Test of Time: Arc 1: Awakening

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 10.5
Chapter 11
Chapter 12-8 (April fools day 2015)
Chapter 0: Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Twilight
Friday, 21 June 1003

Twilight, to the surprise of a bluejay, woke up to find herself nestled between two branches of an ancient oak tree with the taste of powdered sugar and coconut in her mouth. Still too tired to completely register her surroundings, her eyes lazily followed the bluejay's path as it flew away from the waking alicorn. As the twilight of morning gave way to the rising sun, the first beams of golden light fell upon her body. The sunlight was warm on her fur, and soft on her eyes, making her even more comfortable then before. She fought to return to the land of sleep, but her back and mouth eventually forced her to arouse fully and take stock of her situation. Standing up, she stretched her legs and spread her wings, letting the warm summer breeze play across her feathers. Licking the inside of her teeth, she glanced around, taking in the beautiful summer landscape which surrounded her.

Okay... Where exactly am I?

Descending from her makeshift bed, Twilight alighted on the ground, nestling her wings against her sides before turning to give the terrain a thorough examination. The tree she was under appeared to be the only such one for a fair distance, with lush grasslands carpeting the hills in between her position and a small, calm river which flowed perhaps five hundred meters away. The early morning light glanced off its tranquil surface, turning it red gold. Following it with her gaze, her eyes eventually met with the horizon, on which several familiar mountains lay. Looking back the other way, she was mildly surprised to find that she could not see the outline of Ponyville. The sky was mostly clear, with a few small clouds floating slowly from east to west, taking on jewel like qualities from the newly risen sun. After pausing to watch the sunrise for a few seconds, Twilight once again spread her wings and took off in the direction of the river.

It was amazing how quickly a pony could get used to some things. She had been an alicorn for all of eight months, yet the feeling of flight was already as natural a feeling as walking, or even telekinesis. That was not to say it was not enjoyable. The blissful sensation of freedom that came with soaring through the skies had landed flight as Twilight's preferred method of travel within days of learning how to take off, and though the wonder of its charm had somewhat lessened since then, she could not help but smile as she gracefully arced towards the river.

Her expression quickly changed as she once again tasted the back of her teeth. What am I doing here, half-way between Ponyville and Canterlot? And why can't I remember going out here? Past me had better have a good explanation for this.

Landing at the river's bank, Twilight took the opportunity to rinse her mouth out, the cool water tasting wonderful and pure. From its taste, she figured that her earlier deduction was correct; the river she found herself at was the river Canter. Given the terrain, she was likely about two-thirds of the way to Canterlot, nearly ten hours walk from Ponyville and at least half an hours flight, neither of which where things she was likely to have taken in her sleep. Still, that was as good an explanation as any, given her complete lack of information regarding the actual event.

Twilight sighed. Standing here attempting to remember was going to get her nowhere, and there was a chance that someone, likely one of her friends, would have been witness to whatever events had led to her strange awakening.

She began walking, enjoying the calmness of her surroundings as she slowly made her way back towards Ponyville. She could have flown or even teleported all the way there, but sometimes taking a nice walk was exactly what one needed. After all, the day was beautiful, and, despite the small unsolved mystery, nothing seemed so pressing right now that she couldn't take a few minuets at least for a walk. Besides, whatever reasons had brought her to this spot did not appear to be doing much of anything as of right now, and as of right now, she was just okay with walking down the river.

After a few minutes, Twilight came across her saddlebag. It was lying a few meters from the edge of the river, next to a small patch of rocks. She found its contents unchanged, that is to say, with a copy of The Encyclopedia of Equestrian Flora and Fauna (Vol 7) and twenty-someodd bits. That sparked a few things, actually. Twilight suddenly recalled that she had been having a conversation with Fluttershy, with the intention of getting her input on some of the less well documented plants(a distinction which, due to the fact that plants are usually less interesting than animals, was unfortunately given to nearly half of the plants in The Encyclopedia ). Where exactly the conversation had gone from there was still fuzzy, but Twilight was fairly certain that it hadn’t ended with her flying fifty kilometers out towards Canterlot. Still, something.

The more she thought about it, however, the more convinced she became that she should, in fact, be heading for Canterlot. After all, she had been two-thirds of the way there, and she hardly thought that it was to find that tree to curl up in. So, with a new destination in mind, Twilight turned around towards Canterlot and prepared to teleport, to follow up on whatever her past self had had in mind and not at all because of her sudden rumbling stomach and realization that it was closer.

With a flash of light, Twilight temporarily blinked out of existence, reappearing a quarter of a second later fifteen kilometers closer to Canterlot. As soon as she had materialized, her legs buckled under her. She felt violently ill, as if her lungs were trying to force their way up through her throat. She instantly recognized the symptoms of severe magical overexertion. What did not make sense was the cause. She had been capable of a fifteen kilometer hop in her unicorn days, and she was nearly twenty times as powerful now. She'd made a two hundred kilometer jump just two weeks back. Something was off. Unfortunately, her train of thought was interrupted by acute pain causing all of her legs to cramp simultaneously. She rode out the pain for about five minuets, during which it dropped off considerably.

After standing up and dusting herself off, Twilight shook her head and sighed heavily. Her experience told her that, given the violence of the reaction, she was running on next to no magic. Her best option would be to fly into Canterlot, now visible in all its glory ten kilometers from her. She could make it in five minutes, three if she raced. It would be awkward, but she was sure she could get help there. Actually, for all she knew, this lack of power was the very thing that had her heading off to Canterlot in the first place.

Set in her resolve, Twilight took off for Canterlot. Now that she was paying more attention to it, she could have sworn that flying had become even easier then before, almost effortless. Another strange effect to add to what was turning out to be a very strange day. Still, she felt positively radiant as she neared Canterlot. It had been nearly six months since she had been here last, and there were some ponies that she wanted to catch up with.

She scanned the ground, picking out a suitable landing spot. As far as she could tell, nopony saw her land, as the citizens of Canterlot appeared to be, for the most part, still asleep. Though this struck her as slightly odd, being the city of the sun and all, it certainly seemed the case. As far as she could see, there were no other pedestrians on the street she found herself in. Feeling slightly paranoid, she approached one of the houses. Passing under the window treated her to the sound of two young foals arguing about the last slice of pie quite loudly. Fantasy of being the last pony alive in Equestria and having to scour the world for other survivors of some unknown disaster destroyed, Twilight determined that the best thing to do in this now confirmed to be populated world would be to get to her chosen destination before the population joined her in the streets.

To be honest, her fear of being constantly followed like some important celebrity was the primary thing keeping her from visiting most major population centers with any frequency. Given that, she found it quite odd that she had chosen to go to Canterlot. Yes, she had been closer, but the extra hassle to actually acquire, in this case, a full stomach easily outweighed the extra 15 minuets added to the flight time. This ignoring the fact that, as far as she had been aware of at the time, both locations were one teleport away.

Twilight suddenly became nervous. It wasn’t just that, was it? She had been acting strangely all morning. Though her initial sedate reaction to her predicament could be chalked up to her tired state, there was only so much the morning sleepies could be held accountable for. The worst part was, even after this realization, Twilight found herself still greatly unconcerned about her lack of memory, though the fact that she was at least concerned over her lack of concern said something.

She shook her head a few times in an attempt to clear it. She had landed herself in the Starswirl quadrant of the city, with the hope of perhaps visiting her parents whom she had not seen in... far too long. That, unfortunately, would have to take second to figuring out exactly what was happening to her. And where better to do so then in the Canterlot royal library? It would almost certainly have the answers she needed, and, if not, well... she knew somepony who would be more then happy to lend some of her thousand-year experience. Two, actually.

Twilight began her trek towards the palace. Contrary to popular belief, the city was not half residential, half castle, a small base in which lived the ponies necessary to keep the shining symbol of devotion to, and love of, the sun sparkling like gems. It was, like most cites, a place of commerce, with a surprisingly strong industrial sector as it happened. It contained nearly 23,000 inhabitants, of which 1,000 at most relied on the palace, nobility, and princesses for work, with perhaps another hundred for Celestia's school.

For Twilight, this meant that the palace was still at least five minutes walk from her, five minutes in which she could be spotted at any time. Flying was out of the question, as that would make her perfectly visible to anyone who looked out their window, a situation she did not like to think about. It was frankly a miracle that no one had spotted her on her way in, a unlikely strike of luck that she could not count on reoccurring with any regularity. Normally she would simply disguise herself, or if she had some power to spend, even turn invisible, but that route seemed blocked given her lack of available power. She supposed, give how well she knew the city, she could take the routes least traveled while putting on little extraneous distance, but given the obviously shifted waking pattern she was unsure to what degree of accuracy she could determine such routes.

It suddenly occurred to her that she was acting exceedingly paranoid.

The next thing that occurred to her was that she was lazily opening her eyes.

Twilight was greeted by the comforting realization that everything since her last waking was nothing more than a strange dream. She was on her bed, under her covers. The mattress felt a bit off, as if one of the springs had failed towards the middle. Perhaps this was what had caused her strange dream. The sunlight filtering through the window was stronger then she would expect for early morning, so she turned towards it to determine what time it was, only to find that her window had been smashed in... and had a different frame, as well as acquiring blue paint which extended out into the suspiciously not-tree like walls. Also, her pillow, mattress cover, and covers had all changed size and color.

Twilight did not experience a slow onset of dread, for upon receiving this information, her mind quickly made the astute inference that she was not in fact in her room, but in somepony else's. Indeed, she skipped the entire dread bit and went strait to the awkward guilt.

Quickly throwing off the covers, Twilight glanced hurriedly about the room, checking to see if she had injured anypony while appropriating their bed. Seeing no one, she went to the window and looked out. Judging by the position of the sun in the sky, during whatever had transpired between her last two lucid thoughts, about seven hours had passed. She was all the way on the other side of Canterlot, in one of the new houses that were being built to accommodate the cities expanding population(Which meant, hopefully, that she had not kicked somepony out of their house so that she could take a nap.). That was, if it was even the same day. It certainly seemed like the same day to her.

Glancing at herself, Twilight found that her coat and mane were caked in stone dust, as if she had spent the time smashing up boulders. Given the lack of followers, she must have been very discreet about smashing those boulders.

Or perhaps she has simply snapped the necks of anypony who spotted her.

Now the dread came.

Though she was mostly normal now, she had already experienced two distinctive personality shifts. And that was while in control. She had absolutely no memory of the last seven hours, during which she could have easily accomplished most things short of burning Canterlot to the ground. And that was only because she could see it standing still outside the window; for all she knew, the streets were littered with the corpses of thousands of dead ponies whose lives she had ended with as much compassion as a natural disaster. She could almost hear the screams, the little ponies begging for mercy from their vengeful goddess...

Twilight shook her head hard. She needed to get help, before something actually happened. Mastering herself, she streaked off towards the palace.

Or, at least she would have, had her wings not ceased up and dropped her like a stone after two beats.

Her anticlimactic meeting with the ground drew attention from the ponies around her, inciting them to gather around her and look.

“Um... Miss? Are you okay?”

“Do you need a hoof?”

Twilight shakily returned to her hooves, wincing at the cracking noise her jaw made as she moved it experimentally.

“Yes, I'm... I'm perfectly alright, thank you.”

Unsurprisingly, now that the gathered crowd had full view of her horn, which was no longer imbedded in the dirt, it took them mere seconds to register her status. It was almost comical, the wave of realization, diverted eyes, and awkward murmuring spreading through the crowd like the ripples on a pond. If she was expecting them to bow or something she was disappointed, though she wasn’t expecting that at all because she was totally above that.

Thankfully, they didn’t do or say much of anything, actually. Not that she was surprised. After all, what exactly do you say to a god who just face-planted in front of thirty onlookers? 'I'm sure you'll get better with practice.'? Not likely.

She made a quick exit, not bothering to look at the ponies who shot her glances. She needed help, and she was going to make sure she got it fast.

At first, a few ponies made an attempt to catch her attention, but a single glare was enough to make even the most die hard mare rethink her decision to get in Twilight's way. Not that many were die hard enough, or stupid enough, to approach her in the first place. She made good time, reaching the palace gates in just under four minutes.

“Halt!”

Twilight turned towards the guard, whom had hailed her from the parapet surrounding the front of the castle.

“Oh, forgive me, princess! I did not-”

“Shut up and open the gate.”

The guard scurried off, presumably to do as she asked. However, as the seconds passed, she became less and less hopeful.

“Grrrrrrr... How long does it take to open one portcullis!”

“Forgive the interruption,” One of the guards, a younger stallion from the looks of it, said in a placating tone, “But unfortunately, Celestia has been entertaining guests from the Griffon kingdoms, and has closed the palace from 12:00 until 20:00. Of course, an exception can be made for you, your highness, but we'll need to unlock the portcullis first, which can take some time. No more than a minute.”

“Get on with it then!” Twilight knew she was being unfair, but that did not change the fact that at any moment she could black out and wake up somewhere else. She needed to get inside. Frustrated, she rattled the portcullis with her telekinesis. Or, that's what she tried to do, anyway. In reality, her magical aura surrounded the portcullis and, like so much tissue paper, crumpled the mythril gate into a little ball.

She and the guards simply stared at the pathetic lump of twisted metal that had deposited itself in front of Twilight's hooves, until their collective attention was drawn to the now crumbling edge of the castle's entrance by the sound of crashing marble. The entire entrance way collapsed in a matter of seconds, spraying Twilight with marble dust and temporarily deafening her. Coughing a few times, she waited for the dust to clear, revealing a newly formed entrance. Pausing only for a second to check if the guards were unhurt, she passed through the hole and into the room beyond.

Her instincts from having lived here nearly eight years kicked in, and she mindlessly navigated her way towards the main conference room. She passed some likely familiar faces as she walked purposefully through the corridors, though she did not spare anypony a look long enough to identify them.

Three minutes found her standing outside the conference room, the imposing black doors with ornate obsidian decals staring down at her, like an oppressive wall of pure darkness ready to swallow anypony foolish enough to draw near. Twilight had never quite understood the reason for making such a thematic change on the conference room doors alone, and not, say, the entrance to the dungeon or interrogation room. Be that as it may, she wasn't here for the doors, she was here for the room beyond. Not trusting her magic to the task, Twilight banged on the door once, to announce her arrival before her entrance.

But nothing else had gone as planed this day, so why should she have expected this to?

There was a loud crashing sound as Twilight burst through the doors, the metal locking mechanisms snapping like toothpicks before her accidental burst of terrible force. Sitting at the front of the conference table, Celestia's head swiveled sharply towards the disturbance, a look of shock crossing her face upon seeing the perpetrator.

“Twilight! What are you doing!”

Twilight wasn't really sure anymore.

Three griffons and another pony also turned towards her. One of the griffons, the largest one with almost-black gray feathers, looked at her thoroughly unamused.

“Celestia, do you think it would be possible to keep your populous in check for eight hours while we discuss these matters?”

Celestia ignored him, staring intently at Twilight.

“Twilight, talk to me. What's the matter.”

Her voice was soft, but her words failed to brake through Twilight's confusion. Her mane a mess, coated in mud and marble dust, she stared up at Celestia with a wild eyed expression until Celestia became unsure of her mental presence.

“Twilight?”

This time, Twilight's eyes came directly back into focus, starring deeply into Celestia's. Taking a ragged breath, Twilight spoke.

“I don't know. S-Something is happening to me and... and I can't control it.”

Her voice was weak, as if she was speaking from a great distance with great difficulty. It was painfully obvious that she needed help, an hour ago preferably. Celestia turned back towards the griffons.

“I'm very sorry, but something of national importance has come up, and requires my attention. I will, of course, make arrangements so that we can continue this discussion at a later time. You are welcome to stay here as long as you like, and are free to roam about the palace as you please, excluding private bedrooms, of course.”

Standing up, Celestia removed herself from the table and, stopping to encourage Twilight to her hooves, exited the room with Twilight in tow. Once the two had safely drawn out of earshot, Celestia turned towards Twilight, concern in her eyes.

“Can we speak here?”

“If it's all the same to you, I'd be happier in the infirmary.”

Celestia nodded, and the two made their way to the infirmary. Upon reaching their destination, Twilight immediately collapsed onto one of the beds. A nurse approached.

“Princess!” She bowed, then turned to look at Twilight. “She alright?”

Celestia looked down at Twilight, worry playing across her face.

“No. I don't think that she is.”

“What's wrong?”

“I don't know.”

“When did she first get like this?”

“I don't know.”

The nurse looked up at Celestia.

“Do you actually need me for anything?”

Celestia sighed. “I don't know.”

“I'm not asleep. Just because I laid down does not mean I fell asleep.”

Celestia's attention was drawn back to Twilight. She forced a smile.

“Sorry, Twilight. Can you tell me what's happened to you?”

“What's the date.” Twilight saw Celestia make a double-take. “The date. Today.”

“Friday the twenty-first of June. It it important?”

“Yes, yes it is. Good.” Twilight let out a relieved sigh. “I means that this has been happening for the shortest possible duration.”

Celestia noticed that Twilight's eyes were beginning to loose focus again.

“Twilight, what's been happening. I can't help you unless you tell me.”

With visible effort, Twilight refocused herself.

“Okay... I'm okay now. What's been happening. At 18:30 yesterday, I was visiting Fluttershy's to talk over some points of herbology, and maybe have dinner together. At that time, nothing was happening, as far as I can recall. The meeting was largely uneventful, I think. I can't be to sure, because at about 19:00, my memory just fades to black and the next thing I remember is waking up in a tree, fifty kilometers up the river Canter. I began behaving irrationally, opting to go to Canterlot for breakfast. Once in the city, I reasoned out my actions and determined that I needed help. Unfortunately, I have about twenty seconds worth of memory for the next seven hours, and when I next came to, I was on the other side of the city, sleeping in somepony's bed in a house I had broken into in the interim. From their, I came straight here.” Twilight looked questioningly at Celestia. “Is there something wrong with me?”

Celestia was not quite sure how to respond to that.

“Sorry, who am I kidding? Extended blackouts during which I traverse the countryside and preform brake-ins? There is definitely something wrong with me.”

“Do you feel anything right before or after the blackouts?”

Twilight concentrated. “I... I haven't been paying that much attention, unfortunately.”

“Any other symptoms?”

“No... wait, yes! Just after I woke up, when I tried to teleport into Canterlot, I dropped out fifteen kilometers in because of lack of power. Then, a few hours later, when I tried going out the window of the house to fly here, my wings wouldn't work. Oh! Oh...” Twilight grew sheepish. “Um, when coming here, I accidentally destroyed the castle entrance with my telekinesis. And then your conference door! I was just trying to knock, but it came out like a battering ram.”

Celestia's brow furrowed. “Blackouts... personality shifts... rapid power fluctuation... It sounds familiar, but something's...” She looked at Twilight, who's eyelids were slowly drooping closed. “... missing. Aha!”

“Wha!” Twilight sat bolt upright. “Urm, Yeah! Right?”

“Blackouts, personality shifts, rapid power fluctuation, and extreme tiredness. Both of your sections of lucidity started with you waking up!”

“Yes. Do you know what's happening?” To Twilight's surprise, she found that Celestia was smiling.

“Yes, yes I do, and you're going to be perfectly alright. It's simply a part of being an alicorn. I should have expected this, but then again, nopony's ever become an alicorn in the way you did.”

Twilight glanced around, checking to see if there were any other ponies in earshot. There did not appear to be. Seeing this, she gave Celestia a look of complete shock.

“This kind of thing happens all the time to you? And you never thought to tell me?”

Celestia smiled. “It's more of a one time thing.”

“Well, if you wouldn’t mind explaining exactly what is happening to me, that would be great.”

“Getting feisty, I see.”

Twilight stared at Celestia. “I'm having random blackouts, my body can't figure out how to work, and my personality keeps taking twenty second asides. I feel entitled to more than 'It's all okay.'”

Smiling, Celestia put up a hoof as if to fend off Twilight's near tangible deadpan. “Fair enough. Okay. The blackouts first. You see, the brain has a limited amount of storage space. But the mind doesn't simply run out of memory. Instead, it deletes pieces of old memory, condensing your life into less and less time, cutting out the uneventful bits and leaving in the exciting ones. This is, for the most part, a fine system; One does not begin to lose major events until about one century in. However, for immortals... well, I like coherent memories. We need a different system, and nature seems to have provided. One of our many powers include a magical memory backup. Unfortunately, the first time you come into contact, it has the nasty habit of messing with your mind, hence the blackouts and personality shifts.”

“The power fluctuations are a result of another alicorn power. Each of the three pony races has a magic of its own; you know full well what they are and how they work. However, when you create hybrids of -”

“Um..” Twilight cleared her throat. “I'm sure that this is all interesting information. I'll definitely want the full explanation later, in more depth if possible. However, given my current condition, I was kind of hoping for what to expect and how long I should expect it for.”

Celestia paused. “That's... quite the odd request from you, Twilight.”

“Blackouts, spazing, temporary insanity.”

“Noted. Symptoms will include, and be limited to, blackouts, spazing, and temporary insanity. Duration: unknown, given that Luna and I passed through in about six hours each, though they were significantly more severe. Also, we were five.”

Twilight sighed for what felt like at least the tenth time that day. “So, no real idea?”

“No real idea.”

About twenty seconds passed, into which a drowsy expression slowly overtook Twilight's face. She felt the mattress below her tug at her conscious thoughts, weighing them down with lead as she struggled to remain awake.

“ 'Sit okay if I just sleep here with you?” Twilight frowned, then rephrased. “I mean, okay with you if I sleep here. I think.”

“Of course. You're always welcome here.”

The lavender alicorn closed her eyes, as Celestia slowly removed herself from her erstwhile student's bedside, turning to the nurse before leaving.

“As soon as you're sure she's asleep, bind her with adamantium restraints. She'll still be able to use magic, so be careful. Most likely, she won't try to hurt anyone, but if she does... be ready. Whatever happens, do not give her anything. Anything at all.”

The nurse looked at Twilight with determination in her eyes. “Yes, princess.”

Feeling as confident in Twilight's safety as she reasonably could expect, Celestia made her way to the infirmary's exit.

“Hey!”

Celestia paused, then turned back towards the now reawakened Twilight.

“What is it?”

“My blackouts. I could have hurt somepony.”

“No, you couldn’t have. You're caked in mud and rock dust, but don't have a drop of blood on you. You wouldn't have had nearly enough control to pull that off. Everything is fine, Twilight. Get some sleep. Hopefully, by the next time you enter the realm of the lucid, you'll stay there.”

“Good point.” Twilight's eyes once again drooped. There really was no point in trying to fight it anymore. The effect was something she would just have to ride out, and she couldn’t think of a safer place to do so then within shouting distance of two goddesses. As comfortable as she could be, she let her unnatural tiredness ferry her into the land of dreams.

^

Twilight's eyes sprang open. For a second, she was confused as to where she was. She tried to lift a hoof up to shield her eyes from the light leaking in through the window, but found it firmly locked in place. She thrashed about for a few seconds, then calmed down as she remembered where she was. She was slightly hurt at the fact that they had found it necessary to secure her to her gurney, but she understood why they had. The light from the window was that of the newly rising moon, a waxing gibbous perhaps two days from full. Based on the position of the window, that made it... twenty-two ish. She had slept for another nine hours, give or take.

Twilight pulled at her restraints again, but with no success. While she was debating whether or not to call for a nurse, she heard hoof steps approach her curtain, followed by the brush of fabric as it was drawn aside.

“I see you have awoken again. Are you feeling well?”

Twilight craned her neck, the adamantium restraints limiting her movement. She shifted as much as she could, until she was staring upside down at what she assumed was likely Luna's body and lower neck. “Luna. Could you unfasten me by any chance?”

There was a click, and Twilight regained the full range of movement. Turning herself around, she looked more directly at her nocturnal partner. “What do you mean, 'awoken again'?”

Luna looked confused. “We talked not an hour ago, though I only managed to get one sensible sentence out of you. You spent most of the time thrashing about and conversing to yourself incoherently about... sock puppets, I believe. About one in four words you said were nonsense, like 'jambers,' 'polyfeild', 'broggle', and, my personal favorite, 'pazzingle!' I got the distinct impression that you were unwell.”

“You've been here for an hour?”

“Nearly three, actually. Celestia woke me early to deal with some unsavory griffons, and once we had concluded, she informed me of your plight. I though having a familiar face to wake up to might help things.”

“It certainly didn’t hurt. I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything at all since I talked to Celestia at 13:00.”

“And how are you feeling now?”

Twilight paused for a second, considering. “I don't know. I feel... weird, somehow, but I'm not sure exactly why.”

“Are your memories still fuzzy?”

“No... no, they aren't. Actually...” Twilight paused for a second, thinking it over before continuing. “Actually, they're clearer than they've been in, well, as long as I can remember.”

“Then it seems that you have been successfully integrated into the alicorn field.”

“Yeah, it does-” Twilight stopped short. “Wait, what? Alicorn field?”

Twilight's confusion apparently came as a shock for Luna. “You know not of the alicorn field? I was sure Celistia would have told you by now.”

“She very well may have been trying, but I think I cut her off in the middle.” Twilight made a frowny face. “I was very tired and worried, so I asked her to skip the explanation.”

Luna smiled. “This is not a problem, Twilight. In fact, it likely saves me from having to correct Celestia's understanding.”

“Whoa there. Celestia is a great teacher.”

Luna paused. “I am sorry. I forget sometimes how much she has changed from her younger self. Of course she would have been fine; she's been a teacher for over eight hundred years now.”

“It still surprises you after three years?”

Luna smiled softly. “Three years on the twenty-fifth. I have three days yet.” Her smile dropped, and sadness subtly crept into her voice. “And three years is not time enough to catch up on one thousand, nor one thousand enough to erase the one hundred had before.”

Silence filled the space between the two. After a moment, Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Luna started first.

“That is no matter, and nothing with which you should concern yourself. I was to explain to you the alicorn field.”

Twilight hesitated, before deciding to let Luna's comment go. “... Yeah. Yes, you were.”

“Let us start from the beginning. What do you know of the mechanisms behind the magic used by unicorns?”

Twilight opened her mouth, but was cut off again.

“In brief.”

“Right. Well, Eqquis exists enveloped inside of two celestial spheres, that of the moon and that of the sun. Where the two meet, tremendous metaplaner forces build up, dissipating into the cavity between the two. This translates into an ever present field of magical energy which permeates the world around us.”

Luna nodded. “Concise and accurate. Please continue.”

“This mana field interacts with all living things. However, only certain animals and plants can manipulate it. Something like poison joke or a hydra possesses magic, and uses it to get an edge in survival. But, things like them can only use magic in one predetermined biological way. Of the creatures who can manipulate magic, even fewer can vary and control that manipulation; namely, the dragons, the deer, the zebras, and, of course, ponies.

Unicorns manipulate it in the most obvious way. Using our horns, we... Using their horns, they can channel the energy inside of them to effect the world around them using a variety of spells. Pegasi are somewhere in the middle, capable of manipulating weather in a variety of forms while also having the biological mechanism in place to fly, which they can't directly control. Earth ponies have almost no manipulative ability. Their magic stimulates growth in plants around them, and increases their strength beyond what would seem reasonable. They do have one control, though. Though most are not aware, they can act a near perfect magical grounds, being able to safely dispel and contain large amounts of pure mana very quickly.”

Luna nodded again. “Good. Having a base is necessary. I realize that these things have been known to you for likely nearly a decade, but knowing in what way you visualize the system will help me to explain in a way that more directly builds off of your previous knowledge.”

Twilight looked at Luna attentively. The elder alicorn took another ten seconds to think, before looking back at Twilight.

“As you have described, each of the pony races manipulate the mana field in a different manor. However, when you mix the controls together, things behave differently. Two race hybrids occur when one race does not gain complete dominance over the other. As far as I know, there is no way to accurately predict when these hybrids will form. They are rare, but not unheard of. In Pegasi, hybridization with an earth pony results in a stronger, faster flier, with the occasional chance of building up magical power for explosive releases. Not unlike your friend Rainbow Dash, actually. In unicorns, earth pony hybridization results in vastly increased magic storage capacity and the ability to rage shift. Much like you were, in fact. Unicorn-pegasus hybrids get flight and magic, though neither are abnormally powerful. Then, of course, there are three way hybrids. Cadence is one of these. They have mastery of weather and incredible magical power.”

“I have pointed this out to make my next point very clear, because it is very easy to become confused due to the fact that alicorns possess the connections of all three races. This is true. However, alicorns are more then simple hybrids of the other three. We are our own, clearly defined race. We are three-way hybrids with something else added.”

Here Luna paused, giving Twilight time to digest the information she had so far given her. After a few moments, she continued.

“Alicorns are able to access another, deeper layer of magic, altogether more potent than normal magic. In this, we are uniquely capable. No other being on Equis, save Discord, is capable of accessing this force. The elements of harmony are fueled off this force. Alicorns have the ability to act as transistors, using our normal power to coax energy from this field, and channel it. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we are unable to use this power to do anything outside of our particular specialty.”

“You had power fluctuations as your magic began to interact with this new energy. Your body, unable to cope with the undirected force, systemically shut down parts of your control as they became overwhelmed. Now that the power has settled, you should be okay.”

Luna, having concluded her speech, waited as Twilight mulled over the new information.
Questions began to pop into Twilight's mind.

“Where does the energy come from?”

“That is something we do not know. Somewhere beyond the Celestial spheres.”

“How much more powerful are we talking about?”

“It has never been objectively measured. From what I've seen and done... I wouldn’t be surprised at a million fold.”

“What can I use it for?”

“You...” Luna looked at Twilight. “You will have to find that out yourself.”

“No, wait.” Twilight frowned. “When I first got my wings, Celestia said that I was the alicorn of harmony. Yet you say you don't know what I can do.”

“Given your strong connection with the Elements of Harmony, it seemed like a logical assumption.” Luna gave Twilight a small smile. “However, assumptions are not fact, just conjecture. The proof will come when you use the power.”

For Twilight, everything lined up. It made sense as a concept, even if she didn’t have some of the particulars. However, it left one question hanging, one which she really didn’t want to ask, but felt the need to. The logical elephant in the room.

Luna noticed her hesitation. “Twilight. I can see you worry still. What more do you need to know?”

Twilight looked down, and began making circles with her hoof on the covers of her gurney. “Well... no, I'm sure...”

“You don't have to be afraid, Twilight. Having an entire additional level of magic theory added is no small step, even conceptually. You can ask any question of me.”

“It's not that...” Twilight's voice came out quieter then normal, and Luna leaned in closer to hear her. “You've explained the whole thing well, but, well...” Twilight paused, then said quickly, “If access to the alicorn field was the special separator between normal ponies and alicorns, then how did you know I was an alicorn before I connected?”

Luna was temporarily stunned into silence. Twilight took it as an opportunity to continue. “I know that Celestia specifically made me one, but if the only outward indication of proof of alicornhood over three-way hybridization was connection to the alicorn field, and that didn’t happen, how did she know that she was successful? '[N]opony's ever become an alicorn in the way you did.', quote Celestia not ten hours ago. She's never done this before. How could you have possibly known it would work?”

“Twilight!”

Twilight stopped dead, drawing silent. Luna stared directly into her eyes, and then, after a moment, spoke.

“Perhaps she simply had confidence in her abilities. When you cast a new spell, you throw yourself into it, figuring that it will work. Sometimes it does not, but most of the time, when you have considered what you know, and worked the idea through, it does. When Celestia made you an alicorn, it was with a spell that had, in part, been formulated over the course of nearly nine hundred years. She, and I, had full confidence that it would work.”

“We were not lying to you. We were not withholding information from you. We made an assumption, and yes, we treated it as fact, but the assumption was very well based.” Luna smiled, this time full of warmth. “We are your friends, Twilight. What we do has reason.”

“Well, then, what about Cadence?”

“It is far simpler a concept to explain her as a mortal alicorn then go into detail. She has no less physical power then we possess, and her talent with emotions is nearly goddess level anyway.”

“Does she...?”

“Yes, she does. We do not feel that this is a great secret that needs to be held. Some of the older magic theory books discuss it, but it has fallen out of common knowledge due to its irrelevance to the vast majority of the population. They can never interact with the alicorn field, and so adding it simply seems like superfluous information. One can advance magic theory to new heights without ever knowing of its existence.”

“It's not a secret? So, if I told my friends, we wouldn’t have to lock them up or something?”

Luna laughed softly. “No, we wouldn’t.”

Her questions mostly answered, Twilight stood up, dropping off the gurney and onto the floor. She flexed her wings experimentally, feeling them respond fluidly to her commands. She stomped on the ground, the sound of her hoof clopping echoing through the silent room, the shock traveling up her leg. She levitated a vase, and put it down on a side table on the opposite wall. “Well, that's good. Luna, I'm sorry to ask and run, but my friends probably have had no idea where I've been for the past twenty-seven hours, and I'm sure they're getting worried.”

“Of course.” Twilight turned to leave, preparing a teleport. “Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“You know that you are welcome here at any time. We would like to see you more.” She paused for a moment. “I would like to see you more.”

“Um... yeah. You're right, I should come here more often. After all, I'm going to have to learn how to run this country at some point, right?” Twilight looked away. “And, you know, maybe just to talk. Every once in a while.”

There was a flash of white light, and Twilight was gone, leaving Luna alone in the infirmary.

^

Two hundred and twenty kilometers to the south-southwest, a light could be seen, glowing a dim white against the foliage of the forest. It had been glowing for nearly twenty-seven hours now, slowly building in brightness as the runes which covered the area took greater and greater strain. As of yet, the glow had not done anything to hurt the cat, who had chosen the area to rest. It had escaped the Everfree, and had decided to rest in this clearing at the edge, within sight of Hoofany. The glow, it figured, would keep away stupid predators and provide her with some protection.

The runes also had the added benefit of being warm. The cat stretched lazily along one of the connecting lines, smug in its unique ability to sunbathe in the middle of the night. It was startled from this state by a sudden flash of light. Curious, the cat padded over to where the flash had come from. There, it found a bright crack etching its way through one of the glowing lines, perhaps three times as bright as the surrounding glow. Carefully, the cat approached the crack, and then, seeing that it did not react to her approach, swatted it. Nothing much happened. After a few more swats, the cat figured that the crack was harmless, and returned to her preferred sleeping place.

After a few minutes had passed, there was a second flash, followed by a third a few seconds later. The cat once again aroused itself, and checked out the disturbance. Two more cracks had formed in the glowing lattice. She again swatted at them, again with no reaction. She then checked on the first one. The crack had become larger. Before she could lay down again, there was a fourth crack, then a fifth.

Mewling, the cat fled the clearing, flashes of light growing brighter and more frequent behind her.

End Chapter 1

Author's Note

And we're off! The story has begun. The players are being introduced, the scene is being set, and the background is being filled in. All we need now is the antagonist to make a appearance.

This is my second fic, and my first that actually has a long story to it, so I'm not going to be perfect. Please, leave comments!
For anything that is not a personal attack, feel free to criticize away! Constructive criticism is the only way we can improve. Please refrain from saying things like 'your story sucks'. This does not help me make it better. Say instead 'You don't portray Twilight in the way I would like. I always picture her as being less introspective' or something along those lines. I won't respond to obvious hate comments, but I will try to respond to any questions, time permitting.

Thank you for giving me a look! Hope you'll come back soon!

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Spring
Saturday, 22 June 1003

Spring, to the surprise of a squirrel, woke up to find herself laying down in a clearing in an unfamiliar forest with the taste of blood in her mouth. Still too tired to completely register her surroundings, her eyes lazily followed the squirrel's path as it ran away from the waking alicorn. The light from the moon, nearing the end of its journey across the sky, casted weak but long shadows across the clearing, giving Spring the impression of being surrounded by large, sleeping creatures. The air was warm, with a light breeze passing calmly through the trees, tickling her wings as it played across them. Still quite tired, but unable to return to sleep, her curiosity overcame her laziness and forced her to arouse fully and take stock of her situation.

Okay... where exactly am I?

She stood up and shook her head, chasing the sleep from her eyes and preparing to give her surroundings a more through examination. In the moon's silvery light, she could make out burn marks across the clearing that outlined the necessary lattice for a powerful sealing spell, a lattice she was in the middle of. The trees around the edge of the clearing were burnt, most likely from the release of the sealing energy. To her left, the forest became darker and thicker, eventually obscuring her vision. To her right, it began to thin out, and she thought she could see what might be the lights of a city in the distance.

“How long wast I out?” She called to the world in general, not really expecting a response. Experimentally, she attempted to cast a light spell, her horn casting an aquamarine aura before fading out. She growled under her breath. Typical. Wake up from being sealed for who knows how long, only to find your magical reserves completely drained. Just another day. She sighed, then smiled. She was free again, and there was a new world to explore. Think of what could have changed while she was out! There were new cities to visit, new wonders to look at, new ponies to meet and subjugate. Or, perhaps, if the time was shorter, more of the same. Still, she couldn’t loose out, one way or the other.

Her memory was still dicey, not something she was used to. She had always been fond of her perfect recall, so having a blank was almost a personal affront as far as she was concerned. The last thing she remembered...

Spring sighed. It was so fuzzy. She knew she was fighting with Celestia again, but exactly what had happened was lost to her. She supposed she must have lost, given where she ended up. It was an alien feeling to her, not knowing. She always knew.

She supposed there was not much to do now other than wait for her power reserves to refill. After all, Celestia and Luna were likely still alive, and would most likely not be happy to see her. Though, who knew? Perhaps they had missed her. She smirked at that. Not likely.

Spring found herself very bored very quickly. She paced around the clearing, her mind racing with ideas and plans, each one more elaborate than the prior. Five minuets passed. She was tense, her impatience almost tangible. She knew that she was going to be here for another thirty hours until her reserves fully recharged, but the knowledge of this end did not make waiting for it any less boring.

To pass the time, Spring decided to give herself some mental puzzles to work through. First, as a warm up, she worked out the prime factors of 17,947,665,765 (32 * 5 * 17 * 1423 * 16487). Next, she calculated the finite field of order 5 from Z7 , all 16,807 elements. Glancing around her, she then worked out the total number of paths that could be made between the vertexes of her erstwhile seal, using only the runic connections and their current placement. Once she was done, she glanced at the sky. The moon was noticeably lower, but hadn’t set yet. She'd killed another half hour at best.

Spring wasn’t entirely sure she could make it thirty hours.

It wasn't just the lack of stimulation, though that certainly had something to do with it. No, it was the mystery outside that was making her so impatient. She wanted to explore. She needed to explore. She was an alicorn, used to doing the impossible! She was used to being in control, to understanding the workings of the world. She wanted that back, and right now, she wanted to be doing nothing more than working towards that goal. She wanted adventure. Or at the very least somepony to screw with.

However, Spring was also smart. She knew that rushing into the fray without power could get her killed. Though it went against her nature, she knew that staying here was the best plan. Revealing herself too early could end poorly for her. She cursed the lack of spontaneity involved, but be that as it may, she needed to stay here.

If only there wasn’t an alicorn of the stars. Then she might be able to figure out where exactly she was. As it stood, none of the patterns in the sky lined up with her mental star maps. She could be literally anywhere between the tropics and the arctic circle on either hemisphere of the planet.

Finally, after what felt to Spring like an interminable length of time, the sun peaked out over the horizon, illuminating the world with its warm light. Her internal clock said that she had been unsealed for about two hours now. Just twenty-eight to go.

Her stomach grumbled. She looked down at it, temporarily shocked, before realizing that she was hungry. It made sense; after all, she hadn’t eaten in years. Looking about, she spotted a patch of berries just outside of the clearing. They were a dark purple, almost black, and looked to be made up of many tiny fruit sacks all bundled up together. She stood up, stretched her legs, and walked over to them. Sniffing them tentatively, she searched her mind for their name but came up with no matches. These must have evolved in the time since she had last been here. Carefully, she picked one berry and ate it. It was one of the sweetest berries she had ever tasted, though it did have a fair number of tiny seeds. Whatever else held true, the future certainly had good wild berries. She picked the patch, eating the little black berries until she had finished the lot.

They had left a light black stain on her hooves, and she assumed her lips as well, but a quick flash of magic had her clean in seconds. Utility powers were best powers.

“Is anypony out there? Anypony hurt?”

Spring paused. Had she heard a voice? She checked through her memory. Yes, she had. The voice had said -.

“Anypony out there? Anypony hurt?”

Yes, that was it. It was much closer, this time. Spring cursed herself. Usually she was quicker than this. She could see the city, so it made logical sense that the city could see her, if she had a bright enough light. When the seal had broken, it burnt the trees around it! Anyone closer than the horizon could have seen that.

“Hello? Is anypony there?”

Three options. First, run away. Not a dignified approach, and well below her stature, but it might keep her unknown for a little longer. Second, disguise herself. Risky given cultural shifts which may have occurred since she last checked. One slip up, and her cover was blown, as there was no way she would be able to come up with a convincing cover story knowing nothing about the culture of the area, not even the locations and names of population centers. Third, kill the party. She was fairly certain that she had enough power to do it, and it would be the best option for her. However, if she didn’t get them all right off, there would be no chance of evading discovery.

“Miss?”

Or, apparently, fourth, stand still like an idiot until the party finds you.

Spring turned towards the voice. It belonged to a stallion, a orange-brown earth pony, perhaps forty-five years old, wearing what appeared to be a burlap saddle bag. He had a fold-out gurney strapped to one of his sides, and had an unlit lamp of some kind attached to his forehead by means of a strap.

The stallion took a more detailed look at his quarry, taking in first her horn, then her wings. Unconsciously, his legs began to shake slightly.

“Who... Who are you?”

She really should just kill him. He was alone, she should just kill him. He looked to be the type that wouldn’t be missed for at least a few days, she really should...

“I am Spring. Who art thou?”

The stallion bowed before her. Spring took this as a good sign. “I am Swift Tech, princess.”

“What doth thou mean by 'princess'? I am not thy mortal ruler, but thy goddess. Thee wouldst dost well to show reverence to me.”

The stallion flinched. “Forgive me, goddess.” Spring could tell that he was obviously frightened of her. Exactly what she wanted. Scared ponies were far easier to control.

“Thou hast avoided my query. I asked thee what thee meant by 'princess'.” She glared at him. “Art thou attempting to play me as a fool?”

It achieved the desired effect. The stallion flinched again, this time leaving a scared look on his face. Spring smiled. She had him in her control now.

“No, of course not, goddess! My inference earlier came from our princesses, Celestia, Cadence, Luna, and Twilight, who are all alicorns as you are. They are all referred to as princesses, so I thought that it was the correct term. Please forgive me.” The stallion lowered his head even farther towards the ground.

Spring paused for a second, pretending to think it over. “Thy inferences were logical. I wilt be'st merciful, as thee dost nay deserve punishment for that which thee wast unaware of.” She saw relief cross the stallion's face. “Who art Cadence and Twilight? Hath Celestia or Luna hadst children?”

“As far as I know, Cadence and Twilight are not the children of Celestia or Luna. I think that Cadence was born in another country, and came here about twenty-eight years ago. I believe she is thirty-five years old. Twilight used to be a unicorn, one of the barriers of the elements of harmony, though I don't recall which one. She became an alicorn less then a year ago, I recall.”

“I see. Then these newcomers art secondaries(1), not sharing the blood of Eris. They art of no concern to me.” Spring looked down on the stallion, still bowing at her hooves. “Swift Tech, thee mayst rise. Thee hast shown thy reverence in full, and thy words art muffled by the earth.” Eagerly, Swift Tech rose to his hooves, though he still stood nearly a meter shorter than Spring.

“Thank you, goddess!”

Spring couldn't believe her luck. The first pony she met in this new time was complacent, nearly bending over backwards to obey her. Most ponies from her time would at least be unhappy about it. It was almost disappointing, really. No challenge.

Spring glanced around. Since it would be a shame to kill him, she supposed that she could use him to help her stay hidden for the remainder of the thirty hours, while having more freedom of movement. First though, she had a few more questions.

“Where art we?”

“We're about five kilometers outside of Hoofany, a quarry town of seven thousand on the west side of the Everfree forest. The country is known as 'Equestria', and is ruled by a... Quadrearchy, I guess? Celestia and Luna do most of the actual ruling, so maybe it's just a constitutional diarchy. It's been getting more confusing as of late.”

“And where dost Celestia and Luna reign from?”

“The city of Canterlot, some two-hundred plus kilometers to the north-east of here.”

Spring nodded. “I see. It seems that their city has stood the test of time.”

Swift got a distant look in his eyes. “Yeah, the palace is really something else. Over a thousand years old now, and still sparkling like a billion gemstones.”

Spring was temporarily stunned, though she recovered quickly. “Over a thousand years?”

The stallion became anxious, backing away from Spring slightly while frantically searching for the correct thing to say. “Y-yes, over a thousand years. It's the year 1003.”

Spring, to his relief, turned her attention inward, walking in circles as she considered this new information. 1003... That would make 981 years since I was sealed. It's longer than anticipated, but of no real consequence. But how? I was expecting somewhat less then one hundred, not just shy of one thousand. Why did it take me so long to break the seal? And why now?

“Goddess...” Spring was brought back to reality by Swift's voice, cataloging her queries for later.

“Yes, Swift Tech? What is thy query?”

“Have I said something wrong? Are you... are you going to hurt me?” Swift flinched again, looking pale and scared.

“Thou hast delivered unexpected news. However, thee hast hadest naught to do'st with the creation of the event. I dost nay see reason in killing messengers.” Spring smiled, putting convincing but fake warmth into it. “But, if thou wishes, thee mayest preform a task for me to earn my favor.”

“Oh, anything, goddess!” Somewhat to Spring's surprise, though not to her disliking, the stallion dropped to his knees again, worshiping her hooves as tears welled up in his eyes. “Anything for you!”

Given his reactions to her, Spring had no choice but to assume he was madly in love with her. It was not completely unexpected. She was one of the most attractive ponies who had ever lived. Even naturally, she could force some stallions to their knees with no more then an flirtatious smile. However, she was nearly never simply natural. She had the fortune, or misfortune, of emitting a constant magical glamor, increasing her attraction to levels beyond what should be biologically possible. With her glamor, almost one in two stallions fell for her instantly and uncontrollably. It gave her hope that the ponies of this time were not weaker then in hers, but that she had simply been found by one of the poor unfortunates who found themselves incapable of saying no to her.

It was also very likely that Swift Tech was a coward, as the only thing that seemed to snap stallions out of her spell was self preservation, and Swift was spending an awfully large percentage of his time snapped out. Not that Spring had a problem with this. The longer he spent in her glamor, the less it would effect him, and though he would likely remain attracted to her for the remainder of his life, she would not be able to use it to control him. His fear of her, however, would likely not diminish.

“I hast need of someplace to live in until the next sunrise. It would also behoove me to begin observing the ponies of this time, to better understand how to regain control of this world. This as it is, I think it would be best if I were to be'st accompanied by thee in thy city. Thou canst show me the points of interest, and deter suspicion of my outdated mannerisms.”

Spring concentrated, her horn flaring as she casted a spell on herself, her body shrinking and wings fading, until she looked no different from a normal unicorn. As an afterthought, she casted another spell to cancel her glamor(2). It was cute, but she needed his fear thinking. “I shalt enter thy city disguised as such. Thee shalt refer to me as 'Running Waters', a friend of thy family who is paying a visit to thee. Thee shalt act as thee normally would, if thee were to be'st showing around a friend. Thee shalt act as natural as possible, even if thee must ignore me or my wishes to dost so. It is imperative that Celestia and Luna not be informed of my arrival until tomorrow morning.”

Swift swallowed. “Yes, Running Waters. Whatever you command.”

Spring smiled. “Thee shalt dost well, Swift Tech. My memory is long and eidetic. If thee preforms well, I shalt nay forget to reward thine warship.”

Swift Tech chuckled nervously. “And if I fail you?”

Spring said nothing, but made her was towards Hoofany, with Swift Tech following behind.

^

“You... have been... most kind to me. Thank you.”

Swift Tech smiled encouragingly. “You are doing fine, goddess.”

Spring sighed. “My progress hath been slow, and my execution is broken. Thy words art reverent but inaccurate, and dost little to forward my learning. Thee hast also referred to me as goddess again. Thee canst nay make such a mistake in the city.”

“Forgive me, Waters, but I meant no flattery when referring to your progress. You have never been exposed to our syntax before, and to understand it fully in less than ten minutes, even if you can't execute perfectly, is no small feat. I have had the privilege of reading literature from your time, and even still have a hard time understanding you on the first pass. You have had no such difficulty.”

“Still, I feel that it would be'st best if I were to avoid extended social encounters, ere learning completely.”

“Whatever you wish.”

The two continued on their way, Spring taking the rear and letting the stallion take the lead. Swift had calmed down considerably in the hour they had spent walking, apparently having figured that if she was planing on killing him, she would have done so already. He was still acting reverent, which Spring appreciated, but had since fallen into a more relaxed tone. Though she sorely missed the thousands who worshiped her, she had always recognized the need for a few whom she could interact with in a less formal manor, and Swift, by way of being the first pony she met, was necessitated to be in this category.

“We're only about three minutes from the town limits now.”

That was the third time. Spring had thought that it might be a slip, but this time it was for certain. “Why dost thee refer to this city as a town? Doth it not hast seven thousand souls?”

“Populations have been increasing since you were last here, Waters. You need at least twenty thousand to be a city now.”

“Noted.”

As they approached the… town, Spring couldn’t help but be a little impressed. The houses and buildings were made of an assortment of materials, ranging from wood to brick to stone, each adding to the ascetic of the location. The architecture seemed simple, but well executed; gone was the sharp contrast in construction between the homes of the rich and poor. To each of these homes two cables ran, though what use they had was lost on Spring. She saw ponies in the streets, walking from place to place sedately, greeting passersby. Some foals were playing with a red ball, laughing as they tore down the street. It seemed so... so nice.

She was startled from her musings by a thunderous noise coming from her left. Turning, she saw a large wheeled vehicle of some sort belching steam from a stack in its front. It seemed confined to two metal rails, which it appeared its wheels slotted into. It looked as if it was slowing down.

Swift Tech saw her looking. Pointing at it, he said “That's a Friendship Express model 1 steam locomotive, second of its kind. Only eight months old.”

“Well, Progress always said that they would master steam someday.” Spring muttered. “Looks like she was right, after all.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Fair enough.” Swift continued walking. Spring followed, though she kept watching the 'steam locomotive' out of the corner of her eye. Eventually, it stopped, letting out the ponies whom had been traveling in the compartments. Once it had been emptied, different ponies entered the compartments, and when no more ponies came forward, it began to move again. Spring noted its slow acceleration, and watched until she had determined its maximum speed at around 50 km/h. It might be imperative for her to outpace one of these at some point. Turning her attention back towards the town, she was surprised to see that they had already passed over the town line, and were mere seconds from passing the first buildings. She really shouldn’t let herself get so distracted by one thing as to miss the others.

As she passed the threshold and entered the town proper, she was once again startled by the lack of smell. The streets were, while not spotless, less dirty than she usually saw in cities of 2500, let alone seven thousand. The noise was also lower than she had expected.

“Hey, miss!”

Spring continued for a few more steps, before realizing that nopony else had responded. She turned towards the voice.

“Yeah, you! Miss, would you mind helping me?”

The voice belonged to a young purple-pink earth-pony stallion, perhaps thirteen, who's disheveled blue-cream mane partly hid the face of a small hot pink filly who stood at his side, presumably his younger sister. His grey-gold eyes were searching hers, and for the briefest of seconds Spring got the impression that he could be quite handsome if he only took better care of himself.

“What dost thee require?” The words were out of her mouth before she fully understood why. The little filly giggled.

“Please, you're a unicorn. Our cat has gotten himself stuck on our roof and won't come down. We need help.”

The filly spoke up as well. “Our parents aren't going to come home until Tuesday. She was crying. I think she's hurt and stuck up there.”

The young stallion's eyes were pleading. “Please.”

Spring considered just leaving. She owed these ponies nothing. Then again, she hardly had a strict schedule as of now, and it would be something to do. Sighing, she trotted over to them.

“Where is thy home?” Her utterance was accompanied by the laughter of the filly again, though Spring could not bring herself to bare it any ill will. The stallion glared at the filly.

“That was mean, Vanilla. This nice unicorn is going to help us get our cat, and you're laughing at her. Say you're sorry.”

The filly looked ashamed of herself. “I'm sorry.”

“I forgive thee.” Spring looked behind her, seeing that Swift Tech had not used her distraction as an opportunity to escape. “This is my friend, Swift Tech. Wilt ye permit him entrance to thy home as well?”

“Of course. Please, we want to get her down as soon as possible.” The young stallion and Vanilla trotted off quickly, with Spring and Swift in tow.

They wound their way through the town, eventually coming to a building that stood some six stories tall. On its roof, a orange cat was clearly visible.

“She ran away into the Everfree on Wednesday,” the stallion said, “and just returned this morning. She looked spooked, and kept jumping whenever we turned on the lights. We left for half an hour to find breakfast, and when we got back, there she was.”

Spring nodded, and with a flash of light, the cat was teleported from the roof down to the safety of the ground, a lightning bolt striking her point of departure and arrival. The stallion was shocked into silence by this, though young Vanilla seemed unperturbed, leaning over and picking the shocked and confused cat up into her hooves.

“Thank you!”

Spring smiled. “It wast my pleasure.”

With that, Spring and Swift left the two to their cat.

“That was unexpectedly kind of you, Waters.”

“Thee should presume to know nothing about my personality.” Spring looked back at the two, happily returning to their home with their cat. “Were their any direct benefit to myself, I wouldst hast no qualms ending their lives. I dost nay see any reason not to help those in need if it hath no impact on myself or my goals.”

“Don't”

Spring turned towards Swift. “What dost thee presume to mean by 'don't'.”

“Instead of 'dost nay', say don't. It's far less clunky, and concentrating on one at a time may let you get it down quicker.”

“Get what down quicker?” Spring asked, confused.

“Uh...” Swift sighed. "I can see that this is going to be quite the challenge. Lets work on colloquialisms first, okay?"

^

“Thy home is quite cozy.” Said Spring, laying down on what Swift had called a 'sofa'.

“There is no need to patronize me, goddess.” Swift's voice was muffled by the sound of boiling water coming from his small kitchen, where he was preparing tea for the two of them.

Spring was confused. “I didest not mean to be'st patronizing. Your home is among the top quarter percent of mortal homes I have ever visited. By thy time's standards, this mayst not be the case, but for me it most certainly is.”

“Well, that's very kind of you, goddess, though I'm sure you're used to a higher level of comfort then I can provide.” Swift entered with the tea and some biscuits on a tray.

“Whilst this is the case, I fault thee not.” Spring sipped her tea, then sampled a biscuit. Both were of fair quality, though she was of the opinion that they would have been better had they been less sweet.

“Do you want more sugar?”

“Nay, I dost... I don't want more sugar. I wish for less.”

“Forgive me. I should have asked first.” Swift relieved her of her cup, and returned a few seconds later with another cup. “This one has half what the last one had.” Finding it to her satisfaction, Spring drank her tea and ate her biscuits in silence.

After the tea was mostly drunk and the biscuits mostly eaten, Spring turned to face Swift directly, looking at him for a moment. “Thee shouldst be commended for thy performance.”

“Hey, you told me to act natural, so I act natural.” Swift took another bite of his biscuit. “Natural isn’t hard.”

“Though this mayst be true, most wouldst find themselves too afraid in my presence to act as thee dost.”

“Most aren't me.” Swift looked down for a second. “I don't want to die. I'd do anything you asked, whatever the cost to myself. It doesn't matter how scared I am.”

“As long as thee continue to do'st as I say, I wilt nay harm thee. Though I dost nay consider thee as more than a tool, thee hath a life which I dost nay feel I hast the right to end for no reason.” Spring paused. “That said, if thee obstructs me in any way, thy life is forfeit.”

Swift turned, examining Spring closely, before speaking next. “How long are you going to be here for?”

“With thee? Less than another twenty-four hours.” Spring paused, then continued. “In this country, likely the next couple decades.”

“I don't presume to know your mind, but didn't you say earlier that you planed on taking over the world? Won't you be here longer?”

“I hast no patience for direct rule. Thee shalt be subservient to me, as shalt all the governments of this world, but I shalt hast little influence in thy day-to-day life. Thee also presumes that this nation is where command of thy world would stem, which is not necessarily the case.”

“Where would the command of our world stem?”

Spring smiled. “Wheresoever I desire to stay.” Her eyes gleamed.

Swift shuddered.

^

“Is such attire necessary?” Spring asked, tugging uncomfortably at the edges of a dress which Swift had acquired for her.

“It is if you don't wish to stand out.” Swift said, leading Spring through the town towards the civic center, where there was a ball going on tonight in celebration of Celestia's birthday, which was tomorrow. Spring was slightly confused as to why they were celebrating her birthday the day before it happened, but Swift said that it was tradition in Hoofany that dated back nearly two hundred years. This left Spring no less confused, but she figured that she might as well attend. After all, important and knowledgeable ponies frequented events like this, and there was a fair chance that she could gleam some information off of those attending.

Seeing his opportunity, Swift continued. “We don't need to go here at all, you know.” He said nervously. He had an overwhelming sense of dread regarding the whole situation. He really couldn’t see many ways introducing the disguised and dangerous goddess to the stuck up nobles could end well for anyone involved, except perhaps for Spring.

Spring laughed. “Getting … cold hooves, wast it?” Her face darkened. “Or art thou seriously suggesting that we don't go with my twitter-light plans?”

Swift said nothing, and silently led Spring on.

Eventually, the two made it to the 'ballroom', which was obviously the town's civic center temporarily converted for use. However, any fear of having been led on evaporated as she crossed into the building. A hundred dazzling lights shown down on her, each one fifty times as bright as a candle. At least one thousand ponies had gathered here, talking in groups and dancing across the spacious hall. For a second, she simply marveled at the room, its insides having been converted into day by unknown means. Discreetly, she went over to one of the lights. Peering in, she saw that inside of the globe was a thin wire filament, which glowed white hot on the inside.

“Ah! An incandescent bulb! That must be what the wires art for, transferring electricity.”

“You recognize the bulb?” Swift said, curious in spite of himself. “And know of electricity?”

“Indeed. My first cousin once removed, Progress, used to work with such things. She wilt be ever so pleased with how far the world hath come once I free her(3).”

Swift was about to make a comment, when he suddenly realized that Spring was no longer with him. He suddenly felt very afraid. After spending nearly a day with her, Swift was fairly certain that Spring was unlikely to indiscriminately start murdering those in attendance, but it was not out of the question. If she was shown great disrespect or insult, say, by one of the nobles in attendance, a fatality was almost certain. He shivered. How had this happened? The first time in months he had worked up the bravery to enter the Everfree, to attempt to help somepony, and he got saddled with a psychotic masochistic revenge-seeking goddess with plans of world domination. It was as if the universe itself was warning him to never leave his home.

Perhaps enough was enough. This could be his chance. He could leave here, before anything went down. He looked around. Nopony was looking at him, and he doubted any would remember him entering with the aquamarine mare. He could just go, perhaps even get away from Spring. He would likely not be missed for a few days at least, by which time Spring would likely have more important things to do than look for him. He could just go...

Swift turned around and exited the Hoofany civic center. He passed out of the doors without incident. Nopony looked at him twice. Soon he would be home, then it would be straight to packing. He knew a few ponies who would probably let him stay a few days, until this whole craziness blew over.

It was almost fifty seconds before he realized that his hooves were taking him not towards his home, not towards the train station, but towards the Hoofany guard outpost. He paused. Why would he be doing a thing like that? He contemplated turning around, but that seemed wrong. You're not brave, he told himself, what do you think you're doing? And he was inclined to believe himself, but he was only twenty meters from the station now, and now he was ten, and now he was three, and now he was...

Spring was enjoying herself far more than she could have anticipated. Though most of the Hors d'oeuvre were too sweet to her tastes, she much enjoyed the bread and cheese available. The wine was not free, as she quickly found out, and without any money she was unable to procure any. She had seen Swift Tech leave the building, though she couldn’t guess why. She considered trying to find him, but decided that in the end the wine wasn’t worth all that trouble. Besides, it was likely sweetened, just as everything else seemed to be.

Though the differences in class present here were obviously not as severe as her time, they were still apparent in the dress of the attendees and the way they held themselves. After careful consideration of all the data presented, Spring came to the conclusion that the dress she found herself wearing was somewhere in the bottom of the upper third in terms of fashion. Those who she assumed to be the upper classes seemed to range from about there to the top, so if she was smart about it...

Her eyes latched onto a stark white mare with a curly purple mane, who's dress found itself in a category slightly higher then hers but who's occupant was quite obviously not used to wearing it. Sensing an opportunity, Spring approached her.

“Hello. How is thy younger sister?”

The mare stared at her for a second, before recovering and replying “Fine, thank you. How did you know?”

Spring smiled. “Thy dress is beautiful, its many silken layers accenting first thy eyes, then thy coat, then thy mane, all addressing the magnificent form of thy body. Though most wouldst nay notice, the inside two bands flip once towards the beginning, as if the pony designing the piece was distracted. Though whoever made the dress masterfully turned it into a flourish, it is trivial to see the accidental nature of its conception based on the fact that it is of a length which does not evenly divide the length of the dress. The dress is form fitting, perfectly matching thy body, but thee acts uncomfortable in it, suggesting thee does not find themselves wearing such dresses with regularity. Thus, thy dress is most likely made by thee, as thee art unused to going to occasions such as this, and art not accustomed to presenting thyself in such a manor. Thee does not possess any band, necklace, or other notification of engagement, so thee must have been distracted by a younger sibling, not a child. I know it was not thy cat because her hair is present only on the front, suggesting that she only appeared after the dress was completed, and thee had laid it down on a surface front up. The sister was naught but a guess, though population mechanics being what they art, it was far more likely.”

The mare stared at her for a second, then laughed. “Oh my. That was really something else. You have quite the talent their, miss...”

“Running Waters.”

“Miss Waters.” The mare hesitated, then extended her hoof to Spring. “Rarity.”

“Honored to meet thee, Rarity.” Spring bowed lightly, and was pleased to see Rarity do the same. “Thy art truly deserving of standing far above that which thee possesses.”

Rarity laughed daintily, though the smile which graced her lips seemed genuine. “Oh, I don't know about that, miss Waters, though I much appreciate the complement.” Spring returned the smile.

“It would appear that we dost find ourselves in similar positions.”

Rarity looked at her quizzically. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I mean to refer to our seclusion from those whom we wish to be courting. Thee hast come here for that reason, yes?”

Rarity's eyes twinkled, and Spring was suddenly sure that she had made the right choice. “I see we think alike, miss Waters. Though I must say I'm quite surprised you've had any trouble attracting any stallion you chose. Most I know would be beside themselves at the opportunity to enjoy your company.”

“Most art. I hath other goals in mind, however.” Spring flashed Rarity a conspiratory wink. “Though I dare say that it shalt be a boon to our ends.”

Rarity giggled, still quiet but this time carrying the tones of real mirth. “Well, who shall we take first?”

Spring made a point of scanning the crowd, though she already had a mental map detailing the locations of everypony of interest. 'Finding' a suitable target, Spring nodded towards a group of five ponies, three mares and two stallions, all of whom appeared to be of the high upper class. “Dost any of them catch thy fancy?”

“Oh, they do indeed.” Rarity began to walk slowly in their direction, still talking to Spring as they covered the distance. “You know, you speak fabulous early-modern equestrian, but I dare say that it does come off as a little odd.”

“It is the way I speak. I am getting used to thy speech, but it shalt be some time until I master it.”

“Oh, I was not aware. I thought that you were doing it on purpose.”

“Nay, thee hast full rights to assume such.”

By this time, the two mares had crossed nearly three fourths of the distance, close enough to overhear the conversation cycling through the group.

“ … half tonne of sugar and very nearly five thousand eggs. I swear, the antics which Celestia pulls are beginning to become scandalous!”

“Be careful who you say that to, Leaf. Some ponies might get the wrong idea.”

“And are you one of those ponies, Steel?”

“You know full well my...” One of the stallions, a sliver-gray unicorn with a smart suit on, noticed Spring approaching, and instantly lost his train of thought. She smiled at him sweetly, pleased to see his face melt before her eyes.

“Well hello there. And who might you be, angel?”

“I am Running Waters, and my companion is Miss Rarity. And who art thee?”

The stallion bowed. “I am Steel Sheen, at your service.” He very nearly tripped over his words, and his face was beginning to take on a blush. Spring couldn’t help but giggle at that. Three seconds, eight words, and she already had him wrapped around her hoof. It seemed her charm had not fled her in the intervening 981 years.

“And I am Golden Leaf.” The mare with whom he had previously been talking, a dusty yellow unicorn with a near golden mane, stepped partly between Steel and Spring, subtle but detectable coldness present in her voice. “These are my sisters, Rosebud and Brilliant Glimmer.” The other two mares, both of whom were also unicorns, nodded briefly, the rose red first, followed by sunlight yellow one. “And this is Thunder Burst, Aka the handsome one.” The Pegasus stallion's face flushed as Spring's gaze passed over him, then flushed again when he met Rarity's eyes. Spring had to agree, the pegasus was the better looking of the two stallions, though she found neither particularly attractive.

“Please, join us.” Steel beckoned Spring and Rarity forward, to the pointed stare of Golden Leaf. When they had been assimilated into the group, he made sure to be standing next to Spring, while Thunder made his way to Rarity's side.

“This is quite kind of you,” Rarity said, giving Thunder Burst a flirtatious look that nearly turned the navy-blue stallion purple, “letting us join such fabulous ponies.”

“Oh... Uh... Well...” Thunder played his hoof against the back of his neck, obviously sweating.

“We could not let ponies such as yourselves be exiled from our group.” Steel said, giving Spring a warm, but to her expert eye fake, smile. “You are obviously of more refined stuff then your compatriots.”

A few seconds passed in which no one seemed inclined to comment. Thunder shifted on his hooves nervously, feeling the tension in the air. Spring, for her part, was wondering if Rosebud or Glimmer would speak, and was not aware of the growing silence until nearly ten seconds had passed.

“I could nay help but overhear the end of thy last exchange,” she offered, “and I find myself quite interested in any 'antics' Celestia mayst be pulling.”

“Oh, that. Well, she's pulling together quite the birthday cake this year. It's rumored that the completed piece will weigh nearly four tonnes, and stand four and a half meters tall. Celestia's had always been known for her fondness of cake, but... this is just excessive.”

“She is thy ruler, is she not? Is it thy place to check her?”

Golden Leaf looked slightly offended. “Whatever do you mean, check her?”

Spring looked shocked. “Thee are but her subject, regardless of thy social standing. She is thy leader and goddess. Thee hast no right to determine her actions 'excessive'.”

“We're entitled to our own opinions, and allowed to say what we wish of whoever we wish.” Golden Leaf smirked down at Spring. “Or hast I damaged thy fragile sensibilities?”

Spring resisted the urge to kill her.

“Please, let's not fight.” Rarity spoke up, her smile warm, her words respectful but forceful. “I'm sure we have plenty other matters to discuss.”

“Cutting out the gossip from the upcoming celebration in Canterlot, you may find Leaf a lackluster conversationalist.” Steel chuckled, then turned his attention fully to Spring. “I'm sure you lovely mares have some interesting things to tell us. To start, what brings you to this place?”

Spring put her hoof to her mouth, taking on the look she expected a demure young mare would make when talking to this obviously important stallion. “Oh, I have such an idea! We shalt make a game from it. Ye can take turns asking us questions, then we can ask them of ye.”

“If you wish.” Steel smiled again, motioning with his hoof. “Come, let us go somewhere more quiet.”

The party moved itself to a lounge, where the seven found themselves alone. The lounge itself was quite comfortable, equipped with four sofas and a round, soft mattress in the center made of some substance which Spring found herself unfamiliar with. The color pallet seemed to consist of primarily reds and pinks, though some greens and blues found their way onto the furniture.

Spring noted that Swift had been gone for seven minutes now.

“So, if we are all comfortable,” Steel said, “perhaps we can begin Water's game?”

“To answer thy question, I hath come from out of country to visit my families friend, a Swift Tech. I plan on staying no longer than tomorrow afternoon, likely even morning.”

Rarity hesitated, then said “I heard about the celebrations which take place here, and have been wanting to come for some time. This is the first year it's worked out. I was planning on coming with a friend or two, but one was busy at the time and the other... well, the other disappeared on me the day before, so I decided to come alone.”

“So you two are not traveling together?”

Spring waggled her hoof playful. “Thee hast asked thy question, it is our turn now.”

“Fair enough. Ask away.”

“When I leave here, I plan on taking somewhat of a tour of thy country. Of course, I canst nay miss visiting Canterlot. However, I hast a problem. I need to be returning by the twenty-fifth, and canst nay afford to waste time. I wish to enter the city as discreetly as possible, so that I mayst visit as much of the city without the obnoxiousness of being given the 'tourist package' as possible. Would thee know of such an entrance?”

“Yes, I would.”

“Where is it?”

Steel was about to answer, when Leaf smirked at Spring and waggled her hoof mockingly. “Remember your rules, Water. It's our turn.”

Spring fumed internally, while putting on a weak smile. She was at about two-thirds power by now. Maybe she would be fine revealing herself. After all, she was hardly going to be at full all of the time, right?

In reality, Spring once again maintained control and did not kill Golden Leaf. “Thou art correct. Ask away.”

Golden Leaf smiled. “Let me see... where did you pick up that peculiar speech pattern?” Then, she added just loud enough for Spring to hear, “the caves, the pits, or the forest?”

Unfortunately, Golden Leaf was less discreet then intended, and her words were picked up by Rarity and Thunder Burst as well.

“Golden Leaf!”

“Really, was such a comment necessary?”

Spring looked directly at her, her eyes cold as ice, her gaze piercing deep into Golden Leaf's eyes. Golden Leaf was instantly mesmerized by her stare, intoxicated and held by the depth of her gaze. She felt as a pony poised above the abyss, unable to look away. She could almost feel the power contained in that gaze, a power which had leveled cities and ended civilizations. She suddenly found herself terrified, more terrified than she had ever been in her life, but unable to look away(4).

“Thine language is not my first, and the pony whom I inquired after for help learning it hast an... uncommon sense of humor.”

Golden Leaf let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She shook her head. She was acting irrationally. It had been nothing but the cold stare of a hurt pony.

“Well, that much is to be expected from a commoner. It is hardly strange that you may have had some difficulty getting your head around our language.”

“Leaf, if you wouldn’t mind not antagonizing water? We're trying to have fun.”

“It deters me not. Her irrational prejudice towards me is most easily explained by jealousy, a state I am perfectly happy to leave her in.”

“Um...” Rarity cleared her throat, obviously wishing to defuse the situation. “I do believe it is my turn.” She tittered for a second, then turned towards Thunder. “Thunder Burst, where do you live?”

“Oh, uh, me? Well, I kind of live around. I have a house in Cloudsdale, two in Las Pegasaus, two in Canterlot, and one here in Hoofany. I don't really spend much more time in any over the others.”

“You must be very rich, to have six houses.”

“Well, my family was quite rich at one point, but now it's really just the property left.” He looked to Steel. “May I ask the next question?”

“I don't see why not.”

He turned back to Rarity. “Would you like to see my Canterlot residences? They are quite large homes to have to oneself, and I wouldn’t much mind your companionship.”

Rarity was stunned for a second, before she cleared her head. “Well... I did tell the others that I wouldn’t return until Monday... so I don't see why not.”

“It is my turn.” Spring looked again as Steel. “Where is the discreet entrance into Canterlot?”

“You're quite intent on finding this.” Steel looked at Spring, a undertone of suspicion clear in his voice.

“Thee hath agreed to my terms. Thou must answer, or forfeit thy ability to ask.”

Steel looked at her for another few seconds, before his attraction overshadowed his suspicions. “Fine. If you walk around the city's edge, you will find guard access ladders ever fifty meters along the edge. From the main entrance, the access five along the west side is unused due to it leading to nothing but a small, unimportant back ally, and is not watched. You would be able to enter the city unseen from here, so long as you were not spotted coming up.”

Spring nodded. She had hardly expected to figure out such information with this much ease. In fact, it almost seemed too easy(5). She eyed Steel suspiciously. How much had he guessed? Was he feeding her false information? She chuckled to herself. If he thought he could outsmart her, he was sorely mistaken.

There was a knock on the door.

“Yes?” Rarity called out. “Who is it?”

“Somepony with a message for Running Waters.”

Spring stood up, approaching the door. “What dost thou wish with me?”

The door burst open, twenty guards advancing on her, weapons drawn. Spring had, of course, been expecting this. Nopony besides those currently in this room, those two earth-ponies from earlier, and Swift Tech knew that alias, and any of those parties could have delivered her any message personally.

Her horn flared, and a shock-wave repelled the guards, instantly knocking two unconscious and throwing the rest three meters, stunning them.

“Rarity, get down!” Spring warned, then her horn flared again, this time emitting a set of rapid blasts which tore holes in anything they hit. Half of the guards dropped where they stood. Spring was unsure whether or not she had killed them, though she didn’t much care. The ponies around her, those who were not trying to attack her at any rate, were screaming and ducking, unsure of what was going on. Taking advantage of the chaos, Spring quickly dispatched Golden Leaf, cast a charm of protection on Rarity, then left the building in a rush, breaking through the weakened and confused ranks of the guards who surround her.

“Fire! Fire!” Spring called out into the crowd, causing a panic to spread. “The building is on fire!” The effect was near instant and almost exactly as she had hoped. Coupled with the confusion her spells had caused and the surprise generated by the guards, the entire ball devolved into chaos, which Spring used to escape unseen.

^

Swift Tech was running. He needed to get to the train, get to Canterlot. But his eyes were blurry, and he didn’t know where he was. He had stayed just long enough to convince the guard of the severity of the situation before bolting. He knew that he had likely sent those guards to their deaths – no, he was certain he had. They had no idea what they were up against.

Why had he done it?

“Why... why... why...” His breath came out in bursts, delirium fogging his thoughts.

“I canst nay answer that.”

Swift stopped dead, then slowly turned. Spring was standing behind him at a distance of seven meters, her face obscured by the darkness. Silhouetted by the moon, he could make out the outline of Hoofany some three kilometers or so away, its lights sparkling like stars. It looked so beautiful in the clear summer night, the home he had known for his entire adult life. For whatever reason, he felt calm, his composure strong and stable.

“Thee betrayed me.”

Swift nodded once, never taking his eyes off her.

“Dost thou hath any final words thee wishes to say?”

Swift shook his head, then lowered his eyes. In the last seconds before everything went dark, he was brave again.

^

Spring brushed some dirt off of her hooves, looking over the plain which stretched across from the forests in the direction of, if the geography had not changed, the mountains. Behind her, Swift's unconscious body lay, half burred by the foliage surrounding the edge of the forest where she had dragged him. He would find his back legs broken, but if he stayed strong she was sure he would be able to drag himself to whatever near by settlement she could see over the hill. He would survive. A gift for his act of entering the forest, his attempt at rescue for a pony he did not know.

The cool summer night felt wonderful to Spring, the light of the very-near full moon illuminating the world around her in its sliver glow. It was truly a beautiful sight, the light breeze playing with the grass, creating shimmering waves of silver that danced before her eyes. The stars sparkled like gems, lending their awe inspiring light to the void, their patterns alluring and sublime.

“I'm back.” She whispered, her words penetrating the otherwise silent night. It would be hers again, soon, this beautiful and wondrous world.

Extending her wings, she took off in a northeasterly direction, towards the sleeping city of Canterlot.

“I'm back.”

End Chapter 2

Author's Note

You may have noticed some numbers in italics and parentheses in this story. They correspond to footnotes, included here:
1. Secondaries, short for secondary power, pertaining to three-way hybrids.

From this point on, unless otherwise mentioned, it can be assumed that Spring's glamor will remain off. Such a thing seems illogical, to expend power to turn off what is a natural positive effect. It would be like Celestia turning off the solar wind in her mane or Nature stopping her natural growth aura. Spring's particular case, however, is a different matter. A particularly enlightening passage comes to mind:

“I have been asked, on occasion, why I would turn off my glamor. Those who ask these questions are almost invariably under the assumption that having a glamor is, in any way, a positive. They would, and have, said that such a power, to control passively all who encounter me, to by way of my presence make it near impossible to argue or become angry with or do anything, really, other than love me would be an impossibly useful tool. They would be correct; I have used it on occasion when all else has failed. But they fail to realize what an effect a constant glamor might have on a pony.

They fail to realize that until I figured out how to turn my glamor off, I was assaulted with constant admiration and love from all ponies I met, to the point that I feared to leave my home.

They fail to realize that when anything one says is thought to be the most intelligent, funny, timely, perfect response, it becomes impossible to have any stimulating conversation.

They fail to realize that when nopony can argue with you or think poorly of you, you can never have any friends.

They fail to realize that when everypony loves you, it is impossible to find love.

They fail to realize that until I figured out how to turn my glamor off, I could never be sure that anything I did was good, that any of my work was useful, that any of my actions were helpful.

They fail to realize that I could never be sure if any of my success was my own, that anything I did ever showed improvement.

And, finally, they fail to realize that, until I was free of this curse of a blessing, I could never be sure if my mother or sisters really loved me.

If I could somehow put an end to this, I would. As it is, I can only, by way of enchantment, negate its effects. Such a drain is tiresome at times, but always worth it. I would never by choice keep any glamor on my person .”

Excerpt from Wisdom: Words of the Hexamillennials, by Swift Quill, first edition published 6115 H.E.. Translated by Far Sight, first Equestrian printing 673 C.R.

Spring is one of twelve alicorns which were part of the old world order. Information about each will come in later chapters.
No, Spring did not cast a spell on Golden Leaf. Her stare was just that intense. She is a sixty-two hundred year old goddess who's done all the things which Golden Leaf thinks of and more. Her intense stare of hatred just actually looks like that.
It would be, if Equestria had not been at peace for almost 400 years. Even in light of the past three years, the information is fairly innocent. The path is most commonly used by foals sneaking away from school and teens going on dates.

As a side note, if anyone knows how to make in-text footnotes, that would be really helpful. I realize that my current method of dropping them in the author's notes is terribly flow breaking. I just don't know any other way of doing it.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Twilight
Friday, 21 June 1003

Accompanied by a blinding flash, Twilight appeared in Ponyville, shocking Berry Punch from her stupor on a bench in the town square.

“Nurk... Ugg...” Berry blinked blearily at Twilight. “Oh... 'S only you...”

Twilight sighed, exasperated. “Berry, you know you're not supposed to sleep on the benches. If you must drink yourself unconscious, at least do it somewhere the entire world can't see you!”

“Sorry, yer highness.” Berry slurred, getting to her hooves. Twilight went to her side, helping her up and supporting her. “I'll be outa yer mane soon as I...” She tipped downwards, then recovered. “Soon as I get meh barrings.”

“I'll help.” Twilight began leading Berry, who stumbled back and forth as the pair slowly crossed the square and began to walk towards Berry's home.

“Staahhhhap!” Berry exclaimed, and Twilight stopped, looking at her. “I don't live this way anymore.”

“You were evicted again?” Twilight asked, though to be honest she was unsurprised.

“Knew there was some reason fer the bench...”

Twilight looked at Berry for a few seconds, before sighing and shaking her head. “Okay, Berry. You can stay with me for tonight.”

Berry took an involuntary step back. “Nah, nah, I wouldn’t want ta impose on yer highness.” She looked back and forth, obviously anxious. “Yah already do so much fer meh, I couldn’t...”

“Berry, what have I told you about calling me 'your highness'?”

“Uh... That I shouldn’t?”

“Exactly. You've already failed one of my requests, and we've been talking less than a minute.”

“Sorry, yer hi-... Twilight.” A bead of sweat dripped down Berry's neck, and she began to look increasingly nervous. “I'm really in a bad way right now, I swear I'll follow yer word, I will!”

Twilight began to feel a little guilty, but she knew that this would be the fastest way. “Well, I want you to come with me to the Library.”

“Sure thing! Anything ya say!” Berry turned with Twilight, and the two slowly navigated Ponyville's streets. Eventually, they made it to the Library doors. Twilight unlocked them with her magic, letting Berry and herself inside.

“You are to lay down there,” Twilight said, pointing her hoof at a collection of pillows in the corner of the room, “And not wake up until breakfast.”

“Whatever yah say, Twilight.”

“TWILIGHT!”

There was a crash from upstairs, and then the sound of scales clinking on the wooden steps as Spike rushed down them, taking a flying leap and hug-tackling Twilight. “Are you okay? I've been looking for you all day!”

Twilight smiled, separating the dragon from her flank. “I'm fine, Spike. Something was happening to me, but I got through it. I'm fine now, at least I think so.”

“The others thought that you had just gone somewhere for a little alone time, but I knew better. Fluttershy began to get worried around noon, but as far as I know she never convinced anypony else.” Spike looked at her. “Where were you?”

“Shhhh...” Twilight put a hoof to her lips, signaling Spike to quiet down. “Berry's trying to sleep. We'll go upstairs and I'll explain.”

Spike turned, seeing their guest for the first time. “She drunk?”

“Always.” Came a gurgled reply.

“Really, she's fine.” Twilight pulled Spike, and together they went upstairs to Twilight's bedroom. Closing her door, Twilight laid down on her bed, turning towards the expectant Spike. “Okay, where to begin.” Twilight recounted most of her day, being a brief as possible whilst not avoiding details. Spike listened intently for four minutes as she spoke. When she finished, he searched her face for concern. Finding none, he finally relaxed.

“So, your all okay now?”

Twilight hesitated, then answered. “We think so, though it's not certain. This is the first time something like this has happened, so there are a few unknowns.” Seeing Spike's face take on a look of concern, Twilight smiled what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Don't worry, we're fairly certain it's all taken care of.”

“So what happens now?”

Twilight cocked her head slightly, taking on a look of confusion. “What do you mean?”

Spike shifted back and forth slightly, not making direct eye contact. “I mean, well, your going to go full goddess sometime in the next few days, right? Are we, like, moving or something? And there's got to be other changes that will happen now. You've gotta break two meters sometime, right? That's just the outside stuff. What about other little physical things? Will you eat more? And then flight. Or, organs. Do they shift?” Spike continued to speak, but from this point his words became increasingly garbled and his sentences increasingly fragmented. Eventually, when Spike paused for breath, Twilight interjected.

“Spike, you're rambling.”

Spike, who had his mouth open at the time, left it there for about three seconds, emitting a slight high pitched whine as his words backed up in his larynx. He closed his mouth, a slight blush playing across his face. “Sorry.”

Twilight got off her bed and, to Spike's surprise, hugged the little dragon. “Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. Not permanently, anyway. As for the other things, I'm sure they'll become apparent if they happen, when they happen. I didn’t really ask.” She pushed him backwards, holding him out between her front hooves. “Though if I do suddenly start having 'organ shifts', you'll be the first to know. After the bed, of course.”

Spike nodded in agreement, then yawned. Twilight checked the clock, not surprised to find that it was nearly 23:40. “My my, it's long past your bedtime. You should really get to sleep.”

“What about you?”

Twilight looked out the window. “I don't know. I woke up less then two hours ago, and don't feel tired in the slightest. I think I'll take a walk. It is, after all, a beautiful night tonight.”

Spike yawned again. “You got that right.” He crawled into bed.

“Goodnight, Spike.”

“Hey, Twi?”

Twilight paused on her way out. “Yes?”

Spike hesitated for a few seconds, then spoke quietly. “Thanks for being okay.”

“I'll always be okay for you, Spike.”

Twilight exited the room, quietly sneaking downstairs and slipping out her front door. Stepping outside, she breathed in the warm summer air, letting a soft breeze tickle her. The light from the moon was more then enough to see by, and the town looked so beautiful cast silver by it. Stretching her wings, Twilight took off, soaring into the sky. Instantly, she was amazed by the ease at which she was flying, and the resulting speed this ease caused. Before she really understood what she was doing, Twilight found herself a kilometer above the town, looking down upon it from on high.

She paused there, maintaining her altitude with careful strokes. The town of Ponyville did not have much in the way of lighting, and what it did have was all but completely turned off by midnight. However, the moon's powerful silver glow cast more than enough light on the town, turning the yellows gold and the browns bronze. It glistened off of the river, its nearly perfect calm surface retaining enough clarity for Twilight to make out her own reflection from a kilometer away.

Twilight began to spiral over the town, observing it from many angles. Her curiosity was piqued by the speed at which her lazy strokes were taking her. It seemed that her changes might not all be over. This time, as an experiment, she flew quickly horizontally, shocked to find herself breaking the sound barrier after just three seconds of acceleration. She reacted quickly, stopping herself in about the same time. Twilight's head spun, and she felt like she had been squeezed between two large metal plates. Not surprising, given her nine gees of acceleration. Normally, she knew, six seconds of nine gees should have knocked her out cold, but it seemed some of her required secondary powers were already becoming active.

Beyond why alicorns were different, she really should have been asking how.

It suddenly struck Twilight just how little she really knew about the nature of alicorns. She knew that they didn't age, and that they were nearly impossible to kill. They could preform great feats of magic, and controlled aspects of nature. From her time with Celestia, Twilight had managed to gather a little more, like the fact that they could go for extended periods without sleep, food, water, or air, or the fact that they could metabolize meat. But something as simple as high level flight aptitude was unknown to her. What else might she be missing? She had always thought that she understood alicorns well, but having become one seemed to make such a claim much harder to substantiate.

Twilight told herself to calm down. Be reasonable. Of course you don't know everything yet; you've been an alicorn for all of... well, all of an hour, it seems. If there was something overwhelmingly important, Celestia or Luna would have told you. You'll just have to learn the small stuff on your own.

Following her own advice, Twilight relaxed, letting her queries drift off her mind. The night was beautiful, and the summer air felt glorious on her fur, making her want nothing more than to just drift here, watching the landscape flow by below her. She could worry about the future later, for now, she should fly.

Twilight did exactly that, playing around in the air above Ponyville. After frolicking for about five minutes, she landed in a cloud with a FROOM, imbedding herself nearly a meter in the soft surface. The cloud responded to her attack by beginning to rain.

Twilight had not expected this, though on reflection it was hardly illogical. She had had full pegasus powers for months now, weather control that, if fact, far exceeded the greatest of pegasi. She just did not know how it worked. Including how to get the cloud to stop raining.

Twilight tried flying into the cloud again, but that only made it rain harder. She tried closing over the hole she had made in its surface, but this had no effect on the rainfall. She got onto its side and pushed, hoping to at least move the cloud out away from Ponyville. At first, this seemed to work, but after she had managed one hundred meters, she noticed the darkening of the sky. Inadvertently, she had managed to make the cloud about eight times larger(512 times the volume!), the rain now coming down in sheets.

Frustrated, Twilight backed off, fuming. Returning to its side, she bucked the cloud in an attempt to relieve some of her stress. From her hooves sprang an incredible lightning bolt, the likes of which she had never witnessed before, and technically still hadn’t due to her near instant blindness. A quarter second later, she was deaf as well, the boom powerful enough to propel her backwards. Unsure of her position relative to the ground, Twilight flapped her wings desperately, hoping to give herself some lift before reaching the earth. Her entire body jolted as she was put through unbearable acceleration, causing her to panic and slam into reverse, crashing again four seconds later in a surface much more forgiving than the ground she had expected. She supposed it was likely the cloud. Still disorientated, she stopped moving, waiting for her sight and hearing to return.

The conditions were temporary, and within thirty seconds, Twilight began to be able to hear soft noises beyond the constant ringing. She blinked her eyes, the blurry outline of the cloudscape she had landed in slowly coming into focus. Feeling up to it, she concentrated, casting a healing spell on herself, instantly fixing her sight and hearing.

Climbing out of her indent, Twilight glanced down at the town below. Ponies were out in the streets, yelling up at the cloud and pointing at the large patch of glass that now was part of the town. Twilight saw a huge char mark down the side of one of the houses, but it seemed that the incessant rain had easily extinguished any fires, and nopony appeared injured.

From the other side of town, a rainbow streak began closing in on Twilight's position, pausing just above the site to look down upon the destruction before turning towards Twilight with a look of anger.

“What the hell were you thinking, doing something like this? Who's team are you on, 'cuz it ain’t mine, that for sure! You probably thought you were being funny, didn’t you? Well, its midnight, I'm out here to clean up your mess, and it is. Most. Certainly. Not - ” Rainbow Dash's eyes, which had so far been vaguely pointing her in the direction of the reason she was now awake instead of in her bed, finally focused enough for her to tell exactly who she was talking to. “-... funny. Hi, Twilight.”

“Hi.”

Dash looked to her, then to the cloud, then to the crowd, then back to her. “Was this you?”

Twilight needed the cloudscape below her hooves. “Kinda, yeah.”

“Uh...” Dash looked uncomfortable. “Do you, like, need this here or...?” She paused, before continuing, “because if you need it here, I'm legally obligated to do as you ask, so this can totally be a thing. If you want.”

Twilight laughed nervously. “No, this was rather unplanned. I set it off on accident, and couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. I've been trying to get rid of it, but I don't really understand how.”

Dash grinned. “Ah, a cloud like this, no problem! I'll take care of it in a jiffy.” That said, Dash quickly encased, surrounded, and dispersed the cloud, clearing the air in about fifteen seconds.

Twilight smiled her thanks. “That was impressive.”

“Nothing to it. Just practice, that's all. Happy to take care of anything for you.” Dash looked around. “Do you have anything else you need me for?”

Twilight stifled a laugh. “Rainbow Dash, asking for work when there's a bed to be had?”

Dash's face became nervous. “No, I would never think like that!”

Twilight cursed herself. She should have realized what that sounded like to Dash. Being the weather captain of Ponyville, Dash worked for the government, meaning that Twilight was, on top of being her friend, her direct boss. She had been acting paranoid about her work around Twilight for months now, seemingly constantly afraid of being fired. The fear, as it happened, was not without precedent. Twilight had more then enough evidence to justifiably lay Rainbow off just on the stories she had told her during the times they had spent together in the past. Twilight had her own guilty secret as well. When reviewing the weather team lineups, going off just the files, she had failed Dash's performance with a 7 out of 20. She had realized who it was just moments before handing in the recommendation to drop her from the teams. Even still, she had been tempted to drop her anyway. After all, she had rated the performance fairly and unbiasedly. In the end, she had let her feelings get in the way, and redacted her recommendation. She had never told Dash.

Recovering from her introspection, Twilight gave Dash the same smile that she had given Spike an hour earlier, still hoping that it was reassuring. She really should check at some point. “Of course not. The weather captain of Ponyville is always on the job.”

“You got that right!” Dash grinned, and Twilight was relieved at the quickness of her recovery. “Well, if you don't need anything else, it is kinda late.”

“Understood.” Twilight paused, and Dash turned to leave. “Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“Well...” Twilight took a deep breath, then exhaled. “No, it's nothing. Get some sleep.”

“Oh no you don't.” Dash flew right up into Twilight's face, making her take an involuntary step back. “Screw policy and obligations, when you say that you've got to know you're not just getting out of it. Now I'm asking as a friend.” Dash stared into Twilight's eyes. “What do you need.”

“Nothing!” It came out not quite as a squeak, but somewhere half way between normal voice and one. “I just wanted to ask, since you were awake, if you wouldn’t mind flying with me.” She paused, then sighed. “I have a lot on my mind right now.”

After she had said it, she realized just how true it was. She had been pushing it back due to its limited effect on her present, and in the end, it was hardly a great truth or secret, but just having this knowledge inside, with her friends unaware, was eating at her. It would inevitably change their dynamic relationships, and though she was sure that their friendships would endure, the sooner she told them, the easier it would be.

Dash looked back in the direction of her house, obvious longing in her eyes. She sighed. “Well, I guess it is Saturday now, so I can just sleep in. Okay.”

Without another word, Dash took off, beckoning Twilight to follow. Grateful for her company, Twilight took to the skies, following Dashes lead. In truth, she couldn’t have picked a better flight partner. Dash was very skilled, and more than capable of keeping up with her, even with her alicorn bonuses. The two kept a fair pace of two hundred kilometers per hour, a speed that Twilight would have considered the equivalent of sprinting just yesterday but now felt like a jog. Dash seemed content to let Twilight speak when she was ready, and the two simply enjoyed the company of the other in flight.

Five minutes and seventeen kilometers from Ponyville, Twilight began to explain her new found knowledge to Dash, who listened intently and considerately until she had finished speaking. Her reaction was not as Twilight had expected.

“And...” Dash waited expectantly, a questioning tone creeping into her voice.

“That's it.” Twilight looked to Dash, searching her expression for anything that might tell her how she felt about Twilight's new ability.

“That's what you were worried about?” Dash seemed incredulous. “Twi, I don't know for sure about the others, but I kinda expected something like this from day one. This isn't news. You're a force of nature now, but I sorta figured you were for, like, seven months. 'There are going to be changes', big whoop!” She looked Twilight directly in the eyes, intensely enough for her to feel slightly uncomfortable under her gaze. “You're still Twilight. That's all that matters. The day you let your physical traits dictate your actions is the day we no longer are friends. For you, this might be a great revelation, but for the rest of us its just you, with a new set of bells and whistles tagged on.” She grinned. “Keep acting like yourself, and nopony will care. Its just like you to get worked up over something that nopony in their right mind would bother to consider. Of all that you have said today, asking me to listen to you at all was the most informative. You're still you.”

Twilight did not know how to respond, so Dash decided for her, flying in and embracing her. For a second, they tilted, as Twilight attempted to figure out how to maintain lift, but after a second she realized that she didn’t much care, really.

“It's okay.” Dash whispered into her ear. “I've got you.” Twilight relaxed her body, letting herself go in Dash's warm embrace. “Nopony really thinks about it, do they? How hard it must be for everything that made you you to be changing before your eyes. They think of it as nothing but good, not considering how very scary it must be to change so rapidly, to become something that you aren't, not really, not yet, and seeing others react to your change. You want to say 'It's me. Just me.' but whenever you try, they simply agree with you, their averted eyes and stilted speech telling the real truth.” Dash loosened her embrace, looking Twilight in the eyes once more. “I will never think of you as anything except the awkward lavender unicorn who visited our town and decided to be my friend. If you turn brown and pink and become a ten meter tall dragon that shoots confetti when you sneeze, you will still be you. Anypony who really cares about you will know that.”

Twilight wasn’t crying, but she was pretty close. Her next words came out sticky, the sound of sobbing kept just at bay. “Thank you. I... Thank you, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight searched her mind for something else to say, something more meaningful then a thank you, and cursed the lack of adequate descriptors available in modern equine.

“Just don't tell anypony I hugged you.” Dash said, shuttering. “Ponies seem to take stuff like that way to far.”

Twilight laughed softly at that. “Don't worry, I won't.”

By silent consensus, the two arced downwards, landing next to each other and sitting silently, simply contemplating themselves, each other, and the world which they found themselves in.

Twenty minuets later, Dash had fallen asleep at Twilight's hooves, and Twilight was loath to get up, lest she wake her. Still, she felt not at all tired. In fact, she was greatly energized, alert and ready to get on with her day. She tried to curl up with Dash and sleep, but found herself unable, her mind far to active. She thought about a great many things. Her mind kept playing Dash's speech over and over,
each time accompanied with a lessening but real warmth. Her steadfast loyalty was to be expected, but her justification seemed to run deeper then a sense of duty. It gave her hope. Dash was right, after all; If she acted like herself, her friends would act like themselves. It really was that simple.

Her anxieties fading, her attention turned to other things, like what she would do in the morning once the world arose. Today was the twenty-second of June, and the summer solstice and accompanying summer sun celebration would take place on the twenty-fifth, in just three days time(1). Twilight was more looking towards tomorrow. Though she went out of her way to draw as little attention to it as possible, Celestia's birthday was the twenty-third of June. The summer sun celebration, in honor of the life giving star which orbited their planet, was supposed to be just that, a celebration of the sun. Not a celebration of Celestia. Still, in some places, like Stalliongrad, Wingtop, and Haystings, both dates were celebrated together, and in a few, like Hoofany, Celestia's birthday was the only date marked. Twilight knew that the practice was one which Celestia disapproved of(mark that Canterlot was not among the names listed), but was still followed none to less, mostly out of tradition at this point.

She digressed. As much as Twilight understood Celestia's reasons for wishing to remove herself from direct celebration, she felt that she should do something for Celestia on her birthday, even if it was no more then to drop in and say hi. She had celebrated her birthday before, as a filly once or twice, and knew that Celestia usually spent the day alone, to her own devices. It always struck her as sad. Twilight was also one of the few ponies who knew how old Celestia actually was, and this year happened to be a numerically significant one, with Celestia turning eleven hundred fifty. It would be a shame to for her to spend it alone again. Besides, at the very least she might be able to use some help being rescued from the ungodly amount of cake she always procured at these occasions.

Twilight's musings continued, content to sit and think as Rainbow Dash slept, the sky clear and beautiful.

^

A sudden shock forced Twilight out of her daydreaming. She reeled backwards, kicking out and striking Dash, who woke with a start. Her head swum, and then, just as suddenly, two seconds later, she recovered, her mind filled with the afterimage of... something.

“Wha-!” Dash sprang to her hooves, her eyes unfocused for a second, then centering on Twilight. “Twi! What's wrong!”

“I... I'm not sure.” Twilight concentrated, trying to capture the negative of the image in her mind to no success. It was a pressure, more than an image, a bright burst that had... metaphysically blinded her, for lack of a better description. She turned towards Dash, opening her mouth to speak, then stopping. The epicenter of the mental image had shifted its relative position in her mind, keeping its absolute position relative to the earth. “I don't know what it is... but I think I know where it is.”

“What are we waiting for!” Dash stretched her wings, a grin crossing her face. “Sounds like an adventure to me!” She took to the sky, circling around Twilight. “Lead the way!”

Twilight hesitated on the ground. “I'm not sure that's such a good plan, Dash. Anything that could create a magical signature capable of overwhelming me like this... well, I wasn't aware it was possible at all. I have magic sensitivity, but this felt... different, somehow. Like it was magic, but not normal magic. We should be careful.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Of course its dangerous, duh, otherwise it wouldn't be much of an adventure. Look, Twilight. I'm the fastest pegasus alive, maybe ever, and you're a supper intelligent, very resourceful spell caster who has taken on gods and won when a unicorn, and is now a goddess herself. We'll be fine.”

Twilight wanted to argue, but really, Dash had a point. Besides, she was getting bored of sitting here, doing nothing. There were still about two hours until sunrise, and a little adventure could be just what she needed.

Taking off, Twilight turned in the direction her mind told her to, the pair streaking south-west at five hundred kilometers an hour. This speed dropped off considerably as Twilight and Rainbow dash became tired. Being able to break the speed of sound for ten seconds and being able to maintain near sonic speeds for five minutes were very different, and so after making it about fifty kilometers they were forced to land, requiring a break as their chests heaved. Dash recovered much faster than Twilight, unsurprisingly, as she had trained for endurance, but Twilight was back in the air after seven minuets, this time taking it at around two hundred fifty kilometers per hour. After another three minutes however, she landed again.

“Its... gone.” She panted to Dash, who landed next to her. “The... the afterimage is... gone. Its faded away.”

“Uhgg!” Dash exclaimed, her expression sour. “And we flew out seventy kilometers for it, too!” She sighed, then sat down next to Twilight. “Did you see anything we passed over that looked suspicious?”

“Not really.” Twilight paused, thoughtful. “But the image had us going in the same direction. If we just keep heading strait, perhaps we'll come across it.”

“Well, you're welcome to, but as far as I'm concerned, we've flown out far enough already.” Dash looked at her. “We started nearly twenty kilometers away from Ponyville, and though we've flown for a combined total of twenty minutes, I'm not up for another stretch at two hundred fifty, let alone five hundred. Any distance we travel we will have to fly back. That's another ninety kilometers already, and I'm getting hungry. Flying is hard work. My flight range is about three hundred kilometers, five hundred if I'm desperate. That's every twelve hours, Twilight. I've got no idea about you, and I'm not the greatest at math, but these numbers are starting to add up.”

It was true. Twilight could tell that the feeling in her body was not simply tiredness, but fatigue. It was one of the simplest mistakes to assume a pegasus could fly for a certain length of time. Work was a calculation based on mass and distance, not velocity(2). Whatever way you looked at it, their flight was burning calories like nopony's business.

“Okay. We'll fly out and up to an altitude of ten kilometers. If we can't see anything from that vantage point, we'll turn around and go home. Deal?”

“Works for me.”

Twilight and Dash ascended to the intended altitude over the course of eight minutes. Twilight could tell that Dash was having some trouble breathing, but she did not mention it. From here, the two glanced around at the earth below, the horizon having been pushed out to nearly three hundred fifty kilometers. Unfortunately, such distance meant that each meter took up far less of their view, and after three minutes they gave up, not being able to see anything.

“Hey, cheer up. If it was anything awesome, we would have been able to see it.” Dash said, though she had a distinct tone of disappointment in her voice. Twilight couldn’t blame her. They had flown eighty kilometers now, with nothing to show for it. Really, it was time to head back. No sunk cost fallacy for her.

The two headed back towards Ponyville, using the pull of gravity to speed their approach. Still, they went at a much more sedate pace, rarely exceeding one hundred kilometers per hour. By the time they reached Ponyville, the telltale signs of the sun's rise were visible over the horizon, casting a dusty orange glow on the clouds. The small hamlet would not be waking for another hour, being Saturday, though a few of the early risers were making their presence felt. As they flew over the town at about one hundred meters, Twilight spotted Big Macintosh, already out in the fields, Raincloud, out tending to a unruly cumulus, Orion, cleaning the windows of the town hall, and Dawning Bloom, tending to her flowers. Ponies who she did not immediately recognize were here and there, though for the most part the streets were empty. Choosing a landing site, Twilight bid Rainbow Dash ado and headed for her library.

She entered, her body tired but her mind as awake as ever. Remembering Berry Punch, Twilight went to her kitchen, quickly preparing some daisy sandwiches and eggs(3). Berry quickly registered the smell of the food, slowly drawing her awake.

“Whu... Whuts that smell?”

“Breakfast!” Twilight called, startling Berry fully awake with a jump.

“Nhung! Oh, uh, yeah. I came here last night, didn't I?”

Twilight laughed softly, though her heart was not really in it. “Yeah, you did.” She cared for Berry, in the same way you would care for anypony you found hurt and in need, but she really wished that she would stop drinking so much. One of these days it would get her into trouble. She couldn’t, or at least wouldn’t, take her in every night, and Berry would have to deal with that. At least, Twilight reflected, she was not a dangerous drunk.

“So, can I get some of that?”

“Of course.” Berry entered the kitchen, seating herself and eating quickly and quietly. Twilight was quite surprised at the vigor she went into the food with. She was expecting her to be at least a little hung over. That, it seemed, was not the case. Berry quickly polished off all that Twilight had prepared, gulped down a glass of water, and with thirty seconds was giving Twilight her goodbyes. Six minutes after her awakening, Twilight found herself alone in the library.

“Well...” Twilight looked around, the bookshelves not responding to her words, as expected. “I am a librarian.” Twilight walked over to the returned books, finding all of three titles. The Ponyville public library did not get too much traffic. It was only a few seconds before they had all been properly indexed. She checked around the building, to no avail. Everything was in order, and there was naught for her to do. On a Saturday, it was highly unlikely that anypony would want to check out or return a book. As far as she knew, nothing particularly important was happening today. Really, this was a good thing. She could almost certainly round up a few of her friends and do something fun today.

While she waited for a more appropriate time, 10:00 seemed good, Twilight made herself a cup of tea, and set to work finishing The Encyclopedia of Equestrian Flora and Fauna (Vol 7). The author, one Long Reach, had been an adventurer in the 60's, and had used her knowledge to make The Encyclopedia an interesting as well as informative read, interspersing it with anecdotes from her adventures. Twilight wished more non-fiction authors would wright like this. The presentation was much more engaging, even if it meant that the plants were somewhat underrepresented.

So Twilight sat, reading The Encyclopedia and drinking her tea, until she noticed her clock strike 13:00. 13:00! She had been reading for nearly seven hours. Looking at the book in her hooves, she was shocked to find that it was not volume 7, but volume 8. She never remembered getting up, but she must have switched books when she had finished. Turning her head, she noticed volume 7 laying down on her table. The tea was also still warm.

For a second, Twilight panicked, her eyes scanning the room. Had she blacked out again? Was it still happening? But no, flipping through its pages, she remembered reading through the descriptions of every entry in volume 7. She had just zoned out so completely as to not notice getting up for tea. Which did not sound normal.

“Uh, you okay, Twilight?”

Twilight spun, facing the small dragon who was caring a teapot. It began to make more sense.

“Spike, have you been refilling my teacup?”

“Every hour, on the hour.” He paused, looking at her. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no, everything is fine. Thank you, Spike.”

“Don't mention it. You just looked so absorbed in that book, I didn't want to disturb you.”

Twilight rubbed her eyes, then smiled at him. “That was very proactive of you.” Twilight stood up and stretched, her body mostly recovered from her flight. She noted that she still felt not at all tired. She was beginning to suspect why. She was well aware that Alicorns were capable of staying up for eight, even ten days at a time without becoming tired. She had expected it at some point, but for whatever reason was not expecting it to happen so soon. She knew that there was a way to fall asleep sooner, after all, Celestia and Luna both kept daily cycles, but she was unaware exactly how. It was something she could ask when she went back to Canterlot tomorrow.

As for now, Twilight left her library, telling Spike to “Have some fun.” As soon as she exited her doors, summer assaulted her senses, temporarily overwhelming her. The sunlight was bright and clear, its relentless glow heating the world to what Twilight would not at all be surprised to find was thirty degrees. There was no wind that she could feel, though the air was not particularly humid. The scents of summer still managed to carry to her nose, the greenery, flowers, and water mixing not unpleasantly in the summer heat.

Another smell passed her way, this time caring with it a distinct sweetness which she instantly recognized as apple pie. Letting her nose direct her, Twilight's hooves ferried her towards the smell. If worse came to worse, she would end up somewhere random in town, and with all likelihood, Applejack or Pinkie Pie were responsible for the smell.

The smells became stronger as she approached, though by now her mind was in control of her body, having identified the smell's location to be Sugarcube Corner. She drew in, pausing for a second at the door, before entering. The cafe was abandoned, though the kitchens were in full use. A voice called out strong from the open door “Sorry 'bout this, but nopony's allowed in here today. Yer gonna have to come back later.”

“Does that apply to friends as well?” Twilight asked, and there was a crash as her voice was reacted to.

“Darn it girl, ya could have given me some warning.” Applejack poked her head out, her face plastered with batter and a grin. “Well, while yer here, ya might as well help us. We got ourselves eighteen hundred orders this year. The Cakes and Pinkie have been kind enough to lend us a hoof.”

“Eighteen hundred?” Twilight was shocked. “But that's two thirds of a pie per pony!”

“That was before you, girl. Apparently, near twelve thousand ponies have decided to come here for the summer sun celebration this year. Eighteen hundred is one slice per pony, and you know that the apple family is committed to at least that for all who attend. Admittedly, we never expected these numbers, but...”

Twilight sighed. It made sense, after all. She lived here, and was unlikely to be attending the celebration in any other location. Come to Ponyville, home of Princess Twilight and her five fellow elements. Tickets three bits. The town population had already increased by four hundred in the last six months, from twenty-two to twenty-six hundred all told. Apparently, the land value in Ponyville had never been higher. Such a pilgrimage, she supposed it was technically the right word, was only to be expected.

“Well, it sounds like you can use all the help you can get.”

Twilight entered the kitchen, finding Applejack and Pinkie Pie inside. Pinkie was, currently, staring directly and intently at the twenty-four pies which were baking in the six ovens. It appeared to be taking her full concentration.

“So... what do I do?” Twilight walked to a free area of counter space, staring down at a bowl in front of her.

“Well, let's see...” Applejack pondered for a second. “Well, I suppose ya should be the pony to mix the dough. Ya look up to it.” She winked. “And there ain't any rules for the mixing, so yer magic should make it much easier, and faster too.”

Twilight set to work, mixing together the ensemble of ingredients in the amounts conveniently listed on a note in front of her. Applejack's prediction was accurate, and Twilight managed to produce dough in rates previously unreachable. Applejack had no trouble keeping up, cutting, mashing, and mixing the apples with sugar, flower, butter, and cornstarch. It became very apparent to Twilight that the real bottleneck was the ovens. The pies needed to bake at 175 for forty minutes, then 200 for ten, before being removed. Though they could slot twenty-four at a time, it was far from the numbers needed.

“At this rate...” Twilight paused, making the mental calculation, “If we work constantly from now until sunrise of the twenty-fifth, no sleep, we will just barely make our eighteen hundred mark.”

“Lucky us that we don't need to make that many. Like I said, the Cakes have lent us their ovens, but we still got our own. We can slot twenty at once. If all goes well, Sleeping from twenty-two to eight, we'll be done around nineteen on the twenty-fourth, just in time for the start of the celebrations.”

“Well... That works, I suppose...” Twilight paused, thinking. “Applejack, how tight are our margins for these pies?”

Applejack gestured to the barrels of apples, sugar, and flower stacked in the cafe. “This here is enough for twelve hundred, and we're responsible for one thousand of the total.”

“Okay...” Twilight stopped mixing the dough, carefully levitating over one of the currently filled but unbaked pies. With a flash, Twilight heated the pie from the inside, steam shooting out of the steam holes. Three seconds, and she stopped. The pie was golden brown, and smelt delicious. “There.”

Applejack paused, peering over at the pie. “That's nice, sugarcube, but it ain't the apple family way.”

“If it tastes the same, does it really matter?”

“Well, as it happens, yes.” Applejack hesitated, then sighed. “But with the numbers we're dealing with, I might be convinced. IF it tastes the same.”

So saying, Applejack cut herself a slice. From her vantage point, Twilight thought the pie looked okay. Applejack took a bite.

“Well, I don't know exactly how to tell you this, Twi. Lets get one thing straight, it ain't bad. For a five second cook, it's great. But it just ain't the same. The heat dried the apples out, and the juice just kinda crusted on in places. It's chewy. Tastes great, fully cooked and all, but chewy. Not how apple pie should be.”

Twilight sighed. “Well, worth a shot.” She turned back to her dough, but realized there was no real reason. They were seventy-two ahead, enough for the next three batches, and running out of counter space.

Pinkie had not moved from her position except when they switched batches, her eyes still trained on the pies.

“Pinkie...” Twilight approached her, with no response. “What are you doing?”

Pinkie continued to stare at the pies.

“What is she doing?” Twilight asked Applejack, who only shrugged.

“It's doing it for her, and she ain't slowing me down. That's all I care.”

Twilight, of course, was not satisfied by this answer. “Pinky... you okay? Hello?”

“I'm watching them.” Pinkie spoke, her voice coming out in a conspiratory whisper.

“Watching who? For what?”

“The pies, of course.” Pinkie's voice did not raise in volume, though it did begin to take on her normal tone. “You know how they say that a watched pot never boils? Well, water boiling is just water's way of burning, except it doesn't like fire. Pies are bad when burnt, and we don't want them to burn. So, logically, if water can't boil while being watched, then pies can't burn if watched either!” She smiled. “It's the perfect solution!”

Twilight thought about commenting, then decided for a different tack. “Well, you know, Pinkie, water boils at 100, but pies bake at 175. If you keep watching them like that, they might never get hot enough at all!”

Pinkie gasped hard, springing to her hooves. “Oh my gosh! You're absolutely right! I didn’t even think about that! You're a life saver, Twilight!” She turned towards Applejack apologetically. “I'm so sorry, I didn't realize. I'll make it up to you, I swear!” So saying, she bounded out the open window, yelling “You've not seen the last of me!”.

Twilight was not sure if she should be laughing or running after Pinkie.

Applejack, seeing Twilight concern, said “Don't fret. The mare can take care of herself.”

“I suppose...” Twilight sighed. “But now I’ve chased away half of your help.”

“Well, you'll just have to stay until she returns, then.”

And so she did. The two mares waited, putting in the pies at fifty minute intervals. They talked on all subjects, reminiscing about old adventures and dreaming of new to come. Twilight told Applejack her news, and she took it about as well as Dash had, her response less heartwarming but no less heartfelt. Before she knew it, it was 16:00, then 18:30.

Around this time, Pinkie returned with Fluttershy in tow.

“Hey, Twilight, guess who wants to see you!”

“Um, hi, Twilight. I'm glad to see you've returned.”

“Uh, yeah,” Twilight hesitated, looking sheepishly at Fluttershy. “Did I, kinda, you know, run out on you?”

“Um... yeah.” Fluttershy looked down. “But I'm sure you had a very good reason. I wouldn’t hold anything like that against anypony. You're allowed to leave at any time, even if I'm in the middle of a sentence. It was nice of you just to come over. I'm sorry if I made you feel compelled to stay.”

Twilight was not surprised, unpleasantly so, at the complete sincerity with which Fluttershy had rendered her statement. “That's... profoundly sad in ways I'm not sure I can articulate.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I was trying to avoid that. Really, it's fine.”

Twilight's stomach continued to drop. “Fluttershy, please stop talking.”

“Sorry.”

Twilight thought for a second. “Fluttershy, would you be happy with yourself if you walked out on somepony else?”

“Oh no, of course not! I would never do that unless something terrible was happening.”

“Okay, and then what if that pony came back to you and apologized for you walking out on them.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. Quietly, she said “Oh.”

Twilight smiled. “You're right, I did have a very good reason, but that doesn't negate the fact that I walked out on you, it just excuses it. You certainly don't have to apologize.”

“Um, alright.” Fluttershy looked up at her. “You're not mad at me?”

Twilight paused. A thought had struck her, one that had been playing around in her head since Fluttershy had walked in. “No, of course not. Why would I be mad at you?”

“Well, you did run away from me and not return to the town for an entire day.”

“I was mentally unstable at the time.” Twilight looked at her. “Did I give you any indication that I was mad at you?”

“Well...” Fluttershy looked downwards, eyes on her hooves. Twilight felt success and failure at the same time. She was right, Fluttershy was acting unusually shy and apologetic, likely because of something she had said or done in her blank, memory uploading state.

“Before you speak, I want to explain something. When I was standing there with you, my body underwent a physical change. I was connected to my Alicorn powers for the first time, and this included my memory storage. Living forever means you need to have a backup, and when uploading my memories, my brain went into a blank state. I'm unsure what I was like, and I don't remember a thing about it. Anything I said or did to you was not me, and not done consciously. Therefor, I definitely did not mean it, what ever it was.”

“Really?” Fluttershy looked directly into Twilight's eyes, and the hope nested inside her gaze made Twilight unsure if she really wanted to know what she had said or done to her. It couldn’t have been that bad, right?

“Really and truly.”

“Well, your expression went blank, and you just started walking away. I followed you for a few meters, when you turned around suddenly and...” Fluttershy paused, looking downwards. “and said some things that don't bare repeating. Or yelled, rather.”

Twilight couldn’t help but give a relieved sigh. “Oh, good.” Seeing Fluttershy's confusion, she clarified. “I though I might have hurt you.”

“Oh no, you never struck me at all!” Fluttershy said.

Twilight paused. “Fluttershy...” She looked at the pegasus, who's facial expression made it clear that she had noticed her own slip.

“You don't remember anything, right?” Fluttershy said. Twilight nodded. “Then nothing happened. Okay?” Twilight scanned her face. Now that she was looking for it, she could see the signs of a strong strike across the face, though it did not look to have done much damage. Twilight almost cringed. How could she had done that? At least, based on Fluttershy's slip, it seemed that that was likely the extent of her damages. Her blow had hurt, but not injured.

“Okay.” If Fluttershy wanted to put it in the past, she was not about to argue. Besides, it was not as if her excuse was not solid. Complete lack of control lets you get off of most things. Still, Twilight vowed to make it up to Fluttershy at some point, but not in public.

“So...” Pinkie looked over Twilight into the kitchen. She was obviously uncomfortable with the subject matter being discussed, tilting back and forth on her hooves. “Is the baking going well?”

Twilight was caught off guard with the non sequitur, but recovered quickly. “Yes. The sixth batch since you left is nearly done now. The last one hundred twenty have come out fine.”

Fluttershy also leaned in. “How many are you making?”

“All of them, of course!” Said Pinkie, rolling her eyes. “Duh.”

“About one thousand.” Twilight clarified. “Apparently we're expecting twelve thousand visitors for the summer sun celebration this year. Applejack thinks it's my fault, and I'm pretty sure she's right.”

“Twelve thousand?!” Fluttershy seemed shocked. “How will we fit them all? The streets were already packed, and that was with two thousand residents and one thousand visitors. Fourteen, even fifteen thousand total? There won't be enough space for them all to fit.” She began to hyperventilate. “Oh dear, I'm not sure I can even imagine that many ponies in one place.”

“Hey, calm down. It's just some visitors. Nothing to get worked up over.” Applejack said, calm in her voice. “And you'd be surprised as to how many ponies can fit somewhere if they want to. This town, you could fit one hundred thousand in its streets before you spilled over. Fourteen thousand's gonna be a piece of cake.” The oven dinged, and she turned back towards it. “That is, if we can get these pies done.”

Twilight was unsure of what, exactly, to do at this point. She'd already spent some time with Dash last night, and doubted that she would want a repeat, at least so soon. The kitchen was filling up, and to be honest, she was getting a bit bored with pie making. Applejack and Pinkie would be here until twenty two, but by then they would likely be dead tired. Twilight figured that Fluttershy would want a few days before going somewhere alone with her, which only left...

“So, I guess I'll be going now.” Twilight said. Pinkie drew a sad face.

“Really, so soon?”

Twilight laughed. “Pinkie, I've been here for over five hours now. You left, remember?”

Fluttershy looked slightly relieved, though she hid it well. “Oh, well, by then.” She paused. “Maybe we could do something some other time?”

“Yeah, sounds great. By any chance, do you girls know where Rarity is?”

Fluttershy was the first to respond. “Yes, I do. She went to Hoofany, I believe, to attend the celebrations taking place there today. She invited me, but I declined. You were missing, you see, and I though you had been acting very strange.”

Applejack cut in, saying “That's what she told me, too. Though it was strange, to travel one hundred and sixty kilometers and plan to stay for three days in an unknown location on less than a day's notice.”

“I understand it fine.” Said Twilight. “Hoofany's Celestial celebration is actually quite the event, from what I've heard. It's just the kind of scene that Rarity would like to attend, too. One of the reasons its been perpetuated for so long is the number of equestrian nobility who regularly attend.”

“Ah.” Applejack nodded. “That would make some sense. Your right, saying it that way does make it seem like something she's be all over.”

Twilight turned to leave. “Well, thanks for the information. I'll see you girls at the summer sun celebrations?”

“Why wait that long?” Pinkie inquired. “We like having you around!”

“Well, I was planning on spending tomorrow in Canterlot, and from all you've said, the twenty-fourth sounds really busy. It just seemed the most reasonable expectation.” Twilight paused right in the doorway, turning back to look at her friends. “Of course I'll see you sooner if the opportunity presents itself.”

“Well, by then!”

“See ya soon!”

Twilight left Sugarcube Corner, her friends warm voices still in her ears. The sun was still in relatively high in the sky, and would not likely set for another three hours or so. It would be another nine hours after that until it rose, then another fifteen again before she might finally be able to sleep. Twenty-seven hours to kill. Reflexively, Twilight let out a heavy sigh. Sometimes, she wished something, anything, would happen to give her something to do. Of course, whenever something did happen, she invariably fought to return to this state, leading her to conclude, logically, that this was the preferred state of being. That did not make it less boring. She enjoyed talking with her friends, but really, sometimes she just wanted more from her day. And social interaction was out until she went to Canterlot; her days of being able to talk to anyone other than her friends normally were long gone.

She supposed she should just return to her library and read a book until morning. After all, it was not like anything particularly interesting was happening tonight.

^

22:30 found Twilight on her bed, curled up and reading Days Long Past(4). It was actually not bad, to be honest, though she was having a bit of trouble becoming immersed in the world. Still, keeping up with what was, apparently, popular fiction was useful for conversations, especially with Dash. She had lost track of some of the elements around the fifth minor love interest, but the main plot was coherent enough that she could see where some ponies might be able to find it enjoyable.

“ ...His eyes were tearing up, the dry, hot wind strong enough to push his body back. Still, he squinted into the oncoming storm, searching the smoke and mist for her form.

“Whisper! I'm coming!”

Pushing against the wind, he pressed further, the resistance building as he approached the epicenter. A shard of glass impaled his front left leg, forcing him to collapse.

“Whisper...”

From the depths of the mist, he could see her form, silhouetted by the flame which encircled her. A cold laugh emanated from the dark.

“Don't you realize, you foolish earth-pony! Whisper is gone forever. Even if you could manage to get through my winds, her body is already mine! Not will be soon, not in the final stages. She is me, and I am her. I've sealed Whisper so deep that she will never reemerge, even if I rule for a million years! Only my winds remain.”

He struggled to his hooves, collapsing before managing to stand. Slowly, he began to crawl his way across the ground towards the light.

“Yeah... that's what we thought about you, and here you are! We trapped you in a prison of thought that should have lasted a million years, yet you took just three hundred to escape. Whisper is a billion times the pony you are! You won't be able to hold her for a week!”

The voice laughed again. “Oh, how little you know.”

A sharp pain went through her head, causing her to have trouble making out the words.

Wait. No. That was in her head.

Twilight blinked tears back, reflexively pooling in response to her pain. It throbbed again. The feeling was not unlike having a length of razor wire drawn through ones scull.

“AHHRRG!”

She pounded the floor hard with her hoof, leaving a decent dent in the wooden floor and causing it to splinter around. The pain faded completely in seconds.

“Twilight! Twilight, are you okay!”

“Ungh...” Twilight's brain was still shocked, so it took her a few seconds to register Spike's voice. “Yeah, I'm okay.” She paused, noticing a clear, solid presence in her mind. “I think I have mail.”

“Mail?” Spike's head poked out around the door, a concerned and quizzical look on his face. “Don't you usually get that through me?”

“This is... different.” She pulled at the edges of the mental message, looking for the identification card. “Something I set up with the girls a few months back. They can send me a telepathic message using a spell matrix I gave them, just in case something needed immediate attention. I instructed them to use it in only the most dire of circumstances, and set it to trigger a pain response to get my immediate attention. This is the first time anyone has used it.”

So saying, Twilight penetrated the encapsulating layer, and received her message. It was from Rarity. No words, no images, just pain and terror and noise and confusion. A snapshot of what Rarity was thinking at the time of sending.

“Rarity's in trouble!” Twilight gasped, springing to her hooves. “Quickly, give me an atlas!”

Spike did as he was told, fetching Twilight an Equestrian physical map atlas off of the shelf. “What's up?” He had a look of pain on his face. “Is she okay?”

“She was when she sent me the message,” said Twilight, flipping through the atlas quickly, “but that was almost a minute ago now.” Locating Hoofany, she quickly did some mental calculations. “164 kilometers to the south-west...” She closed her eyes, imagining the vector field required for her spell. Her mind whirred, and her magic built up around her. “Okay, ready. Spike, you need to tell the others. I can't wait. I promise I'll make sure she's safe.”

There was a sudden flash, and then she was gone, leaving Spike alone in the room.

Almost instantly, Twilight appeared in a flash just outside of Hoofany, orienting herself and breaking into a sprint in what she hoped was the correct direction. Within twenty seconds, it was confirmed; she began to pass ponies fleeing from whatever event was the cause of Rarity's distress. Presently, Twilight discovered the cause. The civic center was a mess, flames licking at the edges of what appeared to be magical blast holes. The east wall on the second story was blasted out, revealing a confused, dazed, and injured pile of guards, high class party goers, and...

Rarity.

Not wasting any time, Twilight sprung from the ground, burst accelerating towards her location. She landed on the ledge within a second, and cast a spell, instantly extinguishing all flames within five meters.

She approached Rarity. She was under a table, laying face down. She stirred, though she did not look up at Twilight. From what Twilight could tell, Rarity was injured, near unconsciousness. Her mane was torn and had signs of burning, though Twilight could not see any blood on her. She murmured, a few drops of blood-flecked saliva leaking from the corner of her mouth.

“Shhhh.” Twilight stroked her head. “I'm going to get you to safety.” Glancing around for a good location, Twilight realized that, in the immediate area, this was as good as it got. Pulling Rarity out from under the table, Twilight concentrated, and cast a general healing spell on Rarity. She felt the drain instantly, but the result was more than worth it. Within seconds, Rarity was to her hooves, looking around at the carnage which surrounded her.

“What happened here?”

Twilight spoke, causing Rarity to spin towards her. “I don't know. I was rather hoping you might be able to tell me.”

Glancing around, Rarity made a decision. “Does it really matter? We have hurt ponies here.”

Twilight gave Rarity an encouraging smile. “Agreed. We'll figure out what happened after we fix it.”

Rarity, turning to drag one of the guards, asked “Are the others here?”

“No, I teleported in as soon as I received your message.” Twilight grunted, lifting a overturned table off of a few party goers. They looked scared, but seemed to calm down after a few seconds had passed, allowing them to process her.

“Come out. We've got other ponies to help.”

The ponies followed her instructions, except for one, a yellow unicorn with a near gold mane, who appeared to be unconscious. Twilight reached in, dragging her body out. After she had her clear, Twilight took a closer look, attempting to see what, exactly, was wrong with her. Under this closer examination, Twilight noticed how cold her body felt, and how limp and unresponsive it was. A cold chill passed down her spine, causing her to shudder. Not wanting to believe, Twilight put a hoof up to her mouth. No breath.

Twilight shuddered again, letting out a tiny gasp. She was familiar with the concept of death, she had even killed once or twice before. But never another pony. Never had she been physically present mere seconds after somepony's death, holding their still cooling body. She felt dizzy, her vision blurring.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight mastered herself. As tragic as it was, she was dead, and there was no fixing that. There were still other alive ponies who needed her help, and letting herself get carried away by this might lead to their permanent injury. She needed to save who she could.

Swallowing, her mouth suddenly dry, Twilight spoke. “I- I've got a dead one here.” There were a few gasps, some of the other ponies stopping to look at her. One stallion in particular, a silver-grey unicorn, dropped to his knees.

“No... Golden Leaf...”

Rarity went up to him. “Steel Sheen, right?” The stallion nodded, tears beginning to fall silently from his cheeks. “She's gone. There is nothing we can do for her. But there are other hurt ponies out there, ponies that we can still help. Grieve later. For now, we need to work.” Rarity turned towards the others. Addressing two mares, she said “Rosebud, Brilliant Glimmer, and Steel, you three begin ferrying the injured outside.” The two mares nodded, taking a guard and Steel outside. “Thunder Burst, Twilight, and I will continue here with the rescue.” The pegasus stallion, Thunder apparently, turned towards Twilight in shock as if seeing her for the first time.

“Princess...?”

“Not now.” Twilight looked at him sternly. “Work now.” Thunder obliged, ducking into the main hall and checking for ponies injured in the rush to escape.

Rarity continued. “Running Waters, you...” She glanced around, confusion crossing her face. “Running Waters?”

“Perhaps she went elsewhere?” Twilight offered, scanning the room. “What did she look like?”

“Aquamarine unicorn with a beautiful blue mane. Golden-brown eyes.”

Twilight looked again, but turned up no results. “I don't see her.”

A flash of worry crossed Rarity's face, before she replaced it with her determined expression once more, and nodded. “Okay. Twilight, if you wouldn’t mind notifying the authorities. We need a team of medical staff and some pegasi to take care of these flames.”

Twilight nodded, and jumped out of the hole, running as soon as her hooves hit the ground.

^

When the rescue was complete, the total casualties were forty-eight, with three fatalities, two of the guards and Golden Leaf. The fire was put out around 23:00, the entire operation warped up around 1:00. Rarity stayed on the scene the whole time, taking charge of the help which arrived at subsequent stages. Though they looked for nearly half of an hour, neither Twilight or Rarity caught sight of Running Waters. Twilight provided power for the medical staff, but with the drain of her earlier teleports and reckless spell-casting, she quickly became completely drained of magic(5). By that time, luckily, she had managed to provide enough power to treat ten of the injured ponies, including all of the critical cases. Despite an hour's investigation, no suspects were found for the cause of the disaster, though the investigation team stated that “It could not possibly have been an accident.” No statements could be gathered from the witnesses, as those awake had either fled or were confused to the point that no real information could be gathered, and those in the direct disaster zone were unconscious. Potential suspects were not detained, on account of there being over twenty-six hundred of them.

^

The unicorn and alicorn, weary and drained of magic and will, made their excuses and left for Rarity's hotel room at 1:18. The two walked together in silence, not looking at each other, each lost in their own thoughts. The streets were quiet, the low hum of the rescue operation fading, and the night sky was stunningly beautiful, casting a calming, peaceful tone over the town directly at odds to the events which had transpired. Rarity's mane and coat were a mess, her dress torn and ruined; Twilight's mane and coat had slowly succumbed to the grit and ash of the building.

Eventually, they found themselves at an unassuming hotel on the eastern side of town, going by the name of Hoofany inn and tavern. The doors were open, and a light was still on. Rarity entered first, followed by Twilight. Inside, they were greeted by the sight of six ponies. Four were drinking at the bar, one was the bartender, and the final pony was Fluttershy, who was currently nursing a glass of water at one of the tables. When they entered, she perked up.

“Rarity! Twilight! Oh, thank Celestia you're okay!”

Their entrance did not go unnoticed by the other patrons, or, to be more accurate, Twilight's entrance did not. The bartender, a sky blue earth-pony mare, stopped moving, her eyes going wide. Three of the patrons were far too drunk to register the comment, though one, a pale yellow pegasus stallion with a lemon-yellow mane, did drunkenly swivel in her direction. Upon seeing her, he spastically rose to his hooves, nearly collapsing, surprise on his face. The bartender, on the other hoof, bowed.

“Princess! Welcome!” She looked back and forth at the state of her customers, her face going flush. “We were not expecting you. Please forgive the state of my establishment.”

The pegasus stallion, managing to stand erect, quickly saluted. “Windbreaker at your service, your highness.”

Twilight paused for a second. “Windbreaker? I'm sure I recognize that name. Tell me, have we met before?”

“No, your highness. I was, however, assigned to your command three days ago. At the time, I was stationed in Neighshee, and I've been traveling to Ponyville since. Let me tell you, it's such an honor to be chosen to serve under you, your highness.”

“My... my command?” Twilight stuttered, confused. “I was... completely unaware.”

Windbreaker was about to speak again, but Rarity cut him off. “Twilight, Fluttershy is waiting. I can understand your interest, but would it be possible to continue this conversation later?”

“Right.” Twilight turned to leave, looking back at Windbreaker, “Sorry,” She addressed Windbreaker apologetically, “but my friends are waiting. Will you still be here tomorrow?”

The stallion bowed, showing remarkable bodily control for the number of empty mugs he had stacked on the counter. “Forgive me for keeping you, princess. I will be wherever you wish me to be.”

“Right... well, um, see you tomorrow morning then, I guess.”

The stallion nodded. “Until then.”

Figuring she had taken care of that, Twilight turned her full attention to Fluttershy, who seemed happy enough waiting. “Fluttershy. Sorry about that.”

“Oh, I don't mind.” Fluttershy stood up, beckoning the pair to follow. “Come on, they're all waiting for you.” Twilight and Rarity did as they were asked, though Twilight did stop to flash the bartender a quick smile, to show that she had not simply forgotten her.

Fluttershy led them down a hall, then up a flight of stairs. Eventually, they came to an oak door with the number 209 etched into wood. Fluttershy knocked on the door. “They're here!”

A few seconds passed, then the door swung open, Applejack poking her head out. Barely sparing Twilight and Fluttershy a glance, she looked Rarity up and down, concern melting into relief. “Well, you're alright!” She pulled Rarity in for a hug. “I was worried.”

Rarity let herself be pulled into the hug, becoming lost in the warmth of her friends embrace. Twilight took the opportunity to enter the room. Dash was on one of the three beds, laying down and looking at Rarity and Applejack with relief and a grin. Pinkie Pie was also present, looking happier at Rarity's safe return then she had about anything in days. She could only imagine how much a thing like this must mean to Rarity. It was things like this that really displayed the significance of their friendship. Beyond what they shared, what they said, and what they did, it was these acts of support, offered at cost, which showed the true endurance of what they had. There were not too many ponies who would drop everything to go one hundred sixty-some-odd kilometers at 23:00 knowing that their only service would be recovery support after the fact.

Actually, that was a really good point.

Addressing Pinkie Pie, Twilight spoke. “How did you get here so soon?”

Pinkie's smile grew, though the comment was enough to get Fluttershy to cringe slightly. “We took the train, silly. We left just before 23:00, got here just after 1. We've only been waiting ten minutes.”

“Speak for yourself!” Dash called, still smiling. “I got here half an hour after Spike told me. I've been waiting for two and a half hours!”

Twilight's brow furrowed. “Two and a half hours? You lazy Pegasus! The rescue was in full swing at that time! You could have lent me a hoof!” Twilight cast her eyes around the room. “Also, where is Spike? I would have thought he would have tagged along.”

“Well, actually, miss blamer, I did help with the rescue. Who else do you think is fast enough to drag storm clouds from a bank twenty-three kilometers away in time to stop the flames from spreading? I may not have been on scene, but I did my part!” Rainbow Dash extended her wings slowly, wincing at the pain. “Sweet Celestia, I must have flown another two hundred and fifty kilometers back and forth to that bank at least! By the time I was done, I was dead beat. I tried to offer myself for on site work, maybe questioning or running information quickly or something, but I was told that only trained professionals were to be on site, so I went back to the room and crashed.”

Twilight was stunned into silence with the rapidity of Dash's response, and her face went flush as she formulated an apology. “Oh, I'm sorry, Dash. I didn’t know. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

“Eh, it's okay. Mistakes happen, and we're all strung up.”

Twilight turned to Pinkie. “So, what about Spike?”

“Well, we had to leave someone behind to distract the guards!” Pinkie giggled. Twilight heard Fluttershy squeak, and saw Dash roll her eyes in her peripheral vision. “Fluttershy wanted to do it, but Spike said that he thought it was best if he did.”

“Distract... the guards.”

“Well, we needed to get here really quickly, and, well, Applejack and I can't fly, and Fluttershy can't fly for one hundred and whatever kilometers, so we took the train to get here.” Pinkie looked at her, puzzled at Twilight's shock. “That's what I said the first time!”

“We... took... the train...” Twilight said slowly. She opened her mouth to continue, but really couldn't think of much to say. Eventually she just repeated “Took the train.”

“Yep. Lucky for us one of those fancy new steam engines were their, otherwise there's almost no way we could have gotten this to work! Those things are really fast, you know. Noisy, and keeping the boiler hot enough is a pain, but they are really easy to use, if you keep an open mind. Slowing down is a problem, but I think I’ve got the hang of it now.”

Twilight's mind went blank as she attempted to reconcile Pinkie's cheery admission with what she had actually done. She was certain that Pinkie understood that stealing was wrong, and yes, these were slightly extenuating circumstances, but a train? Really?

By this time, Rarity had been released by Applejack, and entered the room, puzzled. “What's this talk about trains?”

Applejack stepped inside as well, though she had a shameful look on. “Listen, Twi, Rarity, ah know that yer against this type of thing, but their really wasn't any other way. We didn't hurt nopony neither. Just sent Spike out to distract them long enough to start the thing, then straight here. We're going ta return it.”

Rarity looked more confused. “Return what? What on Equis are you talking about? And what does it have to do with trains!”

Dash rolled her eyes again. “Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack stole a train to get here.”

Rarity let out a little gasp. “Stole... a train? What audacity!”

“Well, at the time we had very little information ta go off of. All we knew was that you were in some unknown danger of some unknown magnitude. As stopping such things seems to be our gig, well, we improvised.” Applejack said calmly, her voice soothing, slow, and discreetly logical. “Had we know the nature of the trouble, we would have taken a slower path. As it was, we thought it prudent to get here as soon as possible. We have been needed to save this country four times, two of which were saving the entire world besides. Most of our disasters are larger scale then this, and without knowing otherwise, we just assumed it was important. The train is fine, and we'll return it tomorrow.”

“Well... I suppose...” Rarity seemed flushed, although Twilight had recovered fully by now. She paused, then sighed. “I'm glad that you came here for me, let's just put it at that. We can deal with the other things tomorrow.” She yawned mightily. “I feel exhausted, and I imagine that Twilight, Dash, and at least whichever of you were shoveling coal feels the same way. Perhaps we could retire for the night?”

Twilight had to agree, it had been a long day. Her entire body felt significantly fatigued, and she found herself yawning as well. It seemed that, even now, she could exhaust herself.

“Oh, I feel fine.” Said Pinkie. “This whole thing invigorated me! You know, I had no idea that one of those trains could get up to eighty kilometers per hour! I thought to myself, self, this must be how flying feels!”

Twilight interrupted Pinkie before she could get any further. “Pinkie... those trains are not supposed to be able to go eighty kilometers per hour. They're graded for fifty.”

“Well, then they were graded wrong! I got up to nearly one hundred at one point!” She glanced down. “Though I couldn’t stay there for long. Whenever I got above sixty-fiveish, a rattling would start
and it would only be a matter of time until I got distracted and forgot to put in more fuel. I know we were in a rush, but, well, it was a really cool rattle. Never managed to track it down though.”

Twilight did not say a word. It was for the best, really, if Pinkie never knew how close she had come to killing herself and the others. Twilight was familiar with high-power boiler explosions, and the results were rarely pretty.

“Right... well, Pinkie, Rarity's right, I am exhausted, an so is Dash. We can talk more in the morning.”

“Well, it is the morning now! It's 1:30, after all!

“After the sun is risen.” Twilight corrected, yawning again. “Rarity, I'm going to assume that your room only has one bed?”

“That is the case.”

Twilight mentally counted, then continued. “That's four beds between the six of us. I'll get us two more.”

“Do you need any bits?” Rarity telekinetically opened her saddlebag. “I notice you don't have a saddlebag with you.”

Twilight extended her left wing as she exited the room. “I'm fairly certain that I won't have any trouble in that regard. There are some perks to this, you know.”

Twilight walked across the hall, down the stairs and to the reception area, where she found the bartender(who was, in all likelihood, also the innkeeper) tidying up the place. In the four minutes she had been gone for, it seemed the more unsavory customers had been excused for the night, and fresh candles had been placed at all of the tables. The bartender saw her enter, approaching her and bowing.

“Princess, what do you require?”

“Well, um,” Twilight wished she could speak more concisely, but she was still always flustered by ponies immediate reverence to her. She was getting better at it. “I need two more beds, one for myself and whichever of my friends can't claim one.”

“Of course! I'll set you up right away!” The bartender/innkeeper lead Twilight through the halls.

“Um...” Twilight looked down sheepishly. “I don't actually have any money on me right now.”

“Don't even think about it!” The bartender/innkeeper whom it was getting increasingly more rude not to know the name of seemed to be affronted that Twilight would even mention payment. “I would never think to be so rude as to ask one of our wonderful princesses for any money. It is a honor beyond mention for you to come here, what more could anypony possibly want?” Her voice was reverent and sincere, giving Twilight no inkling that such an affirmation was in any part an act. “Oh, I never imagined one of you would even give a place such as mine a second glance. I am unworthy to house goddesses. Still, I will do my best for you, princess.”

The mare and Twilight finally arrived at a door, marked 211. “Do forgive me. This inn has no luxury rooms, and I can not offer you anything better then this. You can, of course, chose any room you like, but I am afraid that they are all, more or less, the same.”

Twilight opened the door, looking inside the room. It did appear much the same as the other, albeit with one bed instead of three. “There's only one bed.”

“Yes. I was assuming that you would want to be roomed separate from your remaining friend. Please forgive me.”

Twilight winced. This was starting to go too far. “No, it's alright. I just wanted to make sure they were accommodated.” She turned. “Tell me, what room is Rarity saying in?”

“Room 103. I'll put you other friend in 109.”

A thought struck Twilight. “Wait... 103, 109, 211... those numbers are all prime.”

The mare stopped moving, her eyes widening with shock. “Yes... all of my prime number rooms are single. Nopony else has ever noticed, before you.” She bowed before Twilight again, deeper then before, a wondrous tremor in her voice. “That you would pay attention to such a thing humbles me so, princess.”

“Well...” Twilight paused, thinking. “As a start to show your thanks, you could stand up and tell me your name.”

The mare did so, though she could not appear to make full eye contact. “My name is Daydream, princess.”

“Please call me Twilight, Daydream.”

Daydream bowed again. “Whatever you wish, Twilight.”

Twilight yawned. Daydream, not getting back up from her bow, said “Forgive me for keeping you. I should have realized you were tired. I will attend to your friends.” She then got up to her hooves, and went to room 209, which was just across the hall, to do just that. Twilight made a mental note to do something for Daydream at some point, then crashed in her bed. She felt her muscles relax in waves, almost putting her to sleep immediately. She did not fight the feeling. It had been a long twenty-eight hours.

^

Twilight awoke the next day feeling very refreshed. The sun leaked through her window, its golden rays warming her stomach where they landed. She felt very comfortable just lying there, but she knew that the day coming up needed her attention. It was now the twenty-third, Celestia's birthday, and she had promised herself(and Luna, she supposed) that she would see the two celestial sisters more often. There was also the added factor of needing to apologize, and most likely compensate, the Sunshine transportation company for the appropriation of the train. Twilight was sure some kind of arrangement could be made. Equestria did have a royal treasury, and the country could afford to pay for its saviors well intentioned antics every once in a while.

Getting up, Twilight examined the small clock on the mantel, reading the time as 7:39. At this hour, it would be a toss up whether her friends would have awoken yet or not. She felt her stomach grumble. She was getting a strange craving, not a taste that she could place. Taking action, Twilight decided to go downstairs and see if the tavern part of the inn and tavern served anything besides drinks.

The halls were quiet, illuminated softly by the golden sunlight that leaked through the windows. The air was pleasantly warm, likely in the lower twenty’s, and not appreciably humid. All in all, the start to what was shaping up to be a beautiful summer's day. Her hoof-steps fell quietly on the floor, and the stairs were accommodating to her stealthy wishes, transferring her from the second floor to the first without a sound. A quick canter down the hall, and Twilight found herself once again in the main reception and bar area. There were currently no other patrons, though Daydream was already staffing the bar. Twilight noted that a sign on the blackboard behind her read Breakfast served 7:30 – 10:00.

“Excuse me?”

Twilight turned quickly, her eyes dropping to see a young, hot pink filly standing in the doorway, half way over the threshold to the outside world. She was looking in, though she did not enter. Twilight could have sworn that she recognized the filly from somewhere, but couldn’t place her.

“Yes, did you want something?”

The little filly coughed, twice, then looked back to Twilight. “Do you know where my brother is? I've lost him.”

The filly coughed again. Twilight felt her heart go out to her. “Okay... I'll help you find him. What does he look like?”

“He's a purple-pink earth-pony colt, turned thirteen in May.”

“Alright...” Twilight stepped out of the building, trailing the filly behind her. “Let's find him.” The two walked, Twilight glancing around for a pony of that description. Not seeing one immediately, she decided to go onto main street, the most likely point of congregation. She could tell that the filly was upset and worried. She looked, what, six? Perhaps seven? It must be very scary for her. Leaning down, she asked “What is your name?”, trying to keep her talking and her mind off of their search.

“I'm Vanilla.”

“And where are your parents, Vanilla?”

Vanilla coughed, then scrunched her nose. “They left for Manehatten on business on Wednesday. They won't be back until Tuesday.”

“Well, then, who is taking care of you?”

“Cotton Candy, of course.”

Twilight looked up and down the street, but was still unable to locate the colt. The filly coughed again. Twilight turned back to her. “Where is Cotton Candy, then? Shouldn’t you be asking them for help?”

“I told you, I've lost him! That's why we're looking.”

Twilight stopped for a second. “Wait, your brother is the one who takes care of you?”

“Yup. He's the best in the world.” The filly continued walking. Twilight looked at her more carefully now. She could see it in her gait, the subtle way she looked at everything around her. She was assessing threat, whether consciously or unconsciously, and changing her movements to match. This filly was very independent, very used to fending for herself. Twilight felt slightly cold on the inside. That parents would abandon two foals consistently enough and for long enough periods of time for this to result... it was terrible.

“Cotton! There you are!”

Twilight was shaken from her thoughts by Vanilla's voice. The little filly had run up to, and tackled, a rather handsome thirteen year old earth-pony colt. The colt, who was presumably Cotton Candy, turned quickly, a smile crossing his face.

“Vanilla! Oh, thank Twilight you're safe. I've been looking for you.”

Vanilla, taking the comment literally, turned back to Twilight. “Thank you, Twilight.” Cotton Candy, looking up at his sisters traveling companion, flushed red and bowed.

“Princess! It seems my affirmation was more accurate then I had believed. Thank you for returning my sister to me.”

Twilight was a bit flustered. It made sense, she supposed; ponies used Celestia's and Luna's names in vain all the time, why should she be any different? Still, she had never actually heard anypony say it, until now. It was rather awkward, actually.

“Um, well, you're welcome. She's a good one, take good care of her.”

“Sorry to have bothered you. I'm sure somepony like you is very busy.”

“Nah,” Said Vanilla, her eyes sparkling mischievously, “she was just standing there, staring at a blackboard.”

“Vanilla! That was rude. Princess Twilight has taken time out of her day to accommodate you, and this is how you repay her? Say you're sorry.”

The filly looked ashamed of herself. “I'm sorry.”

Twilight smiled at her. “I forgive you.” She turned to Cotton. “Really, it's no trouble. She's just a little filly, be easy on her.”

“I don't know what's gotten into her.” He said softly, not hiding his thoughts but obviously articulating more for his own benefit then hers. Twilight turned to go. “She's independent and all, but she usually isn't rude to ponies who are trying to help her. First Running Waters, then that Salespony down at the corner of main street and celestial drive, and now you.”

“Wait, hold on.” Twilight had been preparing to return to the inn, but now her attention was directed fully back to Cotton. “Did you say Running Waters?”

The stallion was taken aback by her sudden interest. “Uh, yeah. A unicorn by that name helped us rescue our cat yesterday.”

Twilight couldn’t keep all of her emotion out of her voice, her words forceful but not overwhelming. “Do you know where she might be? One of my friends is worried about her.”

“She was with Swift Tech yesterday. Said they were friends.” Vanilla pitched in. “I could take you to his house if you want.”

“Yes, that would be very helpful.” Twilight turned to follow the eager filly. “Lead the way.” If she could find Running Waters, she knew Rarity would be very happy at the news. Besides, a morning walk through Hoofany was hardly a tiresome exercise in and of itself. The town had a history longer then many of Equestria's cities, being founded nearly seven hundred years ago now, and as such the landscape was dotted with relics of centuries past. Twilight passed buildings which were five hundred or more years old, still in use to this day; cites of historic protests, ponies, and politics; beautiful architecture and monuments erected in squares. Eventually, her tour ended at a small apartment building.

“He lives on floor 3.” Vanilla stated, waiting for Twilight to make her move.

Twilight approached the door, hitting the buzzer for floor 3. She received no response. She pressed the buzzer again. Again no response. She hit it a third time. This time, a taciturn gray-blue pegasus mare stepped out of her room, looking blearily at Twilight.

“Don't cha know yer manners! If somepony don't respond, they ain't there! Ya don't go hitting the button over and over!”

“Oh, uh, sorry. I didn’t know I was bothering anypony.”

“Well, now ya do. Don't do it again.” She said sternly, blinking a few times. It was painfully obvious that she had just woken up. “What ya here for, anyway?”

“Oh, well, I was wondering where Swift Tech was.”

The mare scratched her head with a hoof. “I don't think I've seen him since last night. Him and that pretty mare he had with him.”

“Oh, alright. And have you seen that mare about?”

“Hum...” The mare was obviously concentrating, thinking hard. “Yeah, I did. Funny. She came up to his apartment without him, stayed for maybe a minute, then left. That must have been, I don't know, 23:00 ish?”

“23:00... That was just after the disaster. If she was here then, she must have made it out okay.” Twilight smiled. “Thank you, you've been a great help.” So saying, she left, leaving the confused and tired mare in the stairwell.

Twilight found Vanilla still waiting just outside. “So, did you get what you wanted?”

“Yes, yes I did. Thank you for bringing me here.”

The filly smiled. “Happy to help.” The two parted ways(Twilight was sure she could take care of herself long enough to get home), and Twilight made her way back to the inn. She paused at a bench, taking time to draft a document, then continued on her way. When she entered the inn, she found Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie already awake, and eating breakfast at a table. Pinkie furiously waved her over, and she obliged, seating herself next to her.

“You wouldn’t believe how good the food here is!” Pinkie enthused, eating a daisy-pancake wrap drenched in syrup. “Murmph yermth hargeln gart!” She paused, looked quizzically down at her self, swallowed, then continued. “It just doesn't stop coming!”

Applejack, who had taken a more realistic portion, clarified. “Daydream has insisted on providing us with whatever we want at no cost. You've really done a number on her, Twi.”

“I had to convince her it would be an affront to my personality as the element of generosity to stop her for refunding the cost of my room.” Sighed Rarity. “Normally I would enjoy the attention, but, and I don't mean her any disrespect, but, well, we are all but two of the guests staying here right now. On the weekend directly before the Summer Sun Celebration. The second most popular travel time of the year. I don't think her business is exactly thriving.”

Fluttershy walked in, accompanied by Dash. Pinkie again waved them down frantically, and the two sat on a directly adjacent table, which Dash dragged over.

“So, how's the food!” Dash asked, to Pinkie's wide grin. “Oh, excellent!” Dash tore into the food, eating everything she could get her hooves on. She ate with such fervor that even Pinkie was shocked. “What?” Dash said, over a mouthful of pancake. “I burned literally 33 MJ(6) last night. Cut me some slack!” So saying, she returned to her food.

“Right...” Rarity, trying her best not to look at Dash, turned towards Twilight. “What is you plan to take care of the 'train business'?”

“Well, it will involve an apology from the perpetrators, along with an detailed explanation of the circumstances, the return of an undamaged vehicle, and likely compensation equal to at least one day's normal train fair plus trauma equal to at least one day's normal train fair. Logically, it will be a lot more than that, but that's the absolute minimum. Luckily, I shouldn't have too much trouble coming up with the money. As for the punishment that Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack will receive, I will take responsibility for your actions based on the fact that I provided the information that incited such actions. Whatever the lawful punishment, I'm fairly certain that it will be easier on myself then on you three.” Twilight took out a sheet of paper. “I need you three to sign here.”

Applejack took the form, looking at it quizzically. “There is a legal form for transferring punishable responsibility from one pony to another? That don't sound right.” She looked at it more closely, noticing that it smudged under her hooves. “Hey, this is hoof-written!”

Twilight smiled. “There wasn’t a form, not before, oh, ten minutes ago or so. While I was out I took the liberty of writing it up. Hoof-written by princess Twilight Sparkle herself, nopony besides Celestia can overrule it. How about that for legality!” Pinkie Pie took the sheet from Applejack and signed it quickly, before passing it to Fluttershy. Applejack, however, was less than amused.

“Now, Twi, I know you want to help and all, but ya can't just go around abusing your power 'cuz you feel like it. This ain't right, and you know it. Ya should just burn the form, and, I don't know, figure something else out.”

“'Course she can. She's a princess. She rules the country, makes laws, and ponies do what she says. That's actually kind of the point.” Dash piped up, after polishing off her fifth plate. “Hey, can I get some more pancakes? I'm starved!”

From the kitchen, Daydream emerged, carrying yet more pancakes, waffles, muffins, and confections. She placed them quickly down on the table, bowing briefly to Twilight before saying “Do you find things to your satisfaction, Twilight?”

“Yeah. The food is wonderful. Thank you very much, Daydream.” With a smile, Daydream left their company. Twilight sighed. “Look, Applejack. If your uncomfortable with this, you don't have to sign it. It's really that simple. I don't plan on making this an official piece of documentation. Really, I just wanted to give us legal protection on top of circumstance. Normally, I wouldn’t have done anything, but we're not dealing with an individual or a country. We're dealing with a company, and the more legal protection you can get with companies, the better.”

Applejack sighed. “It still don't feel right to me, but I guess I can trust you not to abuse yer power. It's just, you know, new. I still think of you as that withdrawn unicorn who showed up three years back and rocked my world.”

Pinkie drew back, thoughtful for a moment. “Hey, that's a really good point! We'll have been friends for three years in just two days! You know what this calls for?”

“Pinkie, while I would normally be all for your enthusiasm, as I explained last year, and the year prior, that date is the same as the Summer Sun Celebration. We already have a party to attend.” Rarity sighed. “It is unfortunate, but that's just how it works.”

Pinkie seemed deflated, but she perked right up again. “Well, then I'll just have to throw a really big party for a really big date! Like ten years, or twenty-five! Oh, I've got to start planning now! It's quite the party which can accommodate the potential for unknown technologies! Lets see, by ten twenty-five, what cool new party stuff will they have?”

Applejack signed the document, and hoofed it back to Twilight. “I'm sure it'll be great, whatever you come up with. 'talways seems to be.”

“Oooh! On the subject of parties in the future, Twilight, when it comes time, I want a small, no fuss/no service funeral with no wake. Just get me in the ground, K?”

Twilight kind of just looked at Pinkie. The rest of the table went quiet. Pinkie looked back and forth between the others, confusion in her face. “What? It was relevant. No offense to the rest of you, but she's the only one I can be sure will still be kicking by then.”

“Pinkie, why must you talk of such morbid things! We've got, what, one hundred fifty or so years left, thanks to the elements(7)? Make funeral plans in 1103, okay?” Dash said, wiping syrup off of her muzzle. She had now finished nine plates. “Today, let's concentrate on returning that train.”

The awkward moment mostly defused, the six continued to converse, discussing daily plans and general gossip. Twilight and Applejack managed to convince Rainbow Dash that, even though they understood that she was still hungry, eating more then ten plates of pancakes was probably a bad idea. Twilight waited at the table for about half an hour, but Windbreaker never showed up. At 9:00, the six left, biding Daydream adieu.

Dash was taking her gluttony very well. Though she did occasionally make a strange face, she managed to not collapse in pain(8). “Ugh...” She shook her head. “So, where are we going to actually take the train?”

“Well, I figured we would take it to the Sunshine transportation company Canterlot headquarters. I was planing to go to Canterlot today anyway, and a company headquarters seems to be a logical place to return it to.” Twilight sighed, looking at the floor. “It's not going to be a fun conversation with the company, that's for sure.”

“I'm sure it'll all work out.” Applejack said, turning a corner and leading the party out of Hoofany. “After all, we haven't damaged the thing.”

“Why aren't we going to the Hoofany station?” Rarity asked. “I would think it would be there.”

“Well...” Applejack opened her mouth to explain, but Pinkie cut her off.

“As I said, the breaks took a little getting used to. I only overshot by, like, two kilometers or so. I think that's pretty good for the first time.”

The group, after another five minutes of walking, found themselves at the train. It was brightly colored, and had one coal cart, seven cars, and a caboose. Twilight looked at it for a few seconds, a frown crossing her face slowly.

“How are we going to drive it? It's facing the wrong direction.”

Pinkie, as if realizing this for the first time, stated “So it is! I didn’t notice that before.” She paused, thinking. “Well, the ponies who run it have to be able to do it, because the trains run both directions!”

“Um, well,” Fluttershy offered timidly, “most major stations have turnabout rails that they use. I think that the nearest one, aside from Hoofany's, would be Fillydelphia's. The Fillydelphia station is fifty-eight kilometers from here, I think.”

Twilight considered. “Fifty-eight kilometers... there and back, that will put another two hours on our already four and a half hour trip time...” She sighed. “Not worth it. Hold on, I’ll take care of this.”
Closing her eyes, Twilight concentrated her power on the train, willing herself to lift it. It was a really simple spell, just telekinetically moving an object. Most unicorns could preform basic telekinetic control before they could speak. Complicating the matter was the tethered nature of the object. Not being a true solid, she couldn't simply lift it from one point; she had to lift all ten cars independently, simultaneously. Calming herself down, she carefully lifted the train, raising it about three meters off the track.

Slowly, carefully, she spun the five hundred tonne locomotive, preforming the maneuver at just over one revolution per minute. She almost lost it, twice, the heavier front end nearly tearing off, but she managed to compensate just enough. Twenty-seven seconds later, she replaced it on the tracks, facing the opposite direction.

“Well, that was... quite something, Twilight.” Rarity seemed impressed.

“Eh.” Said Twilight, boarding the train. “I could have done that back in my unicorn days just fine. Would have cost me half my power, instead of, like, two percent, but really, not that impressive. Teleporting us and the train to Canterlot, now that would have been something.”

“Oh, could you? That would be so cool!” Pinkie began to bounce.

Twilight sighed. “Unfortunately, no. I've only recharged a third since yesterday, and even at full power, it would be a stretch for me to teleport all of us to Canterlot, let alone the train. Teleportation is very energy consuming. I don't think there's ever been a pony alive who could pull off a feat like that.”

“Awwww.” Pinkie deflated for a second, then sprang back up. “Well, that means that I get to drive the train again! Woot!” She bounded into the engine room, laughing.

“Rarity, would you mind going with her?” Twilight looked at the receding Pinkie, hoping that she was not making a great mistake. “I'd feel more comfortable if somepony more level headed could take charge if need be.”

“Sure, though I must say, I've never rode in a steam train before, and I'm not completely sure how they work.” She looked towards the engine room. “I don't know how much help I can be.”

“Well, I've always been interested in steam engines, so I'll come as well. Between the three of us, we should be able to handle anything.” Twilight said, crossing the walkway between the forward car and the coal cart. “After all, we've saved the world, what, twice? Three times if you count Fluttershy taming Discord. What can two hundred twenty kilometers of track really do?”

Not much, as it happened. With Twilight and Rarity in the engine with Pinkie, they were more than capable of keeping the train going in a strait line at a reasonable speed. For the most part, the greatest enemy the six encountered on their voyage was their boredom, which was easily dispelled with gossip, jokes, and conversation. The trip took them five hours(Canterlot may have been two hundred kilometers away, but there were two hundred fifty kilometers of track between the points.), passing through Ponyville at 12:45. Twilight was quick to note that the telegraph line which ran from Ponyville to Hoofany was broken some three kilometers out from Ponyville (“Oh, so that was what those wires were for! I had no idea, I swear!”). Aside from this, there did not appear to be any damages caused by the theft, which made Twilight feel a lot better. With some careful control manipulation, Twilight managed to park the train in Canterlot station at 14:18.

Twilight and the others disembarked from the train, quickly removing themselves from sight. They were criminals, after all. Sequestering themselves in a corner, they looked around, seeing if anypony had spotted them. The station, while not packed, was populated, and they could see ponies staring curiously at the train, which had only let off six passengers and had not accepted new borders. Though it seemed nopony had tracked their movements, it would not be very long before somepony made the connection between this occurrence and the stolen train.

“Okay, quickly, what's the exact plan?” Rainbow Dash whispered, glancing worriedly to and fro. “We do have an exact plan, not just an outline, right?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. You, Dash, take Rarity around the city and act like nothing has happened. It's hardly suspicious for you two to be visiting a city. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, two of you should find yourselves somewhere to lie low for a few hours. At sunset, find the rest of us, we'll be just outside of the palace. Whoever the third is will come with me to the Sunshine transportation company headquarters. They'll likely need a first-hoof account, personal explanation, and apology if we're to convince them not to press charges.”

Applejack cocked her head slightly. “Twi, I understand you want to help and all, but I’m pretty sure that the ponies who did the act should represent themselves. Me, Pinkie and Fluttershy are more then capable of handling this.” Pinkie nodded, smiling, while Fluttershy seemed not have much of an opinion. “Look, you just give me that piece of paper of yours, so we can get ourselves out if everything goes south. You go and see Celestia like you wanted. We'll be fine, right girls?”

“Yep! We can handle this no problem!”

“It is our burden, Twilight. I know I'd feel better if I handled it myself.”

Twilight hesitated, then sighed. They were right, of course. Her want to represent them was out of a wish to protect her friends, not because she had any particular skill in diplomacy. If that had been her goal, she would have sent Rarity. The three of them could handle themselves. She handed the document over to Applejack. “You're right. You three should take care of this. Rarity, Dash, still meet us outside the palace at sunset. Everypony good?”

The others nodded, and broke off, each going their separate ways. Twilight watched them go for a few seconds, then turned away and ascended, flying to the palace. She tried to put her worries out of her mind, preparing herself for the hours ahead. The others would be fine, and she should concentrate on her task. Still, she supposed the difficulty she was having separating her thoughts from her friends was a good thing, yet another small but necessary signal of the strength of their friendship.

She landed at the pegasus entrance to the palace, startling the two guards from the game which they had been playing. Twilight approached the gate, which was opened for her without question. Perks, she guessed. Once inside, she quickly took two turns, and slipped into a hidden door behind a stairwell.

The secret passageways which interlaced Canterlot castle were not the most secret you might find, having been explored by one thousand years of playful foals, devious nobles, and late servants. Celestia, by a twist of fate, knew little of their paths, being too large to fit in their one and a half meter clearance ceilings. Twilight, on the other hoof, had no such problem. She had been shown many of the paths by helpful servants, as well as her fellow students, in her time here. She had also done some exploring on her own. Her greatest find had come eight years ago now, when she had found a new secret way into Celestia's bedchamber. It was hidden cleverly on both sides, blending seamlessly with the wall in Celestia's room as well as being hidden in the gloom of the corridor on the inside. The connecting path had been coated in dust, and though Twilight was not naive enough to think that she was the first pony to have found the corridor, she very might have been, and still might be, the only pony giving it use today. She was near certain Celestia did not know of it. She thought it would be a nice surprise, to pop up behind Celestia unknown. She always did enjoy a good prank.

Twilight passed a few servants on her way, carrying trays, cleaning equipment, and themselves through the hidden corridors. Nopony acknowledged her as special, not that that surprised Twilight; rule one of the corridors was that everypony was equal inside. It made the place almost like its own little world, where noble-ponies graciously gave right of way to servants, when it was due.

Twilight approached her exit corridor, waiting patently until she was alone. Rule two, knowledge is power, and sharing information of the corridors should only be done when mutually beneficial. Besides, finding these things out on your own was half the fun, anyway. When she was reasonably sure she was unwatched, Twilight opened the door, and slipped into the corridor beyond.

She sneezed, dust getting into her nose and eyes. Unsurprising, given as it had been six years since she had been here last. Slowly, she made her way through the narrow passage, casting a light spell to see by. Their were no maintained lanterns here, where only she traveled. It took her a few seconds to cross the distance to the door which would lead her into Celestia's room. She paused there, her hoof poised centimeters above the door, anxiety temporarily paralyzing her. She went cold, feeling a chill cross her form.

The moment passed. Shaking her head, she pressed her hoof against the door, slowly easing it open. She extinguished her light spell, letting the light from the room outside illuminate her movements through the slowly widening crack in the wall. The door, she knew, would be silent as long as she pushed slowly enough. Very gently, she worked the door open.

It took her eighty seconds, but she eventually managed to get the door fully open, and stepped through. Another eighty seconds were spent closing the door, leaving it flush with the wall, completely unnoticeable again. Twilight then turned to face the room. The bed room was much as she had remembered it, ornate and lush with lavish and stunning fixings. Still, it was not a gaudy as some, most of whom were far less rich. Twilight slowly padded, making sure to make as little noise as possible, and crept her way to the front of the room. She opened the door.

The sleeping area was a very small part of Celestia's royal chambers, which contained seven rooms in all. Twilight was now in the lounge/parlor area, where Celestia would entertain guests or go to read and relax. It was also where she happened to be, at present. She was facing away from Twilight, sitting in a chair by a beautiful gilded fireplace, in which a pleasant fire burned. Twilight could not tell what she was doing, though she did not seem to have yet registered her presence. Twilight slowly crept up, drawing herself closer to Celestia. Twenty seconds later, she was directly behind her, close enough to reach out and touch her. Slowly rising onto her back hooves, Twilight leaned in right next to Celestia's ear, being careful not to breath. Her mouth was less then five centimeters away from her ear, yet she was still unaware of her presence.

“Boo.”

Celestia jumped out of her seat, clearing the table in front of her and landing sprawled on the floor next to the fireplace. She quickly turned herself, horn glowing gold. Recognition flashed across her eyes, and she broke into a grin.

“Twilight.” Twilight saw her entire body relax, and her horn stopped glowing. “I was not,” She cleared her throat, “not expecting you. How did you...”

“It's a secret.” Twilight grinned, flushed with success. “Happy birthday! 1150, big year!”

“The first of many, many more we'll share.” said Celestia. “1500, now that will be a party. Though nothing, I'm sure, to compare to your 1000.”

Twilight kept smiling, though slightly more uncomfortably now. Celesta noticed.

“But that's for another day. Today, let's celebrate today.” She motioned Twilight to sit down, which she did. “Luna is out procuring us the cake. She should be back any minute.”

Presently, Luna entered. She looked at Twilight, a small smirk crossing her lips upon noticing Celestia's slightly frazzled mane. “Well, it seems things have gotten interesting since I left. Is she your champion?”

Celestia pondered for a moment, the smiled. “Yes, yes, that will do nicely.” She reached onto the table, grabbing a card. She handed it to Twilight. “These are your stats.”

Twilight looked at the card. It looked much like a playing card for a trading card game. Looking at the table, Twilight found her assumption half right. The two were engaged in a card game, though a game board with pieces was also seemingly in use.

“Alright, if you've acquired a new champion, I will be forced to change my strategy.” Luna looked at her hand, contemplating her move.

“It's basically risk, but battles are decided by a card match instead of a dice role.” explained Celestia. “This game is actually, what, sixty hours in?” Luna gave an affirmative nod. “I'm winning.”

“You are not. I control nearly twice the territory you do.”

“Not for long.” Celestia said to Twilight quietly.

“That is what you said five hours ago.” Luna placed a card on the table. “Tap seven, play fortified barricade.”

There was a knock on the door. “That will be the cake.” said Celestia, removing herself from the table and approaching the door. She opened it, allowing four servants to enter, pulling behind them a cart on which the largest cake Twilight had ever seen was placed. It was a mountain of a cake, five meters in diameter and four meters tall, clearing the doorway by only two decimeters. The ponies dragged it inside, until it was near the center of the room.

“Is their anywhere you want us to put it?” One of the servants offered, looking for an appropriate place.

“No, here is fine.” Celestia dismissed the servants, who left the three alone again in the room.

“Are you going to eat that?” Twilight asked in complete astonishment.

Celestia laughed. “Four and a half tonnes of cake, by myself? Ridiculous. No, I won't be able to finish more than, say, ten kilograms on my own. The rest will be given out to the denizens of the palace.”

Twilight was not sure what to think of ten kilograms of cake, but she supposed it was better than forty-five hundred. “Well, that makes more sense, then.”

“I don't feel particularly hungry.” said Luna. “May we at least finish this round before eating it?”

“Of course. I would not want to leave you facing your inevitable defeat for too long.” Celestia cooed, turning back to the game. Luna rolled her eyes, and Twilight had to stifle a laugh. From reading her card and a basic instruction card, she could tell that Luna was in a vastly superior position, on the game-board and in the round.

“Well, I suppose that I'll have Twilight crush your silly little barricade.” Celestia grinned. Luna looked shocked.

“How?”

“I have automatic shock six against walls that I attack.” Twilight read, eliciting a mild expletive from Luna. “Plus two for anything that just came into play. I think, with my normal attack, that's eleven damage.” Luna looked at her fortified barricade, a scowl crossing her face. She removed the card.

“I take five.” Luna looked at her score card. “I have one life left.”

Luna moved to draw a card.

Then the cake exploded.

End Chapter 3

Author's Note

Yay! More flow breaking footnotes!

On Equis, there are 400 days in a year, with February, March, April, June, July, August, September, and November having thirty-three days each and January, May, October, and December having thirty-four. The spring equinox is on the twenty-fifth of march, the summer solstice on the twenty-fifth of June, the autumn equinox on the twenty-sixth of September, and the winter solstice on the twenty-sixth of December. Each year is exactly 400 days, so there are no leap years and the solstices and equinoxes all occur on the same date every year.
As one might expect, the wing's of a pegasus are far from capable of maintaining lift. Their flight is powered off the same mana field which unicorns get their power from. Twilight alludes to this briefly in chapter 1. More specifically, pegasi achieve lift by pushing against the mana field, allowing them to traverse great distances for little energy. Flight is, however, only about five times as efficient as walking; a pegasus who flies two hundred fifty kilometers has done as much work as one who walked for fifty. Pegasi can not fly in space, because the mana field only exists between the celestial spheres, though they are capable of flying to the very edge of the atmosphere with no differences in speed. They do need oxygen, however, and though their weather control does allow them to create oxygen pockets around themselves, they still have issues flying higher then ten kilometers for this reason.
They eat cake and pie. Eggs and milk are in.
The book described is not based off of any real work of fiction. If you know a book titled Days Long Past, she is not reading it.
Healing magic can be incredibly inefficient. A general healing spell like the one Twilight used on Rarity is by far the most inefficient type, but even the most advanced specific spells require a disproportionate amount of power. The average unicorn would have trouble healing a shallow seven centimeter gash, let alone broken bones and internal bleeding. Having enough magic, after a 164 Km teleport and a brute force heal, to heal ten additional individuals is very, very impressive.
MJ = Megajoules. 33 Megajoules is roughly equal to 7,885 Calories, or about the amount of energy a pony would spend to run 80 kilometers. This is equal to about 17 plates of pancakes, with 3 twenty centimeter buttermilk pancakes per plate(According to IHOP), or one kilogram of body fat. Yes, I am American, damn it. We can use SI, you know.
Due to the natural entropy reversing properties of the Elements of Harmony, the five are expected to live between two and two and a half times as long as normal.
Equines, on earth, are incapable of puking. It is simply not a response their bodies are capable of. On Equis, they are capable, but the impetus is much higher then it is for humans, to the tune of six or seven times. Dash would have to eat enough to knock herself out with pain in order to puke.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Spring
Sunday, 23 June 1003

Spring expelled the cake and frosting from her mane and coat with a quick fastidiousness spell, turning to face a startled and cake covered Celestia, Luna, and either Cadence or Twilight(given her size and apparent age, she guessed it was likely Twilight.) Her blast spell had destroyed about half of the cake, obliterating most of the side facing the others. Spring had made sure to target Celestia's voice. She reached out a hoof, sampling some of the cake from the wall. “This is quite good. Thou shouldst commend thy baker.” She paused for a second, then continued. “Whilst I hast thy attention, wouldst anypony care to explain to me this 'princess' business? Ye dost rule thy nation, dost ye not? I would hast thought thee wouldst be'st queens.”

Celestia and Luna continued to stand there, stunned and staring at her with blank expressions. Twilight, that is what she would call her until otherwise indicated, was already snapping out. Spring saw her eyes move, taking in information, formulating conclusions. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth opened.

“Spring...”

Spring was impressed. She could not have seen her before, and must have pieced the information together based on written descriptions and poor black and white illustrations. In only seventeen seconds to boot. She would have to be careful around Twilight.

Twilight's comment seemed to break Celestia and Luna out of their stupor. Hesitating, they bowed before her. “Well met, Spring.” Celestia's came out half choked, though Luna managed well. Spring was, at this point, unsurprised to see Twilight follow as well, her execution flawless – though, of course, she had used the wrong greeting(1). Spring was fairly certain that she had done so on purpose, to gauge her reaction. After three seconds, they rose, and Spring bowed to them.

“Well met, Celestia, Luna.” Spring said, flitting her eyes to Twilight for a second, watching for her response. She did not make one. “Though, really, must we return to the old formalities, given the circumstances? I wouldst be'st surprised to find ye hadst used them in nine hundred years. Hast they not been replaced by a modern version?” Spring smiled, though none of the others were. “Oh, but now is not the time to talk of such things. It is thy 1150th birthday, Celestia! Thy kingdom should be in revelry! Thee hast grown so much since I saw you last.” She turned to Luna. “And thee as well.” Her tone darkened. “Thy seal hath stolen from me your childhoods.”

“How... how can you be here?” Twilight asked, her eyes taking on a slightly disturbing look. Celestia leaned down, whispering something to Twilight which Spring could not hear. Twilight looked surprised, then nodded, and looked back to Spring, though she did not say anything more.

“Celestia, let her speak.” Spring chided, turning to Twilight. “I do apologize about Hoofany. The guards initiated the attack, not I.” Twilight looked shocked.

“How did you know I was there? We've never met before.”

“I saw thee whilst I was fleeing from the scene.” Spring said. “Thee wast in flight, heading for the building. Tell me, did thee happen upon a white unicorn with a blue mane, by the name of Rarity?”

“Yes, I did.” Twilight looked at her curiously.

“Is she alright? I hope she did not come to any serious harm.” Spring said. “We had an interesting night together, and I didst nay wish her any harm.”

“Running Waters...” Twilight muttered under her breath.

“I see then that she must be fine, if she wast asking about me.”

Celestia looked at Spring hard. “What have you done in Hoofany? And why haven't I been informed?”

“Well, um, I think that might have been Pinkie Pie's fault.” Twilight said. “She knocked out the telegraph lines between Ponyville and Hoofany when she stole the train. If the Fillydelphia/Hoofany line was also damaged, well, there would be no connection between Hoofany and Canterlot.”

“Pinkie Pie stole a train?” Luna said, turning her attention to Twilight for a second before remembering Spring's presence.

“Later.” said Celestia, silencing Twilight. “We have more serious business to attend to.”

“Thou dost indeed.” Spring said, settling herself in a chair. She looked around the room, taking in the lavish decorations and distasteful displays of wealth and power, though to be fair, she had seen worse. The layout of the table caught her eye. “Oh, wast thee in a council of war? I dost hope I hath not endangered thy strategy.” She paused, replaying the memory in her head. “No, thee said it was a game. Ignore me.” Twilight looked at her funnily. Spring sighed. “I dost nay expect thee to actually ignore me, just disregard my last comment.” She turned to Celestia. “Is she always this literal?”

“You were ambiguous.” Twilight muttered.

“Twilight...” Luna said softly. “It would probably be a good idea if-”

“Oh, off her!” Spring said, eyes glinting. “She is capable of fending for herself, is she not?” Spring turned her attention to Twilight. “So, what art thou, exactly?” She peered at Twilight curiously. “Thee art in control of power, I canst feel it, but thou share not the blood of Eris(2). How didst thee come upon thy wings?”

Twilight blinked. “How could you tell?”

“Thee holds thyself in a rote manor, not a natural one. Growing a horn shouldst not hast effected thy form in the way wings might.”

“Right...”

Spring turned her attention back to Celestia and Luna. “Art thou so desperate for companionship that thee wouldst surround thyselves in such facsimiles of immortality? Thee couldst hast left one of us unsealed, Celestia, if thee truly wanted.”

“I am not a facsimile!” Twilight said, indignantly. Spring found it rather cute. “I'm an alicorn, just like you! I may be only twenty-one years old, but I-”

“Dost thee hast the blood of Eris?”

Twilight faltered. “Well, no, but-”

“Didst thee receive thy power through magical means, not by blood-right?”

“I suppose so, but-”

“Then thou art a secondary power.”

“I am not! I connected to your stupid alicorn-”

“Twilight, that's enough.” Celestia said coolly.

“No, no it's not!” Twilight seemed angry. “Why does everypony cut me off! Am I not allowed to speak my own mind?” She waved her hoof in Spring's general direction. “She bursts in here and you do her favors. I, your personal protegee-”

“So that's what they call it now.” Spring muttered.

Twilight pressed on, not letting Spring's comment derail her. “-should at least be allowed to defend myself from accusations!”

Spring was beginning to find Twilight's impertinence tiring. Before she could comment, however, Celestia pursed her lips, then spoke.

“Twilight, I think it would be best if you left.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Celestia cut her off before she could begin. “Twilight, leave us.” She put force behind her last words, giving clear indication that she was not open to debate. Spring could tell that Twilight was hurt and angered by Celestia's words, but she simply nodded and left the room.

When Twilight had exited the room, Celestia's calm and forceful air evaporated instantly. She looked at Spring, fear clearly visible in her eyes. She was shaking slightly. Luna also slumped, though she did not seem nearly as effected as Celestia. She had always been the more level headed of the two, Spring recalled.

“What do you want?” Celestia said, her voice, despite her body language, still clear and strong.

“I want to celebrate my daughter's 1150th birthday, that is what I want.” Spring said, walking over to Celestia and hugging her. Celestia took it quite well, though it was awkward, given that Spring was almost forty centimeters shorter than Celestia. “The last time we did this, I still hadst to lean down to thee.” Spring said, a smile coming to her lips.

“That was a long time ago.” Celestia said stiffly. “Over a thousand years.”

“Less then forty for me. Thee mayst hast sealed me for 981 years, but for me it was naught but a long sleep. I felt but six hours of time pass.” Spring paused. “And even forty is too long. What made thee hate me so, Celestia?”

“You know the answer to that.” Celestia said coolly. Spring sighed.

“I see that my time away hath not engendered any love betwixt us.” Spring smiled weakly, though her heart was not in it. Even after what she had done to her, Spring found herself unable to truly hate Celestia. She still saw the small filly whom she had raised, whom she could make laugh and cry and give protection. Where had she gone wrong?

“You came here for a reason.” Luna stated simply, looking at Spring. “What business do you have with us.”

“I wished to reveal myself to thee.” Spring said, pausing. “Now that I have returned, there art changes that shalt occur.”

“Do you intend on taking over the world?” Celestia said, her eyes flashing. “You may find it much harder to control then you are used to.”

“I enjoy challenge.” Spring said, her voice no longer containing any of the warmth with which she had started. “Besides, it is hardly as if I shalt be forcing my will upon its people directly. Ruling is not my style.”

“This is just like you. You justify your actions by saying that you don't want direct control, when what you really mean is that you don't want direct responsibility.” Celestia said, beginning to pace. “You want the power of the world at your command without having to deal with handling the details! You treat the ponies and griffons and zebras like toys, to give you what you want with no effort!”

“Canst thee say thee art truly different?” Spring waved her hoof, encompassing the lavish room they were in. “Thee hast a nation at your beck and call! In direct control, all relying on your favor! Thee sleeps in rich silk sheets; thee keeps more gold on thy mantelpiece than most ponies earn in a lifetime. Thy comforts are not won by thyself, Celestia. I never hadst such lavish rooms, nor surrounded myself in such gaudy treasure as this. I didst hast servants, but they numbered, save twice, three or less. Thee employs almost one hundred personal servants, another thirty for thy kitchens, and two hundred besides to keep your precious castle looking beautiful. Thee hast a pony who's only job is to make sure thy regalia is shining well. And thee accuses me of treating mortals as toys!”

“At least I own up to my ambition! When I lead my country astray, I don't duck behind another thrown, laughing as the mortals attempt to pick up the pieces! I hold myself responsible to my actions, and their consequences!” Celestia barked, anger slipping into her voice.

“Hold thyself accountable! Oh, how very noble of thee. I suppose that thee keeps a list of thy activities, to present before an international counsel for punishment.” Spring paused, giving Celestia a chance to respond. When none came, she smiled. “No, then? What a paragon thee must be, giving self chosen penance for the things thee considers thee hast done in ill. Dost thee skip a meal after thee hast taken land for profit? Nay, perhaps a lash for each hundred you displaced. Thee art fair, after all.”

Celstia's gaze burned with anger, her positioning becoming hostile.

“Thee must realize, Celestia, that all intelligent beings hold themselves accountable, at least in their own eyne. That is the purpose of guilt. I am, to myself, as beholden to my actions as thee presumes thyself to be.” Spring turned to face Celestia's gaze head on, staring deep into her eyes. “Dost thee hast the right, in full, to determine if thy own perception is true?”

“Her actions show her worth!” Luna cried. Spring was taken aback by the sudden force with which she spoke. “It is not she who judges history, Spring. Under her guidance, the world has been in a golden age for nearly four hundred years! The terms of the mortals, not us! Ponies and griffons are at peace, Spring, under negotiations which Celestia presided over.”

“Forsooth!” Spring exclaimed, looking at Luna dubiously. “Griffons, at peace? Their language dost nay hast a word for peace. The closest they hast translates to 'Not-primary enemy.'” Spring looked at her. “I can see it in thy eyes that thee art telling the truth. Still, it is hard to believe.”

“Of course it is, for you. You never understood the power of harmony.” Luna said, her voice full of venom. “For you, the concept of a powerful, kind leader is as alien as the as the bottom of the oceans, as unfathomable as the concept of infinity! You can't accept that we aren't putting up an act. You deem it impossible to maintain control through love and trust, because you never could! You can't accept that where you failed, we succeeded!”

Celestia found her voice again as well. “You may not have surrounded yourself in wealth, mother, but you kept it in amounts which make even my fortune look like pocket change.” She spat, her tone dark and strong. “You played sadistic games with mortals for fun, burning towns at your whim, just because you felt like it. You destroyed civilizations, broke cities, and ended cultures, all towards your greater agenda. I might shower myself in the toil of mortals, but you shower in their blood!”

“Thee accuses me without base.” Spring replied calmly. “It is true, I hast done these things. But my life stretches over six thousand years. Thee says that I hast ended civilizations? Thee art correct, I hast done this thrice. But thee must admit that thy own nation required the fall of a proud civilization itself, the Benzic empire, which was at that time nearing two thousand years of existence. In one thousand years, thee hast done as much as I dost in two thousand. Thee says I break cities, and thee art correct again. I hast been the direct cause of the fall of nearly sixty cities in my life. But thee rules a nation, Celestia, a nation which was much smaller when I left. Attributing the fall of only one in four of the cities which must have fallen in the interim to thee, the number amounts to seven; adding the four which I saw you burn in your crusade, eleven at least thee hath taken. Thee, like I, art responsible for one in every century of our lives. As for ending cultures, thee hast missed thy mark. I hast never, to my knowledge, targeted one particular demographic or culture to the point of complete destruction. Unless some of those who were foolish enough to attack me happened to be the last of a people, I hast not done this. I know not of thy activities during the last thousand years, but, given that thee rules a nation, it would seem likely that some once great culture hath crumbled before your expanding borders. I know not for sure, however. Still, we are, at best, even. Thee shouldst not be so hypocritical with thy accusations, Celestia. Such words only can engender resentment. Thee wast always a diplomat, Celestia. I expected better from you. The truth, whilst it still mayst cause strife, can also change minds.”

“Well... I...” Celestia became flustered. Spring grinned.

“An added benefit of truth, it seems, is its irrefutability.”

“That would be the case,” Luna commented drily, “if you had spoken to her query. You have always been good at wordplay, Spring, and this has been no exception. Celestia's point, and mine for that matter, was not one based in numbers. It is understood that, in six thousand years, there may be a time where what would normally be considered excessive force becomes simply required. These are not what we speak to. We speak to your habit of playing with ponies, of killing for fun and sport. It is not the army's you've killed which make you different to us, Spring. It is the individuals.”

“We all hast bad days.” said Spring. “Sure, mine might come more frequently than most, but they art less severe as a consequence. In spite I killed less than three ponies a year on average. Another two a year for those who defiled my works. In my life, then, you can attribute thirty-one thousand deaths which would fall into thy category of 'individuals'. Of the two billions who lived during my lifespan, that is but fifteen percent of one percent of one percent. More ponies hath died by lightning than my actions(3).”

“That's exactly it. You don't even get it, do you? No one here is under the illusion that you couldn’t be a lot worse, Spring. That's easy to see, as we're alive to talk of it. You could, unhindered, kill all intelligent life on the planet in a decade. No, it's not that you couldn't be worse, it's that you don't understand that you're bad at all. Yes, Spring, you are less fatal to an normal pony then lightning, but you still kill five ponies a year! Just because you don't do anything statistically significant doesn't mean you're not killing ponies for spite!” Celestia said, exasperated.

“You hast done the same.” Spring said. “I hast seen thee kill for petty insults on many occasions, even for such things as looking at thee funny. Thee plays these games as well.”

“That...” Celestia looked down. “That was a long time ago.” She stared at Spring. “I've gotten over it.”

“Thee art so quick to forget what the past was like, Celestia. It mayst be the case that, hadst I lived through another millennium of change, I wouldst too think in the way you dost.”

Luna shook her head. “Not so. I, as you may remember, was sealed away with the nightmare one thousand and three years ago.”

“I dost.” Spring nodded. “Though I fail to see the connection.”

“That's because, as far as you knew, Celestia's seal should have released after fifty years.”

“Yes. Was it not so?”

“I only got back three years ago.” Luna paused. “So, as you see, we have a specific case study for this. Celestia, have I, to your knowledge, killed anypony since I’ve returned?”

“Not that I am aware of.” Celestia said.

“Not particularly surprising to me.” Spring said. “She was not inclined to do so before, either. Celestia, thee wast the one whom I tagged, not her.”

“I grew out of it. By three hundred.” Celestia said darkly. “You're 6250 something, and we're still waiting.”

“6253, and I dost nay believe thee for a second. Sure, thee mayst hast stopped getting thy own hooves dirty, but thee employs a trained guard in times of peace. They art being used for something.”

“What? No!” Celestia glared at Spring. “They serve to protect and defend, not attack.”

“Wouldst thy pet agree, I wonder?” Spring quipped. “I wouldst hast preferred it if thee hath not dismissed her. Her insight wouldst hast been very useful, here and elsewhere.”

“My... pet?” Celestia seemed confused for a second, before realization crossed her. “You mean Twilight.” Celestia's tone dropped, and a growl began to build in her throat. “She is not my pet. She is my student.”

“Dost thee care for her?”

“Of course!”

“Dost thee try to keep her happy, healthy, and beautiful?”

“Yes! I would never do anything less for somepony who I took under my wing.”

“Didst thee keep her near thy person, feed her, clothe her, and dost what thou thought wast best for her, even if she disagreed?”

“Always.”

“Didst thee adopt her?”

Celestia hesitated for a second, before replying. “No.”

“Then, if she is not thy adopted daughter, what wouldst thee call somepony thee hadst kept and taken care of besides a pet? Didst thee not treat her as such?”

Celestia's glare intensified. Spring began to feel uncomfortably warm, like she had been standing still in the summer sun for a little to long. “No. She is an intelligent being, never a pet.”

Spring simply smiled. “I fail to see any counter-evidence, Celestia. Thou canst glare at me all thee likes, but thy argument wilt not get any stronger.”

Celestia continued to glare, then sighed. “This is pointless.”

Spring nodded. “Agreed.” Then, quietly, “Thou hast no points. How easily you let your pets fall.”

“Say that one. More. Time.”

“How easily you let your pets fall.” Spring said, loudly.

“I warn you, Spring. Call her a pet once more...”

“Touchy, Celestia? What, art thou worried that I mayst hast a point? I'm hardly passing judgment,” Spring said coyly. “as I also was fond of keeping mortal pets. And she is a very cute one. I wouldst hast loved to hast her. If thee dost nay want her, I wouldst be more than willing to-”

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE IS NOPONY'S PET!” Celestia shouted, involuntarily switching into her projection voice(4), her anger fueling her magic. Spring's hooves slid almost two centimeters below her from the force of it, her eardrums popping. She thought Celestia might have continued to speak after that, given that her mouth continued to move, but all she could hear was an dull ringing. Spring's body heated up, going from uncomfortably warm to near burning levels. Celestia did fall silent after a few seconds more, her face flush with anger. Spring took the opportunity to cast a healing spell on herself, restoring her hearing.

“I canst see thee hast a strong opinion on the subject.” Spring felt her ear, her hoof coming back with some blood.

Luna sighed. “Why do you insist on continuing to prod at each other! You, we, are all acting like fillies. What possible reason do we have for continuing this conversation! Nopony is going to get any information from it.”

Spring sighed. “My words wast in jest. Truly, I wished to show that we wast not so different. It seems, however, ye refuse to see it this way. I wouldst hast much preferred not having to fight ye.”

“You don't, you know.” Luna said. “Really. If you leave us alone, we certainly won't initiate.”

“Again, I dost nay believe thee. Thee initiated the first time, if thee recalls.”

“Spring, what possible reason could we have for trying that now?” Celestia said, her eyes locking Spring's. “We already have what we want. Last time, we had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Now we have everything to lose and nothing to gain. There is no reason for us to try anything with you.”

“And every reason for me to try something.” Spring said, her tone becoming dark for the first time. “Ye took everything from me. My status, my following, my friends, my wealth, my power, and my time. All of it. I was on top of the world, Celestia, Luna. And ye took it all from me. Ye sealed all twelve of us, sealed us for all time, because ye couldst nay hope to kill us. I set up a world order which lasted thirty-five hundred years. And you, Celestia, relentlessly tore it down. Thee wast smart, turning us against each other as you did. I commend thee for that. Thee found a new technique with that unicorn pet of yours, and thee took advantage of his skill. Again, a commendable move. Thee hast proven thyself a formidable opponent.”

“I always chalked up my victory to luck, more than anything else.” Celestia sighed. “Without Blueblood and his seals, I have no doubt that you will defeat us handily.”

“Then dost thee agree to join me?”

“Do you plan on re-establishing what you lost?”

“Yes, I dost.”

Celestia sighed. “Then there is no way I can accept. Your world order provided what the time it found itself in needed. I'll even agree that you did more good than ill, in the long run. But it's been replaced, and the replacement is better. I won't let it return to the way it was back then. We've made too much progress in the past thousand years just to turn back now.”

“Of course thee thinks so. Thee art in charge of thy new world. Wast thee not in control, thee wouldst not care for the current system, as much as thee hated my old. It is in our nature to seek power.”

“No. It is in our nature to seek harmony.” Luna said, though her voice was beginning to become frantic. “We are creatures of harmony, and seek control. This can be achieved by power, but also by providing guidance and acting compassionately towards the problems of others. You don't need to keep the world in check with an iron hoof to make it safe anymore, Spring. That was the biggest discovery of the past thousand years. The power of friendship can change the world.”

Spring couldn’t stop herself. She just broke out laughing. She tried to speak, but when she opened her mouth, her laughter increased. “The...” She wheezed. “The power... of friendship? Oh, that is a good one. Hast thee considered becoming a comedian?”

“It's not ridiculous!” Celestia said. “The power of friendship has saved the world more then once in the past three years alone!”

“Oh, it's not that...” Spring shook her head, wiping a tear from her eye. “I am very familiar with the magic of friendship. No, it was thy assertion that such a discovery was the biggest in the past thousand years. We've known that working together works for, oh, twenty thousand years now, ever since the first pony got together with her friends to protect themselves in the night. We know of the power of friendship, and know it to be weaker than the maxim of force.”

“I've build an empire on love and trust!” Celestia cried. “I have acted with nothing but kindness for eight hundred years, and have reaped incredible rewards! I don't contest that your way works, but ours does as well. Perhaps it's time for a change.”

“I hast no doubt that when thee extends the hoof of friendship to the mortals below you, they roll over themselves to lick it. Thee art a goddess, Celestia. The only physical god on Equis for nearly one thousand years. Though you mayst want nothing more than to treat them with kindness, and believe me, I dost think thee truly wishes this, your power comes from their fear, not their love. Thee wast the undisputed master of the world for a millennium. Even if thee didst not intend it, there is no way this fact hast not effected the decisions of the ponies below you.” Spring paused. “I can tell that thee art very invested in convincing me out of my course. Thee wilt not succeed. You see, Celestia, you misunderstand me. I dost nay deny that your way couldst work. However, the more powers that loyalty hath to be split between, the more unlikely such an equilibrium couldst be reached. My way works well, and I know it. I hath used it to command the world for six thousand years. I will succeed in recreating it.”

“You will find the world unwilling to accept such a background interference. The nation states of the modern world are far more organized than you are used to.” Luna said.

“They never exactly enjoyed it before, either.” Spring quipped.

“I deny that my rule is based in fear.” Celestia said, anger creeping into her tones. “Perhaps it was at some point, but that time is long gone. For forty generations, I have shown nothing but kindness to my people. Whatever may have been their initial reason for following me, now they love me.” Celestia took a page from her desk. “Look at this, if you don't believe me.”

Spring glanced at the paper in Celestia's hoof. “I hast seen it.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Read it, please.”

Spring sighed. “I dost nay see why thee art trying so hard to convince me of this. If thee truly felt that my comments wast false, thee wouldst hast no reason to prove otherwise.” Still not taking the paper, Spring looked directly at Celestia. “The paper is from your year 1000 census. On the page is your approval rating, set at 99%. The page is hoof-written, and not by you. In the corner there is a small logo and the words 'master copy' in the corner. As somepony gave you this master copy, I can assume that they were working inside of your direct control, making the data far more likely to be biased.”

“Right, eidetic memory(5). Almost forgot about that.” Celestia muttered.

“Dost thee defend the creditability of this page?”

“Yes, I do. The census is an unbiased data collection agency.”

Spring smiled. “Good, this works well. Tell me, Celestia, how doth a 99% approval rating feel?”

“It feels good. It feels like a job well done.”

“Oh, really? And I suppose thee sees nopony in strife in thy streets? Nopony who feels the economy just a little too hard, nopony who canst not move up in life because of misinterpreted legislation, not even anypony, anywhere, who just feels rebellious, in your entire nation?”

“Well, I’m sure that there are a few, but-”

“I hath been to one of thy towns. I hath seen thy citizens, Celestia, and far more than one percent have grievances. This rates not those who are loyal, but those who like thy current policies and decisions. A seventy percent approval rating is very good, Celestia. An eighty, never achieved by mortal leaders in my knowledge. Ninety is a paradise. Ninety-nine means that either the data is inaccurate, or nopony feels safe enough to acknowledge their grievances.”

“But... no. You're wrong.” Celestia said, her voice beginning to shake. “I refuse to believe that. Anypony is welcome to address me with any problems. I take time to listen to my subjects, to help them, to guide them. I'll agree...” she paused, took a breath, then continued, much stronger. “I'll agree that ninety-nine is likely inaccurate, but only because the question is ambiguous. My people are not afraid of me.”

“Whatever helps thee feel better.” Spring smirked. “Who am I to undermine a pony's source of solace?”

“Who are you to...” Celestia started, incredulously. “Who indeed! Nopony but a self important, worship hungry, friendship needy, earthly, greedy, half baked excuse for a goddess would do so! Which is exactly what you are!”

“Worship hungry? Says the pony who hath her talent(6) marked on every official paper from here to the sea on both sides!”

“Your talent is marked throughout the world as well!”

“That was the choice of the mortals, not my directive. Thee forces thy will upon them. Thee makes them love thee, bow before thee, give favors onto thee!”

“You know nothing of my actions! You've been free for how long?”

“Three days.”

“And you think, in that time, you can figure out all that I have done, to review in its entirety all of the one thousand year's you've missed!”

“I certainly hast done well enough to put arguments over thee!” Spring shouted, anger beginning to enter her voice as well. “Thee art far more transparent then thou wishes, Celestia!” The air in the room began to simmer with power, the aura of the three goddesses beginning to interact violently, forming visible nimbus’s around them.

The three sat there, looking at each other. Nopony said anything for fifty seconds. The silence was palpable. Whatever happened next, they knew, could very well shape the future of their world. Three goddesses, locked in silence, none ready with a reply. Spring could almost hear her own pulse. Then, right as Spring was about to leave, Celestia began to giggle. She stopped almost immediately, seeming confused at herself. Luna let out a snort. Spring broke down fully first, the others following suit.

“This... is just ridiculous.” Said Celestia. “Us just... sitting there... staring....”

“Listen to us, arguing like little fillies.” Luna said, being the first to recover. “Our subject may be far more important than any school foals trouble, but in the end we are simply engaged in an eloquent and verbose version of the tried argument of “I'm right, you're wrong”.”

“I know. We art getting nowhere with this. It is obvious that neither of us will convince the other; that is how it shouldst be, each backed with at least one thousand years of experience. Yet, we art still all intelligent beings. We shouldst be able to come up with some way of avoiding killing each other.” Spring, getting back to her hooves, helped Celestia to hers.

“Okay. No more talk about personal feelings. Just the events.” Celestia cleared her throat. “Right. Okay.” She turned to face Spring directly. “Why are you here? Really, I mean.”

“Well, verily, I art curious about the princess thing(7).”

Celestia gave Spring a look.

“What? I am!” Spring looked at the two for a few seconds, then sighed. “Alright, fine. I came here to surprise thee and, in a perfect world, convince thee to join me. Whether thee wishes it or not, I dost plan on reclaiming what was mine.”

“If you threaten the balance of the world, we will try to stop you.” Luna stated, calm and strong. “Anywhere you attempt to assert control, we will be there. Anytime you try to gain allies, we will stop you. We will not permit you to destroy what we've built.”

“I canst nay say that I shalt not try.” Spring said, then paused. “But thy words hath changed my immediate plans. I will seek to see more of thy world before simply asserting myself. Perhaps I canst find another method. This is, of course, not promise, but... I will think on it. I dost promise not to harm thy citizens if they dost nay harm me.” She cleared her throat. “I hath already taken at least one life in Hoofany, a Golden Leaf. She hath been greatly insulting to me. However, I dost swear that I shalt not harm anymore of thy people for insults. I canst control myself.”

Celestia sighed. “That you have already killed is not a fact which engenders trust in my heart. Still, your honesty is something. And, I suppose, so is your willingness to talk. Perhaps we can still avoid conflict.”

Spring, opening a door, stepped out onto a balcony overlooking the city of Canterlot. It was still the middle of the day, the sun only a third of the way through its track from noon to set, warming her with its light. She opened her wings, feeling the wind blow through her feathers, and turned back to Celestia one last time.

“I certainly hope so.”

Then she dived off the edge, gliding into the distance, her body silhouetted by the sun as she flew upwards and away from Canterlot.

She had some thinking to do.

End Chapter 4

Author's Note

The footnotes be here, for your reading pleasure:
1. When two alicorns met unexpectedly, the standard greeting was to bow to each other, the weaker party first, and greet with 'well met, name(s).' Powerful queens and empresses would also address each other in this manner. When a mortal met an alicorn, it was standard to bow and greet with 'salutations and honors, name(s)' if they were on fairly good terms or were also very powerful; 'Loyalty and honors, name(s).' for most things; or, if they wanted to be pious, 'eternal grace by your presence, name(s).' If they were working against, or ideologically against an alicorn, the greeting became 'Eternal respect and defiance, name(s).' In all cases, the alicorn is not expected to reciprocate. Twilight greeted Spring using 'well met', while the more accurate one to use would have been 'salutations and honors' or 'eternal respect and defiance'. By using 'well met', Twilight is essentially claiming that Spring is obligated to treat her as an equal.

Eris is the first alicorn, Spring's grandmother and Celestia and Luna's great grandmother. More information will be present in later chapters.
On earth, one in eighty three thousand deaths can be attributed to lightning strikes, which is slightly less likely than Spring's one in sixty-six thousand five hundred. You might imagine that, on Equis, given pegasi's ability to control weather, that less ponies would be struck by lightning, and this is the case. However, because most strikes which can be controlled are easily taken care of, when somepony is struck, they have a much higher chance of death. On Earth, ninety percent of all people who are struck by lightning survive. On Equis, only five percent do. For all intents and purposes, the numbers equal out, giving a roughly equal chance of death. During her lifespan, about twenty-four thousand ponies have been accidentally struck by lightning, less than Spring's thirty-one thousand. However, technically, Spring is correct when saying that more ponies have died to lightning than her actions, as the pegasi were fond of using storm clouds as weapons of war, accounting for at least another one hundred thousand deaths. This total is for individual, normally unjustifiable kills. Including “acceptable” targets, the number of her kills is much greater. As an example, Golden Leaf would count as an unjustified kill. The two guards would not, as they attacked her first. They would only count towards total kills, not what the three were discussing.
Yes, projection voice is the Royal Canterlot voice. Or, more accurately, the Royal Canterlot voice is projection voice, given that it had been used by alicorns for sixteen thousand years before Canterlot existed, and has been known as projection voice (or a direct translation thereof) for all of that time, since its initial documentation by Eris in the two hundred twelfth year of the first age.
Eidetic memory is also known as photographic memory. What does that actually mean? If you can remember that you ate at a restaurant three years, six months, nine days ago, you have a good memory. If you can remember not only what you ordered, but in what order you ate them, what color tie the person sitting next to you had, and parts of the conversation you had word for word, then you have remarkable memory. If you can read the page of the book that someone was holding open three seats down even though you did not read it the first time, and see the face of a friend in a reflection of a glass even if you had not noticed at the time, then you have eidetic memory.
Talent : nown - 1. A special ability that allows somepony to do something well; 2. The natural endowments of a pony; 3. archaic : a reference to somepony's mark of talent. See also 'Cutie Mark'.
Yes, the princess thing. The convention, you might assume, comes from a wish to avoid the negative connotations that come with queens, who are generally depicted as evil or tyrannical. This is, however, not the case. You must remember, when Celestia founded Equestria 1009 years ago, queen did not symbolize what it does today. Our modern connotations associated with 'queen' are less than one hundred years old. No, the reason is actually quite practical, based in reasoning, rather than politics. Alicorns age. However, they are, at least under classical thinking, immortal. If something ages, and is immortal, then the logical conclusion is that it must never reach maturity. Because of this thinking, it was more appropriate to refer to Celestia and Luna as princesses. This is more than fanciful thinking, as it happens; based on tests preformed in the 980's and 990's, Celestia appears to be, biologically, fifteen years of age. Progress dated herself, at an age of three thousand, to be the equivalent of a seventeen year old, and Spring, who was at the time around fifty-six hundred fifty, was said to be the equivalent of nineteen. It is unknown if alicorns, given enough time, would eventually reach the full maturity equivalent of twenty-five, as any such tests would have to be preformed tens of thousands of years in the future, assuming the alicorns alive today lived for that long.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Spring
Sunday, 23 June 1003

Spring soared through the air, climbing swiftly to an altitude of six thousand meters. The city of Canterlot was spread below her; Spring was caught by its size and grandeur. Growing populations indeed! The city was nearly four square kilometers of dense, beautiful buildings of stone. Spring was not at all surprised that such a place could hold twenty thousand, not in the slightest. She had seen it flying in, true, but not like this. She paused in her flight to gaze upon it for a few seconds, marking how its streets and courtyards caught the sun. After a short while, she turned her eyes back to scanning the world around her.

Where to? As mundane as it sounded, Spring knew that her first order of business would be finding someplace to live and building a home. She needed a base of operations, a place to store her items, and, even more basically, somewhere to sleep. She knew a few places, she had had hundreds of homes, palaces, and temples over the course of her life, but none were likely to have survived one thousand years of wind, rain, and Celestia. The mountains were usually nice, filled with caves that could easily be converted into grand homes with a little magic, but with Canterlot, they became far less desirable. Spring supposed that she could go the the Everfree, at least for now. It was almost certainly uninhabited, and there was more than enough resources around for her to construct a home from. It was not exactly a prime location, but one she could deal with until she had a better idea of where prime locations were now.

The Everfree forest was not exactly hard to spot, a patch of dark green against the light green grasslands some eighty kilometers away. It was smaller than it used to be – the edge had been only fifty kilometers from Canterlot when she had last checked. Spring noticed a few small settlements around its edge, and headed towards the one dead south, using it to keep her bearings.

Twenty minutes later Spring found herself approaching the town, four kilometers out from the edge of the forest. Her stomach grumbled. Spring sighed. It was hardly surprising, given that she had now gone two days and flown three hundred kilometers on nothing but a single lick of cake and some tea. She had a lot of stamina, sure, but she was getting hungry. Looking down on the town, Spring decided that her best plan of action was to extort the citizens for some food and go on her way. Spiraling down, she landed just outside of the town, on the top of a small rolling hill that looked in.

There was a clear dirt road, which Spring followed into the town. It was not very long before the citizens began to notice her. Spring payed them no mind, the perfect figure of an aloof goddess as she walked purposefully through the streets, the ponies panicking around her. They were not fleeing at sight, which was unsurprising; Spring would be very surprised if one in fifty actually recognized her. Still, she was new, unknown, and obviously an alicorn: this alone was more than enough reason to explain their reaction to her presence. As of yet, nopony had dared ask her for her name, or say anything at all to her for that matter. Most looked nervous, though only a few looked actively scared of her, a group that was outnumbered at least three to one by those who seemed curious and excited by her presence.

At random, Spring turned towards one of the ponies. It was a young dull yellow earth pony mare with a silver streak in her mane, who shrunk back from her as she approached. Spring took three paces forwards, until she had drawn nearly on top of the poor mare, who was beginning to cry. Spring smiled.

“Where mayst I find a good place to eat?” Spring paused. “I am very hungry.” The mare flinched, then seemed to process her words. She looked back at Spring shakily.

“We... we don't really have that many restaurants in this town...” She shrunk back even farther, though she did not turn away. “Um... there is a sandwich shop... and we have two bakeries...” She squeaked.

Spring looked at her for a few seconds, not saying anything. After considering for a moment, she spoke. “What is a restaurant? I hast nay encountered the word before.” The mare's eyes flashed with surprise briefly, before returning to their state of fear. “Well... Uh...”

Spring felt a sharp impact on the back of her head. Turning around, she saw a brighter yellow unicorn mare with a light green and soft gold mane. Spring started upon seeing her; in her minds eye her form became aliferous, back-lit with a brilliant light; her eyes slowly opened, dark holes rimed in aquamarine staring deep and strong into Spring's eyes, enough sadness to drown in, enough determination to kill with...

“Leave her alone!”

The vision shattered, leaving Spring starring at the no less determined but far less powerful unicorn in front of her. Her eyes narrowed. “Didst thee throw a rock at me?” Spring asked incredulously. “Really? Of all the unoriginal things! Thee could nay think of anything beyond hitting me with a stone? There art at least fifty things thee could hast done besides to grab my attention, many of which wouldst hast guaranteed my attention for longer! I refuse to respond to thy defiance until thee comes up with something better.”

Spring continued to stare at the mare, who was looking at her funny. After fifteen seconds had passed, the yellow unicorn rolled her eyes, then casted a quick spell. To Spring, it felt as if her ears had been cupped. The unicorn sighed. “That better?”

“It is a start.” Spring looked at her. “What dost thee hast to say for thyself?”

“You can't just come in here and start threatening ponies, forcing them to do your will!”

“Yes I canst. I hast. Your argument is very flawed.” Spring felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, but forced herself to stay calm and serene.

“You know what I mean!” The unicorn said angrily.

“No, actually. I dost nay hast the ability to read minds. Well, not without breaking the mind I read, anyway. Thee must tell me with thy words what thee intends me to know, or I shalt nay be able to understand thee.”

The unicorn glared at her. “Are you thick?”

Spring looked at her for a second. “What dost thee mean by this? I canst assure you, I am no liquid, and hast no viscosity to my knowledge.”

“Urgh! I can't tell if you're being serious or if your just being difficult!” The unicorn spat. “Thick. Dumb, scatterbrained, imbecilic, fatuous, vacuous, stupid!”

Spring glanced at her, surprised. “Art thou? Thee hast been insulting an alicorn from the moment thee met her. It is one thing to be defiant of the control of your goddess. It is quite another to insult them.”

“Really?” The mare smirked at her. “What a world you must come from, where insult is worse than injury.”

“Thee treads a fine line betwixt engagingly difficult and tiresome. Thee wouldst dost best not to cross it.”

The mare stuck her tongue out at Spring. “Pffft.” Spring stared at her for a few seconds.

“Thou dost realize that I could end thy life with no effort at my leisure, right?”

The mare laughed. “You're not going to do anything to me.”

“Dost thee think thy rulers wilt protect thee? I dost nay fear retaliation from them. They hast too much to lose to endanger everything for a single pony.”

“No.” The mare smirked again, her voice becoming haughty and filled with self-pride. “You didn't kill me when I hit you with a rock. You're obviously not going to hurt me.”

Spring pursed her lips. Usually, ponies were too frightened by this point to make that connection. Not that it was always the case. She had on many occasions previously let ponies have their say before she killed them. This mare, however, had no real way of knowing that. As far as she was aware, Spring was going to let her live – and, to be fair, Spring was going to let her live. If she was going to keep her promise, she needed to gain control of the situation without killing anypony. Spring smiled. She enjoyed a challenge.

“Thou art correct,” Spring said, her eyes taking on a playful glint, “I dost nay plan on killing thee. Thy form reminds me of my mother, which makes thee interesting to me. Thou hast also displayed intelligence and independent thinking, which art traits I like in my pets. Thou art a bit feisty, but I am sure that thee wilt break with time.”

The mare blinked twice, then growled. “I will not be your pet!”

“Oh, really? Thee thinks thyself capable of escaping me?” Spring's horn glowed, and the mare became surrounded in an light aquamarine haze which condensed into two solid aquamarine hoof bands on her front hooves. “I wouldst like to see thee try.”

“What have you done!” The mare tried pulling off the band, but with no success. Throughout this entire time, many ponies had stayed to watch the conversation, though Spring had seen many leave, off to do something or another. The mare addressed the crowd now. “Somepony get me a stick or something, at least!” Nopony moved.

“Thou see, my little pony, they art smart enough to not get between a goddess and her quarry.” Spring smiled. “Thee shouldst nay trouble thyself with attempting to remove the bands. Anything strong enough to snap it off wouldst rip through thy leg first, and even then, the enchantment would not break.”

“What enchantment?” The mare looked at Spring, and for the first time she saw some real fear in her eyes.

“Nothing for thee to worry about. It shalt dost nothing to thee, so long as thee stays within two hundred meters of me. If thee strays outside that radius... it shalt not be a pleasant experience.”

“Within two hundred meters?” The mare looked down at her hooves. “Forever?”

“I canst nay hast my pet running off, canst I?” Spring chided. “The effect is entirely mental, so if thee passes outside on accident, thee wilt suffer no permanent damage, though I daresay thee wilt try much harder never to stray again.” The mare looked at her, anger, fear, and sadness obvious in her gaze. “Oh, dost nay be like that. Thou wilt see, there art advantages to being my pet. I dost take pains to make them happy and healthy. Thee wilt spend the rest of thy life in grand palaces and beautiful houses, attended by servants and gifted whatever treasures thee couldst wish. Queens and empresses wilt bow before thee and dost thee honors! I think thee wilt find it to thy liking, once thee gets over thy separation(1). Come, tell me thy name.”

Spring beckoned her forward, and she obliged, though Spring could still detect defiance in every step. Eventually, she drew within a meter of her; after ten seconds, it became clear that she was not willing to come closer. “Your name?”

“Honeysuckle.” She said flatly.

“I am Spring.” Spring said, seeing recognition and remembrance flash across Honeysuckle's face instantly. Some of the other ponies in the crowd also began to murmur, though most seemed to not recognize the name. “What is this town called?”

“Ponyville.”

Spring paused for a second. “Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

“Alright then.” Spring opened her wings, the eyes of all the ponies around her trained on her. She opened her mouth, ready to make her will known, then paused. Was such fanfare really necessary? It would be fun, sure, but she was trying to get along inside of the system, not in spite of it. The ponies seemed scared enough of her already to be complacent. She did not really need to put on a show.

So, pushing the urge to simply dominate the town out of her mind, Spring instead took a deep breath. “Dost nay fear me, mortals. I wilt nay hurt thee if thee simply dost as I ask. All that I require is some food. If somepony tells me where I mayst find some, I shalt leave thee to do as thee wishes. That is all.”

There was complete silence for a few seconds, then, by some unseen, uncommunicated consensus, the group as a whole led Spring and Honeysuckle off, obviously with some location in mind. They traversed the town, leading them across mane street and past the town square.

“Dost thee know whither they art taking us?” Spring asked.

“Sugarcube Corner.”

“What canst be found there?”

“It's a bakery. Mostly baked goods.”

The two continued to be herded through the town, passing over a bridge and past a train station. After three more minutes, they found themselves outside of a pink, purple, brown, and white building which appeared to be constructed out of candies and gingerbread.

“Oh, this is going to go well.” Spring said sarcastically, and sighed. “If the inside is anything like the outside, I dost nay believe that thee wilt find anything to please me.”

The ponies started looking between themselves anxiously. From snippets of conversation, it did not take Spring very long to peace together that this town was very used to being invaded and controlled by outside powers for short periods. Many seemed frightened of what she might do to them, now that they had apparently failed her. Others assured each other that the princesses, or the elements, would arrive here, it wouldn’t be more than a few hours at most. Finally, after about fifteen seconds, Honeysuckle made the intelligent comment.

“Why, exactly, will this not please you?”

“I dost nay like how sweet everything is.” She shuddered. “Since I wast freed, everything that I hast eaten hath been sweetened, and it sickens me. When thee said bakery, I assumed there would be breads, perhaps some biscuits. Not cakes and pastries.”

“Breads...” Honeysuckle closed her eyes for a second, then nodded. “I know where we can get bread.” Leading Spring away, she eventually came to a pony with a cart, who had set up just outside of one of the large town parks. When the pony saw Honeysuckle, he smiled.

“Honeysuckle, how are you? Come here, let me give you something.” The stallion reached down, pulling out a loaf of bread. He smiled up at Honeysuckle, then noticed Spring and jumped. Banging his head on his cart, he hit the floor, then scrambled up against the cart, using it as support. “Who are you?” He asked, then more quietly, “And what do you want from me?”

“Honeysuckle hath told me thee hath bread. I will take all of it, and be on my way.” Spring said, calmly and precisely. The stallion nearly melted with relief.

“You want bread? Oh, thank Celestia. I can do bread. Great with bread. Me and bread, best buds. I'm always good with bread.” He reached into his cart and pulled out a burlap bag filled with bread, seventeen loaves. “Here's bread. Do you need more bread? I can make you more bread.”

“No, I dost think this shalt be enough bread.” Spring said, mirth in her voice. “Thee canst calm thyself. I dost nay plan to harm thee.” She looked at Honeysuckle. “Is he yours?”

Despite the situation, both blushed.

Spring smiled. “Then I shalt leave ye to yourselves.” Spring turned to leave.

“Wait!” Honeysuckle said, running after her. “Don't move so fast, I can't keep up!”

“Why wouldst thee be trying?”

“I'm tethered to you, remember?”

“No, thee art not. I just said what I thought wouldst make thee obey my will quickest. The bands are nothing more than bands, and never wast anything but.” Honeysuckle looked at Spring, daggers coming from her eyes. “I couldst hast done it if I hadst wished, but really, didst thee think that I wouldst chose thee as a pet? After thee hadst thrown a rock at me? Thou must be joking.”

“You used me, and tricked me into doing what you wanted!”

Spring gave her a long, hard look. “Wouldst thee hast preferred that I forced you to my will by example? There is still time. If thee wishes, I wouldst have no problem raising thy town, letting thee and a select few out with the news so that others wouldst know to respect me. This town wouldst make a fine example of my power, if thee truly wishes it.”

Honeysuckle became completely silent.

“Oh, thee thinks that I wouldst not dost it? Tell me, hast thee ever built with pebbles and sticks a small village, to smash it underhoof?”

“I had a cardboard city... a few cardboard cites.” Honeysuckle said quietly.

“It is fun, pretending to destroy. Granted, it is just as fun, if not more so, to create. Still, every once in a while, it can be almost cathartic to just crush something. Except, for me,” Spring grinned, “I dost nay hast to pretend.” Spring swiped her hoof, a wave of magic smashing a building apart along her arc(2). “So, my little pony, you can rest assured that I wouldst hast no trouble making as much of an example as thee required.”

“Please... don't...”

Spring paused. “What wast that?”

Honeysuckle was crying softly, her voice breaking. “Please don't hurt them. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Don't hurt them.” She dropped to her legs, bowing before Spring. “Please. I'll do anything. Just don't hurt any more ponies. They haven't done anything to you. If you must punish somepony for this, punish me.”

Spring felt a tug in her chest, a twinge of guilt plaguing her otherwise good mood. The unicorn had been very insulting, but she had not really intended it to go this far. At this point, however, simply backing off would seem like an admittance of defeat to, of all things, public opinion, a fate which Spring wanted much to avoid. Still, she could at least do her best to end this quickly.

“Hurt them?” Spring feigned confusion for a moment, then let her expression clear. “Oh, thee means the ponies living in the building! Dost nay worry. I hast nay harmed them.”

There was a flash, and a scared and confused family of six stood in the rubble, unharmed.

“Why wouldst I hurt them?” Spring said, charismatic and aloof. “I wanted to give thee a taste of my power, not them.” She paused, looking at her. “Wouldst thee like me to...?”

“No!” Honeysuckle said, then withdrew sightly. “No, you've shown me enough. I believe that you are more than willing to do all you've threatened. I'm scared, alright? You've beat me. Congratulations. Now, will you please leave us alone? We've done nothing to you, and we won't get in your way, I swear. Just let us get on with our lives in peace, please.” Honeysuckle bowed before Spring again. “Please.”

Inwardly, Spring sighed. This was more of what she was looking for. Outwardly, she maintained her countenance. “Thou hast learned humility. I see no further reason to torment thee. Though, I dost hast one more thing for thee to dost.”

Honeysuckle gulped, and looked at her. “What?”

“Nothing more than to tell thy story to others. I dost think we wouldst both prefer it if thy experience didst nay need to be repeated.” Spring smiled down at her. “It wouldst tire me so to hast to spend a quarter hour of my time doing the like for each town I visit.”

“Of course. A very wise request.” Honeysuckle said, shakily. Spring nodded, then turned away from her, dispelling the bands as she did so. Spreading her wings, she took to the skies, heading back outwards towards the Everfree.

Spring found herself at the edge of the forest in no time. She flew over the tops of the trees for a while, but finding no suitable clearing in which to land, was obliged to do so at the mouth of the path. Trotting slowly into the forest, she mused on her situation while munching on some bread, which was quite good all told. She had come off a little harsher than normal back in Ponyville, but she would attribute that to her hunger. It was not like they had not had it coming; they had insulted a goddess, tried to hurt her even, and she hadn’t killed any of them. She was particularly proud of herself. She did not made a habit of killing ponies normally, but given how they had acted towards her, she felt that she had handled the situation well. If all she needed to do was back off on a little severity, Spring was sure she could get along just fine, at least for a while.

The forest, despite the millennium separating her visits, was mostly unchanged. She could still taste the magic in the air, but it seemed just as willing to let her pass as it always had. She spotted some creatures as she passed: a pack of timber-wolves, a few hoop snakes, some squirrels and chipmunks, two jackalopes and a red fox. The path she was on was rather well maintained, given its location. Spring had no difficulty following it as it meandered through the forest. A few kilometers in it forked, Spring choosing to take the wider path. From there, the level of maintenance dropped off considerably, becoming barely more than a trail. The forest was very dark, though here and there a few beams of sunlight illuminated the underbrush. Nothing approached the goddess as she calmly and slowly made her way down the path, enjoying the peaceful coolth which the forest emanated. Her hoof-steps made no sound as she trotted the path which she herself had laid eleven hundred years previously.

Eventually she came across a clearing, which was split by a seven meter wide ravine. Unsurprisingly, the bridge she had built here, as sturdy as its stones once were, had not survived centuries of neglect. It had been replaced at some time by a rope and plank bridge, recently destroyed, judging by the two intact pegs with rope and a few shattered planks still dangling. Spring considered flying over, then decided to rebuild the bridge. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her magic, selecting the spells she needed. Her horn began to glow, and her magic cascaded across the gap, forming an ethereal bridge. The stone of the valley began to move, melting and forming to her will. In twenty seconds, she was finished. Now standing in front of her was a strong, sturdy stone bridge, wide enough to permit four ponies to walk across side by side. It was not particularly ornate or fancy, but Spring did not feel the need to make it so, as it was hardly likely that it would see much traffic. Trotting across the bridge, Spring found its construction fairly sound, not shaking or vibrating perceptibly under her weight. For eight seconds, the air was filled with the sound of hooves on stone, and then silence, as she disappeared into the forest on the other side.

As expected, within a few minutes Spring found herself walking into a clearing in which the ruins of what was once a great castle stood. Some of the outside structure still stood, she had laid the foundations well, but the roof and most of the west side wall had collapsed, likely long ago. The entrance was sill intact, though its once proud adornments and statuary were striped away. The stone pavilion which had once stood at the entrance was completely missing; how, Spring could not guess. Spring walked up to the doors, putting her hoof against it.

“How old this world hath become whilst I wast sleeping.” She murmured softly. “I wonder, is this how I dost look on the inside?”

The ruin did not reply. Spring sighed.

Pressing with her hoof, Spring pushed the doors open. There was a noise like grating stone on metal, the door slowly creaking open. Spring entered, closing the doors behind her.

The hallway Spring found herself in was ill lit, though some light did come in through two windows and numerous cracks. With a flash of power, the room brightened, once more glowing with the light of the magical torches which lined its walls. Spring fed the lighting system for a few seconds, giving the castle enough energy to stay aglow for the next three months. After all the time which had passed, she was shocked at the fact that the old system still worked. Even more surprising was the condition she found the hall in. It was clearly abandoned, and hardly pristine, but give the thousand years for which it was abandoned, it was in very good condition. Carpet still remained in places, though ripped and discolored, and the stairwell gleamed in the light as it always had.

Walking around, Spring encountered ruined columns in overgrown courtyards of stone; defaced and weathered statues, who's faces she remembered from when they were new, and when they were alive; stripped bare walls with shattered stain glass windows depicting events which ponies called ancient history and she called recent memory. Spring got the distinct impression that this place would be quite atmospheric in the dark of night.

Accompanied by the warm light, Spring explored the ruin, its atmospheric effect somewhat diminished by the lighting. For each destroyed room she passed, a passageway would open, revealing another preserved miracle. It was almost as if, after the Nightmare had wrecked the place, no new damages had been suffered. Spring became suspicious. Somepony had to be maintaining the place. It was the only explanation.

She felt a presence, more than once, as she walked through the once familiar halls, but whoever or whatever it was gave her a wide berth. She tested a few of the traps, and found almost ninety percent of them to be still operational. The gallery had been cleared out, unsurprisingly, though she did find about half of a grand tapestry depicting Celestia and Luna's defeat of Discord. The treasury was likewise emptied. The armory still had enough workable weaponry and armor to field an army of several hundred(3), though they would look rather strange and unprofessional given that only nineteen full sets had survived, and the others would have to make do peace-meal. The infirmary was one of the rooms which had been destroyed, as was, unfortunately, the kitchens. The throne room was still in its half ruined state, though, strangely, it seemed to have suffered from some additional magical blast damage in the last few years.

Throughout, she found no overt signs of habitation or maintenance. There was no section half finished, or in the process of receiving repairs, nor were there signs of use in any of the halls, passages, or chambers. Some of the traps, she noted, seemed to have been triggered recently, likely in the last few months, but otherwise the castle seemed undisturbed. The whole situation was strange. Surely the castle could not have simply not sustained any damage in one thousand years?

After a few more minutes of exploration, Spring determined that, whatever the cause, she was unlikely to find it. Turning, she decided to visit her old room. She saw a flicker of darkness out of the corner of her eye; turning to look at it, she found nothing in her sights. She was certain that she was being watched, but whoever her watcher was, they did not seem particularly invested in a direct confrontation. After climbing a few sets of stairs, she was stopped by the gap in the wall. It seemed the entire section containing the royal chambers had disintegrated.

She had seen enough. She felt a little dirty for having even thought about this. Spring had given this castle to Celestia for her fiftieth birthday, and even if she had let it fall into disrepair, she could not just take it from her. Spreading her wings, Spring took off, quickly landing behind the castle.

There was no path to follow, but this did not hinder Spring as she made her way deeper into the forest. She stepped over a few small streams, past some burrows, and through thickening underbrush. The light dropped off quickly, the canopy dense enough that, soon, the forest around Spring was cast into a deep twilight. The trees became increasingly more menacing, but she payed them no mind. Dark things flickered at the edges of her vision, but they knew better then to approach her. Around her, the forest was quiet and calm.

Eventually, when Spring began to have trouble seeing her hooves in front of her, she came to a stop. Sitting down, she concentrated, her magic surging around her. There was a terrible, low hum coming from her horn, silencing all sounds around it. She let her power build for forty seconds, feeling the familiar energy surge through her. Turning towards the ground, Spring struck it hard with her hoof.

The resulting explosion tore the forest apart around her, the earth trembling at her blow. Dust filled the air, forcing Spring to hold her breath. When it settled, she found herself in a small, shallow crater, some hundred meters in radius. The trees around her had been turned to dust, though on the edges some had maintained enough integrity to be ripped from the earth and thrown outwards into the edge of the forest around her. Spring's horn flashed again, the ground around her glowing for a second before hardening into sandstone. In rapid succession, Spring turned the felled woods into piles of workable planks. Once she had enough, she levitated the planks into position, sealing them together with internal wooden struts. Within two minutes, Spring had completed a house. It had three stories, fourteen rooms, and a basement, windows of glass from the sand around her, and a mostly functioning door given that she did not have any metal around. It was hardly a home fit for a goddess, but it would do for now, she supposed.

After struggling with the door for a few seconds, Spring entered her new home, glancing around for any problems. She was very good with these things, but everypony makes mistakes, and it was a rushed job with suboptimal supplies. The wood was a rather ugly color, but not terrible to look at. Every room was accessible, which was good. What an embarrassment it would have been, to find that a parlor or a drawing room was completely boxed in! There were no internal doors, but given the trouble she was having using wood only hinges, she was content to leave it as such until she could lay her hooves on a sufficient supply of iron.

After her quick search, Spring set to building magical torches for lighting. She would need some cloth, some wood, and a few crystals(4). The wood and crystals would not be a problem(though the crystals would likely be low grade), but she was at a loss as to where she would be able to find cloth of a high enough quality to maintain structure under the strain of the spell. Eventually, she decided to weave some out of the fiber of some of the leftover wood; it looked like some of the ugliest cloth she had ever seen, but it worked. Sifting through the ground outside, she located a few quartz crystals good enough for the job, and build herself twenty-three torches, more than one for every room. By this time, the sun was beginning to set, so Spring tested her work, lighting the torches with magical flame. They burned quite inefficiently, but produced sufficient light. It was hardly as if, to her power, the difference in energy cost really mattered(5).

Under the warm light provided by the spell, the house looked far more comfortable, although it did not have any furnishings or furniture to speak of. Spring did not mind, as it would be a few days yet until she would need to go to sleep. She was certain that she could procure a bed in that time. In the meantime, she set out engraving the woodwork, making her home more beautiful. After an hour or so, she stopped, as finished as she was ever likely to be. It was hardly the best house she had ever built, but she felt pretty good about it all the same. She would get embellishments later.

Seating herself on the floor, Spring ate some more of her bread. Now what? She had her house, and enough food to last her the next three days at least. The necessities were taken care of. She had nothing to read, nothing to do, and nopony to talk to. She could use this time to formulate a plan against Celestia and Luna, but really, she did not feel like that right now. She had not just been saying what they had wanted to hear; while she found it far from solid, parts of what they had said had gotten to her. She would, as she said, give it a chance. At least a week, if not two.

Looking back through her memories, Spring realized that now would be a great time to practice the new syntax and word choice of the modern era. She had aggregated enough memories to learn, she was sure.

Twenty minutes later, Spring was muttering to herself frustratedly. It took her less than two weeks on average to learn a completely different language, fluently, yet she was making almost no progress with a simple change of syntax. At this time, she was fairly certain she had 'don't' down, but that was about it. Something was very weird with this.

Knowing that she was getting fed up, Spring decided it would be best if she took a walk outside to give herself a short break. After struggling with the door for a few seconds, Spring stepped outside, the edge of the forest catching the sun's dying golden rays. She paused for a few seconds, watching it, then, for lack of a better thing to do, began to make a path between her house and the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Not wishing to resort to explosive methods, she took down each tree one by one, slowly forging a path between the two points. She had made sure that she was at least three kilometers away from the castle, and as such, the sun had fully set by the time she was half way through. She was making good progress, almost four kilometers per hour, but she was considering going back to her house now that it was dark. She could always cast a light spell, but she just did not feel like it. Besides, she could use the time to make a fireplace, or build some of the furniture she needed. Tomorrow, she intended to head out to one of the pony towns, in disguise, to see for her self how the world worked. She had gotten somewhere with Swift, but she was sure she could get much farther if she did not need to appear completely unsuspicious. The more she got done on her house tonight, therefor, the better off she would be on the day after next.

She was about to turn away when she heard a very faint voice in the distance. Curious, she replayed the memory, finding the dialog indecipherable, but having the clear pattern of speech. Spring crept forward, listening for more. The voice did not start again. Spring knew she had heard it, her memory was infallible, but was beginning to suspect that whoever it was had been moving away from her.

After about ten minutes, Spring was at the edge of the clearing of the castle. She was once again preparing to turn back to her home, when she heard voices again. Still too quiet to make out, she could just barely perceive the modulations of speech being carried by the wind to her ears. Between the snippets which she was able to hear, she could tell the slight variation in speech that meant that there were at least four ponies, perhaps as many as seven, coming her way. Within a minute, they drew into range.

“.... this way, right? I mean, who says that she needs to come here anyway?” The voice had a bit of a slurred drawl to it, very distinct from what she had been hearing since her awaking.

“I don't know about you, but if I was a goddess, I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a castle, ruined or not.” Spring recognized this voice as belonging to Rarity.

“Honeysuckle was very shaken up. I don't think that she was lying to us. This is the only landmark that existed here from before she was sealed, and although I can't be sure she's here, it seemed like a logical place to start.” This voice belonged to Twilight. Spring sighed. That meant that they were almost certainly hostile. Great.

“The animals seem to be frightened of something in this area, but I can't tell what.” This voice was quieter and softer than the others, though Spring could detect some measure of apprehension present in her tones as well.

“Perhaps it was the explosion we saw. That was definitely in the area, and almost certainly caused by Spring.” Twilight said.

“Yeah, that was awesome!” This voice was more energetic than the others, though her diction was clear. “I mean, it was a terrible thing to do, hurting all those animals and all, but still, awesome!”

“Dash, we're supposed to be fighting her, not praising her!” Twilight said.

“Yeah, yeah, but, you know, credit where it's due and all that.” Dash said. “It was an awesome explosion. I like explosions, in case you hadn't realized. That doesn't mean that I don't understand that they're not good to make.”

“I know, I know. I'm just really strung up right now.” Twilight sighed. Spring realized that she was close enough to hear Twilight sigh. “We're going to fight a goddess. Not an easy task normally, when we're underestimated and desperate. This time, she's on the defense, and not likely to underestimate us. If anything, she'll overestimate our danger. We're a lot more likely to get killed here then, well, we've ever been, actually. Not as likely to lose as ever, but most likely to die.”

“Oh, I'm sure everything will go great!” A new voice chirped in, as energetic as Dash's but almost an octave higher. “I wonder what color balloons she likes, or if she even knows what a balloon is!”

“Pinkie... Although I appreciate your enthusiasm, I'm fairly certain this is not one of those times when we'll befriend the villain and have a party.” Twilight sighed again.

“You don't know that.” Pinkie said. “There's always a way to get a happy ending, for everyone. Think about Discord. Who would have thought that he would turn out alright? A lot less likely then this, that's for sure! We've done crazier things in the past. What's to stop us from succeeding this time?”

Spring had heard enough. It was clear, despite their obviously good nature and intentions, that they planned on confronting her. She took two steps forward, her horn flashing. The six had less than half a second to respond, not getting out more than a shocked expression, before they were splayed and trussed, floating one meter off the ground, each cocooned in a ethereal aquamarine prison.

“Greetings, my little ponies!” Spring said, grinning. “I dost trust that thee art comfortable?”

End Chapter 5

Author's Note

More footnotes. More footnotes. MORE FOOTNOTES!
1. Spring is not exaggerating anything here. Her mortal pets enjoyed the highest standard of living at their time, and it was common for them to be treated with great respect. One of the easiest ways to anger Spring is to hurt her pets, making them very important ponies.

Due to the half line dedicated to it, it would be forgivable if one figured that the spell that Spring used was, in fact, not all that impressive; I daresay that, compared to many of the spells at her command, it was, indeed, nothing special. But you must remember that this is written from Spring's perspective, and Spring is a 6253 year old goddess who is three days removed from a time of high magic. In actuality, the spell was very visually impressive, conjuring a four meter high, six meter wide wave of lightly glowing aquamarine magical force which shot blue and green sparks as it rushed across the ground and turned to dust anything it encountered with a sound of fire and electricity. The air around it shimmered with energy, and what looked like divine light streamed from the sky to touch it. It was, without a doubt, the most visually impressive piece of pure magic done in Ponyville's existence, with the possible exception of the light show produced when Twilight became an Alicorn.
The castle used to operate as Celestia and Luna's main base of operations when originally campaigning to found Equestira. It was not uncommon for thousands of soldiers to be stationed here, and as a result, the armory was built to permit them to field five thousand at short notice.
The crystals are used to store magical energy. Gemstones do it best, but any crystal can hold power.
At a guess, Spring is using a superior magic candle spell anchored by the crystals. Spring should not have much trouble sustaining a quarter million of them. With the inefficiency, she might be capable of only one hundred thousand or so.

Again, I would like to ask if anyone knows a better way of including footnotes. This is just obnoxious and completely ruins the flow, but it's the only way I know how.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Twilight
Sunday, 23 June 1003

Twilight was sprayed with cake, turning quickly to avoid getting as much as possible in her eyes. After a second, she turned towards the cake. Inside stood an aquamarine pony. No, wait. An aquamarine alicorn. Her blast spell had destroyed about half of the cake, obliterating most of the side facing them. Twilight's eyes flitted to Celestia and Luna; they were as shocked as herself. Twilight felt as if she should know who this pony was, but the information was not coming to her. The strange pony reached out a hoof, sampling some of the cake from the wall. “This is quite good. Thou shouldst commend thy baker.” She paused for a second, then continued. “Whilst I hast thy attention, wouldst anypony care to explain to me this 'princess' business? Ye dost rule thy nation, dost ye not? I would hast thought thee wouldst be queens.”

Celestia and Luna continued to stand there, stunned and staring at her with blank expressions. Twilight began to recall something, the voice triggering her brain and snapping her out of her shock. She noticed that the alicorn was looking at her, and Twilight became nervous, her eyes darting from place to place. Suddenly, it came to her. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth opened.

“Spring...”

Though she hid it well, Twilight could tell that Spring was impressed at the speed of her deduction. She had not seen her before, and had to piece the information together based on written descriptions and poor black and white illustrations. There was a twinkle in her eyes that Twilight recognized, a small glance that told Twilight that she had, for better or worse, proved herself capable.

Twilight's comment seemed to break Celestia and Luna out of their stupor. Hesitating, they bowed before her; Twilight followed quickly.

“Well met, Spring.” Celestia's came out half choked, though Luna managed well. Twilight followed as well, her execution flawless – though, half way through, she realized that from Spring's perspective, she was using the wrong greeting. She glanced up at Spring, to gauge her reaction, but if she cared, she did not show it. After three seconds, they rose, and Spring bowed to them.

“Well met, Celestia, Luna.” Spring said, flitting her eyes to Twilight for a second. Twilight noticed, but mastered herself, not responding. The fact that she had not addressed her was indication enough of what she thought; the fact that she had glanced her way, more so. “Though, really, must we return to the old formalities, given the circumstances? I wouldst be surprised to find you hadst used them in nine hundred years. Hast they not been replaced by a modern version?” Spring smiled, though none of the others were. “Oh, but now is not the time to talk of such things. It is thy 1150th birthday, Celestia! Thy kingdom should be in revelry! Thee hast grown so much since I saw you last.” She turned to Luna. “And thee as well.” Her tone darkened. “Thy seal hath stolen from me your childhoods.”

“How... how can you be here?” Twilight asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. As soon as she felt Spring's attention on her, she panicked inwardly. She felt the power in her gaze, in a way that would have reminded her of Nightmare Moon's if it had not been nearly twice as powerful. She was not ready for this. Celestia leaned down, whispering very quietly to Twilight.

“Act as you normally would, but slightly more provocatively. Give me an excuse to dismiss you. Gather the rest of the elements together, and bring them here in one hour.”

Twilight could not help but let a flash of surprise cross her face, but she quickly regained control, and nodded. She looked back at Spring, but did not say anything more.

“Celestia, let her speak.” Spring chided, turning to Twilight. “I do apologize about Hoofany. The guards initiated the attack, not I.” Twilight was shocked.

“How did you know I was there? We've never met before.”

“Yes, I did.” Twilight looked at her curiously. How could Spring possibly know Rarity?

“Is she alright? I hope she did not come to any serious harm.” Spring said. “We had an interesting night together, and I didst nay wish her any harm.”

A few things clicked. The color of her coat and eyes, and the fact that she knew Rarity seemed strangely familiar to Twilight. After a second, it came to her.

“Running Waters...” Twilight muttered under her breath.

“I see then that she must be fine, if she wast asking about me.”

Celestia looked at Spring hard. “What have you done in Hoofany? And why haven't I been informed?”

Twilight flushed. She should have realized the problem immediately. “Well, um, I think that might have been Pinkie Pie's fault.” She said. “She knocked out the telegraph lines between Ponyville and Hoofany when she stole the train. If the Fillydelphia/Hoofany line was also damaged, well, there would be no connection between Hoofany and Canterlot.”

“Pinkie Pie stole a train?” Luna said, turning her attention to Twilight for a second before remembering Spring's presence.

“Later.” said Celestia, silencing Twilight. “We have more serious business to attend to.”

“Thou dost indeed.” Spring said, settling herself in a chair. She looked around the room, though what exactly she could be looking for on the walls, Twilight could not guess. Her eyes came to rest on the table with Celestia and Luna's game. “Oh, wast thee in a council of war? I dost hope I hath not endangered thy strategy.” She paused, her eyes going out of focus for a second, before returning to normal. “No, thee said it was a game. Ignore me.” Twilight looked at her funnily. Had she... just reviewed her memory for new information? Spring sighed. “I dost nay expect thee to actually ignore me, just disregard my last comment.” She had obviously mistaken Twilight's thoughts for a look of confusion. She turned to Celestia. “Is she always this literal?”

Twilight saw her chance to begin to get confrontational.

“You were ambiguous.” She muttered, making sure Spring could hear.

“Twilight...” Luna said softly. “It would probably be a good idea if-”

“Oh, off her!” Spring said, and Twilight saw a humorous glint in her eyes. “She is capable of fending for herself, is she not?” Spring turned her attention to Twilight. “So, what art thou, exactly?” Spring peered at her curiously. “Thee art in control of power, I canst feel it, but thou share not the blood of Eris. How didst thee come upon thy wings?”

Despite herself, Twilight was impressed. She blinked, then asked, “How could you tell?”

“Thee holds thyself in a rote manor, not a natural one. Growing a horn shouldst not hast effected thy form in the way wings might.”

“Right...” Twilight loosened her mussels, making a mental note to practice later.

Well, that was just rude. Twilight understood where she was coming from, but still. “I am not a facsimile!” Twilight said, indignantly. She knew that she had her attention now, all she had to do was argue. “I'm an alicorn, just like you! I may be only twenty-one years old, but I-”

“Dost thee hast the blood of Eris?”

Twilight faltered. “Well, no, but-”

“Didst thee receive thy power through magical means, not by blood-right?”

Inwardly, Twilight sighed. She was not used to other ponies so easily countering her. She needed to be confrontational, but she was having difficulty getting out a single unchallengeable line. “I suppose so, but-”

“Then thou art a secondary power.”

“I am not! I connected to your stupid alicorn-”

“Twilight, that's enough.” Celestia said coolly.

Twilight nearly face-hoofed. Of course she shouldn’t tell Spring just how powerful she was. The more she was underestimated, the better.

“No, no it's not!” Twilight masked her confusion as anger, turning on Celestia. You want a reason to excuse me? How about insubordination. “Why does everypony cut me off! Am I not allowed to speak my own mind?” She waved her hoof in Spring's general direction. “She bursts in here and you do her favors. I, your personal protegee-”

“So that's what they call it now.” Spring muttered.

Twilight pressed on, not letting Spring's comment derail her. “-should at least be allowed to defend myself from accusations!”

For whatever reason, Spring seemed less than amused. It looked as if she was about to speak, but Celestia cut her off.

“Twilight, I think it would be best if you left.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Celestia cut her off before she could begin. “Twilight, leave us.” She put force behind her last words, but her eyes gave clear indication of her purpose. Twilight put on a hurt face, but simply left the room, not saying a word.

As soon as she had exited, her countenance changed completely. Twilight shuddered once, then composed herself. Even as used to Celestia as she was, even charged with the power she was, Twilight was still affected by the divine power of three(or, four, she supposed) goddesses in contention. She would have to get used to it. Twilight had a suspicion that she would be in similar situations a lot in the near future.

Twilight trotted quickly through the castle, though she did not run. No need to cause a panic. She had one hour to collect her friends, a task made much easier due to the fact that they were, as of now, all in Canterlot. Plenty of time.

Ponies nodded and bowed to her as she walked through the castle, a few being bold enough to ask her if she was in better health. She was polite, but short. Although she was not cramped for time, she was far too anxious to hold any kind of conversation, and thought it best if she were to get done as quickly as possible.

She exited the castle through the front entrance, which had been somewhat repaired since her last visit. A few of the guards visibly cringed as she walked past, then looked very ashamed of themselves. She payed them no mind as she walked out into the sunny streets of Canterlot. The ponies of Canterlot continued with the bustling cheer so standard for the City of the Sun, completely unaware that the fate of the world could very well be being decided only a few hundred meters from them. Twilight's presence, as par usual, caused some level of commotion, though nopony got in her way as she purposefully scanned the streets.

She checked the market sector first, before moving onto the nearby entertainment complexes. Inwardly, she cursed herself. Though it had seemed like a good idea at the time, sticking Rainbow Dash and Rarity together meant that she had absolutely no idea where they would decide to go, or if they would even stop arguing about it long enough to go somewhere. She needed to find them, but it seemed that the only viable strategy available to her was sector by sector city-wide search.

At least with flight it would be faster. Twilight made her way to the nearest flight square(1), preparing to take off, when a thought struck her. In the corner directly opposite to herself, there was a group of pegasi, three mares and a stallion, boasting to each other of their flight prowess. More eyes in the sky would make her job easier.

Twilight walked up to the group, who were too absorbed in each other to have yet payed her any mind.

“Excuse me?” She asked, not quietly but politely. The pegasi did not respond. Twilight took another two steps forward, cleared her throat, and asked loudly but politely. “Excuse me, but I need a moment of your time.” This time, the pegasi turned to face her, shocked. They recognized her almost instantly, bowing quickly.

“Princess. What do you want us for?” One of the mares, a dark red one with a dusty pink and purple mane, addressed her.

Twilight smiled. “I heard you describing your achievements. I have a task that I need some able bodied pegasi for. When I heard of your prowess, I couldn't help but think that you four would be perfect for the job.”

The pegasi looked between themselves, obviously frightened that they may have said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

“Don't worry, It's not a dangerous job, just one that needs to be completed quickly. I'm looking for two of my friends, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. They're in Canterlot somewhere, but I don't know where. I need you four to locate them and tell them to go to the palace as soon as possible.” Twilight paused. “You do know what they look like, correct?”

“Of course. The elements of generosity and loyalty are household names. We won't have any problem locating them.” The stallion said.

“Good.” Twilight nodded. “Don't tell anypony else what you're doing, and don't follow them after you deliver the message. This is a matter of national security, and we can't have wild rumors in the streets. The conformation of your task will come with their swift arrival.”

“Yes, princess.”

She opened her wings, turning away from them. “Good luck.”

The pegasi took off. Twilight was fairly certain that they would pull the task off fine. One pony can hardly ever keep a secret, but a group of friends love inside jokes. Following their lead, Twilight took to the skies, heading directly to the Sunshine Transportation Company headquarters. She arced quickly and purposefully, landing at the entrance less than a minute later. She had no problem with admittance; the desk secretary took one look at her and simply ripped the day's schedule out of her binder. She told Twilight to wait in the lounge, promising that the CEO would be with her within five minutes. Twilight did as she was told. There was the sound of a door slamming deep in the building, and the secretary returned, motioning Twilight to follow her.

Twilight entered a large conference room. It was stark and of the modern style, with a table in the center large enough to seat eighteen. Currently, it was nearly half full. At the head sat a dapper looking business mare with two other less overtly business orientated mares flanking her. On their right sat a earth-pony conductor, on their left, a unicorn accountant, from what Twilight could tell. At the far end of the table sat Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. They seemed surprised at her arrival.

“This is princess Twilight Sparkle.” The secretary said. “She has requested to be let in on this meeting.”

The mare at the head of the table, whom Twilight assumed was the CEO, regained her composure quickly, nodding. “Of course. Please, join us.”

“Um, actually, I'm not really here about the meeting. Something's come up, and I need to collect my friends.” She smiled apologetically at the mare, and her friends. “It's really important.”

“Can it wait ten minutes?” The accountant said, with a curious mixture of disdain and reverence in his tone. “We're working on something here.”

Twilight turned to the stallion, the most obviously condescending smile she could muster at short notice gracing her lips. “Oh, do forgive me.” She was surprised at the layers of authority her tone contained. “I'm sure what you're doing is of utmost importance.”

The accountant shuddered and went pale, his pupils shrinking noticeably.

“Nonsense.” The CEO glared at the accountant. “Forgive him, he's moved up so very quickly in business that he forgets sometimes there are ponies above him. A princess does not make time for businessponys.”

“No, it's alright.” Twilight said sweetly. “I'm not offended.” The accountant nearly collapsed. “I do need my friends. We'll have to reschedule this meeting. Sorry for the inconvenience.” She turned to the others. “Let's go.”

Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie excused themselves from the table. The walked out with Twilight in silence. Once they had exited the building, Applejack turned on her.

“What the hay was that for, Twi! I thought you said you'd let us take care of ourselves! We were doin' just fine on our own.”

“We appreciate the help, but really, everything was going okay. Golden Touch is a really nice pony, and was very willing to listen to our explanation.”

“I always thought that the evil mega-corps were run by evil ponies bent on nothing but profit, but she was really fun!” Pinkie exclaimed, the deflated. “Well, kind of normal, actually. But definitely not evil.”

Twilight shook her head. “I wish I could apologize and tell you that I let my worry get the best of me, but I wasn't lying when I said something of importance has come up. I hope you girls haven't lost spirit since last night, because we might have to save the world again after all.”

The other three went silent.

“Really?” Fluttershy asked in a small voice.

“Really.” Twilight nodded solemnly.

“What's the threat this time?” Applejack said, going completely serious.

“I would rather explain it once to all of you then twice in two groups.” Twilight said. “Or, better yet, let Celestia explain. I got some random pegasi to find Dash and Rarity for me, and they should be at the palace gates any minute. It's... complicated, but nopony is in danger immediately. Or, if they are, there's very little we can do. Trust me, it'll all make sense soon.”

“We trust you.” Applejack nodded. “Let's go.”

Twilight smiled. Even give the circumstances, she could not help but feel warm inside at the level of trust her friends had in her. “Lets.” She closed her eyes, formulating rough vector calculations for a few seconds, and then, with a flash of power, she teleported herself and her friends to the palace gate.

“Oh, how good of you to drop by.” Rarity said dryly. Given that she had somehow procured a table and fold out chair during her wait, they had probably arrived a while ago. “What mess are we in this time?”

Dash was hanging out in the air above them, seeming happy at the prospect of a new adventure. “Is it something cool? Tell me it's something cool.” Dash smiled down at the others, enthusiasm poring from her tones. “We haven't done anything really cool in, like, a month.”

“I think that Celestia wants to handle the explanation.” Said Twilight. “It seemed that way to me, anyway.”

“Oh, come off it. Tell us.” Rarity said. More softly, she added, “We can handle things, Twilight. You don't have to protect us. We're going to find out anyway.”

For a second, Twilight was stunned. “No, no, it's not that...” She sighed. “Spring's broken free.”

There was a pause. The other five looked at her with blank expressions. Pinkie's eyes lit up first, about three seconds in, Fluttershy following very soon after.

“Spring. Born year two harmonic era. Sealed by Celestia, Starswirl, and Blueblood in the twenty-second year of Celestia's reign. Most powerful of the third generational Alicorns. Celestia and Luna's mother.” Pinkie said, much to the surprise of the others. “Unofficial leader of the Council of World Powers. Generally recognized as the most influential pony of her age. Had three sisters, two of which died, one of which is sealed as well. One of three hexamillennials to have ever lived(2). Ruled five kingdoms at different times, but always grew bored of rule within a decade. Was in most of the famous battles, caused a few of them herself.” Pinkie began to trail off. “Sorry, it's been years since I took ancient history.”

“I have one of her books.” Fluttershy said. “That's why the name sounded familiar. She wrote a book on herbology, oh, sixteen hundred years ago, and I got a copy from a creepy estate sale five years back.” She flushed. “I think she writes well.”

“Spring...” Dash seemed to be thinking.

“You should all remember at least a little from history.” Twilight said. Glancing at Pinkie, she quietly added “Some more than others.” She turned to the others. “And if not, you've all heard of her before, though not in a historical context.”

“Flights of Fantasy, A First Reader's Book for Young Pegasi!” Dash exclaimed suddenly.

“Spring and the Seven Sisters, The Gold Chariot, Spring and the Bronze Flower, The Mare of the Lake, The Iron Hoof(3), Spring and the Frost Giants...” Fluttershy listed. “They were in our first reader books as foals in Cloudsdale.

Twilight nodded. “I've heard a few of them, though undoubtedly different versions. Unsurprisingly, Celestia never read me any of them, so I probably have less exposure then you five in that regard. I have done more research than most, but even I don't know much. The old Alicorns were always interesting to me, but never in the way I got into other topics. I'll be the first to admit that history does not hold my attention for long.”

“Why is this a problem?” Dash said. “Spring sounds like a cool pony, from all the stories. I mean, she's always the protagonist at least. Sure, she's a bit violent at times, but things were harder back then.”

“Honestly, I don't know for sure. She's, well, intimidating, but she didn’t seem overtly dangerous. She was radiating power, but it was... weird. No doubt you remember how it felt to be in Nightmare Moon's presence. She carried with her a similar kind of energy, but less, well, malicious.”

“That's hardly reason to suspect somepony.” Applejack said.

“I agree. I mean, we know other ponies who do the same thing.” Fluttershy said. “Celestia, Luna, and you all do that.”

Twilight nodded, then paused. “Wait, what?” She looked at Fluttershy curiously. “I do that?”

Fluttershy nodded. The others did as well. “You're telling me you had no idea that you had an divine aura?” Applejack cocked her head, looking at Twilight quizzically. “I would have thought that would have been one of the things ya would have picked up on quickest.” She said.

Twilight looked down at her hooves for a second, paused, sighed, then shook her head. There would be time for this later. “We're digressing; that's not important right now.” She said. “All I know for sure is that Celestia and Luna seem very apprehensive around her. Anything that puts them on edge can't be good.”

“Fair enough.” Applejack paused. “I'm sure she'll explain things later.”

As she spoke, a shadow passed in front of the sun. The six turned up in time to see a pony flying away from the castle.

“That's her.” Said Twilight quietly. “That's Spring.”

She flew away rather quickly, the six loosing sight of her in under a minute.

“She seemed...” Rarity trailed off.

“You really can't tell much from a shadow, can you?” Said Dash.

The six friends stood their, rather at a loss as to how to proceed. A light wind tickled their manes, and, despite the warmth of the day, Twilight shivered.

The doors of the palace came open, and Celestia stepped out into the courtyard. The five dropped into a bow, while Twilight stood standing. The others rose quickly.

“Follow me.” Celestia said simply, and the group did as commanded, following Celestia through the castle. It might have been her imagination, but it seemed to Twilight almost as if the hallways were more dimly lit that usual. Ponies seemed quieter than usual as they passed. It was almost like the atmosphere of the place had changed, as if everypony could tell, even if they could not place it, that the world was changing.

After a few minutes, they entered Celestia's royal chamber. Luna was already inside. Twilight noticed that the cake had already been cleaned up. Luna seemed startled by their presence.

“Elements. I was not aware that you had been summoned.” She said. “Your assistance will be appreciated.”

“Sorry about this.” Celestia said to Luna. “I would have told you, but Spring would have undoubtedly found me needing to whisper to you somewhat suspect.”

“Whispering a harsh reprimand to a student, however, she understands perfectly.” Twilight said. “We were corresponding secretly from nearly the beginning. Thanks for the save with the alicorn field thing back there.”

“Thank me?” Celestia smiled. “You acted brilliantly. I don't think I could have done any better”

“You two...” Luna said, then paused. “I should have guessed. How much of a plan did you manage to set up between your secret signs?”

“No further then this.” Celestia said. “Twilight, I assume you've informed the others of the situation.”

“As best I could, but I know very little.” Twilight said. “So little, in fact, that I'm still in the dark on how exactly Spring is a threat. I mean, aside from the being a goddess thing.”

Celestia closed her eyes briefly, then sighed. “Spring is, without a doubt, both the most dangerous and least dangerous possible threat you have ever faced.”

“I don't mean to be rude,” said Applejack, “but what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?”

Celestia paused. “It means that, if we fail to stop her, it will be the least damaging disaster of this nature you've encountered.” She laughed darkly. “Though, given that the three examples are world-freezing night, eternal chaos, and having the entire sapient population of the world reduced to emotionless husks, that's not really saying much. She's the most dangerous because she is both the most capable and the most willing of any of the forces you've gone up against to just simply kill you and move on.”

“What's her plan?” Dash asked. “What's she trying to do?”

“She will attempt to break the seals on the others of her council. Combined, they will likely rule the world as they had done in the past.” Luna said.

“But what is she, like, doing.” Clarified Dash. “You know, the thing that makes her evil. The thing we need to stop. That thing.”

“She has promised us that she won't do anything for a short while. We will use this time to plan our strategy.” Luna answered.

“If we strike quickly, we may be able to take care of this whole situation before anypony gets hurt.” Celestia said.

“Alright.” Twilight nodded. “The sooner we get this done, the better.” She shuddered. She was more familiar with Spring's exploits then she had let on; she was well aware of what she was capable of. If that force turned on Equestria...

“Sounds good to me.” Dash grinned. “We're going to break out the Elements of Harmony again or what?”

“The only thing that confuses me,” Rarity began, “is why you two need us. She's an alicorn like yourselves, which means she fights with the same limitations and on the same level that you do. I don't see why we should get involved, if it is as dangerous as you say.”

“It is true, the two of us could likely best her.” Luna said. “But the collateral would be terrifying. We would turn mountains to dust, forests to ash, and cities to ruins. She gets away, and we have to start again. No, the less time goddesses spend fighting, the better. You six have proven yourselves to be more than capable of feats which would be difficult for even us. We are more than confident that you will be able to best her.”

“The plan is for you to knock her out.” Celestia said. “Once you do, contact us, and we'll take care of her from their.”

Applejack opened her mouth, hesitated, then spoke. “So wait. Let me get this straight.” Applejack paused. “You,” she pointed at Celestia and Luna, “want us,” she motioned with her hoof at herself and her friends, “to initiate hostilities,” she paused, “with a goddess,” she paused again, “Who is currently not hostile?” She waited about five seconds. “Am I the only pony who thinks that's a very, very bad idea?”

“She's a goddess.” Celestia said flatly. “If she stays doing nothing for five hundred years, the five hundred first will come, and the cities will burn. It doesn't matter what she's doing right now. She needs to be stopped, preferably before she can do any damage.”

“I'm with Applejack.” Fluttershy said. “We should not be the ones to initiate. That kind of preventive thinking is what leads to ponies hurting others for no reason.”

Twilight looked at Applejack and Fluttershy, confused. “If Celestia thinks we should do it, we should. She's never steered us wrong before.” It wasn’t like them to question Celestia's wisdom.

“I thank you for the vote of confidence, Twilight, but the concern is a fair one.” Celestia said. “As it happens, although she may not be actively attempting to destroy the world, she has already killed. Rarity, Twilight, you know this.”

“The Hoofany explosion was caused by her.” Twilight explained. “She killed Golden Leaf.”

“Spring was in Hoofany?” Rarity said, startled.

“She was disguised as Running Waters.” Twilight said. She saw shock cross Rarity's face. “Yeah. Sorry.”

Rarity did not say a word.

“It still don't feel right to me.” Applejack said. “You're way too keen on getting her for what she's done. Yeah, she's bad, sure, but nothing you've described seems like world ending evil to me.”

Celestia sighed. “Spring is not unambiguously evil. That's the point. She's not trying to destroy the world; she's even fighting for the greater good, in a way. It's just her methods that make her dangerous. She does not care if she needs to kill thirty to save three thousand. She just does. It's all a game of numbers for her, and it makes her deadly. Her agenda is sporadic and against what we consider to be our goal. She breaks rules, and hurts ponies for fun. Unlike the other forces we've faced in the past few years, she likes having the ability to destroy more than actual destruction, barely. Make no mistake, she is remorseless when using her power, and the only kill she knows of when dealing with her enemy’s is overkill. She rules through fear, gripping the world in an iron hoof, an iron hoof which does stop ponies from hurting themselves and others. But it's not the best way, and she won't be able to see that. She craves control and grandeur. She's self-centered, and although she's not quite narcissistic, she still has no problem dismissing others concerns as less important than her own. She's going to try to assert herself; it's her nature. And the revolution will be bloody, make no mistake.”

“If you had seen her as we have...” Luna shuddered.

Applejack seemed troubled, then sighed. “Skews your perspective mighty, don't it, to have fought evil incarnate. Yer right, of course. She needs to be stopped. Just because she's more benign then the other forces we've gone up against don't make her good, just less evil.”

“I would have been far more upset with you if you had acted when your conscience told you not to.” Celestia smiled warmly. “You're right, of course. Left to herself, she'll bring down the current world order, but that's hardly the end of the world. A little below what you six are used to dealing with, but I'm sure you can lower yourselves to the task for a little while.”

The others laughed halfheartedly, though Twilight did not join in. She felt nervous, but that was to be expected, give what they were planning to do. The others cut out quickly.

“So, how do you propose we actually go about K.O.ing a goddess?” Dash asked. “Do we have some super cool magical artifact, or, like, are you going to show us a supper secret weakness, or, or...”

Celestia laughed. “I thought we might use something you were familiar with.” Celestia withdrew the Elements of Harmony, the five magical necklaces and tiara set gleaming from the proximity to their owners. “I believe that this counts as a severe enough emergency for their use.(4)”

“How do you know this will knock her out?” Rarity asked. “I mean, I don't mean to be rude, but they don't exactly seem to have the greatest reliability in their ability. They seem to do something different to everypony they're used on.”

“They always do what you need them to, don't they?” Celestia said. “Why would this be any different?”

“Magic is fifty percent will, thirty percent intent, and twenty percent knowledge. To cast without knowledge or intent is foolish, but to cast without will is doomed to failure.(5)” Twilight quipped.

Celestia nodded. “The Elements of Harmony are the ultimate weapon for restoring harmony. They may not do exactly as expected, but they always do exactly as needed.”

She placed the Elements on the ground, and the six picked them up, placing them on their bodies.

“Now,” started Celestia, “Normally, I would cast some spell of protection on you, but in this case I don't think that would be the greatest idea. Spring would feel my magic from a kilometer off. As such, I'll be relying on you, Twilight, to provide any protection that you may need.”

“Me?” Twilight said, swallowing. “Against her?”

Celestia nodded. “Spring may be far more powerful than you, but as you know, after a point one's total power begins to matter less and less. You can output power at around the same rate she can, and though she will easily be able to outlast your reserves, I would be surprised if you couldn't hold her for ten minutes if you needed to. It's one of the few good things about battle. There's no time to prepare intensely powerful spells, so total power output is nearly equal between alicorns, despite our often wild total power differences.”

“Ten minutes...” Twilight looked down at her hooves. She wasn’t very good with combat; she knew very few combat spells. She wasn’t sure she could last through ten minutes of combat with a semi-competent unicorn battlemage, let alone a highly accomplished six-thousand year plus goddess. Even if she could output enough power to do such a thing, she hardly thought it would take Spring twenty seconds to overwhelm her – the skill gap was just too large.

“Most likely, you won't engage her at all. If everything goes perfectly, you'll hit her before she has a chance. If you do engage, you only need to hold her off for long enough to use the Elements on her.” Celestia continued. Her horn glowed, and Twilight felt a warm packet of energy deposit itself in her mind. “When she's down, use this to contact me.” She paused. “If you do engage her, and absolutely can't suppress her, do anything you can to escape before contacting me. Only if there is no other option call us in. As we've said, a battle between the three of us would end in disaster.”

The elements nodded, then stopped suddenly.

“Wait...” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yeah, hold on a second.” Applejack added, a look of confusion strong in her eyes.

It suddenly came to Twilight what they were confused on. “Wait. Celestia, you and Luna can't fight her because of the collateral damage it would cause. And then you said, just now, that I can output on the same level. So... why is collateral not a problem with me?”

Celestia blinked twice, then face-hoofed. It was not what the six had been expecting. “Of course. You'll have to forgive me for this. I'm just so used...” She paused. “I should have made the connection. I don't have the slightest idea why I didn't. You're absolutely right, of course. Twilight, do not under any circumstances engage with Spring. If she attacks you, defend, but do nothing else. Do not attempt suppression, escape as quickly as possible.” She shook her head. “Once again, I am shown that the fate of our nation could not be in better hooves. Thank you for the catch, Rainbow Dash.”

Dash simply nodded. “Don't mention it.”

The eight stood in complete silence for a few seconds. It was clear that the basic plan was in place, but there was still one thing left to address. The silence dragged on. Celestia began to regard the elements with some curiosity.

“So...” Celestia looked quizzically at Rarity. “If you don't mind my asking, where exactly are we going?” Rarity said at length.

“Unfortunately, I know no more of her current whereabouts then you do.” Celestia said.

“Can't you do scrying or some such thing?” Applejack asked.

“On a goddess?” Luna snorted. “Good luck.”

“No. We'll have to do information gathering the old fashioned way. We'll have to use our wits and eyes to find her. Magic can not help us here.”

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. A servant pony walked in, caring a letter.

“I'm very sorry to disturb you, princesses, but I’ve been told that this letter is of great importance.” She handed the letter to Twilight, bowed, then exited the room.

“Telegram for Princess Celestia, very urgent.” Twilight read. “A unidentified Alicorn has been spotted in Ponyville!” The letter continued at some length, but Twilight did not bother to read the rest of it. “She's in Ponyville right now!”

“Then go!” Luna said, nodding. Her friends looked at her, determination in their faces. Celestia concentrated, working the vectors, and with a flash the six found themselves in the Ponyville town square.

For the amount of commotion they would have expected an Alicorn to cause, the town seemed awfully quiet. Very much not normal, given the time of day. In fact, the town looked almost deserted. There were no obvious signs of damage, but something felt distinctly off. The six fanned out, looking around, though they stayed inside the square. Twilight spotted somepony, she did not know her name. She was running towards them. Twilight motioned to her friends, and they gathered around in time for the mare to enter the square.

“What's going on?” Twilight asked. “Where is she? Where is Spring?”

The mare looked at her funny. “Who? No, look, come on!” She motioned for them to follow. “There's been an explosion, I think. A building got destroyed. I was sent out to find ponies to help with cleanup.”

The six looked between one another. “I'm sorry, miss, but we're on an important mission.” Twilight explained.

“You can't spare a few minutes to help some ponies in need?” The mare looked distrustfully at them. “And you call yourselves heroes. Kids these days.”

Twilight was about to apologize again, when there was sudden shouting from behind them. They turned around to see what was the matter. Another two ponies ran into the square. Twilight thought she recognized them, but couldn’t place their names.

“Thank goodness you've arrived!” Said one of them.

“Princess, can you help her?” Another said anxiously.

“That awful alicorn was terrible to her!” The first of the mares exclaimed. “We saw her break down crying!”

“Who? What? Where!” Twilight said. “Take me to her!”

The mares seemed very happy that she was so willing to follow them. They led the elements through the town. As they drew nearer to their destination, Twilight began to notice a sharp increase in the number of ponies milling about. They didn’t look too happy, but appeared unhurt. Eventually, they found themselves at the site of a destroyed house. The mares led them to a pony, sitting at the periphery, her head in her hooves.

“We got some help.” One of the mares said kindly to her. Encouragingly, the mare responded with a slight movement of her head.

“We found a princess!” The other chirped.

Twilight leaned down. “Hello.” She said, with as much calm serenity as she could muster at the time. “I think I've seen you around before. Your name is Honeydew, right?”

“Honeysuckle.” The mare said, looking slowly up at Twilight. Contrary to what it had seemed, she was not in tears. Instead she had the kind of look you might expect a pony faced with her own death might assume. She looked at Twilight intently, absolute terror and perfect calm chasing each other around in her eyes.

“What happened, Honeysuckle?” Twilight said gently. This could be their best lead, and she knew being too direct could lose them time in the long run. “What did Spring do to you?”

“So you know already.” Honeysuckle breathed out, her body almost deflating. “Good.”

“We're going to stop her.”

Honeysuckle gave Twilight a look of such complete despair that she took a reactionary step backward. “I wish you the best of luck.” She said, her tone completely flat.

“Honeysuckle! This is so totally not like you!” Dash said. “You're, like, the first pony I'd thought would be all trying to get in on the action.”

Honeysuckle looked up at her. “I already got some.” She paused. “I almost caused the deaths of, well, everypony in the town, because of my defiance.” She paused. “Forgive me if I'm not myself right now.”

“Honeysuckle...” Twilight said. “I know you've had a bad run, but we're going to fix things, I promise. But, to do that, we need help. Can you tell us where she went?”

“Tell you?” Honeysuckle laughed dryly. “I suppose I could, but I won't. I'm not going to get you killed. If you're so intent on it, you'll find a way anyhow.” She looked directly at Twilight. “She is far more dangerous then you know, and far more petty. If you hurt her and fail, she will make sure you pay.”

“We won't fail, then.” Twilight said. She extended her wings. “I'm a princess of Equestria. I live to protect you, and ponies like yourself, from having to go through what you have. I can't solve every problem, but I'm never going to stop trying. But to do that, I need to know where Spring went. You said it yourself, if I'm determined enough, I'll find her anyway. Make this easier. Please.”

“Shut up.” Twilight turned, startled.

“Dash...?”

“I said, shut up.” Dash flew over to Honeysuckle. “Princess over their can say anything she likes, but I know you. You don't let anything get you down. She did something to you? Get over it and help us get her back. Where's that fighting spirit? Where's that wit and charm? Tell us where she is. Let us fight. You're the kind of pony who would throw rocks at gods, just to show them you're not afraid; I can't believe for a second you wouldn't try your hardest to help us.”

Twilight held her breath. Rainbow Dash very well might have just pushed her too far. If she had, then there would be no way to get the information they needed from her.

Honeysuckle laughed. “How very right you are.” She sighed. “I'm not afraid for myself. I couldn’t care less for personal danger. It's when I cause harm to others by my actions...” She paused for a second. “Heck, who am I kidding. You're Rainbow Dash. Nopony could stop you.” She turned to Twilight. “She headed out over the Everfree. I don't know were she plans on going in there, but she definitely entered the forest.” She looked at Twilight, staring deep into her eyes. “Don't get yourselves killed, okay?”

Twilight nodded. “I won't. I'll keep them safe, don't worry.”

“You, keep Dash safe?” Honeysuckle looked at her wryly, her expression beginning to return to what Twilight could only assume was normal. “I rather think it will be the other way round.”

“You got that right!” Dash grinned.

“So, the Everfree?” asked Applejack.

Twilight thought for a second. “No, I think we should wait a little while. We're going to need either surprise or stealth on our side to make this work, and either way it's best if we go by cover of night. We should head out at sunset.”

“Well, if were here, we might as well pitch in with the clean up.” Rarity said.

“Is anypony hurt?” Asked Fluttershy, looking anxiously around.

“No.” Honeysuckle said. “No, nopony got hurt.”

“That's something to be grateful for, at least.” Said Applejack. “Honeysuckle, why don't cha' go up to Sweet Apple Acres for a while. I'm sure you'll find no end of hospitality, and you look like you need somewhere to recuperate. Ain't every day you face down a goddess.”

“Alright... That sounds good.” Honeysuckle nodded slowly, got to her hooves, and left.

As soon as she passed out of sight Applejack sighed. “Poor girl. She was obviously scared silly.”

Twilight nodded. “It's not surprising. Without knowing any details, but based on what she said, she must have spent some time talking with Spring directly. It's no wonder she was shaken.”

“Is anypony going to help me with this?” Rarity said, levitating another broken plank and placing it on the pile.

“Right, sorry.” Twilight's horn glowed with a flash of power, and the entire lot glowed in her purple aura. There was a sound not unlike a great set of doors slamming shut, and the materials instantly teleported themselves to the correct locations. “There, all done.”

“...”

“What?” Twilight said, looking at the others. “What?”

“Nothing, Twilight dear.” Rarity said, smiling.

Twilight blushed. Perhaps that had been a little overtly powerful. “I'm sorry, but I really need to get to my library. Spike has no idea about what's happening, and I don't want to leave him in the dark. He must be worried by this point.”

“Of course. We all have things we can do before sunset. We have, what, one hour or so? We'll meet at the entrance to the Everfree Forest then.” Rarity said.

Twilight nodded, and was about to take leave of the others, when she felt a tremor go through her mind. She couldn’t place the feeling, exactly, but it was something like feeling large, heavy waves pass over her, as if she was submerged in a mercury wave pool. She looked towards what she felt was the epicenter.

There was a haze on the horizon, a cloud of dust slowly propagating its way skywards. She saw the edge of a shock wave dissipate into the air slowly. Give that shock waves move at the speed of sound, Twilight figured that the blast, for it had to be an explosion of some kind, was about twenty kilometers distant.

The others turned to look where she was. Fluttershy let out a gasp; Rainbow Dash whistled; Applejack seemed shocked; Rarity took a step back; Pinkie Pie looked completely unconcerned. Twilight, for her part, felt a pit forming in her stomach.

“Scratch that, girls. We're going to the Everfree right now.”

The others nodded, though they seemed to be much more subdued than before. The shock wave hit shortly after; at this distance, it was nothing more than a gust of wind, but very distinct. It carried the sound of thunder on its crest, though it was no thunder they had ever heard before.

“We need to stop her.” Applejack said flatly. “I'm imagining that inside a population center, and it ain't pretty.”

“The inside radius would stretch from Sugarcube Corner to Carousel Boutique. The shock wave, however, would be deadly for nearly half a kilometer in all directions. It would destroy about one fourth of Ponyville(6).” Twilight said.

“Wish I could have seen it up close.” Said Dash.

“You still might.” Applejack said. To this, Dash said nothing.

There really wasn’t anything else to say, after that, so they didn't. The six walked quietly and purposefully through the town. As far as they could tell, Spring had not done anything else beyond destroy the single house. The ponies around them wished them luck, if they said anything at all. Most seemed somewhat downcast and not inclined to speak. Pinkie was very agitated at the sight of so many taciturn ponies, but they kept on moving. They exited the town, passing Fluttershy's cottage on the way out. It was only two minutes from there that they found themselves at the edge of the Everfree Forest.

The six entered the forest, feeling the temperature drop as soon as they crossed the threshold. The forest was much as it always had been. Familiar sights and sounds greeted the company as they progressed along the path. Eventually, they came to the fork in the path.

“Which way would she have gone?” Fluttershy asked. “I do hope she went straight on to the castle. Zecora is resourceful, but I don't like her odds against a goddess.”

“Well, she wouldn’t have known about the side path when coming here.” Twilight said, thinking. “She could have become interested and explored.” She glanced down the path, then back up the main path. “The explosion, however, definitely came from deeper inside the forest.”

“How do we know she even took the path?” Asked Applejack. “She's a goddess. She ain't afraid of anything in this woods.”

“And get herself dirty?” Rarity said, shocked. “I dare say she cares more about her coat then the danger.”

“Not everypony's like you, Rarity.” Applejack said. “Most of us can deal with a little dirt.”

“Oh, and you would know so much about high fashion, would you?” Rarity said. “Have you ever seen Celestia or Luna anything other than immaculate?”

“If you look behind you, you'll see a perfect example of a goddess not afraid to get dirty.”

Twilight blinked, then looked down at her coat. She hadn’t really noticed before, but Applejack was right, her coat was getting quite filthy.

“Case and point.” Said Applejack.

“We have to start somewhere, and the paths are the best lead we have.” Twilight said. “From the current evidence we have, I believe that she went to the castle.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Dash said, streaking ahead of the group. “Come on!”

“Hold up!” Twilight said. “We're about five kilometers from the castle now. We should stick closely together from here on in. At the rate we're going, we'll make it to the castle just after sunset. I'm the last pony who needs to tell you that the Everfree Forest is a dangerous place at night. Even without divine intervention, we still need to be careful.”

Dash snickered. “Look who's talking! We've got divine intervention, whether we want it or not.” She cupped her hooves around her mouth. “HEY! ANYTHING WANT TO MESS WITH A GODDESS? WE GOT ONE RIGHT HERE!”

“Dash!” Twilight exclaimed, horrified.

“Be quiet!” Pinkie Pie hissed.

“Shut your mouth!” Yelled Applejack, sternly.

“Do control yourself!” Rarity cried, appalled.

Fluttershy took to the air, flew into Rainbow Dash's face, and stuck her.

“We are trying to sneak up on and surprise a goddess! Of all the stupid things you've ever done, Rainbow Dash, this may very well qualify as the stupidest. Everything within five kilometers heard you! At this point if we make it through this alive it will be by sheer luck!” Fluttershy yelled at Dash, who cowered before her. “I am not kidding, Rainbow Dash; you very well might have just killed us. We might as well abandon the mission at this point, because there is no way we can pull this off. So congratulations, Rainbow Dash. Anypony who dies from now on by Spring's hoof is on you.”

Dash was crying. Twilight could hear it, though Fluttershy's body was between her and Dash, so she couldn’t actually see it. But she could see her shake, her flight pattern breaking up. With an audible whooshing noise, she dropped to the ground.

Fluttershy looked almost dazed. “Oh, my. I didn’t mean it to come out like that...”

“Dash? Are you...” Applejack walked up to her. Pinkie joined her. Twilight wanted to, but instead she turned to face Fluttershy.

“What was that?” Twilight looked into Fluttershy's eyes. “That was not like you. At all. In any respect.”

“Well, I...” Fluttershy looked down. “I was really scared. I thought... I really thought that was it; that we were all going to be dead in a couple of seconds, and I...”

“You did nothing wrong.” Dash had gotten up, apparently, and though her words were thick with tears, they still maintained clarity. “I screwed up. I really screwed up.” She turned to Twilight. “She's right. We need to turn back. I botched it.”

“No, no she's not.” Twilight said. “This is a forest, Dash. Sound deadens quickly here. I would be very surprised if you could be heard at all from one kilometer, let alone five(7). And, even if you were, it would be nothing more than a muddled, muffled tone. You haven't challenged anypony to come and fight me. I reacted as I did because if you pulled something like that, say, when we could see the castle, it could get us killed. But you probably haven't actually done anything – this time.”

“Really?” Dash said, composing herself.

“Really. Just stay on the ground and keep your voice down from now on, okay?” Twilight said. Really, she wasn’t being as harsh on Dash as she reasonably should, but she needed her in a state ready for action, not a sobbing mess. She would talk to her about this later.

“Okay.” Dash nodded. She had regained most of her composure. If anything, Fluttershy seemed to have taken more permanent damage from the event, leaving her sadly lagging at the rear as the party once again headed out through the forest.

They did not speak to one another as they continued through the forest. The sun continued its path downwards, setting just as the six came to the gorge. Waiting for them there was a curious sight.

As they passed out of the canopy, Twilight was shocked to find a stone bridge waiting for them. It was large, almost five meters wide, and made in a simple but elegant style. It was bowed upwards slightly, with smooth, dark sidings which were about one meter tall. It seemed to merge flawlessly with the rock around it.

“Well, you don't see that every day.” Applejack commented. “Do you suppose Spring made it?”

“I don't see who else could have.” Twilight said.

“Is it safe to use?” Dash asked. “She could have put a spell on it or something.”

“I'll test it.” Twilight said, stepping onto the bridge. It was very smooth, and pleasantly cool to the touch as she walked across it. On a whim, when she was half way, Twilight pricked her hoof and anchored a lighting spell to the floor(8). It was ghostly white-purple light which burned about as bright as ten candles, and which floated about three meters above the floor. In its glow, the bridge looked more friendly. Twilight crossed over to the other side; her friends followed suit quickly.

“How long will that light last?” asked Rarity as they continued on to the castle.

“I don't know, I haven't done any calculations, but I think around thirteen days.” Twilight said. “Perhaps some traveler will find it useful.”

The castle loomed in front of the six, its ruins clearly visible in the light of the rising full moon. But tonight, as was not the case for hundreds of years, another light was illuminating it as well. They could see warm light streaming from every window and crack in the roof. Between it and the moonlight, it was cast into strange illogical shadows and, despite its warmth, Twilight was of the opinion that it would have been less creepy without the new glow.

“Spring's in there.” Twilight said.

“How do you know that for sure?” Applejack asked. “All we know for sure is that she came this way, right? I mean, who says that she needs to come here anyway?”

“I don't know about you, but if I was a goddess, I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a castle, ruined or not.” Rarity said, beginning to walk faster. She seemed excited to be here, for some reason.

“Honeysuckle was very shaken up. I don't think that she was lying to us. This is the only landmark that existed here from before she was sealed, and although I can't be sure she's here, it seemed like a logical place to start.” Twilight sighed. In all honesty, she couldn’t be sure that she was here. In fact, it wasn’t even all that likely. But it was the only place that came to mind, and she needed to lead them somewhere.

“The animals seem to be frightened of something in this area, but I can't tell what.” Fluttershy said, somewhat agitated.

“Perhaps it was the explosion we saw. That was definitely in the area, and almost certainly caused by Spring.” Twilight said.

“Yeah, that was awesome!” Rainbow Dash spun in the air, a wide grin on her face. It was good to see that she was recovered from earlier. “I mean, it was a terrible thing to do, hurting all those animals and all, but still, awesome!”

“Dash, we're supposed to be fighting her, not praising her!” Twilight said.

“I know, I know. I'm just really strung up right now.” Twilight sighed. “We're going to fight a goddess. Not an easy task normally, when we're underestimated and desperate. This time, she's on the defense, and not likely to underestimate us. If anything, she'll overestimate our danger. We're a lot more likely to get killed here then, well, we've ever been, actually. Not as likely to lose as ever, but most likely to die.”

“Oh, I'm sure everything will go great!” Pinkie burst out, almost causing Twilight to flinch from the volume. She was standing right next to her. “I wonder what color balloons she likes, or if she even knows what a balloon is!”

“Pinkie... Although I appreciate your enthusiasm, I'm fairly certain this is not one of those times when we'll befriend the villain and have a party.” Twilight sighed again.

There was a brief rustling in the leaves. Twilight turned to look, but was stopped abruptly by a strange force which ripped her off her hooves and suspended her in the air, helpless. She dangled, completely unable to move. She tried to shout out, but found herself unable to speak. With all her will, she forced her head to turn, facing their assailant. Standing there, looking down at them, was...

“Greetings, my little ponies!” Spring said, grinning. “I dost trust that thee art comfortable?”

End Chapter 6

Author's Note

Here come the footnotes!
1. A flight square is an intersection between streets, like a normal town square is, but purposefully built wide enough to permit easy takeoffs and landings for pegasi. Common in larger cities, as the buildings usually hamper effective flight.

For Alicorns. Many dragons and powerful elementals have also reached this age.
The Iron Hoof is not about Spring. It is about Aria, Spring's younger sister.
Although incredibly powerful magical artifacts, the Elements of Harmony do have limits. It is unknown just how many times they can be used, but the number is decidedly finite. They were also not designed to be used more than once a decade, rendering them no less powerful, but far more dangerous for the wielders with every use. This is, of course, why they are not simply used to solve every possible problem.
Rule four in Fifteen Rules All Spellcasters Should Know, a short but well respected pamphlet written by Strange Charm in 729. Despite its brevity and the fact that its author, Strange Charm, was a nearly talentless music teacher in Hooveswell at the time of its publication, it is widely considered to be the most reproduced work of magical scholarship ever written, easily eclipsing fifty million copies.
From her numbers, we can assume that Twilight figures the explosion was approximately equal to one kilotonne of TNT. This is probably an overestimate.
Twilight is correct. Spring is, in fact, very lucky to have heard it as all, and, as noted in the previous chapter, she received it as nothing more than an barely perceptible murmur.
Magic symbols drawn in unicorn's blood, although possessing no magical properties of their own, can be used both to anchor simple spells as well as construct complex magical circles used in some advanced spells.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Spring
Sunday, 23 June 1003

Spring looked at her captives coolly. One secondary power, one unicorn, two pegasi, and two earth ponies; hardly a goddess-slaying team. They looked frightened of her, somewhat disheveled, and completely out of their ken. She almost felt bad for them. They were, as far as she could tell, completely unarmed and unarmored. The only supplies they had brought, it seemed, were a saddle bag each, five necklaces, and a tiara.

“Didst thee verily think that thee hadst a chance confronting me?” Spring laughed. “Thee hadst seemed intelligent when we last met, Twilight. I wouldst hast thought that thee, at least, wouldst hast seen the folly of attempting such a thing.”

Despite their fear, Spring could still see defiance on the faces of all six of her captives. They strained against their constraints, though they did not make much progress. Spring made a note of the orange one. She was quite strong, even for an earth pony.

“Thee art here on behalf of Celestia, I assume?” Spring paused, waiting for a response. When none came, she smiled. “Oh, of course.” With a flash of power, the constraints opened up around their faces, permitting them to speak.

“You won't win!” The blue pegasus, who's voice Spring was able to match with 'Dash', yelled at her, anger in her tones. “We've beaten worse then you!”

“I seriously doubt that.” Spring said flatly. “Now, I believe I asked thee a question. Art thee here on behalf of Celestia?”

“You better bet your flank we are!” The orange one said. “We're gonna make make sure you wish you had-”

“I dost hope that she realizes that this means war.” Spring said, cutting the orange one off. “She hath violated the terms of our agreement and initiated hostilities.”

“You'll have to go through us first!” Rarity spat.

“Not much of a problem. Thee art already trapped in my grasp. The only thing keeping thee alive right now is that I hast not decided which ones I will leave alive to deliver my message back to Celestia.” Spring said aloofly.

The six became silent instantly.

“I suppose I could just kill you all,” Spring continued, “but I wast looking forward to spending the night working on my house. It wouldst be a shame to hast to put it on hold to go to Canterlot myself.” She paused. “I was thinking the pink one and the yellow one. They seem to be the most innocent among you. What do you think?” She asked Twilight.

“You...” Twilight seemed almost unable to speak. “You...” This time, it ended almost in a growl, the anger in her tone deep and powerful. “I have met some vile things, but you...”

“Oh, come on!” Spring said indignantly. “Thee decided to attack a goddess. Didst thee really think that thee wouldst come out without injury? I am being quite kind, leaving four of you alive.”

“Kind!” Twilight cried, her words suddenly filled with power. “You talk of killing like it was nothing more than an act of business, threaten and extort anypony you think you can control for fun, and cause unrest and mayhem wherever you go! You are not kind. You are one of the terrors of the night, the kind that we put down.” Her voice became steely, and her tiara began to glow. “Girls, lets show her exactly what we're made of!”

The necklaces on the other five began to glow. With a flash of light, Spring's grasp on the six shattered, though they continued to float above the ground. She really should have recognized the necklaces and tiara for what they were. It had been a long time since the Elements of Harmony had been assigned to six different ponies, but that was no excuse. Not that it mattered, really.

“Oh, do go on. I am so very frightened of your silly little-”

There was a sound, like rolling thunder, and a burst of spectral light engulfed Spring, cutting her off. Spring was shocked to find that it actually did something to her. She felt her power evaporating in waves, her flesh being torn at by a million tiny little hooks as the magical energy tugged on every hair of her coat simultaneously. She was picked up off the ground and thrown eight meters backwards. Unable to steady herself, she crumpled to the ground. Her vision cleared, leaving her dazed and looking at the six elements of harmony from inside the forest, where she had been tossed.

The elements themselves did not look as if they were having a particularly good time of it, either. They were unsteady on their hooves, and seemed completely exhausted, as if they had just got done with a marathon. Spring managed to smile. This must have been their forth or fifth use this decade; the elements were beginning to become unstable. Served them right.

Spring tried to stand up, but found the level of coordination required to be beyond her. She tried to steady herself with magic, but found that she could not. Her power seemed separated from her, locked where she could not access it. It was still there, she could feel it, but she could not seem to draw upon her reserve.

“How are you still okay?” Twilight said, exasperation, fear, and, just maybe, respect in her voice.

“I am an Alicorn.” Spring said darkly, this time managing to make it to her hooves. “I am a creature of harmony. Your precious artifacts shouldst hast hadst no effect on me. Thee shouldst consider thyselves lucky that they they didst anything to me at all.”

“Twilight...” Rarity said, looking at Spring anxiously. “We should get out of here. Now. Before she retaliates.”

“No, I don't think so.” Twilight said, taking a step forward. “She wouldn’t be speaking to us if she could retaliate. We would already be dead. No, you can't hurt us now, can you? We've drained your power.”

Spring cursed under her breath. Damn that stupid genius of an secondary power. If they just left, she was sure she could recover in a few hours.

“Dost thee want to try me?” Spring said, infusing her voice with more confidence then she felt. “Thee art welcome to if thee wishes.”

Twilight hesitated, seeming to consider the situation. Come on now, just leave me. Thou don't really want to take on a goddess, dost thee? Her expression darkened, and she took a step forward.

“Gladly.” Twilight's horn glowed, and a bolt of magical energy slammed into Spring, sending her flying deeper into the forest. Through sheer force of will, she managed to lift herself back to her hooves, and began to flee. She would not die tonight. Opening her wings, Spring prepared to take off, but after a few lack-luster flailings of her no longer magically powered tiny pegasus wings, she concluded that escape via flight was not an option. She heard crashing in the wood behind her, flashes of purple and white light following her every hoofstep. At this point, her only advantage was the fact that she had longer legs.

Or was it? She had always been famed for her prodigious wit. If there ever was a time to use it, it was now.

Spring concentrated, her pace slowing slightly as she formulated a plan. Her eyes closed, she stopped running altogether. Her breath slowed, along with her heartbeat. She drew silent, and the flashes of light grew brighter and closer as she concentrated.

Her eyes opened.

The world opened to her, time passing at a crawl. The air was filled with information, calculation, position, momentum, substance, and possibility, laid out in her vision as she preformed rapid deduction. Paths were highlighted as she worked through scenarios, hundreds of potential options and outcomes flashing through her mind. All the information she had access to floated around her, combining, optimizing, predicting. Three seconds, and she knew.

Spring wasted no time, bolting sideways as fast as she could. She heard the hoofsteps of her pursuers pause, then change direction. She changed and adapted, the entire scene playing out in slow motion for her. As soon as they moved, she bolted directly towards them, building speed. She saw a flash of light, just up ahead, saw the startled expressions of six ponies looking at her.

Spring skidded to a halt, using the momentum of her charge to fling generous quantities of dirt into the widened, surprised eyes of the six ponies. The effect was just as she had imagined. She heard strong yelps from the entire company, and saw them close their eyes and turn from her.

Before she tripped over herself, she began to run again, continuing her dash towards them. Slightly less than a second later, she smashed into the yellow pegasus, throwing her left. She bucked the orange one and Dash right, then skittered off into the forest, making as much noise as she could. Then, she stopped dead, drawing completely silent twenty meters from them.

“What the hay was that!” The orange one called.

“That was Spring.” Said Twilight.

“Why would she charge us?” Asked Rarity.

“Confusion. She blinded us, then threw us around. This is a deep, dark forest. We can't see anything that might tell us what direction we're facing. She just successfully got us lost.” Twilight sighed. “Worked on me, I'm afraid. I have no idea which direction she went. The sound of her retreat was loud enough to echo against the thick trees around us. In my confused state, I hate to say, I lost track of where she was going.”

“Um, I know where she went.” Said the yellow pegasus. “She ran directly into me, so when she turned to leave, she kicked back against me in the direction she was heading. She should be somewhere this way.”

The six followed the yellow one's lead, trailing slowly towards Spring. She smiled. Just as she had wanted. When they were only a few meters from her, she bolted upright and tore off at a right angle to the direction they were headed. There were a few shouts of shock, followed by a couple of magical blasts. Spring made sure to modulate her speed enough to miss them as they passed. Looping back around, she followed the path the six had marked on their chase, leading them back out into the open. She was very careful to make sure they were always within hearing distance. Another minute, and she was back in the field outside of the castle. She turned to the castle, and concentrated.

And now, for my next trick...

The six found her about thirty seconds later. They looked extremely exhausted at this point, nearly to the point of collapse.

“Your... trick... failed....” Twilight panted, charging up a spell, her horn glowing brighter and brighter. “You... can't... run... anywhere... now.... Spring.”

“I wast nay planning to.” Spring stood there, smiling. Twilight groaned, then fired a incredible burst of power at Spring.

In a flash, Spring's horn lit up, and she erected a barrier between Twilight and herself using the magic she had stored in the castle's lighting system earlier that day. Running towards her, Spring used Twilight's surprise to her up-most advantage, smashing her across the face as hard as she could. Standing over her, Spring reared up and bucked down on Twilight hard, knocking her out cold.

“Thee thought thyselves so clever, besting my plan, that thee couldst nay imagine that thee might be playing into it.” Spring smirked. “But thee sees, I always hast a plan.”

The five took a step back, looking with fear and worry at Twilight. Spring felt the warm trickle of blood on her hooves. She made sure to step on her body as she advanced on the others; it flinched in places, obviously not dead. She could handle that later. The surge of magic had begun to take down the lock on her power, but it was still coming slowly. It hadn’t been a fair fight, she knew. Had she been less exhausted, Spring was sure she would have been a much more difficult opponent to outsmart.

Wait. About that.

Spring turned back to Twilight. “Close, but not quite.” Spring kicked Twilight in the gut, causing her to cry out. “Thee didst nay take breath in or out when I stepped on thee. Control of breathing is something only conscious ponies can do.” Twilight coughed up some blood, opening her eyes.

“You won't win...” She said, her words garbled.

“I am sure thee hast such a plan against me.” Spring smirked. “One that involves being beat into a bloody pulp at my hooves as an integral part.”

“You could.” Twilight said simply.

Spring's mouth went dry. Of course she could. And if she could, so could somepony else. You only need to be outsmarted once.

Spring felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck, pitching her forward. Of course. The others were behind her. The orange one had likely just bucked her. For whatever reason, it didn’t hurt very much, though Spring was rather inclined to consider that a bad thing in this case. This was so like her, to underestimate her opponents. She thought herself so clever, so they took advantage of that. They gave her a plan to out think, while really relying on something so simple, it simply had slipped her mind. I am getting soft, thought Spring.

She was falling. It was taking an awfully long time, but that was likely due to her heightened sense of awareness. The thing about having the ability to meta-analyze situations was that it tended to turn on whenever she was in danger, even when there was very little she could do. She could, she supposed, use her abilities to figure out the little things, like how to best fall to avoid additional complications and injury, but that really did not mater at this point. Given the position and force of the blow, there was 87.9% probability that her spine was broken between the fourth and fifth vertebra. She had no control over her body.

Dully, she thought she felt her body impact on the earth. It was like being in a dream. All in all, it wasn’t so unpleasant, actually. Something to do with endorphins and pain, she thought.

Never give up.

She bounced a second time.

Never give up.

She heard the ponies above her let out cheers.

Never. Give. Up. Thou wilt not loose tonight. Sure, thee canst recover(1), but thee canst nay let thyself be bested by mortals! Get thyself together, Spring. Thou art a goddess. Show them.

Instantly, her mind kicked back into action. If she could dully feel her body hit the ground, then she had feeling in her body. Despite what she had thought, it seemed that her spine was, in fact, not broken. Let us see if thee falls for thy own trick, Twilight. Her mind raced, new strategies and plans flashing before her eyes. She was still in the game. A quick check of her body told her that she was actually in quite good condition. She had lost no blood, broken no bones, and wasn’t anywhere close to being fatigued. And her power was really starting to pick up.

The six stood above her. Twilight was leaning on the orange one, though it appeared as if she could barely stand.

“Quite some thinking, Twi. Look at you, outsmarting a goddess like that.”

Twilight cast what Spring could only assume was a healing spell of some sort on herself, leaving her still injured but far less so.

“Well, to be honest, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. I was just trying to buy you five some time to escape. I had no plan after my faked unconsciousness.” Twilight said. “Still, I'll take the complement. We all did well. Who would have thought that the Elements of Harmony would not have worked?”

“Celestia, that's who.” The orange one said. “She had to have known. There is absolutely no reason she should have sent us out here. I was right all along, there is something fishy going on here.”

“Well, now that she's out, I should probably call Celestia and Luna here. We can ask them when they arrive. I'm sure they have an explanation.” Twilight said.

Spring cursed. She had hoped to catch them from behind, not when they were all standing around her, but it couldn’t be helped. Spring called on her power, healing herself quickly and violently. She was thrown to her hooves, blinded for a second. The spell had had some other unintended consequences. For one, the lights of the castle went out. For another, there was a small patch of green flame now burning where she had been laying. For a third, her magic had also healed her six assailants. They seemed to be fully recovered.

Her power was coming back to her faster now, but still not at levels she was comfortable with. Dash cursed; the yellow one squeaked, and Twilight seemed very wary.

“Why can't you simply go unconscious like a normal pony!” Yelled the orange one in exasperation.

Spring laughed darkly. “I, my dear, am not a normal pony.” She let loose a wave of magic, blasting the six off their hooves and three meters backwards. Twilight recovered quickly, returning a volley. Spring had no trouble dodging her amateur attacks, sending great bolts of aquamarine energy her way.

Much to her surprise, Twilight took the blows masterfully. Despite her obvious lack of offensive skill, she seemed to be fairly adept at defense, dispersing two of the bolts and deflecting one. It impacted the ground, leaving a small crater and tossing molten earth a few meters. Twilight seemed stunned by the force of the impact.

“Thee art playing with the children no longer, Twilight!” Spring laughed, her horn emitting a beam of aquamarine light which she arced towards Twilight. She was already forming a map of twilight's ability; withing a few seconds, she would be able to predict her movements. She dodged, leaping into the air and unfurling her wings, the dirt beneath her turning to glass as Spring's beam passed over it. Fires sprang up in the forest, lighting the field with their warm glow.

“Run!” Twilight called to her friends below. “I don't know how long-”

Spring hit Twilight from below with a quick burst, then flew into the air, summoning a fireball which trailed just behind her. “Thee mayst wish to keep thy eyne on the fight, Twilight!” Reaching the climax of her arc, Spring swept down at Twilight, the fireball slamming in to her faster then she could react. Spring leveled her flight trajectory, keeping altitude and pivoting to face Twilight again. The ball of energy had slammed Twilight to the ground, a ring of fire exploding outwards around her. For a moment, Twilight was lost from view, obscured by the flames. Then, there was a flash of purple light, and the flames cleared around her, evaporating as ghostly purple vapor expelled them. She was, unfortunately, mostly unharmed, with perhaps a small amount of singeing at the edges of her coat and mane. Her horn was alight with potent purple energy, her eyes locked on Spring.

Spring, of course, did not give Twilight a chance to retaliate, instead opting to push her over. Twilight's eyes widened in surprise, her legs kicking wildly, trying to regain her balance. The spell did Twilight no damage, but, as expected, caused her volley of attacks to miss terribly. None of the flurry of bolts managed to get closer than a meter of Spring, cascading into the air and disappearing into the darkness of the sky. Spring kept the pressure on, sending a freezing wave followed by a quick force volley and a cage of earth. There was the sound of something snapping, and a small amount of blood tricked out from the bottom. This was too easy. It seemed that the only combat spell Twilight knew was the basic force bolt, and she couldn’t even fire quickly. Spring sighed. She had hopped for an interesting fight. At least she was so unskilled that Spring could not predict her movements; paradoxically, that made this fight more challenging, through not by much.

There was a sudden flash, and a searing beam of purple energy clipped her right wing, causing a jolt of pain through her body. Spring managed to stay in the air, just, diving to a lower altitude to escape the next bolt. Summoning great waves of flame, she bombarded Twilight. Spring drew great arcs in the air with her hooves, jets of magical fire cascading towards her. Twilight quickly erected a shield, Spring's attacks dissipating harmlessly against it. With a flash of light, Spring drew her hoof back, throwing a lance of aquamarine energy a meter long at Twilight. It shattered her shield, the magic fragmenting like glass. Spring's flaming projectiles now had no barrier, easily impacting across Twilight's flank, causing her to shriek in pain. There was a brilliant pulse of purple, and the air between them cleared, the flames extinguished by Twilight's forceful burst. There was a distinct slash of black across her coat where the flame spell had struck her.

Twilight's eyes had narrowed. She was staring at Spring with intense concentration, nostrils flaring. She sprinted straight at Spring, her horn shooting purple beams of light in all directions as she approached. Spring thew a volley of bolts at her, but found them easily shattering on a powerful shield of purple energy which encompassed her. Spring smiled. Perfect.

Twilight drew closer at a dead run. Spring saw the light on her horn intensify, saw her change her body's form slightly to compensate for the knock-back, saw her draw her head back in preparation to fire...

A tenth of a second before she fired, Spring dived, striking the earth. A massive shock wave radiated outwards from her blow, knocking Twilight half a meter into the air. The blast missed wildly, impacting the side of the castle and blowing a seven meter hole in it. Twilight was stunned, but unfortunately recovered before Spring could lay down any fire, extending her wings and quickly swooping to altitude. Spring followed her, a near constant set of blasts emitting from her. Twilight dodged and deflected the bolts without too much trouble, though it gave her no chance to retaliate.

“How art thou enjoying thy crash course!” Spring called to Twilight. “If thee manages to live through it, thee wilt find many lessons that wilt improve thy combat effectiveness. Thee couldst certainly use it!”

Twilight growled. “I'm doing just fine!” She unleashed two enormous slashes of energy, great purple waves of power which Spring easily deflected with a quick shield. Most of the energy missed her completely, leaving twenty meter long, half meter deep gashes in the earth where they landed.

“Not if thee thinks that wast a good plan!” Spring said, taking on mocking tones. “Allow me to demonstrate.”

Spring let loose a rapid volley of blasts, nearly three a second, Twilight barely able to anticipate their arrival. She dived and weaved through the air, managing, just, to avoid the bolts of energy. Spring considered letting her dance for a little while, then decided against it, summoning three large fireballs, one on either side and one below Twilight, then smashing them together while changing the direction of her rapid blasts by a few degrees. Twilight soared upwards to avoid the fireballs, got clipped with one of the blasts, and lost her rhythm. The blow stunned her, so much so that she took another hit, this time directly. She gasped in pain, visibly straining to pull herself out of the path of the next few blasts. Not far enough to avoid all of them, unfortunately for her. Another struck her across the side. This time, however, Twilight made no sound, bolstering herself with her magic. Spring took the opportunity to interrupt her normal casting pattern to create a more powerful arc of energy. Twilight managed to steady herself just in time for Spring's great wave of power to slice directly across her front.

Twilight screamed in agony, her wings crumpling and in flames. She plummeted to the ground, hitting it with a soft thud.

“We art each more than capable of killing the other in five strikes, or even less.” Spring said, circling down towards Twilight. “The trick is getting in those five strikes. Our power is more than sufficient to deflect any single spell another might send our way. The only way to gain advantage, then, is to cause distractions.”

Twilight stirred on the ground, trying to get to her hooves. She wasn't making much progress.

“Most spells an Alicorn uses in battle art never expected to reach their target. They exist to give thy opponent something to watch for, so that they art that much less likely to catch the next attack, that much less for the one after. In this way, eventually, something is bound to get through. Our defenses art simply too strong for direct attacks, like thee were making.”

“You talk too much!”

Spring turned just in time to be smashed across the side by Dash. The breath was knocked from her, sending her crashing into the ground. She heard a cracking noise, like thunder. She figured that might have been her ribs. Before she could land, Dash was already there; kicking up quickly, she threw Spring into the wall of the castle. There was a crashing sound, and Spring saw the roof coming down on her. With a pulse of energy, she blasted the roof away from her, violently tossing the two tonne chunk of stonework one hundred meters clear over the remainder of the castle, where it crashed into what would have been the stone pavilion if it had not mysteriously disappeared. Spring turned angrily to where the pegasus should have been, and was shocked to find her completely gone from her field of view. She picked her up a few seconds later, already having helped Twilight to her hooves.

The distance she had to travel... She must have been flying at twice the speed of sound! Spring stood up, feeling her ribs with magic. They seemed okay. The sound she heard was, in all likelihood, Dash breaking the sound barrier.

She really should have killed the others before engaging Twilight.

Spring opened her wings, arcing quickly to their position. All six were gathered together below her now. This was going to be easy.

“Thee really shouldst hast used this opportunity to flee, mortals!” She called, her horn glowing brighter, casting the field below her in strong, aquamarine light, brilliant patterns scattering wildly like the underside of an aquarium. “I am sorry to say that thee wilt-”

There was a flash of purple light, and the six disappeared.

Well. Okay then.

Spring stayed there, maintaining altitude for a few seconds, her horn still alight with terrible power. She sighed. Perhaps she did talk too much. She discharged her spell into the castle; it crumpled under the force, almost half of it collapsing instantly.

Twilight had drawn a circle of her blood around herself. It didn’t take Spring very long to figure out that they must have teleported. The location, however, was not decipherable, the section having been burned away in the flash of power she had used. Spring landed, casted a quick healing spell on herself, and sat down.

Whatever had possessed her to play with Twilight? She should have killed her in seconds. Even when giving her 'demonstration', she had been going easy. Two quick bursts when she had first hit her with the fireball, then one charge attack and she would have been dead. She knew this. She had thought of it at the time. But she hadn’t done it.

They were trying to protect what they thought was right. Thee couldst nay bring thyself to kill them, couldst thee?

Spring shook her head. No, she had had no reserves about killing them when she had had them in her grasp. She was more than willing to kill them.

Except Twilight. Thee sees something in her, dost thee not?

No. No. It wasn’t that. She had underestimated her enemy’s, again, as she always seemed to. She would be more prepared the next time. Which, in all likelihood, would be quite soon. After a short rest and recover, Spring intended on going straight to Canterlot. Celestia would be much more willing to listen to her, she was sure, when her capitol city was burning.

Spring stood up, walking away towards her new home. Yes, tomorrow Canterlot would burn. Today, however, she was tired.

She felt jumpy as she slowly made her way down her path towards her home. The little battle warm-up had gotten her blood flowing. She felt ready to spring into action at any moment. The moon was full tonight, casting more than sufficient light on her path. The forest seemed quiet, as if it were holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. Spring smiled to herself. Perhaps it was jumpy too, after all, it had likely not seen a goddess's wrath inside its borders for a long time.

After a few minutes, Spring calmed down. She usually was not so shaken by mortals. These particular mortals, however, seemed to be able to handle themselves well. They were obviously inexperienced, but then, all mortals were. She could see them being a potential problem later, especially Twilight and Dash. Those two she would need to watch.

Celestia and Luna, though, were a much larger issue. Combined, their power nearly equaled hers, if her senses were not mistaken, and each could output on her level. They had twice her DPS, even if they could only go for half as long. She had no doubts that she was more experienced then they were, if Celestia was such a diplomat as she said and Luna had been on the moon for a millennium. Still, they had been trained by, well, her. They knew how she fought. Luckily, she had no intention of killing them. Permanently, anyway. Though it was seeming less and less likely, she still lived in hope of a day when she and her daughters could rule the world together. It would be easier to beat them when her target was suppression or unconsciousness, apposed to death. It would still be by no means easy.

Spring paced pleasantly down the path, her mind lazily perusing potential possibilities, calculating probabilities, and picking potential paths and plans for her preferred assault on Canterlot, when she felt a powerful presence. Pausing, Spring turned a half circle, facing whatever had decided to present itself in her presence. Or, at least that was the plan. To her dismay, there was nothing there. She felt a poke on her back.

“Boo.”

Spring rolled her eyes. “I shouldst hast expected as much. Thee canst nay stay sealed for long, canst thee, Discord.”

The Draconequus hung upside down off what looked like a metal bar suspended in thin air. Par for the course. Actually, if anything, far less random than Spring would have expected. “Why hast thee come, Discord? I wouldst hast thought thee wouldst be'st less than keen for a confrontation with me.”

Discord looked offended. “Well I never! Why, pray tell, would you think I was here to confront you?” Spring gave him a long look. He sighed. “Alright, I know we're not exactly fond of each other, but believe me, if I was here to confront you, I would not have wasted my surprise.”

“Oh, I don't know. Thee dost tend to do stupid things, like even the playing field to give your enemy's a sporting chance.”

Discord looked at Spring coyly. “With you? Only one of us need handicaps for this to be a fair fight, Spring, and it's not me.”

Spring acknowledged Discord's statement with a non-committal shrug. “I wouldst nay be'st so sure. Thee art eight thousand years my senior.”

“Only fifty-six hundred if you don't count the many, many times I've been sealed in one form or another.” Discord said. “I should be about to celebrate my fifteen thousandth birthday. Instead, I'm approaching 11,500.”

Spring waved her hoof dismissively. “14,819. A bit away from fifteen thousand, wouldn’t you say?”

Discord rolled his eyes. “I haven't been counting. So I'm a century or two off. Big deal.”

Spring sighed. “All this talk is meaningless. Why art thee here, Discord?” She turned to face him. “Hast thee come to join forces with me?”

Discord paused. “Tempting, very tempting. But no. Sorry Spring, but I've been...” He paused again, making air quotes, “'reformed'. I'm one of the 'good guys' now.” He sighed. “As boring as that is.” He smiled. “I'd give it a decade or two. Just can't be helped. But, no, as much as I'd like to, I will not be helping you take over Equestria.”

“So... art thee here to confront me after all?” Spring asked.

Discord flew behind Spring and put his arm around her. “No, no, no, nothing of the sort! This is just a...” he waved his free arm in the air for a second, obviously looking for the correct word. “a social call.”

Spring raised an eyebrow. “Verily?”

“Just wanted to check up on my favorite niece.”

“Least favorite, thou mean.”

“Spring! That hurts!” Discord said, a glowing red arrow piercing through where his heart should be. “Words can stick with a pony!”

“How lucky we art, then, that thee art not a pony.” Spring sighed and began to walk away.

“Where are you going, missy.” Discord popped up in front of her. “I'm not done here.”

Spring waved him out of her face. “I art. Like always, thee hast managed to be'st a complete waste of my time.”

“I saw you fight those six.” He said at length.

“Thou didst? Good for thee.” Spring continued to walk.

“They're more skilled then they look.” Discord called, beginning to fall behind.

“I shall keep that in mind.” Spring said, drawing farther from him.

“They have plot armor.” Discord noted, pulling in closer. Spring shook her head and continued walking. She was not going to validate that statement with a response.

“Oh, come on!” Discord pouted. “Why won't you talk to me?”

Spring turned on him. “There art only two reasons for thy interest. The first wouldst be'st that thee art here to gather information from me. I know that is not the case, as thy questionings hast nay been leading nor thy conversation built to gain trust or respect. The second is very obvious. Thee art bored, and wish for something to do. I refuse to be'st thy entertainment, Discord.”

“Me, bored?” Discord said incredulously. “Where, prey tell, do you get that from?” He paused, then face-palmed. “Never ask Spring how...”

Spring smiled. “Thee hast preformed a total of two magical spells during thy time with me. The first was when thee teleported in, the second when I commented on our relationship. Thy workings hast been reactionary. Thee hast not done anything of thy own choosing and path since thee showed up. Thee must be'st either distracted or working up for something big. But thee said that thee hadst no interest in helping me, or confronting me. And thee hast nothing to be distracted by. The only other explanation, then, is that thee hadst not thought of anything else to do. Thee wast concentrated on entering conversation with me. That wast to be thy activity, then – having an interaction with another, not on thy own. I hast been less than kind to thee, but thee hast nay left nor found any other distraction to amuse thyself, suggesting that thee hast no other plan. Thee came seeking me, so that I couldst amuse thee, as thee couldst nay think of anything thyself. What dost thee call the condition in which somepony wants to do something but canst nay think of anything for themselves?” Spring paused. “Unless the definition of the word has changed, I do believe that it would be'st 'bored'.

“You're getting slow. Usually all you need is to look at the angle my tail is pointing and all of a sudden you're reading me my life's story.”

Spring rolled her eyes. “It's simple deduction. Not magic. I need some volume of information to form conclusions.” She paused. “Thee hast been staying in Canterlot, primarily. A few short trips, hours a week? To a town. An Earth-pony town. Near the Everfree. Population between two and three thousand. You're visiting a mare, with a pink mane. Not a unicorn, but I canst nay tell if she's and earth-pony or a pegasus. You spend most of your time reading(2).” She paused again. “See? Hardly thy entire life story, though not too bad for fifteen seconds.”

Discord flicked his tail self-consciously. “It was a joke, Spring. Not a challenge.”

Spring smirked. “Glad to see that is as disconcerting to thee now as ever. Now, if thou wilt excuse me, I hast an invasion to plan.”

“This won't be easy, you know.” Discord called after her, but did not follow. “These ponies aren't weak, Spring! Think before you do anything rash!” Spring continued to walk, not paying him mind.

Discord waited until Spring was safely out of earshot, before breaking into laughter and cheering. “Oh, finally, something fun!” He laughed softly. “The game is on, the game is on, and the players are taking their places on the board! Oh, what a time I chose to wake up, what a time indeed!” And with that, he disappeared.

Spring made fair time, coming in sight of her house just four minutes after leaving Discord. She was quite happy that he had declined to engage in combat with her; that was a battle that she would rather not fight. Discord was one of the few creatures on this world she was afraid of, if for no other reason than the fact that he was a god of chaos and she was a goddess of, after everything else, harmony. The fact that he had survived through every major event in recorded history, some of which were the direct result of ponies trying to kill him, likely added to that. Then again, the same could be said of her.

After fiddling with her door for a few seconds, Spring found herself inside her as of yet unfamiliar house. The torches burned lightly, the rooms softly illuminated by the glow. Spring sighed. What had she done, in her free time? It seemed that the world was only interesting when something terrible was going on.

She lay down, sticking her wing in her mouth and beginning to preen. She liked preening, it felt good and helped her think. She worked her mouth across her feathers, cleaning them, removing the dead feathers, the oils from her mouth slicking and waterproofing them. Preening, the oft overlooked secondary joy which comes with wings. If you neglected to do it, your flight would be hampered, and it felt good besides. If it wasn’t so monotonous, she might have said it was the best part of having wings. Spring sighed. As nice as it felt, it only put off the inevitable boredom which was day to day life for twenty-five minutes at best. She still had nothing in mind to do.

At least tomorrow would be interesting. She had been stupid to trust Celestia. She may not have been the brightest pony Spring knew, but she was the craftiest, or very nearly so. She never stopped thinking of how she could get advantage in a situation. She craved control, always had. She knew how ponies minds worked, and she used her kind and disarming manor to convince them to do what she wanted, even when they thought they were taking matters into their own hooves. Spring was usually smart enough to avoid her tricks, but, as they say, in a game of life and death, you only need to loose once.

Though, what exactly Celestia expected to gain from this was lost to Spring. If the elements had managed to knock her out, even kill her, what was the plan? Nopony alive, as far as she knew, had the prerequisite ability and company to cast a spell strong enough to seal a goddess, and even Celestia would have realized that she had almost no chance of permanently killing her. There was a reason real, to the death Alicorn battles could last for months, and it wasn’t because no one could hit anyone else. It was doable, sure, but the chance of them managing it on their first attempt? Next to none. And so long as they actually cared about their precious mortal ponies, the magnitude of the collateral was almost sure to be out of the question.

There really was no point in trying to figure out Celestia's motives. Unless it had been to piss her off enough to tear down her gaudy palace around her ears, her plan, whatever it was, had failed at the first hurdle.

Spring continued to preen, her wings slowly taking on a vibrant look as she worked them over. Well, Celestia, it is high time you payed for your mistake, the first, biggest, and dumbest mistake you could have made.

Never underestimate me.

End Chapter 7

Author's Note

Watch out, here they come:
1. First, Twilight and friends, as Spring is well aware of by this point, don't have anywhere near the power, or ability, to kill her. Second, for an alicorn, something like full body paralyzation is the sort of thing they call in sick with. It would take her out for a couple of hours at most. Third, it doesn't stop her from being able to use magic. She can't aim, or turn her body, but something like a teleportation spell to get her out of there? Not a problem. Of course, that would mean that she would have to run away – her life is not on the line, but her pride is. Spring is in no danger of death.

Not quite just the angle of his tail, but: Marble dust, and Spring only knows of one city constructed primarily of marble, so Canterlot. Lower level of coverage from dirt, specifically soil, indicating short trips to the country. Marble dust not mixed in with the dirt, meaning that the semi-moist soil had to have dried before he got back to Canterlot, so the visit had to be a couple hours long. Given the coverage, and therefor necessary short total duration in the country, most likely a weekly trip for a few hours. The soil means farmers, who are primarily earth-pony’s. Amount of dry dust(from dirt roads) gives and indication of how frequently the roads are traveled, leading to rough population estimate. Single strand of pink hair in tail, far to long to be from somepony's coat, so must be mane. A unicorn would have left some magical signature after repeated, frequent visits. The tail is curling slightly unnaturally, as if it was becoming used to acting as a supporting base, so sitting down for long periods of time with his neck curled – reading is the most common activity requiring that configuration. Naturalness of pose means that he's used to being in scenes similar to this, so he must be visiting the Everfree. Not a guarantee that the town is by the Everfree, but, well, everyone has to make some assumptions at some point.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Twilight
Sunday, 23 June 1003

Twilight looked up at the vengeful goddess, gliding purposefully and gracefully towards her position, her visage closely resembling the looks of an angry mare who's pick-nick had been ruined by ants. Her friends were huddled around her, trying not to let their fear cloud their vision. She desperately tried to think, but she had lost almost a liter of blood at this point; her mind was fuzzy at best. Spring's horn was alight, as it had been for a few seconds. She didn’t need to know the exact numbers to be absolutely certain that if that strike hit them, that would be it.

Wait. She was loosing blood. Lots of blood.

A last glimmer of hope sprouted in Twilight's mind. Teleportation was too complex to be used in combat, but the base magic circle for a teleportation spell was simple. Sure, she would have no idea where they would end up, and yes, uncoordinated teleportation spells had a habit of causing their casters injury or death, but with a choice between the chance of death and the certainty of it, any risk seemed better to her.

Quickly, she used her telekinesis to mat down a circle of grass around her, hoping that there was enough blood on the ground to make this work. Hopefully, just enough would flow into the depression to complete the connection in time.

Spring was now directly above them, her eyes sparkling with power. Twilight shuddered. This is what ponies meant by staring at your own death, she supposed. It was do or die time, now or never.

“Thee really shouldst hast used this opportunity to flee, mortals!” Spring called, her horn glowing brighter, casting the field below her in strong, aquamarine light, brilliant patterns scattering wildly like the underside of an aquarium.

Twilight released a wave of energy, as quickly as she was capable, into the crude spell circle she had made. A half second passed. A full second. She felt her stomach drop. This is it...

“I am sorry to say that thee wilt-”

There was a flash of purple light, and the six disappeared.

^

Twilight's head was swimming, her body fuzzily reconnecting with her mind as she slowly fought her way to consciousness. Her head throbbed, met with equal throbs from the remainder of her body. It felt as if every limb, bone, and muscle of her form had been removed, sent through a printing press, and then put back when they were finished. Which, as comfortable as that made her, at least meant that she could feel all of her body. Something to be happy about.

She faintly registered moans from around her, too incoherent to make out the speakers. She didn’t remember where she was, or how she had gotten there, but she was thinking of the right questions, so that was a start. She, with a great effort of will, forced her eyes open. It took her a few moments to register that she had, the world around her shrouded in a deep blanket of shadow. Her first thought was of Nightmare Moon, but after a half-second panic, she calmed down. That had been a while ago. Two years, right? Perhaps three. She was having trouble making sense of her world.

There was something on her back. She panicked again, nearly flipping herself over before she registered the shape as her wing. She felt her stomach drop. Her wing. So mangled was the one she could see that she hadn’t even recognized it. It didn’t hurt very much. Twilight took that as a bad sign.

Twilight pulled herself to her hooves with great effort. As she turned upright, she screamed, her second wing nearly coming apart as she rose. The pain faded quickly. Looking down, she saw the problem. Nearly two hundred of her feathers were stuck half-way in the rock face which she had been laying on. There were very few things that could do something like that, and the most likely one was...

Teleportation. Suddenly, her memories caught up with her. She had teleported herself and her friends here, wherever here was, to escape Spring. Quickly, she turned to see if the others were okay, but found herself unable to move. Looking down, Twilight noticed that nearly half of her tail was stuck inside the rock as well. Not willing to wait, she cut her tail off with a quick magical burst, and tried to figure out where she was, and where the others were.

She was in a cave, that part was obvious fairly quickly. There was a small hole leading to the surface some four meters above her head, through which a thin beam of moonlight passed. Given the size of the hole, that would only happen at or very near midnight; they had been out about three hours, give or take.

The illumination was far too weak for her to make out anything by, so she casted a simple light spell to illuminate her surroundings. The other five were laying around, seemingly whole. Twilight sighed in relief. Last chance or not, she would have never forgiven herself if she had teleported one of her friends half-way through a rock. Applejack was moaning softly. Twilight went to investigate, finding part of her ear imbedded in the wall behind her, as well as a third of her mane. Three centimeters off, and she would have been dead. Twilight hated to have to do it, but she quickly cut off the tip of her ear with a precision cutting spell, quickly treating her mane to the same. Unsurprisingly, this woke her up, Applejack violently kicking out with her hooves. Fortunately, Twilight had had the sense to draw back before she awoke, missing her blows.

“Wut!” She hollered, her eyes rolling, before focusing on Twilight. She seemed to calm down. “Twilight. What happened?”

“I got us out of there as quickly as I could. This was the only thing I could think of.”

“A dank, dusty cave was all you could think of?” Asked and incredulous voice from below.

“Rarity! Glad to see your okay.” Applejack sounded relieved.

“No, not the cave. I teleported us completely randomly.” Twilight looked down. “This is just where we happened to end up.”

“Well, like usual, yer last second plans work better than most of anypony else's master schemes.” Applejack said. “I was so sure that we were done for, I swear I saw my mother's face calling for me. Ya really know how ta build tension and wait for the last minute, that's fer sure.”

“How are the others?” Asked Rarity. “I woke up to Applejack's scream.”

“Um, I'm okay!” Squeaked Fluttershy. “But, um, it seems that my back hooves may have become fused with the earth.”

Twilight swore under her breath. “Okay, Fluttershy, I'll be with you in a moment. Dash? Pinkie? Are you okay?” She called, but the two did not respond. She walked over to Dash first. She seemed okay, until Twilight tried pulling her onto some more flat terrain. The way her front legs reacted... it was as if she had about twenty different joints in her legs now. Twilight felt her head throb, and her mouth go dry. Dash's throat was torn, and her chest looked as if someone had take a sledgehammer to it... at mach 1. She was fairly sure she knew who. “Dash... Why do you do such stupid things?” Twilight whispered sadly. At least her head seemed okay, and she was breathing. It didn’t look as if she had too many lacerations, so she likely wasn’t loosing too much blood. She seemed to be medically stable, for what it was worth.

Twilight drew away from Dash, the others exclaiming worriedly at her condition, and went to check on Pinkie. At least there was some good news; Pinkie seemed to have no complications whatsoever, and sleeping soundly on the floor. Twilight arose her with a quick telekinetic poke, and then went back to Dash. Letting out a burst of energy, she healed Dash as best she could for a minute, and finally made her way down to Fluttershy.

“Sorry about this.” Twilight said, her magic buzzing around her as she slowly, carefully removed Fluttershy from the earth.

“It's okay. The others were in a lot more danger than I was by standing here.” Fluttershy said. “You were right to tend to the emergency cases first.”

“No, it's not that. It's the getting you stuck here in the first place.” Twilight continued to concentrate, trying to slowly remove the fused rock from Fluttershy's hoof. “I screwed up, big time.”

“Oh, don't fret, Twilight. You got us here safe, didn’t you?” Fluttershy asked. “You saved us. Sure, we got a little banged up, but we're all still alive.”

“Yeah, saved you from a situation which I put you in.” Twilight said darkly. “There's really no point, or way, to sugarcoat this, Fluttershy. I was given very clear instructions to by no means and under no circumstances initiate combat, and what's the first thing I do as soon as I think I have the upper hoof? I initiate combat. Get caught, break free, run to safety. That's what any sane pony would have done. Me? Get caught, break free, do exactly what you were told not to do or things would go poorly, and then things go really poorly. Who would have thought?” Twilight began to shake with a mixture of anger and sadness. “I wanted to be the big damn hero, and, well, here I am! I got the big damn part down at least! Woo, look at Twilight, the Goddess wannabe who nearly got herself and almost everypony whom she cares about in the whole world slaughtered because SHE COULDEN'T BE BOTHERED TO THINK PAST HER OWN HEROIC FANTISY!”

Fluttershy screamed as Twilight nearly ripped the bottom of her back hooves off.

Twilight stopped moving, dropping her spell and rushing to Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?” Twilight choked through her tears. “Please, be okay. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I didn’t want this. Please!” By now, her words came out as sobs. “Please! I'm so, so sorry!”

“Twilight... Twilight, I'm fine. You're scaring me, Twilight.” Fluttershy said. Twilight couldn’t hear her through her sobbing. Fluttershy looked anxiously to the others. Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack shared her look.

“I think the stress might have finally gotten to her.” Pinkie said. “We should leave her alone for a little while, until she calms down.”

The others looked to Pinkie as if she had grown an extra head.

“Hey, there are a *few* things a party can't solve. At least not right away. She'll need us later, but for now, I think she needs a few moments alone.”

Fluttershy, wincing at every step, slowly drew back away from Twilight, joining the others on the top of the small rock-face. Twilight noticed, dully, her retreat, but found that she didn't have the energy required to react.

## ^ ##

Five minutes later, Twilight stood up from the ball she had curled into, and turned to the others. They were watching, kindness and worry in their eyes. Twilight let out a shaky breath. She had full rights to be upset at herself, at the world, at everything in her life at this point, but there was a time and a place, and ten minutes(Well, three hours, but ten waking minutes) after a near death encounter in a dark unknown cave surrounded by your friends who are all injured is hardly an appropriate one. Take care of the problems left

before

having a mental breakdown. Simple.

“Is... is Dash alright?” Twilight asked, to the relieved smiles and looks of the others.

“Yeah. She's fine.” Applejack said. “Yer healing thing seems to have done her a world of good. Looks like she's been in a schoolyard fight, instead of, you know, nearly dead.”

Twilight paused, swallowed, and steadied herself. “And Fluttershy?”

“I'm fine.” Fluttershy said. “It hurt a bit, but, look!” She lifted one of her back hooves for Twilight to see, before realizing that the cave was so dark that there was no way to tell if she was okay from their distance. “Um, well, anyway, my hooves are fine.”

“Here, let me light things up.” Twilight concentrated, and summoned a large ball of purple light, illuminating the cave they found themselves in. She felt the drain this time. She was getting close to empty on magic. The cave was about twenty meters across, and seemed to have no entrances or exits. There was little in the way of plant life, except around the little hole in the ceiling. There were collections of mushrooms surrounding them, a dull reddish-gray color. There was a little stream running across the floor. There were a few vanes of what looked to be iron on the north wall. The room smelt faintly of sulfur. Twilight was running out of things to look at.

That is to say, everypony was looking at Twilight and it was making her very uncomfortable.

Twilight eventually was forced to make eye contact with the others. They seemed to be in shock. Twilight took a step towards them, worried.

“Is everything okay?” The others took a step back.

Twilight sighed. “There's something behind me, isn’t there?” She turned quickly to face whatever it was... and found herself facing a bare wall. She turned back to the others.

“Twilight...” Applejack said softly.

“Twilight, darling, will you lay down for me?” asked Rarity, obviously concerned.

Fluttershy seemed to try to squeak out something, but whatever it was was to quiet for Twilight to make out.

“What are you...” Twilight started, then paused and took a look at herself.

“Oh...” she said.

It had been hard to tell, in the weak illumination she had casted before, exactly how injured she had been. Her coat was... well, her coat had been purple, so in the light before, it had been hard to see how much blood she had on her. She was soaked. Her coat had changed color to magenta, there was so much blood in it. The slash across her chest, where Spring had hit her with that fire burst, was a deep black, a jagged wound nearly five centimeters across and stretching from her upper left shoulder across to her right flank. Her left wing was mangled and obviously broken, her right wing was missing half its feathers. She was missing patches of fur from almost everywhere on her body, and she had lost her tail. She looked terrible. Like she shouldn’t be able to stand, let alone go about helping others.

Twilight suddenly began to feel woozy. Her brain, processing the fact that she had lost two or perhaps even three liters of blood, finally got around to acting as if her oxygen supply had been nearly cut and tried to knock her out again. She struggled against the sudden fog which tried to cloud her mind as her adrenaline finally began to wear off. No wonder she had been a little unstable. She was living off of her dwindling adrenaline supply alone. With this much untreated blood loss, it was surprising she was alive at all.

Applejack caught her before she fell. A good thing, too, as another trauma, even one a slight as a fall from walking height, might be all she had left in her. Twilight endeavored, with great difficulty, to keep her eyes open. A cave was not the place to fall unconscious. They had lost three hours already. They couldn’t really afford to lose any more.

She heard some faint yelling in the distance. She thought she recognized Dash's voice. Good. She was up. She liked Dash. Applejack was warm. She was so tired. Fluttershy was anxiously talking to Pinkie. The average pony can produce adrenaline for eight minutes continuously. Applejack was talking to her, but she couldn’t understand her. She was so tired. Rarity was holding her element, where had she gotten that? Was there something going on? Dash looked at her, worried. She tried to tell her that everything was fine, but her mouth wasn’t working. She was so tired. The light went out. She tried to keep it on, but it was too hard. It took too much out of her. Due to its nature, adrenaline faded from the body quickly, so once production stopped, its effectiveness halved every twenty-three seconds. She was so tired. There was something warm in her head. She tried to touch it, she reached out for it. It wasn't her. She felt safe in the light it cast. She was so tired. She pulled on it, felt it give a little. She was so tired. She knew that she could use this for something. She was so tired. She couldn’t think. She was so tired. She was so tired. She was...

^

Twilight's eyes fluttered open. Her friends were looking down at her, smiles breaking out across their faces as they noticed her come awake. She yawned, stretched, and looked at the others.

“What happened? And how long was I out?” Twilight asked.

“No idea, and about seven minutes.” Replied Applejack.

“Seven minutes?” Twilight said, confused. “With the blood loss I had, I would have expected more like two weeks. Though I do suppose that explains why we're still at the bottom of a cave.” Twilight tried to stand, and found, surprisingly, that she could. In fact, she felt fine. Well, okay, not fine, but much better than she had any rights to. It still hurt to move, but her body responded fluidly to her, and she no longer felt anywhere near as fatigued. At a guess, she had acquired two or three liters of blood in the last few minutes. Somehow.

Twilight decided that this mystery could be solved later. She had things to deal with right now. She looked awkwardly at the others. “I'm sorry about my breakdown earlier. Yeah, I was dealing with
Hypovolemic shock, but the only one I have the right to be mad at right now is myself, and I endangered the rest of you through my actions. Again.” Twilight let out a sigh.

“Okay. Wait. Hold up a moment.” Dash said. “First off, I can think of at least one pony who is more to blame for this than you are.”

“I got three.” Muttered Applejack.

“Secondly,” Dash continued, “the opportunity you took with the whole attacking Spring thing was very grounded in rationality. She had all her power removed! When are we going to get another chance like that? Yeah, we screwed up, but we all screwed up.”

Dash paused, seemingly done with her part. Rarity quickly took up the lead. “Contrary to what you apparently believe, Twilight, we are capable of making decisions for ourselves. You might be the de facto group leader, but the only thing keeping us together is friendship, not obligation. We all decided to go after Spring. You didn’t force us into anything.”

Applejack continued. “Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, it's okay that you had a little cry! You pulled yourself together fairly quickly, while dealing with hype-vat-thing shock. We were in a cave. We'd already been out cold fer a few good hours. A couple of minutes more ain't putting us in anymore harm.”

“Your points were valid, if a little too harsh.” Said Fluttershy. “I can see where you were coming from. Did you think we would be upset at the fact that you feel bad when you think you've put your friends at risk? It's normal, healthy, and perfectly reasonable.”

“Oh, oh, my turn!” Pinkie said. “Um, well, fourthly, we forgive you! Seriously. Everypony makes mistakes, and you're not the only one who's mistakes are dangerous. We signed up for some danger when we decided that it was a good idea to take on the role of 'Equestria's mightiest heroes'. And it's not like this is the first time we lost on our first attempt. Think Discord or Chrysalis. With them, after our first failure we were pushed back to square one. Here, we didn’t lose or gain anything at all!” Pinkie paused. “Hum. Well, that last bit sounded better in my head. Anyway, we're all still here, all still kicking, and all that is thanks, in part, to you! Don't be so down on yourself.”

“The only thing I find troubling is how hard you seem to be taking this.” Rarity said. “We've been in tough spots before, but you've always been calm in the face of danger.” She looked directly into Twilight's eyes. “Is there something else bothering you?”

Twilight looked around. “Is now really the time? We're in a cave, in a random location, surrounded by who knows what, and we kind of have some important information to deliver. You know, about Spring's likely imminent attack on the civilized world.”

“If it's going to make one of the few ponies on the planet capable of stopping her more able to function, we most certainly do have the time.” Rarity said.

Twilight opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “Me?” She asked incredulously. “I would have thought that little fight back there showed very clearly exactly how far out of my league Spring is.”

“Twilight, I can name all of the physical gods on this planet, with their divine controls, in one breath. The fact that you are on this list makes you one of the few ponies who can stop her essentially by default. There are only five of you, Spring is one, and Discord won't be helping much, that's nearly certain.” Rarity said flatly. “That leaves three, two of which are very set on only playing defense. That leaves you, and only you, to try to get in her way.”

“With a little help from you friends, of course.” Interjected Pinkie. “The weight of the world doesn't need to be on your back. We may not have wings and a horn, but I've never broken my back lifting something before and I'm not about to start when my friend needs some help. It's okay to share the load a bit.”

“I don't know what you two are on about, but I'm with Twi.” Applejack said. “Is there any reason we have to do this heartwarming reaffirmation of friendship and trust thing from the bottom of a gloomy dank cave and not, say, in a warm room in Canterlot?”

The others paused. Twilight laughed softly. “I think that sounds like a great idea. I'll call Celestia here, she'll...”

The others waited a good three seconds, before Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “She'll... what, exactly? Is there another problem?”

“It's gone.” Twilight said. “The contact packet Celestia gave me, it's disappeared. No trace.”

There was another brief pause. “What do you mean, gone?” said Rarity.

“I mean gone. As in, removed. No longer present. Not here.” Twilight paused. “Which should be, well, impossible. If it had been used, or removed, or even counterspelled, there would be some trace. But there's nothing.”

Silence fell over the six ponies as Twilight slid into thought. The other five exchanged looks.

“So, well, new plan time, right?” Pinkie Pie said hopefully.

“Shhhh!” Rarity shushed Pinkie. “Twilight's right, that should not have been possible. And when were fighting gods, it's probably for the best if we understand what is going on.

“Deconstruction...” Twilight murmured. “The spell was deconstructed, reabsorbed, and converted back into raw mana.” She blinked. “How do I know that? And how did I do that? I barely understand the theory behind such a conversion, let alone be able to preform such a complicated process while literally unconscious.”

“Look, I'm sure that all this magi-babble is important, but is it dangerous or not?” asked Applejack. “Because, if it's all the same to you, not doing this in a cave would be preferred.”

Twilight looked troubled for a moment more, before shaking her head. “No, it's not dangerous. Just, very, very strange. Not that I'm complaining; the energy that used to be that packet is what healed me. You're right, though. We should get out of here.” She scanned the surroundings. “Any ideas? I'm completely drained of magic.”

“I could, you know, just fly up there and drop down a rope or something.” Dash said. “Not that complex.”

“Do we have rope?” asked Fluttershy. “I know I didn’t bring any.”

“Not to fear, Pinkie is here!” Pinkie pulled a coil of rope from her saddlebag. “Twenty meters party rope at your service!”

Dash grabbed the rope, and flew to the hole. “Stand back!” she called, then bucked the edge of the hole, causing parts to collapse. She winced, the shock must have aggravated her wounds, then bucked it again. This time, a large chunk collapsed, and Dash was able to fly through the resultant hole. A few seconds, and the rope dropped into the hole. Fluttershy flew up after Dash, Rarity climbed the rope first. Within a minute, the six were reassembled on the surface.

“Alright. Now, where are we?” Applejack asked.

“Well, I can feel the energy in the air... that depressing aura... so we're sill in the Everfree.” Twilight said. “It's after midnight, and the moon is there, so... this way is north. If we head in that direction, we're bound to come out somewhere within 150 Km of Canterlot. Once we get our bearings there, it should only take Dash about half an hour to reach Canterlot at that distance.”

“Are you kidding me?” Dash said incredulously. “I'm not sure I can walk fast, let alone fly 150 Km. We're all exhausted.”

“We need to do this! The fate of Equestria depends on it!” Twilight said, flabbergasted. “You're never one to quit, Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah, that's why we're not going to sleep and march on until we make it there. But I'm letting you know, I can't do that.” Dash said darkly. “I'm not giving up, I'm making an assessment of my abilities. Pushing myself too far will only make things worse. What happens if I collapse on the way over? You would waste precious time looking for me.” Twilight opened her mouth, but Dash cut her off. “Don't even start. I know you would. For now, we move only as fast as our slowest member. We need to stick together.”

Twilight sighed. Dash was right, of course. “Sorry, Dash. I really have been asking a lot of you recently, haven't I?”

“Not surprising, given the circumstances. I'm the fastest flier in Equestria, and we've covered nearly one thousand kilometers in the past thirty hours.”

“Has it really only been thirty hours?” Rarity said. “It feels like a week, at least.”

“It's only been twenty-six, actually.” Twilight said. She laughed slightly, looking up at the full moon hanging beautifully in the sky. “Twenty-six hours. This is just beginning, you know. Things are really going to heat up now.”

“We can take a little heat.” Applejack said. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie nodded. “Now, we have a message to deliver, don't we? So let's get!”

Twilight nodded. “Lets.”

Applejack took the lead, followed closely by Twilight and Dash. Fluttershy took to the air, Rarity took middle, and Pinkie brought up the rear. The forest was not particularly thick where they were, and the covered nearly six kilometers in the first half-hour.

“If we can keep this up...” Twilight mused, “We might make it to Canterlot by sunset tonight. It would be tough, but it is possible.”

“I think you might have to reassess that estimate.” Said Fluttershy. “Look.”

The trees cleared, and the six found themselves on a beach which gently rolled into a large lake. The other bank was visible, but far off. Nearly ten kilometers from the looks of it.

“This is Serpent Isl.” said Fluttershy. “I know where we are. If we head North-northwest from here, we'll make it to Canterlot. We're about 190 Km away.”

“Serpent Isl...” Twilight paused. “I think I recognize the name, but...”

“The lake is treacherous. It houses many of the deepest magical creatures in Equestria, if not the world.” Fluttershy said. “I have a book or two on it, but I've never gone this deep into the Everfree before. I have essentially no practical experience here.” She landed. “Sorry. I had hoped my knowledge would be at least a little helpful.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” Rarity grinned. “You've been very helpful, Fluttershy.”

“What do you have?” Applejack asked.

“This lake is connected to the Half-mane river. One terminus is this lake, the second is right outside of Manehattan, and the third, where the river starts, is...”

“Only about ten kilometers from Canterlot!” Twilight exclaimed. “I remember now! That river is slow flowing, if I recall. We could make twenty Kph if we had a serviceable boat. The river is winding, so we would have to cover about 250 kilometers, but with the increase of speed... We would arrive in Canterlot in the mid-afternoon, only about thirteen hours.”

“We don't even need to go that far. Las Pegasus is only about 150 kilometers up the river from here, and barring some very, very bad coincidence, they should have a working Telegraph line. Our message could be to Canterlot by mid-morning.”

“Won't work. The telegraph system is too new. With the Ponyville-Hoofany and Hoofany-Fillydelphia lines both down, they will have shut the whole system off for repairs. It was quite frankly surprising that we were able to receive telegrams as late as yesterday afternoon. The lines will likely be back up by this time tomorrow, but that's to late. Still, thirteen hours is much better than the nineteen or twenty it would take us to walk there. Good thinking, Rarity.” Twilight sighed. “Looks like we have a plan.”

“Where are we going to get the boat?” Pinkie said. “Just saying.”

Silence fell. “Oh.” Twilight said. “Right.”

“I got this one.” Applejack said. “Pinkie, how much of that party rope do you have?”

“Six spools of twenty meters.”

“That should be enough...” Applejack bucked one of the trees, knocking it over. “I'm the best raft builder in the General Canterlot region. Won a competition once about six years ago. Not a skill that has much day to day use, but, well...” She bucked a second tree. “With you ponies, I should have expected it to come up at some point. Dash, Rarity, you mind giving me a hoof? I need to down ten trees like this.” Rarity and Dash began to work on felling trees. “I can get a raft built in twenty minutes.” Applejack said. “Twilight, how well are you recharging your power?”

“Not at all. I don't know why, but something seems to be wrong with my magic. That's the reason the plan wasn’t simply to wait until I recharged enough to teleport to Canterlot. That should only take eight or nine hours, but, well, with all that's been happening, I don't want to take the chance.”

“Okay then.” Applejack sighed. “That's going to make this a little tricky.”

“The lake, remember?” Fluttershy said. “It's dangerous. If you can't defend us, we're in for another adventure.”

“Just the way I like it!” Dash said. “This is just the kind of hardship we thrive on.”

“Well, um, I'm not so sure I thrive on this...” Fluttershy said.

“We'll be fine!” Pinkie said. “The protagonists don't get killed off by random, non plot related encounters. This is an 'anyone can die' setting, not an 'everyone will die' one!”

Twilight raised a questioning eyebrow. “What?”

Pinkie giggled. “Oh, nothing. This chapter already has enough padding!”

Twilight blinked, then shook her head. “Okay... Sure.” She looked at the others. They smiled back at her, determination still present in their eyes. “Alright then. If we're all for this plan, lets do it.”

Applejack instructed the others, and within twenty minutes, they had a workable raft. With one last check to figure out where the mouth of the river was, the raft was in the water and underway.

^

“Paddle, paddle, paddle, paddle...” Pinkie Pie dully pushed against the water below them. “This is so boring!”

“We've only been at it for about ten minutes!” Twilight said, exasperated.

“Yeah, a boring ten minutes.” Pinkie sighed. “Is it bad that I'm hoping that one of those creatures Fluttershy was on about will attack us?”

“Yes!” Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity said simultaneously.

“You're no fun.” Pinkie sighed, and went back to paddling.

^

“I know they’re around here, somewhere.” Fluttershy said anxiously, glancing back and forth at the water. “They have to be.”

“We'll be fine.” Applejack reassured Fluttershy. “Most things don't attack ponies, and most things that do are too big to notice us.”

“We'll reach the mouth of the river in only ten minutes or so.” Twilight said. “Not long until we're in the clear.”

“I hope so.” Fluttershy said, anxiously watching the waves.

^

“We're close now. Just a minute or so and we're on the river proper.” Twilight said.

“Good. The sooner we're off this lake, the better.” Rarity shivered. “I think I'm seeing what Fluttershy is. This place is creepy.”

“Well, not long now until...” Twilight trailed off. Her head throbbed, and her horn ached for a second before clearing.

“You okay, Twi?” Dash asked.

“Yeah. My power just started to recharge.” Twilight's horn throbbed again. “In waves, it seems. Looks like some interference from Celesta’s magic is making my normal connection intermittent. There must be some magical resonance field causing stable standing wave interference.”

“Of course there is.” Said Dash. “And I'm sure that made sense to anyone who had taken ten years of magic theory.”

Twilight blinked. “I have no idea what I just said. I understand the words, but I know I never learned about magical interference pattern types. This is really starting to put me off.”

“A time and a place, Twi!” Applejack hollered. “We've got incomin'!”

The water shimmered before them, and Twilight could see the head of an enormous sea serpent rising below them, its jaw lined with bio-luminescent patches, glowing a pale aquamarine as it ascended to swallow the small craft and its six riders. Twilight flinched. Its jaws must be nine, ten meters across!

“Any bright ideas?” Dash called. “We could really use some!”

“Perhaps we can reason with it?” Suggested Fluttershy.

“I don't think it's intelligent, darling.” Rarity said nervously.

“It must sense my aura.” Twilight said. “Perhaps I can get it to follow me.”

“We ain't letting you take it on yer own, not when you just started to get yer magic back. You're probably on less charge right now than Rarity!” Applejack growled.

“Well, what's your plan, then?” Dash asked.

“We ain't been eaten yet.” Applejack said, as if that explained everything.

“What do you...” Twilight paused. “Oh.”

She looked over the edge of the craft. The thing was still there, still rising, but doing it very, very slowly. Twilight laughed quietly.

“It's too big.” She said, grinning. “It weighs to much to move quickly. We'll be in the river by the time it reaches us.”

There was a ripple in the water. Seven smaller serpents poked there heads out.

“They, unfortunately, are not.” said Twilight flatly. “Just great.”

“Okay. Rarity, can you teleport to the shore?” Applejack asked.

“It would be a stretch... but I think I could make it.” Rarity turned.

“Alright. Twilight, grab me. Rainbow Dash, get Pinkie. Fluttershy, follow us to shore. Everypony, run!”

“That's your plan?” Asked Rarity. She paused for a moment. “Not bad.” With a flash of light, she appeared on the river bank. Twilight grabbed Applejack and took off. She was heavy, but with some effort she did manage to fly her across to the bank. Dash and Fluttershy were already there. Pinkie was pointing excitedly. “Look, they're so pretty.”

Twilight turned to see what she was pointing at. In the distance, there were a collection of beautiful floating lights. “Pinkie... Those are will-o-wisps. Don't follow them.”

“Awww.” Pinkie said. “But, hey, you see? I told you that an attack would make things more interesting! And we didn’t get...” Pinkie's eyes went wide. “hurt.”

Twilight turned around. One of the serpents was hoisting itself ashore. It seemed that it wasn’t willing to give up on this meal. It was only meters from the others. There was no time to act.

Fluttershy grabbed Applejack. “Buck it between the fifth and sixth ridge!” She yelled. Applejack spun, and delivered a swift kick. The serpents eyes rolled, and it backed up. There was a hissing, and then it struck, hard. Applejack rolled, the strike missing her by mere centimeters. Fluttershy was already in the air, along with Dash.

“Twilight, flank!” Dash yelled.

“Twilight, point!” Fluttershy said simultaneously.

The two looked at each other. Dash sighed. “Okay, point. Fine.”

Twilight launched herself into the air, bashing the thing on the nose as it rose for a second strike. The blow knocked Twilight back, but seemed to stun the thing.

“Point, Twi! We need to coordinate!” Dash said.

“What does 'Point' mean?!” Twilight yelled.

Dash face-hoofed. “It's a position for a... I'll explain later. Just attack the thing, okay?”

Dash and Fluttershy got into formation, using their shared flight training to preform a coordinated maneuver. While it was distracted, Twilight burst up from below. Using her magic to augment her form, she transferred all of her force in the blow, no recoil. The thing's head continued upwards at about one third of the speed she hit it. She saw a flash of light, an a white barrier appear right above it's head. The barrier shattered when it hit it, with a yell from Rarity, and an ever bigger yell from the serpent. The serpent fell over.

There was a pause. “Was that all?” Asked Dash. “It went down a little too easily for my tastes.”

“It ain't over yet!” Applejack yelled, getting up. Twilight blinked, then turned towards the serpent. Its eyes were rolling, but it was already trying to get up. “We've just stunned the thing!” She sprinted up to it, jumping onto the back of its head. Its eyes cleared, and it rose quickly, trying to dislodge its pony passenger.

“No... You... Don't!” Applejack grunted, pulling a small steal tool out of her saddlebag. It appeared to be a spade. She struck it hard, waiting for it to begin to move upwards, forcing the shovel down with the combined force of her strength and the upwards acceleration. There was a loud SHINK, and the spade was buried to its hilt in the head of the Serpent. The serpent screamed, lifting its head sharply and shaking quickly.

“You can't get rid of me so easily!” Applejack growled through clenched teeth, wrenching the spade from the serpents head and stabbing it again. Blood shot out from the wound, splattering Applejack. Her second blow did penetrate, but not all the way, the spade still halfway out of the serpents head. This time, she lost her grip, and was tossed from the serpent. Dash was there to catch her.

“Don't steal all the glory.” Dash chided, putting her down. She then flew up, and dive-bombed the serpent, impacting right on the spade. It slid all the way in, the hilt and the bottom of Dash's hoof disappearing inside of the serpent’s head.

The serpent responded with another scream, and a quick swipe to the side. Dash was flung in front of the serpent, and it struck. Her left wing was caught in its fangs. Dash let out an agonized cry as the serpent tossed her back and forth.

“Let her go!” Pinkie cried, her party cannon somehow making an appearance below her. The serpent roared. Pinkie fired the cannon down its throat.

The serpent recoiled. It glanced down at the six ponies for a few seconds more, then slithered back into the water.

Twilight watched it go for a few seconds, then rushed to Dash. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Dash flexed her wing, blood leaking from it. “I'm not going to be able to use it for a while, but it's not broken.”

Twilight sighed. That was good news. Due to their magical properties, pegasus wings were one of the few things that could not be fixed with healing magic. If it had been broke, she might have been grounded for as long as six months.

“The real question is,” continued Dash, “what is Applejack taking and where can I get some?” She grinned, then winced. Rarity went up to Dash, removing some fabric from her saddlebag.

“Let me bandage that.” She said, wrapping Dash's wing.

“Not just me.” Applejack said. “We all just took down a great serpent. With our hooves.” She looked at Rarity and Pinkie. “Well, mostly our hooves.” She grinned tiredly. “When did we become epic heroes, again?”

“Oh, about three years ago, when we took down a dark goddess with nothing more than determination and a never say die attitude.” Quipped Rarity. “Oh, yes, and the magic of friendship. That was out first day.”

“I wouldn’t say we're epic tear. Still paragon.” said Pinkie. “Except Twilight, of course. She's completed her epic destiny.”

“Don't congratulate yourselves yet. This quest is far from over.” Twilight said. She sighed. “We still have to make it to Canterlot with great speed. And now, we've lost out raft, and sustained further injuries. There's quite an effort ahead of us.”

“Let's take a short rest to heal up!” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie, that's enough.” Twilight said.

“Sorry.” Pinkie said. “But in all seriousness, we should wait for your power to recharge a little, so that you can heal us up.”

“The only one of us who sustained injury is Dash, and I can't heal her wing. There's really no point.” Twilight sighed. “Unfortunately.”

“I'm all out of party rope.” Said Pinkie sadly. “So no new rafts.”

“So, should we just set up camp here and wait?” Dash asked. “I mean, with your power coming back, you said you could teleport to Canterlot in nine hours, right?”

“And leave the five of you here, in the middle of the Everfree? You have to be joking.” Twilight said. “When we were on the island, it was possible because those serpents keep most other things at bay. As long as you did not come to the shore, you would have been fine. Here? No chance. Yes, you can handle yourselves, but we're deeper in the forest than we've ever been. Nopony is safe, not even me.”

“Um...” Fluttershy said timidly. “Actually, Twilight, I might have an idea. But, um, it's probably not going to be that popular...”

“Anything right now.” Twilight said. “I wouldn’t care if we had to team up with giant spiders if it meant we could get to Canterlot quicker.”

“Well, okay...” Fluttershy said. “I do know some giant spiders, but that's not what I...” she paused. “Okay. How do you feel about Changelings?”

There was a pause as everypony looked at Fluttershy as if she had grown an extra head.

“Meep!” Fluttershy shrunk back. “Oh, I knew it would be unpopular of an idea.”

“Well, we haven't exactly had good encounters with them in the past.” Twilight said. “But... you wouldn’t suggest it if you didn’t think it would work. So, keeping an open mind, how exactly are changelings going to help us?”

“Are you kidding me?” Rainbow Dash said incredulously. “Changelings are evil. How could you even consider this plan? I mean, I get Fluttershy. She sees good in everything, even when it's not there. But you, Twilight?”

“Changelings are an evil that we know how to deal with. Spring is not.” Rarity said. “I can see the logic. If you think they can help, our top priority should be getting to Canterlot. Besides, as we've said...” Rarity gave the others a look of confidence. “We can take care of ourselves, if things go south.”

“I don't believe that all changelings could be evil.” Fluttershy said. “They're intelligent creatures. With Chrysalis gone, they have control over themselves. I'll admit that they are less inclined to be kind than ponies, but there are one or two who-”

“Wait. Hold on. You've talked to them?” Dash said. “You've talked to changelings, in the Everfree, just outside of Ponyville, and you didn’t tell anypony before now!?”

“Dash, shut up.” Applejack said. “I don't like it either, but given the circumstances, is this really the time?” she sighed. “The only thing I'm confused about is how, exactly, they could help us. It's not like they're going to carry us or something.”

“There are paths through the forest, known by the dark inhabitants who live inside...” Fluttershy said softly.

“This ain't time for some old mare's tale.”

“It's not a tale!” Fluttershy said. “I've found a few of them myself.”

“The dark roads.” Twilight said. “Nearly impossible to find, nearly impossible to navigate. They say, if you know what you're doing, you can get from one end of the forest to the other in ten minutes.” she paused. “Do you really think they'll show us?”

“Yes.” Fluttershy swallowed. “I do.”

“...” Dash looked troubled. “... fine. I trust you, Flutters.”

“How far away are they?” asked Twilight.

“By now, probably only a few hundred meters. They could be here already.” Fluttershy said. “They can sense emotion, remember? We've probably got the closest bond of anything in this forest right now.”

“So they would have jumped us anyway?” Rainbow Dash said. “Great. This is going really well so far.”

“With Twilight around, I'd highly doubt it.” Rarity said. “We might have some trouble getting them to come out at all. Remember, Dash, we're far more scary to them than they are to us.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Let me handle this.”

“No need.” A soft female voice wafted down from the trees, and a few seconds later, a changeling emerged from between the trees.

“Star!” Fluttershy said. “_%yt sfk/h _kxj r%/hq* sfk wqbb?”

“Efj %yt wqbb %yt I wfkb* _%lq bidq*.” Star replied, a small smile crossing her face. “_fw %->fkj sfk?”

“Wq %/hq ie op/hq%j *%eopq/h. J_q op/hq%j pfwq/h Birq _%yt /hiytqe! Wq eqq* jf opqj jf j_q yt_ieieop cijs ->qrf/hq ytke/hiytq. Pbq%ytq, %i* kyt!” Fluttershy said, strong but pleading.

“Fr cfk/hytq. I wfkb* efj bqj % r/hiqe* ytj%s ie j/hfk->bq.” Star nodded. “I wibb opki*q sfk.”(1) She turned to the others. “You must be the friends that Flit has told me of. Please, do not fear. I have no desire to hurt you.”

“You know this changeling?” accused Dash.

“Flit? Really?” asked Applejack.

“You speak Lexataxic?” Twilight asked, impressed.

“Flit has picked up our tongue very quickly.” Star said. “She has informed me of your plight. I will lead you out of the forest. Please, follow me closely.”

“No way!” Dash said. “You'll lead us right into a trap.”

Star laughed Star laughed “Rffbiyt_ ->bkq pqop%ytkyt! *f sfk qlq/h kytq j_%j ->/h%ie fr sfk/hyt, f/h febs sfk/h q&fjifeyt?” She rolled her eyes. “How else do you expect me to lead you out of here?”

“What did she just call me!?” Rainbow Dash said.

“Foolish blue pegasus.” Fluttershy informed her.

“Well... that wasn’t very nice.” Dash said, deflating. “It sounded a lot meaner then that.” she paused. “And it still does not answer why we should follow you. You told her about us, Fluttershy. She's probably been befriending you so that you'd bring us too!”

“Rffbiyt_, rffbiyt_, rffbiyt_!” Star laughed. “*fqyt yt_q qlq/h kytq _q/h _q%*?”

“YT_q iyt ukytj ytkytpicifkyt. OPilq _q/h ytf&q ytb%cd.” Fluttershy said.

“Do you think I would try to attack you when you have the great power of harmony among you?” Star said, looking at Dash. “She could end me without trouble.”

Twilight shifted on her hooves uncomfortably.

“Dash, we need to do this. Just trust her for ten minutes, okay?” Rarity said. “We have to save Equestria.”

“Alright, alright.” Dash said. “But I go right behind you, you got that? One move.”

“P%/h%efi*!” Star said. “If it makes you feel better.”

Star began to walk away. “Follow closely! The paths are very confusing.”

She ducked through the trees, and into shadow. It was difficult for the others to keep up, and they got lost once, but Star found them to more admonishments of “Rffbiyt_.” The paths were dark, and shadowy figures walked back and forth along them. It was almost as if the darkness itself was the path. About fifteen minutes later, the seven found themselves at the entrance to the Everfree, just outside of Ponyville. Their were no lights on, unsurprisingly, given that it was about 1:30.

Twilight turned to Star. “Thank you. You've been a great help.” She nodded to the others. “If we press hard, we might make it to Canterlot just after sunrise. Maybe 7:00, if we're lucky.”

“I wibb %ytytiytj sfk.” Star said.

“Ef, I j_ied sfk _%lq *feq qefkop_. Sfk wq/hq % op/hq%j _qbp.” Fluttershy said kindly.

“I wibb efj bqj sfk j%dq fe % op/hq%j pfwq/h wij_fkj _qbp!” Star said, anger in her voice. “Flit, sfk %/hq &s febs r/hiqe*. I wfkb* ->q _fef/hq* jf *iq rf/h sfk.”

“Wq %/hq _q/hfqyt. Wq defw w_%j wq %/hq *fieop. Wq wibb ->q rieq.” Fluttershy pleaded. “I w%ej sfk jf ->q yt%rq. Qlqe ir wq &%e%opq jf ytk/hlilq j_q op/hq%j pfwq/h, ukytj ->qieop ie j_q yt_ieieop cijs iyt *%eopq/hfkyt rf/h sfk! Pbq%ytq, bqj kyt j%dq c%/hq fr j_iyt.”(2)

Star sighed. “Pfeiqyt!” she shook her head. “%b/hiop_j, rieq.” She looked at Fluttershy sadly. “Take care of yourself.” She turned, and walked back into the forest.

“What was that about?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing important.” Fluttershy said. “We need to get to Canterlot.”

“Okay, then.”

The six took off at a brisk trot. Twilight felt a little guilty, being so close to Ponyville and not checking in on Spike, but she knew that they didn’t have the time. They had a city to warn.

^

“Almost there!” Twilight called. “Just a few more kilometers to go!” The six were squinting at the sun, just rising over the mountains. Very soon, they would clear a bend, and the city of Canterlot would come into full view. It was only twenty minutes from there to the city gates.

The six pulled over the ridge, seeing their goal in full light just up ahead.

“You have to be kidding me.” Twilight said flatly.

End Chapter 8

Author's Note

The footnotes! Ah! The footnotes!
1. C is C, I is I, P is P, W is W. Some letters have been replaced by two characters. -> is one, /h is one, op is one, yt is one. Punctuation has stayed the same. *%eopq/h is danger. M is &, and does not appear in this phrase. It is the only symbolic replacement which does not appear in this phrase. Shining city is how changelings refer to Canterlot. Have fun!

Yes, I made absolutely sure that not knowing what was said does not effect the story in any significant way. Don't panic.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Spring / Twilight
Monday, 24 June 1003

“Oh, this is refreshing!” Spring laughed, horn crackling with power. “I hast nay hadst this much fun in weeks!” Before her cowered fifty-three of Celestia's royal guard. They had spotted her coming in from the south, and had made the mistake of trying to shoot her down on her way to Canterlot. The unfortunate guard who had, and his six nearest companions, now found themselves vaporized by her returning shot. Really, though. A guard post of sixty? Against her?

The sun was just rising now, and its halo lit Spring from behind, as she grinned evilly at the assembled ponies. “You hast no idea how very much I missed this.” One flick of her hoof, and there were only forty-five guards. The remaining ponies looked to their erstwhile comrades, blood leaking from their chests where Spring had forced their armor to contract, and bowed to her.

“Please, goddess! Spare us!” One of the ponies said. “We were wrong to stand in your way!”

“That ye wast.” Spring said. “Ye ponies disgust me. Hast thee not sworn loyalty to Celestia! Ye shouldst be'st glad to die in service to thy chosen goddess! To think that ye wouldst break so easily? It is disgraceful. Ye don't deserve my time.” Spring glared. A flash of light, and every one of the groups helmets melted onto their screaming faces. “Oh, dost shut up. Thy screaming is irksome. Ye shouldst be'st glad that I hast let ye live at all.” She took off, shaking her head. “Ponies these days.”

She was still a few minutes out from Canterlot. The day was beautiful, and the sun warm. Spring took it slow, enjoying the feeling of flight. Oh, that all days could be'st this bright. She lazily drew in towards the city. No need to rush things. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a company of ponies on a path below her; after examination, she was mildly surprised to find that it was Twilight and her friends. She considered finishing them off now, but decided against it. She wanted Twilight to see her work before she killed her. Anyway, Canterlot was so close now. She could always come back later, after she had had her fun.

The city appeared to be still sleeping as she approached. Funny. She would have thought that the ponies of Canterlot would be the 'up with the sun' types. She sighed. Oh well. It was always so cute how ponies reacted to her coming, with the screaming and the panic, but it couldn’t be helped.

She flew up to the edge of the city, her horn alight. She paused, letting her power build. With an explosive release, a beam of aquamarine energy five centimeters thick and five hundred meters long shot from her horn, slicing across the first row of buildings from left to right in about two seconds. There was a pause, and the noise of the world dropped off to nothing. Two seconds. Three.

A line of explosions followed across where her beam had touched the ground, the buildings obliterated without resistance. That aught to hast gotten their attention.

The ponies began to scream. She heard the panic spread across the city. She grinned. “CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT! WHEREFORE DO'ST YE SCREAM AND FLEE? THY GODDESS HAST COME!” she laughed, the city shaking with her voice. “THERE SHOULDST BE'ST REVELRY AT MY PRESENCE!” she let forth another burst of energy, targeting the nearest statue of Celestia. “OH, WHERE ART THOU, GODDESS OF THE SUN! THY PRECIOUS PONIES NEED THEE!”

A wave of pink energy erupted from the top of the palace, quickly spreading across the city and forming a spherical pink barrier around the buildings, between Spring and her target. There was a flash as a hexagonal pattern tessellated itself across the internal walls, securing the city in a thirty thousand strong pattern of tiles, which slowly faded into the background in a shimmering of golden light. Spring blinked. That was... not expected.

Cautiously, she tapped the barrier. The barrier did not react. Spring tapped the barrier harder. Again, no reaction. She rolled her eyes. “Hast thee lost all thy sense in the past thousand years? Rule hast made thee soft. Thy best defense hast no method of repelling attack? Not even a simple shock spell?” she sighed. “I really expected better from thee.”

Spring's horn began to glow, her power building as she prepared her spell. The world around her went dark as her own light grew. Ponies were gathering in defensive formations behind their barrier. There were considerably more than the sixty guards she had encountered on the way over. Closer to two thousand. Spring smiled. Celestia must have increased her guard in preparation. At least she had not gone completely soft. There might be some challenge left in this world, after all.

With one precise strike, Spring struck the barrier directly on the nearest intersection of hexagons. In a flash, the hidden pattern reappeared, her magic highlighting the edges in a mix of gold and aquamarine. The tiles flashed briefly yellow, then shattered. The side of the shield nearest Spring caved in in waves, the hexagons failing one by one as her magic tore their foundations apart.

^

Twilight watched with a mixture of shock, awe, and frustration as the Canterlot barrier caved in in an impressive display of light and magic, the tiles collapsing inwards, the sphere becoming indented, a puncture hole spreading across its surface.

“Four seconds. Given the rate of decay, we were literally four seconds too late.” Twilight said flatly.

“Really? I mean, really?” Rarity said, flabbergasted.

“Come on!” Dash yelled. “You can't possibly be serious. Four seconds!”

“This is bad. This is real bad.” Applejack said. “I don't know what the hey you are talking about with 'four seconds'. We're still 20 minutes out.”

“No. We're less than a second, now that Canterlot is in visible range. I can teleport us, remember? I just need to know where we are.” Twilight's horn began to glow.

“Then what are we standing around here talking for! Get us in!” Dash admonished.

By now, the barrier had collapsed about 45 degrees in all directions from the point of impact, and though it appeared to be stopping, the eighth of the barrier nearest the point of impact had fallen completely. More than ample space for a single pony, or even a few thousand, to fly in. Or teleport in.

With a burst of concentration and power, Twilight teleported herself and her friends inside the city. Smoke filled their lungs as soon as they took a breath, causing them to cough in succession.

Ponies were fleeing around the six as they took in the surroundings. There was massive damage in the southern edge of the city, but most of the remainder seemed to be okay. The heavy haze of smoke came from it being largely trapped by the barrier around them. The nearest fire was sixty meters from them.

There was slash of aquamarine light, and another row of explosions racked the city. The point of impact was twenty meters in front of the Elements, but the shock-wave still rattled them, blasting their manes and tails back as if they were standing before a massive storm. A few small pieces of concrete shrapnel hit them, stinging but doing very little damage.

“Does she have artillery!?” Dash asked incredulously.

“No. She has magic.” Twilight said. “She's a goddess. Unhindered, she should be able to destroy a city the size of Canterlot in about... thirty minutes. Perhaps only half that if she's rushing.”

“Half an hour to destroy a city. Great.” Applejack said. “So, what do we do? Got any of yer plans, Twilight?”

“Well, no. Um...” Twilight tried to think, but with the noise and the light, it was hard to keep her mind on track.

“Princess!” Twilight was knocked out of her stupor by the voices of some royal guards. “We've lost sight of our comrades. What do you command us, princess!” They stood at attention, seemingly pleased at the possibility of having a task to complete.

Okay. There are nine of them, two unicorns, an earth-pony, and six pegasi... I can work with this.

Twilight nodded to the ponies. “You six, take to the air. Clear the smoke out! We need our airspace clear. We can't hit a target we can't see. The unicorns, alert as many subjects as you can as to the locations of safe routs of evacuation. We need to get them out of here. And, you, earth pony, you need to show me where Celestia and Luna are. I need to meet up with them.”

“Whatever you command, princess!”

The pegasi took off in a rush of clear air, the unicorns breaking and heading towards the civilian sector. The earth pony motioned for her to follow. “The princesses are in the barracks. They were delivering an inspection when the... when she...” the pony shuddered, his dull blue-gray mane falling in front of his wide, scared eyes.

“It's going to be okay.” Twilight said, surprising herself with the firmness and authority in her voice. “Spring will never make it past the first ring.(1) The castle will not fall today, let alone civilian sector. Trust in our princesses... trust in me. I will keep you safe.”

The stallion seemed to calm down. “Of course. I will never let that forsaken goddess stray one hoof into the second ring!” his eyes narrowed, his fear replaced by determination. Twilight smiled internally. That went well. If all leadership requires is some strong words and confidence, I might do better at this than I thought.

“Quickly, follow me!” he motioned for her to follow again, darting through the streets. Twilight and her friends kept pace without too much trouble. There were additional explosions as they passed, though they were getting more distant. Spring's attacks seemed to be heading in the other direction.

“What is your name?” Twilight asked the stallion.

“Silver. Silver Shine.” the stallion said.

“Silver, do you know where Shining Armor is?” Twilight asked, her mind trying to formulate a plan of attack.

“He's away from Canterlot at the moment. I do not know where.” the stallion informed her.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, then chided herself for doing so. It would have been better if Shining was here. He would have been able to form a much stronger shield around the city than the projection towers were capable of on their own. Still, he was safer this way...

The sky lit with aquamarine light. There were no thunderous explosions, but instead the air filled with the sound of magical blasts, hitting the earth with the frequency of rain. The smog shook for a second, and cleared, the air around Spring blasted outwards. Twilight stared in horror as she fired off blast after blast in rapid succession. Each one contained less than the required energy to kill a pony, but more than enough to break a bone or ignite a flame. She's letting off forty, fifty blasts a second!

Her barrage ended after fifteen seconds, much of the ground within one hundred and fifty meters of her on fire. There was a collective groaning of the injured ponies, over two hundred, in the waste of the burning city below her.

“CELESTIA! THY PONIES ART SUFFERING! FACE ME, BEFORE I GET BORED.” Spring called, mirth in her tones. “OR DOST THEE CONSIDER THIS TO BE'ST 'ACCEPTIBLE LOSSES' TO AVOID CONFLICT?” Spring laughed. “IT IS TOO LATE FOR THAT, I FEAR. I WILT TAKE THY CITY AS PAYMENT FOR THY BETREYAL -”

There was a flash of golden light, a beam of power burning with the intensity of the sun striking Spring in the chest. There was a blinding flash originating from the contact, and Twilight was temperately blinded. Her eyes cleared, two shapes silhouetted against the sun, turning to face Spring.

“Looks like I found them...”

^

Spring found herself being tossed backwards, struggling to stay in the air. The attack had come suddenly, and she had had barely enough time to erect a sufficient shield before the spell had struck. With some effort, she gained enough lift to remain at her chosen altitude. The smoke had cleared in the wake of the beam, revealing her assailants to her. Not that there was really any doubt who they were.

“There wast a time, dear daughter, that thee hadst the respect to wait until after thy opponent had finished their address before-”

Luna released a flurry of bolts, Celestia following with three intense beams. Spring was startled for a moment before initiating an evasive maneuver. Her underside lit up as a fourth, purple beam, rose up to hit her from below. She barely had time to react, Twilight's attack severing half of her tail, one of Celestia's grazing her side. By this time, Celestia had already readied seven spears of ice, which Spring barely managed avoid, while Luna clipped her left wing with her a conic burst of energy, which surrounded her, restricting her movements. Spring turned, noticing several tiny purple beams cutting through the smoke. They crossed and centered on her.

Spring darted through the cone, letting forth an inverted parabolic wave of force, throwing the entire combined energy of Luna's attack back at her whilst clearing her path to avoid Twilight's magically targeted force beam. She barely made it, the beam breaking through just three decimeters behind her. With a swipe, she generated four aquamarine specters to swarm Celestia. Luna deftly avoided her reversal, the resulting packet of energy detonating two hundred meters behind her. Spring turned to send something down to keep Twilight off her, when she realized that she had no idea where exactly Twilight was. Using a multi-focus magical targeting spell to make sure that thy spell met its mark whilst simultaneously rendering it impossible to ascertain where, exactly, it originated from. Not bad. How thee managed to accrue the wisdom of twenty years in one night is lost to me, but I wilt nay make the mistake of underestimating thee again, Twilight Sparkle. Thee breathes thy last.

“I see that thee art quite angry with me. I shouldst remind thee, Celestia, that thee hast brought this upon thyself! Ye broke our agree-”

Celestia generated six slashes of golden light, Luna surrounding them with a energetic shock barrier, while from behind a great wave of purple light leaped into place to seal her exit. Spring surrounded herself in a cone of energy, plunging through Twilight's spell. It covered the largest area, and was therefor the weak-point. She broke out without much trouble, to find herself surrounded by an innumerable flurry of exactly five hundred and thirty seven bursts in hundreds of colors. Two thousand guards, twenty-five percent unicorn...

Not without effort, Spring formed a shield of energy to absorb the blasts. It took about two hundred before shattering, giving Spring the three quarters of a second needed to drop herself into high concentration mode. The three hundred remaining bolts rose up at her in slow motion, her mind planing her movement paths, her magic surging to augment her body. Seven hundred and fifty possible paths analyzed. Most effective avoidance pattern selected, 99.6% success rate. Initiating doge in two tenths of a second.

Her magic caught up with her mind, her body spinning on autopilot, following the planed out instructions she had formulated. Her movements were faster than thought or reaction, having already done the planing before; her body became a machine, following its preprogramed actions. One second passed. Three hundred bolts missed their target. She felt a sharp pain on her left flank and underside, where the two bolts she couldn’t doge had hit her. Okay, only 99.3% success rate. Nopony's perfect.

“You talk to much.” Spring muttered to herself. But, perhaps, she could use that to her advantage. Time for a reversal, dear daughters.

“Thee shouldst really think before ye-” this time, Spring stuck, Celestia and Luna just beginning to power up their spells. With a burst of power, Spring summoned a great fire ball and hurled it at the others, dropping quickly and throwing in a rapid selection of bursts in an alternating random pattern, blanketing every square meter of sky around them. The fireball turned blue and dissipated, Celestia already aiming her spell, their eyes going wide as they noticed her secondary attack, too close now to doge. Celestia re-targeted her beam onto Spring's bursts, cutting and dispelling them as quickly as she could. Luna, on the other hand, had already spent her reserve spell. She folded her wings and went into free-fall in an effort to escape the blasts, but the acceleration was far from sufficient, and she cried out as three of the bursts impacted. She struggled to stay in the air. Spring kept the heat on, slashing out with her hoof, a crescent arc of power bearing down on Luna. She split it with a burst of her own, but lost her concentration, and began to lose altitude as she attempted to get her flight rhythm back. Without looking, Spring streaked to the left, missing Celestia's retaliation strike by a good few meters, only to run mere centimeters away from Twilight's burst, the purple beam passing so close to her face that she nearly went cross eyed. This is not good. I don't think I canst take three of them at once. She needed to take one of them out of the game. And she had a good idea who the weakest link was...

^

Twilight watched in horror and awe as Spring managed to deftly avoid, retaliate, and gain advantages against the two celestial sisters. It was clear that Spring outclassed Luna and Celestia combined, though admittedly not by much. Still, to be able to take two alicorns on at once, and gain the upper hoof regardless... It was clear to Twilight, even with her help, Spring was on the winning side. The sides were close enough that the battle could take fifteen minutes, perhaps longer, but from what she had seen, at the end, Celestia and Luna would be dead, and Canterlot would be...

No. She would not let that happen. While she could still stand in her way, no matter the personal cost, she would protect her friends, her companions, her city, her subjects, her little ponies. They needed her. She would not let them down.

She saw Luna struggling, Spring already flying out of Celestia's attack's range. She targeted the space in front of Spring, reaching inside herself and releasing another beam of purple light. Spring pulled up just short; Twilight could swear that the beam lit her face purple for a moment. She did a half-roll, arcing downwards, Celestia rushing to support Luna. Spring turned, her eyes locking onto Twilight's almost instantly. Panic rose in Twilight's chest. How does she know where I am?

Spring's horn began to glow, and Twilight steeled herself for the blow. To her surprise, Spring instead created a flaming wall behind her, smoke obscuring her path. Twilight noticed shock cross Celestia's face as she realized what was happening.

“TWILIGHT!” her voice full of anguish, Celestia dropped into a dive, her horn aglow, her eyes turning white. But Spring was less than twenty meters away, and Celestia was more than two hundred. Spring's hoof was beginning to glow, force building as she streaked at Twilight. Nothing could get in the way in time. Spring would close the distance in a half-second. Two and one half times the minimum reaction speed. She had only enough time for one conscious action.

There was only one thing in her mind.

Little filly Twilight Sparkle stuck her hoof in the air, and made that little half shield her brother was so very proud of. A smile crossed her face. “Did I do it this time?”

There was a flash of light, brighter than the sun. The ground shook, a shock-wave blowing the nearby structures to pieces. Instantly, everything within thirty meters was vaporized. Dust filled the air.

Eventually, the dust cleared. Spring was standing on three hooves, her fourth pressed against Twilight's. Twilight was also on three hooves, her eyes locked on Springs. The two stared at each other. A shiver went through Spring. Blood leaked from her hoof.

The world seemed to pause, a slow drip of blood trailing from Spring onto Twilight, slowly falling down her hoof. Twilight's eyes slid shut, her body rag-doling from the point of impact in a wave. Twilight collapsed, out cold.

^

Spring rolled her eyes. “Figures.” She shook her hoof, blood dripping from it. “Congratulations, Twilight. Thee hast drawn the first blood in this battle.” With a quick flash of aquamarine light, her hoof healed, ceiling shut. Spring put her hoof over Twilight's head. “Solace, I am sure.”

Spring hesitated. This was it. She could take care of the problem right now. Twilight was at her mercy, but she only had five, perhaps ten seconds until Celestia got there and the battle began anew. If she wanted to kill Twilight Sparkle, she needed to do it now.

Right now.

Any second.

Thee thinks she is interesting. Not her cause, not her motive, but what she is, what she is doing. Bright, naive, full of hope for the future, being the hero with her collection of friends. She reminds thee of thyself, when thee wast young. That is why thee didst nay kill her last night, and it is why thee art not going to kill her now. Thee craves the challenge. Thee thinks she could be a worthy opponent, given enough time, and thee misses that from thy life.

“Stupid sentiment.” Spring muttered. She paused. Her hoof was alight. One touch, and Twilight's head would separate from her body. It would take care of the problem. She was obviously going to stand against her. Yes, Spring was sure she could best her, but after today, she wasn’t so sure she could do it without effort. Especially if she had backup. This might be her only opportunity to do this for weeks, weeks in which Twilight could continue to be a thorn in her side. There was no logical reason to spare her.

She closed her eyes. Her hoof stopped glowing. She put it down lightly. “Thee hast better make this fun for me, Twilight Sparkle.” she whispered quietly into her ear.

“Stand away from her!” Celestia landed some three meters away from Spring, her horn alight, her eyes ablaze. “Don't you dare hurt her.”

“Thee art a bit too late for that, Celestia.” Spring said quietly.

“Twilight! No...” Celestia began to shake. “You... killed her. How dare you.” She glared at Spring, her eyes burning with one thousand years of hurt, sadness, and power. “I will not let this stand. You will be stopped. No obstacle too great, no location too sacred. I will hunt you, Spring, until you beg for me to kill you for this. For what you've done. My city, in flames, my ponies, dead, my student-”

Celestia was interrupted as Spring let lose a wave of power, an aquamarine haze zipping over and punching hundreds of millimeter radius holes in Celestia's flesh.

“What goes around comes around!” Spring laughed, Celestia collapsing from the blow. “Oh, get over it. That wilt nay kill thee.” Her horn began to glow. “This, however, will. Goodnight, Celestia.”

“Not on my watch, ya no good varmint!”

“You'll have to go through us first!”

“Nopony gets to hurt Twilight and get away with it!”

“So help me, I will sew your feathers to your side and make a pillow from you!”

“I, um...”

Spring rolled her eyes. “Really? I couldst hast sworn ye five wouldst hast died in the...”

Spring looked around. A smile crossed her face. “Well, wouldst thee look at that.” She laughed. “Twilight, thee hast helped me already! My work here is done. I wilt leave thee to the clean up, Celestia.”

“You can't be serious.” Luna said. Celestia's body glowed as she healed herself. “Do you think we're going to just let you walk out of here after this?”

“Yes, I do'st rather.” She motioned at Twilight, and a simple force rune appeared on her. “In exchange for Twilight's life.”

Celestia's eyes flashed with hope briefly, before her glare resumed.

Rarity, without looking away from Spring, cut a generous slit in her leg, splashing Twilight with blood. “I don't think so.” The new magic lines muddled Springs rune, the color fading.

“So ye wishes for more destruction? So be it.” Spring laughed. “It is not like I will be'st here for much longer.”

Spring wasted no time, taking to the air in a rush. Celestia and Luna sent bursts after her, taking to the air as well. “What, exactly, art thee looking for?” Spring asked coyly, letting a burst of energy out at the city below. A flash, and another building went up in smoke. Celestia flinched. “Oh, art thee thinking of the ponies there? Thee wast the one who wanted to continue.” Spring laughed, launching a piercing strike at Celestia and Luna. They dodged without issue, the beam continuing until it hit another row of buildings, each igniting in turn. Luna returned the beam, while Celestia warped her own power around her sisters. A stream of gold and blue arced through the air, barely missing Spring. By that time, Luna had already released a flurry of magic javelins, while Celestia was powering up five balls of golden light. Spring returned Luna's favor with magical spikes of her own, dodging around Celestia's spheres, dancing through the air with her two daughters. For it was a dance, three goddesses in contention, the mortal world burning below them as their conflict raged. Celestia and Luna began to become careless. Their missed blasts and bursts began to impact the city, and Canterlot was rocked by explosions of gold, blue, and aquamarine.

And the ponies below? They burned.

^

“What are we going to do?” Fluttershy asked, fear in her voice.

“I...” Rarity paused. “I don't know.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Well, we're in a city under attack, with an injured party. I say we get out of the battle zone!”

“The entirety of Canterlot is a battle zone!” Rarity said, exasperated. “Where, exactly, do you suggest we go to?”

“How about the castle?” Dash asked. The other four turned, startled. “It's not that ridiculous. Spring's trying to destroy the city and cause as much lasting damage as possible. She's not targeting landmarks, she's targeting population. And Celestia's palace is build to withstand lots of force. I think it's our best bet right now.”

“Oh, oh, I know a secret way in!” Pinkie said suddenly. “I can get us in undetected, and out of the way of any rescue and response teams. Quickly, somepony grab Twilight! We have no time to lose!”

The sky lit up in a wide array of colors, the air shimmering with magic. There was a blinding flash of golden energy to their right, and the resulting explosion knocked them off their hooves.

“Is Celestia attacking us too?” Dash asked incredulously.

“Nah, I think she's just bad at aiming. Not like she's had much practice fer a good thousand years.” Applejack said, brushing herself off and getting back to her hooves. “Now, I say we follow Pinkie. We need to get out of here, right now.”

“Oh, I wish Twilight was awake.” Fluttershy said nervously. “She'd know what to do.”

“Well, she ain't. And she ain't ever going to be unless we get!” Applejack said, picking Twilight up. “Dash, Rarity, get her on my back.” Rainbow Dash and Rarity complied, lifting Twilight onto Applejack's back. “Pinkie, lead us to your secret way.” Pinkie nodded. Applejack turned to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, calm down.” Fluttershy squeaked, then focused. “Are we all good now?” Applejack turned to survey the others. They nodded. “Okay, let's go!”

Pinkie Pie took the lead, weaving her way through the city. Applejack shuddered, and sighed in relief. I don't know how much longer I could have held appearances for.

^

Pinkie ran through the streets, making sure that the others were close behind. She sought frantically for some kind of indication of where to head. She knew no secret paths. What she did know was that moving targets were harder to hit. I hope this doesn’t get us into any trouble, but we needed to move. Sorry, guys.

Eventually, she found herself faced with a collapsed building, blocking the path. Pinkie turned around, looking into the shocked and scared eyes of her companions. “Don't be such grumps! The path is...” Pinkie looked around. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a glimmer of red light. “This way!” she called, bounding over in the direction of the light source. The others followed, making their way through the collapsing streets. About thirty seconds later, they came out into the mostly clear remains of a flight square. There were three unicorns in the left corner, adorned in aquamarine cloaks. A pegasus stallion lay at their hooves, not moving.

“Is he okay?” Fluttershy asked, drawing the attention of the three ponies. They turned their heads to look at the six.

“You are the heroes of Equestria.” One mare said, her tone completely flat.

“You obey the sun.” The stallion to her left said, his eyes uncharacteristically dull.

“You will be punished.” The third pony, a young mare, stepped forward, her horn beginning to glow with red light. “Our goddess has risen to rid us of the oppression of the sun. All ponies who stand in the light must be destroyed.”

Well, that's what you get for following pretty lights. Pinkie thought, closing her eyes.

^

Rarity's horn flashed, creating a blinding cascade of light which startled the attacker. She ran out in front of the others, starring the opposing mages down with furry in her gaze. “Try me.”

The young unicorn mare said nothing, summoning a ball of flame which she tossed at Rarity. Rarity concentrated, pushing against the air with her telekinesis. The ball of fire burst on her makeshift air cushion, dispersing in a wave of hot, dry air. Quickly, Rarity erected a cover of darkness around herself and her friends. I don't know any combat magic! We have perhaps ten seconds before she simply overwhelms me, completely ignoring her two friends!

“You really shouldn’t mess with us!” Rainbow Dash yelled from above, diving at the lead mare at nearly a quarter of the speed of sound. She took one smart step to the left, not even looking at Dash, who proceeded to slam into the earth at full tilt. There was a unpleasant crunching noise, and Rainbow Dash stopped moving. Flutteshy gasped. Rarity felt her heart sink. Not now. Not like this.

Applejack rushed out next, followed by Pinkie. “If we work together, we have a chance. Everypony, charge!” Rarity let out a flash of power, teleporting directly behind the unicorns, causing a distraction as Applejack and Pinkie cleared the distance. She recast darkness around them, inverted this time, blinding the opponents and herself. The two ponies to her sides drew what appeared to be steel daggers, holding them in their magic. Applejack got there first, barreling into the stallion, Pinkie taking the mare. The stallion grunted and fell, struggling with Applejack. The young mare turned to Rarity, hoisting her into the air with a flash of telekinetic power. Pinkie tried to tackle the other mare and got a knife in the left front leg for the trouble. Her horn lit again, wrenching the knife from Pinkie and reading for another blow. The young mare pulled at Rarity's leg, reopening the cut Rarity had made earlier. There was a scream followed by a thud, as Fluttershy got between Pinkie and the knife. Is this... are we... Rarity closed her eyes.

I won't let it.

With another flash of light, Rarity dispelled the darkness around them, determination in her eyes. A flash of light, and Rarity did what she knew. She worked with fabric.

The bindings of the cloaks of the three ponies came undone, swirling around the to block their vision. With a single swipe of her hoof, Rarity forced the contents of their cloaks down every available orifice, restitching the fabric together as she went. “You!” Rarity pulled the fabric through the ponies noses, tearing a hole through their snouts with a thousand threads. “Leave!” she ordered the fabric into their throats, stitching their airways together. “My!” she pulled up on the fabric, collapsing their throats. “Friends!” she pushed the fabric through the skin of their necks, binding them to the earth. “ALONE!” she stuck the threads down into their exposed blood vessels, until she poked a thousand little holes in the insides of their hearts. The three stopped moving.

There was silence for a few seconds, the battle seeming to pause around them.

“I... I...” Rarity said, breaking into a cold sweat. “I mean...” She felt her mind beginning to fall into shock.

“Stay with us.” Applejack said fiercely and severely, looking Rarity right in the eyes. “There might have been a better way, but there sure as hell wasn't a faster way. We can't deal with this right now. We already have two unconscious parties, and two injured. Unless we want to end up dead, we need you on your hooves.”

“But I... killed....” Rarity said, tears beginning to form at the edges of her eyes.

“Yes. You did. Get over it.” Applejack said. “We need to get to safety now. Right now.”

“But...”

Applejack hit Rarity across the face. “Get yourself together. We're in a war zone, and we've already wasted enough time with your wining. Every second we stand here increases our chances of death. Now, grab Dash, and GET!”

Rarity did as she was told, her vision clouded with tears, her body threatening to give up with every step.

^

Applejack was dieing inside. She saw Rarity's look of hatred, aimed at both herself and Applejack, saw the glances Pinkie and Fluttershy were sharing. But there wasn't time to think about that. Sure, she wouldn’t have friends when this was over, but at least they would be alive to hate her.

“Can you run?” She asked Fluttershy briskly.

“Uh, yes!” Fluttershy squeaked, obviously terrified. Applejack's heart died a little more; her brain threw a party. The more afraid of her they were, the more likely they were to follow her instructions, and the more likely they were to live through this. What had cost them last time was a lack of coordination. Working together, the... four of them were quite a team.

“Then let's go.” She grabbed Pinkie to the side as they began to move. “You don't actually know where we're going, do you?” She said bluntly.

Pinkie hesitated, then nodded. “Lead us to the civilian sector, then. It's going to be more protected. Say you got lost or something.” Applejack broke off from Pinkie, coming up next to Fluttershy. “You need to get in the fight. Fluttershy, I understand that you don't want to hurt anypony, including yourself. I don't care. You're our only aerial defense now. You have the greatest mobility. We need you to be wherever we need you, as soon as we need you. Do you understand?”

Fluttershy shivered, then nodded. “Alright. I... I'll be there.”

“Good.” Applejack walked briskly to Rarity. “How much magic do you have left?” She asked.

“Almost none.” Rarity said bitterly.

“Then take this.” Applejack hoofed the steel blade she had taken from her assailant to Rarity. “You have the least ability in hoof-to-hoof combat, so you need this the most.” Rarity seemed hesitant to touch the blade, but with a harsh look from Applejack, was convinced. Applejack resumed her position in the middle of the group, struggling with the weight of Twilight on her back. I just hope this is enough. I'll never forgive myself if we die anyway after all this.

^

“Oh, what fun!” Spring laughed. “This reminds me so heavily of thy childhood.”

“You wish!” Celestia said, letting a spear of light erupt from her horn, whilst homing in with her spheres. Spring dispelled one of the three remaining spheres with a wave of energy, ducking through the resulting gap and returning fire with a wide beam of her own. Luna let forth the spell she had been concentrating on for the previous fifteen seconds, a beam of blue energy disappearing into the sky. Spring took note, beginning to build a half-shield above her. Celestia flew upwards and forwards, riding the wake of Springs attack. There was a flash of light in the high atmosphere, and the sky glowed a brilliant blue for half of a second, before a piercing beam of blue-silver energy impacted on Spring. She was thrust to the earth, her shield taking the brunt of the damage. The force was still great enough to accelerate her downwards at nearly three g's, and four seconds later Spring slammed into the ground at over one hundred meters per second.

“Ugh...” Spring sat up, a crater surrounding her point of impact. She spit out a little blood, wiping her muzzle with her hoof. “That really hurt.” shaking her head, Spring formed a bubble of energy around herself as Celestia and Luna dropped lower to reassess the situation. She concentrated, her energy building in waves, the bubble pulsing periodically as the energy content grew. Celestia went and attempted to burst her bubble, but her magic bounced off with very little effect. Luna backed up.

“Sister, clear!”

Celestia began to reverse her flight, but it was too late; with a single thought, Spring ended her containment field, the hemispherical bubble of power erupting in a wave of light, sound, and magic. The magical shock-wave caught Celestia, tossing her over one hundred meters and slamming her into the castle. Luna was far enough out to receive only enough of a shock to be pushed a few meters. There was a crashing noise as Celestia plunged through the outer wall of the palace and into the adjoining room.

Followed by a noise like rolling thunder, the entire first ring of the city shaking.

Spring smiled. “Finally! I wast waiting for this.” She grinned up at Luna.

“What did you do?!” Luna asked.

“It wast nay just me. Twilight, thee, and Celestia all contributed. Thee sees, it began when I struck Twilight directly. Thee must hast noted that her friends survived. The only way that couldst hast occurred is if Twilight deflected my spell so that it would miss. But, Luna, my spell was not directional.”

“It had to be deflected upwards to miss the ponies on the ground... but if it was deflected upwards on one side...” Luna said slowly, the situation dawning on her.

“It wast deflected downwards on the other.” Spring said. “Directly, as it happens, into the suspended basin of the city. I must say, building a city on a mountain in the specific way thee decided to confuses me to this day.”

“The burst was directed into the floor. The energy shook the ground, breaking the first line of supports. After that, every stray blast weakened the structure. And we've been fighting for ten minutes...”

“I am sorry to inform thee that thee hast used most of thy time in conflict with me.” The ground trembled again, this time a cloud of dust coming up from connection point with the mountain. “Thee hast thirty seconds.”

There was a burst of golden light which Spring sidestepped with ease. Celestia removed herself from the building, flying at the other two. “What are you doing, Luna! Hit her!”

“Celestia, we must protect the city!” Luna said. “The first ring is about to fall off the mountain!”

“Fall off the...” Celestia's eyes went wide. “How long do we -”

“Fifteen seconds now.” Spring laughed. “Don't worry, I wilt nay attack. I came here for retaliation. I do'st believe that I hast shown my power in full here. Thy city burns, like I promised. My work is done.” She paused, grinning. “Unless ye wishes to go for a third round...?”

Celestia paused. She looked hurt. Of course she did. If she let Spring go now, whatever progress she had made would be worthless. Another city would have to burn in their conflict. They would be back to square one, but next time, it wouldn’t be an attack of revenge, but a planned conflict, with much higher stakes. But, if she did not, with the collapse of the first ring, every other structure would be weakened. It would not take Spring much effort to knock the civilian sector off next, and all three knew it. Two minutes maximum, and twenty thousand would die. It was unavoidable. Spring smiled. She knew Celestia too well. No matter the future cost, she would not let these ponies die. Short sighted – it hast always been thy weakness.

Celestia struck the earth with her hoof, kicking dust into the air. She growled for a few seconds, then sighed, breaking eye contact with Spring.

“Lets go.” Celestia turned from Spring, motioning Luna to follow her.

Spring's laugh followed them as they departed, growing in volume as the two celestial sisters ran away. She considered knocking the second ring off anyway, but decided against it. If they were stupid enough to try to stop her again, then she would really let them have it. For now, she felt she had made her point.

With a flash of lightning, Spring teleported away, just as the city began to slide down the mountain side...

End Chapter 9

Author's Note

It's footnote time!

Canterlot has three walls, commonly referred to as the 'rings of the city.' The first ring is what is thought of as 'classic Canterlot.' It contains the business sector, the dwellings of the nobility and rich, and the castle. It is the oldest of the three, at slightly older than one thousand years, and holds a resident population of around one thousand ponies. The second ring buds off the right and left edges of the first ring, circling the mountain off to the sides. It is the largest of the three rings, taking up nearly sixty percent of the total area of the city. The first expansion began in 331 C.R., with the last occurring in 998. It acts primarily as the civilian sector, housing slightly over twenty thousand inhabitants. The third ring is the most recent, construction only starting in 985. It serves as the industrial sector of the city, and houses a resident population of zero.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Applejack / Twilight
Monday, 24 June 1003

“Down!” Applejack yelled, dropping to the floor as the entire first ring of the city lurched forward thirteen meters. She was nearly taken off her hooves anyway, the effective gravity decreasing to only a quarter of a g. Two seconds, and there was the sound of a million lightning strikes at once, the falling ring temporarily catching itself on the side of the mountain. The four ponies felt themselves become heavier as it stabilized, then lighter again as the final struts gave way and the city officially entered free-fall.

“Come on! We don't have time to stand around here!” Applejack hollered. “We need to get to somewhere safer!”

“Where, exactly, would that be!” Rarity screamed. “The entire city is falling!”

“Somewhere strong, that won't break when we hit the ground.” Applejack said. “The center of the ring is our best bet.”

“That won't help!” Rarity said, exasperated. “It might not feel like it, but we're falling right now at nearly one hundred kilometers per hour!” She stomped her hoof, bouncing upwards at the force. “We feel ten time lighter because the floor itself is undergoing nine tenths of the acceleration! By the time we hit the ground, we'll be traveling almost half the speed of sound!”

“Well, what do you suggest? We all stand around here and hope for a miracle?” Applejack asked.

“...” Rarity seemed troubled. “... no. I suppose not.”

“Then let's do all we can. Come on, follow me!” Applejack ordered, and the others complied. It was a struggle to walk. Each step made them bounce, and they could manage no more than a slow trot as they worked their way step by step across the burning city. It was like a dream-scape from some foal's nightmare – acrid smoke filled their lungs, the ground glowed in the light of a thousand burning flames, the city was shelled and destroyed, its once great buildings left crumbling, and their bodies wouldn't respond to their commands in a normal manor. Well, at least Twilight's gotten lighter.

“How long do we have?” Applejack asked Rarity.

“I... I don't know.” Rarity said. “About thirty seconds, I think.”

Applejack swore under her breath. “Alright. Okay. Rarity, this might sound crazy, but any chance we could make a parachute?”

“Out of what, exactly?” Rarity asked.

“Okay, thank you.” Applejack sighed. She looked about, grasping for anything at all which could help them. She found nothing. No ideas popped into her mind, not even crazy ones. Nothing at all. She couldn’t think, couldn't do. It seemed that this was it. “Look, I'm sorry. I want to get that out there. I did what I thought I needed to to keep us alive, but it looks like it was all for nothing. I hope you can forgive me. Quickly, as we don't seem to have much time.” She paused. “Fluttershy, I want you to start flying skywards as fast as you can manage. If you're lucky, you might pull up enough to avoid hitting the ground.”

“I'm not leaving you!” Fluttershy said.

“Then we'll all die!” Rarity screamed. “There's nothing that you staying here will do other than kill you along with us.”

Fluttershy grabbed Rarity in a hug. “I won't leave you. Ever. You're my friend.” There was something final about that statement, something that took all the resistance out of Rarity in a single, almost tangible burst. Rarity broke into tears, falling to the ground in a rush like tiny sparkling gems.

“I forgive you.” Pinkie Pie said, looking at Applejack with a sad smile. “You made a tough decision. And, hey! If you hadn’t, we all would have been dead five minutes ago. None of us are really cut out to lead, and you took the responsibility of keeping us all alive onto yourself with no question. Of course I forgive you.” Tears were leaking out of Pinkie's eyes, slowly dripping onto her chin. “We... We're friends.”

“One last adventure.” Rarity said, laughing even as she cried. “Facing impossible odds, staring our deaths in the face. Business as usual.”

“The best of companions.” Applejack said, glancing around at her friends, her vision blurring. “The six of us, together until the end.”

“It's been an honor.” Pinkie bowed. “I can't think of a better place to be then right here, right now, surrounded by the five other ponies who mean the most in my life. Whatever that may bring.”

“Um...” Fluttershy said. “We're not going to die.”

The others turned to her.

“Look at your tears.” Fluttershy said simply. “They're falling normally. We've stopped accelerating.”

Rarity put a hoof up to her face, feeling the tears slide down her hoof. She started to laugh. “We've stopped...” she convulsed, her body racked in laughter, tears still falling from her face. “We've... stopped... accelerating. We're not in free fall any longer. We've been caught by something.” She turned her face skyward. “Praise Celestia, we've been caught by something.”

“Oop!” Pinkie Pie said. “I'm feeling heavier!”

“We're being accelerated upwards now. We're slowing down.” Fluttershy said. “At the rate this feels like... we should stop moving soon.” She tittered nervously. “I just hope we're slowing down fast enough to stop before we hit the ground. We're still going down quite quickly.”

Applejack just grinned. “Oh, stop it, Fluttershy. Don't be the spoil sport. You did so well as the harbinger of good news. We're going to be fine.” She paused. “WE'RE GOING TO BE FINE!” she yelled, throwing her hoof into the air. A few cheers were heard around them, as other ponies got to their hooves and began to uncover themselves. Within twenty seconds, Canterlot, still falling, still burning, still broken, was filled with the voices of a thousand ponies in celebration. They had made it, somehow.

Fifty seconds, and they stopped feeling heavier. By then, the ponies had already begun to gather around the palace. Strangers walked up to each other, hugging and laughing. Thirty seconds later, and there was a sudden jolt as the basin hit the ground at about 2 meters per second. It tilted over slightly, but came to rest at a reasonable thirteen degree incline. Applejack, still carrying Twilight on her back, Pinkie, carrying Rainbow Dash, and the other two Elements entered the clearing shortly afterwords. They were almost universally recognized by the ponies around them, and Applejack found herself quickly separated from her friends, surrounded by joyous and thankful ponies.

There was a flash of light, and the eyes of the crowd were drawn collectively skywards. Celestia and Luna descended, looking to Applejack to be completely unaffected by the conflict which had done so much damage to the city. Startled for a moment, she turned to look at the unconscious Twilight. She was hurt, obviously, but seemed, to all the world, to be just asleep. And she took the blow that nearly knocked the city off the mountain on its own- directly! She almost took an involuntary step back. She was used to the idea that Celestia and Luna would be unimaginably powerful, but... It's Twilight. She's... Twilight. Applejack shuttered, becoming cold even with the warmth of the day and her survival. Just how small are we to you, Twilight, and when are you going to start showing it?

Celestia and Luna landed on the primary balcony of the palace, and the ponies in the square bowed in waves for them. Applejack started to drop, then stopped. Why did she bow before these ponies? By what right did they rule her? Then she remembered that they had probably just saved her life, and continued into her bow, carefully rolling Twilight off her back and onto the ground to her side. It's a good question, but now is really not the time. They definitely deserve it now.

Celestia and Luna seemed to survey the crowd for a moment, before Celestia stood forward. “MY LOYAL SUBJECTS!” she began, and for some reason, Applejack felt her heart sink for a second. What the heck is wrong with me? I've never thought this way before. “THIS HAS BEEN A DARK DAY FOR THE PONIES OF EQUESTRIA, BUT WE HAVE SURVIVED! DESPITE THE BEST EFFORTS OF OUR ENEMY, WE HAVE EMERGED VICTORIOUS, OUR FOE IN RETREAT!” she lowered her head, pausing for a second before continuing. “I FEAR IT IS NOT THE LAST. THE DARK GODDESS SPRING HAS RETURNED TO THESE LANDS, AND SHE WILL NOT BE STOPPED EASILY. SHE IS UNLIKE ANY FOE THAT HAS THREATENED US IN YOUR LIFETIMES. SHE DOES NOT WISH TO KILL YOU. SHE DOES NOT WISH TO USE YOU. SHE DOES NOT WISH TO TOY WITH YOU.” Celestia paused for dramatic effect. “SHE WISHES TO RULE YOU. TO CONTROL YOU. SHE WANTS NOTHING MORE THAN TO TAKE OUR NATION AND TEAR IT APART, TO PICK UP THE REMAINS AND REFORM IT IN HER OWN IMAGE. SHE WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO TAKE EVERYTHING WE HAVE WORKED FOR, EVERYTHING WHICH MAKES US A COHESIVE WHOLE, AND DESTROY IT UTTERLY. BUT...” Celestia paused again. “WE ARE STRONG. WE WILL NOT GIVE IN TO HER. WHEN SHE ATTACKS, WE WILL DEFEND. WHEN SHE DESTROYS, WE WILL REBUILD. WE WILL GIVE NO QUARTER! WE WILL MAKE NO COMPROMISES! WE WILL STRUGGLE, AND WE WILL TRIUMPH, FOR WE ARE STRONG! TRUST IN US!” Celestia flew off the balcony, landing in front of the crowd. “TRUST IN THE POWER OF YOUR GODDESSES! TRUST IN THE POWER OF YOUR NATION! WE WILL BE STRONG! WE WILL OUTLAST! WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!” she called, the ponies beginning to murmur. “WE WILL SUCCEED IN OUR STRUGGLE. I CAN NOT SAY THAT IT WILL NOT BE HARD. I WILL NOT LIE TO YOU. THERE WILL BE LOSS. THERE WILL BE HARDSHIP. BUT IF YOU ONLY TRUST IN ME, IN MY SISTER, IN TWILIGHT, WE WILL SUCCEED. WE WILL WIN. WE WILL OUTLAST ANY DARKNESS, FOR WE ARE THE LIGHT! WE WILL NEVER GIVE IN TO HER EVIL POWER! WE WILL BE STRONG!” she stuck her hoof in the air, and a beam of golden light touched the earth at her position, her battle-regalia appearing on her body. She extended her wings and rose four meters into the air, glowing softy, her mane flowing in the wind. Applejack felt pure awe creep up her throat, her body telling her to flee with all its might, her brain forcing her to worship. “WE ARE THE PONIES OF EQUESTRIA, NATION OF THE SUN! WE WILL NOT FALL IN THE FACE OF DANGER. WE WILL NOT BREAK TO THE STRAIN OF HARDSHIP. NEVER, IN ALL OF HISTORY, HAVE I KNOWN A STRONGER, MORE HARDY GROUP OF PONIES THAN I SEE ASSEMBLED BEFORE ME HERE TODAY. I MUST ADMIT, OUR ENEMY IS CUNNING AND POWERFUL, BUT WE ARE GREATER. WE GO FORTH, WITH THE SUPERIORITY OF MIND, OF BODY, OF MORALS. WE GO FORTH, OUR HEARTS SURE OF THE POWER OF OUR NATION, OUR PONIES, OUR PRINCESSES! WE WILL BE STRONG! WE WILL NOT GIVE IN! WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!” her horn flashed, and she cried out, her volume twice what it had been before. “LONG LIVE EQUESTRIA!”

“LONG RULE CELESTIA!” the crowd responded, a frighting cacophony of more than one thousand voices crying out with determination and awe.

“LONG LIVE EQUESTRIA!” Celestia called again, landing back down on the floor.

“LONG RULE CELESTIA!” the crowd yelled again, building into a fever pitch. Ponies began to rise to their hooves, beating them against the ground. “LONG RULE CELESTIA! LONG RULE CLELESTIA!”

Applejack found herself joining in, unable to maintain control, drawn in by the energy of the crowd and the force of the speech. She didn’t even think about what she was saying; she just said it. “LONG RULE CELESTIA!”

“LONG RULE LUNA!” Celestia cried, overpowering the crowd for a moment. The volume dropped, the ponies drawing in to listen to their leader. “LONG RULE TWILIGHT! WE WILL NEVER BE OVERCOME! OUR LOYALTIES WILL NEVER FALTER! NO HARDSHIP IS TO GREAT FOR US. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US, IF WE ONLY KEEP OUR WILL STRONG AND OUR MINDS ALIGNED! WE WILL NEVER GIVE IN. WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER. WE WILL BRING THE FIGHT TO SPRING, AND WE WILL DEFEAT HER!” Celestia struck the earth, her hoof sending out a shock-wave. “TRUST IN YOU GODDESSES! TRUST IN YOUR NATION! TRUST IN YOURSELVES! FOR WE CAN OVERCOME ANYTHING, SO LONG AS WE BELIEVE IN OUR POWER!”

“LONG RULE CELESTIA! LONG RULE LUNA! LONG RULE TWILIGHT!” the ponies screamed, the ground shaking under the strain of their hooves, pounding over and over again, their voices a chorus of zealous fervor, a pledge of infinite loyalty to their gods. “LONG RULE CELESTIA! LONG RULE LUNA! LONG RULE TWILIGHT!”

Applejack snapped out of it. The word Twilight choked in her throat. Twilight was her friend, not her god. Scanning the crowd, she met Pinkie Pie's eyes, seeing her own turmoil played out in their gleam. Pinkie turned to her, uncertainty playing across her features as well. With a quick look around, Applejack found Fluttershy. She was more hesitant than Pinkie, but she did eventually meet Applejack's gaze. What she found there, she would not classify as uncertainty, but perhaps confusion. She flew over to the other two, Pinkie making her way towards Applejack through the crowd. By this time, Celestia had gone back to the balcony, Luna and her entering the mostly intact castle. The ponies were beginning to disperse, but the energy of the crowd had not dissipated. Chants of 'long rule Celestia', 'praise the sun/moon', and 'trust our goddesses' rang out in large groups. Applejack noted Rarity among one of them.

“Quite some speech, hun.” Pinkie said, looking to the side. “Did that make anypony else a bit... uncomfortable?”

“Oh, I mean, it was a bit forceful and rousing, sure, but I don't think it was 'uncomfortable.'” Fluttershy said. “Although, I mean... at the end... perhaps a little.” she blushed. “I trust Celestia. She knows what she's doing.”

“I'm sure of that.” Applejack said. “That's what I'm worried about.” She paused, looking around like Pinkie was. When she was sure nopony was paying her mind, she continued. “Did you two get the impression that if she had told them to worship her hooves they wouldn't have even hesitated?”

“Well, I'm not sure I'd go that far...” Pinkie said, “but kind of, yeah.” she laughed nervously. “'praise Celestia!'”

“Oh, that's definitely too far.” Fluttershy said. “I don't fully agree with her methods, but she was just getting the ponies together after a crisis. It was leadership, that's all.”

“If that was the case, why did they come out praising her? And why did it sound like she was raising an army?” Applejack asked, looking over her shoulder. A few ponies around were looking and pointing at them, and some of them were muttering between themselves.

Pinkie saw them too. “Perhaps we should talk about it elsewhere?” she offered. “It doesn't look like you hold a very popular opinion at the moment.”

“Can't. As much as I'd like to.” Applejack sighed, picking up the unconscious Twilight and adjusting her onto her back. “We've got friends who need help. Pinkie, you and I need to get to the palace. Now. I'm honestly more worried about Rainbow than Twilight. She took that pretty hard, and, well, only one of them are gods.”

“She's stopped bleeding, and her breath is weak but stable. I don't think she's in any immediate danger. Still, you're right. We should get her some help. It's no fun to be hurt, and Dash will complain most of all. The sooner she recovers, the less of her wining we'll have to listen to.” Pinkie said, some of her cheer finally reentering her tone. “Hey, you know what? I know you know what I'm about to say, but, this time, I really really really think that this calls for -”

“Go for it.” Applejack said. “After we drop these two off, start your set up. You're right, this does call for a party. And it'll be good to have something for the ponies of Canterlot to lean on other than religious fervor.”

“Ha-ha!” Pinkie jumped into the air, seemingly unhindered by Dash's weight on her back. “Oh, I can't wait to get started!”

“Hey, Fluttershy, do you mind getting Rarity?” Applejack said, beginning off for the palace. “Tell her to meet us at the palace entrance.” Fluttershy nodded, flying over towards one of the larger groups. Applejack continued onwards towards the palace, flanked by Pinkie.

They traveled in silence for a while, negotiating the groups of ponies milling about the square. Applejack looked at Pinkie a few times, eventually turning her head to face her. She opened her mouth to speak.

“Yes.” Pinkie said. Applejack closed her mouth, startled. “I did mean it. It wasn't just the near death thing. I actually do forgive you, and the others will too, with time.”

Applejack opened her mouth again, but found nothing to say. She sighed. “Thanks. I really... just, thank you.”

“That's what friends are for.” She said, trotting lively towards the palace.

Even as crowded as it was, it took them only about a minute to cross the distance to the palace gates. Nopony tried to stop them from entering. Once they passed beyond the threshold, the volume dropped off considerably. Applejack found herself yawning as she entered. Their hooves echoed off the floor of the nearly silent halls, as the two attempted to find their way to the infirmary.

For whatever reason, the palace was nearly deserted. Applejack would have thought anypony stuck inside when the city fell would likely still be here, but apparently this was not the case. On their way, they passed only three other ponies, all of whom were equally lost. After five frustrating minutes, Applejack stopped.

“Alright. Look. Why don't we go to the throne room. I'm sure Celestia will know where her own infirmary is, and it's pretty much the only room in the palace that I know how to get to. That, and the kitchens, but I don't think they'll be much help.” She sighed. “Unless you have a better idea.”

“Um...” Pinkie put one of her hooves on her chin. Applejack was still amazed at how she didn’t loose balance with Rainbow Dash on her back. Yes, Dash was a pegasus, but she still weighed at least 120 Kg! “No, not really.” She yawned, and Applejack followed. She shook her head. “Oof. Sorry.”

“Well then.” Applejack sighed again. She really, really didn't want to see Celestia right now, but this was the only thing she could think of, and Rainbow Dash definitely needed treatment. Pinkie Pie herself, not to mention Fluttershy, could use some too for the knife wounds they had received. “Lets go.”

It did not take them long to find their way to the throne room. The doors were shut, and seemed to be barred from the inside. Applejack tapped on the door with her hoof loudly. Their was no response. Applejack tapped harder. And harder. Nothing happened.

“Alright, my turn.” Pinkie said, drawing her party cannon from nowhere with a flourish. “Cover your ears!”

*BANG*

The report was far louder than normal, and it nearly deafened Applejack, who had unsurprisingly not been able to cover her ears in light of the unconscious Twilight on her back. Dully, over the ringing, she thought she heard rushed hooves from beyond the door.

The doors opened. A disgruntled day guard stepped out, a scowl on his face. “The princesses are busy! Take your business...” He paused. “Is that...”

“An unconscious princess Twilight, carried by one of the Elements of Harmony?” Pinkie asked. “Yes, yes it is.” The guard’s face flushed red. “May we come in?”

“Of... Of course!” He stuttered, bowing and letting the two enter the room. The stained glass windows had shattered, likely upon impact, but aside from this the room seemed to be fairly intact. Luna was sitting in her silver throne at the head of the room. Celestia's seat was vacant. As soon as the two entered the room, she turned to greet them.

“Ah, Pinkie, Applejack. We have been expecting...” Luna started, her eyes growing wide and her words stopping in her throat. “Oh, my.”

Applejack put Twilight down, Pinkie depositing Rainbow Dash. Without pause, Luna left her throne and paced over to the unconscious ponies. Sparing Twilight a brief glance, she turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. “What happened?”

“Dash had a falling out with the ground at about one hundred meters per second.” Pinkie Pie said. “All things considered, she took it rather well, but she's still a little broken up about it.”

Luna's horn flashed, coating Dash in an array of lights. After a short pause, she sighed. “She is going to be fine. Some broken bones, but little to no internal bleeding and no organ damage. Still, she needs help. Why did you bring her here?”

Applejack opened her mouth, and found herself yawning again. “Eugh. Sorry. Well, to be perfectly honest, we can't find the infirmary.” she said. “If ya could point us in the right direction...”

“I thought I had made it very explicit that the rout to the infirmary was to be marked at every intersection.” Celestia entered the throne room from the royal chambers, still adorned with her battle-regalia. “It's perhaps the second most important room in the palace, after the kitchens, of course.” She tapped her hoof lightly on the floor, and five servant ponies, whom Applejack had not noticed before, assembled. “Take princess Twilight and her companion Rainbow Dash to the infirmary.” The servants bowed.

“Yes, princess!” Picking them up, they carried the unconscious ponies out of the room. Applejack watched them go.

“Now, where are the others?” Celestia asked. “I've only seen four of you since the battle. Are Fluttershy and Rarity...”

“They're fine.” Applejack said stiffly. “Fluttershy went to get Rarity after your speech. She got a bit... carried away.”

Something flashed across Celestia's face, but it was far too brief for Applejack to identify. “I'm glad of that. You had me worried there for a moment.” Celestia had her gaze trained directly on Applejack, her eyes searching. “In all the chaos, after all this time, I wasn’t sure what would happen. You six especially were on my mind.” She paused, waiting, her eyes daring.

You have got to be kidding me.

“Well, you know us. Strong willed, and not ready to panic with the crowd.” Applejack said, gauging Celestia's reaction.

“Oh, I'm sure. But, you know, sometimes even the best of us get caught in the fray.” Celestia said. “It's justified to worry that those who attempt to fight the tide might get hurt.” She was smiling lightly, but her eyes were intense, staring Applejack down. She swallowed hard.

“Of course. Still, if nopony did it, we wouldn't have heroes. That's what separates us from normal ponies.” Applejack said, beginning to sweat. “We stick to our morals and fight the wrongs, even when that's not the path of least resistance. Especially when it's not. We stand up when other ponies back down.”

“And I'm glad for it. After all, ponies need heroes sometimes. But there's no sense in being a martyr without a cause, as the world leaves you behind.” She said, and Applejack felt a chill pass down her spine. “All I'm saying is be careful. You can't win every battle, and some fights aren’t worth the consequences. There's no shame in realizing that you're out of your depth, and living to fight another day.” She smiled. “Sometimes, you just have to trust those around you to pick up the slack. Your friends can take some of the burden, too, you know.” She leaned towards Applejack, who nearly took a step back. “We're here to help you. There's no reason to be worried. I can see you shaking there. You know full well that our position is... not as strong as I made it seem. But we will win. Trust me. This was... a warm up for us, as dismissive as that sounds. We'll be much, much more effective next time.” She motioned with her head. “You will be anxious to visit your friends, I'm sure. Please, do. I will call the six of you together soon, once they've begun to recover. If you follow the red tiles, you'll find the infirmary in no time.”

“Thank you, princess.” Applejack and Pinkie Pie bowed, turned, and exited the room. As soon as she had passed beyond the threshold, she shuddered violently, barely containing a scream.

“What happened back there?” Pinkie said anxiously to Applejack. “You were shaking more than I've ever seen anypony shake before, and you're drenched in sweat!”

Applejack's mouth was dry, but after a few breaths, she managed to calm down. “I think I've made enemies ah two of the gods now.” She shuddered.

Pinkie looked confused. “Wait. What?” She bounced up around Applejack. “You can't be serious.”

“I am! I tell you, Pinkie, something's up with Celestia. She's not acting normal.”

“Well, I agree with that, but you're going way to far in the other direction.” Pinkie said. “I don't even know how you could have come to a conclusion like 'Celestia hates me' from the conversion.”

“Were you even listening?” Applejack asked. “She essentially threatened to kill me if I didn't do what she said!”

Pinkie Pie laughed. “Okay, now I know you're paranoid. Applejack, you started off worried. Between Spring and what you thought you saw in Celestia, you were pretty shaken up. She was trying to comfort you. Yeah, she was subtly arguing with you. She was trying to convince you that nopony will care if you can't stop a goddess on your own. She was worried about you, and wanted to make sure you didn't try to take the whole world on your shoulders. That's all.”

Applejack paused. It was a good point. She had been jumping to a predetermined conclusion. And, looking at what had been said, there really wasn't too much that pointed directly to such a conclusion. There was plenty to support it if you were looking for it, but that could be said of a lot of ponies, and a lot of motives.

“I still don't buy it completely. There's definitely something off.” Applejack said. “But perhaps I was takin' it a little to far.”

“I agree. There is something up. But Celestia's not turning into the evil dictator. Just taking a few steps in the wrong direction.” Pinkie said. “I think it's a good idea for you to keep an eye on it, but I don't think a freakout of the size you've been having is really justified.”

Applejack laughed softly. “No, probably not.” She sighed. “It's the stress. It has to be. I'm so on edge right now, I'm finding things to fight even when they're not there.” She sighed again. “Thanks, Pinkie. I never thought I'd say this, but you really acted as my stable anchor there.”

“What do you mean?” Pinkie took a step back, feigning insult. “Me, not being stable? I'm the most stable of the bunch of us!” She took three hooves off the ground, somehow still managing to keep balance. “See? Bet you can't do that!”

“I suppose so.” Applejack stated, turning the corner. A smile came to her lips again, and, for the first time in a few hours, stayed there for more than a couple of seconds. Her mouth quickly contorted into a yawn, which she stifled with a hoof. “Perhaps we're more tired that we thought. We've been yawning for a while now.”

“Could be.” Pinkie said, yawning herself. “We have been doing quite a large amount of strenuous activity, and we were up all night. It would make...” she yawned again. “some sense.”

The two ponies were now at the infirmary doors. This time, they opened with nothing more than a light tap. A nurse trotted out to meet them.

“You're here to see the princess, I assume?” She said cheerily.

“And her companion, Rainbow Dash, yes.” Applejack said.

“Of course. Right this way.” The nurse motioned them inside, taking them to two beds in the far end of the room. Rarity and Fluttershy were already there, both of whom perked up as soon as they spotted their companions.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Fluttershy said. “I was getting worried.”

“We were only like, eight minutes, you silly!” Pinkie said, laughing. “What did you think could have happened?”

“After the past thirty-six hours? Just about anything.” Rarity said flatly. “Have you been paying attention?”

“Yes. I just don't see why you're all so down!” Pinkie said, smiling. “We're all okay still, everypony who got hurt is recovering, and we've even got a response plan in the works.” Her cheer faltered. “Besides, as soon as we let her get into our heads, she's won.”

After that, the other three didn't know what to say, their conversation hanging, slipping into strained silence. Two minutes passed. Fluttershy yawned.

“Well...” Rarity said. “What now?” She looked up at the others, seeing her own tiredness reflected in their eyes, both physically and mentally. “What's our next move?”

“I vote sleep.” Pinkie yawned. “We can figure out how we want to go from here when we've not been up for the past twenty-four hours(1).”

Applejack found herself yawning as well. “Ah... think Pinkie might have a point. We have been up an awfully long time, and we do need to sleep at some point here. Now does seem like the best time we might get for a while.”

“Sleep? At eight in the morning?” Rarity let out a large yawn. “I mean... I suppose if you woke up at eight on the day before...” She yawned again. “Oh, we're really crashing off our adrenalin now, aren’t we?”

“Um... nurse?” Fluttershy asked. “Can we find beds?”

The nurse nodded to two of the guards, who came over to them. “We will escort you to your chambers, Elements.” They bowed. “Please, follow us.”

Applejack stood, looking back at her unconscious friends. She felt bad about leaving them; she really should stay by their side. Still, she could hardly keep her eyes open now, her stress finally letting up enough for her body to drag her into sleep. She had completed all that she could for now, she knew, and her body was relaxing, whether she wanted it to or not. She didn't have much choice in the matter. Either she would fall asleep siting by them, or she would fall asleep in a bed less than one hundred meters away. Besides, Twilight and Dash were in the best hospital in the country, with two of the five most powerful beings in the world upstairs. Nothing would happen to them.

^

Twilight slowly fought her way awake, pulling through the drowsiness which clouded her mind and restrained her form. Her eyes blinked open for a fraction of a second, light streaming onto her corneas and telling her brain to close them again, to which she happily complied. Her body was aching all over, in just such a way that she knew that any movement would hurt, but that not moving felt wonderful. Or perhaps that was just the drowsiness talking. She knew she should be getting up, that there was something she should be doing, but what it was... no, wait, she remembered. She was fighting Spring. But that must have been a while ago. That blast... if she was waking up, it must have knocked her out. Was she lying there, on the rocks, the burning city around her? No, this felt much more like a bed. So they must have won while she was out. How nice.

She really should wake up. There were probably scared and hurt ponies who could really use her help. Her friends would be worried, at the very least. They would probably be standing around her, looking anxious, turning to happy as she blinked awake. She knew they had all made it, of course they had! They had to have. She felt fear rising in her chest. Her eyes blinked open again. She forced herself to keep them open. Her vision slowly returned to normal.

The sun was beginning to set outside a shattered window in the corner. She had been out about twelve hours, then. She was in the Canterlot castle infirmary. Every bed she could see was filled, unsurprisingly. The nurses and doctors seemed very busy. Her hearing was coming into focus too, the sounds of soft moaning and rapid whispered conversations reaching her ears. She scanned the room. None of her friends were present, except...

Rainbow Dash, in the bed next to her.

Twilight's panic rose. Dash looked hurt, pretty bad too. If she was hurt, and here, and the others weren't, then...

“They're fine.” A nurse said, looking at her kindly. Twilight was startled for a second, unsure how she had gotten there so quickly. “The yellow one told me you'd get worried when you didn't see them right away. They're off doing something for the princesses.” She paused. “Sorry. The other princesses.” She smiled worriedly. “I didn't mean to imply anything about you, princess. You are, of course, just as important as the other two. Three.” She looked down. “I'm not very good at this, am I?”

“It confuses me too. Don't take it too harshly.” A voice said from behind her. Twilight and the nurse both turned.

“Cadence!” Twilight said, smiling. “When did you get here!”

“Three hours or so ago.” Cadence smiled softly at Twilight. “We got the message an hour before that, as soon as the telegraph lines went back up. We thought something was up, but this...” Cadence sighed. “Needless to say, this was not what we had expected. We came here as soon as we could.”

“So Shining's here as well?” Twilight asked.

“Up with the guards now. I just came down to check up on my injured sister-in-law.” She smiled. “You seem to be okay.”

Twilight sat up, shaking her head. After a few seconds of pause, she lurched forward, ungracefully but successfully managing to get to her hooves on the floor. She wobbled for a second, then stood up straight. “Looks that way. What's the news with Dash?”

“She's just sleeping now. We think two more hours.” The nurse said, seemingly happy to perhaps redeem herself. “We've done everything we can to insure a quick and full recovery.”

Twilight nodded. Fourteen hours seemed fairly reasonable for the extent of the injuries(2). The healing magics they used here were extremely advanced, far beyond her knowledge, and took a considerable amount longer to complete. Though...

“You know, if you set two co-planer magical foci at the seventh line in the fourth layer of the matrix instead of the three equilateral foci you currently use, you'll be able to fix the looping issue in the sixth layer and cut back on the output oscillation, effectively increasing your maximum throughput by twenty-six percent. With the added stability, you could support up to... three channels simultaneously. Each one would only work at about sixty percent of the rate the current set up gives you, but there would be three of them, so your total output would be boosted nearly eighty percent. It won't make it any more efficient, so you'll need more power, but it would speed the spells rate up considerably without costing you any energy or materials.” Twilight said, thoughtfully. Cadence blinked. The nurse looked shocked.

“You did that in your head, just now?” she said incredulously. “That's...” She shook her head. “They were not kidding when they said you were a magical protege, princess.”

“Personally, I'm impressed you followed that.” Twilight said. “I was having a hard time, and I'm the one who said it.” She smiled sheepishly. “It's been happening to me every once in a while now. I'll just know how a spell works, even if I have none of the prerequisite knowledge. That’s the third time, or maybe the fourth, in the past two days. It's actually freaking me out, to be honest.”

“That is... rather odd.” Cadence said. “And this just started recently?”

“Yep. Last night, actually.” Twilight sighed. “Just another crazy thing to add to the long list of crazy occurrences in the past forty-eight hours.” she shook her head. “At least this one isn't trying to kill me or my friends. Well, I don't think it is, anyway.”

“That's probably a safe bet.” Cadence said lightly, then sighed. “I would love to stay, but I have a meeting to attend. You should probably come too, to be honest, but...” she looked both ways. “If you wanted to stay with Rainbow Dash, I could just tell them you were still out.”

Twilight looked at Dash, then back to the nurse. She paused. Dash was safe here, she knew. Still, she would feel better about staying by her side, as irrational as it was. It wasn't the best thing to do, she knew, but she was probably going to take Cadence up on her offer.

She looked at Cadence. She already seemed tired, after only being her a few hours at most. Whatever she was doing, it must be very stressful. Twilight sighed. She was one of the ruling princesses of the most powerful nation on the planet. She was going to have to suck it up and attend a meeting sometime, and given how important all the signs seemed to say it was, now was as good a time as any to start. As much as she wished it didn’t, duty called. “No, I'll come with you.” As soon as she said it, Cadence relaxed. Twilight smiled internally. She had made the right choice, it seemed.

“Well, if you're sure. Follow me.” She said, turning away and beginning to walk out of the room. Twilight nearly tripped over her own hooves on the first step, but very quickly recovered, regaining her balance and control quickly and catching up to Cadence in no time. Before she left, she turned to the nurse one last time. “Her name, the yellow one? It's Fluttershy. Dash might not put it together too quick, especially as tired as she'll be at the time.”

The nurse nodded. “I will remember, princess.”

With that, Twilight and Cadence left the infirmary and headed out for the conference room. After walking for a few seconds, Twilight turned to Cadence. “It's not just me. It can't be. The floor actually is slanted, isn't it?”

“Yes, it is.” Cadence blinked, then sighed. “I forget, you were unconscious for quite a while. You don't know yet.”

“Don't know what?” Twilight asked. “Stop it with the pronoun game and just tell me.”

“Canterlot castle sort of fell off the mountain.” Cadence said in a mater-of-fact tone. Twilight stopped walking, her body shutting down for a second in response.

“What.” She said flatly. “What.”

“We're on the ground right now. The ring settled at an angle, which is why the floors are slanted.” Cadence said.

“What.” Twilight repeated, her mind kicking back into action. “How? And if it fell, how did the castle survive without breaking into a million pieces? I suppose it would explain all the broken windows, but that's about it. There's no way the city could have fallen off the mountain and only broken its windows.”

“Spring knocked it down.” Cadence said. Twilight felt a chill. “She's proving to be quite dangerous, isn't she?” she smiled. “Celestia and Luna caught it as it was falling and saved the city. Mostly. They couldn't stop it completely, so there was a little bump, hence the broken windows.”

Twilight let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. “That's good. So, nopony died then.”

“Well...” Cadence looked down. “Spring kept on attacking for ten minutes after you were knocked out, if what I've been told is correct. Nopony died from the fall, yes, but... quite a few ponies are dead, Twilight. We don't know the exact numbers yet, but at least two hundred, with another five hundred injured.”

“Two-” Twilight's eyes shrunk. “Two hundred ponies dead?!”

“That's what this meeting is about, I believe.” Cadence said. “That, and what we're going to do about it.” She looked at Twilight, a determined look on her face. “We can't let something like this happen again, Twilight. That should be our focus now.”

Twilight swallowed hard. Suddenly, the reality of the situation hit her fully. They were really, really playing for keeps now, in a way she really hadn’t faced before. Well, the changeling invasion would have been this eventually, she supposed, but it had never gotten that far. They had always stopped whatever was happening before the hecto- and kilo-deaths started. She supposed it was about time that they failed. She shuttered.

They walked in silence to the conference room. The pitch black doors seemed somehow darker now even than they were before. Perhaps it was the fading light. Or maybe the new ones they put in were even darker than the originals, if that was possible. They knocked once, and they opened slowly, revealing a much better lit interior. Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and three ponies she did not recognize were in attendance. There was an eleventh pony in the back, a pale yellow pegasus stallion with a lemon-yellow mane, whom she was sure she had seen recently, but couldn't name.

“Cadence, Twilight, welcome. We were just about to begin.” Luna said. “Please, join us.” Twilight noticed that Celestia seemed strangely restrained, almost as if she was wary of something. Weird. The other ponies opened a space for the two princesses, who sat respectfully in their seats. Once everypony was settled in, Luna began her address.

“This morning, at approximately seven fifteen, the alicorn goddess Spring attacked Canterlot. Celestia, Twilight, and myself engaged her and managed to hold her for about five minutes, until Twilight was knocked unconscious. From there, Celestia and myself continued in combat with her for an additional ten minutes, until the first ring of the city was broken off of the side of the mountain, at approximately seven thirty. Spring retreated for reasons unknown, and combat ended.” Luna said. “The results of the battle, as have so far been ascertained, are as follows: three hundred and forty-seven million bits worth of property damage. An additional four and two thirds million bits worth of lost resources. Significant, as of yet unmeasured loss of confidence due to partial destruction of capital city. Partial destruction of capital city.” Luna paused, pulling out a sheet of paper and looking at in briefly before turning back to face the others. “Seven hundred and sixty-six ponies injured. Two hundred and nine ponies confirmed dead, one hundred twenty-five missing.” She locked eyes with each pony at the table in turn. “These numbers are better than we should have hoped for, given what happened. Because what happened was Spring took us by surprise and made complete fools of us at the cost of hundreds of lives. What happened was we failed to defend our capital city for more than a quarter of an hour. What happened was we were lucky enough to lose only a couple hundred instead of a couple thousand because Spring got bored of attacking us. What happened, quite frankly, is we lost. We really, really lost, in a way we can not afford to lose again. Because next time, it is for real.” Luna paused. “This whole battle was the equivalent of a light smack for playing a prank. Spring was getting us back for attacking her. She was not aiming for a goal, or completing part of a plan. That is all this was to her, a jab at myself and my sister. She cared not to, nor aimed to, cause any major damage to us. That will not be the case next time. Next time, she will be attempting to actually accomplish something.” Luna said flatly.

“You can't be serious.” Applejack said. “This was all some kind of alicorn 'gotcha'! A city destroyed over what amounts to a personal insult!”

“Yes.” Celestia finally spoke up. “That is all it was.” She looked around. “Can you see now why we were so desperate to stop her before she got serious? This was a light poke, a small in-family punishment. Now we're even as far as she is concerned. Her next move, then, is to begin her real attack. All this has been warmup, a little family spat. Now we're finally going to war.”

Twilight felt a slow creeping fear set in across her mind. She looked down at her hooves. They were shaking slightly. This was a level of crises she was not truly ready for, and she knew it. You don't exactly have a choice, though, do you? The real world doesn’t put the weakest things against you first and let you progress slowly to the top. You get whatever is thrown at you, and you either rise to the challenge or die trying. Literally.

Twilight took a deep breath, then raised her head to look around at the others. She swallowed, her throat dry, but her mind calming. “Okay. What's our plan. How do we stop her?” Twilight asked, looking to Celestia.

Luna was the one to speak. “There are no easy solutions. She has no explicit weaknesses, nor are there any magical artifacts made to beat her. We have not the means to seal her again. Simply put, we are forced to, for the first time since my return, to defeat her the slow, old-fashioned way; we must beat her in combat, render her injured enough that she can not threaten us, or we must kill her. These are our only options.”

“Okay then. We find her, we kill her. Messy, inelegant, but it gets the job done.” Rarity said. “One battle, and this is over with.”

“If only.” Luna laughed darkly. “There is no such thing as a decisive battle for alicorns. If we just kill her, she will resurrect in five minutes. Then we need to kill her again. And again, and again, until it takes. If at any time she escapes, at any point she gets away, any deterioration of her essence will be reversed. We would have perhaps a one hour window to find her again before it would be like starting from the beginning. Alicorns do not die easily. There is a reason that only once has anything other than another alicorn killed one.”

“But it is possible.” Applejack said. “Eris ain't alive anymore, last time I checked. Neither are any of her daughters. Its been done before.”

“It's been done before seventeen times,” Celestia said. “in seven groups. The first almost stopped the agricultural revolution, the second nearly reversed it. The third delayed the bronze age by two hundred years. The fourth led to the destruction of three of the five largest empires at the time. The fifth put the iron age back almost five hundred years. The sixth, the Great Destruction, plunged the world into a three year ash winter, killed one in ten living creatures, created the badlands, flattened the equestrian planes into existence, made the dragons into an endangered species, and in general nearly ended the world. In comparison, the seventh, which only managed to kill a few thousand mortals and destabilize a paltry third of a continent was by far the tamest of the seven.” She paused. “You may have noticed a pattern here. Namely, that these conflicts never end well for the mortals caught in between. That,” she looked around the table. “is not something we can allow. Equestrian civilization is not an acceptable price to pay for this conflict.”

“So...” Applejack said. “You have another plan, then? 'cuz it really looks like we don't have another choice.” Twilight was surprised to see her so actively contributing to the discussion. She tended to only speak out when she had an idea, or needed clarification. Still, she was glad that she had said it before her. It did seem like their only option, as suboptimal as it may be.

“Not so.” Luna said. “Though the essence of it is largely unchanged. Killing Spring is plainly impractical given our goals and the exceptionally low chance of things going exactly as planned. Defeating her, however, is not out of the question. If we hit her hard, keep the pressure on, and never give her the opportunity to act on any of her plans, we might have a chance of beating her into submission. Never going in for the kill will keep the stakes low enough that it will not tare the world apart, with any luck. Spring is not in the business of fighting after she knows she has lost. A few hard strikes, four or five victories in a row, should be well enough to force her to yield to us. Once she does, we will be able to exercise enough direct control over her to render her incapable of threatening us. Perhaps then we can discuss a more permanent solution.”

“So, we want to almost kill her, then.” Applejack said. “Seems reasonable enough. It would make sense that it would be easier to capture her than kill her, I suppose.”

“So, what's our first move?” Twilight said. “We intend to force her into submission, not kill her. That's our goal. But how are we going to achieve it? We have a partly destroyed city, a few hundred dead, fading moral, no idea where our target is, and Spring's got a twelve hour head start in getting her plan in action.” She looked around anxiously at the two elder alicorns. “I don't see us applying pressure any time soon.”

“As harsh as it sounds...” Celestia said, glancing briefly at Luna before continuing. “We'll just have to put the reconstruction off. As for the twelve hour head start, that's exactly what we want. She's going to be gearing up to begin her plan. We intercept her at her first target, stop her immediately. The one time she should have been in control, we take it from her. What better way to start.” Celestia smiled. “Now, it will be quite a challenge, no doubt. She will be at her most prepared. Still, if we can cut her off before she begins, it will give us the highest chance of being able to disrupt her whole strategy. Spring is intelligent, sure, but it takes even her time to form a strong plan. That's when we attack again. We wait one hour, then strike again, on the attack this time. That will put her on the run. From there, it becomes a matter of whether we can find her faster than she can counter-plan against us.”

The table grew quiet. A few seconds of silence ensued as the ponies present metabolized the information they had been given.

“I think...” Pinkie Pie said slowly. “that that just might work.” she giggled. “See, Twilight? We do have a plan!”

“Where is she attacking first?” Cadence asked suddenly. “Wouldn't we need to know before she makes it there? How on Equis are we supposed to-”

“Either Manehatten or Stableside.” Luna said. “Both large industrial centers, both large population centers, both within five hundred kilometers of Canterlot, and, critically, both within one hundred and fifty kilometers of each other. She will hit one, then the other. Perhaps right after each other, perhaps with a day in between. But, nearly guaranteed, it will be one of these two places she will attack. The attack will happen between one and five in the morning. It is the time when we would have the least ability to gather any kind of evacuation response.” she glanced around at the others. “It is possible she could do something else, but very unlikely.”

“So, how do we prepare?” The yellow pegasus stallion asked, leaning in from behind. “We have a good meta-strategy. We know what we're doing on the whole. We know where we're heading. We have a goal. But what's the low down? What do we physically do before she gets there? Who goes where, what do they take with them, where do they set up? We've filled out a good structure, but as for the specifics...” he shook his head. “We have no idea.”

“This is a meeting, Windbreaker, not a debriefing. We are still working on the details. That is why you are here.” Luna said, raising an eyebrow. “We have covered all of the pre-planed strategies. Now, we open to discussion. What do you think we should do?”

“Well...” Windbreaker paused, casting his eyes around the room for a second. “I differ to my commander.”

Twilight turned to Shining, but was surprised to find him looking at her. “I am the captain of the day guard.” He said. “Not the... whatever you call your ponies, Twilight.”

Twilight blinked twice, then it came to her. “Oh! Windbreaker! Right! We met up in Hoofany two days ago, right? You said something of the like...” She paused. Everypony was still looking at her. “Uh... plan...” She took a deep breath. “Okay, well-”

“Um...” Fluttershy started, then stopped. “Oh, sorry. Continue, Twilight.”

“No, no. I was just going to start talking at hope I came up with something.” Twilight said sheepishly. “If you actually have something to say, please, say it.”

“Oh. Well, okay then...” Fluttershy looked around the room. “Um... Celestia should head to Manehatten with Twilight, while Luna and Cadence go to Stableside. There's really no reason to stick Luna and Cadence together, but we know that Celestia and Twilight work well together. That's... it. Really, it comes down to who is going to do the fighting, and, well, as much as I hate to say it, well, um, only the four of you are really going to be any help in the fight. There's a limit to the planning that can be done. We're only placing four ponies in two locations for eight hours or less. We're defending, not attacking, so our plan of operation is 'don't let Spring break anything'. We should probably evacuate the cities now, I guess, if we know she's going to attack them. Though, if we do that, might she switch her targets?” Fluttershy paused. “No, she wouldn't, because they still have all the infrastructure required to continue our industry. They're still the best targets. When she shows up, one team should signal the other. But, uh...” She said, looking down. “Well, I was thinking... why doesn’t the other team wait about a minute and a half before showing up? We're trying to stop her, right? But our overall goal is to really beat her up until she gives up. So, at the cost of not being able to handle her as well, we could get a surprise attack on her. It would be bad for the battle, but good in the long run. She'll have to run away suddenly or be overwhelmed, instead of being driven out slowly by the four of you. She can't plan against unknown unknowns.” She paused. “I mean... if you think that could work... I'm not a strategist.”

“...” Luna paused. “Forcing her to suddenly retreat would indeed be a bigger blow to her confidence than slowly pushing her out... but I am not sure either Celestia and Twilight or Cadence and myself are capable of holding out on our long against her long enough for the surprise to be effective. She has to truly think that we are all there is, and I am of the opinion that that would require a pause on the order of five, or even ten minutes, not a minute and a half. And from what we have seen, even a minute and a half might be too long. Spring is deadly. The four of us could handle her almost certainly. Celestia and myself, possibly. But, even Celestia, Cadence and Twilight might not be enough. I do not mean any disrespect, but neither of you have even one twentieth of my fighting experience, and not a hundredth of Celestia's. I do not like your unaided odds against her.”

“Sorry.” Fluttershy said, looking down.

“It is a good idea for an idealized system, but we do not live in an idealized world.” Luna said.

“Wait, though.” Shining said. “She has a point here. You alicorns can output much more power than you can take. If we can get surprise, even a single attack, it could be devastating. Why don't we modify it slightly? Signal comes through, and either Luna or Celestia leaves. Whoever is left waits the five or ten or whatever we decide on minutes, then comes over. It should still work. The extra kick might fail, but even if it does, a fresh new fighter will join the side. And if they do it right, they should still be able to sneak in one unnoticed attack.”

“Extra... kick?” Luna said, blinking. “I am afraid I did not follow you.” She looked confused at Shining. “Perhaps you have used some unfamiliar colloquialisms?”

“One of us stays, the other goes. We put three on one, then surprise with the fourth. Gives us both the power we need to defend and the surprise.” Celestia clarified. “I think it should work. Though, there is something else missing.” She looked at the other ponies at the table. “It is not just the four of us who can be useful in the battle. Alicorns are not untouchable. You wouldn't be able to handle her alone, but you will still be vital as support. A stray, unexpected attack, even a weak one, can still disrupt her pattern. And, well...” Celestia smiled. “The elements in particular... you six... even you five, not counting Twilight... I wouldn't be so sure you don't stand a chance. Some of the feats you have managed still surprise me. We need you out there, helping us. We don't have an assured victory, and we really do need all the help we can get. We need to not only win, but win clearly, decisively, and quickly. It has to be overwhelmingly apparent that we are stronger than her, and it has to be so to her. This is as much an attack on her pride as a defense of our city. We need to break her. And so we need to hit as strong and hard as we can the first time, and never let up.”

“Do you really think we'll be more of a help than a liability?” Rarity asked. “I would think that our presence would give Spring some easy targets to use against you, or at the very least Twilight.”

“I agree.” Twilight said. This is my chance! “If she attacks, I will defend them, even if it breaks our plan. And she already knows them, so there's no chance of her just missing them. It was bad enough to have them out when we had a super weapon on our side. I don't think we should just throw them in the line of fire again.” Twilight paused. “Not that, uh, I'm questioning what you did, Celestia.”

Celestia looked as if she had been struck with a bolt. Her eyes were wide and her face was limp. She regained her composure quickly, but she seemed... worried, for some reason. “Of- Of course. You're right, Twilight. Putting them out only makes it more likely for them to be killed. I'm sorry.”

“Ya think we're going to sit on our haunches and let you go without us?” Applejack said incredulously. “Now, Twilight, that's the stupidest thing I've heard all day. We're coming, whether you want us too or not.”

“Twilight believes you will decrease her ability to fight if you come.” Celestia said. “It is her opinion that she will spend more time defending you than you will spend fighting Spring yourselves. I agree with her. There is no point in getting you five killed.”

“Then don't.” Everypony turned towards the door. Rainbow Dash was leaning heavily on the wall. She seemed tired but otherwise unhurt. “Don't defend us. We're not kids, Twilight. I'm older than you, actually. We can handle ourselves. This way, you get whatever help we can give you, and you don't lose any effectiveness.”

“Unacceptable.” Twilight said flatly. “I'm not agreeing to let you die if I can protect you! This isn't some kind of normal challenge! We're going up against a goddess, one who is smarter than Nightmare Moon and more powerful than Discord!”

“Tough luck! Either you agree to our terms and at least know where we are, or we sneak in anyway.” Dash said. “Your call.” Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy nodded, standing up and walking next to Dash.

“You ain't getting rid of us, princess.” Applejack said, staring Twilight down.

“If you believe that we would let you go in alone, you obviously haven't been thinking.” Rarity said.

“What good are friends if we can't help you?” Pinkie said. “Do you imagine for a second that we don't want to protect you as much as you want to protect us?”

“This is not the time to let your personal feelings get in the way of doing what we need to do.” Fluttershy said. “Do you seriously think that we won't be able to help? Because if you do, that's one thing. But we all know why you're saying this, Twilight. You don't want us hurt.” She stared hard into Twilight's eyes, and Twilight felt herself physically unable to turn away. “What do you think is going to happen if you fail? If we don't all give it our all here, now? If she can get ahead of us, there won't be a pony in Equestria besides the four of you safe, and you know it. We need to stop her right now. Just look outside, Twilight! She knocked Canterlot off the mountain side! On accident! While trying to kill you! Any, any, any help at all is good right now! This is the last hour in the light. We sit poised above the pit, ready to plunge into darkness. So unless you want the next time we speak to be us desperately clawing our way out from our darkest hour, we need to keep ourselves ahead. This is it. Either we maintain control here, now, or we start fighting uphill instead of downhill. We have to maintain this advantage. We're barely capable of coming out on top with it! So, I ask you again: do you really think we won't be able to help?”

Fluttershy's eyes flashed, and she shook her head. “Uh...” She seemed somewhat dazed. “Uh... so, of course we'll fight with you!”

“... … … …” Twilight screamed on the inside, but let nothing out. “Fine. Fine. Yes, you'll be helpful.” She looked at them. “I said it. Congratulations.” She glared at them. “Don't. Get. Killed.”

“We don't plan on it.” Applejack said. “Now, Celestia, I believe you had a plan for us?”

“Not really.” Celestia said. “Just go with Twilight and myself to Manehatten, and do your thing. Be a general nuisance. Pop up when she least expects it. Alicorns never fight each-other hoof-to-hoof, so get in close, and hit her for me! She won't expect that, I guarantee it. Pinkie, you have a cannon of some sort, right?”

“Oh! Smoke bombs! I could use those!” Pinkie said excitedly.

“I see you're all set, then.” Celestia said. “Fluttershy, Dash, you two have aerial combat down fairly well. Make sure she can't pull off her maneuvers. Just get in her way. Even if you can't do her any damage, just disrupt her flight path as much as you can.” Fluttershy and Dash nodded.

“Rarity, you have limited combat ability, but you can do one very vital thing: you know shield casting. Whenever the others need that half-second to get away, you have to give it to them. They won't, with perhaps the exception of Dash, be able to get out of her way in time. Their lives will depend on you.” Rarity looked down at her hooves.

“I understand.” She said, determination on her face.

“Finally, you five need to stick together at all times. You work best as a team.” Celestia paused. “Actually, you six work best as a team. Twilight, I believe it makes more sense for you to stay with them. I can handle myself fine, and having you as a unit... you'll be unstoppable.”

Twilight smiled. “This is perfect! Think about it. Spring knows she's hit me hard. So, instead of having the six of us with you in Manehatten, why don't we stick us in a boat half-way between the two cities? The plan proceeds as normal, except that instead of either me or Cadence being the backup, we become dedicated backup. She thinks I'm out, so we don't have to wait as long before surprising her, and the other five can give me a wide enough distraction for my attack to get through with a much higher chance.”

“Good.” Luna clapped her hooves together. “This sounds workable to me.”

“Erh...” One of the three ponies in the back spoke up. “Why did you want us here, again?”

“Evacuation teams. You're the heads of pony resources for these areas, right? You need to know our plan to evacuate the right places.” Luna said slowly.

“Uh... right. Sorry.”

“So, I think we have our plan now. Celestia will go to Manehatten, while Cadence and myself travel to Stableside. Whichever city gets attacked, calls the other. They teleport in, and the three engage Spring. We wait... two and a half minutes, then Twilight and the Elements show up and take her by surprise. We hit her hard until she is forced to teleport away. Then, we immediately try to find her, and as soon as we do, we attack her again.” Luna paused. “Does everypony understand?”

Everypony nodded.

“Good. We start in fifteen minutes. Be ready.” Luna tapped her hoof twice. “This meeting is adjourned.”

Twilight felt a rush building in her chest. This is it. This is our chance to turn things back in our favor. We have a plan, we have our fighters, and we have our confidence back... I think we could actually win this. We can do it. We can beat Spring, tonight.

She looked briefly at Celestia. Her slips, her changes from normalcy... she must be very stressed out right now. Unsurprising, given the circumstances. She made sure to pass her on the way out, brushing against her breifly.

“It's okay. We'll win.” Twilight whispered softly. Celestia paused, and looked at Twilight as she walked away. A smile crossed Celestia's face, briefly, full of pride, before she continued her trek away. Twilight passed her five friends, seeing determination in their eyes. They turned to her, Rarity smiling reassuringly, Applejack solemnly nodding, Rainbow Dash grinning and winking.

We will win. We have to.

End Chapter 10

Author's Note

Hold it!
I present these footnotes to the court:

I don't think that anyone can reasonably argue that the three hours they spent knocked out wounded counts as sleep.
Which might strike you as odd, given that it took Twilight only about one minute to heal injuries of about the same severity only a few hours ago. For those of you who noticed, congratulations! You're paying attention. Have a cookie.

The difference between what Twilight did and what the doctors are doing is a matter of power and quality. Twilight's spell was flashy, powerful, inefficient, and crude. She traded simplicity for raw power. The doctors use more efficient spells(though, to be frank, healing magic is never efficient) because they have far more cases to treat and far less magic to spend. Twilight also traded time for quality. Her spell made sure Dash wouldn't die, but missed all the little damages which could easily lead to a relapse. Still, it was great for getting her back on her hooves right then. The spells the doctors are using really, really do a deep healing. They'll repair everything wrong with her, no matter how small, and make sure she's at 100% by the time they're done. This takes time, though. Hence, similar injuries take more time to heal by the doctors than by Twilight.

Chapter 10.5

Chapter 10.5 – Luna
Monday, 24 June 1003

“What was that?!” Luna yelled incredulously at Celestia, shock in her expression and voice. “What were you trying to do!”

“I just gave a speech, Luna. No need for theatrics.” Celestia said calmly. “You're right, I should have discussed it with you before, but there really wasn't time.” She trotted to her throne, sitting down in it. She looked to Luna, a slow sadness creeping across her face when she did not follow her. “Come on, Luna. Join me. We should be together for this. I didn't mean to go over your head with this. That wasn't the-”

“That's not what I'm talking about!” Luna's horn flashed, the balcony doors flying open.

“Long rule Celestia!”

“Trust our princesses!”

“Praise the Sun!”

“Trust our goddesses!”

Cries from the ponies below wafted up from below, filling the room with the sound of one thousand ponies in rapture. “You haven't given them hope in a crisis, sister, you've given them religious objects to fixate on! You've wiped them into a fervor centered around yourself!”

“I...” Celestia paused. “Oh, I'm doing it again, aren’t I. I've had you for only three years, three years tomorrow, and I'm already driving you away again. My first opportunity to really, really give you the spotlight, and I take it again. Luna, please, forgive-”

“You really don't get it, do you?” Luna said, shock and anger in her voice. Celestia straightened. Luna never, never used contractions. This was serious. “I do not care that you have taken the limelight, sister, but that you would see it necessary to control our ponies like this in the first place! I could care less if you made Pinkie Pie the center of the fervor! I am shocked, horrified, that you see zealous fervor as being required at all!”

“Oh, come on!” Celestia said. “Seriously, now, Luna. Stop being childish. I simply reaffirmed their loyalty. You're blowing this way out of proportion.”

There was a brief pause. Luna nodded her head at the door.

“All hail the goddess of the sun!” the voices of ponies wafted up through the open door, still easily loud enough to be heard.

“...” Celestia paused.

“Oh, really?” Luna said. “You do not think that-”

“Okay, maybe I went a little too far. But, really, Luna, it's for their own good. You know what will happen if Spring convinces them to join her side.”

“Do not even start with that!” Luna said angry. “You know full well that that is not something we need to worry about. Our ponies have been instilled with morals which go against that which Spring professes. She would have to manage a cultural revolution to have a chance at that.”

“She's done it in the past. More than once.”

“Never quickly, Celestia! You know full well that these things take generations to fully settle! If this battle lasts more than two weeks, we will have much more to worry about than defecting civilians.” Luna scowled. “I know you too well. Your rhetorical tricks do not effect me anymore.”

“I know. I tested most of them on you. Heck, you came up with a fair number of them yourself.” Celestia said. “I... I... I see what you are saying. It's just... Spring, Luna. She knows nothing but the old ways. To combat her, I... I have taken a step back. Farther than I should have, perhaps. It won't happen again. I promise.”

“That is what you said last time!” Luna spat. “And yet, this still happened. I do not know if I can trust your word.”

“Luna, really! We've discussed this already! We decided that it was too much of a risk to take, to have Twilight not be at her fullest in this crisis!” Celestia said, exasperation in her voice.

“We decided no such thing!” Luna said firmly. “You decided and I was begrudgingly coerced into allowing it. Besides, the plan was weak at best! Set Twilight against Spring to show her how dangerous she was, shock her into fighting harder? Use the weak chance that the Elements of Hamony would suffice, knowing full well that they would almost certainly not? Come on! You have been taking reckless risks, Celestia, for one so concerned about winning!”

“It wasn't Twilight I wanted to-” Celestia stopped. Luna's eyes went wide. Silence fell between the two. Luna stared agape at Celestia, her expression falling from shock to anger.

“You can not be serious. I refuse to believe it.”

“I... I...” Celestia looked panicked.

“You.... were not throwing Twilight at Spring to shock her into realizing she needed to step up her game. You were not trying to use the slim chance that the Elements of Harmony would work.” Luna said slowly, Celestia looking away. “You... were trying to get her friends hurt. You put them in the line of fire so that Twilight would not have a choice but to defend them. You used her friends to make sure that there was no chance of Twilight joining up with Spring. You engineered a falling situation explicitly to make sure that Spring would be able to hurt her friends enough that there was no chance that Twilight could falter in her loyalties to us without abandoning them. You made her friends the enemies of a vengeful goddess on purpose. You...” Luna shook her head slowly, bile rising in her throat. “How... could you... even think to do something like that!”

“Well, it worked, didn't it!” Celestia yelled. “Do you think I like making decisions like this! Do you think that this is an ideal situation for me, Luna! You know exactly the kind of damages Spring is capable of! I need to make sure that all of my assets are in place! I can't be worried about losing them, any of them, for any reason! I need to do what needs to be done to make sure that, when the smoke clears, there's still a country left to rule! I have to insure that when I need somepony to give me their fullest, I don't have to question whether they will or not.”

“Your assets?!” Luna roared. “That's what your beloved student had become to you, an asset?! And I suppose, seeing as it is your assets we are talking about, I must factor somewhere as, oh, at least a champion! How could you possibly fall so low as to think of your ponies, your friends, your own sister, like that!”

“That's not what I...” She floundered. “They're our... I mean...” Celestia looked at her. Tears were welling up in her eyes. “It's war. We all... have to make... sacrifices. If what I need to do to insure the safety of my nation is jeopardizing our relationship, Luna... then...”

“Do not you dare give me that!” Luna screamed. Celestia took a step backwards, fear flickering across her face. “This is not about you this time, sister! Get your pathetic act together! Nopony is shedding a tear for you. This obvious ploy to get me to sympathize with you will not work. You are about one thousand years too late for that. The stakes are way to high for me to-”

“I'm sorry!” Celestia started crying. Luna stopped. “I'm so, so sorry!” The words were barely understandable through her gasping sobs. “I... I... Don't know... What I did... Why I did... I'm sorry!” Her body was wracked with tearful gasps. “Please, don't leave me! I need you!”

Luna paused, then sighed. “Oh, had only you not said that last line. Finally, finally did you admit fault. Finally, finally, did I see change. But then, right there, you had to make it about you, did you not? You have a problem, Celestia. A serious problem. A serious problem that it is now my obligation to counter. You have a power complex. A goddess with a power complex. How did I not see this sooner! You gather the most powerful ponies you can around you, and any you can not control, you destroy. It was thus with me, with Spring, and now with Twilight.” She sighed. “Stop crying. Go to your room and pretty yourself up. We still have a nation in peril to run, and the ponies will want to see their 'glorious leader' at her absolute best. We can talk about this later. But I am taking a stand right now, Celestia. This is the line. And I do not care how hard you cry.”

Celestia shakily got to her hooves. “How can I fix it?”

“At least twenty-four months of daily therapy. Which we really do not have the time for.” Luna said shortly. “For now? You go through me for every, every decision. If you do not, and I find out, I will tell Twilight everything you have done so far. Then you'll be fighting three of us.”

“I... don't want... to fight you.” Celestia looked down. She was shaking. “I... love you.”

“I do not care. You are a danger to the country, to those ponies closest to you, and to yourself. If I need to fight you to stop you from becoming something you are not, I will.” Luna looked deeply into Celestia's eyes. “After all, I am sure you would do the same for me.” Her tone was laced with finality, sadness, and determination.

Celestia shuddered one last time, then nodded. “I... agree. I think that this is for the best, Luna. I look on what I have done, and... I don't disagree with it. But the fact that I don't scares me.” She looked up at her sister. “If it were somepony else, I'd call them heartless. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be the pony willing to sacrifice everything for 'the greater good'. I... I want to be the kind, benevolent ruler everypony thinks I am.”

“The first step to solving a problem is to realize you have one.” Luna said. “That is, however, only the first step.”

Celestia bowed her head, walking slowly to her chambers. Luna watched her go.

As soon as she left her sight, a tear fell down Luna's cheek. Oh, sister. I am so, so sorry. I can tell you care, your tears not false. Your actions may have been cruel, but they are justified given the pressures on you, to some extent at least. I do not wish to leave you believing that I think you lost. But there is no time now for soft words and slow building. We must suffer now, for this is war. If you must think yourself near evil to quickly negate and overcompensate for the barely more neutral you have truly become, then so be it, until this conflict is done.

Luna sighed. Why must all this be so complex? She trotted over to her throne, taking a seat. It took her only a moment to master herself. Within ten seconds, she appeared to all the world the image of the serene goddess. She had years of practice.

There was a knock on the door. Luna gave no signal to open it. Whoever it was, they could wait a minute.

End Chapter 10.5

Author's Note

Footnotes!

...

Wait.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Twilight
Tuesday, 25 June 1003

“What time is it now?”

Twilight sighed, looking up at the moon and the stars for a moment before turning back to Rainbow Dash. “3:30 AM, give or take five minutes. About two minutes later than it was two minutes ago when you last asked.”

“Sorry, sorry. I'm anxious, you know?” Dash said, bobbing up and down restlessly in place in time to her wing-strokes. “The signal is going to come any minute, I can feel it.”

Twilight saw the twenty-eight unicorns standing in a circle outside of their little group of six nudge each other awake again. They were Celestia's idea. A teleport team, so she didn't have to spend half her power just getting the six of them to their destination. That had completely slipped her mind, of course. These battle preparations, even when dealing with a simple plan like theirs, had a lot of parts that all needed to work in order to succeed. She was just glad she wasn't the only one coming up with the plan.

The sea was calm, its surface clearly reflecting the waning gibbous moon. They had decided against a boat, as there was plenty of shoreline which was almost exactly half-way between the two, and the hassle to get a large enough boat to the position in time was deemed not to be worth the chance of having to teleport about one kilometer farther than optimal. So Twilight looked out over the bay, in the direction of Manehatten. It was beyond her horizon, but she could make out a little of its glow reflected on the clouds above it in the distance. Dash was right. She could feel a sharpness of anticipation in the air, and knew, somehow, that it was about to break. Though, she had felt that way for about two hours, so perhaps it was just nerves.

Pinkie was bouncing around, seemingly anxious to get started. “Oh, this waiting is the worst part! You know that the conflict is inevitable, and you can't do anything about it, yet nothing is happening! It's so frustrating!”

“You won't be saying that when the battle starts.” Rarity said. “Then you'll wish that the wait had been longer.”

“No, I won't. It says as much in three and a half thousandish words.” Pinkie said, bouncing another lap around the others. “'Hey, at least it's over with, right?' That's what I'll say.”

A shooting star crossed over the sky. “Luna's loosing control, I'd wager.” Applejack said. “She's concentratin' on preparation, I'd guess.”

“Or...” Fluttershy said, “she could have started the battle.”

The ponies grew silent.

“I mean... that could be.” Twilight said, looking over the bay again. She laughed nervously. “We'll know in one hundred fifty seconds, I guess.”

“So, uh, one last time...” Rainbow Dash said slowly. “What, exactly, are we doing?”

“We'll teleport in at the edge of the city. Then, we'll locate the fight. I'll teleport us right in, only twenty meters from it. Then, you and Fluttershy rush her. Your only goal is to make physical contact of any kind. Pinkie will use her cannon filled with smoke bombs to make it impossible to see. Rarity will place a shield around you. As soon as you touch her, yell out. I'll blast exactly where your scream is, so get out of there instantly. Then, if everything goes well, you five sit out for the rest of the battle and watch us kick her ass.” Twilight said. “If everything doesn’t go well, you'll be more running away than sitting out, but the basic plan from there remains the same.”

“Okay. So, body-check a goddess. Sounds like a plan.” Rainbow Dash said, breathing out sharply. Nopony followed up for a little while, lost in their individual thoughts.

Rarity looked up at the sky. “How much time is left?”

“Thirty-two seconds.” Twilight said. “Maybe.”

“Ugh...” Rarity shivered. “It's so... tense here now.”

“Well, duh!” Pinkie said. “We might be jumping to our deaths and the doom of all of equestrian civilization! Of course it's a bit tense!” She laughed. “Isn't it great!”

“Weren't you the one complaining about how uncomfortable the waiting made you feel?” Twilight said questioningly.

“Yeah, but then the atmosphere got charged with energy! I feel really psyched for this now.” Pinkie said. “It's so... so.... wonderfully important.”

Twilight sighed. “Well, at least somepony's having a good time.” She looked at her friends. “Fifteen seconds.”

They stood up straight. So to did the circle of unicorns, some of their horns beginning to glow.

“Eight.... Seven.... Six....” Twilight counted methodically. “Five.... Four.... Three.... Two.... One...”

Nothing happened. Rainbow Dash relaxed. “False alarm, then.”

“Not necessarily. They could be late with the signal, or tied up for some reason. They don't exactly have a clock with them in battle.” Twilight said. “Give it thirty seconds or so before we-”

There was a blaring sound, and the unicorns began to chant, their horns glowing.

“That's it! Here we go!” Twilight yelled over the sound. “Teleporting in five!” She drew the others in close to her. There was a hum of magic, and the air grew warmer as the magic circle lost heat to meta-friction. Twilight felt a tingling sensation spread though her body. There was a flash of light, and then everything faded. They found themselves in a city, which one they could not tell. Twilight looked around, trying to get her bearings.

And turned into an aquamarine coat.

It was not a soft impact. Spring had been traveling down this way at at least half the speed of sound, and Twilight felt the harsh blow reverberate through her entire body. Of all the times to get unlucky with a teleport, this has to be the literal worst. She felt her body launch through the air. Good, she guessed. If her whole body was moving, then the torque on her neck might, if she got lucky enough, not be enough to break it. She felt a wall, probably of the nearest building, halt her path through the sky suddenly and painfully.

Against all odds, she hadn’t lost consciousness. Nor had any of her friends, who all seemed to be startled but otherwise unhurt. Spring had been deflected by Twilight's body and had found a wall in her path, also coming to an abrupt halt about fifteen meters away. She was getting to her hooves too, and appeared to be stunned, but not too hurt. Something ticked at the back of Twilight's mind, but she couldn't place what. It was going to come to her, she knew, but it was just out of reach right now. She looked half uncomprehendingly at Spring, who slowly turned around and looked half uncomprehendingly back at her. There was something she was missing here....

Hit her with a blast. Now!

Oh, yeah. That.

Drunkenly, Twilight let a burst out at Spring, who dodged out of the way with little trouble. She seemed to still be confused, but she was recovering much faster than Twilight was. Dash snapped back into action too, jumping up and tackling her. Which was a problem, because she ended up pushing her out of the path of Twilight's second blast, which missed wildly. Twilight trained a third one on her, but stopped when it occurred to her that there was no way she could aim well enough to miss Dash in this state. So she sat their numbly, trying to get her facilities back, as Rainbow Dash wrestled with a goddess ten meters to her right.

Spring struggled for a few moments with Dash before overpowering her. She kicked Rainbow Dash in the face, a crunching noise telling Twilight that her nose was now broken. She winced, and felt her mind clearing. The shock must be bringing her out of her daze. She shook her head twice, training her now focused eyes back on her target. It might not have been exactly as planned, but Spring was distracted, and she did have a shot. Twilight powered up a quick blast, far less powerful than she would have liked but her best option given her time frame, and let it loose at Spring. At a distance of only a few meters, even if she had seen it coming, she wouldn't have the time to get out of the way.

Not that she didn’t try. Spring obviously must have been expecting something like this, because she dove quickly to the ground, the bolt brushing against her back. Or, that's what would have happened, if Twilight hadn't accidentally shot a bit low. As it was, Spring fell right into the blast, taking it not quite full in the side, but pretty close to.

The shock on her face was nearly priceless. The only thing that kept it from being perfect was, well...

Where the heck are the others! I've preoccupied Spring for at least thirty seconds now! They should have been here almost immediately, let alone after this long!

Twilight spared a quick glance to the cityscape, seeing no sign of the other alicorns around. Spring was hurt, clearly, but hardly taken out of the fight. She was already getting up, her horn aglow with terrible light.

“Buck.” Twilight said flatly. “Buck.”

“Indeed.” Spring said flatly in return. Her horn flashed, but Twilight was already in the air, spinning around to face her from above, charging a defensive shield. There was no way she could get an attack in on her, she knew, but if she was very smart about it, she might be able to defend herself and her friends for long enough for the others to show up. If they show up.

Spring fired wide, a cone of energy engulfing Twilight's shield and collapsing it in from the edges. Twilight resisted with her magic, the wave clearing in time for her to see the three balls of aquamarine energy curving around to her undefended back, far to near to block. She flapped her wings hard, streaking upwards. The attack missed, but it cost her her composure and bearings. She tried to orient herself wildly, just managing to find the ground before Spring's barrage of blasts found her. Her shield happened, by shear luck, to be in the right position to block about eighty percent of them, leaving her exposed to only six of the strikes. They felt like brands, searing her skin and physically pushing her backwards nearly eight meters. She lost her flight pattern, barely managing to keep conscious through the pain. I stand no chance against her. I thought she was hard to beat before? She wasn't even really fighting then. I was right, she was playing with me back in the Everfree. Ten seconds. That's all it took.

Twilight hit the ground a lot harder than she would have liked. Her vision went red, black spots appearing on the edges. Her body crumpled below her. If she hadn't broken at least four bones, she would be surprised. At this point, she wasn't sure she could move anymore, let alone go another round with a goddess at least three leagues above her.

She heard Rarity scream her name. Her vision flared red again, this time with anger. This was no time to slack off. If she couldn't keep Springs attention, it was all over; she wouldn't hesitate to kill her friends. She needed to keep Spring's ire trained on herself. It was her only option. She got to her hooves, groaning through the pain, and ran straight at Spring, her horn aglow. Fueled by anger and fear, she tore down the street at incredible speed, closing the distance quickly. Spring seemed to be bemused, looking at her with a smirk, rolling her eyes at the obviously telegraphed attack. Twilight drew in. She was screaming, the pain building with every step, but she ran on, building speed, building power.

Twilight saw Spring put up a defensive shield, smirking. Perfect. Spring, you might think you're real smart, but as they say, fool you twice -

Twilight passed within a few meters of her friends, releasing her group teleport spell, transporting herself and her friends away with a flash of light.

- shame on you!

The flash faded, and Twilight looked around, trying to figure out where they had ended up.

Only to find herself still standing in front of a now laughing Spring.

“No. No, no, no, no, NO!” Twilight screamed. “That has to work! It...”

“Have thee never heard of teleport locks?” Spring said. “An alicorn always places them on any opponent they face at the first opportunity.”

“You...” Twilight stopped thinking, running at Spring in a blind rage, her magic beginning to bubble inside her. Her eyes flared red, flashing briefly.

Spring easily dodged out of Twilight's way, her magical and physical attacks both laughably easy for the elder goddess to defend against. “Oh, don't throw a tantrum.” she laughed.

Twilight's eyes flashed again. She began to radiate heat, her coat becoming visibly paler as her attacks became less directed and more and more instinctual.

Spring sighed, easily incapacitating Twilight with a few simple blasts. She stopped moving, panting hard, tottering on her hooves. Spring let a final blast loose, knocking her to her rump hard. Spring sighed, turning to face the other five ponies. “Who's next?” she asked cheerily.

With a feral scream, Twilight's mane erupted into flames. Her eyes became solid red, her coat turned white, and she buzzed with undirected power. The force of her transformation lifted her bodily off the ground, the rock directly below her melting from the heat. She growled deeply at Spring, her wings shedding flames, her whole form cocooned in magical energy.

To say Spring was surprised would have been an understatement. Her eyes widened, and she took an instinctual step backwards before steeling herself.

Twilight wasted no time. She was in Spring's face in an instant, already slamming her into the ground with the force of a thousand ponies. There was a crash like thunder, her hooves breaking the sound barrier as she bashed Spring over the head as hard as she could. Her head hit the ground so hard that it sent cracks through the pavement. Twilight's horn glowed, blasts of red power hitting Spring in a flurry. Ten a second, then twenty, then thirty...

Eventually, Twilight stopped. The light finally cleared. Of Spring, there was no sign. Twilight screamed again. “WHERE ARE YOU!”

“Uh, Twilight...” Applejack said quietly. “I think you killed her.”

“No.” Twilight said. “She must be here somewhere.” her body still aglow with power, she leaned in towards Applejack, singing her coat. “She isn't dead.”

“Twi...” Applejack said. “They said it was real hard to kill an alicorn, but it ain't impossible. Now, I believe a lot of things about you special ponies, but that -” She pointed to the ten meter wide pit of slag left from Twilight's attack. She had destroyed most of the nearby building, shattering it with just the shock waves from her blasts. “-that is where I draw the line. She's dead. There really ain't two ways about it. You killed her.”

Twilight's mane began to sputter. She looked at the molten rock. She had pumped an awfully large amount of power into that, hadn't she? Her mane gave one last lick of flame, then died, her body resetting to normal. She hit the ground softly, looking at Applejack, smiling. “Yeah, I think I did.” Twilight tipped over, falling onto her side. “Oop.” she said. There was a brief pause. “You know, I was sure that I would fall unconscious at some point here.”

“Must be the adrenaline.” There was the flapping of wings, and Celestia landed next to her. “You put on quite the show, Twilight.” she smiled warmly.

“Where... were you!” Rainbow Dash screamed. Celestia took a step back as the angry pegasus approached her. “You nearly got Twilight killed! You have better have a good explanation for this, or so help me, Spring won't be the only dead goddess tonight!”

“I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation.” Twilight said, looking at Dash worriedly. “And I'm fine, Dash. No need to get into hysterics.”

“As it happens, I do have a good reason.” Celestia said. “I assume you know about her teleport locks?”

“First hoof.” Twilight growled.

“We were on the other side of the city, looking for her. She had teleported away, leading us on a chase. We weren't having any luck finding her, until, well, the sky lit up.” she said. “From your attacks, presumably.”

Twilight smiled lightly. “Yeah, I think I did pretty...” she paused, her face falling. “Good.” She closed her eyes. “I killed her. I. Killed. Her.” she opened her eyes, seeing Celestia's shock reflected in them. “Oh, no. No, no, no. I really screwed this, didn't I?”

“You...” Luna said, arriving and landing next to Celestia. “Killed her?” Luna sighed. “Then our battle has just begun.”

“I didn't mean to!” Twilight said, panicked.

“What's the fuss!” Rarity said. “Wasn't killing her a better option, we just didn't think we could?”

Luna shook her head. “No, perma-death was the better option. And that is still very far away. Actually...” She looked at the pit of molten rock. “Were she less formidable, I would believe that the fact that she will respawn in a pit of lava would have sealed her fate, but I have seen her escape a situation almost exactly like this before. Not only will this not permanently kill her, it will provide a screen, a barrier, and easily allow her to escape.” Luna sighed. “Twilight, nopony blames you for this. It was kill or be killed for you. But, even that being true...” She looked around at the others. “We have to prepare now for a much harder fight. Before, we won when we beat her into submission. Now, we have to play for keeps. It is to the death.” She closed her eyes. “And I fear it will end in ours.”

“Why?” Twilight asked. “We still have the advantage on her. We can still win!” she began to panic. “Right?”

“There are three of us and one of her.” Luna said. “But she has eleven friends still sealed, Twilight. She'll call all her allies now. It's no longer a family power struggle. We have stepped up the stakes. We will be outnumbered four to one. They will have more experience, more power, and fewer constraints then us. Our only chance, really, was keeping this small enough that she did not think she needed help.”

Twilight looked down. “So that's it, then. I just destroyed the modern world.” she laughed lightly. “Fancy that.”

“Hey, uh...” Applejack pointed to the molten pit. “I ain't sure on this, but don't lava pits, like, cool down pretty quick? Shouldn't this stuff be rock already?”

Everypony turned their attention numbly to the pit, which continued to bubble away.

“Um, well, they do cool down fairly quickly, I guess.” Twilight said slowly. “Unless, of course, they were being heated by some external source...”

Twilight's horn flashed and she dropped to the ground hard, covering the party as a spray of lava exploded from the pit. Despite the obvious issues surrounding the fact that Spring had somehow managed to survive that, Twilight couldn't help but feel much better about the fact that she hadn't, in fact, destroyed the world. She felt a smile cross her lips. Even in this harsh reality she had been thrust into in the past three days, fate wasn't quite that cruel.

Get that grin off your face. Twilight frowned. The voice in her head sounded angry at her today. You're running on pure adrenaline, remember? It's surprising you managed to stay conscious as long as you have – almost unbelievable, actually. Any second now, you're going to collapse. You only have a couple seconds left at best. Make it count.

Twilight lifted her head, taking in the scene as quickly as she could. That, at least, was one perk of a purely adrenaline based conscious state. She was in full overdrive now. Her shield was still up, but beginning to fail in patches from the heat. Celestia and Luna were moving into combat stances, already beginning to realize what was happening. The other five had dropped to the ground, covering their heads and screaming, from what Twilight could tell. Through the wall of spewing flame, Twilight could make out Spring. She didn't look so good, large sections of her fur missing, her front left hoof held limp. At least she had done some damage, it seemed. Cadence was still nowhere to be found.

Twilight steeled herself, and the world seemed to un-pause around her as she began to prepare her attack. A hemispherical shield ballooned out in front of her as her hooves began to push her forward. Her first barrier collapsed fully as she passed through it. Spring's first beam touched down next to Celesita, almost twenty centimeters off target. Drawing in closer, Twilight could see that she was really, really injured. Her eyes flashed towards Twilight. They shook lightly, mirroring her own semi-lucid movements. Spring was running on empty too, Twilight could tell. She felt a pit drop in her stomach. She was thinking five times as fast as normal now. If Spring was doing what she was...

A small patchwork of aquamarine shielding rose to protect Spring's underside from the lava sprayed at her from Twilight's charge. Twilight watched as the covered sectors deflected perfectly and exactly every droplet, predicting their movements with millimeter precision.

Why, then, did she miss Celestia by twenty centimeters?

Twilight turned back to warn the others, but it was too late. She saw the aquamarine webbing spreading out from the point of contact. Celestia and Luna's legs went numb, and they began to collapse to the floor. Twilight passed directly below Spring. She saw the elder goddess's bloody hoof dropping towards her, but she couldn't react fast enough. It came into contact, and she felt a shock pass through her body. Her eyes were sliding close before she had even fully passed through to the other side of the spray. If any of the lava hit her, she didn't feel it as she passed into unconsciousness.

^

Twilight groaned, waking up to a wall of pain. Fluttershy let out a happy sigh as she woke up. “Oh, you're waking up.” she said kindly. “Does it hurt anywhere?” Pinkie Pie leaned in, smiling sadly down at Twilight. She and Fluttershy seemed to have been watching her, and Twilight was once again taken by the simple kindness of her friends. Then the pain hit her again, and she winced.

“It hurts everywhere.” Twilight said. She looked around at the sunlit city surrounding her, then shook herself awake. “Wait, the sun...” she looked around frantically, seeing it half way to apex. Her heart sank. “It's nearly ten o'clock, isn't it?” she sighed. “I've been out for six hours.”

“Six hours, thirteen minutes.” Luna said, walking up to her. She gave Twilight a small smile. “You will be glad to hear that we suffered no casualties, despite...” Luna looked away. “the other complications.”

“She got away, though.” Twilight said. “Spring escaped.”

“Yes.” Luna said. “And I fear that she's getting serious. You may not have pushed her as far as we initially thought, but Spring now knows that we do have the ability to defeat her. Her intelligence will be overtaking her pride by now. She won't call them all, but I fear she will be gathering her allies now.”

“Why do you two always seal away your problems?” Twilight muttered. “And why set them all on 1000 year timers?”

“We did not have much of a choice.” Luna said. “Many of the things we face, Twilight Sparkle, are not trivial to kill. As for the thousand year timer, it is not as if we designed it that way. Spring's seal should have held for thirteen thousand.”

“So, great.” Twilight said. “We showed Spring all of our cards, shocked her into trying even harder, and got ourselves injured in the process.” she sighed. “This is just perfect.”

“Hey, at least it's over with, right?” Pinkie said.

End Chapter 11

Author's Note

The footnotes! Oh, the foot...
Wait. There aren't any. Success!

Chapter 12-8 (April fools day 2015)

(VERY IMPORTANT): This is the April fool's day chapter. Please, do not take this chapter seriously. It is not required to understand the plot of the story. The events inside may be considered canon if you chose, as they technically do not contradict anything that I have planned, but I strongly suggest against it. This chapter does its best not to take itself seriously. This chapter includes content from the following works:

Real life
Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Working knowledge of these works is not required to understand the chapter, but may help in its enjoyment. If you harbor a dislike for any of these stories, I suggest you don't read this chapter.

Chapter 12-8 – Twilight/Hitomi
Thursday, 31 May 2018 A.D.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head, trying to chase the fuzzy lights away as they danced before her eyes. She heard some assorted gasps from around her; after a few seconds of processing, she determined that she didn't recognize any of the voices. Her vision began to sharpen slowly as she came to fully, and she cast her eyes around. She was on a strange cliff, overlooking a dilapidated castle. It was mid-morning, or else mid-afternoon. She stood up, brushed herself off, then turned to face a startled collection of...

Twilight blinked, stepped back, and nearly fell off the cliff. They were weird looking things, bipedal and sort of a strange pink-tan color. The only hair they had was on their heads, though they wore colorful pelts which seemed to not be entirely attached to their bodies. They weren't exactly ugly, but she found them incredibly strange.

“H... Hello?” she asked tentatively. The creatures turned to each other, exchanging information in a language that she didn't recognize. One of them, with long green hair and white wings, snapped its fingers, red sparks flying from them. Instinctively, Twilight knew it was magic, but not of a type she'd encountered before.

“How about now?” it said to her. “Can you understand me?”

“Yes!” Twilight said. “Thank you for that, I think.” Twilight looked around. “Where am I? And who are you people?”

“What did you do with Hitomi!” a smaller one of the things, equipped with dark black clothes and what Twilight recognized as a witches hat, yelled at her. “If you've hurt her...”

“Hitomi...” Twilight said, and then her head throbbed. “Oh – Hitomi!” Twilight said. “So this is her world.” she looked at the girl. “You must be Alice, then.”

“Yeah.” Alice said. “Wait, you know Hitomi?”

“We just escaped some crazy challenge game thing.” Twilight said. “I was made to forget by that Purity girl, and then we were supposed to go home.” she sighed. “Our destinations must have been switched on route. Well, at least Hitomi should be safe under the care of the other alicorns until I can figure out how to get us back in the right places.”

@@@@@

“No, I'm not a spy.” Hitomi said to the cyan pegasus for what felt like the fiftieth time. “I'm Shizuki Hitomi. I come from the city of Mitakihara in Japan. I'm thirteen years old. My best friends are Kaname Madoka, Alice Fey, and Miki Sayaka. I have no idea why I'm here, and I didn't do anything to Twilight Sparkle. My guess is that we got mixed up when heading home.”

“I can't believe this!” the cyan pegusus said.

“Dash, calm down. You're scarring it.” A yellow pegusas said, and Dash took a step back, letting the other one in. “Hello. My name is Fluttershy. We want to help you.”

“Oh, good.” Hitomi said. “Are their any ponies with both wings and horns around here? I'm looking for one, aquamarine coat and brown eyes. Calls herself Spring?”

Fluttershy took a step back. “Why are you looking for Spring?” she asked, her tone going dark. Something must have gone wrong somewhere, but Hitomi couldn't possibly think where. She swallowed nervously.

“Uh...”

@@@@@

Twilight walked with the others into the castle. They were carrying the dead body of one of their previous allies, which Twilight had found very strange. Still, despite the fact that the group was obviously not in the best of shapes, they were taking the time to hear her out, which was something at least.

“So, you were trapped with Hitomi in another dimension for about half a day, during which time you got forced to participate in a tournament, met fictional characters, fought a thirty-meter tall golden dragon, hijacked a helipad, escaped from the clutches of an advanced civilization and became friends?” Eve, the winged girl, asked.

“Yes.” Twilight said. “Though any length of time could have passed for you. Universes don't always use the same clock.”

“And you think she's on your world now. The world filled with technicolor talking ponies.” Eve said.

“Hopefully. Either that or she's been scattered randomly across the multiverse.” Twilight said.

Eve didn't say anything for a moment. Finally, she put her hands together and gave Twilight a cold look.

“What's your angle?” she asked. “I can't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to try a story like that!”

@@@@@

“Exactly!” Hitomi said, exasperated. “No one would ever be stupid enough to come up with a story like that! The only reason I'd bother trying is if it actually was the truth!”

“She does make a good point.” Celestia said, before Luna hit her lightly.

“No, she does not. That is circular logic.” Luna stated.

“Come on!” Hitomi said. “Look, where is Spring? I'm sure she could send me home in a few minutes if you just let met talk to her!”

“Spring is unavailable.” Luna said flatly.

“It doesn’t strictly have to be Spring.” Hitomi said. “If you know anyone else who has a good understanding of quantum mechanics, specifically universal transfer dynamics...” she paused as she registered the blank looks on Celestia and Luna's faces. “Or not.”

@@@@@

“I mean, we have world gates.” Eve said. “But I don't think that a colorful pony world is part of that network.”

“But you know other worlds exist.” Twilight said. She paused. Hitomi had seemed to know something about the multiverse. She was the only one who had managed to follow Spring's explanation, after all. Maybe these people would be familiar with the concept. What had Spring called it?

“It has something to do with... multiple worlds interpretation of... qualla mechanics?” Twilight ventured.

“Do you mean many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics?” Eve said after a short pause.

“Yes! That was it.” Twilight said. “I come from another world out there, one not connected to your, uh, world gates.”

Eve sighed. “Twilight, this is all very hard to believe.” she looked outside. “And you came at a really bad time.”

“I don't need you to do much for me.” Twilight said. “Just, if you have any way of contacting Hitomi, we might be able to form a connection between us and simply swap back.”

“I'm sorry. We didn't think we'd need something like that.” Eve said.

“I have one.” Alice said, sticking her head into the room. “Well, sort of.”

@@@@@

“It's my type of magic.” Hitomi said, dispelling the emerald pentagrams from around her. “I'm a green spectral witch from Alice's spectrum. If the fact that I can do magic unseen in your world doesn’t convince you, I don't know what will.”

“It is true, this is not any magic I know of.” Luna said. “If it truly is alien, it does make sense that she might be from another universe, one with different physical laws.”

“Thank you!” Hitomi said. “Finally.” she sighed, then blushed. “Sorry, that was rude. I'm in a hurry, though. My group needs me. Their world is in danger.” she cast her eyes downwards. “And we just lost a member.”

“Yes, I do believe that you might not be lying.” Luna said. “But we still have no way of sending you back to your home, Shizuki. Something like this has never happened before.” Luna looked away from her. “And you've come a very bad time.”

Suddenly, a black cat appeared out of thin air in front of Hitomi. She gasped, then picked him up. “Jaxx!” she said.

“Some purple unicorn sent me to find you.” Jaxx said. “What is going on, master Hitomi?”

“Never mind.” Hitomi said. “Did she give you anything, or say anything important to you?”

“It told me to see if you could connect though some kind of telepathic network.” Jaxx said. “Hitomi, where are we?”

“I have no idea, Jaxx, but I'm trying to get home. Tell Alice not to worry.” Hitomi said. Jaxx looked around, then brushed against her.

“Stay safe, master.” he said, then disappeared again.

@@@@@

“Hello?” Twilight was startled suddenly by Hitomi's voice in her head.

“Hitomi!” Twilight cried. “Thank goodness.”

“Do you have any ideas about how to fix this?” Hitomi asked.

“I was hoping you might.” Twilight said. “I'm going to try to do a teleport-transfer spell on us, but I don't think that will work. I can't imagine I have enough power to pull ponies through dimensions, but I'll give it a shot.”

“Universes.” Hitomi corrected her. “Dimensions are degrees of freedom, universes are-”

“Slip of the tongue!” Twilight shot at her. “I'm trying to concentrate on this.”

“Sorry.” Hitomi backed off. “I'm just anxious.”

“I know. It's alright.” Twilight's horn began to glow. “You know, if this works, we'll probably never talk to each other again.”

“Probably.” Hitomi agreed. “But we both have worlds to save. And, even if I'm not allowed to remember it, I'll still have your friendship.”

“Yeah.” Twilight felt her power reaching a peak, and Eve turned away from the brilliant purple glow. “We'll have that, at least. Well, here goes!”

Twilight released her spell in a flash of violent violet power. She felt herself being pulled in a direction she didn't understand, existence failing around her suddenly. She was tossed into the void, torn apart by phantom forces, turned into a quantum probability and reintegrated by the boundary of reality. She gasped as soon as she had lungs again.

“I guess it didn't work, then.” Eve said flatly.

@@@@@

“That was... certainly something.” the white unicorn, Rarity if she had the name right, told Hitomi as she gasped for breath on the floor, barely able to keep herself from puking. “Though it didn't work, it seems.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Hitomi said. “That was horrible. I can't feel my arms anymore.”

“I guess you'll have to come up with something else.” she said. “I'm sure Twilight will figure something out.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Hitomi said dryly.

“Oh, I didn't mean any disrespect.” Rarity said. “But, well, if you really met Twilight, you would know how very intelligent she is.”

“She's not nearly as smart as Spring.” Hitomi said. “And I have a better grasp on the nature of our problem than she does.” she sighed. “But, if one of the two of us will be able to solve this, it would be her. I've only had magic for a week and a half, and she's a goddess. Not much of a contest.”

“Are you okay?” Twilight pinged.

“Yeah, I'm okay.” Hitomi said. “That was terrible, though.”

“You're telling me.” Twilight sent back. “We were close, too, I could feel it. If only I had slightly more power...”

“Do you think we could get Spring to help us?” Hitomi asked.

“Not a chance.” Twilight said. “We were on a little truce back there to take care of a mutual problem. Spring and the rest of the world don't get along normally. She's what I'm saving the world from.”

“Oh.” Hitomi paused. Well, there went that plan. She looked up at the ceiling of the strange, pony-made building she was in. There had to be something she could do. Something.

@@@@@

Twilight sighed, looking up from a pile of scratch-paper she had gathered to make calculations with. “It's useless.” she declared, dropping her feather-pen and crinkling the page into a ball with her magic. “It would take me months to figure out this abstract, crazy math, if I could manage to do it at all. This isn't working.”

“Look, Twilight, if we could do anything for you, we would.” Eve said. “We want Hitomi back as much as you want to go home. But we have no idea how to approach this problem either.”

“I do!” a boy said, stepping off of a white unicorn with a flowing red and black mane. Twilight's eyes bugged.

“You're that boy from before.” she said.

“Yep.” he said. “This time, I've brought my most powerful character in to deus ex machina the hell out of this, because obviously my second most powerful character didn't do it right.”

“Heh.” the pony turned to Twilight with a smirk. “He thinks he's in charge.”

“I am in charge.” the boy said.

“Oh, Kar-vitsatal, Kar-vitsatal, I've written myself into a corner and don't want to take the time to write myself out of it!” the pony said mockingly. “Give me a break.”

“It's not my fault!” the boy said.

“You're the one who waited until noon on March 31 to start writing your April fools chapter!” Kar-vitsatal returned.

“I wrote a huge one for a Different Kind of Spark.” he said defensively. “Over 20,000 words.”

“You still ran out of time there too, just less quickly.” Kar-vitsatal said.

“Whatever. I have a teaching project due on April second, and I'm writing Population Dynamics too now, and...” he trailed off as Kar-vitsatal gave him a long look.

“Fine.” he said. “You win. Please fix everything, oh great Kar-vitastal.”

“You could have just asked.” she said. “What level of fix are we talking?”

“Full ret-con.” he said. “I don't want any of this to have actually happened.”

“Wait.” Twilight said. “Hold on, do I get a say-”

But by then Kar-Vitsatal had already reset the multiverse with the power and ease that only a poorly planed OC can, and all was right again.

@@@@@

Spring blinked herself awake, looking up at the rising sun. Her head was unnaturally muddled. She had gotten very hurt in that battle, she knew, but this was something more...

Oh, right. That damn April fools chapter. It was still there, trapped inside by her perfect memory.

“Oh, great.” she said. “Why dost I hast to remember this fowl plot still?”

If you want to read the much, much longer first part to this story, you can find it at https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11134823/8/A-Different-Kind-of-Spark

Chapter 0: Prologue

Chapter 0 – Celestia
Tuesday, 9 May 0022

Celestia panted heavily, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she landed. She stopped and looked at the great magical seal, still glowing from her spell, marked out on the forest floor. The world around her was silence, silence except for her breath.

"I..."

Celestia tried to speak, but found herself too stunned to form coherent sentences. She simply stared, shook, and breathed.

She had done it.

It had seemed an impossible task, just twenty-eight years ago. Yet, here she was, and they, all of them, were...

"Art thou alright?" asked the calm voice of a stallion from behind her. Celestia turned to the speaker, a semi-sweet smile crossing her lips.

"Yes, Blueblood, I art fine."

"It is done, then." He said, more a statement than a question. "Nearly three decades, and finally, we got her."

"Thanks, in no small part, to thee." Celestia said, her eyes latching onto Blueblood's face. He looked tired, but that was to be expected; he was nearly forty-five years old now. She switched her gaze to the younger unicorn beside him. "And thee as well, Starswirl."

Starswirl blushed. "Anything for thee, Princess."

Celestia turned, motioning Blueblood and Starswirl over. "Is the pattern correct? We need to be'st sure." The two unicorns went to pattern checking. Though she knew he would deny it, without Blueblood and his incredible mastery of sealing magic, something of this nature would not have been possible. How lucky she was, to have been born in this time.

"It is strong. The seal wilt hold." Blueblood said. "Thy magic hast reinforced the spell, as I predicted. At a guess, I canst say that this seal wilt stand for... twelve thousand years. Perhaps longer."

"So, we finally got her." Starswirl commented. "That makes thee the last physical goddess on Equus."

"Unfortunately." Celestia said, closing her eyes. Yes, the power that gave her felt wonderful, but she would trade in a heartbeat to have Luna share this moment with her. It should have been their triumph. It was meant to be theirs, to share.

"Dost thee need a moment?" Blueblood asked. "This must be'st quite overwhelming for thee."

Celestia sighed, then straightened. "No, I art fine. We wilt leave shortly. I just... need to catch my breath."

Starswirl hesitated, then spoke. "Art thee sure? Thou didst just seal away thy mother."

Celestia paused. "She wast no mother to me."

Starswirl opened his mouth to say something more, but thought better of it and simply nodded. The two unicorns began to trek through the woods, towards the drop point where they would be able to teleport back to Canterlot. Celestia was alone.

Celsatia leaned in close, her muzzle nearly brushing the seal. "Goodby, Spring." she said softly. "I hope, for all our sakes, that you were wrong."

Celestia turned and left the clearing, the trees obscuring the seal of Spring after only thirty meters. Celestia walked into the clearing, where Blueblood and Starswirl were waiting. She smiled. The past was dead, and the future had a new goddess.

End Prolog