My Little Pony: Prime

Chapters

1: Impact
2: Sparks
4: Precursor
5: Sowing Seeds
6: Stirring
7: Night Business
A Monster Lurks
8: Gestation
9: Meetings
The Monster Within
3: Unwelcome Guests

1: Impact

My Little Pony: Prime
By: Brony Tom

Used without permission. Metroid and all related materials © Nintendo. My Little Pony © Hasbro.

Part 1

It was late in the morning when Pinkie Pie burst out the door of Sugarcube Corner carrying a saddlebag full of party invitations. She bounced along through Ponyville, handing out the invitations to ponies as she passed them. She rounded a corner to find Twilight Sparkle walking along with Spike on her back; the duo was engaged in what seemed a lively discussion, so they didn't notice as a light bulb appeared above Pinkie's head and lit up. Pinkie quickly hid behind the nearest object, which happened to be a gray pegasus pony that had walked out of the adjacent building.

“Ditzy Doo! Can you do me a favor? I need you to distract Twilight and Spike while I sneak up on them and surprise them,” the pink pony whispered confidentially.

“Uh... Muffin thinks Muffin could do that,” Ditzy replied slowly. She flew up and then proceeded to crash right in front of Twilight and Spike. Pinkie took the opportunity to get into a good position for surprising the two ponies and the dragon. She watched Twilight help Ditzy Doo gather up the spilled mail, and after Ditzy had flown off, the two friends resumed their walk, albeit with an unseen pink earth pony in tow.

Pinkie Pie crept along next to her friends, waiting for the best opportunity to surprise them with her invitations. She saw the best chance as the unsuspecting trio approached the Ponyville Library, so she sneaked around into a bush right next to the library's front door. Pinkie jumped out and was about to shout “Surprise!” when she felt a familiar twitch in her tail, which quickly grew to become a tail-twister the likes of which Pinkie had never felt before; it was so strong that she lost her coordination mid-jump and plopped unceremoniously in front of a startled Twilight Sparkle.

Not so far away from Equestria, in the depths of space, a large, glowing blue asteroid orbited the Sun in its strange elliptical path; that is, until an even larger asteroid collided with it, knocking it forcefully out of its regular orbit. It smashed a few smaller asteroids out of its way, until it finally began spiraling closer and closer to the Sun, but more specifically, closer to the lush blue and green planet that was now perilously close to its orbital path.

“Oh, hey Pinkie.” Twilight smiled. “What are you doing- Pinkie, are you alright?!” Twilight watched in horror as Pinkie's body froze up, convulsing uncontrollably on the ground. Twilight focused on Pinkie Pie as her horn began to glow purple; Pinkie was soon enveloped in a similar glow, and her shuddering body was lifted up into the air and through the library door.

“Spike, get some blankets from my room and lay them out to make a bed!” commanded Twilight.

“Okay, Twilight!” Spike ran as fast as his stubby legs would carry him. Meanwhile, Twilight was having trouble keeping the convulsing Pinkie Pie floating in the air.

“Stop... shaking...” Twilight grunted to herself. All of that thrashing was just making it harder for her to levitate Pinkie. After a few moments Spike tumbled down the stairs with several puffy blankets in tow. Splitting her concentration, Twilight grabbed the blankets with her telekinesis and spread them out on the floor in a heap, then placed Pinkie as carefully as she could on top of the pile.

“Twilight, I'm sorry I'm late, I'm here to help you with the lib- EEP!” Fluttershy flew in through the door. When she saw Pinkie shaking uncontrollably, she gasped in shock and dropped to the ground, paralyzed.

“Tw- Twilight, wh- what happened to P-Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy stuttered.

“Well, Spike and I were walking together through Ponyville when Pinkie-” Twilight began, but was interrupted when Pinkie Pie suddenly and abruptly stopped moving altogether. Everything was silent in the room for about ten seconds before Pinkie Pie jumped up and started bouncing around the room at lightning speed.

“Wow, girls, that was the biggest tail twitch I've ever had! It was so big it made my whole body go crazy! Something really, really big is about to fall!” Pinkie continued to frolic around the interior of the library as though nothing had happened.

The other ponies and Spike stood in the room with terrified looks on their faces, afraid of just how big the thing might be. At the thought of something huge crushing her animal friends, Fluttershy jumped into the air.

“Oh my, my poor animals, they might all get hurt! I have to go warn them-” Fluttershy stammered. She tried to fly out the door, but she felt herself unable to move after a purple glow enveloped her.

“Wait, Fluttershy!” protested Twilight. “We don't know when or where this thing is gonna fall, so I think it's safer for us to stay inside for a little while.”

“But what about the animals and the other ponies? Someone has to warn them!” Fluttershy pointed out. After a moment of thought, Twilight let go of Fluttershy, so Fluttershy flew out to save her animals. Twilight turned to address the pink pony.

“Pinkie Pie, are you sure that your tail- Pinkie? Pinkie, where did you-” Twilight looked around confused; Pinkie Pie was gone. Twilight sighed.

“Spike, lets go warn the Mayor.”

Spike climbed onto Twilight's back, then Twilight teleported away.

Princess Luna walked through the halls of the Royal Palace, tired but unable to sleep. Aside from all of the budget problems Celestia had asked her to deal with, there was something else that was nagging at her mind, making her restless. She couldn't put a finger on it, and that coupled with not being able to get any sleep really set Luna on edge.

Not many ponies realized this, though, since very few (if any) ponies aside from her sister and the government officials spoke with her very often. Most ponies simply walked past, as was the case today, oblivious to the frustration building in the Night Princess.

Perhaps a walk in the garden would help me to relax. Yes, that sounds good.

Luna stepped out into the sunlight, letting it warm her midnight-blue coat. Not very far from where she stood she could clearly see the Royal Garden in all of its splendor; lush green plants matted the entire spread and flowers of every imaginable color were arranged tastefully around cobblestone paths that were woven throughout. Several ponds dotted the landscaping, and various fruit-bearing trees were also present. A pleasant morning breeze blew across her as she walked into the garden, and Princess Luna felt heartily refreshed. She strolled tranquilly through the garden, happily smelling the fragrant flowers and listening to the birds' music. As peaceful as the garden was, though, it couldn't totally remove the burden; only gazing up at her starry night could do that.

Luna continued her walk, pushing the feeling to the back of her mind, when she finally came to an especially beautiful and comfortable-looking part of the garden. Finally feeling the fatigue catch up with her, Luna laid down amongst some well-tended daffodils, letting her heavy eyelids succumb to the lethargy. As she felt herself drifting into sleep, the nagging feeling in her mind surged to the front, filling her with dread, as though something was coming. For her. The feeling passed as quickly as it came, though, and Luna passed into an uncomfortable sleep.

Even with the best-laid plan given the short notice, the rush to get everypony indoors was rather chaotic. Fortunately, though, nopony was hurt, and after a nerve-wracking three and a half minutes everypony in Ponyville was safe inside a building. Twilight and Spike were inside Sugarcube corner, along with the Mayor, Pinkie Pie, and ten other ponies; Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen making cupcakes.

“Pinkie Pie! How can you make cupcakes at a time like this?” Twilight demanded.

“Well, I might as well be doing something while we're all in here, silly!” stated Pinkie matter-of-fact-ly. “Maybe we could even have a party! Oh, I know! A 'Sky is Falling' party! I'll get started on the-” Pinkie found a large piece of hard candy suddenly thrust into her mouth.

Twilight Sparkle sighed; Pinkie did have a point. While they were all inside, there was still plenty of time to get things done. It occurred to Twilight that she could just teleport home to the library and get back to redoing her star charts. Twilight walked up to the Mayor.

“Uh, excuse me, Mayor, but would you mind if I teleported back to the library so I can get some things done while I'm waiting?”

The Mayor thought about it for a moment. “Well... I suppose. I should be able to handle any situations that come up, but if I need you I'll let you know.”

Relieved, Twilight fetched Spike and was about to teleport home when a familiar pink pony appeared next to her from nowhere.

“Hey, Twilight, want a cupcake? They're super-duper fresh!” offered Pinkie Pie.

After catching her breath from the initial scare, Twilight took one of the cupcakes from the tray Pinkie was holding.

“Hanks, Inkie Ie!” mumbled Twilight incoherently between bites of cupcake. “Ey're reawwy good!”

“Oh, goodie! I put in a secret new ingredient!” Pinkie added mysteriously.

Twilight was too busy savoring the deliciousness to hear. After she had finished, she smiled contentedly, and then teleported spike and herself to the library.

Luna awoke in the garden. Looking around groggily, she realized that she was covered in a blanket and that two Royal Guards were standing around her. It was late afternoon and the sun was setting.

“I... what?” Luna wondered. “Um, excuse me, sir...”

The guard she was addressing, realizing that the Princess was awake, did a 180 and bowed low to the ground.

“Princess Luna, I'm Captain Shining Armor. Is there anything I can do for you?” asked the white unicorn.

“Yes, Captain. I have a few questions. Did Celly- I mean, Celestia put you up to this?”

“Yes, Princess. We were ordered to keep anything from disturbing you while you slept.”

“Humph. I thought so. Captain, where is Celestia now?” demanded Luna.

“She should be in the Main Hall of the Palace, your majesty.”

“Thank you, gentleponies. That will be all.” Luna dismissed the guards, telekinetically picking up the blanket and carrying it with her. Luna walked purposefully towards the palace and into the main hall, where her sister was conversing with her Infrastructure Minister about the dam project Luna had suggested be built on the Manube River.

“Well, Princess, like I said earlier, if we were to build the dam here, near Flankfurt, then I think we could-”

“Ah, Luna, you've finally woken up,” Celestia said with a mischievous grin when she noticed the other princess.

Luna tried hard to maintain her righteous anger, but found herself grinning uncontrollably.

“Sister, what was the meaning of this?” Luna raised the blanket up in the air. She tried to speak seriously, but when she saw her sister barely suppressing a very un-Princess-like giggle Luna's voice cracked with laughter.

“Um... perhaps, Your Majesty, I should take my leave now,” suggested the Minister tactfully.

“Yes, Minister, I believe that is a good idea,” Celestia said good-naturedly. The gray earth pony collected the maps and documents and trotted off.

“Now, Luna, where were we?”

“Celly- Celestia- why did you not just wake me up? It is not very princess-like to sleep in the royal garden,” Luna protested half-heartedly.

“Luna, I have to get my amusement from somewhere. You were so adorable, just lying there in the grass, I couldn't help but sneak a photograph.” Celestia giggled at Luna's look of horror.

“You didn't-”

“Nope! But the look on your face is something I will treasure forev- Oof!” Celestia gasped as she tried to free herself from the blanket Luna had thrown on her. Celestia could hear Luna giggling, but that rich sound that Celestia had missed for a millennium abruptly ended.

“Luna? Luna, what's going on?” Celestia asked, then finally removed the blanket. She gasped in horror. Princess Luna had frozen absolutely still, her eyes blankly staring ahead, wide-open out of terror.

“Luna! What's wrong, speak to me!”

Distantly, Luna could hear somepony calling her name, asking if she was alright, but Luna couldn't focus on that; she was too occupied gaping at her surroundings. She was somehow back on the moon, possibly in a spectral form. Panic began to set in as fears of banishment and loneliness surged through her mind. Luna shook her head violently, eyes closed to try and hold back the tears. She looked up and screamed, then opened her eyes and stopped, staring in horror at the enormous rock that was looming far off in the distance of space; it was speeding towards her moon. It seemed at first as though the asteroid would simply sail past the moon, but the path of the asteroid was so close that Luna feared that her moon's gravity might ensnare it.

The rock flew closer and closer to her moon, but before Luna could do anything she felt a stretching sensation and her vision went black. Luna began to breathe quite rapidly, panicking; she kicked a hoof, and when Luna felt something solid, she opened her eyes in surprise.

“Ow! Luna, that was my face!” Celestia groaned, holding a hoof to her nose.

“Celly? Celly! I'm back, I'm back...” Luna began to sob softly. The Day Princess touched her horn to Luna's. Relief traveled like a wave from older sister to younger along the magical touch. Luna stopped crying, simply breathing steadily.

“Thank you, Celly. I... I was so scared that I was back on the moon...”

“I understand. But... was that all? Surely, there must have been more to make my sister fall unconscious?”

“Celly, there was...” Luna grimaced. “There was a great asteroid heading towards Equestria.”

Rumors flew around Ponyville as the ponies tried to make up for any lost time during the scare. Twilight Sparkle was especially frustrated as she sat in her library, looking over her star charts; but, unable to concentrate, in a fit of frustration she swept all of the charts off the table. Twilight had finally gotten used to accepting the Pinkie Sense, and now suddenly it chose to fail her? She sighed and rested her head on her hoof, looking out at the gorgeous sunset. Pinkie, of course, still thought that something was going to fall, so she had stayed inside Sugarcube Corner all day.

Twilight grumbled as she picked her star charts up and put them back on the table; as she was doing so, something odd caught her eye. There was something odd about two of the charts, both of which dated from about 500 years ago. She looked closely at the two side-by-side charts, knowing that something was different, but unable to place just what it was exactly. Her curiosity aroused, Twilight forgot all about the events of the day as she sat down and went through the stars on the charts one by one.

The two rulers of Equestria were standing together in the Royal Observatory, panting heavily. Celestia pawed the ground angrily.

"How? How did that asteroid resist our combined magical strength?" puzzled the white alicorn.

"Did you feel it too, Celly? It was like the thing was diffusing our magic."

"Yes, I did..." Celestia trailed off.

“So, Celly, what do we do now?”

"We wait a little bit, recharge our energy, and then hit it with a more concentrated burst of energy,” Celestia answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “Oh, and we don't let any of our subjects know of it. If word got out...”

“I understand that part, Celly, but why should we wait? Couldn't we transport ourselves to the moon and focus its energy? I am the Moon Princess, after all. Or couldn't we even use the Cannon?”

“NO!” Celestia recoiled vehemently. She closed her eyes and sighed. “I'm sorry, Luna, but I can't. I'm rather tired right now.” Princess Celestia turned away and walked slowly to one of the observatory's windows, looking out at the horizon lazily. Her fading sunset this day was magnificently red and orange, the sun barely lingering on the horizon, almost sorrowfully. Luna seemed to sense her sister's feelings, and lowered her head. Neither of the Princesses spoke for what seemed an eternity.

“What's wrong, Celly?”

Celestia looked back at Luna. “Nothing, Luna... nothing is wrong.”

Luna frowned, not satisfied. “Celly, you are officially the worst liar I have ever met. Now, tell me what's on your mind.”

Celestia's shoulders slumped a fraction.

“I can't,” whispered Celestia. “I could always talk to you about anything, Luna, but in this one aspect I'm not ready yet. I will tell you eventually, but that day has not yet arrived. Please, don't push this."

A swirl of emotions flowed in Luna's head, but eventually she just walked over to her older sister and nuzzled her lovingly.

“Anything for you, Celly.”

“Aha! That's what it was!” Twilight shouted in triumph. “I found the discrepancy! Now... what is it?” Twilight pulled out Clopernicus' guide to the stars and flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

The Blue Wanderer, found in the sky near the constellation Equuleus. When viewed closely enough, it is bright blue in color. It is notable because it has not always been present in the Equestrian skies; it was first discovered in the year 503. There is much speculation as to how the star came to be, but none of the theories have much credibility since most of them are folk tales. Some suggest that it is a comet, but its distinct blue color would seem to contradict that hypothesis, as comets are not usually blue. Others are convinced that it is instead a magical construct or a star, but they have no way to explain its appearance, since nopony has ever taken credit for creating it.

There is not much available data about The Blue Wanderer, since all attempts at magical probing have failed; spectroscopic analysis of the star reveals that it is mostly composed of an unknown substance. No hypothesis yet has explained this anomaly.

“Hm... that's weird. How would a star just show up? Luna couldn't have put it there, she was in exile.” Twilight looked out the window at the night sky, thinking about the mystery. Then her eyes widened, and she face-hoofed. Twilight quickly went up to her telescope and searched through the sky for the star. She went to the area of the sky that the charts indicated, but... there was no blue star there. Twilight checked her charts again, and refocused the telescope. She identified Equuleus, right there, so The Blue Wanderer should be right...

There was no star there.

Twilight gasped. She stood in shock, her mind racing. Twilight raced downstairs, looking for parchment to write a letter to Celestia.

How did the star disappear? If it was Princess Luna that took the star away, then how did it get there in the first place? I doubt Princess Celestia would have had any reason to put it there, so does that mean that there is another being capable of altering the night sky?

Twilight finally found the paper and began scratching a note to the Princess.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have recently learned of the existence of a certain star, called “The Blue Wanderer”, which appeared in the night sky during the year 503. Now, this very night, I have discovered that it is no longer among the stars; it is gone. Since Princess Luna could not have put it there, I am curious to know if you put it there, and if you did not, then... who did?

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Celestia had just laid her head down for a quick nap when a familiar mist appeared and became a scroll right in front of her eyes. Intrigued at what could possibly be going on for Twilight to send her a letter at this hour, she opened it and read. Her eyebrows shot up.

“That's interesting...” Celestia sprang up and opened the door to her bedchamber. “Shining Armor!”

The Captain spun around. “Yes, m'Lady?”

“Fetch one of the librarians and the chief astronomer, and tell them to bring the astronomical records from the year 503.”

“Yes, Princess!” He bowed, then ran off. Celestia closed the door, then called for Luna with a telepathy spell.

“Luna, I think you should come to my room. My faithful student Twilight Sparkle has uncovered some interesting news.”

To herself, Celestia whispered “Twilight Sparkle... you always were my brightest student.”

Luna appeared next to her sister in a literal flash.

“You wanted me, Celly?”

“Yes, I was curious; do you know of the star "Blue Wanderer"?”

“Blue... Wanderer?” asked Luna, baffled.

The Princess of the Day frowned. “I was hoping you wouldn't say that.” Celestia turned to one of the bookshelves in her room and pulled out an unassuming blue-covered book.

“What's that for, Celly?”

“It's one of the volumes of my journal,” Celestia commented as she flipped through the pages. “I made sure to record any important events from my own perspective, and I'm pretty sure the unexplained appearance of a star would qualify as 'important'. Aha! Here it is.” Celestia scanned the page and frowned again. “That doesn't sound good.”

Luna gulped. “What is it, Celly?” Celestia simply showed Luna the book.

February, 503 (Strange Star)
Today I felt an enormous energy shock from the depths of our solar system. I could not identify its purpose nor its origin, since I passed out during its entirety. Later in the day I was notified by my chief astronomer that a strange new star had appeared in the night sky. I cannot help but believe that the two are somehow connected, although I cannot as of yet verify my suspicions.

-Additional Notes
As of October 503 I have observed no harmful or malicious signs from the new star, nor have any new magical bursts been detected. I am almost afraid to pen my thoughts, but perhaps it was an attempt by my sister Luna to escape? I hope that she has not figured out a way to do so, although I cannot stop wishing that she were here....

Luna could read no more. She handed the book back to her sister.

“It wasn't me, Celly. I... I did try to escape at first, but-”

“That's enough, Luna. The past is behind us.”

Luna's body suddenly froze, taut with tension. She felt as though something were pulling on her, coming closer, closer...

The blue asteroid drifted towards the planet Equestria. Its path was so close to the planet's orbit that it very well could just fly past the planet without harm, and it seemed on course to do just that. Until, that is, the moon's gravity began pulling the asteroid in. The blue hulk's path curved gracefully, inexorably, towards the moon, which was now between Equestria and it. The asteroid, attracted by the moon's gravity, was steadily being pulled into a crash course with the moon. It seemed to come down to the final seconds, whether the asteroid would impact or not... and then, the asteroid, traveling at a thousand kilometers per hour, skimmed along and bounced off of the moon.

Luna cried out in pain, as though the rock had struck her instead of the moon. She collapsed to the ground, pain everywhere.

“Luna! What happened? I felt an explosion!”

“The asteroid...” Luna said weakly. “It hit the moon... but, it didn't- oww! It didn't really hit the moon; it... it scraped the moon, and now it's going to hit us.” Luna was gasping for breath.

Celestia's expression fell. “We'll have to destroy it quickly, then.”

Luna was still shaking from the trauma. “I don't know if I'm up to it, that impact really took the wind out of me. We... We could always use the Cannon-”

“Luna!” Celestia interrupted sharply. “You know that that is only for absolute emergencies; you know what it takes to charge up a shot from it. And this is not so dire as to merit its use!”

At that moment, the door opened and two ponies walked in, carrying a few ancient books.

“Your Majesty? You requested our presence,” said the astronomer, Midnight Gaze. He noticed then that Princess Luna was shaking and sweating. “Uh... Your Highness? Is everything... okay?”

“Ah, yes, my dear sister has just had a shock, is all. If you would be so kind, please watch over her and while you are, look for any information you have about the Blue Wanderer. Luna, tell me if you learn anything new while I am gone.” Luna nodded, and the two other ponies bowed respectfully.

“Very well, Princess.”

And with that, Princess Celestia teleported away.

Twilight was looking over her notes again when she heard the sound of somepony teleporting into her home.

“Hey! Who's down there?” Twilight called out nervously.

“Ah, Twilight, there you are,” said a familiar voice. Twilight Sparkle stiffened in recognition.

“P-P- Princess Celestia?!”

The Princess strode up the stairs, a warm smile on her face.

“My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight came to her senses and bowed at the mention of her name. “You can dispose of the formalities. I only wish that the circumstances of my visit were not so... dire.”

“Oh! What's wrong, Princess?”

“That star you mentioned in your letter, the Blue Wanderer, well... it's not actually a star. It's an asteroid, and unfortunately, Twilight, the asteroid you saw is no longer in the sky because it is about to hit Equestria.”

The purple unicorn's mouth dropped to the floor. “B-but... that would mean...” she did some quick calculations in her head. “The force from such a hit would be catastrophic!”

“Yes, Twilight, it would be. So, naturally, you and I are going to stop it.”

“We are?”

“Of course! What kind of ruler of Equestria would I be if I let something like that happen?” Celestia grinned. “Would you mind if we use your telescope?”

Twilight simply nodded, curious as to the Princess' plan. Celestia telekinetically adjusted the telescope until she saw the asteroid through the scope. The Blue Wanderer appeared as a bright blue and orange fireball descending upon the planet. The asteroid seemed to be heading directly towards Twilight's telescope, almost as though it knew it was being watched.

The princess began casting a spell, and the telescope's many parts drifted apart while still maintaining the basic appearance of a telescope.

“Twilight, I need you to focus all of your magical power into the telescope.”

“Yes, Princess.” Twilight scrunched up her eyes and her horn began to glow purple. When she went to discharge her energy, she found that the telescope had become, in effect, a reservoir that was designed to hold magic. Twilight poured her energy in, and kept straining, putting all of her power into it. At last, she felt nothing left to put in and stopped. Panting, Twilight looked up at the telescope, now a gleaming tube of raw energy. When Twilight glanced at her mentor, she noticed that Celestia looked very drained as well.

“Would you like to do the honors, Twilight? I have already put in my magic, which will act as guidance for the beam.”

“Um... I think you should do it, Your Highness,” Twilight mumbled, nervous of such destructive power.

Celestia nodded with a look of such understanding that Twilight couldn't help but wonder what the Princess was thinking. Twilight watched her mentor aim the telescope right on the blue ball, and take a calming breath. She inched her horn closer... closer... tap- BOOM!

A huge ray of purple and white energy shot out of the telescope, startling Twilight so much that she fell backwards. Twilight watched with both horror and wonder as the beam collided with the faint glow of the asteroid and created a distant, massive explosion. The young unicorn's expression was one of awe as she watched the fiery blue explosion.

The Princess was still looking through the telescope when her face folded into a tired frown as she saw a few small chunks of blue hurtle out of the flames. Celestia stepped back and Twilight jumped over to look through the telescope.

“Oh no! Princess Celestia, parts of the asteroid are still falling! What went wrong?”

Celestia looked at the pieces once more through the telescope, but did not appear troubled. “It's alright, my student. Based on their current trajectories, I can tell that they will be landing far from any kind of civilization. There shouldn't be any problems.”

The lavender unicorn breathed a heavy sigh of relief, but in her mind lurked the remnants of doubt.

“Thank you, Twilight. It has been quite the evening, but I am exhausted and I can tell you are as well. I shall take my leave of you now, my faithful student.”

“Okay, Princess Celestia. I'm glad you came; I enjoyed learning about all this.”

With a warm smile and a gracious nod, Princess Celestia prepared to teleport to her Palace, but before she did, she sighed softly, sadly, and looked at Twilight with a strange, unusually warm glance of affection. And then, the Princess was gone.

After a moment of shock, Twilight left the balcony, still somewhat dazed, processing the events of the evening. As she lay in bed trying to sleep she couldn't help but puzzle over the Princess' odd behavior, but that thought was soon lost in the maelstrom of ideas swirling in Twilight's restless mind. Just as a merciful sleep descended on Twilight at last, one final thought made her smile: I guess Pinkie Pie was right about that falling object...

Out in the open ocean, the choppy waves were thrown hither and thither by a fierce wind. From the gray, overcast sky a fiery, bright blue missile erupted and crashed into the water, startling the fish that were nearby. The blue substance was fractured by the impact, and the pieces that remained sank into the dark depths of the ocean.

The Western Wastelands lay still, hardly a breeze blowing in the boiling desert heat. Rocky outcrops the size of houses poked out of the ground like spears, marring the landscape. Plateaus and crevasses ran hither and thither like spider webs. Into this hellish environ a screaming blue meteor came crashing down from the sky, shooting up a huge cloud of dirt and dust. It took only a few moments for the debris to settle, and the blast crater was quickly lost amongst the pock-marked earth and heat waves.

Deep in the Everfree Forest was a lake; rather, something more like a swamp. Its stagnant waters were suddenly and mightily disturbed as a pony-sized chunk of glowing blue rock impacted it at several hundred kilometers per hour, leaving a huge crater which quickly filled back up with foul water, leaving no trace of the disturbance. At the bottom of the pool, however, the blue glow began to spread across the swamp, ever so slightly, ever so slowly.

2: Sparks

Part 2

Twilight was standing in a field that stretched out in all directions as far as she could see. The weather was pleasant enough; the sun shone gently over the earth and cool breeze blew across Twilight's face. Twilight strolled through the plains, enjoying the feeling of life that the earth seemed to radiate; she wondered if this was what earth ponies felt like all the time. Acting on an impulse, the purple unicorn began galloping lackadaisically over the field, giggling and laughing like a little filly. Eventually she came across a small, glowing blue flower. It was a very light blue, lighter than the Poison Joke that grew in the Everfree Forest.

Curious, Twilight trotted up to inspect it; at a closer look, she realized that the flower had a face, and appeared to be sleeping. Almost as if it sensed her approach, the flower woke up and focused its gaze on the unicorn that was now standing in front of it. Twilight gasped as she saw that the flower's eyes were empty black sockets. It smiled ghoulishly as its blue glow became brighter, then spread down through its stem and into the earth.

Immediately, Twilight felt the earth give out a ghastly groan, as if in pain. The blue spot in the ground grew slowly, but became quicker with each passing second. The soil, once touched by the blue glow, seemed to be assimilated by the insatiable blue tide. Twilight realized that there were trees and plants springing up all around her, as if she were suddenly in a forest. The blue wave swept over all of the plants, warping and distorting them into twisted mockeries of their old forms; where before there had been tall, proud oaks there were now glassy, gnarled blue trunks with waving, tentacle-like protrusions.

It seemed as though the very air itself was befouled by the blue, the poison, the... corruption. Finished with the flora, the inexorable decay loomed over Twilight, about to consume the petrified purple unicorn. She could hear whispers of unintelligible sounds calling to her, drawing her in. The blue tide of un-life engulfed her like a tidal wave, and she could feel its cold, wet grasp-

“AAAAAHHHHH!” screamed the sleeping unicorn mare. Her eyes snapped open and she leaped out of bed, panting heavily. Realizing that she had only been dreaming, Twilight took a few calming breaths. Her purple dragon assistant poked his head out from under a blanket that Twilight had thrown off in her haste.

“I'm glad you're up, Twi,” enthused Spike. “I noticed that you were talking in your sleep, and you were shaking like a leaf. It was kinda weird at first, just seeing you like that, but then you started saying 'Stay back' and 'Get away from me' so I figured I should probably wake you up pronto.” Spike smiled sheepishly as he gestured to an empty bucket. “You weren't waking up when I shook you, so I got a little carried away...”

Twilight's face wore a frown as she heard Spike's revelation and realized for the first time that she was dripping wet.

“Gee, thanks, Spike.”

“Aw, come on, Twilight, it was just a little water. Besides, I made breakfast! Oat waffles!”

Twilight smiled, shaking her head as she levitated a towel from her closet and hastily dried off. The unicorn stood up and went down the stairs to the breakfast table, where she hungrily began to devour the delicious waffles, Spike not far behind.

“Wow, Twilight, you're really hungry today. Was it something to do with the Princess' visit last night?”

Twilight almost choked on a mouthful of waffles.

“How did you know about the Princess' visit? I didn't see you awake when I went to bed.”

“I heard that really loud thing, but I figured it would be better if I just stayed in bed...” Spike said sheepishly. Twilight gave him a suspicious look as one of her eyebrows shot up.

“Are you sure that was the only reason you didn't get up?”

“Well... I might have been kinda scared of the magical explosion thing.”

Twilight laughed good-naturedly and playfully pushed her assistant with one of her forehooves, when there was a knock at the library door.

“I wonder who that could be?” Spike wondered out loud as he went to open the door. He opened it to find an orange earth pony waiting there. “Oh, hey, Applejack. What's up?” asked the dragon.

“Howdy, Spike. Is Twilight awake?”

“Yeah, she's eating breakfast right now. Do you want some? I made oat waffles,” Spike offered, then opened the door wider in invitation.

“No, that's okay, Spike, I jus' had a question for Twilight,” Applejack said as she trotted in. She headed back to where Twilight was munching on her third helping of waffles.

“G'mornin', Twi. I had a question I thought you might be able to answer.”

“Okay, whah ish ih?” Twilight said with a mouthful of waffle. She swallowed sheepishly. “Sorry AJ, I'm pretty hungry after last night.”

Applejack looked surprised after Twilight mentioned the previous night. “Well, sugarcube, that's just it; I was up a bit late las' night, and I couldn' help but notice a real big light-beam thing, and, well, I figured since you're the most magical pony in town, ya might know somethin' 'bout it.”

Twilight's mind raced as she thought back to the previous evening.

The Princess didn't tell me I had to keep it a secret... but I don't know if I should tell her the truth. The Princess might not want word going around about this kind of thing. Would she care?

“So, Applejack. Do you remember how Pinkie's Pinkie Sense told her something really big was going to fall yesterday? Well... Pinkie was right,” said the purple unicorn carefully.

Applejack raised her eyebrows in confusion. “Uh, Twi? There wern't nothin' that fell, not to my knowledge.”

“You're correct, nothing actually fell. That's what the light beam did; it stopped what was falling from falling.”

The orange pony slowly seemed to comprehend what Twilight was getting at. Still curious, she pressed on.

“So, Twi, what was it that was fallin'?”

Feeling slightly more nervous now that her friend was asking for specifics, Twilight thought for a moment about her response. She started to speak-

CRASHBOOM.

Any lighter objects, like cups and silverware, rattled slightly from the sound of a Sonic Rainboom.

Simultaneously, upstairs in Twilight's bedroom was the sound of several crashes and much destruction.

Twilight and Appljack looked back at each other for a moment before rushing up the stairs and into Twilight's bedroom, where they gasped in shock.

Inside was a pile of broken glass, wood splinters from the damaged windowframe, and ponies. Two ponies, actually, a bright red pegasus colt and a bight blue pegasus filly, the red pony curled protectively around the blue one. Twilight and Applejack gasped as they recognized-

“Dash!” shouted the two friends simultaneously.

Right on cue, the blue pony groaned and sat up, accidentally cutting her hoof on one of the glass shards; after a split second, her eyes shot open in shock and she leaped into the air, her wings flapping out of sync.

“OW OW OW OW!” screamed Rainbow Dash. She lurched crazily through the room until she landed on Twilight's bed with a muffled whump. Twilight and Applejack ran over to the bed.

“Rainbow, are you okay? What happened?” asked Twilight.

“I dunno, Twi. I was practicing tricks with Flare- OHMYGOSH!” Dash suddenly forgot her pain as she leaped off of the bed and to the side of the red pony. “Flare! Flare, are you alright? Say something-”

The red pegasus coughed, and a few speckles of red appeared on the floor, his breath coming in big gasps.

“Oh, Celestia, my head...” moaned the colt as he looked around. “And my wings... and everything, it hurts.” A small pool of red was beginning to form underneath his body, quite a bit darker than his fur. He tried to say something else, but instead coughed bitterly again, spattering the floor with more blood before his eyes closed again and he became limp. Rainbow Dash's breath caught in her throat.

“He- he's-”

Twilight gently pushed the blue pegasus out of the way. “He's not dead, Dash, just unconscious,” Twilight said. She barely avoided voicing her next thought: But that could change if we don't do something quick. Grimacing, Twilight used her telekinesis to lift the pony into the air and onto her bed, where the three ponies could clearly see his chest rising and falling almost imperceptibly. The purple unicorn began to magically examine his injuries, which consisted mostly of jagged glass cuts- some of which still had the glass shards in them- and blunt trauma. One particularly large laceration was right on the base of the colt's left wing, cutting all the way to the bone, almost severing the wing completely; it was the source of much of the bleeding.

“He's badly hurt, especially his left wing! We need to get him to the hospital now!” Twilight said gravely. “AJ, are you up to carrying him?”

“Of course I am, sugarcube!” acknowledged the farm pony. She moved to pick up the colt, but when she did, Dash butted in.

“We've gotta get him there quick, AJ! I'm the fastest pony alive, I should take him!”

“Rainbow, you ain't in no condition to be carryin' anypony anywhere,” protested Applejack. “I'll get him.”

During this brief exchange, Twilight had been monitoring the colt's condition, and what she saw was not good. She sighed and spoke up.

“Um, girls? I don't think we have time to get him to the hospital.”

“Wha- but- Twi, you have to do something!" Dash sputtered. "Use a healing spell, or- or, I don't know, something! You have to!”

“I don't know any healing spells powerful enough for these kinds of injuries! I never thought I'd have to do anything like this!”

“Then- then make one up! You're good at magic, Twi! You're the best!”

Twilight frowned, thinking; precious seconds ticked by. She huffed, then concentrated on her magic, letting it flow into her horn. There she knitted it into a field of spell energy just like a basic, cuts-and-bruises healing spell on steroids, and released it like a net onto the helpless pegasus. The magic sank into the colt's flesh, seeking out his wounds and slowly closing them up. The blood that had spilled out of his body came oozing back, flowing into the wounds as they healed. All across his body, shimmering purple fields appeared around his cuts and bruises, so bright that they gave the room an eerie purple glow.

After about a minute, Twilight collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. The exhaustion from the previous night's adventure had not yet fully worn off, and the current spell was incredibly taxing. She could hear Applejack and Rainbow Dash talking to her, asking her if she was okay, but they sounded far-off; everything except the spell seemed fuzzy.

I don't... have much magic... left. I can't just... let them down... I have to keep pushing... my magic. I can't let them down... Twilight felt herself fading into darkness. I can't...

A small wooden cart rolled through the twilight underneath the dense canopy of the Everfree forest, pulled by a blue unicorn in a starry cape. The unicorn stopped, an angry look on her face as she pulled out a map and examined it. After a few frustrated minutes, she scowled and stuffed the map back into her saddlebag.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is never lost! Trixie is sure there's a town around here somewhere,” muttered Trixie to herself. She resumed pulling the cart, much smaller than her old one, but a cart nonetheless. Trixie was about to start grumbling about how it was all Twilight Sparkle's fault, when she sensed a-

Ping.

The unicorn raised her eyebrows and looked around for the source of the faint energy spike she had just felt.

Ping.

She felt it again, a good distance away and off to her left. Her curiosity aroused, she started walking off towards the pulsing energy source. As she homed in on the pulse, its strength became stronger the closer she came. Soon Trixie was wading through a swamp, so she unhitched herself from her cart.

“This swamp will rue the day it stood between the Great and Powerful Trixie and her goal,” grumbled the unicorn. She stomped her hoof to emphasize the point, but she felt her hoof slosh through an even more gooey substance. Trixie looked down in surprise to find that her hoof had splattered into a pile of a strange, glowing blue ooze. Before she had time to comprehend, her hoof began tingling violently, then stinging in pain. She quickly withdrew her hoof, using her magic to scrape the ooze off of her smarting hoof.

Turning back to the ooze, she examined it with her magic. This was it. This blue material was the source of the energy spikes, and it was quite powerful. A devious smile spread across Trixie's lips.

This is exactly what I need to get back at that blasted unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. After she humiliated me like that my reputation has been ruined! I'll show her that no pony humiliates the Great and Powerful Trixie and gets away with it!

Trixie plodded further into the swamp, looking for any more of the stuff; when she stepped through a particularly dense cluster of trees she gasped in a mixture of awe and discomfort as her whole body began tingling.

Spread before her was an entire lake of the blue substance.

“Twilight! Don't push yerself too hard, sugarcube!” admonished Applejack as she steadied the struggling unicorn with her hoof. Her friend slumped into her hooves, out cold from the energy drain. Applejack sighed, then lifted her friend into a comfortable position on some blankets. She grabbed Spike, who was still paralyzed from the sight of the blood, and placed him next to Twilight.

“ohmygoodnesswhathappened?!” said a yellow pegasus as she flew in the window. “I saw you two falling and then-”

When she turned around, she saw that Rainbow Dash had already hoisted the injured colt onto her back in a firepony's carry, limping down the stairs.

“EEP!” squeaked Fluttershy at first sight of the blood, instantly recoiling. Just by looking at the condition the colt was in, she knew that he needed medical attention right away; swallowing her fear and doubts, she alighted on the ground and spoke.

“Rainbow, Flare needs to be tended to right now! Bring him back and set him on Twilight's bed, I'll get started right away!” asserted Fluttershy in a rare moment of boldness. She whipped around the room, gathering up impromptu medical supplies. Surprised by her friend's uncharacteristic, commanding behavior, Rainbow Dash complied silently. Fluttershy tore a blanket to shreds with Applejack's help and started to wrap the red pony's injuries.

After what seemed an interminable amount of time, but in reality only a few minutes, Fluttershy had covered Flare in makeshift bandages. She stepped back, inspecting her handiwork with a critical eye.

“Okay, I'm done. Applejack, you should take him down to the clinic now; I'll stay and take care of Twilight.”

“Got it, sugarcube,” replied the earth pony. She quickly trotted over to the red pony; Dash started to protest, but stumbled and nearly fell; fortunately she was caught by the cowpony just in time. Scowling, Dash let Applejack pick up the unconscious pony, who groaned at the jostling.

“I'm still coming with you,” she muttered defiantly, then winced as a jolt of pain shot through her body from the cuts and bruises adorning her battered body. She flew along as fast as she could behind Applejack, who was trying to balance speed with steadiness, to prevent further injury. Dash could feel her body groaning under the stress and injury, but she ignored the pain as best she could; with her wings still not flapping in tandem, she couldn't fly very quickly.

Rainbow noticed out of the corner of her eyes that the ponies she passed looked at her strangely, and for the first time it occurred to her that she must look pretty awful after that flyover and then the crash through the window. She shook her head, clearing away the thought, and landed in front of the Ponyville hospital; the hospital was quite small, more like a clinic. The blue pegasus burst through the doors, and an involuntary yelp of pain escaped her lips.

“Rainbow Dash!” said one of the surprised pony nurses. “You look terrible! We should get you fixed up right away-”

“I don't have time for that!” blurted the rainbow-maned pegasus as she struggled through the reception area and into the plain, white halls of the building. She felt incredibly dizzy, and found it difficult to stay balanced as she walked. One of the nurses trotted after her, an insistent look on her face. Dash ignored her, rounding a corner and noticing Applejack sitting in front of one of the doors. Applejack tried to smile when she saw Dash, but all that she managed was a grimace. Dash felt her stomach drop when she saw that, but she couldn't resist; she opened the adjacent door, and the blood drained from her face. Lying on the bed in the room was the red colt, the normally pristine white sheets around him stained a darker red. Standing over him was Nurse Redheart, who was too focused on her operations to notice Dash's intrusion. Dash felt the other nurse pony gently pull her from the room. She didn't resist.

Princess Celestia sighed as she took a bite of a delicious carrot cake. Only her two personal guards were in the large dining hall with her, which only increased the feeling of loneliness. Normally there would be swarms of attendants and servants rushing through the hall, but on an impulse she had given them all the day off. The opulent red and gold decorations and fancy flourishes seemed almost sad at the desolation, as though they were meant to be viewed and enjoyed with others.

Of course, the real reason that she had let them all go was not so much out of generosity, but more of a public relations ploy, to try and dispel the rumors that had popped up overnight about the huge magical explosion in the sky. More than a few ponies had panicked and started spreading rumors that Nightmare Moon had returned, and that the explosion was from a battle between Celestia and the mare of darkness. She had hoped that the rising of the sun would quell the stories, but some still clung to the idea. By sending all of her staff home with a partial truth, she hoped that they would be more effective than any speech she could make.

Poor Luna had taken it very seriously, and in a storm of tears and frustration she had locked herself in her room, not coming out or speaking to anypony since. Celestia had tried to get her to open the door, but all she got in response were muffled sobs. The Day Princess was beginning to be concerned that the rumors might become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Celestia finished her cake and stood up, stretching fruitlessly, trying to shake the fatigue from her body. She noticed her guards take up flanking positions behind her as she walked out of the large hall; a smile appeared on her face. They had refused to leave her unprotected, despite her assurances that she could handle herself quite well, being more than one thousand years old as well as the goddess of the sun.

The smile quickly vanished as she arrived at her destination; the door to Luna's bedroom. She knocked gently.

“Luna? You've been in there since midnight. Can I come in?”

Celestia took the silence as an invitation and opened the door. She wasn't surprised when she saw her beloved sister fast asleep at her desk, slumped over a thick tome. Celestia gently levitated her sister out of the uncomfortable desk and onto the midnight blue bed that was at the opposite end of the room. Luna started squirming in her sleep, so Celestia nuzzled her affectionately; the dark blue alicorn was calm after that. Celestia smiled sadly and trotted back out the door, closing it quietly behind her.

Twilight woke up with a throbbing headache.

“Ugh...” she groaned.

“Twilight! You're okay! I was so worried,” Spike said as he wrapped Twilight in a hug.

“Thanks, Spike,” the purple unicorn said as she nuzzled him. Twilight stood up, stretching, a thoughtful look on her face. There was something she wanted to remember, but she couldn't place it. She sifted through her recent memories, images appearing in her mind's eye: there was Princess Celestia unleashing a great beam of energy... a large, open field... something about the field sparked her attention. She slowly pulled out what she had realized was a dream, bit by bit into her memory.

Another pony entered the room quietly, carrying two glasses of water and disrupting her train of thought.

“Oh, Twilight, you're awake. I'm so glad you're feeling better; you looked so tired when you were sleeping,” said Fluttershy, concern on her face. “Have you been taking care of yourself, Twilight? Are you getting enough sleep? Eating enough?”

“What? Yes, Fluttershy, I have. I was just tired from having to do two really powerful spells in a few hours.”

“Oh, okay.” The yellow pegasus refrained from inquiring about the other spell. “Um... would you like to go see Rainbow and Applejack? They're at the hospital with Flare.”

Twilight's brain churned as she thought about the question she was about to ask.

“Are they okay? Rainbow Dash and Flare, I mean?”

“Rainbow Dash is fine, but Flare was in pretty bad shape when they left for the clinic. I had to patch him up, and I don't know how he's been since Applejack took him to Nurse Redheart for treatment.”

“I think we should go visit them, then,” suggested Twilight, uneasiness tingeing her voice. She started the long walk through Ponyville, Fluttershy and Spike not far behind.

Luna waited until she was sure Celestia was gone, then opened her eyes, which were puffy and red from crying. It had been a risky gamble, faking sleep, but when Celestia had knocked, she didn't have time to hide the ancient books that she had been reading. She had quickly slipped a roll of parchment over the tome to partially cover it up, then pretended to be asleep. After all, if Celestia knew that she had been reading about Ascending...

Luna held back a fresh wave of tears.

If the ponies don't care enough about me that they just assume I would stab Equestria in the back, then they wouldn't care if I just left. They wouldn't care... No one cares... Luna began travelling down the ancient, familiar path of thought, but stopped abruptly. Wait, wait, what am I thinking? Of course my subjects care about me! Celly cares about me! It's just that I've only been back for a year or two, that's it... that, and- and Celly takes all the attention- Luna clenched her teeth, struggling to avoid blowing something up out of frustration.

“Wh-where are these thoughts coming from?” she whispered out loud. “I'm not lonely! Celly promised I would never be lonely! She promised...” Luna trailed off. She looked out the window at the bustling city of Canterlot below. So many ponies traveling about their daily business, oblivious to the Princess of the Night. Luna couldn't restrain herself anymore, and started crying again. She staggered onto her over-sized bed and collapsed, her body screaming for rest, but none coming. Luna buried her face in her pillow and screamed.

Twilight stood in front of the hospital, not knowing what to expect inside. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the doors. Inside the cozy little white-walled lobby were a few nurse ponies behind a counter and a few other ponies sitting in the chairs scattered around the rest of the room, among them Applejack and a moderately-bandaged Rainbow Dash. When they saw her walk in, they jumped up to meet her.

“There you are, Twi. Good to see you up and about; that was one hay of a spell you did back there,” said Applejack with a hint of pride in her voice. “From what Nurse Redheart told us, you jus' saved that colt's life, and you definitely saved his wings. He would'a never been able to fly again without such a powerful healing spell so quickly.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief; it felt like a lead weight in her chest had vanished. As soon as it was gone, though, a burgeoning question took its place.

“So, Rainbow Dash, um... how did you two end up crashing through the window, anyway?” inquired the purple unicorn.

Dash trotted over to a group of chairs and sat down, with the other three next to her.

“So, it was like this...”

Rainbow Dash was walking through Cloudsdale, looking for the building where she could sign up for the Wonderbolt Audition. As soon as she had seen the poster in the center of Ponyville, she had asked the Mayor for a few days' vacation, which she had gotten. Now, she was here, about to finally perform for the Wonderbolts!

Rainbow Dash could see herself swooping and soaring like rainbow lightning, looping around and doing such crazy stunts that even the Wonderbolt judges were going wild, just like the rest of the crowd. She finished her tricks with one last triple-backflip-720º-corkscrew-Immelman and landed perfectly in front of the panel of judges, who immediately walked over and offered her a uniform. Taking the uniform, Rainbow Dash did a celebratory, giddy leap, and whipped the uniform on-

WHUMP.

Rainbow shook her head as she got her bearing, realizing that she had walked into a cloud wall.

Next to her was a fiery red colt rolling on the ground laughing. Rainbow huffed, at which point he snapped to his feet, still smirking. Rainbow was surprised, since he was only as tall as she was; normally, colts were taller than her.

“There's a wall there!” said the colt with a cocky grin.

“Yeah, what about it?” Dash said defensively. “You got a problem with that?”

“No, it's just that you walked into it. Most ponies don't do that,” laughed the red pony. “Are you here to sign up for the Wonderbolt Audition?”

“You bet I am! And I'm gonna fly circles around you, shorty!”

Now it was the colt's turn to be riled.

“Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't fly like a pro!” he snapped back. “Being small means that I'm more aerodynamic!” The colt was about to continue, when he suddenly smiled as he recognized his new rival. “Wait a sec, you're Rainbow Dash, aren't you? I recognize you from the Best Young Flier's Competition.” He held out his hoof. “My name's Firework Flare. Nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash.”

Dash smirked and shook his hoof.

“So why didn't I see you at the Competition? Too scared?”

“Me? I had a sprained wing from doing too many awesome tricks!”

The two pegasi walked into the building, trading words.

“Oh yeah? Maybe you should show me some of those awesome moves, so I know you're not bluffing!” challenged Dash.

“You're on! You and me, we'll have a pre-Audition competition, to see who has the better tricks! Where do you wanna meet?”

“We can start at my cloud-house. All of Ponyville will decide who's better!”

By this time, the two had reached the sign-in desk, where a mint-green pegasus pony in a blue uniform was reclining in a cushy cloud chair. He sat up as the two ponies approached.

“Hello! Are you two here to sign up for the Wonderbolts audition?”

“Heck yeah!” said Rainbow Dash. “Wouldn't miss it!”

Unfazed by the blue pegasus' antics, the deskpony slid a large binder across the table, opened to a spreadsheet filled with names.

“Just write your team name in the first blank, then your team members in the slots next to it. After that, you'll be all set,” explained the colt.

“What?! When did this become a team tryout?” demanded Dash incredulously.

“What, you didn't know about it? It was on the poster, right here.” The pony pulled out a promotional poster, then gestured to some not-so-fine print, just below the heroic image of the Wonderbolts in flight.

“That's dumb,” huffed Rainbow. “Now I have to find some teammates!”

Rainbow Dash looked to her left, where she saw Flare simmering quietly.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Just dandy.” he said flatly.

“Maybe we could be on a team together, then.” Dash smiled patronizingly.

“Fine.” Flare ground his teeth. “What should our team name be?”

“Hm... Oh, I know! Our team name will be 'Double Rainboom'!”

Without waiting for an answer, the blue pegasus picked up the pencil and wrote 'Double Rainboom' in an empty slot. Next to it, she wrote her own name, then offered the pencil to Flare. He grudgingly took it and signed in the adjacent slot. Dash smiled and slid the notebook back across the table to the blue-suited colt. She turned to say something to Flare, but he was gone, a trail of smoke leading out the door. Rainbow Dash's eyebrow shot up in curiosity before blasted out the door after him.

“Hey! Flare!” shouted somepony behind him. Firework flipped around and saw Rainbow Dash quickly gaining on him. He smiled, his frustration slipping to the back of his mind.

“Finally caught up, eh?”

“I'll catch up to you whenever I feel like it!” huffed Dash as she poured on speed.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!”

The two pegasi dived straight down in their quest for speed. The ground was coming up fast, and with a start the red pony realized that his pursuer was right next to him, flying backwards. He scowled.

“You're pretty fast, you know! I almost had to try to catch up to you,” condescended Dash.

Flare just huffed.

“You didn't forget about our competition, did you?” asked Rainbow. “I'd hate to win by default.”

The red pegasus rolled his eyes and pulled out of the steep dive, now racing along little more than a foot above the ground in the large, grassy fields around the cloud city. The trail of smoke that he left behind lit the tips of some of the grass stalks on fire. He didn't notice that they were just as quickly snuffed out by a streak of rainbow lazily following behind him.

After flying for what felt like hours, Firework used the remaining momentum from the dive to begin climbing back up to the clouds, where he slowed down and alighted on one. He flopped down, silent. His ears perked lazily as he heard a soft whump of somepony landing on the cloud as well. He didn't bother to face Rainbow Dash. For a few moments there was an almost amiable quiet. The colt waited a few moments before saying anything. Rainbow Dash regarded him for a while.

“You still up for that contest?”

The red pony smirked and stretched his wings.

“You bet!”

The two pegasi stood in front of Rainbow Dash's house, preparing to take off. Fluttershy stood off to the side with a black and white checkered flag.

“Ready... set... go!” she said, and waved the flag.

The two ponies were gone in a flash, two parallel trails of smoke and rainbow marking their progress. Rainbow Dash went into the first phase of her routine, gathering five large clouds and spinning them into tight balls, which she proceeded to juggle; she flew in a sphere pattern, hitting the balls in different directions, and never letting them escape her formation.

Flare's first trick was to gather several clouds, then turn them as black as smoke and whip them into a tornado. He waited until the pressure had built to a satisfactory level, then released several small sparks into the maelstrom, which flew around like little fireflies in a jar.

Rainbow Dash grinned; she relished the challenge of a practiced flier like herself. She popped her five clouds and sped into the second phase of her routine; incredible feats of agility. First she spiraled through a quadruple Immelman, then immediately began an ascending figure-eight spiral, performing barrel-rolls along the entire path. At the height of it, she looked around for her adversary; she noted that he was currently in a very steep dive, trailing smoke and small fireworks that danced around playfully, artfully. She spun back into her routine, a dizzying set of loops and twists. During most of this part of her trick, Dash was able to observe Firework as he plummeted downward, soon flaring his wings to break out of the dive with a bright flourish. Then, as he hit the point with the most G's, she saw his right wing give out.

“Flare!”

The pain in his right wing was awful. It was in the same spot as before, right at the base of the wing. His bad wing clamped itself rigidly against his body, ignoring his commands to unfurl it. He was able to keep himself from spinning completely out of control by manipulating the lift from his other wing, but he was still speeding towards the ground, and he couldn't do anything about it. He ground his teeth, trying with all his might to pull out of the dive, but his left wing just couldn't do it alone.

Hoover Dam! Not now! Why did my wing have to act up now?

Firework forced his eyes to stay open as the ground neared. He steeled himself for an impact, and felt one- a soft object hit him from the side, and he felt himself being carried by another pegasus. He looked around and saw the giant rainbow spreading across the sky, but oddly enough couldn't hear the explosion his mind was telling him should be there.

“You just saved me,” Flare blurted, surprised.

“Not yet I haven't!” Dash shouted. She had noticed Flare falling while she was at the height of her second trick, and so she had had to muster every ounce of speed she had to reach him in time. She had succeeded, in fact gathering enough speed to pull off a Sonic Rainboom; the giant ring of rainbow light exploded over Ponyville, surprising the inhabitants.

Such a steep angle made it more difficult to pull out of the dive in time, but Rainbow Dash succeeded, leveling out their flight just a few feet above one of the streets of Ponyville. For a second or two, Dash swerved crazily around, trying to keep her balance, avoid the shocked ponies milling around in a panic, and gain altitude all at once. She pulled up some, just in time for a window to appear directly in her path. With but a moment to spare before the impact, the blue filly wrapped herself like a shield around her rival and twisted around so that she was in front and would take the brunt of the hit.

To her surprise, she felt Flare roll the two of them through another half-rotation, until Flare was in front of her once more.

CRASH!

Trixie's cart sat unsupervised right next to the first pool of the blue gel. The mare herself was by the lake, practicing manipulating the energy that the stuff radiated. She was surrounded by a blue field that crackled and sputtered from the energy that the blue material put off; she had gotten tired of the constant tingling and stinging, so she had crafted a magical shield around her. Trixie had decided to call the blue stuff 'Phazon'; partially because she thought it was a cool name, and partially because Trixie could feel that the name just kind of... fit. Almost like the goo had already been named, and Trixie had simply stumbled upon it.

The blue unicorn was pleased at how easy it was to absorb and manipulate the energy of the Phazon; within a few hours she had been able to take some of its energy into her horn as her own. When she had first 'tasted' the Phazon's energy, it was simultaneously burning hot and freezing cold, and overall very uncomfortable to have in her magical reserves. However, she had built up a tolerance for the discomfort over the time she had been practicing.

Currently, the showmare was occupied layering a solid piece of Phazon with magical protection, to keep its true nature hidden. Once finished, she magically shaped it into the octahedral form of the gem clasp on her cloak; satisfied at the similarity, she removed the old gem and replaced it with the new crystal.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Trixie called jubilantly out to no one in particular. “You won't even know what hit you!”

Trixie felt a sudden spasm in her back muscles and grimaced.

That's the third time this afternoon! thought Trixie to herself.

Sighing, Trixie looked at her back, expecting nothing but getting the shock of her life; sprouting out of her back, one on each side, were two little nubs about the size of her hooves. Feathered nubs.

There are many streams and rivers that flow out of the Everfree Forest. Out of them all, there is one that flows past a lake and out the forest, ending its long flow inside an apple farm. A bluish material had been spreading steadily out from the lake, closer and closer to the stream. As the sun sank below the horizon, a few particles began leaking into the water, then a trickle. Miniscule specks of glowing light began drifting downstream, imperceptibly growing larger as they bobbed along.

4: Precursor

Part 4

“All right, Gentleponies, what's our situation?” inquired the Day Princess, undercurrents of boredom born of deja vu spiking her voice.

She sat in a bland, gray room with ancient stone walls and a large round table in the middle. Around the table sat several ponies in military dress, as well as a few in formal suits.

One of the generals, an old, graying mare that Celestia was fond of, stood up to address the Council.

“Princess, the Changelings have stationed large numbers of troops all along the border; considering the earlier raid, we fear that they may be preparing for war. The raid itself may have been a probe of our defenses, to test our readiness.” The general paused to let her assessment sink in before continuing. “However, it is also a possibility that this is just the work of a lone band of rogue changeling pirates, with no connection whatsoever to the amassing of troops at the Changelings' border. We really have no way of knowing for certain without contacting Queen Chrysalis. Your thinking, Princess?”

Celestia looked around the room almost absentmindedly, taking her time in collecting her thoughts. Her silence unsettled the other ponies in the room, suffusing the meeting with an air of nervousness, before, at last, she spoke.

“If the Changelings are truly massing for an attack, then our best course of action would be to have the borders well-secured. If they aren't going to attack and we reinforce the borders, then we simply send them an emissary explaining ourselves, perhaps risking a real war. I think the safety of Equestria is worth the minor risk.”

“So you DO think that the Changelings are attacking?” demanded one of the suited stallions.

“I don't know for certain, but I think that we should be prepared for that contingency, Minister,” rebuked the Princess. Celestia was about to continue when a loud, clumsy knocking sound rattled one of the doors to the chamber. The guards leaped to battle positions, protectively encircling the Day Princess. There was another sound of hooves banging on the door, and the wood door swung crazily open; in stumbled Luna, her flowing star-mane frazzled and her movement clumsy.

“Hay, Celly!” slurred the Night Princess. “Sorry I'm a little *hic* late, I was having some drinks with a couple of friends.”

Celestia stared, mouth agape.

Luna- cider- oh, no... thought the Day Princess. As if I didn't already have enough on my hooves...

“Luna, you need to just settle down a bit,” instructed Celestia, putting a wing around her younger sister as she began guiding Luna out of the room. “Let me help you get back to your room so you can take a nice little nap.”

“Awww, but Celly, I wanted to sky bacon with muffinsauce-” Luna collapsed against her sister halfway through her sentence.

“Luna!” cried Celestia. The Day Princess supported her unconscious sister, who was mumbling incoherently.

“Fa... son... hee hee... mare... dark... s-stop... moon...” whispered the blue alicorn unconsciously.

“All of you, please wait a moment while I take care of my sister,” Celestia commanded of the ponies in the room. They nodded their assent, some with stern faces and a couple with suppressed laughter. The white alicorn teleported herself and her sister to the dark, midnight blue bedchambers of the Night Princess. Celestia gently laid her sister onto the huge bed, then pulled the blankets over her.

“What happened, Luna?” the white mare asked herself as much as her sister. “I doubt that a little bit of salt could make you pass out...” Still with her suspicions, Celestia placed several warding spells around the room and on her sister and teleported back down to the council chambers.

Trixie was resplendent in her flowing, starry cape and her fetching wizard’s hat. She strutted into Ponyville, ponies stopping to gawk at her as she passed the all-too-familiar shops and houses that had haunted her dreams ever since that fateful day. Ponies shrank back from her, creating a convenient path for her to follow through the town. The blue bubble containing Fluttershy followed closely behind.

Out of nowhere, a scooter burst through the makeshift boundary of ponies, headed directly for Trixie; before she or the riders of the scooter could react, the scooter and the fillies riding it crashed into Trixie’s legs, felling the magician. The scooter careened off to the side of the corridor of ponies, dumping the fillies onto the ground.

“Watch where you’re going, foals!” snapped the Great and Powerful Trixie. The showmare got up as if to come over and wreak some terrible vengeance on the offending party, her anger sparking like blue fire in her eyes. She towered over the quivering fillies, a grim, vengeful look in her glowing blue eyes.

Trixie was quivering with rage, her rational thought almost completely buried beneath the unquenchable blue fire of vengeance. She grinned maliciously in her mind as she thought of how best to punish these foals. Then, in the back of her consciousness, a nagging voice sprouted up. That’s just it- these are little fillies! said the voice. You can’t hurt a filly! It’s wrong!

No! They shouldn’t have bothered the Great and Powerful Trixie! whispered the blue fire with a hiss, stressing the words “Great” and “Powerful”. The foals deserve to be punished for angering you!

Trixie was torn between inexplicable, bottomless fury and rational, reserved frustration. The overwhelming force of the urge to strike them was like a sheer cliff of which she was on the precipice, and the edge was constantly eroding beneath her hooves. She struggled backwards mentally, avoiding the fall, but there was a part of her that wanted to let go, to give in. That whispering voice drifted up from the empty, blue chasm below, a siren’s song to the ears of the mare.

You know what you must do to Twilight Sparkle... did she not cause you anger? These fillies have made you angry; how are they any different? Destroy them, use the power that you have gained, come down here with us...

After an agonizing, interminable silence, Trixie’s horn began to glow, surrounding the fillies with a blue aura.

“Don’t you lay a hoof on my sister!” shouted Applejack as she galloped at top speed towards the blue interloper.

The blue field around the fillies intensified, lifting them up into the air; Apple Bloom let out a little squeak, when the three Crusaders found their hooves placed upon solid ground. Surprised that they were not being scolded or punished, Scootaloo walked right up to Trixie and looked at her curiously.

“Aren’t you gonna punish us or tell us off or something?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to give you exactly what you deserve,” said the showmare through gritted teeth. “Free admission to her comeback show!” Trixie continued, skillfully concealing her inner conflict behind a false mask. “Trixie will be watching for you!” The showmare accentuated her speech with several blue fireworks, then began trotting off towards the Ponyville Library.

Behind the blue mare, Applejack was hugging her sister. All around, ponies slowly began to resume their previous activities, confused looks abounding.

“Trixie didn’t hurt ya none, did she Apple-” asked Applejack.

“Can I go see that pony’s show, big sis? Pleasepleaseplease? She gave us three free admission, you have to let us go, big sis!” enthused Apple Bloom.

“Ya’ll ain’t goin’ to that mare’s show, ya hear me? There’s somethin’ that ain’t right about her.”

“But siiiiiiiiiis, what if our cutie marks-”

“But nothin’, missy. I don’t want you younguns gettin’ in no trouble,” interrupted the farmer. “That’s final, Apple Bloom.” Applejack gave her sister a stern look before trotting off to square away her apple cart.

“Alright, so you can fly here after I do this-”

“But wouldn’t it be at least 37% cooler if we did the corkscrew loop first?”

“Well, maybe, if you were going for a more acrobatic display.”

“I thought we were!”

“Well, I thought-”

“Darn it, Flare, we haven’t gotten anywhere with our routine! This would be so much easier if we could just go outside and actually map it out up there,” complained the rainbow-maned pegasus.

Rainbow Dash was slouched on the edge of the hospital bed, a notepad covered in scribbled diagrams lying before her. Flare was perched on the opposite end, imprisoned there by the blue devil that was his teammate. Golden rays of sunlight shone through the sole open window, giving tantalizing glimpses at the open blue sky above.

Firework winced at Rainbow’s statement.

“I’m sorry, I’m healing as fast as I can, especially since you trapped me in this white prison of boredom, O Queen of Lameness,” teased the red pegasus. Dash took the bait.

“Hey! We wouldn’t even be stuck in here if it weren’t for you falling during the middle of our competition!” protested the cyan mare. The moment she said it, she regretted it; the wind fell out of Flare’s sails, and his ears folded back in a mixture of embarassment and sadness.

“I, uh, didn’t mean it like that, Flare,” blurted Dash. “I’m sure that... you, uh... I mean, that kind of mistake happens to the best of us, even me sometimes. Yeah.”

The red pony sighed.

“Rainbow, that was no mistake. I... need to explain some things,” Firework said slowly, not looking directly at Dash. "Just so we're on the same page as a team."

“Like what?” asked the mare, nervousness creeping into her voice. “It can’t be that bad, can it?” She looked at him for confirmation, but his grimace didn’t help her confidence.

Luna watched the events unfolding as through a fog, slowing her mind and making her groggy, as well as making her whole body feel uncomfortable, on edge. She saw herself trotting hopefully out of the castle, wearing a dark cloak with a hood. Luna’s face bore an adventurous grin, and she moved with anticipatory confidence. The phantasmal version of the blue mare smiled as she remembered the thoughts that had been running through her mind, although... that fog, it obscured her memory somewhat, blurring it. Frustrated by her exhaustion, Luna continued to watch her memories play out.

She distinctly remembered feeling particularly bold and carefree, like she was on top of the world, unstoppable; that emotion cut its way through the fog like a knife. She strolled nonchalantly through the streets of Canterlot, hidden underneath her cloak and a magical disguising spell. One particular establishment caught her eye, so the Princess entered quietly and confidently. It was a nightclub, a rather low-end business, with neon lights flashing every color of the rainbow in hypnotic patterns, matching the bass beat of the blaring music. In the middle of the dim room, ponies thronged and rippled in a large mosh-pit like an ocean, and all around the periphery were tables filled with ponies at varying levels of drunkenness. Luna didn’t care, she was enjoying the feeling of invulnerability that she was having, despite her uneasy stomach.

Luna trotted slowly up to the bar, garnering a few glances from some of the less intoxicated patrons. At the counter, the bartender looked her up and down, then smiled heartily.

“Well, ya look mighty fine, lass. What can I get for ya?”

“I want your strongest cider,” said Luna boldly. The bar-colt grinned.

“Aye aye, missy. Comin’ right up!” he promised. The jovial pony turned around and started mixing liquids together into a mug. Luna glanced around the club as she waited, observing the other ponies in the room. The DJ, a white unicorn with a striped, spiky blue mane, was pumping out music with a steady, catchy beat. Luna couldn’t help but tap a hoof in sync with the rhythm.

“Hey there, Blue,” said a green-pelted colt as he slid into a seat next to her at the bar. He seemed like a typical ‘punk’, a knit hat pulled roughly over a long, unruly mane. His voice was only slightly tinged with the slurring effects of salt. “Mind if I sit down?” The Night Princess giggled. That feeling of soaring elation was pulsing in her veins, even as the queasiness in her stomach intensified.

All of this ghost-Luna observed rather dully, the mind-fog distancing her from the recollection, except for that addictive feeling...

Things started to blur together. She was talking with Green, sipping her drink. Everything was fantastic, the neon lights and the music throbbing in tandem. Green asked her if she wanted to hang out at his house with a few friends...

Luna remembered only distantly how something had clouded her mind, diverted her attention from what she was doing. She was fairly certain that it was not the salt. Luna was having a hard time seeing the memories through this blasted blue fog, but she caught warped glimpses of an apartment, then a messy bedroom, then something about Celly, but she was so distracted, so unfocused...

As the recent memory faded into the mist, the Moon Princess wandered about aimlessly within the haze of her mind, blue fog swirling silently around her.

Applejack galloped quickly back to her apple stand, hoping to pack up quickly and round up her friends. That no-good showmare was up to something, she just knew it. She had to stop Trixie before anypony got hurt. The farmer arrived at her stand and expertly packed it up for transport. As she was about to finish up, AJ noticed a solitary bit sitting on the wood.

“Jus' one? I don’t remember sellin’ any apples before...” mused the farmer. She began sifting through the apples in her cart, counting up how many were there. One was missing.

It clicked in Applejack’s mind.

That gray mare! The one that was annoyin’ as all get-out! She was the only one that was around, and hay, she’s probably the only one who’d do something like this! Celestia-darn it, if I find that filly I’m gonna...

AJ took a deep breath and expelled the angry thoughts from her mind. Focusing on her mission, the mare quickly finished putting the cart in order, then raced off to fetch Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash and Twilight.

Which one do I find first? Pinkie is probably closest, and if I get her to help me find the others, that would be fastest. Then again, Twi’s pretty close too, and she can teleport and all... Pinkie is Pinkie, though... that’s probably better than teleporting. Pinkie it is, then.

The orange farmpony galloped to Sugarcube Corner as fast as she could.

The flashy showmare in the cape was a magnet for the ponies’ attention in the small square. Pedestrians trotting through the small, colorful streets of Ponyville stared as Trixie set up the stage for her show; or rather, as she created the stage. Her horn shone with a hot, searing blue glow, and out from the ground a round, raised platform rose, at least ten pony-lengths in diameter and about half of a pony in height. The gargantuan pedestal sat ominously in one of Ponyville’s squares, within a stone’s throw of the Ponyville Library. Around the periphery of the square sat a few small stores, mainly grocer shops specializing in one particular vegetable or fruit.

Trixie stood in the center of the ponies, reveling in the attention she so deserved. The blue mare carved some fancy designs all around the base of the stage, some of which depicted two ponies doing battle, others of epic heroes, and still more that were in the shape of fantastic explosions.

The spring of fury in Trixie’s mind was bubbling in anticipation of the vengeance she was about to wreak upon her nemesis; Twilight would finally know what she had done to Trixie, and then Trixie would destroy her.

That nagging voice sprang up in her thoughts again. Killing ponies is wrong, no matter what they’ve done to you! You don’t need to kill Twilight, just outclass her and then everypony will know you’re the Great and-

No! That scum deserves it for what she did to you! Do you not remember how it was after that Ursa Minor? How you couldn’t go anywhere without ponies laughing behind your back? How you had nothing but the cape on your back and the hat on your head? Remember that, make Twilight feel what you felt... and then, snuff her out like a candle.

Trixie didn’t resist as the blue fog washed over her, causing the world around her to fade away.

Twilight was curled up in one of the chairs in the library, reading through a book on psychology. It was quite intriguing, and Twilight thoroughly enjoyed it, even going so far as to take notes on a small notepad she had with her. She was just starting into the effects of long-term isolation on a pony’s mind when a violent knocking began rattling the door.
Startled out of her trance, Twilight glanced apprehensively at the door. Unsure as to why anypony would be banging on her door, Twilight feared that somepony might have been injured. Rainbow Dash again, maybe? It wouldn’t surprise Twilight, since Rainbow was always doing all sorts of daredevil stunts. Gulping, the purple unicorn got up and trotted over to the door; before she could open it, though, it was thrust open, surrounded by a harsh, neon-blue glow.

Along with the door’s abrupt motion came a quick rush of air and an all-too familiar blue pony in a cape. The intruding unicorn bore a haughty, leering grin, her blue eyes practically shining with malicious intent. A pit the size of Manehattan formed in Twilight’s stomach and her body froze. Trixie smiled even more smugly at Twilight’s shock.

“It’s been a while, Twilight,” said the blue mare. Somehow, Twilight got the feeling that this was no social call between friends.

“T-Trixie! Hi! I wasn’t expecting any visitors-”

“No, of course you weren’t,” interrupted the intruder. She began lazily moving about in the library like she owned it, inspecting it disdainfully with an upturned snout. “Especially not from the greatest and most powerful magician in all of Equestria.”

“Uh, Trixie-”

"Now, Twilight, don’t interrupt,” chided the blue mare. “It’s not polite.” Trixie paused her speech while still circling around the library, emitting an air of malice into the large library foyer. Twilight stood motionless in the middle of the room, like a swimmer in a shark tank.

“What’s this all about, Trixie?” demanded the purple unicorn, a nervous edge undercutting her poise.

“Twilight Sparkle,” declared the blue showpony, obviously enjoying the effect her presence was having. “You have no idea what you cost the Great and Powerful Trixie. She’s come to show you just that.”

“Trixie, you didn’t have to run away, you know. If you wanted to talk, all you had to do was say so-”

“NO! Trixie knows exactly the kind of lies that you spout, just because you’re afraid of what her revenge will be.” The blue wizard pony whirled on Twilight, barely contained rage sparking in her eyes.

“What? That’s not it at all, Trixie. I’m not afraid of any kind of ‘revenge’-”

“Then prove it to the Great and Powerful Trixie! Show all of Ponyville who really is the greatest and most powerful magician; join Trixie in her new show, if you aren’t afraid.” At this point, Trixie was almost nose-to-nose with Twilight; for an instant, Twilight thought that she saw something fog-like swirling in Trixie’s eyes. Not really in her eyes, more like behind her eyes, in her mind. The purple unicorn was reminded of the blue poison from her dream, causing a cold chill to run down her spine. Putting that thought aside, Twilight took a step back, trying to regain her composure.

“Trixie, if I understand you correctly, I don’t think we need to do this-”

“You aren’t getting out of this, Sparkle,” spat Trixie. “I’ve waited too long for this.”

“Trixie, I don’t want to do this to you again,” the purple unicorn said, concern etched on her face. That look only served to turn Trixie’s face flush with rage.

“I’ve gotten more powerful than you can possibly imagine, foal!” shouted Trixie. With an impossibly dramatic flourish and a flash of blue light, Trixie whipped aside her cape, revealing its hidden contents; the blue mare rose into the air on blue, feathery wings. She flashed a smug smile filled with daggers upon seeing Twilight’s jaw hit the floor.

“They’re nice, aren’t they, Twilight,” gloated the blue alicorn. “This is only a taste of what Trixie has gained since last time.”

“N-not p-p-possible...” stuttered Twilight, her eyes still as wide as dinner plates. “How...?”

“Trade secret, unless you can best me. Now, Trixie wants your humiliation to be public, so come willingly, or she will be forced to drag you herself.”

“We can talk this over, Trixie,” said Twilight calmly, soothingly. In truth, she was afraid of what Trixie might do to get her revenge; one innocent pony caught in the crossfire would be one too many, and Twilight wasn’t exactly confident about Trixie’s sanity at this point... A pony had to try, didn’t they?

Trixie marched menacingly towards the librarian, her wings flared, driving the unicorn back a few steps. Twilight felt her flank bump against a bookshelf; she had backed herself into a wall.

“The time for talking is over, Sparkle. We fight. Now.”

5: Sowing Seeds

Part 5

"You know, Flare, that really doesn't sound so bad."

“You haven’t lived with it! Do you know what it’s like-”

“Flare, Flare, settle down, bro. You’re taking this waaaaaay too seriously-”

“Too seriously!?”

“Hey! Shut up and listen, all right? Let me finish!” barked Dash impatiently. Firework complied with a snort, adjusting his position on the hospital bed and looking pointedly out the room’s sole window. “Okay, good. Now, you’re right, I haven’t lived with it, but from what I can tell, you're not that different from anypony else. You were born prematurely- that's pretty common. You're pretty short- it happens to plenty of foals. You have a weak wing- so do a lot of other ponies. You just took each of those to a little bit of an extreme, that's all." Flare sat still, looking out the window.

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t think of you any differently now than I did before. You’re still the same loser that tried to beat me and failed miserably,” smirked Rainbow humorously.

Her jest pierced his indifferent mask, his face breaking into a small smile. Unable to stop himself, he jumped up off the bed and gave Dash a bear hug. The blue mare felt her cheeks grow warmer by a degree before she put a hoof around his shoulder as well.

“Thanks a bunch, Dash. I’m... It’s still a little awkward, but when you put it like that, I can’t really-” Mid-sentence, he realized that he was still hugging the blue pony. He let go rather quickly and took a step or two back. “I don’t know, it’s still embarassing, but not so much so, when you put it like that.”

The red pony smiled sheepishly.

“So, you want to go map out our routine now? I think I have some cool ideas,” he suggested.

“You know what, that sounds pretty good. As long as you’re staying on the ground,” teased the rainbow pegasus. In return she received a playful punch on the shoulder.

“Gee, thanks a bunch, mom. This will be sooo much fun, won’t it? You flying, me sitting and watching. Yep, fantastic,” grumbled Firework.

“Hey, it could be worse, you know. You could be stuck on the ground forever.”

“Yeah, well that’s not going to happen, now, is it?”

“Not as long as I’m around to save you every time you mess up,” said Rainbow, her voice dripping with her trademark cockiness.

Flare groaned melodramatically and trotted out of the room. The cyan pegasus hovered after him through the hallway of the Ponyville Clinic.

“My, aren’t we feeling snarky today,” chided Dash in an awful attempt at impersonating the stuffy, high-class Canterlot voice. She laughed, then added, “You are just so much fun to mess with, Flare. I need to hang out with you more often. Oh! I know, I’ll introduce you to some of my other friends; I’m sure they’d love to meet a slow-poke like you.”

Flare ignored the bait as the pair exited the medical building through the rear entrance, hopefully avoiding any clinic staff that might protest his early departure. The red pegasus followed the blue one through some of the streets and alleys of Ponyville, which were not very crowded. Even though he wasn’t familiar with the town, something in Firework’s gut told him that there was something wrong with that.

“I wonder what’s going on, Rainbow. Is Ponyville usually this empty?”

“No, it isn’t. It’s bothering me...” Dash trailed off, thinking. All of a sudden, she rushed forward and grabbed the nearest passing pony, who had been briskly cantering in the direction of the Ponyville Library. “Hey, you, Derpy- do you know where everypony is?”

The blond pegasus’ right eye focused on the rainbow mare’s eyes, while the other was busy examining Flare’s. Slightly creeped out, the red pony took a step back.

“W-well, um, muffin was just on her way to the L-library Square, to see the magic show. Muffin thought that l-little muffin might enjoy it,” said the gray mailmare quietly, even as a little unicorn filly smiled eagerly from atop her mother’s back. Satisfied, the blue pegasus released Ditzy, who resumed her wavering course through Ponyville.

“We should see what’s going on,” said both the red and blue pegasi simultaneously. They looked at each other in surprise for a split second, then started laughing as the pair trotted off towards the Library. After only a few moments, they saw a familiar yellow pegasus trotting in the opposite direction.

“Fluttershy? What’s going on at this show thing that Derpy mentioned?” asked Rainbow.

“Well, um, you see, Dash, that showmare, Trixie, she, uh, she’s back, and I don’t think she means well... I’m just on my way home to take care of my animals, I don’t want to leave them alone all day. So, um, bye then,” said Fluttershy quietly to the cyan mare, giving Flare a wide berth as she trotted away. Flare wore a blank expression for a few moments, wondering what he might have done wrong.

“Wait a sec, is she like that with everypony?” asked the fiery red colt.

“Yeah, pretty much,” replied Dash. “Now come on and hurry, I remember Trixie from last time, and she isn’t exactly the friendliest pony.”

“No,” said Twilight adamantly, staring Trixie right in the eyes. The two mares stood so close to each other that their iron gazes were separated only by their foreheads pressing roughly together. The scant air between the two mares crackled with tension, each trying to push the other back but unable to do so.

Trixie smiled.

“So be it, Sparkle.”

Twilight’s world went blue.

Twilight opened her eyes in a snap, and a few things rushed to the forefront of her mind. Firstly, her fur was singed, harsh blue and black splotches lacing her body. Second, and perhaps more importantly, she was in the air, her flight path just barely past its apex. Her eyes opening wide in shock, the unicorn flailed her hooves about trying to right herself. Twilight was accelerating towards the ground at a frightening pace. For one very long second the purple pony’s mind thought about what would happen when she impacted in another second or two. Then her rational side took over and she immediately brought to mind the feather-fall spell that the Princess had taught her, and as she cast it Twilight prayed that she hadn’t been too late.

Twilight’s sense of orientation was wrecked for a moment as the spell took effect, slowing her downward momentum to a crawl. Finally able to properly orient herself, she flipped herself over and gently placed her hooves on the ground not three hoof-lengths below. She looked around, but instead of answers, she got more questions; the unicorn was standing on a massive raised platform of stone in the middle of the Library Square, with a large, growing crowd of ponies gathering around with worried, inquisitive, and startled expressions.

That was too close for comfort, thought the magician. How did I get up there? Did Trixie...? Twilight paused mid-thought, her face freezing in an expression of that heart-stopping mixture of shock and fear that paralyzed her.

Where is Trixie-

Her base unicorn instincts took over her body, folding her left legs beneath her and rolling off to the side just as a bolt of sizzling, shrieking blue energy screamed through the space that had housed her head only a moment before. Twilight leaped back to her hooves even as a blazing blue figure burst out of the library, which, to the purple pony’s horror, she now realized had a smoking hole in its roof.

Her senses were dragged back to reality as the blue alicorn landed with a tremendous thud on the platform. Twilight sank down into a low, defensive stance as Trixie began circling around the edge of the stage, her purple prey standing her ground in the middle. All around, the crowd stood with bated breath, wondering whether this was all part of the show or if there was something truly heinous going on before their eyes.

As if sensing the uneasiness of the crowd, Trixie huffed and charged a quick burst of magic. Twilight sensed the showmare’s magic activating some runes that had already been inscribed around the base of the platform. Sucking in a breath, Twilight felt a powerful containment spell form around the edge of the raised stage. Not only was this an incredibly potent spell, but there was some kind of strange energy that permeated it, nearly drowning out Trixie’s own magic. The energy had a nebulous feel to it, resisting Twilight’s quick attempts to probe it.

Twilight’s stomach churned as she realized that there was absolutely no way she was getting through this magical, invisible barrier without several minutes of absolute calm and focus. Once again, Trixie smiled smugly at the purple pony’s dismay.

“Problem, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Trixie... what’s going on? Where did you get all of this power from? I know that it’s not yours,” said the purple pony warily.

“Ha! Continue lying to yourself, Sparkle, if it makes you happy. The power that Trixie has gained is her own, from long months of rigorous training,” denied the alicorn in a loud voice. “After Trixie’s mishap with the Ursa Minor, she was rendered homeless! Poor! Because of you, Twilight Sparkle, the Great and Powerful Trixie was a beggar! Nopony took her seriously, laughing at her when they thought Trixie wasn’t looking. Can you even begin to comprehend such an existence, foal? Having nothing to your name but your very name? Of course not; you’ve always had your precious books and your little library, Sparkle.

“So, Twilight, Trixie has decided; you, the reason for her misfortune and shame, will know exactly what she felt. You will know homelessness, and scorn, and loss, and then...”
Trixie grinned like a predator, like no equine Twilight had ever seen, sending chills down Twilight’s spine.

“...Then, Trixie will crush you under her hoof.”

Twilight felt beads of sweat beginning to form like little needles on her body, then running down her sides in the heat of Celestia’s sun.

The sun shone upon the tall spires of Canterlot, the Royal Capitol City of Equestria, causing them to gleam and sparkle if one looked from far enough away. At the heart of the city sat a large castle, a good number of towers protruding from its bright, tall walls. Within the walls rested a large, ornate palace, the rooms within like a labyrinth to any not already acquainted with the layout. One such room was nestled in the top floor of the castle, taking up a large portion of the floor; all of the windows in this room had their midnight blue drapes pulled tightly shut, blocking out as much midday sun as possible. The rest of this suite was decorated similarly, from the carpet, to the paint on the wall, to the blue-sheeted bed, and even the alicorn lying on the bed.

The midnight blue alicorn slowly opened her eyes, her recent memories as blurry as her vision. All around her there was dimness, soothing to her pounding head. Luna could only distantly remember something about a nightclub. She must have had a lot of cider, then; it took far more of the liquor to make her or Celestia drunk than any normal pony.

Maybe it was something I ate... Luna wondered. A troubling thought wormed its way into her sluggish train of thought. I wonder if somepony tried to assassinate me. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had a poison slipped into my food... No, that can’t be right.

Are you sure? came the smallest whisper in her mind. Sure that there isn’t somepony who wouldn’t try and drag you under?

Having no satisfactory answer on hoof, and not feeling peppy enough to come up with one, Luna simply ignored the question. She lurched to her hooves, feeling the blood rush its way through her body and creating that annoying tingly feeling when one has been inactive for too long. Grumbling at her headache and not paying too much attention to what she was doing, the Night Princess went through a very familiar routine.

Trotting over to her large, walk-in closet, she lit the darkened room a bit more with her magic and stepped in front of the mirror. She took a look at herself, paused, blinked, rubbed her eyes with her hooves, and looked again. Satisfied with what she now saw, she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. For a moment, she’d been afraid that what the mirror reflected had been accurate, that she’d actually transformed back into Nightmare Moon. Shuddering at the thought, she turned away from the mirror and began brushing her star-mane absently.

Luna began sifting through her recent memories using an old alicorn mind trick, something akin to taking salt water and boiling it to leave the salt in the pan. She focused her magical and mental power, searing away the fog clouding her vision. As she concentrated more and more, she felt the haze blunting her assault, like the ‘salt water’ had suddenly become sticky black tar. It took an exorbitant amount of effort to finally oust the obstructive cloud, piquing Luna’s curiosity and suspicion.

That was most bizarre. No cider could have caused that, nor a poison, at least none that I know of... I sensed no magic, either. It was like that hazy substance was actively resisting my magic, diffusing it. What could have it been?

Perhaps it was somepony doing something nasty to you? Suggested a familiar voice only slightly deeper and more resonant than Luna’s own. Celestia was always a fan of pranks, you know. She isn’t above making you look like a foal, Luna; surely you remember?

No, I don’t, and I wouldn’t care for you to remind me, Nightmare. How did you get here, anyway? The Elements locked you away, there’s no way you could get out without... Luna breathed in sharply, a thought hitting her like a ton of bricks. You couldn’t get out without me letting you out.

Luna could feel Nightmare Moon smiling and laughing, tainting the recesses of her mind with icy blue fire as the nebulous cloud slowly but surely oozed its way back into her mind. Gritting her teeth, the Night Princess refused to accept that outcome. Seizing the opportunity, Luna’s analytical mind created a dreamscape rendering of her mind, including a phantasmal version of herself, and started tracking the flow of the nebula, using its own vagueness as the ‘scent’ that she followed back to its source.

As she followed the ooze’s trail, Luna began to encounter resistance, the fog clinging hungrily to her ghostly hooves like tar. Undaunted, the midnight alicorn pressed further towards the source of the toxin, plodding methodically, inexorably to the blue fountain she could now make out in the distance. The withering blue tar rose as she got closer and closer, so that she was wading through it.

Such close, sustained contact with the stuff began to take its toll on Luna, her body feeling like millions of tiny needles were stabbing all over her from the hotness of the ooze, as well as her muscle strength being leeched by the fog’s iciness. It really was a most curious sensation, and the Princess would have loved to study it, if it weren’t so painful and draining.

She was almost to the source of the cloud when a terrifying form rose up out of the miasma; it was a black pony with wings and a horn, and neon, glowing blue eyes like a dragon’s. The Nightmare sprang at Luna, a gleeful and hungry smile laced with fangs gracing her face. The lighter alicorn tried to dodge to one side, but found the blue slime forcefully restricting her movement.

With only a second left, she tried to summon her magic, only for the posion to conduct it away from her and disperse it like a drop of molten steel doused in a bucket of water. Eyes widening in panic, Luna thrashed in the ooze for the last few milliseconds before Nightmare engulfed her.

The gears in Twilight’s brain spun rapidly, trying to think of a way out besides fighting. She knew she was powerful, but she wanted to avoid a duel to the death, especially one which she was not sure she could win. As she turned slowly to keep pace with the pacing, prowling Trixie, Twilight noticed a familiar pair of pegasi approaching the stage through the crowd, a light blue mare and a bright red stallion. She made eye contact only briefly with Rainbow Dash, seeing in the eyes of her friend worry and confusion. Twilight tried to convey as little of her nervousness as she could through the glance.

The observant showmare noticed her adversary’s shift of attention and turned to look in that direction. Seeing the tell-tale rainbow mane, Trixie grinned maliciously. With the alicorn’s back turned, a plan began to form in Twilight’s mind.

“Well, Sparkle, it looks like one of your friends is here to see you-”

Trixie was suddenly caught off guard as a telekinetic wave bowled her over and pinned her to the ground. The purple unicorn turned her focus to the shield, taking the available time to probe it, search it for weaknesses. Between holding the thrashing Trixie down and trying to analyze the barrier, her attention was completely divided, so that she didn’t notice when several ponies began bucking and attacking the shield from the outside. The runes that shaped the chaotic blue energy only provided direction for it, and as such were now the target of her mental attack. She poked and prodded at the runes, trying to find a loophole, her mind racing at ludicrous speeds.

Then Trixie started laughing.

“Okay, Sparkle, play time is over.”

Twilight’s telekinetic barrier was obliterated in a massive burst of energy, knocking the lavender mare off her hooves. She rolled to her right just as a concussive bolt of that enigmatic energy blasted into the spot she’d just occupied. Twilight instinctively threw up a magical shield around her, just like the Princess had taught her. As expected, a blue bolt impacted on the magic shield; what she didn’t expect was for the bolt to pierce through it like a hot knife through butter, shattering her defense like it was glass.

The crackling, burning energy grazed her right shoulder, sending waves of pain through her body as some of her flesh was boiled off. Twilight’s normally purple hide was now marred by a blue-black, crispy gash in her skin, exposing the quivering muscle beneath. It took a moment, but Twilight finally found her voice and let out a gut-wrenching shriek, the pain of the burn constantly flaring up; it was like there was suddenly fire flowing through her veins. Though her eyes were closed and her teeth ground together, she could distinctively hear the condescending, triumphant laughter of Trixie.

Something about that made her snap. She couldn’t tell if it was the laughter or the pain or perhaps something else entirely, but Twilight would not have any more of it. She growled, her trusty unicorn instincts taking over. Primal Twilight yelled in anger as she let out a blast of magical energy rivaling Trixie’s, standing up just afterwards. The pain in her shoulder and throughout her body was shunted off into a far corner of her mind, as it was detrimental to the task at hoof. It was time to beat the tar out of that little-

Twilight’s rational mind reeled back in shock. It wasn’t like her to be so vicious, it just hurt so much...

The unicorn had no time to continue that line of thought as she found herself sidestepping another energy attack. Anger and frustration gripping her once more, she retaliated with a magical wave projectile designed to stun an opponent and knock them to the ground. The spread of energy simply broke around Trixie like an ocean wave on an immovable boulder.

Eyes widening in surprise, Twilight started sprinting around the arena, leaping and rolling, dodging haphazardly thrown bolts from the cackling alicorn. There was a lull in the explosions, and Twilight looked over to see Trixie rising into the air on her wings, charging up a large amount of blue energy in her horn. Taking the opportunity, the lavender unicorn also charged up her magical reservoir, wrenching the floodgates wide open. Just in time, magic poured into Twilight’s horn, causing it to glow and even send off little sparks of purple lightning; the purple mare aimed the surge of magic at the flying blue menace, and let loose at the same instant as the alicorn.

There was a titanic explosion, then everything went dark.

Earlier

Applejack hadn’t been able to find Pinkie at Sugarcube corner, which made her regret choosing Pinkie over Twilight as her first stop. She galloped out of the confectionery shop, determined to make up for lost time and stop whatever Trixie was plotting. She hastily passed the familiar faces and shops in the streets of Ponyville, oblivious to the fact that they all seemed to be going in the same direction as her.

With a plethora of bumps and apologies, the farmpony made her way through a large group of gossiping mares and into the Library Square. Two things immediately impressed themselves upon her vision, even through the crowded space; a large round stage made of stone raised up in the middle of the square, and a dark gray mare lounging in a dark corner opposite the library munching on an apple. On top of the stone pedestal was a chillingly familiar blue pony in a cape and hat talking with Twilight.

For the second time that day, Applejack was torn.

Do I go help out Twilight? She’s my friend, and I can’t leave a friend in need. But that mare might not be around again, this might be my last chance to settle things.

She saw Trixie begin circling around Twilight. Still with a painful, undecided look on her face, Applejack slowly began trotting to the stage, stealing a last look at the gray thief. She stopped dead in her tracks, other thoughts forgotten as the orange pony saw the gray one toss the now-finished apple’s core haphazardly aside.

A few ponies thought they felt the ground vibrating, as though there were some great beast stomping around. Eyes widening in fright, they looked around for a source, until a few pairs of eyes locked onto the orange mare in a stetson trotting slowly towards a strange pony in sunglasses, leaving small, hoof-sized craters in her wake. Suddenly noticing the incarnation of wrath trotting towards her, the gray mare froze up for a moment.

After a moment, Applejack stood directly in front of the mare, glaring right into her sunglasses. Unfazed, at least in appearance, the gray mare looked right back.

“You know, that was one of the best apples I’ve ever had,” said the mare smoothly, a small upward crease forming at the edges of her mouth.

“Don’t give me that!” shouted the angry orange farmer. “I know you stole that apple from my cart!”

“I didn’t steal it,” protested the gray mare. “I paid a fair price for it.”

“Fair?! Ya call one bit fair? I might jus’ have to put a little more ‘fair’ into your face, you thievin'-”

Applejack was interrupted by a loud blast from behind her, then a myriad of stampeding hooves as a good portion of the crown fled in a panic. Growling at the distraction, the farmer whirled around to see a sight which would haunt her nightmares for a long while; Trixie was standing triumphantly surrounded by a thin blue aura, and Twilight was lying on the ground, dazed. Applejack saw her friend dodge a bolt of energy, then throw up a shield of magic, only to have it blown away in a heartbeat. The farmer’s blood ran cold when she heard Twilight scream in pain.

Her anger forgotten, Applejack galloped the short distance to the stage and tried to jump up on it, only to be blocked by an invisible barrier. Falling back to the ground, the farmer started bucking the invisible shield for all she was worth, only to have her hooves begin stinging with a hot pain. She ignored it as long as her endurance would allow, but soon the pain in her hooves was too much and she let herself collapse to the ground, hot tears threatening to burst out at any moment.

“AJ, what are we gonna do?” asked a familiar voice, devoid of its usual cockiness.

The orange mare lifted up her head slowly, seeing Rainbow Dash standing dejectedly next to that red pony, Firework. He looked just as bad as Dash, especially since he still had a good number of bandages and scrapes on him. Just to keep from looking at the battle she knew to be taking place, Applejack looked around the less-crowded square. There were a few ponies still in the square that were rooted to whatever spot they stood, shock paralyzing them. One, though, was sitting lazily against a carrot stand, chewing on one of the crunchy orange vegetables.

“Why, you no-good, low-down-” started Applejack. Cutting herself off, she galloped over to the offending party and leaped at her in a flying tackle. Spotting the orange projectile mid-pounce, the gray mare side-stepped lithely, letting the farmer land on the ground roughly and slide a small distance. Snorting, Applejack whipped around and tried to bull rush the gray mare to the ground. Again the mare in the sunglasses dodged the attack.

“Stand still, you-” growled the orange mare.

“Please. It’s Puzzle, to you,” condescended the gray mare.

Applejack was about to charge at Puzzle again when she felt a pair of strong hooves holding her back.

“Rainbow, let me go this instant! Let me get her-” protested the farmer, struggling against the cyan pegasus.

“AJ, what they hay? Why are you-?”

“Because, Dash! Because she’s rude, because she stole from me, because my friend is bein’ hurt bad on my watch and it’s my fault ‘cause of HER!” Applejack sat down on her haunches, breathing heavily, shakily. “I coulda stopped it, Rainbow. I had the chance, but I didn’t take it. I jus’ need to do somethin’ about Twi, but I can’t!” shouted the orange mare.

Dash put a hoof around her shaking friend, trying to comfort her.

“I know, Applejack. I’m the Element of Loyalty, I know you want to help. So we will. We’ll figure out something, AJ,” said the rainbow-maned pegasus evenly.

BOOM.

The earth shook from the force of a massive explosion, knocking the ponies in the square to the ground. Along with the blast was a great flash of light as the force of the explosion tried to escape the barrier spell but was contained, roiling around inside the energy field in great coils of purple and blue energy. Eventually, the roar and the glare settled down, leaving the square in deafening serenity.

Getting slowly to her hooves, Applejack heard Flare mutter something.

“Now THAT is how you do a firework.”

In return he received a sharp jab from Rainbow Dash. Grimacing wryly, he replied “Sorry, it’s an old habit.”

The orange farmer shook her head to try and clear the ringing in her ears, then inspected the square again. Several ponies were lying around, some not moving. There were huge cracks running through the ground like spiderwebs, emanating out from the stage. The once-large pedestal had been devastated, reduced to little more than a pile of rubble. The glowing runes that had once surrounded the stage now hung floating in the air, maintaining the encompassing barrier. Inside the ring, Applejack could see with horror the limp body of her friend, covered in black scorch marks so that not even one speck of her purple coat could be seen.

The orange mare, along with the two pegasi, rushed up to the barrier, ignoring the stinging as they pressed their hooves against the impenetrable field.

“Twilight! Get up, you’re okay, ya have to be! Don’t do this to me, Twi!” cried Applejack, tears threatening to break out.

“Yeah, come on, Twilight! You’re tough, you can do it! Don’t give up!” encouraged Dash, her hopes high as the sky.

Both of their spirits soared with relief as they saw their friend begin to twitch, slowly at first, but then getting stronger and more frequent. The two mares hugged each other in relief.

Then they saw another figure stirring in the rubble.

Twilight could only barely feel anything, she was so numb. The magical shockwave from the two powerful attacks had rendered her nearly useless, draining off a good deal of her magic. A stray thought threaded its way through her dazed stupor.

I really should have been disintegrated by that explosion. That magical fallout was powerful enough to level a city block, and yet I survived? I need to do some tests...

Twilight heard the sounds of ponies shouting things at her, voices that sounded familiar. She tried lifting her head, but that ignited a violent spasm of pain in her body, so she just lay there for a moment longer. The voices shouting at her got louder as she heard the sounds of hooves slipping and crunching on rubble. Getting a vague feeling that she was in danger, Twilight opened her eyes. Staring down at her was Trixie, whose pupils had shrunk to the size of a pea and whose hat and cape had been incinerated. The alicorn’s body was glowing a harsh blue, and as Trixie opened her mouth to take a deep breath, Twilight caught a glimpse of what she thought were fangs.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to think for much longer as Trixie lifted the blackened unicorn into the air with magic, laughing haphazardly, maniacally.

“Sparkle, you have no idea how much I am going to enjoy this,” gloated the alicorn, just as she slammed Twilight’s body down into the ground. The air was forced from her lungs in a rough groan, her mind beginning to distance itself from her body in an effort to keep out the pain.

Hm, that’s odd, thought the unicorn lazily as her body was once again smashed into the ground. As if from far away, she heard the clear, crisp sound of bones breaking. Trixie didn’t refer to herself in the third person. I wonder if that energy she’s using has some kind of psychoactive quality. Smash. Perhaps it even has other potential effects, maybe even on equine anatomy; is that how Trixie got those wings? Crash. Hm...

There was a pause in the rhythm of her body hitting the ground. Twilight’s rational mind felt like a creeping, cool darkness was seeping up from her subconscious, inviting her to come down and forget about the pain. The unicorn gave it thought, then let herself drift down into the darkness, like sinking slowly through a frozen lake. Down at the bottom, Twilight could see several statues scattered around, depicting things that she remembered as important in her life; there was one of Princess Celestia with her parents, frozen in the moment she’d been accepted into the School for Gifted Unicorns. Nearby was Mr. Smartypants, lying next to a stuffed dragon doll resembling Spike. Lastly, she saw a marble rendition of six ponies in a group hug, five of which were wearing the various elements of harmony. The sixth in the group was made out of clear glass, and the Element of Magic rested on its head; whereas the other Elements were white marble, her Element appeared in full color, seemingly real. Twilight felt drawn to the last statue, and when she was almost completely engulfed in the darkness she reached out a hoof and slowly grabbed hold of the tiara.

A pair of pure white, glowing eyes snapped open. The body which those eyes belonged to began crackling with pure magical energy, shooting off massive bolts of excess power. It floated into the air of its own accord, hanging as if by strings. Trixie backed away from it hastily, dodging a few stray bursts of energy. The lungs of the body expanded, drawing in air, then contracted and pushed the air through its vocal cords, which vibrated in a certain pattern to create a recognizable sound.

“Twilight... angry.”

The body of the purple unicorn floated up higher, raining down white-hot concussive blasts on the hapless blue alicorn. The blue pony threw up an energy shield, but it only took three bolts in quick succession to batter it to pieces. The blue mare desperately, angrily took to the air, flying around the magical attacks. She launched a huge, roiling sphere of chaotic blue energy at the floating body, which didn’t so much as bat an eye when the sphere impacted, simply absorbing the projectile like a piece of popcorn one might catch in their mouth.

With a sense of finality permeating the air in the vicinity, Twilight’s body let out a low, rumbling growl not unlike thunder in both volume and intensity. A fierce, white spark of magic appeared at the tip of the body’s horn, then expanded into a shaft of blinding white power that lanced through the air almost instantaneously, running straight through Trixie. The ex-showmare’s eyes widened in shock and pain, taking on the look of complete clarity that ponies get when they know that they are about to die.

“I- I... I h-ha...” Trixie struggled to speak, but was unable to finish. The mare seemed to hang in the air for a moment before her wings buckled, sending her spiralling to the ground. She struggled for a few moments, trying to get to her hooves. Failing, she took in a long, slow final breath, and let it all out in a bestial scream, accompanied by a self-consuming explosion of blue ichor and energy.

Earlier

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were shouting at Twilight to get up, to do something, to stop Trixie, who was advancing menacingly, if unsteadily, on their friend’s prone form. The two, along with Flare, watched in horror as Trixie lifted Twilight up into the air. They each pressed their hooves even harder against the cursed shield as the body of the unicorn was thrown forcefully into the ground, shaking the stone with the power of it. Red blood began leaking in terrifying spurts from the blackened body, spattering the rubble below in an unholy arrangement of blue, red, and black. Applejack couldn’t handle any more, turning away and slumping to the ground, crying. She felt the quivering, shaking body of another pony curl up beside her, feeling the tickling of Rainbow’s wing feathers against her side.

The two mares cried for a small eternity before Dash stood herself up, wiping her eyes with a hoof. She felt a comforting wing extended around her shoulder, and leaned against the stone platform for support.

“Hey, relax. We’re the good guys! Justice will prevail, and all that stuff... right, AJ?” Dash said, hoping to cheer her friend up a bit.

Applejack hiccuped, a sob and laugh mixed together. She looked away, when an interesting sight caught her attention; that mare, Puzzle, was standing right in front of the energy barrier, her horn surrounded by a dark green aura. The farmer gazed with apathy at first, but looked more closely when she saw the runes on the shield begin to flicker in impossibly rapid patterns.

Puzzle scowled and sat on her haunches, giving the orange mare her first good look at the gray pony’s cutie mark; it was a rope tangled into some incredibly complex knot that made the apple farmer dizzy just looking at it. She heard Puzzle mutter something under her breath.

“Just a great big sudoku...”

The gray mare shook her head as if trying to clear something out, her un-combed, neon-green and yellow-striped mane bouncing crazily. Focusing even more intently on her magic, Puzzle’s horn glowed darker than before. The flashing of the runes slowed to the point where Applejack could occasionally make out familiar shapes and patterns. She saw Puzzle smirk confidently.

“Gotcha!” said two mares at once. The gray mare yelped and tried to leap back in shock, but was caught in a blue aura before she had the chance. As Puzzle floated into the air, Trixie’s smooth, arrogant voice rang out.

“You foal, you thought you could break into my containment spell and not have me notice? You shouldn’t have gotten involved.” Trixie laughed haughtily, then looked at the floundering mare as though making an important decision. Eventually settling on a shrug, Trixie’s horn lit up brighter, and Puzzle began screaming in agony, writhing and flailing about in mid-air as a nauseating sizzling sound came out of her hide. A bitter look appeared in Trixie’s eyes before an extra blue aura formed a collar around the gray mare’s neck, and the screaming stopped. It was replaced by an even more haunting silence as Puzzle thrashed wildly, her hooves clawing at her throat as wisps of smoke began curling off of the mare’s fur.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the blue field around the gray mare vanished, dropping her unceremoniously to the ground with a huge gasp of air. Rainbow and Firework raced over to Puzzle’s side, making sure she was okay. Applejack was riveted instead on the goings-on inside the shield; Twilight was shooting energy out like there was no tomorrow, and the farmer could tell that it was having a devastating effect on the shield. The runes were dimming and occasionally sparking, a few even winking out.

Hypnotized by the sheer scope of the battle, Applejack watched in a trance as Twilight pounded bolt after bolt into or at Trixie, then delivered the death blow, making the apple farmer recoil and shield her eyes with a hoof. There was an ear-splitting shriek. When she could see again, Applejack noticed Rainbow and Flare helping the still-smoking Puzzle to her hooves, as well as Twilight’s body sinking to the ground. Trixie was nowhere to be seen, although there was a large, blue-coated blast crater where the stage had been. Hearing the body of her unicorn friend hit the ground with a disturbing thump snapped her out of her stupor, and she galloped over to her friend's figure, which was smoking and charred, and still. The farmer placed a hoof on Twilight’s chest, hoping to feel a rise and fall, but no such oscillation was felt. Desperate, she put an ear to Twilight’s snout, and sighed with relief.

“I can hear her breathing.”

6: Stirring

Part 6

The gray pegasus fluttered haphazardly along the familiar path towards Zecora’s house in the Everfree, her mailbag empty except for one last letter. The ‘show’ earlier that day had turned into a nightmare, but Ditzy had no intention of letting that get in the way of delivering the mail. She’d never missed a day, not in all her years of working as a mailmare.

One of the perks of being the mail carrier was that everypony knew you, and you knew everypony else, and one pony- or rather, one zebra- that Ditzy had gotten to know pretty well was Zecora. Even though not much was sent to the zebra through the mail, Ditzy had had enough letters and packages come through that she’d become fast friends with the striped mare.

So today, when Ditzy arrived to find Zecora spreading glowing green powder around her house with deep chants and a good amount of dancing about, she was surprised enough to forget to flap her wings, and fell to the ground unceremoniously. Whipping around into a defensive posture, the Zebra settled when she saw it was just Ditzy, she eased her stance.

“A pleasant sight to sore eyes, Miss Doo.

It’s always good to see a friend like you.”

Frowning, Derpy pulled out the letter she’d brought and passed it to her friend, who opened and read it on the spot. She also frowned in turn.

“Uh, Zecora, what exactly is going on? Why are you putting up a barrier around your house?”

The zebra sighed before beginning to speak.

“Something dark in the forest stirs,

A sinister presence amongst the firs.

I know not what it has in mind;

And to find out I am not inclined.”

Zecora turned and resumed working on the green, misty barrier.

“But enough about me and my troubles, dear.

What are you up to, are you in good cheer?”

Ditzy ignored the questions she had about the letter and the thing that Zecora sensed in the forest.

“Well, I ran into Rainbow Dash again,” said Ditzy almost routinely. At Zecora’s curious look she elaborated. “No, Zecora, I didn’t remember the trick you suggested; I still babbled out ‘muffin’s. Anyway, do you remember that time I told you about that showmare that came to town, ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’?” Ditzy asked. Zecora nodded, so the mailmare continued. “Well, she came back today to do a show, but it turned out that... she wanted revenge, instead. She had some kind of bone to pick with Twilight, so she and Twilight ended up battling in the middle of Ponyville.”

“Surely somepony intervened to stop the fight?

I can’t imagine one to enjoy such a sight.”

“Well, that’s just it, Zecora. Trixie was really powerful, she put up some kind of magical barrier that nopony could break through.”

Zecora frowned again.

“Such magic I’ve not heard done by any but the Princess,

Yet you say this mare cast it under duress?

I do not feel this bodes us well, my friend,” said Zecora, pausing. After some thought, she continued.

“I think, however, you should leave before day’s end,” suggested the black and white equestrian as she gestured towards the darkening evening sky. Ditzy nodded reluctantly in agreement, still curious about the letter and a host of other things. She flapped her wings and took off for Ponyville, leaving the striped mare to her zebra magic.

She didn’t notice that she was being watched.

Princess Celestia sat serenely in her study, looking over some old texts about Changeling society and psychology. Her setting sun cast long shadows throughout the room, giving the air a strangely immutable feeling, as though the sun would always hang just over the horizon. The Princess of the Day was enjoying the quiet solitude, as times like these were hard to come by.

So, when a loud, hard knocking sound came at the door, Celestia sighed deeply, then opened the door with her magic, not even bothering to turn around.

“Yes?” she asked, skillfully keeping the annoyance out of her voice.

“Princess, I know you asked to not be interrupted, but...” began the Captain, one of the few times he was at a loss for words. “Celestia, there’s been an incident.”

“Yes, Captain, there are many ‘incident’s that occur. Perhaps you could be a bit more specific?” inquired the Princess, an air of unease about her. She'd rarely heard Shining Armor address her as just 'Celestia'.

“Well, Princess, it’s- it’s Twilight, Your Highness. She’s been injured. Badly. She might not make it.”

The Princess’ insides tied into a Gordian knot and her blood turned to ice in her veins. Using every trick she’d learned over the last thousand years, she managed to maintain her composure even as her mind was cast into turmoil.

“Twilight was injured?” asked Celestia evenly. She finally turned to face the captain, who had an intensely worried look in his eyes. She took a deep breath, knowing what needed to be done. “Please, Shining Armor, you will fill me in as we go. Arrange an escort to Ponyville for myself and Luna, if she is awake and feeling well enough to travel. I assume news of this... ‘incident’ has made it to the press?”

“Yes, Princess, Equestria Daily ran a special evening print not an hour ago,” he said. The Captain lingered for a moment, staring straight through Celestia’s mask, until with a gentle nod she dismissed him. He trotted out of the room, and the Princess thought she heard a sniffle.
Twilight, hold on. Just hold on, I’ll be there soon, and everything will be better, I promise... Celestia thought as she stared out the window, a few rainbow-colored tears leaking out of her eyes.

Luna was lazily weaving her way through the royal garden, having decided to deal with the important budget work in a little while, when she was more focused and alert. The Night Princess stopped to look at her reflection in a little pond, marveling at the smooth, crystalline rendition of the sky and clouds above, as well as of her own regal demeanor. She thought she saw a faint light blue coloration in her normally darker eyes, but upon closer inspection it proved elusive. Shrugging, Luna continued on.

She wasn’t quite sure how she’d gotten to be in this situation. All she could remember was her encounter with that strange mare outside of Ponyville, then waking up in her room the next evening with a pounding headache and a heavy sense of deja vu and lethargy.

The Princess heard another pony approaching, and by the weight of the hoofsteps she was reasonably certain that it was Captain Shining Armor. She turned to acknowledge him, and saw by the look on his face that something was wrong. The white unicorn took a deep breath and began.

“Princess Luna, your sister inquires whether you feel well enough to make a trip to Ponyville with her,” said the captain, using formality as a crutch with which to maintain his impassive demeanor. “Celestia’s personal student, Twilight Sparkle, was injured, and the Princess is going to Ponyville to see her; she also requested your accompaniment.”

Luna frowned; she’d only recently gotten to know Twilight, after the adventures of Nightmare Night, but the fact that Twilight was hurt and Celestia was going to see her was unsettling. Celestia had always told Luna that they, as alicorns, should not use their powers to play favorites, or help one pony over another. After all, if they healed one pony of a disease, everypony would want the same treatment when they got sick.

Now, considering that Twilight was her sister’s prized student, Celly seemed to be breaking her own rule, and that made Luna question just what was going on with her sister. After a moment of thought, she addressed the captain, mimicking his formal tone out of sympathy for him.

“Very well, Shining Armor. Inform my sister that I shall accompany her to Ponyville. Where is the escort? I assume she’s arranged for one.”

“The escort will meet you in front of the palace, milady,” said the captain before turning and marching away.

What are you doing, Celly? wondered the Princess of the Night as she flew back to her room to fetch a few things for the journey.

Celestia trotted towards the chariot waiting for her at the entrance to the castle, a flock of guards accompanying her. Luna was already inside the chariot, waiting for her. The white alicorn passed through the large entryway and hopped into the chariot, and then they were off. As the royal chariot lifted off into the sky, Luna leaned over towards her sister and whispered into her ear.

“Celly, what are you doing?”

“Visiting the site of a terrible disaster, in which several ponies were injured. As the Princess, I- we must show concern for our subjects,” said the Day Princess, her voice much more smooth than it should have been.

“I know that this visit has something to do with Twilight, sister,” bluffed the dark blue alicorn, hoping to draw out some hint that her assertion was true.

“Indeed it does, Luna,” Celestia said evasively. “Twilight was one of the ponies injured, not to mention the pony who... who killed another.” The white princess stumbled a bit on this last bit.

“Celly, what exactly happened in Ponyville?” asked Luna, surprise and curiosity overtaking her.

“Well, Luna, a few months back, only a little while after your return, there was a traveling unicorn showmare that showed up in Ponyville,” explained the elder sister. “If I recall correctly, Twilight wrote of her as ‘Trixie’. There was the mishap with the Ursa Minor; I believe you’re familiar with that one. As I was informed by the captain, this mare, Trixie, came back to Ponyville, looking for trouble. She was particularly incensed with Twilight, and was apparently much more powerful than she should have been; she somehow acquired a pair of wings.”

“What?!” Luna burst out, surprising the guards and causing them to tighten into a defensive formation. “Sorry to scare you all like that,” she apologized. “I was simply surprised, that’s all.”

The pegasi returned to their normal formation, and Luna turned back to her sister.

“Celly, you say she had wings? And a horn? How did she become an alicorn? The only way to do that is to-”

“I know, Luna, how a pony might become an alicorn. I do not know whether or not this mare possessed the means to do so, which is the part that bothers me. What other power could there be that she could have used?

“Anyway, sister, Trixie found Twilight and trapped her in a containment spell, then fought her to the death. Only, it ended up being Trixie who died, and the two had an incredibly destructive battle. Twilight almost died, and is still in mortal danger if I don’t-” Celestia caught herself before she finished that sentence. The two alicorns were silent for the rest of the journey, neither wanting to say what was on their mind and hanging over their heads.

The entity was only vaguely aware of its existence, phasing in and out of consciousness in the painful haze of its being. It was like she had been torn into a million minute shreds, and now was slowly, sluggishly weaving herself back together. The very slowness of the process seemed to increase the pain she felt, and no matter how hard she tried to thrash around or alleviate it, there was no escape. The half-pony felt like she would go mad if this went on any longer; or rather, become more insane than she already felt.

That’s when she realized that she could feel. And see. And smell. The wretched thing took stock of its surroundings, and recognized it’s location. It was lying on the ground near a lake of a shimmering, quivering blue gel that radiated a feeling of life and energy. Nearby was her cart, right where she’d left it. Feeling a bit stronger, the pain fading just slightly, the thing rose to its hooves- or rather, what could only be described as vaguely resembling hooves, underneath the claws that were growing out of the ends of her limbs. She looked into the pool and was able to see a reflection of herself.

“Trixie is not pleased,” said the thing. She held up a hoof-appendage, and was able to see through it like it was near-invisible glass. The mare stared right on through it, her face an unreadable mask of glowing, translucent granite.

After an indeterminate amount of time, during which the agony of reassembly continued unabated, Trixie turned and trotted away, only to feel the pain double in intensity. She dropped to the ground and felt herself forcefully dragged back towards the pool of Phazon, eventually submerging into the frosty, nurturing depths.

Applejack trotted slowly out of the hospital room, an exhausted frown on her face. She slowly, gently tapped the door shut behind her, hoping to avoid disturbing her other four conscious friends inside. She moved at a snail’s pace, eventually making her way to the front lobby. It felt strange sitting in the room again, two times in as many days. It reminded the farmer of the time that she and her friends had masqueraded as Mare-Do-Well, because there seemed to be a streak of accidents shaking up the town non-stop.

The room itself was fairly bland, a decent number of chairs, benches, and tables spread throughout the plain white-walled room. There were several other ponies in the room, most of whom were hoping to hear some news about Twilight. After the initial swarm of questions, Applejack sank into a chair, the reality of the day’s events only starting to fall into place in her mind.

“The doctors don’t know,” said the orange mare, hoping to appease the crowd’s curiosity. Many of the ponies’ faces fell, most trotting out of the room as if running from the truth of it.

Applejack heard a wheezing cough from the hospital wing, one that sounded familiar. Turning her head, the farmer saw the gray mare, Puzzle, limp out of the hall and into the room. She had a few bandages on her, the most obvious of which was all over her neck. Applejack figured the white strips were covering up the scorch marks that splotched her fur. The stetson-wearing pony watched the sunglasses-wearing one make her way to the door.

Applejack felt herself standing up and trotting towards the door, making it there before Puzzle. She nudged open the door for the gray mare, who glowered at her from behind the tinted lenses.

“I can get the door myself just fine, thanks,” protested the gray unicorn. Frowning, Applejack allowed the door to swing shut, and Puzzle snorted as she leaned into the wooden frame. She paused for a moment, breathing in, and she shoved open the door. A gasp of pain escaped her lungs, but she trotted triumphantly out the entryway despite that.

“Are ya okay?” asked the orange mare, somewhat patronizingly, although with a hint of real concern tucked away in her tone.

“Fine.”

“I’m sure.”

Puzzle huffed, and the two strolled through Ponyville aimlessly. They trotted past almost every store in the town, some multiple times. It was like the two were battling each other not physically, but mentally, seeing which would be the first to give in and go home. Applejack dug in her metaphorical hooves, determined to win out in their small-scale struggle.

Having practiced against Rainbow Dash, Applejack had a distinct advantage, and it proved decisive; after almost an hour of wandering, Puzzle turned exasperatedly to her shadow.

“Why are you following me?” asked the gray mare, conceding.

“I don’t rightfully know, but I’d like to,” replied Applejack. “I guess I’m jus’ confused; ya didn’t seem like the type who’d give a darn about another pony.”

Puzzle was silent for a moment as they continued along, passing Sugarcube Corner for a third time.

“Why does that concern you?” she asked at last.

“You almost died,” said the farmer flatly.

“Why does that concern you?” Puzzle repeated, overtly sarcastic, but Applejack’s keen sense for ponies picked up a tinge of genuine curiosity.

“You didn’t have to do it.”

“And?”

“Not every pony would,” pointed out the orange pony.

“I know,” said the gray mare evenly, but the farmer knew better; she could tell that something was bothering Puzzle.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” asked Applejack, almost afraid of the answer; however, she knew that in order to get to the bottom of this, she’d need to put some things on the line.

“I don’t need your help,” grumbled Puzzle. Applejack smiled smugly and let silence do the work that no words she spoke could ever hope to. Again locked in a contest of wills, the two mares continued their perpetual trot around Ponyville. They were actually beginning to garner some stares, more so than an injured pony might warrant in the town. Deciding to give up the battle before she got too invested in it, Puzzle broke the silence.

“By Celestia’s Beard, you are a persistent little bugger!” she exclaimed. “If you care so much, then yes, there might be something you can do.” The gray mare paused as long as she could, putting off the inevitable by distracting herself with her fetlocks, or adjusting her sunglasses. At last, she ran out of excuses, and mumbled almost inaudibly, “I’m kind of strapped for cash... As in, I have no money, except for what I’ve got on me. Could you maybe, um, get me a job?”

“Aw, shucks, sugarcube. If all ya needed was a few bits, why didn’t ya jus’ say so?” asked Applejack, her tone softening. “It’s almost Applebuck Season, I’m sure we could use an extra set of helpin’ hooves around the farm.”

Applejack thought she saw the gray mare twitch, but couldn’t be sure. The gray pony certainly had a stony expression, almost completely unreadable even to the orange farmpony.

“Yeah. Applebucking. Great. When can I start?” asked Puzzle, her voice slipping back into that annoying tone that grated on Applejack’s nerves. “And more importantly, what’s the pay?”

I’m gonna regret this, ain’t I... thought the farmer to herself. Outwardly, she smiled slightly.

“Well, ya can start right now, if ya want, and we’ve got a spare room in the house if ya need it. We’ll talk about your wages when we get there.”

The gray mare simply nodded and trotted off, Applejack looking after her with a puzzled expression on her face.

7: Night Business

Part 7

The crisp evening air was unnaturally still as the golden, flying chariot descended towards the small town of Ponyville. The two Royal Pony Sisters riding in the chariot sat in uncomfortable silence, draining any remaining liveliness out of the atmosphere nearby. With the gentlest of bumps, the wheels of the royal chariot touched down on the ground just inside Ponyville. The white alicorn anxiously hopped out of the vehicle, projecting as regal and commanding an air as she could.

At the same time, though, she made herself a beacon of calm and caring authority; after all, what else would her subjects expect from her? The papers had reported on a great disaster, a murder, the most outlandish, unheard-of event in all of Equestria. Naturally, the story was being blown way out of proportion, even though it was serious indeed; it was for this reason she needed to be what ponies expected her to be, strong and reassuring.

Celestia trotted down the road, ponies all around bowing in respect and awe. She could tell that Luna was almost directly behind her by the sound of her sister's distinct hoofsteps. The pair of princesses moved through the town towards the site of the battle, exuding an aura of serenity as they passed. Only a minute or so later, they came upon a mound of rubble covered in black and blue scorch marks and blast craters. Celestia and Luna stood silently looking at the rubble, a small crowd of curious ponies gathering around them expectantly. After a few minutes, Celestia broke the silence.

“My little ponies, what happened here is a terrible, terrible thing; fortunately, these sorts of things are few and far between. Do not let yourselves be troubled, but do not ignore it either. Remember what happens when ponies give in to hate, and make sure that you don't,” said the Sun Princess, her voice slipping into speech mode. The white alicorn turned to the Mayor, who had trotted up while she was speaking. “Mayor, if you require anything for the rebuilding that you don't have readily available, just notify me and I will have it sent to you expressly.”

The mare nodded gratefully and politely, then stepped aside as the white and blue alicorns trotted past her. Celestia gestured for the gray Mayor to walk with them.

“Yes, your Highness?” asked Mayor Mare.

“Would you mind if myself and Luna set up a temporary residence in the town hall? I think it would be appropriate for us to spend some time in the town, to ease fears and speed the healing process.”

“O-of course, Princess,” stammered the gray mare, taken by surprise. “I'll have some special quarters set up right away.”

“That's quite all right, my personal guards can take care of it. Thank you, you may go now,” said Celestia. After the mayor had scampered off, no doubt to prepare some kind of opulent room for them, she turned to her younger sister, with whom she was trotting in solitude, her guards either at a distance or gone ahead to prepare the Princesses' rooms.

“Luna, you've been quiet,” commented the white alicorn in a hushed tone.

“I have, Celly. I've been playing along with your plan. Is that all that this is to you, this visit? A scheme? I heard you give that nice little speech, sister,” snapped the Night Princess, surprised at the vehemence in her voice. “These ponies need more than a figurehead, Celestia, they need more than speeches; the ponies need a friend, a shoulder to lean on. They are afraid, and I don't think you can feel that.”

Luna visibly recoiled from the accusation she'd leveled at her sister.

“Wait, Celly, I'm sorry-” began the blue alicorn.

“No,” interrupted Celestia flatly. She continued trotting in silence until the two were inside the town hall, where several of her guards were finishing preparations for their stay. She breezed past them, not so much as sparing a glance as they sprang to attention. Luna followed behind, worry and regret etched on her face. Celestia trotted through a few short halls and up a flight of stairs, then tossed open a door and entered. The midnight mare had to canter to keep pace with her older sister, barely slipping in before the door slammed shut telekinetically behind her.

The younger of the two approacher her sister hesitantly, apologetically, and wrapped a wing around her. Celestia allowed it for a moment before pulling away.

“Luna, you're right, I'm out of touch, I get it,” admitted the white mare in a shaky tone that she'd been repressing. She turned to face the darker pony, who could now see the tears threatening to spill out. “Maybe you should be the one to talk to ponies from here on, at least for this disaster. I need some time to think.”

The Night Princess winced, knowing she had brought this on her sister. She looked around the hastily-arranged room for inspiration, from the plush, sandy-colored carpet to the ornate, sparsely-occupied bookshelves on the two side walls and everywhere in between. Finally she trotted over to the roomy bay window and looked over the town, the twilight sun's rays casting long, still shadows of everything they touched. The scene was strangely calming, so Luna beckoned for her sister to share the view with her.

With a weary sigh, Celestia took a place at Luna's side. The two Princesses sat looking like this for a seeming eternity, trying desperately to communicate everything by saying nothing. After a time, Luna leaned into Celestia, both for support and out of love.

“Alright, Celly. I will go speak with our subjects; you take care of yourself. I shall be back soon.”

The blue Princess turned away and trotted out of the room, leaving the white one with a saddened, guilty expression as she watched her younger sister go.

The bandaged red pegasus tapped his hoof impatiently as he sat in the lobby of the Ponyville Clinic. He wasn't in the best of moods, since Nurse Redheart had spotted him without his wing bandages on, and forcefully re-applied them (he was sure it was punishment for taking them off early). Now Flare was stuck in the lobby with his wings all cramped again, waiting on Rainbow Dash, who was in Twilight's room still.

He frowned; Firework didn't exactly know the purple mare that well, but she was the one who'd saved his life, and that was no small debt to owe. The red colt wanted to pay her back, for sure... but he didn't exactly have any way to do that, and Flare was fairly certain that Rainbow didn't either.

So he finally got up and trotted through the now-familiar white hallways of the hospital to Twilight's room, and gently pushed open the door. Inside were five ponies, one being the burnt and blackened Twilight, the other four presumably her friends. There was an aristocratic-looking white unicorn and a cotton-candy-pink earth pony, neither of which he recognized; next to them were the more familiar figures of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. They were all morosely quiet, and turned to look hopefully at him when they heard the door swish open; disappointed that it wasn't a doctor with good news, they went back to moping.

“Hey Dash, did you want to do something?” asked Firework in a hushed voice. Dash looked about ready to say something when the white unicorn butted in.

“Excuse me, sir, can't you see that she's trying to comfort her friend?” huffed the mare with the coiffed mane. “We all are, thank you very much!”

Flare was all set to snap right back at her, but the pink mare appeared between them.

“You silly fillies, fighting isn't going to get us anywhere,” she said, her fluffy pink mane drooping somewhat. “If we want to take care of Twilight we need to take care of ourselves. I'll go make some cupcakes and bring them to you girls when they're all done,” pledged Pinkie. Her face brightened and her mane poofed up a bit before she continued. “And then I'm going to throw a PARTY for our new pony in town! No, wait, ponies! There was a second one!”

And with that, Pinkie was off. The others stared after her for a few moments before turning back to each other. The white one with the purple mane had a contrite air about her.

“I'm sorry for shouting at you, darling, I'm a little anxious right now,” she apologized. “Twilight's... situation has put us all between a rock and a hard place. I'm Rarity, by the way; you should stop by sometime at the Carousel Boutique, I could transform you into a less ruffian-esque stallion. I mean, really, that mane-cut went out of style ages ago, dear! You absolutely should get it done-”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm sure, Rarity,” interrupted Rainbow Dash hastily, “but all that girly stuff is boring and takes forever. We're fine like this, so we'll be going now, bye!”

Flare barely had time to blurt out a “Wait, what?” before he was forcefully pushed out of the room by the cyan pegasus at high speed. After they were out in the hall, Dash stopped pushing him and instead let him trot on his own, and the two of them left the hospital at a brisk pace. The sun was dropping slowly behind the horizon, its rays flying almost parallel to the ground; both were forced to squint as they moved.

“Do you think we'll have time to get any practice in before it gets dark?” asked the red pegasus.

“Who says we have to stop when it gets dark?” laughed the blue one. “We can practice at night, I've done it before. I bet you have, too.”

“Caught me red-hoofed, Rainbow. Where do you usually go when you want to get in some tricks?”

“Either at Sweet Apple Acres or outside my house. AJ is usually okay with me lounging around at her place, as long as I don't damage any of her stuff. I usually don't go there at night, though, just because it's a bit easier to run into something.”

“Okay, I guess we'll start at your place. Lead the way, Dash.”

Rainbow took off for her cloud home, but an accusatory silence reminded her that Flare was still grounded, so she returned with a sigh to the ground. The two trotted together once more; as if testing the waters, Flare sped up his pace so that he was just in front of the blue pony. In response, the rainbow-maned pony accelerated to a slightly faster speed than his, pulling ahead. Firework pushed to the front again, and then Dash, and the two kept trying to outpace the other until they were both galloping at full speed. Both wore exuberant grins as they raced through the chill air of the evening, each confident in their victory over the other.

For the first few moments, they were neck and neck; Rainbow Dash might have him beaten hooves-down in the air, but on the ground he was at least a challenge for her speed. After the galloping started to take its toll, Flare began to lag behind, his numerous shallow injuries slowing him down.

After a few minutes of top speed, Dash's expression blanched before she burst out laughing and slowed down to a stop. The red colt kept running, celebrating his victory with a whoop, before he turned around and saw Rainbow Dash galloping in the opposite direction. He was about to call out in confusion when she beat him to the punch.

“We passed it! Now there's no way I can lose!”

The red pegasus sighed and raced after her. When he finally caught up, he stood panting next to the triumphant rainbow-maned mare beneath her home. Said mare took off into the air, performing a cursory loop-de-loop before settling into a hover a few hoof-lengths above Firework's head.

“You did that just to tease me, didn't you,” grumbled the red pony. He received a giggle in response. “Fine, let's just get on with this. Did you have any specific trick routines in mind? I forgot what I was planning.”

“Not really anything specific; usually I can just kind of fly around and do whatever comes to mind, and it forms into a routine,” answered Rainbow, now hovering upside-down over her rival. Without waiting for a reply, she took off, starting into a random string of loops, rolls, and dives.

Flare's gaze attentively tracked her motion through the sky, the last dim rays of the sun making her bright blue coat radiant. He thought about how they might arrange some of her stunts into a pattern, visualizing it in his mind; when the red pony did so, however, he couldn't keep focused on the pattern. What absorbed his attention instead was the glowing cyan mare that dominated his field of view. The way that she handled every twist and turn, her graceful, minute wing adjustments; it could only be described by one word.

Serene.

The way that Dash flew was absolutely casual, as easy as breathing might be for a pony. He could see how she instinctively, naturally knew where she wanted to go next, and automatically adjusted herself to go there. There was no thought involved, she just did. Flare just sat and watched, taking in the sight of the natural ace that was Rainbow Dash.

Flare couldn’t help but feel the envy bubbling up in his thoughts; her flight was the antithesis of his own. Every move he did, every turn and twitch of the wing was calculated and carefully thought through; this was out of necessity, because he had very little natural skill when it came to flying. He had had to work hard for his flying skills, and she made it look so easy...

He started to feel a twitching in his wings, a slight pressure against the tightly-wrapped bandages. The sudden sensory input caught his attention, and with a fierce blush hardly noticeable against his already-burning pelt Firework shook his head and snapped himself out of the trance.

Shortly thereafter, the rainbow-maned flier touched down next to Flare.

“So? Any ideas? I've got a bunch,” enthused the mare.
“Uh, actually I'm getting kind of tired,” lied the red colt with a remnant of embarrassment. Dash pouted sarcastically.

“You're no fun. I thought you wanted to get our routine planned out tonight,” she complained. “I bet all that running tired you out, didn't it? Pffft, you need to build up some stamina, Flare!”

Dash hovered up over the other pegasus and reached around him with her forehooves. He jolted in surprise, and she also pulled back, curious.

“What is it?” she asked. He started to mumble something, but she cut him off. “Unless you found somewhere else in Ponyville to spend the night while I wasn't looking, you're staying with me at my house. Since you can't fly, I need to carry you up there,” said Rainbow, as though stating the obvious. Flare sighed inwardly, relieved.

Finished with that little escapade, the blue mare picked up her rival in her hooves and carried him up to her home; she was careful not to disturb any of his injuries, for which he was silently grateful. After less than a minute, she set him down on the cloud and the two trotted into Rainbow's house. She quickly made up a spare bedroom for him, which was only slightly tidier than the rest of her home. With the last minutes of daylight gone, the two parted ways and went to sleep.

The petite yellow pegasus sat silently next to her comatose friend, the darkness outside the room dispelled only partially by a dim lantern in the corner of the room. Next to her sat Rarity, who had finally fallen asleep out of exhaustion. The white mare lay nearly as still as Twilight, her head resting gently on the side of a plush armchair she'd acquired from somewhere. As Fluttershy looked at Rarity's sleeping form and Twilight's unconscious one, she noticed how each of them, and even herself as she lay curled in a similar chair, had their chests rising and falling softly, gently. It was like clockwork in its regularity, but so slow that it reminded her of watching snowflakes fall.

The solitude of the silent hospital room made the pegasus' eyelids begin to droop lazily, even as tears began to spill out of them again.

“Please get better, Twilight... please. I- I'll even read you a... a story...” whispered Fluttershy, barely any sound escaping her lips at all as she closed her leaking eyes and fell into a much-needed, albeit fitful, slumber.

A few moments passed before a golden glow gripped the door to the room, and it swung open silently. With magically-muffled hoofsteps, a tall, shadowy figure trotted into the room, illuminated only by the lamp; distinctly noticeable about the interloper was the pain and doubt carved into her face. The pony moved silently to a spot next to Twilight's bed, and sat down. The long, waving mane coming off of the winged figure cast an eerie shadow on Twilight's body.

The alicorn, whose pelt gleamed a soft creamy white in the dim lamp-light, removed her golden horseshoe and extended a forehoof over the still form of her star student, fondly wiping a stray lock of charred purple mane out of Twilight's face. The Princess' eyes closed, and she began softly stroking the unicorn's forehead and cheek, which were hot to the touch. A prismatic droplet fell from her eyes and stained the bland white hospital sheet with an oily, rainbow splotch; then another came, and another.

The small white unicorn mare hesitantly pushed open the door to the Ponyville Clinic; when the nurse on duty looked up from her crossword puzzle, she nodded a polite greeting.
“Hey there,” said the nurse, “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Oh, um, no thanks, I was just stopping by to see someone. Thank you, though,” mumbled the white, pink-maned unicorn. She trotted down the hall leading out of the waiting room, when she overheard two ponies speaking in hushed tones behind a door labeled “Staff Only”.
“Redheart, the Arc-Site scans are done. I... don't think you're going to like them,” whispered one.
“Are they really that bad?” asked the other. There was a moment of silence and the sound of shuffling paper, then something like a clipboard hitting the ground with a clatter. “How... how is this possible? There must be a mistake, this can't be right,” objected Redheart. “Run the scans again!”
“Ma'am, with all due respect, we just can't. All of our unicorns are too tired; they've been trying to heal Twilight on and off all day, and nothing has worked. They need a break. Maybe we do too.”
The pink-maned unicorn hid herself behind the nearest object, a tall piece of metal equipment that seemed to radiate a slight magical aura. Out of the “Staff Only” door came two ponies, one the familiar form of Nurse Redheart, and the other a blue unicorn in a doctor's outfit. The two trotted silently past the concealed mare, exhaustion evident in their expressions. The white mare stealthily went over to the restricted-access door and pushed it open, seeing inside a prim office space; aside from a circular table, three cheap-looking chairs, and a few cabinets, there wasn't much in the room.
Resting atop one of the cabinets was a clipboard with a small sheaf of papers attached to it. The top sheet read like a label, with a good deal of fancy-looking reference numbers and such, as well as a bold-faced “Twilight Sparkle” indicating the name of the patient whose record this was. The white pony, out of trepidation, accidentally let her illusion spell falter for a moment, revealing the golden crown, wings, and flowing, multi-hued mane she had been hiding. Despite her nervousness, she took the file in her magical grasp and flipped through it.
Even without much in the way of medical knowledge, the pictures and graphs and notes made it fairly obvious; Twilight Sparkle, the prodigious unicorn magician, was not going to survive her wounds. The wounds themselves weren't too serious; what was really going to kill the charred mare was the fact that her injuries resisted magical healing. 'Some kind of poison,' the report suggested. 'An unknown, unidentifiable magical poison that Trixie had somehow slipped into Twilight's body while they fought.'
The small stack of papers began to tremble in the telekinetic grasp of the Princess. Her illusion spell faded away entirely, revealing her full, regal self. Celestia floated the clipboard back into its rightful place, and headed for the room that her student, her Twilight rested in.

The white alicorn made every effort to keep her crying silent. Her precious pupil, the little lavender unicorn that she'd practically raised as her own was dying. Worse still, was that she could do something about it. In her thoughts she began reciting her logic as though it were some kind of shield from the pain, justifying it.

I know that I shouldn't. I created the rules to be followed; I must not misuse my power to unfairly benefit one pony over others. I, as Princess and Ruler of Equestria, must be fair and impartial when dealing with my subjects. I should not heal one pony unless I heal all ponies.
She lowered her head down to Twilight's level, resting it on the bed next to the young mare. She looked straight at her star student's still form, mere inches away from it. Being closer just made her longing for Twilight's well-being even more intense.

You've been through this before, Celestia. Ponies die. You've seen it happen countless times in the last thousand years; it's the way of life. All things must come to an end, even those we love.

The Princess closed her eyes, trying to block out the soul-chilling sight of her Twilight, her charred, dying Twilight.

Why, my student? Why did you of all ponies have to die? I raised you, Twilight, I taught you everything. I was your teacher. I was your friend. I was... your mother. And you were my daughter, and I loved you as one. After a thousand years, I finally had a foal of my own to love and take care of and watch grow up. You were going to be the one, Twilight, you were going to be my heir; I was tired already after so long, so long watching those around me die. I was exhausted, but you were the light in my life, the drive that kept me going. Without you, I- I don't know if I can go on anymore.
That last thought rattled around in her brain for a seeming eternity, gnawing away at her resolve and her tear ducts.

She doesn't have to die. You have the power, Celestia. You could save her, overcome the poison or whatever it may be.
That's against my code. I swore as a leader to be impartial.
You won't be able to serve as an effective leader without her; you said so yourself.
That doesn't make it right!
But it makes it reasonable.
The Princess of the Day bit her lip, indecision tearing at her. After a few more moments in cacophonous self-debate, she set her face, determined to do the right thing.

She began to channel her magic.

Examining the body of her pupil with a sixth sense, almost like an x-ray view, the cool, calculating, rational side of Princess Celestia surged to the forefront. She saw in great detail the wounds that her Twilight had suffered, but the one that seemed to attract the most attention was a nasty-looking bolt-wound on her shoulder. It seemed that some kind of energy beam had grazed Twilight, boiling off flesh and, seemingly, filling Twilight's veins almost immediately with some kind of substance.

The stuff gave off an eerie blue radiance to her enhanced sight, stronger in the areas of higher concentration. The burn wound on her shoulder was practically a neon sign that said “This is the source”. The stone-faced alicorn concentrated her magical powers on the stuff, trying to scan its properties, but to no avail; it was like trying to read a book in a dense fog. Even worse, it was like the fog was actively resisting her, diffusing her magic and weakening the effect. Celestia began to get a horrible feeling of having seen this somewhere else...

Then she remembered. The asteroid, the one that had mysteriously appeared a few hundred years ago. The asteroid that had only a few days before come crashing down into Equestria. The asteroid that she, the Princess, had allowed to survive, at least in fragments. The asteroid that was now, inexplicably, somehow, killing her Twilight.

I... I did this? I let the thing escape destruction, and it's destroying me. Twilight. This can't be an isolated incident. Oh, what have I done? I failed them... failed them all. Failed Twilight.

Celestia was about to begin crying again when she stopped herself.

Enough crying. You are Princess Celestia, God-Queen of Equestria, Bringer of the Sun, Master of Day. You can handle this. Just take care of Twilight, then move on to the next, bigger thing. Stay calm.

Celestia looked up, steel in her eyes, only to see something out of a nightmare; Celestia's legs tried to turn to jelly when she saw in her reflection in the window, a grinning, demonic blue figure. It was very vague and misty in form, leaving all of the horrible details up to her imagination. It did, however, possess a large array of hundreds of teeth, each of which was the size and shape of a needle, and its eyes were empty, soulless black sockets which seemed to drain the life out of her just by looking at them. It only barely qualified as equine in form, as four tentacle-hoof hybrid appendages extended from her translucent blue body, in which a few twisted organs and bones could be seen pulsing and throbbing.

It took every ounce and more of Celestia's frayed nerves to stand up to the thing without screaming, but she drew strength from the prone figures of Fluttershy, Rarity, and especially Twilight. She kept her eyes as firm as adamant, even as her legs tried to betray her, and she looked the ghost-reflection right in its not-eyes. It's smile seemed to twitch wickedly, then it faded away into nothingness, leaving the white alicorn staring into her own confused eyes.

A Monster Lurks

A slight rustling sound reached Fluttershy's ears, causing her to shift slightly in her sleep. She opened her eyes slowly, feeling rather drowsy still, but instantly snapped to full alertness when she saw the source of the disturbance; Twilight was moving. Not much, but her body was showing signs of life that had been absent until now. Brimming with excitement, Fluttershy threw caution to the wind and shouted out for joy, even though it was still dim out, the warmth of the sun just barely breaking over the horizon.

“Yay!”

Rarity hardly responded to the slight sound, still in a deep sleep. She woke up suddenly as a yellow hoof began to barely push on her shoulder.

“Huhwhatwho'sthere? Oh, Fluttershy, dear, I'm sorry, it's you,” the white unicorn began. “Why, whatever is the matter-”

“Rarity, Rarity, Twilight's going to be okay, she's getting better!” enthused the pegasus, her tiny voice squeaky with excitement. The fashionista's mouth opened in shock, then shut as she saw Twilight twitch in her coma.

“Fluttershy, this is fantastic! We need to go tell everypony! Pinkie is going to want to throw a party, I should probably get started on some festive attire... Darling, would you be a dear and go tell Rainbow Dash and Applejack? I'll get Pinkie Pie, and then be right back here with the doctor. I'll be back soon!” trilled the white unicorn as she raced out of the room.

Fluttershy stayed back for a few moments, dancing modestly in happiness.

“Thank you, Twilight, thank you for getting better,” she whispered.

Then she was off, moving through the deserted and dark, albeit lightening, streets of Ponyville towards Rainbow's house. Such a feeling of peaceful relief came over her that she practically flew through the route, leaving the town outskirts in mere minutes. The yellow pegasus saw the familiar cloud dwelling floating in the sky and was about to fly up towards it when something odd caught her attention. In a patch of taller grass nearby, she thought she saw a lump sticking out over the silvery green blades.

Fluttershy moved towards it curiously. Upon closer inspection, it looked like... Angel? Except, it was a statue of Angel, a stone replica that perfectly matched her memory of the rabbit. On the side of his back, though, were four small indentations, almost like puncture marks.

The yellow pegasus' lip began trembling.

“A-Angel? W-what happened? Did the c-cockatrice do this to you?” she asked the statue.

As if in answer, the mare heard a nearly imperceptible rush of air as something stirred behind her. She whirled around with a squeak of fright, expecting to see a terrible monster, maybe a manticore or even a dragon.

There was nothing, which was perhaps worse than both of the other two combined. Fluttershy began to breathe rapidly, fear and adrenaline overtaking her slight body.

The whoosh of air once again sounded, this time off to her left. The pegasus eeped in terror and blasted off towards Rainbow Dash's house like a thing possessed.

8: Gestation

Part 8

Puzzle lay comfortably on her back in the warm farmhouse bed, deeply asleep. Around the stony-gray pony was a bare room, two small windows letting in a hint of light from the rising sun. In the dimness of the early, early morning, a four-legged figure in a stetson stole up on the resting mare's prone form. The shadowy figure took a deep breath before shattering the silence that had reigned in the pre-dawn.

“Rise and shine, sugarcube!” shouted the hatted farmpony, a grin spreading on her face. “It's time to go to work!”

At the disturbance, Puzzle reflexively leaped out of bed with a yelp, falling off the side opposite Applejack and tangling herself up in the sheets. The orange pony stifled a laugh as the unkempt unicorn rolled around on the floor in an attempt to wrangle the linen bedsheets off of herself. After a mirth-filled minute of silence broken only by the sounds of struggle, the gray mare rose to her hooves, her back to the farmer. Puzzle's horn glowed with a dark green aura, and a pair of sunglasses rose up from the pack lying next to the bed, coming to rest on the unicorn's nose.

Without turning around, Puzzle enveloped the sheets in a magical glow and lifted them into the air over the bed. She silently straightened them out and laid the linen down on the bed neatly. Her now-frosty disposition leeched any remnant of light-heartedness out of the atmosphere. Sensing the mood of her new employee, Applejack tried to stave off the confrontation she felt coming.

“I was just tryin' to lighten the situation a bit,” explained the farmer. “No need to get all huffy about it; it is time to get started, anyway. Come on down and we'll grab a bit o' breakfast before we head out to the orchards.”

“Yeah, okay. I'll be ready in a second,” grumbled Puzzle. She waited until Applejack had left the room before levitating a small, worn brush out of her pack and quickly running it through her green-and-yellow mane. Not bothering to check her work, she tossed the old thing aside, hearing it clatter as it hit the floor. Puzzle trotted out of the room at a leisurely pace, her hooves making wooden clops as she moved over the rickety wooden floor.

Down at the breakfast table in the kitchen, the gray mare trotted in to see her boss whispering to a large red stallion, who upon seeing the newcomer, hastily turned and left the room. Applejack turned to see Puzzle trotting in and smiled sheepishly.

“Ah, hey there, I wasn't expectin' ya so soon,” stammered the orange mare. “I was jus' talkin' to Mac, my brother-”

“What were you saying about me?” interrupted the gray mare.

“Hold on there, don't get yourself all riled up. I was jus' tellin' him that I hired a little help for the farm, and that she- you- was a little uneasy around other ponies. I didn' want you two gettin' off on the wrong hoof,” Applejack explained in an even tone. She had to resist the urge to add “It'd be mighty easy to do that, knowin' you”.

“I'm sure,” said Puzzle, who finally took a seat at the table. She reached out with her magic and arranged a plethora of apple-themed foods in front of her place, drawing the edibles from the surrounding cupboards and cabinets.

“Whoa there, sugar,” protested the farmer, her temper beginning to flare already. “Ya might be a guest here, but I don't think it's a guest's place to be emptyin' their host's pantry. 'Sides, ya don't want to eat too much or else you'll end up with a cramp when we start buckin' some apples.” Applejack reached out with a hoof, dividing the array of apple-tastic treats into a large pile and a small pile. She began pushing the bigger mound of food away from Puzzle's place. “I think you'll be okay with what ya have there.”

Puzzle levitated the few apple muffins that her employer had left, examining them with a cold, critical eye. As the orange mare replaced the foodstuffs in their proper containers, the unicorn mare began to eat one of the muffins. Neither pony said anything for the longest time, the room only filled with the sounds of chewing and the opening and closing of wooden cabinet doors. Despite the temperature being quite pleasant, Applejack shuddered.

“Ya know, ya might try bein' a little less cold sometimes,” commented the farmer dryly, failing to elicit a response from her employee. The orange mare suppressed a frustrated scowl and finished her cleanup. “Come on, let's get goin'. We ain't got all day.”

The last remnant of an apple muffin disappeared into Puzzle's mouth, who then stood up and followed her boss out to Sweet Apple Acres' orchards. The pair trotted past rows of apple trees, hooves kicking up trace clouds of dust from the dry ground. They had gone a fair distance before Applejack finally stopped, turning away so that the first rays of sunlight weren't directly in her eyes.

“Alright, Puzzle. I want you to go down this row here and buck the apples off of each tree. If ya ain't so good at buckin', I reckon ya can use your magic to pick 'em,” instructed the farmer. “Let me see ya try once.”

Puzzle nodded, then turned to face opposite the first tree in her row. She planted her two front legs and lashed out hard with her back two, hitting the tree with a wooden crack. The limbs of the tree shook a fair amount, jostling about half of the apples off of their perches. The force of the gray mare's buck was enough to push her forward, overbalancing her and sending her face-first into the dusty ground. Puzzle sputtered a bit as the orange stetson-wearing pony smiled in amusement.

“That wasn't too bad, sugarcube,” commented Applejack. “Yer form was pretty good, but ya need to keep your center a bit farther back, so ya don' fall head over hoof like that. Not bad for a first timer.”

“This isn't the first time I've worked on a farm,” protested Puzzle quietly. “When you move around a lot, you find what work you can.” Without waiting for a response, the gray mare turned and began magically pulling the remaining apples from the first tree.

The orange earth pony raised an eyebrow; she could tell that there was a lot behind that simple statement.

“Well, okay then,” said Applejack, suddenly anxious to just be away from this pony for a while. “I'll be a few rows down if ya need anything.”

Applejack trotted away from Puzzle in the direction they'd been heading, towards the rising sun. The gray pony just kept picking, as though nothing had changed; she continued down the line in this manner, silent except when her hooves impacted sharply on the bark of the apple trees. The sun rose a little higher in the sky, and Puzzle began to sweat from her exertions.

Buck. Rustle. Thudthudthud. Then the nigh-imperceptible snap of apple stems breaking under force from the unicorn's magic. It was maddening, the constant drone of the work. The bland, mottled earth passed beneath her like a treadmill, as though she were standing still and the earth were moving beneath her. Not even the slightest breeze blew, the moist morning air stagnating in shimmering pools between the apple trees. Buck. Rustle. Thudthudthud. Snapsnapsnap. Puzzle's eye twitched. She had to force herself to keep going, arduously following the pattern.

Buck. Rustle. ThudthudTHUDTHUD.

Puzzle's head whipped up at the anomaly, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. She felt like she'd just woken from a nightmare, one that was far too familiar. From behind her sunglasses the unicorn looked at the trees around her, still somewhat in a dazed stupor. If she didn't know better, the mare would swear that those apple trees were blue.

Must be the work getting to me... I'm not as fit as I used to be, thought Puzzle. Maybe I just need a drink to get rid of these hallucinations. Oh, hey, a stream right over there. That's convenient.

The tired pony trotted over to the little brook, her mind clouded and oblivious to the blue moss-like fungus that covered the bark of some of the trees in uneven patches. Puzzle reached the slow-moving waters and dipped her head down for a drink. She let out a yelp when she saw the reflection in the glowing water. There was a darker, twisted version of a grinning pony, vaguely resembling herself, and in the background she saw a giant tree-monster, branches arcing out like tentacles, several of which were reaching for her.

Stumbling back, Puzzle fully came to her senses at last. She looked around and held down a panicked shout.

“Applejack? Hey, I think you're going to want to see this!”

There was the sound of rapid, panicked breathing and the furious flapping of wings as the frantic Fluttershy flew faster than she had in a long time. The crisp, pre-dawn air stung as she raced up to her friend's cloud house, not too far ahead and above her, where she hoped to find refuge from the unknown danger that she felt bearing down on her as if from all sides.

Behind her, Fluttershy heard a little screech that immediately presented itself in her mind as a form of predatory battle cry, just before she felt something latch onto her tail. It felt as though she was being drained, like her energy was being sapped. The siphoning would have sent her into a lethargic semi-stupor had she not reflexively, instinctively lashed out with her back legs. Fluttershy felt her right hindhoof impact something soft and amorphous, rather like a water-filled balloon. With a yelp of terror tinged with pain and shock, the pegasus put on an extra adrenaline-fueled burst of speed, and the combined forces of the buck and acceleration served to detach the thing from Fluttershy's tail.

The frightened mare reached the boundaries of the cloud structure and burst through the puffy white door, slamming it shut behind her. There was a muffled thump, an impact on the door, and four spikes the size of a pegasus' feather punctured the fluffy material, wriggling around in search of prey. Fluttershy sat breathless, motionlessly listening to the sounds of the struggling creature, and a small part of her wanted to go and help the poor thing, maybe un-stick its... whatever those four things were, teeth, claws, the yellow pony couldn't tell.

With an unsettling, gurgling suction noise the spike-things pulled out of the door, the cloud springing back to fill the holes left by the appendages. From outside Fluttershy could hear a quiet sound halfway between a screeching and a clicking that reminded her of a disappointed grumble. Pity started to well up out of the timid mare's heart, and she felt bad for the creature. It probably had a reason for what it had done, just like that manticore with the thorn in its paw, and all she had accomplished was to exacerbate the problem by reacting out of some silly fear. Fluttershy resolved to go figure out what was bothering it and make it better, after she could get over her fear and calm down.

A groggy-looking, rainbow-maned pegasus appeared from a stairway in the back of the untidy front room.

“W-who's there...? It's like, not even six o'clock,” grumbled the blue mare, a sleepy, lazy slur in her voice. “F-Fluttershy? Is that you? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, um, h-hello Rainbow Dash,” acknowledged the yellow pony. She could feel the adrenaline and fright emptying out of her in the presence of her friend, drawing out some of the enthusiasm that had been buried under the events of the recent past. “I was just here to tell you a little news about Twilight, but I got, um, waylaid by a little creature. I'm going to go deal with her, or, well, I guess it could be a him, if you think about it-”

It was that moment Dash's brain chose to kick in.

“Wait, wait, what about Twi?” she interrupted, racing over and gripping her petite yellow friend in a tight grip, knocking aside a cloud table in the process. Fluttershy cringed. “Is she going to be okay? Tell me she is, tell me Twilight is getting better.”

“Yes, Rainbow, Twilight is going to be okay. We just found out a few minutes ago.”

“Aw yeah!” shouted the impulsive blue pegasus, leaping into the air. “I knew it! I knew she would pull through, Twilight's too tough to just let a few scrapes get to her.” Rainbow zoomed around the messy room in a victory lap of sorts, finally shooting out the front door and performing a dazzling flourish. Fluttershy tensed up, nervous that the creature might react and go after Dashie. Her fears proved groundless when Dash suffered no sudden incidents, even going so far as to start looping around her house in celebration.

The yellow pegasus moved over to the edge of the cloud platform and looked down; just on the edge of a small wooded area, she saw a small dot moving in the direction of the Everfree Forest a moderate distance away. Fluttershy considered going after it to set things right, but thought it would be better to learn a bit more about it first; the yellow mare hadn't been able to place whatever it's species had been, so a stop at the library might be useful.

Thoughts of the library reminded her of Twilight, and why she'd come here in the first place; specifically, that she was still supposed to go get Applejack. She waved a hoof to signal Rainbow, who flew down to meet her.

“Rarity and I are trying to get all of us together to support Twilight,” Fluttershy said, “so if you wouldn't mind coming to the hospital in a bit, we would all appreciate that.”

“Of course I'll be there,” said Dash. “Who's already on their way?”

“Oh, well, there's myself and Rarity, and Rarity has probably found Pinkie Pie by now, and I was supposed to get Applejack as well-”

“So AJ doesn't know yet?” Rainbow interrupted.

“Well, no-”

“Sweet, I'm on it. You go right on back to the hospital, I'll get Applejack.”

“O-okay,” said Fluttershy, turning her head away meekly.

Dash blasted off towards Sweet Apple Acres without another word, leaving a rainbow contrail in her wake. Fluttershy flexed her wings in preparation for taking off when she felt like she was being watched. She turned to look, but only glimpsed a red blur slipping away up some cloud stairs. She considered investigating, but a little part of that constant fear she had bubbled up in her. At this point, she really just wanted to get back to the hospital, where it was safe. Fluttershy could always ask Rainbow Dash about it later, anyway.

It occurred to Twilight how cliché it would be to awaken slowly, with her vision blurry and her movements sluggish. She wondered how her friends might react, sitting around in the hospital room expectantly. They would all be huddled in a semi-circle around the bed, she could see it in her mind; Applejack would be the strength for the group, reassuring the worried Fluttershy. Rarity would be fussing over-

With a snap, Twilight opened her eyes, realizing at last that she was really awake. The dim room was empty, save for one seat in the far corner; its occupant was tall and dark and hard to make out. Before she had a chance to feel afraid, the stranger spoke.

“Ah, Miss Sparkle, you are alive and well. It is good news indeed,” said Princess Luna.

“P-princess...?” mumbled the unicorn.

“Yes, Twilight, I am the princess. Thank you for stating that which was very well known.”

Twi cringed at the unusual harsh tone of the Princess.

“Where are my-” began the unicorn, before Luna interrupted.

“I apologize for being short with you, Miss Sparkle,” said Luna. “I must needs speak with my sister about the cause of my frustration. Your friends, though, are currently on their way, if I overheard correctly.”

As if they had practiced it, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Nurse Redheart burst into the room. Each of them paused, gaping at the sight of a completely calm Princess Luna looking expectantly at them. Redheart's face contorted in confusion about whether to bow or rush to check on Twilight's condition; she settled on a respectful nod, which Luna reciprocated. The doctor hurried to the hospital bed and began to check on the various readings that indicated Twilight's lifesigns.

Pinkie Pie bounced over to the Princess and wrapped her in a big hug, breaking the midnight mare's shell of studied indifference. Luna tentatively wrapped her hooves around the pink pony, the barest smile on her face. After a moment of embracing the Princess, Pinkie hopped away and to the bedside where the other two were.

Twilight looked up at her friends with an appreciative smile, trying to defuse some of the worry that was evident in Rarity's expression.

“I'm alive,” said Twilight.

“Yes, well, that wasn't always going to be a certainty,” replied Rarity.

Over the white unicorn's shoulder, Twilight noticed Princess Luna twitch.

“Well, she's okay now and that means that it's time for a party!” Pinkie Pie whisked her Party Cannon out of nowhere and almost fired it before Nurse Redheart leaped between Pinkie and the Cannon.

“No, Pinkie,” said the nurse, “we've been over this before. No parties in the hospital, and especially no parties in the patients' rooms. Especially when the patient is in a state like Twilight's.”

“Wait a second.” Everypony turned to look at Twilight, who coughed a little before continuing. “What do you mean by 'a state like mine'?”

“Oh, well, uh-” Nurse Redheart stammered.

“What, what is it?” asked everypony but Luna simultaneously.

“It's that poison.” The nurse turned her head away for a moment and sighed. “Most of whatever that stuff is has disappeared, but there's still some residual contamination in her system. The problem is that the substance's levels of concentration in her body have increased during the time I've been here, if only by a minute amount. And, you see, it's- I believe Twilight's body is somehow producing it. Unless, of course, the poison can replicate itself, but I highly doubt that.” Seeing all of the stunned faces, Redheart winced. “I'm sorry, I didn't want to spoil your cheer, but I think you should know the fact of the matter. Her wounds can be healed for now, but if things keep up, she'll start feeling the symptoms of the poison again in the not-so-distant future. Speaking of healing...” the nurse trailed off as she left the room to find the unicorn medics.

The energy inside of the hospital room was subdued once more. Twilight's expression was one of deep thought, and she seemed oblivious to the worry that her friends exuded like an aura.

“Well, shucks, Twi, I don't rightly know what to say.” Applejack shuffled her hooves uneasily. “I'm mighty sorry 'bout ya gettin' roped into that fight with Trixie. I saw it comin' but I let my own problems come first, and now you're all laid up in the hospital, and poisoned, and- and-” the farmer had to stop as her voice choked up.

“Applejack, it's not your fault that I am where I am,” said Twilight, finally snapping out of her trance. “Trixie is the only pony to blame, and I'm willing to bet there's some kind of ulterior motive involved with her. There's no way Trixie could be so... so violent on her own. I think it was the blue energy she had; I couldn't read it, it wasn't like any magic I've seen before. I think- no, I know- that this weird poison is at the root of it all; now if only I could get back to the library and do some research on it.”

“I hope you're right, Twi,” said Applejack, hanging her head in fatigue. “I hope that there isn't a pony who would do things like she's done.” The orange mare ran her forehoof through her mane, a sheepish grin forming on her face. “Although, if there ain't nothin' else I can do here, I do kinda need to get goin', there was somethin' Puzzle wanted to show me. So, I'll see you later, Twi. You get better now, ya hear?”

Applejack had to struggle to keep her voice even, and left in a hurry.

“To-day is nigh, little ponies,” said Luna, taking advantage of Applejack's departure to speak. “If you have any business you need to attend to, go; I will remain here to watch over Twilight.”

Each of the four remaining friends pursed their lips, thinking, until Pinkie Pie let out a giant gasp and blasted out of the room.

“You know, I do have quite a bit of work to do,” said Rarity. “I should really get started on it.”

“Yeah, and I've got a lot of... stuff... to do. Yeah, stuff!” Rainbow blurted. She inched closer to the door.

“I really should feed the animals their breakfast, I bet they're starving, the poor things. I'll be right back, though, don't you worry, Twilight.”

Rainbow Dash exploded out the door, followed by a huffy Rarity. Fluttershy came and stroked Twilight's mane with a gentle smile before she too left the room.

Twilight sighed with relief; she felt okay. Her friends were okay, everything was okay. Kind of.

“Princess Luna, I don't understand.” Twilight turned to the midnight pony, a familiar pensive gleam in her eyes. “Why are you here? Don't you have royal duties to attend to?”

“My duties to my subjects require that I speak with Celestia, and I know without a doubt that she will return to the scene of her works.”

“Her works? Princess, what's going on? Does it have to do with the blue energy that Trixie used?”

“Twilight Sparkle, I find no reason that I cannot trust you,” said Luna, “so when I tell you that it would be better to remain ignorant of this matter, I pray you have faith in me as well.”

Twilight frowned, but nodded.

“I... I guess I can live with that.” Twilight looked away, her mind still churning away. “But what about the poison, then? Is it even a poison? Have you seen it before? I couldn't sense it at all, it was like a magical fog.”

At that, Luna's ears perked up.

“Child, did you say that the poison was akin to a fog?” Luna's voice was intensely, deceptively soft.

Twilight flinched before responding.

“Y-yes, Princess Luna. If that's a bad comparison, though, I'd be more than happy to-”

“No, Twilight Sparkle, I am glad you said what you did. I believe I have some personal experience with your poison.” The midnight mare leaned forward in her seat, staring evenly at Twilight. “I have been contaminated by this substance myself.”

Twilight let out her breath in some hybrid of a gasp and a snort.

“You? Princess Luna? Have been exposed to it? B-but when? How? Are you alright?”

“I am not sure, my little pony,” said the Princess. She twitched almost imperceptibly as she spoke, her eyes briefly gleaming with a sickly blue hue. “However, I wish to study this substance, and I believe you are the most apt pony to help me do so. Would you consider assisting me in my research?”

“I'd be happy to help you, Princess.” Twilight's face was an open book, showing off all of the questions she still wanted to ask. “I'll get started as soon as I get out of the hospital.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” said Luna. Her face lost its energetic expression, returning once more to the reserved, aloof look one might expect from a Princess. “I expect you will keep this conversation confidential. Especially from my sister.”

“Puzzle!” called Applejack. “Hey, what was it you wanted to show me?”

The farmpony trotted down the rows of recently-bucked trees, until she reached the spot where she'd left her new employee earlier in the morning. There was no sign of Puzzle, although the apple baskets that she'd filled lay around the bases of the trees, the last of which was only half-filled. As she approached the spot, Applejack noticed a strange luminescence from up ahead, a sickly blue pallor amongst the trees.

A frown slashed its way across the orange mare's face as she took in the scene; a good number of apple trees had a phosphorescent-blue glowing moss growing on the bark, as well as a few scattered splotches of the stuff across the ground. The half-filled basket lay at the base of a tree with only trace amounts of the blue fungus.

Applejack looked around suspiciously, before finally noticing the hoof-marks in the ground a short way off. She trotted closer to inspect, and her heart sank. There in the dirt were several sharp scuffs, almost certainly made by a pony that was in a skirmish. On further investigation, she found a faint trail of hoofprints leading further away from the farmhouse and Ponyville; they'd been made by somepony in a rush, probably a panicked flight. Applejack's stomach began to churn, uneasiness clawing at her mind.

“Puzzle?” she called again, not quite so loudly. The farmer began backing up slowly, keeping a wary eye out for any surprises. “I don' like this,” muttered Applejack. “I'll be back soon, Puzzle, jus' let me get some backup.”

Princess Celestia sat still in her temporary quarters, resting after raising the sun. She leaned against the window frame, staring blankly out the clear glass portal. From her vantage point in the upper room of the town hall, she watched below as ponies began going about their day-to-day business. None of it really registered in her mind, not the warm, clean glow of the sunrise nor the lively sounds of friendly chatter amongst ponies.

Why couldn't I have just cut off this plague at the knee, when it was still in its infancy? What will my mistake demand of the ponies of Equestria? Of me? Of... Twilight? My Twilight? What will she suffer at my hooves?
Nothing, if I have anything to say about it. I'll keep you safe, Twilight. No matter what it costs me.

There was a sharp knock at the door.

“Yes?” Celestia didn't even turn away from the window.

“Princess, urgent news,” called a guard from the other side, “Queen Chrysalis wishes to speak with you regarding the recent troop movements!”

Celestia's ears pricked as her interest arose, and she turned to face the door before opening it with her magic. She gestured for the stallion to come in and explain.

“Princess, we received word not three minutes ago that Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings wanted to speak with you personally about the recent troop movements. She asked you arrange a meeting place and time as soon as you were available.”

“Very well,” said the Princess. She briefly considered her course of action before continuing. “Inform the Queen that I shall meet with her at the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters in thirty minutes. I want you to assemble a contingent of guards and meet me at the edge of the Everfree in ten. Until then, I have something I must attend to.”

Celestia nodded for the guard to leave, then turned back to face the window. As soon as the door shut with a soft click, Celestia summoned her magic and teleported to the Ponyville Clinic. She appeared in the lobby, surprising the nurse on duty at the counter and causing her to drop her newspaper in her haste to bow. The Princess merely waved a hoof, dismissing the petite mare, before she made her way with purpose towards the now-familiar room that Twilight occupied.

She paused upon her arrival at the door, and took a moment to compose herself and clear the thoughts of Chrysalis and the changelings and the blue poison from her mind. Celestia was here to see Twilight, to speak with her, and none of those distractions would get between them. With the barest of tremors, the Princess of the Sun lifted a hoof and knocked gently on the door. From within she thought she could hear a faint whisper before Twilight acknowledged her.

“Yes? Who is it?”

“It's me, Twilight.”

“Princess!” Twilight called from the other side of the door. “Come in!”

Something about Twilight's tone seemed off, and it made Celestia more than a little nervous. Still, she opened the door and trotted in. She had to strain to hold a panicked gasp when she saw Luna sitting smugly in the opposite corner of the room from Twilight. Instead, she offered a nod to her sister.

“Luna.”

“Celestia.”

“Princess! You're here!”

At this outburst Celestia allowed her attention to turn to Twilight, a look of such fondness coming over her face that the latter's cheeks began to flush. The white princess moved to the edge of the bedside, her softly-flowing mane brushing against the white sheets.

“Twilight, I'm so glad to see you're okay.” Celestia spoke with an unusually tender voice, a rare break from her stoicism. “You had me worried for a moment.”

“I- I just don't know what to think, Princess.” Twilight tried to run a hoof through her mane, but a sharp pain forced her to quit halfway through the motion. She began to speak rapidly, words tumbling head over hoof out of her mouth and traces of tears forming in her eyes. “I don't know what happened, Trixie just came out of the blue and she wanted to fight and I tried to avoid it but she wouldn't quit and then I was trapped on the stage and I was only trying to defend myself and I'm sorry Princess, I'm sorry I couldn't find a way-” She was silenced by a golden shoe gently pressed to her lips.

“Shh, Twilight, shhhh. I know. I know you meant no harm in this. You would have avoided it if you could have found a way. Sometimes, though, you fail, Twilight. Nopony can be perfect, not even me.”

“I'll say,” Luna said, snorting. Twilight gasped at that, and Celestia turned to look at her sister with a guarded expression. “I've held my tongue out of respect for your concern for Twilight, but I need to speak with you, Celestia, I can't wait any longer. I think it would be best that we take this outside.”

“Luna, I don't have time for this. Queen Chrysalis needs to speak with me about the troop movements and I simply wanted to check on my dear student before I left.”

“Oh, returning to the scene of the crime, eh?” said Luna, taunting. Celestia's expression became one of studied ignorance. “Don't think so little of me, Celestia, I know that you made an extra special visit already. If you will not even acknowledge it, then I shall have no part in this anymore.”

With those words and a venomous flash of her blue eyes, the Princess of the Night tore off her jet black crown, threw it to the ground with a ringing clatter, and stormed out of the room.

There was a long, long silence after that.

“Princess, what is happening? I don't understand.”

“I- I don't know, my faithful student.” Celestia hung her head a bit, her lie sounding hollow even to herself. “I just know that I'll take care of you, my Twilight.”

The white alicorn leaned over and gave her student an affectionate nuzzle, then turned and levitated Luna's crown into her possession and trotted out of the room.

9: Meetings

Part 9

Quietly, Ditzy Doo slipped out the front door of her small home on the outskirts of Ponyville, her blonde mane waving gently in a light breeze. She looked around at the familiar houses and ponies, taking a deep breath. The air was filled with the pleasant aroma of flowers, courtesy of Roseluck's garden next door. The morning sun was already starting to get quite bright and Ditzy felt its warming gaze on her coat.

Today is going to be a great day, she thought. With a little extra springiness in her haphazard gait, the mailmare took off for the post office. Ditzy wobbled gaily through the air, smiling and tittering like a schoolfilly. Today really is going to be great, I can tell already.

The thought was distracting enough that she didn't feel any time pass at all as she hovered to work. When the post office finally came into view, Ditzy alighted rather clumsily; after tripping on her own hooves, she tumbled head over hoof through the rear door marked “Employees Only.” The inside of the post office was a bit dimmer than usual, but Ditzy didn't let that or her fall get her down.

“Ditzy! You're late!” called a voice from the mail sorting room. The voice was her boss', and it was angry.

“Sorry, I was-” began Ditzy.

“There's no excuse for being late six days in a row!” her boss interrupted her. He appeared out of the sorting room, his brown muzzle rough with graying stubble. He glanced at Ditzy, and seeing her smile begin to falter, he sighed and growled. “You know what, just take your mail and go. I'm not even mad anymore.”

Ditzy watched him go, his black baseball cap lying askew on his unkempt mane. She was usually scolded a bit more for things like this. Something was up if her boss was just letting her go. She poked her head into the sorting room, where her boss was lying face-down on the mail desk.

“What's wrong? Anything I can do to help?” Ditzy asked.

“No. There is nothing-” the stallion paused for a moment. “Actually, yes, there is something you can do to help me, Ditzy. You can deliver your mail. That would be incredibly helpful.”

Ditzy nodded, getting the feeling that her boss just wanted her out of there. She trotted over to where her mailbag hung from a rack on the far wall. Interestingly enough, hers wasn't the only mailbag still there; hanging next to hers was Raindrops' bag.

I guess that's why the boss was so grumpy, thought Ditzy, slinging her dusty brown bag over her shoulders. Raindrops is usually the one who sorts the mail, and if she isn't here today, he must have had to do it.

The mailmare slipped out the door and examined the mail that she was to deliver today. Where usually there was a decently large stack, today there were only a hoof-full of letters. There wasn't even a package! Normally there was a package or two.

This must just be a slow day for mail, Ditzy thought. Well, I guess I'll be finished extra early, then.

Ditzy pulled the first letter off of the pile. After a few seconds of examining it, she deciphered its intended recipient as Zecora. The letter itself seemed a little battered, as though it had been tossed about and scrunched up almost violently. Ditzy cocked her head curiously as she examined it, taking to the air as she did so.

Now that she was once again in the air, her bubbly high spirits came back with a vengeance. She flew a lackadaisical route towards the Everfree Forest, zigging and zagging across Ponyville. She felt good enough that she pulled into a steep climb for a loop-de-loop, only to lose her orientation halfway through. Ditzy let out a yelp as she fell into an uncontrolled spiral, and before she could stabilize herself she landed in the stinging embrace of a tree's branches. She tumbled down, bouncing off of tree limbs along the way, until finally landing with a whump on something relatively soft and red. Ditzy thought she heard a crack as well.

“Ah! My back!” groaned the red pony.

“Oops, my bad,” mumbled Ditzy. She rolled off of the other pony. The two of them were in the Ponyville Public Park, the tree Ditzy had fallen into casting a large, cool shadow.

“I'll say,” grumbled the colt. “I can't just be alone for a bit, can I? First it was that pink pony, and now you. Are you going to try and throw me a party too?”

“Oh, no, I just lost control in the middle of my mail route. I'm sorry about that.”

“Smooth moves- wait a sec, I recognize you,” said the red pony. “Your name's, like, Derpy or something, right? Is it because of the eyes?”

Ditzy frowned, her heart sinking.

“Yeah, muffin remembers you too. You were with Rainbow Dash the other day. Muffin's name is Ditzy Doo, not Derpy.”

“Oh. Well, I was close. Whatever, can you just go, Der- Ditzy? I need some time to myself.” The red pony turned away from Ditzy, and as an afterthought, he added in a quiet mutter “I'm still not sure how I got roped into this team thing.”

The mailmare humphed and took off again, heading for the dark forest in the distance.

I wonder what his deal is? Ditzy thought. It's like he has something to prove to everypony he meets. She shook her head to clear the negativity out of it. Today was going to be a good day, despite getting off to a to a rocky start.

As the air cooled around her, Ditzy could tell that she had entered the Everfree. It was perpetually dim and chilly, even on the path which the mailmare now followed. The overgrown, unkempt trees blotted out the sun's light, except for what few gaps existed in the dense canopy. Little rays of violently bright light seared through these openings, giving the forest a queer, almost hazy atmosphere.

She continued unabashed, already acclimated to the eerie air of the forest. Ditzy passed a field of Poison Joke, taking care not to get near any flowers. Finally, the mailmare spotted Zecora's home between the trees in the distance. Feeling her energy rise a bit, Ditzy landed and cantered quickly to her friend's hut, but stopped in her tracks at the edge of the clearing which contained the zebra's home.

There was something not right here. Ditzy could feel it in the air; there was a strange thickness, like the air was suddenly stuffy. The gray mare edged her way towards the hut in the center, keeping her senses alert for any signs of trouble. She quietly eased the door open and slunk in silently.

Inside the house, nothing seemed drastically different from the last time she'd seen it. Things were in order, there weren't any papers lying about, except for one-

Ditzy's attention caught on the lonely scrap of paper. She trotted over and picked it up. The mare scrunched her eyes up to read it.

There is something dangerous in the forest;
It's power is beginning to grow in earnest.
I go out now to seek its source
And warn nearby ponies of its force.
If I do not return from this errand,
Gather my notes in my nightstand
And put them to good use, I pray.
Fight this force. Fall not in its sway.

Ditzy's stomach began knotting itself nervously as she read, the stagnant air around her starting to feel claustrophobic, oppressively close. She hurried over to the nightstand and opened the only drawer, in which a small pile of papers lay. On top was the previous letter that Ditzy had delivered. She frowned.

Well, Zecora’s out for a bit, and I might have come in while she's gone. I don't know if I should take these... Ditzy looked around once more, running a hoof through her mane. It's just- something doesn't seem right about this.

Outside, Ditzy heard a soft, almost imperceptible rush of air as something flew past the hut's door. The hair at the base of her neck stood up, and she felt a sudden, intense unease in the little home. Ditzy scooped up the papers from the drawer and picked up a quill from the top of the nightstand, which she used to scribble a note on the reverse side of Zecora's note.

Zecora,
Sorry if you were just out, but I picked up your papers that you mentioned in the note. I hope you're not mad. I hope you read this.
-Ditzy

The mailmare hastily stashed the note in the drawer, not even bothering to close it before she scampered out of the little hut. Outside, she froze; hovering around the edges of the clearing was some kind of bloated, floating creature. It was roughly spherical, except for the bottom half, which was flat with four sharp-looking prong-type protrusions. It's body was semi-transparent, and bluish, and looked to be made of jelly. At her exit from the hut, the thing turned to face her.

'Face her' wasn't the appropriate word; the creature didn't really have a face. More than anything, Ditzy got the impression that the thing wasn't intelligent enough to tell that it didn't have a face. The two stood stock still, looking the other up and down, trying to get a decisive advantage over the other.

A few intense moments passed. Ditzy felt her bravado fading; she had no idea what this creature was, and the fact that Zecora had left a creepy note left her with a bad feeling about this encounter. In a last-ditch effort, the mailmare smirked and began trotting away, hoping to bluff the creature into leaving her alone.

To her amazement, she left the clearing without any sort of action by the creature. Breathing a quiet, relieved sigh, Ditzy took to the air, flying right up through the canopy cover. She took a deep breath of the open air, relaxing. She sailed back towards Ponyville, her mailbag slightly heavier now than when she'd departed.

So, wait, Ditzy thought, if Zecora is, erm, not coming back for now, what do I do? I mean, I could tell the mayor and get a search party together, but that would mean leaving my job for later, and that would make the boss more frustrated. But what if Zecora needs help? Or what if she doesn’t? I mean, I would think that she's more important than delivering some mail-

“Ditzy! Just the pony I was looking for!” called a familiar voice.

Shocked out of her thoughts, the mailmare lost track of her wing function and tumbled out of the sky. Instead of landing on a rough surface like she'd expect, Ditzy was met with a soft, cushy impact. She looked up and saw a brown stallion grinning.

“I've wanted to use that now for a long while. Thanks for the test run, Miss Doo!” Even as he spoke, the stallion was folding up the foam pad she'd landed on into some kind of contraption.

“Um, you're welcome, Doctor,” replied Ditzy, uncertain, “but I actually have to-”

“Ditzy, I told you that you could just call me Clockwork, no need for such formalities as 'doctor'. Anyway, like I was saying, I need you to help me test out another of my devices. This one is the most cutting-edge design I've ever made!” He turned and trotted back into the building behind him, a small, unassuming house built of sturdy oak and painted a soft white color.

Ditzy lagged behind, glancing back occasionally out of uncertainty. She went through the door after him.

“Clockwork, wait a moment, here. I just got back-”

“What's that, Ditzy? I can't hear you from back here!” The stallion appeared out of a back room, a few electrodes attached to his temple. “Now, come on, then! We've got work to do. For science!”

“But Doctor-”

Ditzy was silenced as some kind of breastplate was forced over her head and slid down her neck. It adjusted to fit the shape of her chest, until it was only distinguishable from her coat by its brighter, silver color. In the center was a small aperture, like some small object was meant to be fitted there.

“Alright, Ditzy, now I'm going to fit the repository gem-”

“Doctor!” shouted the gray mare, her frustration getting the best of her.

“Yes, Miss Doo, what is it? No need to shout.”

“Zecora wasn't in her hut when I went to deliver her a letter, and she left a note that said she might be in trouble, then I met some kind of creature outside her home and I felt like it might try and eat me. We need to go find Zecora and make sure she's alright.”

Some of the wind dropped out of Doctor Hooves' sails as he listened to Ditzy speak. When she was done, he was quiet for a moment.

“Well, I suppose a search party needs to be gathered. This will be quite the test run, won't it?”

“Alright, Barding, we're here. Can you watch the door for a second?”

“Affirmative, Private Shoehorn.”

“Barding, I told you, you don't have to be so formal when there isn't a ranking officer around.”

“But protocol-”

“Just stay here, alright?”

“Fine.”

Private Shoehorn nudged open the door to the room, where he found several unicorn medics finishing off the barrage of healing spells they'd prescribed for the patient. In the middle of the group was a hospital bed with a battered and drained, if otherwise healthy, Twilight Sparkle. Nopony noticed his entry until the last spell was complete and one of the medics happened to look his way.

“Ah! Hello, sir, we didn't notice you come in.”

“It's just as well that way, ma'am. I only had a message to deliver to Ms. Sparkle. It's from her brother.”

“You've got something from Shining Armor?” Twilight asked, excited and surprised.

“I do. It's right here.” The private produced a scroll from his bags and offered it to Twilight, who eagerly grasped it with telekinesis. Smiling, the soldier nodded respectfully to the hospital staff and exited the room.

Shoehorn sighed inwardly when he saw Barding staring intently at the door.

“I swear, you are doing this to mess with me. Nopony is really that dumb.”

“I'm just doing what you asked, Private Shoehorn.” Barding's face was the epitome of innocence.

“Just- Just go. I don't care where you go, but preferably somewhere far, far away from where I am.”

“Can't do that; orders are to escort the Princess. Speaking of which-”

“Oh, ponyfeathers, you're right! We might be late! Come on, Barding, we have to get to the meeting spot!”

The pair dashed off through the town towards the Everfree Forest.

Applejack galloped as quickly as she could towards the farmhouse, a concerned frown etched into her face. She passed rows of trees that had already been bucked, with the occasional row that still needed to be harvested.

I sure hope Puzzle is alright, thought the farmer. As much of a nuisance as she can be, I wouldn't wish harm on her in a hundred years. She paused in her thoughts. Okay, maybe not in fifty years.

Applejack blasted through the gate of the plain white fence around the house and galloped the last short distance to the door. She tore the door open, about to call for Big Mac; seeing Puzzle inside with a good deal of crumbs surrounding her spot at the kitchen table made her stop in her tracks.

Puzzle jumped out of her chair upon Applejack's explosive entrance. She hacked and coughed, having inhaled sharply while still eating an apple tart. Applejack cantered over and gave a swift, hard tap to the gray mare's back, which elicited a final, sharp wheeze from Puzzle.

“Holy Luna, boss, are you trying to kill me?” demanded the unicorn. She rubbed a hoof on the bandages over her throat, soothing the lingering stinging of almost choking coupled with the burns that were still fresh.

“What the hay are ya doin'?” Applejack gave her employee a hard stare. “I thought ya were in serious trouble out there!”

“I was.” Puzzle returned the farmer's glare, and Applejack noticed for the first time that Puzzle wasn't wearing her sunglasses. Applejack sighed.

“Alright, then, what happened?”

“So, I was just kind of sitting there when all of a sudden...”

Puzzle lay quietly underneath one of the apple trees, unable to take a nap like she'd wanted. Part of the reason was that blasted blue stuff that covered a sizable patch of ground and trees nearby. She kept glancing over at the splotchy ground, frowning each time. No position she arranged her body in was comfortable, either, which made her want to just stand up and walk around.
Finally giving in to the urge, Puzzle lifted herself off of the ground, stretching her legs. She glanced at the nearby patch of corrupted ground again. The mare shook her head and sighed, and began pacing back and forth between the rows of apple trees. The mid-morning air was already hot and stifling, making her movements sluggish and leaden.
“This place is crazy.” The unicorn kicked a hoof on the ground, leaving a small scuff mark in the dry earth. “I can't just settle into a nice, quiet little town, can I?”
“If by settling here a quiet life you seek,
A mistake you're making, any day of the week.”
Puzzle started and gave a little cry at the sudden voice of another pony. She whipped her head around until she saw the source of the words, a zebra that was trotting closer. From what Puzzle could see, the zebra looked a little winded, like she'd been galloping for a little too long.
“Yeah, I get the impression. What do you want?”
“I come bearing you a grave warning
Of foul creatures in the air this morning.
See you here-”
“Whoa, hold on. What's with the rhyming?”
The zebra glared at Puzzle, who simply shrugged.
“Ahem. See you here this stuff made of blue?
It's a poison, it's spreading, and it's coming towards you.
To kill, however, this toxin prefers not,
Corrupting its victims on the spot,
Wracking their bodies with hideous mutations,
And their minds with equal transformations.
Vicious do its victims wax-”
“Yeah, yeah, so what am I supposed to do about it? If it's as bad as you claim, then how can I be expected to stop it?”
“Just go, you irksome mare.
I need to get you out of my hair.
I have serious business to attend to,
Which may be offensive to a mare like you.”
Puzzle scowled at the zebra's condescending tone.
“Oh yeah? Well, how about-” The unicorn paused mid-speech, focusing her gaze on something in the distance behind the zebra. “Hey, what's that?” she accompanied the question with a gesture at a speck amongst the trees.
The zebra rolled her eyes and turned to look, only to gasp in horror when she saw the floating, moving dot.
“They've followed me here,” breathed the zebra. “For Ponyville I fear.”
“What, what is it?” asked Puzzle. Bravado filled her voice as she trotted past the zebra and towards the thing. She felt a hoof holding her back, and looked to see the zebra giving her a steely glare.
“With these creatures you must not trifle,
Your life-force will their ferocity stifle.
Go, we must, before-”
There was a rasping, screeching cry, and the zebra dove against Puzzle, knocking her to the ground. Puzzle felt a cool rush of air as something raced past her; she realized that it would have hit her had not the zebra tackled her.
The unicorn rolled over onto her stomach, her instincts trying to take over. She forced them down, instead allowing her training to kick in. Puzzle whirled her head about, taking stock of the situation. Around the pair hovered several of the blob-like creatures, at least a dozen, all of them too close for comfort. Each one had four sharp-looking spikes on their bottom half, almost like mandibles.
“Where did they come from?” hissed Puzzle.
“I don't know,” replied the zebra. “I have a plan, though.”
“Alright, cool, I've got a better one. It's called 'Tell me how these things like to fight.'” Puzzle backed up a bit, the zebra now behind her so that they stood back-to-back. Around them, the creatures circled, hungry.
“They used to be parasprites, from what I have seen,
Which means that to swarm they are especially keen.
They prefer to rush prey from all directions,
To spear you with their lethal projections.”
“Alright, they like to charge us in swarms. You could've just said that. Whatever, here's what we've got to do: duck and weave, don't move in a predictable pattern. We need to break out of the ring they've put us in. If we split up, there will be fewer of them in one place and it'll be easier to evade their charges.”
“Do you have a plan to escape this surrounding?” whispered the zebra. “I find that part to be most confounding.” Around them, the ex-parasprites tightened their circle, moving closer and closer to the pair.
“I can throw up a bubble shield when they charge at us, that should let us slip out while they're distracted. I can't hold it, though, so you need to move when they hit.” Puzzle growled at one of the creatures that darted in a bit closer.
“Agreed,” said the zebra.
Puzzle smirked.
“You didn't rhyme that time.”
In an instant, a dark green sphere appeared around the two of them and the parasprite-things screeched and rushed in for the kill. Instead of bouncing off, as Puzzle had planned, they stuck to the energy field. The gray mare in question gasped, feeling a sudden weight in her chest. The little buggers were leeching the energy out of her already under-powered shield spell, and that energy was her energy. She felt faint, like she might collapse at any second.
Puzzle growled, her energy shield shrinking. She struggled to maintain the bubble, when she felt a sharp kick from behind. The force broke her concentration and the shield shattered, and Puzzle flew a little ways forward. The parasprite-things lurched inward at the sudden loss of resistance, closing the final short distance separating pony and monster. One of the creatures happened to be in Puzzle's path, and in the course of her forward movement it latched onto her face.
She yelped as the thing's pincers closed around her, feeling the pressure on the sides of her head tighten. Out of instinct, Puzzle whipped her head to the side; the creature slid off of her, clutching her sunglasses in its grasp. She ran, not looking back, her fight-or-flight response taking over.
Not knowing too well where she was going, Puzzle finally stopped when she was fully certain that there was no living thing within a half-mile of her, aside from apple trees and maybe small insects. She looked around for any sign of the farmhouse or the barn, but seeing as she was in a bit of a valley, there wasn't much to be seen, so the mare cantered quickly and quietly up the nearest slope.
The going was easy, and soon Puzzle stood at the height of the little hill. She looked about her, and through the apple trees she caught glimpses of more hills and more orchard lands. At last, she saw a flash of red and white paint in the distance. Sighing with relief, Puzzle set off at a quick pace towards the farmhouse.
Trotting through the orchards was rather menial, and Puzzle found her blood heating up. She frowned at the rows and rows and rows of apple trees. There was almost perfect silence, broken only by the occasional birdsong or hum of insects. The mare hastened her pace, glancing around uneasily, keeping a sharp eye out for slight motions amongst the not-so-gloomy orchard.
“Why does it always have to be farmland?” muttered the unicorn. “So darn bright and cheery.”
She continued, until finally the farmhouse appeared in her field of vision. She trotted up to the white fence around the yard and hopped over, still alert for anything out of the ordinary. When a splash of red appeared from the opposite side of the house, Puzzle reflexively sank into a low, defensive stance; upon realizing it was just Applejack's brother, Big Something-Or-Other, she relaxed her posture.
“Hey, big guy!” When the big red pony glanced her way, she waved him over. He shrugged and trotted in her direction. “There was some trouble down in the orchards. Some kind of creatures attacked me and this zebra that showed up. I barely escaped, I don’t know what happened to her. The attack was right near that patch of blue stuff.”
The stallion took what felt like a thousand years to think about what she'd said before he finally replied.
“Well, first off, my name's Big Macintosh.” He paused for another few seconds. “I reckon ya can call me Big Mac, though. From what ya told me, it's probably too dangerous to go out there alone. Ya'll are gonna hold down the fort here, I'll go round up AJ and some others to help deal with the problem. Apple Bloom should be off at school around now, but if ya happen to see her, make sure nothin' happens to her.”
“Alright, I can do that.”

“And then you showed up.” Puzzle swallowed the last of the apple tart she'd been chewing. She spoke in a flippant, nonchalant manner, but Applejack could see in her eyes the glint of uncertainty, of fear.

“And ya went through all this in that short amount of time?” The orange pony opened various cupboards as she spoke, gesturing to the sizable amount of empty spots amongst the packed pantries.

“It's a comfort thing, okay?” snapped the unicorn. “I like to eat when- when I get kind of nervous.” She looked away, trying to keep up a stoic appearance despite the no-doubt shameful admission.

Applejack sighed, and trotted over to her employee. She put a hoof around Puzzle's shoulder, feeling the gray pony stiffen as she did so.

“Relax, sugarcube. I ain't gonna make fun o' ya'll for bein' scared or anythin'. Boy howdy, I’m a little scared myself right now. Whatever it is that's buggin' ya, just let it out. I'm listenin', I won't judge ya or nothin'.”

Neither spoke for a few moments.

“That's the sappiest thing I've heard since Hearth's Warming Eve.”

“Privates, you're late!”

Shoehorn and Barding winced as the lieutenant called their names. They trotted over to him, 'guilty' written all over their faces. The lieutenant glared at them, and Shoehorn could've sworn he saw a few lightning bolts shoot out of the officer's eyes. The lieutenant opened his mouth to speak when another voice interrupted.

“Lieutenant, what is going on here?” Princess Celestia asked.

“These two were late for the appointed meeting time by 63 seconds, Princess. I was just about to tell them off.”

“You do realize that I was late by 71.4 seconds, right, Lieutenant? Will I be told off as well?” The officer stammered a bit, and Celestia grinned. “Punctuality is a virtue, but it can be taken to extremes. I think these two will be just fine without any scolding. Today, at least.” She looked at the two soldiers in question, two privates. “What are your names, soldiers?”

Both snapped to attention.

“Private Shoehorn!”

“Private Barding, your majesty!”

“I see. Come along, you two. I would like for you to be my personal guards for this meeting.”

Shoehorn looked at Barding, and found Barding glancing his way as well. Both had nervous looks in their eyes.

The mare wasn't sure how long she'd been lying there, curled up in the fetal position. She didn't really care. All around her was the chill of the Phazon, its fire coursing through her veins; or rather, what was left of her veins. She was only vaguely aware of her body, and the changes it was undergoing.

Then, all at once, the nourishing cocoon around her erupted, spewing her limp form out of the pool. Her body hung in the air, as if by strings, while she began to get her bearings. Not much improved; her vision was almost entirely clouded over, and her other senses were mostly numb. Her mind slogged through even the basic task of processing what little sensory input it received.

W-what is... happening... to me?
Shhhh, came the whispers, the blue, entangling vapors of thought, Don't think, Trixie. There is only us. We can make your revenge a reality. We can destroy those who mocked you.
I- I never wanted to... to destroy anypony... I j-just wanted-
A dark specter appeared in her thoughts, a pony wearing a cape and wizard's hat. The pony was comprised half of shadows, half of Phazon. Images flashed through her mind, hideous, laughing pony monstrosities, all laughing at her, scorning her, conspiring against her. In her mind she was on a stage, and spread out before her was an audience of pony-things, ridiculing her, throwing things.

N-no... Stop m-mocking me...

Trixie threw up her hooves, as though to shield herself from the ponies arrayed against her. Dark Trixie put a comforting paw around Trixie, as though compassionate. Trixie turned back to the whispers, to her darker imposter, a desperate, pleading look in her eyes.

M-make it s-stop... please...

Trixie felt herself floating, her mind separate from her body. She was tired, and instinctively she curled into a tight ball. Faintly she could see her hooves, now more like the paws of a diamond dog, with sharp, short claws splitting out of the normal hoof bones. The mare focused lazily on the claws of her left forehoof, and they clenched into a loose fist. She felt clawed appendages patting her gently, lulling her deeper and deeper into nothingness.

There came a sensation of being enveloped; Trixie felt the blue energy coalescing around her, inviting her to indulge in rest, in darkness. The last sensation of sight to grace her mind was of a thin membrane encasing her, and how glassy the world looked from inside it. Particularly her shadowy self.

Go, servants. Creep softly, corrupt slowly. Strike when the time is right.

“Psst! Hey, Barding!”

“What? What do you want, Private Shoehorn?”

“I thought I told you- gah, never mind. What the hay is going on? How did we end up as Princess Celestia's bodyguards?”

“Privates? I thought I said I wanted you in front, not lagging behind.”

The tone of Celestia's voice made Shoehorn shudder and look over at Barding, who appeared to have the same apprehensive reaction.

“Yes, Princess,” said both guards simultaneously. They moved to take point in the contingent of guards.

The group came upon a canyon, and beyond that they could see the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. A few small, black dots buzzed around the castle.

“I see the changelings have already arrived,” said the Princess, gazing ponderously at the specks. She absently checked the rope bridge for safety. Satisfied, she gestured for the group to continue. “When we arrive, I want you all to be courteous, despite whatever impressions you may already have of them. If you want to speak with any of them, make sure you do so in the spirit of hospitality; they are our guests, after all.”

Shoehorn, Barding, and each other guard nodded silently, some with particularly grim looks in their eyes.

Celestia’s entourage approached the castle, the level of changeling activity now plainly evident as being unusually high; the castle was like a cake left out in the rain, attracting flies to swarm all around it. The insectile changeling soldiers flew maneuvers around the castle like it was a military base, and even had a garrison posted at the gate.

“I don’t like this, Princess,” Private Shoehorn whispered.

“It is a little odd for so many to be present at a simple diplomatic function. Still, I can handle the threat that these soldiers may pose, so we are not in very much danger.” Celestia glimpsed the brief flash of doubt in Shoehorn’s eyes, and grinned ever so slightly. “You’re thinking of the incident during the captain’s wedding, I know. I have to let you ponies take care of yourselves sometimes, don’t I?” The Princess made it clear with her expression that no reply was expected, nor was it desired.

The contingent of ponies arrived at the gate to the castle, where a squad of changelings stood. One stepped forward to address Celestia and her escort.

“Princess Celestia, you are expected. The Queen is waiting for you in the throne room. Only two guards are permitted to accompany you past this point.”

“I don’t recall when it was that Chrysalis became steward of this castle. How, then, does she set these rules upon us?” the white alicorn said, calm challenge in her voice. “However, in the spirit of goodwill, I will agree to these terms. Shoehorn, Barding, you will accompany me.” She turned to the rest of her guards, who stood with every muscle of their body tense and incredibly uncomfortable expressions on their faces. “To you all, I want you to embody the harmony that you swore to protect. Take no hostile action save that of defending yourselves if the need should arise.”

Celestia wheeled about and strode confidently into the castle, with the two privates at her sides. The changelings at the gate parted to make way for her.

Shoehorn shot a discrete look at Barding, excitement and confusion and fear all radiating out of him. Barding glanced back, not faring much better.

This day has been awful, Ditzy Doo thought. She absently kicked at a stick lying discarded on the ground. She missed, her hoof instead scuffing the ground just short of its intended target. Growling, the pegasus stomped furiously on the stick, snapping it clean in two. Ditzy kept plodding along through the wide open fields surrounding Ponyville, her head down, grumbling incoherently.

Everypony's been so grumpy today. First it was the boss, then that guy in the park, and now Big Mac and Doctor Hooves? I mean, I guess I could understand if there was something creepy going on at your farm, in Big Mac's case, but... that still doesn't make it right to be so brusque. Does it?

Ditzy heard the sounds of somepony landing in the tall grass nearby, followed by the soft sound of approaching hoofsteps and the rustling of blades of grass.

“You look as though you could use some cheer,” said the new pony. Ditzy didn't bother to look up to see who it was.

“Yeah, I could.” Ditzy tried to keep from snapping at the newcomer; that would be rude.

“Perhaps explaining the cause of your distress will help you to feel better.”

“I guess.” The wall-eyed pegasus paused a moment to gather her thoughts. “It's just that everypony I've met today seems to be extra rude. After a day of being treated negatively, I kind of got frustrated. It's hard to be upbeat when nopony else is. And then you throw in my friend's disappearance, and a pony gets to feeling pretty lousy.”

“You say your friend has disappeared? Are you going to search for her?”

“Yeah, I'm on my way to Sweet Apple Acres now. That's where she was last seen, apparently. I was going with Doctor Hooves, but then he got all angry because he forgot something or other back in his laboratory and rushed off to take care of it. And there's Big Mac, he was all stressed trying to get a decent search party together. And then there was this other pony I met in the park, and he was all in a tizzy about some problem he had. It's like everypony has just lost their manners, you know?”

“Hm, I do know a bit about what you speak of.” The tone of the other pony's voice became incredibly bitter, so much so that Ditzy forgot her own troubles and looked up. She gasped, then tried to bow, but her hooves seemed to have a will of their own, and she tripped. In fact, not only did she trip, but her fall was so spectacular that she ended up knocking into the other pony and knocking their legs out from underneath them as well. Both ponies ended up in a tangled heap, although Ditzy was quick to attempt to extricate herself from the mess.

“Oh dear, Muffin is so sorry, Muffin can f-fix this-”

“No, thou needst not trouble thyself, we shall remedy it-”

“Muffin really is sorry, Princess, Muffin had no idea-”

“Truly, dear pony, thou hast incited no anger in us-” Princess Luna paused mid-sentence, looking intently at Ditzy Doo. “Hold on a moment. Did you just start referring to yourself as 'muffin'?”

“And did you just start speaking in Middle Equestrian?”

Both mares were silent as they finally, calmly separated themselves and stood up.

“Hm.” Both mares spoke simultaneously, then began giggling.

“I like you, Princess Luna.”

“And I you, Ms...?”

“Ditzy Doo, at your service.”

“Miss Doo, you are a charming mare. Now, what can I do for you this fine day?”

“You? Doing something for me? B-but that's-”

“Please, I want to be helpful. It makes me feel better, especially when I'm frustrated. There's nothing to pick up one's spirits better than service to others, I've learned. So, what do you need, Ms Doo?”

“Um, well... I am on my way to go look for my friend. Maybe you could help me search?”

Luna smiled.

“It would be an honor. Pray tell, what is your friend like?”

“Zecora is a zebra, and she lives in the Everfree Forest. She does a lot of potion-brewing, and occasionally comes to Ponyville for ingredients.”

“Hm... A zebra, you say? Intriguing. No matter, though, let me just find her very quickly.”

The Night Princess closed her eyes and began concentrating, her horn glowing with a bright blue light. Ditzy watched her, and watched, and watched some more. Suddenly Luna gasped, startling Ditzy and almost causing her to fall back. The blue glow around the Princess' horn vanished in a flash, and the midnight alicorn opened her eyes with a start. She looked at Ditzy, and a grave dread began churning in the mailmare's stomach.

“I fear greatly for the safety of your friend. She is somewhere in the forest, and I dare say she may have encountered a cockatrice. It appears that she's been turned to stone.”

Ditzy frowned, unsure what to think. Princess Luna picked up on her companion's uncertainty and continued.

“There should be little problem in returning her to normal once we find her, all we need to do is find the cockatrice that used its gaze on her and convince it to return her to flesh. This will be a walk in the park.”

“Ah! Ditzy! There you are!” called a male voice. The two mares turned to look, and saw a brown stallion galloping towards them. He had behind him a wagon that made a terrible, obnoxious clanking sound each time he took a step, filled as it was with metal. The stallion slowed down as he caught up to them, breathing heavily. “Sorry about running off all in a huff like that, I was really beside myself for going almost halfway and not remembering to bring the control module. How silly of me! And I say, what a pleasure it is to meet you, Princess Luna.” He bowed his head rather quickly. “So, Ditzy, would you mind at all if I-”

“Peace, little pony,” Luna interrupted. Her eyebrows were raised in a bemused fashion. “I assume you are Doctor Clockwork Hooves, then? Ditzy mentioned you had forgotten something.”

“Yes, Princess, I am Doctor Hooves.” He kept quiet, as though chastened.

“I see. Well, I have scryed the location of Zecora, your friend, and she is somewhere in the Everfree Forest, not too far from the apple farm nearby. I suggest we make haste to find her.”

“Very well, your highness.” All three of the ponies accelerated to a quick canter, although Doctor Hooves soon began to lag behind. When the other two slowed down to match his pace, he shook his head. “No, go on ahead.” He took a moment to breathe deeply. “I'm a little out of shape.”

“Hm. I would have us slow down for you, if not your friend's life hung on the line. Should we fail to find the cockatrice that petrified her, she may not recover,” Luna said.

“A- a cockatrice, you say? I wonder... Princess, are you familiar with the nature of a pony's innate magical energy?” The Doctor spoke with barely a pause between breaths. “Oh, what am I thinking, of course you are. Well, my most recent area of study has dealt with harnessing that natural energy through the use of technology, and I believe, given the circumstances, I could perhaps de-petrify her with my PED here.”

He received only a confused look from Ditzy and a suspicious one from the Princess. A few beads of sweat began to crop up across his forehead under the scrutiny from the darker mare.

“Pardon me, I use acronyms often. PED is short for 'Pony-Energized Device.' It's a machine powered by a pony's energy. I hope to use it to restore Zecora's normal body by channeling her natural magic. Assuming, of course, that zebras have natural magic; I've never studied them, but I would think-”

“Hold, Doctor.” Princess Luna stared at the now-quivering brown stallion.

“Yes, Princess?” He blushed a bit as his voice cracked out of anxiety.

“Your device utilizes a pony's energy? I require a demonstration at once. I must see...” Luna's voice trailed off, as though she were only speaking to herself.

Doctor Hooves paused a moment, surprised at the request; it was only after a stern glare from the midnight mare that he began scrambling around in his wagon for the PED. After a few panicky moments he pulled out the armor-like device and slipped it over his head, where it deformed and contorted until it was a perfect fit for his chest. He pulled out a smooth, rounded topaz from the wagon as well, then turned back to Princess Luna.

“It's designed to be inactive until a gem is placed into the focusing chamber. I made it to safeguard against accidental activation as well as to protect against power surges and fluctuations. The crystal itself functions as an energy buffer, absorbing excess-”

“Doctor!”

“-sorry, sorry. Here we go, then.” The stallion fit the yellow gem into the gap, where it began to glow. He shuddered, his muscles spasming slightly out of his control. A few moments passed like this, until the Doctor shook his head to clear it. He looked back and forth between Ditzy and the Princess, finally settling on Luna, whose eyes were wide in shock.

“Doctor, I must speak with you after our business here is done. This machine is far more than you had ever intended it to be.” The Night Princess turned and began walking again through the last stretch of fields before Sweet Apple Acres. “You are forbidden from activating the device except in the gravest of circumstances. We will discuss things in more detail later.” Luna raised her voice dramatically to speak over his sputtering protests.

The only sound was the soft rhythm of hooves on the dirt and the rustling of grass. After a pause, the Doctor spoke up.

“Can you at least tell me why I can't further the goals of science?”

“Don't play word games with me, Doctor. But, I suppose if you really must know, then I will answer you with a question: Are you familiar with the term 'Ascension' as it refers to magic theory?”

“I've seen it mentioned in a few of the books I've read, but I can't say that I know what it is.”

“Good. Then the matter is settled.”

“We're here,” said Ditzy, her voice a little too enthusiastic.

“Excellent. We shall meet with those already present and inform them of what we know.” Princess Luna trotted off towards the farm house to find anypony that might be present.

Doctor Hooves leaned over towards Ditzy and muttered something in her ear.

“Is it just me, or is she extremely uptight about something?”

“Please, Clockwork, don't start trouble with the Princess. All I want to do right now is find Zecora and make sure she's not a permanent statue. I don't want any more arguing to get in the way of that!” Ditzy snapped. She blinked, surprised at the vehemence in her own voice. “M-muffin is sorry, Doctor Hooves. Muffin just doesn't know what went wrong today.”

“Ah, Princess Celestia,” the Queen said, her voice echoing with an eerie after-effect. “You’re finally here.”

The white alicorn, along with her two guards, entered the throne room, a large and worn room with crumbling stone walls. The ceiling rose high above them, once-grand arches curving over the room in a distinctly medieval fashion. Any remnants of furnishing had been removed, leaving the weathered stone naked and bare. The sole exception to this was a large, round table that had been placed on the slightly raised level where the two thrones used to stand. Aside from the three ponies and one changeling, the great throne room was empty and silent.

The Princess trotted up the few stairs to the table and took a seat on the cold stone across from the changeling queen.

“Indeed I am, Queen. It warms my heart to see you in more friendly circumstances.”

The changeling was quiet for a moment before laughing.

“Yes, I suppose the same goes for you as well, Celestia.”

“How are you getting along, Chrysalis?”

“Oh, you know, just scrounging around the Badlands for what little scraps of love to feed off of, trying to rebuild the Hive, the usual. And you?”

“Things have been peaceful for some time now, aside from a recent bit of trouble.”

“Of course, of course. How could I have thought otherwise?”

“Chrysalis, my offer will always stand.”

“No thank you, your Highness, I will not trade away the legacy of my people for your empty ‘negotiations’.”

“Very well. You know why I am here?”

“I do.”

“Is that all? No clarification, no explanation, just a simple acknowledgement?”

“Why should I? You always seem to know everything anyway, Celestia. You really must teach me how to be such a puppeteer someday.” There was a cruel glint in the changeling’s draconic eyes, like a surgeon drunk with power operating on some poor patient.

“Enough.” The Princess’ voice was harsh, more so than it needed to be. “We are here to discuss your placement of troops on the border between Equestria and the Badlands.”

Chrysalis seemed genuinely surprised.

“Come again?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Queen. I know that you’ve moved a good deal of soldiers to the Las Pegasus area.”

“You’re accusing me of breaking our treaty? I knew you had harsh words in store for me the moment you called this meeting, but this is too far, Princess.” Chrysalis’ voice was almost a snarl.

Celestia blinked, surprised both at the sudden ferocity of the Queen and at her statement.

“Chrysalis, I didn’t call this meeting. You did.”

“Sure, sure, now you tell me that I’m the one who wanted you to come and scold me for something I haven’t done, despite the fact that you wanted me to come here to re-negotiate our treaty. Why did I even bother with this?”

The white alicorn got a suspicious look in her eyes.

“I never wanted to re-negotiate the treaty. I’ve been as fair as I can about that entire series of events.”

“Ha! Fair? Please, don’t stand on your soap-box, Celestia. I’d hate to have to withstand a goodie-horse-shoes monologue from the Princess of Equestria.”

Shoehorn watched the two leaders become more and more petty in their arguing. He looked helplessly at Barding, although this time the other was far too engrossed in watching the verbal sparring match to notice. He looked around the room, trying to keep a modicum of professionalism on the job. While he was inspecting some broken stained-glass windows, a sudden unease settled in his stomach. He frowned, looking around hastily for any signs of trouble aside from the two monarchs.

At last, he realized why he was nervous. There was a supremely faint, metallic odor in the air, like a mix of blood and machine oil. His mind blanked for a moment as he considered all of the possible implications to the scent, as well as his method of response. Perhaps lacking distinctly in tact, he spoke up in a moderate tone of voice so that all in the room would hear.

“Does anypony else smell that?”

His timing was impeccable, exactly in the space between Chrysalis’ insult and Celestia’s retort. The room fell silent as the grave as everypony lifted their muzzles and sniffed at the air.

The changeling Queen’s eyes widened and she whisked a hoof over her nose and mouth.

“Hold your breath!” she hissed. “That’s a sleeping gas!”

The three ponies were quick to obey.

“We need to leave the castle at once,” the Queen said, starting off towards the nearest exit. “There’s somepony that wants us both out of the picture, Princess.”

“Chrysalis, I know a faster way out. This way,” said Celestia.

She cantered towards the wall behind the table, and tapped her horn against the cracked stonework. A part of the wall slid back, revealing a secret passage. The white alicorn strode quickly, if warily, into the hallway, which was only two or three hooves taller than she was, and wide enough to barely squeeze two ponies side-by-side.

The Princess was stopped by the sound of two fleshy thumps. She turned around and saw her two guards lying sprawled on the ground, almost perfectly still. Celestia turned a fiery gaze on the changeling.

“Sleeping!” the Queen muttered. “Pick them up and go!”

Celestia whisked the two privates onto her back with magic and set off galloping down the secret hall, Chrysalis hot on her hooves. The group went down a short flight of stairs, then around a large round hall and finally left through a similarly concealed stone door. Once outside, both rulers let out great breaths, heaving and panting. The white alicorn levitated her guards off of her back and laid them gently on the ground.

Strangely enough, the Princess didn’t feel completely awake, nor fully healthy. She glared sharply at the changeling queen, demanding an explanation by her silence.

“Alright,” said Chrysalis, still breathing heavily, “that gas is a sleeping agent. It’s incredibly potent, I created the recipe myself. It’s nearly odorless, and the smallest concentration is enough to put normal ponies out for hours. The part that’s most dangerous, though, is that while you’re affected by it, all of your body’s defenses are neutralized, even magical ones. I designed it specifically for... use on... alicorns. It was a long time ago, I promise! I never planned to use it on you.”

“I’m sure you weren’t going to. But that begs the question: where could it have come from?”

“That’s the million-bit question, isn’t it?” Chrysalis said, a wheezing laugh erupting from her lungs. “I suspect one of my generals got a little too ambitious. Although, I must say, any changeling that managed to pull off a stunt like this definitely deserves a promotion.”

“You’re saying we’ve been set up?” Celestia asked, incredulous.

“I am suggesting that, yes. I know of three changelings who would be capable of it- besides myself, of course.” The Queen flashed a devious grin at the white alicorn. “As for your guards, though, I suppose I should offer to escort you back to the gates in their place. It’s the least I can do to make up for that little incident.”

“Very well. How long do you expect these two will be unconscious?”

“Oh, based on the dosage they got, I’d estimate somewhere around two or three days. Give or take twelve hours.”

“And us? How have we been affected?”

“Well, you’ll probably be suffering from a bout of nausea for a few hours, because of your reduced immunities. You and I both will be exhausted for another ten minutes or so. That should be it.”

“I see. You’ve been most helpful, Chrysalis. I won’t forget this when we next meet.”

“You don’t want me to escort you, then?”

“No, I believe I shall be fine going alone. I do appreciate the offer, though. Farewell, Queen.”

“And you as well, Princess.”

The changeling spread her wings and buzzed away, no doubt to root out the schemer in her ranks.

Celestia snorted, then teleported to where the rest of her guards were. They jumped in shock and leaped to battle positions when they saw Shoehorn and Barding on Celestia’s back, not moving. She held up a hoof to stop them.

“These two are merely out cold. We’re leaving.”

“But- but Princess-” sputtered the lieutenant.

“Let us be rid of this place. Chrysalis is up to something, and I don’t want to be around to see it come to fruition.”

Queen Chrysalis watched as the contingent of pathetic royal guards trotted away from her castle. She frowned and turned away from the window she stood at.

“My Queen, how did the discussions go?” asked her assistant, kneeling before her.

“Celestia is on to our plan. She knows I was bluffing about the supposed attempt on the two of us.” Chrysalis pulled out a small vial that had been hidden on her person; it was only one-third full, it’s remaining contents traces of blue, glowing ooze. “That is not particularly important, though. Our primary mission was a resounding success.”

The Monster Within

Princess Celestia stood stock still before the large bay window overlooking Ponyville proper, casting her soft gaze over the town in contemplation. A light cough escaped her lungs and a brief shudder wracked her frame, courtesy the noxious Changeling sleeping agent that she had recently inhaled.

Can I even trust that it was a sleeping agent? I wouldn’t expect her to be so forthcoming with compromising information like she was, there must be more to it than that. But what? What could Chrysalis possibly hope to gain from our encounter?

In the streets below her window in the Town Hall, a busy day at the markets was underway, ponies selling all kinds of wares, though heavily biased towards produce and groceries.

I wonder if their food can compare to Canterlot’s cuisine, thought Celestia. She frowned in an amused fashion at the oddness of the thought. I know there’s no substitute for good home cooking, but I suppose I was always a bit more comfortable with fancier fare.

Goodness, I must still be quite tired from the meeting to be thinking about such trivial things at a time like this.

I suppose when it comes to food, Luna was always looking for more hearty dishes.

A pained grimace slashed across the Princess’s face at the thought of her sister. Images from the recent past flashed through her mind; a flash of rage as Luna threw away her crown, the sight of the younger princess storming out of the room. Celestia had to take a few calming breaths as the most haunting look of all burned itself once more into her eyes.

Why have you betrayed me, Celly? said Luna’s eyes. Behind all the anger and bitterness, Celestia saw the look of a little filly whose idol of perfection has just slapped her in the face.

She’s right, I know she’s right, thought Celestia, her eyes beginning to water. But she doesn’t know what Twilight means to me! She doesn’t know what it’s like to live a thousand years amongst the ponies who just keep dying around you! Twilight is so much more than that, if only Luna could understand what she means to me. I- I gave my little Twilight everything- Celestia paused, her face taking on a steely expression even as she coughed again. I gave her everything, and I won’t let anything take her away from me. Not even you, sister.

Celestia levitated out Luna’s dark, yet unimposing crown. She turned it over a few times, coldly regarding it and its former bearer.

“If you will have no part in my rule, sister, so be it,” whispered the Day Princess. She felt from deep within herself a stirring, as though a long-forgotten feeling were rising up in her, something a little hazy and hard to read exactly.

The Princess wheezed into her hoof and felt a light spatter of liquid against it. Surprised, she looked down and examined her hoof, now mottled with the faintest specks of glowing blue.

Author's Note

Happy April Fools' everyone! Here's a little teaser I threw together for the occasion. :rainbowwild:

3: Unwelcome Guests

Part 3

Princess Luna sat quietly at her desk, steeling herself in preparation for poring over the ancient book. Celly seemed to be overly sensitive to her behavior since the meteor incident last night, so she'd had to be extra stealthy when she fetched this one from the archives. It also didn't help that this was the only copy of the book that had ever been made, and that it was kept in the real archives, the secret one, not the one that the average pony had access to.

Unable to force herself to begin the unpleasant task, she stood up and paced around her balcony, looking up at the infinite canvas of stars that she had crafted. It never failed to calm her nerves, looking up at her beautiful creations.

If only other ponies could see what I see, could see how much of myself is up there. If only they would look at my stars, stop and appreciate what I do... and appreciate me...

Driven by her melancholy, the Night Princess shuffled glumly back to her desk, where the book lay closed and foreboding. On its plain, brown cover was an ornate image of an alicorn in flight, bolts of magic emanating from its horn. She stroked a hoof over the image, took a deep breath, then opened the book.

Immediately, a blast of magic whipped around her, obviously a defensive mechanism to stop an average pony from reading the book. To Luna, however, the magic simply ruffled her mane and wing feathers like a strong breeze. She steeled herself and began to read.

Alicorns: A study commissioned by Lord Everfree, the Last King of Equestria.

Written by or with help from:

Arcana Sparkle

Magus Nexus

Brightshine, Royal Guard Captain

Lord Everfree and the Royal Family

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Innate Magic

3. Horn

4. Wings

5. Immortality

6. Ascending

7. Reproduction

The night mare flipped all the way to the second-last chapter.

Chapter 6: Ascension

Having established in the prior chapter the nature of the alicorns' immortality and their virtual invulnerability to physical harm, it stands to reason that an alicorn very well may live for a length of time inconceivable to the average pony.

However, though the alicorns are physically immune to the ravages of time, they are not immune to the mental wear of the years. While normal means of expiration may be closed to the alicorn, there is a method by which they may 'pass on' as the common vernacular would phrase it.

A method of ascending to the Shining Realms of Yore has been fully researched and recorded in the following pages along with a related description of planar shifting and manipulation.
Before continuing on, it should be noted that the process of ascension detailed within has been found to be irreversible by present means and appears to be as permanent as the normative process of dying

Princess Luna took out a scroll and began to copy the instructions. Once finished, she shut the still-dusty book and hid it in her bookshelf amongst the many other books, inconspicuousness being its best camouflage until she could put it back in its rightful spot later. Luna looked over the list, planning out how she would assemble the components.

At that moment, the enormity of what she was doing struck her.

Irreversible. Leaving Celly... forever. Equestria, my night, my subjects, forever. Gone. I'm abandoning them... abandoning my responsibility... again. I'm leaving, and there's no turning back.

Why should you turn back? It's not like anypony pays any attention to you.

The thought hung in the air, plain as day. Luna didn't bother to dismiss the thoughts this time, nor to recognize the blatant self-conversational tone of them. Tears of sadness, bitterness, and anger began to flow from her eyes once more, when her ears pricked at a quiet sound. Intrigued and eager to forget her unhappy thoughts, the princess trotted out onto her balcony. She could clearly tell now that it was somepony wishing on her stars; few ponies knew that Luna could actually hear such things. Whenever she heard a wish, there was an accompanying feeling of warmth that came with it, depending on how strongly the wish was desired.

There was a strong feeling coming from this one. Her interest piqued, she flew up off of the balcony, following the feeling. Luna decided against magically speeding her flight, instead choosing to just fly at a leisurely pace to calm her emotions. The princess looked out over her domain, the small points of warm light amongst the houses and buildings almost a match for the sky above; the feeling of just floating above it all was indescribably, powerfully relaxing. By the time that she alighted in a large, grassy field just outside of Ponyville, Luna felt ready to take on anything.

Her moon was at its fullest this night, casting a cool, silvery glow on the world below. The gray-green grass rippled like an ocean, pushed hither and thither by a gentle, calming breeze. A short distance away, the Princess could see a pony sitting on their haunches, staring up at the moon. An unspoken, yet not-unheard wish hung on the pony's lips; a wish for a place to call home.

Luna wanted so badly to run up to the mare and tell her that everything was okay, nopony had to be lonely. What stopped her was the sudden and drastic shift in the mood she was feeling from the pony as the mystery mare put on a pair of sunglasses with magic. It was as though a whole new pony stood before her, one that radiated hostility and indifference. This strange pony began trotting towards the sleeping town of Ponyville, and Luna, disquieted, flew back to her room in silence.

This time, the flight was quick, the princess having used her magic to spirit herself away from that pony as a spring of thoughts and feelings bubbled in her subconscious. Looking down over the once-friendly lights, they now seemed harsh and garish, blunting the silvery moonlight of her night, warding off her presence. The Night Princess alighted with a soft thud on the balcony once more, and she trotted inside. Upon entering, she stopped dead in her tracks as a certain object dominated her focus; a scrap of parchment with a list of items written upon it.

Luna stared at it indecisively, feelings of loneliness surging in her mind, but this time the melancholy was obscured by the vision of the pony that had wished so passionately on the moon. She levitated the scroll in front of her, wanting desperately to crumple it up, toss it in the trash, and forget about it. She wanted to move on, to go make friends with ponies, to share in their happiness.

The princess just could not summon up the willpower to destroy the list. She scrunched up her face, little grunts of frustration escaping her lungs, but the parchment didn't budge an inch. Luna felt her willpower deteriorating, as her emotions were simply too much for her to deal with right now. What she needed was something to take her mind off of the matter; as if in answer, her stomach rumbled uneasily. The Night Princess levitated the list to her desk and slipped it in a small, hidden drawer before trotting out of her room in search of nourishment and, perhaps, some company.

In the dark of the night, illuminated only by the lonely light of the full moon, a blue pony clutching a wizard hat landed roughly on the ground. After an entire day of practice, she was exhausted.

“Trixie is... quite ready to... make her glorious return to... Ponyville,” panted the blue magician after she placed her hat reverently on a hook. Without thinking she levitated a small glass of neon-blue water to her lips and drank greedily. It no longer burned to drink water laced with Phazon; she had become so accustomed to its bitter sting that the feeling barely registered in her mind. In fact, she had dismissed her shielding spell earlier in the day, as it was now unnecessary.

Trixie flexed her back muscles for the sheer pleasure of feeling the responsiveness of her new pride and joy. They were so beautiful, much more so than what that silly rainbow pegasus had. She lifted her wings up to admire them, occasionally nuzzling them, enjoying the feel of the soft feathers on her face.

Trixie flapped her wings again, an unstoppable feeling of delight seeming to flow from their presence. She yawned and trotted to her cart, wings folded at her side. Content in her thoughts of glory and payback, Trixie sank wearily to the ground and fell asleep.

The door to the Ponyville Inn burst open. The few patrons still awake at the bar raised a collective eyebrow in surprise at the mare that strode confidently towards the innkeeper's desk. Her dark, stony gray form was weighed down by a large pack with all kinds of ropes and equipment in and around it. Her mane was a violent green with bright orange highlights, little spikes sticking out this way and that from the unruly mop. Oddest of all were the large, dark sunglasses that she wore, despite the dim lighting of the room.

“I need a room for a few days,” said the mare. “Fifteen bits a night, take it or leave it.”

The collective eyebrow shot up even higher, if that were possible.

“I'm sorry miss, but the going rate is twenty-five for a night.”

The unicorn mare turned around and began trotting away. The innkeeper's face twisted in a frown before he called after her.

“Twenty bits?”

The stony-faced mare paused at the door, considering the offer.

“Deal.” The mare turned and trotted back to the counter, pulled out a small bag of bits and dumped them out on the wood surface, waited impatiently for her room assignment, then strutted up the stairs towards her lodging.

Firework awoke slowly, his consciousness lazily collecting itself. As he opened his eyes, the colt could only observe with blurry vision the plain white walls that surrounded him. He tried flexing his wings, but felt them bound to his side. Looking down, he saw the bandages wrapped around his midriff, binding his wings. He let a groan slip from his lungs.

“Flare, you really need to stop crashing into buildings,” he told himself.

The colt tried to lift himself up, but his whole body screamed in pain and exhaustion. He sank back down, growling in frustration. Mixed with the growl was the barest hint of a fearful whinny. It was just like Flight School; nowhere to go, unable to move or run or, if need be, fight. He was helpless, and he hated it.

No time for self-pity, I need to act! he thought. Then again, on the other hoof, I can get better faster if I just rest...

He tried to think of something to remedy his helplessness, but his body's cry for rest overpowered his still-sluggish mind. As slowly as he had woken, he drifted back to an uncomfortable, restless sleep.

Princess Celestia gazed dully at the ponies assembled before her. They had been talking about the dam project for hours now, and still hadn't come to an agreement. It took all her concentration to keep herself from resting her head on a hoof. At last deciding that she had had enough, she cleared her throat and stood up.

“Gentleponies, I think we have failed to get anywhere in this meeting today. Perhaps we can settle the matter at a later time, when we all have clearer minds,” suggested the Princess forcefully. The politicians took the hint and filed out, leaving the room empty. Celestia sighed and trotted out of the conference room. She was exhausted after a full day of meetings, none of which had actually amounted to anything of importance being accomplished. The Day Princess unconsciously found herself drifting towards to her room, in need of a few moments of solitude. She trotted the short distance to her room and opened the door, relief washing over her like a flood.

Unfortunately, several guardsponies came galloping through the halls directly for her, led by Shining Armor. Wearily lamenting the disturbance, she acknowledged the captain.

“Yes, Captain? What is it?”

“Princess, we just received terrible news; a band of changelings attacked and looted a trade caravan traveling from Cloudsdale to Hoofington!”

Celestia scowled, a rare occurrence.

I just can't have a moment to myself, can I? Can I? HM?!

“Princess Celestia? Is everything alright?”

Celestia realized suddenly that she was crushing one of the doorknobs to her bedroom with her magic. Sighing, she released her hold on it, and the smoking scrap of metal clanged to the floor.

“Yes, Captain, I am fine. Tell me, what happened exactly?”

“Well, we don't know all of the details, Your Highness, but from what we know the pirates attacked without warning from the air and stole all of the goods; six ponies were injured, but fortunately none killed.”

“The changelings?” mused Celestia to herself. “We've had a peace treaty since we kicked them out of Canterlot, why break the peace now?” After a moment of thought, she continued. “Captain, assemble the Defense Council and raise the national threat level to DISHARMONY, class 2.”

“Yes, Princess,” acknowledged the Captain. He bowed hastily, then trotted off, already shouting orders left and right to the nearby assembled guardsponies.

To the guards now spread protectively around her, she commanded them to wait for a minute outside the door as she prepared herself for the meeting of the Council. Celestia trotted in, shut the door, and fell back on her haunches wearily, her rippling mane beginning to droop. She absentmindedly levitated her hairbrush and began brushing her mane, the fatigue in her body and mind oozing out into the room like a noxious gas. She wanted so desperately to just hide in her room and not have to deal with any more crises.

Why can't the country just keep out of trouble? What are we, some kind of trouble-magnet? I'm tired of having to deal with gargantuan, nation-threatening problems. For that matter, I'm sick of all of the silly little squabbles, too.

Those poor ponies, they might have just lost everything. And here I sit, brushing my mane, doing nothing to help them. I'm just going to go to another frivolous meeting where we'll talk about some important issue or another, and we might get something done if we're lucky. Fantastic.

The thought echoed through the Day Princess' mind as she forced herself down to the council room, false calmness plastered on her face.

Those two bumbling colts were here again, banging on her door. Did they have nothing better to do in the middle of the Celestia-dammed night? She grumbled, got out of bed, and poked her head out the window of the cart.

“Trixie thought she said the Great and Powerful Trixie did not want to be disturbed!” she grouched. They started spouting more hot air. “What is so important that you cannot wait until morning to disturb Trixie?”

As if in answer, a titanic roar ripped through the peaceful night air. Trixie felt her insides turn into cold, heavy granite. From the woods outside Ponyville a massive, bear-like beast emerged, spreading destruction in its path. Trixie screamed, terror bubbling up from the recesses of her mind, her body fleeing before her mind had time to think. Behind her, she heard the sound of snapping wood and knew that her cart was gone. One of the imbeciles started saying something, but Trixie wasn't really paying attention... at first.

“It took a lot of trouble to get that thing here,” said one of the colts.

The showpony's mind just about exploded.

“Wait, you brought this thing here? Are you out of your little pony minds?” Trixie demanded incredulously.

A blue haze came over her vision, blocking and distorting her vision; time seemed to suspend itself. Suddenly Trixie found herself trying to stop the Ursa with her tricks. Nothing worked; that blue fog blurred everything, subtly altering the way that her mind saw the events unfolding. The beast was about to wreak havoc on the town when she showed up from out of nowhere. The purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, ran into the path of the Ursa and used her magic to subdue the creature by force. Trixie sat on her haunches watching, both in rage and awe. It was quite skillful, what the librarian did, Trixie had to give her credit for that, but under the circumstances Twilight's victory was bad. Twilight had just stolen every last ounce of Trixie's thunder; how was anypony supposed to be able to top that? Trixie made her living on appearances, and now what did she have? Nothing!

Trixie's vision had a bluish tint to it, only getting hazier with her increasing rage. As she watched Twilight at work, the purple unicorn seemed to take on monstrous qualities; her teeth lengthened into small fangs, her eyes had a malicious sparkle, her hooves began to split and grow claws. Trixie blinked, angrily trying to push her way out of the mind-fog.

Think, Trixie, think! You can save face, you can still pull a draw out of this match! Trixie thought. She listened as Twilight's lackeys began congratulating the purple unicorn-creature. Ugh! That praise should be Trixie's! The anger of the showpony approached the limit of her endurance, thickening the blue haze until it was like being underwater.

“That wasn't an Ursa Major, that was a baby, an Ursa Minor,” pointed out that foal, Twilight. The blue fog condensed around Trixie, and something in her snapped. She remembered shouting something, then running somewhere, just before hearing the final nail in the coffin.

“Just let her go. Maybe someday she'll learn her lesson about how to actually use magic,” taunted the purple Twilight-monster snidely.

Tears flowed out of the fleeing mare's eyes, staining the path out of Ponyville with ultimate loss and hatred. Trixie made a silent vow; One day I will return. One day I will show them all. One day Twilight Sparkle will be nothing.

Trixie woke up, cold sweat beading across her body. She realized that she had been dreaming, that same dream again, but something was different; the showmare couldn't put a hoof on it. Unfazed, Trixie smiled as she felt the nearness of the fulfillment of her vow.

Tomorrow I take my revenge.

Rainbow Dash blearily noted that somepony knocked on her door. She grumbled incoherently from her cloud bed and looked out the window. The sun had just barely risen over the horizon, casting its soft morning glow over the land.

It's not even noon yet! Who the hay is here to see me?

“Who is it?” shouted the blue mare out her window sleepily.

“Spitfire!” came the reply. “Now will you hurry up and open the door?”

The gears in Rainbow Dash's mind spun lazily, trying to gain traction against the mind-fog of sleepiness. All at once, it clicked.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, S-Spitfire?! Here! Here? Spitfire! Coming!” blurted Dash. She raced down the cloud stairs and wrenched open the front door, quite spectacularly; her mane was even more wild than normal, she was completely disheveled, and she was standing sheepishly in front of her childhood idol.

Spitfire just frowned.

“You'd better shape up, Miss Rainbow. No Wonderbolt would be caught dead in such a state,” scolded the professional flier, half-serious and half-joking. Stung, Dash slumped down, her nervous smile replaced with a nervous grimace. Seeing the effects of her words, Spitfire breathed deeply and focused.

“I'm sorry, Rainbow. I shouldn't have said that; no Wonderbolt should ridicule her fans, either,” Spitfire admonished herself. “I'm a little on edge after I heard about the accident the other day. I just wanted to make sure that nopony got hurt.”

Spitfire cares enough about me to check up on me after an accident? Awesome!

“I'm fine, thanks,” said the blue pony proudly. “Flare got a little more banged up, but he's okay.”

“Did he, now?” muttered Spitfire with concern lacing her voice. “You know where he is? I wanna see him.”

“Sure thing, Spitfire! I can take you to the Ponyville Clinic right now, if you want.” Rainbow Dash mussed her mane with a hoof, then shook her head, restoring her rainbow to its normal level of chaos. “Ready if you are.”

The orange stuntpony flapped her wings impatiently.

“I've been ready.”

Rainbow Dash, needing no further encouragement, zipped out the door and to the clinic, Spitfire right behind her.

Applejack was up early that morning, bucking some apples to sell in Ponyville.

Buck. Rustle. Thudthudthudthudthud.

The sounds were a rhythmic tune almost equivalent to music in the ears of the mare. The music of apples, as sweet as the fruit itself, was much more than just the sounds; Applejack could feel the apple trees, feel them growing and blooming and dropping their fruit.

Buck. Rustle. ThudthudthudthudthudthudTHUDTHUD.

“Wha-?” wondered AJ as she turned to face the tree that had interrupted the rhythm. Lying around the base of the tree was a larger pile of apples than normal, and many of the apples were extra large and shiny. The tree in question was taller and thicker than she remembered.

“Winston? You been growin' while I wasn't lookin'? You sure got a lot o' apples there, old boy.” The farmpony spoke to the tree as she inspected the apples. Almost half were slightly larger than normal, and their skin was a brighter, smoother red. Curious, Applejack picked one up and sniffed it. It smelled like... an apple. Gingerly, she took a bite. It tasted like... an apple, but with a subtle difference; there was just a little something there, something she couldn't put a hoof on. To any normal pony, these apples would be completely normal, but to an experienced apple farmer, there was definitely something off about them.

Applejack gathered up a basket of the strange apples and hopped over the nearby stream, taking a quicker path back to the farmhouse.

“Big Mac? You there? I need ya to come 'ere for a sec,” called out the orange mare when she reached the barn. The familiar figure of her brother appeared from around the back, the same old steady look on his face.

“Whatch'ya need, AJ?”

“Tell me what ya think o' these, Mac,” said Applejack, gesturing to the basket. Big Mac picked one up, examined it carefully, then bit into it. As he chewed, his expression remained constant, a thoughtful look only entering just barely into his eyes.

“Not bad. One o' Winston's? He doin' okay?”

“Yeah, Mac, he's okay, jus' a bit taller. Well, I guess I'm gonna go get the cart ready to head into Ponyville, unless you got somethin' 'gainst that?”

“Nope.” And with that, Big Mac trotted off again.

Applejack gathered up all of the apples she had bucked, piling them onto the cart. Even as she trotted into town, a small, niggling doubt lingered in the back of her mind.

“Friends, Romanes, Countryponies, lend me your ears,” said Fluttershy gently. “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that ponies do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. So let it be with Caesar.”

William Shakesmare was one of Fluttershy's favorite poets, and she often read some of his plays to her animals while they recuperated. Currently, there were three baby birds that had been knocked out of their nests and been badly injured. Fluttershy knew that a truly spectacular rendition was in order to take their minds off of it, and only her personal favorite work would suffice. So, she had gotten out her well-worn copy of Jewelius Caesar and began weaving the tale. She enjoyed the feeling of pretending to be great ponies of legend, to leave her own shy self behind for just a little while. With a gentle passion she read to the small, enraptured birds, her quiet but firm voice moving the words from abstraction to reality in the minds of the young ones.

“O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and ponies have lost their reason. Bear with me; my heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me.” Fluttershy paused for dramatic effect, the birds leaning forwards expectantly. Before she had the chance to resume, however, a horrific cacophony of squawks and flaps erupted outside the cottage.

Fluttershy eeped and almost raced under a chair before she paused; her animals were not getting hurt on her watch! The yellow mare marched indignantly out into her front lawn, where she immediately saw the problem; a blue pony wearing a wizard hat and a starry cape was trotting past her cottage, and all of the chickens were panicking, crowding the farthest side of her chicken coop from the stranger. Fluttershy gasped as she recognized the pony.

“T-Trixie? W-what are you doing here?” stammered the yellow pegasus.

Trixie turned around and faced the other mare. Fluttershy noticed a few things different about the showpony; she was taller and bulkier, her horn was longer, and her eyes let off a faint blue glow.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is here to show Ponyville that she, not that foal, Twilight Sparkle, is the most magical pony in Equestria,” boasted the blue mare, adding a blinding flash of blue fireworks for effect. “Now, come along! Trixie's show will be starting soon!”

A blue glow encompassed the quivering yellow pegasus, and she floated into the air with a squeak. She flailed her hooves and wings about, a reflexive but fruitless attempt to keep her balance. Trixie strutted towards Ponyville, the blue bubble hovering close behind.

Two pegasi walked into the Ponyville clinic; the few ponies in the waiting room gaped at the sight of Spitfire and Rainbow Dash together. Oblivious to the attention they were attracting, the two continued through the building towards Flare's room.

A small knot began to form in Rainbow's stomach as she approached the room he was in.

That should be me in there. I was supposed to take the force of the impact, but he... he took it.

The door was in front of them now. Both mares held back their concern as Spitfire eased open the door. Laying on the bed was a red pony struggling to chew through the bandages that locked his wings in place. He was so preoccupied with trying to reach his head around to get at the white wrapping that he didn't notice the two pegasi enter the room. Something about the situation just struck Rainbow Dash as ridiculously funny, and she couldn't help but giggle. He glanced up guiltily, then smiled when he saw who it was.

“What's so funny?” asked Flare, a mock glare on his face.

“Sorry, you just... you looked so silly trying to get those bandages off, I couldn't help but laugh,” snickered Dash.

“Gee, thanks,” said the red pony sarcastically. He looked over at Spitfire as she gave him a look that said Explain yourself. He grinned mischievously. “It's good to see you too, Spitty. Anything new?”

Spitfire wasn't taking the bait.

“Flare, don't give me that. What did you do this time?” demanded the Wonderbolt.

“I pulled a little too sharply out of a dive, that's all. Rainbow was there and she took care of it,” Flare said, shifting his eyes evasively.

“Wait a sec,” Rainbow interrupted. “'Spitty'? How do you know Spitfire? Are you...” Dash's stomach knotted as she anticipated the next few words.

“Oh, uh, we- er, grew up together. Same neighborhood in Cloudsdale. Silly me, how could I forget to mention that?” Flare laughed, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice.

A suspicious glance on her face, Spitfire trotted up right next to the bed and stared at Flare relentlessly, her stern face inches away from his. He looked back, his expression all innocence. After a few interminable seconds, the Wonderbolt acquiesced and hugged Firework affectionately. Unnoticed by the other two, Rainbow's face reddened a bit.

“Well, I can't baby you any more, you're a big colt now. And I need to get back to practice for our next show, so I guess I'll see you two later,” said the orange mare. As she was turning to go, she smiled knowingly at Rainbow Dash. “See you! And keep me posted!” she called as she trotted out the clinic.

Dash wasn't sure what to make of Spitfire's smile. Then again, she wasn't sure what to make of the whole episode. She whirled on Flare.

“What. What? Just happened?” babbled Rainbow. Then, more coherently, “Why didn't you tell me you knew Spitfire personally?”

The red pony frowned and looked away.

“If I had told you that when we first met, would you have treated me differently?”

“No! Heh heh, of course not!” Dash blurted quickly, avoiding the truth. “Why would you think that?”

“Past experience,” grumbled Flare, a dour look gracing his expression. He noticed in his rival's eyes the look that one gets just before they are about to ask a question.

“So, Dash,” Flare said hastily, “would you mind helping me get these bandages off? My wings are itching like crazy and I can't scratch them with it covering them up.” Seeing the mare's questioning glance, he added “The nurse said I could take them off later today anyway. We'll just get rid of it a bit early.”

“Well, I know I hate it when my wings get scratchy... and being grounded sucks, so...” mused Rainbow. “Here, lemme just get-” the blue mare planted her forehooves on the bed and gripped the bandage in her mouth; with a quick jerk, she tore it off, eliciting a yelp from Flare. She smiled sheepishly and deposited the bandages in the wastebasket in the corner of the room.

Flare stood up and stretched his wings, scratching them vigorously one at a time with his hindhooves; a look of satisfaction crossed his face, despite the slight pain that came with the scratching. He hopped off the bed and started trotting towards the door.

“Thanks, Dash. Got anything to do? I don't wanna just sit around in a hospital all day; maybe you could show me around-”

“No, you're not going anywhere,” interrupted Rainbow as she moved in front of him, barring him from going any further. “I saw all those cuts. As much fun as it would be beating you in another contest, it wouldn't be any fun winning against an injured pony, so you'd better get better ASAP; I don't wanna wait that long.” As an afterthought, Dash added “And we kinda need to practice our team's routine, too. I'll grab some paper and we can sketch it out while you rest.”

Applejack had just finished setting up her apple stand when the slate-gray mare appeared out from behind a small crowd of ponies. She trotted up to the stand like she owned it, her large sunglasses obscuring her eyes and most of her expression. The mare scanned the stand, looking it up and down; the way that the stranger was scrutinizing her wares made Applejack uncomfortable.

“Can I help ya, Ma'am?” asked AJ in a guarded tone.

“How much for an apple?” inquired the stone-gray pony casually. The tone of her voice was just arrogant enough to irk the farmpony.

“Three bits,” grumbled Applejack. This pony was getting under her skin already.

“I'll give you two,” stated the mare, as though she made the rules.

The orange pony ground her teeth, trying not to slap her customer.

Somepony really needs to buck some manners into this smug little-

“So, are you going to take it or leave it?” demanded the mare.

Applejack's eye twitched.

“Get away from my stand,” ordered the farmer coldly. The stranger shrugged, then started to turn around, when several shouts and a few crashes sounded from the far edge of Ponyville. Without a second thought for her stand, Applejack rushed off to see if anypony needed help.

With nopony looking, the gray mare reached down and snatched an apple from the stand, dropping one lonely bit in its place. The apple was a paragon of it’s kind, extra red and shiny and quite large for an apple. She trotted off towards the disturbance, munching lazily on the apple, hoping for a show to liven up the day.