Making choices

The sun was shining upon the passage, now high enough to illuminate the whole of it. Shadows could now be found only under the trees. The scenery looked like if somepony had turned a picture into a part from the real world. The highest parts of the peaks, surrounding the passage, were covered with pearl white snow, reflecting light better than any pony- made mirror. Bellow the level of the snow and the rocks began lush meadows, which looked like they were the inspiration for the word green. Pine woods coloured in darker green covered the rest of the mountain slopes all the way down to the lawns on the two sides of the river. The road to Westend passed through those lawns, occasionally going over the river, which was about thrice as big than from when the group had last seen it, before it went north to leave Smith's Keep on the south bank, only to join the road in its dance again about two hours walk after the city.

The bridges were made out of stone, with wooden railings, made out of thick logs. Even though the railings required reparation works each decade, the stone bridges themselves had lasted centuries, increasing the glory of the bridge builders from the valley, whose tradition dated back to the dawn of Runcinia.

As an eagle flew down from his nest in the base of a lower peak, his eyes locked on a groundhog about a mile and a half bellow, that was soon about to become his breakfast, there was no way he wouldn't notice the two ponies, flyinf on the border between the meadows and the pine woods. After the groundhog was no more, the eagle soared above, studying the two ponies from pure curiosity.

Those two ponies were Hase and Elysia. The two pegasi were flying alongside eachother, while the smaller stallion was explaining his plan to his sister.

" ... camouflage spell. You know how to do a camouflage spell, don't you? "

" Of course I do. " Elly rolled her eyes. Had her brother forgotten how she got to him in the first place?

" Alright than. I'll... "

The inventor went on to explaining the details of his simple plan. This plan was (hopefully) going to make Vortex confess any secrets he hadn't shared with his son. It sounded a bit too elaborate to Elysia, who considered, that eavesdropping would have the same result, until after 5 minutes of arguments she finally agreed, that perhaps her brother's overly elaborate plan might actually be a tad more successful. The plan was repeated over and over again, unnecessary details were omitted, and finally Elysia could start with the first step of this plan - learning Hase the camouflage spell unicorns normally used.

" It's not good to start with camouflage. " she spoke.

" You aren't used to using your dark magic yet. How about you try some of the spells you know from your chaotic training to get used to it? " the tall mare suggested.

No longer having any trouble with magic during flight, Hase tried to cast his telekinesis to lift a piece of dirt. The dirt was picked up and was soon flying in direction Westend with the same speed as Hase, while he held it with his telekinesis. Only one problem. The oreol, described by the Envoy of Light was absent. Instead the piece of dirt was surrounded by a black oreol with sharp edges, indicating, that the scientist had used chaotic telekinesis to pick it up and not the normal version.

The next 10 minutes consisted of failed attempts to find the source of his own magic, the magic of an Envoy. No matter what Hase did, he always felt the surge of chaotic energy and the oreol was always black with sharp edges. After all of those failed attempts, Hase sighed and dropped the dirt on the ground, leaving it behind. Then he became aware of the presence of an itch somewhere inside his head. It wasn't in the back, nor was it in the front. It elt as if it was right in the middle of his brain. Even though the inventor suspected it was just a random itch, he focused on it and tried to apply his telekinesis on another piece of dirt he was going to pass by after about 5 seconds.

It worked. The piece of dirt was raised, surrounded by a totally different nature. Startled by the sudden success, Hase forgot to fly his wings and fell on the grass. When he got back up to look at the dirt, he saw Elly had stopped as well. The piece of dirt didn't seem corrupted in any way, even though the oreol surrounding it looked quite malicious. It consisted of dark purple bubbles with green outlines, that popped as fast as the steam bubbles inside a cup of boiling water. Small black electrical sparks also occured, occasionally running across the surface of the dirt piece.

This magic felt weird... but was actually normal, since what Hase considered normal was the cold, flowing feeling of the chaotic magic. This magic was nothing like it. He had a tingling sensation in his whole body, an itch too small to be annoying. Unicorns and alicorns felt the same, the only difference was that this feeling was usually concentrated in their horn, making the itch in the whole body intangible, just like a trombone silenced a flute. However, any unicorn could feel it if they knew it existed. With no horn, Hase felt this sensation without concentrating on it. Seeing that he had succeeded, his sister smiled and used her own magic to levitate a small stone. There was an uncanny resemblance between light and dark magic. The only difference were the colours- the electrical sparks were white, the bubbles - light yellow and their outlines - darker yellow.

" That's how unbalanced magic looks like. " Elly put the hairpin, that held one of the waving streaks of her blonde mane and which kept slipping down, back in place and focused on the theory.

" The less unbalanced the magic is, the more it will strive to balance itself. Up to 10 percent it looks like this, and it will return to its normal state in about 5 minutes of usage. You and I, however, are unable of normal magic, which means we can use this unballanced magic. However, bear in your mind, that it's not very effective. There's a big chance the spell would collapse before it fulfills its task or reaches its target.  If I don't need much power, I usually use from 10 to 20 percent.

The white mare demonstrated. Her magic oreol stabilized. The bubbles were now medium in size, popping less often. After a few failed attempts, Hase also understood how to increase and decrease the potential. After switching from the more stable to the more unstable version of the magic, he decided to see what awaited beyond the 20 percent. As the tingling sensation became stronger, the oreol changed. The dark purple bubbles with the green outlines were now tiny, not popping at all, and the black electrical sparks formed a constant net across the surface of the piece of dirt. After a second Elly's oreol mirrored his, black, purple and green replaced by white, light yellow and darker yellow, just like before.

" That's how magic looks like with 20 to 40 percent potential. " she explained.

" This type of magic is the strongest magic one uses for non- combat situations. I usually use it for heavy lifting or teleportation. Above 40 percent... now that's where stuff gets interesting... " the mare teased her brother, knowing he was going to increase the power as soon as she had finished speaking. It was a great joy for her to see her brother finally wield his true potential, not limited by anything.

After Hase passed the 40 percent border, the oreol began looking more like real magic. There was this relatively normal oreol with the small waves, although they moved a lot faster than on normal unicorns' horns, making the stallion think his spell had somehow caused time to speed up. The electrical sparks were now green and were about twice the size of their black predecessors. Soon after the oreol changed the dirt lump fell apart. When the confused stallion glared at his teacher, she already had an answer ready:

" I told you. Magic with potential bigger than 40 percent is too strong to be used for normal spells. One can only use it during combat. "

Hase nodded. This made sence. He recalled the pathetic chaotic blast he had conjured a few days ago. His limit didn't allow him to feed the blast enough energy to be effective. Now, after his sister had told the, that there is no such border for the Envoys, and after he spent a few minutes adapting this spell to use it with darkness, five balls of darkness appeared in front of Hase. Each was the size of a baseball, dark purple in size with green sparks surging from the inside. Glad that his spells would finally make a difference in a battle, the inventor used his mind to set them flying into the woods.

The next level was even better. The stallion's magical oreol was now half- black and half-dark purple, the green sparks bigger and appearing more often - there wasn't a single moment in which a spark, some of which were 2 feet long, didn't come out of the dark magical blast the scientist had cast. Elysia explained, that this level of magic was only used for complex battle spells.

However, things got really strange when Hase reached 100%. The oreol was now pitch black( Elly's was white), but the waves on its surface were about 5 times slower than usual. The blast Hase tried to conjure dissappeared a moment after its casting.

" Pure darkness and pure light can only be used for spells, requiring enormous amounts of energy. " the tall mare cleared out.

For obvious reasons she couldn't demonstrate, so the duo could now pass to the first step of the plan: teaching Hase a camouflage spell. Elly first went on to demonstrating the spell herself.

Small glittering white stars began appearing on the mare's coat. They multiplied, soon covering her whole body. Then they passed to the mane and tail. Hase could clearly notice how the waving mane and tail began fading, along with most of Elysia's body. What was left after a minute was his sister as he remembered her - a normal blonde pegasus mare. However, the spell wasn't complete yet. Under the effect of the small glittering stars, the white pegasus' coat slowly shifted to light pink, to darker pink, untill finally the coat of the pony was light red. Her mane and tail underwent a simillar process, causing them to end up in a darker shade of red. The small stars slowly vanished and the Envoy of Light was fully disguised.

" See? " she asked. The inventor couldn't keep himself from gasping, as even the voice of his sister had changed.

" Uh, I've got a few questions. " he muttered, still shocked by the dramatic change. His sister nodded in responce.

" Firstly, isn't the spell supposed to be a fast green wave, starting from the head? "

Having been told of the changeling invasion in Canterlot, and having been informed about the changelings by his friend Twilight, Hase had been led to believe, that there is only one kind of camouflage spells. Actually, the changelings used their own version of the spell, that was a much better version of the spell unicorns used. It only took seconds, while Elysia's transformation had taken three minutes.

After the Envoy of Light explained that to him, Hase was ready to ask his second question.

" Secondly, what happens with the rest of your body? Is it invisible? Is it ethereal? "

Knowing, that he'd be as high as his siter in a matter of days, the scientist wanted to know what would happen to the rest of his body while he was in his disguise. He was worried some part of his body might not reappear when the time came to regain his initial appearance. He shared his concerns with Elly, but she just laughed and explained, that nopony knows the answer to the first question, but the spell somehow made sure the user would look as real as possible and therefore the rest of the caster's body either vanished or was somehow compressed in the body of the pony whose appearance once had. That only lasted for the duration of the spell, though, and by so far there were no records of missing body parts after one regained their original appearance.

His worries dispelled, Hase could now begin training the camouflage spell.

Meanwhile, the main group, although about two miles behind, was also headed to Westend. The group had got up early to travel more in the early hours, hoping this ment nopony would see them and recognise them. That's why the ponies were initially walking with twice their normal speed. However, when Midnight's clock showed it was 11 a.m. and there were still no signs of other ponies, the group slowed down to its normal speed, convinced they wouldn't meet anypony on the road today, as it had been for the last few days.  Just in case, the Sentinels of the Elements were walking in front of the rest. If they saw somepony coming, Tempest could easily conceal the group in a thick fog. Even though the cloudless skies would make such fog highly suspicious, it was better than if they were recognised, therefore all had agreed to this plan.

Curious about the area they were currently in, Twilight was having a conversation with Midnight Bell, since she seemed to know a lot about it. The two mares had remained about 50 feet behind the main part of the group, since Midnight wasn't sure if her friends wouldn't be annoyed with their conversation. Twilight knew for sure, that her friends wouldn't have anything against it (after being friends with Twilight, they had "combat training". Twilight smiled to her own joke.), but she couldn't be sure about the Runcinians. Of course, she couldn't guess what Dagger was thinking (if she could, she'd double-check if she had any psychic powers. This mare's poker face was as perfect as one gets.), Arcane Bliss seemed to take it rather well, but after putting his hoof in his mouth, Metal Chord, the cocky swordspony, seemed down in the dumps, and Forge was still irritated from last night's events. So it was best for the two mares to converse separate from the rest.

Right now the conversation was revolving around the rare species of flower, that growed on the cliffs of the gorge.

" Pharmacepts in Mouthguard have developed a peculiar extract from this plant. " Midnight Bell told the lavender alicorn.

" It proved itself to be extremely effective against pox - it heals it in a matter of days - but researchers suspect it holds even greater potential. "

" Do you have laboratories in Mouthguard? " Twilight was surprised. She was left with the impression, that Runcinia was a few technological levels bellow Equestria, and now it suddenly turned out there were chemical laboratories in the capital - something, that suggested equal or higher level.

" You wouldn't suppose so judging by the rest of the country, I know. " the unicorn with the bronze coat guessed what she was thinking.

" On the whole, I suppose your land is much more advanced than ours. Outside Mouthguard, the most modern thing you'll see are the machines in Smith's Keep.

But Mouthguard... that's a whole new world. My life before going there seemed like a prelude once I got there. When one thinks about it, it's actually logical. Mouthguard is the biggest port in a 300 leagues long part of the continent's coast. The trade and the science there were influenced by civilisations from the eastern continent. The capital, I guess I'll have to repeat myself, is a different world. Researchers are 'this' close to creating a flying machine. It won't be able to carry an engine, but one would be able to glide with it.

Magic is on another level as well. A second course student from the Academy is as skilled as a master, who studied elsewhere. I can't wait till everything is over. I was promised Professor Hex would be appointed as my personal teacher! " the unicorn exclaimed.

Judging by the mare's tone, Twilight supposed this Professor Hex was somepony like Starswirl the Bearded. In order to be sure, she asked the mare who that was.

" Oh, he's just the most skilled magician to ever exist! Him being your teacher guarantees you success! He's beyond any other master. Nopony has surpassed him yet. "

After the conversation went on for a few more minutes, the subject eventually became Midnight and how she had managed to move from Graywood to Mouthguard - two polar opposites.

" My dad took me there before the Usurper took the throne. He wanted me to see the world, since he had spent most of his life in our village. This day was probably the most amazing in my life. As we were about to leave, we noticed many unicorn foals walking in the same direction. When my dad asked one mare, who was walking beside a small colt, where they were all going, it turned out the prestigous Academy was holding an audition. I don't know what got into my father back than, but suddenly he decided to sign me up. I had trained magic back in Graywood, but not extensively, so I suspected they wouldn't pick me. But they did! It turned out the test was made to evaluate potential and not actual skills. I was the happiest filly in the world. Dad was sad, since this ment we'd have to separate, but the teachers assured him, that I'd be able to visit him every weekend in the end of the month. I did so... at least until the Rebellion movement was crushed. " the unicorn frowned.

" I wasn't really able to do anything, so I just continued with my education. About a month ago came two importrant news. The first one was, that I have a chance to become Professor Hex's personal apprentice, and the second was a message from Uncle Forge about his quest to dethrone Bladewaltz. This dictator, " a tear slid down the mare's left cheek.

" ,is the reason my father is dead. I could apply for apprenticeship any time until the deadline, which is one month from now, and even if I had to choose, I think the choice is obvious. So now I'm here. "

As the group passed one of the many bridges, that enabled the gravel road to avoid solid rocks, that couldn't be pierced even with the best drill Smith's Keep engineers had come up with, they were noticed by two ponies, which were hiding near the road. In this section of the passage, the pine wood on the both banks went way further down than in other parts - all the way down to the river. The forest retreated back to its former position, about 300 feet higher than the road, leaving the space inbetween to the grass, after about a mile. Therefore, this section of the road was perfect for ambushes. This was the favourite ambush spot of the robbers from the passage, since even though the forest wasn't as thick as they wished, at one point the slope of the mountain became almost horizontal, due to it being a lot steeper in the higher part of the mountain. This enabled robbers to set an ambush on both sides of the road - something other robbers in the mountains could only dream off, since the robbers on the riverside would have to slimb up to attack. After long years of fighting over this ideal spot, one gang- the One- Eyed Hares - had won the right to use it.

They didn't depend on locals. Ponies from Westend knew everything there was to know about this notorious section of the road. In responce a boat service was created. A pony from the village usually helped travellers pass the forest section, using the Stream, which was safe to sail before the gorge. However, the group had skipped the boat, since none of them knew the region well, and the pony, who operated the boat, hadn't seen them, because he was resting in the shade of an oak when they passed by his post, taking it for an old camping spot.

The One- Eyed Hares were the most infamous robber gang in Central Runcinia - their name was known from Dewhill - a town off the main road from Smith's Keep to the capital, which split the distance between the industrial town and the mountain passage in half - to Deerplain - another big town, that lied to the south, in the western part of the kingdom, although more to the east than its much bigger northern cousin- Streamcross. Surprisingly though, the locals weren't worried at all. The robbers weren't as stupid as to attack locals - after all, the ponies, who delivered them food, were locals, and those robbers were too smart to angry their benefactors. It was why they were tolerating the boat service in the first place. Unbeknownst to locals, the boat actually helped the gang, since it separated the locals from the travellers.

The One- Eyed Hares were going to score one major strike when the group entered their section of the road, if it wasn't for the fact most of them were snoring, tied to a pine tree about 100 feet aside from the road. Their spotter had just informed them about an incoming large group, when suddenly all of them felt a little sleepy. There was enough time to take a little nap before their victims arrived, so the gang leader appointed one of the ponies to watch the road and then benevolently allowed the gang members to rest. However, the watchpony didn't last much longer. After that all it took was a little inspection of the other side of the road from Hase and Elysia and now all the robbers were tied to this tree, cosily resting their heads on the shoulder of one of their fellows. Only a great wizard like Twilight would be able to detect the soft magical aura with light yellow colour, which orbited around their heads, keeping them in their dream world. Hase was extremely satisfied he wouldn't have to resort to violence and hugged his sister to express this feeling. She was also happy her brother wouldn't have to go against his nature.

It was time for business. Small dark stars glittered on Hase's coat. Around them, the stallion's coat soon changed its colour, shifting to a light shade of blue. The blue areas spread slowly, but the spell seemed to be effective - the last time the inventor had tried this spell his coat kept regaining its original colour in random areas of his body, making him look like an infant giraffe with abnormally short neck. This time the colour seemed to take hold and kept spreading. When it reached his tail, it changed its zenith blue colour into a light shade of green and continued spreading. There wasn't another major change until the blue spots reached the Envoy of Darkness' muzzle. The blocky jaw all stallions had was replaced by the more rounded version of a mare. After a minute his tranformation was complete.

" How do I look? " Hase turned to his sister. Realising he still had his stallion voice, he chuckled and waited for a few seconds before he spoke again, until his voice manipulation was over as well.

" I think I'm ready. " he noted. His voice confirmed it. It was neither too low (his first attempts were horrible), nor too high- pitched (some of his attempts made him sound as if he was on hellium) - a normal voice for a mare.

Elly observed him with a mixture of criticism and mockery. She was against him picking a mare for his fake personality. She knew well this mission was already in danger, since either of the four alicorns only needed to perform a simple check spell to find out about the spell concealing her brother. Him posing as a mare made this more likely; in the long years, spent with Hase on the streets, the white pegasus had found out she and Gale thought in a different way than the colts. The tall mare knew, that a stallion, no matter if the magical experience, would NEVER be able to impersonate a mare good enough to fool the opposite gender. Hase had to communicate with the Mane 6 and any mare in the group at all as little as possible. Otherwise his and her effort would have been for nothing. Moreover, she'd have to reveal herself, and she didn't want to reveal her presence to Vortex yet.

However, Hase had insisted on picking a mare for his false identity.

" We don't speak about feelings. " he had explained. Coming from the mouth of a stallion, Elly had to agree to those words.

" We only share that kind of stuff with really close friends, family... or mares. Do you have any idea how weird would it look like if I go out there as a stallion and try to ask my dad about my feelings? He'd know something's not right the very second I do this! "

Forced to choose between two evils, Elysia had to choose the lesser. So she unwillingly let Hase train his mare camouflage for a few hours until they reached their hiding spot. Luckily, he'd got the basics on time and know it was finally time for their plan to begin.

" Good luck. " she said as her brother headed to the road.

" Thanks. " the mare replied.

Twilight had returned to her friends after her conversation with the wizard apprentice had ended. Now she was having a conversation with Fluttershy regarding owls, which had begun with the purple alicorn telling her friend about a funny situation, in which she, as she was coming down from the bedroom to drink a glass of water, had been freaked out by Owlowiscious coming back from his late night hunt. Right now her timid friend was telling her more about scoops owls than she could ever find out from books.

" Good morning! " the shy pegasus was interrupted by an unexpected greeting, coming from behind. Twilight and her friends all stopped in their tracks and turned around to find the source of this greeting. It turned out to be a smiling earth pony mare with light blue coat and light green mane.

" Good mornin'! " Applejack was the first to greet back.

" Do you mind if I join your group? There are robbers in the area, you know. " the earth pony pointed out.

" Hay! " Midnight Bell swore. The rest of the group glared at her with great confusion.

" That's the One- Eyed Hares' region! I should have recalled this. I got us into a trap. " she explained. She then sighed.

" We'll be alert. " Luna comforted her.

The group set off again. Only Applejack remained behind, in order to assure the mare it was alright to come with them:

" Ya're welcome ta come with us if yah want, sugarcube. "

" Thanks. The things they say about those robbers... make me really want to skip our meeting. "  the mare smiled, as she walked beside her new friend with the stetson, while they were catching up with the group.

" No need ta worry. This ol' lasso h's stopped a hay lotta timbahwolves. Ah'm sure it can deal with sum robbers. " Applejack spoke, confident in her words.

" Da name's Applejack. " she nodded.

" I'm... um... " the mare glanced back at her flank, as if she was going to make up a name, that would fit her cutie mark. That made Applejack raise an eyebrow. The mare's cutie mark was a basket full of daisies. If she came up with something like Daisy Basket, the farmer mare would get really suspicious. However, it turned out this was just a thing of the Element of Loyalty's imagination, as the mare presented herself.

" I'm April Shower. " the smile of the earth pony was a smile of awkwardness. Knowing how her friend Fluttershy first behaved when she met her, Applejack thought the mare's odd behaviour to be a result of her shyness. She smiled and asked her:

" Ya from around here? "

" Yes. " the mare confirmed.

" I was just having my morning walk. I didn't realize I had got so far away from Westend. I was probably thinking of something else. "

" It 'appens to all of us sometimes. Ah sometimes get carried away 's well, find mahself bucking da same tree for da second time. "

The mare seemed interested.

" Do you own an orchard? " April asked.

" Yep. An apple one. " Applejack nodded.

" It's da family's business. "

" Isn't it too hard? I tried to buck an apple once, almost sprained my ankle. " the mare frowned, apparently recalling this unpleasant experience.

" Nuthin ya can't get used ta. " the orange earth pony replied.

April was silent for a few seconds. At first AJ was confused, but then she supposed the mare had got carried away as well. Luckily, the other earth pony came down to earth in a matter of seconds.

" I suppose it's very rewarding in the end of the day. " she said.

" Nuthin compares to da feelin' yah get when yah see the last apple from the Applebuck Season gettin' sold. " the earth pony smiled.

This pleasant conversation resumed for a few more minutes. The mare knew a surprising amount of things about apple orchards. Applejack wasn't surprised, since she was certain this terrain was perfect for apples. What actually surprised her was the way the earth pony spoke about apples. It had a weird resemblance to the way the farmer mare herself explained what she did, making the earth pony sound as if she were told all of these things by AJ herself. That resemblance befuddled the mare, but eventually she decided it was probably only a coincidence. After all, the only other option was, that the mare was reading her mind.

After the end of her conversation with the Element of Honesty, the mare had conversations with all of the Mane 6 one after another. The five remaining mares were surprised to find out she was a good interlocutor even when the conversation considered things she couldn't possible know about - such as flying and magic, which enabled her to keep up with Twilight and Rainbow Dash while they were in their elements. Of course, the mare was oblivious to most of the things one could only know from firsthoof experience, but she remembered a surprisingly big amount of things her pegasi and unicorn friends had shared with her. April also knew which bird species migrated through the passage or over it - a topic, which extended the conversation she and Fluttershy had to a good one hour. Also, she made Pinkie Pie very happy when she turned to her, looking for advice on how to organize the party for the upcoming birthday of her mother. She only failed to have a conversation with Rarity, as it turned out the earth pony knew almost nothing about fashion.

Eventually, about two hours away from Westend, April Shower ended up in front of the group, along with Vortex. At first she was observing the " winged unicorns ", as she had named them, with suspicion, but when Twilight explained to her, that they were the souverens of the land that they came from, and were not a threat at all, the earth pony had lost her fear for them. Right now she was looking up at the muzzle of the alicorn stallion.

This was the moment Hase had trained for the whole morning. His knowledge of his friends had allowed him to swiftly earn their trust in his new ponysonna. He only skipped Rarity, because his heart ached since the moment he saw her. Still sad, angry and confused about what she had done, the stallion had avoided having a lengthy conversation with her by telling the truth - that he didn't know much about clothes design. He understood fashion as much as Rarity understood his inventions.

Now the moment he has been waiting for had finally come. Pushing the pain of his heartbreak back to the back of his brain, where it always lingered, reminding him the unicorn had abandoned him because of the monster he had become, the scientist concentrated on the mission, which purpose was to find the cause of something, that bothered him much less than his broken heart - why his father wasn't telling him the whole truth - but still angried him.

" You seem sad. " April spoke.

" Why would you think so? " Vortex asked, a bit worried. The mare had seen beyond his poker face, which he had deemed impenetrable. If it was no more... he should have thought of another one. He couldn't allow his worries to come out, since he knew he wouldn't be able to explain them. Besides, it would have much worse consequences - it would distract the group and be the reason for a possible failure.

Without knowing it yet, Vortex and Hase were much alike. The black pegasus had inherited many of his father's personality traits, like worrying about the others' problems more than one cared about their own. The inventor had also inherited his leadership skills and sharp mind from the black alicorn. If the two got to spend more time together, their bond would have been unbreakable. However, being put to a test mere days after its creation, the bond between them expectedly didn't last, creating a void between the black pegasus and the former king.

Vortex's worries were useless. Hase had only guessed he was worried because he was sure of his father's strong conscience, suspecting it was the same as his own. Nothing else, not even a mare's intuition, could breach the poker face of the violet- maned stallion and find out his emotions. Not suspecting it, nonetheless, Vortex decided this mare's intuition had managed to do so, and decided to improve it in the future. Before it became too late and the silence became too long, the alicorn spoke again:

" What made you think so? "

" Well, there's just this aura of sadness around you, " the earth pony tried to explain.

" , I can feel it. "

Luckily, the mare disguise did its job. If a stallion had said those lines, the black alicorn would have grown suspicious. Nevertheless, now he decided it was just the uncanny intuition mares were famous for.

" Well, I'm a bit worried about my son, " the tall stallion began.

' Yes, go on. ' Hase grinned in his mind. The plan was going to be a total success.

" ,since he vanished yesterday evening, but taking his personal qualities into consideration, I highly doubt he'll have any difficulties returning to us. What worries me far more is the bad economical state my homeland could be in when we return... "

The mental smile quickly turned into a frown, as the disguised pegasus listened how his father swiftly changed the subject of the conversation.

" ... the inflation could have led to devaluation of the equestrian bit currency... "

Hase had forgotten his father is as good in mind games as he is. Now that his father had changed the subject, the stallion couldn't allow himself to switch back to the initial one without rasing some suspicions. Besides, Vortex had another trick up his sleeve. His monologue was so long and so confusing, that unless a pony was entirely focused on the initial subject, like Hase was, they would have quickly forgotten how the discussion began in the first place. If Hase showed, that he remembered it in any way, Vortex would instantly realize something's not quite right.

While the black alicorn lectured about numerous financial degradational events, that could occur while their group was absent from Equestria, the inventor could do nothing  but grin and bear it. Luckily, the violet- maned stallion eventually came to a halt and with the excuse, that she knew nothing about finances, April Shower retreated to the main part of the group.

While the scientist trotted amongst his friends, he was thinking about what had went wrong. First of all, he had underestimated his father's witt. Vortex could go toe-to-toe with him and win with ease. The inventor recalled how easily he was tricked to follow his orders back when he was still in Equestria. He hadn't evaluated the situation right, blinded by his wish to find the truth. The scientist deemed himself a smart pony, but he had forgotten his father had more than 9000 years of experience and therefore had more than enough time to perfect his debate skills, especially when considering his position as a noble back in the old Equestria. Moreover, during his years as a fugitive from Celestia he had also developed a very practical mind - a feature he shared with his son. However, with much more experience, Vortex had a natural advantage.

Hase wished he had remembered that earlier. What had he thought? That his father was simply going to give away his secrets when asked to by a mare? From now on, he proimsed to himself to think of his father as of himself, only a thousand times better. After he repeated this promise several times( only inside his own mind, of course), he decided to think of some way to bring the plan to a reasonably succesful end. It surely wasn't going to be the success the Envoy of Darkness thought it would be about 15 minutes ago, but there was still a lot of useful information the black pegasus could extract in his current guise. He asked a few questions to the Mane 6 and soon he knew all the details about the group's plans once they reached Westend. The ponies were going to stay there for the night, which ment, that if he and Elysia wanted to get to the capital first and deal with the threat before his friends ever reach it, they'd have to fly during the night as well.

The black stallion was just beginning to think of a way to leave the group without looking suspicious, but not leaving without any warning, since he knew Elly was probably eager to find out what had happened. The pine woods having retreated back to their higher base a long time ago, the tall white mare was forced to fly high above the road, in order not to get spotted. Or at least Hase thought so, before seeing, that she was actually walking behind the wooden wagon, that served as a home to Formidon. She was disguised as an earth pony mare as well. The group hadn't found out about her yet, but even if they did, another mare joining the group wouldn't be a surprise after April Shower had joined them and explained the benefits of travelling in groups. The inventor only knew it was his sister because she showed him the secret sign she had previously warned him about - a small area of white hair just above the knee of her left forehoof - a sign, that the two had come up with, that enabled Hase to differentiate his siter whenever she was in a disguise. As a reply, Hase showed his own spot of dark hair above the knee of his right forehoof. It was a clever plan. The two didn't know wheter they wouldn't have to take up another identity once more, so they had thought of a universal sign to help them recognise eachother. Of course, it wasn't going to be of much use, since the two were probably going to know how the other looks like, but it would help them in case there is a pony with a simillar appearance.

After Hase became acquainted with the whereabouts of his sister, he returned to the Mane 6, wondering what to do now. There wasn't any more information he could extract from them, now all, that was left, was to think of an excuse to leave prematurely - there was probably still somewhere around an hour and a half walk to the village. He'd really have to think of something good, since otherwise he could fail the plan in the last moment.

As he was musing, he caught a glimpse of Rarity. The disguised stallion had intentionally avoided any conversations with her, so that occasional feelings wouldn't get in the way of his mission. However, now, when it had almost reached its end, the inventor was tempted. The mare had a melancholic look on her muzzle and was gazing in the distance. She looked as if something was torturing her from the inside. The scientist wondered for about 5 minutes, before he finally took a decision.

The white unicorn was observing the white peaks of the mountain. However, her thoughts were focused on something of totally different matter. She was thinking of the stallion of her heart and all the pain she probably made him suffer through when she assisted his father in his plan. The thought, that she was helping him, was no longer there to help her. All that was left was the guilt, that stabbed her broken heart repetitively. She was wondering what he had felt when she put an end to their relationship with one single sentence. She was trying to imagine the torture he was going through in this moment, left without any explanation about anything.

" Don't torture yourself. Just leave it fade. " a female voice broke her train of thought. Confused, but also a bit thankful, Rarity looked around to find the source of this voice. It was the earth pony mare that had joined their group at noon.

" What do you mean, miss...? " the fashionista mare found out, that she didn't actually know the mare's name. Celestia knows why, the mare had had conversations with each of her friends, but not her. The unicorn gave it off to distraction, since now the earth pony actually looked eager to speak with her - although her muzzle hinted of depression and looked strikingly simillar to what Rarity imagined she looked like in the moment.

" April Shower. " the earth pony presented itself.

" Miss Shower, I'm afraid I didn't quite understand what you ment with your first sentence. "

" You are a terrible liar. You know perfectly well what I mean. " April assured her.

" Besides, I know my own when I see it. "

That explained the two things, that had befuddled the Element of Generosity. It explained the mare's perception of the unicorn's state and it also explained her depression.

" Stallions? " she asked.

" Precisely. " Rarity confirmed her thoughts.

The two mares walked silent for a few seconds, until Rarity decided she should help out the mare, no matter of her own state.

" What makes you grieve, dear? " she asked, trying to make herself sound a bit more cheerful. She failed.

The mare sighed.

" Well, I suppose you've heard simillar stories before. There was this colt I liked, and he liked me too. With time, as we grew up, that became something bigger. One night I think he was going to go for it, to propose me... but he doesn't. On the next morning he simply said we couldn't be together anymore and we continued with our lives as if all those years have never happenned. "

A tear slid down the mare's cheek. Rarity felt a lump in her throat, since April's story reminded her of her own cruel deed. She shed a tear as well.

A few more silent moments followed, until the earth pony spoke again.

" You are too generous sometimes. Come on, I'm listening. "

Blinded by her own pain, Rarity didn't comprehend how weird this sentence sounded. Instead, deciding, that this mare was somepony she could finally share everything with, the white unicorn began telling her own story. After a few sobs, she spoke with a trembling voice:

" He was really gentle. No matter what life threw at him, he always managed to resist. He never gave up.

Yet, this world is much more different than ours. Fighting for our common better future, he found himself comitting sins he wouldn't even think of back in our land. Those sins... were changing him. A relative of his, who is travelling with us, opened my eyes. The reason for all of this was me. Me! If it wasn't for me, he never would have done all those horrible things. It's all my fault. "

Hase senced his anger rising up. Anger towards his father. Just as the scientist himself, his father knew the main reason for all of this were not all of Hase's friends, nor the group. It was Rarity. But why tell that to her? That was unneccessarily cruel. By telling her the truth, Vortex had forced Rarity to share Hase's pain. The black stallion frowned. He was sure even Applejack wouldn't approve such honesty.

" Luckily, he had a plan, "

While thinking, Hase had skipped a part of his marefriend's story, but the word "plan" made him come back, filled with fear from what he could hear.

" ,a plan, that would help him stop doing all of this. He told me, that if I broke up with my coltfriend, he'll be alright again. That all our problems will be gone. "

The black pegasus' anger evolved to pure fury. He cursed himslef for ever suspecting Rarity capable of such cruelty. The answer was obvious. Infuriated, Hase could barely keep it all inside.

Of course it was him. It was always him. The master puppeteer. The alicorn with a coat, black as his heart, hardened through the centuries of hate- centered existence, towards the two Princesses, the inventor's first friends, and towards Equestria as a whole. His marefriend's honesty had revealed to him how wrong he was, when he thought, that he was free of his control. No, his strings were still attached to him only two days ago. Now, when he was free, he was going to make sure this puppeteer felt the same pain he was feeling right now. Who allowed him to control his destiny?

Without saying anything, April Shower, with a weird expression, a result of Hase trying to conceal his fury, left the sobbig Rarity's side and headed for the black alicorn. A devious plan developed in the inventor's mind, a plan only a rage- filled mind could come up with. When April Shower reached Vortex, a grin appeared on her face. She put on a worried expression and spoke in a sad tonality.

" Sir... did your son happen to be a black pegasus with blue mane and tail? "

Upon hearing that, the black alicorn looked at the earth pony with great concern. A concern, which unlike Hase in his fury was thinking, wasn't fake.

" Wwwhy would you ask me this question? " he asked, stuttering a bit. Now it was time for Hase's vengeance. Using faked sadness as a tool, the infuriated stallion brought out a horrible thought, that sent chills down his father's  spine.

" I.. I saw him fall off a cliff, " the scientist spoke, without seeing, that Celestia and Luna, ponies, that he didn't want to hurt, were walking on his other side and were equally concerned.

" , a gang of robbers had tied his wings to his back. I looked back and didn't see wheter he reached the ground. The cliff was... 300 feet high. "

The three alicorns gasped. However, because of the synchron, Hase's foggy perception made him think it was only his father. Driven by his fury, he rejoiced in the inside, as he saw his father fall to his knees and yell at the sky. Meanwhile a smirk had found its way to his lips and settled there. Seeing this, which filled her with suspicion, Luna asked:

" Why is there a smile upon your lips? "

Guilt tingled inside Hase, as he saw his acts caused pain, but it was quickly drowned by his still ongoing anger. However, there was some other feeling. A weird tickling one and then something brushing Hase's right forehoof. The stallion looked around and spotted it immeadietely. A black wooden longbow, made out of unbreakable, yet easily bending wood. That was the conclusion Hase came to after inspecting it for a few moments.

However, what was the worst part was the feeling it was a part of his body. Hase's fury finally subsided, replaced by the horror of his deed. As always, the weapon came to show him he'd done something terribly wrong. He looked around himself, seeing the Mane 6, especially Rarity, glare at him with a mix of shock and confusion. Seeing there was no more use of his disguise, the black stallion dropped it.

Unbeknowst to him, upon doing so, all the other weapons appeared as well. As the pegasus stood there, covered with his full- body armour, that only left his head and the half of his neck out, with the mantle sliding down his back, both of them black and matching the inventor's coat colour, while the longbow, the mace and the whip levitated around him gave Hase the appearance of some bloodthirsty conqueror. Seeing the shock in his friends' eyes grow, the stallion confusedly looked around and spotted, that somehow the full roster of weapons had reappeared. More annoyed than surprised, the black pegasus waved with his left forehoof. All the weapons faded and vanished, much to the group's surprise.

Meanwhile Vortex had just gotten up and turned around to ask April more about the horrible accident. His confusion lasted less than a second, quickly overriden by the black alicorn's fatherly love. Without any warning, Vortex rushed and took his son in a strong hug.

" Thank Faust! " he exclaimed.

Sencing, that he almost suffocated his heir, the former king relinquished his grip. Hase fell on the ground. He then stood up and walked back, leaving a two feet distance between him and his father.

" Now where is this treacherous liar? " Vortex said. He looked around, still not understanding what had just happenned.

" It was me, dad. " the scientist said.

The shock, that could be seen on the Mane 6's faces until a second ago, now passed to Vortex's.

" Why would you do that? " he asked, observing his son with suspicion.

" All he wanted was the truth. " another voice spoke. It came from above. Looking up, the group saw a big white pegasus, probably as big as Celestia. She landed 10 feet ahead of the group and folded her wings, which Twilight could see were as big as her mentor's.

However, there were a few major differences. This mare was a pegasus, which quite confused the purple alicorn, and her mane seemed... material, even though it waved just like the ones of Vortex and the Princesses. This one, however, seemed like a normal mane left growing freely for years. There was this thin white oreol around her mane, that probably made it flow. Her tail shared the mane's characteristics. One streak of the mane, that went forward instead of going back, joined the main part of the mane thanks to a wooden hairpin.

" Elysia. " the black alicorn smiled. He even laughed, much to the rest of the group's utter befuddlement.

" Now it all makes sence. Hase, I'd like you to meet... "

" I know who she is. Although I suspect you wish I didn't. " the pegasus replied sharply. The smile on the alicorn's face turned into a frown.

" How much do you know? " he asked in a sad tonality.

" All I know. " Elly replied instead.

The pegasus flew up in the air and landed next to his sister.

" How long would you have waited before telling me all of this? Was there any use of your plan, when you weren't even going to tell me the whole truth? " the scientist wondered. He was still cross.

" Wouldn't you have been shocked if I told you all at once? Wouldn't you immeadiately have forgotten some small, yet importrant details? Would you have been able to cope with two kinds of magic at the same time? " Vortex replied with a series of retorical questions, which left everypony but the two siblings in absolute discombobulation.

" None of this matters now. I'm here. I know. " the scientist stated.

" The only question, that is of any importrance to me, and to which this entire plan was devoted, is " Is there something more you're not telling me? ". "

The black alicorn knit his brows.

" I shall not answer this question. Have in mind, that with time, there will be no secrets left, but if there is something I'm not telling you it's in order to protect you. I haven't always taken the right decisions, and my past is the perfect example for that. I take responsibility of my actions and I beg you to forgive me and trust me again. "

For a moment the hope of the former king lingered in the air.

" No. " Hase cut him off.

" Elly opened my eyes, while you simply wished to keep them closed... "

" Isn't it better to open your eyes slowly, in order to get used to the light, and not abruptly, as the light blinds you? " Vortex asked.

Hase mused for a few moments. Apparently, his strong emotions had prevented him from evaluating the situation the right way. His father wasn't trying to control him; he was trying to protect him, up to a ridiculous point. His bond to the inventor was much stronger than the pegasus had anticipated. Touched by this fact, the pegasus let a smile form on his lips.

The Equestrians smiled as well, seeing this as a good sign. The whole conflict was going to come to its natural end and Hase was going to reconcile with his father.

" I guess you have a point, dad. " the Envoy finally replied.

" I need forgiveness, not you. I let my feelings blind me and lead me where my mind never would have. I will never leave them determine who I am again. My grudge against you was unjust. However, I need time. "

" Time? " Vortex was befuddled.

" Yes, time. Even though the grudge is no more, there are still so many things I don't know. The things you aren't going to tell me. For an example, what exactly those weapons are and why they keep appearing?" the black pegasus asked himself questions the answers to which his friends and his father knew very well. His latest weapon, which Vortex with fear in his heart recognised as the Bow of Venegance, appeared again, beside Hase.

" So since you aren't willing to cooperate in finding those answers, I guess we will separate after all. Meet you all in Mouthguard. " Hase turned around and smacked against the force field, created by Vortex's chaotic magic.

" You aren't going anywhere. " the alicorn stallion said him.

The scientist smirked. A ball of purple bubbles with green outlines and small black sparks smacked against the barrier. All the Equestrians but Vortex, Hase and Elly were once again thrown in great shock, since the only time they had seen somepony use such magic was when they had to save the Crystal Empire from King Sombra.

The barrier withstood. Knowing, that his father was alert now, and that no matter how much he increased the power of his spell, the barrier would last, Hase turned around and threw a small spindle of black electrical sparks, an incapacitation spell Elly had thought him, to aid him in an emergency, at his father. However, Vortex had predicted this move as well, and now another barrier shielded him from any spells.

Irritated, Hase looked around and saw the black longbow still hovering around him.

' What use is there of bow with no arrows? ' he asked himself, before an idea popped inside his mind. He focused on the part of his mind that was this bow, hoping to find out more about its function. He didn't expect it to work, but surprisingly, it did. All Hase got was an extremely blurry memory, but it was enough. Now confident, Hase aimed the black longbow, which was as tall as his sister, at his father. Before he could react, another spindle of black electrical sparks was loaded into the bow. The string was drawn back by Hase's will, extending it to a black stick of electricity. Hase then dropped the string.

The small stick flew with an incredible speed. It went straight through the barrier like hot knife through butter and reached its target. Vortex fell on the ground and the two barriers vanished. Without stalling, Hase and Elyisa flew in the air and headed towards Westend, leaving the group behind.