Lost Fate

by Fluxxdog

Rating: teen
Tags: Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Original Character, Comedy, Adventure, Tragedy, Main 6
Length: 38485

A scroll is stolen from the Canterlot Archives. They have no idea how many lives this changed.

On a certain Tuesday, five thieves break into the Starswirl the Bearded wing in the Canterlot Archives and steal a scroll. The unicorn they deliver it to, after inspecting the goods, drops it off for the one who hired him for the heist.

The consequences of the theft could be more than any one pony can bear.

Rated Teen for drug references and disturbing (not graphic) scenes.

This is my first submission, brought about by a need to do something creative. Criticism isn't just welcome, it's requested.

The main story is set after Tirek's defeat and does not account for Season 5 or later.

The Prologue and .5 chapters are set during "It's About Time" and are meant as an amusing distraction. The remark Twilight made, "Why isn't anypony surprised to see me sneaking around in here?" is what set off a lot of the ideas.

Thank you and enjoy!

Published 2014-07-24 16:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-07-24 16:30:01 UTC

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Silver Shield was on patrol. This was not unusual. What was unusual was he was 10 minutes early for his route. He was doing his last round for the night early so he could be there when the donuts came in. Every week, they had donuts brought in from Donut Joe’s. When they would bring them in today, he would just happen to be there. Since he was already there, he might as well have just one. Just one with sprinkles. The thought started to make him drool a…

“WHO GOES THERE?” Hooves caught his attention and they were coming towards him. They weren’t being quiet. Finally, around the corner came fived cloaked and hooded figures, talking amongst themselves, paying him no mind. He bellowed “HALT IN THE NAME OF THE GUARD!”

This time they paid attention to him. One of them came towards him. In the early morning, before the sunrise, he could see she was friendly from the smile on her sky blue face. She trotted up innocently and asked, “Sorry, are we somewhere we shouldn’t be?”

He felt like he was completely in the wrong. However, not a bit of that was betrayed in his voice or face. “No, just not common for anypony to be out and about here at this time of night. Just my duty to ask.”

She smiled sweetly like a little sister asking for a cookie. “Oh, okay. We’re just getting a head start on the day. My friend and I,” motioning to another cloaked figure, “are going to the Wonderbolts tryouts. If we make it, we won’t be back for some time. So we’re looking at getting our celebration in a bit early. We’re thinking of starting at Donut Joe’s.” They could see the reaction as his mind drifted to sprinkles.

He said with a smile, “Well, don’t let me keep you then. And good luck to you two!” He went back to his patrol with a little quickness in his step. If he hurried, he could still be there right when the donuts were delivered and snag a donut with sprinkles.

As soon as the guard was out of sight, two of the cloaked figures flew over the library wall. A third lifted the remaining two and tossed them over the wall. They hurried to a window. One of the pegasi quickly went to the roof and looked around. She waved one hoof indicating it was clear to proceed.

One of the other leaned down to the ground. Only those close to her could hear her whisper and even they couldn’t make out any of what she said. Several of the blades of grass started to grow, reaching around the window. They slid in and lifted the single-pane of glass out of the mounts, carefully moving it aside. Two others leapt in through the opening.

Once inside, they pulled back their hoods. The unicorn started casting a spell while the other went to the barred door and watched. He quickly came back. “Something’s up. I swear I just saw Twilight Sparkle.”

The other was concentrating. “Either you did or didn’t. It’s not like she isn’t famous.”

“No, I mean, it looked like her but… I don’t know. She was sneaking around, dressed in a black outfit. It loo-”

“Go back and tell me if we need to run. Let me work until then.” She concentrated. Something was making her job difficult and she had to focus. The pegasus went back to his position. After a few minutes, he saw the Twilight Sparkle look-alike walking back, mumbling to herself. What looked like a baby dragon came up behind her and said, “Uh, Twilight?”

Twilight looked back. “What is it, Spike?”

“Isn’t this where we came in?”

This time a pink pony sprung her head up with a smile. “Cool! Can we climb in the window again? That was super fun!” The Pegasus ducked back. He was sure she had seen him. For a moment, he panicked. He looked to the unicorn. She was still casting her spell and appeared to be narrowing in on her target. The pink one’s voice caught his attention. “Maybe we should ask somepony in the Starswirl the Bearded wing!” She pointed and he bolted. He ran right to the unicorn. “It’s Twilight! We got to go now!”

The unicorn was levitating down a tube. She took the scroll out and levitated it back up in place, an irrational calm on her face. “I found it. Let’s go.” They ran to the window and dived out just as they heard “Twilight! The guard!” The unicorn whispered to the plant whisperer, “Put it back! We’re done!” The grass holding the pane slid it back into place, as if nothing happened. The blades of grass then just fell behind nearby bushes. They headed for the wall, which was easy enough to jump over from the inside.

As they landed, the 5 of them started galloping towards Donut Joe’s.

Halfway there, they met their real target. Another unicorn addressed them, “Did you get the scroll?” The unicorn who found it floated it over to him and he put it in a pouch at his side. He looked to one of the pegasi, the one who flew to the roof. “Anyone see you or follow you?” She shook her head, but the male pegasus said, “I think I might have been seen by Pinkie Pie.”

All of them stared at him wide-eyed. The female unicorn said, “What? Why didn’t you…”

He stopped her and said, “I told you I saw Twilight Sparkle. I don’t know for sure if Pinkie saw me, but nobody followed us.”

The male unicorn said, “If it really was the most famous party pony in Equestria, then she might not have thought anything of it at all.” As the sun rose, he opened another pouch and floated out 5 pieces of paper, giving one to each of the others. “These are the dead drop locations for your payments. The papers will dispel the illusion hiding them. After that, we don’t know each other, we never saw each other, it’s just coincidence we just all decided to leave Canterlot on business.”

They walked their own directions and the male unicorn unrolled the scroll. As he looked at it, he felt a shift. It was odd. It tasted like purple and then that purple was pulled out of his mouth. The last time he felt like that, the researcher he worked for was experimenting with very small-scale time spells. He looked at the scroll he was hired to steal and found the symbol he needed. It was a circle with two… no, it was three triangles pointing at each other. Why would he think it was two? The stress must have been getting to him.

After this, he could breathe easier. Just deliver the scroll, get the money to the doctor, and his sister should be better. It would take time and he couldn’t stay, but he promised her, he would do everything he could.

What he didn’t know was, by unrolling that scroll, he did exactly what he was meant to do.

Chapter 1: Breaking Point

Chapter 1: Breaking Point

Sledge walked over the snowy hill and looked at the scenery ahead of him. He could see the town ahead in the distance, but there was a lot of nature ahead of him. Ever since he started backpacking across Equestria, he learned to love the quiet. What bits he had, he used to buy rations in case he came across a stretch where he couldn’t forage. That only happened 3 times after he left Canterlot. He had been prepared each time and kept on hiking.

When he would visit towns, not many took notice of him. His steel gray fur and black mane and tail generally kept him from standing out, and his dark gray eyes were unremarkable. He was there and never a thought afterward. He didn’t mind at all. He liked keeping free. He would pick up a few odd jobs here and there, but nothing that would last more than a day.

He wasn’t sure where he was now, but that didn’t matter. The nearby forest was foreboding, but he didn’t intend to go in there. He walked a safe distance, so if anything came out to get him, he could run or stand his ground. Timber Wolves, easy enough to beat down. A Manticore, he’d be running.

Getting closer to the town, he heard something. Sounded like a tree falling. He chuckles as he thought of paraphrasing an old saying. “If a tree falls and nopony sees it, does anypony care?”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ANGEL!” His instinct made him rush in a mad dash towards the tree fall. When he got there, he saw a yellow Pegasus trying everything she could to lift the old tree. She didn’t have the strength in her limbs or her wings to even shake it. When she saw him, she cried, “”Help! My Angel Bunny is trapped under! I can’t move it!”

Sledge ran over to the tree and sized it up. There was an odd knot near the middle of it that begged to be bucked. He reared his legs and WHAM! The tree splintered and pushed apart in half… revealing a small hole. A small white rabbit popped it head out, covered in old splintered wood. It took less than a second for the bunny to jump on the Pegasus and hug her as if he was trying to strangle her.

The tears in her eyes belied the warm smile on her face. “Oh thank you! If you hadn’t come along when you did, I don’t want to think of what could have happened!”

Sledge smiled courteously, “Not a problem. Bad luck with the tree, good luck I was there. You both gonna be okay?”

“Oh yes, we will. I just want to get home and have a nice cup of tea to relax. Um…” She suddenly seemed a little timid, catching him off guard. “Would you… would you like to join us?”

Sledge thought about it. He’d been in the cold quite some time. Spring was just a couple days away, but a little warm-up now would be nice. “You know, that sounds nice. Thank you.”

The gray earth pony and yellow pegasus were laughing so hard, they were almost crying. The gray one calmed down enough to finish his story. “And then… ha! And then he says, ‘If this is my pick ax, where’s my shovel!?’ HA!”

This brought a new round of laughter that just had the pegasus rolling on the floor. “Oh my, that’s funnier than the time we walked through the Poison Joke!” She suddenly noticed how late it was. “Oh goodness! Heh heh! I hate to cut this short, but I need to get up early tomorrow. I’m in charge of waking the animals for Winter Wrap-Up.”

Sledge looked out with the sun on the horizon. He never left his camp unmade before sunset. This was going to be harsh. “I better get a move on then. I gotta make camp before it’s too late?”

“Camp? You mean you don’t have a place to stay?”

“Nope. Been hoofing it across Equestria for some time. I usually have my camp set up by now, but I have been enjoying this. Thank you.”

“No, Sledge, I couldn’t send you out to sleep in the cold. I insist you stay the night. I have an extra blanket and pillow, and the couch is very comfy.”

“Thank you, I wouldn’t want to impose. It won-” She held a hoof up. It caught him off guard again.

With a determined look on her face, she ordered, “I insist you stay here. One night won’t hurt, and it’s supposed to snow heavily tonight. My friend is the weather manager and she was complaining this morning about how they had to have one last snowfall before the Wrap-Up.”

This caught him off guard again. He didn’t like this. Maybe he had been out of contact with other ponies so long; he didn’t know how to properly react. First her shyness, then her insistence, then the weather for which he usually kept an eye out. Fluttershy made sense. He couldn’t find a weak point in her argument.

“Very well, I accept on one condition. I be allowed to repay you by helping you with Winter Wrap-Up.”

Now it was Fluttershy’s turn to be caught off guard. She didn’t want him thinking he owed her, but before she could say no, she remembered that her strong pony, Bulk Biceps, had to be transferred to Applejack’s plowers. They had to expand the fields because Ponyville was growing. She didn’t have anypony break the ice sheets quickly. “I was going to say no, but we need a strong pony who can break the ice sheets that we always come across when waking animals. If you’re willing to do that, I accept your help.” She smiled in a way that just said everything was going to be just fine.

Sledge was drifting off. It was nice not being out in the cold. He had never been to Ponyville, but he had been nearly every place else. He still had bits left over from an old job, one that he didn’t like, but needed in order to pay a debt for his father. Maybe he could see about finding work and settling down.

He itched the long scar on his left side. It was a reminder of an accident in a coal mine. Every time it itched before he fell asleep, he would dream of the accident.

True to habit, he heard the creaking. One of the beams was starting to give way. He had told the foreman before that it needed reinforcement. He abandoned his cart and ran down the shaft. “Everyone run! It’s collapsing!” The ponies dropped their tools and ran up the shaft. The rumbling and creaking got worse and the beam started to split.

Everypony was up the shaft and getting out… wait, one was missing. Coal Hooves! His friend was still down there! He tried to turn back, but the others grabbed him and pushed back. “NO! Coal Hooves is still down there! We gotta go back! LET ME GO!”

The crash came. Celestia only knows how many tons of rubble came crashing down and burying his best friend. His only friend. “NOOOOO!”

Sledge woke up, like he did every time. Not a single creature in the house stirred. It seems his nightmare didn’t make him shout. No, not a nightmare, a memory. One that always decided to haunt him from time to time. One that left a scar on his body and his heart.

In the investigation, there was no mention of the beam needing to be replaced or reinforced. The foreman never said he was informed. Because Sledge was in the hospital recovering from a blow to the side from a stray timber, he couldn’t let them know that he told the foreman repeatedly. The collapse was ruled as an unforeseeable accident. The inspectors would close the mine until they could go over the entire mine and ensure the safety of everyone who would enter.

When they reopened the mine a month later, Coal Hooves was found just behind the rubble.

Sledge drifted back to sleep. He wanted to forget it again. He could work on that tomorrow.

Chapter 2: Against the Storm

Chapter 2: Against the Storm

Slipwind flew against the air current. It was brisk, but considering he was flying from Fillydelphia to Ponyville, he wasn’t worried. The sun was nearly overhead and the wind never worried him. He enjoyed these trips. It wasn’t the quiet. He loved talking to other ponies. It was the peace that he enjoyed. His yellow fur and red mane and tail made him stand out against the patchwork of gray clouds that were being positioned. Looked like Ponyville was in for one last snow.

Most of his packages went to the post office, but this one they paid extra for direct delivery. He had delivered to Filthy Rich plenty of times before. Mr. Rich was usually happy to see him and one of the few customers who knew him by name. There was Fancy Pants in Canterlot, but he seemed to know everypony.

A butler answered a knock on the door of the estate. “Yes? May I help you?”

“Delivery for Mister Rich.” He knew better than to mention his first name. Seriously, what parents would think it was a good idea to name their kid Filthy? Maybe it was poetic, maybe they were drunk… Didn’t matter. It was just nuts. Of course, he knew better than to say that in front of Mr. Rich.

“I’ll take that, thank you.”

“Sorry, Mr. Rich needs to sign for it himself. Delivery orders.”

“Very well, wait here please.” The butler closed the door. Slipwind looked around while waiting. He’d been delivering for quite some time after leaving Canterlot. He knew Mr. Rich depended on couriers and others to do the dirty work… He chuckled at the irony.

Still, living on a courier’s pay isn’t bad. He’d saved up enough to maybe consider finding a home somewhere. It was just a question of where. As he contemplated it, the door opened.

“Ah, Slipwind, so good to see you! You say you need me to sign?”

“Yes sir!” He pulled out a small clipboard and quill. Filthy Rich signed, Slipwind exchanged the clipboard for a thick envelope, and his delivery was complete.

“How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing this time, Mr. Rich. Delivery was paid in full in Fillydelphia.”

This seemed to elicit a look of surprise from Filthy Rich. “Wait, these were supposed to be sent out this morning. Are you telling me you made it here to Ponyville before noon with this wind?”

Slipwind blushed a little. He wasn’t a braggart, but every now and then he liked to toot his own horn. “They did say it was important to get it to you as soon as possible. I was just doing my job.”

Mr. Rich reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a few bits. “Then consider this a bonus for a job well done! I’ll have extra time to review this information. Thank you very much.”

“Thank you, Mr. Rich! Have a great day!” Slipwind took off. Mr. Rich rarely tipped, but fortune smiled on Slipwind and Mr. Rich was in a good mood. And now, Slipwind was in a great mood!

Slipwind was in a horrible mood. “What do you mean no new deliveries?”

The postmaster, Stamp Collector, pushed his glasses up. “Sorry, Slippy. Winter Wrap-Up is t’morrow. Ponies ‘round here are focusing on their jobs f’r t’morrow.” His speaking pattern always had Slipwind waiting for him to start a sentence with ‘When I was your age…’ “And I know, once spring is here, yer not gonna get a lot of work. Heck, I rarely see ya stick ‘round, even if there’s a town-wide party thrown by Pinkie Pie.”

Slipwind flinched only slightly at the name for reasons he wanted to forget. “Sorry, Stamp. I just wanted to get another delivery in before sunset. Would you mind if I slept in the aerie tonight?”

Stamp Collector looked lost in thought. Slipwind knew he wouldn’t forget that there was a delivery, so what had him lost? He was about to prod him when he spoke up. “You know, Slippy, I might have a delivery for you, but it’s a unique one.” Curiosity got Slipwind’s attention.

“I’ll be honest with ya, Slippy, Ponyville is growing. Right now, I only have 3 mail ponies, Derpy, Post Haste, and Mr. Zippy. The load is getting t’ be a bit much, and if one o’ them were t’ get hurt, it’d be terrible. I need another mail pony, and I know yer a hard worker.” No, he couldn’t believe his ears. He wasn’t… “Slippy, I’d like to offer you a job. Now, if yer up…”

Slipwind didn’t hear him after that. He became a courier because he didn’t have a chance to apply for a postal job, weather job… Heck, he didn’t think he’d make it past a background check. I mean, there was that gambling problem he had after flight school, but he’d paid that off. That shouldn’t come back to bite him after all this. Would it? He didn’t know! Here was a golden opportunity! How could “SLIPPY! ARE YOU LISTENING?”

Slipwind came back to reality. “Sorry, Stamp. I just… wow. I didn’t think you’d ever offer me a job like that. I’m just… I don’t know what to say!”

“Well, I would hope you’d say yes! First day of spring, I get m’ budget renewed and I can hire an extra worker at my discretion. All this time, you’ve been respectful, hard-workin’, and on top of things. I just need you t’ make one last delivery for me.”

“Oh, right, yeah, sure!” Slipwind felt flummoxed. Was flummoxed a word? He didn’t know but that was how he felt. Wait, delivery? “Uh, what do you want me to deliver?”

Stamp Collector pulled a little sack, with a bit of paper sticking out. Slipwind could hear the jingle of bits as he set it down. “Take this to Carousel Boutique and await return instructions.”

Easiest. Delivery. EVER! He knocked on the door. He’d heard about this place, some hoity-toity dress shop. Actually, didn’t he do a delivery for Hoity Toity before? Or was it to him? Yeah maybe it was “Hello, welcome to Carousel Boutique, where we make the meek look chic!”

He just looked at the goddess… uh, that is, unicorn who answered. She smiled sheepishly. “Well, maybe that tagline needs a bit more work. Terribly sorry, darling. Won’t you come in?”

Slipwind chuckled a bit nervously. “Actually, I have a delivery from Stamp Collector for Miss Rarity. Is that you?” He held out the pouch.

Rarity took it from him and pulled out the paper inside. “Oh. Oh my! Congratulations! Oh you must come in now!”

Slipwind walked in hesitantly. The door closed behind him. He couldn’t decide if it was ominous or a sign from Celestia herself. The unicorn motioned for him to move to a spot. “Dear Stampy wants me to put together an outfit and carrier bag for you. I’ll have to insist you take the bits back to him. I told him I would do it no charge.” Measuring tape started to wind itself around him with a glow. “Especially after that fiasco last year when I had to get those designs to Fancy Pants tout suite. I was practically atrocious, though in my defense I-.”

“Rarity!” A small voice interrupted the enjoyable gossip. “Have you seen my crayons?” Slipwind turned to see one of the cutest little fillies he’d ever seen. Like a small version of the angelic… err, the lady before him.

“Sweetie Belle, don’t be rude. I’m working with a customer! Have you looked next to gem box?”

A bit of rustling indicated she, in fact, had not. “There they are! Thanks sis!”

“My sister, such a darling, but she can bit a tad rude at times… Oh my, I do apologize. I just realized my own rudeness. My name, if you hadn’t guessed, is Rarity.”

Slipwind smiled and bowed. “The pleasure is mine, miss. My name is Slipwind.”

“Well, nice to know there are still gentlecolts. I bet you’re the kind to open the door for a lady.”

“As a courier, I didn’t get the opportunity to meet many ladies such as yourself.”

“Oh, courier? You must… um, hold your head straight please… you must see a lot of Equestria.”

The door to the boutique opened with a gruff mare saying, “Hey Rarity, you got a minute?”

“One moment dear.” Slipwind went to see who entered. “No no, hold your head straight, I’m almost done.”

The other mare said, “That’s okay, I just need you to talk. As weather manager, I need to get the birds to come back north. You know how I usually send Ditzy Doo to get them?”

“Yes? What about it? Hold still, still need a couple measurements.”

“Yeah, she came down with the feather flu last week. I don’t want to send her on a long distance flight, but I can’t spare anypony else. What’s worse is there’s a strong southern wind coming in. I know those nests are important, but do you think I could borrow one of the pegasi from your crew?”

“Darling, I’d love to, but I’m running a skeleton crew as it is. The twins, Glacier and Iceberg? They had a family emergency in Cloudsdale. They were the only… hold still, nearly there. They were the only pegasi on my nest-building team.”

Slipwind cleared his throat. “Maybe I can help. I just got hired on at the post office, but I won’t be starting work for a bit. I could help. And I’m great at flying against the wind. My special talent, in fact. There’s nopony faster than me against the wind.”

The mare who entered chuckled. “Nopony faster than you, huh?”

“Well, not against the wind. If you wanted fast otherwise, you’d be looking for Rainbow Dash. She’s the fastest.”

“Oh really? Do tell.”

“Well, she’s the fastest pegasus there is, hooves down. She’s won the Young Flier’s Competition with her trademark Sonic Rainboom, she set new records at the Wonderbolt Academy, and rumor has it she’s the personal flight instructor for Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Wow, she sounds awesome.”

Rarity chuckled. “I think you’re teasing him a bit, dear. Okay, all done.”

“Hey, I could let this fanboy ramble on, I don’t mind, especially if he’s going south for the birds.”

Fanboy? FANBOY?! He wasn’t going to take that lying down! He turned to the other mare. “Maybe I am a fan, but that doesn’t mean she’s not awesome!”

The blue Pegasus chuckled a bit. “Okay, buddy. Just answer me one question. What job does Rainbow Dash have?”

“Well, weather manager of Ponyville. Everypony knows that.”

The silence was astounding. The blue pegasus with the rainbow mane smirked. Slipwind was wondering why that was important. Rarity finally broke the silence. “Darling, I don’t think he…”

A blue hoof was held up. “Give him a second. He’ll put two and two together.”

Slipwind was wondering what she was talking about. It’s like she didn’t care about one of… no, THE most awesome flier in all Equestria, the one who faced down Nightmare Moon, fought Discord and Tirek, was on the front lines in the Changeling Invasion, who did this weather manager think she… wait, weather manager? Blue pegasus? Rainbow mane? IN FRONT OF HIM?!

His eyes widened in disbelief, causing her to say, “And he just got four.”

The two mares watched him overload his brain and pass out. Rarity gasped, “Rainbow! I think you broke him!”

“Wow. I knew I was awesome, but I didn’t think I was that awesome.”

Chapter 3: Unbound

Chapter 3: Unbound

Ink Nose was as giddy as a filly at a Sapphire Shores concert. The crystal castle in Ponyville was said to have an impressive library. Maybe not as large as the Canterlot Royal Archives, but it had a number of unique, rare, and otherwise-hard-to-find books, tomes, librams, grimoires, scrolls, treaties, dissertations, and… she caught her breath.

This was a rare opportunity. She had heard the Princess didn’t turn ponies away, but to let ponies have free reign in the castle? There were guards to be sure, but just to keep people from sensitive areas, such as the Princess’s bedroom where it was rumored she had a fortress built out of arcane books just for casual reading.

She had to calm herself. The bookworm in her was ravenous. She’d worked on a few personal collections, identifying potentially rare books. It saddened her that these books were just going to be sold, but she needed the bits to keep herself alive. Ever since the theft, she had developed a sense of paranoia that she knew was irrational but persisted regardless. Her roadwork had gotten her a small reputation as a reliable connoisseur of books, allowing her to at least hide in plain sight. It afforded her the ability to peruse works that may otherwise never seen the light of day.

She would give it all up, if only she could work at a library again. The smell of the collection of knowledge, just waiting to be explored, devoured greedily by hungry eyes and minds. O, lament ye forsaken, for hers is loss terrible to behold. … She frowned as she remembered why she had to quit that job.

It was a simple job. Find a scroll. The pay was good, but they would be stealing it. Everything hurt her to agree, but it hurt her more that her best friend was looking at losing her bookstore because of a small clause. She wanted to renew her lease on the store, but the owner wanted to kick her out for some restaurant who wanted to move in. The owner had the right to not renew and everything was on her to move out. The owner didn’t care, said the only option was to buy him out as stated on the lease. Binder almost, but not quite, had enough money to buy the property.

Along comes a blue unicorn, with an offer. Specifically for Ink Nose. She rather hoped he wanted to ask her out, but he wanted her to find a scroll. She almost said no, but the bits were just the right amount with a little left over to leave town.

She went to buy the lease. The owner refused, but Luna herself enforced the contract. Binder didn’t like having to go to night court for it, but she wasn’t giving up on her dream. The owner had to accept payment since the contract already said he would. Binder owned her bookstore and it had been doing well, especially once the restaurant decided to move just across the street.

Binder promised Ink Nose free picks from her store any time she wanted. However, Ink Nose never went back to Canterlot. All that time and now she was here, looking at a royal library.

She squeed.

Spike kept looking around. He knew that book had to be somewhere. Starswirl’s Manuscript for Astral Contingencies. He could have sworn he’d seen something like it. Twilight’s personal library had grown quite a bit and it was getting harder for him to find the books she wanted.

Suddenly, he heard a squee. Looking over at the door, he saw a purple unicorn with a purple mane, though it alternated shades of purple. What really stood out was the black markings on her muzzle. It was like she rubbed her face in ink.

He hopped down off the ladder and walked up to her. “Hi there! Are you lost?”

A bit glassy-eyed, she replied, “No, I’m right where I want to be.” A dreamy look on her face said something Twilight had done so many time before.

“Let me guess, bookworm?”

Ink Nose blinked. Bookworm? She looked down at the pon… wait. That’s not a pony. That was a… She gasped. “Oh my goodness! You’re a dragon? Wait, are you Spike? THE Spike? Hero of the Crystal Empire? Personal assistant to her majesty Twilight Sparkle?”

Spike just blushed a little. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“I always pictured you taller.”

If Spike’s anger could burn things, the castle would be a slagheap. “I’m a baby dragon, OK? It takes longer for me to grow! What did you want anyway?”

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m just… Well, I heard the castle has an open invitation to the public and I really wanted to see the library. I heard it has quite the rare collection.”

“Yeah, it does. Twilight could get lost in here for hours if I let her. Were you looking for something specific or can I get back to my hunting?”

“Oh, please don’t let me stop you. I just wish I was in your position. I used to work in a library and…” She inhaled and let out a contented sigh. “I do miss the stacks so.”

Spike saw an opportunity. “Weeeeeell, I’m trying to find a book for Twilight. If you want, I wouldn’t mind the help.”

Ink Nose felt giddy again, only this time, she couldn’t contain herself. She picked Spike up, hugged him and danced a little “Eeeeee! Thank you thank you thank you! What’s it called?”

Spike blushed again. Maybe he had made a mistake. “Uh… It’s called Starswirl’s Manual for Astral Contingencies. I think.”

Ink Nose looked quizzically. “You think?”

“Well, Twilight wasn’t sure either. She remember reading it long ago, but she couldn’t remember that exact title.”

Ink Nose rubbed her chin a little. “So it might be something similar. All right, let’s see what I can do.” Her horn started glowing, causing the shelves to light up ever so faintly. “Hmm… wow, this is rather… um…”

“Disorganized?” Lost in the spell, Ink Nose didn’t notice that not only was the voice from behind her, but was female as well.

“That’s too kind a word. It’s like Discord went to town on this place. There’s absolutely no… wait… I found it!” A book on one of the back shelves was glowing bright purple and floated towards her. She brought it down to Spike. “There we are, Starswirl’s Essay on Ethereal Emergencies. I’m sure that’s the book she’s looking for.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Now she noticed it didn’t come from Spike. She looked behind her. The wings, the horn, the crown… Ink Nose spun around and kneeled.

“Your highness! Forgive me, I didn’t notice…”

The alicorn smiled and said, “It’s perfectly all right. Please don’t kneel. And call me Twilight. And you are?”

Getting up rather sheepishly, she introduced herself. “My name is Ink Nose, your hi… I mean, Twilight.”

Twilight chuckled just a bit. “A pleasure, Ink Nose. I overheard some of your conversation. You used to work in a library?”

“Yes, one of the smaller public collections, the Starry Sky Memorial Library.”

“I remember that library. Mostly books for children. I spent some time there as a filly. Why did you quit?”

Uh oh, she hadn’t thought of that part of her cover story. Thinking quickly she replied, “I needed to get out of Canterlot for a while.” Wait, what? Why not confess while you’re at it. “To see… more of the world. Yes, there are some nice private collections.”

Twilight thought for a moment. “I thought I recognized the name.” Oh no, all this time, free and now she was going to be banished. Or thrown in a dungeon. Or banished and thrown into a dungeon in the place she was banished to! “You’re the one who identified that old manuscript written by Sunspot on cross-lattice elemental formulas!”

Ink Nose started breathing again. “Uh, yes, I remember that. Was in the personal collection of Dashing Pride. He had no idea what it was.”

Twilight smiled. “But you did. He sold it, but it was to the Canterlot Royal Archives, so it’ll have a good home.” Twilight looked thoughtful and looked at Spike. “You know, my Number One Assistant and I have been having a lot of trouble with this library. We want to go through and reshelf everything so we can get some kind of system in place, but we haven’t had time.” Spike just groaned at the idea of so much work. “I was thinking of hiring some help. Would you be willing to consider working here? I know you’re on the road, and if you want to be temporary, I understand, but we could really use the help.”

Ink Nose was frozen. Did she just hear that right? Librarian? To a Princess?

Spike snapped a claw in front of her. No response. “Twilight, I think you broke her.”

Twilight raised a hoof to her mouth as she laughed. “I think that’s her way of saying yes.”

Ink Nose finally came out of her overload. “I would be honored,” came the reply, as casually as if she had been asked if she wanted some lemon with her tea.

Twilight smiled, even seemed giddy. “This is exciting. I’ve never hired a librarian before. We can start tomorrow, and we’ll work on the old-”

“Twilight! We can’t!” Spike seemed a tad upset. “Tomorrow’s Winter Wrap-Up and all the ponies are depending on you to keep things organized. Well, depending on us.”

Twilight looked shocked. “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I could forget so easily. I’m sorry Spike. I guess I just got a little carried away. We’ll have to continue this discussion in a couple days, Ink Nose. Hmmm… In fact, would you be willing to help? We could use another hoof. Just going around, making sure everyone’s on schedule and see where we can adjust if things fall behind.”

Ink Nose could have been asked if she wanted a lightly grilled weasel in a bun with hay fries and she still would have said, “Sure. Love to.”

“Then it’s settled. If you don’t have any place to stay yet, I have a guest room you can use tonight.”

“Okay.” She was still in a bit of a daze.

“Spike would you show her to the room? I’m gonna finish up the checklists.”

“Okay Twilight. Come on, Ink Nose.” No response. “Ink Nose?” No response. He took a breath and blew a bright green flame right in front of her.

“AH! What? Who? Where? Huh?” Ink Nose finally processed everything and looked down at the small dragon. “Wait, did I just agree to what I think I did?”

“Heh. Yeah, you did. You kinda look like I’d imagine Scootaloo would if Rainbow Dash suddenly told her she was her mother.”

“Huh?”

“Eh, never mind. Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”

“Oh, uh, yes sir!”

Spike smiled for a moment. “Sir, huh? … Nah, just call me Spike.”

Chapter 4: Wild Growth

Chapter 4: Wild Growth

“We don’t hire here. Sorry.”

Ivy looked dejected and defeated. She had spent the last of her bits, save for two, on the train ticket here. She had heard how Ponyville was growing, and since she was laid off from Cherry Hill Orchard, she had to try here. Sweet Apple Acres was the only farm she knew of. And now, well, maybe she could find some way back.

“You’re hired.”

Both the green and orange ponies turn to a large red one. “Big Mac, we’ve never hired on help unless it was bad, and we haven’t even started planting yet!”

Big Mac walked up on Applejack as if he wasn’t going to let her have her way. “The fields are gettin’ too large. We can’t handle it all by ourselves. Remember when you tried to do everything when I was hurt? Nearly worked yourself sick! What do you think would have happened to this farm if both of us were out of commission? Granny Smith can’t work the fields, she’s too old. Applebloom is too young. We’ve got to hire some farmhooves or we could lose everythin’. Not to mention your other duties.”

Applejack couldn’t believe what was coming out of his mouth. And she knew what it was: the truth. But there were still questions to be answered. “And how are we gonna pay for it? Most of the money we bring in goes right back into the farm. Unless you got some get-rich-quick scheme.”

“I asked Filthy Rich to look things over.”

“You WHAT?! No no, this is our family’s pride and joy! We are not sellin’ shares or anythin’ to anypony! You take his money back or I’ll…” Big Mac just looked down at her from above. She was a might bit nervous right now.

He was upset. Big Mac didn’t get mad unless he had good reason. “I didn’t ask to borrow any money or investment. I called in a favor. He had his accountants look over our numbers, see where we could afford the help. He took a look over things himself and said he was sure we could at least hire 2 or 3 farmhooves. He’s supposed to have the information shipped in from Fillydelphia today. We’ll have to go over it after the plantin’ and everythin’, but we can afford it.”

“And just when were you planning to let me know?”

“After the plantin’. I wanted to keep an eye out and scout some talent. But if we have someone comin’ to us, lookin’ for work, we can give them the consideration.” At this, he looked towards the green paint pony. “Sorry my sister decided to let out in front of you, we usually keep things private like.”

Applejack looked a might bit embarrassed. She did decide to just have it all out right then and there. “Uh, sorry you had to see that. I’m not this ornery. I’ve had a lot on my plate gettin’ ready for Winter Wrap-Up tomorrow. No, that’s no excuse. Although I wish I had known a little sooner so I could make an informed decision!” She looked at her brother a bit vexingly.

“Last time I tried to bring somethin’ like this up, you wanted more information before you’d even consider it.”

“Fine, let’s discuss salary then.” Applejack looked right at Ivy. “Just what are you lookin’ for?”

The long earth-brown hair that wrapped around Ivy’s legs practically hugged her, giving her a bit of confidence. “I’d only ask for what Miss Cherry Jubilee paid before I got laid off: three square meals, a place to sleep, and a few bits a week.”

“Wait, you worked for Jubilee? Cherry Hill Orchard? Why’d you get laid off?”

“She had to let a few people go. The crop didn’t produce as much last year. She didn’t want to, but it was either let a few go or the orchard would go under. She made it fair. All the farmhooves had their name in a hat and she pulled five out of the twenty of us. My name was the fourth one drawn.”

“Wow. Sorry to hear that. I know Miss Jubilee, right fine lady. Gave me a chance when I was lookin’ for some extra work.”

“I know. She’s mentioned you before. I had heard how Ponyville was growing and it didn’t take a genius to realize your fields would have to be bigger, so you’d likely need more help. Of course, I didn’t know your hiring policy then.”

Big Mac just smiled. “Eeyup. Just changed it recently. Lucky for you.”

“Very lucky. I spent almost the rest of my bits to get here.” She’d had many more some time ago, but that was gone almost as fast as she got it.

Ivy walked in to the alley. It was behind the third trashcan on the left. She dropped the paper as she was told and the large pouch materialized. She tucked it in her saddlebag and ran for home.

Ivy’s home then was the Forget-Me-Not Boutique. The shop had been in the family for generations, ever since Fleur de Soleil opened it. Her mother and father ran it now, and they thought she would take it over someday. Her heart was never there. She wanted farm work. Pretty flowers were one thing, but feeding hundreds of hungry ponies just seemed more fulfilling.

It didn’t help when she discovered her special talent. She could encourage plants to truly blossom. It was whispering to anyone else, but she always felt it as a cross between a lullaby and a grand symphony. It felt pure, but her parents saw it as a sign she was going to take over.

Then her youngest of three sisters, Lily, was born. Lily was a unicorn, like her mother. She had some trouble with her magic and it made her ill. It was determined that she could actually be pretty powerful, but she’d need proper instruction, lest she rage and hurt somepony, including herself. While the shop was doing well enough for the family, it wasn’t doing any near good enough for even a tutor.

That’s when he walked into her life. He made her an offer, one that could send Lily to the school she needed. She hated him off the bat, as if he was trying to take advantage of her and her family, but he never indicated that he was even aware. If she did this, Lily could get the classes she needed, but would remove Ivy from her family.

She told herself she was doing it as a reason to escape. She wasn’t kidding herself, though. Lily needed that money.

The first thing she looked for after that was farm work.

Big Mac and Filthy Rich were talking business. Apparently, the courier was able to make the trip in half the time, so they could discuss the finances now. Apparently, they could hire five farmhooves without threatening finances. Room and board, thirty bits a week would be fair. Without the room and board, eighty a week would be reasonable

Meanwhile, Applejack, who had taken a shine to Ivy after talking with her, showed her to an old farmhouse. “You’ll have to stay in one of our guest rooms tonight, but this here’ll be where we’ll bunk y’all, once we have y’all to bunk.”

It wasn’t in bad shape. Applejack had considered knocking it down, something she was sure Rainbow Dash would enjoy helping with. Now however… Well, she didn’t like being helped, but Big Mac was right. Last time she tried to do everything by herself, she hurt quite a few people. Even made one of her best friends really sick.

“Since y’all’s our first hire, I’m puttin’ you in charge. It’ll be your responsibility to make sure everypony’s up and out to work on time. It’ll also be your responsibility to make sure y’all’re sleepin’ right. If the house needs any fixin’ up, let us know.”

Ivy hung her head. “Thank you for the trust. I just… I feel bad about the trouble I caused.”

“Shucks, sugarcube, t’weren’t your fault. Just a lack of communication. Besides, now that I’ve had a moment to take it all in, I think you’ll be mighty handy ‘round here.”

Ivy smiled back at her. “Thank you. I won’t let you down.”

“Now, I gotta ask, aren’t you worried about your mane getting in the way?”

Ivy’s brown hair seemed like the roots to her mottled, patchwork green fur and snaked down to her forelegs, wrapping around them. Her hair had always grown like that, hugging close to her but never making her trip. “It’s natural. In fact, if it weren’t there, I’d probably never walk right. It won’t be a problem.”

“Alright, if you say so. Just watch out for my friend Rarity, she’ll probably want to dress it up.”

Ivy’s eyes narrowed. “Nopony touches my mane. No trimming, cutting, snipping, styling, curling, or otherwise. It’s natural or nothing.”

Applejack nodded approvingly. “Sugarcube, you and I are gonna get along just fine.”

Chapter 5: Throw Caution to the Wind

Chapter 5: Throw Caution to the Wind

Lookout had scored her assignment: Ponyville weather team. She got to report for her first day of work during Winter Wrap-Up. She’d be able to find a connection there. The shakes hadn’t started yet, she still had some time.

After nearly having a bad run-in with a razor grass dealer in Manehattan, she decided it was time to quit the skulking around. She was going to get a job and keep her habit on the down-low. Maybe, just maybe, she could kick it for good. Eh, that day isn’t coming any time soon.

She thought back to her first time with razor grass. The ponies she was partying with introduced it to her. Said it was this natural treat from Zebrica, feels weird at first, but then really good. Lookout tried it. All across her tongue, it felt like little cuts. It wasn’t unpleasant, just odd. After a while, she started to feel it. Relaxed like the world was all good. She swears she saw pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows, but not much after that.

She had more after that, each time feeling good, but in different ways. It wasn’t easy to find, and she learned why: It was illegal. Apparently some ponies thought it was bad for this or blah blah blah. Didn’t matter, she always had an itch for it.

Then came the shakes. She didn’t buy any for a while, but she wanted to. One day, her wing started shaking. She asked her friend about it, he gave her a little razor grass. Told her if she gets the shakes, she better get some razor grass soon. The shakes can get worse. He’d heard of ponies going to the hospital for it. What he didn’t hear was the ponies who’d die from it. In Zebrica, before someone would die, they would be called the walking dead, because their legs would just move like they were trying to walk. It was the last stage before the end.

Nevertheless, ignorance can be bliss, and in Lookout’s case, she had no idea what would happen if she ran out of time.

“So, new pony from Cloudsdale, huh? Yeah, had to retire Old Greyfeathers, didn’t think I’d get a replacement before Winter Wrap-Up though.” Rainbow Dash looked over the transfer’s paperwork. “I’d have to adjust formations for the clearing and I don’t have the time to… ooh! I know! How do you feel about flying south?”

Lookout looked at her oddly. “South? Why south?”

“Well, I normally send this one pony to get the birds to come back to Ponyville, but she had the feather flu and just got over it. That and she always seems to go the wrong direction. Anyway, I need somepony to go south.”

Lookout just hung her head. Her sky blue fur would have had some ponies think she was Dash’s twin if it weren’t for her red mane peppered with black hairs. However, the attitude would have made anypony know she was not related. “I’m not that strong a flier. Plus the forecast maps I brought with me? We have some strong winds coming in from the south. I don’t think I could fly against that.”

Rainbow Dash tossed the papers. “Dang it! I got just enough wingpower to do the clearing properly, but I need someone to get those birds. I can’t just place you in somepony’s spot without testing you and rebuilding the formation. Grr, what am I gonna do?”

“Can you borrow anypony from another team?”

“Hmm… Not really. There’s Fluttershy, but she’s in charge of waking the animals from hibernation. Not that she wouldn’t enjoy it, but she really wouldn’t be able to handle those winds. Hmm… Wait, I know! Rarity has a couple working for her on the nests, I think. I’m gonna ask if I can get one of hers! Good idea, Lookout!”

Rainbow Dash made ready to bolt, “Wait a minute, I still need a job for you… How are you at building nests?”

Lookout thought for a moment. “Two left hooves.”

“Oh well, so much for a fair trade. Actually, what can you do?”

Lookout smiled with confidence for a change. “Best eyes and ears you’ll find. I can pick out details up to 2 miles away.”

“I think I can use that tomorrow. Okay, you get some rest, I’ll fill you in later.” And with that, the rainbow had dashed.

Lookout was exhausted. Rainbow Dash was energetic for a manager. It just seemed to take it out of her. Not to mention she had an itch. One thing at a time.

Lookout wrapped herself up in a stray cloud. She always enjoyed cocooning herself, like when she was a child. Life was so much better now. Lookout had one job, make sure nopony saw. Then, payday.

She used the bits to run away. Her household wasn’t the best. Maybe the worst. She was the second of five children, but a pegasus born to a family of unicorns. Her family just didn’t care. They had her tutored on how to fly, but didn’t care if she actually did. There was talk on marrying her off since she was the family embarrassment. Sometimes, her father would drunkenly accuse her mother of cheating on him, but they kept it quiet. At least, they thought they did. It turned out, the pegasus actually came from her father’s side, four generations back. Colonel Quick Wing was a decorated member of the Wonderbolts.

Still, she was an embarrassment. The shame of the family. That which ponies do not speak of in polite company.

On one of her rare trips outside, she met him. He offered a job. The money would be enough for her to set out on her own. A couple months later, she checked. Her family hadn’t even batted an eye. Nobody was looking for her. That was good enough for her.

She woke up about an hour before dawn. She wandered into Sugarcube corner, bought a couple donuts, and wolfed them down. She thanked Mrs. Cake and wished her a good day. As she left, Mrs. Cake swore she saw her left wing shake just a bit.

Chapter 7: Collision Course

Chapter 7: Collision Course

This was unique. Ivy had never heard of fields being cleared like this. One pushing the snow plow in front, one pulling the dirt plow behind that, and one following to plant seeds. Ivy had heard of the Apple family, and when they worked on something, they threw caution to the wind and dove in headfirst.

This was organized. It didn’t take long for her to learn that this was not solely directed by the Apples, but was designed by Twilight Sparkle herself, before she became a princess.

“YEAH!” The flag had been waved and the biggest pegasus she had ever seen had shouted from across the field. For her part, she’d be pulling a cart and planting seeds. This first run was carrots. She had others in her cart, and if things went well, by day’s end they’d all be planted. Tomorrow, they’d be watering the fields to ensure the seeds had enough to start growing.

Lookout was assigned lookout duty. A silver whistle around her neck, she was waiting for all the teams to be ready.

Ice scorers were busy and the animal wakers were stringing bells. Huh, she never thought of that. She was excited. The energy she had was limitless and unbound as she kept flitting around looking for signs to start. Because of the snowfall last night, the weather team had to do their clearing higher up first. Once the last team was ready, she’d blow the whistle and away they’d go.

Ink Nose walked up to Fluttershy. “How’s everything going?”

“Oh, it’s going well. We should be ready in about 15 minutes or so.”

“Excellent! That means Pinkie just has to get to her breaking point.”

“Breaking point? What do you mean?”

“Well, Twilight explained that we would need to wait a little longer as they were trying an experiment on one of the ponds. If it works, the ice for the water will be able to break into smaller pieces and melt quicker. She’s calling it Operation Breaking Point.”

“Oh, that would be lovely. The ducks would love to start swimming again.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. And nice to meet you… Fluttershy, right?”

“Yes, and a pleasure to meet you, Ink Nose.”

CRACK! They had scheduled an ice storm over the winter. CRACK! Apparently, someone had the cloud cover a little too heavy in this section. CRACK! Sledge went around, breaking the ice off trees so the squirrels could climb them. CRACK!

He was surprised. Usually, with coverage like this, some trees would end up breaking or falling against the storm. All these seemed rather healthy though. Didn’t think Ponyville was anything special, but apparently, they know how to do things around here.

CRACK!

The canopy was getting greener. He could see some of the vines, bushes, and other wild growth through the leaves. The wind pushed against him, but it held no grip on him. Finally, he saw the flag.

He set down where so many birds had gathered. A small bluebird hopped up to him and tweeted questioningly.

“Uh, hi! I’m new. Name’s Slipwind, here to take you back to Ponyville.” The birds started chirping vibrantly around him. Yeah, he was going to love this delivery. “OK, listen up! The tailwind from the south is strong, but only at lower altitudes. I’m gonna fly up higher for those of you who can’t handle. You all ready?”

The birds chirped and tweeted like a stadium cheering the Wonderbolts.

“I can’t hear you! ARE YOU READY?!”

The birds were getting louder and starting to circle around him.

“LET’S GO!”

“So explain this to me... Cantrip was it?”

“Right. Following Clover the Clever’s dissertation on channeled circles, I got to thinking. What if her techniques were creating artificial ley lines?”

Twilight was intrigued. Her work could be interpreted that way, but it was quite the leap. “Go on.”

“Well, as artificial ley lines, they are really weak. Here you go Pinkie.” He finished casting the spell on Pinkie skates. “But, they have 2 similar properties. First, they are excellent for channeling and holding energy, like Clover’s original designs. Second, overlaps magnify power.” Pinkie was off scoring the ice of the small pond, with the occasional ‘whee!’

“I see where you’re going with this. If the lines overlap, we can use the junctions to surge the energy and split the ice further.”

“Well that’s the theory. Once Pinkie finishes, I’ll charge the lines and apply a simple force spell using the junctions.”

Pinkie didn’t take long to finish her work. “All done! So now you’re gonna blow it up, right?”

Twilight chuckled. “No Pinkie, it should just crack the ice further. If anything explodes, I’d be surprised.”

Spike just sat there, shaking his head. “It’s almost as if you’re asking ‘What could go wrong?’ And you know the answer to that.”

Cantrip started charging the scores with a faint blue energy. But something seemed wrong. “Well, I didn’t expect that. I can charge one direction of lines, but not the other. It’s like my own energy is blocking itself.”

Twilight nodded. “That makes sense. Natural ley lines only go one direction and never intersect with themselves. If the same theory applies, you can’t intersect your own ley lines. Tell you what, let me handle the other direction.” Twilight horn glowed, causing the other direction glow faintly purple. Where the lines crossed, the glow was noticeably brighter. Twilight suddenly looked apprehensive.

Cantrip seemed giddy. “It worked! Now all I have to do is apply the force spell to link the junctions and…”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Wait, don’t!”

Lookout was waiting for the last pond to finish. She was told she would be able to hear, if not see, when they were done. Something about a magical experiment. The animal wakers had signaled all clear. Most of the ponds and lakes were ready to go. Just one little…

The pond blew up, throwing ice and water straight up and back down.

Now THAT was a signal. Lookout blew her whistle and Rainbow Dash started her run.

They sat shivering, thoroughly drenched. Because the weather team had to make 2 runs to clear the skies, the sun wouldn’t be out for a while yet. Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, and Cantrip started a long walk to someplace warm. Any place.

Cantrip was also singed. “I don’t understand what happened. It literally blew up in my face!”

Twilight shivered and explained. “I didn’t think of it until I saw the junctions glowing. You short circuited the channels.”

“What? How?”

“Energy is always drawn off a ley line, but it never connects back to itself. Your artificial ley lines connected to each other. In other words, you forced ley lines to link themselves. It just overloaded the spell and, well, you know.”

“Huh. I never thought of that. It did go to proving my theory, though, for creating artificial ley lines.”

Twilight chuckled through the chills. “That it did. With your permission, I’d like to send notes on the experiment to researchers in Canterlot.”

Cantrip seemed wary, but he couldn’t think of a reason not to. “I’d be honored. Thank you.”

“I’m going to head back to the castle. Will you two be all right?”

Pinkie grabbed Cantrip and said, “No problem! When we get back to Sugarcube Corner, it’s emergency hot cocoa for us!”

“All right. Spike hop on. We’ll meet them for cocoa after we get dried off.”

As the princess flew off, they walked… well, Cantrip walked. Pinkie bounced. And she was humming a little song to herself. He swore he heard under her breath, “’Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

Chapter 9: Apples and Shakes

Chapter 9: Apples and Shakes

Well that didn’t go as planned.

It had been a long time since they had seen each other. Specifically, when a scroll was stolen from the Starswirl the Bearded wing. They never planned on seeing each other ever again, save for chance encounters. Even then, they weren’t supposed to recognize each other and dismiss any recognition as, “Oh, you remind me of someone else.”

That definitely didn’t go as planned.

It definitely didn’t help when Pinkie said in response, “I invited them. It’s not like I thought you guys had broken into the Starswirl the Bearded wing and stolen something right before Twilight, Spike, and me showed up when she was going crazy from having visiting herself from the future so I hatched this crazy plan to get you all together to trick you into confessing. That would just be silly!”

Right now, the silence tasted like licorice to Cantrip.

Pinkie was a little unnerved by everything. She started packing the six of them into a booth, brought the carrot cake and some lemonade and ordered (well, more like insisted) them to enjoy themselves.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MILKSHAKE CHUGGERS!”

Pinkie Pie looked back. “Oh boy. You ponies get comfy. I’m gonna make sure they don’t go too crazy.” That sounded like saying the sun was going to make sure a candle didn’t get too bright.

Cantrip was the first to break the 30-inch thick sheet of ice. “Okay, this is just really bad timing combined with high stress. We just walk out of here, we don’t know-”

Slipwind stopped him. “Oh no, I just got offered a job at the post office. I’m not leaving.”

Ink Nose nodded. “I’m working at a library again after all this time. I can’t just give it up."

Lookout said, “Yeah, I just got a job with the weather team! I’m not giving that up.”

Ivy said, “I just got hired on at Sweet Apple Acres. I’m their first hire ever. I’m not about to walk out on them.”

They all looked at Sledge. “What?”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders (or, as some adults affectionately referred to them as, the unholy terrors) were slurping away slowly after being convinced by Pinkie their brains would turn into popsicles if they chugged their milkshakes and they wouldn’t thaw out until next Winter Wrap-Up. “Why do you think they call it a brain freeze?”

Besides, their shakes would last longer and that really convinced them. Apple Bloom noticed the party in the back booth. The blue pegasus had her back to her and noticed her left wing shaking. Twitching wasn’t the right word. It was definitely shaking.

They started catching up. Somehow they felt comfortable enough to start talking. They learned what had happened, though Lookout kept some of the seedier moments to herself. They even started to relax.

They all learned why they were willing to commit the crime. Considering Cantrip did it for his sister, Ivy could sympathize. Maybe she was a bit quick to judge. Sledge understood as well. His money paid off an old debt his father had that he was working every day just to pay off. Now, he could retire. Lookout also did it for family, but not because she loved them, but because they hated her. Slipwind… well, his gambling was his own fault, but he was taken advantage of by the bookies. For Ink Nose, books were her life, and her friend’s bookstore was worthy of her fight.

At some point, Lookout’s wing shaking had spread to her left ear. Cantrip noticed this and asked the obvious question, “Lookout, what’s wrong?”

She answered simply, “What are you talking about?”

“Your ear is shaking. For that matter, so is your wing. Are you cold?”

Lookout blanched. “Oh no. No no no. It wasn’t supposed to happen so soon.” She started getting to her hooves. Apple Bloom saw how she was shaking. She just read about that with Zecora a couple days ago.

“Are you sick? Should we get you to the doctor?”

“No, I don’t need a doctor. I just need some razor grass.” Apple Bloom heard it clear as if she had yelled it in her ear. Both wings were shaking and her legs were wobbly.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo saw Apple Bloom make a dash for the kitchen.

Not even a minute later, Lookout collapsed. She just lay there, shaking all over. Her legs kept moving like she was trying to walk. Cantrip shouted, “Get a doctor!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle look frightened for a moment. Scootaloo ran to her scooter and made a beeline for the hospital.

Pinkie didn’t know what to do. She was scared. Here was a pony who was sick and she didn’t know what to do and something was wrong and she didn’t know…

Suddenly, they heard Apple Bloom shout from the kitchen “Get out!” They saw Mr. Cake running out, followed by a flash and an explosion.

Apple Bloom rushed in the kitchen. Mr. Cake start to chastise her, “You can’t be in here! Go back-”

Apple Bloom shouted, “Where are your apples?!”

He was taken aback. “Uh, in that cupboard, but why-”

“Alright, I need an iron pot and… what would you have… Tarragon, saffron, and rosemary! Do you have them?”

“We have an iron skillet that we… wait what are you-”

“That’ll do. Fill it with water, put it on the fire, and put those spices by it.”

“Now just one second Apple Bloom, what-”

“No seconds! NOW! Or somepony could die!”

That shocked him into action. He never heard that tone from anypony, let alone a small child. While he got everything set up as she asked, she pulled out one of his sharper knives and went to work on the apple. They weren’t the freshest apples, but she didn’t need to eat them, she just needed the seeds. She grabbed his rolling pin, and used it to crush the seeds flat. She scooped up what she could and took it to the skillet. The water was starting to boil, that meant she was taking more time than she really had.

She started grabbing the spices. It wasn’t the pure form of what she needed, but they should have the parts she did need. It also meant she was risking quite a bit. She started tossing them in with careful attention, mixing it with a wooden spoon. The mixture turned from a thin, sickly brown to a rich green. She turn off the fire and looked at Mr. Cake. “I need you to leave the kitchen.”

“Why? What in Celestia’s name-”

“GET OUT!” He turned and ran for it. Looking over his shoulder, he swore he saw a flash of light coming from her as the wooden spoon hit the side of the skillet.

A small clang followed by a noxious BOOM! The smell of… something vile filled every bit of her nose, but when she looked down, all that was left was small, green ball. It almost looked like a candy. She grabbed it and walked out as quickly as she could. Her head was spinning, she felt filthy, and she wanted to take a nap, but she got back out into the shop.

Lookout was still trying to walk. Good, she wasn’t too late. Apple Bloom walked up to the pegasus and put the ball in her mouth. Cantrip asked, “What was that?”

Apple Bloom smiled weakly and said, “Medicine.” With that, she decided she could take a nap.

Twilight thought Ink Nose had taken too much time. But then again, this was Pinkie, so no telling what happened. Besides, she could go for a cookie or two. Suddenly, she got the feeling she smelled the number eight. Wait, that didn’t make-

An explosion came from Sugarcube Corner. She ran as fast as she could.

Chapter 10: One Trip Too Many

Chapter 10: One Trip Too Many

Twilight rushed into the bakery and saw two ponies on the floor, seemingly passed out. One of them she knew very well. “What happened? I was on my way here when I heard an explosion! Pinkie?” Pinkie Pie was in a corner looking panicked to the point of shock. “Ink Nose?” Her new librarian looked to be at a complete loss for words.

Cantrip finally spoke up. “I don’t know what happened. Lookout mentioned something about needing razor grass, she passed out, next thing I knew, this little filly gave her some kind of candy and she calmed down. I think one of the other girls went for a doctor.”

Almost as if on cue, Scootaloo came in. “I got the doctor! Make room!” The doctor went over to check on Apple Bloom first, then on Lookout. “They are definitely in bad shape, but I only have room for one.” The ambulance was waiting.

Twilight said, “The heck with this.” She spread her wings and everyone saw white. Next thing they knew, they were in front of the hospital. Dumbfounded for the moment, Twilight shouted, “Don’t just stand there! Get them inside!”

After that, she had Scootoloo go get Applejack. It’d be best she knew what happened as soon as possible. And now, Twilight had to deal with a very angry Applejack. How would Applejack put it? Angrier than a rodeo bull that sat on a bee’s nest?

“Twilight, I’m gonna ask politely.” Here she goes again. Twilight cast the silence bubble around her and kept her from grabbing hold of anyone. The doctors had already threatened to remove her from the hospital if she caused any more of a ruckus. Twilight did everything should could to keep her from being kicked out. She could just imagine Shining Armor acting the same way.

It was also best she got to speak with Apple Bloom as soon as she could as well. If razor grass was involved, she had questions. She could already draw logical conclusions about Lookout based on what Cantrip and Ivy told her. What she wanted to know is what Apple Bloom had fed her. She got the recipe from Mr. Cake, and apart from the apple seeds, the spices were used for antitoxins. But in that combination, they were very risky. It was better to used extracted ingredients. So why had Apple Bloom done that?

Finally, Applejack was coming down from her latest rage. Twilight released her. With a hoarse voice, she barely said, “Thanks. I’m real angry right now, but I don’t think I got much left.”

“Save it, Applejack. You’re gonna need your strength for your sister. I need you to promise me you’ll keep calm when she wakes up.”

“Yeah, sure, not a problem.”

“Good, because when she wakes up, nopony is to go into her room without my permission.”

A look of shock came over Applejack. She wanted to yell, but she didn’t have the voice for it anymore. “What’re y’all talking about? That’s my sister!”

“I know, but right now, she a centerpiece in an investigation. I have questions I need to ask. I already have guards posted at her room and Lookout’s room. They will stay there until I say so. Nopony except myself and the doctor is allowed in that room."

“Twilight, what in the world of Equestria in going on?”

“Lookout was in the final stages of razor grass withdrawal. By all rights, she should be dead. Your sister saved her life. I need to know how she knew the recipe she used. I will let you know when you can see her, but I have to follow protocol.”

Applejack turned to Cantrip. “Did you know about this?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t even know about razor grass until today.”

“Oh really? I find it quite odd that all this happens when you come in to town, and just happen to meet five other ‘strangers’ that turn up. Do you expect me to believe that was a coincidence?”

He shook his head. “If you say it like that, no it doesn’t, but I assure you it’s completely by coincidence.”

Doctor Horse came in. “Your highness, the filly is awake.”

Twilight turned to Applejack. “No. I know it’s hard on you. But you have to trust me on this. Please.”

Applejack knew she had no choice. She loved Twilight almost like a sister, but this really strained their friendship. “Fine.”

“Thank you. Ink Nose? Hand me a quill, paper, and ink.” Ink Nose pulled the items out of her saddlebags. Twilight walked out of the room with them.

To say Apple Bloom hurt was incorrect. There wasn’t any real pain, but she felt like she had been dragged through the mud and back. She wanted her sister. She ached and she wanted someone to tell her everything was going to be OK.

When the door opened, she expected Applejack. When Twilight walked in, she almost felt like her heart was going to break as she slid further under her blanket. “Hello Apple Bloom. Glad to see you’re awake.”

“Where’s my sister?”

“She’s out in the waiting room. I have to ask you a few things first, okay?”

“I want my sister!”

“Apple Bloom? Please, I have to ask you some questions. They’re very important.” The look on Apple Bloom’s face was breaking Twilight’s heart as well. This was the hard part of being a princess: Putting aside your personal feelings for duty.

“Listen to me, Apple Bloom. Answer and I’ll do what I can to get Applejack in here. Okay?” Apple Bloom nodded. “Okay. You saved that pony’s life with some candy. What was it?”

Apple Bloom looked her straight in the eye. “It wasn’t candy, it was medicine. Zecora showed me how to make it. I was reading one of her books, about some of the plants they have in Zebrica, and one of them sounded weird. It was called razor grass. Zecora told me how it could hurt ponies. But they found a way to stop ponies from dying because they stopped eating it.”

“And that way was the medicine you made, right?” Apple Bloom just nodded. “Okay. Did Zecora teach you to use saffron, tarragon, and rosemary?”

Apple Bloom shook her head weakly. “You did.”

“Wait what? I never told you to mix them like that.”

“No, but the ingredients I needed could be found in those spices. You taught me how to substitute stuff. I know the other stuff in them were dangerous, but that pony was gonna die if I didn’t.”

“Apple Bloom, are you telling me you willingly risked your own well-being to save somepony else?”

“It’s what my sister woulda done.”

“That she would. Thank you, Apple Bloom. I’ll get Applejack in here right away.” Twilight was glad she didn’t have to sequester the little filly. She gave instructions to the guards as Nurse Snowheart walked up to her.

“The other one is awake. The doctor thought you’d want to see her immediately.”

“Thank you, Nurse.” Twilight had another stop, but that would wait until later.

Lookout was frantic. She was in a hospital bed. The last thing she remembered before that was shaking, her vision going wild, and then… she woke up here. The doctor said she had company coming, just relax and everything would be fine. They better not mean family. That was the last thing she wanted.

Too late. The door opened. Oh, it was only the princess.

… … wait.

Now she panicked. She didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, she felt a calming sensation over her. “Relax, you’re going to be okay. I have to ask you some questions.” Lookout looked more relaxed, but that wasn’t much of an improvement. Instead of her head popping off, only her eyes looked ready to go.

“Do you understand what happened?” Lookout shook her head slowly. “No. Here’s the short of it. Razor grass can have deadly withdrawal symptoms. You had a bad case of the shakes before you went to the final stage. When was the last time you had razor grass?”

“Two…”

“Two months ago? Wow, that’s quite some time.”

“No, two weeks.”

Twilight stood in awe. Only extremely advanced cases only lasted two weeks. Four was the normal. “And how much did you have?”

“About an apple’s worth.”

“How much is an apple’s worth?”

“It’s a ball about the size of an apple.”

Again, very bad. Amounts the size of an unfrosted cupcake were enough to put most ponies in the hospital. Here she was ingesting about twice as much just for her fix. “Where did you last get it from?”

“I… I kinda ripped off a dealer in in Manehattan. The ball was supposed to last me a while, but I just kinda lost track of how much I was using.”

Twilight nodded. “I don’t think you’re through the withdrawals just yet. The medicine you were given should delay the shakes for a time, but you may need more. I’m going to talk to a friend of mine who may be able to help. Thank you for your time.”

She turned to leave, but before she could, “Princess? Am I ever going to be okay?”

She ran through a whole range of answers, but she decided on Applejack’s method. “I don’t know. We’ll do what we can to help, but have some faith in your friends to help you through this.”

“I don’t have any friends.”

This struck Twilight as odd. “What about those five you were with at the bakery?”

“Oh, they’re not really friends. More like old work buddies.”

As she left, an alarm went off in Twilight’s mind. This pony was too young to have “old work buddies”. She was hiding something. She had to find one of them to crack.

But first, Zecora. As soon as she stepped outside the hospital, she disappeared in a flash.

Chapter 11: Life, Uninterrupted

Chapter 11: Life, Uninterrupted

Two weeks later.

It seems like such a short time, but things had gotten into a new routine and seemed even normal.

Ink Nose was the Librarian for Twilight’s Library. Now, when she sent Spike for a book, it didn’t take half a week to find it.

Ivy got Sledge hired on at the Apple Family farm. Good thing too, because Applejack had her hands full planning Apple Bloom’s cute-ceañera. They didn’t realize it until she got out of bed and there, on her flank, was a Zap apple in a potion bottle.

Slipwind was happy with his mail route. He learned it quickly and people took a shine to him fast. He even managed to turn the heads of a few mares.

Cantrip was nowhere to be found. He had left almost as quickly as he arrived. Twilight did hear word of some new theories based on his work at the pond, but she was more concerned about him being an “old work buddy”. She had five other ponies to question, but now wasn’t the time.

Almost all the ponies in Ponyville seemed to be adapted to a new spring quite well.

Almost.

Lookout hadn’t had a shake in three days. Thanks to the medicine Zecora brewed, they were able to keep the shakes from being too bad. About a week ago, she didn’t want to take the medicine. She wanted to see how far she could go before taking the medicine. She was able to ride out the shakes.

Now, she might be in the clear. The doctor had agreed to release her with some medicine, but into another’s custody by order of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Since she was a member of the weather team, there was one pony Twilight had handpicked for this.

“Let’s go, Lookout. Up and at ‘em.” Rainbow Dash was to be her guardian. If Lookout had a relapse, Dash would be the quickest to do what was needed.

Lookout’s wing shook.

She looked at it. “Three days. Not a single shake and the day I go to leave… I’m sick of being sick.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her with a smile. “That’s sounds like an attitude that’ll get you better. Come on.”

Her regimen was simple. She was to follow Dash’s instructions, whether that was being told to eat, sleep, work, or read a book. That last seemed odd, but Dash was a Daring Do fan. She had brought her a couple while she was in the hospital.

Matter-of-fact, a number of ponies came to visit her. Apple Bloom visiting was a bit of a surprise, but she seemed genuinely concerned. Of course, her big sister was with her with a look that could kill. Dash visited also. After all, she was a member of her work crew, it’s only right for a boss to be concerned. Twilight checked in to make sure everything was going well. She met her first zebra, Zecora. Aside from her penchant for rhymes, she seemed very pleasant.

What surprised her the second most was the Crew (as she affectionately called them) visiting. Ivy brought her a lovely flower, and whispered to it. It bloomed amazingly. Sledge came by to talk. It was nice until her shakes started to take hold. After they got her to calm down, he came back. Ink Nose came by to ask if she wanted anything to read, and if so, she’d get it for her. Slipwind would stop by when he delivered to the hospital each day. She asked if he’d get in trouble taking breaks like that. Turns out, as long he gets his deliveries done in a reasonable time, the boss didn’t care.

The biggest surprise was Cantrip. He visited the first night she was in the hospital. He was wearing a dark cloak and hood, much as they had when they broke into the wing. She remembered his eyes from before, crystal blue. However, this time, they were a midnight blue as if Luna herself created them. His visit was brief and almost seemed like a whisper of a dream. He said one thing.

“I’m going to find out what went wrong.”

Cantrip was in the middle of Manesnare Forest. There were rumors of an ancient oracle who could point anypony in the right direction. Whoever named the place picked the right one. If it weren’t for the light enchantment on his cloak, every hair in his body would have been ripped off.

Suddenly, he came to what looked like a path. It was wide enough for 7 ponies to walk side by side with a little breathing room. He followed it from a pond that had a stream running through it to a cave. It was large. Cantrip felt a twinge of fear and pushed it back. He needed answers.

As he crossed the threshold, he heard a voice. Deep and thunderous, he could feel it in his chest. “After forty-five thousand, two hundred thirty-nine sunrises, I have another visitor.” A quick bit of math told Cantrip that was over 120 years. “Yes, almost 124 years, in fact.”

“You can read my thoughts?”

“No, I am not rude. Ah, but perhaps I am, as are you. Let us make introductions.” The voice started come towards him. Cantrip ran out of the cave to make room. A wise choice well made as the dragon came out and reared up. He looked as tall as Twilight's castle. The dragon looked down at him, and a voice that threatened to rip him apart said, “I am Unslaadein. I knew you were thinking of how long it has been from the look on your face. And you are?”

Cantrip removed the hood from his face. “I am Cantrip. I came here seeking advice and I willing to pay what I can for it.”

Unslaadein laughed heartily. The trees seemed to shake at it. “Many have come seeking my counsel in the past. You are the first to offer payment up front!”

“Well, I guess I’m the first respectful pony to come to you.”

“Yes, the first pony and the first creature. But come, your life is not like mine. It is short. What do you want help with?”

Cantrip recounted how he got set up with the job, what he did up until Ponyville, what happened in those days, and his search for the oracle.

“I see. You want to know who set this up.”

“No, I want to know what we stole.”

The dragon blinked in surprise. “If you want to undo what you did, you’ll want to know who had you do this to begin with.”

“Yes, but I need to know what we stole. Did the scroll have two triangles or three?”

“You ask just a small question. Why?”

“I take it the answer to your question will serve as payment then. An answer for an answer is fair.”

The dragon looked generally flummoxed. He had dealt with others before, but this one had trapped him. He laughed again. Much louder this time. “In the many years I’ve lived, not one has trapped me in such a humble agreement! Fine, answer my question and I’ll answer yours.”

“If I know what it actually was that I stole, I can use my own spells to track it. However, I keep thinking it had two triangles, and then my mind corrects itself and says it was three. So I need to know what it is that I’m looking for.”

“The answer is both.” Cantrip looked confused, but he had his answer. Unslaadein decided to illuminate his musing. “The scroll is a part of a whole. Truth be told, it’s not a scroll, but a page. Things have caused it to change, but I’m not sure what.”

“Thank you. I’ll be on my way.”

The dragon had collected payment so many times in the form of snacks. This time, he had been caught off guard. This felt like such a wonderful treat, one he rarely got to enjoy.

He decided to let the pony live after all. Just like the last one.

Chapter 12: Brick Walls Are Gentler

Chapter 12: Brick Walls Are Gentler

Lookout was confused. She didn’t understand “a day off”. Well, not entirely true, she knew exactly what it meant. But she was afraid. The last she was left to her own devices, it ended up with her in the hospital near death.

Of course, that was over two months ago. Since getting out, she was essentially Rainbow Dash’s shadow. And now…

“Take the day off. I need to get some quality napping time in.” They had just finished setting up the clouds for the day. Some quality banks, gave some nice shade here and there, should be a nice day. Great for picnics. The local painters should like the cloudscapes. They managed to make a gentle breeze to make the flowers sway. And now, Lookout was by herself.

She didn’t know what to do with herself and wondered around the park, thinking maybe she could nap. Her wing twitched. She hadn’t had a shake since she left the hospital, but anytime she had what could be a bad idea, her wing would twitch. It was a constant reminder to focus on the good things and make good choices.

“Hey there, Lookout!” That sweet voice, Lookout turned to see Apple Bloom walking towards her with her friends. They still called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, even though one of them had theirs. “How ya been?”

“Hi Apple Bloom. You know your sister doesn’t like me talking to you.”

“Well, unless she wants to babysit me for the rest of her life, she better get used to me talking to who I want, when I want.”

Lookout chuckled. Ever since she got her cutie mark, Apple Bloom had become a beacon of personality. So much so that the town brat, Diamond Tiara, had stopped picking on others. “I don’t think I properly thanked you.”

Apple Bloom cocked her head. “Thank me for what?”

Sweetie Belle giggled, “Silly, you saved her life!”

Apple Bloom was proud of that, but she countered with, “Aw, that’s nothing. I just did what any pony would have done if they were me!”

Lookout got an idea. “Still, I wanted to thank you with a little firework display.” This got Scootaloo’s attention. “Keep your eye on the sky.”

Lookout flew to one of the cloudbanks. A little prod with her hoof showed that it was just right for this. She raced along the cloud, with sparks snapping at the hooves. The thunder started rolling. Little did she know, this roused Rainbow Dash from her nap, and she was going to be very upset with the cloud that decided to storm today.

At the edge of the bank, Lookout leapt off like a diver from a board. The Crusaders and everyone else watching saw the ball of lightning falling from the sky. At just the right height, she spread her wings and threw out her hooves.

A blast of lightning filled the sky leaving a ring of lightning lingering for just a few seconds. Lookout glided down to the ground by the Crusaders, suddenly aware of the applause everyone in the park was giving. She couldn’t help but blush from the attention.

Next thing she knew, Rainbow Dash was there. “Lookout! Was that you?!” The look on Dash’s face was one of deciding your sentence.

“Um… Yes?”

“That. Was. AWESOME!” Ponyville’s resident aerial stunt pony just gave her approval to her signature move, the Thunderball.

Slipwind looked up. He could have sworn Thunderlane told him there was no rain scheduled today. That much thunder, though? He’d have to hurry if he wanted to dodge the rain. Fortunately, he had one delivery left.

“Mr. Rich!” He happened to catch his target as he was getting home. “Delivery for you, sir!”

Filthy Rich turned to look at him. “Oh yes, Slipwind. The courier turned mail pony. Can’t understand why you traded down.”

Slipwind handed over the package. “Was a trade up for me. Courier business runs the risk of dry spells. Mail delivery, a lot more stability. I don’t have to worry where my next meal is coming from so much.”

Filthy smiled. “Well, well, well, you sound like a business pony. I always liked your work ethic. Too bad I can’t get you on a contract basis.”

Sledge looked up. That was thunder, clear as a bell. He knew Ivy would be out in the carrot patches today, working her whispers on the weaker ones. She didn’t like getting rained on. But then again, she wasn’t going to leave a job unfinished. He bucked his tree, knocking loose a number of apples. This was the life. And he got fresh apples to boot. The fritters, pies, and whatnot were good, but he enjoyed a fresh, raw apple more than anything else.

Ink Nose had just received a collection from Canterlot. A treatise on Chaos Theory. A series of historical theories, basically a bunch of what-ifs. Research findings on Cantrip lines. … She looked again. Her horn glared and the pages fluttered in front of her. The several hundred page book was read in a matter of seconds. This was her real talent, speed reading. And in those few seconds, she understood what Cantrip’s experiment had found. Artificial ley lines on a grand scale could produce wonders the likes of which not even the princesses could reproduce. The catch was it required one unicorn for each line.

This was intriguing. The princess… Who was she kidding? She didn’t think of her a princess. Twilight would want to see this as soon as possible. She headed for the throne room. However, Twilight had the most unexpected of visitors.

“I wish to surrender myself on three conditions, your highness!” Twilight didn’t like this. She was ready to start her questioning. She couldn’t go after Lookout, she would break too easily and could suffer irreparable harm. Ivy and Sledge were very tough. Their psyches would be stone walls. Slipwind would run her around in circles. That only left Ink Nose. She was the strongest when it came to the interrogation she had planned, but the weakest when it came to resistance.

And then, Cantrip just shows up to surrender.

“Name your terms!”

Cantrip had planned this for some time. “First, any punishments that would be exacted on my accomplices would be assigned to me.” Twilight knew exactly what this meant. Whatever the Crew, as their group of five came to be known, would be convicted of, he would take all the blame.

“Second, I be allowed in taking measures, even if in a role of assistance, to undo the consequences of my actions.” He wants to make things right, whatever he did. Fair enough.

“Third, that any punishments assigned to me not be exacted until said consequences are undone.” That was the catch. Whatever he did… no, whatever THEY did, he wouldn’t be punished for it until it was “undone”.

“Your terms are ambiguous. If there is any punishment, you do not receive punishment until they are ‘undone’. That could last until the end of time, meaning you get a clear conscience and no punishment.” Take that!

“I add the stipulation that I will bend every ounce of my power and every fiber of my being to making this right.” She hadn’t expected that. He wasn’t giving himself a loophole. He really wanted to make things for the better.

“Very well. We…” She gulped. This better not be bad. “We accept the terms of your surrender. Confess yourself that the terms may be carried out.”

Without missing a beat, “On the night you used the time travel spell, we stole from the Starswirl the Bearded Wing of the Canterlot Archives.”

She knew it was too good to be true. Now she had to wait to banish him to the moon.

Chapter 12.5: Just Doing His Duty

Chapter 12.5: Just Doing His Duty

Quick Cast was ready to call it a night. It had been the usual, humdrum night of guarding the Canterlot Archives. Well, one change. There was a note saying to open the Starswirl the Bearded Wing if Twilight Sparkle came by.

Not like she’d come here in the middle of the night. Well, it was getting close to sunrise, but still, highly unlikely she’d be here. He remembered when she would pull all-nighters before, but that was before she was sent to Ponyville.

Wait… he heard something. Three ponies. No, 2 are ponies, one’s a… dragon? That’s Spike! And that was Twilight! He was sure of it! Why was she and her friends wearing those black outfits? Oh well. Have to say hi,

“Hey, Twilight, haven't seen you in a while. Let me open that for ya.” He cast the spell to unlock the gate to the Wing.

Twilights chuckled, seeming nervous. “Thanks!”

Well, it was good to see her again. Crazy hairstyle, but it was good to see her finding interests outside of books. As much as he wishes his little filly had Twilight’s study habits, he was glad she had her friends.

He just realized. It’s Tuesday. That means donuts! He had to get a sprinkled donut before Silver Shield did. He always caught Silver Shield taking the last one, swearing that was the only donut he took.

At least all the donuts were tasty, so it was never a total loss.

Chapter 13: Down the Rabbit Hole

Chapter 13: Down the Rabbit Hole

Twilight was furious. She expected the other girls to have her back.

Rainbow Dash just acted like it was simple as deciding between cookies or brownies. “Way I see it, nopony gets punished until after this is resolved, and when we do punish, it all goes on him.”

“Rainbow Dash! You make it sound like it’s no big deal!”

“Hey, you made the deal. Besides, not like I want to do anything to Lookout anyway.”

“But she stole from Princess Celestia!”

Dash just turned her head towards Twilight with a poker face. “She’s suffered through a lot. She trying to make a better life for herself. All of the Crew is. And all he asks is that their hard work not be ripped away from them. Maybe it’s the Loyalty in me talking, but he’s looking out for them.”

Rarity chimed as Cantrip and the Crew sat in the middle. “I have to agree. You agreed to the terms. While I do find the act distasteful, they have worked hard to become respected citizens of Ponyville. Even Cantrip has contributed. These Cantrip lines I’ve been hearing about have been quite the buzz in Canterlot. And you know how much time I spend on scholarly pursuits.” Which is to say, very little if at all.

“I agree.” Fluttershy rarely spoke up at meeting like this. “They’re not cruel ponies. All they wanted was a second chance.”

“She right! They’re all right!” Pinkie was getting a bit excited. “And look at this guy. He came here, he didn’t have any friends! And what is he doing? He’s trying to make so his friends don’t have the burden of guilt anymore. He’s really trying to do the right thing.”

Twilight looked at Applejack. She knew Applejack didn’t like Lookout. And as much as she praised Ivy, she still had a thorn in her side about the first day they met. Applejack looked dead at her and smiled.

“They’re right. I have my personal remarks, but fact of the matter is, they are trying to do alright by all of us. Heck, Cantrip coulda never come back and you’d never know about this mess.”

Twilight shook her head. “That’s not true, Applejack.” All the others, except Spike, looked at her, wanting to know.

Spike broke the silence. “When Lookout was in the hospital, she said something that struck Twilight as odd. She said you were all ‘old work buddies’ and Twilight knew that wasn’t true. Lookout’s rather young to have old anything, and your backgrounds are so diverse that it would be unlikely that all 6 of you would be employed in the same place. She had decided to start interrogating Ink Nose to find out what was really going on.”

Ink Nose was startled, to say the least. “Twilight! Is that true?”

She nodded, “Yes, it’s true. I knew something was wrong and I had to find out what. Of the five of you, you were most likely to withstand the questioning and give me straight answers.”

Ink Nose was clearly saddened. She knew that Princess Twilight had chosen her for her skills, but it still felt like a deception.

Twilight got out of her seat and walked towards Cantrip. “Given how carefully you chose your terms of surrender, I take you have a plan?”

“I do, Princess. Whatever it actually is, it’s not a constant. I can focus on it, but with Ink Nose’s book finding spell, I make be able to track where it is or what it’s a part of. The only other thing that I have to work with is the person who hired me. I didn’t get to see him, save for his horn. And that was rather… Well I guess unique would be the word I’d choose.”

“How unique?”

“It looked like a misshapen blue horn. Almost goat-like rather than unicorn.”

The Elements of Harmony (and one baby dragon) simultaneously facehooved.

Twilight just lifted her head and shouted, “DISCOOOOOOOOOOOOORD!”

From nowhere, a voice called, “You rang?” And now Cantrip could hear chocolate milk.

“No, I shouted!”

“Well I can hear that. What can I do for you? And why do you sound so mad?” The draconequus faded into view. “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it, this time!”

“That’s my point, you couldn’t have done it!”

“Wait, you called me here to yell at me for something I didn’t do?”

Pinkie piped up, “Yeah, that doesn’t seem fair!”

“No, I mean the horn that Cantrip saw would clearly belong to Discord. But at the time, Discord was trapped in a stone statue. But that’s not the worst of it. Not only did they try to frame you, but they did it badly.”

Twilight explained the major flaw in the disguise. Discord would never have had somepony else do his dirty work, he would enjoy doing it himself. Using proxies was simply not his style.

“You’re right, Twilight! I could tell Pinkie Pie to jump in mud puddles all day, but then I wouldn’t get muddy. Where’s the fun in that?”

“Well I would get muddy! That’d be fun!”

“Well, yes, for you, but not for me. Unless Rarity had a new dress…”

Rarity scoffed. “Not funny in the least!”

Twilight knew she’d start losing control, but she was going to fight it. “Listen! We have one of three scenarios. First, Discord was behind it. Very unlikely. Second, Cantrip is lying.”

He spoke up, “I refer to the stipulation. It would be in the best interest for me to be forthright and honest.”

“Very well, I can find that line acceptable. Especially if you’re lying, you’re breaking the entire agreement. So the third scenario is more likely. Someone is trying to frame Discord.”

“Yeah, but why?” Applejack raised an excellent point. It was already known that Discord was stone, so why try impersonating someone who couldn’t possibly be there?

“I think we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we’ll need to focus on starting our search.”

The theory was simple enough. A simple circle to start scrying for the location. Ink Nose cast her spell and passed it to Cantrip. He started looking for the shifting scroll that wasn’t actually a scroll. What he found was definitely not a scroll.

Despite her anger at him, Twilight found no joy in seeing Cantrip being flung against a far wall. She was especially worried at the crunch she heard. It further didn’t help matters that not only was the wall perfectly fine, but there was a large red spot on it.

Chapter 14: You Can Never Have Less

Chapter 14: You Can Never Have Less

The castle was nice. Cantrip had been on a tour of the place before when he was a colt, but this time was nice. He had free reign. It was a tad lonely, but then again, when else would he get to see the throne room?

The windows were truly works of art. The ascension of Princess Twilight, the repulsion of the Changeling invasion, the removal of Nightmare Moon, the recapture of Discord… Huh. That was odd. He would have sworn Discord was smiling at him.

Now he was waving. Oh no.

Cantrip bolted for the doors. Discord was free again! He had to let somebody know! Where were the guards? They should have seen him enter… wait, how did he get in? He stopped and tried to think back.

“We may want to get some opinions from Canterlot, Princess.” Doctor Horse was looking at his charts. A trained eye would see that everything was fine with Cantrip, not even a head injury. His ribs had healed well these last two months, despite how badly they were broken. Part of that could be attributed to him not moving, except for breathing. There wasn’t any physical reason for Cantrip to be in this state, which only left magical.

“The only reason I don’t want them intervening is because of him.” Twilight pointed to the other bed in the room. There lay Discord. Sound asleep. He had passed out when Cantrip had been flung. Had just enough time apparently to make a small note that read “HAD TO HELP” before being lost.

It had been rough for everyone. Fluttershy visited Discord at least once a week, hoping he’d wake up. Ink Nose visited Cantrip twice that, noting his condition, any improvements or changes… and reading. Any time there were new reports or research on Cantrip Lines, she brought them for him to hear.

Twilight stayed away for the most part, and only bothered Ink Nose when she needed a book. Ink Nose was always courteous and called her Princess. Each time she did, Twilight’s heart just seemed to crack a little more. Ink Nose never noticed, but then the only thought on her mind was how Twilight kept her around just to question her.

The others would visit every so often, telling Cantrip what was going on. Apple Bloom spent more time in the Everfree, studying under Zecora, though Zecora would say she’s learning more by herself. Rarity had come up with a design for the guards that was more effective and much more fashionable. Ivy and Pinkie Pie had created the first Flower Party, where the whole party was held on top of giant flowers. Lookout had earned a promotion to weather manager for Appleloosa due to handling an unexpectedly vicious storm while Rainbow Dash was out of town, but she turned it down saying she wasn’t ready yet.

And all this was ignored by Cantrip and Discord, who had lain motionless through all of it.

The crumpets we very good, even if they were kumquat flavored. The butter tea worked well with it, but only because it was with the crumpets. Cantrip made a mental note never to try making tea out of butter.

It was nice to see that the famed tyrant was being civil. They were actually chatting on friendly terms. What Discord told him, other than some of the anecdotes, was mildly disturbing, though.

“So you’re saying we’re both unconscious.” Cantrip certainly thought it was a valid argument. It would explain why there was nopony else. Except this Discord wasn’t a mental projection, but the spirit himself, come to intervene. He filled in a couple blanks, namely the moment before Cantrip’s casting.

“Exactly! Whatever it was that attacked… wait, no that doesn’t seems right. More like it was protecting something. Whatever it was, I don’t like it. On instinct, I just jumped right in to help you. Unfortunately, it seems I’m trapped in here with you until we can find an escape.”

Discord wasn’t known for his helpfulness, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he would help since nopony expected it. Right now, Cantrip had another problem. “So how do we get out of here?”

Discord just shrugged. “I have no idea. It was you who was harmed, you’ll need to find the way out. I’m just here to help. … Huh, never thought I’d really hear myself say that. Well, say it with sincerity.”

“Why did you help?”

“Oh whatever it was reeked of rigidity. Unbending and unyielding. Like the opposite of chaos.” Discord seemed to shiver at the idea. “Bleh.”

“Well, we’d need to find a way around it.”

Discord snapped his fingers and settled back on a pink, cotton candy cloud. “Well, good luck with that. Let me know if I can do anything.” He plucked a piece of cloud and munched on it, only to grimace. “Asparagus? What was I thinking? Bleh.”

Cantrip chuckled. He walked over to the doors. There were no cracks around the doors, like they were part of the wall rather than an exit. In fact, there was no other entrance or exit. Just a large hall with two thrones and stained glass wind… Wait, two thrones? He knew there was only one. Despite Princess Luna returning, the throne room was never changed. It was symbolic of the two sisters sharing power, rather than having their own domains. The old castle, that had two thrones, but it didn’t have the stained glass.

“Discord? Can you tell me what’s wrong with this room?”

He blinked and looked around. “Other than no exit, not really.”

He had to make sure he didn’t bias him. “So this looks like Celestia’s throne room?”

“Well, the windows aren’t in the throne room. Not those windows anyway.” He was right. The windows depicting achievement were in a hallway, not the throne room. “And there’s two thrones instead of one. You know, this is your mind, it must be your misconception.”

“That’s just it, I know these don’t belong here. The old castle had 2 thrones, one for Luna, one for Celestia. This is more like Canterlot castle. And you’re right about the windows too. So why am I picturing it like this?”

“Don’t ask me, it’s your head. If it was mine, there’d be more Bunniraffes.”

“What?”

“Cross between a bunny and a giraffe, please try to keep up. The point is you’re the one picturing all this.”

“Unless I’m not.”

Discord raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? If we’re not in your head, are you saying you’re out of your mind?” Discord started chuckling and laughing.

With a face as solid as an oak tree, Cantrip replied, “That exactly what I’m saying.”

Discord’s chuckle slowly died out. “But that would mean someone captured your mind elsewhere. Oh, this is bad. Very bad. You trap a person in a riddle or a nightmare, but you never trap them outside their mind.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I haven’t always been the nice guy you see before you,” changing into a high society set of clothes, complete with monocle, “but even I learned there are some things one should never do. I liked to mess with others, but I never did any lasting harm. I considered swapping two ponies minds once, but if something went wrong and they couldn’t change back, well, that would be… I’d rather not think about it. Plus, anything you could trap them in would be fragile. Easily broken.”

Cantrip smiled. “Then let’s break stuff.” He started walking towards one of the windows.

Discord grabbed his tail and pulled him back. “Whoa there. We start breaking things… I can’t believe I’m stopping you, but we start breaking things, it won’t guarantee we escape. In fact, it might mean…” He drew a finger across his neck.

“Any better ideas?”

Twilight was upset. The tears stopped only because she was tired. She just wanted to fall asleep for the night. The clock on her nightstand starting ringing. She looked at it since it was too early for the alarm. It suddenly stopped. When she looked at it, it had a claw and a paw for hands and a voice that said, “It’s awake o’ clock!” In a flash, Twilight was at the hospital.

Chapter 15: You Can Always Have More

Chapter 15: You Can Always Have More

Cantrip was ordered to remain in the hospital until the doctor was satisfied with his health. Having done nothing but sleep for two months, his muscles were weak. He would require some therapy, but once he could walk on his own, he would be released. Of course, his roommate, being an inherently magical creature, required nothing of the sort, and departed to have tea with Fluttershy.

This gave him plenty of time to talk with any visitors, his most frequent one being Ink Nose. He was surprised at the amount of research being done in the technique he invented. They had called them Cantrip lines, which he thought was humorous. But the depths of research boggled him.

“I never thought it would get this much attention. It’s pretty cool.” His voice was a little rough from not having been used for two months.

“Who knows?” said a smiling Ink Nose. “Maybe you’ll be remembered as one of the greats. Perhaps not as famous as Starswirl or Clover, but this could have influence for decades to come.”

“Yeah, well, I doubt Starswirl had his experiments blow up in his face like that. I can still taste burnt ice. How is that possible?” He was definitely in good spirits. “What does Princess Twilight think of all of it?”

Ink Nose’s frowned at the mention of it. “I don’t know. Haven’t talked to her about it much.”

Cantrip was confused. “Okay, that sounds off. If this were a major magical find, it would be something she’d being going at nearly twenty-four hours a day. I’ve heard of her obsession when it comes to research.”

“No, it’s more like we don’t talk much.”

“Wow. Really? You’re her personal librarian. And you don’t talk much? Is her nose stuck in books that much?”

“Actually, she hasn’t been coming around the library much.” Ink Nose looked a bit dejected. “I’ve been avoiding her.”

“What? Why?”

“You heard her! She kept me around simply to question me! I don’t even know why she keeps me now, but I’ve been saving my bits so when she finally does let me go, I’ll have enough money to travel.”

Cantrip scratched his head. “That doesn’t sound like her. Then again, I don’t know her personally. But there’s a problem. She hired you to be her librarian. She didn’t decide to question anybody until Lookout got ill. She didn’t even have a reason not to trust you.”

“Then why even mention it? Why say she was going to interrogate me? Why me? Her and that dragon of hers could have kept their mouth shut!”

“Yeah, but a friend wouldn’t keep quiet about it.”

Ink Nose was shocked. It sounded ridiculous. A friend wouldn’t even think of something so deceitful to begin with! “I’m... I’m going to head home. I think I could use some rest, and so could you.”

“Alright. I’ll see you later.”

As Ink Nose left, she completely missed the pair of horns sticking out of a nearby fern. Two leaves opened into eyes as a very non-plant-like voice said, “Well, that explains a lot. Ooh! It’s watering time!”

The custodian came over to water the fern as he did every day. Today, the fern reared up and chomped at him with teeth made of leaves. This made the custodian upset for three reasons. First, obviously, Norbert had attacked him. Second, Discord laughed at him for the prank. Third, he had to mop up the contents of the now empty watering can.

Ink Nose was writing a letter. It was simple and straight to the point. She was resigning. She was tired of being on edge all the time. She was about to sign it when there was a knock on the door. Spike? Maybe the princess, which would save her the trouble of tracking her down.

“Hello there… ah, Tar Nose, right?” This is a face she never expected. Discord in her library.

She suddenly remembered the story of his ‘reformation’. “It’s Ink Nose. This is a library, not an all-you-can-eat buffet.”

“Oh no, would never dream of it! Besides, I ate Diamond Tiara’s history book on the way here.” That filly was going to be mad when she went to study for tomorrow’s test! “I just came here to ask a favor.”

“You want a favor from me?”

“Well, no, not me personally. I was chatting with Twilight (we’re good friends, you see) and I was going to leave when she asked if I could stop here and have you deliver a book to her room.”

That was fine. She’d sign her letter and deliver it with the book. “Which book?”

Discord hadn’t thought that far ahead. He grabbed some random words. “Um, Emergency… uh, Ethereal… Essays?”

Ink Nose looked a little wary. Discord grinned sheepishly, starting to sweat. Ink Nose levitated the book down. “Starswirl’s Essay on Ethereal Emergencies. I’ll take it up to her in a moment.”

Discord breathed a sigh of relief. “Very well. I’m off to play in the mountains. I’ve been considering making some candy rocks.”

“I think Pinkie Pie makes those for necklaces.”

“No no, those are rock candies. I’m talking about boulders that you can build with made from candy!”

“And how is that different?”

“Well, you can’t eat them for one.”

“If you can’t eat them, how are they candy.”

Discord started to speak and stopped. He rubbed his chin and replied, “That’s a good point. Well. Ooh, I know! I’ll make a marble cake made from real marble!” And with that, he disappeared in a puff of nonsense.

Ink Nose signed her letter, grabbed it and the book, and started upstairs. When she got to the bedroom, she saw the door open and sobbing coming from inside. Perhaps one of the Princess’s friends had come to visit and need some consoling.

“Here you go, Twilight. Another box of tissues.” That was Spike. Which meant the crier was…

“ It just hurts. It just gets worse and I don’t know how to fix it! I felt like this when Discord messed with everyone’s heads. But the pain wasn’t nearly this bad.”

“Well, that’s because you knew they were still your friends. You needed that reminder from Celestia, but you fought for them.”

“I know, but this time, it is my fault. Every time she calls me Princess, it just drives the fact home that I lost a friend!” She couldn’t be talking about her, could she?

“Twilight, you had your duties. It took you two months to decide to interrogate her because you didn’t want to in the first place.”

“What? No, I had to make a complex, logical decision. If I tried Lookout, she could have ended up like Screwy. Ivy and Sledge would never crack, and Slipwind would have just given me a run-around. Ink Nose is the only one who would have be able to take the questioning without breaking down and give me honest answers.”

“Yeah, and you figured all that out in the first couple days. You’re like Applejack, a horrible liar. You just didn’t want to put her on the spot.”

Twilight started crying again. “Stop being right! Fine, I just didn’t want to lose her as a friend! She the only close friend I have… had who even enjoys scholarly pursuits. It was good to have someone to talk to who could debate on my level.”

“So… your other friends are too dumb.”

“You know that's not what I mean! Rarity could list off each fashionable designer in order of popularity and influence from here to the end of the world. Rainbow Dash is doing thousands of calculations in her head when she’s managing the weather without even thinking about it. Their intelligence is on a different level than mine.”

“Oh, so she’s the right kind of smart.”

Ink Nose could practically hear her nodding. “Yes. And now, she’s gone.”

“You can make other friends. I’m sure there’s others who-”

“You don’t understand!” The walls seemed to shake a bit at that. “This will not be the last time I feel this pain! You’ve seen how Celestia is compared to Granny Smith. We’re all going to get older. But I’m going to be immortal. Ink Nose is the first friend I lost. I’m going to lose everyone else. That pain is going to keep piling up. I’ll make new friends, but they’ll leave too. This is only the beginning of what’s to come!”

Ink Nose started to tear up. She had blown it out of proportion, but with Cantrip in the hospital, she didn’t give herself the chance to actually deal with it. She looked at the letter she had written. If she left, she wouldn’t give Twilight a second chance when Twilight had given her a second chance, even if she didn’t know it.

“I want to remember the good times, Spike, not just the pain. The journal, the letters, they’ll be fond memories when I’m alone. When the others are gone, I’ll treasure each memory I had with them. But Ink Nose will only have one memory and I can’t do anything to change it.”

“Have you tried apologizing?”

“Yes! Several times. She accepts it, but I can see she still shuts me out.” Spike and Twilight suddenly heard what sounded like a piece of paper being torn. The looked toward the door. Spike jumped off the bed and pulled open the door it to a teary-eyed Ink Nose.

She just snuffled and wept out, “I’m sorry Twilight. I didn’t give you the chance you deserve.” She walked in. “You gave me a second chance and this is how I repay you? Misery and suffering? I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” She ran over and hugged Twilight, both of them crying.

Spike slipped out and let the two of them have their moment. He noticed the torn letter and book by the door. “Starswirl’s Essay on Ethereal Emergencies. Odd.” He started heading to the library when he noticed one of the crystal statuettes. “Huh, we have an extra statue.” He picked it up and sniffed it. “Well, I could use a snack.” He opened his mouth…

*POOF* “Really, Spike, there are more civilized ways to call my bluff.” Discord looked at him rather angrily.

Spike grinned, “Yeah, but my way was more fun!”

Discord patted the little dragon on the head. “You know, I may be having an influence on you.”

“Not likely. So, why set this up?”

“Set what up?” A little halo popped over Discord’s head.

Spike didn’t fall for it. “This book? It was the first one Ink Nose found for us. Why would she bring this up? When I saw you, I put two and two together.”

The halo disappeared. “Simple, my dear Spike. We are going to war and everyone needs to be in tip top shape.”

Spike just raised an eyebrow.

“Fine. I come out of a two month nap to find Twilight and Book Nose…”

“Her name is Ink Nose.”

“…right, Ink Nose. They’re mopey and whiney and all sorts of miserable and… Well, I didn’t like it. Maybe I have changed, but I don’t like the suffering when it’s my… my friends.”

Spike hugged him around his dragon leg. “I guess you really are a good guy. Thanks. I’d save the war jokes for another time, though.”

“Oh, I wasn’t joking. Something is very wrong and it is my duty as Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony to fight it.” This time a devilish grin crossed his face. “Spike, my lad, we are going to war.”

Chapter 16: Sanity is Overrated

Chapter 16: Sanity is Overrated

DINK! DINK! Cantrip’s side ached. He’d been out of the hospital for two weeks and the doctor told him to take it easy. Yet, here he was, on a stone slab, enchanting picks and carving sigils. DINK! Summer was in full swing and nothing was slowing him down.

“Howdy pardner!” Cantrip looked behind him. Applejack had just crested the hill behind him. “Ink Nose asked me to keep an eye out for you. Come on and have some lunch!”

Well that was unexpected. Ink Nose was on her way to the Canterlot Archives today to return some research material and (hopefully) pick up more. It was nice of Applejack to help keep an eye out, especially since he could work through meals without realizing.

Then he smelled it: Fresh apple fritters. His stomach was angry at him for forgetting about it and said so loudly. Applejack chuckled at him, “Yeah, I figured you’d be a might bit hungry. Twilight would get the same way sometimes.”

“Mye it must mi mave a…” Cantrip swallowed, a bit embarrassed at his lack of manner. “Sorry. I was hungrier than I realized. I just have a lot of work to do. Chiseling stone isn’t easy.”

“Just what are ya doing anyway? Don’t look like any statue.”

“It’s a complicated spell assembly.”

“In other words, way over my head.”

“Not at all. Think of it like a wagon. You have the bed, an axle, and wheels, right?”

“So basically the sum of the parts.”

“Right, but a step further. Think about the wheel. If one of the spokes were to break, the wheel could break under the weight, right?”

“Yeah. So you’re making sure all the spokes are fit fer use, right?”

He pointed to the sigils he was carving. “Each one of those should make sure that magic wagon will keep going.”

“Well, I still don’t like it. I don’t mind Discord and all, but I still have a ways to go to trust him.”

“Trust me when I say that I understand. He didn’t trust any of you until the whole Tirek incident.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“When we were he explained it: He was never a chance. He was just having his fun and someone told him to stop. He didn’t like that, and then he gets turned into stone. He breaks free, and someone else turns him to stone. Then he’s released and they attempt to ‘reform’ him. He really did appreciate Fluttershy giving him the first chance he had. It was the only one he had. But nobody else would give him one. So he would play nice. A truce.

“Tirek came along with what sounded like a better deal. None of you really seemed like a friend to him, save Fluttershy. So why should he care about anything other than himself? As soon as he saw Fluttershy, for the first time in his life, he felt guilt. Genuine guilt. He didn’t like it. Then Tirek betrayed him. Used him as a bargaining chip. When Twilight demanded her friends be returned and counted Discord among them, he realized what the chance was that he was actually given. It was the first time he was truly repentant.”

Applejack just shook her head. “I never knew he felt like that. Maybe I’ve been a might harsh on him, but he does have a way to go to earn that trust.”

Cantrip grabbed his fourth fritter and gulped it down. “Well, I better get back to work. Thank you for lunch, Applejack.”

“Shucks, not a big deal. Just make sure you’re not out here too late or Ink Nose will tar and feather me.”

He nodded and got back to chiseling. DINK! DINK! DINK!

“CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN I… Wait, what did I want to do?” Pinkie had forgot what she was asking.

Sledge just facehooved. “‘Glad-You’re-Better’ party for Cantrip?”

“What? He isn’t back to full health yet! How can you ask me to throw him a party if he isn’t all better? He wouldn’t be able to enjoy it to the maximum! Shame on you, Sledge!”

“No, you asked if you could throw one for him.” Why they insisted on sending Sledge to deliver the apples to Sugarcube Corner, he didn’t not know.

“Oh, right. Sorry. So how is he? Is he better yet? Can I throw a ‘Glad-You’re-Better’ party for him yet? CAN I?” Sledge threw a hoof over her mouth.

“No. He’s still healing. It’ll take some time before he’s one hundred percent.”

“How do you know? Maybe he’s at one hundred and ten percent!”

Sledge turned his side towards her and pointed to his scar. “That’s how I know.” Pinkie’s hair flattened a little. “Bad injuries take time to heal. Sometimes they don’t heal right and you’re never at a hundred percent again. Give him time, Pinkie.”

“Okay. I’m sorry. It’s just that things have been a little dour lately. And I like dour things as much as I like sour things. Not very much at all.”

Sledge smiled. “Just give it time, Pinkie Pie.”

“No time no time I’m late I’m late I’m late!” Lookout was never late for work! All this time she had been fine with Rainbow Dash keeping her on schedule. Today, she didn’t wake her up. But Dash wasn’t anywhere! Did she not wake up? In her panic, she flew as fast as she could.

“Alright, let’s get a thick bank over there. We’re gonna have a nice storm in a couple days, so don’t let them get too high. And where’s Thunderlane? I told him to take those clouds over to Sweet Apple Acres! He should be back by now!” At this point, Lookout came up to her and just narrowly avoided crashing in to her. “Hey Lookout! What’s up?”

“What’s up? WHAT’S UP? I didn’t wake up this morning! Here it is just before noon! I didn’t mean to sleep in so late…”

“Uh, Lookout?”

“…I mean I have a clock but I never set the alarm because you always wake me up…”

“Lookout!”

“…but I thought maybe you couldn’t get me up and I was being too…”

“LOOKOUT!”

Lookout shrunk back. “I’m sorry. I know you’re mad.”

“I’m not mad. You had today off.”

“What? But… you’re here and… what?”

“I told you, each week check the schedule. I decided it was time to start putting you on your own schedule. You had today off.”

Lookout was completely lost. “My own schedule?” She looked at her wing. It wasn’t twitching. “You mean… my own…?”

Rainbow Dash just facehooved. “Look, Twilight said I should start shaking things up with you. You need to start planning things out yourself. I mean everything you do, I tell you to do. It’s about time you start being a little more independent. We’re gonna start with your work schedule. We’ll have different days off, start you slow. Soon, I’m not going to wake you up anymore. You’re gonna be responsible. Eventually, you’ll be ready to move out of my house.”

Lookout suddenly didn’t know what to do. “But… but…”

“No buts, kid. You need to be your own pony.”

First the first time since she got out of the hospital, she started to shake. Her wings started to falter and she started dropping.

“What the? Cloudchaser! You’re in charge!” Rainbow Dash dove down to catch her. Lookout’s wings looked like they were trying to work, but they couldn’t get a proper beat. Dash caught her and lowered her down to the ground safely. “Kid, you okay? Lookout? Aw man, where’s your medicine? I’ll go get it!”

Lookout just grabbed her. “Please. Please don’t leave.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t do the mushy stuff and she could tell that’s exactly what was going on here. “Uh… okay?”

After a few minutes, Lookout stopped shaking. “I’m… I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. You just mentioned me leaving and everything went… wrong.”

“Wow, you are needy.”

Lookout let go and blushed. “I’m sorry, I just… You know what my family was like. I might as well have never had one. You’re the closest thing to a family I ever had.” Lookout hung her head. “I guess I just didn’t want to think about letting go.”

“It’s cool. I get that. But family isn’t just ‘oh I’ll take care of you’, it’s pushing people in the direction they need to go. You need to be on your own eventually. But it’s gonna take time. Twilight asked me to take you in for a month as a favor. Everything after that, I did because I wanted to help you become awesome.” Lookout looked up at her. “Well, not as awesome as me. Nopony could be as awesome as me. But you’re pretty good.”

Chapter 17: Infinite Confinement

Chapter 17: Infinite Confinement

“It’s a trap!” Applejack smiled as she understood what Cantrip was talking about.

“Yeah, excellent way of putting it. Any retaliation will be shunted and just break the spell rather than put somepony in the hospital again.”

Twilight looked over the assembly. Twenty-five markings inside the grid of lines. Some of the sigils looked familiar, but others were like small spell circles. “I get the layout of the assembly, but that central circle is meant to create a core. Like a magical power generator.”

“Correct. I’ll be using it to power the spell. If everything lines up like I plan, I can cast the spell until the energy runs out.”

“Forgive me if I misunderstand, darling,” interjected Rarity. She was hesitant about coming out here. It was a bit… dirty for her tastes. “I’m not as versed as Twilight in these matters, but you have to be in contact with the core, isn’t that right?”

Ink Nose read the reports. She knew the implications. He had to be inside the assembly. Once the junctions started linking, the energy would be potent and would likely rip him apart. “No, Cantrip! That could hurt you! Those links…”

“…will be absorbed by the circles and sigils. I’m not casting the spell from the assembly. The assembly powers the spells and wards, including the core. I’ll then use the core to do my searching.”

Lookout raised a hoof. “Um, question. When you look for it, aren’t you just going to get attacked again?”

Pinkie Pie popped up over her head. “Nope! He’s not gonna look for that not-scroll you guys stole, he’s gonna look for a way around it!”

Sledge just looked in disbelief. “Wait, you understand all that?”

Pinkie just smiled and bounced around. “It’s like a game of tag except you can’t tag the last pony you tagged but you don’t know who to tag next until the one you tag next tags you first then you can tag them but they’re not really tagging you and you run around until you find the one that actually can tag you and that’s the one that you can chase to the not-scroll!”

Everyone just blinked. Rainbow Dash said what everyone was thinking, “Is it creepier that she understood that so well or that we understood her?”

“Given that she thinks like me, I think it’s just cute!” A disembodied voice started gaining a body. Rainbow Dash freaked at the sight of two Pinkie Pies, even if it was obvious one was Discord. “The whole plan is actually a little dependent on things being silly.”

Cantrip smiled. “Discord! I was worried you wouldn’t make it!”

“Tut tut, I know I’m late, but I wouldn’t want to miss this party!” The two Pinkies threw lots of confetti in the air before Discord took his normal shape. “Celestia had me doing a little work first.”

Fluttershy looked at him. “Discord? What did you do?”

Discord just stammered, “Wha uh me? Why what would make you think I did anything?” Fluttershy just narrowed her eyes. “Oh all right. I kind of maybe perhaps accidently… turned Celestia’s throne into bubblegum right as she was sitting down.”

It was dead silent before ever just burst into laughter. As it calmed down, Rainbow Dash, “We’ll have to call her Bubble Butt from now on!” Everyone lost it.

As the laughter died down, Discord said, “Well, anyway, that’s why I’m late. Learned my lesson. I don’t want to clean gum out of a tail again.”

Cantrip wiped away a tear. “All right all right, let’s get in place. The sooner we start this the sooner we go home. Take your places.”

The process was simple. Twilight and her friends, the Crew, and Discord just had to focus their natural powers into each channel. Even the Earth Ponies and Pegasi could channel their natural magic with a little focus. Lookout was a little shaky, but she seemed strong enough.

It was a thing of magic. Not just in the practical sense, but the assembly was beautiful. Ink Nose saw a couple in practice in Canterlot and they were nothing like this. The lines were always their own individual colors, as this one started out. As Cantrip activated the circles and sigils, she saw the telltale spark that indicated the intersections were joining.

Then, everything changed. The light was white, but it look marbled, like it wasn’t pure white, but every color marbled together to make white. It was beautiful.

Then she noticed Cantrip had disappeared.

Then she noticed Slipwind, Discord, and Rarity had disappeared.

The world flashed in brilliant blackness.

“WHAT THE!? WHERE ARE WE?!” Rarity was panicked like never before.

“Welcome to the Gap! I’m glad to see you made it here Rarity.” She turned her head to the voice. It came quite clearly from Discord. “We need at least one person who’s level-headed. I thought Applejack would be the one. Cantrip is a little out there already. Slipwind is a tricky fellow. He should be able to keep us from getting stuck.”

She looked around. There was Cantrip, eyes glowing in the throes of spell fever, a state where unicorns focus all of their energy on maintaining their spell and lose connection to their surroundings. Slipwind was just kind of twirling around in empty space. “Woo hoo! This feels like flying but better!”

This did nothing to relax Rarity. “Let me try asking a different way! WHERE ARE WE?!”

“Come, come, Rarity, such a state doesn’t become you. You never teleported yourself so this might not feel familiar. The Gap is the void between your world and many others. When a unicorn teleports, they briefly come here for an infinitesimally small amount of time before returning. Cantrip thought we could circumvent the protection by not seeking things from the real world. The core allows us to stay here even longer. Well, allows you. I can break rules.”

Rarity was somehow calmed by this. “So, what are we going to do here?”

Cantrip started speaking in a nearl monotone voice. “Witness and analyze. I can channel the energies, but I need other minds to make sense of it.” He was clearly under duress, but the fever was subsiding.

“Very well, darling. So what are we looking for?”

Discord smiled. “There’s the rub, we don’t know. I’ve never been in the Gap this long, it is rather dull. But now there’s a chance to actually have some fun here! So, Cantrip? If you would, let’s get this party started!”

Chapter 18: Probability and Negation

Chapter 18: Probability and Negation

Something started forming. The light from Cantrip’s eyes seemed like it was hitting a wall. Snow in the perfect void started falling. Then colors were starting to show. Sounds could be heard, like distant mumbling.

Discord turned to Cantrip. “Almost there, buddy, just bring it into focus.” He was peering closely at the snowy image as it started turning into blobs. The mumbling turned into muffled voices.

Suddenly, the picture became clear and the voices could be heard clearly.

“Yes, your highness.” It was Celestia, but she was addressing someone else. “Next on the agenda, we have a letter from Apple Fritter. He wants to know if you want thirty apple pies for this year’s gala.”

From out of view came a soft and melodic voice. “No, tell him we would like thirty-five this year.”

“You majesty, last year we ended up with two leftover.”

“And it would have been a shame if it was two too few. Moreover, if we do happen to have extras, I will be sure to take care of them personally. Send him the reply with the appropriate bits. Any other business that needs to be taken care of right now?”

Celestia seemed a bit taken back. “Well, not right now. We have plans to make for Cadence’s visit next week as well as organizing tomorrow’s agenda.”

“Very well then, Celestia. Let us call it an early day. Clear that throne room. Oh, and somepony come find me when Luna raises the moon.”

Celestia turned around. “Day Court has ended for today! By order of the queen, clear the throne room!” Some side discussion seemed to get quiet as a large pair of doors could be heard being shut. As soon as they were… “What’s this about? In the 70 years you’ve been queen, you’ve only skipped planning your days when there was an emergency.”

“Celestia, we have company.” The ‘queen’ suddenly stepped into view. There was no mistaking who it could be.

It was Twilight Sparkle, as tall as Celestia herself. The jewelry she wore out shone Celestia’s own.

Speaking of which, Celestia’s horn lit up. “Where? An intruder?”

“Calm yourself, Tia. I can sense it, but we’re being watched.” Rarity, Discord, and Slipwind watched Twilight’s long horn glowed and covered the view in a brief glow of purple.

Celestia gasped. “No! It can’t be! Discord? Rarity? And… Um, I have no idea who that is.” Pointing to the oddly floating Slipwind.

Discord spoke up. “Well well, it doesn’t look like this’ll be a one-sided conversation after all. Good day to you Celestia. And Queen! Well, never thought you had it in you! Tell me, was it a coup d'etat? No, wait, you started a revolution, didn’t you? Oh, I can’t wait for that to start!”

Rarity was confused. “Wait, queen? How did Twilight become queen? Oh, please tell me you let me design your coronation dress! Was it fabulous? Oh, I can picture it now!” Rarity was practically giddy.

Discord rolled his eyes. “And here I thought she’d be the level-headed one. But yes, I’m sure you were offered it for being such a great sport and everything. When we defeated Tirek, I’m sure they thought it would be better in your hands.”

Slipwind righted himself. “Uh, way I heard it, they stopped Tirek, not you.”

“Well, I helped a little bit. I mean, I know I helped cause some of the trouble in the first place, but I helped fix it.”

The Queen looked a little perplexed. “I defeated Tirek.”

All 3 of them looked at her. Rarity said, “With our help also.”

The queen shook her head. “When Tirek and I fought each other, I had the upper hand. With all the princess’s powers combined, I overpowered him.”

Rarity looked taken aback. “You mean you never opened the box?”

“The box from the Tree of Harmony? No, we never figured out how. When everypony’s powers were returned after Tirek’s defeat, I tried to give the princess’s their powers back. Somehow, the magic bonded to me. It took decades before I could give Celestia and Luna enough power to raise the sun and moon again. Since I was so powerful, Celestia decided I should be made Queen. It was more political than anything, but I stepped up to be a true leader.”

Their jaws nearly hit the ground. That was not how things went. Slipwind spoke up, “This isn’t our reality.”

Discord nodded. “You’re right. We’re not viewing things as they happened, but rather what could have happened. But why in the future?”

Celestia shook her head. “Who knows? But one thing is certain, this is powerful magic. Be careful, my little ponies.”

The scene shifted back toward snow.

Rarity was the first to speak. “Didn’t Twilight look marvelous?”

Slipwind looked at her. “Focus, Rarity. Twilight was a queen because something changed. This spell is supposed to gets us to that scroll. If we’re going around, seeing what had happened because things change, then what we’re looking for is what stayed the same.”

Discord nodded. “The fact that we were able to have the difference explained to us was a stroke of luck. Who knows if we’ll be able to converse so freely next time?”

Almost if on cue, the snow started settling again.

“Twilight, Twilight, I found something! It doesn't stop time, but it lets you go back in time. It says you can go back once, and it only lasts for a few moments. Does that help?” Pinkie was holding up a scroll.

“Pinkie, you’re a… wait. It’s seems like a good idea, but isn’t this how this mess started?”

Spike looked at her. “But you could just warn yourself.”

“No Spike, I couldn’t. Last time, I didn’t let myself get a word in, except just enough to cause all this stress. This time, I’ll just let things come as they… Do you hear something?”

There was a rumbling. Not from Spike’s stomach from too much ice cream, but something else. Distant almost, as if reality suddenly became a storm.

Pinkie looked scared. “Twilight, what’s going on!?”

“I don’t know! Unless… Oh no! By not going back in time, I created a paradox! Quick! Give me that scroll! Maybe it’s not too…” A sudden magical explosion where Twilight was standing turned the view to snow again.

“So, I guess the lesson here is don’t try to fix time?” Slipwind thought there was something to it. Right?

“Well, time isn’t the issue. Something had to be the same, right up until she didn’t cast her little time spell.” Discord was confused. Chaos confused is not usually a good thing. "It also didn't help she was dabbling in time magic like that. Time magic has to be planned almost perfectly, from what you did to what you wil do."

Rarity said, “Well, the only things that were the same was Twilight. She was the only one present both times. But if we’re trying to find out how to get that thing, how is she involved? She didn’t even know about it.” The snow started clearing again.

“Miss Sparkle? Can you understand me?” A doctor was talking to Twilight. A very unhappy Twilight. She looked filthy and unkempt. But there was one real difference.

Her horn was broken.

“Yes Dr. Hoofenwitz. I’m just tired today.”

“Do you know how long you’ve been here, Twilight?”

“No. I stopped counted some time ago.”

“It’s been 8 months and 4 days. Does that seem right?”

“I DON’T KNOW! SHOULD IT SEEM RIGHT?” Twilight was suddenly angry, then just as quickly she started sobbing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay, Twilight. You’ve made good progress since coming here.”

“Why do we have to do this over and over?”

“So you can deal with the reality of what happened. Now, let’s go through it again. How did you get here?”

Twilight sighed. “It was the day of the 1000th Summer Sun Festival. Nightmare Moon came like I predicted. With the help of five new…” An ache just crossed her face. “… ponies, we had found the old castle in Everfree Forest.” She seemed hesitant.

“Go on. You can do this Twilight. You entered the castle…”

After a moment, she picked back up. “I entered the castle to confront Nightmare Moon. With the help of my fr… fr…” It seemed hard to say it.

“You can do this, Twilight. With the help of your…”

“With the help of my fr… friends,” nearly exhausting herself with the words, “we were able to awaken the Elements of Harmony. We were able to purge Nightmare Moon from Princess Luna.”

“Good. Let’s take a little breather before we continue. Would you like some water?”

“Yes please.” The doctor poured her a glass. She carefully picked it up with both hooves and drank it slowly. The discussion was exhausting for her.

“Okay then. Let’s continue.” The doctor looked at her a little sternly. This was the hard part.

“I don’t want to. Can we hold off today?”

“No, Twilight, not today. You need to face your past and accept it. You can do this. We’ve been working for months to get to this point. Today, you move forward.”

She seemed like a little filly how was just told Nightmare Moon was going to gobble her up. “I… I don’t…”

“Do it, Twilight. You control yourself. Not the memory, you!”

Slowly, she started speaking. “The… the magic was too strong. I started going out of control.” Like a dam bursting, it started flooding out. “No! I can’t control it!” She made a motion like she was ripping something off her head. “It’s not working! IT’S INSIDE ME!” Her eyes started to glow. The water pitcher and glass started levitating. “I CAN’T… NO… CELESTIA! BREAK MY HORN! IT’S THE ONLY WAY! MAGIC IS INSIDE ME AND I CAN’T STOP IT! I’LL KILL EVERYPONY!” The scream she let out shattered the glass and pitcher before she slumped onto the floor.

Two orderlies rushed in. One of them picked up Twilight. The other looked at the doctor. “Doc, you all right?”

The doctor was wet, but none of the glass had cut him. “I’m okay. And with time, she will too. She finally broke through.”

Rarity was crying. “Poor Twilight! That could have happened?”

Slipwind wrapped a wing around her to comfort her, tears in his own eyes. “That wasn’t our Princess. That didn’t happen.” Slipwind was mad now. “Right now, we have one common thread. She overcame Nightmare Moon. That’s our common link.”

Discord was shocked beyond belief. “I didn’t think they had that much power! I mean, turning me to stone is one thing, but that? Poor Twilight.”

Rarity looked at him through tear-filled eyes. “So you think Nightmare Moon is behind this?”

“No.” Cantrip spoke for the first time in a long time in a nearly mechanical voice. “The spell is still going. That mean we haven’t found our path yet. We’re getting closer.”

Chapter 18.5: Crosswords and Crossroads

Chapter 18.5: Crosswords and Crossroads

“Eight letter word, woodwind instrument, fourth letter R, last letter T. Hmm…” Donut Joe chewed a little on his pencil. This was a tough crossword. The clues weren’t as specific, but he hadn’t had a crossword beat him yet.

“Morning boss!” Fry walked in. Pale fur, red mane, kinda dumb, but a sweet kid. “Ready for this morning’s delivery.”

“Good news, no delivery today. You can just make donuts.”

“Aw, but I liked talking to the guards! They usually have some funny stories. So I thought we were delivering donuts to them every Tuesday.”

“Oh, that was just for a couple months. Last week was the last week. Thought I told you last week that was the last one. Hey, what’s an eight letter word for woodwind instrument, fourth letter R, last letter T?”

“Uh, I dunno. Um… borriqut?”

“What?! How do you even spell… no, just, forget it. Go start on the bear claws.”

“You got it, boss!” Loyal kid. And to think, everypony thought he’d do nothing but fry hay fries all his life.

“Oh, I got it. Clarinet. That would make twenty-three down… divergence.”

Chapter 19: Rage of Madness

Chapter 19: Rage of Madness

Rarity wasn’t sure she could take much more. Seeing Twilight like that was nearly enough to break her resolve. She would probably be a quivering mess if Slipwind wasn’t helping hold her up. Of course, he was in just as bad shape, so she was keeping him up as well. As the snow started to settle again, they straightened themselves and made ready for whatever came.

“My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!” Spike was reading a letter in a room Rarity hadn’t seen before.

Twilight did the only thing she could do. She sighed.

“Look on the bright side, Twilight. The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn't that make you happy?”

“Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return.” Twilight seemed confident as she… snow.

Rarity looked back. “Cantrip! Something’s wrong!”

He didn’t hear her that time. Slipwind asked instead, “What exactly?”

“That scene? I remember Twilight even showing me the letter. Nothing was different. It happened just as she said it did.”

Discord looked thoughtful for a moment. “That means those other possibilities had Nightmare Moon as a common thread. No, more like a rope! There’s more to this. Not only did the gang overcome her, everything that lead up to that was pretty… wait, no, that can’t be right, can it?”

Rarity and Slipwind looked at him. “What can’t be right, darling?”

“We’ve been seeing alternate possibilities, but suddenly we’re not, like it was set in stone. Nothing is ever set in stone. That’s the essence of chaos!”

“Keep in mind you were trapped in stone at the time.” Rarity just said it like it was normal as breathing.

“No, not me. I’m merely its avatar. Life needs chaos! Change, possibilities, the unpredictable! Do you know what perfection is like? Boring! Not because there’s nothing to do, but because nothing ever changes. If perfection is changed, it’s not perfect anymore. Time is even at a standstill!”

Slipwind just tried thinking about it. “Gotta agree, sounds super boring.” The snow started forming again. This time with a blinding light. Celestia reached into the light and… It dissipated, revealing a very young Twilight Sparkle. A nearby cactus and fern turned into a couple of unicorns, Twilight’s parents if Rarity remembered correctly.

“I remember this all too well!” Rarity spoke over the scene. “This is when Twilight became Celestia’s student and earned her cutie mark.” A giant purple dragon suddenly became a younger, cuter Spike. “There! Spike just hatched! I’m sure of it!”

Slipwind picked up as Twilight and Celestia were talking. (Well, Celestia talked, Twilight just looked dumbfounded.) “Wait a second, you’re telling me Celestia was in the right place at the right time? That seems… I dunno, off.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“If this is just the way it happened, then it’s a thicker rope, like Discord had mentioned. Like it was planned in advance.”

“YES!!!” They were distracted by little Twilight, who just agreed to be Celestia’s student. Discord just stayed lost in thought

Rarity smiled as the scene turned to snow again. “I feel a bit naughty spying on Twilight’s life like that, but it was so charming to see it. Nevertheless, I think our path is Twilight’s path. Like it’s intertwined. Who do you think would manipulate things like that?”

Almost as if in response, the snow settled again. Cantrip spoke up, “This is it! I feel the spell reaching its end!”

The scene was… a bedroom? Rarity and Slipwind suddenly realized how close they had been, causing them to blush slightly. Of course, manners dictated they not acknowledge it, so they just remained where they were without so much as a word.

“An excellent festival, as always your highness.” The voice came through as a door opened. “And did you see that little unicorn who squirmed her way up? She looked like you were raising the sun just for her!”

Celestia smiled at her assistant. “In a way, I was, Aurora. I raised that sun just for everypony.”

“This. This is why I’m proud to work for you, your highness.” The green, rainbow-maned Pegasus bowed in mid-air. “You truly care for everypony. I just hope my niece Dashie is as loyal as you when she grows up.”

“That reminds me, how did she like that Wonderbolts’ show?”

“Oh, Rainbow Blaze is a tad upset with me. She will not stop darting around the house. She keeps saying how she’ll be a Wonderbolt and zipping around. He is happy though. Dashie was a little upset about Cloudsdale not getting the Equestria Games. Like she took it personally.”

“Well, I’m glad I could help. Now if you’ll excuse me, Aurora, I’m going to freshen up a bit before the luncheon.”

“Very well, your highness. Oh, Granny Smith sent you an apple pie, like she does every year. Would you like that at dessert tonight?”

“You know, I think not. Have that at lunch.” Aurora bowed and zipped out the door.

Celestia opened a small scroll case and pulled out a piece of paper, then suddenly looked around. “I can’t help but feel like I’m being watched.” Her horn glowed softly. “I know you’re there. Come out, I mean you no harm.”

Slipwind spoke up, “Uh, can you hear us?” Celestia looked in their direction, but couldn’t quite pinpoint it. “I guess she can’t.”

“No, I can hear you… But I can’t even detect you. Very potent magic. Even when someone is invisible, a life can be traced. Who are you?”

Slipwind felt like he was the spokesman for the group. “My name is Slipwind, your highness. We didn’t mean to intrude on your past.”

“What do you mean past? Where are you?”

“Best I can understand it, we’re where you go when unicorns teleport.”

“We? You’re managing to exist in the Gap for extended periods? You must be powerful unicorns indeed. I would have warned you against such reckless actions. Just be sure not to tarry too long. The Gap is not meant for anypony to stay in for long.”

Rarity felt it was her turn to speak. “Yes, your highness, but we’re hoping our work is almost finished. You see, where… or rather WHEN we’re from, a scroll was stolen. Or rather, it’s not a scroll… Cantrip would better explain this, but he’s casting the spell. Anyway, we had to take a rather long way around to find it. And we’re here.”

Celestia arched an eyebrow. “Scroll? You don’t mean this, do you?” She opened the scroll to show them and everything went black.

It was a thing of magic. Not just in the practical sense, but the assembly was beautiful. Ink Nose saw a couple in practice in Canterlot and they were nothing like this. The lines were always their own individual colors, as this one started out. As Cantrip activated the circles and sigils, she saw the telltale spark that indicated the intersections were joining.

Then, everything changed. The light was white, but it look marbled, like it wasn’t pure white, but every color marbled together to make white. It was beautiful.

Then she noticed Cantrip had disappeared.

Then she noticed Slipwind, Discord, and Rarity had disappeared.

Oh wait, there they are. Like they teleported just briefly. And they… “Cantrip!” Ink Nose rushed over to the collapsed unicorn. He was okay, just groggy. Rarity and Slipwind were in bad shape though. They looked like they hadn’t eaten in weeks. Everyone was starting to panic. Discord started to stand up.

Twilight had to ask, “Discord! What happened?”

“Rarity and Slipwind first. They need rest and food. Staying in the Gap for that long took its toll on them. I never knew it could be that harsh for ponies. Then, I’m going to have a personal chat with Celestia. We found the path we need to take and it’s straight through Celestia.”

Discord had a look of rage on his face, like a manticore who just had a bite taken out of his tail. For the first time in his existence, he was doing everything in his power to control himself.

Chapter 20: In the Name of the Moon

Chapter 20: In the Name of the Moon

“START EXPLAINING DISCORD!” Twilight was furious. He assured her that Rarity and Slipwind would be okay. That did nothing. Cantrip’s spell protected them like it was designed to. Didn’t matter. Rarity’s and Slipwind’s condition were an unexpected side effect of the Gap. So what? Cantrip just needed some rest, which he was getting in Ink Nose’s room while they chatted, and he’d be fine. Irrelevant.

She wanted to know why Discord looked like he wanted to kill Celestia.

“It’s not Celestia! She has her own punishment to pay if I think all of this is correct, but the real source of all this that scroll! The reason Cantrip couldn’t remember it correctly is because it was literally changing. And for the record, it’s your fault all this started to begin with!”

Twilight was suddenly taken back by this. “My fault? How in Equestria is this my fault?”

“You tampered with time! You went back one week and caused a chain of events to occur. It may have been unwitting, and I don’t blame you, but you do share a small load of responsibility. Like knocking over a lantern that burns a house to the ground.”

“Now hold on,” Applejack interrupted. “We need to know what’s going on to begin with.” They had already been told the events that were witnessed. That still left questions. “If what y’all are saying is true, Celestia set a bunch of events to fall like dominoes. Big question is, why?”

Discord scoffed, “It’s rather obvious. The event that had the common result was you six facing Nightmare Moon and freeing Luna. That meant everything had to be manipulated for that! Wouldn’t you do anything for your precious Apple Bloom?”

Applejack seemed offended. “Well of course I would! There’s nothing I wouldn’t do!”

“Even kill?” The throne room went silent. “I’ll let you all in on a secret, especially since that secret has been found already. The piece of paper that tried to rip apart Cantrip was a page from the Book of Destiny.”

The awkward silence was finally broken by Ivy. “And that means what exactly?”

“The Book of Destiny holds one existence. It is also my… don’t laugh. Rulebook.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I don’t think this is the time for jokes. Everypony knows you don’t have rules!”

“Not rules as far as you can comprehend them. I have two simple rules that allow my existence. First, never take a life. I could skirt that rule by knocking a boulder loose and just happen to have it roll over a pony, but I’d rather not do that anyway. The other is never change what is already written. Rather simple really, I just never looked inside the book, so I can’t change anything.”

“If you’ve never looked inside,” reasoned Ivy, “then how do you know it was a page from the book?”

“The same way you know a pony is a pony even though you’ve never met them before. It’s a part of who I am! And Celestia got her hooves on a piece of it. It’s been re-written. All to free her sister from the clutches of Nightmare Moon.”

Again, Ivy asked, “Why is that so bad?”

“If a page is rewritten, the effects ripple through time. Ponies that were supposed to exist, be born, are suddenly wiped clean. The book has to rewrite itself in order to keep things clean. However Celestia got it, she altered it so that Luna could be freed. That caused a rewrite that showed what she would have to do. If my guess is correct, she had to do the Summer Sun Celebration in Canterlot that year, be there when your magic started surging to offer you to be her student, then send you to Ponyville on that last day to ‘make friends’. She RIPPED your life away so she could get her sister!”

Everyone just looked at Twilight. She smiled and said softly, “And if she hadn’t I’d have never met my friends.”

“YOU’RE A FOOL, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” Discord roared. “What happened after you saw her raise the sun that day? You dived into the books and never came up for air! What about the friends you would have made? Never met them because she made you her student! What about the life you would have had? Never happened because she sent you to Ponyville! There are children on that page that will never be born because she changed it! That page said you were supposed to die a happy great-great-grandmother, and those lives NO LONGER EXIST BECAUSE SHE CHANGED IT!” Discord just collapsed and started crying. Fluttershy dashed over to him, holding him as tight as she could.

Twilight had a look of confusion and misery on her face. She finally understood. Discord knows of these lives and he wept for them, not simply because Celestia made changes. All those lives were as real as if they were in front of him.

“She doesn’t know.” Almost everyone looked at Lookout. “She couldn’t have known. If she did, she wouldn’t have done it. She never knew. That’s why she made those changes. She thought she was helping her sister and it just happened that the way to do it was to make Twilight her student.”

Pinkie zipped over and looked her in the eyes. “And just how do you know? Did you peek inside her head?”

“It’s what I would have done.” Lookout just hung her head. “I would have rewritten everything just so I had a family. One that loved me.”

“Slipwind.” Everyone turned to the sudden voice. Cantrip had drug himself out of bed, still obviously woozy from everything. “I realized something a moment ago. The future. Neither Celestia nor Queen Twilight recognized Slipwind. Why is that?”

Sledge thought for a moment. “They never met us.”

“Exactly. We never stole the scroll. We never ended up in Ponyville. We never met anybody here.”

Ink Nose asked the obvious question. Well, obvious to her. “So what? That was an alternate timeline, right?”

“Of all possible realities, the book was rewritten so that we would steal the scroll. Why? Now, somebody mind telling me why Discord was so loud I could hear him in the library?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, let me just take him to my home. He really could use some rest. I think we all could. Discord, can you make yourself small so I can carry you?” He just nodded weakly and turned into the size of a lizard. She settled him on her back and started leaving. “Let’s all get some rest and meet back here tomorrow.

Sleep that night was difficult for everyone. Their dreams made them question so much about their life. Twilight, in particular, dreamt of children. She had toyed with the idea before, thinking if she had a son, she would name him Silver Light, after her great-great-grandfather who discovered a new formula for plant growth.

The moon kept its vigil over all of them.

Chapter 21: A Light in Dark Places

Chapter 21: A Light in Dark Places

“Do you know who Silver Light is?” Luna asked her older sister as if she heard the latest gossip.

Celestia answered as if she hadn’t heard the latest gossip. “No. Name doesn’t sound familiar.” Her breakfast of muffins were a force to be reckoned with, and with the power of the sun, she would conquer them all! In other words, she took another bite and swallowed. “Wait, isn’t he the sheriff of Appleloosa?”

“No, sister, that’s Silverstar. I only ask because some of the ponies in Ponyville were having some rather disturbing dreams. I tried calming them as best I could, but it was difficult. I thought Twilight was among them, but her dream involved someone named Silver Light. A rather young male unicorn. She seemed overly affectionate towards him, like he was a son.”

Celestia declared a temporary ceasefire on her breakfast and chuckled. “She’s not a young filly anymore. It’s not that surprising if she is thinking of a family. I wonder if she has her eye on somepony. She sent some fascinating research that started the development on those Cantrip lines the researchers have been experimenting with. Perhaps she is looking to start something with this Cantrip.”

“I don’t think so. I know this Cantrip. He keeps himself remarkably well shielded in his sleep.” She took another bite of her waffles. Next time, she’d see if they have any Zap Apple jam to go with it. “But the only time his guard is down is when it comes to someone named Ink Nose. That’s Twilight’s librarian, is it not?”

“Oh dear. I do hope that doesn’t cause any problems. Perhaps I should write to her. She’s wonderful at making friends, but love can be a different challenge altogether. Hmm, no, I think I’ll ask Cadence to talk to her about it. She is more qualified than I.” A slightly perplexed look crossed Celestia’s face. “Come to think of it, I haven’t gotten a letter from her since Winter Wrap-Up in Ponyville. She’s growing less dependent on me.”

“That’s a good thing, sister. She used to hang on to you like a child stays by its mother. Now, she’s more independent than when I first met her. But her dream wasn’t like that. It was… happy on the surface, but I could sense she was sad underneath it all. Like a child she had lost.”

“What?! No no, Twilight has never… I mean, I would think I’d find out… she’s not good at keeping secrets. If something like that had happened, I would have heard about it.”

Luna chuckled and poked fun at her sister, “Why Mommy Celestia, did your little Twily grow up faster than you thought.”

Celestia hung her head. “It’s not that. Sometimes I question taking Twilight under my wing. She still loves her family, but sometimes I think I replaced them. She sees me more often than her own parents, and she only sees her brother as often as she does because of his duties.”

“Tia, you took her as your student so you could teach her to control her magic. She told me herself.”

Celestia looked at the rising sun. “I wonder if I did, Luna.”

Slipwind looked at the rising sun. Yesterday was still a little hazy. He remembered passing out, and then it was a blur. They gave him food, which tasted like he made five round trips from Fillydelphia to Manehattan without stopping for food. They took him to a bed and told him to just rest. He passed out right after that.

“So soft.” He felt a hoof stroking his wings. It felt good. Then he realized somepony was stroking his wings and jumped up with a start. He looked behind him and saw Rarity behind him, waking up from his reaction. They both blushed.

“Let us never speak of this again. Agreed?” Rarity was quite flustered.

“Speak of what? What ever happened?” Slipwind was equally flustered. That was his way of agreeing to forget.

“My hoof on your wing. I was dreaming I was petting the softest feathers in… oh. Eh heh. Right. Subtext.”

Slipwind just facehooved. “Look, it’s okay. I’m not gonna blame you or say anything. After what happened yesterday, I’m surprised my brain is in one piece.” Suddenly, he felt a hoof on his wings again.

“They really are soft. I’ve had Rainbow’s and Fluttershy wings brush up against me before. Rainbow’s are rather stiff while Fluttershy’s just seem lighter than air. Yours are like a pile of pillows.”

“Rarity, please stop.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, darling.”

“It wasn’t uncomfortable. It just feels good. Really, REALLY good.”

“Then why did you want me to stop?”

“Because we’re not in that kind of relationship!”

“Oh. … OH! … oh.” Rarity seemed to be trying to blush her mouth shut. “I had no idea. Umm… Oh I know! Let’s find some breakfast!” They turned to the door to see a cart already in the room, with two warm stacks of pancakes covered in syrup. “I guess our friends knew we’d be hungry. Shall we?”

Slipwind extended a wing toward the cart and bowed slightly. “After you m’lady.”

“After you, Princess!”

“Thank you, Spike. You didn’t have to do all this.”

“What, make you breakfast? Sure I did. You seemed so down this morning you needed a good breakfast. I even followed the note you left me to make some for the guests upstairs.” He set the pancakes in front of Twilight and a separate stack for him with gem dust. “I made sure not to wake them.”

“Wait, and you’re not freaking out?”

“You said they were ill, try not to disturb them, just leave the food inside. Why would that freak me out?”

“Because we put Rarity and Slipwind in there.” Spike was now vigorously choking on his pancakes. He grabbed a glass of juice and drank some.

When he could breathe again, he admonished Twilight. “You shouldn’t joke like that when I’m eating! I nearly choked to death!”

“They were both ill after the spell we worked on yesterday. Discord said they needed food and rest and I wanted to keep a close eye on them.”

“But… but there was only one bed in that room.” Spike looked like he was ready to cry.

“Oh, stop it. I’m talking about sick ponies and your mind is going elsewhere.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” He just ate his breakfast in an embarrassed silence.

Twilight suddenly grabbed and hugged Spike. “Thank you for breakfast. I really do appreciate it and everything you do for me. I’m glad you’re in my life.”

“Uh, glad to be here. You okay, Twilight? You don’t usually get this sappy.”

“Every now and then, I need to remember the good things I have in my life. You’re one of them.”

Chapter 22: Malus Domestica

Chapter 22: Malus Domestica

Ivy woke up to her own alarm. The sun had yet to rise, but it was her job to make sure everyone got up. She stuck her nose out the door and simply, sweetly, said, “GET UP YA LAZY BUMS!”

After the last couple days, she just wanted to lose herself in the farming. Her job as supervisor for the farmhooves had been different, but she took to her job well. Especially since she heard the others get up.

Today was a Friday. That meant Sledge was off work today, so it was his turn for breakfast. She did enjoy how he kept things simple. Cut fruit, juice, and you were on your way.

“Sunflower! You’re working the south fields this afternoon, don’t forget your hat!” Sunflower needed his straw hat or he could overheat easily.

“Morning, Ivy! Be down in a minute.” Ivy smiled at Lilly Belle. The pegasus on the farm helped with arranging clouds that the weather team would bring in, allowing more efficient watering. She was up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Her tail was naturally like that. Iron Shoe liked to joke she got into a fight with a storm cloud and lost. Speaking of which….

“IRON SHOE! Get your flank out of bed or no breakfast for you! You know the rules!” Iron Shoe was the slow one. He was never late, but he was never early either.

In the months they had been working, they had a rather well-rehearsed routine. Wake up, breakfast, work, lunch, more work, dinner, plenty of time before sunset for what they want. There was some more work to do, but they were things Applejack insisted on doing herself. Only thing they really had to be careful of was the Cutie Mark Crusaders suddenly ripping through. They had no idea where their clubhouse was, but no matter which field they would work in, they’d hear that buzzing of Scootaloo’s wings.

“Morning Ivy. Pineapples and grapes on the table.” Sledge had everything set up for everyone’s breakfast.

“Pineapple? Where’d you get this?”

“Pinkie got a delivery for a party, but she had more than she needed. So I got a couple from her. Thought they’d make a good breakfast.” He brought over a pitched. She could smell the spices in the apple juice. She wanted to ask what the recipe was, but then HE wouldn’t be the one making it. She shook her head. No, Ivy, you are his boss.

“Ooh, do I smell pineapple?” Sunflower stepped up to the table and started chowing down. “Mmm. Would you believe I had a dream about pineapples? Weird, right?”

“Is there any food you don’t dream about Sunflower?” Lily Belle joined them. She helped herself, though she wasn’t being as much of a hog like Sunflower. “So, any plans later today, Sledge?”

“Actually, this afternoon, I’m going down to Sugarcube Corner, getting some stuff for this weekend. I wanted to ask if you’d help me, Ivy.” Ivy didn’t notice the sly smile on Lily Belle’s face.

“Really? Okay. I’ll meet you there after dinner. Thanks for breakfast.” With a last chug of her juice, she headed to the door. “Alright, the Apples should be about ready. You guys have your morning assignments, I’ll send Lilly Belle if you have anything else to do.” And she headed out.

Iron Shoes finally came down, took a seat, and started eating. “Morning, all.” He saw Lily’s smirk and Sledge’s smile. “I take it Operation Pink Surprise is a go?”

Ivy was nearly to Sugarcube Corner. She figured whatever Sledge was getting, it was large enough he couldn’t carry it himself, but too small to warrant a cart. She went in the shop… but it was odd. The lights were off. The only light in the shop came from a couple candles on a table.

A table with Sledge.

Ivy’s heart skipped a beat.

“Um… Sledge? What’s going on?”

“I’m here for a date with a special somepony.”

Ivy was a bit sad. She knew he was hanging around Pinkie a lot, but she didn’t think he had gone that far. “Oh, well then, I should get going, shouldn’t I?”

Behind her, a voice that could only be described as pink, said, “Now why would you do that? This is your party. A party of just two.” Before she knew it, Pinkie Pie had her in a chair, sitting down, with a cupcake in front of her.

“Pinkie? Sledge? What’s going on?”

Sledge smiled. “I’ve been working on this for a while. I wanted to ask you to be my special somepony.”

Ivy’s heart skipped again. “Sledge, I’m your boss, I don’t think Applejack would-”

“You leave Applejack to your Aunt Pinkie.” Pinkie said in the most serious voice she could. “I’m sure she knows you’re not going to do anything silly. Besides, everyone has been planning this for a couple weeks.”

Ivy was still hesitant. Sledge just said, “If you don’t want this, I’ll understand. But I had to take a chance. All or nothing.”

Ivy turned to Pinkie. “Can we have a moment?” She finally noticed Pinkie’s waiter outfit, complete with long, thin mustache. And how was she carrying that tray standing on her rear hooves? One thing she learned quickly was it’s “Pinkie being Pinkie”. And just like Pinkie, Pinkie was gone quick as a Bunniraffe.

That left Ivy with only one option. She leapt over the table at Sledge.

Rarity watched Pinkie sneak out of Sugarcube Corner. Lookout was next to her.

“So, darling, how’s their date going?” Rarity wanted first dibs on gossip since she helped Pinkie with the romantic decorations. Rarity had a hard time convincing her less was more for this.

Lookout just blushed. “I feel like I’m being taken advantage of here. It’s going really well. Really really well.” A sly grin crossed her face. “If they weren’t Earth ponies, I’d swear someone was petting someone’s wings.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about! I didn’t touch anypony’s wings!” Rarity quickly turned into a blushing ball of scandal.

“I knew it! I saw that look on Slipwind’s face and I knew something was going on. I didn’t think you were that kind of pony.”

Rarity did the only thing she could think of. She owned it. “Yes, it was a morning with a little petting. I had a dream involving fluffy feathers and my hoof happened to stray while I was asleep. I had no idea it had that effect on pegasi. We had our breakfast and went our separate ways.”

“Breakfast. Right. I heard differently.”

Now Rarity was mad! “What did he tell you!? The second time was just an idle curiosity! We promised not to speak of it again! When I get my hooves on him I’ll…. I’LL..!”

“Calm down. I just took a shot in the dark and you fell for it. So, second time? You really didn’t know, did you? Doesn’t help that he’s been smitten with you.” That last bit was just to egg her a bit.

“Yes, I know.”

“Wait, you know?” Lookout was at a loss for words.

“Since that first day we met, he’s has been courteous and an absolute gentlecolt. In all our discussions, he’s been an absolutely wonderful stallion. I must admit to a passing fancy… I’m just waiting for him to make the first move. A lady must be patient.”

“Uh, Rarity, you crossed the line.”

Rarity snapped out of her thought. “Wait what?”

“Yeah, touching wings like that? That’s kind of a deal breaker. You might as well have told him he was your special somepony.”

“What?”

“I mean, the first time, yeah, it could been brushed off as an accident. The second time? Let’s just say he’s flying around like Derpy.”

“What?” Lookout looked at Rarity. Looked like she was broken.

Lookout was trying to keep from laughing like crazy. “Come on, Rarity. You promised me dinner for spying for you. You got your gossip, Sledge and Ivy are an item. Now, over dinner, I’ll tell you what you’ll be doing as Slipwind’s pursuer.”

Rarity just walked next to her in a daze, mouth wide open.

“Rarity, close your mouth before I stick an apple in it.”

Chapter 23: Remember the Never

Chapter 23: Remember the Never

Twilight sent a letter ahead requesting a private audience with Celestia. This wasn’t unusual itself, but it was unusual that she wouldn’t be attending herself. Cantrip, Rarity, Slipwind, and Discord would be meeting with her.

Discord took a week to get the strength up for the meeting. As he saw it, all those lives were snuffed out for someone’s gain. But he agreed to hear Celestia out before making any rash decision. At the very least, he said, the guilty deserved to explain their side. He Pinkie Promised to do nothing to Celestia, and somehow he feared breaking it. Him, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony worried about a fluffy pinky pony who… could pop out of anywhere. Even he couldn’t understand how she did it.

Cantrip was reviewing all his notes. Again. For what must have been the fiftieth time. He felt he missed something somewhere, but he was driving himself mad. Or maybe he was mad and not just realizing it yet. That would be fun. He was rather tired of being sane. Perhaps he should just go mad for a bit and tuck away his sanity for when he really needed it. Yes, that would explain how Discord was able to act rational through this. He saved his sanity for when he needed it. And in the meantime, he caused trouble. Time to try this new approach. “So, Rarity, Slipwind, how long have you two been dating?”

Both of their eyes nearly popped out of their head. Rarity, of course, was the first to remark, “Who told you such a thing? Why would I stoop so low-”

“Oh come on, Rarity. Every pegasus in Ponyville knows. I’m not big on gossip, but when they notice things like that, it tends to get around.”

“That Lookout! I asked her to keep things quiet!”

Slipwind facehooved. “He just baited you and you took it.” Rarity look appalled.

Discord was interested. Rarity’s mind was frantic. Nothing to do now but egg her on. “How scandalous! Do tell, what attracted you to him? Was it the time we spent in the Gap? Let me guess, it’s his build, rather strong for a pegasus. He has a very healthy work ethic, not that I care for such things. Maybe it’s his wings-”

“Discord! Please!” Rarity was extremely bashful at the mention of wings.

Discord was ready to leap on that, but Cantrip stopped him. “It doesn’t matter. As for how the pegasi found out, Slipwind has been extremely distracted. Only time he seems focused is after he sees you. I’m not an expert on pegasus courtship, but I’ve learned enough to know there’s a bond. Listening to some of the idle gossip among the weather team, it just confirmed it.”

Discord just jumped in, “Ah, but then there’s the secrecy. Little Rarity is embarrassed about it. Keeping things hidden behind closed doors. No actual proof save what happens when eyes don’t look.”

“I am NOT embarrassed!” Her remark got a few heads on the train looking their way before they went back to whatever they were doing before. “We’re keeping things in private to see if we want to pursue this openly. If things don’t work out, nopony has to be the wiser.”

Slipwind shook his head. “Only problem is, everypony already knows. I guess I can’t hide my feelings very well, and enough of the weather team have seen us together to draw the logical conclusion. Like it or not, Ivy and Sledge are not the newest couple.”

Cantrip was surprised. “Ivy and Sledge? Huh, didn’t hear about that.”

“Apparently Sledge blindsided her with a romantic little dinner at Sugarcube Corner. All the farmhooves chipped in to set it up.”

Rarity smiled for her role in it. “Yes, it was quite the setup, if I do say so myself. Sledge told Pinkie it was like a party for just two, and, Pinkie being Pinkie, she had so many decorations planned. Sledge begged her not to go over the top, so she sought out my assistance. She’s not exactly the romantic type.” Rarity was in the zone, enjoying her work. “I managed to convince her, after several days, that some soft lighting, subtle flowers, and privacy would allow them the opportunity to admit to each other their true feelings, for good or ill.” Pride just beamed from Rarity’s grin.

“Well, when this is said and done, remind me to consult you for my first date with Ink Nose.” Everyone just looked at Cantrip. “What? There’s a connection there, but I’m not going to even try anything until this is all said and done.”

Discord loved this idea. “I can see it now. ‘Oh Ink Nose! I need a book! Where are you? Oh drat, I can never get any work done when she off smooching with her special somepony.’” His act of Twilight came complete with mock wings and horn. Rarity and Slipwind couldn’t help but chuckle.

“It’s not funny.” The gravity in Cantrip’s voice stopped their laughter quickly. “When this is all said and done, I have to answer for punishment. There’s no telling what will happen. I don’t want to start something with Ink Nose only to end up leaving her.”

Discord laid a paw on his shoulder. “Listen, if anyone gets to pass judgment on you, it’s me. The crime committed here falls under my jurisdiction. That page never belonged to Celestia to begin with, so I get to decide your punishment. I think the worst I’ll do to you is turn your tail into a bunch of bananas.”

The idea just had them all laughing and lightened the mood considerably all the way to Canterlot.

“I still don’t understand why I had to be awake for this, sister.” Luna stifled a light yawn.

Celestia looked at her admiringly. “You’re cute when you’re tired. But this has something to do with both of us. Twilight said you would need to hear this meeting as well. I can only imagine she believes your counsel will be valuable.”

“A meeting with Discord? I’d rather try understanding Pinkie Pie. I am much more likely to enjoy cupcakes.”

“Perhaps, but this isn’t the usual meeting. He has promised that it will be strictly business.”

“Well, unless it was a Pinkie Promise, I doubt he’ll hold to it.”

”Actually, it was. A bit unusual for him, but at least I don’t have to worry about sitting in gum.” Celestia looked at her tail. It still felt sticky.

Luna just chuckled. “I suppose I can tolerate his antics if he focuses on you.”

A guard walked in to the meeting room. “Your highnesses, Discord and his party are here.”

Celestia nodded at him. “Thank you. Please show them in and tell the kitchen staff to bring dinner in for six.” The guard bowed and walked out. He had the feeling that it was a good thing his shift was almost over.

Chapter 24: History Rewritten

Chapter 24: History Rewritten

Cantrip laid everything out on the table. How he was approached, the plans, the theft, the hiding, the meeting in Ponyville, the scrying, the two months in the hospital, the work in the Gap, everything he had done up to this point was laid bare. They needed to take a break during Winter Wrap-Up so Luna could raise the moon.

Then Discord stepped in. He explained what changing the page from the Book of Destiny did, how it interrupted the natural flow of time and life. He needed to return the page to the book so he could fix the book. For his part, he wanted to know how Celestia got the page and why she used it.

Celestia listened to all of it before she said something that floored all of them. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” Rarity and Slipwind were witnesses to her having the page, but she denied ever having it. They asked her several questions.

Why hold the Summer Sun Festival in Canterlot that year. Her reply: Why not? She chose different spots each year on a whim.

Why was she at the school that particular day? It’s called Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Why wouldn’t she be there any particular day?

Why send Twilight to Ponyville the day before Nightmare Moon would return? Celestia had to think about that one. She remembered writing the letter. It seemed like a good idea; as if she knew sending her would be beneficial. But maybe, with Nightmare Moon returning, her student might have been the best bet for combatting… Celestia couldn’t banish her the first time without the elements and she was an alicorn. Twilight was a strong unicorn but nowhere near strong enough to fight back. She would need the Elements of Harmony. What would possess Celestia to send her student away when danger loomed on the horizon. “I don’t know! I can’t think of a single reason I would send her on her own like that! I can remember the tears on my face from banishing Nightmare Moon, but I can’t remember what possessed me to send Twilight! Now I believe you.”

Discord pounced on this. “Perhaps you can remember how you got it with some magic work. I know there were spells that help ponies remember forgotten dreams, surely we can-”

“No, they wouldn’t work.” Everyone looked at Slipwind. “I understand enough to know this. That page changed. It’s just as likely it changed so Celestia never got the page. She did each of those steps to put Twilight in a position of power because, from her perspective, everything happened naturally. I think we’ve been asking the wrong question from the beginning. How does one get a page from the book?”

Discord crossed his arms. “Well, obviously, you’d need to know about the book. Then you rip out a page. The question is how did she find out about it?”

Rarity said, “No, we’re going to end up going in circles. There’s a simpler question. Cantrip, how did you find out it was a page and not a scroll?”

Cantrip just faceplanted into the table. “I can’t believe I overlooked it. Unslaadein, the Dragon Oracle in Manesnare Forest, I went to him so I could discover the route I should take. He’s the one that told me it was a page from something larger!”

Celestia spoke. “Very well then. We’ll have to meet with this Unslaadein… Curious name. At the very least, he can direct us to our next destination.”

“Be careful. He may ask for payment, and it struck me as his usual payment was eating the questioner. I lucked out and trapped him with giving an answer for an answer. He’ll likely not fall for it again.” Cantrip worried this was going to get very messy.

Discord stood up. “I doubt he’ll be able to eat the Spirit of Chaos. And if he does, I’ll likely give him a very bad bellyache.”

Celestia held up a hoof. “No, Discord. I understand your duties, but I will not risk anypony getting hurt.”

“No, Celestia, you don’t understand. You ponies know too much about the book already. I cannot allow it to proceed any further. I need to fix the book so life can proceed normally again. There is no debating it.”

“Discord, I cannot condone-”

Luna stopped her sister. “It is not a matter of whether you condone it or not. As alicorns, we have power that greatly exceed most in this world. However, Discord is more powerful than us.” Celestia looked at her in disbelief. “You know I am right on this. The last time we stood against Discord, it required the Elements of Harmony. In fact, the only ponies who could stand against Discord are Twilight and her friends. With one of them having vowed never to use her Element against Discord, we have no power to order him save by what he allows.”

Rarity thought it over. “It does beg the question then, how do we retrieve the page? We still don’t know who stole it. Well, who commissioned the theft, rather.”

Slipwind perked up. “What about that time spell Twilight used? Send one of us back to get the scroll after it’s been dropped off and-”

“Oh no! You are not going to drag that thing through time!” Just the suggestion angered Discord. “It’s bad enough Twilight jumped through one portal. Viewing time is nowhere near as bad as actually traveling through it.”

“Well then, what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Well, you can break rules. Surely you can use that.”

Discord mused this. Using his powers to fix everything and set it right? He’d never done that before. “That might be fun. I’ll have to give it some thought. First things first, I must meet with this Unslaadein and get information from him. Cantrip? You report to Twilight everything that happened here. Rarity and Slipwind? Have fun you two. I’m off!” Before anyone could object, he disappeared.

Celestia just looked so sad. “I wish I knew what possessed me to do all this. The pain Discord feels is genuine. I would never wish that upon him.”

Rarity walked up and placed a hoof on her. “There, there, darling. I’m sure whatever reason you had, it was a good one.”

Slipwind said, “Are you sure?” Everypony focused on him. “There are only two reasons she would have done it.”

“Slipwind! What you saying?”

“Think about it. The result was to face Nightmare Moon. One reason would be to battle Nightmare Moon. The last time, Celestia required the Elements of Harmony and nopony possessed them when she returned. She could have rewritten things so Nightmare Moon was vanquished and her sister was a happy side effect. The other is her.” Slipwind pointed right at Luna. “She could have rewritten things so her sister could be returned to her, and it happened that Nightmare Moon was vanquished as well. It’s the common thread.”

Celestia shook her head. “I do not know what I would have tried to do, but if I had known then what I know now, I would not have touched it.”

“Yes you would have.” She looked at Luna. “You wouldn’t have left things to chance. If I had returned, I could have sunk the land into eternal darkness. All the possible lives would have never happened. You would do everything to protect everypony.”

Cantrip suddenly said, “We could talk around in circles all evening, your highnesses. As Discord is out of our hands now, we can only place our hope in him. I think it would be best if we rested the night and returned to Ponyville tomorrow.”

Celestia and Luna agreed and ended their meeting. It was getting late. The ponies were shown to rooms and left to rest for the night. Cantrip cast the spell he had been casting since the first day he had planned the crimes so Luna couldn’t enter his dreams. He didn’t have reason to hide the crime now, but he realized something else and he did not want Luna to know.

Discord explained Twlight was supposed to have been a great-great-grandmother. The Book of Destiny already had a plan for Nightmare Moon.

Celestia changed it so Luna would live.

Chapter 25: Life Goes On Toast with Butter

Chapter 25: Life Goes On Toast with Butter

Winter came to Ponyville much as it did every year. Discord never returned, but he was not forgotten. Life has a way of growing around the past.

Spring came with the wedding of Sledge and Ivy. The Apples put on one heck of a shindig to celebrate. Slipwind was his Best Stallion, and Ivy had Lily Belle as her Mare of Honor. Of course, the wedding was upstaged a bit when, during his speech, Slipwind proposed to Rarity. Naturally, everypony knew this would be the most extravagant wedding Ponyville would ever see.

Lookout had things going her way also. She took position as assistant manager for the Ponyville weather team. Not much later, she took over as manager when the Wonderbolts accepted Rainbow Dash into their ranks.

With no word from Discord, Cantrip worked as a research assistant with Twilight, though he knew it was so she could monitor him. That worked fine for Ink Nose, who enjoyed his company. She could tell they had feelings for each other, though he never seemed to act on them. Finally, a couple weeks after Rarity and Slipwind got married in the summer, she decided to take initiative asked him.

“Do you want to go out on a date?

“No.”

She was devastated. “What do you mean no?! We’ve been dancing around this for a long time! I know you’re interested, you know I am, what’s the problem?”

“It’s not finished. Discord hasn’t returned. Once this is finished, I have to answer for the crime. And if he doesn’t show up soon, I’m going to have to follow his trail. It’ll be difficult, but I have to bring this to a close. I don’t know what my punishment will be, but if it would take me away from you, I’d rather you not have a broken heart because of me.”

“You’re a fool.” Cantrip pulled back. “You think I don’t know that? Why do you think I spend so much time with you? I know that at any moment, you could be taken away and I’ll never see you again. I’d rather have you in my life for a moment than to never have you at all!” He couldn’t tell if she was on the verge of crying or slugging him.

“Then let me finish this. I promise you, once this is done, we’ll try to have a future together.”

“Promise?”

“I Pinkie Promise.” He went through the motions, making her laugh. He knew Twilight was not a vindictive princess, but she did believe in fair punishment. If things went well enough, perhaps they could do something.

When he started making plans to find Discord, he finally returned. Cantrip was on his way to Zecroa’s to ask about some ingredients for Twilight when the draconequus appeared before him. Cantrip was rather overjoyed to see him. Then he noticed Discord’s face. It was if someone he knew had died.

“Discord! I’m glad to see you!”

“You won’t be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me tell you a tale, my little pony. You deserve to know everything.”

“Where's the Book, Unslaadein?!” Discord showed his true form, that of Chaos Unleashed. Only the strongest minds could witness it and retain their sanity.

Unfortunately, Unslaadein was among their number. "I have consumed it. I hunted it down and devoured it!"

“What would possess you to do something that crazy? And why give a page to Celestia?”

“I am Unslaadein. The First Dragon. The Eternal Guardian! And I hate it! My fate was handed down to me without my consent. I am cursed to watch the world rise and fall!”

“So you want vengeance? That's it? I’m disappointed.”

“Discord, you cannot be that foolish. Why would you do anything?”

The spirit took his usual form. “You… You did all this because you were… bored?”

The dragon smiled as he did so many times before he collected payment. “Oh yes, and now I will have some more fun.” Before he could react, Unslaadein grabbed Discord and swallowed him. He had consumed destiny, and now he had eaten chaos. It turned out chaos was rather tasty, like chocolate-covered carrots dipped in honey.

“Found it!” Suddenly, Discord was in front of him with…

“The book! NO! GIVE THAT BACK!” He swiped at Discord only to have his claw strike a sudden slab of… candy?

“Looks like those candy rocks were good for something after all. You’ve been rather naughty, Unslaadein.” The dragon tried freeing his claw from the sticky slab as Discord continued. “I don’t like doing it, but there’s only one thing I can think of as punishment for you.” With a snap of his fingers, the candy rock started growing over Unslaadein’s arm, covering him. “You’ll be trapped like this for the rest of your days. Covered in candy. Don’t worry though, you won’t be watching the world pass you by. Your punishment is that of those who seek to harm this world and its existence.” With his clawed hand, he pulled a zipper from out of nowhere.

“No… NO! NOT TARTARUS! I’LL NOT GO!” His struggling was apparent and useless. The candy was starting to cover his head. “I’ll break free and come after you! I’ll make you suffer in every way imaginable! I’ll find your fr-” He was cut off as the candy covered his mouth.

Discord just snapped his fingers and placed Unslaadein in Tartarus, never to be seen again.

After that, all he needed to do was discover who had the missing page. After putting the book in a safe place in the Gap, he traveled back in time. It was likely Twilight's time travel had something to do with it, maybe allowing someone to escape Tartarus. After all, with Cerberus distracted, it was possible that it wasn’t only Tirek who escaped. When he investigated, however, Cerberus started chasing him! Cerberus must have thought he was trying to do something nasty. He couldn’t believe it, Discord was responsible for allowing Tirek to escape. The irony was not lost on him.

Rather than cause more problems, he decided to stick around Canterlot, watching everywhere he could until he could find Cantrip. He saw Cantrip walking to his drop-off point, briefly glancing at the paper. All Discord had to do was wait and see who picked it up.

It turned out to be Discord himself! He had gone back in time two months prior to the theft to set everything up. Ordering the donuts so guards would be distracted, the note about letting Twilight in, the bits, the instructions. To be honest, he was surprised he would use others to do this, but then again, what did he expect? This was Discord he was dealing with. Expect the unexpected! Or not, it was equally as valid.

Once he had the page, he simply had to wait to return the page to the book. Time can pass easily enough, though he did oversleep by 4 days. As he went to put the page in, he noticed something. Cantrip’s name was on the page. It was part of the rewrite. When Cantrip glanced the page, it bonded to him somehow. It was no longer about Twilight. It was about him.

Which meant Cantrip would be unwritten when he returned the page.

“In the end, none of this is your fault. Unslaadein bears the responsibility. Once I return the page, however, you’ll likely be, well, unmade. I don’t know what’ll happen exactly. I came so you could say your goodbyes.”

His life would be nothing. His family would not have him. His research pointless. At least he didn’t have to worry about the one pony he had fallen for. He wouldn’t have existed to break Ink Nose’s heart. Cantrip looked like he was just ready to jump off a cliff to end the pain. “They’re not necessary. If I’m undone, they wouldn’t remember me. I never existed for them to know.”

“Well, I hadn’t thought of it like that. I’m sorry. No pony should have to experience this kind of pain. Goodbye, Cantrip. I promise I won’t forget you.”

A book of pure life appeared in Discord’s hands. For the first and last time, Cantrip viewed what could only be explained as the summation of reality. Discord opened it to where a page was missing. Hesitantly at first, he placed the page on the book. The pages of the book shone brilliant white until it consumed his vision. The last thing he saw was… pink?

Chapter 26: The Power of Pinkie

Chapter 26: The Power of Pinkie

So many happy ponies! Today is a good day for me, Pinkie Pie! Yes, I’m Pinkie Pie. Well, I don’t really need to tell myself that. I know who I am. Though honestly, it’s nice to remind myself. Not a lot of ponies know who they are, and I don’t mean just the foals who haven’t gotten their cutie marks yet.

Like take the Cakes! They thought they were supposed to be bakers, but they don’t know that they’re really meant to bring joy to the world. As Pound and Pumpkin get older, they’ll learn how important that is. And that’ll make them happy!

When others are happy, I’m happy. So many ponies have reasons to be happy.

A strange tickle along my left side? It’s going up the ribs! That means only one thing: Discord's back! Fluttershy will be so happy and maybe Cantrip can finally snuggle with Ink Nose. He Pinkie Promised so he has to.

Wait… what’s this feeling? Oh no. Somepony is sad. It’s… it’s bad. They’re hurting so bad! I’ve got to find them!

They’re this way! May they need a hug. Or a cupcake! Or maybe they need to hug a cupcake! It looks like I’m going to Everfree forest. I don’t have emergency huggable cupcakes stashed around thOW! What the… I’ve never felt somepony hurt this bad before! This is awful! I… Don’t know if I can take it.

No, I have to. No pony should hurt this bad. I have to go faster. They’re just ahead. Wait… Ear itch… tongue twist… tail shake, back hump… Somepony is about to break a Pinkie Promise but it’s not their fault. Why would somepony make somepony else break a Pinkie Promise? Nopony’s allowed to do that!

NOPONY BREAKS A PINKIE PROMISE!

“Hi Cantrip! Hi Discord!” Discord just stood there dumbfounded. The book was rewritten and Cantrip should have been erased. And suddenly, here’s Pinkie tackling Cantrip like everything was always hunky-dory. Discord could sense it. The book started to rewrite itself and reality rejected it. Something tied Cantrip to reality and… “So, Discord, you were about to make Cantrip break a Pinkie Promise?”

Now he was dumbfounded. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Weeeeeeell… Cantrip made a Pinkie Promise to Ink Nose that when this was all done they’d have a talk about spending their life together which you should totally do Rarity will just love designing Ink Nose’s wedding dress anyway he was about to be wiped from existence which meant that he’d have to break his Pinkie Promise even though it totally wasn’t his fault and technically he would have never made it since he never existed it was just how the rules go but that could never happen so here we are!” She just smiled as if Discord offered her a cupcake. “Any questions?”

Discord still didn't understand how she worked. “Yes, just one. What?”

“NOPONY BREAKS A PINKIE PROMISE!” Discord was genuinely scared. This little one was always the nexus of madness he could never understand, but now that the book was whole and he was at his full strength (he just thought he’d grown rusty after a thousand years of being a statue) he could tell just what she was.

She was Laughter, the antithesis of pain and suffering. As much as he was the Avatar of Chaos, her role was that of protector. Some ponies had to experience loss and tragedy on a small scale so they could understand what reality was, but she protected those she could who were facing trials they couldn’t handle on their own. She wasn’t as powerful as Discord, but she had enough to bind Cantrip to reality, despite the book.

Well, wasn’t that funny? The book rewrote itself at her whim. All of this wasn’t even necessary. It was just the book sorting everything out! The book didn’t just change the past, it rewrote the future! He just started laughing!

Of course, this just caused Pinkie to started laughing. And laughter is infectious, so Cantrip started to laugh too! They could have sworn that even the forest with laughing with them.

When they finally started calming down, Discord snapped his fingers. The book disappeared, gone to somewhere that not even he knew. If he didn’t know where he sent it, he couldn’t tell anypony where it was. Sounded crazy, which meant it was perfect. “Well, I’m just glad there will be no more changes. Life can go on as normal.”

“Oh wow, now I’m doomed! Now that I can go on existing, Twilight’s gonna banish me for being late! I gotta get to Zecora’s. I’m doomed! Doomed I say, DOOMED!” Cantrip started walking to Zecora’s with the first genuine smile on his face for a long time. “I’ll see you both later!”

Discord and Pinkie waved after him. “Thank you, Pinkie.”

She just looked at him oddly. “For what?”

“For anchoring him to reality. I never really understood how powerful a Pinkie Promise was until now.”

“Oh that, it was nothing. I didn’t even know I did anything, so I can’t really take credit!”

“Right. We’ll stick with that story.”

“Oh, and Discord?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t ever make anypony break their Pinkie Promise.” He looked at her ready to joke when he saw her. Her eyes had dulled, her hair was flat, and her fur had darkened.

He was afraid for his life. He did the only thing he could think to do. “I Pinkie Promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” He made a cupcake appear in his hand squished it into his face.

“Okie dokie lokie!” As if nothing happened just then, she was her normal bouncy self as Discord licked the cupcake off his eye. Banana and licorice, not too bad. “Say, wanna walk with me back to Fluttershy’s? I know she’ll be really happy to see you!”

“Well, I am rather late for tea. I should drop by.”

“Awesome! Let’s talk on the way! What do you wanna talk about? There’s lots of fun things to talk about. Ooh, and lots of funny things to say! Like ‘kumquat’! Kumquat kumquat kumquat! And 'pickle barrel'! Isn't that just the funnest thing to say? Pickle barrel, pickle barrel, pickle barrel! Say it with me! Pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat…”

Discord and Pinkie danced through the Everfree, singing those words.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Ink Nose decided to lay down early. She was very tired tonight.

Her daughter, Angel Song, was lulling her own children to sleep in their bedroom with a lullaby. She always had a beautiful voice. Cantrip and she were so proud when she was selected to sing on the Royal Choir. It was there she met Wayward, a royal guard. Three foals was enough for them, but they loved them all.

His godmother, Princess Twilight Sparkle herself, named her younger son, Silver Light. She watched over him as if he was her own son. She took him as her personal student, until that fateful encounter with Brass Wings. Rarity’s and Slipwind’s daughter was as rambunctious as Rainbow Dash. Oh, their wedding was decadent. Nothing but the best for Rarity’s little princess. She didn’t get to see them or their two foals as often since they lived in Manehattan, but they visited when they could.

She might have traveled more, but being the Princess’s Personal Librarian was a very demanding role! In truth, she just never asked for time off much. She had more time now since she passed the job on to Twin Tails. But this late in her life, she didn’t have the energy she used to.

Ever since Cantrip passed away a couple years ago, her daughter insisted she move in with them. Before she could say “Oh I don’t want to be a burden,” Angel Song said having their grandmother around would be great for the children. Think of it as a babysitting job that pays room and board.

Her time with Cantrip was wonderful. When Discord came back, they started dating, but in all honesty, they already knew what their path was taking. He didn’t even wait a month before asking her to marry him. It was years before they had Angel Song, and in that time, they had their own little adventures. Nothing reality shaking or devastating, just experiences they knew they would never have apart. Then parenthood brought new chapters to their life that lasted until Cantrip's heart failed.

She missed him, but she remembered the discussion she had with Twilight. Remember the good times. It was how Twilight got through the loss of her friends. When Rainbow Dash crashed saving a pegasus colt from falling when one of his wings failed him, Equestria mourned the leader of the Wonderbolts who saved the little foal. However, Twilight remembered the first time they met and received her “patented Rain-Blow Dry”. Rarity had a small, quiet, dignified ceremony when she passed away in her sleep. That didn't stop Twilight sharing with ponies of the first Gala dress Rarity made for her and how she had to remake it.

Happy thoughts. She had many of them and she was glad she had them. The day he proposed. The trip to Manehattan. The spell that turned everyone blue for a day. The birth of Angel Song. Silver Light's first spell. The father/daughter dance at Angel Song's wedding. Silver Light's graduation from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.

So many wonderful memories.

They would be the last thoughts she would ever have as she closed her eyes, content with life.

Chapter 6: Sympathy for the Unicorn

Chapter 6: Sympathy for the Unicorn

A sky blue unicorn with a dark blue mane stepped off the train and took a deep breath. Just a couple more days until his birthday. And Ponyville’s first day of spring happened to fall on it this year! He learned his little sister had her cute-ceañera last week. A cutie mark in the shape of a major chord. They knew she would go into music.

He just wished he could have been there.

He had the life he chose, but he didn’t regret it. He told his parents he had to leave and he likely wouldn’t be able to come back for some time. They were about to ask why and he’d told them flat out, “Don’t ask. Tell Choir her I love her. I have to go.” His little sister, Moonlit Choir, so alive.

Out of nowhere, she was near death, ill from a malady they couldn’t identify. One night, he was walking to Donut Joe’s, when a voice beckoned him. The voice was hidden in shadow, save for what looked the tip of a misshapen blue horn. It offered the money to heal her, but there was a price. He readily agreed. The voice tossed out a pair of saddle bags. “Everything you need is in there. Maps, bits, ponies you’ll need to pull it off. You’re to find a scroll with two…” No, that wasn’t right. Why did he keep thinking two? “…three triangles in a circle pointing at each other. Bring that to me and your little sister is as good as cured. You have 2 weeks.”

The job was to steal a scroll from the Starswirl the Bearded wing. The details were laid out. He was to find five ponies. A purple unicorn with a black muzzle who worked at a library would find the scroll. A blue pegasus who hated her family would ensure the way was clear. A gray earth pony with a scar would help two of them over a wall. A yellow pegasus with a gambling debt would provide eyes on the inside. A green earth pony with a very long mane would bypass the spells by using plants rather than metal to get in through the window.

Each pony he was told to find was hired, only offering exactly what he was told to offer. Each one agreed, somewhat reluctantly. After all, they were stealing from Princess Celestia herself. But the price was right. As they went to complete their job, he hid the money in the dead drop locations that were marked. Then he burned everything except the saddlebags. They returned. He gave them their papers for payment and they went their separate ways. He would have liked to gotten to know the unicorn better, but instructions said to separate and get out of Canterlot quickly.

Curiosity got the better of him and he looked at the scroll. Sure enough, there was the symbol, the circle with tw… three triangles pointing at each other. He dropped the scroll where he was supposed to, headed home, made his peace, and left.

Now, he was going to celebrate his birthday. He had heard of Sugarcube Corner, home of 2 of the best bakers in Equestria and de facto headquarters for the party pony herself, Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter.

As much fun as she sounded, he didn’t quite need the excitement.

“Hello! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” Her voice even sounded pink. … For some reason he kept thinking of non-visual things as colorful.

“Hi there, I wanted to order a cake.”

“Ooh, what’s the occasion?! Is it a birthday? I bet it’s for a birthday! Who’s birthday is it? Your mom? Your dad? Your little sister who you haven’t seen in a really really really long time?”

He just blinked. “Uh, no. It’s for me.”

Pinkie just stopped in her tracks. “Wait, why are you getting a birthday cake for yourself?”

“Because it’s my birthday in a couple days and I wanted to get a cake for it.” Duh.

“Oh, and your friends are gonna get cake but you don’t think it’ll be enough so you want to get more cake for your party, right?”

Again, he just blinked. “No. No party for me. It’s the one day out of the year I take for myself. And as luck would have, it’s gonna be on the first day of spring in Ponyville. So I’m going to take the one day for myself, eat some cake, and enjoy the first day of spring.”

Pinkie seemed visibly upset. “But what about your friends and family?”

“I don’t have any friends or family in Ponyville. Which is why I came here. I can always go home to Canterlot to have a party with my family.” This wasn’t a lie. In fact, if he just showed up, they would likely celebrate it. He was tempted to, but the instructions were clear.

Pinkie still seemed upset. “But it’s just so sad to be alone on your birthday.”

Now he was getting upset in a different way. “Miss…”

“You can call me Pinkie! All my friends do!”

“…Okay, Pinkie…” Little did he know he had sealed his fate. “I tend to be around a lot of different people all year. A day of quiet is a gift to myself.”

“Okay! What kind of cake do you want?”

Finally. “I’d like a carrot cake with a lemon cream cheese frosting.”

Pinkie just went wide-eyed. “Are you serious?! I wanted to have fun making your cake but Mr. Cake insists on making all the carrot cakes and made me Pinkie Promise™ not to ever make a carrot cake if they’re ordered but he’s not going to be back until late tomorrow since he’s on a delivery to Appleloosa ‘cause they ordered a special batch of chocolate chip cookies for the sheriff because he got hurt when somepony got into a fight at the Salt Block and they want to make sure he gets better soon and what better way to cheer up a pony than with cookies? The answer is of course cupcakes, which I said I’d be happy-”

“Pinkie, the cake?”

“… … … What cake?”

“When can I pick up the carrot cake I ordered?”

“Oh, right. You should be able to pick it up at noon the day after Winter Wrap-Up.”

He fished out some bits and put them on the counter. “I shall be back then.”

“Okie dokie lokie! I’ve got to get back to assigning the skaters!”

He heard of her reputation for randomness, but his curiosity was still piqued. “Skaters?”

“Yup. I’m in charge of making sure the ice is cut so when the weather team clears the clouds, the ice can melt quickly.” She was going through some topographical maps. “I’ve got lots of skaters to cut the ice, except for this small pond.” She looked around to see if anyone was listening, which, of course, there wasn’t because the store was empty. “I’m gonna keep this little pond to myself.”

He looked at the maps and the criss-cross shapes. Out of nowhere, inspiration struck. “Pinkie, can I take a closer look at this?”

“Sure!” She pushed the map to him. As he looked it over, thoughts started going through his head, arcane formulas and the possibility of an experiment. As he was thinking about it, Pinkie Pie noticed his cutie mark. It looked like stars marking a constellation with the lines drawn in.

“Pinkie, want try an experiment?”

“Is it like peppermint or spearmint?”

“No no, it’s trying something new.”

“Ooh, what did you have in mind?”

“Well, I see how you’re skating on the pond, and I think I could make the ice break apart into smaller pieces.”

“Really? You’re that good of a skater?”

“No, you’ll be skating. I’ll be using some magic. And if it works, maybe it can be used again to making the skating easier in the future.”

“You sound like Twilight!”

That caught him off guard. “Wait, you mean the Princess?”

“Yeah, she always trying new spearmints.”

“You mean experiments.”

“Yeah those too! Like this one time she turned a bird into an orange. Then she turned a frog into an orange! And then she blew me up a whole bunch of times!” He raised an eyebrow. “Oh not me me, but a bunch of duplicate me’s that I made using the Mirror Pool and she had to test us to see which was the real me by watching paint dry which is super boring but it was totally worth it!”

Again, the appropriate response seemed to be blinking. “O...kay. So, should where should I meet you, here or at the pond.”

Pinkie thought for a moment. “Hmm… I think here would work better. What kind of muffins do you like?”

“Uh, blueberry. Why?”

“I’ll bring some. Well it was nice to…WAIT! I almost forgot to ask! What’s your name? I’ll need it for the order ticket.”

He chuckled. “Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Cantrip.”

Chapter 6.5: The Sun Rises Too Quickly

Chapter 6.5: The Sun Rises Too Quickly

Something was wrong. In the blind spot of her mind’s eye, something happened that wasn’t supposed to. She had to investigate. She had her duties to attend to first, however.

And so the sun rose.

A new day started in Canterlot and all of Equestria. She would do everything to make sure those days would continue. In a flash, Princess Celestia was in the Canterlot Archives, the Starswirl the Bearded wing. Just a quick check… what was was Twilight doing here?! If Twilight found it… Well, she wasn’t here looking for it or anything. Just say hello and act as if nothing is out of the ordinary,

“Good morning, Twilight, love the new hairstyle. Well, happy Tuesday!”

Happy Tuesday? Applejack would have made a better actress. But Twilight didn’t seem to notice. Nopony did. Huh. Nopony knew why she was there.

Why was she there? This wasn’t good. She was there for a reason and she couldn’t remember why. She would swear Discord was behind this if he weren’t a statue. She could remember when she didn’t have her cutie mark yet, so why couldn’t she remember… what wasn’t she remembering?

She would have to investigate.

Chapter 8: Crash Test

Chapter 8: Crash Test

Pinkie had been busy that morning. Things didn’t happen in Ponyville without her knowing about it. It wasn’t because she was the town gossip. No, her Pinkie Sense™ told her there were new ponies in town. Ponies she had to welcome. Add on top of that the birthday surprise for Cantrip. Well, he wasn’t going to have a party, but that was because he didn’t have any friends. She told him her friends call her Pinkie, he called her Pinkie, so now he had at least one friend in town and she was going to throw a surprise party for him!

But first, to get the new ponies.

Somehow she convinced Applejack that her new help had to come and that she couldn’t say no. She visited Fluttershy where a large, strong stallion was ordered under penalty of no cake to come. She found the lookout Rainbow Dash had, whose named just happened to be Lookout! How funny was that? Oh, and she had to come. So did the new mailpony. He was going to deliver himself! That really got her laughing. Finally, she got her hands on Twilight’s new librarian. Twilight said it was okay because they were only in the planning stages. After Pinkie had been convinced it wasn’t a party planning, she went back to Sugarcube Corner.

The cake was finished. She decorated it herself. The deal was she couldn’t make the cake, but there was nothing about decorating it. Mr. Cake relented and went to work on other orders. Given what she was planning, he was happy to let her have some fun and go to town. He did notice she was using more blue than normal for the icing, and when he asked why, she said because he blew up the pond.

Mr. Cake learned long ago not to ask and went back to work.

Pinkie Pie went to work setting up the streamers and confetti, along with a banner that said “Happy Birthday Cantrip!” and a second one that read “Welcome to Ponyville!”

Each of the new ponies arrived one by one. Pinkie told them to hide and told them when to jump out. The magic word was ‘carrot cake’. Well two words, really, but they got the idea.

It wasn’t long before the fated time had arrived. The door opened, ringing the little bells. Pinkie put on her best smile (which was any of them really, if she thought about it. She didn’t.) and welcomed the customer. “Hello! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!”

Cantrip smiled and said, “Hi Pinkie! I’m here to pick up my carrot cake.”

At once, five ponies sprung up and shouted, “SURPRISE!”

Pinkie pulled a cord and confetti and streamers popped up all over.

What she found awkward was Cantrip wasn’t smiling. He looked horrified. Did she use the wrong color streamers? Maybe there was too much yellow in the confetti. Did she do something wrong?

Before long, she realized he was looking at the five ponies. They were looking back, equally as shocked.

In that span of two seconds after pulling the cord, Cantrip found the energy to finally say something:

“WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE?!”

Chapter 24.5: For His Eyes Only

Chapter 24.5: For His Eyes Only

He had eyes all over Canterlot. Literally. One pony stumbled across one and ran off horrified. It was rather funny. Not as funny as when he cracked one of the spokes in a wheel that was carrying a bunch of empty boxes. The wheel broke at the top of a hill and sent boxes flying everywhere! Ponies ran around in a panic. Glorious!

Too bad the rest of the time was boring. He had to see what was happening that night and when. The little distractions might cause him to miss… that. Well, not what he expected, but then, why should he expect anything when he was involved?

So that’s who stole the page. Or rather hired Cantrip to steal it. It made sense. Talk about aggravating. Of course, that meant he had to learn the hows and whys and that’s just boring. Nevertheless, he knew the result.

He was surprised at himself. He should have guessed who the one responsible was. It was so like him! Now that he thought about it, it was obvious. Pity.