Strangely Familiar

You open your eyes, not aware of where you are or how you came here. Your head is still spinning, your ears buzzing slightly. The sun is close to the horizon; you can’t decide if it’s early morning or late afternoon.

At first you think there is something with the sky; the clouds seem too solid, moving in strange ways. But after blinking a few times you look again, seeing normal, unremarkable, wispy clouds.

You look around; you are in the middle of a grass-covered field, in your front a small village about a hundred paces away, at your back a dense forest that starts abruptly at close to a thousand paces away.

You look more closely at the village. The houses are strange, the proportions all wrong; the doors seem too short and wide. To the right of the village there is an area with trees, rustic tables, and accompanying benches, the furniture also in the same proportions as the houses.

Wondering who could live there you slowly, carefully, start walking towards the nearest house.

As you approach, you see, for the first time, something alive; just outside the house, still attached to a small cart, a small horse — a pony — seems to be asleep, propped upright by the straps, the nostrils in its long muzzle moving rhythmically with its breathing. Further away you notice other ponies, of various unusual colors, on the ground, either unconscious or asleep.

You decide to investigate closer, but before you can take more than a few steps towards the pony or the house, you notice a bright light coming from something on your neck. You spy a large necklace with a round, very large white gem, glimmering in rainbow hues, against your chest; but before you can examine it a large, cream colored horse, with a vivid orange mane, appears in front of you as if out of thin air. An unicorn, you realize, seeing his single, long and spiraled horn.

The unicorn rears, opening wings you didn’t notice before, and its horn starts glowing with a silvery light.

You put your arms in front of you and take a few steps backwards, stumbling and landing on your back. Fortunately, the unicorn doesn’t advance, but instead stays between you and the house. It is pacing from side to side, in a clear indication that it won’t let you advance further.

You decide that confronting the beast is too dangerous; the unicorn blocking your path to the village, you turn to the opposite direction and run, until at last you are at the threshold of the forest.

The winged unicorn takes to the air and follows from a distance, stopping less than a hundred paces away from the edge of the forest. Suppressing a whimper, you enter the forest, bending branches out of your way.

Just as you cross the forest’s threshold you feel a shiver, and though you are not certain, you think you saw something shadowy pass by you, getting darker as it fled inside the forest. You shake your head; perhaps it was just the shadows of the trees tricking your eyes. You feel like you have heard stories like this many times in the past, but as you fight down the urge to cry you can’t remember any.

Luna woke with a start, tossing the bedsheets. That wasn’t a mere dream, of that she was sure, but what was it? A vision yet to pass, a view of the present, or perhaps some mythical prophecy that brought perplexing images instead of cryptic words? And what had she been in the dream, with such round, pink claws, devoid of hairs, scales, or feathers?

Perhaps a prophecy, she thought. It seemed surreal enough, that was sure. The ponies, and that alicorn, from the dream seemed closer to the prehistoric ones, which were already gone by the time Celestia and Luna became self-aware; ponies that today could only be seen in statues. Few records of that time remained, the soft paper being no match to the ravages of time. In fact, the largest known collection was in the restricted wing of the Royal Library, thanks to the work of Celestia in finding and preserving knowledge.

Perhaps I should research …

The other details of the dream came to her. She opened the window; the sun was just a bit higher than on her dream. If it was the same sun, she thought, the village was to the north of the forest. Wasn’t that the Everfree? And what was the shape of the mountains behind the village again?

The village in her dream seemed to be too small to appear on a common map; Luna took off at a gallop to the Tactics Hall (Planning Hall, Luna chided herself; we haven’t been at war in centuries), where lay the most complete map of Equestria.

Nodding acknowledgements to the saluting guards, Luna burst into the hall she sought. She closed her eyes, remembering the exact position of the sun and the forest, and the shape of the forest’s border; the image firmly in her mind, she scanned the map. There, a hamlet named… Sleepy Hoof? What kind of name was that?

A flash of light cut Luna’s thoughts. “Why, you sensed it too?”

Luna looked up, at the strange creature made of disjointed parts that had just appeared; Discord was floating, one claw holding a magnifying glass to which his eye seemed glued. He was moving the glass between the hamlet and the princess.

Luna frowned. “Meaning?”

“Oh, silly me. Of course you didn’t feel. You can’t.” Discord held a golden scale, miniatures of himself and Luna on the out of balance pans. “Our magic is not the same. There is no way you could have felt it.”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “And you sensed what exactly?”

“Oh, something old, even for me. Something powerful. Why, you might even find out next time I sleep; it’s quite sure to give me nightmares, which I believe were your specialty.” Discord narrowed his eyes back at Luna. “But it’s not something for you little princesses. Why, I don’t think you will ever hear this from me again, but this time I hope I’m wrong.”

Luna raised one eyebrow. “Are you saying you will deal with… whatever it is, and that we should just stay out? Have you taken leave of your senses?”

“Well…” Discord detached one light tan ear and one yellow eye, examining them. “No. My senses are in order. But yes, I do expect you to sit this out.”

“And you can trust me on one thing, my fair princess,” continued Discord, dressed in a tuxedo, bowing and tipping his tophat with a flourish. “If it’s what I… why, yes, fear is the word for this; if it’s what I fear, then I will do anything to prevent Equestria from coming to harm. This was true before we met for the first time, and, of course, is still true after I’ve been ‘reformed.’ The alternative would be far more boring than when you turned me into a lawn ornament. Arrivederci!”

In a flash discord was gone, leaving Luna to wonder if this was just a very elaborate practical joke or a real danger. For the time being it didn’t matter; she had to warn Celestia, and then get to that “Sleepy Hoof” village.

The Great and Powerful Trixie stomped and flicked her cape reflexively, annoyedly looking back at the path behind her.

She had expected to take her new and improved show to Sleepy Hoof, but when she arrived the place looked like a ghost town; houses empty with their doors open, carts and objects abandoned and strewn around town, ripped pieces of clothes floating in fences and branches.

She was starting to get concerned, wondering if she should go warn the ponies in the neighboring towns, when she saw the herd in the distance; by the size of it, roughly everypony from Sleepy Hoof was there. Trixie approached them, asking what happened out of concern.

They neighed at her and ran away.

So, Trixie turned her back to the ungrateful wretches and ran in the opposite direction.

But now Trixie was having second thoughts. Her… tactical retreat had taken her too close to the Everfree Forest. Besides, those ponies had acted very strangely; no village had treated Trixie like that, not even just after she was ridiculed for not being able to vanquish even an Ursa Minor…

Trixie stopped, feeling the ground tremble. She looked around, seeing nothing out of ordinary.

And then she looked up. Twilight had been right, all these months past; Trixie really didn’t want to know what an Ursa Major looks like.

Abandoning her cart behind for speed, Trixie ran, hoping against hope that the blue translucent bear the size of a small hill hadn’t seen her. After half a minute fleeing, and encouraged by not having been eaten yet, Trixie risked a look back and noticed a small bundle in the Ursa’s mouth. Well, small for the Ursa; it was still the size of a barn. The ursa was fleeing, and taking her cub with her.

Trixie froze, reactionless even as her cart was reduced to kindling by the oblivious Ursa. Something had scared the humongous starry bear, a bear so large it could defeat a dragon simply by laying down and rolling over it. Trixie’s instincts told her to follow the Ursa’s lead and flee this place.

She shook her head; following an Ursa would be suicide. And she couldn’t sense anything dangerous from where the Ursa came; even if there was something there, she was confident she could outrun and flee it. Specially without a cart to drag me down, she thought bitterly, looking at the pile of useless kindling.

And this was close to Twilight’s town. Trixie still owed Twilight for having given her a second chance; this might be the opportunity for Trixie to prove that nopony could repay a favor better than the Great and Helpful Trixie. She could already see the grateful faces of Ponyville’s residents as Trixie warned them to the danger and led them to safety...

Swallowing hard, Trixie followed the trail of destruction left by the Ursa, oblivious to the pair of yellow eyes observing her.

Sitting in front of her desk, Twilight read the letter from Princess Celestia for the third time. It made no more sense than the first two times; a warning to watch out for Discord because he was acting strange, and disappeared saying something about saving Equestria? Acting strange was just Discord being Discord, but that talk about saving the world was strange even for him. Discord was an attention hog; there was no way he would go on a crusade to save the world without making sure everypony — or, at the very least, the princesses and all the bearers of the Elements of Harmony — were fully aware.

Her concentration was broken by arguing coming from outside. Loud, boisterous, and just outside her door; she could make up the voices of Rainbow Dash, Mayor Mare, and… Fluttershy?

Twilight dropped the letter on her desk; if Fluttershy felt strongly enough about something to raise her voice towards other ponies, it must be serious. She took down the stairs at a gallop, barely registering the humming coming from the kitchen. Opening the front door, she was assaulted by a cacophony of voices.

“Girls. Girls!” Twilight looked between the three, too absorbed in their arguing to notice anypony else. She lighted her horn.

And stopped as a horrible screech sounded from her side, the stunned silence that fell after assaulting her senses. “You’re welcome,” said Spike, returning inside the library with a small blackboard under his arm.

Twilight looked from the retreating dragon to the still puzzled mares. “Now, what was all that arguing about?” As the three mares opened their mouths at the same time, Twilight put a hoof to her temple; she could feel a headache raising. Pointing to the leftmost pony, she said, “Wait! You first.”

“It’s the clouds! There are some… thin, un-, unsub-...” Rainbow Dash scratched her head. “Clouds we pegasi can’t move, because we pass right through them, coming from the Everfree Forest! I bet there is some strange magic around.”

“Unsubstantial clouds, okay.” Twilight pointed to the next pony. “Fluttershy?”

“Oh, well, it’s the animals. They are terrified of something in the forest. And some of them are…” Fluttershy’s voice went wobbly; her strain as she fought to keep a straight face was obvious. “They don’t remember me, or the other animals. I’m afraid they will hurt themselves!”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy. We will fix everything as soon as we find what is happening.” Twilight turned to the last pony. “Miss Mayor?”

Mayor Mare looked from Fluttershy to Twilight and breathed deeply. “It’s not just the animals that are spooked. The monsters are also fleeing the Everfree Forest. We already had a few Timberwolf attacks on outlying farms; luckily nopony was hurt. We are organizing a volunteer brigade to drive the monsters away from out town, but if one of the more dangerous ones, like a hydra, or,” she shuddered, “a dragon or an ursa comes, we won’t be able to do anything. We need to find what is happening…”

“And you decided to ask me.”

Mayor Mare nodded at Twilight.

Twilight looked towards the library, at the wall behind which she knew the princess letter to be. Could it be related?

“Rainbow Dash, come with me. We are going to the forest to find what is happening; perhaps Zecora knows more.”

“Aye aye,” said Rainbow Dash with a salute.

“Fluttershy, if you could help the mayor —”

“Uh,” Fluttershy looked pleadingly at Twilight. “Can I come too? I mean, I know I’m not the most useful pony, but I’m worried about the animals, and…”

“Of course you can come, Fluttershy.” Twilight took a hoof to her chin. “Maybe it’s better this way; Princess Celestia sent a letter telling Discord is up to something. Now, remember, girls, this is just an observation mission. We need to know what we are facing and come up with a plan.”

Even if in the end it just comes down to blasting something with the power of friendship, silently added Twilight, eyeing the magically protected case with the Elements of Harmony lying in the main room of the library. Exchanging a nod to her friends, she levitated the tiara of Magic into her head, and the necklaces of Loyalty and Kindness towards their respective owners.

Trixie slowly followed the Ursa’s trail. Not that it was hard; she could have pulled her old wagon through it. But…

Trixie looked around again. The forest was eerily silent; no bird calls, no animal noises, even the wind seemed to have died down. And the forest itself seemed…

It was hard to put her hoof on it. Less vibrant? She looked up, where the Ursa’s rampage had exposed the sky and the clouds, strange even for Everfree ones; It was starting to get too creepy to progress. Perhaps Trixie should just go back and let more experienced ponies find what is wrong...

A distant sound, only audible thanks to the unnatural silence, made her stop. Crying? Trixie moved her head, trying to pinpoint the source; it was coming from deeper in the Ursa’s trail. Shifting her hat, Trixie carefully continued towards the sound.

The sound grew in intensity; definitely crying. And a male voice, if Trixie got it right; though she was not proud of it anymore, she had made a number of grown stallions cry in her heyday.

Finally coming to a place where the sound seemed to come from outside the trail, Trixie faced its direction and shouted, “Who is there? Do you need help?”

The crying stopped. Whoever it was, he had certainly heard —

Trixie stumbled, nearly falling into a nearby tree in search of support, as her chest started to burn; the sensation quickly spread to her whole body, causing her hind legs to buckle. Her mouth opened, her aching throat failing to find its voice…

And, as suddenly as it started, the burning sensation and the pain were gone. With a whimper Trixie tried to stand, nearly falling over; there was something wrong with her body, with her balance, as if her forelegs had become too short. Trixie looked down.

She immediately regretted it, her irises shrinking to small dots and her breathing escaping in short, panicked gasps.

Her forelegs were all… shaven, pink, and deformed, the elbows and knees in the wrong place, and in place of her fetlocks she had some thin, round appendages. Her lovely hooves were nowhere to be seen; the whole thing felt as soft as her underbelly. She could feel a shriek rising in her throat...

“Are you alright?”

The sudden voice made Trixie rear in surprise… and then she stood upright. It felt… natural, as if her body was meant for that strange posture. Calm down, Trixie, it’s just a transformation spell, you will be fine.

Standing might have felt natural, but Trixie was certainly not used to it; swaying, she held the nearby tree to avoid falling, closing her eyes and breathing slowly in an attempt to fight the resurging panic. You can face it, but first you must find what you have been turned into. Concentrating in keeping her breathing even, Trixie slowly opened her eyes, slowly taking inventory of her own body.

Pink; her lovely blue coat was nowhere to be seen, replaced by boring pink skin. Her tail was also gone, making her hindquarters feel strange, out of balance; the too long hind legs only served to make it worse, and her… was it feet? were tender and soft, without hooves to protect them. Her trunk felt strange, with those round things larger than before, and out of place, closer to her shoulder instead of her hip. And, talking about shoulders, was that her cutie mark on her upper foreleg, close to her shoulder?

“Hey, um, if it’s alright with you, could you, um, close your cape?”

Oh, yeah, the stallion, thought Trixie, finally looking up… and seeing another slender being, seemingly of the same species she was turned into. He — or, at least, she thought it was a he by his voice — was fully clothed in blue pants and a strange, close fitting red shirt with the drawing of some kind of black winged lizard. He also wore white shoes of some strange material that seemed to bend as he moved, and a strange necklace with a large white stone that sparkled like a rainbow.

And his face was brighter than her red #5 rocket, the blushing spreading so far that she could see it despite his attempts to cover his face. Why would he… Wait, he did ask for me to cover up. Maybe he’s from one of those cultures that insist on always wearing clothes?

Trixie felt her own cheeks warm up; stupid strange cultures, making other… creatures look funny at us. She considered just closing her cape like the stranger said, but that would hinder her forelegs. Perhaps she could use her brooch to fix it just below her forelegs…

The brooch didn’t move. Trixie concentrated harder, but the familiar flow of her magic was missing. She tried touching her horn, and found nothing.

This time, she shrieked.

“Is there something wrong? Hey!”

“My horn, my magic! It’s gone!” She suppressed a sob. Calm down, Trixie, even if you are not the powerful, you are still the great; you will find a way.

“Are you some kind of magician? Is this what this tattoo means?” The creature had circled around the tree Trixie was holding to, standing behind and to the right of her, where Trixie’s cape would block her body.

“Yes, I am. I was,” said Trixie; to her chagrin, she couldn’t keep a sob from her last word. “But my magic is…”

Her familiar violet magic aura flared around her brooch, the corresponding glow appearing around those tiny appendages she had now at the end of her changed forelegs. Why had her magic…

Trixie’s eyes flared. The Ursas fleeing; the large area of forest with no other animals, and this creature in the middle; the unsettling trees, the wispy clouds, perhaps even the ponies from Sleepy Hoof. Then, when she came closer, she turned into the same kind of creature, and when the creature thought she could do magic...

She turned, facing the creature. “You, look at me. Look —” Trixie noticed his embarrassed look and blushed a bit herself, using her newfound magic to close the cape. “Look at me. I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, the most magical… whatever kind of creature you are, in all Equestria! Trixie will now perform a magic to change her clothes into something befitting her station as the greatest magician you will ever meet. Now turn around while I perform my magic.”

As the creature started to turn, perhaps more quickly than proper, Trixie added hastily, “Something with a hat and a cape just like the ones I have now, I’ll have you know.”

“Okay, okay,” said the creature. Trixie wondered if her bluff would work; if not, she could use her magic to create something…

A glow enveloped her, vanishing in instants. In its wake stood the most impressive suit of armor Trixie had ever seen with her own eyes, perhaps second only to the Radiant Regalia used by Celestia in the battles of old. It was blue and purple, the colors of her mane and cape, with golden trimmings and her cutie mark proudly displayed in the middle of the chest. The armor covered her hind legs and trunk in full, shoulder guards and metal bands protecting and adorning her changed front legs. On her head was still the same old, trusty hat, and her cape had been integrated into the armor.

Even more impressive, the armor was as comfortable as normal clothing; it might be even possible to sleep in it.

Trixie was still looking herself over when she heard the creature speak. “Cool, it’s exactly as I imagined.”

Luna approached the forest with a wing of pegasi guards behind her. When she left the castle she was apprehensive about the village, going as far as feeling a shiver down her spine when she thought about it, but now she was fuming. With Celestia it was always planning, planning, research, research; if her vision had been true, they already had a village in danger, and who knew what more could happen if they delayed?

But delay they did, until Celestia could gather a full wing of guards to investigate. And then, instead of coming together, she went into some dusty library full of old books, mumbling something about researching prehistoric magic and some mirror she had crafted a long time ago.

She would… No. Luna shook her head; this wasn’t a competition, she and Celestia were doing what they could to find the problem and help their subjects. Competing with her sister would only hinder both; now why did that thought even find her mind?

Circling lower, Luna left the mystery for later. She could already see Sleepy Hoof; the village seemed empty, with a series of house-sized depressions lined to one side. They looked like… pawprints…

Luna landed just outside the village, the guards landing just behind her, the captain of the wing in front; she could see the nervousness in them. “Fan out and find the villagers. If you find the creature that left this track, keep it under watch but don’t engage; instead, take any villagers you have found to a safe place and send a flier to inform me. I will be scouting to the south.”

“Yes, your highness,” replied the captain. He bowed, replaced his helmet, and turned back to the other guards, shouting orders, but Luna was not paying attention to them anymore.

The tracks didn’t stop, or even slow, as whichever giant beast it was — an Ursa Major, guessed Luna — passed by the village. There was no change in direction, no stopping. The beast wasn’t hunting; it was fleeing, and whatever had spooked it would be found at the other end of its tracks.

Luna glanced towards the guards; the two trackers of the group were going to the north, away from the forest. That must be where the ponies went; good. She turned to the south and took to the air, following the giant tracks back to their source.

She was almost crossing the border of the Everfree forest when she noticed a vaguely familiar figure rising from between the trees, large and of a pale yellow color, and coming directly to her. Luna stopped her advance, squinting.

Soon the figure was close enough to see clearly; it was a cream colored alicorn with orange mane, with a far longer head, and muzzle, than even herself and Celestia. Down to his lack of a cutie mark, his features were closer to the statues of heroes of mythical Houyh, like the ones she and Celestia used to have in the old Everfree castle, than to anypony Luna knew.

It was the same alicorn she had seen in her dream. Or, rather, vision, she thought.

“Halt. Who are you and what is your intent?”

The strange alicorn stood there, hovering between Luna and the forest.

“If you will not talk to me, stand aside,” said Luna, advancing. “I shall find —”

The alicorn changed his posture: front legs retracted, tail quickly swishing, nostrils flaring, ears perked and tracking her…

“Stand aside. I do not desire to fight you, but if it is the only way to pass, fight I shall.”

The alicorn neighed, either unwilling or, perhaps, unable of speech. After a second it reared, climbed a few body heights, and dove.

“Very well,” said Luna, conjuring a double layered barrier in front of her. “If you want to fight —”

The alicorn lowered his head, horn aglow. Luna watched in apprehension as the alicorn approached her best barriers at breakneck speed, preparing for the impact… and the alicorn simply passed through, his horn parting the barrier, like a fish passing through water. Luna barely rolled out of his way.

“If that is what you wish.”

Luna charged after the alicorn, determined to not give him space to maneuver; she had been gauging her opponent and knew she was faster, more agile. In a few wingbeats they were face to face; charging her horn with all magic she could muster, she touched the alicorn’s horn, intent on firing her magic blast past his defenses.

Her world went dark.

“And that is how the Great and Powerful Trixie was chosen to create the greatest fireworks display ever seen in the story of Equestria, with the heroes of the kingdom as her assistants!”

A clapping sound coming from her side made Trixie smile. “That was impressive, my Great and Powerful lady. Care to share any more of your adventures?”

Trixie looked at the human seated beside her, on a log at the edge of the Ursa’s trail. He had told her all about her new body — or, at least, all about the parts of her body that weren’t fully covered by her new garb; those strange humans seemed to have a lot of taboos talking about their own bodies — and helped her figure out how her new appendages worked. He also seemed eager to talk about himself, but…

“You still can’t remember anything else, can you? Not even your name?”

The human shook his head. “No. It’s still the same. Fractured images, like this amulet —” he lifted his large necklace “— and then the first thing I remember was waking here, where one of those alicorns you described chased me into the forest. And…” he lowered his read into his hands. “I think I did something terrible when I arrived, if your stories about the ponies here are true.”

After a few moments he raised his head, sad eyes looking at Trixie with a grateful look. “Thanks, by the way, for trying to help. For staying with me.”

Trixie looked at him; he had seen through her trick with the clothing nearly instantly, but instead of getting angry, he merely laughed. After the initial shock, talking with him, being with him, had been fun.

Shaking her head, Trixie recalled the two reactions she would usually get out of ponies that saw her showmare persona; either awe at how amazing she was, or contempt at her faked arrogance — okay, not so faked at first, but she had gotten better. This human, though, saw right through her act, but despite that he enjoyed it; was he a performer too?

Regardless of that, she didn’t want to see him suffer. Which other stories could she tell? Not the one about the Ursa, that one brought bad luck...

Feeling a gentle touch at the back of her neck, a slight increase in the pressure on her shoulders, Trixie looked at the human; his arm was around her shoulders, over the armor he had unwittingly created. Looking from his hand to his face, Trixie felt her own face grow hotter; what did this gesture mean for those strange creatures?

Her musings were interrupted by a far away galloping sound. Pointing with the arm that had previously embraced her, the human asked, “What is that?”

Trixie looked down the Ursa’s path, where the human was pointing. A purple unicorn was galloping towards them, down the path, flanked by two pegasi, one light blue and the other yellow. Before they could get within shouting distance, bright lights — red, pink, and purple — shone from them; moments later Trixie felt her heart falter when the two pegasi wavered and crashed to the ground, the unicorn collapsing soon after.

The human’s hand landed heavily on Trixie’s shoulder. “Those are your friends, right? Go.”

Trixie turned her head; the human was already running in the opposite direction. “And what about you?”

“I will deal. They need you. Go.”

As Trixie was getting up, she heard him say softly, “And they need me as far from them as I can get.” Feeling a second stab at her chest, Trixie started running after the ponies she hoped she could call friends.

A pair of yellow eyes blinked in the foliage high above the humans’ now deserted resting place, vanishing without a trace.

You keep running, feeling the tears streaking your face. You knew there was something wrong with you as soon as you entered the forest; there was always a circle of silence around you, though more than once you found obvious, and recent, markings of animals fleeing, up to that giant trail that bisected the forest. The animals were fleeing from you, and now you know why.

You stumble and fall, scrapping your elbow. Instead of getting up, you just sit; this should be far enough to allow that girl that was a pony to rescue her friends. You just wish you didn’t cause lasting harm.

You take a look around, imprinting the image into your mind; there is some light, brownish undergrowth, under dark and twisted trees. You close your eyes, thinking of a happy place you saw in your fragmented memory; when you open them again you are in the middle of a garden, colorful flower beds framed by low hedges in geometrical shapes, white gravel marking the pathways — though beyond the garden the same sorrowful trees could still be seen.

You close your eyes again, recalling how this patch of the forest was as if your life depended on it; the image comes easily, only to be replaced again by the garden as you open your eyes.

You recall all the times you closed your eyes as the pony girl told her tales, feeling her at your side, wishing to return her to the shape she had and longed to have again, perhaps to join her in her own shape even… but every time, when you opened your eyes, nothing had changed.

You consider crying, screaming… but no. You have someone to support you. Someone that might have, unknowingly, allowed you to ruin her life in attempting to support you. You will not cry again, for you and for her.

Your hand goes to the amulet around your neck. You try to remove it one more time, but as always your hand stops, as if it was not your hand anymore.

Your hand still touching the amulet you feel something, a presence. Closing your eyes, you concentrate on your feelings, on your thoughts…

Then you open your mouth. “Are you Princess Luna? Trixie spoke highly of you.”

Luna opened her eyes. How? She lifted her head, seeing an open field, with densely packed trees in the distance. “Where…”

“You are awake! I was starting to get concerned.”

“Who —” Luna turned her head towards the voice, meeting brown eyes. The stranger took a step back, allowing Luna to see his face clearly; if Celestia had been an stallion this might be her face, except for being cream colored with an orange mane. Her eyes widened in recognition.

“Are you are the alicorn from before? You look —”

“Different? Able to speak?” The alicorn backed a few more steps, giving Luna space to rise. “Yes, I am. And for that I must thank you, and beg your forgiveness.”

Luna rose, backing a few steps herself. “What do you mean?”

“Well, nothing dangerous or lasting, though you might feel a little weaker for a few days.” He lifted a wing, as if to protect himself from Luna’s glare. “The short version is that I was brought back from death by a powerful artifact, but needed a kind of… mystical anchor to not fade away before my mission was complete.”

“And the long version?” said Luna, dangerously narrowing her eyes.

“We, uh, might not have time.” The alicorn looked to the edge of the forest. “I have to go back to my mission soon; if the worldsmith is killed or harmed, or if he is allowed to roam free...”

“Worldsmith? Would that be the human? He is well, and seems intent on keeping to one place.”

The alicorn looked at Luna, opening and closing his mouth, raised both eyebrows, and then said in a voice mixing awe and hope. “You dreamed about him again!”

“How —”

“Do I know about your previous dream? You are my anchor. It allows me to see some of your memories. I…” he looked at her, uncomfortable. “Look, I promise to not abuse anything I learn, the same way you vowed to never abuse what you find in other ponies’ dreams. But if you dreamed about him again, did you hear his thoughts again? Do you know what he intends to do with his powers?”

Luna flinched with the intensity of his gaze. “H-he seems to not desire that power. I believe he wants to undo whatever harm he caused, but can’t find a way to.”

“Praised be the creator, your world might be saved! Now I must —” His attempt to take to the air was cut short when Luna, with teeth and magic, grabbed hold of his tail and threw him back to the ground.

“Now you must tell me what is happening. If Equestria is in danger, my sister and I must act. Else I will hound you until I find what is happening.”

“No! You would be just harmed. This worldsmith is not the right one, and his wielding of the Flame of Creation can only harm the land, not restore it! He would turn the world into something else, unrecognizable.” The alicorn raised his head and closed his eyes. “I saw when he turned a whole village of ponies into unthinking beasts, saw him turn a mare into a human, and in my weakened state nearly became a victim of the power I was supposed to guard.”

“That is a start.” Luna released his tail. ”I will help my sister find more about the Flame of Creation, find a way to protect ourselves from its effects, and then join you. One last request: what is your name?”

The alicorn stopped climbing and landed in front of Luna, sadness in his eyes. “I don’t know. Like you, I spent a long time locked away. But where the six hued key is gentle, the flame is all consuming. I had to make… sacrifices… to remember my mission.”

Slowly, the alicorn moved his wing, pointing to where his cutie mark would be. Only then Luna noticed that in the previously blank space he now sported a golden crescent moon, twin to her own silver moon.

As the alicorn took to the skies one more time, he shouted back, “But you can call me Arty.”

Twilight groaned. “Ugh, my head… What happened?”

A loud clash came from nearby, followed by a cacophony of hooves and claws. In moments a familiar blue face appeared in front of Twilight.

“Oh, good, you are awake!”

Twilight sat, the surface under her shifting, and rubbed her neck. “Trixie?” She looked around; she was in her bed, Trixie and Spike eagerly looking at her. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes locked on Trixie, surprise clearly showing, inspecting her from muzzle to tail. “And why are you wearing armor? What is happening?”

Trixie broke eye contact. “I…”

Spike looked at Trixie with narrowed eyes, then mellowed. “She saved you, I guess.”

Twilight closed her eyes, furrowing her brow. “Wait! Where are Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash? Last I remember, they were with me, then the elements started acting funny…”

“They’re fine.” Spike pointed his thumb to the blue mare besides him. “Trixie took them to the hospital, Applejack and Rarity are with them. Well, Pinkie was with them too, but she said she saw something and left in a rush.”

“That would be someone, thanks. But someday that pink piece of delightful chaos has to tell me how she does that, nopony was supposed to see me.”

Twilight looked around, narrowing her eyes. “Discord. What are you up to this time?”

“Oh, the usual. Spreading a little fun, getting under Luna’s skin, finding new secrets, saving the world...” said Discord, appearing out of thin air and ticking his fingers one by one.

“And what is this saving the world business? Princess Celestia —”

“Oh, she would tell you, wouldn’t she?” Discord lifted a gleaming sword and shield in a strange salute. “And why is it so hard to believe I want to be the knight in shining armor and save the day for a change? I’m reformed, remember?”

“Then perhaps you could tell us what you are saving the world from!” Twilight sighed, lowering the tone of her voice and softening her gaze. “It would be easier to believe if we actually knew what to believe in, you know.”

“And where would be the fun —” Discord stroked his goatee. “No, wait. Perhaps you are right. I will require your help after all.”

Discord lifted a claw. “Well, I will tell you three things then.” He extended his fingers as he talked. “First, your precious elements will be the key to solve this… situation. Second, the one your marefriend here is blue about is going to be far more important than she can imagine. And third…” Discord looked at the third raised finger, scratching his head. “I forgot. It must not have been important. Adios!”

“Wait —” Twilight was left staring at a bookcase as Discord vanished with a finger snap. “Ugh!”

“I’ll say, the gall of that draconequus! Insinuating that the Great and Powerful Trixie is the marefriend of Twilight Sparkle! I mean,” Trixie looked apologetically at Twilight, “not that I think lowly of you, or anything...”

“Who was Discord talking about?” asked Twilight. “Anypony I know?”

“No. Not a pony either, at least I don’t think so; he lost his memory. He is why I waited for you to wake, I need your h-help.” The last word was said as if it needed to fight all the way up Trixie’s throat.

“I’m listening.”

“I found a creature in the Everfree. He can talk like everypony, and…” Trixie pointed at Spike. “He walks on two legs and has claws, like your baby dragon, but he is larger, pink, and doesn’t have scales. Or feathers, or hair anywhere except his mane. I don’t think he is from around here, he thinks he has met many ponies before, but never one that could speak.”

Twilight scratched her head. “He thinks?”

“He can’t remember much. Well, you came into the Everfree Forest through the path the Ursa made.” Trixie lowered her head. “Did you see the village to the north?”

Twilight shook her head. “No. There were a lot of guards flying around there, but I didn’t stop.”

“I stopped there when I was bringing you back; I had to see. Everypony, the whole village, was turned… feral. They can’t speak, the guards are not even sure they can think. Just like the ponies he remembers.” Trixie kept staring at a single spot on the floor. “This person I want to help thinks he has done it, by accident.”

“But…” Twilight opened and closed her mouth a few times before continuing. “That’s impossible! A transformation spell affecting everypony in a village would take…” Twilight stopped, doing some calculations in her head, and shook her head. “And even then, transformation spells don’t change the mind! Are you sure he did it?”

“No. But he thinks so.” Trixie looked at Twilight, pointing at her armor with a hoof. “And he did this. I tricked him into believing that I would use magic to conjure garb befitting the most powerful magician in the kingdom, and this armor appeared on me. He didn’t seem to be using any magic when it appeared.”

Twilight lighted her horn. “There is some transformation magic, but it does not appear to have been created by magic, or at least any magic I know. Did he really create it?”

“Yes, and he did… other changes, impossible ones, in front of me. And don’t look at me like that, I know transformation magic, I use it in my shows.” Trixie looked away from Twilight. “And I think he was changing you when you arrived. He didn’t want to; it just… happens. To everything around him.”

“This... explains a lot, actually; we went into the Everfree to investigate something like that. But,” Twilight tilted her head, “if he changes everything around him, how come you didn’t change?”

“I… The Great and Powerful Trixie can obviously take care of herself, and you didn’t change either! That silly crown of yours just flashed and you fell to the ground.” Trixie lowered her eyebrows, but kept looking at Twilight’s eyes. “But that is not important. I… I asked about you after you defeated me for the first time, and you are b-better than me at solving problems. Magical problems. Do you think you can help him? Find a way to prevent him from harming others?”

Twilight looked at Trixie in disbelief. Even when asking for forgiveness Trixie still acted proud; to admit somepony else might be better than her… “O-kay. I will try. But I can’t guarantee it. Perhaps we should also think about what we should do if we can’t help him. If he is that dangerous —”

“No! We will find a way to help him. You will. You must! I… I must go back.” Turning, Trixie made for the stairs down.

Twilight jumped in front of her. “Calm down, Trixie. It’s just a precaution. If we can’t —” Before she could finish the sentence she was enveloped in Trixie’s purple magical aura and whisked back to her bed. “Gah!”

Trixie was out of Twilight’s library, slamming the door, before Twilight could recover.

“Gee, Twilight, did you let her toss you around like that?”

Twilight looked at Spike. “It was not tossing, it was placing. Which is harder, actually. And I didn’t ‘let her,’ I was trying to use my magic to get out.” She glanced down at the stairs leading to the first floor. “She shouldn’t be able to —”

“Oh, right. Third thing, it’s called the Flame of Creation. I left a book for you on the first floor; if you want to help your marefriend’s pal, find a spell to remove it from an unworthy wielder. And, once more, adios!”

Twilight looked around, trying to find where he spoke from, but Discord was nowhere to be seen. With a groan, Twilight descended to the first floor, looking for the promised book.

Trixie was barely aware of her legs moving. Why had she become so angry when Twilight mentioned that she might not be able to help the human? Twilight was just being sincere. And just what had kept Trixie from telling Twilight that she had been changed into a human?

Trixie sighed. Things were becoming too complicated. She was becoming too complicated. One day she was just going from village to village, thinking only about how she could make the biggest impression on the audience, and the next day she was worrying about an entire village of ponies being robbed of their speech and reasoning…

And about the stranger that did it. She shook her head and looked to the already dark sky, the moon starting its ascension; no time to think about this right now.

After walking for a few minutes more Trixie stopped and looked around; Ponyville lay far behind, the border of the Everfree Forest close, and there was nopony around. Trixie lighted her horn, turning back into her recently acquired human form; she would have to find a less tiring way to pretend to still be a pony than keeping a transformation spell going all the time. She was surprised she had pulled it off in the first place, though; she had never been powerful enough to cast this spell on herself before, and it didn’t work at all in the presence of the human.

Trixie continued into the Everfree forest, now on two legs she could already use fairly well. As the sound of the wildlife became distant and, finally, vanished, she started to notice the small changes the human was causing to the vegetation; she was no expert on plants, but she had seen the change enough times today to recognize it, the discoloration, the absence of certain species.

It took still some time, longer than Trixie expected, to find the human. She didn’t recognize the place, but then this human could conjure things from his imagination.

He was in a vine-covered gazebo in the middle of a large garden; tables were strewn around the gazebo, one with food, others with many kinds of contraptions, many of which Trixie could not recognize. The garden ended abruptly, the wild forest trees less than a pony length from the perfectly arranged brushes and flowers.

The human must have been busy testing his unwanted power.

In the middle of the gazebo was a large drawing desk, the human bent over it, coloring something. Trixie approached silently, stopping with a gasp when she was close enough to discern the drawing.

“Turns out I know how to draw. And that I have a good memory for images.” Without turning, the human pointed at the drawing. “The background is how this place was before I changed it; I want to put it back if I can. The girl to the right is, of course, you. The pony to the left is how I think you looked before…”

After a few seconds of silence, Trixie put her hand on his shoulder. “It was not your fault. But that pony… how did you know? I have seen the ponies you… Anyway, the ponies you know don’t look anything like me, but the one you drew do. But you’ve never seen a pony like me. Or have you?”

The human picked up another drawing and placed it on the desk. “I had a visitor, the alicorn I saw before. But he was different, less… horsey. He could talk, and is calling himself Arty. And he had one of those tattoos on his hindquarters, a cutie mark of a golden moon. He came here soon after you left; seems like he was getting everyone away from the forest, the last one was a zebra that lives — lived — inside the forest.”

Trixie nodded. “And what did he want?”

The human lifted the amulet. “Arty told me that this is the Element of Inspiration, which houses something called the Flame of Creation. It is meant to… restart the world if it’s ever destroyed, I think, by making everything the owner, the world smith, imagines become reality.”

The human sighed, his hand dropping listlessly. “It was never supposed to be active now, and should never be given to me. I don’t think I’m from this world, and every time I imagine something, it seems to override this world with things from my own.”

Trixie took a step closer, putting her arm over his shoulders. “If you stay here more time, learning about this world, maybe you can —”

“I don’t have more time!” He looked back as Trixie took a step away from him, his eyebrows dropping in defeat, pain clearly visible in his eyes. “Arty spent some time measuring how far the I’m causing changes, and the area is growing. We are not sure how long it will take, but the longer I stay here, the greater the risk of your Equestria being transformed into a distorted copy of whichever world I came from but can’t remember.”

The human lowered his head into his hands. “The best I can do to minimize the tragedy is to turn all the ponies into humans; then, at least, they will keep their minds.”

“And where is he now?”

The human lifted his necklace again. “He says there is a way to contain the power of this amulet. There is some sort of key, that he says he already has a hint about, and some mystical vessel that should be able to contain this power. But I’m sure he is hiding something.”

The human collapsed on the desk’s chair as soon as he stopped talking. He was clearly exhausted. And so am I, thought Trixie.

With a few gestures and some magic she turned one of the closest hedges into a bed, and levitated the human unto it. He didn’t complain, not even when when Trixie joined him and promptly fell asleep, still in her armor.

Morning found the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony entering the Everfree forest, after a detour to see the changed ponies Trixie had told Twilight about. Twilight didn’t like the delay, but…

“You sure I need this rope? I’m feeling like a kite tied like this,” complained Rainbow Dash halfheartedly.

“I’m not going to take any risks; you remember what happened last time.” Twilight shuddered, thinking what might have happened should Trixie have not saved them. “Just bear with it a little more, until we find Trixie and can confirm my spell is working.”

“Alright, but it’d be much faster if I could just fly ahead.”

As Twilight followed the cyan pegasus, her eyes and mind kept focused on the length of rope that tied her and her friends, from Rainbow Dash flying in the front to find the way to Applejack in the back, ready to pull out everypony if needed.

So intent she was on her friends that Twilight would have missed when a cream-colored alicorn appeared in the sky, if not for Rainbow Dash pulling the rope.

“Halt, who comes —” The alicorn stopped, eyes growing wide. “The key!”

Twilight could only imagine Rainbow Dash’s face as he made his characteristic, “Huh?”

“I think…” The alicorn seemed lost in thought for a moment. “Yes, Luna calls them the Elements of Harmony. You have one —”

His voice trailed off as his gaze followed the rope, his eyes becoming wider with each new pony he looked at. “All of them here. Why…”

“Whoa there, partner.” Applejack came trotting up the line. “Who are you, and what are you doin’ here? Never heard of any alicorn b’sides the princesses.”

“Sorry. You can call me Arty, and I’m on a mission to… well, from your point of view, to stop the strange things happening here in the forest. I guess this is why you came here too?”

Twilight took a step forward. “You called the elements the ‘key.’ I’ve only seen them called that when discussing the Flame of Creation. Do you know anything about it, and whoever holds it? Did you see Trixie?”

Arty shook his head. “I haven’t seen this ‘Trixie’ you speak of, but I’m supposed to protect and, right now, contain the flame. Your elements are the key to this, but I have yet to locate the vessel that was made to contain the flame; it’s holder has been eluding me.”

Twilight looked at the alicorn, her brow furrowed. “Vessel? The book I was given didn’t mention a vessel. The spell I was going to try uses just the elements.”

“And what would it do with the Flame?” asked Arty.

“Well,” Twilight scratched her head, “supposing it works correctly, it would just remove the element from the user, without harming either; after that, I don’t know. We could give it to somepony else, somepony that could be trusted, to fix the harm already done, and then figure out a way to hide it.”

Arty nodded. “It could work. And, since you seem to know the harm the Flame causes, did you find a way to protect yourselves?”

“Yes. Well, at least I think so. It’s why we are using this,” Twilight tugged the rope, “so if it doesn’t work we can pull each other back and figure out something else.”

“It’s worth a try.” Arty took to the air and looked back, saying, “Follow me.”

In her human shape, Trixie stood just beyond the edge of the garden, watching in awe.

Twilight and her friends started to float, their expressions content, happy. Twin rainbow bands, moving and twisting as if they were alive, shot out of the necklace of that that Pinkie something pony. They slowly extended, connecting on one side to Rainbow Dash’s necklace, and on the other to Rarity’s. In a few seconds the twin bands connected to Applejack’s necklace and the necklace of that yellow pegasus Trixie could never remember the name, finally joining back at Twilight’s tiara.

Out of Twilight’s tiara shot a ball of multi-colored light, tied to the tiara by another rainbow band, and enveloped the human.

It was the most beautiful thing Trixie had ever seen; the fabled artifacts that had defeated both Nightmare Moon and Discord not once, but twice. Even from that distance Trixie could feel the power on her skin, caressing and pleasant, instead of the burning she felt when the power of the Element of Inspiration had touched her. She was sure everything would be alright.

Except it wasn’t. The rainbow faded, the sphere dissolved, the ponies landed, and nothing had changed. The six friends turned to one another, arguing, while the human fell to his hands, tears streaming down his face. Trixie also fell, mirroring the human’s feelings.

Trixie was roused from her stupor by the arrival of two other ponies, though at this time Trixie was ready to see them as gods. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna seemed to part the skies in their wake, moving with the grace of royalty.

Straining her ears, Trixie attempted to hear what was being said; it was of little use, her human hearing, with her unmoving ears, not being as good at picking words at a distance. She could still hear a few words; “sorry” and “regret” are the ones that made her heart sink. Was Celestia giving up on —

Celestia quickly moved her head, a glittering arc — tears? — remaining behind, and fired a bolt of pure sunlight at the human. A few hands away from the human the bolt stopped, as if meeting an invisible barrier, but slowly it was advancing, and the human…

The human stood there, head down, listless, unmoving. He wasn’t trying to defend himself.

So, this is how it ends, thought Trixie. A human whose only crime had been to be granted a power he didn’t even want, willfully giving his life to the perfect ruler of the country for the sake of everypony else. And Trixie watching everything, unable to move…

“Stop! You must not harm the worldsmith!”

The shout was so loud that Trixie felt the ground vibrate under her. Looking up, she saw a male alicorn — Arty — flying at Celestia like an arrow, horn aglow. He was barely a dozen body lengths when Luna flied in front of her sister, quickly and precisely creating a slanted barrier, sending him into another direction instead of simply stopping him.

Arty crashed to the ground, shouting “Stop!” again.

Her heart racing, Trixie looked at Twilight; she was shouting something to her friends, but Trixie couldn’t hear it. Trixie looked back at the human; if Arty was willing to fight Celestia and Luna…

In a flash of purple light, Trixie appeared between Celestia and the human, already inside a shield. “The Great and Powerful Trixie won’t allow you to harm this human.”

It was impossible to see outside the shield; the glare of Celestia’s magical sunbeam was too bright. But, against all odds, her shield was holding; perhaps she could…

The beam disappeared for but a moment, just enough for Trixie to see Celestia’s eyes narrow in front of her; as a new, different beam was fired, one that passed through Trixie’s current shield while leaving it intact, her world dissolved in light.

Twilight looked incredulously as the shape clad in blue armor fell. First it was the strange creature asking Celestia to just end his life, to prevent him from harming anypony else; then Trixie appears with a teleport spell Twilight wasn’t aware she knew. And had she just challenged Celestia, and held back for a few instants one of the most powerful beams Twilight had ever seen Celestia cast?

But she seemed strange;  her limbs were the wrong shape, her tail seemed to be missing, and—

“Trixie! What did you do to her, your… monster!”

Uh-oh.

“Girls, formation. Now!”

Twilight knew without looking that her friends were behind her, ready, activating their elements. One spell to try.

With a purple flash, the friends, already floating, appeared between the creature and Celestia, just above Trixie’s fallen body. Twilight fired her spell, a modified version of the shielding the friends were using to weather the changes the creature unwitting caused, but this time with the full power of the elements, creating a rainbow hued shield around them.

The creature lifted his head, the medallion he was using coming to life, firing a white beam with small multicolored streaks. It struck the shield, bulging it, but the shield held.

“No!”

That was Luna and that alicorn, Arty, in unison. Twilight looked around, trying to find what had happened without breaking her concentration…

And saw slivers of the beam hitting Celestia, who seemed to have lost consciousness. The shield had held, but it hadn’t been enough.

The creature seemed to notice it too, as the white beam had disappeared and he fell to the ground, his shoulders raising and lowering with unheard sobs. He was looking from Trixie to Celestia, feebly repeating “What have I done?” over and over.

“Celly!”

Twilight was too shocked to be surprised as Discord appeared between them, snapping his fingers like out of control castanets. Twilight landed among her friends, the effect of her spell dissolving, and worked up the courage to look behind her, at Celestia.

Discord was standing by her head, still snapping his fingers, smoke — actual, literal, smoke — rising from them. Luna and Arty were at her sides, crestfallen.

Celestia herself was… changing, her features elongating like the feral ponies Twilight had seen, her cutie mark slowly fading. Discord’s frantic snapping seemed to be having some effect, but the change was still not stopping.

Arty looked up. “We can preserve her mind in two ways. We can get the worldsmith to change her into a human, but he might not be able to do it in time, and it could sever her connection to the sun. Or, if we can seal the Flame of Creation before her mark fades completely, I can bring her back, but she will be… changed. Not for the worse, but changed.”

Luna’s gaze went from her sister’s fading cutie mark to her elongating muzzle, and then to Arty’s eyes. “You intend to give to her what you took from me, your anchor.” Arty nodded. “But won’t you fade —”

“It’s worth it. You would do the same for her, and so must I.” Arty looked at Discord, who was still snapping his fingers. “But for that we need the vessel, old opponent. The one you broke down and used to create your new body.”

“What in the — Oh, fine, you win.” Discord turned to Twilight. “But you must promise me that you will find a way to free me.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Twilight.

“Well, old story.” Discord started to walk to the center of the garden. “I broke the vessel long ago to keep the flame from somepony crazy. Crazier than me.”

“Wait,” said Twilight, “you mean that you were a hero back then?”

“Oh, no. I was a villain through and through, intent on conquering what you call Equestria. But, if somepony wants to destroy what you desire, won’t you rise against him?” Discord stood in the center of the garden and, finally stopping his snapping, saluted. “Fire away. Turn me back into stone, I will do the rest.”

Trixie had woken up feeling heavy, sluggish, but unhurt, just in time to hear about the Flame being sealed; her heart soared at the thought.

Looking around, she saw the human, on his knees and with his head in his hands. Slowly, she crawled towards him.

As he reached the human, Trixie noticed through the corner of her eye Twilight and her friends floating. Trixie stole a glance at them; their faces, serene the previous time, were now set in determination. She could see tears in every set of eyes, barely restrained for most, freely flowing for the yellow pegasus.

She turned back to the human, embracing him, until she felt the soothing magic of the Elements of Harmony, closer now than before. Feeling something shifting under her arms, she opened her eyes, and found them staring at the eyes of the human she had fallen for.

Eyes that now belonged to a pony. An earth pony. Trixie lifted her arms; she was still a human. What had happened?

Looking back, Trixie saw Discord, now a gray statue atop a pedestal. Not completely gray; Trixie could see gems studded on the pedestal.

On the other side of the statue, Trixie could see everypony else, gushing around a white pony that was standing up. A white alicorn; Celestia. She seemed smaller, about Luna’s size, and…

She gawked again at Celestia’s cutie mark. Her Sun was faded, closer to her coat than to it’s normal golden hue; atop it was a golden moon.

Trixie looked back at the human turned pony; he was a vibrant red, nearly the color of the shirt he wore before, with blue mane, and his cutie mark was a quill atop a set of strange, regular objects — special purpose dice, recognized Trixie; she had dealt with those in the past, as an entertainer.

Feeling out of place, Trixie tried her transformation spell, the one that never before had worked in front of the human; this time it worked, leaving her with her usual body. She bent down to embrace the human again…

And, before they touched, a series of unfamiliar memories hit her, memories about humans. Places, gadgets, books, faces.

Trixie’s eyes filled with tears. Among the faces she saw a girl. A human girl, from his human world, that this human turned pony loved.

“Hey, Spike,” called Trixie from her improvised bedroom in the basement laboratory, “did Twilight leave already?”

“Yeah. She’s at Sleepy Hoof again, trying a new spell.”

Spike’s tone made clear his concern. It had been a week already since everypony in that village was rendered feral, little more than common animals, but Twilight had barely slept in that time. She was spending most of her waking time researching how to undo the harm caused by an out of control Element of Inspiration.

The rest she spent trying to find a way to return to life the petrified draconequus that was keeping the element safely locked away without releasing the element again. She was determined to keep her promise, no matter what.

“So, are we going or not?”

Trixie looked at the interloper. He had taken to calling himself Dicey, after the dice and quill cutie mark he got when he was turned into a pony, and as a joke for how dicey having the Element of Inspiration was. That he was capable of smiling, of joking, again brought a smile, bitter as it was, to Trixie’s face.

But she would show him only the smile, keeping the bitterness for herself; Dicey didn’t need to know why she was avoiding getting closer, not yet at least..

“Okay, okay. We are leaving.”

Trixie and Dicey took a little used road out of town, walking towards the Everfree Forest. Once inside, Trixie let her transformation spell fade, turning back into a human, her clothes — she always went fully clothed now — changing to fit her new shape. At least keeping the spell was becoming easier with practice, and the human form Trixie was stuck with had a huge amount of magic, perhaps even more magic than Twilight.

The path inside the forest was already well known to both of them. They soon passed into the area where the forest had been changed — temporarily, according to Zecora; the forest was better at recovering than ponies, it seems — and came into view of the garden.

It was still eerily silent and still. Animals, even insects and monsters, avoided the place. Trixie could understand them; while the garden had been protected by the power of the Element of Inspiration, the magical clash that took place in it was felt by unicorns as far as Canterlot.

The statue Trixie sought was in the exact center of the garden; Twilight had already measured it, looking for any hint on how to release the trapped draconequus. How a being of pure chaos could be petrified in the one spot that would make the whole garden symmetrical, orderly, still bothered Twilight; it was too much a coincidence. Trixie was of the opinion that Discord had chosen the spot just to mess with Twilight, but she wasn’t about to tell her this.

Of course, the fact Discord stuck a salute and a smile before being petrified was a dead giveaway of how serious he must be feeling back then.

Trixie looked again at the arrangement of the gems representing the elements, wondering if it also was Discord’s doing: the six Elements or Harmony were around the pedestal that had formed under Discord’s petrified shape; the rainbow hued diamond representing the Element of Inspiration could be seen in his left claw; and the heart-shaped emerald of the still unnamed element he carried, the power of the vessel capable of holding a flame capable of creating a world, was over where Discord heart’s should be.

Enough reminiscing. Looking at Dicey, Trixie asked, “Are you ready?”

He nodded his assent.

Trixie kneeled and took in her hand Dicey’s forehoof, both closing their eyes; Trixie couldn’t help but imagine what would it be for the two of them to be ponies, playing and laughing together. She could feel a warm sensation in her and wondered which kind of magic it was…

And fell forward. Opening her eyes, she noticed she was back to her pony body; Trixie had been looking for a way to reverse that change, as much for Dicey’s sake as for her own, the whole week, while keeping her change a secret from everypony else. Who would have thought it would be so easy…

Trixie looked to the side; Dicey didn’t even notice her shifting back yet. Instead, he was looking, stunned, at something in front of them; a floating, transparent image of Discord, dressed in a brown robe with something small and cylindrical attached to his hip. The statue remained undisturbed.

“Bravo! You finally found the sliver of power I left inside the girl, felt the force that connects all living things, and all that. But I should have used a different trigger, you took long enough to touch each other. And, before you ask me, the answer is forty two.”

Dicey looked at the image, his face a semblant of utter confusion. “What?”

“Oh, the tragedy!” said Discord, collapsing into an ethereal sofa. “I finally find someone who could understand my jokes, and he has amnesia! Oh, goodness. Heh, goodness, I was spending too much time with Fluttershy.” Discord turned to Trixie, winking. “But you did understand, eh, lovebird? The sliver of power came bearing gifts, after all.”

Trixie looked coldly at Discord’s eyes for a couple seconds, turned and started to leave. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has no time to lose with powerless fools that spout nonsense. Come, Dicey, we can return tomorrow.”

“Hey, wait! Sheesh, ponies those days don’t take a simple joke! Fine, if you are so eager, what do you want to speak about?”

Dicey turned to Discord, taking a step forward. “How to undo the harm. Will this sliver of power you mentioned be able to do it?”

Discord wiggled a finger. “Alas, no. It’s barely enough to manifest inside her body and allow my spirit out, and that in the presence of the gem here. I would love to see the chaos you could cause with more power, mind, but if the Guardian, our late pal Arty, showed up, the other must be around; any more power left with you and it would be a beacon for him to follow.”

Discord entwined his fingers under his chin. “So, I’m afraid if you want everypony, including Celestia, back to how they were, you will have to do it the hard way, by finding a way to control the Element of Inspiration and free me.”

Trixie narrowed her eyes. “And where do we start?”

“Oh, I could let you find that answer yourself. After all, for someone that has already spent a millenium in stone, what are a few more years? But we don’t have that much time; I didn’t fix the vessel, I just glued it with friendship-flavored gossamer and can already feel it cracking again, so I guess I will have to help you all directly.” The image floated towards Trixie. “Now, hold still.”

“Wait, what are you doing… Agh!”

Trixie felt dizzy and closed her eyes for a moment; when she opened them again, another unicorn, tan with gray, short cropped mane, was standing besides her. His cutie mark was the same wand and magical moon as Trixie’s.

“Why, it has been ages since I last had to use anypony as an anchor. I don’t think Celestia was even born back then.”

Trixie blinked. “Wait. You want to come with us?”

“But of course! You have to admit that it will be easier than running back to me every time you have a question. And don’t worry about your memories, that only happens when the spirit using the anchor has big holes in his head. Oh, and can we bring Twilight too? Rilling her up is so much fun!”