there was a sudden pop, a burst of flame that enveloped the unicorn mare, and then there was nothing in front of Twilight except for a cloud of ash, gently floating to the ground.

Twilight stared in horror for close to a minute. She was really gone. There was no indication a unicorn had just been lying in the crater. Even the cape Trixie had been wearing was mostly burnt away, a few charred pieces of fabric remaining. Twilight had known she was likely about to witness a pony dying, but this was not what she had expected, and seemed somehow far worse.

“Trixie?”

There was, of course, no response.

Twilight looked suddenly around her. The streets were still deserted. Only now did she realise how suspicious it might look if a Princess of Equestria was seen talking to a pony in a darkened street in the middle of the night, only for that pony to die in front of her. It wouldn’t exactly be an easy situation to explain.

Twilight was shocked out of her thoughts by the sound of snickering. Shocked, she gave another quick glance around her. Maybe there was somepony watching that she had missed. This new sweep of the street gave away nothing however, the city was just as quiet and deserted as it had been, the twinkling light from the stars showing nothing hiding in any of the doorframes or alleyways around her. She was just about to chalk it up to her imagination when she heard it again, this time loud enough that she could identify the direction it was coming from.

With a wary caution Twilight took a step towards the pile of ashes in the centre of the street and slowly lit her horn, aiming to dismiss any lingering magic. As soon as the illusion was dispelled, Trixie could hold it in no longer and rolled about on the floor laughing riotously, in one piece and completely unburnt.

Twilight scowled and waited impatiently for Trixie to calm down. It was only when Trixie’s laughs transformed into chokes and wheezes that the unicorn pulled herself back to her haunches, her lower body now completely coloured black and beginning to gain the crystalline appearance Applejack had described. After gasping for air, Trixie looked back up at Twilight and immediately burst into another laugh.

“Ha! There is nopony better at illusory magic than the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Twilight groaned. “So you were lying to me? You can use magic just fine?”

“What? No, that took me far more effort than it should. And I didn’t get it quite right either, the flames were supposed to be a vibrant green, but no matter.”

“But, arrgh, you’re supposed to be telling me about the future, why did you do that?”

“Trixie thought it was funny! And besides, you’ve always been so rude and insulting to me.”

“What? When?”

“Oh not yet.” Trixie waved a now crystalline hoof dismissively. “But you will be.”

“I would never-”

“Oh shut up Twilight Sparkle, you should really listen to the pony who’s actually lived in the future and who knows what you’re like. At least it’s not all bad, Trixie has worked a lot on her illusions and has been achieving great success with her stage show.”

Twilight was still not happy that she was being accused of being unkind in a future she had not even lived, but she let that slide. “I did wonder why you still had that ridiculous hat and cape. I wish Rarity were with us, she’d be tearing you to shreds for it.”

“I’m sure she’s spinning in her grave.”

“What? No that’s not what I meant by ‘not with us’, I just…” Twilight stopped and shook her head. She was getting side-tracked again, and it didn’t look like Trixie would last much longer. Part of her wondered if the unicorn was being intentionally awkward. “Trixie, you need to tell me more about the future. You said something about ‘shards’. What did you mean by that?”

“Oh fine Twilight, I’ve had my fun now, I’ll answer your questions.” Trixie lay closer to the ground, resting her head in her hooves, although it wasn’t clear to Twilight whether this was just to get more comfortable or because she had lost the strength to keep herself upright. “Shards are horrific abominations shaped like ponies,” Trixie explained. “They can take the shape of any host that’s been infected, and, unlike us, they have no problem using magic or flying.”

“What do they look like?” Twilight asked, her suspicions rising as she thought of the creature Spike had described in his letter.

“Like ponies made out of a jagged black crystal with horrible glowing eyes.” Trixie shuddered, and then looked over her shoulder towards her rump. “Kind of like what I’m becoming actually.”

“Wait, so you’re turning into a Shard?”

“No, I’m dying. The Infection would have been able to create a Shard from my imprint, but the Princess found a way to stop that from happening. I don’t think any new Shards have been formed in the last year, but the problem is they can duplicate at will. The EDF have been doing their best to keep them away from any major cities, but it just hasn’t been enough.”

“The EDF? What’s that?”

“The Equestrian Defence Force. Each city has a regiment mostly made up of volunteers. Their main purpose is to fight Shards.”

“That sounds fascinating, who formed it? How do the regiments operate?” Twilight found herself wishing she had brought a quill and some paper with her. “How are the ponies in the EDF trained? What roles are there? What does-”

“Whoa Twilight, I wasn’t a part of it and I’m no encyclopaedia.”

Twilight grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, I got a little carried away.”

Trixie snorted, and then coughed throatily. Almost her entire body was jagged and translucent now, and Twilight could see the churning black mist within, just as Applejack had described it to her. Trixie almost didn’t seem to care, resigned to her fate as she was.

“I think your brother set it up. The EDF I mean.”

“Hmm?”

“He’s the commander anyway.” Trixie let out another hacking cough and then, to Twilight’s great surprise, her face contorted into a cheeky grin. “I’ve met him a few times now. You never told me just how hot he was Twilight! Very pleasing to Trixie’s eyes.”

Twilight gaped. “What!? We’re not talking about that, we don’t have time-”

“Oh nonsense, you can find someone else to talk to about the boring stuff, Trixie wants to talk more about your hunk of a brother.”

Twilight could feel the heat rising in her cheeks to reflect her embarrassment. “Trixie, this is not a good time for this. There is no good time for this.”

Trixie ignored her. “Trixie thinks it is a shame your precious love princess got their first, or we could have been sisters, you and I! Just imagine! Although, to be honest it wasn’t really marriage Trixie was interested in, if you get my drift.”

“Arghh,” Twilight raised her hooves to her ears. “Not listening, not listening.”

Trixie looked with satisfaction at the highly embarrassed alicorn in front of her and let out a deep, pained breath. “Worth it.”

Then there was an almighty fracturing sound and the illusionist was gone.

A couple of days later, Twilight and her fellow Elements of Harmony were all sat around the table in the same study Twilight had used a few days prior to talk with Celestia and Luna. It was a useful area, adjacent to the throne room for easy access, and containing a few desks, a bookshelf with a collection of general purpose books, and a highly decorated hearth that would be blazing with a warm fire in a colder season.

After her encounter with Trixie, Twilight had immediately flown to the castle to update Celestia and Luna on the situation. Twilight had not realised just how shaken she was until she was recounting her meeting to the princesses. Witnessing a pony's death had affected her deeply, despite how resigned Trixie had seemed to be about it, and Celestia had taken a great amount of time comforting her afterwards. Twilight barely remembered the words the sun princess had said, but she had felt much better for having heard them. Luna had also pointed out that the Trixie of this time wasn’t truly dead, and was still out there somewhere, completely unaware that she had been in two places at once for a few moments. It was their aim now to make sure that the future that lead to that death would not happen.

Celestia had been particularly pleased with the scanning spell Twilight had developed, and suggested a few methods of refining it that should allow her to detect the time-magic even further in advance before the ponies themselves appeared, which would be invaluable when the pony in question was further afield. It had been nice working together with her former mentor once more, and that more than anything had helped Twilight slip into a more relaxed state.

And so, after testing her newly refined scanning spell, Twilight had sent a message to Spike inviting her friends up to Canterlot so that she could explain her plan of action, with Spike remaining behind in Ponyville to hold down the fort.

“So, you met a future version of Trixie, huh?”

“That’s right,” Twilight said wearily. “She really wasn’t very cooperative, in all honesty.”

“Ha, I’m not surprised,” snorted Rainbow Dash. “I don’t think she’ll ever forgive you for showing her up both those times she came to Ponyville.”

“Maybe not, but I would have hoped the severity of the situation would have encouraged her to be more helpful. Instead she spent most of the time pretending to set herself on fire and making me uncomfortable by talking about how attractive she thought Shining Armor was.”

Applejack snorted, and then spotted Rainbow’s reddening cheeks and guffawed louder.

“Well darling, to be fair to Trixie, he really is a most handsome stallion.”

“Yeah, well, that Trixie’s dead now, so let’s not waste time on nonsense.”

As the room fell into a shocked silence Twilight wondered if perhaps she had been a bit harsh. Her temper had been shorter than usual ever since that encounter, and it wasn’t fair to let it out on her friends.

“Sorry girls, I’ve just been really stressed lately.”

“Oh don’t worry about it Twilight, we understand.” Fluttershy leaned over from her seat at Twilight’s right to pat the alicorn’s shoulder comfortingly. “It sounds like you’ve been working really hard, so it’s not surprising that you’re feeling tired.”

She definitely was tired. She still hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since she had got to Canterlot. All the better reason to explain her plan now, so that she could go and get some rest. It had been Luna who had suggested that she make use of her friends and take a break herself, and although Twilight did not have quite the same attitude towards the moon princess as she did towards her sister, Twilight had still found herself unable to disagree.

“So what’s this plan you’ve come up with then?” Rainbow pounded her hooves together. “We gonna get to fight to any more of those evil crystal ponies?”

“Ah, yes, that reminds me. Trixie said that in the future Equestria is under attack from creatures called Shards, and from her description I think that was what you fought in Zecora’s hut.” Twilight scrunched her face up in thought. “I wish I had found out where they originated, but I didn’t think to ask her. It was something to do with ponies that had been overwhelmed by the infection, but the only ponies I know of that have this infection are the ones from the future, and apparently they’re not a danger anymore.”

“I still think it must be to do with the Crystal Empire,” Pinkie said, matter-of-factly. “Even if it isn’t magic left over from that big meanie-pants Sombra, I just know we’ll find the answers there!”

“You might be right Pinkie, and actually, if you follow my plan there’s a chance one of you could check it out.” Twilight levitated a map of Equestria off of one of the desks at the edge of the room and over to the table in front of them, spreading it out so they could all see. “I’ve been fine-tuning my scanning spell, and I think I’ve developed it enough that I can detect where ponies are going to appear long before they do so. You’re all going to split up and spread across Equestria so that we can talk to as many ponies as we can in as little time as possible.”

Twilight pulled out a quill and started making specific locations on the map. “Applejack, somepony’s going to appear in Appleloosa. Since your cousin Braeburn lives there I thought you would be the best pony for the job.”

“Sure thing, Twi.”

“Excellent.” She made another mark on the map. “Another pony is going to appear on the shore near Manehattan.” Twilight stopped and smiled as a squealing sound came from the unicorn to her left. “And I thought you would probably like to go and check that one out Rarity.”

Rarity stopped her foalish squeal of excitement and drew herself up into a ladylike pose. “Of course darling, it would be my pleasure.”

“I think there’s also going to be somepony arriving in the Crystal Empire.”

“Ooh, me, pick me, pick me!” Pinkie bounced up and down on her seat waving her foreleg in the air.

“Just why are you so keen to see the Crystal Empire Pinkie?” Rarity asked, confused.

“Oh it’s not so much the Crystal Empire itself, it’s more because that's where Maud went on her research trip, so if I get any spare time I could go and visit her!”

“Well okay Pinkie,” Twilight began, “but remember this isn’t a vacation. I need you to focus on finding this pony first.” After seeing Pinkie nod vigorously in response, Twilight turned once more to the map and made another mark in Cloudsdale.

“Ah, that’ll be mine!” Rainbow leaned forward eagerly.

“Actually Rainbow, I was thinking that Fluttershy could take this one.”

“Oh I don’t mind, if Rainbow really wants to go I wouldn’t want to stop her.”

“No, it’s just that I’ve got a special mission for Rainbow,” Twilight said, winking at Rarity and Applejack as they witnessed the cyan pegasus’ predictable smug reaction.

“A special mission huh? I guess it’s only fair that I’m the one to take that. Where am I going then? Vanhoover? The Griffin Kingdoms? The depths of Tartarus?”

“I don’t know yet. But I need somepony fast on standby so that if I detect any other disturbances I can send you out to race after them. I'm sure you could catch them in time.”

“Eh, I can do that, no sweat.” Rainbow leant back in her chair with a satisfied expression on her face.

Twilight smiled and rolled the map back up. “I’ll get you all copies of this before you leave so that you don’t forget exactly where to go, but for now we have to discuss what you’re going to talk about if you do meet these ponies.” Twilight pulled a quill and paper over towards her. “It’s clear that you will not have much time to speak with anypony before the infection, err, overwhelms them. Based on my experience with Trixie I think it would be helpful if you each had a topic you asked specific questions about.”

Twilight started to list the names of her friends down the side of the paper. “Pinkie, since you’ll be in the Crystal Empire and we think they might have originated there, I want you to try and learn more about Shards. What exactly are they? Are they completely mindless? How do they fight? Questions like that.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!”

“Fluttershy, you know the most about diseases so I want you to try and learn as much as you can about the infection. How does it spread? What are its symptoms? Anything you can think of that would be useful to know.”

“Um, okay.”

“Excellent. And now Rarity, Trixie mentioned a few things that the other princesses and I had done in the future. I think it would be helpful to know as much as possible about what we were up to, or are going to be up to, or… arrgh, tenses are so confusing when time travel is involved!”

“Don’t worry dear, I know what you mean.”

“Okay. Applejack.” Twilight turned to the earth pony mare. “I want you to ask questions about the Equestrian Defence Force, or EDF.”

“The what now?”

“The EDF. It sounds like some sort of special guard that’s been set up to deal with Shards in the future. I want to know how it’s structured, why it was deemed necessary, how it is run… as much detail as possible really.”

“Sure thing.”

“Good, and that just leaves Rainbow,” Twilight turned to the athletic pegasus sitting opposite her. “Rainbow, I want timeframes. When exactly do things get bad? At what point does the Infection start to spread? Hopefully you can work out just what we need to do and when to avoid this bleak future.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Twilight slumped into her seat. “Brilliant. And meanwhile, I’m going to be having the longest nap of my life.”

There were appreciative smiles from around the table.

“You do that, sugarcube.”

Chapter 4 - Gathering Intel (Part I)

Chapter 4 – Gathering Intel (Part I)

Ponyville usually seemed a lot calmer when Twilight Sparkle was away. Spike dearly loved his adoptive sister, but he couldn’t deny that she had an eerie knack for attracting trouble. True, he had enjoyed their recent adventures, but he had also grown to appreciate the times when he would be left with the library all to himself and could do what he wanted, when he wanted.

He was not doing what he wanted at the moment though.

The first few times Spike had been left behind while Twilight and her friends went off on one of their adventures, he had been unable to relax the entire time, feeling equal parts disappointment at not being able to go with them, and worry that something would happen to Twilight. Those feelings had not completely gone, but Twilight was a lot more capable with magic now, never mind that she was an alicorn and a princess, and the peace of mind that knowledge gave Spike allowed him the opportunity to enjoy himself more at home.

He was not enjoying himself at the moment though.

What he was doing, was trying to keep track of three hyperactive young fillies as they zipped from bookshelf to bookshelf in the Golden Oak Library, pulling books out haphazardly and generally making a mess of the room he had so carefully cleaned just a few hours before.

He should never have let them come inside in the first place. He had been quite happy, baking a very tempting new recipe he had found for sapphire pie, half-heartedly attempting to not eat any of the delicious gems before it came to filling the pastry, and then settling down to read some of his favourite comics once he had put the dish in the oven. He had finished one issue, retrieved a drink from the kitchen, checked on the pie, and had barely gotten comfortable again before hearing what was to be the harbinger of doom: a series rapid knocks on the door and the sound of chatting and laughing outside.

Supposedly Twilight had forgotten to tell the crusaders that she would be away and that their regularly scheduled ‘Twilight Time’ would have to be cancelled. Spike found this explanation for the fillies’ appearance at the door more than a little suspicious, especially considering two of them had sisters who were also away, but after they had begged him to let them in, promising they knew where to find everything they needed and that they would be fine by themselves, he had relented and allowed them inside.

Big mistake.

Perhaps he should have known that they would not touch any of the special equipment Twilight usually prepared for them. Instead they seemed to be dead set on pulling every book in the library out of their shelves, but then giving them little more than cursory glances before throwing them aside. Spike was sure they must be looking for something specific, no doubt related to one of their crusades, but an explanation hadn’t been forthcoming when he had asked, and he wasn’t sure he even wanted to know.

The only upside he could see to the situation was that unlike the last time he had found himself unexpectedly foalsitting these three disaster-magnets, at least he did not have a menagerie of pets to look after as well. Spike had been very insistent about that when Twilight and the others left, giving an excuse that he wanted peace and quiet to avoid being forced to tell Twilight the real reason, namely that, after all the drama the last time he had been given the responsibility, Spike didn’t trust himself with more than Owlowiscious to look after. (And really, Owlowiscious was perfectly capable of looking after himself.)

Still, those six animals might be easier than these three fillies. Spike watched as Sweetie Belle climbed to the highest rung of the ladder, evidently intending to retrieve a book from the top shelf. The young unicorn attempted to withdraw it with her magic, failed, and instead tilted the ladder backwards far enough that with a squeal she toppled backwards into a pile of books, landing right next to an oblivious Apple Bloom who was completely engrossed in whatever book she was reading. Scootaloo, meanwhile, had a towering stack of tomes beside her, which would have impressed Spike had he not noticed that at some point she had given up on reading them. Instead the young orange pegasus was using the books to mark how high she was able to keep herself sustained with her wings.

Spike made what was probably about to be his fifth failed attempt at restoring order.

“Come on you three, you need to clear up this mess. What would Twilight say if she knew you were doing this instead of the stuff you were supposed to be doing?”

“She’d say it was awesome just how much better I’ve got at this,” Scootaloo replied, hovering in the air once more. “I’m a whole book higher than last time!”

“And she’d say it was great that I was still working on my magic!” Sweetie Belle added, pulling herself out of the pile of fallen books. “Did you see how close I was?”

“I don’t think she’d be very impressed with how you you’re treating these books. Twilight loves books, she would never make a mess like this.”

Meanwhile, in the corner of a quiet room far away in Canterlot, a forgotten and much neglected pile of books lay on the floor next to an empty desk and giant hourglass, slowly gathering dust.

“Well Ah’m readin’ mine!” Apple Bloom said indignantly, finally looking up and waving the book she held in the air. “You can’t tell me Ah’m mistreatin’ them.”

“But you are sitting on top of a pile of books though AB,” Scootaloo pointed out. “At least I stacked these up neatly.” She flailed a hoof at the tower of books next to her, clipping the edge of one of them and causing the entire stack to collapse. She looked guiltily at the new mess she had made. “Oops.”

“Right!” shouted Spike, stamping his foot and attempting to sound intimidating. “You’re all going to clear this up right now!”

“Aww, but Spiiike,” they began together.

“I said now!” Spike repeated, stamping his foot again. “There’s no way you’re getting out of this!”

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Spike noticed a billow of smoke erupt from under the door to the kitchen.

“Aargh! My pie!” The baby dragon started running towards the kitchen, but then skidded to a halt. “No, wait, I don’t mind my food a little burnt.” He turned back around. “But I will not let you get away without cleaning up right now! There will be no other distractions, so-” But he couldn’t continue because, as though in response to his blatant tempting of fate, he was interrupted by another distraction as he felt heat rising in his chest. With a great belch of dragonfire a scroll materialised in front of him. Assuming it must be for him since Twilight was away, he unrolled it and started to read.

Dear Spike,

I have a huge favour to ask of you. Do you remember the time-travelling pony Applejack mentioned the other day? There’s going to be another one arriving near Ponyville sometime soon, and it would be really helpful if you could go and talk to them and find out as much as you can about the future. Unfortunately I think they’ll arrive a little way into the Everfree Forest. I would have asked Rainbow Dash to go, but I’ve already sent her off into the Badlands.

Please be careful Spike. I suggest you go with Zecora, she’ll keep you safe. You should also go as soon as possible and leave the forest if it starts to get dark, whether or not you’ve been successful. And remember to be careful. And take Owlowiscious too, he has great eyesight, I’m sure make a good lookout for anything unsavoury. And let me know as soon as you get back. In fact give me regular updates so I know you’re okay.

I’m being silly aren’t I? I’ve seen you fend off timberwolves before, you’re a dragon for goodness sake! Take care Spike.

Twilight

Spike sighed and rolled the letter up. He looked at the smoke still spilling out of the kitchen. He looked at the slowly sinking sun outside. He looked back at the scroll. He looked up at the fillies in front of him. He sighed again.

“It looks like I won’t be here to make you clear this mess up after all. So much for my attempt to be responsible…”

Three loud whoops echoed throughout Ponyville.

It was a gorgeous evening. The air was just the right temperature, and the sky was beautiful, with the red light of the slowly setting sun illuminating the clouds that formed the city of Cloudsdale wonderfully. Many of the pegasi in the city were lounging on the roofs of their houses to admire the sunset, muttering words of appreciation to the Princess and sharing a few drinks after a hard day’s work.

For Fluttershy, the abundance of ponies made her task all the more difficult. Just as she had been leaving Canterlot, Twilight had explained that because of the constantly shifting nature of the cloud city, it was almost impossible to pinpoint exactly where the pony she was supposed to find was going to appear, and that her best bet would be to just look around for any unusual ponies.

She could see a lot of those. Fluttershy didn’t spend a lot of time looking at other ponies normally, a habit she had developed when much younger to try and avoid doing anything that might encourage strangers to talk to her. Now that she was looking however, they all seemed a little unusual. She had spotted ponies with manes in the most vibrant of colours and styles, seen clothes ranging from exquisite to insane, and heard the wildest array of accents imaginable. She had even witnessed a couple of ponies getting a little more… intimate… than she would have liked to see, causing her to let out an ‘eep’ and fly away as fast as she could, blushing furiously. But not once had she seen a pony covered in the tell-tale dark crystals that she was looking for.

The butter pegasus started another half-hearted flight through the city, and began to worry about what she would say to the others if she returned having found nothing. It would be so embarrassing! There was no way any of the rest of her friends would have failed, they were all so proactive and confident. Maybe she should just go back to Ponyville, she wouldn’t be much help to the others anyway, and her animals would be missing her, and could comfort her.

“No,” she muttered to herself. “Bad Fluttershy.” Ever since she had gained such great friends she had been working to stop those familiar thoughts from affecting her, but they were still there, and she sometimes had to remind herself that she was stronger than she thought, when her friends or Angel weren’t there to remind her themselves.

She floated to a stop and landed on a cloud with her wings spread, letting the breeze flow through her feathers, calming her down. Maybe she should change her approach. She took a deep breath and flew high up into the air until almost all of Cloudsdale was in view. If she didn’t think too hard about just how high up she was, and how long a drop it would be, this would be the perfect position to look around to try and-

Nope. Before she had even thought about it she was resting back on the cloud below, taking deep breaths to steady her heartbeat. She just had to think about how far the fall would be, didn’t she?

“Hey, you!”

Fluttershy let out a gasp, and spun around, head ducking behind her mane as another pegasus came into view.

“Shutterfly, right?”

“Oh, yes. I mean, no, I mean, I’m… Fluttershy.”

“Ah dammit, that’s right. Anyway, you flew with Rainbow Dash for the relay at the Equestria Games, didn’t you?”

“Oh, yes, I did.” Fluttershy examined the pale blue pegasus in front of her, looking over her wispy white mane and cutie mark of a horseshoe pressing against a yellow arc. “Um, Fleetfoot?” she hazarded, before looking around and noticing a few colts and fillies looking on in awe from the distance. “You… you’re a Wonderbolt.”

Fleetfoot grinned widely. “You’ve got it.” She pulled a dramatic flight pose, probably not coincidentally timing it at exactly the moment there was a flash of a camera from behind her. Fluttershy winced away at the camera light, painful memories of her short stint as a model resurfacing.

“So hey, I just wanted to say how awesome that race was. Your team really put up a good fight! A well-deserved silver medal!”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but blush at the praise. “Oh, thanks, but it was mostly Rainbow Dash.”

“She’s something special alright,” said Fleetfoot, nodding in agreement. “It seems like half the team are talking about her and her rainboom these days.” Her expression soured slightly. “Still can’t believe she can pull that off. It’s unbelievable. We’ve all tried it of course, but none of us have even come close. Misty says she almost had it once, but I’m not sure I believe her. That mare just doesn’t have the acceleration needed to-”

Fleetfoot’s monologue was cut off by another flash from behind her, this one far brighter than a camera and coupled with a resounding bang and the squeals of foals fleeing the scene. She whirled around and crouched as though ready to spring, while Fluttershy stumbled backwards in shock. However when Fluttershy identified that the noise had heralded the sudden appearance of a dazed looking pegasus, his white body covered in unhealthy shadowy splotches and some very ominous looking black crystals coating his tale and part of his hind legs, she took a deep breath and pulled herself together, determination etched across her face.

“What the?” started Fleetfoot, stepping backwards from the strange pegasus even as Fluttershy stepped forwards.

“Um, hello,” Fluttershy began, looking down at the sinking form in front of her. “I’m Fluttershy, and I- oh goodness!”

The reason for Fluttershy’s exclamation became immediately apparent as the prone pegasus slipped a little further into the cloud he was laying on, gave a short yelp, and plummeted right through it towards the ground far below.

“Oh goodness oh goodness,” Fluttershy continued, determination forgotten as she stared in shock at the newly formed hole in front of her.

Fleetfoot did not hesitate even for a moment however. Without a second thought she sprung up into the air and then launched herself down the hole like an eagle swooping after its prey. Fluttershy watched in amazement as the two silhouettes disappeared into the distance below, and then realised she should probably fly down to join them. Twilight had said that the ponies from the future had all lost most of their magic. That obviously extended to pegasi and their ability to walk to clouds. She would have to tell Fleetfoot that there was no point carrying the poor pony back up to Cloudsdale.

It took her a few minutes before she pulled herself together, put thoughts of the distance of the drop out of her mind, and caught up with the now no longer plummeting ponies. They did not seem to be out of the woods just yet, however.

“Celestia’s plot, you’re a heavy one. What do you eat?”

The reply was nothing more than a rasping cough.

“Can’t you use your wings? I’m not gonna do all the work myself you know.”

“C… can’t fly.”

“Damn.” Fleetfoot continued to hold the wheezing pegasus in her hooves and looked up at the sound of wings above her. “Oh, hey Fluttershy, nice of you to join us. Give me a hoof?”

“Um, actually I think we should take him to the ground.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ll look after him there.”

“Oh, you know him?”

Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Uh, yes.”

“Okay then.”

Evidently Fleetfoot didn’t do anything slowly, because no sooner had she stopped talking than she zipped towards the ground. Fluttershy blinked in surprise and then followed her at a more acceptable pace, landing beside the time-displaced pegasus as the Wonderbolt laid him on the grass.

“You sure you can look after him?”

“Yes.”

“You want any help?”

Fluttershy didn’t have to think too hard about this. Twilight had said that it was best if as few ponies as possible knew about the strange events that were happening to avoid any unnecessary worry.

“No thanks, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

Fleetfoot shrugged. “If you’re sure. Nice seeing you again.” She then blasted back up into the air without another word.

Applejack blinked rapidly to try and discourage her drooping eyelids from closing completely. It was now the second time she had met a pony from the future, and the experiences could not have been any different. She tried to shift her expression into one of interest as she continued to listen to the slowly crystallising stallion in front of her.

“…of course they accepted me right away. They’d probably never seen an earth pony with as much raw strength and tenacity as me. Did I tell you yet that I split the training dummy clean in half when I bucked it? Ha, that little dummy never saw it coming! It’s not surprising they were head over hooves to sign me up after that. I think I heard somepony say that no other volunteer was recruited as fast as I was.”

“Is that so.”

“Yeah! And it wasn’t long before they put me out on the front lines. It was always clear I would be one of the infantry. No support or scouting for me, thanks! Although I bet if they had made me a scout I’d have been the best scout ever. I’d never have to report anything back, because I’d take out any Shards I saw! Ha, that would have been a laugh. But nah, infantry was always the place for me. I think my unit was the most successful, mostly down to my leadership I’m sure. Even if I was never an official leader, I pretty much carried the team.”

“You don’t say.”

“I do! I wish you’d been there to see it, I was unstoppable when I got in the zone. Took out five Shards with one buck once, did I say that yet? Pulled a muscle doing it too, but my finest moment regardless. Real shame nopony was there to witness it, but I’m sure they only said they didn’t believe me because they were jealous. Nothing wrong with that of course. I’d probably be jealous of me too.”

“Would you really.”

“Yeah, probably. Nopony was ever recruited as fast as I was, have I said that already? Of course the Vanhoover regiment was one of the toughest too, it being so close to the action, which only makes it more impressive. I doubt the regiment in this backwater place did much.”

“Hey! Watch your mouth, you varmint. Appleloosa’s a fine settlement, and don’t you forget that none.”

“Oh is that where we are? Actually I heard the Appleloosa regiment of the EDF was mostly made up of buffalo, can you imagine? I guess they did have a lot to do, what with those creeps from Dodge constantly making raids. I bet I could take a buffalo. Sure they’re big, I’ll give them that, but they can’t be as agile as the Viper, hyaah! Oh, that’s my name by the way, Blue Viper. I don’t know if I said that yet. You’d probably know me if you were from the future too, I’m well known what with all my success in battle. You’re Applejack of course, no need for any introductions there. I never did get why you didn’t join the EDF, why do you think you didn’t?”

“Ah don’t know.”

“No I suppose you wouldn’t yet. Oh well, the day will come. I guess everything’s really boring at the moment? Shame, everything got much more fun when the Shards started attacking. Did I tell you about that time I killed six Shards with one buck? Ha, those were the days! Not that I’ve run out of steam or anything. Why, I bet I could take out an army of shards myself if it showed up right now. I’d start by charging right up to them, and them give them that sneaky sidestep that seems to always confuse them, and then blam! Oh, that reminds me, I’ve got to tell you about the time…”

Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as she casually bounced along one of the paths leading through the Crystal Empire. Her destination was away from all of the buildings and towards the base of one of the nearby Crystal Mountains, but she felt in no rush to get there. Although she knew that her Pinkie Sense had been acting up a little lately, including her least favourite combo striking a couple more times, both seemingly incorrectly, she was still convinced that she had no need for haste. Instead she looked around and smiled at all the crystal ponies she bounded past, waving madly at the ponies she recognised and just as madly at the ones she didn’t.

As the pink mare progressed further out of the city and the frequency of the buildings around her dropped, she stared up with excitement at the approaching mountains. She was suddenly overcome with the desire to climb to the top of them, and so she stopped bouncing and zipped up the nearest peak, stopping at the top and stabbing a flag decorated with a sigil of her cutie mark into the highest point.

“HEEELLLOOO EQUESTRIAAAAA!”

After waiting for a few moments in case Equestria should reply, Pinkie zipped back down to the spot on the path she had previously been occupying and continued bouncing on her merry journey. Twilight had identified a point near the entrance to one of the tunnels through the mountains as the location where her target would arrive, and Pinkie could spy that tunnel from where she was, so if anypony did show up she would see them appear, even from this distance.

Pinkie was very excited, partly with the idea that she might get to learn about the future, but also because there was a chance that it would be a pony she knew, and that would be fun!

Pinkie suddenly screeched to a halt, embedding herself slightly into the ground as she did so. No, that would not be fun, because then she would see somepony that she knew suffering, and dying, and although it would be sad no matter who it was, it would be sadder if it was one of her friends. Pinkie felt her hair deflate slightly and continued her journey at a slower pace, walking along looking at the ground in front of her.

But Twilight had said that when Trixie had died, she had been almost happy to go, as though she had accepted it and was relieved it was happening at last. That was kind of sad, because anypony who was thinking like that must have been through some sad times, but also kind of not sad, because at least the pony was leaving in good spirits. Pinkie resumed her bouncing. If she had anything to do with it, she would make sure that whoever she met, they had the biggest smile ever on their face for all the time she talked to them.

Half an hour later Pinkie was sitting on a rock next to the entrance to the tunnel she had been heading for, staring at the spot on the ground where she expected her new friend to appear. She had been holding a fixed grin so that the first thing the pony saw when arriving back from the bleak future was something happy, but the corners of her smile were beginning to droop as the time ticked by with nothing happening.

An echoing sound rung out from down the tunnel and the waiting earth pony turned to have another look into its dark depths. Sounds had been coming from inside for the last few minutes, but she still couldn’t see anything. Whatever it was though, it wasn’t the reason she was here, so that made it unimportant. She was on official time-traveller watching duty, and nothing would distract her!

A few moments later she had just decided that she would allow herself this one distraction when there was a sudden blare of light and noise and the pony she had been waiting for was suddenly there, standing in front of her. In an instant Pinkie’s grin had reaffixed itself as she looked over the new arrival. This pony’s body was already completely crystal, although the fact that most of the back half of her body seemed to be made of a darker and more jagged material suggested that she was a crystal pony who had been infected by the same ailment as the others. It also wasn’t anypony Pinkie knew.

“Hi!” Pinkie beamed. “I’m Pinkie Pie, the perpetually perky pink party pony! Who a-”

A flare of red magic suddenly blasted from out of the tunnel and struck the pony in front of Pinkie square in the flank. A horrific shattering noise echoed around the valley as the entire infected back portion of the crystal pony disintegrated, and the mare’s eyes rolled up into the back of her head as the front half of her body fell lifelessly to the floor.

“-re yooouurrghhh...”

Pinkie swallowed a mouthful of bile and turned slowly to see a figure stepping out of the darkness of the tunnel. It looked suspiciously like a unicorn version of the beast they had fought in Zecora’s hut a few days prior, and Pinkie did not want to imagine what effect another blast of its magic would have on her.

Pinkie narrowed her eyes at her foe, flexed her forelimbs menacingly, and turned and fled.

There was nothing green for miles around. The parched earth was layered with a grimy dust that coated anything that stayed in the wasteland for too long. It being an uninhabited area, there were no pegasi around, and so it never rained. The name Badlands could not have been more apt.

On any normal day there would be no need for further description, but this was not a normal day. A section of the desert was about to become host to more than its fair share of strange occurrences, and it would all begin with the blinding flash that abruptly burst from a spot on the ground.

A few seconds of tranquillity followed, before a cough alerted the world to the presence of a white-bodied blue-maned unicorn in the dirt. He slowly pulled himself to his hooves and glanced about him warily. It did not take long to identify that there was nothing to see. With a dry chuckle the stallion slumped back to the ground. Of all the places in Equestria to end up…

After a few moments to catch his breath, the unicorn got to his hooves once more. It would not do to give up now, he still had a duty to the ponies of Equestria, and he had never let hardship hold him back before. There was still a chance, albeit a small one, that a pony would pass by this way at some point. If he could just leave a message...

Another glance reminded the unicorn that there was nothing around him that could be any use in creating a note. Seeing no other option, he lit his horn and focussed as much of his severely diminished magic into it as he could, in an attempt to scour a line into the earth in front of him. When a minutes struggle had barely formed a single letter, the stallion changed tactics. He had always had an impressive horn, perhaps it was fitting that he put it to this final use before he went.

The pain was excruciating as he dragged his horn through the ground, but a part of him found it oddly comforting. He could feel that blasted Infection crawling up his legs, but the pain reminded him that he wasn’t dead yet. He could still make a difference. What was important was that he got as much information down as he could, anything that would help.

And so he wrote, about the emergence of the Infection, about the attacks from the north, the surprise in the south, anything important he could remember. He listed dates, he mentioned key places, and he even inscribed a short farewell to the world. After he felt he could write no more, the white stallion collapsed to his haunches and breathed in the dusty air around him. He had lived a good life.

Unfortunately for him, his peaceful exit from the world was interrupted by a skittering sound behind him. His body was mostly lost to him now, but he was just able to twist his face around to try and see what had made the noise.

“I say, is somepony there?”

There was a few moments of silence at his words before he heard the noise once more, from the other side this time. As he cracked his head back around he just had time to stare into a pair of glowing green eyes before his body could resist no longer and he fell into nothing.

It was only ten minutes later that Rainbow Dash crashed down to the ground a few feet from the now deserted patch of earth. After spotting the pile of dark crystalline shards, she let out a whine of frustration and kicked one of the fragments as far as she could across the wasteland.

“Aargh! Fastest pony in Equestria and I couldn’t get here in time!”

She sunk to the ground and leant down towards the shimmering crystals.

“I don’t know who you are, but for what it’s worth I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to die alone, I should have been faster.” She stamped a hoof. “And next time I will be faster. I swear it.”

The pegasus looked up and saw an interesting sight on the earth in front of her that she hadn’t noticed before. There seemed to be a series of deep gouges in the earth, covering the occasional fine scratch. Anypony who had been watching for the last few minutes would be able to identify it for what it was, namely a scribbled message that had been hurriedly and thoroughly erased, but to Rainbow it was gibberish. She shrugged and gave the pile of fragments at her hooves one last look.

“Rest in peace.”

And with that, she rocketed herself back into the sky, rainbow trail fading into the distance.

It was only when the trail had completely disappeared that the figure hiding out of sight in the distance started to move again. That had been a close one. It was fortunate that she had been looking up when the rainbow trail had first appeared, she would not have wanted to confront one of those meddling element bearers in the state she was in now, and it had given her just enough time to scour away what she had seen.

She allowed herself a wide smirk. Out of nothing, the evening had turned out rather well. After spotting the unusual flash in the distance she had flitted over to discover firstly an unfamiliar type of pony, who hadn't lasted long in any case, but more importantly she had found a fascinating message. If it were true, and she did not doubt that it was since one of Celestia’s pawns had been sent to find it, then this information could be just the advantage she and her family needed. Even better, she did not even need to think of a plan, because she had already seen scored into the dirt exactly what she would do, and when, and that she was to be successful!

The future could not have looked more perfect.

Chapter 5 - Gathering Intel (Part II)

Chapter 5 – Gathering Intel (Part II)

The deserted room was a disconcerting sight. It clearly had not been abandoned long, as dust had not yet had time to settle. Stained outlines of bottles and strange artefacts were still visible stretching along the now empty shelves. The stands where candles had once been were also now bare, leaving the entire hut with an unnatural chill and a musty taste in the air. It was not a particularly welcoming atmosphere.

“Zecora’s gone?”

“It looks like it.”

“Ah wonder where she went?”

Spike stepped slowly around the bare hut, looking for any clue as to the reason for the disappearance of its past occupant. Zecora had taken absolutely everything with her. What would make the normally so steadfast zebra decide to abandon her home like this?

The cutie mark crusaders followed in his footsteps, seemingly more than a little disturbed at how barren the room was. Spike had been completely unable to shake the three of them off, his brief attempts at being authoritative failing due to his desire to not waste any time.

“We’ll go with you!” Apple Bloom had said, once they had heard what the note from Twilight was asking Spike to do. “Mah sister lets me go to Zecora’s all the time!”

“What? When was the last time you asked her permi-mmmp.”

“All. The. Time,” repeated Apple Bloom, slowly withdrawing her hoof from the young pegasus’ mouth and giving her friend a pointed look.

“Oh, right, of course!” Scootaloo buzzed in the air. “Me too!”

“Me three!” added Sweetie Belle, as they all turned to Spike and gave him the widest puppy-dog eyes they could muster.

Spike had relented pretty quickly. The road to Zecora’s hut was not particularly dangerous, and he had hoped that with any luck he would be able to persuade them to stay there while he, Owlowiscious, and Zecora hunted down the future-pony. Of course now that there was no Zecora…

“Maybe we should go back.”

“What!?” The three fillies rounded on him.

“You can’t just give up!” started Scootaloo.

“Yeah! You ain’t a coward are you?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the Great and Honourable Spike the Brave and… something?” Sweetie added.

“I think it was Brave and Gluttonous,” Scootaloo said with complete sincerity, turning to the young unicorn.

“What? No it wasn’t!” the white filly retorted.

“Nah, it was the Brave and Gloryful,” Apple Bloom suggested.

“That’s not even a word!”

“Hooo!” added Owlowiscious from his perch on the windowsill above.

Spike could feel his patience wearing thin. The quicker he got this over with, the quicker he could get back to the library and see if the rather over-crisp pie he had made could be salvaged. He had only had time to turn the oven off before leaving, and he was not looking forwards to seeing exactly what the result of his neglect had been.

“Okay girls,” he said finally, breaking through the simmering argument. “We’ll just take a quick look.”

They broke apart instantly. “Awesome!” They turned to each other excitedly and Spike braced himself for what he knew to be coming next. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER… EVERFREE EXPLORERS!”

At least it shouldn’t be too far to go, thought Spike as he departed the eerily quiet hut and started plodding towards the nearby trees. Twilight had provided the baby dragon with a surprisingly detailed map of the Everfree Forest, and the location she had marked as the expected arrival-zone was only a short distance away. He estimated that at the pace they were currently walking, with Owlowiscious flying silently high above him and the fillies prancing around behind him, it would only take about fifteen minutes before they reached their destination.

Once they got there though, Spike had no idea what would happen. From the story Applejack had told it didn’t sound like it would be a pleasant encounter, and Spike had avoided telling the crusaders anything other than that he and Zecora were going to look for something in the forest. He wasn’t sure exactly how he would explain it to them if they did find anypony, but he would cross that bridge as and when he needed to.

Instead he decided to distract himself from the task in front of him, and the growing unease building in his stomach as the forest darkened around them.

“Hey Apple Bloom,” he called out. “What was that book you were looking at earlier?”

The yellow earth pony filly trotted up to him with a confused look on her face.

“What book?”

“The one you were reading before. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so engrossed in anything!”

“Oh right, that one. Uh…” she shifted her hooves and looked down to the ground. “You promise not to tell anypony?”

“Um, sure,” Spike said, intrigued.

“Especially not mah sister!” She prodded him in the chest. “You have to promise!”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly,” Spike began, drawing his claw across his chest and going through the remaining motions.

“Okay. Here goes…”

Spike listened with interest, which quickly faded to disappointment. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, not having any idea what Apple Bloom would feel the need to be secretive about. Maybe she had found a novel she was ashamed to admit that she enjoyed, or had discovered an interest in a topic that she felt the others would say was uncool.

He certainly hadn’t expected to be subjected to a sudden rant on how boring apples were.

“… and everypony in mah family has apple cutie marks, or cutie marks related to apples, and Ah just know they all think Ah’ll get an apple cutie mark too, and it’s just not faaaiiir!”

“Whoa, hey, Apple Bloom, I had no idea you hated apples so much.”

The young earth pony kicked the ground impetuously, and then sighed. “Ah don’t hate apples. And Ah love mah sister. It’s just Ah sometimes want to do mah own thing, you know?”

“Oh.” Spike could certainly sympathise. Once or twice he had been struck by a similar desire, one time ending with his now infamous attempt to follow the dragon migration. “Well that’s not too bad, I’m sure Applejack would understand as long as you were happy. So why were you looking for books?”

“We were looking for descriptions of a bunch of different jobs Ah could maybe do. You know, in case any of ‘em jumped out at me. The book Ah found was about architecki… whatever. It looked real interestin’.”

“No need for that!” Scootaloo interjected, pulling up beside them on the scooter she had unsurprisingly brought along. “We already know we want to be adventurer ponies!”

“Ah did enjoy makin’ the pie delivery to that swamp,” Apple Bloom said thoughtfully, before her expression darkened. “Although Ah never want to see another chimera…” She shivered as the memories of her dramatic encounter resurfaced.

“You just need me with you Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo buzzed into the air and swung her hooves in what was surely supposed to be a threatening manner. “I’d protect you. I learned from the coolest pony ever!”

“Hooo!”

“Rainbow Dash,” the orange pegasus replied.

“HOOO!”

“I said Rainb-”

“AAAGHHH!”

Spike and the two fillies spun around at the sound of Sweetie Belle’s scream and saw the young unicorn charging towards them. Without any explanation she galloped straight past them and into the bushes on the other side of the clearing they were currently occupying.

Spike made eye contact with the others, who both looked just as confused as he was, before turning suspiciously back to the direction Sweetie Belle had run from. There didn’t seem to be anything chasing her. Or wait, what was that in the tree branches?

The rustling movement overhead stopped as a sudden howl echoed throughout the forest and a monstrous creature leapt out of the branches and onto the ground in front of them. Spike had never seen anything like it before. It looked to be mostly reptilian, with a long scaly body and four stubby legs, but it had the head of a wolf, which as he watched let out another howl. Spike made to turn away just as the creature swung its long tail around over its body like a scorpion would, revealing a bulb at the end somewhat like that of a plant, which bulged and then opened, letting loose a noxious purple spray towards the three of them.

“RUN!” he bellowed, turning and scampering away as fast as his legs could carry him. From the corner of his eye he could see Scootaloo jumping back onto her scooter, pulling Apple Bloom up behind her, and buzzing off in the direction Sweetie Belle had headed. Not wanting to get split up, Spike followed them, charging into the bush and then winding through the trees while the crashing noises of the beast lumbering along behind them echoed around the forest. The brush around him was very thick and Spike could barely see where he was going, almost causing him to fall flat on his face on more than one occasion as he tripped on stones and tree branches.

There was another howl and the noise of something rushing through the air, and Spike instinctively threw himself to the side as a blob of purple liquid splatted to the ground where he had just been running, sizzling before starting to burn its way into the ground. With wide eyes the baby dragon pulled himself to his feet and continued his panicked run, barely paying attention to where he was going anymore. He knew that dragon skin was tough, but he did not want to test what would happen if some of that toxic fluid got on him.

“Spike, over here!”

He looked up and saw Sweetie Belle standing between two large trees and immediately realised what her plan was. The gap between the trees was narrow, large enough for the two of them to pass through, but certainly too small for the… whatever it was… to follow. Spike changed course and followed as Sweetie Belle darted away through the trees, trying not to panic as the sounds of the relentlessly pursuing creature got louder and louder, before with a final kick he threw himself through the small gap and heard a loud crash behind him.

Spike pulled himself awkwardly to his feet from the prone position he had landed in, Sweetie Belle running back to him to make sure he was okay, before they both turned around to look at the result of their cunning plan. The two trees were holding fast, as between them the beast was straining against the enclosing trunks, growling as it mindlessly tried to pull itself through the impossible gap. Spike just had time to let out a sigh of relief before the creature’s tail swung over its head once more and it spat out another toxic blob towards the two of them.

Purely by instinct, Spike took a quick breath and then let out a gout of dragonfire, which enveloped the approaching liquid and transported it away, zipping up into the air. Blinking in surprise at what he had just done without any real thought, Spike turned and ran away with Sweetie Belle once again, wanting to put the creature as far behind them as possible. Hopefully Celestia wasn’t currently standing in front of anything important, as she was just about to get a particularly unwelcome gift…

Only after they had crashed through the greenery for another few minutes did the young dragon and unicorn slump to a halt against a tree.

“What… hah… was that… hah… thing?” wheezed Sweetie Belle, gulping for air.

“No… hah… idea…” Spike replied, taking equally large breaths. “But I think we’ve… hah… got away from it now…”

“Where are the others?” Sweetie asked suddenly, peering around them.

“Also no idea.”

“I hope they’re alright, I… Aaaghh! Monster!”

Spike looked up hurriedly to see a demon from the depths of Tartarus dragging itself towards them, which after a few blinks resolved itself into the image of a jagged crystalline unicorn stallion. Spike took note of the translucent body and swirling shadowy mist inside and realised that he had found the pony he was supposed to be looking for, albeit probably a little too late if the crystals spreading up the stallion’s neck were anything to go by.

Sweetie Belle screamed again, and Spike realised that she had no idea what the pony in front of her was and so likely still believed it to be some sort of demon. Before he could say anything however, there was a crash from the bush beside them and a scooter blasted out of it into the air, two ponies riding it, one of whom launched themselves towards the stallion.

“Take this!” Scootaloo yelled, and connected her forehoof with the face of the ‘demon’ at exactly the moment when his strangely glowing eyes glazed over and his body shattered into thousands of small fragments. Caught off guard, the fuchsia-maned pegasus landed roughly on the newly formed pile of shards with a grunt.

There were a few moments of silence, interrupted when a familiar owl flew down from the sky and hovered above them, hooting in pleasure when he realised they were all safe. That interruption was all Scootaloo needed to shake her out of her brief reverie and fire up her enthusiasm once again.

“Wow, did you see that!? I punched the monster so hard it exploded!” There were appreciative murmurs from the other crusaders as the excited filly continued. “I bet I’ll get a cutie mark in explosions!”

Spike had to admit that he wouldn’t be surprised if the chaotic pegasus did get a cutie mark in demolitions of some sort, even if she hadn’t quite understood the current situation. “Actually,” he began, but then stopped, the gears in his head slowly turning. It might not be a good idea to tell Scootaloo that the ‘monster’ she had just ‘defeated’ was actually a pony. “Actually… Yeah! You were amazing Scootaloo!”

“Haha! I can’t wait to tell Rainbow Dash!”

“Of course.” Spike pulled himself to his feet. Perhaps now he could finally be responsible and get the fillies in front of him to do what he wanted. “But we should get out of here. Wouldn’t want to meet too many more monsters!”

“Mmhmm,” agreed Sweetie Belle.

“But what about your mission?” Scootaloo asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” he stated firmly, in a voice that brokered no disagreement. And with that settled, the four of them took off once more through the trees, Owlowiscious flying along above them, heading back to the safe haven of Ponyville.

Far below the gently floating sky-city of Cloudsdale, Fluttershy was resting on the grass and listening as intently as she could to the words of the stallion curled up in front of her. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, and it was torturing Fluttershy to know that there was nothing she could do to help him. It had taken her a while to get the fading pegasus to start speaking, but now he didn’t seem to want to stop, as though his thoughts had been building up inside him for a long time and he just had to let them all out.

“I’m just saying it would have been nice to get some advance warning. I’d accepted that I was going to die a long time ago, but I was hoping to do it at home with my wife, and now what? She could be on the other side of Equestria for all I know!”

“Oh, that does seem sad, but-”

“I’m telling you, those royal sisters up in Canterlot don’t really care about us. They only acted because they’d have nopony to rule over otherwise.”

“Um, well I’ve met both of them and I don’t think tha-”

“And did Princess Twilight even think about where she was sending us? Fat chance! I could have died if your friend hadn’t been there to catch me. I mean, died sooner anyway. In a worse way. But of course the Princess wouldn’t care about that.”

“Oh I’m sure she did her best. I’m a good friend of Twilight and I know she would neve-”

“And what exactly are we expected to do? It’s not like I’m in any fit state for anything now. Just look at me! I look like one of those blasted Crystal Ponies! Those ungrateful little… stealing our homes and jobs like that, I’m telling you… Hmmph.”

“Um, well actually you could help. I’m supposed to ask you abou-”

“Have you ever been to Fillydelphia? I bet it’s still beautiful now. That’s where I met Willow, and we’ve lived there ever since.”

“Yes it is a nice place. But really we should-”

“I’ll never see it again now, all thanks to those four rotten alicorns. I’m telling you, if I had a chance to talk to one of them I would… I would… I would have some stern words with them!”

“Oh, I’m sure they had the best of intentions. There must have been nothing else they cou-”

“Well good riddance to them I say! I’m never going to have to go to one of their silly celebrations or sit through one of their stupid public service announcements ever again.”

“Um, well, I’m happy for you, but do you think I could ask you some que-”

“…and before he had a chance to react I was on top of him! One quick punch to the side of the face and he was gone! Ha, they never have a chance when I get them one-on-one, believe me. The Viper can take anypony on if it’s one-on-one. Why, I reckon I could even take on your mountain of a brother if it came to it!”

“You reckon.”

“I do! Did I tell you he’s the captain of the Ponyville EDF regiment? I was almost the captain of the Vanhoover regiment myself of course. I mean sure, they never told me directly, but I’m certain I was next in line for the position. I hardly couldn’t have been, what with my amazing battle record and leadership skills. My unit of the regiment was always the most efficient whenever we made raids into Shard territory, and it was mostly down to me, I’m pretty sure I heard the captain say so.”

“Did you really.”

“Yeah, I did! And why wouldn’t he? Credit where credit’s due, he knows how to spot them. I was the quickest to ever be signed up, did I tell you? My dad was so proud of me that day, you know what he said to me? He said, ‘Son, go out there and give those Shards Tartarus for me’, and you know what? I did! I doubt there was another pony in the infantry who could match me for my tenacity! There was no going back after that, I was right into the fray. In all honesty, it’s a shame to be here where it’s all quiet. Not that I’m saying it’s boring here, don’t go shouting your head off again, just I would have loved to give the Shards one last parting gift!”

“Is that so.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. Them and that leader of theirs, did I tell you about her yet? A giant alicorn Shard, if you can believe it. The press had some fancy name for her, can’t remember what, but you know what I called her? Prey. Ahaha! Of course I never did meet her myself, lucky for her! I would’ve taken her head clean off her shoulders with one buck! Hey, did I ever tell you about that time I took out seven Shards with a single buck? I wish you could’ve seen it, you’d’ve loved it, a strong mare like yourself. It all started when…”

“Maybe you’re right though, maybe they didn’t have any other choice. But they shouldn’t have let things get so bad in the first place, it’s their lack of solid leadership that’s made Equestria into the place it’s become.”

“Um, what exactly happened to make it go bad, if you don’t mind me ask-”

“And I bet they had secret cures for the Infection that they were keeping to themselves. How else did they still look so perfectly healthy while everypony else started looking like this?”

“I don’t know, but can you tell me more about the infection plea-”

“In fact I’m starting to think that they had something to do with it! I reckon it was one of them that caused this all to happen. I bet it was Princess Twilight, she’s always seemed the most suspicious.”

“Oh, goodness, you can’t think-”

“Well whatever the reason I’m just glad it’ll all be over soon. Nothing worse for a pegasus than not being able to fly, and it’s been months since any but the best of us could. Can’t deny I’m well past it.”

“But, um, could you just-”

“…to be fair, the best thing that came out from all of this action was that a lot of ponies like me learned just how much they enjoy fighting! I even heard of a filly who got her cutie mark when she blasted a Shard to pieces with her magic. How awesome is that?! I bet you if I hadn’t already got my cutie mark I would have got it for fighting Shards too. I think of it as my second special talent anyway.”

“Do you really.”

“Of course! Not that it matters, the EDF takes all sorts. I heard of somepony who volunteered who had the special talent of competitive eating! How in Equestria does that relate to fighting? Urgh, I hope he didn’t eat the Shards he killed, I bet they taste horrible. Although actually, did I tell you about the time when I ripped the horn off of one of the unicorn Shards I was battling with my mouth? Definitely my finest moment, it made such a loud snap when it broke off, ha! It’s so much easier to fight them when you can stop them using their magic, I’m surprised more ponies didn’t try it.”

“Ah wonder why.”

“Yeah, no idea. Anyway, I don’t remember what its horn tasted like though, so it can’t have been too bad. Still, I wouldn’t want to eat one, I bet it would jab holes in the inside of your throat. Oh, and speaking of jabbing holes, I have to tell you about the time when…”

“I do really wish I could’ve seen Willow one more time. She really had the most beautiful of faces.”

“Oh, I’m sure she did, but could yo-”

“Damn those princesses, and damn those Shards. Damn this Infection and damn those Crystal Ponies. Damn everything.”

“Um, okay, but would you mind-”

“…shattered eight Shards in a single buck…”

Meanwhile, far away from either of the pair of one-sided conversations, a vibrant pink earth pony mare was running for her life.

It didn’t help that most of her body seemed to be disagreeing with her choice of action, instead wanting nothing more than to stop and retch at the memory of the mare she had seen blasted in half a short while prior. Pinkie had been in danger before. Pinkie had run for her life before. Pinkie had even witnessed death before. But she had never truly believed that she was going to die before.

She was currently winding her way through a thin canyon between two of the steeper cliffs in the area, ducking every now and then as jets of horrific red magic blasted overhead. As the beams crashed into the walls either side of her they broke away chunks of rock, almost crushing her on more than one occasion. She did not want to imagine the effect one of those blasts of magic would have if it connected with her. Pinkie had tried clambering up the vertical faces either side of her, but she hadn’t made it very far. Her body never seemed to fully co-operate when the situation was serious.

As Pinkie exited the twisty canyon she sprung up onto a boulder and started scrabbling up the side of a nearby crag. Despite the peril she was in, she had been thinking clearly enough, particularly about what her best course of action was. Running. That was a good start. The creature she was fleeing from, a ‘Shard’ if she remembered Twilight’s name for them correctly, was like the one she and her friends had faced with Zecora, but being in an open space and with the ability to use magic, this one seemed far more threatening. For that reason she had also decided that she should not run anywhere where there was a chance it might come across anypony else. This was why Pinkie Pie was now even deeper into the Crystal Mountains than she had been before.

As some of the boulders started to shift beneath her, Pinkie leapt up onto the peak of the rock face she was haphazardly ascending and stopped to catch her breath. She wasn’t able to wait long however, because no sooner had she stopped moving than she felt her Pinkie Sense warning her that she had to get away, and fast. Without a moment to spare the mare leapt into the air and a blast of magic bore a deep hole into the ground below her. She chanced a look over her shoulder and saw the shadowy Shard making its way up the rocky slope behind her, albeit more slowly than she had, still relentlessly pursuing her.

She did not stop to wonder why the pony-shaped beast was so intent on chasing her, although if she had then she might have concluded that there was no good reason. The Shard seemed completely mindless in its pursuit, which at least kept Pinkie’s options to a minimum. There would be no singing her way out of this mess.

Realising that her best chance of survival was to avoid there being a clear line of sight (and hence a potential route of magic) between herself and her pursuer, Pinkie scampered onwards. She took advantage of the fact that she would have a few moments respite while the Shard finished clambering up the side of the crag, and threw herself down the opposite side, legs thundering beneath her almost uncontrollably. Perhaps inevitably she wasn’t able to remain upright for long, and as her hoof fell on a particularly loose stone she started tumbling down the slope like a ragdoll, eventually landing in a heap in a small clump of bushes.

After slowly poking her head out of the tangled branches to try and see where she was, Pinkie couldn’t help but laugh. Somehow in her wild chase she had come a full circle and was now merely feet from the tunnel entrance where everything had begun. Although she didn’t really want to look, her eyes seemed compelled and she glanced down at the half-pony corpse lying in the grass, surrounded by a small collection of black crystal fragments. A part of her briefly wondered at the lack of blood, but then perhaps crystal ponies didn’t have normal blood?

Pinkie was just about to pull herself out of the bushes when she heard footsteps from an unexpected direction and immediately shrunk back inside, trying to keep herself entirely concealed behind the branches. A pony was slowly walking out of the tunnel, and as he exited a few rays of the setting sun glinted off his shadowy, spiky, crystalline body. Just her luck, it was another one of them.

This one was different though, he was clearly male, and was an earth pony. Or maybe… Pinkie squinted closer and as the stallion trotted towards the dismembered mare he caught the light once more and Pinkie had to hold in a gasp. It wasn’t an earth pony, it was a crystal pony, and one she knew! Or at least, it looked exactly like a Shard-ified version of crystal pony she had once known. What had Twilight said? Shards could take the shape of ponies that had been infected? So did that mean it was or wasn’t the stallion she remembered?

Pinkie had been called many things in the past. Happy, excitable, bubbly… sure, she was those. Tactless, silly, impetuous… sure she could sometimes be those too. She was rarely called cautious though, and she now demonstrated why not, as she leapt out of the bush and started walking towards the unnatural stallion.

“Azure Prism, is that you?”

The Shard turned his head and Pinkie looked for any sign of recognition in his eyes, but instead his gaze didn’t seem to be focussed on anything at all, his eyes glowing an eerie green shade and staring unblinking through the air. The pink mare gulped and took an uncertain step backwards, but the stallion made no move towards her, instead turning to face the corpse once more. He then opened his mouth and a shadowy mist rushed out and immediately enveloped the lifeless mare, until she was completely invisible in the fog.

Pinkie found herself unable to move as she watched in horror, particularly when there was an awful splintering sound and the mist drifted away from the half-corpse to reveal that it had completely disintegrated into small fragments. The mist itself started forming into the shape of the mare, her hind legs and back part of her body still missing, before solidifying into jagged black crystal. Her torso crashed to the earth as she kept herself supported with her forelegs, clearly ready to drag herself along the ground. Pinkie realised she had just witnessed the birth of a Shard, albeit only the front half of one.

Then, in complete synchronicity, the two Shards turned to stare at the immobile earth pony and let out horrific shrill wails.

If Pinkie had been scared before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. If Pinkie’s body had been uncooperative before, it was nothing compared to how unresponsive it was now. She was rooted to the spot as the two Shards started towards her, the jagged crystals that made up their bodies lengthening into menacing spikes, as if they intended to spear her.

Just before they could gore her however, there was a sudden hum and Pinkie found herself cut off from the two beasts by a magical pink barrier. Confused, Pinkie glanced down at her hooves, as if wondering if she herself had somehow cast it, but when she heard a supplementary blast of magic she looked up in time to witness the two shards in front of her disintegrating into dust. With a sigh of relief she looked over at the direction from which the magic had originated.

In the distance, up the slope behind her that she had so recently crashed down, Pinkie could see two royal guards working together to destroy the unicorn Shard that had been the cause of most of her troubles during the evening. Closer by stood her saviour, glancing around warily to guarantee that there were no more enemies to be found.

All the tension rushed out of Pinkie Pie as she realised her ordeal was finally over, and she looked her rescuer up and down appraisingly.

“Hmm, they were right. You are attractive.”

Rarity was panicking.

Of course she would never admit to it. A lady does not panic after all, but she was certainly… concerned. She hadn’t had the chance to appreciate what she had imagined would be her triumphant return to Manehattan because she had needed to immediately start her search, and she was now scouring the nearby coast. The vista of the Manehattan skyline behind her was framed wonderfully by the setting sun, but she wasn’t having the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the view either.

The reason for her distressed state was not simply that she had been unable to locate the pony she was supposed to find. She had dealt with failure many times in the past, and she knew her friends would be forgiving. That was part of the reason why they had all split up after all, so that if one of them failed to learn anything useful then the others would be able to pick up the slack.

No, that wasn’t the sole reason for her agitation. Most of it was because she had already seen the tell-tale flash of light that should have heralded the arrival of the time-traveller when she was still a long distance away, and now that she was closer she was completely unable to see where they could have gone. So close and yet so far, it was agonising!

It didn’t help that the shoreline near Manehattan was in parts built up and in parts left to the whims of nature. She had already eliminated any of the cafes and other buildings from her search, the few customers within claiming ignorance of any strange looking ponies that may have appeared nearby. Now that she thought harder about it, it seemed more likely that the blare of light had come from amongst the rolling sand dunes nearby, which certainly would not make her hunt easier, never mind how the sand would cling irritatingly to her boots.

But Rarity was nothing if not persistent, and so she trotted off up the tallest dune she could see, hoping that from the peak she would be able to identify any weary pony that may be around. There was no noise other than the whipping of the wind and the crashing of waves in the distance, and there didn’t seem to be any regular ponies around, neither tourists nor Manehattanites out for an evening stroll, and so if she saw or heard anything then it could only be because she had finally found the pony she was looking for.

She would never have admitted it to her friends, but Rarity was looking forward to the chance to question a pony about the future. Hopefully the pony she met would be a pony with good taste so that they could give Rarity all the inside details of any upcoming fashions. If they could also let Rarity know a little about what the future held in store for herself in particular then, well, it would be a tragedy to let that opportunity pass her by.

Not that she wouldn’t ask all the important questions too of course. Let it never be said that Rarity would prioritise her own needs over those of others, but she would aim to satisfy them both if it were at all possible.

But she wouldn’t get the chance to address either if she couldn’t even find the pony in question. Rarity’s gait had progressed from a smart trot to an annoyed stomp as she dropped and rose between another pair of sand dunes, the area around her seeming just as deserted as the entire beach so far had been. She hadn’t even been able to spot the telling trail of crystalline dust that would indicate that the pony had been through this way, and for all she knew they had disintegrated already without even being polite enough to wait for her.

She was just wondering at what point it would be reasonable to give up, when she heard a faint voice drifting on the wind. She wheeled around rapidly, but the voice hadn’t been loud enough for her to be able to identify the direction it came from, and so the unicorn mare stopped and perked up her ears, hoping the voice would return.

“Ra… Rarity…?”

Something inside her broke as she recognised the voice she had just heard. Up until now she had barely given a thought to the fate of the pony she would be meeting, or what they must have lived through if the future truly was as awful as she had heard, but now she felt incredibly guilty for not having considered it and was almost unable to turn herself around to face the pony she knew would be standing there.

But Rarity couldn’t ignore her forever, and her heart sunk as she turned and her fears were confirmed.

“Sweetie Belle?”

She was older, of course. The young unicorn mare was now almost as tall as Rarity herself, although she had not changed her mane-style and still looked like a filly in Rarity’s eyes, as she doubtlessly always would. Rarity instinctively leant to the side to try and see her sister’s cutie mark, but it was covered, along with most of the rest of Sweetie Belle’s body, by a snug white cape marked with the logo of a shield adorned with a crescent moon, and fastened together around her neck by a brooch in the shape of a diamond, exactly like one of the ones in Rarity’s own cutie mark. She absent-mindedly wondered whether she had been the one to give it to her.

But then she noticed the corruption spreading across her darling sister’s body and she couldn’t help but let out a muffled sob. It truly was as bad as her imagination had led her to believe it would be. Most of Sweetie Belle’s limbs were encrusted with shadowy black crystals, and the parts of her chest that were unconcealed by her cape were almost entirely translucent, with a horrific dark tempest swirling within.

“Not you too, oh Celestia…”

“Rarity!” There were tears in the young mare’s eyes, and she let out a pained cough.

As Sweetie Belle stumbled to her knees, Rarity found herself galloping forwards, and before she was even aware of what she was doing she had her sister wrapped in her forelegs, rocking her as though she were a foal again.

“Oh Sweetie Belle, you must have been through so much! Don’t worry, Rarity’s got you.”

All of the plans Rarity had made when making the journey here from Canterlot had completely vanished from her mind as she hugged her sister tightly. She didn’t think she would even remember the questions she had been supposed to ask if she had tried, and so she ignored them. Her friends would ask all the questions that were needed, there was no doubt of that. Rarity could focus on the shuddering unicorn in her embrace, as the wind whistled past them and the sun slipped past the horizon.

“Oh, I’m hurting you,” Sweetie Belle suddenly said, pulling away from her sister and looking down at her forelegs, both of which had become almost serrated as the crystals covering them lengthened ominously. Rarity looked down to see that the jagged spikes had indeed been sticking into her skin, but she had not noticed and she certainly did not care.

“Nonsense Sweetie, come back here.”

Sweetie Belle did not need to be told twice and she nestled back into her sister’s embrace. The two siblings then sat there in silence as the last of the sunlight disappeared behind the ocean’s waves, and the stars began to slowly make their presence known above them. Rarity wasn’t certain just how much time passed with the two of them like that, but it couldn’t have mattered any less to her. She wouldn’t have traded this position for the world.

Sweetie turned her head to look up into the eyes of her sister, quite an effort for her now as the infection worked its way up her neck. “I’m so happy that I got to see you one more time Rarity.”

Rarity sniffed and blinked rapidly to clear her vision. “I love you Sweetie Belle.”

And fresh moonlight shone across the dunes as Rarity’s eyes filled with tears and her sister’s filled with crystals.

Chapter 6 - Mind Games

Chapter 6 – Mind Games

They were going to have to give this room a suitable name if they kept using it to meet. ‘The study by the throne room’ did not have much of a ring to it, and it was proving itself a fine venue for their discussions. When Celestia and Luna had abruptly entered to join the five element bearers, the elder sister had magically enlarged the circular table and created seats for the two of them as casually as one might drag over a chair.

Maybe they should call it the Crisis Room. Twilight did not feel she was being melodramatic by labelling the current situation a crisis. She had been alive for more than her fair share of Equestria-threatening events, but in the past there had always been an obvious plan of attack. The elements were almost certainly no use in this case, even if they hadn’t been returned to the Tree of Harmony. In this situation it wasn’t even clear how everything was going to go wrong, let alone what they could then do to stop it.

And of course it didn’t help that despite each of her friends being sent after ponies from the future, they were really no more educated than they had been before. They all had explanations for why they had failed of course, but Twilight couldn’t help but think that she would have had more success. Rainbow Dash had been unable to reach her target in time, and had been unusually sullen since then, no doubt annoyed at her failure. Pinkie had supposedly been too late as well, and she wasn’t even back yet. Cadance had sent a letter explaining that Pinkie had met some unsavoury ponies in the Crystal Mountains, but that she was fine and was currently staying as a guest at the Crystal Palace.

Twilight continued her scan around the table. Rarity had been very quiet about her trip, merely apologising that she got no useful information. She was probably suffering from having witnessed the admittedly gruesome effects of the Infection first hand, and Twilight could definitely forgive her for that. And as for Applejack and Fluttershy…

“Ah’m sorry sugarcube, but he just kept jabberin’ away ‘bout nothing. He was like Pinkie’s energy combined with Dash’s big-headedness, it was tiring just listenin’ to him.”

“And the pegasus I was talking to seemed very upset about everything. He was, um, very angry with you in particular Twilight.” Fluttershy’s voice was getting smaller, as if she were afraid she would be shouted at for merely passing on the message. “All of the princesses actually.”

“Whatever we did to annoy him we haven’t done yet.”

“Well yes, but, um, perhaps you should be nicer in the future. Maybe find a way to keep families together when you send them back in time?”

Twilight sighed and slumped to the table. “But I have no idea how I did any of that in the future. Even a few days extra work hasn’t given me a clue how such advanced time magic could be used. And isn’t the whole point that we don’t want to get into that situation in the first place?”

“Now Twilight, don’t trouble yourself with that yet,” said her one-time mentor calmly. “That isn’t what you should be focussing on right now.”

“Maybe not, but I don’t understand why I would have sent ponies back in time at all! I’m not sure the future even can be changed!”

“It has to be,” stated Celestia with an unusual severity. “I will not accept that all these grim tales we have heard about the future of Equestria are unavoidable.” Her expression softened and she looked down at Twilight. “And I trust you, even an alternate-timeline future version of you, if I am understanding this correctly. You would not have used such a drastic spell without good reason, and that reason could only be because the future could be changed.”

Twilight smiled briefly. It was amazing how, even now, Celestia was always able to calm her right down. It didn’t necessarily last long, however.

“But neither of you asked any of the questions you were supposed to?” Twilight queried, turning back to Applejack and Fluttershy.

Fluttershy winced, and even Applejack had a shamed expression for a short moment, but then the earth pony and pegasus caught eyes and Applejack’s expression became one of determination again.

“No, Ah didn’t. Shoot Twi, he was dying, and he clearly had a lot he needed to say before he went. Ah was happy to be there to listen to him, if that’s what he wanted.”

“Um, same here. I did try to ask, but he wouldn’t listen. I think sometimes, when ponies know they’re dying, they stop thinking about everything else except for how their life has been, maybe.”

Twilight bit back an annoyed retort. They were right of course, it was a lot to ask of ponies who were dying, but she had managed to get some good information out of Trixie just fine. “Are you sure you learned nothing?”

Applejack tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Well, Ah may have got some of the answers Ah would’ve been lookin’ for anyway. Ah know a lot about how the EDF works from the inside, but Ah’m not sure how useful that information is. But there was one thing he said…”

Twilight leaned forwards. “Go on.”

“He said he was part of the Vanhoover regiment, and that they were on the front lines. Now Ah may be readin’ too much into this, but it got me thinking that whatever happens must happen near there.”

“Actually, I’ve just remembered something else,” Fluttershy added, seeming a lot more confident now that she had found something to contribute. “One of the things the pony I met was complaining about was crystal ponies taking everypony’s jobs and homes, and I don’t think he meant those ‘Shard’ things, he meant ponies from the Crystal Empire.” She screwed her nose up in thought. “There isn’t much racism against crystal ponies at the moment is there? Maybe something prompted it.”

There was silence as the three princesses tried to digest this information.

“Well so what?” asked Rainbow Dash. “What does that mean? I don’t get it.”

“It means,” began Luna, “that whatever caused all of this likely originated in the north, perchance near the Crystal Empire, and crystal ponies were doubtless on an exodus southwards to escape it.”

Applejack nodded. “That does match Zecora’s suggestion that the dark magic she found in those darn crystals came from somewhere up in the frozen north.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Twilight exclaimed suddenly, drawing the eyes of everypony in the room. “Spike says that Zecora’s gone missing.”

“What?” Four ponies looked at her in horror.

“Is she okay?”

“What happened?”

Twilight held her hooves up to quieten her panicked friends. “We don’t know, but she took everything in her hut with her, so she’s probably okay, even if it does seem a little odd.” She shook her head and grimaced. “I can’t believe Spike went into the Everfree without her though, apparently he got chased by a lyrian.”

“Oh my poor Spikey-wikey, is he okay?”

“What in Equestria is a lyrian?” asked Applejack and Rainbow Dash simultaneously.

“Actually I’d never heard of it either.” Twilight looked up at Celestia.

“I recognised it from the description," the ageless alicorn replied. "They were a most brutal creature, but classified as extinct several hundred years ago.” She frowned. “I suppose they were not as extinct as we thought.”

“Or it travelled through time too,” said Rainbow, matter-of-factly. At the stares from the other ponies at the table she elaborated. “What? We’re already seeing some ponies go through time. Why not monsters too?”

“Because this would be going through time the other way you goof,” Applejack said, smacking Rainbow across the back of the head.

“Well it probably doesn’t matter. Spike escaped unharmed, fortunately enough.”

“And considering his situation,” Celestia began, turning to wink at her sister, “I think we’ll forgive him the price of that desk.” Luna let out a melodic giggle, while everypony else looked on confused. “Forgive us,” the white alicorn said, waving a hoof, “an anecdote for another time perhaps.”

“Right.” Twilight tried to seize control of the situation. She didn’t really feel fully comfortable being the de facto leader of a meeting that included both of the ageless princesses of Equestria, but if Celestia had thought she could handle it then she was not going to let her down. “Going back to our previous topic, I don’t see what option we have other than to go to the Crystal Empire to look for clues.” Twilight thought of Pinkie and the ‘unsavoury ponies’ she had apparently met in the Crystal Mountains according to Cadance’s letter. Suddenly it all seemed a lot more suspicious.

“Actually, I have an idea, if you would permit it.”

Everypony turned to Luna expectantly.

“As I understand it, the reason we are uncertain of what to do is because we have not been successful at gaining any useful information from the ponies who have returned from the future. I know that I myself have been unable to detect any of them in the mindscape thus far. If we had more time to converse with one of them this would be a great advantage, but we know of no way to slow the infection they share.

“But if I were to meet one, I am convinced that I could enter their mind directly. In doing so I would have as much time as needed to gain what information I could, in addition to having the chance to see their memories of events myself, thereby providing us with a much more reliable source of knowledge.”

“Sister, are you sure of this? You recall how dangerous it can be to enter an unwilling pony’s mind?”

“I would hope that they will not be unwilling, once we elucidate the situation to them.”

“Wow, you can do that? Enter somepony’s mind?” Rainbow Dash looked impressed. “That’s so cool!”

Twilight had to admit that it did sound impressive. She had known that Luna was capable of entering ponies’ dreams, but this was a step above. “How does it work?” she asked, wanting to know the limits of Luna’s abilities. “Do you get access to all their thoughts?”

“That sounds awfully invasive,” Rarity commented, to a nervous nod from Fluttershy.

Luna nodded gravely. “It is not a skill I like to put to use, or not anymore at any rate. And I do not get complete access to a pony’s psyche, I often find myself barred from much of their mind by an internal representation of the pony’s self. It is this avatar that would get quite aggressive were I to enter without consent.”

“This is fascinating!” The air around the congregated element bearers and princesses suddenly filled with a flurry of quills and papers as Twilight subconsciously started gathering materials to make notes. She may be a princess now, but she would always be a student at heart. “I don’t suppose that you could teach me how to do it?”

Celestia’s smile stiffened and for a moment it looked as though she was about to speak, but at an almost imperceptible brush of wings from her sister, and a meaningful glance, she backed down and let Luna take the floor.

“Perhaps I could, but I do not believe it would be wise. It is in my nature as the princess of the night to be accustomed to the dreams and wishes of my little ponies, and therefore I am uniquely qualified to safely use a skill such as this.” Seeing Twilight’s disappointed frown, she softened. “Mayhap in the future you will be more qualified.” Both Twilight and Celestia seemed satisfied enough at this, but Luna continued. “I could demonstrate it to you however. If you like.” She gave an impish smile.

“Wait, you mean… right now… here…?” Twilight found she was shrinking backwards. “On me?” The thought was somewhat unnerving and she found that heat was rising in her cheeks despite Luna’s assurances that she would not have complete access to her mind.

“Sister please,” Celestia interrupted. “We don’t have time for this.”

“Oh, but we do, that’s the wonder of the mind-delve. It appears almost instantaneous in real-time, remember?”

Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes, although had anypony been looking they would have seen an amused smile briefly flit across her features. “Fine, if you must.”

“Err, hold on, wait,” Twilight said, babbling somewhat as she looked at the almost predatory grin on the face of the princess of the night. “I didn’t agree to this.”

“Well if Twilight’s too scared then I’ll volunteer! It sounds awesome!”

Luna didn’t seem disappointed at the change of targets, if anything her grin grew wider as she looked across the table to the excited pegasus facing her. “Are you certain?”

“Hay yeah, let’s do this!”

Luna calmly stood from her seat and began to walk around the table. All eyes were on her as she reached Rainbow Dash, whose confident expression flickered only for a moment before it returned with determination. The dark alicorn closed her eyes and a calm expression graced her features as she bent down to press her horn against the cyan pegasus’ forehead. Then there was a glow of indigo magic and Rainbow Dash’s eyes dropped shut, a tranquil expression crossing her face to mirror Luna’s.

To everypony else at the table it seemed that only brief moments passed before the glow of magic faded and Luna’s eyes reopened. Leaning back, she blinked rapidly, as if to reorient herself to her current surroundings, and a second later Rainbow’s eyes popped open and she did the same. The occupants of the room all sat in expectant silence, waiting for some sort of explanation.

“Well?” Luna asked, after Rainbow showed no sign of speaking, or even moving. “How was it for you?”

That was enough to get a reaction out of the athletic pegasus mare, who started spluttering incoherently. Applejack raised her eyebrows and Rarity backed away from Luna as though expecting to be pounced on next.

“I’m told it can feel a touch disorienting,” Luna continued, returning to her seat nonchalantly. “But you should feel fine in a minute or so.”

“But what happened?” Twilight blurted out, unable to contain herself any longer. “What did you see? How did it feel?”

“Now now Twilight,” Luna began, as though chiding a small foal. “That’s between me and Rainbow Dash.”

“Well then it wasn’t much of a demonstration,” she concluded petulantly, acting like a small foal in response.

“Um, well, you did have a chance to experience it yourself Twilight,” Fluttershy pointed out, quite unfairly in Twilight’s opinion as it stopped her from feeling justified in her annoyance.

Rainbow had finally returned to full consciousness. “That was… weird,” she said profoundly.

“But can you use that to help us?” Rarity asked Luna, returning to the matter at hoof since nopony else seemed willing to.

“I believe so. I am just as adept at the spell as I remember, I feel confident with this I could learn all we need to about the future.” She turned to Twilight. “If you use your scanning spell we could identify the next pony to arrive and head to meet them. There is no need to defer this any longer.”

“Oh, right, sure.” The lavender alicorn slipped herself into the right frame of mind and concentrated on her spell once more. It was much more familiar to her now, and within moments she had identified a few traces of time magic, but the most promising was a pony who would be arriving in the fields south of Canterlot, roughly equidistant between here and Ponyville. “I’ve found one,” she said, and described the location she had sensed. “They should arrive later today. That will give us time to get there and we won’t have to wait too long.”

“Excellent work Twilight,” Celestia said, getting to her hooves. “We’ll meet you there.”

“You’re coming as well?”

The sun princess smiled warmly. “I think it’s about time I met one of these mysterious ponies myself. And with any luck, having all of us there will make them more willing to cooperate.”

“Unless they hate you like the pony I met did…” Fluttershy mumbled, quietly enough that nopony else would hear her, as the other seated ponies arose and left the room to get ready for their short upcoming trip.

“So… You wanna take bets on whether we’ll know them?”

Applejack looked up at the impatient pegasus hovering in the air beside her. Almost half an hour ago they had arrived at the field where the pony was expected to arrive. They were all now sitting around making small-talk, unable to get into any deep conversations due to the anticipation of what was about to happen hanging over them. Rainbow was obviously getting bored, and if Applejack was honest, she was getting a little bored herself.

“Eeyup. Five bits on us not knowin’ them.”

“Okay, but I win as long as at least one of us here can name them.”

“Now that ain’t fair, the princesses are sure to know anypony who turns up.”

“What, you scared to take a bet?” Rainbow smirked. “Guess I’m just more daring than you.”

“Horseapples. That bet’s unfair and you know it! And you still haven’t paid me back for any of the bets you've lost!” The orange earth pony turned towards the hovering pegasus and leaned forward to butt foreheads with her. “But I will take the bet, ‘cause Ah still reckon we won’t know ‘em.”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes and spat into her forehoof. “You’re on!”

As the pair shared a contract-binding hoof bump, Rarity grimaced and turned back to her worried conversation partner.

“Oh, do you suppose she’s okay? She knows we’re missing her, doesn’t she? You don’t think something might have happened to her?”

“Relax darling,” Rarity began, wrapping a foreleg around the quivering yellow pegasus. “It’s Pinkie Pie. I daresay nothing in Equestria could trouble her.”

“But then why isn’t she back yet?”

“Well I know that Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor will want to hear about everything that’s been going on, so I’m sure Pinkie is explaining in great detail. Other than that, well I don’t know, perhaps she’s throwing an ‘I’m in the Crystal Empire’ party?” Rarity smiled warmly. “But whatever the reason, I’m positive she’s fine.”

Twilight was standing by the alicorn sisters, but she was not joining in their conversation. She was currently continually casting her scanning spell, with the intention of determining just how much longer they would all have to wait. She remembered that when Trixie had appeared she had been able to detect a huge churning force in the ether just before her sudden arrival, but the disturbance she felt at the moment was a little way off that. It should only be a few more minutes.

“Twilight?”

“Hmm?” She looked up into the concerned face of Princess Luna.

“Do not overexert yourself. You and your friends have performed admirably this last week and we are most grateful, you should not feel you have to keep pushing unnecessarily.”

Twilight smiled sheepishly and released the spell, realising as the light left her horn just how draining holding the magic had been. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologise Twilight,” Celestia added. “But remember that while we may have tasked you with discovering all you can about this situation, we are always here to help.”

“I know,” Twilight said, slightly confused as to why they felt the need to tell her this. “That’s why Luna’s here now.”

“Yes Twilight, but even after this. You were my faithful student for many years, and I know well that you put more pressure on yourself than anypony when you have a problem you can’t solve.” Celestia nuzzled Twilight gently. “My sister and I may be busy with duties to Equestria, but please don’t feel you are alone in solving this one.”

“I myself find todays politics largely uninteresting,” Luna added. “Any pretext to get away from it would be cherished.”

Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at that, and she immediately found that a weight she hadn’t even known was there seemed to leave her stomach. “Thanks. I think I may well need your help too, this-”

Twilight was interrupted by a sudden flash of light from behind her, and she leapt away in surprise, almost having forgotten why they were all standing in this field in the first place. Within a slightly smoking crater that had just materialised in the grass knelt a dazed looking unicorn, black-maned and grey-coated, although covered in the now familiar shadowy blotches of the Infection.

The unicorn stallion blinked blearily in the light and then looked up to see the seven faces peering back at him. Twilight had to suppress a laugh as the surprised pony recognised who had been waiting for him and immediately threw himself to the ground in a bow, and she heard Rainbow and Applejack completely failing to hold back laughs of their own. Considering that the ponies from the future seemed to have no idea where in Equestria they would appear, he must have been astonished to find himself face to face with three princesses.

Luna went straight to business. “My little pony,” she began.

“Rising Stock,” Celestia supplied.

“Ha!” Rainbow grinned in triumph and turned to Applejack.

“Uh, actually it’s Falling Stock, your majesties,” the unicorn corrected, seemingly hesitant to suggest that a princess could be wrong about something.

“Ha!” Applejack turned back to Rainbow.

“What? No that still counts.”

“Ponyfeathers.”

Luna tuned out the bickering rivals and knelt down in front of the still cowering unicorn.

“Falling Stock, we understand you are here to bring counsel from the future?”

“Um, yes,” quivered the stallion, seemingly terrified of the alicorn in front of him.

“If you would permit it, we could enter your mind so that we could converse at your leisure, with no distractions.” Luna tried to give a winning smile, although it seemed only to frighten the unicorn further. “What say you?”

“Enter… enter my mind?”

“Consider it that we are but sharing a dream,” Luna suggested reassuringly.

“But uh, you might not like what you hear about the future.”

“Undoubtedly not, but is that not why you are here? To warn us?”

Falling Stock gulped, but then nodded his head. “Okay your majesty.”

Luna smiled and leant her head towards the slowly crystallising unicorn until their horns crossed. Then, with a glow of indigo magic, their eyes shut and the world disappeared around them.

It was immediately obvious that something was wrong.

When she had entered Rainbow Dash’s mind, she had been instantly met by a mental representation of the pegasus mare. Of course, that avatar hadn’t looked exactly like Rainbow Dash. The Rainbow of her mind was taller, slimmer, had larger wings, and flew even more impressively, as would be expected of an ambitious pony with a large ego. But she had also been far more self-critical, and if anything, she had seemed somewhat shy. Luna had not been surprised, the mind of a pony was an intimate place, and it was not easy to allow a stranger inside without feeling like you were under scrutiny, with all your flaws laid bare.

When she had entered Rainbow Dash’s mind, she had found herself in a clear blue sky, with few clouds around, and mountains and other landmarks visible only in the distance below. Luna had not been surprised, not only was it a place she imagined Rainbow felt most free, but it was also indistinct enough that it was unlikely to prompt any specific memories, making it a comfortable place for the pegasus to allow Luna access to.

Upon entering Falling Stock’s mind, Luna was met with no avatar, and stood only on a barren landscape. This was a surprise.

What was worse, she felt a horrible sensation in the air as she looked around, as though the wasteland was aware that an intruder was here, and it was not happy about it. She took a few hesitant steps and glanced around for any sign of life, but the only indication that she had even moved was the echoing of her hoofsteps. What could this mean? She tried to manipulate the environment around her, but could not, which meant that she was not somehow in the global mindscape but was still in the unicorn’s mind. Was this desolate landscape a result of the Infection?

Without warning, the ground started splintering beneath her and a dark mist started slowly rising from small cracks that were forming in the earth. Luna backed away automatically, instinctively feeling that it would be a bad idea to get enveloped in the strange fog, but the mist did not spread towards her as she would have expected, instead forming the outline of an ominous figure.

Luna took to her wings and flew backwards as the shape started to solidify. She needed to get out of here. When she attempted to leave however, she felt a resounding pain in her head and found she was trapped. How could that even happen?

She wasn’t able to wonder for long though, because the misty silhouette in front of her abruptly solidified and the dark alicorn stared into a pair of blazing yellow eyes.

It was immediately obvious that something was wrong.

When Luna had entered Rainbow Dash’s mind, the two of them had remained motionless, placid expressions on their faces. As the six onlooking ponies watched now however, the unicorn started writhing uncontrollably, splintering sounds echoing out as cracks appeared along his still crystallising body. Luna was also shaking somewhat, as though the connection between them was trying to break them apart. Worse, they both had pained expressions on their faces, and Twilight did not want to imagine what was happening inside the unicorn’s mind to prompt this.

“Sister?” Celestia whispered, hesitantly stepping towards the squirming pair, clearly wanting to help but not wishing to interfere adversely.

Far too much time passed without either of the two resurfacing. The Infection had almost completely overwhelmed the unfortunate unicorn now, and Twilight was aware of Rarity and Applejack both turning away, as though not wishing to witness the grisly result of the pony’s inevitable capitulation. Nothing would have prepared Twilight for what happened next however. As the jagged crystals that had started growing up Falling Stock’s horn reached the tip, they abruptly spread across to Luna’s and started swarming down the alicorn’s own imposing horn.

“Luna!” Celestia threw her hooves around Luna’s neck and pulled her away so quickly that most of the other watching ponies had barely registered what had even happened. The crack as the two were pulled apart was enough to spark the sudden disintegration of the now completely crystallised body of Falling Stock, but never had the death of a pony been given so little attention as Celestia shook her still seemingly unconscious sister. “Luna, listen to me!”

The dark crystals that had made their way onto her horn were now spreading down the sides of her head. Celestia made to brush them off with her hooves, as though hoping they would simply fall away, and when that had no effect she lit her horn with an intense glow. Twilight had no idea what extreme magic the timeless and powerful princess of the sun was attempting, but whatever it was, it had equally little effect. The shadowy infection spread down Luna’s neck and across her back, all the while seeping into Luna’s skin and turning her body into the same translucent form Twilight had witnessed Trixie become.

“Twilight!” Celestia yelled suddenly, turning to the lavender alicorn. “Help her!”

Twilight had never seen the ageless princess look so helpless, but she had not the slightest clue what she could do to help. Instead she just looked on in horror as the Infection continued its inexorable march over Luna’s body. A heart-chilling moment followed when the last of the dark alicorn’s body transformed into the jagged crystal, with the familiar shadowy mist visible roiling inside her, and her eyes abruptly opened, pupils as small as pinpoints and looking more terrified than Twilight could ever have imagined.

And then came the inevitable and heart-wrenching splintering sound that heralded the end. Celestia looked on with a blank expression as fragments of crystal fell from between the alicorn’s forelegs to the ground, and a shadowy mist swirled up into the sky. Twilight didn’t think she could bear to watch, and turned away only to see the stunned and horrified expressions on her friends’ faces. Everything had happened so fast, and it was clear that nopony could quite believe what they had witnessed.

Suddenly a sound filled the air that would haunt Twilight for the rest of her life. She had known Celestia better than most ponies, having been her student for many years. She had seen her happy, disappointed, angry, and even scared, but she had never heard as much anguish in anypony’s voice as filled the agonized wail that erupted from the white alicorn now. Twilight felt her throat go dry as she saw her onetime mentor scrabbling at the shards of crystal on the floor in front of her, as though hoping they would re-form into the shape of her sister once more.

“Luna, please… I just got you back…”

Celestia sounded so feeble, and Twilight wasn’t sure whether she should approach her or not, but after attempting a step she found she was unable to move regardless. Instead she collapsed to her haunches and stared at the ground, Celestia’s raw anguish only serving to make her feel more hopeless.

After a while the surrounding world was lost to Twilight as she fell deep into her own mind and attempted to think of nothing.

Chapter 7 - Tick, Tock, Ding, Dong

Chapter 7 – Tick, Tock, Ding, Dong

“Twilight?”

Twilight wasn’t sure how much time had passed while she had been sitting hunched on the field in silence, but it certainly wasn’t long enough. If she didn’t look up then she could pretend it never happened. If she didn’t look up then she could convince herself everything was okay.

“Twilight, please?”

She definitely couldn’t bring herself to look into the accusing eyes of whoever was trying to get her attention. Oh, they wouldn’t say that they blamed her, but they would all be thinking it, and rightly so. She had known that they were ignorant to the nature of the Infection, and yet she had allowed Luna to throw her life away without any attempt to stop her. At least if she stayed in her own head there was nopony to fling guilt at her.

“Twilight,” the voice repeated, still kindly but with a sterner edge to it. “Don’t you leave us now. We…” and the voice suddenly cracked. “We need you Twilight.”

This was finally enough to break the withdrawn alicorn out of her reverie. Twilight slowly and cautiously raised her head to look into the pale face of Fluttershy. The pegasus’ eyes were concerned and slightly red. She had evidently been crying, which made Twilight feel irrationally guilty at her own lack of tears. Behind her stood the other three of Twilight’s friends, all looking similarly grief-stricken, although sharing Fluttershy’s worried gaze in her direction. Twilight couldn’t help but cower under their stares. They didn’t seem accusatory, but why else would they all be looking at her like that?

“Oh good, you’re okay.”

Twilight snorted.

“Oh well, no, but…” Fluttershy trailed off and backed away.

“You’ve been unresponsive for hours Twilight,” Rarity explained, stepping up to take Fluttershy’s place. “We were ever so worried.”

Twilight was barely paying attention. She had just realised somepony was missing from the scene, and spun her head around to take stock of her surroundings, noticing as she did so that the sun was a lot lower in the sky than it had been.

“She’s gone Twilight.” Twilight turned to look into the face of Fluttershy once more. “She suddenly vanished half an hour ago. She didn’t say anything.” The pegasus sniffed sadly. “I hope she’s alright…”

With that explained Twilight dropped her head again and the group lapsed back into silence. It was so tempting to withdraw into her mind once more, to blank out the world around her. But it seemed Fluttershy would not allow her that respite, as she felt a comforting wing fall across her back.

“Come on Twilight, we should go home. We can talk about… things… tomorrow.”

Twilight nodded dully. As she got to her hooves she noticed that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were already making their way through the field, both unusually quiet. It would be a long journey to Ponyville if they were to walk, and Twilight was not sure she could cope with that right now, so she started to prepare a powerful teleportation spell. It was a longer distance than she would normally risk, and there were many ways it could go wrong, but at the moment she just didn’t care. For a second she considered leaving the others behind, but she thought better of it. So, without warning, she pictured Ponyville, felt out for her friends, and cast the spell.

There were a few surprised yelps as the other four unprepared ponies found themselves abruptly transported to Ponyville’s town square. They received curious glances from some of the townsfolk, at least until their identity became clear, at which point they were mostly ignored. Having achieved her goal, Twilight cast the spell again, teleporting herself into the library without another word.

Spike must have heard the tell-tale sound that accompanied Twilight’s teleportation, because within a few seconds of her arrival he had run to meet her. It was clearly obvious that something was wrong however, because the smile dropped from his face immediately.

“Twilight? What’s up?”

Twilight turned to make her way up to the balcony. He would find out soon enough, and she wanted solitude at the moment. “Not now Spike.”

Evidently her tone was enough to make Spike think better of coming to speak to her, because she was able to sit at the balcony looking up at the sky without being interrupted. She followed the sun as it slowly descended, once again clearing her mind of any and all thoughts. If she just stayed here, and watched the days tick by, what would be the worst that would happen?

A few hours later, or maybe just minutes, Twilight certainly wasn’t counting, the sun finally slipped past the horizon. Twilight held her breath without really meaning to, not considering what she was even hoping for, but nothing happened. The sky just remained dark, neither day nor night. She was clearly not the only princess who was waiting with false optimism for something miraculous. Minutes passed with no movement in the heavens, and Twilight could only imagine what ponies across Equestria would be thinking.

And then finally the moon rose, but this was not the graceful ascent she had grown used to seeing. And the stars appeared in the sky, but this was not the marvellous spectacle she had been waiting for. These were not the actions of the mistress of the night, passionate and wondrous, but the methodical motions of one who acted without alternative, and without joy.

Now, finally, the tears came.

Canterlot Station was bustling with ponies as the Friendship Express pulled in. It was easily the busiest station in Equestria, especially at this time in the morning, and was always a great place to overhear the latest gossip. Some ponies would come to the nearby café entirely for that purpose, and the ones who had done so today would agree that the gossip was in particularly fine form this morning.

“I heard Prince Blueblood’s been seen spending a suspicious amount of time with Miss Fleur recently. Such a scandal!”

“Apparently the Princesses had a falling out last night and that’s why Princess Luna refused to raise the moon…”

“Did you hear Donut Joe’s latest tale? He says he saw a pony who came back in time from the future, and then he watched them shatter! Sounds like he’s been overdoing the mead!”

“I have it on good authority that there’s friction between Princess Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor. Don’t be surprised if you hear of a divorce in the near future!”

Having spent a lot of her life working in a bakery, Pinkie had heard a lot of gossip in her time. The pink earth pony had developed a knack at telling apart the gossip with a foundation of fact and the stories that were completely fabricated, but she wouldn’t have needed it in this case. She had spent the last day with both Cadance and Shining Armor and they were clearly doing just fine! Okay, so they had other problems to deal with in the Crystal Empire, and she should probably tell Twilight about those, but their relationship seemed just peachy!

Pinkie had learned a long time ago however, that it didn’t help to jump in and correct somepony’s gossip. They were rarely pleased to be interrupted, and if anything it only encouraged them. So instead Pinkie ignored the throng of ponies and made her way into the city, heading towards the castle. She didn’t know for sure that everypony would be there, but even if the others weren’t, Twilight would almost certainly still be in Canterlot researching, and one of the princesses could surely point her in the direction of the studious alicorn.

Despite the busyness of the city, it didn’t take too long for Pinkie to bounce her way up to the castle gates. All her journeys seemed quicker when she was in a good mood, and despite the horrible events of a couple of days ago, she was back to her regular exuberance now. The guards at the castle gates clearly recognised her, because neither of them made any attempt to delay her, one of them even waving good-naturedly. Pinkie waved back without slowing down, continuing her bounding gait up to the castle entrance.

She felt as though something was wrong almost immediately upon entering. The castle seemed unusually deserted, and as she bounced up to the throne room she found it completely empty. Confused, she turned to the nearest guard.

“Hiya, have you seen either of the princesses?”

“No ma’am,” came the stiff response, the guard barely moving an inch.

“Okay sir,” Pinkie replied equally rigidly, snapping a salute and almost, almost, stifling a giggle.

Her next point of call would be the Starswirl the Bearded Wing then. She knew Twilight would probably be studying there, and Pinkie had been there before, so she knew which direction to go.

Fifteen minutes later, Pinkie was standing outside an equally deserted looking room. She hadn’t been allowed inside; apparently nopony other than the princesses were allowed access. Pinkie had told the guard that she had been inside before, but he would not be swayed, which had left the party pony somewhat deflated. But it probably didn’t matter, because looking through the bars leading into the wing, it did not seem like anypony was inside. Where were they all?

“They’re not here,” answered a voice from somewhere behind her, as though reading her mind.

Pinkie spun around sharply.

“You!” She pointed a hoof accusingly at the draconequus that was lying nonchalantly in the air in the corridor. “What have you done with everypony?”

“Me? Oh my dear Pinkie Pie, why would I have done anything?” He hovered down to the ground and a halo appeared over his head. “You know I’m reformed.”

“Well okay,” Pinkie said, still suspicious. “But I’m watching you!” She pointed a hoof between their eyes while wearing a menacing expression that could only have intimidated Fluttershy.

“And I’ve been watching you too,” Discord replied, pulling out a telescope which he rested against his eye and immediately extended to smack Pinkie in the forehead. “And you’ve been looking in all the wrong places. Your friends have all gone back to Ponyville.”

“Really? Why?”

“Homesick maybe? They all seem a little sad.” He popped over to appear next to Pinkie, putting an arm around her conspiratorially. “Between you and me, I think they need a good party to cheer them up. Do you know somepony who could help?”

“Oh, yes, me! I could!” Pinkie bounced into the air proudly, placing a party hat on her head and blowing a party horn.

“Wonderful!” There was an abrupt flash and the earth pony and the draconequus were suddenly standing in the centre of Ponyville. “I’m sure they’ll all feel fine after a celebration!”

“Wait a minute,” Pinkie narrowed her eyes distrustfully. “Why do you care?”

“Pinkie my dear, do I really have to keep telling you that I’m your friend now? Why shouldn’t I care? And besides,” Discord reached out to grab the party hat off Pinkie and place it on himself, at which point it grew legs and started doing a jig on his head. “I’m in the mood for a party myself!”

Pinkie beamed. “Okie-dokie-lokie, I’ll get one of my emergency party cannons! I have just the one, it’s a new upgrade and I haven’t had the chance to use it yet. It’ll be perfect!”

“Wonderful! Everypony’s already gathered in the library, so we’ll head there when you’re ready. I’ll wait here for you.” He smiled a smile Pinkie would have labelled as ‘evil’ had the draconequus not been reformed. “I wouldn’t want to miss their surprise!”

The other five element bearers were indeed gathered in the library, along with Spike who had been updated on the situation by Rarity and was now sitting glumly in the corner. He had been the one to ask all of Twilight’s friends to come to the library. The baby dragon had been concerned when Twilight had refused to go to bed, instead remaining in silence on the balcony for the entire night. He figured her friends might be able to help her, although they had all seemed just as miserable when they had arrived.

Now that he knew what had happened, he felt completely out of his depth. This wasn’t something he could deal with. Part of him felt guilty that he had been pestering her so much when she was clearly grieving, but another part felt almost angry with her for shutting herself away and not talking to him, and he had no idea which part was in the right.

Twilight’s friends had all gathered in her room so that they could see out to the balcony where Twilight was still settled. She had not stopped looking out into the sky, although she was at least talking now.

“Twilight, we, er…” Rainbow Dash fizzled out almost immediately, and looked around pointedly at her friends.

“Oh, that is to say, you know that, uh…” Rarity did not last much longer, the words refusing to come to her.

“We don’t blame you Twi,” Applejack finished.

“I…” Twilight sighed and dropped her head to the floor. “I know. I know you don’t.”

“And you shouldn’t blame yourself either darling!”

“Shouldn’t I?”

“No!” they all replied at once.

“Of course not,” Fluttershy added, finally feeling bold enough to flit over to the balcony and settle next to Twilight and wrap a wing around her.

“Celestia will blame me,” Twilight said glumly.

“Oh I’m sure she wouldn’t think that Twilight.”

“She will. She wanted me to help her and I couldn’t. It’s my fault.”

“Twilight, no.” Fluttershy actually grabbed the alicorn’s head and twisted it to face her. “Don’t do this to yourself. Sometimes sad things happen, and they’re nopony’s fault. And death?” The pegasus took a deep breath. “Death is the saddest thing of all. But it still happens, and it can’t always be avoided.”

Twilight continued looking into the hypnotic eyes of the element of kindness, before she suddenly shook her head and pulled herself away, walking back into the library.

“It could have been avoided,” she said darkly. “I shouldn’t have let her do it, I should have known-”

“You can’t know everything Twilight.”

The lavender alicorn turned to her adopted brother, seemingly surprised to see him there with them.

“If you’re going to blame yourself for everything you don’t know,” continued the dragon, “then you’ll be constantly punishing yourself.”

“He’s right Twi,” Applejack began. “So don’t beat yourself up over nothin’. And besides, Ah’m sure Luna wouldn’t want you to-”

“What do you know about what Luna would want?” Twilight suddenly snapped, causing her friends to all flinch back in shock. “None of you knew her as well as I did! I spent more time with her than any of you, so it’s easy for you to say that I should just forget about it and move on, because you just don’t care as much as I do.”

Unsurprisingly, none of the other ponies in the room seemed happy with this statement, but the shock at their friend’s sudden outburst was enough to keep them in a stunned silence for a few moments. Rainbow Dash was the first to recover, and was clearly about to swoop in and argue when she was interrupted by a loud stomp from beside her. Rarity had absolute fury in her eyes as she stepped towards Twilight, who backed away in astonishment at the sight of her friend so livid.

“Stop,” the unicorn seethed, the air seeming to boil around her. “Just stop. I have had enough of this!” She stomped right up to Twilight who slumped to her haunches automatically. “Yes, Luna is dead. Yes, it is sad. Nopony is saying you should forget about it! It is terrible, and we will never forget the sacrifice she made, but it is done. Blaming yourself will help nopony. She is gone Twilight, and there is nothing we can do to change that.

“But,” she continued, her eyes beginning to cloud over with tears, “there are still other ponies out there dying, Twilight. You may have been close to Luna. Maybe she was like a second mentor to you, I don’t know. But I had to watch my sister…” Tears were streaming down the unicorn’s face now. “My Sweetie Belle, dying in my hooves!” She took a deep breath to steady herself, her voice sounding more and more hoarse. “But we can still change that. We can stop it from happening. But not!” She prodded the dazed alicorn in front of her. “If you!” She prodded her again. “Keep moping!”

There was another stunned silence as the occupants of the room all stared at Rarity with a mixture of shock and awe. Rarity herself was shaking, breathing heavily to recover from the draining lecture she had just given, the fire slowly fading from her eyes.

“Sheesh Rares,” Rainbow muttered, “leave some for me next time!”

Twilight stared, dazed, at the panting unicorn in front of her. She understood now why Rarity had been so cagey about her trip to Manehattan, and could only imagine how painful the experience must have been for her. It had been hard enough watching Trixie die. And they had all watched Luna die, and the others may not have known her so well, but that didn’t mean they cared any less. Twilight felt her heart solidifying as she realised some of the shameful things she had said in the past hour.

“You’re right,” she whispered finally.

The four other ponies and Spike all turned to her, Rarity raising an eyebrow.

“You’re right,” she repeated, more loudly. “I shouldn’t blame myself, and… and I’m sorry for saying you didn’t care.” Twilight was surprised how good it felt to talk. “And I shouldn’t be wallowing, because Luna wouldn’t have wanted me to. We still have work to do to ensure others aren’t caught up in this mess too.”

Rarity smiled and wiped the last few tears from her eyes. “And I’m sorry for going a little overboard dear. We’re all a little upset I think.”

“Shall I write this in a friendship report for the princess?” Spike asked, only half joking. “For old times’ sake?”

Twilight’s heart sunk again. She was not sure she could cope with seeing Celestia yet. The agony she had heard in Celestia’s voice as she had watched her sister collapse still rung through Twilight’s mind, and it made her extremely uncomfortable.

“Helloooooo?”

Everypony turned in shock towards the door that led out of Twilight’s room into the main part of the library. There was only one pony that cheerful voice could belong to.

“Anypony home?”

Applejack walked out of the room and started to make her way down to the library below, closely followed by the others. As soon as the last of them was in sight there was a loud bang and the room was suddenly coated in streamers, with confetti falling from the ceiling.

“Surprise!” Pinkie yelled excitedly, running up to each pony (and one dragon) in turn and placing a party hat on their head. A banner appeared overhead, draping itself along the wall and reading ‘Pinkie’s Cheering Up Party’. Standing beside it stood Discord, who looked rather pleased with himself.

When Pinkie had finished flitting between her friends she whizzed back to the middle of the room and beamed at them, only to notice them all sharing glances and looking very much like they weren’t cheered up.

“Hmm, maybe there still weren’t enough streamers…”

Applejack sighed. “Pinkie, this ain’t really the best of times.”

“Nuh uh,” Pinkie interjected. “When you’re feeling down is the only good time for a cheering up party!” She stopped and tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Why are you all feeling sad though?”

Almost in unison everypony turned towards Twilight, clearly nominating her as the one to pass on the bad news. She sighed and walked up to Pinkie, trying to think of the best way to say it.

“Pinkie, it’s about Luna, um…” She groped for the most tactful thing to say, but her mind had gone blank. “…she died,” she finished bluntly. “She tried to enter the mind of a pony who came from the future, and she was killed by the same infection.”

Pinkie had frozen solid, her mouth wide open. She then looked around in horror at the streamers and party hats.

“Oh, I’m so stupid.”

“No, Pinkie, it’s okay. You didn’t know.”

Pinkie opened and closed her mouth a few times without saying anything, before spinning indignantly towards Discord who was still standing in the corner looking smug.

“You knew!” she exclaimed angrily. “And you didn’t tell me!”

Discord didn’t even attempt to deny it. “But if I told you then I would have made you sad,” he explained, as though it was perfectly logical. “That doesn’t sound like something a friend would do.”

“You don’t seem very upset about her dying,” Rainbow Dash pointed out accusingly.

“Oh, right.” There was a flash and Discord was suddenly wearing a black veil. “Ding dong, the witch is dead. How dreadful.”

“Discord!” Fluttershy stared in horror and disappointment at the draconequus. “You apologise right now!”

“Uh, sorry,” he muttered quickly, looking genuinely abashed as the veil vanished.

Pinkie slumped on the floor, her hair slowly deflating. “Luna was nice,” she said simply.

“Yes.” Twilight sat down beside the pink mare and leant against her. “Yes, she was.”

The other ponies and dragon soon followed suit and sat around on the floor in an impromptu reminiscing session.

“She was great with the kids on Nightmare Nights,” Applejack mumbled. “Always went the extra mile.”

There were nods and murmurs of agreement.

“She watched all my tricks,” Rainbow Dash said. “Didn’t complain once, nopony else has ever watched them all in one sitting before.” The athletic pegasus smiled wistfully. “She seemed really impressed. Even gave me a few tips.”

Twilight looked at her friend curiously. “When was that?”

“Oh, uh,” Rainbow blushed. “In here,” she said, pointing at her head.

“You know,” Discord said, teleporting over and curling up next to them. “I think I actually will miss her.” To his credit, he sounded completely sincere.

“And she died for nothing,” Twilight spat, her annoyance rising once more despite her best efforts.

“Oh I wouldn’t say that.” Discord snapped a finger and suddenly he was holding Twilight’s notebook between his claws, flicking through the pages with a pair of thick glasses on his face. “I heard that you weren’t sure how time travel worked, and you thought that you might not even be able to change the future.” He flicked a few more pages. “But look, here I see a note that says you learned that all four alicorns were alive in the future these ponies are coming from.” He peered over the rim of his glasses to look at Twilight. “Our dear Luna may have gone about it in an extreme way, but she has at least proved that the future is malleable.”

Twilight found it hard to get excited about this, but it was a valid point. There was still hope.

“So what’ve you been up to Pinkie?” Rainbow asked, clearly not wanting to get into an in depth conversation about the intricacies of time travel.

“Oh! So much stuff!” Pinkie’s hair re-inflated and her smile returned and Twilight wondered whether that was it. Perhaps Pinkie had done her grief. She felt an irrational pang of envy, but the sight of Pinkie jabbering away happily did manage to raise her spirits. Only after a few moments did Twilight realise that she should probably be listening.

“…and then I saw another Shard, only this one was a crystal pony Shard, and I know they’re all made out of crystal, but this one was more crystal, you know? And he turned the half-pony into a half-Shard, which was horrible, and then they were about to attack me, but then-mmmph…”

Pinkie was abruptly cut-off by the disappearance off her muzzle. She looked cross-eyed down to see where it had gone, blinking in confusion, before making a mumble that sounded uncannily like “not again!”

“Oh, so sorry Pinkie Pie,” Discord began, not sounding sorry in the slightest, “but I actually had a reason for coming here, and I don’t really want to hear a lot of boring exposition.” Discord snapped his fingers, summoning into his claw a strange mechanical device that started spinning around in circles, beeping occasionally. “Another of your time-travellers from the future is going to be appearing and you wouldn’t want to miss it.”

Twilight sighed. “I’m getting sick of it, but I suppose it probably would be useful to talk to more of them.”

“Oh yes, but this one especially, since they’re not actually a pony.”

Everypony perked up at this. “Who is it?” Pinkie asked excitedly, her mouth returned to her, whether by Discord’s will or her own.

“You want me to tell you now and spoil the surprise? How boring.”

“Wait, hold on.” Twilight stood up and stomped over to the draconequus. “Are you telling me that all this time you’ve been able to sense when ponies would be arriving yourself? After I spent days coming up with a spell, you could already detect them?”

“I could,” Discord replied simply.

Twilight groaned. “And I suppose you’d say that learning that spell was a great lesson for me for some reason.”

“Actually I just didn’t want you calling me up every time you wanted to find one of them. I have other things to do you know.” He started flipping through a schedule, every section of which was filled with the words ‘perform chaos’. Fluttershy frowned at the sight, at which point Discord coughed and the schedule rewrote itself to read ‘perform nice chaos’.

Twilight grunted and turned away from the draconequus, reaching into her mind and re-casting her scanning spell. She could detect two different disturbances, one a lot closer than the other. “Where exactly are we supposed to go to meet this mysterious non-pony?”

“Oh, they’ll be right here in Ponyville.”

Twilight concentrated harder. One of the disturbances was indeed in Ponyville, or on the outskirts at least. Probably just a short distance from Fluttershy’s cottage. If she was judging the turbulence of the ethereal imbalance correctly, they would be arriving within the hour.

“Twilight, are there any other time-travellers arriving soon?” Rainbow Dash flexed her wings. “I fancy a flight. I could chase one down.”

“I’m sorry Rainbow, but the only other one I can sense is way up in the Crystal Mountains, even further away than the one I sent Pinkie after. And they’ll be arriving too soon for you to get there.”

“Ha, says you!”

“I’m serious Rainbow, even you couldn’t make it in time.”

Rainbow slumped to the ground in disappointment. “Okay, fine. But promise me you’ll let me know the next time.”

Twilight looked at her sullen friend. She was clearly still hung up over the fact that she hadn’t made it to the pony who had appeared in the Badlands. “Okay Rainbow, I promise.” She turned to Spike. “I guess we could let Cadance know though. I’m sure she could get there in time if she isn’t busy. Could you send a letter?”

“On it!” The dragon said smartly, jumping up and grabbing a paper and quill in an instant. As the purple alicorn started dictating, Spike scribbled down the message.

Dear Cadance,

Thank you for having Pinkie Pie for a few days. I assume she has informed you of the current situation facing Equestria, whereby ponies are appearing from the future with a strange infection. I have attached the location that one such pony will shortly be arriving, and you may find it enlightening to meet with them and discuss the future in as much detail as you can.

…

“Err, Twilight? Is that it?”

Twilight sighed. “I… I don’t know whether I should tell her about Luna. She probably doesn’t know yet, but I feel like telling her in a letter would be too detached.”

“Oh goodness no, Twilight. We simply must tell her face-to-face.” Rarity waved a hoof. “Besides, our original plan was to go to the Crystal Empire to investigate, was it not? We shall be seeing her soon enough.”

“I suppose. And there’s always a chance Celestia will talk to her.” Twilight nodded. “Okay then Spike, let’s wrap this up.”

The six of us will be visiting the Crystal Empire in the next few days to try and investigate the cause of all this trouble. It would be nice to meet up and talk while we are there.

Lots of love,
Twilight Sparkle

Chapter 8 - A Conflict of Many Factions

Chapter 8 – A Conflict of Many Factions

At the top of a large complex of cloud buildings, a sky blue pegasus mare with a frosty white mane made a smart and sudden landing. The building was located next to a large cloud stadium, a regular training area for the Wonderbolts, and inside plenty were currently practising their latest routines. The mare did not stop to watch though, as she would normally have, since she had a different objective at present. Despite how well Fleetfoot knew Spitfire, there was something daunting about being called to the captain’s office. It was like being a schoolfilly again.

She made her way down from the roof to the level below. This floor was finely decorated, and was one of the most exquisite cloud structures that could be found in all of Cloudsdale. It was all for show of course. Fleetfoot knew that Spitfire cared little for the fine furnishings. The trophies and medals however, were a different matter entirely. Fleetfoot did stop to admire these, on display in their cabinet, as she would every time she passed them. Okay, so they were mostly self-awarded, by the Wonderbolts, for the Wonderbolts. They were given to the winners of events such as the regular Wonderbolt Derbies, which Fleetfoot had personally won more often than anypony else currently in the team.

Some ponies liked to take their trophies home, but Fleetfoot didn’t see the point of that. Why have them on display in a place where nopony else could see them, when they could be on show here? Here her name was engraved for any passing pony to see, next to trophies earned by legends of years gone by. One day she intended to be considered one of those legends, and she was confident she was well on her way.

But for now, well, she had to meet with somepony who was undeniably a legend already. Fleetfoot glanced at the row of paintings hanging on the wall beside her as she moved down the corridor that would lead to the captain’s office. There were portraits of Wonderbolts captains of years gone by, and at the end stood the newest portrait of Spitfire herself, looking entirely bored, which amused Fleetfoot for some reason.

She stopped as she reached the door and took a deep breath. She didn’t really think she was in trouble, but it must be something important, considering Soarin had been sent out to find her. She knocked.

“Come in.”

Fleetfoot entered, and looked around to try and evaluate the situation. Spitfire’s expression was giving nothing away, as usual, but her pose was tense, suggesting that perhaps this was not a conversation she wanted to have. There were no particular papers on her desk, so this was unlikely to be any administrative issue. More disconcertingly, sat in a chair opposite the captain was Wave Chill, and he was clearly nervous. Fleetfoot tried not to give anything away as she carefully glanced at him with all the casualness she assumed a flier would usually give to a normal teammate. Although if they had been summoned here together then it was likely too late for such pretences.

“What is it ma’am?” Fleetfoot asked, her analysis having taken a split second.

“Take a seat,” Spitfire replied simply.

That was a bad sign. Spitfire usually found it irritating when Fleetfoot called her ma’am, since they knew each other well enough and the orange pegasus had never been one for formality when she could avoid it. Fleetfoot still called her that of course, just to get a rise out of her, but the fact that she had not reacted this time was worrisome.

After taking her seat Fleetfoot stared straight forwards, diligently ignoring the blue stallion at her side, although she did flick her tail against his when she was sure Spitfire wasn’t looking. In her mind though, she was running through the options. She could deny everything of course, but that was unlikely to work against the perceptive Spitfire. If she admitted guilt however, the penalty for it being true… actually, she didn’t know what the penalty would be. Whatever it was though, she would do anything to remain on the team.

They both sat in silence, waiting for Spitfire to make the first move. The captain was unusually quiet though, as though she were unsure what to say, or whether she should say anything at all. Fleetfoot allowed herself a modicum of hope.

“I hear you had some fun recently,” Spitfire finally said, addressing Wave Chill.

His eyes immediately widened and Fleetfoot could detect the redness in his cheeks. Of course that idiot would never be able to hide anything. He wasn’t quick-witted enough and he was just too damn honest.

“Something about an imploding earth pony?” Spitfire prompted.

That stopped Fleetfoot’s thoughts in their tracks. What in Tartarus did that mean? Was it some euphemism she hadn’t heard before?

The blue stallion however, was visibly relieved. “Oh, oh yes. That’s right.”

“Tell me about it.”

Wave nodded. “I’m thinking to get the full picture I has to start from that morning. You see-”

“The short version.”

He chuckled sheepishly and restarted. “Okay, well I’m practising manoeuvres on the plains north of here when I sees a strange flash in the fields, and a pony appears out of nowhere. I figures it’s just one of those unicorn mages what knows how to teleport, but after a couple more passes I sees it’s not a unicorn, it’s an earth pony.

“Still I’m thinking I ignore her, but she starts coughing and I thinks, ‘she don’t look too good.’ So I flies over to her and she is real sick. Some strange disease what I never seen before, she looks half like a crystal pony. I asks her what the matter is, and she says something real strange about the future, I can’t remember exactly what. Makes me think she’s some sort of fortune-teller or something.

“But then next thing you know: CRUNCH! Shatters right into a million pieces, like she was never there. Weirdest thing I ever seen.” He stopped his tale and looked at the two mares in the room. “Course nopony believes it happened, and I started to doubt it myself…”

Fleetfoot, meanwhile, was trying her utmost to hide her relief. It wasn’t about the two of them at all, it was about the weird ponies they’d each seen! Although why Spitfire was interested now when she had all but ignored Fleetfoot the first time she mentioned it…

“You see the similarities between his story and yours?” Spitfire asked, addressing Fleetfoot now.

“Pony appearing out of nowhere, not looking healthy, mysteriously in pieces a while later,” she rattled off, recalling how when she had flown down to check on Fluttershy a few minutes after leaving her with the strange crystallising pony, she had found only a pile of shadowy fragments.

“Something’s going on,” Spitfire stated simply. “I went to see the princesses in Canterlot this morning.” The casual way she said it almost made Fleetfoot laugh. “Neither of them were there. I talked to some of my friends in the guard, and apparently they’ve been missing since yesterday morning. They were last seen heading out with the elements of harmony, none of the guards knew where to.”

Wave whistled in response to this, and Fleetfoot screwed up her nose.

“I don’t trust them,” the blue Wonderbolt mare grunted. “The elements, I mean.”

Wave groaned. “Not this again Fleets. They saved Equestria enough times, I’m thinking they’re not secretly evil.”

Fleetfoot waved her hoof irritably. “They might not be evil, but they’re always damn secretive about everything. Fluttershy was definitely hiding something from me when that stallion I saw appeared. She knew something about him, and where he’d come from. I don’t like it.”

Spitfire sighed and walked over to the window. “I trust them. Oh, they’re probably hiding something,” she added when it looked like Fleetfoot was about to speak up again. “But I’m sure they think it’s best if whatever’s going on isn’t public knowledge. A mass of panicking civilians would help nopony.”

She spun around to face the other two pegasi. “I don’t like being out of the loop though.”

Fleetfoot grinned. She knew what was coming.

“I want you two to have a look into it. Officially you’ll be on a short vacation. Let me know as soon as you find anything.”

“Yes ma’am,” Fleetfoot replied at once, saluting smartly. A split second later Wave Chill mimicked her clumsily, clearly a little surprised at how formal she was being. Obviously the big idiot hadn’t realised she was only doing it to irk Spitfire.

“Just get out of here,” the orange pegasus replied, almost impassive, but Fleetfoot could detect a twitch of a smile at the edge of her lips.

Fleetfoot allowed Wave to lead the way out of the office, feeling very pleased about how the meeting had gone compared to her original expectations.

“Oh, and one more thing you two,” Spitfire called after them. “For Celestia’s sake, please be more discreet in future? Or at least go back to one of your homes first? Honestly.”

Fleetfoot supposed she should have seen that coming, and she did her best to keep walking as though she was not concerned, grateful that her face was away from Spitfire. Wave Chill, of course, attempted no such deception and stopped still in horror at the captain’s words, causing Fleetfoot to walk right into him.

“You’re lucky I’m the one in charge here,” Spitfire continued, amused, as they disentangled themselves and continued down the corridor at a slightly faster pace. “If my old captain had ever caught me engaging in such proclivities he would have had a thing or two to say about it.” The two embarrassed pegasi were likely out of earshot by this point, but Spitfire continued anyway, mostly to herself. “Of course that’s why I made sure he never caught me…”

“Okay girls, I think it will go more smoothly if you all stay back and I’m the one to speak to whoever shows up. She or he might be a little overwhelmed to face all of us at once.”

“Sure thing Twi.”

“Right.” Twilight cast her scanning spell a final time and trotted up to stand in front of the area she calculated to be the arrival zone. Her friends all walked away to stand against a fence that ran along the edge of the path nearby. Discord was still with them, although he was laying in the air on a hammock reading a newspaper and did not seem to be paying attention.

“So…” Rainbow began, turning to the orange earth pony next to her. “Wanna take bets on what species they are?”

“Really RD? You’re in the mood for that now?”

The pegasus shuffled uncomfortably for a moment, but soon regained her confident expression. “Yeah, why not? I know the situation is more serious, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have any fun.”

Applejack nodded. “Fine. Then Ah bet it’ll be a zebra.”

“Aw, I was going to say that.” Rainbow tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment. “Fine, I go with donkey.”

“Ooh, can I play?” asked the excitedly bouncing pink mare next to them.

“Sure.”

“I bet buffalo. Ooh no, wait, I bet a dragon. Ooh, no actually I reckon it will be a hydra! Or maybe it will look like a pony, but it will actually be a changeling in disguise!”

“Just pick one Pinkie.”

“Am I allowed to join in?” Discord asked innocently.

“You already know who it is!”

It was then that the flash of light they had been waiting for burst its way through their conversation.

“Okay, I choose griffon,” Pinkie said quickly.

“Huh. For some reason Ah was expectin’ we would know ‘em,” Applejack muttered to herself.

Twilight examined the creature that had appeared, sprawled on the ground in front of her. It was a griffon, but he didn’t look anything like she would envisage that a griffon should look. His hind legs and tail were entirely crystallised, as Twilight had unfortunately grown used to seeing, and the shadowy blotches were spreading up the rest of his tan body. More horrifying though, were the griffon’s wings. Surely they had once been magnificent and golden, but most of the feathers were missing and the wings looked diminished, almost skeletal.

Strangely, his front claws and head seemed fine. Twilight immediately started speculating to herself. Perhaps the Infection worked differently for griffons? His feline hindquarters had been affected as she would have expected, but since the front half of his body looked normal, maybe the disease was unable to affect the avian parts of his body? But then why were his wings so decrepit? Or perhaps… It was possible that they hadn’t been affected directly, but that the Infection had removed the griffon’s internal magic, as it had done to ponies, and that meant he was unable to fly, and so the wings had become diminished due to lack of use. Did that make sense? Did griffons even need magic to fly? They could stand on clouds…

“You’re Princess Twilight, yes?”

Twilight jumped in shock and then flushed. She had been so caught up in her thoughts she had forgotten that he was even there.

“Eheh, yes, that’s me!”

The griffon didn’t even attempt to stand up. “This is how you do things, eh? I’ve been waiting weeks to see you, but you are always too busy. So, bam, send me into the past to meet when you are less busy. A smart plan, no?” He coughed into the ground.

“No, I…” Twilight scrambled for something to say. This was like her encounter with Trixie all over again, and she didn’t really want to waste so much time on this occasion.

“Ha! I kid, I kid, do not worry.”

“You… Should I know you?”

At this point the griffon did pull himself to his feet, or at least to his claws, his back legs remaining slumped and uncooperative, the Infection disabling them. “Probably not, this is a long time ago, yes? I am, or was, or… hmm… will be?” The griffon slowly rotated his head in its socket while he tried to find an appropriate tense. “I will have been the griffon ambassador to Equestria.” He held out a claw. “Ragnar.”

Twilight hesitantly placed her forehoof in Ragnar’s claw and he shook it. “I suppose I know you in the future?”

“Eh, not you so much, mostly the pink one. As I said, you were too busy to see me.”

Twilight had to admit that, listening to Trixie, the ponies her friends met, and now this griffon, the picture she was being painted of herself in the future was not the prettiest. “So what happened? You got the Infection as well?”

“Worst time to be the ambassador, eh? The Griffon Kingdom sent me to see if we could ‘help out’. Then when I got infected they would not let me come home. Would not want me to ruin the Kingdom like Equestria was, eh?” He started coughing again. “I feel no loyalty to them anymore, so I give you this warning. I was never supposed to ‘help’. We wanted to see if an invasion would succeed, and it probably would have done. Would be good to avoid that this time round, yes?”

This was interesting to hear. It seemed the conflict in the future was bigger than Twilight had imagined. She looked over the griffon’s shoulders to her friends who were standing in the distance, although they were within earshot and listening intently.

“So you met with the other princesses in the future?” Twilight asked, deciding upon a new approach.

“Once or twice. Otherwise I just got drunk. Not much fun, knowing you are to die and have no job to do anymore, eh?”

“How were they? What were we all up to? I assume you meant Cadance when you said you knew the ‘pink one’? Did something happen in the Crystal Empire? Did you…” Twilight swallowed. “Did you spend much time with Luna?”

Ragnar clasped his head in his claws. “Argh! One question at a time please Princess! You would not like to be interrogated with a headache like this, I think.”

“Oh, eheh, sorry.” Twilight had never spent much time with a griffon, and she had always found them quite intimidating. Ragnar was clearly not at full capacity, but she couldn’t help but notice how big he was, and the sharpness of his talons. She resolved to be more patient.

“So firstly,” the griffon began, “Princess Luna is dead, no? She died years before I came to Equestria, is this not so?”

Twilight balked at this, glancing over at her friends once more, who seemed equally surprised. “You mean she was dead in your future too? But she can’t have died in the same way, can she? What happened?”

Ragnar shrugged. “I remember the funeral. You were there, no? I did not know I would be ambassador yet, so I was not really listening. I used to find ponies boring.” He stopped to cough some more. “I still do,” he muttered.

“But I thought all four of us princesses were alive in the future? I’m pretty sure Trixie said that.”

“I do not know who ‘Trixie’ is, but he is right. There are four princesses.”

“She,” Twilight corrected automatically, before what he had said sunk in. “Wait, there are? Who? There’d be me, Celestia, Cadance… Who else?”

“Princess Pie,” he said simply.

“What.”

Twilight looked up at Discord and her friends, and, as one, they all turned to face Pinkie.

“I’m a princess? Oh how fun, I didn’t know I was a princess!”

“Ah’m pretty sure he means you will be in the future.” Applejack frowned. “Somehow.”

Discord snapped his fingers and a pair of fluffy wings and a floppy horn appeared on the pink earth pony’s body. “Hmmm… No, I don’t see it,” he said, after evaluating her potential appearance. The additions vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

Twilight, still wide eyed, turned back to Ragnar.

“How in Equestria could that have happened?”

The griffon had not moved, and she couldn’t tell if he was even aware that there was anypony behind him. The back half of his body was almost completely crystallised now, but oddly enough the front part of him still seemed fine. He was clearly not feeling fine though, breathing heavily as he was.

“I don’t know how you ponies do things. I think you had a part in the ascension. You probably thought she’d make a good replacement for Luna, yes?”

The lavender princess didn’t respond. Was the Twilight of the future even the same pony as she was?

Another even more pained bout of coughing from Ragnar broke Twilight out of her thoughts. He may not have long left, and once again she hadn’t learned anything that was particularly helpful. Interesting, certainly. But not useful.

“Ragnar, can you tell me where everything started? If we are trying to avoid the future, what should we do?”

The griffon gave no indication that he had heard her, instead continuing to cough at the ground.

“Ragnar?”

One of his forelegs buckled and he slumped to the ground, but he did look up at the alicorn in front of him. “I think the downfall was when you lost the north. The Shards came from the Crystal Mountains. Many of the ponies in the cities near the mountains got infected.” He started rotating his head again, clearly pondering. “If you evacuated all the northern cities you could avoid this, no?”

Twilight blinked. “Evacuate all of the northern cities? So, Vanhoover, the Crystal Empire… maybe even Manehattan? That’s ridiculous!”

The griffon choked into the earth, and the shuddering that the movement sent through his body caused ominous cracking sounds to erupt from his crystalline hindquarters.

“You are the princess,” he conceded. “I only suggest what I think.”

“Well there’s no way we would just abandon the north of Equestria like that! We can attack the threat head on. We’ll go to the Crystal Empire,” she looked up to her friends to make sure they were listening, and also because she was hoping she would see similar determination and agreement on their faces. “We’ll search the Crystal Mountains. We’ll find the Shards and whatever magic is creating the Infection, and we’ll destroy it.”

The griffon’s eyes had shut and he looked to be in unbearable pain, but he actually smiled at those words. “Ha! So not all ponies are weak and bending. I am glad to meet you, Princess Twilight Sparkle. You think like a griffon, I like you more than the others.”

Twilight felt a strange surge of pride at this, despite the fact that the griffon had just insulted her entire race. “I am sorry for everything that happened Ragnar. You did not deserve this.”

The griffon’s voice was weaker now, and Twilight had to bend down to hear. “You do not know what I deserve… But you…” He choked harshly. “You ponies… never deserved any of it…”

As Ragnar let out a final breath, the inevitable fracturing sound came and Twilight closed her eyes, not wishing to witness another unavoidable death. She heard the sound of the shadowy fragments falling to the ground, and then a hesitant silence. But then came some unexpected sounds. Firstly, a scream from a distance that sounded like it had been made by Fluttershy, and then, from chillingly close by, a hideous screech.

Twilight snapped her eyes open and stared in horror at the abomination in front of her. What had once been the griffon Ragnar was now little more than a head, with only the front of his chest remaining, claws extending from legs that were now merely strips of flesh. His tattered wings were still loosely connected to his body, looking more skeletal than ever, although how they were supported was a mystery to Twilight, since the entire back two-thirds of his body had disintegrated as expected.

But what drew her immediate attention were his eyes, which had lost any sense of personality and were now just glowing a horrible red, locked on her. The atrocity of a griffon opened its beak and let out another screech, and then, somehow, flapped its wings and launched itself towards her.

Twilight teleported away instinctively, appearing next to her friends. Turning back she was able to see, although not understand, how the creature was able to fly. The shadowy mist that seemed to mark the Infection was swirling where his body used to be, as though it were magically keeping his remaining parts together. He swooped around in the air and directed himself towards them, screeching once more as he dove.

To either side of the shocked alicorn, the other element bearers were readying themselves for a fight. Twilight recovered and immediately cast a shield spell in front of them, before turning to wonder where Discord had gone. It appeared that the enigmatic draconequus had simply vanished, although at what point he had left she had no idea.

“Okay girls,” she began, as the unnatural griffon started clawing at the immovable magical barrier. “Any suggestions?”

“We have to take him out Twilight,” Rainbow said, as though it were obvious.

“But that’s still Ragnar, right? The avian part of him at least.”

“He’s attacking us! So what, you’re saying that half of him wanted to kill us?”

Twilight shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know! I barely know anything about this disease, and before today we had no idea it could even affect non-ponies. It clearly didn’t fully infect him.”

“Maybe not Twi, but RD’s right. Ah think it did kill him. And that ain’t him.”

Looking closer at the abomination that was still clawing away ineffectively at the barrier, Twilight felt she had to agree with her friends. It did not look like a conscious being.

“Okay then, we’ll have to take him on. Get ready. Three… Two… One…”

Twilight dropped the shield spell and immediately sent a concussive blast directly at him before he would be able to react. The creature was launched backwards through the air, most of his remaining feathers falling from him, but he was still able to catch himself in the air and remain aloft. Twilight wondered if he even needed his wings to fly, or if the dark magic keeping him animated could just do as it pleased.

“Take this, Badnar!” Rainbow screamed, flinging herself through the air towards him.

Applejack groaned. “Is that the best you could do? ‘Badnar’? Really?”

Despite his appearance, the mockery of a griffon was still deceptively quick, and dodged out of the way of the screaming rocket flying at him. Rainbow was quicker however, and instantly re-angled herself and bucked him in back of his head.

“Hmm…” Pinkie tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I think I’d have called him Ragnot, because it’s not really him, or maybe Smognar, because of the weird smoke.”

Twilight flew herself over to the dropping creature and let loose another blast of magic, but as the griffon fell he contorted himself into a dart-like shape and dove more quickly, avoiding the beam. Twilight cast the spell a few more times, chasing after him as he flew back towards Rainbow.

“What about Ragnarok?” Rarity asked, stepping past Applejack and Pinkie.

“Ragnarok? How's that a good nickname?”

As the corrupted griffon was about to reach Rainbow, Twilight finally connected with a spell, stunning him in place. Rainbow reacted immediately, pouncing on the immobile form and launching him towards the ground.

“Because,” began Rarity, lighting her horn. “Ragnar.” She pointed at the falling shape. “And rock.” She launched a stone like a missile at him, connecting with the side of his head and causing a resounding crunch to echo through the air. The lights in his eyes went out and he crumpled to the ground.

Rainbow, who had been zooming towards the ground after the griffon, levelled out and landed over beside the smug looking unicorn.

“Wow Rarity! You’re being pretty awesome today.”

The white mare raised her nose and sniffed, but couldn’t hold back a smile. “Thanks darling. You know me, I may not like to get my hooves dirty, but I can handle myself if I need to.”

“You don’t say?” Applejack was still staring wide eyed at the crumpled shape on the ground.

Twilight cautiously walked up to the figure that had once been Ragnar. The mist that had formed the creature’s body had dissipated, and there was no sign of any movement. It really did seem like a corpse now. Nevertheless, she didn’t want to take any chances. Flaring up her horn once more, she focussed on a teleportation spell. With a flash, the body had vanished, and she knew it would now be a few feet underground.

“Sorry we couldn’t do more Ragnar,” Twilight muttered, feeling some sort of eulogy was in order. “But with any luck we can stop this all happening.” She paused, recalling all he had said. “I guess I might see you in the future if you still become ambassador.”

Meanwhile, Fluttershy had walked back over to the others, having instinctively retreated a distance from the impromptu scuffle when it had kicked off.

“Oh, well done everypony,” she said despondently. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be any help.”

“No worries Fluttershy,” Rainbow replied, nudging her gently. “We had it covered!”

Fluttershy nodded, but still seemed somewhat disappointed in herself. Everypony else gathered around as Twilight walked over to join them, determination etched across her face.

“Okay then girls. To the Crystal Empire?”

“To the Crystal Empire,” they agreed.

A rough wind rolled in from across the Badlands as the sun continued its descent towards the distant horizon. A pale earth pony mare with voluptuous crimson hair paused on her walk back to her house. It looked like it was going to be a rough evening. The grit in the air suggested there had been a sandstorm out in the wasteland, and with the wind like this, it was likely her orchard would be getting a battering all through the night.

A few years ago she would have immediately turned back around to check on all the fences to make sure they were secure, strung up protection over the more vulnerable newer trees, and made sure all the windows and hatches on the ranch’s buildings were jammed tightly shut. That was the standard procedure for a situation like this, and although it would take time and be a tough job, she would not have allowed herself any rest until everything was safe. A second’s hesitation could cost you your entire crop if you weren’t careful.

But that was then, and this was now. Now Cherry Hill Ranch was well known and successful. Now Cherry Jubilee was a famous name, even outside Dodge Junction. Now she had ranch workers aplenty, and they would get everything done for her. It was still a lot for her to get used to. Her business’ rapid growth was amazing, but somewhat unexpected. Did ponies really love cherries that much?

It still did not seem natural to leave important work like this to other ponies, but recently her ranch overseer Amarelle had been getting on her case about it more and more. She had said that Cherry needed to trust that others were capable of keeping the ranch successful without her, or she’d never be able to move up in the world any further. Cherry wasn’t sure how much higher she wanted to go. She had never aimed to create a name for herself, it just sort of happened. Nevertheless, she could see that Amarelle had a point. She should be more confident in her workers.

Although… She would at least stop by at Amarelle’s place on her way home, just to make sure the young overseer had noticed what needed doing. That wasn’t too overbearing, just common sense.

A few ponies greeted her as she made her way home, and she smiled back pleasantly at each of them, but inside she was barely paying attention. She wouldn’t admit it, but she had a terrible memory for faces, and the more ponies that knew who she was, the fewer ponies she seemed to remember. She had been doing a lot of empty smiling and waving recently, since she found it less depressing if she didn’t even attempt to recall who each pony was.

It wasn’t long before she reached Amarelle’s house, near the northern edge of Cherry Hill Ranch. She knocked on the front door, and waited patiently for a response from inside. The keen earth pony mare who lived here usually had boundless energy, so Cherry was surprised when she didn’t hear anything even after a few minutes. Perhaps she had already gone out to fix things up? That was probably it.

Still, despite telling herself that, Cherry pushed the door open to look inside. It was just to check Amarelle wasn’t asleep or something, not that she was spying or anything like that.

A quick glance around the small interior told her that nopony was downstairs. She knew there was one bedroom upstairs, but she suddenly felt very guilty about the fact that she had just snuck into Amarelle’s home. Convincing herself that everything would be okay, the ranch boss turned to leave, but then hesitated. She had just heard a strange noise from upstairs.

Cherry perked her ears and listened carefully. She heard the noise once more, and it sounded like a muffled voice along with a high pitched buzzing. Cherry could not imagine what it could be, but that hardly mattered to her. She had only been looking for an excuse to continue her search, and an excuse she had found. Even so, she tried to make as little noise as possible as she took the stairs. Ideally she should be able to take a look into the room and then slip out without anypony inside noticing, if that were necessary for whatever reason.

She soon reached the top of the stairs and slipped along the corridor to the entrance to the bedroom. The noise was clearer now, and Cherry paused in confusion. The muffled voice now sounded like it was trying to yell out. What was going on?

Taking a deep breath, Cherry peered around the doorframe. There were two occupants of the room, apparently struggling together on the bed. Cherry was just about to make a rapid departure from the room and try and forget everything, with alcohol if necessary, when she noticed something strange about one of the forms on the bed. It did not seem to be a pony.

Intrigued, Cherry peered closer. The creature was shaped roughly like a pony, but it was completely black and seemed to have both a horn and wings. They were not the wings of a pegasus though, seeming insect-like, mostly translucent. It was them that had been making the buzzing noise as the creature flitted around the bed. Cherry then noticed that its tail seemed unnatural, it had holes in its legs and, when it turned so its face was in view, she could see blue glowing eyes and fangs.

She stepped back in horror. She’d heard about beasts like this.

Unfortunately, the creature must have heard her move, because it suddenly spun around to look at her. As it did, Cherry was finally able to make out the other occupant of the room. It was Amarelle, but not in a good state. The rosy earth pony was incapacitated on the bed, half covered in a disgusting mucus like substance. Across her mouth and around her legs, the horrific substance looked to have solidified into a rigid black material, binding her in place. It was as though the creature had been intending to completely encase her. Her eyes were still wide open and she looked absolutely terrified.

Without warning the insect-like creature suddenly buzzed towards Cherry, and she threw herself aside, tripping and stumbling down the stairs. After a dazed shake at the bottom, she pulled herself back to her hooves and fled out of the house. She knew she needed to get help, and resolved to go and find the sheriff.

She burst out into the quiet streets of Dodge Junction. There were no ponies around now, and for once she wished there had been. The emptiness was incredibly disconcerting. She broke into a gallop and headed towards the sheriff’s office. Why did it have to be all the way across town?

After a few minutes she heard the sound of pounding hoofsteps behind her. Chancing a glance over her shoulder, she saw that a pony was chasing after her. She half expected that she would not be able to identify them, but a glance at the rose body colour and cherry blossom cutie mark told her exactly who it was, causing her to slow down, stunned. It was Amarelle. But how had she escaped?

Only when the chasing mare was within a few feet, and the hungry expression in her eyes became visible, did Cherry remember the other talent the creature she had just seen was supposed to have. Ah.

The next second Cherry Jubilee was punched across the face, a crack echoing across the quiet town as she crumpled to the ground. Her jaw was on fire, and she half-heartedly wondered if it had broken. The hostile pony, or imposter if she understood the situation correctly, walked calmly up to her and smiled, fangs visible. It appeared its transformation was not perfect.

Some deep-rooted survival instinct kicked in at that moment, and Cherry sprung back to her hooves and bucked her opponent hard in the side of its body, its skin feeling a lot more rigid than it should. Despite Cherry’s less than great strength, it was clearly caught off guard and was launched to the ground. Cherry did not waste another second, the earth pony mare immediately turning and continuing her gallop through town.

The sheriff’s office was within sight when the tiring Cherry heard thundering hoofsteps behind her once more. She did not even turn to look this time, instead she found some heretofore untapped reserve of energy and closed the gap to the office door faster than she had ever moved before in her life. As soon as she reached the entrance to the office she blasted inside, the door slamming against the wall in her haste.

“Sheriff Star!” She scanned her eyes rapidly around the room. “I just saw one of them evil insect creatures here in Dodge Junction!”

There was a creak from behind the desk and an earth pony stallion got to his feet and walked towards her calmly.

“Did you?” He seemed unconcerned.

“Yes! It got my overseer, and then it started chasing after me.” She glanced at the door behind her, but it did not seem like the creature was planning to follow her inside.

“But you got away?”

“For now at least.”

The stallion smiled, and a sudden flash of green flame erupted around Cherry, trapping her in place. In front of her eyes a similar flame spread over the sheriff. His brown fur turned black and carapace-like, his eyes became green and threatening, a ragged mane and wings burst from head and back, and his form grew larger and more feminine. The newly visible monstrosity then grinned menacingly.

“Well we can’t have that.”

Chapter 9 - Unique Talents

Chapter 9 – Unique Talents

As the train continued its journey towards the Crystal Empire, Applejack peered out of the car window to watch the landscape rushing past. For some reason, the more trees and hills that flew by, the more uncomfortable she felt. She did not mind train journeys normally, so she supposed it must just be because they were a sign she was getting further and further away from Ponyville. From her home.

It was rare for her to be away from Sweet Apple Acres for so long. When she had told her family that she was to be heading away again, after less than a day since returning, they had been very understanding. Winona had been less happy about it, but she would completely forgive Applejack when she arrived back home. Applejack also knew they’d be fine without her. Big Mac was always aware of everything that needed doing, and would work as hard as was needed, and Applebloom was growing more and more capable herself. Nevertheless, it made her uneasy, especially since she had no idea how long she was leaving for this time.

None of her friends seemed to feel so on edge, or at least they weren’t showing it if they did. Rainbow Dash was on the bench beside her, laying back asleep, snoring noisily. Fluttershy was on the other side of the sleeping pegasus, sitting calmly, also watching out the window. And across from them on the opposite side of the train car, Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie were still discussing their most recent revelation about the future.

“I suppose there are other ways to become a princess,” Rarity suggested, hesitantly. “Through marriage, for example.”

“Oh, good idea!” Pinkie bounced in her seat. “Maybe I should marry Prince Snooty!”

“You mean Blueblood?” Rarity was horrified. “Oh no, dear, I wouldn’t wish him upon you. I wouldn’t wish him upon anypony!”

“Oh okay. So… Twilight then?” she asked innocently.

Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle at the expressions on the other two mares’ faces.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Regardless of why that probably won’t happen,” she began, “marriage wouldn’t be enough in this case. Trixie was very clear that there were four alicorn princesses in the future.” She shook her head. “But however it happened, that doesn’t mean it will happen again. We’re trying to change the future, and if we succeed-”

“When we succeed, darling.”

“When we succeed,” continued Twilight, correcting herself, “then there’s no knowing if Pinkie would become a princess this time round.”

“I am aware of that Twilight, but I am still interested in how it could have happened at all. Didn’t you say that your ascension was because you created a unique magical contribution to Equestria? How could an earth pony like Pinkie do that?” Rarity turned to the pink mare in question. “I mean no offense darling, but I had imagined that if anypony else were to become a princess, it would be… well…” She blushed sheepishly. “A unicorn.”

Pinkie beamed back at her. “I don’t get it either. Any idea, Twilight?”

Twilight sighed. “Well, to begin with, I don’t fully understand how I ascended in the first place. I talked about it quite a bit with Celestia afterwards, but even she doesn’t have a complete understanding of the requirements. She once told me that while she had always hoped I would one day become an alicorn, she had never been certain that it would happen. I thought she had decided when I was ready and triggered it herself, but apparently it wasn’t up to her at all, she had just been waiting and prepared for the eventuality.

“As for the magic thing, well, that may be a part of it, but I see no reason why it would have to be unicorn magic. Cadance was a pegasus before she became an alicorn, but she was still able to demonstrate her mastery of love. Just look around this train car: Rainbow has her Sonic Rainboom, and Fluttershy has her Stare. Both of those are unique skills. And Pinkie has her Pinkie Sense, and you can’t deny that’s a unique talent.”

“But they haven’t all become alicorns,” Rarity pointed out, quite unnecessarily.

“No, they haven’t,” Twilight agreed. “There’s obviously more to it than just having a unique magical talent. Maybe it has to be particularly helpful to Equestria, maybe you have to demonstrate you’re suitable to be a princess in other ways…” Twilight stopped and thought for a moment. “Actually, it reminds me of a remark Luna once made.”

“Oh?”

“She said, ‘Equestria chooses its princesses’.” Twilight smiled sadly. “She told me that to encourage me when I was having doubts about my role. She said that Equestria must have plans for me, and that my skills would be needed for something.” Twilight looked out the window. “If she’s right, then that could explain why Pinkie became a princess in the future.”

“What do you mean?”

The young princess turned back to the pink mare beside her and grinned. “Perhaps Equestria needed cheering up.”

Pinkie beamed at this. “I could definitely be the princess of parties! I’d travel around Equestria with a royal party cannon, visiting each city in turn and throwing royal parties, and they’d be nothing like that stuffy gala.” She gasped. “Oh! I could even make the Grand Galloping Gala less boring! We could fill it with balloons and streamers and cakes and party games and party music, and…” She gasped again. “And we could have galas more often! The first Princess Pinkie Proclamation will be that there’s a gala every month! Or maybe every week?”

Rainbow Dash must have woken up at some point, because Applejack suddenly heard the pegasus’ voice in her ear.

“Bet you didn’t think you could feel even sorrier for the ponies in the future, huh?”

Applejack snorted.

“Well don’t get too excited yet Pinkie,” Twilight said, interrupting Pinkie’s fantasising. “Remember that none of this might happen.”

“But you’re saying that that’s probably how it did happen?” Rarity asked again, not wanting to let the topic go. “Pinkie became a princess in the future because she could sense things and throw amazing parties?”

Twilight shrugged. “Maybe? I just don’t know Rarity. But it’s probably something like that. I mean, you heard what Ragnar said. What other explanation could there be?”

Cadance landed in front of the tunnel entrance with a crash. She knew that unlike her usual appearance, she was definitely not the most graceful flier. But, as an alicorn, she was certainly fast. This was why she was currently alone, despite the fact that the Crystal Mountains, and particularly the cave network beneath them, were known to be very dangerous these days.

In fact she and her husband had recently announced to the ponies of the Crystal Empire that the entire mountain range should be avoided if at all possible. If it hadn’t been for Twilight’s letter she never would have considered coming, especially not by herself. Shining Armor had not been too happy either, but she had been insistent.

“Twilight’s made it very clear that I need to get there quickly or I might not get to the pony in time,” she had said. “I love you honey, but you are lamentably slow.”

“At least take some pegasi with you.”

“You know how few skilled pegasi we have, and even they could not keep up with me. If it makes you feel better, form a guard and come and join me as soon as you can. That way, if I get into any trouble, you can arrive in the nick of time to get me out of it.”

“I would hope to arrive sooner than ‘the nick of time’…”

Cadance had walked up to him with a smile. “But heroes always arrive just in the nick of time.” And she had given her husband a kiss.

That was why she was now entering the dark cave without any guards with her. It was unusual for her to ever get any time without guards watching her, at least recently. With the continuing reports of shadowy crystal ponies in the mountains, her personal guard had been insistent that they should never leave her side. The pink alicorn wondered whether Shining Armor had put them up to it. She could forgive him his protectiveness, ever since what had happened in Canterlot not too long ago.

But despite usually wishing she could escape from their constant supervision, she now missed their presence. The tunnel she was walking through was eerily dark, and even seemed to absorb the light that she was emitting from her horn. The pink alicorn knew that she was not the most powerful princess. In fact she figured she was probably the least powerful, at least magically, but she should be able to create more light than this. Even the usually sparkling and gleaming walls, laced with multi-faceted gemstones, were looking unnaturally dull. Something was off in here. Just her luck that this was where the pony was going to appear.

Or rather, a few hundred feet further into the depths was where the pony was going to appear. Cadance took another few steps, listening to the muffled echoes of her hooffalls. The walls of the tunnel seemed to be opening up and she reckoned she was entering a large cavern. She was deep enough inside the mountain now that there was no sunlight visible from the tunnel behind her. She attempted once more to create illumination, and found that if she exerted a lot of effort she could identify the cavern walls in the distance, and a stalactite covered ceiling a long way above.

And a pony in front of her.

Instinctively, mind filled with visions of the dark crystalline monsters her husband and Pinkie Pie had both encountered, Cadance let loose a blast of magic straight at the figure. In doing so, the illumination she had been creating faded completely, and she found herself in total darkness. She heard a thud in the distance, which suggested that her spell had connected and thrown her opponent away across the cavern, and so Cadance had a few seconds to try and think of a plan.

She could leave, and gallop back up the tunnel she had come down, but then it would definitely be too late to meet the pony she was coming to find. She was probably too late already, they had surely arrived by now and would not have much longer left to live.

Cadance suddenly gasped, a horrible thought rearing its head. Had she just attacked the very pony she had been intending to meet? But no, that couldn’t be true. The ponies from the future were supposedly infected with a disease that made their skin blotchy and crystalline, whereas that had just looked like an ordinary earth pony mare.

It had… looked like an ordinary earth pony mare. And she had attacked them. An ordinary mare. Oh Celestia.

In horror, Cadance relit her horn. Whether because of a change in atmosphere, or because the sudden determination was giving her extra focus, she was able to illuminate the entire cavern this time. In doing so a few things became clear. Firstly, the cavern was even larger than she had imagined. She was only standing in the entrance, but it stretched out downwards, forwards and upwards, until she imagined it could comfortably fit the entire Crystal Palace inside. Secondly, it looked like it had been an earth pony she had blasted. A grey mare was lying a surprising distance away, wearing torn clothes and looking battered but fortunately not broken. And thirdly, she had no time to care about anything else, because a shadowy mist was seeping towards her through the cavern.

There was something about the black fog that made it look malevolent. It was spilling along the ground towards her, as though it was a particularly viscous liquid, and the only thing stopping her from fleeing from it was that it would reach the other mare first, and she knew that she could not allow the poor pony to get absorbed into the foul haze.

She started galloping toward the downed pony, planning as she ran. Her first thought was to create some sort of barrier around the two of them, but that would be no use if the mist would then just surround them and leave them trapped inside. She could try and carry the grey mare out herself, and give up on the pony she had been supposed to meet, but she did not want to surrender unless there truly seemed to be no other option.

Instead she stepped past the mare on the ground, who looked as though she might be unconscious but was visibly breathing. Cadance then tried to use any magic she could think of to repel the fog back into the depths of the cavern, while still trying to generate enough light to see by.

Although she was not able to fend off the dark mist, she did at least stop it from spilling any closer. The situation then changed dramatically though, when the mist stopped putting any pressure on her magic, as though it had stopped its approach. Cadance watched warily as the shadowy fog churned and formed itself into the outline of a pony. That confused the pink alicorn. Did it mean the fog had some sort of sentience? Perhaps it wanted to communicate with her?

But rather than communicate, the shape of the pony suddenly became solid, and Cadance stepped back in shock as she identified that the mist had somehow spawned one of the monsters she had been hoping to avoid. It was as Shining Armor had described it to her: a horrific form of jagged black crystal with blazing, soulless eyes. She could identify that it had the shape of an earth pony stallion, and thought back to what Pinkie had told her about these ‘Shards’. Presumably there had once been a pony out there who looked just like this, and they had been infected and killed so that this dark mist could mimic them. It was suddenly very clear to the princess of love that she would struggle to feel any mercy towards whoever was responsible for this dark magic.

The earth pony Shard wailed and started charging towards her. Cadance didn’t hesitate before sending a blast of magic forth from her horn, with far more feeling this time since she knew it to be a valid target. Unfortunately she had forgotten to keep the light spell active in her haste, and in the few seconds of darkness before she summoned illumination again, the situation had changed, very much for the worse.

In front of her in the darkness, the last remnants of the mist were forming into duplicate outlines of the same earth pony. As they solidified, Cadance noticed that even the Shard she had hit with her spell had not been taken out, and was getting back to his hooves and turning impulsively towards her. It looked like it would take a lot more effort to deal with him than she had first hoped.

Seeing no good alternative, Cadance started blasting spells haphazardly into the crowd. Once or twice she thought she could hear the splintering sound of a Shard being destroyed, but there were always more to take its place, and as a whole they were slowly advancing towards her. Deciding that she could not allow them to get close to the unmoving mare behind her, she charged into the fray, raising a shield around her and ramming the nearest Shards with it. As one the constructs all turned towards her and started ramming against her barrier, causing cracks to appear after mere seconds.

Cadance knew it wouldn’t hold much longer, and so she launched up into the air and allowed it to drop. Then she cast a wider range spell, attempting to tear apart the ground underneath the feet of the now closely gathered Shards. She was not well-practised with offensive magic, but fortunately her opponents were earth ponies, or at least resembled earth ponies, and they would not be able to reach her in the air. Neither did they seem particularly smart, as she realised when they continued to swarm underneath her, despite no hope of being able to reach the flying alicorn.

It did not take long though, before they changed tactics. One Shard on the edge of the group picked up a loose stone from the ground she had just so generously torn into pieces beneath them, and threw it at her with surprising force. She only barely dodged out of the way, and turned to witness every other Shard in the group simultaneously picking up stones of their own.

Realising that she would never be able to dodge fifty stones at once, Cadance created a magical barrier once more, this time beneath her so that the rocks would not be able to reach her. An idea then occurred to her, and she used as much strength as she could muster to force the barrier down onto the monsters below, with the intention of crushing them. A few near the edges stepped out of the way, but most of them mindlessly remained immobile, and were obliterated beneath the magical wall. Cadance smiled as she saw this. They really weren’t very intelligent.

In her split second of satisfaction at her success, she had taken her eye off of the Shards who had avoided her attack, and was smacked with a stone in the back of her head for her carelessness. Vision blurring for a second, Cadance lost control of both her flight and her magic, crashing into the ground of the now pitch black cavern. She had already started charging up another light spell when she considered that a better spell to cast first would have been a shield spell. And indeed, no sooner had the area around her been illuminated than she saw several Shards mere feet from her, and charging fast. It looked like they were simply going to trample her and let their serrated crystalline bodies tear her to shreds. In fact, even as she looked the jagged spikes on some of the Shards seemed to be lengthening threateningly.

Without any time to think of anything clever to do, Cadance created a magical shockwave, launching everything nearby into the air, including herself. She slammed into a rock pillar a short distance away, and felt it crack ominously behind her. The persistent Shards, despite the fact that some of them were missing legs and other portions of their body, recovered far faster than she did. Before Cadance could get back to her hooves they had started charging towards her once more. There were only seven of them left now, but they were spread far enough apart that Cadance was not going to be able to take them out in one go.

She refused to give up though, and sent rays of magic at the nearest Shards. They must have been severely weakened over the course of the battle, because as her beams connected it was enough to cause the constructs to disintegrate into dust. Heartened, she stood and turned to the final few Shards and was just about to repeat the action when she was caught off guard by another thrown stone that smashed into her horn.

Immediately a splitting headache seared through her and all light vanished from the cave. Cadance tripped back into the pillar behind her, and the impact caused another ominous cracking sound. Within seconds the pillar seemed to have split apart and Cadance felt thuds of rocks falling as it broke into pieces. Before she could either get to her hooves or relight her horn, one of the falling rocks landed on her left wing and she let out a yell of pain. Meanwhile, even in the blackness, she could see the glowing lights of her enemies’ eyes slowly approaching.

The cornered pink alicorn attempted another spell, but it fizzled out and lights started blinking in her eyes. She attempted to drag herself away, but the rock was still pinning her in place by the wing. Resigned, she closed her eyes.

There was a sudden splintering sound, and an explosion of crystalline fragments falling to the ground. Cadance reopened her eyes to see the glowing eyes being extinguished one by one, the sound of devastation continuing around her. When the last light had gone out, and the foul presence of Shards had gone from the cavern, a sudden flare of light appeared in front of her and she blinked in surprise as, for a brief moment, her entire world was filled with flame.

After a few seconds her vision returned to her and she identified that the flame had simply come from a recently lit lantern, which was now hanging around the neck of the same earth pony she had so regrettably attacked earlier. The grey mare was standing over her, the light from the lantern illuminating her violet mane, which hung meticulously straight despite the rest of her seeming battered and bruised. Cadance saw the fragments of her recent tormentors on the ground around the mare’s hooves and put two and two together.

“Did you just destroy them?”

“Yes.”

“How did you do that?”

“I punched them,” came the straightforward reply.

Cadance tried to pull herself upright once more, and in an instant the battered mare was at her side, pulling the rock off of her wing. Cadance raised an eyebrow as she saw just how easily the earth pony was able to move such a big rock.

“Is your wing okay?” The mare asked.

Cadance flexed it experimentally, wincing a little. “It’ll be fine.” She looked back over at the earth pony in front of her. “Listen,” she began. “I’m really sorry about earlier. That was unforgivable of me.”

The mare simply tilted her head.

“When I attacked you,” Cadance prompted, waiting for a reaction. “I blasted you with my magic?” Still no response. Cadance frowned. “Maybe you didn’t notice me do it, but I’m still really sorry.”

“I noticed. It’s okay though. You didn’t mean it.”

“But I seriously injured you!” Cadance motioned at the bruises that covered the mare’s side and the tears in her clothes. As she did so however, she realised that the pony did not seem to be bothered by the cuts and scrapes, and was moving around just fine. She was clearly very resilient.

“I already had most of these injuries. They were from other black crystal pony fights like this one.”

“You’ve been attacked by Shards before?” Cadance winced in sympathy. “Oh, my dear, how long have you been stuck down here?”

“I’m not stuck down here.”

“I know a way out, we can… Wait, you’re not?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Cadance waited for an explanation but it seemed none was forthcoming. “Why are you down here then?” she asked.

“I’m researching the rocks here.”

“You’re what!?” Cadance was stunned. “But why here? There are rocks everywhere, why go here when it’s so dangerous?”

“There are rocks here that can’t be found anywhere else.”

“But you just said there are Shards constantly attacking you down here. Surely you’d be better off somewhere else?”

“But nowhere else has these rocks,” the mare repeated, as though the presence of demonic monsters was merely an afterthought.

“Huh.”

There was silence for a few seconds.

“Those ponies that attacked us are called Shards?” the mare eventually asked.

“Uh, yes.”

“Shards are okay. I can deal with Shards.”

“They seemed pretty tough to deal with to me.”

“These were just Deep Miner. He’s hardy, but slow and predictable. Azure Prism is faster, but less resilient. White Beacon is a unicorn. He’s more dangerous. There are sometimes others.”

Cadance gaped. “You know all these ponies?”

“They were my research team.”

“So they got infected? And they all died?” The mare nodded. “That’s awful,” Cadance said sympathetically. “Are you okay? You’ll have to tell me how it all happened.”

A flicker of the flame in the lantern around the mare’s neck caused Cadance to suddenly remember where she was and what she was supposed to be doing here. “You can tell me another time, I was actually here for a different reason.” It was likely that she was too late to meet the pony she had been here to find, but it was possible that this mare had seen them. “Have you, by any chance, seen a strange pony in the caves near here? They would have appeared out of nowhere, and been infected by a debilitating illness.”

The mare blinked, her face impassive, but Cadance got the impression that she was thinking. She hadn’t shown much emotion since they had first started talking, but the princess was beginning to be able to pick up on the more subtle cues.

“I know who you mean. I am looking after him in my tent.”

“You do? You found him?” Cadance paused. “You have a tent?”

The mare started walking off, and Cadance realised she was supposed to follow. She certainly wasn’t being treated the way she, as a princess, was usually treated. She found it strangely refreshing. As they walked, she noticed the mare’s cutie mark, which appeared to be a rock cut in the shape of a diamond. She was not surprised.

“He says he is from the future. I believe him.”

“Oh, well, yes. He is.” Cadance knew that in theory it would be better if word didn’t spread too far about what was happening. The ponies of the Crystal Empire were an easily panicked bunch after all. But somehow Cadance knew that this mare would be unlikely to speak out.

“He is going to die soon. I can’t help him much longer.”

“Yes, the disease he has is incurable,” Cadance muttered glumly. “I was just hoping I would be able to talk to him before he went. What has he said to you?”

“Strange things. Is it true that a Shard army attacked the Crystal Empire?”

Cadance stopped walking in shock. “No.” She shivered. “Or not yet, anyway. It would be really good to talk to him, is it much further?”

“No.”

Cadance continued in silence, but then some of the things her curt companion had said jumped out at her.

“Did you… did you say you’ve been helping him? Looking after him?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“Only a few hours.”

It was strange just how many times Cadance could be dumbfounded by this mare’s monotonic words.

“A few… a few hours?”

“I think three hours.”

“And he’s been talking to you all this time?”

“No. When I tried to help him he fell asleep. He wakes up occasionally, but I think he’s very tired.”

“Huh.”

They continued walking, and Cadance noticed they were approaching a small alcove in the side of the large cavern. There was the sound of dripping water nearby, which went some way to explaining how anypony could survive down here. Presumably she must have some way of getting food too.

“So how have you been helping him?” Cadance asked, trying once more to understand the situation.

“I can show you. We’re here.”

Cadance looked up in shock and saw that they had indeed arrived at a small tent, pitched next to a pool of water. The grey mare stepped inside and Cadance followed, having to duck significantly to fit her regal frame through the entrance. Somehow Cadance knew that the tent would be sparsely decorated inside, and in fact there was little more than a camp bed, which was currently occupied by what she assumed to be the time-displaced stallion in question.

He was not a pretty sight, as Cadance had expected. His legs and most of his torso looked exactly like those of a Shard. He had wings that seemed fused to his sides, clearly rendering them unusable. More of a surprise though, was his head, which seemed completely clear of the Infection, retaining his natural dark blue colouration.

“He says he is called Star Hunter.” Cadance’s guide stepped over towards the pegasus stallion. “I can wake him up, but I think he will only have minutes left. Maybe three minutes.”

“Uh, okay.” Cadance’s mind whirred. This was nothing like the situation she had expected to be in when she met her target, but she still needed to get useful information.

The grey earth pony bent down and tapped the pegasus on the side of the head. Immediately his eyes popped open and he twisted his head around in shock.

“Aaargh! Where am I?” He blinked wildly, but then seemed to settle down. “Oh yes, I remember. I’m still with you, huh? Thought for sure I’d be gone by now.” He suddenly seemed to notice Cadance. “Ah, you brought a friend here?” He squinted. “Oh, not a friend; family!”

“Actually, we’re not related.” Cadance said, before turning aside and whispering, “Does he not know who I am?”

“He thought I was somepony else too. I think he’s confused.”

Cadance nodded at this. There was no telling what the Infection did to pony’s minds, she just hoped they could trust the rest of the information he could give them in the time they had. In fact, even as she looked she could see the corruption spreading up his neck, making her realise just how little time it probably would be. It seemed that she was not the only one to notice however, because the mare beside her reached forwards and pressed a hoof to his chest. Immediately the spread of the Infection seemed to slow, allowing the stallion some breathing room.

“How did you do that?” asked Cadance, stunned once more.

“Like this,” the mare replied, repeating the action.

“No, I mean, what are you doing?”

“Touching his chest.”

Cadance groaned and shook her head. Questions for the mare: later. Questions for the stallion: now.

“Star Hunter, can you hear me?”

“Yes, but I don’t think I will for much longer. I’m going to die, you know.” His voice was very croaky.

“I do, and I am so sorry. You would be doing Equestria a great service if you could answer a few questions before that happens though.”

“Of course, that’s why I’m here!”

The pink alicorn smiled at his enthusiasm. It made it easier to accept that he was going to die if he knew and was ready for it himself. “Okay, first question: I understand the Crystal Empire will be attacked by Shards? When and how does this happen?”

“I don’t remember when, sorry. It was very sudden, and was before most ponies knew anything was even going on.”

“Is there anything at all you could tell me?”

“It was a huge battle. There were thousands of Shards, supposedly. I think you were taken by surprise.”

Cadance frowned uneasily. That was a preposterous number. “Well rest assured, we will not allow ourselves to be surprised this time.” She wished her voice sounded as certain as her words.

The stallion smiled, but then flinched. One of his ears had just crystallised. It seemed that, despite the mare’s best efforts, the Infection was close to overwhelming him.

“Okay, second question,” Cadance continued, her voice slightly more rushed now. “What is the original cause of the Infection?”

“Nopony knows.”

Cadance’s heart sunk. “Really?”

“Well either that or you found out but kept it a secret.” He suddenly winced again and Cadance wondered whether he had just attempted to shrug. “Either way, again I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

Cadance was somewhat flustered now. Surely after all this she could get something useful from him. She racked her brain for the best thing to ask. “Uh, do you have any advice on dealing with Shards?”

“They’re really dumb if you get them in small groups. In big groups they seem smarter somehow, not sure why. Raiding parties were always the most successful at taking them out. Maybe you should train ponies to hunt Shards in the mountains as soon as possible.”

“And how would you recommend fighting them?”

“I was never part of the force, but from what I understand, it’s all about hitting them with power and they’ll break apart. Get earth ponies to buck hard, pegasi to fly fast, and unicorns to launch projectiles.” He started choking, and Cadance noticed that the Infection was up to his face. “And don’t allow them to... to cover you in their mist, or they’ll… they’ll infect you too.”

Cadance smiled as warmly as she could. “Thank you, Star Hunter.”

He smiled, closed his eyes, and shattered.

Cadance had known it was coming, but she still found that she had to blink away tears. Her companion meanwhile, was just staring with interest at the newly formed pile of fragments. Cadance took a deep breath, and then another. She could not afford to get hung up on what she had just witnessed. It sounded like she, and the Crystal Empire, had a lot of work to do.

“Thanks for all your help,” she said heartily. “Without you I never could have talked to him. And also,” she added, thinking back. “You quite possibly saved my life. I don’t think I ever thanked you for that either.”

The mare nodded impassively.

“I should also apologise,” the princess continued, “for never asking your name. I must admit I have not been thinking clearly for the last hour, and was most surprised to meet anypony down here, but that is no excuse for being rude.”

“My name is Maud Pie,” the grey earth pony replied, simply. “Who are you?”

“Who… Who am I?” Cadance gaped at the mare for what seemed like the twentieth time. “Well, officially I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Cadance.” She frowned. “I am sorry, I assumed you would know me.”

“I have heard of you.”

“Huh.” Cadance frowned again, but after a few seconds she was giggling, and she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps the tension she had been feeling for the last hour was finally wearing off. Whatever the reason, she felt good to let it out, and was receiving a bemused look for her troubles. It was probably the most extreme expression she’d seen on Maud’s face the whole time they had been together, which only made her laugh harder.

As she slowly recovered, she thought back to something Celestia had been suggesting to her for a while now. She liked this laconic mare for some reason. A rock in the shape of a diamond indeed. Perhaps it was time.

“Maud Pie,” she began, trying to work out the best way of phrasing her request. “I can see that you are… content… here, but I have a proposition for you.”

The mare listened patiently.

“I would like to know everything you have seen down here. It would be good to know all you can tell me about the Shards and the Infection. But more than that, whatever you did to help that pony, it was something nopony else even knew was possible. I don’t know what it was, but it’s a skill that will be invaluable in the future if we are trying to avoid the events Star Hunter, and others like him, have mentioned.

“Maud, would you be willing to return to the Crystal Empire with me? To let me help you develop your talents, and work together to eliminate the Shards, and the Infection that stole your friends from you?”

The grey mare stood silently for a few moments, and then almost imperceptibly nodded her head.

“Sure.”

Chapter 10 - What Makes a Shard?

Chapter 10 – What Makes a Shard?

Princess Cadance had been waiting for them at the Crystal Empire train station when they arrived. Twilight had initially been surprised to see the pink princess flanked by no less than six guards, but as they all made their way towards the palace, Cadance explained the reason for the precaution.

“The situation here is growing graver by the day. Just yesterday, when I left to go after the pony you told me about in your letter, I returned to discover that Shards had been spotted just to the west of the empire. Shining Armor had gathered most of the guard to join me in the Crystal Mountains, so it is fortunate that the Shards did not attack the empire then, as we would have been most vulnerable.”

“How did your trip to find the infected pony go?” Twilight asked. “Did you find out anything useful?”

“It’s actually quite an interesting story, but I’ll explain that in more detail soon enough. The biggest piece of information we learned is that the Shards will be amassing an army to attack my empire at some point.” The princess of love scowled. “I will not let that happen.”

Everypony was suitably horrified at this piece of news.

“An army of Shards?” Pinkie grimaced. “I thought three of them was bad enough…”

“So does this change our plan?” Rainbow asked. “We’re still planning to go into the mountains and hunt them down, right?”

Twilight considered this. “I suppose so, but we need to be careful. If we might come across large numbers of Shards then we need to be more prepared.” She turned to Cadance. “Pinkie tells me that my brother has been fighting Shards for a while now. Is that right?”

“Yes, there’d been occasional sightings of them in the mountains for a few weeks before we talked to Pinkie Pie. Now that we know how big a deal it is, I regret not taking a more aggressive approach from the beginning.” Cadance sighed. “Shining is currently still in the cave where I met Star Hunter. I encountered a large number of Shards there, and he and some of the guard are exploring to see if they can learn where the mist that forms them came from. They should be back soon.”

“You met some Shards?”

Cadance shuddered. “Yes. A lot. I had to fight them, but I was woefully unprepared. If it hadn’t been for a most unusual mare I encountered down there, I might not have come out in one piece.”

“Oh, who did you meet?”

The pink alicorn grinned. “You’ll meet her soon enough. I think you’ll find her interesting and exasperating in equal measure Twilight. I intend that we should all meet up and discuss strategy, and how to fight the Shards. As much as it pains me to admit, I think battle is inevitable, and you are right Twilight. We need to be prepared.”

Half an hour later they were gathered in a room in the palace that Twilight was tempted to think of as ‘Crisis Room Mk. 2’. The congregation of ponies around a table certainly reminded her of that time a few days ago when a different group of them had done the same thing in Canterlot. Hopefully this time around they could devise a plan with less devastating consequences. As she thought this, a sickening feeling arose in her stomach as she realised that she would need to pass on the news of Luna’s death to Cadance at some point. Perhaps it should wait until after this meeting.

Apart from the six element bearers and Cadance, there were two empty seats at the table, at either side of the pink princess. Twilight presumed one would be waiting for her brother when he returned, but she was not sure about the other. She did not have to wait long to find out however, because at that moment the door at the side of the room opened and, without fanfare, a mare calmly walked in.

There were several moments of shocked silence, interrupted by a joyful ‘eep’ as a blur of pink rocketed away from the table to intercept the new arrival. The missile that was Pinkie collided with the mare with enough force to level a small building, causing Maud to slide back a few inches before returning the hug.

“What are you doing here Maud!? This is so exciting! You know, I was here in the Crystal Empire a few days ago, and I really wanted to have a chance to see you, but I didn’t get that chance because I was busy, and then I got attacked, and then I had to go back to Canterlot, but now I get to see you anyway, so that’s really great!” Pinkie stepped back and looked her sister up and down. “You look hurt Maud. Have you not been taking care of yourself? You must remember to go home and clean yourself up occasionally, not just stay outside watching the rocks for days on end. Remember our rule? Five hours of rock time means one hour of Maud time.”

By this point Maud had started to continue her journey towards the table, with Pinkie bouncing excitedly in circles around her. “So do you like it here in the Crystal Empire? Huh? Do you? How does Boulder feel about being do far away from home, surrounded by such different rocks?” Pinkie lowered her voice. “Has he got a crush on any crystals?”

In all this time, nopony else at the table had moved, let alone spoken. Finally, as Maud was reaching her seat, Cadance turned to the others questioningly.

“They’re related? I assumed the shared surname was a coincidence…”

Applejack chuckled. “And Ah suppose their similar personalities didn’t tip you off?”

“Wait, so Maud is who you were talking about?” Twilight asked, amazed.

“She is. I could not have imagined you would all know each other.”

“Are you kidding!?” Pinkie jumped onto the table and spun around happily. “We’re all the bestest of best friends! This is just so amazing I can’t believe it!”

Cadance smiled. “I suppose that saves some time then. I met Maud in the cave network underneath the Crystal Mountains, where it seems most of the Shard activity has been located. If it would not be too much trouble,” she said softly, turning to Maud. “Could you recount your experiences with the Infection and the Shards?”

“You mean when my team died?”

“Uh,” Cadance stuttered, taken aback by her bluntness. “Yes.”

Maud nodded.

“Okay…”

The group of four ponies trotted through the long tunnel, their hoofsteps echoing into the distance. White Beacon was leading the way, allowing the spotlight he was emitting from his horn to reveal their passage. Maud and the others did all have lanterns of their own, but there was no sense wasting fuel while the crystal unicorn could do the work for them. Beacon was very talented at creating illumination, as his cutie mark of a ball of light in a jar demonstrated. He had actually offered to provide the others with some of his patented ‘Jars of Light’, but as they were not unicorns, it seemed more prudent to use gas-lit lanterns that they could operate themselves.

Azure Prism walked beside the unicorn, chatting away as always. The two of them had known each other since they were young and did everything together, as far as Maud could tell. She was grateful that she had found them. Azure had known Pinkie, it turned out, and he had suggested that Beacon would be a useful addition to any trip into the tunnels, as was proving to be the case.

The final member of their team was Deep Miner, the only other pony who was actually interested in the caves themselves. He had his own goals, and was intending to catalogue the different gems he could find in a recently identified crystal deposit deeper into the tunnels. Maud had never been that fascinated by precious gemstones, but she could appreciate that his interests may deviate from her own. Unfortunately, he kept bothering her with inane questions, which she was beginning to find irritating. She answered them all the same, but they seemed so irrelevant to the work at hand. Questions like: “Where do you come from?” or “How old are you?” or even “Do you have a special somepony?” It was almost as though he was more interested in her than the amazing cavern structure around them.

And it was a captivating cavern they had just arrived in. The stalactites high up on the ceiling, only barely illuminated by Beacon’s brilliant floodlights, were longer and more finely shaped than any Maud had ever seen. She wished there were a way she could watch them slowly form, but unfortunately she knew that she would not live long enough to witness the finest wonders of nature. Ponies were so ephemeral when compared to the motion of the earth.

“What’s that?” Azure asked, interrupting Maud’s daydreaming.

The other ponies turned to look in the direction the crystal pony was gesturing. It was obvious what had caught his attention. A short distance away from them, a strange haze was gathered just above the ground, and it seemed to be absorbing all of the light that fell upon it. Beacon pointed his horn towards it, with the aim of illuminating it more clearly, but it had no effect.

“You ever seen anything like this, DM?”

“Nu-uh.”

Beacon started walking towards it, almost as though he were compelled, like a moth to a flame.

“Um, Beacon, buddy, are you sure you should be doing that?”

“What? It’s just some mist.” He continued his approach, eyes wide as if in wonder. “It’s intriguing. It’s absorbing all of the light I can pump at it. I wonder how it’s formed.”

“Beacon, please, I don’t like it.” Azure hadn’t stepped any closer, clearly unnerved by the shadowy fog.

“Nonsense.” Beacon finally reached the edge of the mist and peered into its depths. “I’m sure it’s harmless.”

As though waiting for the most ironic moment, the mist suddenly spilled towards the crystal unicorn, and in an instant he had been completely enveloped. Azure screamed in horror, and took a few steps towards his friend, before stepping back, and then forward, clearly unsure what to do. Deep Miner seemed petrified, and Maud was not sure he would be able to move even if his life depended on it. She turned back to the mist, watching warily.

After a few seconds there was the sound of splintering, and the mist dispersed, revealing that White Beacon had simply gone, with nothing but a pile of crystalline fragments where he had been standing. The dispersed mist then started forming into the shape of the unicorn, and, to another horrified yell from Azure Prism, became solid.

Maud shifted her legs slightly, ready to move the instant as it became clear what the best option was. The shadowy construct of Beacon that had just been created had not yet moved, but it was staring at the three of them with glowing eyes. And then, abruptly, the dark mockery of a unicorn ducked his head, pointing his jagged horn at the three of them, and let loose a crackling blast of red magic.

In an instant Maud sprinted to the immobile Deep Miner and threw him across her back. A flash of light and the sound of tearing earth told her that the spell had connected with the ground where she had just been standing, and she made a split-second decision to flee back up the tunnel they had just come down. As she ran, she glanced over her shoulder to see whether Azure was following her, and noticed that he seemed to be fumbling around wildly. The loss of Beacon had had a side-effect of darkening the cave. Perhaps Azure was not so adept at navigating in such little light.

She paused, mind whirring. The shadowy unicorn was clearly aiming to kill; that spell would have been lethal if it connected. If she ran back into the cavern, they might all be in danger. But could she just leave Azure behind?

Making up her mind, she pulled her lantern out of her saddlebags and lit it, then threw it against the wall, creating a bright flash. Hopefully that would be enough to firstly give Azure enough light to see by, and secondly draw the attention of the beast away from the crystal pony and onto herself.

She didn’t pause to see whether it had worked though, continuing her sprint along the tunnel. After a few moments she heard pounding footsteps behind her, and then saw a ray of red magic pass overhead, colliding with the ceiling a distance ahead of her and causing the tunnel to start collapsing.

“Hurry up, Maud!” came a desperate voice from on her back, as the collapsing roof started to block the tunnel. She didn’t speed up though. Calculating the distance to the rockfall and comparing it to the rate at which she was running, she realised she would not make it in time. Not while carrying an earth pony on her back anyway. She dropped Deep Miner.

“What? No, don’t leave me!”

Maud ignored him and instead spun around to face the pursuing unicorn. She identified that he was charging up his horn just in time to push Deep Miner out of the way. The blast of magic hit the ground between them, launching her bodily against one of the walls of the tunnel.

Her vision blurred for a moment, and when she recovered she saw that the jagged crystalline creature had reached them, and was holding a thrashing Deep Miner in its spiky forelegs.

“Let go of me! Let go of me right now!”

Rather than attack the earth pony, as Maud had been expecting the unicorn would, he instead opened his mouth, and the same mist from earlier started to emanate from him. Maud leapt to her hooves, but was not able to reach them before the mist had clouded around Deep Miner’s head, causing him to start choking. The Beacon-shaped construct turned its head towards the approaching mare and let loose another beam of magic, but Maud sidestepped it and continued her approach, before smashing him across the face with all her strength. To her surprise, he was not launched across the tunnel, instead simply disintegrating into fragments.

Maud turned her attention to the choking stallion, and noticed that there were still some remnants of the mist surrounding him, so she grabbed him and threw him to the ground. The motion caused the haze to dissipate, so Maud crouched down to examine Deep Miner, trying to identify what effect the mist had had.

Immediately she could sense something was wrong. There seemed to be a corruption spreading through him, and fast. Instinctively Maud placed a hoof on his chest. She could feel the movement of the corruption, and focussed, trying to force it back. She didn’t question how or why she was able to sense what to do, but for a second at least, it seemed to be working.

Deep Miner however, must have completely misinterpreted her actions. After being thrown onto his back and having a mare crouch over and affectionately press up against him, he turned his head towards hers and started to lean in for a kiss.

The mare’s shocked response was to jump away, and as soon as she had done so, and her hoof had left his body, she saw the corruption surge forwards in full force. Within seconds the normally brown stallion’s body was coated black, and his legs, and then torso, started crystallising. Maud reached out to try and correct her mistake, but just as she did so, the crystals spread over his face, and the life in his eyes faded. At her touch, just like the unicorn before him, he disintegrated into a thousand pieces.

“…I couldn’t find Azure Prism, so I decided to do my research alone. Later I saw a Shard shaped like him, so I knew he must have died too.”

There was silence as Maud finished her story. Pinkie in particular seemed unusually reserved.

“Wow,” Rainbow said, breaking the hush. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say so many words.”

Fluttershy frowned at the cyan pegasus, who had the grace to look abashed.

“I hope you don’t blame yourself for their deaths, darling,” Rarity said, concern etched in her features.

“I don’t.”

“Oh, well… good.”

Twilight couldn’t hold back any longer. “So you can sense the effect of the Infection on ponies? And stop it?”

“I can’t stop it. I can slow it down.”

“That’s still incredible! How do you do it?”

“I just look at them and then touch them.”

Twilight nodded glumly. “Of course you do.” It was going to be like trying to understand Pinkie Sense all over again.

“Do any of y’all realise just how close Zecora got to becomin’ a Shard?” Applejack suddenly asked. “Remember when we were in her hut, before she disappeared? That Shard breathed mist at her. If RD hadn’t flapped her wings at it, she’d’ve been infected, sure as sugar.”

Rainbow beamed and puffed her chest out, but beside her, Fluttershy sunk down in her seat.

“Oh, I don’t like that. It would be so easy for any of us to get infected if all it takes is for a Shard to breathe on us…”

“Not if you kill ‘em first.”

“True, but that’s a good point Fluttershy.” Twilight pulled out her notebook and a quill and started inscribing some notes. “We definitely need to be careful to avoid that. I think keeping your distance until the perfect moment sounds like a good idea.”

“Thanks for recounting that, Maud,” Cadance said warmly, smiling at the mare. “We have a better idea than ever before of what we’re up against.” The princess of the Crystal Empire then turned back to the rest of the table. “I think we need to make some plans. My empire will clearly need some greater defence along the northern borders, and I think we should start training the guard to be ready for Shard encounters.”

“We should train too,” Rainbow said immediately, gesturing at her friends.

Cadance blinked, wide eyed. The suggestion was clearly not one she had considered. “If you want to,” she said, hesitantly. “But don’t you think that your efforts would be better placed in finding the source of the Infection?”

“Actually I think Rainbow’s right,” Twilight said. “However we go about it, it seems inevitable we will be encountering Shards. We can’t afford to be unprepared.”

Cadance nodded. “Do you all agree with that?”

There were nods uniformly across the room until Fluttershy, who bowed her head even further behind her mane.

“Fluttershy?”

“I, um, don’t think I’ll be very helpful.”

“Come on Fluttershy, don’t talk yourself down!”

“No, I…” She drifted off into silence. Rainbow wrapped a wing around her shoulders encouragingly, and before long, the shy pegasus looked up, determination on her face. “No, I should help. I’ve been useless both of the last times we met Shards, but if I train with you all, then I can be just as helpful as anypony else.”

Her friends beamed at her.

“Okay then,” Cadance said. “As for longer term plans, I sent a letter to Canterlot, but I haven’t received a reply yet. I was hoping either Celestia or Luna would be able to find time to join us.”

The good mood in the room vanished.

“Uh, Cadance?” Twilight’s voice was hesitant.

“Yes?”

“There’s something I should tell you, about Luna.”

Before she could continue however, she was interrupted by the door to the room slamming open and a tall white unicorn entering.

“Shining!”

The prince looked around the room at the congregated ponies.

“Twily! Everypony! Good to see you all.”

“Is something wrong?” Cadance asked at once. Twilight had also noticed that his voice did not have the same warmth to it as it usually did.

Shining Armor hesitated. “Maybe it can wait. I don’t want to interrupt whatever you were just talking about.”

“If you’re sure,” Cadance said gently, as her husband took the empty seat beside her. “Twilight, you had some news about Luna?”

Twilight grimaced, her motivation having gone. For some reason, Shining Armor also frowned at these words.

“I think I know what that news might be,” he said hesitantly.

“Oh?”

“Perhaps it’s best if I just tell you all what happened…”

“Captain Union, you take your unit up the tunnel to the left. Lieutenant Sentry, you take your unit deeper into the cavern. The rest of you, with me.”

There were a flurry of salutes from the ponies around him, and then they all dispersed. Shining Armor immediately led his unit towards the cavern wall to the right. This was the site that his wife had fought the Shards she had met. He scowled to himself. She was lucky to be alive. He knew he shouldn’t have let her come here alone.

They spent the next half an hour scouring the area. A few times they would find a tell-tale pile of fragments, signifying that a Shard had been destroyed at that location. Other than that though, they found nothing of note.

“I think we need to look deeper into the cavern,” he said eventually. “We can join up with second unit.”

No sooner had he decided that than an orange stallion flew over and landed next to him.

“Your highness,” the pegasus began.

“Please Flash, I’ve said this before. You can call me ‘sir’. At least when my wife isn’t here, anyway.”

The pegasus smirked and nodded. “Okay then sir. We’ve found something you ought to see.”

“Lead the way.”

The ‘something’ was much deeper in the cavern, in an area where the ceiling hung a lot lower. By the time they had caught up with the rest of the guard there, he had received word that first unit were returning empty hoofed too. It looked like this would be their only discovery, whatever it was.

“What am I supposed to be looking at?” he asked, after a few seconds of standing in the dark.

“Just wait until your eyes get used to the blackness.”

“Why aren’t we making any light?”

“We don’t want to attract its attention.”

That was enough to intrigue the white unicorn. Peering into the depths, he was slowly able to detect what Flash had meant. He also understood why the rest of the guard were keeping their distance.

Standing calmly, in the middle of nowhere, was a Shard. This was no ordinary Shard however. It had the same black, crystalline body as he was used to seeing, with jagged spikes erupting from it like the skin of a particularly spiny dragon. It also had the same ominous glowing eyes. What was more unusual was its daunting size, and the presence of both a set of large wings and a spear of a horn on the Shard’s forehead. Shining Armor’s heart sunk as he recognised its shape.

“What should we do sir?” a voice asked from behind him. “Should we approach it?”

Shining weighed the options in his head. He knew that pegasus Shards could fly, and that unicorn Shards could perform magic. There was no telling what an alicorn Shard could do. Perhaps it would be best to avoid it at all costs. But then, maybe it would be better to face it now, as a large group, when they could potentially have the element of surprise.

“We attack. Get into positions and await my count.” He paused as he heard the scurrying of ponies from behind him as the guard arranged into formation. “Three… Two… One-”

He was cut off by a deafening screech and suddenly the alicorn Shard was in front of him. He instinctively summoned a magical barrier, which was shattered in one punch from the Shard, launching him through the air. As he lay dazed on the ground he was aware of flashes and bangs coming from the direction of the rest of the guard. It was like watching a strange light show.

Shaking his head, he pulled himself to his hooves. There were few unicorns amongst them, and it was clear that his help would be needed. Charging in, he summoned a shield once more around the nearest guards he could see, putting more strength into it this time. The Shard noticed this and turned its attention back to him. As it pushed itself to the air and launched itself towards him, it was tackled ineffectively from the side by a pegasus guard. In one swing of the Shard’s jagged wings the pegasus was sheared in half.

“No…”

Shining Armor put as much magic into his horn as he could and blasted it directly at the alicorn Shard, but it just shrugged it off. It was becoming clear to him that they would not be winning this fight.

“Retreat!” he called out, loud enough that nopony could miss it. That was easy to say though, but the Shard was not going to make it easy to do. It was flitting from one guard to another, as quick as though it were teleporting, smacking them with its jagged hooves. Shining Armor was summoning as many magical shields as he could, but he couldn’t help but notice the occasional spatters of blood. Just how many guards were being crippled? In return, they had done no damage at all to their opponent.

“Your highness,” came a rushed voice from beside him. He turned around to see a turquoise crystal mare.

“Union.”

“Take down the ceiling.”

Shining blinked. “What?”

“Take it down. Collapse it. It’s the only way to separate that thing from us.”

Shining didn’t have long to think. The alicorn-shaped abomination was getting ready for another approach. “Fine. But we need to make sure it stays on the other side.”

“Leave that to me.”

If Shining had paid more attention to what she was saying, he might have refused. But he wasn’t concentrating, instead pouring all his focus into charging up a spell that could cause a cave-in. A few unicorns nearby realised what he was attempting, and joined in.

“Oi, you!”

Shining looked over to see that Union was walking towards the Shard, waving a hoof. The Shard turned away from the ponies charging their spells and looked towards the crystal mare.

“Come and get me.”

No sooner had she finished those words than Shining and the others released their magic. A huge explosion rocked the entire cavern, and almost immediately giant rocks started tumbling from the roof of the cave. By now, all of the remaining guard had retreated past where the collapse was to happen, except for Union, who was still taunting the Shard.

“Captain, get out of there!” Shining Armor called.

The Shard turned at his words, and then looked up at the falling roof. It seemed to put two and two together, and let out another keening wail before launching itself towards the narrowing passageway.

“Oh no, we’re not finished here!” Union spun around and connected a hind leg with the side of the flying Shard, chipping its body for the first time in the entire battle. The reaction was immediate and horrifying. The Shard stopped in its tracks, and black flames erupted from its body as its eyes blazed red. Spinning around to face the crystal mare, it let out a blood-curdling shriek.

Shining Armor could see the terror in Union’s face, but then she turned and caught his gaze. She gave a swift salute, and a final rumble and falling of rocks blocked her from his view.

A few seconds later the rumbling finally stopped and the remaining guard were completely cut off from the other half of the cavern. Shining took a deep breath, shed a single tear, and then turned to face his ponies.

“We need to get out of here.”

As they were all leaving, Flash Sentry flew over and landed next to him.

“Sir?”

Shining Armor nodded, throat dry.

“That Shard. It was an alicorn.”

The prince nodded again.

“It… err… It looked like Princess Luna.”

A third nod.

“I… um.” The orange pegasus hesitated. “I was there when the Element of Laughter was explaining how Shards are formed. I also saw that night when the moon didn’t rise.”

A fourth nod.

“Does that… er…” He took a deep breath. “Does that mean that Princess Luna is dead?”

Shining Armor did not answer immediately, but he knew he could not be silent forever. “Yes, I think it does.”

Flash nodded back. “Sir, I would like to volunteer to plan and lead a mission to take that Shard out.”

The prince of the Crystal Empire grimaced.

“You’ll have to get in line.”

Chapter 11 - Training Montage (Day I)

Chapter 11 – Training Montage (Day I)

“Oh, they’re just so pretty!”

Lieutenant Lance Arcus sighed impatiently. He didn’t care how important this mare was, if she didn’t start following his orders like everypony else then he would… he would send her to the naughty step!

Cut Lustre wasn’t helping matters. The crystal pony colt had clearly developed a crush on the unicorn mare, and his head was inflating with every compliment laid upon his diamond arrowheads. The boy was a talented smith, Lance couldn’t deny that, but he was far too easily distracted.

“Of course, since these are the finest quality arrowheads I have ever produced,” the colt explained, “it seemed only fitting to offer them to a mare of equal beauty.”

“Ooh please, stop it.” The white unicorn waved a hoof bashfully.

Lance cleared his throat. “Cut, I don’t remember giving you the authority to decide who should use which ammunition.”

“Right, of course, sorry sir…”

“Oh, but you simply must let me have them. I’ve never seen such finely crafted diamond!”

Cut Lustre’s head inflated a further few inches.

The lieutenant shook his head. He would not be swayed by a pretty mare fluttering her eyelashes. “There are plenty of barbs for everypony, but it is only fair that the best quality ammunition is given to the most adept unicorns.” He gestured to the line of, very patiently waiting, guardsponies beside him. If you would like to join the line, Miss Rarity, we could move this session along?”

The white mare finally did so, joining the back of the queue. It was a disappointingly short queue. The Crystal Empire was mostly made up of crystal earth ponies, with few pegasi, and even fewer unicorns among them. Lance wondered if he would have been forced to put up with such an undisciplined mare if not for the shortage of spellcasters.

Of course, just because you were a unicorn did not mean you were a good spellcaster, particularly when it came to offensive magic. Lance had to admit that even he, an aging platinum unicorn stallion with lengthy experience as a guardspony, had little variety of spells in his repertoire. That was where these arrowheads came in. Almost every unicorn was capable of levitation, and since Shards had turned out to be fairly resilient to magic, but could be injured or even destroyed with a sharp impact, it was an obvious tactic. And thus they had set up a makeshift archery range to practice on.

They did of course have some earth pony guards who were decent archers themselves, but a unicorn would always be more efficient in a battle. Even the best earth ponies couldn’t fire multiple projectiles in different directions at once. Unfortunately, it was looking like these unicorns couldn’t do that either. Lance supposed he couldn’t blame them. Equestria was normally a peaceful place, and the royal guards’ usual duties were far more ceremonial than anything else.

Lance strolled along behind the unicorns who were currently practising, offering suggestions for improvement and giving praise when he could, which was frustratingly rarely. He had been given a large supply of targets, which were set up at the other end of the range at various distances, and he had assumed that he would be replacing them often. As it was, only a few of them had even been hit, and only one or two with enough force to make a sizable dent.

“Guards, rotate!” he yelled. There was a flurry of salutes, and the ponies at the front of the line moved forward to replace those in the range, who walked over to a viewing area at the side of the yard. Lance wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but the next set of guards seemed to be performing significantly better than the first. He could see a couple of targets that had been broken into splinters already. It was probably coincidence that this second group was more accurate, but Lance allowed himself to believe that it was because they had been listening to his advice.

As he completed another pass of the range, making suggestions as he went, he noticed that Cut Lustre was still jabbering away to that prissy mare at the back of the line. If Lance hadn’t had other things to attend to, he would… he would send that boy away without supper!

“Guards, rotate!”

A few more rotations later, and Rarity had finally taken her place at the range. Lance knew this, because he could immediately identify her shrill voice commenting on the equipment.

“What are these things?”

“They’re the standard arrowheads,” replied the colt’s voice. “Made of flint.”

“Ugh, they are so drab.”

“Well of course I don’t have so much to work with when compared to the diamond ones, but I’m sure in the hooves of such a beautiful mare, they would-”

Lance couldn’t listen to this any longer. “Cut! Get out of here. Go…. Go to your room!” A part of Lance wondered whether that was really a suitable command to give to a pony. Ever since his wife had birthed two fillies a few years ago, his disciplining had been noticeably affected.

Cut nodded and whizzed out of sight, clearly not wanting to get caught in Lance’s anger. The lieutenant turned to his newly discovered nemesis. “Miss Rarity, do you have an issue with the equipment?”

“No, I was merely commenting on their less than stellar appearance.” Everypony else had stopped their practising and they were all eagerly watching the bubbling confrontation at this point.

“These barbs are sufficient for everypony else. They will be sufficient for you.” His voice brokered no disagreement.

“Perhaps, but they could be so improved with some colour, dear.”

“They do not need to look good! They are for killing!”

Rarity gestured to the diamond arrowheads. “Yet those look exquisite. I’m sure, for morale at least, we could have nicer looking equipment.”

“These arrowheads,” Lance huffed, trying to keep his temper in check, “are made of diamond because it is strong. Not because it looks nice.” He slammed a hoof. “And besides, they aren’t for your use. Can you even hit a target?”

The white unicorn turned around to face the targets in the distance, and lit her horn. The flint arrowheads around her were all levitated into the air and, in one swift movement, laced out to hit every remaining target simultaneously. About half of the targets broke apart upon impact.

“And of course I could do better with the diamond ones,” Rarity commented as she turned back to the stunned lieutenant, over the sounds of impressed applause from the guards around her. “Working with precious gems has always been a talent of mine.”

“It…. It has?”

“And I’ve been thinking about how I would carry them.” She smiled pleasantly. “I’ve seen that one usually straps one’s ammunition to the barrel, but I can just picture a gorgeous coat, with the arrowheads neatly embedded along the sides. Why, it would be fashionable in and out of battle. Or perhaps…”

Lance Arcus stopped listening to the mare at this point. She was insufferable. Brilliantly, magnificently insufferable.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stood to varying degrees of attention. The orange pegasus in front of them looked them over with a critical eye, causing Fluttershy to duck her head behind her mane automatically. Rainbow remained standing proudly, imagining that she was back at the Wonderbolts Academy.

“Shards have been seen closer and closer to the Crystal Empire over the last few days,” Lieutenant Flash Sentry began, turning away from them. “The increased guard presence has been noticed, and citizens are getting nervous. We absolutely cannot afford to let Shards get close to the empire undetected.” He turned back to stare at them, face inscrutable. “There aren’t many pegasi in the Crystal Empire, and we need good reconnaissance teams to scope out the mountains as soon as possible.”

Rainbow saluted. “At once sir!”

“Actually, Miss Dash, I do not think this task is for you. I believe the Element of Kindness would be better suited for this role.” He stepped up to Fluttershy, who quailed slightly but stood her ground. “Miss Fluttershy, would you be able to join our scouting teams?”

“Oh, I think Rainbow would do better than I could. She’s a lot faster than I am…”

“It’s true,” Rainbow agreed, feeling somewhat dejected. “Don’t get me wrong, Fluttershy’s awesome. But I am quicker.”

Flash nodded. “I know. But you aren’t exactly subtle. What we need are fliers who can scope the environment without drawing attention to themselves.” He turned to the shy pegasus once more. “If I know anything about Miss Fluttershy, it’s that she’s well practised at avoiding attention.”

Rainbow tried hard not to feel offended. It was natural for her to want to be the best at flying in all its forms, but she knew not to argue with a superior in a situation like this. Instead she fell back onto what she felt was a good default action and saluted.

“Understood, sir.”

Fluttershy’s eyes were wide, and she looked as though she had frozen up, so Rainbow stretched out a wing and brushed it against her. After a few moments the quivering mare seemed to have calmed down, and determination flashed across her face.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

“Very good. You will report to Winter Tempest at once. She will be leading a scouting trip within the hour.”

“That soon?” Fluttershy quavered.

“No time like the present.”

Fluttershy glanced over at her friend, and Rainbow smiled back encouragingly. After a deep breath, she walked off in the direction she had been pointed, heading towards a congregation of crystal pegasi guards. As she left, Flash turned back to Rainbow Dash.

“Miss Dash?”

She saluted automatically.

“Let’s not overdo the salutes,” he suggested.

She lowered her hoof and blushed, causing Flash to smirk at her embarrassed reaction. “So, uh, what will I be doing sir?”

“I’ve heard good things about you from some of my friends in the Wonderbolts,” he began.

“You… you know the Wonderbolts?” Rainbow couldn’t stop herself from gushing. “You have friends in the Wonderbolts?”

He laughed. “I always wanted to be a Wonderbolt when I was younger. In fact, I think every pegasus foal did,” he added, to emphatic nods from the young mare. “After a lot of practice I entered the Wonderbolt Academy. Realised pretty fast that it wasn’t for me, but made some good friends while I was there. Still keep in touch with them to this day.” He gave Rainbow a bemused look. “They’ve all mentioned you, you’ve been making quite a name for yourself. I’m sure you know them better than I do by now.”

Rainbow kicked at the dirt bashfully. “I don’t know them that well. I joined the reserve team recently, but I’m still a bit inexperienced to be a fully-fledged member.” Rainbow’s expression darkened somewhat. That was the reasoning Twilight had suggested anyway. Rainbow was pretty sure she could fly better than at least half of the current team.

“Well, in the meantime.” Flash gestured for Rainbow to follow him as he started walking towards a courtyard nearby. “We’re creating a sort of aerial strike force. Dive in quick, smash some Shards to pieces, get out fast.” He grinned at the increasingly excited looking mare. “That sound up your street?”

Rainbow Dash could not have been happier.

“When we’re actually fighting we’ll wear these,” The lieutenant continued, pointing out some intricately crafted shoes with spikes on the soles. “But for practice, that would be an unnecessary risk.”

Rainbow looked around with interest at the courtyard they had entered. Flying around were eight different pegasi, some crystal ponies and some not. They looked vaguely as though they were in pairs, and their movement was rather haphazard, nothing like the choreographed routines of the Wonderbolts.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re practicing.”

“But there’s no dummies or Shards here. What are we practising on?”

Flash Sentry grinned wickedly and tossed her a helmet, before scuffing at the ground.

“What do you think?”

The market stalls in the centre of the Crystal Empire were bustling with ponies of all types, many of whom were there to exchange pleasantries and gossip as much as to exchange money and products. This was not the usual excited gossip though, of celebrity affairs and royal fashion trends. This was a nervous gossip, of mysterious rumours and speculative stories.

“They’re saying the Shards are an army King Sombra has created to take back the Crystal Empire.”

Gasps.

“I heard Shards can change shape to look like anypony. There could even be one among us right now!”

Panicked whispers.

“My husband’s in the guard, and he flew into the Crystal Mountains the other day. I heard he saw her.”

More gasps, followed by a confused silence.

“Wait,” somepony finally asked. “Who is ‘her’?”

“Well, Black Fractal of course. You must have heard of her?”

Understanding dawned, and murmurs followed.

“They say she can kill you with a look.”

Nods of agreement.

“Princesses Celestia and Luna haven’t come to help us this time either, have you noticed?”

Angry mutters.

“Well I heard, that we’re going to defeat all of the nasty Shards, and drive away whatever icky magic is in the Crystal Mountains, and everything will be fine!”

Stunned silence.

Slowly, everypony turned to the source of the most recent voice. That was not how this went. You weren’t supposed to be positive. Who would dare ruin their mutual pessimism?

Pinkie Pie smiled as widely as she could. A few of the gathered ponies seemed to recognise her, but most of them did not. She didn’t care though. The important thing was that they would have hope, and that they would all know that everything was going to be okay! She was slightly disheartened by the grumbles that some of the ponies were making, but she was sure that they most of them must have been made happier.

Duty fulfilled, she continued her trip back towards the Crystal Palace. She had originally been sent, along with Applejack, to the magnificent stadium that had been recently used for the Equestria Games. As earth ponies they were both expected to join with the standard training that most of the Royal Guard were taking part in. The stadium was being used because, in this emergency situation, an unprecedented number of guards were being trained at once, and there was nowhere more suitable.

It hadn’t taken long before the pony in charge had dismissed her, telling her to find somepony else to bother. She was evidently not shaped to fit any of the guard moulds they had. Pinkie could have told them that herself, she used moulds all the time when baking and knew all about different shapes. Instead she decided that she would return to the palace and bother anypony she could find there.

A decent number of guardsponies had been left to guard the northern borders of the empire, which were the ones most at risk of attack from the Shards in the mountains, and there were also lookouts at the exits to the nearest tunnels. Some ponies who lived near the outskirts had moved closer to the centre of the city, staying with relatives or the like. It was common knowledge now that creatures called Shards were living in the mountains, and that they might attack at some point. Although, if Pinkie thought back to some of the gossip she had been hearing, it also seemed to be common knowledge that Shards were impossible to destroy, and could kill you with a touch. While this wasn’t quite true, Pinkie didn’t think she’d tell ponies just how close to accurate it was.

Of course, with all the unicorn guards training ballistics, the earth pony guards either training or guarding the borders, and the pegasi guards training or making reconnaissance trips, Pinkie had never seen the palace itself so unguarded. There was nopony to stop her from just walking inside. It seemed that only force of habit was stopping everypony else from doing the same thing.

She hummed to herself as she made her way through the tall rooms, laughing at the distorted echoes that rung back at her. Within a few minutes she had returned to the room they were using to make their plans, and burst inside unannounced.

“Oh, Pinkie. What are you doing here?”

She bounced over to stand next to Twilight, who had clearly just been in the middle of a conversation with Cadance and Maud. Shining Armor was also there, although he looked a little restless. Pinkie wondered whether he would prefer to be out training too.

“I don’t make a good guard,” she said, matter-of-factly.

“You’d make an awful guard,” Twilight agreed. “But this isn’t supposed to be about guarding.” She turned to her brother. “What training is everypony actually doing?”

“They’re doing the usual drills, plus some extra that are specifically Shard related.”

“So Pinkie should be able to join in?”

Shining Armor looked Pinkie up and down. “If she could cope with military-grade discipline, sure.”

“Ah.”

Pinkie Pie decided to change the topic to something more interesting. “I was listening to some gossip on my way over.” She cast her mind back. “Who’s Black Fractal?”

“Black Fractal is the name we gave to the Shard shaped like Princess Luna,” Shining Armor explained. “Word got out that there was an alicorn Shard, and we wanted to make sure it wasn’t linked with Luna. We gave the media a few suggestions of names, and that’s what they chose. Not many ponies have spent much time with Luna, so hopefully nopony who sees ‘Black Fractal’ will be able to make the connection.”

“Most ponies still don’t know Luna’s gone,” Pinkie said sadly.

“No,” Cadance replied. “We thought we’d leave it to Celestia to decide how and when to share that information.” She frowned. “Or at least, that’s the plan for when she’ll let us contact her anyway.”

“Also, I heard ponies say that the Shards are an army that King Sombra created.” Pinkie looked at the others questioningly. “I know we wondered ages ago whether it might be leftover magic of his, but he’s definitely gone, right?”

“I don’t think we could have been more thorough in getting rid of him,” Cadance muttered, scowling at his memory.

“Ponies like to have somepony to blame. They like to put faces on things.” Twilight tapped her chin. “I think a known threat, however big, is slightly less scary than an unknown one. It’s easier for ponies to believe that these Shards are the work of King Sombra than it is to believe the truth.”

“Which is…?” Pinkie prompted

Twilight slumped to the table. “Which is that we’ve no idea where the Infection could have come from, and we don’t even know if there is somepony behind it all.” She gestured wildly with a hoof. “Shards generally seem pretty mindless, but there’s clearly some intelligence there.”

“And the alicorn Sha- I mean, Black Fractal, was definitely intelligent,” Shining Armor cut in. “After I started creating shields it learned to target me, and it was able to identify that we were trying to collapse the roof.”

“Right. And not only that, but Maud’s descriptions make it clear that the shadowy mist, which we’re assuming is the Infection, also seems to have some sort of consciousness.” Twilight sighed. “In a way, I’d want there to be a pony mastermind behind all this, because then at least we’d have an obvious target. We could see if we could retrieve our elements from the Tree of Harmony, if only temporarily, and face him or her head on.”

“Until we find out though,” Cadance began, “our priority needs to be defending my empire. The Crystal Heart is a great resource, but its use can only be a last resort. It should be able to expel Shards and the Infection, but it cannot bring back the dead. I do not want a single Shard to come close enough to infect any of my ponies.” She looked with resolve at her fellow princess. “Twilight, are you still willing to help me learn better offensive magic?”

“I’ll practise with you, if that’s what you mean.”

“No need to be modest Twilight, you know far more than I do. I was hoping you could be my teacher.”

Twilight nodded, blushing.

“Excellent. Maud, I’ll leave you to decide what best to do while I’m busy.”

“I will join Applejack and train with the other earth pony guards.”

“Very well. Shining?”

Shining Armor looked eager to get to work. “I’d better make sure everypony’s on task. Maud, I’ll take you to the stadium.” He turned to Pinkie, who was currently swaying from side to side in her seat. “Pinkie, you can come with us. If you’re not suited for any of our standard roles then I’ll find something else for you to do.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!”

And with that the five ponies departed.

It was snowing. Fluttershy couldn’t get over how strange that was.

She did at least somewhat understand why it was snowing, despite it being, in her mind, entirely the wrong season. Apparently, like the Everfree Forest, the weather in the Frozen North was completely uncontrollable. That meant that the occasional snow storm drifted south, covering the Crystal Mountains with a soft layer of powder. This was according to Winter Tempest, who was actually a weathermare who had volunteered to lead trips north because of her experience with these conditions. She would normally be in charge of dispersing the snow clouds once they had reached this point in the mountains, before they could drift any further towards the empire.

Winter was one of the few crystal pony pegasi, coloured a brilliant white and with a swirling silver mane. Fluttershy was trying to like her, but her temperament was as abrasive as the conditions. When Fluttershy had meekly suggested that they could clear away the snow clouds to make it easier to see, she had been immediately shot down.

“Do you have a brain in that pretty head of yours? The whole point of these recon trips is that we are trying not to be seen. Don’t you think it would be quite obvious if we started clearing the skies?”

Fluttershy had been quiet since then.

It was hard to see though. They had split into twos to cover as much ground as possible, and Fluttershy could no longer even see any of the other pairs. There was nothing to see looking down at the ground either. The mountains were desolate at the best of times, but now, when ponies had been explicitly warned not to journey through them, there was nothing interesting in sight. There was little greenery, even less wildlife, and the further north they flew, the more the earth was covered in snow anyway.

Winter had pointed out that the snow was a good thing, as it would make tracks left by Shards easier to spot. Unfortunately it also meant that they were not allowed to go to ground themselves, because their own tracks would be just as easy to spot. Fluttershy was not the best at endurance flying, and her wings were already beginning to ache. She was afraid to mention this to Winter though, who seemed completely unfazed by either the conditions or the distance they were travelling.

“Right Floaty, there’s clearly nothing in this area. The last party said they saw some Shards a distance to the west of here, we’re gonna scope that area out and see if they’ve moved. I want to have an idea of exactly how far away our nearest enemies are.”

“Um, okay.”

Winter streaked off without another word, and Fluttershy followed numbly. The wind was beginning to howl more fiercely, and her wings were feeling beaten. After a while she thought that Winter might have been talking to her, but she couldn’t hear anything over the wind. They seemed to fly for hours, and Fluttershy felt like even her brain was slowing down from the cold. And then, abruptly, Winter halted in the air.

“There, do you see?”

Fluttershy wearily stared into the distance. This far from the empire the mountains were completely blanketed with snow, and so the group of Shards was immediately obvious. There must have been about twenty of them, and they were congregated closely together, as though huddling for warmth.

“Wh-What are th-they do-doing?” Fluttershy asked, teeth chattering.

“No idea, but they’re even further away now than they were before, which is good for us.” The brilliant white mare spun around in the air to face the shivering pegasus. “Good work Floaty! I was expecting you to complain at some point, but you hung on in here. That’s what I like to see!”

“Oh… Th-thank you,” Fluttershy mumbled, without much feeling.

“Let’s fly back home and get you warmed up.”

“Oh, th-thank you!” she replied, this time with a lot more feeling.

It was pandemonium as Shining Armor arrived into the packed stadium. He could almost make out the various stations where ponies were training each different skill, but they did not seem to be delimited well, and ponies were spilling from one group to another all over the place. Were his guard really this undisciplined? This would never have happened in Canterlot when he was the captain.

He walked over to the nearest group, where ponies were practising their manoeuvrability by slaloming between some hastily erected posts, and grabbed a guardspony who looked like they knew what was going on.

“You. Remind me your name?” Always a useful phrase when you had no clue who you were talking to.

The crystal mare bowed hastily. “Jade Softhoof, your highness.”

“Jade, where is…” he trailed off and looked curiously at the scarlet-coloured crystal pony.

“My mother didn’t know what colour Jade was,” she explained, in a resigned voice that made it clear she had given this explanation more often than she would care to mention.

“Right.” The prince cleared his throat. “Jade, where is the Captain?”

“Uhm… Captain Union, your highness?”

Shining Armor recalled the resolute mare who had saluted him before being concealed behind falling rocks. He swore under his breath. “The vice-captain,” he corrected.

“Vice-captain Watcher? He’s been on leave for the last week. Uhm… His wife was unfortunately one of the first to be slain by Shards, remember?”

Now that he was reminded, he did remember. He clearly had too much on his mind at the moment. “So who is in charge now?”

“Uhm… I’m not sure, your highness.”

“Do you mean to say there aren’t protocols for this situation?” But even as Shining said it, he knew that there likely were no protocols. Or at least, none that had been used in living memory. Equestria was usually peaceful, and even during the worldwide calamities that had taken place, it was exceptionally rare for a guardspony to lose their life.

“Sorry, your majesty. Each station has one of the higher ranking guardsponies leading it, but other than that…”

The ex-captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard made a quick judgement call.

“Jade Softhoof, you are in charge of this station?” he gestured to the slalom track, just in time to point at a stallion who was tumbling face first into one of the poles.

“Uhm… yes?”

“Could you tell me what is happening at every other station?”

She looked around the hectic stadium. “Uhm… Probably?”

Shining Armor saluted. “Good answers, Captain.”

“I… what!?”

“You’ll want to get these stations in order, and I recommend you-”

“But I can’t be the captain!”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see why not. Now, first things first, there are two ponies here I’d like you to get acquainted with.” He turned around, only to see empty ground beside him. Just where had the two Pie sisters gone?

As if in answer to his question, a noise that sounded like a small explosion erupted from nearby. He, and everypony else in the stadium by the looks of it, turned to see what had caused the sudden detonation. Standing over a pile of shrapnel that had recently been a training dummy was a grey earth pony mare, looking down at the wreckage with an impassive expression. After the shocked silence died down, an orange mare with a familiar hat walked up to her and raised a leg for a hoof-bump, which the grey mare looked at quizzically before cautiously pressing her head against it.

From the stands on the other side of the stadium came some exuberant cheering and a scream of “Go Maud!”

Shining Armor turned back to the recently promoted captain. “Never mind about the mares. I suggest you find somepony else to lead this station, and then visit each of the others. Get them in line, give them time limits, rotate the guards every so often, decide how regularly to allow breaks… You know the drill.”

Jade nodded blankly.

“Good.” He then turned to walk towards the stands in the distance where Pinkie Pie was sitting munching some popcorn she had found Celestia-knew-where. As he closed the distance she noticed his approach and leapt out of her seat to meet him halfway, before giving the messiest salute he’d ever seen.

“Pinkie, do you even want to join in?”

She drooped her head to the ground. “I… I don’t think I like this stuff. When you saved me from those meanie Shards in the mountains I was so scared. I don’t ever want to have to face them down.”

The change in attitude was enough of a shock to the prince that he forgot what he had been intending to say. “Listen,” he said, more gently. “You don’t have to fight if you don’t want to. There are plenty of other ways to be helpful. What is it that you’re good at?”

“Throwing parties and baking cakes?” she suggested.

“She’s real fast,” interrupted a voice from behind them. Shining Armor turned to see that Applejack had strolled up. “Sorry, Ah saw you two were talkin’ and thought Ah’d come and see what was up.”

“You’re quick, huh?” Shining queried, turning back to face Pinkie.

“Fast as Rainbow Dash if’n she puts her mind to it,” Applejack vouched.

Shining tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Then you could definitely be useful. If we send several groups on trips up north, there’s always the need for couriers to pass messages between different parties. Even if you girls go off by yourselves, you might need to get a quick missive back. I’d normally suggest a pegasus for that role, but there’s no reason why a fast earth pony shouldn’t be just as suitable.” He looked challengingly at the eager mare. “If I said I had a message for Rarity, what would-”

There was a sudden puff of pink and the mare was gone.

“Uh, I was expecting her to ask where Rarity was, and what the message was…” Shining Armor turned to Applejack. “Maybe give me time estimates, that sort of thing…”

A thundering of hooves and a blur of pink and white heralded Pinkie’s return, this time with a very dazed and sickly looking Rarity on her back. It had evidently been a bumpy ride. Pinkie beamed, expectantly.

The Prince of the Crystal Empire glanced at the Element of Honesty, who shook her head as if to say ‘don’t ask.’ Right. This was the pony who his sister had written so often about. The one Twilight reckoned could walk on clouds if she wanted to. He turned to the perplexing party pony and smiled.

“Okay then Pinkie Pie, it looks like we’ve found you a role.”

That news was enough to make her vibrate up and down in excitement, at which point Rarity groaned, slid off Pinkie’s back onto the ground with a thud, and emptied her stomach.

Chapter 12 - Training Montage (Day IV)

Chapter 12 – Training Montage (Day IV)

The daily routine was coming naturally to Applejack now, and she found that she rather liked it. It had been a while since she last tended to Sweet Apple Acres, and in the absence of those chores, she hadn’t really had an opportunity to work up a sweat until now. This guardspony training was actually quite relaxing in a way.

She was currently sitting to one side of the activity, taking a well-earned break. She passed the time by looking around the stadium at all of the ponies training at each of the different stations. It was strange. She had expected, as a simple farmer, that she would be struggling to keep up with the guardsponies, but not only was that not the case, she felt she was one of the most skilled ponies here. It didn’t seem right somehow.

And from what she had learned when talking to her friends, most of them had been finding the same thing. Rarity had been parading around her fancy new diamond arrowheads nonstop since she had been given them a couple of days ago, and from what Applejack had overheard, the other unicorn guards felt that she definitely deserved them. Rainbow Dash had been unusually quiet about her training sessions, but Applejack had overheard the other pegasi commenting on how good a flier she was. And the previous evening Applejack had shared a few drinks with some guardsponies, including a mare called Winter Tempest who had been incredibly complimentary of Fluttershy.

In a way this made Applejack proud for her friends and herself, but it did not exactly fill her with confidence for Equestria if a few ordinary mares could outperform the royal guard. Although, she supposed they weren’t exactly ordinary mares. Nevertheless, this did go some way towards explaining why the guard had never seemed all that helpful in any of the previous calamities that had faced Equestria.

In her case, she had to admit that her experience with rodeos was proving very helpful. Plenty of the stations that had been set up were almost identical to events she would consider herself an expert in, such as horseshoe bucking, which she was now greatly looking forward to using to take out a Shard or two. Maybe she could even take a leaf out of the book of that random pony she had met in Appleloosa, and try to take out five Shards in one buck. Or was it six Shards?

Her competitive nature had been working its way to the fore over the last few days, despite her best efforts. She knew that this wasn’t the best time for it, but she couldn’t help herself. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) she had definitely met her match, for about half of the activities at least. When Maud Pie had come to Ponyville, Applejack and her friends had got a glimpse at the mare’s strength and speed, but she could never have imagined the full scope. And Maud was proving to be the absolute worst pony to try and compete with, because not only was she outdoing Applejack without even seeming to try, she didn’t even appear to care.

Applejack looked around the neatly organised stadium, trying to locate the grey mare. After not seeing her at any of the stations, she suddenly spotted her towards the edge of the arena, talking to the new captain and both Princess Cadance and Twilight. What were they doing here?

After the short conversation had finished, Captain Jade Softhoof, who over the last few days had proven that it wasn’t just her first name that had been poorly chosen, stepped towards the crowd of busy guardsponies.

“Alright you lot, listen up! You have fiVE MORE MINU-”

She stopped, confused at the increase in her volume, and stared suspiciously down at the megaphone that had popped into existence in front of her mouth. Next to her, Twilight grinned sheepishly.

“Uhm… Ahem. AS I WAS SAYING, YOU HAVE FIVE MORE MINUTES TO WRAP UP ANY TRAINING YOU ARE CURRENTLY DOING, AND THEN WE ARE TO EVACUATE THE STADIUM. GET TO IT!”

Applejack got to her hooves and started to walk towards Twilight and the others. It sounded like something interesting was happening.

If Fluttershy had thought it was cold before, that was nothing compared to how the air felt now. She had been making a couple of trips north per day since she had first been assigned to this role, and it had not stopped snowing in the mountains the entire time.

Winter, who had been her partner for each of the flights, did not seem even slightly bothered by the inclement conditions. The white crystal pegasus was zipping through the falling snow and angry clouds as though it were no more than a gentle drizzle. Several times Fluttershy would get hit by a particularly chilling gust and fall behind, rapidly losing Winter in the haze. At that point, the fact that the ground was now completely blanketed with a layer of white would start to haunt her, as it would be impossible to tell just how high up she was. Her traitorous mind would then inevitably start to imagine falling, and she would freeze up, almost literally.

Fortunately, on each of those occasions, her nimble partner would quickly rediscover her and they would continue their journey, Fluttershy feeling more and more embarrassed each time. She had no idea how Winter was able to navigate. The snowfall meant that no landmarks were visible, and Fluttershy couldn’t even tell where the mountains stopped and the sky began. Combine that with her chilled body, beaten wings, and tiring eyesight, and Fluttershy wasn’t sure why she was even joining Winter on these flights.

She put on an extra burst of speed to get alongside the crystal mare and decided to ask just this.

“Wh-why am I even h-here? Y-you would be s-so much faster by y-yourself…”

Winter didn’t even look over at Fluttershy as she replied. “Technically we fly in pairs so that if something happened to one of us, the other could go and get help.”

“Oh…”

Winter turned her head to face Fluttershy, with a fierceness in her eyes. “Of course I don’t intend to let anything happen to you, so don’t you worry your pretty head about that. In fact, I’m not gonna let anything happen to me neither.” She turned away and started to pick up speed. “Maybe I just like your company, Floaty.”

Fluttershy didn’t say what she was thinking, namely that Winter had an odd way of showing it if that were the case. The crystal pegasus was already a good distance ahead of her, and Fluttershy was once more straining every sinew in her body to keep up.

In the end, the flight only gave them the same information as every previous flight had. There were no tracks visible in the snow anywhere, and the only Shards were hours of flight away, and seemingly further away each day. Fluttershy might have found it either disappointing that the trip had been mostly pointless, or a relief that they had seen nothing bad, but in actuality she was too exhausted to feel anything much when they landed back in the fields to the north of the empire. A small camp had been set up out of the range of the snow, where fliers could warm up and rest before returning to the city, and the pair trotted over to it now.

Fluttershy sprawled herself messily onto the ground, too drained to care about how unladylike she must have looked. Winter disappeared, to make some hot drinks, or so Fluttershy hoped. While waiting she closed her eyes, thinking of drifting off into a quick nap.

Her plans were ruined by a voice that suddenly called out her name. The word seemed to take an age to work its way through her chilled brain, but when she had made the connection that somepony was trying to talk to her she jumped to her hooves with an ‘eep’ and spun around in a panic.

“Whoa there, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Fluttershy came to a rest as she saw a pair of ponies standing over her. One of them was a blue pegasus stallion she didn’t recognise, but the other was a sky blue mare that she remembered talking to when she had last been to Cloudsdale. And actually, as she looked at the two of them together, she recalled another scene she had accidently witnessed on that trip to Cloudsdale. She flushed and instinctively ducked her head behind her mane in embarrassment.

“Hey, it’s really you!” The tall blue stallion smiled warmly. “I’m a big fan of you. Nice to meet you.” He didn’t approach, just continuing to smile, and Fluttershy couldn’t help but relax somewhat. The mare glanced at her companion with what looked like an impressed expression, before turning back to Fluttershy.

“It’s been a while! You’ve probably not met Wave Chill before?”

“Oh, um, no. Hi Fleetfoot, and uh, Wave Chill.”

“So what are you up to this far north?”

“I’ve been, um, flying into the mountains.”

Fleetfoot nodded encouragingly. “Yeah, I heard about those Shard things. Nasty business. Nice to know you girls are out there dealing with them. What have you been seeing up there?”

“Oh, not much.”

“Aw, come on Shutterfly, we’re friends right? You can tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s Fluttershy,” the stallion hissed.

“Ah yes, dammit. Fluttershy, right.”

Fluttershy was not feeling quite so relaxed now. For some reason she felt like she was on trial, despite not having done anything wrong. “Uh, well, there’s really nothing in the mountains. Only snow. The nearest Shards aren’t for miles.”

Fleetfoot nodded thoughtfully. “Fair enough. So I assume you’re here with Rainbow Dash and the others? What are you girls planning to do? Hunt the Shards down? Where did they come from anyway?”

“Oh, um, we don’t know where they came from, but I think we’re going to go north soon to try and find out.” That had been the plan anyway, and with no Shards visible nearby, it was likely that they would be making that trip sooner rather than later.

“You’re not worried they’ll attack the Crystal Empire while you’re gone?”

“Um, well, we’ve not seen them anywhere near here. And some guards blocked all of the nearby tunnels, and apparently they didn’t see any Shards in the caves anyway…”

The two pegasi exchanged glances, and then Fleetfoot turned back and smiled. “Well I wish you luck! Nice to talk to you again Shu… I mean, Fluttershy.” Then they both launched into the air and started to fly away.

Fluttershy let out a deep breath and sat back down. There had been no reason why she shouldn’t tell them any of that, since it was all common knowledge anyway, but she had felt nervous about it all the same. She was just about to leave to see where Winter Tempest had got to when there was a slam from beside her and she looked over to see that Fleetfoot had returned.

“Sorry Fluttershy, forgot one other thing I was going to ask. You remember that stallion we met in Cloudsdale that appeared out of thin air? How is he? Did you manage to get him the help he needed?” Concern was etched in her features.

Fluttershy gulped. The time travel thing was not common knowledge, and Twilight was still of the opinion that it was best if most ponies didn’t know about the potential horrors the future might hold.

“Oh goodness, um, yes, he’s fine. I, um, took him to a hospital and he’s all back to normal now. Yes.” She affixed a wide smile to her face, inwardly berating herself for how awful she was at convincingly lying.

Fleetfoot narrowed her eyes slightly, and Fluttershy could feel herself starting to sweat. She certainly didn’t feel cold anymore. After a few seconds though, hoofsteps sounded from behind them, and Fleetfoot glanced over Fluttershy’s shoulder and shifted into a more casual pose.

“Good to hear!” she said cheerfully. “See you around.” And she shot off after her companion.

Winter took a seat beside Fluttershy and passed her a mug of tea, staring suspiciously after the diminishing dot of blue in the distance. “Who was that?”

“Oh, just somepony I know.”

“In what way? Acquaintance? Friend…?” She twirled a hoof in the air.

“Um, sort of?”

Winter raised an eyebrow and for some reason Fluttershy felt like she should clarify. “I mean, I’ve only met her a couple of times before. Rainbow Dash knows her better than I do.”

Winter seemed satisfied with this and got to her hooves. “Drink up, Floaty. We’ll be reporting back to the palace soon.”

As he watched the row of unicorns flinging arrowhead after arrowhead at the distant targets, the majority connecting and a decent number landing centrally, Lance Arcus allowed himself to feel pleased at his ponies’ progress. Okay, so he had moved the targets closer after the first two failed days, but everypony was definitely improving.

The platinum stallion made another pass, offering the occasional word of advice. More than once he suggested that a guardspony should move up to trying to launch two barbs at once, which was an achievement he would never have imagined after their first session. After he reached the end of the line he stood back to admire the results of their labour once more.

“Yoohoo, Lieutenant Arcus?”

And his good mood vanished.

He turned and frowned at the white mare who was slowly approaching, unsurprisingly tailed by Cut Lustre who was pulling a cart piled high with Celestia-knows-what. “Miss Rarity,” he began, jumping straight into his sternest, most disciplinary tone. “Where have you been this morning? You are expected to be at these training sessions like everypony else!”

In truth, she was barely needed here. He had to admit that there was likely nothing he could teach her, and when she was here she tended to show everypony else up, but he’d be damned if he let a pony get away with less work just because they had more natural talent.

“Sorry darling, but I just had to get these ensembles completed before I joined you all.”

At this point Lance noticed the jacket the mare was wearing. She had been threatening to create something of the sort for the last few days, but now that he saw it, Lance was surprised at how functional it looked. He had been expecting something flamboyant and impractical, but it was a simple affair in a pleasant golden-brown colour, with a little padding and a couple of pockets. And laced along the edges, in easy to retrieve locations, were the diamond arrowheads she had been so fond of.

“What do you think?” She twirled around. “Not my finest work, but if I’d spent any more time improving it I wouldn’t have been able to finish all the others.”

“The what?”

Rarity smiled and motioned to the colt beside her, who pulled the cart along towards the archery range, where everypony had stopped their practicing and were all stood watching with interest. She then lit her horn and levitated out of the cart another dozen or so jackets identical her own, which she began passing out to each unicorn present.

“They’re all fully adjustable, so they should be able to fit any frame. And the flint arrowheads really clash horribly with these jackets, so Cut Lustre and I put our heads together and he’s created enough diamond arrowheads for everypony.”

“Well of course, I couldn’t deny a request from such a wonderful mare.”

Rarity beamed and leant down to peck him on the cheek. Lance wondered whether all it had taken to persuade the colt to work harder was another couple of kisses like that.

“Where did you get all the material from?” he asked, astounded.

“I have connections,” she said as way of an explanation, waving a hoof airily.

Lance glanced around at the gathered unicorns, who were all examining their new jackets with appreciation. There had to be some sort of catch. “This… is amazing Miss Rarity. But we could never afford…”

“Oh nonsense,” she said dismissively. “I couldn’t accept payment for these. We’re all in this together, after all.”

“Well, then…” He felt speechless. He might have to re-evaluate his opinion of the mare once more. “That’s very… uh…”

Cut Lustre smirked at the stuttering stallion. “I think the word you’re looking for is ‘generous’, lieutenant.”

Lance nodded blankly, and then tried to clear his head. “Yes, well, excellent work Miss Rarity, but you still have training to catch up with.”

“Of course dear, I’ll not let the team down.”

“Good. Cut, you’re done here. And, er, good work as well.”

The colt saluted and then disappeared off into the distance. Lance would have to remember this for the future. It seemed if they ever needed Cut Lustre to put some extra work in, they just needed to find the nearest attractive mare and get her to ask him in their stead.

Turning, Lance found that he had a jacket of his own laid out on the floor beside him, but this one was a little different to the others. It was thicker, and had bright golden trimming, along with a couple of extra pockets.

“Miss Rarity, what is this?”

“Why, that’s a special number for our brave lieutenant of course. I talked with your wife to make sure I got the size correct.”

“You… you talked to my wife?”

“A wonderful mare, if I may say so. And your young fillies. So! Cute! In fact, your wife very graciously invited me over for dinner with you all this evening. I am ever so much looking forward to it.”

Lance Arcus grumbled and walked away, head down. He would not need to rethink his opinion of this mare. She was just as insufferable as always.

Attempt number seven was not going to plan.

Neither had any of the six previous attempts, but this time Rainbow was really annoyed. She had been so convinced that she’d come up with a way to catch Flash Sentry out, but he always seemed to read her like an open book. She’d tried everything she could think of, from pure speed to rapid changes of direction, and had even gone through all of her aerial stunts in case they would help. But no, every time he would be there, hoof against her skin in a way that said ‘you would be dead if this was for real’, and with that irritating grin that said ‘Gotcha!’ She’d yet to even get close to striking him in return.

This shouldn’t be happening! She was Rainbow Dash, fastest mare in Equestria. How could this… this infuriating stallion be doing this?

She rose higher into the air and then attempted to plummet towards the orange pegasus, but once again he smartly dodged out the way and flitted around behind her before she could react.

“Shall we take a break for now?” he suggested, hoof to her neck, pinning her in place once more.

Rainbow grunted. “Fine.”

She dropped to the earth without even waiting for him to follow, and stomped over to a table nearby where there were drinks available. After quenching her thirst she slumped onto the ground to watch the other few fliers who were still practicing. They all looked as though they were moving in slow motion compared to what she had just experienced.

Flash took a seat next to her, but she resolutely ignored him. It was possible she was not the most gracious loser.

“You got closer that time.”

Rainbow snorted.

“I’m serious. That barrel roll you did caught me out. If it had put you next to me you’d have got me for sure. Shame it only took you further away from me…” He waved a wing in front of her face. “Hellooo? Are you listening?”

Rainbow reluctantly turned to face him. “It’s no fun listening to gloating.”

He looked genuinely taken aback by that. “Gloating? That wasn’t my intention. I’m trying to help you. In the same way you’ve been helping me.”

“Me helping you? Ha! You’re so much better than me I can’t believe it. How have I been helping you?”

“Every time we’ve jousted I’ve learned from you. This might surprise you to hear, but you’re a pretty good flier.” He grinned stupidly, which just made Rainbow want to hit him. “You’d easily beat any of the other pegasi here. I am nowhere near as fast or agile as you are, the only reason I keep winning is because it’s really easy to read what you’re going to do.”

“That’s why I tried that roll, I thought you wouldn’t expect it.”

“Well it was definitely unexpected, but just because I didn’t expect it doesn’t mean it was a good move. It took you away from me and facing the wrong direction. What use is that in a fight?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t know, okay! Flying fast has always been enough for me before.”

“And it might be enough against Shards too, who knows? But there’s no harm in being over-prepared.” He stretched his legs out and lay back on the ground. “The reason you’re so easy to read isn’t because you’re predictable, it’s because you advertise everything you’re about to do before you do it. A good practice for a showmare to have, but not so good in a fight. You’ll want to rein that in if you come up against a smart opponent.”

“Yeah, well, Shard’s aren’t smart.”

Flash just laughed, which only irritated Rainbow even more. “True,” he said, and then he fell silent, closing his eyes as the mayhem continued above them.

After a few minutes of watching the tangling pegasi, Rainbow decided she was done for the day. She was sick of this stupid training, and sick of this stupid stallion. She stood up without a word, although she did reflexively give the lieutenant a salute, and then trotted off to find some way to clear her head.

“Ready?”

“I suppose so.”

“Okay then. On my count.” Twilight took a deep breath. You would have been able to hear a pin drop in the stadium right now. “Three… Two… One… Begin!”

At the same instant the two alicorns launched themselves into the air, simultaneously readying spells. Around them the arena was mostly deserted, although Applejack, Maud and a couple of persistent guardsponies were sitting in the stands, watching with interest. It wasn’t every day you got a chance to witness a duel between two princesses. The stadium had been the obvious choice of venue for it. Despite the fact that they were obviously not going to be using their full power, anywhere else would still have had the possibility for collateral damage.

Twilight flapped her wings cautiously, flitting around so as not to present an easy target. The duel had been Cadance’s suggestion, and she had agreed to it, but she was not sure she was willing to attack her sister-in-law. She could see the sense in it: Based on the story her brother had given, the alicorn Shard they were calling Black Fractal was incredibly powerful, and he had been fortunate that she hadn’t used any magic during that confrontation. It seemed likely that only another alicorn would be able to take it on, and what better way for Twilight and Cadance to practice than against each other? Nevertheless, Twilight had decided that she would stay on the defensive. She had taught Cadance a variety of offensive spells, and it would be good practice of her own protective magic to try and ward them off.

Strangely, Cadance was not attacking either, instead mirroring her movements in the air on the other side of the arena. Was she feeling the same reluctance? Was this entire idea going to fail at the first hurdle?

And then she saw it. The ‘Cadance’ she was watching opposite from her was not quite moving naturally, and if she peered closer she could see that its expression was blank and its eyes were lifeless. Twilight was impressed. Not once during their sessions in the last few days had either of them mentioned illusions, but Cadance had pulled one off without her noticing, or at least without her noticing straight away. Twilight was not well-practiced at using illusions herself, which was perhaps something she should address in the future, but she did at least know how to dispel them.

She was about to do so when another idea occurred to her. At the moment, the real Cadance was likely somewhere else nearby, concealing herself somehow, and was assuming that Twilight was still fooled by her illusory replica. Twilight could gain the advantage by letting her keep thinking that.

As surreptitiously as she could, Twilight cast a detection spell, looking for any indications of a pony nearby. It only took a few seconds to identify that Cadance was invisible in the air above her, and Twilight did her best to continue looking at the fake across from her as though she had not worked this out. But now she had a decision to make. She could not make the most of her discovery without changing her mind and going on the offensive. Was that a good idea?

As it turned out, she didn’t get the chance to make that decision. Still casting her spell, she was able to detect a shift in the air above her as Cadance started to dive towards her. It appeared she was not going to use any spell on this occasion, and just fly at her directly. That made things easier for Twilight.

At the last second before the invisible alicorn would have connected, Twilight launched backwards and cast a fairly gentle shock spell at the plummeting princess. The jolt was enough to dispel Cadance’s invisibility and illusion simultaneously, and she spun around in the air, clearly surprised that her sneak attack had failed. In an instant however, she had cast a retaliatory spell of her own. Twilight had not been expecting her to recover so quickly, and only just dodged the fireball that had been launched back at her with surprising force. As it passed her body, she felt the searing heat on her skin and narrowed her eyes. Cadance was playing like that was she? Then Twilight would not be holding back much either.

In the stands nearby, there were cheers of excitement from a recently arrived Pinkie Pie, who seemed to have brought half of the Crystal Empire with her. Some of the newly arrived crystal ponies were mystified to see two princesses facing off in their stadium, but equally as many were selling snacks and taking bets. Princess Cadance was the clear favourite, although whether this was down to careful calculation or just a sense of pride in their own princess was unclear.

Twilight tried to ignore the crowd. She didn’t want to start feeling like she was putting on a show. Hadn’t they asked the captain to keep the stadium clear? Fat lot of good that did. Twilight would have to give that mare a talking to.

She spun in the air to face what she knew to be the real Cadance this time. Both of them had summoned simple clear barriers in front of them, which allowed them a bit of breathing space. Twilight decided to take this opportunity to talk to her sister-in-law.

“Nice illusion! That almost caught me out for a moment.”

“Thank you! I’ve been practicing over the last couple of days when you weren’t around. But it only fooled you for a moment? Honestly Twilight, you really are a magical progeny aren’t you.”

Twilight scrunched up her nose. “Uh, do you mean ‘prodigy’? Because ‘progeny’ means-”

She was shocked out of her lecture by a sudden blast impacting with her shield, and in her moment of distraction that was enough to cause the barrier to break. She immediately recoiled, and flew away to re-cast her shield.

“You said the wrong word on purpose!” she accused, feeling as though some sacred rule had been broken.

“I was only following your own advice. You said that distracting your opponent should always be the first priority.”

“But tricks like that won’t work on Black Fractal!”

Cadance shrugged. “Maybe not, but I’m not duelling Black Fractal, am I?”

Twilight swooped around to face the pink alicorn, shaking her head in amusement. “No, I suppose… NOT!” As she finished talking she let loose a concussive blast at Cadance’s shield, with as much power as she could muster. As she released it, she realised that if it connected there was a chance she would have to fly and catch Cadance as she started to fall, and the presence of so many spectators became more unnerving. As it was, Cadance merely flew out of the way, not even bothering to try and ward the spell off.

“Honestly Twilight, that was the least subtle sneak-attack ever. Your magic may be strong, but your tactics are rather basic.”

“If I really wanted to hit you I could,” she said sullenly.

“Go on then,” Cadance challenged. “Isn’t that what we’re here for?”

Part of Twilight wondered if Cadance was trying to rile her up on purpose, but if so she was falling for it completely. Without giving any warning she teleported over to beside her opponent and, forgetting magic for now, slugged her across the face.

As the Princess of the Crystal Empire tumbled away through the air, to the sound of groans from the spectators, Twilight suddenly realised what she had just done. Alicorns like herself were strong.

“Oh my gosh! I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry…”

She flew over to see if her sister-in-law was okay. Cadance had caught herself in the air, so there was no risk of her falling to the ground, but she still looked somewhat dazed.

“I didn’t mean to… Well, I did, but… I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m so-”

A blare of light and sound cut through her rampant apologising, and Twilight had to blink rapidly to clear the stars from her vision. As the world returned to her she found she was staring into the grinning face of her opponent, and teleported away in a panic, before instantly raising a shield around her in case it was necessary. Indeed, it seemed Cadance had been expecting her teleportation, because no sooner had her shield been summoned than it was battered with an array of smaller fireballs.

“That’s more like it Twilight!”

Twilight did not appreciate the feeling that she was being toyed with. Forgetting her surroundings, and any idea of smart tactics, she started launching spell after spell at the grinning pink alicorn. Cadance seemed to understand that any playing around was over, because her face distorted into an expression of fierce determination, and she started dipping and diving through the air to dodge the cavalcade of spells.

Meanwhile, the stadium was now more packed than ever. After Pinkie Pie had done her best job of explaining that this was not the emergence of Nightmare Dawn or Nightmare Dusk, and that the two princesses were only duelling to learn to defend the empire better, the congregated ponies were eagerly enjoying the show. As the spells continued to fly overhead, mostly from Twilight to Cadance, the betting was starting to shift in the younger alicorn’s favour.

After a while, Twilight was starting to grow weary of casting spell after spell, and she paused warily, making sure to keep an eye out for any retaliation. Cadance had avoided most of her attacks, whether by dodging or casting a shield in time, but it had clearly taken a lot out of her. She was visibly relieved at the momentary ceasefire.

“I don’t think I’ve ever even seen half of those spells Twilight,” she huffed as she tried to regain her breath.

Twilight hadn’t even really been concentrating on what she was casting, and as she thought back over the spells she had chosen, her stomach tightened. There were some which it was very fortunate that Cadance had successfully dodged. Perhaps she wouldn’t tell her the details.

“My turn then?” Cadance suggested, before lighting her horn threateningly.

Twilight was just preparing to launch herself through the air to dodge, not really feeling up to summoning a shield, when a vast pink barrier suddenly appeared between the two of them, splitting the entire stadium in half. As one, the two princesses looked down sheepishly into the disapproving face of Shining Armor.

“I think that’s enough,” the prince said, to audible groans from some of the spectators.

The two alicorns caught each other’s gaze, and then relaxed, dropping their guard for the first time since they had begun.

“I really got caught up in that Twilight, it was a lot of fun,” Cadance said, sounding surprised with herself. “I never would have thought it would be something I enjoyed. Perhaps we should do this more often?”

“I think there’s somepony close to both of us who might take issue with that,” Twilight muttered, as they flew down and landed next to Shining Armor, who was still frowning at them.

Shining was not alone. Next to him stood a pegasus guardspony wearing the distinctive armour of the Canterlot Royal Guard. He bowed as the princesses landed and glanced over at the prince, who nodded at him.

“Your majesties, I have a request from Canterlot.”

“Ask away.”

The pegasus stallion cleared his throat uneasily. “Princess Celestia has not been at court for the past week. She has, um, barely left her chambers in fact.” It was clearly paining the guardspony to speak ill of the princess. “We do know the, err, situation, and so we can understand why she wants some time to herself, but Canterlot needs its princess.”

Twilight and Cadance exchanged anxious glances. “What do you want us to do?” Twilight asked.

“We are not requesting that you stay in Canterlot any length of time, just that you would speak with the princess. We are sure that one of you might be able to comfort her and, um, remind her of her duties.”

Twilight’s heart sunk. She was not sure she wanted to face Celestia yet, with the memory of Luna’s death still relatively fresh. Cadance seemed to notice this, because she spoke up herself. “I could try, but I ask that it wait for a few days. The climate in my empire is delicate currently, and I would rather not leave if it could be helped. Surely Canterlot can survive a little longer? Is there nopony else to hold court in her place?”

“Well, Prince Blueblood has been-”

There was a flap of wings and Cadance was gone without another word.

Chapter 13 - Three Fateful Flights

Chapter 13 – Three Fateful Flights

Flying was normally all it took to clear Rainbow Dash’s mind when she was preoccupied with something. The feeling of the wind in her wings and the air through her mane had always felt so freeing.

Not today though.

For some reason Rainbow just could not clear her head. As she flew, all she could think of was the criticism she had received from Flash Sentry over the last few days, which was ruining the experience for her. And if she tried to block those thoughts out, her mind fell upon the devastating stories she had heard from Maud and others, of ponies dying without anypony there to help them. And she would think of Luna, and the inadvertent sacrifice she had made.

She had realised that she needed something else to focus on, but when she had decided to practise her routines, she had found that they had lost their appeal too. After seeing how useless those tricks had been when facing off against Flash, they seemed hollow somehow. Had he ruined flying for her? He wanted her to do things differently, but this was how she flew, dammit!

As she rolled through the air above the Crystal Empire, muttering to herself, she noticed a huge crowd of ponies leaving the Equestria Games Stadium. She flew closer to see what was happening, and identified some familiar ponies still in the arena. An idea struck her, and she came to a decision about what she could focus on to clear her head and feel she was achieving something useful at the same time.

A few seconds later she landed next to Twilight and Shining Armor, who were having a conversation near the edge of the arena. She couldn’t have cared less what they were talking about at the moment, and so she made a lot of noise as she touched down, attracting their undivided attention.

“Rainbow! How’s training going?”

“Fine,” she grunted. “Actually not that great,” she quickly amended.

“You’ve been doing well from what I heard,” Shining said, confused. “Maybe you set your expectations too high?”

“No, I should be doing better than I am.”

Twilight grinned cheekily. “I don’t suppose you’re being distracted by your instructor…?”

Rainbow’s patience, which had already been at its limit, snapped. “Twilight, don’t you start that as well. I’ve been getting sick of Applejack’s ‘meaningful glances’ and ‘knowing winks’, and I’ve had to avoid Rarity completely. It’s not like that, so just shut up about it.” She stomped around in circles, trying to spend her anger out through her hooves. “I’m just bored, okay? I don’t like all this routine, or this waiting around without anything happening. I want something to do!”

Twilight was taken aback at the intensity in her friends’ voice, but only for a moment. “Well we shouldn’t be waiting around too much longer. Shining and I were just suggesting that when Cadance returns, we could make our trip up north. The six of us girls will go, along with some guards for extra protection.”

“But that won’t be for another day at least, right?”

“Probably not, but you have to remember that not everypony has been as ready for an adventure like this as you are. This ‘waiting around’ has been very useful preparation time for most of us.”

Rainbow sighed. “I know, but I want to do something now. You remember you promised me that you’d find a pony that was coming back from the future and I could go after them? Let me do that now! Find the nearest one and I’ll chase them down!”

“Alright, but I’ll warn you now, there might not be anypony nearby. Fewer and fewer have been arriving, I think most ponies who are coming back have done it already.” She closed her eyes and her horn lit up. “Okay… I can only sense two. One is right near here, just in the fields to the north of the empire… but probably won’t be arriving until early tomorrow. The other is way down south, but much sooner.”

“I can fly south. Where am I going?”

“Dodge Junction. You’d have to be very fast, I’m not sure you can make it in time.”

Rainbow laughed, her spirits higher already. “Ha! Remember who you’re talking to.” She jabbed herself in the chest. “Fastest. Pony. In Equestria!”

Twilight and Shining both smiled to see her back to her usual self. “Okay, but be back as soon as you can.”

Rainbow saluted and launched off into the sky. Immediately it felt right. Now the wind in her wings and mane did feel refreshing. She increased her speed and directed herself towards the image of Canterlot she could see in the distance. That would mark roughly halfway in the journey. Could she do it before then? It had been a long time…

She ducked her head and felt her heart start pounding in anticipation. She could sense the air pushing against her now, and held her hooves forwards to press back. Her eyes were watering, and she could barely see the cone that was forming in the air. Any… second… now…

Her heart leapt as the resistance suddenly departed and she was cannoning through the Equestria sky at her maximum speed. She didn’t glance behind her to see the rainbow she knew would be there, nor would she be able to hear the explosion that marked the successful execution of her iconic move. For Rainbow Dash, nothing mattered now but the speed.

It felt like only moments later that she rocketed right past Canterlot and out towards the fields further south. She realised she was going to need to pay more attention soon, or she might overshoot her destination, but the temptation to remain at one with the air was overwhelming. It was only by remembering the last time she had made a flight like this and had just missed the pony who had appeared in the Badlands that Rainbow was able to rein herself in. She would not allow herself to fail a second time.

The haphazardly arranged wooden buildings of Dodge Junction were in sight now. She slowly diverted her path towards the small town, but did not let up her speed. If she came in at just the right angle, she could slide along the dirt to land without needing to slow down first. She veered closer to the ground and braced herself.

It did not go quite as smoothly as she had imagined, and she tumbled over at least three times in the attempt, but she decided she probably looked cool enough while doing it anyway. A few ponies were around in the dusty streets, and they were all watching her eagerly. She must have been an impressive sight, as usual.

Pleased with herself, Rainbow bowed to some of the spectators, before turning to walk towards the centre of the town. It was only at this point that she realised she had not asked Twilight where in Dodge Junction the pony would be arriving. Was she going to have to explore the entire place?

The answer to that question was no, it turned out. Rainbow had barely walked a few hundred feet when she heard shouting from around the corner in a nearby street. As she approached, she realised that the voice she was hearing was coming from the very pony she was looking for.

“You… you’re an imposter!” the infected mare was yelling at another mare nearby, her voice a little hoarse.

“What in Equestria do you mean?” asked the other pony sourly.

“I mean… I mean it’s not really you! I remember that! Won’t anypony listen to me?”

Rainbow walked up to the infected pegasus, who was spinning her head frantically around to glance at the ponies surrounding her. She had gathered a lot of attention, by the looks of it. The pony she had been addressing, and calling an imposter, was a pale yellow earth pony mare with a scarlet mane. Rainbow Dash thought she recognised her, but was having a hard time remembering where from.

“Whoa, hey there,” Rainbow began, keeping her voice soft. “Calm down, I’m here to help you. Or, well, talk to you at least.”

“Then you have to listen to me,” the crazed infected pegasus continued. “That there isn’t Cherry Jubilee, you’ve got to believe me!”

Cherry Jubilee; that was the other pony’s name. Rainbow remembered her now. “Uh, I think it is. I’ve met her before.”

The pegasus, whose body was slowly becoming coated with the horrific shadowy crystals Rainbow was learning to associate with the Infection, turned towards her in exasperation. “No, I mean that… AAAHHH!”

Rainbow spun around in horror, but there was nothing behind her. “Wha? What’s wrong?”

“YOU!” The pegasus mare pointed a hoof at Rainbow, which then slowly crystallised in front of their eyes. She looked as though she couldn’t care less about her diminishing form however. “You!” she repeated, her voice furious.

“Me?”

“You killed my sister!” It looked like the mare was trying to get to her hooves and charge Rainbow down, but the draining effect of the Infection was making that an impossibility.

“I… I did?” Rainbow looked nervously around at the other gathered ponies, who were all standing back from the confrontation, although still watching her with that same strangely eager expression.

“Yes! And she trusted you! She was your friend!” She stopped to cough and then continued, unrelenting. “And how many more did you kill? I can’t bear to look at you. You… You traitor!”

Despite the fact that the crystallising pegasus could not move, Rainbow still found she was stepping back apprehensively. “Uh, no I didn’t. I haven’t killed anypony, I swear!”

“Oh, you will,” she spat, her voice dripping with venom.

“No, I promise I won’t, I-”

But she didn’t need to continue, because at that point the mare let out a gasp of air and disintegrated. For the first and hopefully only time, Rainbow was glad to see a pony die. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she glanced at the onlookers surrounding her. This would be a lot to explain.

Oddly enough, none of the crowd seemed put off by the fact that a pony had just disintegrated in front of them. They were all still eyeing her, and Rainbow cleared her throat nervously.

“Uh, hi,” she said weakly, addressing Cherry Jubilee since that was the only pony in the crowd that she knew, even if she didn’t know her particularly well.

“Hello.”

“So, err, strange things that pony said, huh?”

“Indeed.” Cherry smiled.

“She, uh, called you an imposter huh? Wonder why that might be.” Rainbow’s mind was whirring away, trying to examine the situation. Something was beginning to feel horribly wrong.

“She called you a killer,” Cherry replied, still beaming. “Wonder why that might be.”

Rainbow gave a weak attempt at a laugh. “Ha, say, Cherry. Remember when we last met?” Cherry nodded. Rainbow decided it was time to invent something on the spot. “Remember that buffalo we took down together?” Another nod. Rainbow gulped, the situation becoming clearer by the second. “Well that buffalo is behind you, look!” She pointed wildly.

It probably wasn’t Rainbow’s best ever plan, but it somewhat worked. Cherry, or whoever it really was, glanced over her shoulder, and immediately Rainbow launched into the air. At this point she just wanted to get out of there.

As she made her way into the sky, she heard several crackling sounds from behind her, and suddenly she was being followed. She spun around nervously, only to find herself face to face with a crowd of changelings. One final crackle and flare of green flame, and Cherry had also transformed, before flying up to the stunned pegasus.

“Rainbow Dash.”

“You! Queen Buggy! I thought we got rid of you?”

The changeling queen laughed, and the other changelings followed suit. It was a harsh, chittering sound. “You could never get rid of me, pony. My family and I are survivors. We will outlive all of you.”

For a second Rainbow wondered if she should attack, but the sensible part of her brain realised that she was hopelessly outnumbered. It looked as though everypony in this town had been a changeling. How long had that been the case for? No, her best option would be to flee, and return with backup.

She flapped her wings to launch herself higher into the air, but as soon as she did so, several changelings swooped above to block off her escape. She threw herself towards some of them, swinging her hooves, but even as she connected she felt blasts of magic nearby and had to dodge back into the crowd to avoid them. Panicking, she tried to roll out of the way of another blast of magic, but every movement she did was picked up on immediately by the changeling queen, who would always be ready to attack her once more. It was as though she were being read like… like an open book…

Rainbow thought back to the words she had heard not too long ago: “You advertise everything you’re about to do before you do it.” Flash Sentry had been telling her that for days and not once had she actually tried to change anything. Why hadn’t she listened?

Finally, inevitably, a blast of magic clipped her wing and she fell to the ground below. Immediately she was covered by a swarm of changelings, and she began to feel a strange gooey substance cover her. She struggled as much as she could, but within seconds her body was immobile, and the last thing she saw before her sight was blocked was a leering black face with two sparkling green eyes.

Cadance had thought that she was flying fast, but the colourful blur that had rocketed past her as she reached Canterlot made her realise that she could have been a lot quicker. Okay, so she knew that she could never match Rainbow Dash for speed even if she tried, but she had evidently been slowing down as Canterlot grew closer.

The truth was, she was not looking forward to this conversation. She had known Celestia for many years, and while she may have once found the princess of the sun intimidating, those days were long gone. But Celestia had always seemed distant and unattainable. She truly was the definition of ‘benevolent’, at least in Cadance’s mind. The idea that Cadance was supposed to be talking sense into her did not fit into that framework.

She landed in the courtyard in front of the castle. True, she could have flown into a window or onto a balcony directly, but this seemed politer, especially since Celestia had not exactly invited her. As she entered the large halls, the guards, usually so stoic, all seemed exceedingly relieved to see her. She hoped that they weren’t expecting her to stay and rule in Celestia’s stead if she failed to rouse the ageless princess.

She stepped into the throne room and immediately spotted her cousin lounging in the royal seat at the top of the steps. As he noticed her in return there was a brief instant where his body tightened and guilt crossed his features, before he caught himself and lounged even more emphatically, clearly trying to accentuate just how suited for the throne he was.

“Cadenza! It is good of you to visit me.”

“Blueblood,” she murmured darkly. “You’ve been making yourself comfortable I see?”

“As is my right.” He gestured at the fine furnishings around him. “I am the top royal of Canterlot now.”

Cadance gaped. “And what about Celestia?”

“Auntie Celestia supports me fully,” he sniffed.

“Really.”

“I visited her just the other day in fact. She thanked me for all I have been doing, and then dismissed me.” He frowned. “She should be more polite to me now that I outrank her.”

“Out… Outrank her?” Cadance started stomping towards Blueblood, who noticeably cowered. “And what have you been doing during your ‘reign’?”

“Oh, it’s simple, I don’t have to do anything really. Occasionally peasants come to ask things of me, but if I just say I’ll address their concerns then they leave before I can get bored of them.”

“And do you address their concerns?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Cadenza, I don’t even listen to them.”

Cadance growled and almost raised a hoof before she stopped herself. It was not worth wasting any time on him. “Where is Celestia?”

“In her chambers, most likely.”

“Right.” Cadance turned and left, without even saying goodbye. Blueblood would no doubt find that incredibly insulting, which brought a small smile to her face. She could not comprehend how he could act like that, but then, nor was she particularly surprised. He was unlikely to be particularly upset at Luna’s death; she remembered him commenting on how she had been too easily forgiven after the Nightmare Moon incident.

More guards acknowledged her as she made her way up through the castle, and Cadance could understand their hope upon seeing her a little more now. If they had been dealing with that spoilt Blueblood this whole time…

Just as she had in the flight here from the Crystal Empire, Cadance found she was slowing down as she reached her destination. She was hoping that by the time she reached Celestia’s room she would have worked out the perfect things to say, but nothing was coming to her. As she finally reached the door she stopped entirely, lacking the motivation to knock.

This was stupid. She had never been afraid to speak to Celestia before. Celestia, who had once been like a mother to her. She raised a hoof and tapped it gently against the door.

There was no response from inside, so she knocked harder. Still no response. Unbidden, her heart lifted at the thought that Celestia might not be here, but her brain knew that that would not solve anything. There was only one thing for it, and so she pushed the door open and walked inside.

She had never seen the room so dull. The wide archway across from her that opened up to the balcony seemed to be letting in no light, and the air tasted musty and damp, as though the room had not been cleaned in years rather than just a week. Settled on the large round bed in the centre of the room was Celestia, looking just as diminished as her surroundings. She did not even appear to notice that she had a visitor.

“Celestia?”

The ageless princess did not respond. Her pastel mane, which would usually sway with ethereal magic, was hanging limply at her side. Cadance found it painful to see her like this.

“Auntie?”

Celestia rigidly turned her head to face her niece, eyes dull and lifeless.

“One thousand years,” she said, voice monotonous. “One thousand years I was without her. One thousand years I was alone.” Her eyes finally focussed on the mare in front of her. “Do you know how I coped?”

“How?” Cadance asked, her voice weak.

“Because I knew there was a chance I could get her back.” She blinked a long slow blink, and as her eyes reopened they were glazed over once more. “Not so this time.”

Cadance slowly walked up to beside Celestia and wrapped a wing around her. Up until this point she had been unsure what she would say, or what she could say. She had been nervous, and stressed, and had almost hoped that she wouldn’t find Celestia at all. Now those thoughts and worries went straight out the window, and she wondered why she had not come sooner.

“Auntie, you will never be alone.”

She could say more, but she felt that her presence was more important than any words could be at the moment. Celestia rested her head on Cadance’s shoulder, and the two alicorns sat in silence for what felt like an hour.

“Celestia?” Cadance eventually said, breaking the tranquillity.

There was no vocal reply, but she felt the weight of a head leave her shoulder.

“You can’t shut yourself away like this.”

“Why not?” Celestia asked, voice hollow.

Cadance’s eyes widened in shock. “It is not healthy! And Equestria needs you.”

“Equestria will be fine. My ponies are strong.”

“Canterlot is already suffering from your absence.”

“Isn’t my nephew reigning in my place?”

“Blueblood? If you could call that ‘reigning’.”

Celestia screwed up her face and Cadance wondered if this was the first time she was really considering the decision she had apparently made to allow Blueblood to take her throne.

“You could rule here instead,” Celestia eventually suggested.

“I could not,” Cadance replied, firmly. “There is a lot happening in Equestria right now, and particularly near my empire. I do not know how up to date you are on the situation, but I cannot abandon my ponies now.”

“Twilight then.”

Cadance sighed. “Celestia, this is not just about Equestria, this is about you.” She stood up to stare into the eyes of the ageless white princess. “This is not good for you.”

“I can’t just move on, Cadance. I have loved and lost many ponies in my time, but never her. Luna was always supposed to be by my side. We were intended to rule together. What am I without her? What is the point?”

“There is every point. You and Luna were closer than two ponies could ever be, and I could never know how you feel. But I do know that you are incredible just as yourself. Those one thousand years that you ruled alone? They were strong and prosperous years for Equestria.”

“Not nearly as prosperous as the years since.”

“Maybe not, but Equestria only survived at all because of you! Twilight and I do not know Equestria like you do, we need your help, especially at the moment.” Cadance smiled as warmly as she could. “Nopony could ever replace your sister, but you will never have to rule alone again.”

For a second, just a second, Cadance thought she had gotten through to Celestia. Certainly she seemed to be considering Cadance’s words, and there was more life in her than there had been in the entire conversation so far. But then, abruptly, she shook her head.

“I’m sorry Cadance. I need more time.”

There was a blinding flash, and Cadance was suddenly staring at an empty bed. There was no indication where Celestia had gone.

Cadance took a couple of deep breaths, and then yelled in annoyance, not caring who might hear her.

“I’m thinking there’s nothing here Fleets, we should fly back.”

“There must be something!”

“I’m thinking Fluttershy was saying the truth.”

Fleetfoot opened her mouth to snap a retort back at her partner, but then hesitated. He was probably right, overly trusting oaf as he was. It looked like what Fluttershy had said about the north checked out, everywhere below them there really was nothing but snow. The entire mountains were covered with it, with no earth in sight. And it was still falling through the night air, from the thick clouds that had apparently floated south from the frozen wasteland.

“Maybe you’re right.”

“Yeah, you should listen to me more often!”

“You are sometimes helpful,” she admitted grudgingly.

“Not just sometimes! You remembers when we saw Fluttershy? She’s not opening up to us if I doesn’t make her comfortable first.”

“Yes, you were very clever, and I might have been more impressed if you hadn’t kept mentioning it for the last few hours.” She sighed. “But fine. Let’s head back.”

As they flew side by side towards the lights of the Crystal Empire in the distance, Fleetfoot tried to piece together everything she had learned over the last few days. There were some creatures called Shards who killed ponies and could then turn into them, or something like that, and the elements of harmony were planning to head north to try and find where they came from. She didn’t envy them heading into all this snow, it looked deep enough to bury an average sized mare.

None of that answered her questions about the ponies who had appeared out of nowhere, but they were probably linked. From what she had heard, the ponies killed by Shards died in the same way as the ponies they had met. But Wave had said the pony he met had been talking about the future? That still didn’t made sense.

“Hey, idiot, you sure there’s an alicorn Shard?” she asked, gears still turning.

“That’s what one of the guards says when I talks to him.”

Fleetfoot nodded absently. So if Shards took the shape of ponies they killed… then could that explain why the two royal sisters in Canterlot were still missing? Had they somehow died? Or one of them at least? Fleetfoot found it difficult to imagine that it were possible, but she also knew that the princesses weren’t completely invincible. Ever since Celestia had been overpowered by the queen of the changelings during their attack on Canterlot, many of the Wonderbolts had started to take their secondary role as protectors of Equestria more seriously, Fleetfoot included. Before then it had seemed unfeasible that there could ever be a threat the princesses could not deal with by themselves.

As the different thoughts all ran through her head she suddenly recalled the night a week ago when the moon had not risen for a few minutes, leaving the night sky empty. Hmmm…

“What was that alicorn Shard called? ‘Black’ something?”

“Something like that.”

“Dammit, I always liked her.”

Wave Chill looked confused, but after a moment he appeared to decide to ignore her. He had grown used to letting her think aloud without having any clue what she was going on about. Fleetfoot wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him what she had deduced anyway, it would probably really get to him.

They had finally escaped from the snow-covered mountains and reached the fields to the north of the empire. It was ridiculous just how neatly the snow ended at the border of the mountain range. It was as neat as any pegasi-directed weather, which was impressive considering no ponies had been controlling these clouds. Or at least, a stallion she had accosted returning from a flight north had said that the clouds were moving under their own steam.

She slowly came to a stop, still in the air. Wave Chill didn’t notice for a few seconds, continuing into the distance for several feet before realising and turning back to look at her curiously.

“Fleets? You thinks of something?”

She tried to pull all the pieces together again. Had she really missed something so obvious?

“That pony I talked to said these snow clouds weren’t being controlled by pegasi, but I don’t think that’s true.”

“Aww, Fleets no, you’re far too polaroid.”

“Paranoid.” She held up a hoof. “And please, let me think.”

Everypony she had talked to said that while Shards may be dangerous, they were at least stupid. But what if they were wrong? Despite the disparaging remarks she liked to make of her companion, and his constant failure to grasp common language that did not help his case, she knew well that just because somepony seemed unintelligent, that did not mean that they were.

“This snow is too neat. It’s covering the entire mountains, at a consistent height, and not one foot further south. Could random snow clouds do that?”

“I dunno. Maybe?”

Fleetfoot held her head in her hooves. If she had been trying to attack an empire that had a sizable defence force, what would she do? Lull them into a false sense of security. Make them think nopony was nearby. That they still had time.

“Shards take the magic of the ponies they kill, right?” Fleetfoot phrased it like a question, but she didn’t even listen to Wave’s response, mind still whirring to the exclusion of all else. “So pegasi Shards could control the weather if they wanted?” Again she ignored Wave’s reply. “I, er… think we should check something.”

Fleetfoot flew down to the ground below, landing right next to the border with the mountains where the snow began. How should she do this? Give it a flap?

“Help me out here Chill,” she demanded, as the big blue shape landed next to her. “We’re clearing some of this snow.”

Together they flapped their wings ferociously for a few seconds, and a portion of the snow in front of them flew up into the air, revealing the sodden earth beneath. Or at least, they had assumed it would reveal the earth beneath. Instead, the ground remained concealed, but now by a strange shadowy mist that had been residing beneath the snowfall.

At once, the mist started to surge towards them. Fleetfoot flapped again in panic, but the mist was not affected. It seemed far too concentrated for a simple blast of wind to pull it apart, as though it had been congealing for days, which she supposed it might have been. She retreated rapidly, as did Wave, and they watched the mist return to settle in the open patch of ground, surrounded by the remaining blanket of snow.

“What’s that?” Wave asked.

“I’m… not sure…”

As if in response to their questioning, the mist suddenly formed into the shape of a pony. As it slowly solidified in front of them, the bit finally dropped for Fleetfoot. All around them, and as far into the distance as they could see, the snow covering the mountains was shifting, as though beasts beneath the snow were awaking from their slumber.

“It’s… it’s a Shard army. They’ve been here, gathering under the snow this whole time.” She spun to face Wave. “Get a message to Spitfire, now.”

He nodded, realising the seriousness of the situation, and kicked off into the air.

“Wait!” She flew up to him and gave him a kiss. “Be quick. Get back quicker. If a battle’s begun when you return, don’t you die before you find me, you got that? I need my idiot beside me. The only way you’ll be dying is if I kill you myself, okay?”

Wave grinned stupidly, and she could even detect a little redness in his cheeks as he turned and blasted off into the distance. Fleetfoot looked back at the snow. The slowly emerging Shards were not yet approaching, but it was probably only a matter of time.

Angling herself towards the palace visible in the distance, Fleetfoot rocketed off with more speed than she had experienced in months, as though the very safety of Equestria depended on it. Unfortunately, it probably did.

Chapter 14 - Rallying the Troops

Chapter 14 – Rallying the Troops

Everything was in uproar when Cadance returned to the Crystal Palace. It was very late at night now, but royal guards were swarming all over the place regardless. As she reached the throne room, it didn’t take too long to find out why.

“Shining? What’s going on?”

Her husband looked relieved to see her, and gave her a quick nuzzle before his face darkened. “There’s a Shard army at the base of the mountains. We’re preparing for a battle.”

“Wh… What?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but we sent out scouts to confirm and they’re really there. We’re fortunate Fleetfoot happened to be flying through the mountains and spotted them.” He gestured to a sky blue pegasus with a frosty white mane who was standing beside him.

Cadance recognised her as a member of the Wonderbolts, and a recent medal winner at the Equestria Games. She gave her a quick nod, as a gesture of gratitude, before turning back to her husband. “Are the guard all mobilised?” They started walking through the palace as they continued to speak.

“Every one of them. We’re planning to march into the fields north of the empire as soon as we can.”

“To keep the fighting away from the city,” Cadance said, nodding in agreement.

“Yes. Fortunately the Shards have not yet started to approach, but we’re not going to assume they won’t charge at some point.”

“We shouldn’t underestimate them,” Fleetfoot interjected. “I think they’re smarter than everypony thought.”

“You may be right,” Shining muttered grimly.

The three of them had reached the entrance hall of the palace now, and walked out into the courtyard where the majority of the guard were gathering and forming into troops. As they did so, there was a flurry of wings and Twilight clattered to the ground in front of Cadance.

“How was Celestia?” she asked rapidly, skipping any formalities.

“Oh, um…” Cadance glanced around to see who was in earshot. Shining was by her side of course, but there were no guards nearby and Fleetfoot did not appear to be listening. She lowered her voice as a precaution anyway. “Not great, as you might expect. She’s more devastated than you could imagine. I’m sure she still cares for our ponies, but I think she’s lost the motivation to be the princess everypony wants her to be. We may need to give her time.”

“We don’t have time. To be honest, if we want to avoid too many casualties, I think we need her here now. This is really some army, I can’t believe we were caught out by them even after we had forewarning.”

“Skip the regrets Twilight, what’s done is done. As for Celestia, this dire news should hopefully be enough to motivate her. We could send somepony after her, but I’m not sure they’d get to her quickly enough.”

“I’ll send a letter.”

Cadance shook her head. “That’s the other problem. She disappeared after I talked to her, and I have no idea where she went.”

“Okay, then I’ll send it through Spike. His magic will find her.” Even as Twilight was speaking, a piece of parchment and a quill were moving around in the air above her, under the control of her levitation. Cadance absently wondered if Twilight carried emergency stationery on her at all times.

Shining gave his wife a quick peck. “I’m going to start leading the guard north. I’m intending to take command, at least temporarily. This would be a bit of a baptism of fire for Captain Softhoof.”

Cadance gave him another kiss as response, before letting him depart with Fleetfoot following him. She turned back to Twilight, trying to clear her mind of the combination of worry and anger that was threatening to overwhelm her. This was the time for her to stand firm. To give her ponies strength.

“We should take Black Fractal on ourselves if she appears, which she no doubt will. We can’t let her get near any of my little ponies.”

“I agree,” Twilight replied, still concentrating on the letter she was composing. It seemed she was close to completing it. “Right. That’ll have to do.” She lit her horn and the paper vanished with a pop.

As the two of them took to the air, Cadance attempted to lighten the mood. “Spike will be ever so grumpy at you waking him up like this.”

Twilight laughed. “Yes, I don’t think he even knows this hour exists! I expect I’ll be returning to an angry dragon when I next get back to the library. There is no way he would be awake at this time if he could help it.”

There was no way Spike would be awake at this time if he could help it. Unfortunately the three excitable fillies in the treehouse with him were making it impossible to get any sleep.

He hadn’t even wanted to come to this sleepover that the crusaders were having. Or, well, he might have thought it was a fun idea if he had been asked. But instead he had been dragged here from the library against his will, and all because Apple Bloom had apparently only got permission from Big Mac when she had said that Spike would be with them.

Spike wasn’t sure what Big Mac was expecting of him. Was he supposed to be here to scare away any potential intruders? He certainly wasn’t able to keep the enthusiastic crusaders under control, if that was his job. They had ignored any of his suggestions that it was time to get some shuteye, and were still chatting away about… something. Spike had stopped listening hours ago.

In lieu of anything better to do, since sleep was proving elusive, Spike decided to start listening again.

“I’m telling you, next time Rainbow Dash and the others go off somewhere we should go with them! That way we’ll get adventurer cutie marks for sure!”

“Ah’m not sure that’s a good idea. An’ Ah don’t think they’d let us anyway.”

“Come on Bloom, you’re the one who said you wanted to get a cutie mark in adventuring.”

“No Ah didn’t, Ah jus’ said Ah didn’t want to be stuck here all mah life. That doesn’t mean we have to go on adventures.”

“But it would be fun though,” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “I’ve always wanted to see what Rarity does when she goes away.”

“Ah guess.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a rumbling sound, which Spike eventually realised was coming from his stomach. He sat up in surprise and immediately belched out a piece of parchment which fell to the ground in the middle of the crusaders’ clubhouse, drawing the attention of the three fillies.

“Really Twilight?” muttered Spike to himself. “You couldn’t wait until morning to check on me?”

He continued to grumble as he waddled over to the paper, still wrapped up in his blanket. Oddly, the letter was not addressed to him, and he was just beginning to wonder if Twilight had sent it by mistake when he spotted a scribbled note at the top of the page that did have his name on it.

Hi Spike, please can you send this on to Princess Celestia ASAP.
Be safe. Twilight.

Spike grumbled some more. “She didn’t even want me, she’s just using me as a postal service.”

“What does the letter say?” the three crusaders asked in synchrony.

“I probably shouldn’t read it…”

“Pleeeeease?”

Spike gave in almost instantly, as his own curiosity had also got the better of him. He started reading aloud.

Celestia, we need your help urgently. There is an army of Shards preparing to attack the Crystal Empire, and we cannot risk letting them get close enough to make use of the Crystal Heart. The guard are mobilised and prepared, but I fear we will suffer without your help. Please, we need you.

Twilight.

Spike narrowed his eyes as he finished his recitation. It was not like Twilight to be so blunt. And an ‘army’ attacking the Crystal Empire? This was clearly incredibly serious. Unfortunately, the crusaders did not seem to share his appreciation of the severity of the news.

“Wow, there’s going to be a battle? That’s so cool!”

“What’s a Shard?” Sweetie asked brightly.

“Oh, they’re these shadowy crystalline pony things that are completely evil,” Spike explained absently, re-reading the note.

“You mean, like the one I smashed to pieces in the Everfree Forest?” Scootaloo asked eagerly.

Spike thought back to that fateful evening. It hadn’t been a Shard, but he was still not prepared to tell Scootaloo what it had been. “Uh, yes, like that.”

“Oh my gosh, this is our chance!”

“What do you mean?” Sweetie asked.

“We can go to the Crystal Empire and help out! We’ve already beaten a Shard before, we can take on some more! And Rainbow Dash and the others need help. We might get cutie marks in being heroes!”

To no great surprise from Spike, the other fillies thought that was a great idea. He started to wish that he hadn’t agreed to read the letter. He was going to have to use all the authority he could muster to keep them in line now.

He breathed out a wisp of green flame, which sent the message away to its intended recipient, and then turned back to the crusaders, claws on hips.

“You’re not going anywhere. It’s too dangerous.”

The three fillies glanced at each other, and then Sweetie Belle took the floor.

“But it won’t be too dangerous if you come with us,” she said, her voice sounding strangely distorted. “I’m sure the Great and Honest Spike the Brave and Glamorous could keep us safe.” She pulled a peculiar expression and started fluttering her eyelids madly.

Spike stepped back from the bizarre sight, waving his arms. “Nu-uh. We’re all staying right here.”

The young unicorn pouted and turned to the others. “I was sure that was what Rarity did when she wanted something…”

“Oh well, time for plan B?”

The three spun as one towards the unfortunate dragon, engaging their greatest weapons. Spike actually forced his eyelids shut to avoid the hypnotising power of their puppy-dog expressions, turning his head away and holding his arms out.

“No! I won’t be convinced.” He turned back and warily re-opened his eyes. “And anyway, how would we get there? It’s, what, one o’clock in the morning? There won’t be any trains for hours.”

Apple Bloom slumped to the ground.

“He’s right. There ain’t no way we could get there in time.”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that,” came a new voice from the corner of the treehouse. “Not if you ask nicely anyway.”

Spike’s heart plummeted as he recognised the newcomer’s voice. He slowly turned and saw a pair of mismatched horns above two wide eyes and a mischievous smile. Not him. Not now.

“I’ve never liked sticking to the usual timetables,” the draconequus continued, snapping his fingers to summon a calendar and a clock that he then promptly incinerated. “What do you say girls? Care for a little out-of-hours expedition?”

The three fillies nodded their heads eagerly, as beside them Spike groaned.

“Then all aboard the crazy train!” Discord yanked on a pull-whistle that had just materialised next to him as the treehouse around them morphed into the shape of a train car. “Next stop, the Crystal Empire!”

The field that separated the Crystal Empire from the base of the Crystal Mountains was silent in the cold night under the distant stars, but it was a cautious tranquillity, as though it knew the carnage that was about to descend upon it. On the northern side, standing in the sheets of snow at the border of the mountains, were hundreds, possibly even thousands of Shards, some earth pony and some unicorns. Above them in the air hovered just as many pegasi Shards, holding a constant height. They were all stationary, as though waiting for some external signal.

Contrastingly, the ponies on the southern side of the field were still in turmoil. Shining Armor was doing his best to direct everypony, but the sight of the vast opposing army had understandably spooked many of the guards.

“We’ll split into three fronts,” he directed, addressing Captain Softhoof and the two lieutenants. “Softhoof, I leave it to you to decide how to separate your forces, and then you will lead the central front. Arcus, we’ll want your unicorns divided as equally as we can, and then you can lead the western front.

“And Sentry…” Shining frowned as he looked across the battlefield at the multitude of opposing pegasi. “Do your best to split your strike force fairly across the troops, and then you can lead the eastern front.” He grunted. “I’m reluctant to ask our pegasi scouts to fight, but we can use them for recon. Whatever we do though, we’ll be severely outnumbered in the air. I just wish we had more fliers.”

“You called?”

Shining turned in surprise to see a throng of pegasi in blue, gold-lined uniforms. At their head, as always, was a blazing gold pegasus with a fiery mane, who gave him a broad grin and a wink.

“Spitfire!” Shining felt his spirits soar. “You would not believe how good it is to see you, I could almost kiss you.”

“With your wife watching?” Spitfire nodded to the pink alicorn beside the prince. “You’re not well practised at this infidelity thing are you?”

“Believe me,” Cadance began, “I’d be in line behind him. How in Equestria did you know to come?”

Spitfire just smirked. “I always know what’s going on.”

Shining noticed Fleetfoot lined up beside the Wonderbolt captain and tilted his head. “So it seems. I am glad of it.” He waved a hoof. “Okay then. Spitfire I’ll leave you to direct your troops. We want no opposing pegasi to reach empire airspace.”

“On it.”

The ponies around him all split into their separate groups, and after a few minutes there were only a few stragglers remaining, including Twilight and her friends, minus Rainbow Dash who it seemed had still not returned from her excursion to Dodge Junction. Shining walked up to them.

“Hi Twily. Everypony. Do you all know what you’re doing?”

Rarity nodded. “Applejack and I will of course be joining our units on the battlefield. I believe Lieutenant Arcus wants me with him on the western front, and I shall endeavour to do my duty.”

“And Ah’ll be on the eastern front. Can’t wait to give them Shards a piece of my mind.”

Shining turned to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, neither of whom seemed quite as confident as the others. He knew that neither had ever expressed any desire to be involved in actual fighting. “Pinkie? Fluttershy? You can both stay out of this if you want to.”

The two ponies caught gazes, and then in unison turned back to him with fierce expressions.

“We want to help somehow. Um, if that’s okay I mean.”

“Yeah! We have to support everypony!”

Shining felt surprisingly touched by this. “As you wish. Pinkie, there are a few nurses from the hospital camped in a tent at the edge of the field behind you. I’m sure they would appreciate help in transporting medical equipment around, and with your knack for finding ponies, you could prove to be a huge asset.”

Pinkie beamed. “That sounds great! I can be a helper not a hurter!”

Shining turned to Fluttershy, who was quivering a little but standing resolutely. “Fluttershy, with the experience you’ve had flying in inclement conditions over the last few days, we could use your eyes high up in the air above the mountains. The snow has stopped, but it’s still cold and blustery up there. Try and get around behind the enemy, staying away from danger as much as you can, and pass back reports of Shard movement. Does that sound like something you could do?”

“Oh, um. High above the mountains?”

“You’ll be joining a few of the team you’ve been flying with on your reconnaissance trips.”

“Really? Um, will Winter Tempest be there?”

“She should be.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Excellent.” He turned to the group as a whole. “I’ve no idea how much longer we’ll have before the Shards decide to attack, so we really need you to get into positions as soon as you can. I suggest you say your temporary goodbyes.” He then walked off to give them a little privacy.

The five mares moved closer together, but remained in silence for a while, not sure what there was to say. ‘Goodbye’ sounded far too final, but none of them could deny that this was going to be a perilous night.

“It seems strange,” Rarity finally said, “that Rainbow is not with us for this.”

“She’ll probably be back soon,” Twilight said. “And I bet she’ll fling herself straight into the action when she gets here.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

There was a bit more silence, broken when Pinkie Pie suddenly ran up to each of her friends in turn, wrapping them in hugs.

“Please be careful everypony! I’m actually really scared.”

“Don’t you worry none Pinkie, Ah’m sure we’ll be fine.” Applejack smiled, although it did not quite reach her eyes. “But to be honest, Ah’m a little scared myself.”

“I daresay we’re all somewhat afraid,” Rarity suggested. “But we’ll get through this, I’m sure of it.”

“Eeyup. Our elements may be back on that tree in the Everfree Forest, but we never needed them to be strong. We always got our strength from each other.”

There were murmurs of assent from each of them, and as one they launched themselves into a giant group hug. No further words were said, as each pony gained comfort just from the closeness of her friends.

“Well… Good luck everypony,” Twilight eventually said, regretfully interrupting their embrace.

The element bearers broke apart, choked out farewells, and then each went their separate ways. Twilight walked back over to Shining, who was now standing next to his wife. Cadance was currently talking to Maud, evidently discussing what the strong grey mare could do to help. As Twilight reached them Maud started walking off into the distance, seemingly heading for the front lines.

The two princesses and one prince stood staring out over their now organised troops, and beyond across the field to the mass of Shards in the distance. Everything was eerily still.

“The two of you know what you’re doing?” Shining queried.

“We’ll take care of Black Fractal, don’t you worry.”

“I can’t help but worry.”

Cadance kissed him. “You saw our duel this afternoon. You should really be worried for her.”

Shining smiled as the two alicorns took to the air. “You be careful too Twilight,” he called out.

“And you, BBBFF.”

And then he was alone. He turned back to face across the still battlefield once more. The Shards remained immobile in the distance. What now? Charge?

It was as though their enemy had been waiting for them to get ready, or for Shining Armor to think that exact thought. Just as he was preparing to bellow out a final order, there was a tremor accompanied by a loud rumbling, and a giant black shape erupted from the earth in the centre of the field. It halted in the air, several feet above the ground, and Shining identified it as Black Fractal herself, the Shard mockery of Equestria’s late princess. His heart started to pound, and he could feel the fire rising in his veins.

The alicorn Shard’s eyes blazed brightly in the night sky, and Shining could almost hear the intaking of breath from the hundreds of guardsponies spread around him. She then let out an almighty wail, echoed by the thousands of Shards behind her, and all Tartarus broke loose.

Chapter 15 - The First Front

Chapter 15 – The First Front

For most of Equestria, it was a night like any other. In cities such as Canterlot and Manehattan the ponies slept soundly in their beds, largely untroubled. True, there had been strange rumours recently, and some of them were rather troubling, but the concerns all seemed far off and, for the moment at least, less important than a good night’s sleep.

For the ponies of the Crystal Empire, the conflict was at lot closer to home. Just a short distance north in fact. Even those without friends or relatives taking part in the sudden battle were aware of what was happening. How could they not be? The sounds of the fighting were resounding through the clear night’s air. Very few were attempting to sleep, and many were in fact gathered on the cold streets.

It was not that they could see the battle from the streets. In the dark it would have been almost impossible to make anything out after all. No, they gathered for some sense of reassurance. They gathered to feel like they were all together, and therefore everything would be fine. Above all, they gathered because they still could.

For many of the guardsponies now fighting in the field of battle, it was those very crystal ponies that they fought for. Even those without friends or relatives back in the empire had motivation to fight. They fought to defend their home. They fought to defend Equestria. They fought because it was their duty, and because it was what they had been trained for. Above all, they fought because they still could.

A hundred feet in the air above them, Twilight and Cadance were fighting to ensure that the ponies below still could. As soon as the battle had begun, the two of them had swooped to engage Black Fractal as per their plan. For both of them this was the first time that they had seen the travesty of an alicorn for themselves, and it was not a pretty picture. Despite her foul jagged crystalline body, the resemblance to Luna was uncanny, and, for Twilight at least, this made her irrationally hesitant to approach the Shard.

She knew that it wasn’t really Luna; it was clear when Black Fractal’s head aligned with hers and Twilight could stare into the emotionless glowing pits that were her eyes. Nevertheless, it was distressing to see an image of somepony Twilight knew to be gone. It was almost too much to bear.

Cadance had not hesitated, wasting no time in engaging Black Fractal and blasting a fireball at her, before leading her upwards, away from the ponies below and the empire behind them. The hope had been that once the three of them were fighting, Black Fractal would not attack anypony else until their duel had ended. Obviously the two princesses were hoping that it would end with the Shard’s defeat. As Twilight had watched Black Fractal pursuing Cadance up into the sky however, she realised just how difficult this might be.

While Cadance’s quick spell may have only been intended to attract Black Fractal’s attention rather than deal any significant damage, Twilight would have still expected the Shard to be injured somewhat. Instead she had merely shrugged it off, before launching upwards to chase Cadance. And that led to the other concern: Black Fractal was fast.

Twilight remembered her brother’s ludicrous descriptions about the speed in which Black Fractal had moved. It seemed he had been right. She knew that all alicorns were fast. She knew that Shards seemed to somehow take the strength of the ponies they infected. But Luna could not have been this fast, could she?

Cadance had had a head start, but in an instant Black Fractal was behind her. It appeared as though she had rocketed up to Cadance without passing through any of the intervening space, but she was definitely not teleporting. In fact, their battle had been raging for several minutes now, and despite their prior expectations, very little magic was being employed at all. Twilight had launched several powerful spells at the alicorn Shard, including some that she had never before thought she would have any reason to use, but in every case Black Fractal seemed mostly unaffected. It was like her speed: alicorns were resistant to magic, but Luna could not possibly have been that resistant, could she?

As Cadance and Twilight had realised the ineffectiveness of their magic, they had instinctively swapped to an alternate strategy. While continually casting shield spells around themselves, which did at least still perform their intended function of protecting them, at least temporarily, from any physical attacks, they repeatedly flew around Black Fractal as if taunting her. Twilight doubted a Shard had enough intelligence to be taunted, but the strategy was still effective enough. Whenever Black Fractal sped over to one of them and struck against their shield, splintering it within moments, the other princess would attempt to get in a hit of her own.

The first time Twilight had successfully connected her forehoof with Black Fractal’s crystalline body, she had been relieved to see a crack start to form. Their foe wasn’t invulnerable, at the very least. Unfortunately it appeared as if this would be a long fight, and every time they got within range of Black Fractal they were opening themselves up to a counter-strike, and Twilight did not want to think about the potential damage that could do. Black Fractal was breaking through their shields far too quickly, and if she ever did get a direct hit on one of their bodies, it would surely be devastatingly powerful. Would she be even stronger than Luna as well? Never mind the fact that with her serrated legs, any strike would almost certainly pierce into their flesh.

The other reason why their battle was becoming a mostly physical one was that Black Fractal was not using any magic of her own either. In fact Twilight was not aware of the alicorn Shard using magic at all at any point. Could she even use magic? The unicorn Shards could, so it seemed odd that Black Fractal was not employing Luna’s undoubtedly devastating array of spells on them now. Not that Twilight was complaining.

As Black Fractal launched herself towards Cadance once more, who instinctively strengthened a magical wall between them, Twilight attempted a different form of attack. Putting as much of her strength into it as she could, Twilight created a magical barrier that completely surrounded Black Fractal. Then, trying to quash the sickening images of what effect this would have on a real pony, Twilight started to contract the makeshift cage.

Cadance immediately realised what Twilight was planning, and added her own strength to the barrier. Together the two of them poured all their magical might into shrinking the container, horns spitting off sparks erratically. Twilight was feeling light-headed. It hadn’t been too long ago that she had exhausted herself in a friendly duel with her sister-in-law, and she was feeling the effects of magical exhaustion already. And judging from Cadance’s expression, she was not finding this easy either.

Inside the container, Black Fractal was hovering in place. It was not yet small enough to restrict her movement, but it wouldn’t be too long before she was crushed. Why was she not reacting then? After a moment the alicorn Shard struck a hoof against the powerful barrier, but there was no sign of any damage. Was this going to work?

As the two princesses continued to contract the cage, Black Fractal suddenly turned to face them, eyes blazing. She raised a hoof, as if to point at them, and in front of their eyes it started to slowly change shape, as the jagged crystal lengthened and sharpened into a point like a spear. Twilight tried to ignore the ominous feeling that was slowly building in her stomach as she watched this, instead continuing to pour her magic into the barrier. Just a bit more…

There was a sudden resounding crunch and Twilight recoiled backwards through the air, the stars above seeming blinding as a searing pain ran down the length of her horn. Her first instinct was to teleport away, just in case she was in a vulnerable position, but when she noticed that Cadance had been afflicted similarly she decided that she could not leave her sister-in-law unprotected and so instead summoned a barrier around themselves this time. With the amount of magic she had recently expended, and the pain still in her horn, she knew this was a flimsy barrier, but it was better than nothing.

As the two stunned alicorns regained their senses, they turned back to their opponent to determine what had happened. Their magical container was still there, which was perhaps unsurprising considering just how much magic they had poured into it, but it was no longer whole. Erupting from one side was Black Fractal’s recently transformed hoof, having clearly pierced a hole straight through. In one fluid movement the trapped Shard swung the leg around like a scythe, shearing the container in two and releasing her.

She did not escape without injury though, as Twilight realised when she looked closer at the spear-like leg. It appeared as if several crystalline chunks had broken off it in Black Fractal’s escape effort. Twilight would have considered this more of a victory if not for how little Shards seemed to be affected by the loss of body parts, something she had witnessed for herself during her battle against the Shard version of Ragnar, the griffin ambassador. Still, it was at least progress.

Cadance turned to her as they remained protected within her shield, for the moment at least.

“Ready for round two?” She sounded as exhausted as Twilight felt.

Twilight nodded wearily.

In the field far below the three clashing alicorns, the main battle raged on. The larger central front, led by the recently appointed Captain Jade Softhoof, had engaged a swarm of hundreds of earth pony Shards. In rigid formation the guardsponies were carefully splitting their opponents into smaller groups to face down. These Shards were nothing like as resistant as the alicorn Shard above them, and the guardsponies were not having too much difficulty with each one. What they lacked in resilience however, they made up for in numbers. Whenever a Shard was destroyed, another would immediately take its place.

In the air just above them, a higher paced battle was taking place between the pegasi Shards and the Wonderbolts, as well as some of the few crystal pegasi guards. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the agility of the Wonderbolts was no match for the strange pegasi mockeries, but once again the Shards had numbers on their side. Every now and then a flash of blue would strike a shadowy Shard and it would disintegrate, falling into the scuffle below, but the air was still crowded with dark shapes. It was taking everything Spitfire’s fliers had to hold back the pegasi Shards and stop them from crossing the field to enter the Crystal Empire itself.

And in the air above them, Fluttershy was watching with horror in her eyes. Now, more than ever, she was glad she had not been expected to join with the fighting. On more than one occasion she had seen a pegasi Shard clatter into a pegasus (which seemed to be all the Shards’ strategy consisted of) and Fluttershy could not imagine she would have been able to stay in the air after such a collision.

As such thoughts occurred to her, she witnessed a pegasus being taken by surprise by a speedier Shard, and they did indeed fall to the ground below. Fluttershy turned away in dread, not wanting to see what might happen to the plummeting pony. It had been one of the Wonderbolts, judging from their uniform, although Fluttershy had no way of knowing which. She had been making sure to keep far enough above the fray that she was not spotted by any of the Shards herself, and the thought of falling almost froze her in place. If she fell from this height…

Trying to distract herself from such images, she flew further north to try and locate any of her fellow reconnaissance pegasi, hopefully Winter Tempest. As cold as Winter acted, Fluttershy couldn’t deny that she had felt safe with her on their previous flights into the mountains together. She could really do with that feeling of safety now. Especially if she wanted to the confidence she would need to start being useful.

Part of Fluttershy knew that it would be better for her to try and help out alone. They had a lot of ground to cover after all, they could hardly afford to pair up like usual. But the idea of flying down into range of the pegasi Shards, for that is what she would have to do to get any valuable information about enemy movement, was a little daunting. Part of the reason Fluttershy was still hovering so far up was to try and gather the courage to make that plunge.

Unfortunately the air this high, as it had been for the previous few days, was blustery and chilling, and the wind was resounding in her ears. She was therefore almost shocked out of her skin when she suddenly heard a voice not too far from her.

“Hey you! Floatshy, right?”

Fluttershy spun around in panic, tumbling through the air a little as she was buffeted by a particularly strong gale. When she reoriented herself she found herself staring into the face of a turquoise crystal pegasus mare who she vaguely recognised from the reconnaissance team, although she did not think they had ever spoken and she had no idea of her name. The mare was also struggling with the wind, which seemed to have picked up in the last few minutes.

“Or was it Flapshy?” the mare continued. “No, wait, Fluttershy, right?”

Fluttershy nodded timidly, but didn’t speak up.

“The element of harmony, right? Winter sure knows how to pick ‘em. I suppose you think that makes you better than us?”

Fluttershy shook her head wildly and tried to say “No”, but the word was lost to the wind.

“Meh, whatever. I only came over because I wanted to ask if you know where Softhoof is. Got some critical info for her.”

The blank expression on Fluttershy’s face must have been telling, because the mare frowned at her.

“You don’t know who Softhoof is, do you?”

Fluttershy was breathing fast now, which was not entirely due to the cold conditions, and she slowly shook her head. Why did the pegasus mares she’d met over the last week all seem so intimidating?

The crystal pegasus rolled her eyes. “I knew you’d be useless. What are you even here for? This is a battlefield; it’s no place for anypony’s eye-candy. If I were you I’d get out of here before you do something stupid.”

Fluttershy was frozen in place, which was not entirely due to the cold conditions, and failed to defend herself as she knew she should. The other mare departed, flying erratically down into the melee below, leaving the butter pegasus alone in the chilling air, as though stranded in deep water. It was several moments before Fluttershy felt able to move again.

She wasn’t useless. She knew that. Of course she knew that. And she could definitely help.

Feeling more determined now, or at the very least, telling herself that she was feeling more determined now, Fluttershy started flying north again, eyes peeled. Shining Armor had said that any information on Shards’ movements would be helpful, so all she needed to do to prove she could contribute was find a section of the opposing army that was back from the front lines and see what they were doing. Then she could find somepony and tell them and she’d have proved that turquoise mare wrong, whoever she was.

She could do that. Of course she could do that.

Pushing against the battering wind, Fluttershy peered down through the mist that was swirling around her. The start of the Crystal Mountain range was visible below her, which she assumed was a good sign. The fighting of the central front was mostly contained to the field behind her, and while the east and west fronts were closer to mountains, they should be a good distance away from her. That hopefully meant that she would not be in too much danger as she started to descend.

As she dropped a little lower, some shifting shadows became visible in the mountains far below. It was still the middle of the night, and with only the moonlight to see by it was not clear exactly what was happening, but Fluttershy assumed she must be witnessing Shard movement. There was surely no way any ponies were this far north. This could be just the thing she was looking for.

She flew even lower, determination temporarily overriding trepidation. Before long it became clear that she had indeed spotted a collection of Shards, in this case unicorn Shards. Fluttershy knew that the unicorn Shards were dangerous, and so the thought of a whole group of them was unnerving. They looked to be heading around a nearby mountain, probably to join the western front; the front Rarity was battling in, Fluttershy remembered nervously. The rest of the mountains below were currently deserted, suggesting that most Shards were already engaged in the fighting on the field to the south.

A sudden sound from behind her caused her heart to leap violently against her chest and she spun around wildly, once again losing control against the buffeting winds. To her horror she identified that the sound had come from a pegasus Shard nearby. She had been so engrossed in watching below that she had forgotten that she also needed to consider her own safety.

As she stared in shock at the Shard only a few feet away from her, she wished more than ever that some of her friends were with her. They would know what to do. All she felt like doing was screaming, but instead she froze in place, as if hoping that somehow, somehow, the Shard would not notice her.

Of course that was impossible. The Shard slowly spun in the air to face her and then lunged forward without warning. Now Fluttershy did yell out, as she attempted to dive out of the way. Just as she flapped her wings however, another sudden gust, stronger than any thus far, caught her and she careered away through the air, tumbling head over hooves and still screaming. Out of the corner of her eye she saw another Shard and her scream increased in volume, and then, unbidden, images of the falling Wonderbolt she had seen earlier floated into her mind and she shut her mouth abruptly, petrified.

Slowly, uncontrollably, she glanced down to the mountains below. A long way below. With the blood pounding in her head, and her heart beating hard against her chest, she realised what was inevitably about to happen and knew she had no way of stopping it. Leaving her just enough time to gulp in a desperate breath, her wings suddenly snapped shut against her sides, and, with a final scream, she plummeted.

A small part of her mind that was still thinking clearly realised that since there were unlikely to be any ponies nearby, screaming would only be attracting more Shards to her, but she completely failed to shut herself up as she fell. The world was spinning around her, alternating between the ominous shadows of the mountains below and the pinpricks of light from the stars above. There was no way she could survive a fall from this height. Nopony could.

The turquoise mare had been right. Fluttershy was useless. Why was she even here? She was going to die here.

“No.”

Fluttershy, with the world still careening around her, widened her eyes in surprise at the voice. It was only when she noticed that she had stopped screaming that she realised the voice had been her own.

“No,” she said again. She would not die here. Not now.

With no idea of how close she was now to the end of her terminal drop, Fluttershy flared her wings dramatically, just in time as it turned out. As she caught herself in the air, one of her hind legs smacked into a branch of a lone tree on the mountainside, and she was overturned, landing headfirst on the ground at a painful but far reduced speed.

Clambering to her hooves, Fluttershy shook her head to clear her vision and found that she was staring directly into another Shard, this one a crystal pony stallion. For a second she tensed, but then the adrenaline running through her surged once more.

“No.”

The Shard stepped towards her, red crystalline body contrasting eerily with his glowing green eyes. Fluttershy held her ground and took a deep breath. As the Shard came within a few inches of her she stepped forward herself, locking her gaze with the glowing green orbs.

Then the world flipped around her as she fell out of her body and into the depths of green.

It was immediately obvious that something was wrong.

Usually when Fluttershy used her ‘Stare’, she felt as if she were gazing into the heart of the pony or animal she was facing down. She had never attempted to explain the feeling to anypony, but she would not have described it as particularly intrusive; it was more like forging a hyper-personal connection with the pony in front of her.

This was not that. Instead of feeling connected to the Shard in front of her, Fluttershy instead felt as though she had been drawn into an abyss. There was nothing in the heart of the Shard. Even more curiously, and unnervingly, Fluttershy appeared to no longer be standing in the mountains at the edge of a battlefield. Instead she found herself in the centre of a vast wasteland, with nothing but dusty earth as far as the eyes could see.

She attempted to pull herself out of wherever she was by un-focussing her gaze, blinking, shaking her head… anything. Nothing she did had any effect however, and she started to shrink to the ground as she realised she was somehow trapped here, the vast space around her suddenly feeling oppressing.

She remained stationary for several minutes, or maybe seconds or hours, it was impossible to tell in this timeless barren plain. Her mind did not seem to be working properly, and it was only when she felt a rumble beneath her that she was broken out of her reverie. Small cracks were slowly forming in the ground around her, and she stumbled backwards, as if expecting the earth to swallow her up.

To Fluttershy’s horror, a shadowy mist started seeping out of the cracks. It looked similar to the mist of the Infection, and she redoubled her attempts to scrabble backwards out of range. As she watched, the mist gathered and started forming the outline of a giant figure, and Fluttershy found she was uncontrollably trembling, the brief surge of courage and adrenaline that she had found while falling having completely faded.

Her eyes widened in horror as the shadowy shape started to solidify, and a monstrous beast formed in front of her. With a horrible feeling of resignation she glanced up into a pair of blazing yellow eyes and then cowered away, knowing that her Stare would not help her now.

But then there was a loud splintering sound and the world disintegrated, disappearing around her, and she was in the void once more.

“You with me, Floaty?”

The grounding of a familiar voice pulled her back to reality, and the world slowly reappeared. She was back in Equestria, back in the Crystal Mountains, back in her body.

She was very definitely in her body though, which was disconcerting. You didn’t usually feel like you were inside your body did you? At least not consciously? It was almost as if she were an observer of the events around her rather than a participator. Even the ground around her seemed somehow more distant than it should.

“Oi, Fluttershy.”

A final shape in front of her solidified into the image of Winter Tempest, the white crystal pegasus standing surrounded by red fragments, suggesting she had just obliterated the Shard that Fluttershy had inadvertently fallen into somehow.

“I’m… I’m here,” Fluttershy replied weakly. Her voice sounded far away, as though it were not herself speaking.

Winter stepped up to her with a determined expression and Fluttershy suddenly recoiled in surprise, having been struck across the face. She did not feel the pain she would have expected though, which was strange.

“What were you doing, you brainless idiot? You were supposed to be staying out of range of the Shards!” Winter looked Fluttershy up and down critically. “Are you okay? You look…” she trailed off, her expression turning grim.

Fluttershy whimpered. “Oh… I’m so sorry…” her voice was still sounding distant, as if it were somepony else’s. “She was right, I really am useless…”

Winter’s tone immediately shifted. “What? No, listen to me, you’re not useless. Who said that?” She scowled. “It was Haze wasn’t it? She said she’d seen you. That mare’s just jealous.” Winter’s gaze dropped to Fluttershy’s body once more and she bit her lip. “Listen… I’m gonna get help.”

“What? No, don’t leave me…” Fluttershy wasn’t sure she could cope with being alone again. Not right now at least. She still felt like an intruder in her own body, and it wasn’t listening to any of her commands to move.

Winter reached a forehoof towards Fluttershy, in what was clearly an instinctive motion, but then flinched away for some reason when she realised what she was doing. She then dropped her leg to the ground, with an awkward expression on her face that suggested it had just occurred to her how weird her actions must look.

“I… uh. I’ll be back soon, I promise.” She jumped up into the air. “Stay here,” she ordered, unnecessarily.

Fluttershy watched blankly as Winter zipped off into the darkness. Why did she leave her? What was wrong? Why did she…

Her heart suddenly plummeted as she connected the dots. Looking down at what she had to keep reminding herself was her body, no matter how uncomfortable she felt, she spotted the inevitable signs. Of course Winter would leave. Of course Winter wouldn’t want to touch her. There were dark blotches spreading slowly across her chest which meant only one thing: Fluttershy was infected. She was going to die.

She suddenly felt very alone.

Fluttershy was just beginning to feel as though she was falling into blackness when she heard somepony yelling her name, bringing her back to the present just as a blur of pink resolved itself into the shape of an earth pony in front of her. A second later Winter landed beside the mare, fulfilling her promise to return. Fluttershy almost sobbed in relief.

“Oh no…”

Fluttershy turned to the pink mare who had just spoken; Pinkie, she suddenly realised. Pinkie. Her friend.

“Can you help her?” Winter asked hurriedly.

Pinkie’s bottom lip was trembling.

“Can you?” Winter repeated, even more urgently.

“Oh, um… oh! I know who to get.” Another pink blur and she was gone, leaving a stunned Winter behind.

As Fluttershy watched the colourful mare leave her field of vision, her eyes started to glaze over once more.

“Stay with me Floaty. I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you and I meant it.”

Fluttershy forced her eyes open, which took a surprising amount of effort. She needed to find that determination that she had found a short while earlier. She wasn’t useless. Unfortunately her body seemed to be becoming more and more alien to her, and the encroaching darkness was threatening to consume her once more.

It would be very easy to slip away. She didn’t feel as though she was really here anymore, the world around her seeming so distant, so unreal, compared to the barren wasteland she had been in a few minutes ago. Despite the threatening presence that she had encountered there, the memories did seem to be beckoning to her.

It was only moments later however, when a flash of colour broke back into her vision. She strained her eyes to focus on the three mares in front of her: A crystal pegasus, and two earth ponies, one grey and one pink. She still wasn’t alone.

“Please Maud, you have to do something,” said the pink one. Pinkie. Pinkie.

“And quickly,” said the pegasus, “she can’t have long, right?”

The grey mare stepped closer to her, and she would have backed away instinctively except that she seemed to have lost all control over her body.

“What happened?”

“She was facing down a Shard. Other than that I have no idea; I don’t know how she got infected. But are you saying you can save her?”

“Possibly. She’s not infected.”

“What?” echoed the other two voices.

“Not fully. The corruption seems different somehow. I don’t know.”

“But can you help her?”

There was a moment of tense silence, and then: “Yes.”

“Then do it. Get her out of here and to somewhere safe.”

“Yeah. Please Maud, you have to save her.”

The words were all fading away before the distant pegasus could understand them, but she did feel herself suddenly get launched into the air and land across somepony’s back like a ragdoll. She then heard a voice from beside her.

“Please stay strong Fluttershy! I’ll let the others know you’ll be okay.”

Most of these words faded away too, except for one that resonated with her: Fluttershy. Fluttershy.

“Hold on,” said a voice from below, and then the world around her started moving.

Chapter 16 - The Second Front

Chapter 16 – The Second Front

The buildings on either side of the street loomed menacingly over Rainbow Dash as she flew through the dark city. She was in pursuit of a shadowy figure that was galloping rapidly along the road in front of her, and she was having to fly at close to her top speed to keep up with him. She could not allow him to escape, but the longer he was able to keep ahead of her, the less confident she felt.

And then a purple blur flew past Rainbow, also in pursuit of the figure.

“Don’t worry Rainbow,” Twilight snarled through gritted teeth. “I’ll catch him.”

Rainbow slowed down, stunned, as Twilight shot onwards at incredible speed. That wasn’t right, Twilight shouldn’t be faster than she was. Although… the young princess had been getting more comfortable with her flying recently, and perhaps it wasn’t too surprising that an alicorn could outfly her.

Some sounds coming from below Rainbow distracted her, and she descended to find Applejack surrounded by a crowd of the shadowy figures.

“Need help?” Rainbow asked, swooping down to join the orange mare.

“Nah, Ah got this.”

As she finished speaking, Applejack launched herself at the nearest shape, throwing it against the ground where it broke apart and vanished. She then spun on her forelegs and bucked two of the other figures at once, similarly destroying them. By the time Rainbow had landed, Applejack was alone.

“Oh, er… Nice one AJ.”

Applejack lifted her hat and swept her hoof across her forehead. “Ah know.”

A sudden cry from behind Rainbow made her spin around.

“HEEEELP!”

In the distance she could see a small filly cowering against one of the ominous buildings, with another of the shadowy stallions stepping menacingly towards her. Rainbow didn’t waste a moment, kicking into the air and rocketing towards the pair. As she approached she realised the filly was Scootaloo, which encouraged her to push harder.

Just as Rainbow was about to reach them however, a pale blue glow formed around the shadowy figure, and he was launched like a javelin at a wall nearby, breaking apart instantly. A similarly coloured aura then faded from around Rarity’s horn as she stepped into view.

Rainbow slowed to a halt in the air. “Uh, wow Rarity. That was cool.”

Rarity gave her a self-satisfied smile. “I can be ‘cool’ sometimes.”

Rainbow returned her attention to Scootaloo, who was still looking petrified, not even attempting to fake bravado. The blue pegasus landed and stepped towards the young filly.

“Hey Scoots. I’m here.”

Scootaloo looked up and then slowly pulled herself to her hooves. She gave a small whimper and then sprinted towards Rainbow, but just as she was getting close and Rainbow was preparing to wrap her in a hug, Scootaloo veered past Rainbow and into the welcoming warmth of Fluttershy.

“There there,” Fluttershy cooed, “I’ve got you. You’ll be safe now.”

Rainbow opened and closed her mouth blankly a couple of times, before turning away. As she did so, she found herself face to face with Pinkie Pie, who gave her a curious look.

“You okay Dashie?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

Pinkie beamed. “I’m fine too! I’m so fine. Look at my wings, aren’t they amazing!” She extended them, revealing an impressive wingspan, and Rainbow’s eyes also jumped to the horn on her friend’s head, and then above that to a shiny golden tiara.

“They… They look great Pinkie.”

Rainbow glanced around and found she was now surrounded by all of her friends, who were staring at her almost venomously.

“Err, girls?”

A crackling sound echoed around the city, and the shapes of the mares surrounding her transformed into those of changelings, who jeered at her hungrily. Rainbow immediately shot up into the air to escape, but did not get further than a few feet before she felt a hoof collide with the back of her neck and she turned to see Flash Sentry shaking his head.

“You’re just too easy to read, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow ignored him and attempted once again to flee from the changelings below. It took a couple of dodges to get away, as he somehow kept reappearing in front of her, but eventually Rainbow was alone, speeding along a narrow street with the oppressive buildings surrounding her. She did not glance back, instead focussing only on the city in front of her.

And then, as she veered around a corner, there was another shape in front of her. Slamming against the ground, Rainbow looked over into the face of a threateningly tall black alicorn with bluish armour who was staring back with narrowed eyes. One more kick, and Rainbow threw herself towards the abomination with even greater speed, a foreleg outstretched.

“Halt, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow resisted the urge to obey the nightmarish voice. She quickly reached the alicorn and attempted to connect a hoof with her face, but it passed directly through with no resistance. As she twisted to avoid a collision, the rest of Rainbow tumbled through the alicorn’s body, and then through the ground below her and into nothingness. There was a moment where she was flailing in the void, and then Rainbow lurched awake and found herself staring into a different pair of eyes.

Before she was even aware of what she was doing, Rainbow reached out to try and swing at the smug face in front of her, but after a short struggle it became obvious that she was immobile.

“Obviously I have you restrained. I have been preparing for this day for a while now.”

Rainbow looked down. Her body was enveloped in a horrific black substance that was pinning her in place against a wall, several feet above the oily floor below. The wall itself was a similar colour, but seemed more solid and was pulsating somewhat, and as Rainbow examined the round room she was in she realised that the entire place was made of the same material, as if she were inside some strange organism. After breathing through her nose once she resolved to not do it again, the stench was so hideous. Lining the walls were others like her, cemented in place, although nopony else looked to be conscious at the moment.

And in front of her, hovering in the air, was the changeling queen.

“And so I have one of the element bearers. How perfect.”

“Buzz off, bug,” Rainbow spat. She had a severe headache, and was not in the mood to listen to any gloating.

“You will refer to me as Queen Chrysalis. I may treat you more nicely if you do.”

Rainbow scowled. “What do you want with me?”

“What do I want? Well, neutralising one of my greatest threats is a good start, and I know you insipid girls can’t use your fancy necklaces unless you’re all together.”

“We don’t need our elements to stop you!”

Chrysalis just laughed. “You won’t stop me. Not this time. Nopony will. I already know I will succeed.”

“Succeed in what?”

“Taking over Equestria, of course. I have learned a lot from my failure in Canterlot; I will admit that my plan then was flawed. It was too high profile, and I was too impatient. But now? You have already seen that I have taken Dodge Junction for my family, and your ‘great’ Celestia has not even noticed. Everypony is too busy concentrating on the drama in the north. It is only a matter of time before more cites follow this one. And I will have it all!”

“That will never happen!”

Chrysalis grinned a horrible grin. “We will see.” She then turned and started flitting upwards towards a hole in the ceiling through which distant starlight was visible.

“Wait!” Rainbow shouted. “Let me go!”

Cruel laughter echoed throughout the murky chamber once more.

“Let you go? Because you asked so nicely? You should feel lucky I don’t intend to kill you.” Without warning Chrysalis zipped over to within a couple of inches of Rainbow Dash, holding a pointy leg against her neck. “Not that I wouldn’t love to kill you, because I would enjoy it; relish it; savour it. But you will apparently be more useful to me alive.

“Your friends however? I have no use for them. And if I could eliminate one of them, your elements would be worthless.”

“No! You can’t!” Rainbow started struggling harder against her bonds, but they did not loosen.

“Of course I can. If my information is right, and everything would suggest that it is, then they are currently near the Crystal Empire, and will shortly be entirely preoccupied with a different battle. They will not see me coming.” She grinned eagerly. “I would usually send someone else to do a job like this, but my family are weak at the moment. They can barely change forms, let alone mimic anypony realistically. Now that we have ponies to feed off, they will start regaining their strength, but the time to strike is now! No, I will have to go myself.” Chrysalis did not look at all disappointed by this decision. “And I will enjoy it!” she finished, eyes gleaming.

“No!”

Chrysalis looked back at Rainbow with surprise, as if she had forgotten she had an audience.

“Await my return eagerly,” she jeered,” for I will have wonderful news.”

The angry yells that echoed throughout the chamber went unheard by the many unconscious ponies, and were keenly enjoyed by the departing queen.

The worst part wasn’t the actual fighting. Applejack knew she was tough, especially after all the training she had done over the last few days, and she felt in peak physical condition even at this time of night. Every time a Shard would come into view she would duck and dive her way towards it, avoiding any of its attempts to strike, before giving it a good solid buck, which was usually sufficient in destroying it.

The worst part wasn’t that the numbers of Shards did not seem to be dwindling. It was a little exasperating that their enemy seemed to be in infinite supply, but for the moment at least, Applejack was not tired. This fight on the eastern front was a little less structured than the battle on the field in the central front, in part because some of it was taking place closer to the mountains. Applejack, and the other ponies with her, seemed to have silently decided that their aim was to try and march into the mountains, destroying the Shards as they went.

The worst part wasn’t the fear. Every now and then Applejack would come across a unicorn Shard, whose magical attacks would be a greater threat. She had even witnessed one of those attacks connecting with a crystal pony stallion she had been fighting with, who had keeled over immediately as a result. Applejack had not waited to see how he was, knowing that they had medical ponies for that purpose, and also concerned that she might lose her nerve. As long as she concentrated solely on the enemies in front of her, as if wiping them out was just another chore on the list, the awful reality of the situation would not sink in just yet.

The worst part wasn’t even that Applejack recognised some of the creatures she was fighting, although that was disconcerting. It didn’t take long to realise that the Shards only came in about thirty or so different forms, despite there being thousands of them. Applejack presumed this meant they had only actually infected thirty ponies, which, while still a horrible number, was at least less than they had feared. At least three of the forms were from ponies Applejack had known however, from times when she and the girls had been to the Crystal Empire, such as the librarian and one of the spa ponies. She may not have known them well, but it certainly drove home the importance of their battle.

No, Applejack reckoned the worst part was that she was definitely starting to enjoy this a little too much. She wasn’t one for bragging, but the other guardsponies that had made up this front were definitely not as capable or as confident as she was. As the battle had turned into more of a scrap, many of the ponies had formed smaller units in which to fight, but Applejack had quickly found herself alone. Not that she cared, because that just meant that she didn’t have anypony to watch out for. If everything nearby was a target, less thought could be put into strategy, and more into enjoying taking out the Shards.

Because it was satisfying. Every time a Shard disintegrated, and the wisps of shadowy mist that escaped were blown apart in the cool air, it felt as if that were one more step on the road to a normal Equestria. One which was unthreatened by unknowable forces and one in which she could go back home to her family.

Applejack shook her head when images of Sweet Apple Acres threatened to rise once more. She did not want to think about them now, in case it would distract her, or worse, make her more nervous about the outcome of the battle. Better to focus solely on the task at hoof.

Her task currently was to take out a particularly annoying unicorn Shard that was partway up the nearest mountain. The battling on the eastern front was now spread over the bases of a few mountains and along a valley, and the unicorn Shard had found a spot from which it could rain down small rocks, launched by its magic. The rocks may have been small enough that they would not do significant damage on their own, but a distraction at a vital moment when facing down another Shard could be critical.

It had been one of the crystal pegasi recon team that had flown down to Applejack, who in a night full of dark shiny shapes had presumably been the most recognisable from a distance, and had told her where the unicorn Shard could be found. Now Applejack was on her way around the far side of the mountain, since it seemed to be less populated and would hopefully give her a good opportunity to sneak up on the Shard and take it out.

The climb was surprisingly uneventful; only four Shards tried to halt her progress, and they did not try for very long. She was only a few feet away from the plateau where the Shard was supposedly located when she witnessed another rock being launched into the fray below. Got you.

It was always a risk getting close to a Shard, not just because you were in range of their attacks, but also because there was the danger of being infected yourself. Since Applejack was not entirely sure where the Shard was, the area being mostly covered in shadow, she did not want to run those risks and decided on a different approach. Reaching into a small pouch that she had strapped to her barrel, Applejack pulled out a horseshoe. She had been a little over-eager with her usage of these when starting the battle, and so this was her last one. She would have to make sure it was the perfect shot.

She crept around the side of a large rock, until a little cove in the side of the mountain face was visible. In the gloom it was impossible to make out anything distinct, but a crackling red glow was presumably a good indicator of where the Shard was, or at least, where its horn was. Applejack found a firm surface to press her forehooves against and readied her attack.

The Shard didn’t stand a chance. One quick buck and the horseshoe cannoned into the base of the glowing horn, and with a loud fragmenting sound the Shard was in pieces. It was almost anticlimactic.

Applejack was just stepping over to retrieve her horseshoe when there came a loud thud from behind her, and she turned around to see that a pegasus Shard had landed on the plateau with her. Of course at this height up a mountain she would have come into range of that battle. She ducked her head and pawed at the ground, intending to charge, when the Shard flapped its horrific black crystal wings and a sudden powerful gust caused her to lose her balance.

As she stumbled back, a fireball careered out of the sky and completely obliterated the Shard in front of her. She looked up to see who had helped her, thinking it might have even been Twilight, but the only shapes in the air were more pegasi Shards who quickly converged on her. As they approached, the fireball bounced up into the air again and Applejack realised that it wasn’t a spell, it was in fact a pony. As she watched the fiery pegasus zip unerringly from one Shard to another, charred remains of a blue flight suit still visible, it wasn’t too difficult to guess who it was. Applejack had never spent much time with the Wonderbolts captain herself, but if she ever did, she resolved to never make Spitfire angry.

Applejack’s impressed gaze was interrupted when one of the pegasus Shards that was pummelled by Spitfire started falling to the ground instead of breaking apart. Realising that she was standing where it would land, Applejack stepped backwards, but in her haste she had forgotten how close she was to the edge of the small plateau she had been on. After just one clumsy step she tripped on a small rock, and then tumbled down the side of the mountain.

A few moments later she was crumpled in a heap, a long distance away. The slope had not been particularly steep, but the sudden cliff at the end had been. In a daze, Applejack pulled herself to her feet and looked around. The short cliff face she had fallen down was behind her, and surrounding her on all other sides were a dozen Shards. She gulped.

Up until this point, Applejack had only ever had to face down one or two Shards at a time. This would be far more difficult, and she didn’t even have anywhere to retreat to, with the rock wall behind her blocking off any thought of escape. Looking around once more at the range of glowing eyes, Applejack braced herself. This did not look like it would end well.

Everything happened at once. About half of the Shards decided to simultaneously charge towards Applejack, who managed to fling herself aside just in time. In an inelegant attempt to roll, she felt a jolt of pain and realised that one of her hind legs must have been injured in her fall, but she still took a swipe at one of the Shards as she tumbled, connecting with but not destroying them. From the other direction however, came a strange echoing boom, a flash of light, and almost immediately afterwards the sound of splintering Shards.

Applejack did not have time to identify what the commotion was about, as she was entirely preoccupied with the few Shards that were still around her. Dodging out of the way of another charge, she swung a foreleg at the passing Shard, connecting with the back of its neck and destroying it. She then ducked under a retaliatory swing from a second Shard and flipped it over onto its back, before jumping down onto it and crunching it into the earth.

As she continued to fend off her opponents, ignoring the lingering pain in her hind leg, she could spot a similar battle closer to the cliff face. It appeared as if she had an ally, for which she was very grateful, although she could not identify who they were are at the moment. Maybe Spitfire had followed her; there seemed to be some orange in the midst of the carnage.

Even with a damaged leg, the fact that Applejack only had half of the Shards to contend with meant that she was able to hold her own. In another minute two more of the Shards were down, and only one remained. Some clinking sounds echoed as the Shard started to lengthen all of the jagged spikes on its body menacingly, and Applejack decided it was time to end this. With one last lunge, she thundered over to the Shard’s side and swung a hoof, neatly connecting with its shoulder. Her action was perfectly mirrored by a pony on the other side of the Shard, and as it disintegrated between them Applejack gaped in bewilderment.

“Whoo-eee!” the other pony exclaimed. “Don’t we work well as a team?”

Applejack realised she was still staring slack-jawed, and closed her mouth firmly.

“Ah’ve been waitin’ for this for so long,” the other pony continued. “It’s sure nice to be able to help out again.”

“You… You were waitin’ for this?” Applejack repeated weakly. “How’d you know it was gonna happen?”

“Ah remembered from when Ah was you.”

Applejack nodded dully, still a little stunned. The mare in front of her was her; that much was obvious at least. She did look a little older, but seemed surprisingly bright for somepony who had presumably come back from the horrific future overrun by Shards and the Infection.

“You’re lookin’ well,” Applejack said, feeling a little awkward.

“We got ol’ Maudy to thank for that one. Ah told her Ah’d be coming back straight into some heavy fightin’ and she helped me out a bit.” The future Applejack grinned. “And anyway, you know how tough we are. Ain’t no Infection gonna slow us down!”

“Hold on.” Applejack tried to make sense of the situation. “Are you sayin’ you knew you were comin’ back here because you were once me?”

“Eeyup.”

“But that don’t make a lick of sense. Ah thought y’all were sent back because everything went wrong, and with your help we’ll make it go right. How would you have been the me that meets you? Don’t that mean Ah’ll become you?”

The future Applejack shrugged. “Ah don’t know. Leave that thinkin’ to Twilight.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a blazing pegasus dropping out of the sky and landing next to them. As the mare touched down, her fiery mane was somehow quelled, and she began to look more like her usual self.

“Sorry about that up on the mountain,” Spitfire began. “I shouldn’t have let any of the Shards get close to you. Are you-”

She stopped, stunned. The two Applejacks glanced at each other with sheepish expressions, wondering how they could explain the situation. And then, after a moment of silence, Spitfire raised an eyebrow and broke into a wicked grin.

“Well well well. I know you aren’t twins, so there’s something intriguing going on here. Do I even want to know why the two of you seem a little out of breath?”

Applejack frowned. She wasn’t that out of breath, although her future counterpart did seem to be panting heavily, presumably due to the Infection which, although it was less visible than usual, must presumably still be present.

“We’re in a battle,” she pointed out, unamused.

“Sure, sure.” Spitfire launched up into the air. “Seeing as you’re okay, I’ve got a date with some Shards to get back to. I’ll leave the two of you to your… battle…”

Applejack rolled her eyes as the Wonderbolt left, but then quickly returned her attention to her future self.

“You’re dyin’ right?”

The future Applejack nodded, although she did not look particularly devastated. Applejack supposed she must have accepted it for a while.

“How long do you have?”

“Maybe ten minutes.”

Applejack pointed to the distance, where a large group of earth pony Shards were heading towards the front lines further south.

“Think you could help me take them out?”

The future Applejack grinned. “Ah bet Ah’ll get more than you.”

They really were a good team, it was almost like having an extended body. As the two mares ploughed through the group of Shards, completely in synch, Applejack realised she was starting to enjoy herself a little too much again. It made her remember Blue Viper, the pony she had met in Appleloosa who had also come from the future. It was obvious how one could become so obsessed with fighting now that she knew how satisfying it felt.

As she recalled that meeting, and the information she had learnt then, Applejack realised that she might have a duty to take advantage of this situation by asking some questions; a thought that seemed to be shared by her future self, who turned to her when they had finally eliminated all of the Shards in sight. She was looking a lot worse for wear now, and the blotchy Infection was clearly visible over most of her body as she stood, panting.

“Ask me anythin’.”

Applejack considered this, but not for long. However selfish it may have been, there was really only one thing she wanted to know.

“How are they?”

Her future self smiled. “They’re fine. All fine. Granny Smith’s still dodderin’ away. She’s a little crazier than usual, but Ah wouldn’t be surprised if she lives for another hundred years. She just don’t know how to give up.” She stopped to cough, and then continued, “Big Mac’s in the force. A good captain, Ah hear. Ah always get a little worried that somethin’ might happen to him, but he’s always okay. He don’t know nothing about givin’ up neither.”

“…and Apple Bloom?” Applejack prompted warily, when it became clear that her future self was hesitating.

“She’s… fine.”

Applejack realised now that she was never going to be a good liar.

“What’s she up to?” she asked, trying to ignore the dread rising in her stomach. “Still creepin’ around trying to hide that she wants to do somethin’ for herself?”

“No, she’s… she’s runnin’ Sweet Apple Acres with me. She’s become a very capable farmpony.”

“That’s it?”

“Yup.”

It didn’t look like a lie, so Applejack sighed in relief. “Well that’s great then! Ever since Rarity met the Sweetie Belle from the future Ah’ve been so worried how our family was. It’s so good to know that even if we fail to fix things, it’s not all bad.”

The future Applejack nodded with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, but Applejack tried not to read too much into that.

“So in the future Ah... Ah mean you…” Applejack frowned. “Ah mean… we? We’ve been runnin’ the farm this whole time?” She received a nod in response. “So we’re not still fightin’? Helping out Twilight?”

Her future self seemed conflicted, but eventually said: “It’s been a long war, and ponies still need food. When it comes down to it… maybe we six were never the best ones to be helpin’ out anyway. Twilight excepted.”

That sounded a little disconcerting to Applejack, but she refrained from asking for clarification when her future self double over in a painful coughing fit. Her orange body was now mostly black, a good portion crystalline, and it was clear she would not last much longer.

“Anythin’ else you could tell me that Ah’ll want to know?” Applejack asked quickly.

The future Applejack looked up at her younger counterpart, which seemed to take an inordinate amount of effort, and took a deep breath.

“Don’t y’all worry about the future.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “It’ll all be fine.”

Despite telling herself that she wouldn’t, Applejack turned her head away as the Infection finally overwhelmed her future self. This was just too weird to watch. It was about a minute before she could bring herself to look at the pile of fragments that had been her. What was she supposed to feel about this?

There were no Shards nearby; the two of them together had seen to that; and the battle had been going well, so Applejack did not feel guilty about the decision to sit by herself for a little while. She was not given the opportunity for any deep thinking however, because after only a few moments she was abruptly thrown to the ground with a pony on top of her.

“Oh Applejack I’m so so so so so sooooo happy that you’re okay!”

“Whoa there Pinkie!” Applejack slowly extracted herself from the mess of pink limbs she was tangled up in and patted Pinkie Pie on the head. “Calm down sugarcube. Ah can look after myself, you needn’t worry none.”

“Yes but I thought you might be dead! And just after Fluttershy got infected too!”

“Fluttershy’s infected?!”

Pinkie nodded grimly. “Yeah, sort of. My sister’s taking care of her and says she’ll be fine.” Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around Applejack again. “But the more important thing is that you’re fine. I really thought you had just died!”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ah’m still here.” She narrowed her eyes. “But Ah did just have an encounter with a future version of myself who came back from that bad future and Ah had to watch her die. That was weird.”

“Really? Huh.” Pinkie tapped her chin thoughtfully, and then her eyes widened as if she had just had a revelation. “Ooooooh! That’s it!”

“That’s what? What’s it?”

“My Pinkie Sense! It isn’t broken, I’ve worked it out!”

“Uh… good.” Applejack knew she was in for a long unintelligible explanation now, and wondered if perhaps she shouldn’t have said anything.

“See I always knew that the worst-news-ever combo was an ear twitch, and then another ear twitch, and then an itchy knee, and then another itchy knee, and then a shaky tail, and then a head shake, and then another ear twitch, and then an itchy nose.” As she spoke she mimicked the actions. “But that had started happening a few times when ponies were fine, so I thought I was broken. BUT I WASN’T! I’d been mixing up the feeling of an itchy nose like this.” She screwed up her nose. “And an itchy nose like this.” She screwed up her nose in exactly the same way. “You see?”

Applejack might have lied if she hadn’t been recently reminded just how transparent she was at it.

“No, Ah don’t get it. What’s the difference?”

“This combo,” she made the actions again, “actually means that somepony who came back from the future has died! Which is… well, it’s still sad, but not as sad, because we can change that so they don’t have to.”

“Uhuh.”

“But this is so great! It means my Pinkie Sense is working after all! I’ll be able to know if Fluttershy is okay! And now I know that the real awful combo I never want to get is the one where my ear twitches,” her ear twitched, “and then the other twitches,” and the other twitched. “Er, and then my knee itches.” Pinkie suddenly looked down sharply at her knee. “And uh, then another knee itches…” Her view then swung to another knee, eyebrows raising in surprise. Applejack now realised that the actions were happening without Pinkie doing them intentionally.

“Um… and then my tail shakes.” Her tail shook. “…And then my h-head.” Her head shook. Her voice was quavering a lot now. “And… and then my ear tw-twitches again.” She gulped and looked a little green as her ear twitched. “And… And… And then…”

Pinkie reached up to scratch her nose with a hoof and then dropped it down to the ground with a thud. Her eyes were wide and brimming with tears, and even more ominously her pink mane was slowly descending until it fell straight at either side of her head.

“Oh no.” Her voice was hollow.

“Err, Pinkie?”

“No. No no no no.”

Applejack had taken a couple of step forwards when Pinkie abruptly zoomed off into the distance. Applejack gave one further look around, decided the guardsponies would be fine for now without her help, and galloped off in pursuit of her friend.

Chapter 17 - The Third Front

Chapter 17 – The Third Front

“Uuurgh… Applejack warned me that you were trouble…”

“Yeah, urrgh, Rarity said the same thing!”

“Well maybe you should have listened to your charming sisters instead of blindly trusting a handsome draconequus like me, hmm? But either way, I fail to see what I have done wrong this time.”

“You did nothing wrong, that was awesome!”

“Scoots! He broke our crusaders clubhouse!”

“Yeah, but you can always make another one, right? And when are we ever gonna get another awesome ride like that? So cool!”

“Hmmm, I think I like you, Scootaloo. I’m sure I could make an opening as assistant chaos-maker. How would you like to fill that position?”

Spike, who had been lying dazed in a pile of broken wooden planks, suddenly snapped to attention.

“NO!”

The three fillies and one draconequus turned to Spike in surprise, at which point he scratched his head sheepishly, realising the volume in which he had just shouted.

“Eheh, I mean, uh, no. Scootaloo, you absolutely cannot spend more time with Discord. In fact all three of you should get away from him. Haven’t Twilight and the others told you how bad he is?”

“But Ah thought you said he was reformed?”

Discord smiled and summoned a halo to appear above his head, as he so often did when his allegiance was called into question. Spike rolled his eyes.

“He’s not that reformed.”

“Oh come on Spikey-wikey,” Discord began in a faux-stroppy voice. “Whatever can I do to get you to trust me? I did what I was asked. We are now near the Crystal Empire.”

At these words the three crusaders jumped to their hooves and peered around through the darkness excitedly, any remaining nausea from the bumpy trip or tiredness due to the late hour completely forgotten. It was true, the Crystal Palace was visible in the distance, light emanating from its many windows.

“So where’s Rainbow Dash and everypony?” Scootaloo asked excitedly. “Where’s the battle?”

“Oh is that why you brave fillies wanted to come here?” Discord asked innocently. “You wanted to join the fight for the empire?” He twirled on the spot and came to a rest wearing a military jacket and helmet, and a second later identical helmets popped into existence on the heads of the others, including Spike who shook it off in annoyance. “Stand to attention, mares of the Chaos Squadron. The night is young and the hour of war is nigh.”

The three fillies grinned at each other and then stood straight and snapped clumsy salutes, their helmets rattling noisily against their heads as they did so.

“Oh come on, this is ridiculous.” Spike stomped over to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, pulling off their helmets and throwing them to the ground. Upon realising what he was doing, Scootaloo clasped a hoof to her head to hold her own helmet firmly in place, rapidly backing away from the approaching dragon.

“I think it might be past his bedtime,” Discord stage-whispered to Sweetie Belle, who started giggling uncontrollably. The draconequus beamed. “Oh you three really are so much more fun than your sisters.”

If his intention had been to get the three crusaders on his side, it was certainly working. Spike was beginning to feel very nervous about the whole situation.

“In answer to your question, dear Scootaloo,” Discord said, turning to the young pegasus who was still wearing her helmet and looking very pleased with herself about it. “The battle is over thataway.” He pointed eastwards, towards the nearby Crystal Mountains, and as he did so a large arrow shot through the air following his gesture. “You might want to run if you intend to get there before the fighting is over. It appears that the peaceful ponies of Equestria can hold their own rather well.”

Ignoring his suspicion for now, Spike addressed Discord anxiously. “You know what’s happening? Are Twilight and everypony okay?”

Discord looked through a massive pair of binoculars that had appeared in front of him. “Hmmm… Yes, damn them, it looks like everything’s going smoothly. When will they stop letting me down?” He tossed the binoculars at Apple Bloom who let out a short yell and braced herself only to find them splatter all over her as though they had been made out of jelly.

“We should go and help!” Scootaloo said eagerly, her enthusiasm having not dropped for even a second since they had originally received the letter back in Ponyville. “I want to fight some more Shorts!”

“It was ‘Shards’ not ‘Shorts’,” Sweetie Belle corrected.

“Whatever.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Spike looked into the direction Discord had pointed and could just about make out sounds and movement from the mountains. “It’ll be very dangerous.”

“Yeah well, we’re going no matter what, and it will be even more dangerous if you don’t come too.”

“Yeah!” agreed Apple Bloom, as she continued trying to wipe the gunky binocular liquid off her body.

“You should go with them,” Discord said matter-of-factly. “That’s what a good dragon would do.”

“Are you coming too, Discord?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Me? Oh no, I couldn’t. A battlefield may be chaotic, but it’s not my sort of chaos.” He suddenly vanished and appeared floating in the air above them, surrounded by a mass of random items including: a rhubarb pie, three wheels, a purple mouse, a book titled ‘The essence of the soul’, and two umbrellas. “My sort of chaos is far more eclectic. And besides,” he continued, “I made a promise to a good friend of mine that I wouldn’t go near any of those Shard things.”

“Awww.”

“Don’t be upset,” Discord mumbled through mouthfuls of rhubarb pie. “I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun without me.” He then grabbed an umbrella in each hand and floated upwards into the sky, vanishing into the night within seconds.

“Good riddance,” Spike muttered under his breath.

“Well what are we waiting for?” Scootaloo asked excitedly. “Let’s go find the battle!”

“Yeah!”

Resigning himself to the fact that he would be unable to persuade the three fillies against the idea, at least not until they had seen for themselves how dangerous it was, Spike followed them as they ran towards the mountains. Strangely he now missed Discord’s presence. With him around you expected carnage, but it would be his carnage. Now the cold night air and the unknown terrors it contained seemed far more threatening.

Tucking his tail between his legs, Spike hurried to catch up with the excitable crusaders. Perhaps some of their confidence would rub off on him.

The jackets were proving to be just as functional as Rarity had hoped, and she allowed herself to feel a small measure of pride, even in her current situation in the midst of a hectic battle. She, and the few other unicorn guardsponies with her, had even been able to get into a sort of rhythm. The battle in the western front was entirely in the snow-covered Crystal Mountains, with the main aim being to stop any Shards getting through to the field behind them, where extra enemy numbers might overwhelm the ponies in the central front. The Shards here were emerging from deeper in the mountains in waves, and this is what had encouraged their strategy.

Upon identifying the Shards' approach, Lieutenant Lance Arcus had stationed the crystal unicorns, including Rarity, at intervals along ridges of some of the taller mountains in the area. As each wave of Shards approached, they would fire their arrowheads at them, with the intention of taking out as many of the shadowy constructs as they could before the main ground troops could engage them. Once the battlefield was mixed with Shards and earth ponies it would be too much of a risk to continue launching projectiles, and so the unicorns would be more cautious until that wave of Shards had been eliminated, at which point they would retrieve as many arrowheads as they could find in the snow, reaffixing them to their jackets, before repositioning themselves along the mountain ridges.

It was a tactic that seemed to be working. Each wave had been eliminated without too much difficulty, and although each time the unicorns found themselves with fewer arrowheads, there would surely be enough to last them the night. There weren’t even many pegasi Shards in this part of the mountain range, and thus only a couple of Wonderbolts were visible a distance above, scouring the skies cautiously. The general consensus amongst the ponies of this front was that the battle was not turning out as dangerous as they had feared. They were going to win.

Of course, inevitably, that was when the unicorn Shards arrived.

This was a wave unlike any previous. There were maybe a hundred Shards, which might not have matched the numbers of previous waves, but they were all unicorns. As soon as they came into view Rarity could hear frantic yells from the ponies in the valley behind her, including the voice of Lance who was presumably either trying to shout orders or just settle everypony down. From up here she could not make out any of the words, so she attempted to quell the anxiety rising within her and manipulated an arrowhead into the air in front of her once more. She knew what to do. It shouldn’t make a difference that they were unicorns.

But it did make a difference. Even as Rarity attempted to aim her shot, the blasts of magic coming from the unicorn Shards were making it almost impossible to see what was happening. She let loose anyway, and just trusted that it would connect with at least one opponent. To her horror, almost immediately after firing her own shot she had to duck out of the way of a retaliatory blast of magic that came from nearby on the mountain. It appeared that some of the Shards were ascending and would soon be joining her.

Rarity glanced left and right but could not identify any ponies nearby. Confused, she was about to yell out the names of those she knew she had been stationed up here with, when she spotted the battered body of one of the crystal unicorns lying in the snow a distance away with a hole clear through his chest. Perhaps he had been caught out by the approaching Shards just as she had, but he had not been so quick to dodge. Rarity’s throat was beginning to feel rather dry.

Pushing the thoughts of what she was doing out of her mind, Rarity ran up to the corpse and extracted as many of the diamond arrowheads as she could see out of the jacket he was wearing. No point wasting good ammunition. She then turned back to the mountainside where Shards were still ascending and considered her options. She could remain here and potentially have to face off with several Shards herself, or she could flee down the mountainside behind her to find allies.

One quick glance backwards made up her mind. The ponies below were already overwhelmed by Shards, with crackling flashes of red magic lighting up the snow around them. If she descended she would only be inviting more Shards into the fray. At least up here she could potentially have the element of surprise.

She readied multiple arrowheads and snuck up to a tall boulder at the edge of the ridge. It took her far longer than she would have cared to admit to pluck up the courage to peer around it, and then she quickly pulled her head back again. There were at least twenty unicorn Shards climbing the mountain towards her. That seemed a ridiculous number, had even more Shards turned up? Or perhaps in the dark her eyes had tricked her?

Rarity risked another glance. Then she took a deep breath. How would one take on twenty Shards at the same time?

After a few moments, she stopped thinking. She just needed to get into the zone, like when she was sewing. When she was that focussed, everything became far clearer. Resolutely ignoring the feeling in her stomach, Rarity stepped quickly out from behind the rock and launched five diamond barbs at the same time.

She did not even look to see if they had connected. Of course they would have. Instinctively she then ducked back behind the boulder as erratic blasts of magic were sent towards her. Some impacted the boulder, causing it to splinter and start shaking, which gave Rarity an idea. Putting as much force as she could muster into her horn, and leaning against the boulder herself for good measure, Rarity was able to nudge the rock enough that it slowly toppled over and started rolling down the slope.

Immediately Rarity readied another collection of arrowheads. The sound of splintering came from beneath the boulder as it ploughed through Shards on its haphazard path down the mountain, and at the same time Rarity launched the arrowheads at the few remaining Shards she could spot. Only then did she realise that she had given up her only means of cover, and so she started galloping down the opposite mountainside, aiming to get out of line-of-sight.

…Only to discover that there were now unicorn Shards climbing this side of the mountain too. Where were they all coming from?

Rarity instinctively felt with her magic for any further arrowheads, and discovered that her jacket now contained only empty slots. Not wanting to pause for a moment, she instead lifted as much of the nearby snow as she could with her magic and flung it towards the approaching Shards.

She was getting sloppy now. Very little of the snow even got close to her targets, and she was gasping for breath as she ran towards a rock formation in the distance where she could hopefully get some cover for a moment. The sounds of muffled explosions were echoing in her ears as the pursuing Shards shot spells that tore at the snow-covered earth a few steps behind her. It was with great relief that she finally reached a boulder and threw herself behind it.

She took a few moments to catch her breath, and then her mind whirred wildly trying to think of something to do. It was only when she realised that she really needed her diamond arrowheads back when an idea struck her.

Trying to shut out the sounds of the chaos around her, she put all her concentration into her horn and her gem-finding spell. Sure enough, within a few seconds she identified that one of the arrowheads lay in the snow some distance away back in the direction of the pursuing Shards. Rarity smiled to herself.

In one swift motion she leapt out from behind the rocks and yanked the arrowhead towards her with all the speed she could muster. The barb tore its way through the bodies of several of the approaching Shards, shattering them to pieces in its wake, before reaching Rarity where she called it to a halt an inch from her face. Without a moment’s hesitation she then launched it away once more, steering it to connect with the remaining Shards she could see.

Rarity’s few moments of triumph at the sight of so many eliminated Shards turned very quickly into horror. Up until this point every defeated Shard had released a shadowy mist that had dissipated quickly in the wind, but the mist that had escaped from this collection of Shards was shaping into a cloud, as though it had some sort of consciousness. It then began to slowly move forwards, threatening to consume her.

The Shards had been scary, but there was something about a wall of darkness inexorably approaching that awoke a more primal fear in Rarity, and any coherent thoughts left her as she started galloping away in terror. She twisted her way around the rock formation she had been using for cover and attempted to run behind the mist and back towards the main field of battle. The shadowy fog merely passed directly through the rocks, almost catching Rarity as she sprinted out the other side.

That was when she spotted two unicorn Shards that were standing a few feet apart with their heads down. Their horns were lit with an erratic red glow, and Rarity almost threw herself out of the way until she realised they weren’t charging a spell to launch at her, they were in fact controlling the mist behind her.

As she continued to run, Rarity felt around for another arrowhead, but to her dismay she could not sense any nearby. She was just considering whether she had it in her to attack the Shards physically when she spotted a distant speck of blue start descending towards her from in the clouds. It appeared that one of the Wonderbolts would be coming to her rescue.

A few moments later the diving pegasus crashed into one of the Shards, breaking it apart instantly, before turning to the other and smashing it across the face with a forehoof, similarly destroying it. Rarity, still running from the approaching mist, turned to look behind her and slowed down as she realised that without the Shards to control it, the shadowy mist had stopped its approach. The dark cloud still looked ominous, but now that it was stationary it felt a lot less threatening.

“These things really aren’t that hard to kill. I don’t know what all the fuss is about.”

Rarity spun around in shock at the voice. The blue she had spotted wasn’t part of a Wonderbolt flight-suit after all.

“How are you doing Rarity?” Rainbow Dash continued. “You look like you’ve been enjoying yourself.”

Rarity smiled as she felt the tension leave her stomach. “And where have you been?” she asked in mock-outrage. “I hope you’ve received a stern lecture from your lieutenant about showing up late to a warzone.”

Rainbow grinned back. “I’m glad I got here in time. It would have been no fun to see those two Shards take you out.”

“I could have dealt with them myself darling,” Rarity sniffed. “Don’t pretend you were being a hero.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Rainbow replied, grinning even more widely. She then looked around at the many piles of fragments nearby, the cloud of black mist behind Rarity, and the torn up patches of earth where the Shards’ spells had hit. “I see you’ve been making a mess.”

“Yes, well, desperate times and all that.”

Rainbow walked up to Rarity and raised a foreleg. “Congratulatory hoof-bump?”

Rarity rolled her eyes and raised a leg in response.

She was not quite sure what happened next. One moment she had a foreleg raised and was staring into Rainbow Dash’s strangely eager eyes; the next the world was spinning around her, her face connected with the snow, and her surroundings turned black.

If Rarity hadn’t been winded by her sudden tumble, she might have realised where she was before gasping for breath. As it was, by the time she identified why the world around her was black, it was too late. Dragging herself to her hooves, she scrambled out of the shadowy mist and started exhaling desperately, as if she could empty her lungs of any foul presence. Before long she was forced to inhale another gasp of air, and despite being away from the mist now, this breath tore at her insides like daggers. It had been cold all night, but this felt on another level, as though too much air would freeze her from the inside.

She looked around her. Rainbow Dash was gone, but she could see somepony else approaching from the distance. Instinctively she started walking towards them, each step taking far more out of her than she would have expected.

“Miss Rarity, is that you?”

“Lieutenant?” Rarity croaked, shocked by how frail her voice sounded.

“I saw movement up here and wondered if it-” He stopped in shock as he took her in completely for the first time.

“Stop gawping, please,” Rarity muttered. “What would your wife think?” She smiled, but Lance was clearly in no mood for jokes.

“What happened? Are you… I mean… did you get-”

He was cut off when Rarity threw herself towards him, pulling him to the ground. A second later a blast of magic zipped over their heads, impacting a nearby rock with a loud crunch.

“More Shards…” Rarity croaked simply.

“More of them?” Lance pulled himself up and then reached a hoof down towards Rarity.

“Just go,” she said, waving a hoof dismissively and then letting it drop to the ground in shock as she spotted how black it was.

“I can’t just leave you.”

“You can and you will. We all knew the risks.”

Lance Arcus frowned as he looked Rarity up and down once more, and then sighed.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Rarity.”

She closed her eyes as a searing pain spread through one of her back legs, and when she opened them he was gone. Now alone, she examined herself thoroughly for the first time. Her white coat which she was usually so proud of was now completely black, and the leg that had just caused her so much pain was coated in shadowy crystals, which were spreading up her body even as she watched.

It wouldn’t be long now.

“Rarity?”

Rarity did not turn her head upon hearing the voice. Surely the Infection was making her crazy. She could not really have heard that voice here.

“Rarity, it is you!” The voice was terrified. “What’s happened to you?”

Rarity closed her eyes. That voice could not be here. And if Rarity turned to look she would see nopony and she would be all alone.

“Rarity?”

The voice was now only a few inches away and Rarity couldn’t hold back anymore. Pushing her hooves ineffectually against the ground, she turned towards the direction of the voice. When she saw the filly standing there with horror in her eyes, she knew she must be hallucinating.

“Oh Sweetie Belle, you shouldn’t be here.”

“Rarity what’s going on? Why do you look like that?”

“I’m… I’m just a little under the weather.”

“Rarity! I know you’re lying!” The voice was quavering a lot now. “Please don’t lie to me.”

Rarity slowly reached out a now crystalline foreleg, which took almost all the effort she could muster, and without hesitation Sweetie Belle ran over and wrapped her own forelegs around her sister. Over Sweetie Belle’s back Rarity thought she could see some other shapes; were they also fillies? And in the other direction a pegasus was landing; or was it an alicorn? It did not seem so important right now.

“Don’t leave me, Rarity.”

Rarity could feel her heart break. The Infection was spreading up her chest and she was soon unable to turn her neck, not that she would have wanted to look away from her sister.

“I’m so sorry Sweetie,” she choked out, before breaking into painful coughs.

Sweetie Belle simply stared back in horror, tears glistening in her eyes.

Rarity took one last deep breath. “I’m so happy that I got to see you one more time Sweetie Belle.”

Sweetie Belle forced her face into something like a smile, somewhat obscured by the tears now streaming down her cheeks. “I love you Rarity.”

Rarity sighed and closed her eyes.

Twilight felt unable to move as she heard the tell-tale splintering sound. The noise seemed to coincide with her brain also breaking into pieces. For a few moments she stood still, blankly staring at the small white unicorn filly who was equally frozen in place, surrounded by small crystalline fragments.

This was not the scene she had been expecting to arrive to. She and Cadance had been duelling to a stalemate with Black Fractal for a few hours now, and so it had come as a relief to fly off to investigate what appeared to be a giant arrow pointing in this direction. Cadance had assured Twilight that she would be able to hold off Black Fractal by herself for a while, and so she had flown over with the hopes of finding… what? What was she expecting? Not this.

She had never really expected this might happen. Not to one of her friends.

A pained sob filled with a gut-wrenching amount of anguish echoed over the mountaintop, and Twilight concentrated once more on the filly in front of her. Her mind wasn’t working enough to question why Sweetie Belle was here. She just was.

As Twilight looked on, Sweetie’s sob turned into a scream. A gentle glow started to appear around her horn, which Twilight only noticed absently. Perhaps if her mind had been clearer Twilight might have stepped over towards the young filly, but instead she only continued to watch as the scream turned into a roar.

Suddenly, out of the snow a distance away, Twilight noticed a small shape rising. She had just identified it as an arrowhead made of diamond, when she spotted similar shapes ascending out of the snow in other places on the mountainside, and in fact she could barely look any direction without seeing a few arrowheads rising. She turned back to Sweetie Belle only to see that the glow around her horn was now pulsating as the filly continued to scream in rage.

And then Sweetie Belle turned her head towards Twilight and Twilight looked into the depths of her wild eyes. There was no recognition there.

“Sweetie Belle?”

The young unicorn’s primal wail stopped at the same time as an explosion of sound echoed across the mountains. Each of the hovering arrowheads zipped unerringly in different directions, and fracturing sounds built up like a crescendo, breaking across the buffeting winds. And then, without warning, the night fell into silence. The wildness left Sweetie Belle’s eyes and she blinked in surprise, not even noticing the small flash of light from the direction of her flank or the image of a diamond arrowhead that imprinted itself there. Her legs then collapsed underneath her, and her eyes rolled up in her head as she fell to the earth.

Pinkie Pie caught her before she hit the ground. At this point Twilight did not even question how Pinkie was here. Of course she would be.

Hearing voices from beside her, Twilight turned to see Applejack with Apple Bloom pressed close to her chest, Scootaloo being talked to soothingly by a blue pegasus stallion, and, standing by himself, a young dragon.

Any thoughts Twilight may have had of re-joining Cadance to duel Black Fractal were gone in moments as she saw the blank expression on Spike’s face, with wide eyes and open mouth and his whole body shivering. Her mind finally cleared, she kicked off from the ground and flew over to comfort her little brother.

Meanwhile, at the back of a forgotten cupboard many miles away from the conflict, a small spool of rainbow thread disintegrated, leaving a shelf containing only dust.

Chapter 18 - What Breaks a Shard?

Chapter 18 – What Breaks a Shard?

“Hey idiot, does that look like Rainbow Dash to you?”

“Where?”

“Flying away from that mountain down there. It looks like there’s another big cloud of that mist behind her; that stuff’s all over the place now. Maybe she’s fleeing from it?”

“Oh yeah, I sees her.”

“Where in Equestria is she going? The fight’s back this way. Do you think she’s abandoning the battle?”

“I’m thinking Rainbow Dash is no coward.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t seem like her. Something fishy is going on.”

“Not this again…”

“There’s no pegasus Shards up here at the moment and I’m getting bored. Can you blame me for speculating? Look, back there by the mist, is that the prissy white one?”

“Rarity?”

“Yeah, I think it’s her. Is she… uh… ah. Damn.”

“What is it?”

“Never mind, don’t look. You always liked Rarity, right?”

“Yeah I… um, I mean, yes but I likes you more.”

“Ha, I’m not jealous you big dummy. Just… Let’s go somewhere else, where there isn’t- What in Tartarus!? Are there fillies down there?”

“What, where?”

“Okay, change of plan. You’re good with children Chill. I’ve no idea why there are fillies here of all places, but get down there and make sure they’re okay.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I’ll chase down Rainbow Dash. Her fleeing the scene is beginning to look very suspicious…”

“What? No, Fleets, she wouldn’t do nothing bad.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“I’m really thinking that you needs to-”

The conversation between the two pegasi was cut off by the sound of an agonized wail coming from below. They both looked down in horror, and Fleetfoot nudged Wave Chill sharply.

“Get down there. Now!”

“On it.”

As the blue stallion zipped down towards the mountaintop, Fleetfoot combed the horizon. There was no rainbow trail, which would have been the most obvious indicator of where Rainbow Dash could have gone, but after a few seconds she spotted a small blue dot a good distance away to the south.

Fleetfoot was just beginning her pursuit when a couple of pegasus Shards appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Changing her course, she was just about to rocket towards them when a resounding bang echoed out from the ground below and she stopped in shock. A second later the two Shards were both speared by projectiles, piercing through their stomachs and erupting out their backs, breaking them into pieces instantly.

“What is going on?” Fleetfoot muttered to herself, returning to her pursuit of the fleeing pegasus.

After a few seconds of flight Fleetfoot had started gaining ground on her target, and she could identify that it was indeed Rainbow Dash. She was heading past the Crystal Empire and even further south, possibly towards the distant peak of Canterlot. Fleetfoot attempted to speed up; she didn’t really want to abandon the battle for long.

As she continued to rapidly make up ground on Rainbow Dash she started to question how that was possible. She’d like to think that no matter the stories about the young pegasus, she could still outfly Rainbow when she was at her best. At the moment however, Fleetfoot was definitely not at her best, it being the middle of the night after a strenuous day. Fleetfoot felt as though she was moving at nowhere near her own top speed, and yet she was gaining on Rainbow Dash easily. Was the mare not even trying to escape?

They were now flying over the hills to the south of the Crystal Empire, and very soon they reached a thick forest. Rainbow Dash was very close now, close enough that she would potentially be able to hear if Fleetfoot yelled out. Fleetfoot didn’t want to slow down however, in case Rainbow made a sudden burst for it upon hearing her voice.

“Rainbow Dash!” she shouted. “Wait up!”

To Fleetfoot’s surprise Rainbow immediately stopped in the air and spun around to face her. Perhaps her suspicions had been for nothing, was Rainbow merely flying on some other errand? Fleetfoot slowed to a halt a few feet away.

“What is it?” Rainbow asked, sounding a little impatient.

“Haven’t seen you in a while…” Fleetfoot commented absently, in what was surely a transparent attempt to stall as she tried to think of what best to say. “Where are you going? I just saw you talking to Rarity, did she send you off somewhere?” That probably wasn’t the best approach Fleetfoot could have taken, but it ought to be enough. She studied Rainbow Dash’s expression carefully as she waited for a response.

Rainbow just looked blankly back however. “Wha? I can’t hear you.”

Fleetfoot frowned and flapped a little closer. “I said that I was just-”

She paused as her brain finally caught up to her actions and then immediately launched herself to the side, just as a loud crackling sound and blazing green flame erupted through the air where she had just been. Fortunately Fleetfoot had very good reactions, because she was then forced to swoop into a dive to avoid a further blast of magic and whipped some wind upwards in retaliation, knocking her foe off balance and giving herself time to identify her new target.

“You!” she exclaimed, as she took in the black gangly creature in front of her. “We searched for you for weeks after you got ejected from Canterlot. I hoped you’d found a hole to die in.”

Chrysalis grinned horribly. “Sorry to disappoint.”

Without warning the changeling queen then launched herself towards Fleetfoot, who dived out of the way once more, only this time Fleetfoot failed to dodge the follow-up spell and shrieked in pain as some of the feathers on her left wing burnt away.

“You’ll pay for that!” she spat, rocketing towards Chrysalis before she would have time to ready another spell. Chrysalis somehow flitted out of the way however, and before she could avoid it Fleetfoot felt a cold leg around her neck.

“It’s a shame you didn’t find me back then,” Chrysalis hissed into Fleetfoot’s ear as she struggled in the changeling’s grip, still hovering far above the distant forest below. “Back then I was weak. But I have been feeding well these past days. No pony could stand up to me now.” She tightened her grip around Fleetfoot’s neck. “None of you have a hope.”

As Fleetfoot felt Chrysalis’ sharp skin cut into her neck and the blood start to flow, she twisted her head wildly and bit angrily down on part of her opponent’s leg. She barely dug into the thick carapace, but it did at least shock Chrysalis enough into letting her go. In the ensuing tangle however, Chrysalis summoned another blast of green fire which enveloped Fleetfoot’s left wing once more, and she yelled out in pain uncontrollably as she tried to free herself.

Finally escaping from Chrysalis, Fleetfoot swung her wing wildly in an attempt to extinguish the flames, but the searing pain as she did so, combined with the fact that she was unable to keep any sort of balance in the air, told her that her left wing was too far gone to be any use now. She turned her head back towards Chrysalis only to see her spit something towards her face and suddenly Fleetfoot was blind.

“Don’t resist. It will be easier this way.”

Fleetfoot gave one last attempt to regain balance, but even without her sight it was clear that she was losing altitude. She flung her hooves around wildly in the hope that she might connect with Chrysalis, but very soon she felt a crack across her face and she was tumbling towards the earth.

As the rushing air whistled in her ears, with her wing dangling limply beside her, Fleetfoot counted the time until the inevitable collision. She had been up near the clouds, so she calculated it would be a few seconds still. Three… Two… One…

Even with the gunk in her face that was cutting off her vision, Fleetfoot rammed her eyes shut.

Zero.

Cadance smacked against the ground with a thud. It took a good few seconds for the stars in her eyes to clear, and when they did her heart sunk as she realised that she had landed on a paved surface, rather than grass or snow. That could only mean one thing: Black Fractal had forced Cadance back towards her empire.

She kicked into the air rapidly, launching a few spells haphazardly upward with the aim of holding Black Fractal’s attention. With the ponies of the Crystal Empire so close, there was no way Cadance could let the alicorn Shard get away from her. The result would be unthinkable.

As Cadance ascended she heard shouts and gasps from nearby. She winced as she realised that there were crystal ponies in the streets. Of course they would be scared and would want to know what was happening, but they would only be making themselves more tempting targets. She briefly considered trying to cast a shield spell over them, but decided she was too exhausted to risk it. Without Twilight to help her, it was taking everything she had to keep Black Fractal at bay, and even then she wasn’t sure how much longer she would last.

Her biggest mistake had probably been trying to create illusory copies of herself to keep Black Fractal distracted. Cadance had been pleased with her usage of illusions during her friendly duel against Twilight, but for whatever reason Black Fractal had immediately seen through them, and thus the significant magic required to create the illusions had been expended for nothing.

Casting a barrier around herself once more, Cadance intersected the alicorn Shard as she was attempting to fly down to the city below. Now is when she really missed Twilight’s presence, as each of her magical shields was only able to withstand one or two of the powerful Shard’s strikes. What was holding Twilight up anyway? Had she inadvertently got caught up in something else? Cadance needed her. The Crystal Empire needed her.

Not even attempting to dodge any attack from Black Fractal, Cadance put as much force into her barrier as she could and rammed her opponent. The main thing keeping Cadance going at this point was the obvious damage the Shard had taken. One entire foreleg was missing, and the shadowy crystalline material that made up her body had cracks almost everywhere. Cadance knew she must look similarly beaten herself; she could feel gashes and blood all over her skin; but she was resolutely ignoring any of the pain. As a princess whose empire was threatened, Cadance had to be tough. And alicorns could be tough.

A lunge from Black Fractal caught her off guard, and she spun away erratically to avoid any significant damage. As an alicorn Shard, Black Fractal was equally tough, if not more so. The only positive was that she was still not using magic.

Cadance charged up a spell, but in her state of exhaustion she was not even sure what it was. Perhaps Twilight would have been able to have better focus, but Cadance was not made for long periods of magic expenditure. It didn’t matter anyway. Before she could even release the spell, Black Fractal had zipped towards her and smacked her in the chest.

For the second time in quick succession, Cadance found herself tumbling towards the ground. She could hear screams from some of the crystal ponies below, and wanted to yell out to tell them to get away from here, to somewhere safe. Unfortunately even that seemed beyond her at the moment, and before she knew it she had connected hard with a surface she quickly realised was the roof of small building. Cracks spread through the stone and Cadance heard shouts of horror from inside as some of the roof started to cave in. Not wanting to get caught in the rubble, Cadance attempted to launch herself into the air once more, but after a weak flap of her wings she succeeded only in jumping across to an adjacent building and landing sprawled on another roof. Flight seemed unachievable right now.

Identifying that Black Fractal was descending rapidly towards her, Cadance attempted to fire a few spells to hopefully slow her down or divert her, but those fizzled out. She couldn’t even get to her hooves, and the pain she had been ignoring for the last hour took advantage of her lack of resistance to strike all at once. Only the knowledge that her subjects would be able to hear her stopped her from yelling out in agony.

Framed by the moon as she dropped towards Cadance, Black Fractal let out a horrific wail. Cadance scowled at the sight of the moonlight reflecting off the features that reminded her so much of Luna. She was not going to give up. She braced herself for impact and continued trying to get a shield spell, or any spell, active, but her horn was only screaming at her. Meanwhile Black Fractal plummeted closer and closer.

And then the sun rose.

This was no ordinary dawn, not least because it was four in the morning. The light from the sudden sunrise was blinding, and Cadance immediately shielded her eyes with a wing, but even then the rays seemed to be searing her flesh. Black Fractal recoiled backwards in the air, as if the sunlight had impacted her like a cannon, and under the greater illumination it was visible that the shadowy mist roiling inside her body was seeping out of the cracks in her crystalline skin, as if it were trying to escape from the intense light.

“How dare you take her form?” bellowed a deep voice, resounding throughout the entire Crystal Empire. “You are nothing beside her. NOTHING.”

Cadance looked up into a blazing ball of light that was now hanging in the air. She had known Celestia for a long time, and perhaps knew her better than anypony other than Luna had. She had seen her with more emotion than she would have ever expected, from anger to horror and even gut-wrenching distress the previous day. And despite how cool and collected Celestia usually was, Cadance had always known the sun princess could be intimidating.

Now she knew that Celestia could be downright terrifying.

There was very little of the graceful alicorn that Equestria was so familiar with. Instead Celestia’s white coat looked so radiant as to be blinding, with her mane flaring like an inferno, and her eyes… Looking into them was like looking directly into the sun itself.

Silence suddenly resonated around the city, as if the noise had all been sucked out, and then the sky exploded above Black Fractal, pelting the Shard with searing fireballs. Cadance thought she could feel the heat even from a few buildings away. Black Fractal was forced against the roof of a house nearby, and immediately Celestia screamed down towards the prone Shard like a comet.

The house was completely obliterated, flinging burning wreckage into the crowds nearby. That acted as a wakeup call not just for the many crystal ponies in the street, but also for Cadance. Within seconds the roads were full of screaming voices as ponies tried to find their loved ones and flee the city, and Cadance finally got herself to her hooves and jumped down to the street below. Her mind had gone numb, and the only thoughts running through her head were of the family that might have been sleeping in that house. If it wasn’t for the fact that the streets were full, suggesting the house had probably been deserted, Cadance might have lost her nerve.

The love princess took one glance at Celestia, who was now blasting up into the air in pursuit of Black Fractal, the Shard having somehow survived the impact, and immediately Cadance knew she did not have the courage to get near Celestia right now. Every passing moment put her ponies in more danger though. With frightening ease Black Fractal dodged a few more fireballs that fell out of an almost molten cloud above her, and they therefore rained down upon the streets. Cadance’s prior hope that the city itself would avoid any danger seemed like a distant dream.

“Your majesty!”

Cadance turned to spot a scarlet crystal mare running towards her. She eyed the mare’s lustrous golden mane and cutie mark of two interlocking horseshoes and sighed in relief. This was somepony who could help.

“Captain Softhoof.”

Jade Softhoof stopped a few feet from Cadance and bowed.

“I have a report from Prince Armor.”

“No time for that,” Cadance interrupted quickly, starting to walk towards a nearby square where many ponies were still gathered, watching the dramatic duel above in mixed awe and horror. “I need you to help evacuate the city until the battle is over. I can no longer guarantee ponies will be safe here.”

“With respect, your highness, I have a different suggestion.”

Cadance was so surprised at Jade’s audacity that she stopped still.

“Sorry, your highness,” Jade continued, stepping up to Cadance’s side, “but it’s just that the battle is pretty much over.”

Cadance looked down at the crystal mare in shock. “What do you mean by ‘over’?”

“Well… Lieutenant Sentry reports that the main fighting in the eastern front is finished, with only a few Shards to wipe up. I just departed the central front, where your husband is leading the lines to clear up the few remaining Shards there. And a short while ago every single Shard near the western front was destroyed simultaneously. The point is, it won’t be long until that alicorn Shard up there is the only one left.”

Hearing those words seemed to free Cadance from a lot of the exhaustion she had been feeling.

“That’s great news, but while Black Fractal lives I still say we should evacuate.” Cadance glanced up in time to see Black Fractal plummeting to the earth towards a plaza close to the centre of the city, followed by the screaming fireball that was Celestia. As a shockwave resounded from the spot of their impact, setting nearby buildings ablaze, Black Fractal zipped back up into the air, still undefeated.

“I’ve sent some guardsponies to rouse the fire patrol,” Jade said, as if reading Cadance’s mind. “They’ll do their best to combat the flames. Others are going to gather all the civilians in the radial streets. From there they could easily be directed out of the city, but I think we should bring them inwards to the palace.”

“Why?” Cadance queried, in total confusion. “It’ll be safer outside the city, and as you said, we’ve won the battle…” She stopped as she spotted the grimace on Jade’s face. “What is it?”

“Uhm… Well, I wouldn’t say we’ve won quite yet. The more Shards we destroyed, the more left behind an ugly black fog when they died. There’s so much of it around now, the field looks almost like the sky during a thunderstorm, except the clouds are on ground level. At first we were worried they’d keep spawning more Shards, but actually it’s far worse.

“See, the fog won’t budge, no matter what we do. We’ve had pegasi and unicorns try to move it, but to no avail. And we know that it will infect anypony who touches it. But the crux is that for some reason, whether due to the wind or some black magic, the shadowy clouds are all slowly drifting towards the empire. If we don’t do anything, they’ll be here within an hour. And like I said, we have no way of clearing them.”

“…And so you’re suggesting we use the power of the crystal heart?” Cadance concluded, catching on.

“Exactly. I don’t really know how it works, but it might even deal with Black Fractal at the same time, couldn’t it?” Jade looked upwards and bit her lip. “Uh, if the princess hasn’t dealt with her first, of course.”

Cadance nodded blankly as she considered this option. If the Infection was indeed going to spread to the empire, it was even riskier to keep the ponies here, but with the crystal heart they could potentially eliminate their threat in one swoop…

“Okay. Good plan. But I’m not sure my little ponies are in the best frame of mind right now. Do you know where the element bearers are? I think Pinkie Pie would be particularly helpful.” As she spoke she started walking towards the Crystal Palace, refraining from flying partly for Jade’s benefit, and partly because she was not sure she had the energy yet.

Jade bit her lip nervously as she trotted along at Cadance’s side.

“Uhm… I believe the Element of Laughter is on her way back to the palace right now, but she may not be in the mood for cheering everypony up.”

Dread started to rise in Cadance’s stomach as they continued to hurry towards the palace. Almost a minute passed before she felt able to ask: “And why is that?”

“Well, uhm… Apparently the Element of Generosity was slain in the battle, your majesty.”

Cadance screwed her eyes shut as her stomach seemed to disappear entirely. They proceeded in silence for a few moments, with the sounds of a dramatic battle still echoing far above them.

“She has a name, Captain,” Cadance eventually said, through gritted teeth.

“Oh yes, uhm… sorry, your highness.”

No more words were spoken until the palace came into view a few minutes later. Under the archway of the central tower, the aqua-coloured heart spun merrily in the light, as if unaware of the carnage surrounding it.

“Is it good there?” Jade asked anxiously.

Cadance examined the crystal heart apprehensively. When they had expelled Sombra’s magic from the empire everything had been so clear to her. She had readied the heart and instructed her ponies and everything had made so much sense. It had been as though it was what she was born to do. Now though, the crystal heart looked alien to her.

“Your majesty?”

“Oh, yes, that should be-”

“Your majesty! Watch out!”

Cadance was pushed aside as a blazing ball of fire crashed to the ground between the two mares, melting the stone as it did so. It was immediately followed by a crunch as Black Fractal herself landed sprawled on the now molten surface. Jade gasped in horror at the sight of the alicorn Shard. What had once clearly been a crystalline image of Luna was now little more than a mass of dark fragments held together by a churning black mist. Two legs were missing, one wing was in pieces, and yet even as they watched the Shard stood up as though unhindered by its mutilations.

Cadance quickly created a shield around Jade and was therefore unable to defend herself when Black Fractal zipped over and crashed directly into her. Fortunately the weakened structure of the Shard’s body made the impact less painful, but Cadance was nevertheless thrown to the ground, the impact causing her to drop the barrier she had erected. Black Fractal neatly ducked under a quick buck from Jade and then cannoned into the scarlet mare, similarly knocking her to the ground.

To Cadance’s surprise, Black Fractal did not attack either of them further, instead raising her head to look past them. And then, to Cadance’s horror, the Shard grinned.

It took only an instant for Cadance to realise Black Fractal’s intention, and she scrambled urgently to her hooves as the shadowy Shard zipped over towards the crystal heart. A whistling sound started growing louder in her ears as Cadance put all of her energy into constructing a barrier around the heart. She knew that it was an immensely powerful artefact, and thus there was likely nothing Black Fractal could do to it. Sombra had been forced to conceal it rather than contaminate or destroy it after all, so even an alicorn Shard would surely be no threat.

But it wasn’t Black Fractal that Cadance was worried about.

The whistling sound grew to screaming in Cadance’s ears and as the area grew brighter and brighter it was all she could do not to screw her eyes shut. The heat was growing intense, as though she was standing beside a furnace, and she felt her hold on her barrier fading. The light was now so bright that even with her eyes open she could barely see.

With an almighty blast, the meteor landed. Cadance was immediately thrown several feet away from the tower, feeling as though her horn had split in two, and she landed next to a dazed Jade Softhoof. A loud gasp compelled her to look at the crystal mare and witness Jade clutching at her chest as a network of red lines spread throughout her body. Within seconds the mare’s faceted scarlet coat had turned a flat maroon, and her golden mane was equally affected, losing its lustre and fading to a dull brown. Jade’s eyes and mouth were wide throughout the entire transition, but when it had finished she raised a hoof and glanced at it with an eerie blank acceptance.

Cadance’s attention was then grabbed by a loud creaking sound, and she looked up in despair to see the entire central tower of the palace trembling as cracks started to run up its sides. She did not have anywhere near the energy to hold it back now, and so it was a huge relief to see a pink shield erect itself around the structure, holding it in place. Shining Armor galloped into view around the cloud of dust at the base of the tower, all his concentration on holding the spell.

And then the dust settled and Cadance looked at the giant crater that had formed at the centre of the archway. The area was now littered with rubble from the palace, as well as wisps of flame and fragments of both black and aqua. At the centre of the carnage, a blinding white alicorn hung in the air above a pool of molten stone, not even flapping her wings to stay steady, wreathed entirely in flame.

Celestia slowly rotated, scouring the ground around her, and then levitated a small black crystalline fragment up to her eye level. In an instant it was disintegrated.

The exhaustion from the night finally caught up with Cadance, and she closed her eyes and laid her head against the ground, letting the chaotic noises wash over her.

Chapter 19 - The Aftermath

Chapter 19 – The Aftermath

Shining Armor wasn’t sure what to feel as he stood at the top of the hill, gazing at the distant Crystal Empire. It had been home for so long now, and seeing it in its current state was hard to accept. Fires were still visible here and there, and many of the buildings were severely damaged. A few minutes ago the palace had finally given way and collapsed to the ground, and the lack of a focal point in the centre of the city made the entire empire look smaller somehow.

But of course, the strangest and worst part was the thick mist that was now swarming through the streets. They had managed to efficiently evacuate everypony once it became obvious they had no other option, but Shining had already been asked a few times when they would be able to return and he had no answer. When would they be able to return? They had no clue what could get rid of the Infection, and while it was there the empire was lost to them. So much for their successful battle.

He ducked back into the nearest tent and examined the battered pink alicorn sprawled on the bed inside. It was just as painful a sight. Almost her entire skin was bruised and there were many deep gashes, some of which had been ridiculously close to severing major arteries. Shining shuddered to think how close he must have been to losing his wife on multiple occasions in the last few hours, and there would have been nothing he could do about it. He should never have let her out of his sight.

“Is it really that bad?” croaked Cadance as she wearily opened her eyes.

“You should get more sleep,” Shining instructed as sternly as he could, but after noticing the determination in her expression he already knew it was a lost cause.

“Later,” she replied, and shifted her hooves around to step out of bed.

Shining Armor instinctively lunged forward to catch her, but Cadance did not even stumble.

“Alicorns heal fast,” she commented, as much to herself as to her husband. She then turned to him with sadness in her eyes. “So we’ve really lost it? The empire?”

He nodded and gestured towards the flaps at the entrance of the tent. The two of them stepped into the sunlight, which was a lot dimmer now and more indicative of the actual time of day, and gazed at the distant buildings in silence for a few minutes.

“And the heart?” Cadance prompted. “Is it really…” She trailed off, as if avoiding speaking the words could reverse what had happened.

“It’s gone,” Shining muttered dully. “After evacuating I went back to look for fragments, but even they had vanished.”

“And our ponies?”

“Look for yourself,” Shining said, gesturing to some of the other hills nearby.

As the city had been evacuated, the hundreds of crystal ponies had gathered in groups and were now milling around aimlessly. Tents had been set up to tend to the wounded, but everypony else, civilian and guardspony alike, were doing nothing. Very few were even speaking to each other, and some looked so dazed that Shining got the impression they would need to be reminded that they still needed to eat and drink.

“They all look so… so lifeless,” Cadance sobbed, and Shining nuzzled up against her. She was right, not just because of how absently the crystal ponies were acting, but also because of their appearance. Before, a crystal pony could be identified by its multi-faceted body, and its shiny colouration compared to other ponies. Now they were amongst the dullest coloured ponies he had ever seen.

He noticed then that all of the non-crystal ponies who had been in the empire, including some of the guardsponies, were in a separate group off to one side. He didn’t blame them. Having interacted with some of the crystal ponies himself, he knew it was slightly unnerving.

“They’re not as bad as they look,” he assured his wife. “I’ve talked to some of them, and some have talked to me, and they seem okay. Their personalities are still there, and I even managed to make a few laugh. I think they’re in shock, and they’ve just lost a sense of purpose.”

“They’ve lost their home.”

Shining Armor sighed and nuzzled his wife again. “We all have.”

“Where’s Celestia?” Cadance asked abruptly.

Shining shrugged. “She left. I think she returned to Canterlot. She didn’t say a word.”

“Figures.” Cadance glanced up at the sun. “And Twilight?”

“She and her friends are just over there.” He pointed to a solitary tree nearby, under which three mares were stood, looking just as lifeless as the crystal ponies. “I thought I’d leave them to themselves for a while, but there’re things that need to be discussed and now that you’re awake I think this might be a good time.”

Cadance nodded, and the two slowly walked towards the tree. Only when they were within spitting distance did Twilight’s ears perk up and she looked over and noticed their approach. She stepped towards them and opened her mouth as if to speak, but Shining interrupted her by wrapping her in hug. After a few moments he could feel his sister’s body shaking, and a dampness started to spread across his shoulder. He didn’t let go.

“I just… I just can’t believe she’s gone…” Twilight sobbed into his shoulder. “Just… just like that.”

Shining had no idea what to say, so he just stroked his sister’s back as comfortingly as he could. If he wasn’t careful his own eyes were going to well up, and he didn’t want that. Not while he had to be strong and in charge.

Over Twilight’s shoulder Shining could hear Cadance speaking with the other two mares, and didn’t pay attention to the words until he heard her ask about the fillies who had arrived on the battlefield. Only then did he and Twilight break apart, although she remained pressed up to his side.

“They’re sleeping in that tent there,” Pinkie mumbled, although her voice was so hollow Shining did not immediately realise it was her that had spoken. The energy he would usually associate with the pink mare was gone from both her voice and appearance, and even her hair was falling limply on either side of her face.

“How have they all taken it?” Cadance asked.

“Since Sweetie Belle regained consciousness she’s been acting almost normal,” Pinkie relayed dully. “I don’t know if that’s good or not. I eventually persuaded Scootaloo that it was okay to show her emotions and we had a good cry. She went to sleep pretty quickly after that. Spike curled up and pretended to be asleep for a long time, but I think he’s actually asleep now. And Apple Bloom has just been keeping to herself. I tried talking to her but I don’t think she listened. We left her in the hope that she’d get some sleep too.”

“She wouldn’t even respond to me!” Applejack grunted, smacking her hoof against the trunk of the tree and causing it to rattle wildly. “Ah don’t know what to do to help her.”

“I am glad to hear that they’re all getting rest, at any rate,” Cadance said calmly. Shining recognised the tone of her voice however, and knew she was forcing herself to hold back emotions of her own. He would have gone over to her, but Twilight was still pressed up against him for comfort, and he didn’t want to leave her alone just yet.

A fluttering sound from beside them heralded the arrival of Spitfire as she flew over and landed on the other side of Shining Armor. She was still wearing the remnants of her Wonderbolt flight-suit, although it was so charred and tattered as to be unrecognisable. Shining absently wondered how often she had to replace it.

Spitfire nodded to the two princesses and then addressed Shining Armor. “A word?” she muttered, gesturing away from the group.

Realising what was needed, Twilight extracted herself from her brother’s side and walked over to stand with Cadance instead. Shining then followed Spitfire down the hill a little, so that they would be able to speak without the others overhearing. As soon as they stopped, Spitfire rounded on him.

“How much have I not been told?” she hissed, fury in her eyes as her mane started to glow dangerously. “In the middle of that battle I saw two Applejacks. Two.” She pointed towards the orange mare in question, as if Shining Armor would not understand otherwise. “One of them was definitely older than the other,” she continued, “so that confirms to me that there’s something time travel related going on. I should have been one of the first to know about this.”

Shining raised a hoof in an attempt to placate the Wonderbolts captain. “In all honesty, I don’t fully understand the situation either. I do know that Twilight didn’t think it was necessary for the details to be widespread though.”

“Maybe not, but at the very least it would have been helpful to know that there was a chance Princess Celestia would come screaming in like a derailed train.”

“I’m sorry,” Shining replied, with genuine feeling. “And I definitely think we need to have a meeting about this whole situation. But not here, and not now. We should congregate in Canterlot this evening, after everypony has rested.”

Spitfire nodded, pacified for now. Shining knew her well enough to know that she was difficult to calm down once she was riled up, and after an intense battle it was no surprise that her adrenaline was pumping, but she would be back to her usual composed self after a good sleep. They all would. And she and the Wonderbolts would be a huge help in any future conflicts.

As the two of them stepped back towards the other four mares, another pegasus flew down from the sky, this one a sky blue colour with a wispy white mane. She landed in the centre of the group and bowed almost immediately.

“Your majesties,” she said, and then turned to Spitfire and saluted. “Ma’am.”

Spitfire rolled her eyes at the formality. “What is it, Fleetfoot?”

Fleetfoot stood to attention. “I have bad news I’m afraid,” she announced, loud enough that everypony could hear her. “Rainbow Dash is dead.”

The stunned silence that followed was broken only by a hollow “What?” from the Wonderbolts captain.

“I witnessed her being attacked by Shards and overwhelmed,” Fleetfoot explained. “They left only a pile of fragments. She’s gone.”

Twilight collapsed to the ground, and a loud crack echoed across the hills as an orange hoof broke straight through the bark of the tree and embedded itself into the trunk, not that Applejack seemed to care. Pinkie just stood with wide eyes, lip wobbling.

“I’m sorry,” Fleetfoot muttered, spreading her wings. “Excuse me.” She then lifted off and disappeared into the distance. As she left, Spitfire turned back to Shining Armor with fury in her eyes again.

“We need that meeting,” she hissed. “This is war.”

Shining merely nodded.

A pale yellow pegasus opened her eyes. A large white blur was visible a distance above her. That must be a ceiling. At either edge of her field of view were white walls and strange grey square shapes in front of them, with the occasional flashing light. She couldn’t understand what they might be. At the bottom of her vision there was another white blur covering her body, presumably a sheet, and she realised she was lying on some sort of raised surface. Perhaps a bed?

At the end of the possible bed were three further shapes: one a stony grey, one a bright pink, and one a dull white. The pegasus squinted to try and identify further details, but that only caused the scene to blur further. She then attempted to move, but her body lay limp, resolutely ignoring her. The effort knocked all energy from her and her vision almost faded completely.

“She’s awake,” said the stony grey shape. The pegasus heard the sounds, but the words were meaningless to her. Was she supposed to understand?

“She doesn’t look very awake,” said the dull white shape. “Can you hear me Floaty?”

The yellow pegasus let the sounds wash over her. The noises were at once familiar and foreign.

“She can hear you,” said Stony Grey. “I think so anyway. I don’t know if she can understand though.”

“What!? You said you could save her!” accused Dull White.

“I have.”

“Really? Because that looks like a coma to me.”

“Will she live?” asked Bright Pink quietly.

“Yes.”

“Then you have saved her. Thank you Maud.”

“Yeah… I suppose so,” muttered Dull White. “But is she going to get better?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“No. Her Infection is different from the others. I’ve been able to stop its spread, but I can’t reverse it. And I don’t know what’s actually wrong with her. I will do all I can, but she may never fully recover.”

A sob came from the direction of Bright Pink. The pale yellow pegasus may not have understood the words being spoken, but that sound meant something. It made her… sad.

There was a creak and some stepping sounds and another shape came into view, this one a warm orange.

“How is she?” the new shape choked.

“Not good.”

Silence.

“Ah… Ah hear you saved her from gettin’ fully infected,” said the warm orange shape as it moved towards the dull white one. “Th… Thank you,” Warm Orange sniffed. “Thank you so much.”

“It wasn’t enough to save her completely,” grunted Dull White. “I could have been with her from the beginning.”

“It weren’t your fault.”

“I know,” the dull white shape muttered, moving in and out of the pegasus’ field of vision. “It was her own fault! So stupid, what was she thinking…”

“Whoa now. Sometimes these things happen.”

“Well they shouldn’t!” snapped Dull White.

There were a few moments of tense silence, and then the warm orange shape moved over to between the stony grey and bright pink shapes.

“Everypony’s meetin’ now,” said Warm Orange. “Celestia’s here too. We should join them.”

“I’ll watch her while you’re gone,” Dull White said quickly.

“…fine. We’ll be upstairs if anythin’ happens.”

The pegasus watched as the colourful shapes slowly faded away until only the dull white shape remained. Then the shape moved closer and closer until something brushed against her cheek.

“Stay with me, Fluttershy.”

A shock seemed to run through the pegasus’ body as a word finally registered with her: Fluttershy. Fluttershy.

She felt as though that should mean something.

The ‘Crisis Room’ in Canterlot Castle was outdoing itself. With the arrival of Applejack, Pinkie and Maud, there were now eleven ponies gathered around the central table, which had been magically elongated to account for all of them. Celestia was unsurprisingly seated at the head of the table, directly opposite from Twilight, but she was acting unusually reserved and was still giving off an intimidating vibe, so nopony was sat near her, giving the impression that the white alicorn was toxic. She had already been seated when Twilight had arrived, and had not said a word the whole time.

Nearest to Celestia on her left was Prince Blueblood, who had an unreadable expression. Twilight had to admit that she did not know the prince very well, other than through potentially biased stories from… from Rarity… and she wasn’t sure what to make of him. He had equally not said a word, but he had nodded enthusiastically on occasion. She cynically wondered if he was barely paying attention. Next to him was the only pony at the table Twilight had not met before, or at least, she did not recognise him. He was a black coated unicorn named Falchion with a crossed pen and sword for a cutie-mark, and he was apparently the current captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard. Ever since the discussions had started, he had been diligently jotting down notes in an extensive notepad that he appeared to carry at all times.

The others at the table were Spitfire, Cadance, Shining Armor, and Jade Softhoof, who was the only crystal pony present. Twilight still found it unsettling to look at the aftereffects of the crystal heart’s destruction. She didn’t think she would ever get used to the dull colouring every crystal pony now had, which was such a horrendous contrast to their attractive coats before. Fortunately, Jade otherwise seemed unaffected, and was looking as determined as ever, if not more so.

Twilight was already making theories. Unlike many other crystal ponies, Jade had a purpose, a focus. Perhaps it was that which was enabling her to avoid the lifelessness of most of the rest of her kind. It was a shame that the only books that would give Twilight more details on the nature of the crystal ponies and the crystal heart were now lost in the run-down and Infection-swamped Crystal Empire. It wasn’t a topic that anypony was discussing out loud either, at least not while Celestia was in earshot. Nopony wanted to sound like they blamed her for it, although Twilight felt that secretly everypony probably did.

“And do we think that all of these future-ponies have come and gone now?” Spitfire asked.

The Wonderbolts captain had been the most vocal pony at the table by far, which had initially been a surprise to Twilight. She had asked many useful (and some not-so-useful) questions, and was generally proving to be a very useful pony to have there, if only because nopony was actually leading the meeting otherwise. If Twilight had been in the right frame of mind she might have found the discussions stimulating, but despite the importance of this meeting, she kept getting distracted onto thinking about other topics, such as the effects of the crystal heart. Anything to avoid her thinking about those she had so recently lost.

“Princess Twilight?” Spitfire prompted, causing Twilight to jump in her seat. Of course, she would be the only one who could answer Spitfire’s most recent question.

“Oh, err, will there be more future-ponies? Um… Possibly,” she responded weakly. “I have a spell that can detect the signature of the time magic that is being used to send them back, and so I can identify when any will arrive. Currently I can’t locate any disturbances, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be more later, arriving weeks or months after the others. As I said before, I still have no idea what sort of spell could be sending them back in time in the first place.”

“So does this mean that we have effectively learned all we can from them?”

“I suppose so.”

Spitfire rubbed her forehead. “So let me get this straight. We had the unprecedented benefit of advance warning of some of the events that were going to occur, and with that knowledge we’ve succeeded in, if you’ll excuse my bluntness, losing one princess, giving up the entire Crystal Empire, and decimating the Elements of Harmony?”

“Actually,” interjected Falchion in a rather nasally voice, “decimate means ‘to reduce by one tenth’. You doubtless meant ‘tertiate’.”

“What I meant,” Spitfire said with a scowl, “is that two of them are dead and a third is in a coma.”

“Don’t talk about them like that!” Pinkie shouted, springing to her hooves.

“Like what?” Spitfire snapped impatiently.

“Like they were just tools. They were ponies. Real ponies. Really amazing ponies.”

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat as she saw Spitfire’s mane starting to flicker in frustration, but then a movement from Shining Armor next to the fiery pegasus seemed to bring her back to her senses and she calmed down almost instantly.

“I know. Believe me I know.” Spitfire sighed. “They weren’t the only casualties though. I lost plenty of friends last night, but I know I can’t get hung up on that now. As heartless as it may seem, you need to accept that Rainbow Dash and Rarity are gone and get past it, at least for the moment. We can mourn them later.”

“But that’s the other thing,” Pinkie continued adamantly. “I don’t believe Rainbow Dash is dead.”

“Now come on Pinkie,” Applejack urged, trying to wrap a comforting leg around the pink mare, but she jumped out of the way.

“Nu-uh. I don’t believe it.”

“Are you accusing Fleetfoot of lying to me?” Spitfire asked indignantly. “Because I trust my Wonderbolts.”

“I don’t know, maybe she was confused. But Rainbow Dash isn’t dead! I would know if she was. I would have sensed it.”

There was silence in the room for a few moments, and then Spitfire turned to Twilight in disbelief.

”Is she serious?” she asked, sounding exasperated.

Twilight groaned. “Pinkie, I thought we decided that your Pinkie Sense was broken.”

“No, I figured it out, it’s still working, and I-”

“Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie immediately stopped talking and turned to her sister, who was looking at her with warning in her eyes.

“Not now.”

Pinkie Pie nodded obediently, and then slunk back into her seat with a morose expression. “I still think I’m right though,” she grunted under her breath.

“Actually, I’d be quite interested to hear about this so-called ‘Pinkie Sense’,” Falchion said keenly, pen ready.

“No you wouldn’t,” Twilight and Applejack said together.

Before anypony else could speak up, a chair suddenly appeared in the air above the table and floated its way over to the empty gap at Celestia’s right. It then transformed into an ornate throne with draconequus busts at the end of each arm, at which point Twilight heard a gentle groan from Applejack beside her.

When Discord did then appear with a pop, about half of the ponies at the table jumped to their hooves instinctively, clearly ready for some sort of confrontation. One word from Celestia however, the first she had spoken throughout their entire meeting, sent everypony back to their seats.

“Sit.”

Discord also obeyed, settling in the throne he had just created and wrapping an arm around the white alicorn. With a yelp he quickly withdrew it, as if contact with Celestia’s skin had seared him.

“Ouch. Looks like somepony got out of the wrong side of bed this morning. Or should I say, rose the sun on the wrong side of Equestria, hmm? That made a nice change. I’m so proud of you, my sweet Celestia, I didn’t think you had it in you to do something so unconventional!”

“What in blazes are you doin’ here?” Applejack asked grumpily.

“Frankly I’m insulted I wasn’t invited,” he muttered, inspecting the back of his paw. “A gathering of the finest minds in Equestria and you didn’t think of me?”

“That’s because we don’t trust you,” Applejack stated simply, to nods from many ponies around the table, including Prince Blueblood who Twilight noticed had shifted back from the table to get as far away from Discord as he could.

“Whyever not? I have to be the most trustworthy draconequus you know, surely. And if you cut me in half,” he began, grabbing his waist and pulling so that he split himself in two, “you’ll see that I have the word ‘trustworthy’ right through the middle.” He then rotated the top half of his body so that they would be staring at his severed organs. Only they weren’t, because he appeared to be made out of candy, and there were indeed the letters of the word ‘trustworthy’ running around his core.

“You brought mah sister into a BATTLEFIELD,” Applejack shouted, slamming a hoof against the table. “And not just her! ‘Cause of you Sweetie Belle had to see her own sister bein’…” Applejack choked. “Bein’ killed. Her own sister! I can’t think of a worse thing to happen to a growin’ filly.”

Discord’s usually relaxed attitude had gone, and he snapped back together with a frown. “Rarity is… dead?” He clicked his fingers and nothing happened, at which point he slumped in his seat.

“Not just Rarity,” Applejack continued, her eyes now red. “Rainbow Dash too, and-”

“Where’s Fluttershy?” Discord interrupted, looking around wildly.

“Downstairs,” Maud said simply.

With a pop Discord vanished. After a few moments Twilight had just opened her mouth to speak when there was another pop and she found herself slammed against the wall behind her, a claw around her neck.

“You said she’d be safe,” Discord hissed into her ear. “You promised.”

Twilight could hear shocked shouts from the table and the scraping of chairs, but Discord was completely blocking her view.

“What do you mean?” she grunted, as the grip around her neck tightened. “I would have helped her if I could, but I never prom-”

A final pop and Twilight was sprawled on the ground, with Discord gone. The other ponies in the room all looked at her in concern as she sat there gasping for breath, but after Twilight determined that she hadn’t been actually injured, she got up and sat back down at the table as though nothing had happened. She had no idea where Discord might have gone, but it wasn’t as if they could stop him from doing what he wanted anyway. Better to continue regardless.

“As Spitfire was saying,” she began, which was enough to draw the other ponies back to the matter at hoof, “we have suffered a lot due to the Infection and the Shards already, and with very little to show for it. I will be the first to admit that we, and particularly I, could perhaps have done better, but our biggest problem was that we did not understand our threat.”

“We did at least kill Black Fractal,” Jade pointed out. “Or, well,” she turned nervously to Princess Celestia and bowed her head. “You did, your majesty.” Celestia locked eyes with Jade but did not otherwise react.

Twilight grimaced, but it was Cadance that spoke up first.

“Actually, we’re not sure that’s true. Every other Shard has been able to replicate itself indefinitely, as far as we can tell, and although there was something special about Black Fractal, possibly due to her being an alicorn, there’s no way of guaranteeing that the Infection won’t be able to recreate her too. There might be another one out there already.”

Jade groaned and slumped her head to the table. “So we really have achieved nothing?”

“Not nothing,” Spitfire said, eyes ablaze. “We have proved that we can fight, and we have learned what we’re up against. Next time we will be ready. And there will be a next time.” She turned to Shining Armor who was seated next to her. “Shining and I were talking earlier, and we think there should be an army created for the sole purpose of taking on the Shards. We know better than ever how to attack them now, and it would be short-sighted to rely on only guardsponies in the future.”

Shining cleared his throat. “The word ‘army’ was yours, Spitfire, not mine. I think it should be a defensive force more than anything else.”

“Well you would think that…” Spitfire muttered under her breath.

“Yes, I would,” Shining responded, unrepentant. “The way I see it, we know that the Infection is spreading, and we still have no way of eliminating it. We cannot afford to leave any city undefended, not even those in the south of Equestria. Who knows? Perhaps some Shards will be able to find their way to Las Pegasus somehow. The important thing is that we have ponies all across Equestria ready to defend their cities in case Shards come attacking.”

Twilight didn’t say anything, instead turning to share a glance with Applejack. They had never actually discussed all of the details they had learned about the future with Shining Armor, certainly never mentioning the EDF to him as far as Twilight could remember, and yet it appeared as if he was concluding that exactly the same force was necessary now as he had in that future too.

“Any idea what you might call this military?” Applejack asked innocently.

“The Equestrian Defence Force maybe?” Shining suggested with a shrug. “It doesn’t really matter. I did have an idea though,” he added, shifting in his seat somewhat awkwardly, “that its sigil could be a shield with a crescent moon inscribed in it. You know, in memory of Luna.”

As Cadance nuzzled up to her husband, Twilight couldn’t help but shake her head.

“I don’t believe this,” she muttered. “You’re suggesting exactly the same defence force as existed in the future that those ponies came back from.”

“Really?”

“Yes, name and everything. The EDF was a force with regiments in each city, each with their own captain, whose main role was to defend each region from the threat of Shards.”

Shining and Spitfire glanced at each other thoughtfully.

“A regiment in every city with a captain each is a nice idea,” Spitfire said appreciatively, nodding her head.

“No!” Twilight groaned. “The whole point is we need to change that future, not do things the same way!”

“Well it is a good idea,” Shining repeated. “We’ll just have to do it better this time.”

“Actually Twi,” Applejack said cautiously, “speakin’ of changing the future, there was somethin’ my future self said that might be real important.”

“Oh?”

Applejack hesitated. “See, she said she knew she’d be comin’ back into the battle and meeting me, ‘cause she remembered it from when she was me. Now I may not be smart at these things, but don’t that mean that I’ll become her?”

Everypony in the room was looking between Twilight and Applejack now, although to what level they each understood the discussion Twilight was not sure.

“And also,” Applejack continued. “Back when I was talkin’ to Blue Viper, amidst all his jabbering he mentioned that the Shards were led by an alicorn Shard leader. But Black Fractal only exists because a pony who came back in time infected Luna. It’s like the future created itself…”

Twilight closed her eyes as this new information sunk in. She could hear Jade say: “What does that mean? I don’t follow.” But the silence from everypony else was more telling. They were all smart ponies here; were they all working it out too? Twilight opened her eyes and scanned around the table as she thought back to everything she had learned about the ‘bad’ future.

In the future the Crystal Empire had been attacked by a Shard army and had to be abandoned. That had now happened. In the future the crystal ponies had been forced to relocate to other cities. That would undoubtedly also happen. In the future a defence force had been set up to counter the Shards. Listening to Spitfire and her brother talking, it sounded like that would happen too.

In the future, Luna had been dead and there had been an alicorn Shard. That had happened. In the future there had been a Princess Pie. That had not yet happened, but looking around the table it was not hard to guess how it might. One of the future-ponies had even mentioned ‘royal sisters’ in the future, which until now she had assumed must refer to Celestia and Luna, but what were she and Cadance if not also royal sisters?

In fact, even the deaths of Rarity and Rainbow Dash fitted with everything she knew about that future. Hadn’t Trixie even hinted that Rarity was dead? Twilight hadn’t noticed at the time, but in hindsight it all seemed so obvious.

Unable to help herself, Twilight started laughing. There was no humour in it.

“We haven’t been able to change the future,” she explained, “because we can’t. Everything we do is only making the future happen. It is inevitable.”

“No.”

Twilight turned in surprise to Celestia, who was staring back at her intensely.

“No,” Celestia repeated. “I will not believe that Equestria is doomed. I will not believe that nothing can be changed.” Her eyes filled with flames. “I will not believe that all those ponies sent back in time are destined to die in exactly the same way. I will not believe that my sister died for nothing.” The sun princess’ mane was beginning to flare around her head, rippling with power as she continued to speak. “I will NOT believe it!” Her voice dropped to a growl. “I cannot.”

Twilight was feeling hysterical at this point. “Well I’m sorry Celestia, but it’s true no matter what you believe. Didn’t you say I was the most qualified to determine what could be done?” She got to her hooves and stared down her one-time mentor. “Well it’s over. I’ve worked it out. We can do nothing.”

“No.”

“Ha! What do you mean, ‘no’? Maybe once I believed you were powerful enough to change the world by speaking, but it’s time for you to face the facts. Every word I’ve heard from the ponies from the future, ever since I met Trixie in the streets of this city a couple of weeks ago, has shown that the future is unavoidable, and that it cannot be changed.”

Celestia stared without speaking for a moment, and then got to her own hooves to mirror Twilight, leaving the two alicorns standing facing each other at either end of the long table. The other ponies glanced between the two with nervous expressions, clearly not sure whether they should interfere.

“Who was that pony you just mentioned?” Celestia asked quietly. “The one who, according to you, is destined to one day be sent back in time and meet you here in Canterlot?”

“Trixie,” Twilight answered, somewhat taken aback by the change of topic. “You remember her? That showmare I told you about who used the Alicorn Amulet to take over Ponyville that one time. Why?”

Celestia didn’t answer, instead ducking her head and charging magic into her horn. Whatever the spell was, it was clearly taking a lot of power, and after a few moments there was a bright flash and an azure unicorn appeared in the air above the centre of the table, falling onto her face with a crunch.

“What is the meaning of this?” The new arrival bellowed, pulling herself stiffly to her hooves. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is not to be summoned like a- oh!” She looked around in horror as she realised where she had just appeared, spotting the abundance of Equestrian royalty around her, and slumped back to the table, as if unsure which direction to bow first.

“Your majesties,” she gasped. “Trixie is sorry for her rudeness. She would never have dreamed that one day she might be deemed worthy of an audience with you all! Or, well, she had dreamed, but she never expected to-”

Her rambling was cut off as a golden glow appeared around her and she was lifted off the table. The confused ponies in the room stared transfixed as Trixie wriggled in the air, but it was only when small wisps of smoke started to rise from her body that Twilight’s brain started to click again and she realised what was about to happen.

Before Twilight was able to react, a blinding white light burst from the end of Celestia’s horn and at the same instant a giant white flame enveloped Trixie completely. There was barely time for a screech of pain, and within seconds the flame burnt out and a pile of charred flesh and bones fell to the table.

As one, the gathered ponies pushed their chairs back in horror. Twilight could hear Pinkie retching beside her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Prince Blueblood throwing up at the edge of the room. Pulling her gaze away from the horrifying burnt corpse, Twilight stared into Celestia’s eyes to see them blazing and filled with triumph.

“What do you say to that, Twilight Sparkle?” she hooted. “Have I not just changed the future? Have I not just proved you wrong?”

Twilight opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out. She could not believe what had just happened.

As Celestia continued to stare at her one-time student, her expression of triumph slowly faded. The fire in her eyes vanished, and her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks. She then slowly looked down at what she had done, as her mouth hung open blankly.

“I… I can’t…”

She closed her eyes and swallowed, and then opened them with a resigned expression.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

There was silence in the room as Celestia looked out of a nearby window, and then she turned back to the gathered ponies.

“I’m sorry,” Celestia whispered. She looked between the two other alicorns in the room. “Princess Cadance. Princess Twilight. You will rule Equestria well.”

Without warning a huge beam of sunlight then shone through the window, landing on Celestia and causing her skin to glow. Before their eyes a flare surrounded the white alicorn, and with a gasp of pain her body dissipated into the light. The sunlight then faded, leaving an empty seat at the head of the table.

Nopony spoke for a long time.

Chapter 20 - Goodbye

Chapter 20 – Goodbye

Rainbow Dash was once again flying between the oppressive tall buildings of the dark city. No matter how far she flew, the streets continued, and the atmosphere became more and more constrictive, leaving her feeling a need to gasp for air. Every twist and turn she made only revealed another row of buildings, with no end in sight. She had even tried flying directly upwards at one point, but the towers seemed to have no limit. As far as she could tell, the buildings stretched right up into the black sky.

She was getting the troubling feeling that there was no escape.

It didn’t help that she kept hearing noises, as if she was being chased. She knew that she was fast, and so she should be able to escape from any pursuer, but it wasn’t giving her any time to rest, or to think clearly. And just what might be chasing her in here anyway? Rainbow didn’t exactly want to find out.

Her wings started to tire as she continued down a further street, but she didn’t let up. The buildings seemed to be leaning in towards her, as if trying to trap her, and she got the feeling that there was a foul presence drawing nearer and nearer. If she could just put on another burst of speed she might be able to get away.

Rainbow Dash turned another corner, and there she was; the tall black alicorn that Rainbow now knew she had been fleeing from: Nightmare Moon.

Of course it was her. This threatening dark city was just the sort of place for a nightmare. Rainbow hesitated. She had a vague memory that the last time she had met Nightmare Moon in this city and tried to attack her, it had not gone well. Better to turn and flee then.

“Halt, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow ignored the compelling voice and zipped away as quickly as she could, but no matter how fast she tried to fly, she did not seem to be making any progress. The nearest junction was always just too far in front of her, and the threatening figure remained just behind. She yelled out in frustration and rocketed upwards instead, rapidly leaving the ground behind her.

After what felt like an hour of vertical flying, Rainbow slowed to catch her breath. The buildings still stretched as high as she could see, but at least she must be a good distance from the ground now.

“Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow spun around in shock and saw that she had been followed, and the black alicorn was now hanging in the air only a few feet away from her.

“Nightmare Moon! What have you done to this city?”

The alicorn’s eyes glowed threateningly, and Rainbow prepared to launch herself out of the way of any sudden spell, but none came.

“You will not escape me, Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh yeah? We’ll see about that!” Rainbow started to flap her wings, getting ready to bolt.

“You fly well, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow stopped her attempt to flee and hovered in place nervously. This had to be some sort of trick. Any second now she would get caught by a sneak attack.

“I enjoyed watching you fly, Rainbow Dash. You should show me your tricks again.”

Now this definitely felt wrong. Was she trying to get Rainbow off guard? Or maybe it was supposed to be a threat? Whatever it was, Rainbow had had enough. As quickly as she could, she plummeted back towards the ground, hoping to leave Nightmare Moon far behind her.

“No, Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow blocked out the words and continued her rapid descent. The gloom below her was so pervasive that she was unable to even see the surface of the street in the distance, but she ignored any whims of caution. Down and down she dropped, feeling as if every second of flight was giving her one extra second of freedom.

And then the ground appeared out of nowhere and she crashed into it headfirst with a huge crunch, pain shooting sharply across one side of her face.

Blinking her eyes to try to gather her senses, Rainbow felt an ache in her jaw, and spat out a huge glob of blood. She then realised that she was staring into the jeering face of Queen Chrysalis, who was slowly withdrawing one of her forelegs, clearly having struck her to force her awake.

“Rainbow Dash! I hope you’ve been anticipating my return as much as I have.”

“Let me go!” Rainbow yelled, thrashing around in her bindings. She was still trapped in the same noxious chamber, the walls plastered with other ponies, all seemingly unconscious.

“You really ought to stop fighting. It’s so pitiful.”

Rainbow did stop, realising it was pointless, but glared at Chrysalis as she did so to make it clear she was not just meekly obeying.

“As promised, I bring most wonderful news.” Chrysalis flitted over to Rainbow Dash’s side, close enough that she could whisper into the immobile pegasus’ ear, but, Rainbow realised, out of range if Rainbow had tried to spit again. Not that she would be able to. She had inadvertently swallowed most of the blood, and it was unlikely that she would be able to gather up any saliva, her mouth was so dry. She hadn’t had anything to drink for at least a day now. She presumed only the strange organic material binding her to the wall was providing her with the sustenance she needed to stay alive. However that worked.

Chrysalis hissed into Rainbow’s ear, causing her to wriggle about in disgust, and then started cackling excitedly.

“One of your friends is dead…” she whispered, “because of me.”

“NO!”

“Oh yes! Would you like to guess which one?”

“You’re lying!”

Chrysalis flitted back in front of Rainbow Dash. “Why would I lie to you? You can do nothing about it here. You’re mine now.” She grinned. “And it gets even better, because on the way back here one of your interfering Wonderbolts tried to stop me. She had the nerve to fall to her death instead of allowing me to capture her, but it gave me the opportunity to pass on a message to your other friends. Now they all think you’re dead too! Isn’t that perfect?”

Chrysalis broke into maniacal laughter as Rainbow looked on, feeling as though the bottom had dropped out of her world. She had to be lying. She had to.

“Who… Who did you kill?” She choked.

Chrysalis didn’t reply; instead a green flame surrounded her and she slowly started transforming into a different shape. She grew shorter and sleeker, with more solid wings and no horn. Her skin morphed from a dull black to a light blue, and her mane softened to a wintery white.

“Arrrgh, no,” Chrysalis yelled suddenly, hovering in the air with a pained expression. “Please don’t kill me!” The voice did sound like Fleetfoot’s, but Rainbow could never imagine Fleetfoot herself speaking in such a panicked tone.

Chrysalis, still in the shape of the pegasus mare, then recoiled in the air, as though she had been struck, and started tumbling to the oily floor of the cavern, where she landed with a splash. There was a crackling sound and her body twisted into an unnatural angle, which Rainbow stared at in horror for a few moments before a final green flame marked the return of Chrysalis in her changeling queen form.

“I should re-enact deaths more often,” she cackled to herself. “That was a lot of fun.”

Rainbow Dash continued staring at the ground, even though Fleetfoot’s broken body was no longer there. She had almost lost the nerve to continue, but she needed to know.

“Who… Who else?”

“Hmm?”

“Who else did you kill?” she asked urgently.

Chrysalis sneered at Rainbow Dash. “You mean, which of your fellow element bearers? Who are you hoping I will say?”

“What?”

“Out of your five insipid friends, which would you rather I had killed? It’s not a hard question.”

“What, no, I can’t answer that!”

“Because you can’t choose? Or because you don’t want to choose?” Chrysalis bared her fangs in a hideous grin and then her body started to mutate once more, slowly shifting into the shape of Applejack, who hovered unnaturally in the air.

“Perhaps you hope it was the pig-headed Applejack?” she suggested, in a horrific mockery of the orange mare’s voice. “Too stubborn to admit she was out of her depth, it wasn’t hard to find a time when she was overwhelmed. For a pony who prides herself on being tough…” A horrific crack echoed throughout the chamber and Applejack’s head lolled to the side. “…Her neck certainly broke as easily as any other.”

“No!”

“No? Well then perhaps you hope it was Fluttershy?” Green flame flickered over the orange mare’s body and it slowly turned yellow, as wings sprouted from her back. “Now she really is pathetic. I doubt I even needed to be there, she would have found a way to get herself killed anyway. But of course, that wouldn’t have been so satisfying.” Chrysalis sneered, and the expression looked so out of place on Fluttershy’s body that Rainbow shuddered in disgust.

“Or maybe it was the insufferable Pinkie Pie?” A further flicker of flames and a pink mare now hung unnaturally in the air. “So loud and frenetic; I don’t know how you can stand her. Even if it hadn’t been the plan I think I might have killed her anyway. And it wasn’t hard, she was just so eager to get close to a pony she didn’t recognise.” A demonic smile slowly spread across Pinkie’s face as a deep gash started slicing down her chest and along her stomach. “A little too close.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t want to watch anymore and jammed her eyes shut, but as she heard a crackling sound and then Rarity’s voice she automatically drew them back open.

“But perhaps it was Rarity? Too concerned with keeping up her own appearance, she wasn’t concentrating enough on what was right in front of her. It took just one push.” Rarity’s eyes gleamed. “Have you seen the expression in the eyes of a pony as they get betrayed by someone they thought was a friend? You’ll learn to appreciate it I’m sure.”

Chrysalis’ figure distorted once more, growing taller and re-spawning wings, and soon it was Twilight floating in front of Rainbow Dash.

“Or maybe,” the mockery of an alicorn suggested, “you are hoping that I killed your precious princess, Twilight Sparkle? Of course there would be no better way to throw Equestria into chaos than to eliminate one of your noble princesses. Do you know how to kill an alicorn, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight flew over to whisper into Rainbow’s ear, as though imparting a great secret. “I find that when they get heated,” she hissed, spitting green flames against the edge of Rainbow’s face, “…they burn, just like any other pony.”

Rainbow screamed in pain as the flames continued to lap against her skin, and she tried to recoil away but her bindings were making that impossible. After a few moments however, the flames retreated and spread over Twilight’s body, marking one final transformation. Slowly the hard black body, frayed wings, and malicious smile of Chrysalis came back into view, at which point she grinned once more.

“So who would you choose Rainbow Dash? Which of them do you wish dead?”

Rainbow’s stomach was churning horribly, and her voice came out only as a gasp. “None of them.”

Chrysalis tutted, as if addressing a foal. “Well if you don’t choose one, then I won’t tell you which one I actually killed.”

Rainbow screwed her eyes shut and shook her head in an attempt to lock out any thoughts. She did not want to think about the question, in case she was able to come up with an answer. That would feel like such a betrayal to her friend, whichever it was.

“Still no answer?” Chrysalis sounded disappointed. “Okay. But for the record, I think I killed the one you’d have chosen. You can thank me later. Think of it as my first gift to you in what I hope will be a very beneficial relationship.”

Rainbow pushed down the images of a dead pony that were trying to rise to the forefront of her mind, not just to deny that she might like one of her friends less than the others, but also in denial that any of them might actually be dead. She had to think about something else. Quickly.

“What do you mean by a beneficial relationship? Why are you even keeping me here? Why don’t you just kill me?”

“Oh, I probably will eventually,” Chrysalis said airily. “But before then I will have a lot of use for you.” She buzzed over and clung to the wall at Rainbow Dash’s side. “You see, when I went to tell your friends you were dead, I had to land amongst a group of several of the most dangerous ponies in Equestria.” She lowered her voice. “I’ll let you in on a secret: It was quite a thrill, but I wouldn’t want to do it again. Don’t get me wrong, I tricked them all easily enough. They were all ponies after all. And I’m sure I could take any one of them on by themselves, but together? Maybe too much, even for me. Especially that despicable royal couple, urrgh.” She shuddered. “It was painful to get near them. As strong as their love is, I think I’ve been put off that flavour. Too many bad memories.”

Rainbow remained in silence. She had no other option really.

“I’m getting distracted,” Chrysalis stated abruptly. “See, what I need is someone to send out on risky errands like that for me. Someone who will be above suspicion, and also dispensable if necessary. Somepony, in fact. Somepony like you, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow snorted. “I would never help you!”

“Not willingly, sure. But that just makes it more entertaining for me.”

Rainbow Dash suddenly looked down in horror at the strange substance she was coated in.

“Are you turning me into a changeling?”

Chrysalis cackled madly. “Turn you into a changeling? Even if I could, why would I? You are a pony. A weak, pathetic pony. You would not deserve it. I love my family, and I will never love you.

“And besides, as a changeling you would follow my every whim instinctively. Where’s the fun in that?” She swooped closer so that she was inches from Rainbow Dash, glaring daggers at her with venom in her voice. “No, I want to see you do my bidding against your will. I want to see you kill those you love and then wonder why you did so. I want to see you suffer.”

“You can’t make me!” Rainbow yelled back, trying to sound confident.

“Can’t I? Equestria thinks you’re dead, so we have all the time in the world.” Chrysalis’ eyes suddenly glowed a bright green, as did her horn, and Rainbow found she was powerless to look away. It was very important that she continued to look at Chrysalis. It was very important that she continued to listen.

“All I need is time,” Chrysalis jeered, “and you will be all mine.”

Rainbow nodded blankly.

The field to the south of Canterlot was packed with ponies from all across Equestria, gathered respectfully under the late evening sun. The area had been decorated exquisitely with a variety of silver and deep blue flowers, and banners surrounded the gathered ponies at intervals, each decorated with crescent moons or other icons of Princess Luna. At the front of the crowd, on a raised platform, Princess Cadance stood and addressed her audience, voice magically amplified such that everypony could hear clearly, as if the words were meant for them personally. Beside her, Princess Twilight was standing stock-still, eyes wide and throat dry.

It had taken a few weeks to organise the event, during which time Twilight had thrown herself into the preparations whole-heartedly, mainly to avoid her own thoughts. Now that the time had come however, Twilight had discovered that she was in no way ready herself. As a consequence, she was barely listening to the words Cadance was speaking. She wasn’t sure she would be able to keep her composure if she did.

“...In the years since she was saved from the corruption of Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna put all her efforts towards the betterment of Equestria. Her enthusiasm, even in the face of pockets of unjust prejudice, was an inspiration to all who knew her, and the results of her guidance are manifold and clear to all.

“Under her supervision we have seen the expansion of Equestria’s rail network, and Equestria is now more interconnected than ever before. With her encouragement we have also seen vast improvements in Equestria’s healthcare, particularly in the area of mental health, a benefit to all in Equestria, pony and non-pony alike. Princess Luna’s enthusiasm in reconnecting with the world around her extended beyond Equestria, and, in part due to her efforts, Equestria now has closer bonds with the nations around us than at any point before in our history.” Cadance nodded at a few groups in the crowd, including a delegation of horses from Saddle Arabia who nodded back appreciatively.

“Under the care and guidance of Princess Luna and her sister, Princess Celestia, Equestria has witnessed some of its greatest years. Though she may no longer be with us, we know that without question, the seeds planted by Princess Luna will ensure that Equestria will continue to prosper for many years to come.”

The official line was that Princess Celestia was absent to mourn in private, but Twilight had already heard the rumours and speculation beginning. It was inevitable, especially since anypony who had watched the sky in the last few weeks would have been able to tell that something was wrong. The sun’s usual graceful ascent had been replaced by an abrupt, jerky sunrise each morning, now mirroring the moonrise each night. It was heart-breaking to watch, but it was the best solution they had.

Ironically, it had been Applejack’s suggestion. Twilight and Cadance had realised very quickly that they did not have the same connection to the two celestial bodies as either Celestia or Luna had, and thus there was no way they would be able to keep the daily cycle going for any significant length of time without exhausting themselves. That was when Applejack had suggested approaching Discord. The draconequus had been unusually compliant, and had agreed without any argument. To Twilight’s great surprise, he had since been raising the sun and moon reliably and consistently, albeit with motions that seemed mechanical rather than wondrous.

But even if ponies had not noticed the change in the movement of the sun, they would have undoubtedly noticed the change in its appearance. It was easy enough for Twilight to pass off the curious new markings as sunspots the first few times ponies had asked, but as time went on, and the strange image reminiscent of a pony’s face remained, the speculation would only rise.

But they would deal with that later.

“…But Princess Luna was not just a ruler, or a politician,” Cadance continued, voice emphatic. “If we were to remember her merely as a princess who helped Equestria develop, we would be doing her a great disservice. Because her greatest contribution, as Princess of the Moon and the Night, was one felt by all of us, sometimes unknowingly, as she watched over us and our dreams.”

Twilight held back a sob and looked over the congregated ponies in another attempt to occupy her mind and keep her composure. She had never seen so many ponies at once, and she doubted that many of them had really known anything about Luna. Many had probably never even seen her. Of course, it was a mark of respect to attend the funeral of a princess, but Twilight was sure that for at least some of the ponies here, the importance in attending was not to honour Luna, but to be seen to honour her. It made her somewhat angry, but she supposed she could not blame them. Despite her recent progress, and everything Cadance had said about her enthusiasm in reconnecting with everypony, Luna had always been the most distant princess.

As the sun dropped closer towards the horizon and Twilight continued to scan the crowd, she spotted a delegation of griffins. She had known this was coming, and sure enough, one of the group was a familiar tan colour with golden wings. Twilight had a strange urge to talk to him after the service had finished, but she knew it would be pointless. Ragnar would not know her. Not yet, at least.

“…Words cannot describe the magnitude of this loss, felt by each and every one of us. A loss only deepened by the knowledge of how short a time we had to know her. Equestria could stand for a hundred thousand years and never see another like Princess Luna, and though her time with us was brief, every one of our lives was enhanced by her presence.”

Twilight was not expected to speak during this funeral, for which she was grateful. A week ago a smaller gathering had taken place during which they had held a private tribute to Luna, attendees including all of Twilight’s friends, some other dignitaries, and Luna’s night guard: Essentially everypony who had actually known Luna. During that time, Twilight had said everything she wanted to say. It had been hard, and helpful, and painful, and necessary, and most of all it had given her closure. Now this public service felt as though it was reopening those wounds, and Twilight did not want to break down again this time. Not with what was coming afterwards.

“…Though we say goodbye to her now, Princess Luna will never truly have left us. For as long as ponies hold her in their hearts; for as long as Equestria stands; for as long as day turns to night…” Cadance surveyed the gathered ponies and smiled. “…She will be watching over us.”

As she finished speaking, the sun finally slipped beyond the horizon, and the moon started to rise. Twilight couldn’t help herself any longer, and the tears started to pool in her eyes.

The next hour passed in a blur. Twilight received sympathies from countless well-meaning ponies, to which she nodded graciously, but remained silent. She wasn’t sure she would be able to speak, her throat was so dry. Eventually the mass gathering dispersed, and Twilight and Cadance made their way back to Canterlot to be ready for the second service.

They remained in silence as they arrived in the great hall in the castle, where a similar stage had been set up for their use. Cadance, who had held herself together remarkably well thus far, was now visibly shaking as they took their places, and Twilight walked to stand by her side, wrapping a wing around her supportively.

“Thank you,” Cadance whispered.

A few minutes later the double doors opened and Shining Armor entered, heading over to the stage to join them. He gave Twilight a soft smile as he took her place beside Cadance, the royal couple wrapping their tails together affectionately, at which point Twilight stood off to one side. Over the next half an hour, the hall filled with many more ponies, and the sheer number took Twilight aback. They had decided that a ceremony to honour those who had died in the battle would be more meaningful if it were not open to the public, as Luna’s funeral had been, but should instead be attended only by those with personal connections to the fallen ponies. The fact that the hall was still completely filled only emphasised how much the battle had cost.

They were mostly crystal ponies of course, identifiable now by their dull colourations, but Twilight could also see some groups of unicorns and pegasi here and there. All of the remaining Wonderbolts, dressed in a sombre version of their usual uniform, were gathered to honour their lost comrades. As Twilight continued to look around she also spotted Rainbow Dash’s uncle and Rarity’s parents, standing together at one edge of the hall. Rarity’s mother caught her gaze, and Twilight immediately felt an irrational pang of guilt, but there was no malice in her eyes, and the two shared a sad smile.

“A month ago,” Cadance began, stepping to the front of the stage to draw everypony’s attention, “the Crystal Empire was forced into battle. This battle was a fight for our empire; a fight for our homes; a fight for our lives. Many brave ponies stood to defend us, and to all of them we are unfathomably grateful. However there were some that made the ultimate sacrifice, and it is these courageous, selfless ponies that we honour tonight.

“These brave ponies fought, and died, so that we would not; so that we could escape danger; so that one day, we might reclaim our homes, our empire, and our lives. Each one of these ponies was a hero, in every sense of the word, and for as long as there remain ponies in Equestria, their names will not be forgotten. Their sacrifice will forever be remembered.”

Cadance beckoned to a line of ponies that were standing along the edge of the hall, and then retreated to the back of the stage. One by one, a pony or two came up to speak their memories of each pony who had been lost. Even though she did not know most of the ponies mentioned, Twilight still found her heart breaking a little more with each speech. More than ever she was now determined to make sure these ponies would not have died in vain.

One of the hardest moments came when a middle-aged navy unicorn took to the stage and chokingly relayed his memories of his daughter. Unlike many of the ponies before him, he did not even attempt to hide the tears streaming down his face as he spoke of her; of how she had got her cutie mark, and when she had decided to be a showmare. Twilight had to look away as he spoke, trying to quell the unbearable feeling of guilt rising in her stomach.

It had taken Twilight a few days to find him, and after explaining that his daughter had died fighting in a battle in the Crystal Empire, he had been in denial for a long time. He claimed that there must be some mistake, because his daughter was in Baltimare on the other side of Equestria. Twilight wondered if she was right to have lied. It was bad enough that some crystal ponies had died in fires in the Crystal Empire, but to tell somepony that their child had been outright murdered by a princess? Twilight couldn’t do it. However incorrect it was, Trixie would always be remembered as a casualty of war.

And then Applejack took to the stage, and Twilight started breathing heavily. The next few minutes were going to be some of the most difficult of her life.

“Ah knew Rainbow Dash ever since she came to Ponyville as not much more’n a filly,” Applejack began, sounding almost wistful. “Back then she were stubborn as a mule, arrogant without good reason, and lazy as anythin’. Just the sort of pony who’d get on mah nerves. In the many years since, she grew a lot, and became a fine mare who was just as stubborn and arrogant, but Ah would say she’d earned the right. Still got on my nerves, mind you, but it wouldn’t have been Rainbow otherwise.

“Ah think most everypony knows how talented Rainbow Dash was. She didn’t need no fancy medals to show that she was one of the most skillful fliers you would ever see, and, when she put her mind to it, she could be a darn good weathermare too. But not many ponies knew just how dependable a friend she was. She may have seemed lazy, but if you ever needed somepony to help you, she’d be there. No matter how much trouble you got yourself into, or how dangerous a situation you got stuck in, she’d stop at nothin’ to get to your side.”

As Applejack continued talking, recounting some of their adventures together with Rainbow Dash, Twilight glanced down and noticed Pinkie on the front row, openly weeping into Maud’s shoulder. Pinkie had been inconsolable over the last few weeks, with no sign of her usual spirit and bounciness, and Twilight couldn’t help but feel that on that fateful day they had somehow lost her as well. It was going to be a long road ahead.

Fluttershy was still in no state to attend, which just felt so wrong. Twilight knew that the demure pegasus was a few rooms away, lying silently in a hospital bed, likely with no real awareness of what was happening around her. Maud had said that she should be able to learn a lot about the Infection by studying the physical effects it was having on Fluttershy, and with that knowledge she might be able to help other ponies in the future. This was obviously good news, but that was hardly a comfort to Twilight at the moment. The idea that her friend was being reduced to a guinea pig seemed insulting and disrespectful.

“…Ah really admired Rainbow Dash, and the fact that Ah never told her; that Ah never even got to… to say goodbye.” Applejack stopped and took a deep breath. “Ah will regret that for the rest of my life. Rainbow Dash was the greatest most loyal friend a pony could ask for, and it just ain’t right that she should be taken from us so young. She was meant for great things, that Ah’m sure of, and if Ah can live mah life as even half the mare that she was, then… then Ah’ll die happy.”

Twilight was so caught up in emotion as Applejack finished speaking that it was a few moments before she realised that it was now her turn. She slowly stepped to the front of the stage, cleared her throat, and then choked. She stood still, breathing heavily for a few seconds, but then felt Applejack’s presence beside her. The orange mare had clearly remained behind to give her support, and Twilight felt somewhat calmed by her company. Clearing her throat once more, Twilight began.

“Rarity was, in many ways, a pony who defied expectations. One’s first impressions, upon meeting her, would probably be that she was a self-absorbed, fashion-conscious, prim and proper mare, who would have a higher opinion of herself than she did of any other pony. It would only take moments for her to dash those notions. I doubt there was a single pony she met who she did not try to help in some way, whether by offering a makeover or clothing, imparting intelligent advice, or just being a ready ear to listen to your problems. Rarity truly was the definition of the word generosity, as I’m sure anypony who encountered her would agree.

“But Rarity would also defy expectations in other aspects. While she may have been career-focussed, she would never forget that her friends came first. And while her talent lay in beauty, she would willingly undergo the foulest of hardships when it really mattered. Through her intelligence and astuteness, Rarity showed me that all ponies, however ladylike they may seem, have a strength of their own. Before I had met her I might have believed that I knew a lot about ponies, but Rarity taught me more than I could have ever imagined.”

As she continued to speak, Twilight glanced around the room, making eye-contact with each of those that she knew had known Rarity personally, including a few of the upper crust of Canterlot and Manehattan who had come to pay their respects. She choked on her words a little as she again saw sad smiles affixed on Rarity’s parents’ faces, but it was only when Twilight looked into the far corner of the hall that she was forced to stop. Sitting by himself, staring emotionlessly back at her, was Spike.

Twilight fell to pieces. Up until this point she had been so preoccupied with trying to keep control of her emotions and act as a princess that, while the knowledge that she had lost some of her friends was sad, it hadn’t been able to fully sink in. Only now did she truly realise what that meant.

Never again was she going to see Rainbow Dash flying past her window, or occasionally crashing through it. Never again was she going to see her napping in a tree in the middle of the day when she should have been working. She was never going to be reluctantly persuaded to watch another collection of aerial tricks that all seemed the same to her, or get dragged into adjudicating one of Rainbow and Applejack’s petty rivalries, or get ‘hilariously’ pranked by the terrifying duo of Rainbow and Pinkie.

Never again would she meet up with Rainbow Dash, chatting eagerly into the early hours of the morning about the latest exploits of Daring Do. Nor would they ever fall into another of their laughing fits, where they would both be in physical pain at how hard they were laughing, and catching each other’s eyes would only make everything worse. The jokes had never even been that funny.

Twilight took a deep breath and attempted to continue speaking, but she had no idea how coherent she was.

Rarity. Beautiful Rarity. Rarity, who could fuss over you as if making you look your best was the most important thing in the world. Rarity, who was so talented that after she had given you her attention, you would look like the most important pony in the world. Rarity, who in dressing you up and giving you her time, would make you genuinely believe that, for that moment at least, you really were the most important pony in the world.

As irritating as she had often found it, Twilight would greatly miss Rarity’s fussing. As exasperating as she had often found it, Twilight would also miss Spike’s endless fantasising. The idea that she would never again listen to him discussing what he liked best about her, or what work he had recently been helping her with, was hard to take. She had always hoped that he would one day move past his childish crush, but she would have rather he be infatuated his entire life than have it end like this.

Rarity, a pony who before they had met, Twilight would never have believed that she would become the closest of friends with. Rarity, a pony who now, Twilight could not imagine her life without.

“…Rarity was one of the best ponies I have ever known, and I…” Twilight’s voice broke, and she swallowed to try and clear her throat. “And I…” She paused again, mind blank. She had forgotten how she had been intending to conclude her speech, but when she noticed Pinkie staring back at her she realised that there was really only one thing to say. “…And we loved her. And we are really going to miss her.”

Twilight felt Applejack press comfortingly against her side, and spotted Pinkie nodding appreciatively at her. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, as a multitude of emotions tumbled within her.

The original plan had been for Twilight to retake her position at Cadance’s side, as one of the princesses of Equestria, but right now Twilight realised she did not have it in her. Instead she followed Applejack down the steps and took a place with her at the edge of the crowd, out of everypony’s view, leaving Cadance and Shining Armor to wrap the ceremony up alone. As Applejack and Twilight stood in silence, there was movement from behind and suddenly Pinkie was between them, immediately wrapping a foreleg around each of them.

“If you like,” Pinkie said in a quiet voice, “I will keep hold of you both and never let go.”

Twilight smiled. There was much to do in the future, and the coming months would undoubtedly be the busiest the three of them had ever known. They would be filled with stress, difficult decisions, and there would inevitably be more sacrifices along the way. That was for later though. For now, they still had each other, and together they could honour the memories of their friends.

Applejack and Twilight leaned their heads against Pinkie’s shoulders, and the three of them embraced each other tightly, letting the world disappear around them.

When the doors opened at the end of the service, a cloaked figure was one of the first to leave. The figure’s hood remained down, concealing the face, for the entire journey out of the castle and down through the city of Canterlot. It was only after leaving the city and trotting into the forest to the north, where nopony would be able to see, that the hood was pulled back and Zecora breathed in deeply.

This forest had been home to her for some weeks now, but it would take far longer to get used to its atmosphere when compared with her long-time home of the Everfree Forest. Gone were the exotic plants she was used to, and the wild creatures she was so familiar with. Absent were the eerie sounds that had become like a song to her, and had so often lulled her to sleep. And at no point had anything tried to kill her.

She continued through the trees for a few more minutes, until eventually her new hut came into view. If someone else had been the one looking however, then it would not have come into view for them. Zecora was one of only five who would be able to detect the small homestead, although only four of those were by design. Anyone else examining this patch of the forest would see only a thick clump of trees. Even the forest creatures were not aware of it. Zecora had always been reserved, and had never lived anywhere where she would get many visitors, but this extra secrecy was still hard to get used to.

She pushed the door open and instinctively ducked under the approaching tortoise, flying merrily around on his magical rotor. He always tried to assault her whenever she appeared. He must be missing his owner, but there was nothing Zecora could do about that. Not yet, at least.

Removing her cloak, Zecora stepped through the dark and located the fireplace, at which point she lit a flame for warmth and light. The tortoise followed her movements, as he always did, and Zecora realised she was growing to enjoy his presence. Something about his quiet keenness appealed to the zebra, and she leaned forwards to affectionately nuzzle heads with him briefly.

After recoiling and rubbing her forehead gently, Zecora grabbed her stick and pushed the tortoise away. Now she remembered why she didn’t do that more often. Tortoise skulls were hard.

After warming herself up by the fire, Zecora then stepped towards a bench at the side of the hut, across which lay an unconscious pegasus mare. This was when she most missed the flora of the Everfree Forest. There it would have taken only minutes to gather all the herbs needed to fix a good remedy for a broken wing. Here she had been forced to use more traditional methods, although with an added caveat that the pegasus had been needed to be placed into in a magically induced sleep. The mare hadn’t exactly been happy when they had first awoken her, and so she would be remaining unconscious for now, at least until she was fully healed.

Zecora grabbed a small salve nearby and started attending to the frail blue wing once more. The mare had been fortunate that it had not burnt up any further, or it might have been untreatable. Zecora had not had experience with changeling magic before, but the effects looked nasty.

“How is she?”

Zecora would have loved to say that she didn’t yelp a little in surprise at the unexpected voice, but even she could be thrown off sometimes. Taking a deep breath to gather her wits, she glanced over at the corner of the hut, where her oldest friend sat meditatively in the darkness. Somehow Zecora had not noticed that she wasn’t alone for the entire time since entering.

She cleared her throat as she returned to her work attending to the injured pegasus. “A few more days and she’ll be safe and sound. It is good that you caught her before she hit the ground.”

“Ha! Chrysalis is easy to predict and easier to fool.” The voice stopped for a few moments, and then asked more hesitantly: “And how were the funerals?”

Zecora paused her ministrations and turned to her friend. “The ceremony was fitting, and the words were touching; I’m sure they’d have loved it if they could have been watching.” She frowned. “But why do you ask? Are you not aware? Surely you remember from when you were there?”

Her friend laughed. “It has been many, many years since I attended those services, and at the time I had a lot on my mind. It is nice to remember through another’s eyes.”

Zecora bowed and turned back to her work. She did not usually question her old friend, mainly because the answers were always cryptic and rarely clarified anything beyond her friend’s mysterious nature. But Zecora trusted that she would be told everything she needed to know, when the time was right.

After a few minutes she heard movement from behind her and the sound of the door opening.

“I am going outside to enjoy the cold air for a while. We may not get many more opportunities to experience a peaceful night like this.”

Zecora glanced over her shoulder sharply. “Why not?”

Her friend smiled sadly.

“Because after tonight, Equestria will be at war.”

End of Act I

Epilogue - Conference in the Inferno

Epilogue – Conference in the Inferno

In the middle of a fleeting dream long past, in between several bleak towers, a tall black alicorn waited patiently, scanning the street that fell away into the impenetrable darkness in front of her.

The dreamer would be appearing soon enough, and the alicorn would not leave without contact, no matter how hard it was to keep herself here. The last time she had forced an encounter with the dreamer it had ended before she had any chance to communicate. That would not be happening again.

It was only moments later that the blue pegasus mare appeared, flying rapidly along the street towards the black alicorn, rainbow mane fluttering behind her. When the mare noticed that she was not alone she careered to a standstill and scowled.

“Do not fear, Rainbow Dash; it is I, Luna,” were the words that the alicorn spoke.

“Halt, Rainbow Dash,” were the words the pegasus heard.

As Rainbow rocketed off away from her, Luna cursed to herself. In her weakened state, it was taking everything she had just to project herself into this dream, and she therefore had little power over how she appeared or sounded, nor any control over the dream itself. It was not going to be as easy as she had hoped to communicate.

Luna extended more energy, trying to keep Rainbow Dash from departing, but she could feel her form start to flicker. She could not afford to weaken herself too much further, or she would be left defenceless when she returned to the wasteland. And that could have disastrous consequences.

Fortunately, the blue mare suddenly swung around and started flying directly upwards. As Rainbow was the one dreaming, she would not be able to see through the illusion around her, and thus was unaware that the buildings had no real height. Luna felt the ground disappear below her, but otherwise the scenery remained unchanged as Rainbow Dash exerted herself in her attempt to reach the sky, when in reality she was fixed in place.

When eventually Rainbow stopped, out of breath, Luna gathered herself and tried again.

“Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow spun around in shock.

“Nightmare Moon!” she yelled accusingly. “What have you done to this city?”

Luna struggled to hold herself together as the dream tried to impose the image of Nightmare Moon further onto her. She wouldn’t last much longer, and she doubted she would be able to locate Rainbow again if she departed.

“Please stay and listen, Rainbow Dash,” were the words Luna said.

“You will not escape me, Rainbow Dash,” were the words Rainbow heard.

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow replied cockily. “We’ll see about that.”

As Rainbow prepared to fly away, Luna began to panic. She needed to say something that Rainbow would hear, but that would also get through to her. Something she would understand had come from Luna. She thought back to what she knew about the athletic mare.

“You fly well, Rainbow Dash.”

At those words Rainbow grew noticeably uncomfortable. She must be realising something was wrong. Had she made the connection that those were not words that the Nightmare would speak? Whatever she was thinking, she had at least heard the words correctly. An idea occurred to Luna.

“I enjoyed watching you fly, Rainbow Dash. You should show me your tricks again.”

Once more, Rainbow Dash heard the words as spoken. And now Luna understood. Now she knew why Rainbow Dash was the only one she had been having any luck communicating with. Now she knew why Rainbow Dash’s dreams had been the easiest to enter.

Unfortunately, despite the words being conveyed correctly, the message had clearly still not got through. Luna was still in the form of an imposing black alicorn as opposed to her usual softer blue self, and Rainbow was shifting nervously. It would be a while longer before she was fully conscious of Luna’s presence, but at least this was progress. Luna just needed to find the right words.

But then, without warning, Rainbow plunged into a dive. The buildings may not have been moving around them, but Rainbow’s intention was clear, and the dream was co-operating with her, causing Luna to start to fade.

“No, Rainbow Dash!”

The blue pegasus ignored her, and within seconds Luna’s body fell apart and the dream was gone.

The weakened Princess of the Night was now back in the barren wasteland, and instinctively glanced around hurriedly. She was safe, at least for now. Every time she attempted to enter a pony’s dream from here, it took so much out of her that she was very weak upon returning. Right now she felt barely able to move, and thus it was fortunate that she was alone. In the future she would need to be more careful.

As she waited for her magic to return, she examined the area around her more critically. The wasteland looked unchanged, with dusty earth spreading unbroken into the distance. She still had no clue where she was, and the landscape continued to unnerve her. No place should be this empty.

Except… Was it empty? Luna narrowed her eyes at a specific spot. There didn’t appear to be anything there, at least not visibly, but there had to be something out of place, or it wouldn’t have caught her attention. There was none of the mist around, so it wasn’t anything she had seen before. How curious.

Luna started to walk towards the mysterious location. Of course, the fact she was walking was only an aesthetic choice on her part. She had no actual need to walk here, in the same way that she had no actual need for a body. She only formed one for herself in part out of convenience, and in part because the idea that she had no body was a little too close to the idea that she was dead. That may have been untrue, but it was probably not as untrue as she would have liked, which wasn’t something she wanted to consider.

Reaching the curious spot, Luna opened her mind and discovered that there was a presence here, although this presence had not created a body for themselves. It was not a threatening presence though, and in fact it did not appear to even be a conscious presence. She attempted to delve into it, expecting resistance, and to her shock she was immediately drawn inside somepony’s mind.

She was lying on her back in a white room, which Luna quickly identified as the hospital ward inside Canterlot Castle. It appeared she was in one of the beds, completely motionless. There was a pony beside her that Luna did not recognise.

Luna immediately pulled herself out of the mind and backed away from the stranger’s presence. She had never found a mind that had opened for her so readily, and she had therefore inadvertently been far more intrusive than she was comfortable being. What had happened to that pony to leave them so vulnerable? And what were they doing here? Or at least, part of their mind was here. How did that even work?

Luna looked around hurriedly and then started using her magic to conceal the location, the same way she had been concealing her own presence. It would not be good if he found it, although she had no idea if there was anything he would be able to do with the mind without magic like she had. Nevertheless, she had a sudden strong desire to make sure that this pony, whoever they were, was kept hidden and safe.

She departed the location, reasoning that if they remained together it would only attract further attention. When she was a good distance away she returned to her usual routine: Wait for her magic to fully return to her, and then force herself into the mindscape again. It took far more magic than it should, and she now felt like an intruder rather than its shepherdess, but it was the only way she still had a connection with her ponies.

Luna surveyed the network of minds with a heavy heart. During the time she had been absent, the nights had been filling with increasing numbers of bad dreams, and it pained her to know that there was nothing she could do about it. The result was that the entire mindscape felt like a raging storm, with Luna at the centre. Her every instinct was telling her to reach out and comfort those around her, to calm the tempest, but she knew that in her current state she would only make things worse.

For some reason, this night looked even more troubled than usual, with the same themes cropping up over and over in each of her ponies’ dreams: houses on fire, loved ones missing, and the regular appearance of creatures which Luna assumed must be Shards. What was happening in Equestria without her? Would she ever know?

Luna continued her downhearted wander through the mindscape, and then suddenly froze in disbelief, a shiver running right through her. Separate from the rest of the network of minds was an aura she would never have expected to sense.

There was no way that that mind could be here. Luna had never had access to that mind.

She reached out, not caring how much effort it would take. As she grew closer, a powerful force fought back against her, and Luna had to focus all of her magic into delving onwards to avoid being ejected entirely. Despite the fact that she currently had no physical body, Luna felt like she was burning up as she continued to push. That wouldn’t stop her though. Nothing would stop her now.

Luna was almost at her limits when she broke her way past the searing barrier and finally reached the aura of the pony whose mind she had sensed. After all that exertion she was unlikely to be able to keep herself here for much longer, but she would make every second count.

“L… Luna?”

The pony who had spoken projected a physical body for themself, and despite how much it would take out of her, Luna couldn’t help but do the same.

“Yes… Yes, sister, I am here.”

Tears were beginning to form in Celestia’s eyes, but she just stared at Luna and seemed unsure whether to approach.

“But, how? Is it really-”

Luna interrupted her sister by slamming into her and wrapping her in a tight embrace.

“It’s really me.”

Celestia sobbed and held Luna closer. Despite the fact that both of their bodies were only images at the moment, the two sisters clearly did not want to let each other go.

“I… I must be going mad,” Celestia muttered eventually. “You cannot be here, can you?” She pulled back and gave Luna a questioning, pleading glance. “Are you really here?”

Luna smiled. “Yes… and no. I’m not actually here, I’m in your mind. But I am alive Tia.” She suddenly stopped and glanced around at the blazing ‘scenery’, finally connecting the dots about why Celestia also had no real physical body currently, and what the searing barrier she had been forced to break through to get here was.

“Never mind about me, sister,” Luna exclaimed in horror. “Why are you here? What have you done?”

Celestia bit her lip and then slumped to her haunches in shame. “Oh Luna, I have done some dreadful things.”

Luna stepped closer and wrapped a wing around her older sister. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

Celestia shook her head. “How I wish that were so. I killed a pony Luna; a completely innocent pony. And for what? To prove a point, nothing more.” She dropped her head to the ground. “And through my actions I may have caused the death of many others. It is unforgivable, the things I have done.”

Luna faltered a little, but quickly pulled herself together. “That still doesn’t explain why you are here though.”

Celestia extracted herself from her sister and stepped away with a determined expression.

“Don’t you understand, Luna? I was in no state to remain in Equestria. Even when I killed that poor mare, I knew I was supposed to feel bad, but I didn’t. I could only think that I had killed the wrong pony; that if I had instead killed the stallion who would go back in time and infect you, then you wouldn’t have to die.”

“But still, Tia. Is this not a prison for you?”

Celestia looked ashamed. “It… It is. I am imprisoned just as you once were when the Nightmare had you.”

“Is there no way out? No way you can escape? How long are you trapped here?”

Celestia said nothing, and Luna’s spirits sunk as the realisation hit her.

“You didn’t think ahead did you? There… There is no way back, is there?”

For a second the white alicorn faded, as Celestia clearly lost the will to keep her image up, but then she returned determined.

“I thought I had lost you!” she explained desperately. “Please understand, I could not cope without you beside me. I had lost all will to rule Equestria any longer, and with Cadance and Twilight proving themselves time and time again I knew that Equestria had no need for me either. I did not care that this would be my eternal fate.”

Luna shook her head. “Oh Tia… You can be so sentimental, and so reckless.”

There was silence for a few moments, but Luna quickly realised how fast her magic was fading and she spoke up again.

“Sister, however long you are trapped here, even if it is eternally, you will not be alone. I will visit you in your mind, as I am now, as often as I can.”

Celestia wept in gratitude, but even as she did so she turned a questioning face towards Luna.

“How is this possible though? I saw you break apart before my eyes. I saw you die.” Celestia sounded as though she was still not convinced that she wasn’t just imagining Luna’s presence.

“My body did indeed break apart. My body did indeed die. I only live on through my magic.” Luna smiled. “As I was being infected, I was able to use my unique connection with the mindscape to free my mind from my body. I had hoped that I might be able to return to Equestria somehow, but instead I find myself trapped in a curious wasteland.”

“A… A wasteland?”

“Yes. I have no clue what or where it is, although it is clearly apart from Equestria and the Aether. From here I am able to force myself back into the mindscape, although it is difficult. I have tried to contact other ponies, but they only see me as the Nightmare.” Luna shuddered. “The one pony I have had luck with was Rainbow Dash, and I believe that to be only because her mind still bears traces of me; an imprint from when she allowed me access to her mind that day we met in Canterlot before my… disappearance.”

“So you escaped death through use of your mind magic?”

“Yes sister. Believe me, I am alive.” What Luna didn’t explain is just what the Infection had cost her. She knew that in losing her body, a part of her had died, but Celestia wouldn’t want to know how much her sister had lost just yet. She would probably work it out for herself, given enough time.

“But… But the others that were infected?” Celestia inquired. “The rest of our ponies?”

Luna’s smile dropped. “They… would not be able to escape as I did. The Infection is still a deadly force, I was just in the unique position of having my mind free from my body when I was infected. ”

“But how are you even able to use your magic? I have seen a Shard in your form, and you say that your body was infected. Does not the Infection drain a pony’s magic?”

Luna frowned in confusion, but then she understood. Celestia would not know. Nopony else would know.

“No sister, the Infection will incapacitate and kill a pony, but it is not the Infection that is draining our ponies’ magic.”

“Really? How do you know?”

“I know because I am not the only one trapped in this wasteland.”

“You… You aren’t?”

“No. I don’t know how he got here, but it is probably fortunate for Equestria that he is trapped here. Although he does somehow seem to be more attune with this place than I am, and is growing in strength at an alarming rate. In fact, I spend most of my time concealing myself from him to make sure I am safe.”

“Who?” Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Is it Sombra?”

“Sombra?” Luna shook her head. “No, I still understand Sombra to be dead.”

“Then who if not him?”

Luna hesitated as she recalled the wisps of black mist that patrolled the barren wasteland, and the giant shape that they would form, demonic and monstrous with glowing yellow eyes, standing taller every time she witnessed him.

“Sister… Do you remember Tirek?”