Game of Fate

Chapters

Chapter 02 - Apples
Chapter 03 - Generous Shield
Chapter 04 - Strings of Magic
Chapter 05 - The Night of Shadows
Chapter 06 - Cross-eyed Expedition
07 - A Lunar Request
08 - Blessing
Chapter 01 - Arrival

Chapter 02 - Apples

Twilight and Pinkie returned to their homes. Pinkie slept peacefully through the night as Twilight could barely stop fidgeting in her own bed. A peaceful and quiet night in the library turns to something else.

----[ Library

A few hours passed and Twilight couldn't sleep, she was pacing around the main room of the library, pondering so many questions about Elise. Spike was in his basket trying his hardest to cover his ears with his pillow, but Twilight's pacing hooves on the hardwood library floor were just too loud for the down pillow to muffle. Her mind was jumping between questions at such a fast pace that she was starting to jump to conclusions from even the littlest of details that had the tiniest associations with other details, and even then she couldn't believe them.

The purple scaled, Spike finally gave up on trying to sleep and looked at Twilight with weary green eyes, "Twilight, did you get visited by your future self again?"

Twilight kept pacing, "No Spike. I've been doing a lot of reading on the possibilities of there being a half-breed between, well, anything overly common and high-grade mythical."

"A wha?"

"A Half-breed! A half-and-half creature, there should be no way for it to be possible."

"Oh, you mean...uhm..."

"Elise. Yes, I mean her. She said a lot of things tonight, things that have me worried. She said them as me, Pinkie, and Applejack carted her to Sweet Apple Acres after she fell asleep at the big party."

"Did she have some of Berry Punch's special punch?"

"No, she started talking with me about combined Magic and Machine before she laid down and fell asleep. I think she knows something in that field that nopony else in Equestria knows."

"What makes you say that?"

"There were a number of different references in the notes I've read on it, and she hinted at them. She even called it Etherwork, which was the name the last pony who studied it gave it before she disappeared."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

Twilight paused for a moment then resumed her pacing, "Then there's all of that mumbling she did, she kept mentioning she wasn't a weapon."

"Huh? Is she a weapon?"

"That's one of the things that has me worried about her, she kept saying that she wasn't a weapon..."

"So, what did she say?"

Twilight thought for a moment, "You can stab me and slash me all you like. I'll stop you Arla. I'm not a weapon, I'm more than just something that attacks on orders."

Spike stared for a moment, "That doesn't sound too good."

"Then her mumblings drifted off into another scenario, with somepony or something called Fate. That's when her threats became more vicious, and she formed those crystal claws."

"Crystal claws?"

"Yes."

The thought of the half-breed forming delicious crystals and gemstones entered his head, "Neat. Did she fight this Fate guy?"

"Probably."

Spike yawned, "Did she say anything else?"

Twilight paused and recalled the soft tone of the voice, "Follow, I'm not your mother but I will protect you as though I were. There's no need to cry..."

"Huh, Twilight..."

"Yes, Spike?"

"It's five in the morning. We both need rest."

"Five in the morning?! You're right, there's too much to do tomorrow for me to be exhausted."

Spike rolled over and covered himself in his blanket, Just you?

Twilight trotted past him and up to her bed, she climbed in and used her magic to turn off the lamp. She looked up at the ceiling for a moment, Applejack did say no meddling, but this isn't something that can be left to chance.

----[ Sweet Apple Acres

The morning sun rose slowly, its arrival given fanfare by the crow of a rooster at Sweet Apple Acres, the sound woke Elise from her peaceful slumber with a grumble. Most of last night seemed like a series of blurs, but she could remember groggily eating some cake and starting to talk to Twilight, nothing more. She couldn't figure out where that sudden wave of exhaustion came from, and on reflex reached for her ear. Her mouth opened wide as she let out a yawn that gave off a small vapor of energy before she got onto her paws, and with a wide and deep stretch she wrenched several snaps out of her body all in one movement. The morning grog was on her mind as her dream from last night faded away, except for the voice of the being she fought against as he faded into nothingness with a laugh. She shook her body and her mane regained it's smooth flow, she even took a moment to pick pieces of hay out of it with precise brushes of her claws. Reaching up to her ear once more, she made a dreadful realization, the only device she had to communicate with Fyren and Hirana was gone. She ran through her memories of yesterday and heaved a heavy sigh as she remembered her Comlink flying off her ear with fragments of her armor right before she first crashed into equestrian soil.

There was more than enough time to do what needed to be done, she could find her Comlink as she wandered around, but there was no real hurry. Panic really wasn't an option for her, the Expander trait needs a level mind to be kept in check, so she made a mental note to check where she landed for anything of hers as she wandered to the barn door. The barn door swung open with just a nudge from her foreleg revealing the full light of the rising sun, it blinded her for just a moment, making her want to stare it down for just a few more minutes of sleep.

Big Macintosh and Applejack were both in the clearing in front of the farmhouse, getting ready for their morning routine, stretching their legs and hopping between hooves to warm up. Applejack looked over at Elise as she wandered over, "Mornin' Elise, y'all sleep well?"

She nodded, "I think so."

"Good ta hear, I guess, you were out like a filly after a hoe-down las' night."

Elise tilted her head slightly, "Oh. Did you bring me here?"

"Sure did, couldn' jus' leave ya in the middle a Ponyville."

Elise bowed, "Thank you. I don't have anyplace to go just yet."

"Well, we're gettin' ready to harvest some apples so feel free to make yerself at home."

"Actually, could I help? It wouldn't feel right to sleep in your barn and not offer anything in return."

"I dunno, we've got a pretty tight schedule."

Big Macintosh cleared his throat.

"I mean, I suppose.", She looked around for a moment and pointed at a flatbed two wheel cart, "If y'all could pull that cart along we can load up apples quicker than Pinkie at a Cupcake Buffet."

Big Mac nodded, "Eeeeeyup! Yer bigger'n me, so that cart oughtta be no problem."

Elise looked at the cart, "Of course."

Once strapped into the cart, she followed the Apple siblings to the path overlooking hundreds of apple trees. She tried to count all the trees and lost count four times, with that she understood that there was a reason this farm was called Sweet Apple Acres. During her stays in the other Equestria, she had never really seen how apple bucking was done. The only real time she spent on the farm was when she would help clean tree sap off of Abigaile, Follow, Samantha, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was interesting to watch the process the farmponies went through to harvest apples, they would place buckets underneath the apple trees, then they would plant their hind hooves into the trunk of the tree, and the apples would fall mostly into the buckets. She even noted that there was a difference in their strength, Applejack used both hooves, while Big Mac used only one.

As the buckets filled up, the cart did too. Elise had no difficulty pulling the cart to keep up with the siblings, though she was worried about some of the sounds that came from it as more apples were loaded on. Once they couldn't load on anymore apples they would all take the load back to a storehouse and unload them. Elise reared up onto her hind legs and use her forelegs to pick up baskets and dump them into the bins they belonged in. Her paws were also large and flexible enough that she would pick out some lower quality apples and ask about them, they usually ended up in the compost bin outside of the store room.

----[ Sweet Apple Acres | Western Field | Two Hours Later

Throughout the morning the Apples kept up a strenuous pace, but now their pace had slowed down so that there was enough time to leisurely set the buckets down. There was no indication that they had exhausted themselves, so Elise assumed that they might be getting ahead of schedule. As they made their seventh trip to the west orchard the path got too rough, Big Mac turned to Elise, "Hold up there, Ms Elise, don' need to take the cart any further."

Elise stopped, "Alright, should I wait here?"

"Eeeeeyup."

Applejack looked at her, "Don' worry, we oughtn't be too long."

Elise nodded, "Take your time."

The two farmponies grabbed empty buckets off of the cart and went down the path. Elise stood there smiling as thoughts of Hirana fixing the new transmod and getting her to her true home formed. A wider smile formed as she thought about being to take Follow back to his true mother, Myri. She closed her eyes and imagined herself back at home with the others, and in the warm red scaled arms of Fyren. Wrapped in her own thoughts, she barely noticed that a fog was rapidly forming around the area.

Big Mac called out, "Applejack, this fog's gettin' awful thick, don't double-buck any of th' trees!"

Applejack replied, "Don't you worry 'bout that Big Mac, I'll climb ev'ry one of 'em if I gotta."

Visibility dropped sharply, "We might want ta get back to the cart, I can barely see higher than halfway up th' trunk."

"Then we'll hafta go to another section."

An insidious voice near Elise began to talk, "How delightful... You made it to this existence... Little Weapon."

Applejack looked in the direction of the cart, "In the..."

Elise opened her eyes and growled deeply, "Fate? I thought we killed you."

The outline of a human-like entity appeared in front of her, "You cannot kill something with an intangible name... You merely defeated me."

"There's a difference?..."

The outline took a more equine shape, "Of course, you broke my hold over one existence, none of the others. I can still take over this one and form omnes ruinam."

"Your dream, All Ruin. Why did you approach me?"

He looked at her with green eyes, "To inform you that, once more, you are part of my game."

Elise slumped down to release herself from the cart, "Game?", she moved forward, "You collapse dimensions! How can you call that a game?!"

Lines similar to circuits took form all over the body as a metallic band formed on his forehead, "To something with my potential, everything, even dimensions and all the little pawns contained within, are nothing more than litte toys that can be placed and given orders."

She entered a defensive stance, "Only mindless pawns can't think freely....There are living beings in these dimensions, beings that think for themselves or others, beings that have families..."

Fate shook his head and let out a sarcastic laugh, "Like what you think you have?"

Elise snarled, "A family is a family!"

Most of the circuits became hidden by a deep blue coat, "Is it? Last I saw, your happy little family, all those 'former' weapons... Led a spectacular assault against my tower that lasted days. All of them under orders from your human higher command."

"Even Draconic royalty was part of the assault on your tower. They weren't weapons, and I doubt they are now."

Fate began to walk around Elise, "The Draconic scourge Dres repurposed Dracire into one, simply by giving him one forbidden ability. Even your huntress friend, Lynnia, was retooled into a weapon the second her father first tore the eyes from her skull as a child."

"Then how can they feel? Even Dracire was devastated when his cursed son was nearly killed, and he's threatened me on more than one occasion."

"False feelings, nothing more."

"Then how have I learned to feel emotions? Was it programmed into me when Fyren made my body? No. Was it meant to help me blend in with crowds? No. A mind develops these things naturally."

Fate laughed, "The only reason you learned how to feel for others and yourself is because your adopted father didn't want you to kill every living thing that touched you. You should remember the Gaudis Draconian by the name of 'Lost' and the number of times you wrenched his arms from their sockets before slamming him into any available surface. It was an entertaining sight to behold, to say the least."

Elise glared at Fate, her eyes turning from blue to purple.

"It seems that we're wasting time now. I think you know what exactly you're in for."

"Victory."

"Hardly, you are going to fail. I will watch as you struggle, as you suffer, as you become so desperate for any shred of hope, that you celebrate over the most insignificant of 'victories'. I will be waiting for you to lose every shred of your strength, and when you do so, I will appear to offer you sanction. Where you become an Agent of Fate and I purge your mind of that emotional pollution."

She slumped down and locked her now red eyes on where Fate stood, "I look forward to the moment when I draw your blood and crystallize it into a spear, that I will drive down your throat."

"That's the spirit."

Elise leapt forward with a viscous gleam in her eyes. Fate vanished, leaving her to plow through the fog. She landed and looked around, "Fate! I will have that victory!"

Applejack looked up at her as the fog cleared, "Elise...sugarcube? What all just happened? Yer all riled up!"

Elise looked down at her with blue eyes, "I'm sorry, I'd rather not say."

Applejack gave her a worried look, "If ya say so. Th' fog's all clear, so we can get back to buckin'."

Elise backed away some, "Yeah...I'll just... get the cart."

She wandered back to the cart as Applejack and Big Macintosh both watched with worried looks.

----[ An hour later

Once Elise was focused on the task she was helping with she proved herself a worthwhile assistant. At least until the cart gave off a pretty loud creak, followed by a snap and sudden stop. It wasn't as strong as it used to be and these heavier loads were too much for it. Fortunately, Big Mac was able to make a temporary repair that would let him take it back to the barn and try to repair it completely. As the stallion and the cart pulled out of sight Applejack sat down and wiped her forehead, "Hoooowheee, haven't been able to move apples that fast since Big Mac tried some of that coffee Twi has. Ah' reckon that bein' half-dragon comes with some serious strength."

Elise nodded, "Dragons are stronger than they look."

"Yeah, we found that out when Spike had some growin' pains."

She laid down, "The little purple dragonling?"

"That's him alright. Got a little too greedy and started growin' in leaps an' bounds."

"Oh, at least he's back to normal."

"It's nice ta have him back to normal, an' we hope he stays that way."

"We, as in, you and your friends?"

"Sugarcube, if ah was sayin' 'We' for just mahself, I'd have a few loose gears up top."

Elise grinned, "I don't know, you could be practicing an old language."

Applejack stifled a laugh, "Not ta be rude or anythin', the only pony 'round these parts that does that is Princess Luna. Bless her heart, she's tryin' to learn the more modern way a speakin', but she just keeps revertin' back to old equestrian."

"Mmmm, I suppose it's a little funny."

Applejack looked up at the noon sun from under the edge of her hat, "It's gettin' close ta lunch time, you hungry?"

"A little bit."

"Good enough, we're far enough ahead of harvestin' we could git ta Canterlot n back before we're on-schedule agin' an' still have time ta spare. Elise, thank ya."

"I'm glad I could help, Applejack."

She got onto her hooves, "Well, come on now, lunch ain't comin' out here ta meet us."

Elise got up, "Of course."

The two started towards the farmhouse, after a few steps Elise paused and listened as something in the distance roared. Applejack looked at her, "Don't worry 'bout that, it can't hurt us."

"What is it?"

"Ah'll tell ya some other time."

----[ Apple Family House

Elise followed Applejack inside the farmhouse, she had to keep her head low to get under doorways but she didn't have to worry about the ceilings. She had gotten used to being in cramped spaces after months of convoy naps through the ruinous realm she knew as the Roads Between. She didn't miss those trips, going from her home portal all the way to the portal to some other dimension where a mission waited for her was always the longest and most uncomfortable part. The kitchen was just a little cramped for her size, and she was tempted to put her Expander trait to use just so she could shrink down and fit. The temptation got a little stronger as she nearly bumped into the older green mare that was working at the stove. The table was definitely too low for her to just sit, and Applejack noticed, "If you can lay down ya might be level with the table."

Elise looked behind herself and noticed that she had very little space to lay down, "I don't think I can."

Apple Bloom jumped up into a chair across from her, "Ah know! You can lay sideways!"

A quick measurement and she laid down on her side, once she was certain she wouldn't knock anything over she looked at Apple Bloom, "This should work."

Applejack grinned, "Good thinkin', Bloom."

The older mare turned and looked at Elise, "My, ain'tcha a biggun, been eatin' all ya veggies?"

Elise nodded, "You could say that. They've always had a good flavor to me."

"Well, ah certainly hope so, 'cause all we got is veggie's an' fruit."

Apple Bloom frowned, "Awwww, we don't got no more pasghetti?"

"Sorry Apple Bloom, but we used th' last of that to make dinnah for you and yer crusaders the otha' night."

"Oh...yeah."

Applejack turned to Apple Bloom, "Now don't ya worry now, jus' keep up th' good grades an we'll get another batch of it."

Apple Bloom smiled widely, "Really? Ah'll do mah best! Right, Granny Smith?"

Granny Smith set a tray of cooked vegetables on the table using her teeth then smiled at Apple Bloom, "Of course ya will, ya always do."

Big Mac wandered in and noticed the setup, "Looks mighty fine, Granny."

Once everypony was seated, they began eating. Some conversation was tossed about, but Apple Bloom seemed unable to get her eyes off of the half-breed. Applejack and Big Mac both kept asking the filly questions to try and redirect her gaze anywhere but Elise, with very little success.

Halfway through her plate of food she swallowed a bite and asked Elise, "So yer some kinda fox, right?"

Elise smiled, "Well, half."

Applejack looked at her little sister, "Apple Bloom."

The filly didn't hear her sister, "Half? What's the otha half?"

Elise paused, "Dragon."

"Really? You don't look like yer half dragon."

Applejack looked at Elise, who just grinned, "That's because under all this fur is a layer of scales.", she spread the fur on one of her forelegs enough that some Aqua-Blue scales could be seen, "See?"

Apple Bloom leaned forward, "Wow, what type a dragon are ya half of?"

"The Guardians that ward off threats. Usually they protect the Draconic Royalty, but the Warlord and the Edge Queen are more than capable of handling themselves. So, they just watch the castle instead."

"So can ya breathe fire?"

Applejack looked at Big Macintosh, "Say, Big Mac. What all happened with th' cart?"

Big Macintosh looked away from Elise, "Wha? Oh! Erm... I'll tell ya after lunch."

Applejack fought the urge to facehoof as Apple Bloom asked again, "So ya breathe fire?"

Elise shook her head, "Not fire. I'm not sure if I even have a breath attack."

Granny Smith looked over at Apple Bloom, "Whateva the case, you look like yer the type who would be a protecta. So ah've got no reason ta distrust you."

Applejack looked over at her and smiled.

Once lunch was over with, Granny Smith started cleaning up the table with Apple Blooms help, while Elise followed Applejack and Big Mac to the living room.

"So, how's th' ol' cart holdin' up? Will it be a quick fix?", Applejack asked.

Big Mac shook his head, "Nnnnope, th' main axle went. Gonna have ta carve out a new one."

Elise frowned, "I didn't mean to break it."

Big Mac smiled at her, "Twern't you who broke it, th' ol' thing's been creakin' somethin' fierce even with one of my half-loads. Honestly been waitin' a good while for it ta give. I jus' fergot to tell you, sorry 'bout that."

Elise grinned as an image of Letty appeared in her mind, he was talking with someone over an intercom as he tried to apoligize for forgetting to warn them about a faulty gear. Her grin widened a little, "It's alright, I know someone who tends to do that too."

"Th' good news is, that thanks to yer help, we've got enough apples to last us three whole days worth of orders. That's plenty o time to carve out a new axle. 'Til then why don't th' two of you head to town."

Applejack nodded, "Alrighty then, I need ta see what Twi is up ta anyways."

Elise looked at Applejack, "I have nowhere to be, so, can I follow you?"

"Of course. Let's get goin'."

----[ Pathway to Ponyville

Applejack and Elise walked along the path towards Ponyville, Elise was admiring the fact that this family really had some far stretching lands. Applejack looked at her, "So, you just passin' through Ponyville?"

Elise looked at her, "I'm not sure, it's peaceful here and I kind of like it. But I have obligations I'm bound to, some that I might be able to ignore, others ... I can't."

"Really, what do ya do for a livin'?"

"I go and do jobs for Lusce."

"Loose? Loose what?"

"That's his name, L-u-s-c-e."

"Oh, somethin' like that sounds like a fox name ta me."

"He's a Lynx."

"Never woulda thoughta that, guess Equestria's full of surprises."

"Yeah.", Elise heard a buzzing noise, "Hm? What's that?"

Applejack listened, "Sounds like Apple Bloom's friends are comin' up."

A scooter came into view and Elise noticed the two fillies riding it, "Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle."

"Bumped inta them before?"

Elise's mind quickly put a lie together, "I overheard them talking before my accident."

"That was an accident alright, nopony would hurt themselves like that on purpose."

The scooter came to a stop and so did the travelers, the fillies looked at Elise with looks of wonderment. Scootaloo was first to comment, "That's a big fox."

Sweetie Belle tilted her head, "That's the second biggest one I've ever seen."

Elise looked at her and raised a brow, Second biggest?

Sweetie Belle looked at Applejack, "Is Apple Bloom free to play today?"

Applejack nodded, "Sure is, she oughta be at the farm."

She smiled, "Thank you, AJ.", she looked forward to find that Scootaloo was missing, "Scootaloo? Where'd you go?"

Elise looked at the Pegasus filly standing on her back, "Comfortable?"

Scootaloo was looking at Elise's mane, "Wow, this mane goes all around you."

Applejack looked at the filly, "Scootaloo, get down offa her, that's rude and ya know it."

Scootaloo felt something on Elise's back, "Hey, did ya used to have wings?"

Elise shook her head, "No. Why?"

Applejack sighed, "Scootaloo, Bloom's prolly waitin' fer ya. Don't keep her waitin'."

"Oh, Right!", Scootaloo jumped off of Elise and landed near her scooter. Quickly she donned her helmet and with Sweetie Bell in tow, used her wings to propel the wooden scooter towards the farmhouse.

Elise and Applejack looked at each other, the farmer shook her head, "Fillies."

Elise laughed, "She's got as much energy as Follow."

"Who's Follow?"

"A very young Dragon, you'd be amazed at how cute he can be."

"I'll take ya word on him, but right now we're burnin' daylight."

----[ Ponyville

The town was less busy today, Elise reasoned that everypony must have done their shopping yesterday. Everypony was just sauntering along, no where to be, nothing to do. Elise was surprised by this sight, she saw it before but it was still a surprise compared to yesterday, "It's quiet today."

Applejack nodded, "Usually is on th' weekends. Nopony's got much to do, so there's always those lazy afternoons."

There were some fillies bouncing a ball between each other, a couple of Pegasi racing around, and even Ditzy playing hide-n-seek with her unicorn filly.

Elise grinned, "They all look happy."

"Not much 'round here to be down about. Ya might say that things've almost been so quiet 'round these parts that havin' a half-breed fall outta the sky was the most excitement we've had in a while."

"Applejack...", Pinkie said behind them.

"Aside from your parties Pinkie."

"Yay!"

Applejack turned to face her, "Say, Pinkie Pie, I was wonderin' if everythin's all set for Bloom's birthday party in a week."

Pinkie bounced around Applejack, "Oh, absolutely, I've got all the party supplies all set to be put together in a jiffy!"

"Great! We'll set up the supplies in the barn the night before ev'rypony shows up. Now remember, we've got up ta thirty comin' to this, includin' ma n pa."

Pinkie paused, "Really?!"

Applejack nodded, "Pinkie, don't go so overboard it scares 'em off, we haven't seen 'em in two years.

Pinkie smiled, "I won't. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Thank you."

Pinkie looked at Elise, "What about Elise? Isn't she staying in the barn?"

She looked at the two, "Within the next week I might be off exploring the world again."

Applejack thought for a moment, "Elise, I'd like ta invite ya but only if you can make it."

"I can try but I can't guarantee it."

Pinkie just smiled, "I can bring an extra set of Elise sized party favors just in case."

Applejack looked at the party pony with a grin, "Go on ahead, just in case."

Elise looked puzzled, "Thank you?"

The pink one smiled, "I'll go and add that to the supplies now, and I'll see you two later.", she bounced away while singing cupcakes.

Applejack watched as Pinkie bounced out of sight, "Elise, I know yer nervous 'bout somethin'."

Elise hid a twitch, "What do you mean?"

"You mumble in yer sleep."

She hesitated, "Just nightmares."

"Let's jus' say that I can understand why ya travel so much, you don't want to deal with some part'a yer past."

"Huh?"

"Even if Granny Smith didn' trust you there's still this feelin' about ya that says you can be trusted . It's almost like ya been ta Ponyville more than once."

"N-not for too long."

"Jus' tell me, what does Lusce have ya doin'?"

"He has me fix problems, he's been on the recieving end of so much that he needed help to get out of the corner he was in. So, in exchange for him helping me and Follow, I help him tip the scales to an equal level again."

"Anythin' in particular?"

"I've taken on a dragon, a lion, even an airship on my own."

"Good golly, an airship?!"

"Crawling with armed merceneries, I sent it on a trip to the ground."

"Was anypony hurt?"

"I made sure the vessel landed flat on it's bottom, only two of the merceneries took their own lives."

"Golly, you must be a force a nature."

"I...didn't mean to brag."

"You saved one cat from a lot, that takes some guts. I'd ask how ya did it, but I don't wanna impose."

"That's alright, I get the feeling it'll all slip out sooner or later. Though later would be better."

Applejack tilted her hat, "I understand, ah've got my own things that need to be kept quiet."

"I won't bother you over them, I promise."

"Thank you, Elise. I'm gonna head to Twi's, if you don't wanna get pestered so soon, I'd recommend that ya wander around Ponyville. After last night's party everpony oughta be trustin' of you."

"I hope so. I'll see you later, Applejack."

"Elise, call me AJ.", Applejack turned and started walking towards the library.

----[ Library

Twilight was buried in books doing all sorts of research, like she almost always is. While she read Spike was on the ladder reshelving books that she said she didn't need anymore. A knock came to the library door and Twilight didn't look away from her book. Spike looked in the direction of the door, climbed down the ladder, and walked over to it. He opened the door and Applejack greeted him, "Afternoon, Spike. Twi livin' in reality today?"

Spike laughed a little, "Almost, she's been lost in books all morning, she didn't even touch the coffee machine."

"Well, don't that beat all. Not even touchin' what she called Ambrosia more'n once."

Twilight looked over at the two, "Very funny.", she trotted over to the door, "So, Applejack what brings you to the library today?"

"Jus' passin' by and was wonderin' if you were plannin' on followin' Elise around."

"As much as I'd like to, after everything that happened to me from following Pinkie Pie, I don't think that'd be a good idea."

"Good, she's been a nice half-breed durin' her visit ta Ponyville and ain't done anythin' to hurt anypony."

"Well, that's good to hear. Say, have you seen Rainbow Dash today?"

"No, why?"

"I've been meaning to ask her about the upcoming storm. That way I know just how much I need to barricade the windows, you know how books don't like moisture."

Rainbow Dash landed behind Twilight, "Pretty sure they don't like open windows with a draft, either."

Twilight turned around, "I forgot to lock that window again, didn't I."

Dash nodded, "Yeah, might wanna not do that during the storm."

"Noted, so the storm is expected to start in eight days?"

Dash shook her head, "It got pushed back, we're way too understaffed to keep it from going out of control. So we're aiming for two weeks from now."

Twilight grinned, "Perfect! That will give me time to properly catalogue the new arrivals and write my next report to Princess Celestia."

Applejack tapped Twilight on her shoulder, "Ya didn't mention anythin' about our guest, didya?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, I want to find out more about her before I report anything to the Princess."

"Good, I'd like ta know more too, but I don't want to make a bad impression."

Dash looked at Applejack, "AJ, if you won't ask, and Twilight isn't gonna stalk her, then it looks like I'm gonna have to get the answers out of her."

"Now hold on one cotton pickin' moment, ya don't need to scare 'er off."

"She's really that weak?"

"She pulls cartloads that Big Mac'd have trouble haulin' without breakin' a sweat. She's got some strength and..."

Twilight interrupted, "...if she's mumbling about not being a weapon in her sleep, I'm willing to bet she can handle herself."

"'Specially if she's been wanderin' all Equestria."

Dash crossed her forelegs, "Fine, then I'll watch her from a distance, are you happy now?"

Applejack facehoofed, "RD..."

Twilight interrupted again, "...That'd be great! Just be sure to tell me everything you see!"

Spike had worked his way back to the ladder and was re-shelving more books when he looked at Twilight and noticed the familiar glimmer in her eyes, Uh oh.

Dash thought for a moment, "Alright, I'll do it. But I'm not afraid to try and stop her if she does anything wrong."

----[ Ponyville

It had been about ten minutes since AJ went to the library and left Elise to wander. She was wandering around town, admiring any sights to be seen. Eventually her wandering led her to an open park where mares and stallions were watching their young play with each other or some toys. She sat down and watched some kites flying through the air as a warm summer breeze flowed through the area, she remembered the last time Follow tried to fly a kite, she and Abigaile both had to chase after him as the little dragonling was carried along. It was a good thing that they caught up with him when they did, the winds carried him all the way to the castle in Canterlot and apparently he was fond of navigating Celestia's ethereal mane.

A kite made a fly for it and Elise noticed it, she motioned a paw and a crystal formed around the string near where it was tied to it, weighing it down enough to pull the fleeing kite to the ground. It slowly drifted down and landed softly on the ground with its owner not too far behind. By the time the filly got to it, the crystal had degraded into grains of sand, letting her toy fly once more.

A soft voice came from behind her, "Did you make that kite come down?"

Elise turned her head and looked at Fluttershy, "Yes."

"That was very kind."

"Thank you."

Fluttershy moved a little closer, "You're still healthy."

"Thanks to you and your friends I was able to recover somewhere peaceful."

"We couldn'tve just left you there, you were hurt. Uhm...What did you mean by somewhere peaceful?"

"The last few times I was hurt that badly, I had to force myself to stay standing and ward off attackers."

"You...fight?"

"Yeah... There are times I wish I didn't need to."

"It must get tough for you to be...hurt so badly.", Fluttershy looked down at the ground.

"I hate to admit it, but I'm used to it."

She looked up at her surprised, "Oh..."

"...It's peaceful here, I like it."

"It's usually...peaceful."

Another warm breeze blew through the area and Elise closed her eyes. She started listening, "Can you hear it?"

Fluttershy looked at her, "Hear...what?"

"The magic, it's curious."

Fluttershy closed her eyes and she could hear whispers as all the sounds around her faded away. She couldn't understand them but they were almost like their own melody. A different series of whispers started and she looked in the direction of them, opening her eyes she saw Elise surrounded by small crystals. She closed her eyes again and the whispers began to speak in unison, forming a harmony.

As she watched from inside the leaves of a tree Dash was curious about what exactly was going on, Why're those gems forming?

The crystals closed in around Elise, taking positions and forming solid pieces, Now what?

Elise stood up and the crystals solidified around her legs, her torso, and even her head. Dash spread her wings ready to leap forward, Armor...

Fluttershy looked at Elise, "What's that?"

Elise opened her eyes, "The sign that the magic here is willing to help me."

She looked at Elise questioningly, "Why wouldn't it help you before?"

She dismissed her crystaline armor, "I crashed here and my focus broke. Because of that I couldn't fullly use my magic."

"Oh. I didn't know you could use magic. Is that how you made that kite come down?"

"I use magic energy to form my crystals, I weighed down that kite with some that were heavy enough to bring it down, yet unstable enough that it would degrade into sand by the time the kite's owner caught up to it."

Fluttershy shuffled a hoof, "... I've never heard of that kind of magic."

Elise looked at her as Dash flew over to them, "It's not too common."

Dash landed near Fluttershy, "Hey, Shy. Could you help me polish up Tank's shell?"

Fluttershy looked at Dash questioningly, "So soon?"

Dash started pushing Fluttershy along, "Yeah, he gets scuffed up pretty quick."

"Oh, ok. Uhm...bye Elise."

Elise noticed Dash look back at her suspiciously as she pushed her friend along. As they disappeared in the distance, Elise felt her mana fully recover and stood up. In a proud flourish she spread wings made of crystal and let the light shine through them. The refracted light along the ground showed her that she regained a gift from another Equestria. Taking note of this, she grinned, folded her wings and they disappeared.

----[ ???

"It isn't like you to dismiss them so abruptly, why do so?"

"Something is trying to influence what protects our borders."

"One of the protective crystals?"

"Yes, one of mine has lost its energy and has been altered."

"Is the prophecy coming true?"

"Dear sister, I pray to the spirits of our ancestors that it isn't."

"Tia..."

Chapter 03 - Generous Shield

"Partial recovery grants opportunity, full recovery grants exponential opportunity."

----[ Ponyville

After Dash had led Fluttershy away, Elise started to wander the streets of Ponyville once more. The Town Square was just as quiet as the rest of the town, there were a few vendors that had set up shop near the statue of Celestia, nothing more. Curious, she wandered to one of the stands and looked at the available products, there was a large selection of gems and crystals for only very few bits. She was intrigued and asked the vendor, "Why are these so cheap?"

The blue stallion running the stand looked at her, "They're synthetic, can't take much and don't last that long."

"I see."

He pointed at one crystal, "Hay, this one even has a fragment of cloth inside it."

Elise looked closely at it, That's a piece of the shirt I was wearing before the transfer.

He pointed at another one, "And this one has a trinket inside."

She recognized it, "That trinket is mine, my father gave it to me."

"Do you have proof?"

"Some of the chain is in there, I should...", she reached into her mane and fished around for it, "Oh no..."

The chain levitated in front of Elise and a voice came from behind her, "Is this what you were looking for?"

Elise grabbed the chain, "Yes!"

The vendor looked behind Elise, "Oh, hi Ms. Rarity."

Rarity moved next to Elise, "If you could be so kind to return her trinket I would be glad to purchase a few of your...fine gems."

The vendor nodded, "Of course!"

He pushed the crystal encased trinket towards Elise, she immediately sat down and focused. The trinket levitated in front of her and crystals around it disappeared, with her front paws she looped the chain through it and put it on. Rarity watched as diamond trinket sunk into the half-breed's mane, "Such a fine piece of jewelry, perhaps you could trim your mane and display it?"

Elise placed a paw over where it disappeared, "It's not my memory to display."

"Pardon?"

She looked back at the vendor, "Where did you find this?"

The stallion thought for a moment, "In the mountains, where I usually find some decent gem caches."

Rarity's ear twitched, "And where exactly is this?"

The vendor pointed a hoof, "Just on that ridge."

Rarity's ears drooped, "Oh my, that reminds me."

Elise looked at her, "Should I ask?"

"First off I could use some...", she glanced at the vendors selection and noticed the lack of type of gemstone, "...Sapphires. As for what is up there I really don't know where to start..."

----[ ???

Large creatures that resembled gorilla-armed dogs were deep inside a mine, digging for gems to satisfy the hunger of their greed. Some were thin, others bulky, but all the same type of creature.

A thin one stratched at a weak wall, "We save these strange gemstones for last, they shine in pretty ways."

A large one pushed the minecart along, "Yes, save the preciouses for last."

A stallion quietly appeared from nowhere, and began to observe. The thin being scraped away a thin sheet of soft rock revealing a small cache of gems, "More gems to preserve preciouses!"

The Stallion began to walk along the mineshaft, taking note of the amount of mining that had been done by these greedy creatures. He came to a stop and went invisible, sneaking effortlessly by armored creatures and into the room they were guarding. On a table lit by a single shaft of natural light were crystals in the shape of armor, he moved close to them and examined them, "Her toys aren't here... Such a shame..."

"Pony shouldn't be here."

"Took you long enough."

Several creatures stepped out of the shadows, "The pony comes to take away preciouses!"

"No, pony come to tell you how to use preciouses magic energy to silence your gem hunting pony..."

The creatures looked amongst themselves for a moment then grinned, "We're listening..."

----[ Mountainside

Elise kept close to Rarity as she used her magic to detect gemstones underground. AJ tagged along and was ready with a shovel to help uncover the little cache's Rarity found. Rarity pointed her horn at the ground with the spell in effect and then looked over at AJ, "Applejack, here's another one."

AJ walked over, "On it."

She dug up the cache as Elise watched Rarity, an idea formed in the half-breeds head and she started to follow her a little closer. Rarity found another cache as Elise asked, "You can detect gemstones with your magic?"

Rarity marked the new cache and looked up at Elise, "Yes, it's my special talent."

"I see, can you use it to find my crystals?"

She paused, "I suppose I could try. Do you have one with you?"

Elise formed a small piece of her armor, "I do now."

Rarity focused her spell, "Goodness. These are as prestine as diamonds! Just like that trinket of yours!"

She gazed at the fashionista for a moment, "Thanks?"

Rarity focused her spell a little harder than usual, "It feels like some of your crystals are inside the mountain."

"I'll need to find them and destroy them."

"But why?"

"They were made with my mana and as such anyone with the knowledge to do so can use them to draw in local magic and cast the spells they want to."

"Oh my, that's rather unsettling."

"Even if she couldn't use magic natively, AJ would just need to know the incantation for Ignis and one of my crystals to cast fire spells."

AJ paused, "That'd be kinda odd, Earth Ponies ain't the type to use any sorta magic."

"I know that the Unicorns and the Alicorns are the only ones that can freely use spells through the magic they channel through their horns."

Rarity looked at Elise, "Actually, Twilight could tell you far more about it than I could, but some Pagasi tend to have their own form of magic."

AJ nodded, "Yeah, RD's one of 'em."

Elise shrugged, "That's new to me."

Rarity smiled, "Well, I suppose we could find your crystals but there's one little thing I need to warn you about."

She looked at her, "What?"

----[ ???

Some of these creatures were wearing armor, some of them weren't but most of them were watching with vacant looks in their eyes. Fate grinned as he looked into the eyes of a skinny one, "Diamond Dogs, such an unworthy name. Where does it come from? Your greed? Perhaps the time has come for that to be for some other reason."

The diamond dog nodded, "We need gemstones for our futures."

"Good boy. Your gemhunter approaches in the escort of a hayseed and a science experiment. Her complaints will be no worry as long as you recite the incantation and keep your sights on her before it releases. Understood?"

"Yes. It is understood."

Fate smiled, "Then go."

The dogs stood up and left the room.

----[ Mountainside

Elise stood at the mineshaft entrance, listening for anything inside. Rarity was close to her and honestly nervous about being this close to the diamond dogs lair. AJ looked at her and grinned, "Now remember, them diamond dogs ain't too fond of ya complainin' so they oughta steer clear of ya Rarity."

Rarity nodded, "Yes, I remember. But is there really that much of a danger of them figuring out how to use your crystals?"

Elise lowered her head a little, "That's assuming they don't sell it to someone who can use them."

AJ nudged Rarity, "Well, come on now, best ta do this before the moon comes up."

Elise nodded, "We can protect you if we have to."

Rarity looked into the dark entrance, and swallowed her fear, "Alright, but you have to promise me that you will help me."

"For this, I would even make you a diamond."

Rarity thought it over for a moment, "We'll see."

From within the mine entrance voices echoed, "Be gone thieves!"

Elise called out, "You may have my belongings, have any of you found any perfectly clear crystals on the surface?"

"You not take preciouses!"

Three armored diamond dogs stepped out of the entrance. Elise slumped down, "Preciouses?! Those crystals are not yours!"

Rarity looked between the three guards, "Return this lady's jewelry at once!"

A voice in the entrance calls out, "Gem hunting pony! Get them, I coming!"

AJ smirked, "Sounds like somethin' new didn't get th' message. Come on now!"

The guards slouched down and took positions around the group.

Rarity looked around at them, "I certainly hope you know what you're doing Elise."

Elise smirked, "Of course."

She rushed forward at one guard and slashed him, her claws cutting into the metal of his armor.

One of the guards ran forward and swiped at AJ, she jumped back and evaded him, "No ya don't!"

Quickly she turned and planted a hoof into the chestplate the guard was wearing and it absorbed most of the blow.

The second guard went after Rarity and tried to hit her, she jumped out of the way, "How dare you!"

The guard turned to face her just in time for her hoof to strike him.

The third guard rushed at Elise and hit her with a one-two set of punches. The guard jumped back as Elise smiled and said, "Childsplay."

The guard shouted at the others, "Get the fox!"

Elise took note of this order, Leader found.

The other two guards turned from their equine targets and went after the half-breed, the first one delivered an uppercut to her jaw. As she recovered from that attack the other guard clasped his paws together and brought them down on her head. She stood up with ease, "Try again."

She rushed forward and grabbed the leader, "Down you go!"

With her forelegs wrapped around the guard she heaved him up and and over into a suplex that ended with his head hitting the ground with the combined weight of the two beings.

With a quick, "Werf!", the guard moaned and layed there knocked out.

Rarity looked at Elise surprised, "Goodness!" <- To add

"Now that's how ya put the dog out!", Applejack knocked a couple of apples into the air and bucked them imto the helmet of the second guard, making it ring.

He gripped his helmet to stop the ringing, "You little..."

He turned to see a colorful selection of blunt gemstones heading his way, "Uh oh..."

The remaining guard watched his partner get knocked into the air by the gems and fall down out cold. He looked between the two ponies and the half-breed. The remaining guard shuffled back, "M-mercy!"

Elise stepped forward, "Only if you take us to what you call preciouses."

A short bulldog-ish diamond dog stepped out of the entrance, "We give you one precious."

Elise bared her teeth, "No, you will give me all of them. My fragments are not some other beings treasure!"

"Here...", he held out the crystals, "...Quiet."

A spell was cast by the crystal, and with a gray flash a small wisp of energy streamed out and towards Rarity. She pulled back and closed her eyes in anticipation for something painful. AJ tried to intercept it by getting between it and Rarity. It went around the farmpony and into her without difficulty. The diamond dog looked at Rarity expecting something, "It works?"

She opened one eye to make sure she was alive, then the other before she looked at the diamond dog. With a glare she started walking towards him, her mouth moving. She paused, then tried to say something else. The diamond dog smiled widely, "Dark pony spell works! Gemstone finding pony is quiets!"

Elise lunged at the diamond dog as Rarity sat down and quietly screamed at the top of her lungs. The diamond dog jumped back and ran into the mines.

AJ walked up to Rarity, "Rarity? What's wrong, why can't ya speak?"

She tried to respond but not a word left her mouth.

Elise moved close to them, "I recognize this, it's one of the spells I learned about. Silence, it renders someone unable to audibly speak."

"Why would ya know somethin' like that?"

"In my travels I've encountered mages who think they're all powerful because they've mastered spells. Yet they truly haven't since they need to actually call out the spell. Silence is a good way to take away their leverage. Simply put: Can't say the incantation, can't cast the spell."

Rarity thought for a moment, then levitated a gemstone.

"Exactly, since Unicorns can use their magic without having to recite anything, the spell only takes their voice away."

AJ thought a moment, "Any idea how long this kinda thing lasts?"

Rarity stepped forward, the expression on her face optimistic.

Elise shrugged, "It depends on the skill of the caster, or in this case, how much mana was infused into that crystal."

"How long now?"

"Considering how much mana is needed for me to forge crystals that big, she ought to be able to speak again, tomorrow at the earliest."

Rarity's jaw dropped and she quickly galloped to Elise, she wrapped her front legs around Elise's and looked up at her with a pouty face.

"You need your voice before then, don't you."

Rarity nodded.

"If we can get ahold of that crystal and destroy it, it should break the effect."

AJ noticed how wide Rarity smiled, "Ah think she likes th' idea, let's go!"

Elise and AJ turned to the entrance as Rarity stood up and gazed into it with a look of determination. All three entered the mine at the same time Elise in the front of the group.

----[ Diamond Dog Mines

They had moved through the first few passages relying on the light from the entrance to see as it slowly faded into the distance. Rarity was keeping close to avoid being left behind, or considering her lack of voice, from being grabbed. AJ stayed behind her, "Don't you worry, Rare, I'll cover yer flank."

Elise focused and made a crystal that gave off light, "This should help us see."

AJ shielded her eyes for a moment, "That oughta be bright enough to blind one of 'em deep in here.", she looked at Elise as she was slumping down and glaring at another guard dog, "Or invite 'em..."

The diamond dog swiped at Elise before she could get completely into a defensive stance. She stepped back and the guard followed through with a second attack.

AJ moved close to Rarity, "Ah gotcha."

Elise backed away as the dog grinned, she seemed to recognize something in the grin that made her pause. He turned and looked at the two mares, AJ stood firm while Rarity kept close to her friend. Elise called out to the dog, "Hey! Keep your eyes on me or I'll take your gems!"

The guard quickly turned and punched at her, "You take nothing!"

The attack did nothing before a few gemstones promptly dented his helmet, he turned to Rarity and shouted, "Hey!"

"Hey! Yerself!", AJ kicked a couple of apples into the dog's stomach, he growled and ran for Rarity, "Come heeeere!"

Rarity jumped back as the dog tripped on the gemstone that dented his helmet, he pushed up in time to avoid a strike from the fashionista. He growled and tried to attack again but AJ quickly drove a hoof into the dogs side, staggering him a little. Elise ran forward and knocked him to the ground with one swipe, and knocked his helmet off with another. She jumped back and waited for him to dare to get up.

He rolled onto his side and pushed up, "Pony said hurt other ponies!"

AJ raised a brow, "What?"

The dog lunged at her, she jumped to the side but didn't have enough space to completely avoid the attack. The impact knocked her to the side, she rolled onto her hooves, "That's it, no more Ms. Nice Apple!"

With a turn and a buck the dog rolled off to the side with new dings in his armor, stumbling to get to his feet he tried to lunge for Rarity. A large sapphire greeted his face as he finally turned towards her, knocking him off his feet and onto his back.

Elise looked at Applejack, "Are you alright?"

She adjusted her hat, "I'm fine, but somepony ain't gonna be if this varmint is tellin' the truth."

"A pony telling them to hurt other ponies..."

"We're gonna hafta look into that once we get Rarity back ta normal."

Rarity nodded.

Elise grinned, "Agreed, let's cure an ailment."

Rarity looked at the diamond dog, he looked like he was out like a light, but she didn't want to chance it being a charade. She followed AJ and Elise deeper into the mines.

----[ Diamond Dog Mines | Later

There had to be at least another thirty guards between the entrance and this lantern lit area, and every one of them was laying on their backs or their sides and seeing stars. AJ and Elise had been taking care to distract the guards, keeping them from going after Rarity. Elise even figured out how to properly insult them so that they would gang up on her while she guarded herself.

Elise grinned as the taunt echoed in her mind, I'm going to take you down and steal your precious gemstones!

AJ was starting to get concerned, "Elise, y'all doin' alright? Four of them bigger diamond dogs poundin' on ya at once can't be good."

Elise grinned, "I'm used to trying to take the pressure off of others."

"Ah'm jus' plain impressed ya haven't been made as bad as ya were yesterday."

"Don't you remember lunch earlier? Under this fur is scales, the thick scales of a type of dragon, one meant to protect others."

"Ah suppose, but even a guardian dragon needs ta take a rest once in a while."

Rarity noticed something and, with her manners in check, interrupted the conversation by poking Elise's arm.

She looked at her, "Find something?"

Rarity nodded and pointed at a room, lit only by a shaft of light.

Elise looked, "That's it. All I need to do is dissolve those and hopefully, a curse with it."

They walked into the room and Elise looked at the crystals on the table, she held out a paw and focused. The crystals dissolved and with them several spells were dissipated. She couldn't help but feel uncomfortable since this part was too easy. She looked at Rarity, "Anything?"

Rarity just started, "I would certainly hope so. Oh!"

AJ smiled, "Well, there we go. Ya got your voice back."

"And none too soon, I have a grand presentation to give this evening."

A voice spoke from the shadows, "Perhaps I should have invested my time into more competent creatures..."

One by one orbs of light appeared and lit the rest of the room. The table vanished and behind chain link fences were at least a hundred diamond dogs. A deep blue stallion walked over to them, "Bright enough to follow a few simple orders. Not enough to do it properly. Such failures."

AJ looked the stallion right in his yellow eyes, "You th' one who said they need ta harm ponies?"

He nodded, "Of course."

Elise slumped down, "Haven't you done enough by being here!"

"Oh good, I was afraid that you didn't recognize this form."

Elise creeped closer, "Leave this world alone, Fate!"

He grinned, "Why? It's so peaceful, it begs to be the first piece of Omnes Ruinam."

AJ stepped up next to Elise, "So yer th' one that Elise was all riled up about this mornin'!"

Rarity seemed confused, "Fate? He almost sounds like Discord."

Fate shook his head, "Don't compare me to some stone clown."

Elise stopped moving forward, "You're weak... Why else would you accept a world defined form... The mighty Fate, the wannabe deity, having to conform to the rules of a dimension. After the trouble you put all of my friends through, this is laughable."

"Then I invite you to test just how 'weak' I am."

AJ was unsure, "Elise, maybe we shouldn' try anythin' stupid."

Rarity backed away, observing how the caged dogs kept their distance from Fate, "Yes, I'm sure that some of us have more important things to do. Like maybe not call bluff on the dashing stallion that has these brutes so scared..."

He grinned, "Then allow me to prove my bluff... and to even the playing field..."

On after another Fate released three spells through a cluster of crystals. Each one created a sphere of light went to each three of the trespassers and healed them, "No wounds to hold any of you back."

Rarity swallowed and looked at Elise, "This isn't going too well..."

Fate crushed the crystals, "This is a fight you will not win..."

Rarity backed down and held her hooves in defense. AJ galloped forward and planted her hooves into Fate, who didn't even flinch. She jumped back, "What the..."

Rarity launched gemstones at Fate, all of them bouncing harmlessly off of him, "Oh dear..."

AJ tried to buck some of the gemstones back at him, and they still bounced right off, "Ah think we mighta bit off more'n we can chew!"

Elise coated her claws with crystals, and quickly attacked Fate, the sharper claws barely scratched him.

Rarity backed down again, "I-I do believe it's safe to say that he isn't bluffing..."

Elise snarled at Fate, "Leave them out of this! I'll fight you like a weapon!"

Fate grinned, "So be it, you will fall first."

Fate galloped forward and reared up, striking his front hooves at Elise, she was able to dodge the first strike, then the second one hit her, and the third one. The fourth one knocked her over and Fate turned quickly planting a hind hoof into AJ's side, knocking the farmpony down too. Rarity put a wall of gemstones between her and Fate, hiding behind it in the hopes it holds up. Fate barreled through it and loomed over her, "As a sign of generosity, you will be last to fall."

He raised a hoof and got ready to strike her, as his hoof approached Rarity pulled back and closed her eyes. There was a soft thump with a following scream of pain, she opened an eye and Elise was between her and Fate.

He sneered, "You call yourself a weapon, a weapon does not shield..."

Elise coughed, "A...a sword can...block."

"The weapon does not block... The weak being holding the weapon blocks."

"Even a bullet...can deflect another..."

"Do you really think that way? Of course you do, you've got the words of that dragon stuck in your head. That is why you put yourself in harms way for even as pathetic a creature as this little 'pony' that is cowering here.", he grinned, "This entertains an idea... Sow the seeds of your own poison, weapon. When you fall and become mine, they too will share your fate..."

Fate Vanished and Rarity quickly ran around Elise to look her in the eyes, "Thank you for saving me!"

AJ barely pushed onto her hooves, "That's gonna sting in th' mornin', you...hooo... you two doin' alright?"

Rarity tried to think, she needed to get them out of here but how was she going to with no muscle to haul them along with. Elise pushed onto her paws, dismissing the crystal claws, "I've caused you a lot of trouble... I didn't mean to... If it helps... I'' do whatever you want me to..."

"Darling, you don't need to do anything else for me, you put yourself in harm's way to protect me."

"But..."

"No buts. You've done enough for one day."

Elise smiled a moment and shook her head, "Sure."

Rarity smiled back, "Now, how are we going to get out of here?"

Elise looked at the diamond dogs, they were still surprised about what just happened, "If I let you out, you had better escort us out."

One of them responded, "And if we don't?"

Rarity stood firmly, "I will give every last one of you an earful, don't think that I won't!"

The dogs all thought this over until one spoke up, "Then we tie your mouth shut!", they all started laughing.

Elise roared like a dragon releasing mists of glowing energy from her mouth, the dogs all went quiet, "You will escort us, or I will show every one of you how much dragon I am..."

They all looked amongst each other and nodded, "We will help!"

She walked to the door on the cage and placed her paw around the lock, "Good."

The lock crystalized and became brittle, she leaned in close, "Because I can do this to living things, too.", she crushed the lock and the door swung open.

----[ Mountainside

The diamond dogs did as they were told, they escorted the two ponies and the half-breed to the mine exit, no further. Elise looked a little depressed, she knew she got into a fight against a being that could be a deity, without the granted strength from a more powerful deity. As the diamond dogs placed boulders to bar entrance through that shaft AJ looked at Elise and grinned, "The way ya fought in there, you were tryin' ta keep him from comin' after us. Hay, ya did that with those guards too."

Elise tried to smile, but couldn't, "I shouldn't even be getting you into fights."

"Elise, there're fights goin' on out of sight, all th' time. Even out on the farm we've gotta fight off these critters that keep tryin' to burn some-a the trees."

"You haven't fought things like I have. The things I fight are intent on getting a kill, what about those that attack your farm."

"They'd take a bite outta anypony given th' chance. So why not give 'em an apple or an Apple Family hoof to chew on."

Elise was stunned, Melody always elaborated on differences in existences and their dimensions. Is that one of the differences between this Equestria and the one from my existence?

AJ took off her hat and dusted it off, "If ya been travelin' around like ya say so, this really oughtn't be a surprise."

Rarity nodded, "She's right, even in Ponyville there are ponies who don't mean well. I had to learn how to defend myself after some thieves ran off with a bag of hard earned bits."

Elise sat down, "Thieves aren't like Fate... He just wants everything to be in ruin."

"Speaking of ruin, I have a presentation in just an hour! I'm nowhere near ready!"

AJ put her hat back on, "Not doin' any good standin' 'round here, we need ta move."

"Of course, not a second to waste! We must go, for fashion!"

Rarity ran off towards Ponyville, AJ smirked and looked at Elise, "Fate's wrong, yer more of a shield, protectin' others from harm."

Elise stood up, "I'm sorry he knocked you down like that."

"You were down yerself, no worries."

They started walking towards Ponyville.

----[ Ponyville: 10 Minutes later

The two walked past the library on their way to the Carrousel Boutique, Elise's injuries had all healed up and she was trying her best to recall the healing spell Fate used before their fight. AJ let out an exhausted sigh, "We're almost there."

Elise looked at her, "I wish I learned restorative spells."

"Didn' think there were any."

Rarity let loose a scream that caught the attention of the two travellers, AJ started galloping, "Gotta make sure!"

Elise started running to keep up, tempted to forge her sharper claws and armor on the way.

----[ Carrousel Boutique

AJ kicked the door open, "Rarity!"

Rarity was rummaging through storage closets searching for something, "Oh, please! Sweetie Belle!"

Elise was curious, "What happened?"

Rarity turned and faced the two, "The Worst. Possible. THING! I can't find any of my dressforms!"

AJ facehoofed, "Ya reckon Sweetie Belle mighta run off with 'em?"

A note flicked through the air, guided by Rarity's magic, Elise caught it, "Borrowing manakins - Sweetie."

Rarity walked over to the two, "Without those mannequins, I can't present my new dresses, I need models!"

AJ looked at Elise, "I doubt she'd fit into anythin' ya got."

Elise shook her head, "Don't tell anyone..."

She focused and her body shrunk in size, matching the size of the mares she was with.

AJ was surprised, "Well, I'll be. That's one darn good trick!", she looked where Rarity was, "Right, Rar... Rare?"

Pinkie walked in, "Hi Applejack, Hi Elise.", she looked up at the cieling, "Hi Rarity."

Rarity was somehow sticking to the cieling from the surprise at Elise's change in size.

Pinkie tilted her head, "Hey Rarity, how're you sticking to the cieling like that? You don't have any claws."

Rarity fell from the ceiling onto Pinkie and quickly jumped back onto her hooves, "How?!"

Elise grinned nervously, "It's the ability that gives me my fast healing. I can freely alter my size at will."

Rarity stepped off of Pinkie, "At any rate, you can wear one of my dresses now."

Pinkie smiled at Elise, "Hey, moving must be pretty easy with you around, just go big and move any heavy furniture."

Elise scratched the back of her head and lied through her teeth, "Well, I...can't adjust my strength to match, so I can really only shrink without problems, I never learned how to do more than that."

Rarity looked between Pinkie and AJ, "Applejack, you're far too beat-up to be seen in any of the dresses, Pinkie Pie, could you volunteer to be a model for me? Please?"

Pinkie nodded, "Okie-dokie-loki."

AJ grinned at Elise, "Don't worry, Granny Smith's got somethin' to take care of me. Ah'll see you tonight?"

Elise nodded, "I assume the barn again?"

"Ya might be able ta fit in the guest bedroom, at any size.", AJ walked off.

Rarity noticed a large number of tangles in Elise's mane and tail, "First things first, you need to be cleaned up!"

Elise just nodded, "Of course..."

----[ Library

AJ opened the door and fought off the urge to facehoof when she saw all the notes and photos that completely lined the edges of a drawing board. Dash was on the ground looking at the booklet she helped create while Twilight was busy double checking the data, both of them oblivious to the farmpony's arrival. AJ cleared her throat causing both Twilight and Dash to jump, the former also sending a magically levitated marker clean into the cieling.

Twilight quickly turned around, "Oh, hi. Uhm... We were just going over what needs to be done to the library for the storm."

Dash nodded and smiled, "Yeah, don't want to lose any Daring Do books."

AJ gave them both a knowing grin, "Which is why ya both got pictures of us headin' into that mine?"

The pegasus and the unicorn looked at the board then at each other, Twilight sighed, "Yes, we're trying to figure out what she really is."

Dash flew over to AJ, "Hey, what happened to you?"

"A fight we had no chance a winnin'."

Dash frowned, "Against her..."

"No, she was fightin' alongside me n Rarity, we bumped inta a stallion callin' himself Fate."

Twilight glanced at AJ, "Deep blue coat? Green eyes?"

"Yeah, that's him. Wait, how'd you know what he looked like?"

"Well, we were keeping an eye on you three while gemstone hunting. When all of you went into the mineshaft he follow you in."

AJ glanced at Twilight, "Ya coulda said somethin', Twi."

"I didn't think he would be any problem."

AJ looked at Twilight in disbelief, "Ya mean ta tell me that goin' into those mines was jus' one grand ol' trap?"

Dash got suspicious, "I'm thinking that Elise isn't telling us everything."

Twilight shook her head, "It's obvious that she's hiding things, but what exactly is still undetermined. Applejack, I need you to tell me what went on in those mines."

AJ nodded, "Only on one condition."

"What?"

"You get out the first-aid kit, I feel like a tree fell on me."

----[ Carrousel Boutique

She had never honestly seen such a fine shine on her fur, it was eerie since she didn't have much fashion interest. Still, all the shampoos and conditioners Rarity used on her were very high quality. There were combs, brushes, hairdryers, and hairclips circling her and styling her with every pass. Once the cyclone of styling objects drifted away Elise found herself looking in a mirror. Her mane was smoother and less poofy, between her ears there was even a curl drawn out and hanging in front of her snout. She even noticed that her claws were properly trimmed, and that the tufts of fur between each digit were all properly groomed.

Rarity stood there for a moment, looking for anything she may have missed, she realized just what was missing and levitated a hairband over, "This should just about do it."

Rarity used the hairband to create a ponytail from the back of Elise's mane, "There, perfect. You look absolutely dazzling!"

Pinkie walked up, "Sure does, what're you going to put us in?"

Rarity got a glimmer in her eye, "There are four dresses that need to be presented to the Fashionista Times critic, we will need timing for this. This way please.", she started walking.

Elise and Pinkie followed her to a mobile rack, she arranged the dresses in the right order and set aside dresses not being used in the presentation, "These four dresses are the one's you two will need to model in. Both of you can put on one dress before the critic arrives. Let's assume you go first Pinkie, you will present the dress and return back here and swap into the next one while Elise is presenting hers."

Elise grinned, "Sounds easy enough."

Pinkie smiled, "Yeah, this is gonna be fun!"

Rarity grinned and shook her head, "Now who wants to go first?"

Pinkie jumped up, "Oh! Me! Me!"

Elise nodded, "I can go second."

"Yay!"

Rarity levitated a dress off the rack, "Alright, then let's make the two of you Fabulous!"

----[ Library

AJ didn't have as many injuries as she was expecting, but that didn't stop her from telling exactly just what happened inside of the mines. Dash was actually surprised that Elise wasn't the one responsible for AJ's beat up condition. Twilight was also deeply analyzing every word the farmpony said, "The way she acted was in a defensive manner, she wanted to draw the attacks meant to harm both you and Rarity to herself."

AJ nodded, "That's right."

"And this Fate pony, he was able to break through her defensive stance and stagger her long enough he could go after you."

Dash was bothered by something, "Hey, AJ, didn't you say something about her getting all riled up and wanting to claim victory from him?"

She nodded, "Jus' this mornin'."

Twilight looked at Dash, "You know, there might be something Elise knows about Fate that could be related to her travels, perhaps he's a rival."

AJ thought for a moment, "Or somepony out ta get that Lusce feller she works for."

Dash raised a brow, "Loose feller?"

Twilight looked up at her, "A Lynx named Lusce, L-u-s-c-e."

"That doesn't really matter, she could be bringing new problems to Ponyville because she worked for him, or is doing a job for him. That's gotta be it!"

"What's gotta be it?"

"She's here doing some job for this lynx, I'm gonna go find out what she's going to do!"

Dash nearly took off but was stopped by Twilight's magic, Twilight shook her head, "You can find out what she's doing tomorrow. For now we need to let her help Rarity."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Just watch her."

----[ Carrousel Boutique | 2 hours later

Pinkie and Elise both performed very well, each of the dresses seemed to get approving nods and notes from the unicorn critic. Even what was supposed to be an intentional dud was displayed by Elise, who looked good in that one red dress that never looked right on anypony else. Rarity approached the critic, "Well, what do you think, Mr. DeTal?"

Avery L. DeTal looked at Rarity and nodded, "Every one of these dresses will be previewed by ponies all over Equestria, I must say you are one of the best designers to ever grace this town."

Rarity hid a wide grin, "Oh, thank you."

"I was concerned that your choice of models was a little esoteric, but your pony and fox combination was rather impressive. I dare say you could be able to design for more than just ponies."

"R-really?"

"It's up to you whether or not I include that in my article."

Rarity thought for a moment, "If you could mention the possibility, that would be divine."

With a flick of the magically levitated quill, DeTal made a new note, "Done, I will send you a letter once everything is ready to print. Adieu, Mademoiselle."

Rarity smiled, "Adieu."

Once the critic left she turned to Pinkie and Elise, "Thank you, both of you!"

Pinkie grinned, "No problem."

Elise bowed slightly, "You're welcome."

Rarity looked at the two, "Now let's get you two out of those dresses."

All three went into the back room, Rarity took the dresses and hung them where they would be safe. Elise was happy to be out of that dress, so that she could revert to her normal size. Rarity didn't jump when Elise changed size this time, but instead was thinking hard about something, "Elise, this is your normal size, correct?"

Elise nodded, "This is what I always revert to, so yes."

"Then wait here, I'll be back.", she went over to a desk and started searching through it. After a few seconds a measuring tape levitated out, "If you would kindly hold still."

"Huh?"

Rarity made all sorts of measurements and wrote them down on a notepad.

"Why are you measuring me?"

"I've never found anypony who could wear that red dress and make it work right."

"Really?"

"Yes, as a token of my thanks I'm going to make you a version you won't need to shrink down to fit in."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, and I can tell from these measurements, I'm going to need to get more fabric, much more fabric."

"Ok?"

"If I place the order tomorrow, it should arrive in two days. So, I will have your dress in three days."

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome."

Pinkie giggled, "Come on Elise, Applejack oughta be waiting for you."

Elise nodded, "Right, I'll see you around Rarity."

Rarity waved as they left, "Have a wonderful night."

----[ ???

"Sister, there were matters that the court needed to resolve."

"I would prefer not to until we know why the protective crystals are being tainted."

"You're worrying too much, we will surely find out who or what is tainting the crystals. Huh?!"

"You're shaking, one of the crystals enchanted by your magic has been tainted."

"Yes, 'tis true."

"The two of us each have three remaining."

"We had four each, what of the last two?"

"...Do you know where I left my quill?"

Chapter 04 - Strings of Magic

"To my loyal student, --"

----[ Library | 8am Next day

Twilight quickly woke up from a good night's rest, the sound of a multi-color maned Pegasus hitting the window next to her bed was hard to sleep through. She opened the curtains and unlocked the window to let in her guest. Dash rubbed her head a little, "Wow, strong window."

Twilight stifled a yawn before she replied, "I had that window replaced with a reinforced one after that tree accident some months ago."

Dash flew in and landed next to the bed, "Wasn't that when both AJ and Rare spent the night?"

Twilight simply nodded, "So, what was she doing at Rarity's last night?"

"Showing off dresses for her."

The stifled yawn came back and Twilight let it out, "That doesn't sound too bad. I didn't really think Rarity had any dresses that large."

"Um, she doesn't. Elise can shrink herself."

Twilight looked at Dash like she was suddenly monochrome, "Could you repeat that? I think I had something funny in my ear."

"I'm not joking. She shrunk herself, then regrew to that bigger size once she was done helping Rarity."

The flash of the student's teleport spell faded away before Dash's eyes, "Uh... Twilight? Where'd you go?"

From the library's main room Twilight called to Dash, "Downstairs. Chalkboard!"

Dash shrugged her shoulders and flew down, "Adding that?"

With the first drawing board filled with notes and pictures Twilight had set up a mobile chalkboard next to it, she used her magic to move the chalk, "Of course!"

Spike woke up and yawned, then belched out a flame that formed a small packet, "Wow, mail already?"

Twilight stopped and looked over, "Something from the princess?"

Spike picked it up, "Looks like it."

Twilight magically levitated the packet over to her and opened it, "She usually doesn't send anything this early."

Dash walked over, "Must be important, right?"

Twilight levitated a letter and a small wrapped box out of the packet, "Well, let's find out."

----[ Apple Family House

Elise was curled up on the floor of the guest bedroom when the rooster crowed, she stirred and lifted her head off her front legs. With a mighty yawn she tried to move but felt something asleep on top of her, "Hm?"

She looked on her side and saw a lump of brown and white fur, she knew that if that was Scootaloo there would be some pink instead of white. With a gentle nuzzle she woke up Winona, who stretched her legs and after a happy bark ran off. Now that there wasn't a canine sleeping on her, she stood up and stretched out any built up snaps and crunches. She wandered downstairs and out the front door where the Apple family had gathered in front of the house. Big Mac was busy carving a new axle for the cart, Applejack was getting a thorough look-over from Granny Smith, and The Cutie Mark Crusaders were still wiping the sleepiness from their little eyes as they wandered away from their clubhouse.

Granny Smith finished looking over AJ, "Yer doin' better than las' night, that's fer sure. I'd say ya better off not buckin' apples fer a while, and especially not gettin' inta anymore fights."

AJ grinned, "Ah'll do my best."

"Do bettah than yer best, you know yer as bad at keepin' outta trouble as that Whooves feller."

Elise walked up to AJ, "Feeling better?"

She nodded, "Sure am, Granny Smith ain't lettin' me go an' buck in th' orchard for a few days, so that head start we got yesterday came at a great time."

Big Mac looked over at them, "Eeeeyup."

Apple Bloom walked up to Elise, "Is it true ya tried to take all them hits fer AJ?"

Elise nodded, "It's how I helped Lusce, whenever a Lion cornered him I'd provoke it into attacking me."

Scootaloo eyed her, "That doesn't sound very cool."

Elise smiled, "Once the lion left himself open, I would strike, returning everything he hit me with, with interest."

Scootaloo looked confused, "With interest?"

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment, "Does that mean you hit him harder than he hit you?"

Elise nodded, "Lusce was surprised to see a Leomn bounce though."

"Lion", Sweetie Belle corrected her.

Elise laughed, "Of course."

AJ looked at her, "Yer in high spirits this mornin', I take it ya slept well?"

"I dreamt about my father, he reminded me that no matter where I am, I shape my own destiny."

"I'm sure he's proud of ya."

"If only he knew what I've done so far...", Elise stared off into space, Was that...?

AJ patted Elise on her shoulder, "I'm sure as sugar that he'd be proud of ya."

Elise smiled, "Of course he would."

Apple Bloom looked down the path, "Huh? Oh, hey. It's Twilight."

AJ looked at the rapidly approaching lavender unicorn, "Hm? What's she hurryin' for?"

Twilight came to a stop in front of Elise and AJ, "Applejack, you aren't going to believe this."

"Believe what, Twi?"

"Celestia sent me seven extra tickets to the Celestial Centennial Celebration!"

AJ's jaw dropped, "Seven?!"

"Each one is labeled for us and guests... I already had mine."

"So who all is goin' to this?"

"Well, me, you, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Big Macintosh..."

Big Mac dropped the carving knife, "Eeeeexcuse me?", he picked the knife back up after a moment.

AJ counted, "You had one already... So that leaves one left..."

Twilight nodded, "A guest of our choosing."

AJ looked at Elise, then smiled, "I'd like ta vote for Elise."

Twilight raised a brow, "That makes you and Rarity so far."

Elise smiled, "It's good to know I've earned something from two of you."

Dash landed next to Twilight, "Hey Applejack, want some help gathering apples so you're ahead?"

AJ thought a moment, "We've already got a good start. Say, when's the Celestial Centennial Celebration happenin'?"

Twilight grinned, "In exactly four days."

"There's only enough apples ta get us through today an' tomorrow guaranteed, so we'll need all th' help we can get in gatherin' extra apples. Jus' remember, the most we can do as far as gettin' ahead is six days, no more or the apples start to lose that good taste."

Dash nodded, "Gotcha!"

"Though thing's might be goin' a little slow since Big Mac is carvin' a new axle for the' apple cart."

Big Mac looked over at them, "I'm 'bout half done with it, th' carvin' knife is the sharpest it's been in months."

Granny Smith hobbled over to him, "Ah can see that, lemme go get the band-aids.", she walked away as Big Mac looked down at the little cut on his leg.

He looked at AJ, "Whoops."

----[ East Fields

Elise, Dash, and AJ had worked their way to the eastern fields where some of the golden delicious apples were growing. Some cloud cover had drifted in since they left the farmhouse twenty minutes ago. AJ looked up at Dash who was hovering above Elise, "Now we've got about an hour 'r two to clear some a these trees before Big Mac gets done with that axle. If we can fill up th' buckets all we'll have ta do left is load 'em up."

Dash grinned, "No problem. We'll have all those apples down in no time."

Elise nodded, "I suppose since I'm not pulling the cart, I could get some of the apples down?"

AJ thought for a moment, "You don't have hooves ta buck with, ya got some other way-a gettin' apples down?"

Elise thought, "I've got my weight, or pieces of armor to work with..."

"Armor?"

Dash remembered Elise's armor and grinned, "You've got armor? Where're you hiding it?"

"I don't need it, just some way of...", Elise got an idea and grinned, "...getting up to speed."

Dash smiled, "Show me how fast you can go."

Elise started running and built up her speed, If I time this right, I should be able to...

With a leap she planted all four of her paws into a tree trunk, then used her reflexes to launch into another tree trunk, she worked on her timing and how she redirected her momentum until she started almost bouncing off of trees. It wasn't too long before she was moving fast enough that there was a delay between her impact and the apples falling. Dash smiled ecstatically, "Aw, Yeah! Let the games begin!"

Dash launched forward and started pinballing off of trees as AJ watched with a grin.

After a few minutes Elise and Dash managed to get most of the way through the field, this little challenge became trickier as trees were planted further apart from each other. Elise started having trouble making the distance and getting the impacts she needed to loose apples and launch for the next tree. She focused and built up her magic as she barreled towards a tree, she landed against it and kicked off as she formed her crystaline wings in a brilliant flash of light. There was no longer any question in whether or not she could make it to the next tree as the field continued to become sparser and sparser.

Intentional or not, she and Dash had now entered a competition to see who could get the most apples off of the trees. Feeling the competitive spark Elise launched over Dash's path and started on a new row of trees, AJ watching in amazement as the competition was harvesting apples quicker than she and her brother going it alone.

Within another minute the two competitors approached the fence that marked the edge of the East Fields, and the desire to be the first to the imaginary finish line was driving Dash to fly faster and faster. Elise was having fun and decided, Give her a run for her money.

The two built up their speed, Elise kicked off of trees for her boosts, while Dash just put forth a large amount of effort out of sheer force of will. The two approached the fence, a trail of rainbow colors, and a trail of distortion. Dash crossed the fence, followed by Elise a second later.

Dash and Elise both came to a stop just within hollering distance of the fence, where Applejack stopped, and watched the grass. Dash was surprised to see that this big half-breed barely kept up with her, "How... Where'd you get those wings?"

Elise looked at her wings, "A spell reacting to my dragon side."

Dash moved closer, "Those are made of crystal? I gotta admit, that's pretty cool! Hey, when did you get those?"

"They repaired themselves yesterday, I just don't let them be seen."

"You can hide them?"

Elise made the wings vanish and landed on the ground, "I create them whenever I desire."

Dash looked at something, "You might wanna get out of that grass, maybe now!"

Elise jumped up and recreated her wings, looking down she noticed the grass was shifting as though something was crawling through it, something very large.

In the distance AJ's voice sounded clear and true, "GET OVER HERE, NOW!!!"

A long blue serpentine creature jumped over the two, Elise didn't know what it was at first but could sense how strong it was, "Don't have to tell me twice!"

Dash and Elise put forth as much energy they had left to try and get back to the fence while they dodged the jumps of this lurking predator. They crossed the fence and the beast made one last lunge for them, hitting a magical barrier with a resounding thud. It sank back into the grass and slithered away.

AJ walked to the two fliers as they landed and caught their breath, "For a second there, I was 'fraid that I lost a coupla friends."

Dash looked at AJ, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Elise looked at AJ too, "What is a Leviathan doing out there? Is that what roared yesterday?"

AJ looked at Elise questioningly, "Leviathan? Izzat what that thing is? But yeah, that's what ya heard."

Dash looked at Elise, "How do you know what that thing is?"

Elise hid her wings, "I encountered one in a wasteland when I was traveling with Dracire and my father... They tend to be strong enough to make survival there next to impossible, but... I wish Dracire was at least here."

"Why? Does he know how to send one of those things somewhere else."

"If by somewhere else, you mean the afterlife. Then yes."

AJ and Dash both looked at Elise with shocked expressions.

Dash lifted up into the air, "How?!"

AJ backed up a little and pointed up at the sky, "I've seen airships ponied by Canterlotian milit'ry fail to stop that one, how did this Dracire slay one?!"

"He has a stance he uses when he has long swords equipped, Fatalis. He resigns to the fate of his target, and with one or two slashes, ends them."

"That can't be possible, wait... What is he?"

"Dark Dragon."

AJ and Dash looked at each other.

"Because I'm a half-breed my father has taught me how to work with other dragons. Even earn their respect."

Dash thought for a moment, "Maybe we could call on you next time we have a dragon problem."

"Maybe."

AJ shook her head, "Either way, th' two of ya are safe."

A muffin landed on AJ's head, and from above somepony said, "Oops!"

Dash looked up, "Derps?"

Ditzy Do fluttered down, "Bad muffin, trying to get away."

AJ reached up and handed the muffin to her, "Here ya go."

"Yay, muffin! Oh!", she turned to Dash and reached into her mail bag and pulled out a letter, "I brought you a letter!"

Dash took it, "Thanks."

Ditzy smiled, "Another satisfied customer!", then flew away to deliver more mail.

Elise watched her as she slowly drifted to her left, "Hm."

Dash waved and looked at the letter, "Urgent?"

AJ adjusted her hat, "Somethin' goin' on?"

In a flash the letter was opened and she was reading it, "All available Pegasi need to be on the look out for excess cloud cover, reason to believe that a deep blue Pegasus has sabotaged the cloud factory into producing a constant output. That's not good, and that explains the weather today."

"Thought so, last I heard we were gettin' sunshine from dawn 'til dusk."

Dash kept reading, "Any available Pegasi need to report for cloud breaking to help prevent the early occurrence of the planned storm.", She sighed with disappointment, "So much for doing nothing today..."

AJ looked up at the gray skies, "I suppose if it starts rainin' we need ta be ready..."

Dash looked at Elise, "Say you're a pretty good flier, think you can be a spotter?"

Elise looked at her, "Spotter?"

"Yeah, make sure we don't miss anything."

AJ nudged Elise, "Go on ahead, we've already got most everythin' tied down."

Elise nodded, "Alright, let's go."

They took off flying as Twilight walked up next to AJ, "Looks like Rainbow Dash has made a new friend."

AJ smiled, "Either that or a new racin' buddy."

Twilight laughed, "Of course."

"Say, Twi?"

"Yes, Applejack?"

"Thanks for talkin' Luna inta makin' this barrier."

"You're welcome."

Somepony landed behind them, "I'm happy to help my subjects."

Twilight turned around, "Princess Luna?"

----[ Cloudsdale

Both Dash and Elise were flying for Cloudsdale, maintaining their speed as the floating city came into view. There were dark clouds drifting away from a section of the city, which were being destroyed by numerous Pegasi. Dash smiled upon seeing the light blue and yellow uniforms of some of the Pegasi, while Elise kept her eyes forward.

An orange mare in one of the uniforms flew up to them, "Rainbow Dash, glad you made it."

Dash grinned, "Hey Spitfire, need some help?"

"As much as we can get, the cloud factory keeps getting faster."

Dash saluted, "I'm on it!"

Spitfire shook her head after Dash dashed off, "Always in a hurry, perfect."

Elise flew up to Spitfire, "How fast is it going?"

"Fast enough that they called us in to help."

Elise paused, "Ok. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Spitfire examined her for a moment, "Depends, can you break clouds?"

"I don't know."

A cloud drifted by, "Try that one."

Elise rushed at it and slashed it with the crystals of her wings, the cloud didn't do anything but take the shape of a partly sliced loaf of bread, "Erm, I guess not."

"Didn't think you could, wanted to make sure."

"Is there anything else I can do?"

Spitfire looked her over again, "You look kinda strong, see if you can break open the door to the cloud factory."

Elise nodded, "Alright."

"Make it quick.", Spitfire took off and started just destroying clouds with no effort as Elise made her way to the source of the clouds.

Every time Elise flew to Cloudsdale she always wondered how anything mortal could be able to make an air-weight solid substance out of clouds. She landed on the cloudy road and thought for a moment, I suppose If I can land on them maybe I would have to use my body not my crystals to destroy them.

She prepared for the task at hand, Draconic strength ready to -- open the door that a very muscular white Pegasus just pried open on his own. Completely baffled by what she just saw, she watched with a dumbfounded expression on her face as the Pegasus snorted and flexed while shouting, "YEEEEEAAAAHH!"

A stallion in a uniform similar to Spitfire's looked inside the factory, "Alright! Good work!"

Spitfire landed next to him, "Hey, thanks. We'll take it from here."

The Big Pegasus took to the air quickly and started clearing excess clouds.

Spitfire looked at the other uniformed stallion, "You ready Soarin?"

He nodded and spread his wings, "I'm always ready."

"Good, we've got a deep blue Pegasus to stop."

Elise snapped out of her daze, "Wait! Deep blue? Green eyes?"

Spitfire looked at her, "Yeah, you met him before?"

"He caused trouble near Ponyville yesterday, by trying to make the Diamond Dogs in the nearby mountains willing to hurt ponies."

"What? Ergh, I'll ask later. We're on a time limit.", she looked back at Soarin, "Let's go!"

Soarin hesitated then acknowledged her, "Right!"

Elise watched as the two flew in, "I can't let him do anything to anyone else!"

From above her Dash called out, "Hey, you got it open?"

"Somepony else did... Soarin and Spitfire are in there now."

Dash landed next to her, "So this'll all be fixed in no time."

"Not if who I think is in there, is in there."

"Who do you think's in there?"

"Fate."

Dash raised a brow, "Him? He's an Earth pony right?"

"He can be anything he pleases."

"Really?"

"Yes... Dash, if that is Fate in there, Soarin and Spitfire may have just entered a deathtrap. We've got to follow them and protect them."

"Deathtrap? Uhm..."

"It might get them more trusting of you if it is."

Dash grinned, "Why didn't you say so! Here. we. GO!"

Both ran inside of the factory.

----[ Sweet Apple Acres | East Fields

Thirty minutes had passed since Elise and Dash flew off to Cloudsdale, and Big Macintosh had managed to carve a new axle for the cart. He and Applejack were loading the cart with apples with some help from Twilight and Luna's magic. Twilight had her suspicions to why the Lunar Princess had come out this far, and she knew it didn't involve the apple bucking game that Dash and Elise had finished earlier. Big Mac had just taken the cart away with Applejack following, which gave Twilight the opportunity to approach Luna, "Princess Luna? What are you really doing here?"

Luna was looking out over the tall grass, "To be certain my barrier was holding steady."

"I don't think that's why you're here."

Luna gazed at her, "Why would you say that, filly?"

"Because when I asked you why you're here, you start talking in the old Equestrian dialect by just a little."

"I have my reasons, Twilight Sparkle."

"Is there something going on in Equestria?"

"No."

"With Ponyville?"

"No."

"With Celestia?"

"No..."

"Is something happening?"

"Erm...no. 'Tis nothing happening."

"Princess Luna, if something is happening to Celestia, I need to know because I'm her faithful student."

"There certainly is not a thing happening to my sister. She's far too preoccupied by the courts."

"Then shouldn't you be helping her?"

Luna sighed, "Nopony will let me handle anything important."

Twilight got an idea, "Then I could help her!"

Luna looked at her with wide eyes, "Pardon?"

"I'll just write up a letter and see if she'll let me help her."

"Oh! NOnononono. She told us she would manage!"

Twilight hid a smirk, "Alright, I guess I could help you with your barrier?"

Luna shook her head, "Well...fine. We came to speak with thee about thy friends..."

"Really?"

"Yes, Tia sent out more invitations to the upcoming event, correct?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes, she sent seven additional tickets. One each for Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Big Macintosh."

"That only accounts for six of the additional tickets."

"There was one meant for an additional friend, we agreed to vote on somepony to take along."

"Has this vote occurred?"

"Partly, there are two votes for this wanderer who came to Ponyville lately."

Luna raised a brow, "Wanderer?"

"Elise. She's this half-fox half-dragon being, who's got to be hiding things from all of us."

"She is tame we would hope."

"She's civilized, like somepony raised her."

"We--erm--I would like to meet with this Elise."

Twilight laughed nervously, "When you got here, she had just left with Rainbow Dash to go to Cloudsdale."

"Then I will wait for her return."

----[ Cloud Factory

The Cloud Factory had seen far better days, machines that regulated the clouds were in shambles and barely managed to limit output of even a tiny bit of vapor. The cloud marble wasn't looking any better than the machines, especially with that enormous hole in the wall nopony outside could see. There were even support pillars that had crumbled and lay on the ground.

Dash was looking around the factory completely baffled, "This entire place is nothing but ruin! How's it still cranking out clouds?! The fail-safes shoulda shut everything down!"

Elise looked around for Soarin and Spitfire but couldn't see them, "I've seen this before, there were old buildings in the Roads Between that still worked."

Dash crossed her hooves, hovering there, "Roads between? Roads between where?"

"I'll explain later, we've got something more important to do."

Dash placed her front hooves on her hips, "Yeah, we've got some flank kicking to do!"

Elise nodded then called out, "Spitfire! Soarin! Are you two alright?"

From the back of the factory Spitfire called out, "We're... we're fine!"

Soarin called out after Spitfire, "We need some help."

Elise noticed the lack of enthusiasm in Soarin's voice, "We're coming!"

Dash flew her way through the mess of a factory as Elise followed her on the floor. They made it to the back of the factory and both were focused on different things. Elise noticed how the main cloud machine was still going through the processes of making large clouds, despite the fact it was torn to pieces and severely damaged.

Dash landed and moved towards Spitfire, "Soarin, Spitfire, what's wrong?"

Spitfire looked like she was fighting to move, "Get away..."

"Huh?"

"Run!"

Elise looked up at something else, "Hm? Dash!"

Dash looked up, "Whoa!", she jumped back as Soarin swooped down at her, "What was that for?!"

Spitfire took a step forward, "We aren't in control, h-he is!"

Fate appeared as a Pegasus stallion, "I admire how much you've been able to resist."

Elise didn't snarl this time, "Don't you have anything better to do."

"Of course not, I need a cornerstone for Omnes Ruinam and what better a dimension to use as such, a harmonic one at that."

Spitfire launched at Dash, "Move!"

Dash jumped over her, "Spitfire! Snap out of it!"

Fate grinned, "To free them from the binds I placed, you'd best be ready to fight your own heroes."

"No way! I want to join the Wonderbolts, not beat 'em to a pulp!"

"You have no choice.", he vanished.

Soarin spread his wings, "Watch out!"

Elise kept her sights on Soarin, "Dash, I understand they are your heroes, but as long as Fate is making them act against their will they are enemies to everypony."

Dash hesitated as Spitfire rammed her, "ACK!", she regained her balance, "I don't want to hurt them!"

Elise thought for a moment, "Then distract them, I'll knock them out."

"What?!"

"I won't leave them for dead, I promise they won't even get that hurt."

Dash looked between Spitfire, Soarin, and Elise, "But..."

"I'll take all the blame.", Elise rushed at Soarin and swiped at him with her claws sheathed. He leapt back avoiding the blow.

"But..."

Spitfire fought against Fate's control, "Rainbow Dash, do what she said. Th-that's an order!"

Dash closed her eyes and swallowed her pride, "You got it."

Elise changed her stance, "Ready when you are."

Dash shouted at Soarin, "Come and get me!"

Soarin quickly took off and created a cloud ring that released small lightning bolts. These bolts struck down at both Dash and Elise.

Dash twitched, "Yaaah!"

Elise stayed in her stance, "Don't give up."

"No more nice Dash, try and hit me!"

Spitfire flew up and dove at Dash who dodged. She a grip on the ground she tried to follow through a kick.

Dash evaded the follow-up, "Try again."

Elise went after Soarin, blindsiding him, "My turn!", she held her attack as he dodged then moved with him to strike.

Spitfire stepped back a little, looking at Dash with some worry as her eyes turned solid white. She drew forth energy that distorted the air with heat, Dash prepared herself, nervous about what was coming. A ring of light formed around Dash and Elise and started to burn before it erupted upwards in a cyclone of fire. Dash pulled out of the storm quickly with only a few singed feathers, Elise was picked up into it and hit the floor once it cleared. The pieces of the cloud machine fell to the floor surrounding the fight.

Elise rolled onto her feet as Dash landed looking tired, "This isn't right. You shouldn't be attacking us. Snap out of it!"

Soarin forced himself not to attack, "We're trying!"

Spitfire looked at Dash, "Don't give up!"

Dash grimaced, "J-just keep trying to hit me."

Elise focused and let a small glowing orb stream into Dash, "The only good thing I've gotten from you, Fate."

Dash seemed to get some of her vigor back, "Huh? Thanks!"

Spitfire shuddered, "You've got to stop us!", she held herself back, "Hit me!"

Soarin slouched down and tried to force his wings to fold up, "You've gotta!"

Dash rushed forward, "Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry!"

Elise ran towards Soarin as Dash spiraled into him with a kick, the half-breed's follow up knocking him off balance, finally Dash's second kick knocking him over. Spitfire continued to fight against Fate's control as Soarin jumped onto his hooves. He worked as hard as he could to keep from attacking, Elise backed away from him. Dash tried not to hit herself for hitting one of the Wonderbolts, "Don't... don't overdo it."

Spitfire lifted into the air unbalanced, "Soarin, keep fighting against his control."

"Watch out!", Soarin lifted up and quickly rammed and kicked at Dash, she managed to pull back and block both attacks with her front hooves. Elise blindsided Soarin with two more attacks, he fell to the floor and pushed up, "Huh?", he moved his body freely, "I'm free?!"

A trail of black smoke weaved between Soarin, Dash, and Elise. Then released a spread of fire that hit all three, knocking them into the air. Spitfire landed behind them and they turned to face her after landing on the floor.

She struggled to stop herself, "Stop! Me!"

Dash flew forward as the ring of fire started to form once more, Soarin following close in formation. Elise ran forward and leapt into the air.

This moment lasted almost an eternity to Dash, she stared into the glowing white eyes of her idol, the forced look of aggression mixed with her panic as she forced the creation of the technique that she hoped never to use against one of her own kind. Soarin's expression was almost no better than Dash's, but Elise's face showed only regret as she came closer to the commanding Wonderbolt.

The flaming cyclone never formed as Spitfire hit the floor, Dash moved to be next to her, "Spitfire!"

Spitfire pushed up onto her hooves, "Remind me never to do that again."

Soarin smiled, "Will do."

A voice came from the direction of the factory entrance, "There's a different way to remind you never to do that again."

Spitfire and Soarin both froze up and gazed towards the entrance. Elise looked in the direction of the voice, noticing as an aqua colored Pegasus Stallion landed, he was wearing a variant of the Wonderbolt uniform that had markings underneath the cutie mark area, I saw you the other day..., she thought to herself.

His green eyes examined the mess and the scorched area, then locked onto the group in front of him, "You stopped the machine, to say the least. However, the pony you were supposed to catch escaped unscathed, care to explain why?"

Spitfire straightened herself, "Lieutenant Windholm, the pony calling himself Fate was able to use some magic to seize control of us."

Soarin nodded, "He used us as bait to lure in Rainbow Dash and a friend of hers."

Dash was trying to keep a bold look on her face but the cold gaze of the commanding Wonderbolt made it hard. Windholm sighed, "Listen up! I don't believe for one second that two of my top Wonderbolts were taken control of and used as bait!"

Elise spoke up, "It's true! We fought to break the control over them."

"You must be the troublemaker from Ponyville, there have been some reports about you taking a farmer and a fashion designer into hostile territory."

"They volunteered."

"And my tail is curled. That aside, we've got somepony who witnessed everything from that control box up there. Ms. Heather Vane?"

A copper colored mare with a blonde mane and yellow eyes walked out from behind Windholm and looked at the mess with horror, "Oh my! The cloud machine! You call yourselves Wonderbolts!"

Windholm snorted, "Not anymore they don't."

Dash, Spitfire, and Soarin all twitched, "WHAT?!"

"From this moment forward both Spitfire and Soarin are dishonorably discharged from the Wonderbolts. You are to return to the Cloudsdale Barracks immediately to retrieve your belongings and never set hoof or spread wings in any Equestrian Military Zone again. Understood?"

Dash moved forward, "But?!"

A strong gust of wind roared forward as Windholm shouted, "UNDERSTOOD?!"

Dash's mane was straight back for a moment as she tried to figure something out, but a hoof resting on her shoulder stopped her. Spitfire looked her in the eyes, "It's alright."

Soarin flew by and Spitfire followed shortly after, Dash watching with with a look of horror on her face. Elise moved close to her, "Dash..."

Almost as quiet as Fluttershy, Dash squeaked, "It's your fault..."

"I wish it were. Fate set this up and both of...no, all four of us flew right in. He knew this was going to happen."

Dash looked up at Heather Vane and Lieutenant Windholm, "Don't do this!"

Windholm simply turned around and started to walk away, "You have two minutes to leave this factory, or it's off to stockade with you."

Dash jumped, "Wait!", and flew off leaving her rainbow trail.

Elise looked at the mare who witnessed the fight, "Must be great to take other forms, just make sure your eyes don't turn brown."

Elise walked out and Ms. Vane shrouded herself in green magic before reverting to her black form. Chrysalis smiled, "That's one."

----[ Cloudsdale | Wonderbolts Station

Both Soarin and Spitfire walked out of the front gate with their saddlebags. The only things they were allowed to keep from their uniforms were the goggles that Windholm cracked as the reminder of their discharge. Dash was there waiting for them, and immediately ran up to them, "I'm sooooo sorry!"

Spitfire looked at her, "It wasn't your fault, Rainbow Dash."

Soarin was looking at the broken goggles hanging from his neck, "It would've been bad for us either way."

Dash shook her head, "No, if we hadn't gone into the factory--"

"He would've made us attack innocent ponies!" Spitfire interrupted.

"But..."

"If we started doing that, the rest of the Wonderbolts would've had to arrest us...at best."

"At best? What about at worst?"

"Considering how Windholm has been acting since those dragons tried to burn Canterlot down...you don't wanna know."

Elise walked up, I don't remember anything about that...

Dash glared at Elise, "Oh, it's you."

Spitfire looked at Elise, "Hey, thanks."

Elise bowed, "I'm sorry about your discharge."

"Don't be. If you and Dash here didn't stop us, we might've..."

"I understand."

Soarin looked at Dash, "We owe both of you our lives."

Dash's eyes opened wide, "Wha? But you..."

Spitfire elbowed Dash, "Looks like we might have the free time to show you some new tricks."

Her jaw fell open.

"Tell you what, we can start after the Celestial Centennial Celebration. Sound good?"

Dash smiled wide and fell over.

Spitfire snickered, "I'll take that as a yes."

----[ From the desk of Twilight Sparkle

Dear Princess Celestia,

I've been keeping a close eye on everything that has been appearing near Ponyville the last four months, and I'm beginning to think that there is something going on that you aren't telling me about. I can't make any further advances in my attempts to determine exactly how these new and dangerous creatures are appearing, which makes it hard for me to properly prepare Ponyville for attacks. If I can't do that then I might want to request that you talk with my brother about sending some members of the royal guard to help protect Ponyville. As for the tickets you sent me, I gave them to my friends like you asked, but I'm afraid to actually give the remaining ticket to this half-breed named Elise, she seems nice enough but I'm afraid that if she joins us in Canterlot, that the troubles here may follow her over. Should I let her join us?

Your faithful and concerned student,

Twilight Sparkle

Chapter 05 - The Night of Shadows

Repairs on the cloud factory began immediately after the big fight was declared over with and the loose cannons were dishonorably discharged. Even with Spitfire's thanks, Dash still felt guilty that she and Elise might have been responsible for her heroes being kicked out of the Wonderbolts and did her best to avoid any encounters with her. Elise understood the decision that Dash had made, silently she agreed not to purposefully encounter her, and give her time to cope with the events.

They went off in their own directions, Dash to her home and Elise to Sweet Apple Acres. When she arrived she was relieved to see that there was no evidence of a flood on the farm. Applejack waved at her from down below and she landed close to her.

----[ Sweet Apple Acres | 5pm

Elise folded her crystalline wings closed and they vanished, "Was there any trouble?"
AJ smiled, "Nope, them Pegasi kept the skies pretty clear, only got a little extra rain before th' clouds stopped formin'."

Elise smiled back at her, "Good."

"So, what all happened up there?"

"Fate."

"Him ag'in? Sounds like he jus' wants ta cause trouble."

"That's an understatement", Elise grumbled, "This was malicious."

AJ raised a brow, "What makes ya say that?"

"He used some sort of control spell and turned two Wonderbolts against me and Rainbow Dash. It was a ruse to get them dishonorably discharged.", Elise looked up briefly, "Tell me, how well do you know Spitfire and Soarin?"

AJ thought for a moment, "Thanks ta RD, ah know that they are a couple of the higher rankin' ones, or judgin' by what ya just told me, they used ta be."

Elise nodded, "Do you know what ranks they used to hold?"

AJ shuffled a hoof, "Honestly I don't remember. Been too long since RD went on 'bout 'em 'round me. Either way they oughta be lookin' fer work now."

Elise looked up again then behind herself, "I suppose."

"Well, if ya pardon me, Apple Bloom wants ta spend the next few nights in her clubhouse with her crusader friends."

"Have they had luck with their crusade lately?"

Apple Bloom walked up behind her, "Not this time."

Elise noticed that Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were covered in something familiar and sticky, "Tree sap again?"

Scootaloo frowned, "Tree sap again."

Sweetie Belle nodded, "I don't know how I got covered in it, I didn't go on the zip line."

Apple Bloom laughed nervously, "Well, we did hit that tub-a sap pretty hard."

AJ facehoofed, "Well, let's at least get ya cleaned up before we--"

"We can stay in th' clubhouse tonight, right?", Apple Bloom interrupted.

AJ looked at her, "I'd rather ya didn't, those dark critters have been pokin' 'round the farm again, and ah don't want them to go after ya like they did Big Mac."

"Awww, Big Sis..."

AJ mussed Apple Bloom's mane, careful not to get any more of it into the sap, "Ah don't want ya ta get hurt."

Elise looked at AJ, "I could watch their clubhouse."

She looked at her, "Elise? Don't ya need yer rest?"

"The last few days I've been here are really the only ones in months where I've slept every night. If anything, I will be able to watch them all week."

"Ah don't know..."

Apple Bloom looked at her older sister, "Please Applejack?"

AJ looked between her sister and Elise a few times before she closed her eyes, "On one condition."

The three fillies smiled.

She looked at Elise, "If so much as one of them varmints shows up, you take care of it. If a whole swarm of 'em show up, you make sure Bloom an' her friends get to th' farmhouse safely."

Elise nodded, "Of course."

The fillies jumped up and cheered, "Yay!"

AJ looked back at them, "Now about you three. We need ta get y'all cleaned up, 'specially you Sweetie Belle, ah don't think yer sister'd like ta see you like this."

Sweetie Belle grinned nervously, "She already did."

Big Macintosh walked up with Rarity fainted on his back, "Eeeeyup."

----[ Ponyville Outskirts | 2:50 am

Soarin and Spitfire had managed to fly their way to Ponyville, their discharge was made worse by Windholm who completely cut off their pay and forcefully evicted them from their homes, they had no choice but to pack up a few things and leave Cloudsdale. The town was mostly closed down and even the street lamps were off, only a small inn was still lit up and had an open door. The two walked inside and to the front desk, Soarin rang the bell and waited for the innkeeper to show up. Spitfire looked around, suspicions formed as she noticed that even the cider bar lacked the expected rabble, "Odd."

Soarin leaned over the desk and looked to see if anypony was hiding out of sight, "Hello?"

"Hm. Something happened."

A voice came from one of the tables, "You two look like you could use some work."

Spitfire looked back at the tables and noticed a lynx sitting in one of the chairs, "Cute pet, where are you?"

The lynx grinned, "I'm not a pet, I'm the one offering the job."

Soarin looked at him, "Where is everypony?"

"It's weird, you would think in a world filled with such colorful ponies living in a civilized society, that they might expect a lynx to walk in and ask nicely for something to drink."

Spitfire smirked, "You're right, you don't see a lynx do that very often."

The lynx laughed quietly, "Exactly.", he looked at their saddle bags, "Moving on, I can tell both of you aren't here for a vacation. Those saddle bags look a little light for that, and a little heavy for just visiting."

"Yeah, we hit a bit of a snag in our old line of work."

The lynx held up a newspaper, "Yes, the Wonderbolts, some sort of military group from what I could understand."

Spitfire looked to the side, "Yeah."

"Which means that you two would likely have the skills that I need."

Intrigued Spitfire looked at him, "What use do you have for us?"

"I could use a couple of ponies that can get some jobs done for me."

"Like?"

"If what I heard was right, the two of you know how to do some aerial combat, a bit of stealth and if necessary a few ground jobs."

"What do you have in mind?"

The lynx placed a nugget of solid gold on the table, "Something light to start, I need help keeping tabs on a half-breed. Half dragon, half fox."

"Alright, who?"

"Her name is Elise."

Soarin looked over, "Elise? The one who freed us?"

"Yes, I want to make sure that she hasn't done anything too serious, I don't need to lose the best assistant I've ever had."

Spitfire looked at him curiously, "Assistant? Who are you?"

The lynx smiled, "Name's Lusce."

----[ Outside the clubhouse | Sweet Apple Acres | 3am

Elise moved between different spots around the clubhouse and kept a vigilant lookout, she was used to seeing in the dark and noticed a few different things around the area that moved sporadically. Applejack was not kidding, there were shadowy creatures that roamed the fields, and at night they were active. At least they seemed to steer clear of the guardian every time she locked her sights onto their wirey and pointy forms. The leaves in the trees barely moved as a gentle breeze blew through the area and kept things cool. Elise looked inside the window of the clubhouse and checked on the fillies as they slept on top of large pillows while underneath their Cutie Mark Crusader capes. Apple Bloom had hung her ribbon on the wall and slept soundly, Sweetie Belle seemed to snore melodically, and Scootaloo seemed to twitch on occasion with a grumble. She heard something land behind her and turned to see what. Princess Luna looked at her for a moment, "Are you the one called Elise?"

She nodded, "Yes, who are you?"

"I am Princess Luna, ruler of the night."

"Ah.", Elise kneeled, "I didn't mean any disrespect."

Luna shook her head, "There was none to be taken."

She stood up, "Do you mind if I ask why you are here?"

"I came to see the interloper who has made her presence known."

Elise scratched her head, "Sometimes you can't avoid doing that, I'm sorry if it has caused alarm."

"I'm not here to reprimand you over your actions."

Her eyes widened, "Huh?"

"I'm here to see the one whom a false god is toying with."

Elise slouched forward a little and sighed, "You've heard about Fate then."

"Of course, he's been more of an annoyance than Discord."

"I'll take your word on that."

Luna grinned, "Yes, it seems that some things in Equestria are still unknown to you. However there are things that have appeared in Equestria that our unknown to both me and my sister."

"If I would guess, the Leviathan outside the farm?"

"That is one of many things that have appeared in the last months. These creatures that prowl this farm are not of Equestrian origin neither."

"I've seen them before but not in such a massive number, they are supposedly the shadows of lost souls that have been given form by malevolent magic."

"Where did you see them before?"

"I knew a summoner who called on them to defend a castle he took for himself."

"I see.", she stepped to the side, "Behind you."

Elise turned and caught a creature that leapt at her, "You don't.", she threw the creature away.

Luna smirked, "Seeking the non-lethal means of tending to them?"

"I've seen at least forty different small shadows tonight, killing one runs the risk of sending them all into frenzy against the one who attacked their own."

"It seems there is a benefit of knowledge between the two of us."

"I guess."

"Especially since you seemed to know what that Levithaen was."

"Leviathan, Levithaen is a spear I have seen."

"Hopefully meant to slay it."

Elise imagined that spear in the hands of the owner she knew as it turned some poor sap into a red smear on a wall, "Erm...Possibly. A Leviathan is a serpentine creature with elemental origins, Ice and Water both working in tandem with one another. Since Fire is negated by the Water Element, that leaves Electricity as the only true weakness to bombard the summon with. Magic is recommended since its scales are slick and sturdy making it hard for most cutting, piercing, and blunt physical attacks to have any effect."

Luna looked to the East as the Leviathan's roar echoed in the night, "Elemental Origins? I take it that is how it manages to swim through even the dry air."

"Yes, it has a layer of water it sustains around itself to move and through elemental absorption recover from injury."

Luna smiled at Elise, "Not very many folk of any sort knows about elemental weaknesses and strengths. I'll admit, I'm impressed."

"Exploiting weaknesses, whether they exist to begin with or you create them, is the way to quickly remove enemies."

Luna looked around, "Well, speaking of enemies."

Elise looked around and noticed the two were completely surrounded hundreds of the shadowy creatures, "Uh oh."

Luna formed a barrier around the clubhouse and grinned with anticipation for the approaching fight, "Thus we shan't worry for the fillies. Let the foes come!"

Elise quickly turned and slashed a creature with her claws, it vanished as a plume of black smoke. Luna got into stance, "They are too weak to directly attack."

Elise nodded, "Area Sweeps and magic, got it."

Luna reared up and her magic formed a sharp edge that slashed through a wave of creatures that were advancing on her. Elise performed a wide slash with her claws against another wave, followed by a return slash with her other paw. Luna followed Elise's second slash with the magic edge as a thick wave of the creatures advanced close enough to be hit. A slightly larger creature leapt at them, both dodged to the side and counterattacked as it came to a stop, their attacks against it sent it barreling back through some of the smaller ones. Luna smiled, "Ha! 'Tis been too long since I fought beside a worthwhile warrior."

Elise grinned, "Makes the two of us."

Another larger creature rushed forward intent on slashing Elise, she jumped back then straight up as the creature stumbled and slid to a stop behind Luna. Luna pulled back and bucked the creature clear back into the swarm. A small group of creatures ran for the barrier Luna had created and tried to attack it. The barrier reacted to their presence and repelled them with a surge of electricity. Elise altered her stance and pulled one of her front legs back. She raised the leg high as crystals formed on it, then launched them into the air, "That will support us!"

Luna charged through a group that came after her, and trampled them until she met with another larger creature where she reared up and kicked it into the ground, "What will?"

Crystals started to rain down slowly and hit different creatures as Elise shifted back into her previous stance. Luna grinned, "Support at its finest."

Elise leapt onto a larger creature and shredded it with her claws, "I'm only getting warmed up!"

A much larger creature advanced towards them, Elise grinned, "Luna!"

Luna nodded and rushed at the creature with Elise. Elise jumped up and got a grip on the creatures arm, Luna used her wings to fly up above it. The creature tried to slash at Elise, she evaded with a quick twist of her body that allowed her to release her grip and flip up over it. Luna dove down for her, "Grab my hoof!"

Elise grabbed hold of Luna's hoof, the princess quickly rolled around and Elise let go at the right time to dive down. The momentum Elise gained as she dove down into the ground was preserved by her landing. She launched forward right into the creature's midsection which made it double over from the impact. With a shift of her momentum and an upward kick she leapt into the air with a solid grip around the creature and suplexed it into its fellow creatures with enough force to make the ground underneath shudder. The large group vanished in black smoke thick enough to obscure Elise's vision. She jumped out of the plume of smoke as Luna focused her magic, she released a sphere of energy that moved into a group of creatures and exploded. The crystal rain stopped as Elise ran forward, she jumped over a larger creature, which caught its attention. Luna dove down and landed next to Elise, "Your crystals, can they refract magic?"

Elise grinned, "Yes, what do you have in mind?"

The creatures started to close in, "How well do you think these can defend against darkness?"

"Not one bit."

Luna's form changed, her coat turned pitch black and her eyes became slitted, "Good. On my cue!"

The creatures moved even closer, each one was snarling as they readied their attacks. Elise motioned her fore legs.

"Elise!", she focused on a very potent spell.

Elise formed crystals all around the two, "Luna!"

Sound ceased to be as the supercharged magic was forced through the crystals. They acted as a catalyst and created a black dome around the area that absorbed every little bit of light that tried to pass by. Inside the creatures tried to move and collapsed under their own weight, their bodies getting heavier by the millisecond until they collapsed into themselves. A minute passed before the dome cleared away leaving only the half-breed, the lunar princess in her alternate form, a very flat picnic table, and the safe clubhouse within the barrier. The ground was slightly flatter as the remainder of the gravity field dissipated with the combined smoke of all the creatures. Luna reverted to normal and both of the fighters heaved a sigh of relief as their battle ended. Elise looked at Luna, "Impressive."

Luna brushed herself off as the barrier around the clubhouse faded away, "That is the power of the moon!"

"Darkness used as a weapon for good instead of evil."

"Rather poetic if you think about it."

AJ ran up, "Good golly, Princess! Fer a second there ah though ah was gonna hafta run back to Ponyville and get the others."

Luna looked a little nervous, "Well, the form of Nightmare Moon is mine to wield as I see fit, thanks to the purification the elements of harmony performed on that day."

AJ smiled, "That's good ta know, but there's somethin' else I really need ta know!", she ran up to the clubhouse and went inside.

Elise looked around and saw nothing moving, only the leaves of the trees fluttered in the breeze as it returned. Applejack stepped out a moment later with a look of relief on her face, "Still snoozin'."

Luna nodded, "Of course, I placed a barrier around their clubhouse to ensure their safety."

"Thank you, Princess.", she looked at Elise, "I saw most of th' fight from the farmhouse, me 'n Big Mac were 'bout half ready to charge out an' get the fillies ta safety."

Elise grinned, "Well, the area is clear, I can stay here and keep watch still."

"Well, jus' ta be safe."

Luna looked at Elise, "I will also stay for a while."

"Fair 'nough, Princess. If y'all be needin' anything, let us know."

"We will."

AJ bowed and walked back to the farmhouse. After a minute passed Luna sat down next to Elise. The gentle breeze blew through the area quietly, for the first time that evening the only sounds that could be heard were the drifting leaves and the soft snores of three fillies.

----[ Silent Horseshoe Inn | Ponyville | Meanwhile

The Cider clerk had come out of hiding when he caught sight of Spitfire and Soarin, he figured that if the wildcat tried anything they would handle it. Lusce followed them over to the counter and paid for drinks for the three of them. Spitfire gave Lusce a close look, "So, you really want to hire us after what happened?"

Lusce thought for a moment, "So far, I've only heard one side of the story. Honestly, I don't trust any form of press unless I've had the chance to trace their funds or find out who runs it."

Spitfire grinned, "Smart choice."

Lusce took a sip of cider, "So, what's your side of the story?"

"We were sent to stop somepony who had forced the cloud factory in Cloudsdale to go into overdrive. What we didn't know is that the Pegasus who had taken control of it had some sort of magic that let him control our movements like we were puppets."

"Magic can do that?"

Soarin nodded, "Yeah, it was magic he used from some sort of weird crystal."

Lusce took another sip, Crystal?

Spitfire continued, "So, we fought to resist his control until Rainbow Dash and Elise showed up. They managed to wear us down enough that the control was broken. Then Windholm showed up and ordered us to return to base, where he discharged us."

Lusce looked between the two almost analyzing them.

"You don't believe us do you."

"Actually, I've seen my fair share of crystals, so I believe you."

Spitfire took a sip of her cider, "Alright, that makes five of us."

Soarin looked at Lusce, "So what kind of jobs do you need us to do right now?"

Lusce took another drink, "Right now, the two of you should get some sleep. In the morning though, I want you to keep an eye on Elise and tell me what she's up to."

"Why?"

"Like I said a few minutes ago, she's the best assistant I could ever ask for. Once you get me enough information on how she's acting we'll see what happens."

Spitfire looked at Soarin, "Well, we aren't Wonderbolts anymore. And I'd like to see where this goes, I'm in."

Soarin nodded, "Me, too."

Lusce smiled, "Alright, get some rest and in the morning we'll get started."

----[ Outside the clubhouse | Sweet Apple Acres | 4am

Luna had read through at least half the pages of a book she teleported in from Canterlot. While Elise continued to check for any activity in the surrounding area. She walked over to Luna, "Still nothing."

Luna looked away from her book, "Good."

Elise paused for a moment, "Princess?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you choose to stay?"

"After such a rousing fight alongside a competent warrior, why wouldn't I stay?"

"I suppose, but it feels like there is a different reason."

Luna looked at her, "Well, perhaps there was."

"What?"

"Well.", she closed the book, "Before coming here I got into an argument with my sister."

"Over what?"

"Lately our power has been waning, as though something was sapping it away at the very source of our power. I keep suggesting that we should work to strengthen ourselves through other means, but she refuses to."

"Do you know why?"

"She keeps telling me that our unbinding would let us become bound to a new source for our power. It's foalish, and all of this is happening because of Fate!"

"It doesn't make sense, how does going after the power you and your sister have anything to do with making me struggle to stop him?"

"Pardon?"

"When Fate approached me the other day he explained that I'm part of a game, a game that cannot be won and only exists for the entertainment he would get out of watching the struggle. The second time I encountered him, he upped the ante by suggesting that I spread the poison within my body so that my friends would share my fate should we ever fall."

"Deplorable!"

"The third time we met was in the cloud factory, where he turned Soarin and Spitfire against me and Rainbow Dash using magic through a fragment of my own crystal armor."

"Why would he go to such lengths to do this?"

Elise sighed, "He wants me to give up or fail, to surrender the thoughts and feelings I have. He wants me to become a weapon."

"A weapon?"

"I won't let that happen, not again."

Luna smiled, "It seems we both have a common ground, both of us have a past we'd prefer not do discuss. But one question must be asked."

Elise looked at her, "Hm?"

"How do you know Fate, why would he be after you?"

She hesitated, "I was the last among hundreds of powerful warriors to attack him, it was my claws in his synthetic throat that finally killed him."

"Hundreds? Why that many?"

"His power rivaled that of a god, he could will it and it would happen. We had help from an interloper that made it so that Fate couldn't simply will us out of existing, which gave us the ability to fight him."

"That made it easier at least."

Elise rubbed her forehead, "It made the fight easier but earning the favor from the interloper to have that immunity was what made it difficult. We had to make peace with the dimension traveling cult that we were hunting down before then, and form an alliance with them. Then we had to assist them in setting up an enormous military convoy in the ruinous realm we called the Roads Between. Then we finally had to fight against strengthened versions of tough enemies we had defeated, or in my case, our group had defeated before I joined."

"That sounds rough."

"I lucked out in one of those fights, turns out a few good friends of mine knew how to handle an anger driven fox."

"What were their names?"

"Gear, Blade and Arc."

Luna's eyes widened, "How curious...Can she...?"

"Hm?"

"I once knew a mare named Arcana Stream who used the nickname Arc."

"What happened to her?"

"No more than five months ago she was sucked into a portal. A tragedy to say the least, while my sister has Twilight Sparkle as a student, I had Arc as mine. I enjoyed reading her letters on research she did on magically powered machines."

"Etherwork?"

"Yes, I believe she called it that."

Elise just stared for a moment, "So this version of Arc is organic?"

"This Arc is organic? Why would you say that?"

Elise hesitated, "Erm... nevermind."

"You don't need to hide it, we...erm... I already know you aren't from here. So, go on."

"The Arcana Steam I know is an Etherwork machination that has her own sentience, and extensive knowledge of Etherwork systems."

Luna looked at her with worried expression, "She endured some transformation from the portal? Is there a way to change her back?"

"The one I'm talking about is not the same one who vanished from here. As far as I could figure, someone Draconic built her."

"One of the dragons."

Quietly something landed behind them. Elise nodded, "Yes. The humans aren't that capable with Etherwork, neither are the Vixaen."

"The fox race, though, what are humans?"

"I'm not sure how to describe them."

"Why not?"

Elise looked to the side, "I'm an infiltrator, not a scientist. Either way, a lot of them I knew were friendly and knew how to take care of themselves in that grand battle."

"Infiltrator, you sneak into places?"

"Only if I have to."

"And if somepony were to ask you to?"

"I'd think about it, only between me and the one intent on hiring me.", Elise motioned her head.

Luna looked and stood up, "Sister?"

Celestia smiled, "I see you've made a friend, Luna."

She smiled back, "Of course, it seems like we have some similarities that make for a good friendship."

"That's wonderful! Perhaps the two of you could meet again once we move the bodies above."

Luna looked up, "What time is it?"

Celestia looked at Elise momentarily, "It's almost 4:30. We should be able to arrive back at the palace in time for the sunrise."

Luna nodded, "Of course sister. Go on ahead, I won't be too far behind."

She gave a warm smile and with a light giggle, "I'll hold you to that.", she spread her wings and flew away.

Luna watched for a moment then whispered to Elise, "Why don't we meet again tomorrow evening, I might have use for that sort of skill."

Elise nodded, "I'll either be out here again, or in the guest bedroom."

Luna nodded, "Just do me a favor, don't let anypony else know I borrowed that form once more.", she smiled nervously before she took flight.

----[ Clubhouse | Morning

Morning greeted the sleepy eyes of Apple Bloom and her friends as the sun shone in through the clubhouse window. The crusaders rubbed their eyes and stretched out any kinks in their little bodies as they yawned. Apple Bloom wandered over to the window and looked outside. Elise looked at her from outside, "Good morning, did all of you sleep well?"

Apple Bloom smiled, "Sure did, Elise. Thanks fer volunteerin' ta watch th' tree house."

Elise yawned, "You had your heart set on it."

"Sure did, do ya need some rest?"

Elise shook her head, "I'll manage."

Scootaloo moved to the window, "Did anything try to come after us?"

Elise quietly tallied large number of creatures that were dispatched, "Oh, just a few things."

"And you fought them off?"

She looked to the side, "Those are permanently gone."

"Cool."

AJ walked up to her, "Ah was wonderin' if anythin' else showed up."

Apple Bloom smiled, "Mornin' Applejack."

"An' how are ya doin' this mornin', Apple Bloom?"

"Great! Ah can't wait fer the train ta get here."

Big Macintosh walked up, "Eeeeyup! Braeburn oughta be gettin' here 'bout an hour from now."

The fillies went back in and stepped out the door wearing their capes as Big Macintosh started looking at the flattened table, "Now, what happened here?"

Scootaloo walked over to it too, "Hey, what happened to the table?"

Elise looked over and remembered Luna's request, "Oh, uhm... it's not meant to support anything too large. Sorry."

Big Macintosh looked at her, "Too large? That shoulda been able ta hold onto all of us ponyfolk here stacked on top a each other."

"I used some intimidation to keep some of those creatures away."

Scootaloo looked at Elise, "How'd you do it? Did you roar at them?"

Apple Bloom looked at her, "A roar can't flatten a table!"

"Yeah it can!"

Sweetie Belle looked at them, "Wouldn't a roar wake us up?"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both paused.

"It would've right?"

Apple Bloom scratched her head, "Might've.", she turned to Elise again, "So how did ya flatten th' table? How'd ya get too large?"

Elise formulated different lies to try and get out of this predicament, finally she sighed as she had to go with her lie, "I can alter my size at will."

Scootaloo kept a straight face, for only a second before she fell over laughing so hard she closed her eyes, "Yeah, and Fluttershy's a tree."

Elise's voice seemed a little louder, "I suppose she is then."

Scootaloo rolled back onto her hooves and looked at AJ and Big Macintosh, who were both looking up. Big Mac had a shocked expression on his face which made Scootaloo curious, "Huh?", she looked at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle who were more awed than shocked, "What're you looking at?"

"Look up."

She did so and noticed a now enormous Elise sitting next to the clubhouse, taller than it. It took a moment for her mind to get past the amazing sight as she smiled and slowly muttered, "Cool."

Elise shrugged and looked around nervous before she reduced her size to normal, "I'm not that fond of using that ability.", her stomach growled, "Especially since my stomach was full a moment ago." That couldn't have been a better timed growl for food.

Applejack looked at her, "Ah, don' suppose that you could get smaller'n that, could ya?"

Elise smiled at the reference, "I could, why?"

"It'd make it easier fer ya to fit in the kitchen, that much is certain."

Elise laughed nervously, "Why not..."

"Why don't ya do that when we get back to th' house, Granny Smith is cookin' up some breakfast right now."

"Sure."

Chapter 06 - Cross-eyed Expedition

Game of Fate - 06 - Cross-eyed Expedition

Elise joined the Apple family for breakfast and with nothing to do around the farm went to wander around Ponyville with AJ. Twilight started her day with a small cup of coffee and continued to observe the half-breed out of her own worries and curiosities as the Celestial Centennial Celebration drew ever closer. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof was not planning on doing much that day.

----[ Rainbow Dash's house

It was a restless night for the multi-color maned mare that lasted until four in the morning, then it became a solid sleep for six hours. She woke up and stretched her legs and wings before she pushed the curtain open. There wasn't any cloud cover outside to obscure her view of Ponyville as she tried to think, How could I choose to just avoid Elise like that?, she looked around her room and saw pictures of her friends lining a wall, She entered that fight to help save my heroes, even though she barely knows me.

She wandered to a bookshelf poked through her Daring Do books and pulled out Daring Do and the Secret of Evermore, Maybe I should try and apologize, but how?, Her stomach growled at her and she sighed, "Alright, food first."

The kitchen was clean enough to make the mare who cleaned it happy, everything neatly sorted and placed away, even the cereals in the cabinets were arranged in order of color. Dash rolled her eyes at Twilight's neatness and grinned as she pulled a box of Marshmallow Do Well out of the cupboard. She looked at it for a moment, "When did I buy this?"

She shrugged and poured a bowl of the grain cereal with purple marshmallows. A few minutes went by as she read a few pages while she ate, while she read she broke out laughing, "Ha HA! They get to Omnitopia and the dog turns into a robot toaster?! That's sooo funny!"

A knock came to the door and she looked over at it, "Huh?"

On the other side she could hear the voice of someone familiar, "I brought you a package!"

She ran to the door and opened it, "Hey, Derps. Got anything good today?"

Ditzy smiled, "Sure do! I got a package and two letters for you.", she handed Dash the three items.

Dash took them, "Hey, thanks."

"Another satisfied customer!"

"Say, Derps. Could I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You're kinda drifting to the side, are you ok?"

Ditzy looked at her right wing, "I kinda hurt my wing when I dropped this big hammer somepony wanted delivered, it had this sharp edge that caught on my wing."

"Ouch, should you be delivering the mail up here with that?"

"Not really, I'm on a ground route. Or I was supposed to be, Lucky kinda ran into Signed Seal so hard both of them were knocked out. And because nopony else was available to cover for him, I had to take his route too. With these packages I have to deliver I have to keep flying back to the postage center and get each one. It's kinda hard."

Dash thought for a moment, "I might know somepony who might be able to help you. Maybe two."

Ditzy smiled, "Really?"

"Yeah. The first one is me and the other oughta be around Ponyville. Wanna go find her?"

"If we can do it quick, that would be great!"

Dash placed the items inside and closed her door, "Let's go."

----[ Ponyville Marketplace

The marketplace was overflowing with activity once more as mares and stallions were buying and selling fruits, vegetables, and dairy. Very few were gathered around the young colt who shouted out the main headline for the day, "Read all about it! Cloud factory under repair after fight! Saboteurs still at large!"

When AJ and Elise arrived at the marketplace they wandered in their own directions, Elise to find something that would interest her and AJ to check on Apple Bloom with the apple cart. Unable to find anything Elise found her way back to the apple cart where Apple Bloom managed to bother Doctor Whooves into buying an apple once again. As he quickly walked away with the apple balanced on top of his fez Apple Bloom waved at him, "Thanks again!"

AJ snickered, "Looks like th' two of ya have a system goin' on."

Apple Bloom paused, "Aw, I coulda tried ta sell him an apple pie."

Elise wandered up to the apple cart and was greeted by AJ, "Howdy Elise, find anythin' 'round here?"

Elise shook her head, "Not much here for a being like me."

"Sorry ta hear that."

"It's not a surprise, so no worries."

AJ grinned, "Right."

A voice came from above, "Hey, Applejack!"

Both AJ and Elise looked up as Dash and Ditzy came down. AJ walked forward, "Mornin' RD."

Dash looked at Elise, "Hey, Elise, could I ask you a favor?"

Elise nodded, "Yes, what do you need?"

"It's not as much a favor for me as it is a favor for Derps here."

Ditzy smiled, "Hi!"

Elise waved at her, "Hello again."

Dash continued, "Well, she's kinda injured so she can't carry too much."

Elise looked at Ditzy, "I remember that from when we met at the hospital."

Ditzy nodded, "Yeah, I can't fly with any big packages and it's really slowing my delivery route down. Could you help me carry some of the load?"

Elise nodded, "Of course, I need something to do anyways."

Ditzy jumped up and cheered, "Yay!"

Elise looked at Dash, "How about you?"

Dash scratched her head, "I'm going too."

AJ looked at her, "You are?"

"Yeah, Derps is a good friend. She helped me out of a jam a while back and I can't just let her struggle like this."

Ditzy moved next to Dash and hugged her, "Thank you, Dash!"

Elise looked at AJ, "I'll see you later?"

AJ grinned, "We're almost done here, so we'll see ya at th' farm."

"Alright."

Ditzy looked at Elise, "I'll lead you to the post office."

----[ Ponyville Mail Hub

Ditzy led Elise and Dash into the back room of the postal hub, it was a large area where different kinds of ponies were sorting mail with any available methods. Earth ponies galloped on a treadmill which powered the conveyor system or carried boxes of unsorted mail to the sorting area. In the sorting area Unicorns used their magic to quickly sort letters and packets before they banded them together. Pagasi took the banded together items and placed them in different boxes along a very tall wall.

Dash looked around, "I didn't think there was this much work going on here."

Elise nodded, "I didn't think so much mail would need to go through here."

Ditzy looked back at her, "It's a major hub. Most of the mail between Canterlot, Ponyville, and Cloudsdale is run through here."

They followed her into a back room where a several empty mailbags hung on the wall, and four bags stuffed with letters and packages. Dash looked at them wide eyed, "Wow. That's a lot."

"That's just one day's worth for two carriers."

Dash's jaw fell open, "One...day?"

"Yeah, well let's split it up!"

Elise looked at the bags, "Give me the heavy packages, I can handle that."

Ditzy looked at her for a moment, then closely examined her with her right eye closed, "Most of the packages are for Cloudsdale, how would we get you up there?"

Dash smiled, "Show her your wings."

Elise slouched forward and her crystalline wings formed from her back, Ditzy jumped back with her eyes straightened only for a moment, "Wow, that's almost as cool as Dash!"

Elise just grinned. Dash thought the line over and agreed, "Almost, yeah."

Ditzy grabbed the bags off of their hooks, "Ok, we'll get all the packages onto uhm..what's your name again? Elise?"

"Yes."

Ditzy smiled, "Oh yeah!", she placed packages inside of one mailbag that both she and Dash lifted onto her. Ditzy over exerted her wing and let go on accident, the load dropped onto Elise, she looked at the half-breed, "Oops. My bad."

Elise shuffled the load so it fit right and balanced itself, "It's ok, I'm used to that."

"Oh, ok. Now let's get all these letters onto me and Dash.", she lifted off the ground and grabbed a bag of mail and placed it on Dash, "There, now mine."

Dash spread her wings and looked at the mailbag with a bit of surprise, "Wow, cozy."

Ditzy rustled into the last one, "Okay, let's deliver the mail!"

----[ Ponyville Library | 11am

Twilight was determined, this was it, she focused her magic and the piece of chalk was surrounded by the glow of her aura. It curved around the third chalkboard carefully, skillfully it avoided other lines and nodes of the chart to its destination. Finally with one little dot Twilight lowered the chalk, "Gotcha."

Spike looked over and his eyes glazed over as he saw the three chalkboards all packed with a single chart with a large number of different nodes about Elise, and all the different lines that connected the pieces, "Twilight? Did you even sleep last night?!"

Twilight looked over at him, "Of course I did. Just now I managed to figure out the last of the links between the data I could find on Elise."

"But where'd you get all this?!"

"A little observation, with a little help from my friends.", she smiled.

"But...Why?!"

"Well, you remember why I was up late these last few nights, right?"

In his head he groaned, I just walked into this didn't I..., he just nodded, "Yeah."

"Well, she mumbles in her sleep, so during some late nights recently, I left a magic image of myself here at the library and went to listen in on her. With much more information I was able to figure out that Fyren is her father, Follow is a baby dragon who she adopted, and that she used to make something named 'Lost' regret toying with her."

You can stay, but I'm leaving., he thought quietly before the sound of a slide whistle could be heard as his brain slipped away without him.

Twilight's lecture continued without skipping a beat even as she muttered, "Did Pinkie Pie leave her auto slide whistle here again?"

Spike simply stood there and just nodded whenever Twilight took a breath, "Uh-huh."

"And apparently there was some sort of thing where there is some sort of trait called 'expander' that she had to learn from her father, Fyren, who I need to assume is a fox; and apparently this Arla, some dragon I think, was her mother."

Spike blinked, "Uh-huh."

A small pointer started to levitate around the three chalkboards and point at different nodes on the massive chart, "And that someone named 'Ghost' is a 'kindred weapon' which might mean an ally in her group."

He noticed something pass by the window and his brain returned, "Twilight."

"So based on this information she might be a reject from a group of 'weapons'. Which might be some form of dragon warrior or special type of fox. More likely the former."

"Twilight..."

"However, in order to find the proper links of there being any fights in Canterlot, I had to look very deep inside of the history books during the great war a millennia and a half ago."

Spike sighed then shouted, "TWILIGHT!"

She snapped out of her crazy cross reference rodeo, "Yes, Spike?"

"You're doing it again! You're over analyzing someone who showed some sorta weird ability. You're doing to Elise what you did to Pinkie when you were trying to figure out her Pinkie Sense."

Twilight looked at him, "You're right... I lost track of her willingness to just be friendly in order to try and figure out who she is."

"Exactly, if she were to see all this, what would she think?"

Twilight looked at the web of data on the chalkboards, "I don't think she would be happy."

A knock came to the door and he looked at it, "Right, now think about that while I get the mail.", he walked over to the door and opened it.

Elise looked in, "Package for Twilight--", she noticed the chalkboards, "--Sparkle?"

Spike looked up at her, "Uhm..."

She smiled, "Fyren is the dragon, and Arla wasn't my mother, just another fox that could be described as an embodiment of hatred."

Twilight walked over, "Huh?"

She handed the package to Spike, "You aren't the first one to try and mesh together my past."

"Really?"

"Yes.", she glanced at the chalkboards again, "And for the record, I'm only twenty years old."

"Then...how did you fight Arla in Canterlot?"

Ditzy called to Elise, "We're done with this section, let's go."

She called out the door, "Coming.", she looked back at Twilight, "I can answer more as time goes on, but for now, I'm helping an injured mailmare."

"Oh, ok. Bye then.", Twilight grinned nervously as Elise stepped out the door and took flight.

Spike looked at her, "That was a surprise."

Twilight nodded, "It was. Let's erase these boards shall we?"

"Yeah."

----[ Mid-air

Ditzy kept a decent pace with her lighter bag, "Next stop, Cloudsdale."

Dash pulled up next to her, "Yeah, we'll be done with this in no time!"

Elise pulled up on her other side, "So far, this load has gotten lighter, I can't complain."

Ditzy smiled, "Thanks again for helping Elise."

"You're welcome."

Dash looked over at Elise, "So what took you so long at Twilight's?"

Elise grinned, "I caught sight of her little research project."

"The one...on you?"

"Yes. She pieced together the closest things she could find. I think the only things she got right were the name of my father, and the fact that I'm keeping an eye on Follow."

Ditzy looked at her, "Follow?"

"He's a young dragon I'm caring for in the absence of his family."

She hesitated, "That's a very nice thing to do."

"I want to get back to Ayis and make sure he's alright, but I know I can count on Lusce and Lisann to keep an eye on him for now."

She smiled softly, "Get to him as soon as you can."

"I'm planning on it."

Dash dropped down and pulled up next to Elise, "Sounds like a plan, does he look like Spike?"

"He's an ice Dragonling, his plates are silver, and his scales are a lighter shade of your coat."

"Ice dragon? He breathes something other than fire?"

"He can create a mist cold enough to almost instantly freeze whatever he uses it on."

"Cool."

"He doesn't have absolute control over it, so beware freezing sneezes."

Dash laughed, "F-freezing sneezes? HA!"

Ditzy giggled, "That has to be fun."

Elise smiled, "They are."

Dash looked forward and her smile turned to small frown as they approached Cloudsdale, "Here we are."

"We have a reason for being here."

Ditzy nodded, "They shouldn't do anything if you stay with me."

"Right. Dash?"

Dash nodded, "Right, let's make this quick."

----[ Sweet Apple Acres | 1pm

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo walked along the path to the farm next to Braeburn. He was looking around admiring the sight, "All them apple trees here are more than healthy, seems like Applejack and Big Macintosh have been takin' good care of the place."

Big Macintosh walked up with a small basket of apples balanced on his back, "Eeeeyup."

Apple Bloom looked up at him, "Hey Big Macintosh, where's Applejack?"

"Should be comin' up on where she is."

Braeburn smiled, "Grabbin' a basket of apples for yourself?"

"Eeeeyup."

Apple Bloom smiled, "That's some-a th' bakin' apples. Is Granny Smith makin' a pie fer us tanight?"

"Nnnnope, she's plannin' on makin' some cobbler."

Scootaloo smiled, "That sounds really good."

From deep in the orchard Applejack's voice could be heard, "HeeeeYAH!"

The group paused and Big Macintosh looked in that direction.

There was the sound of something hitting a tree, but that wasn't the sound of hooves, "Git offa our property!"

Big Macintosh galloped towards the sounds, leaving the basket of apples on Braeburn without him noticing. Apple Bloom watched as he disappeared among the trees, "More of 'em?"

Braeburn looked at her, "More of what?"

Applejack was slouched down and ready to attack as the diamond dog stood back up, "Now, are ya gonna git?"

The diamond dog barely seemed to hear her as he flatly muttered, "Hurt ponies."

"Fate put ya up ta this didn't he!"

"Hurt ponies."

He jumped forward and AJ quickly turned and bucked him back into the tree trunk, "What's it gonna take to get some sense inta that head of yers!"

"Hurt..."

"Yer gonna get yerself killed if ya keep comin' at me! Stop this!"

There was no response.

She pulled back, "Wha?!"

He faded away.

"What in..."

Big Macintosh came to a stop, "Applejack?"

She looked at him, "Those shadows can start lookin' like other things."

"Hmmm, either way Braeburn's here."

"He is? Ah'll go with you."

AJ and Big Macintosh walked away from the area and back to the path where Braeburn and the Crusaders were waiting.

Braeburn looked at AJ, "What was that all about? Some dark creatures or somethin'?"

AJ nodded, "Yeah. A lot less of 'em after last night, but there're still enough to cause a bit-a ruckus."

"Well, that's good to hear, Appleloosa has been seein' whole messes of those critters too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the buffalo started helping us fend 'em off jus' after they first showed up. Somethin' about tainted magic and the souls of the dead."

"Well, erm, that's good ta hear, most ev'rypony 'round these parts're not what you'd call the bravest. Some-a the police'd do but they don't do private protection if they're busy with 'em in town."

"That's a shame. Hey, maybe I could help shoo some of 'em off?"

AJ looked at him, "Braeburn, yer a guest here we couldn' just have ya out there fightin' those things, after all we sorta got somepony ta help with that already."

He looked at her, "Really? They good at it?"

Big Mac nodded, "Eeeyup."

AJ smiled, "What he said, you can meet 'er later, she's helpin' Rainbow Dash n Ditzy Do right now."

Braeburn smiled, "Alright then."

AJ looked around for a moment, "Where'd Apple Bloom an' her friends get off to?"

Big Macintosh looked around, "Dunno but somethin' tells me they're gonna need a bath."

The distinct sound of a thunk and a splat could be heard, followed by Scootaloo shouting, "Tree sap again!"

"Eeeeyup."

----[ Cloudsdale

The mail delivery group was making great time, they were halfway done with the few hundred residents of the floating city on their route. Dash's bag was light enough that she could do some tricks and get some speed. Ditzy decided to keep her hooves on the clouds, flying as little as possible. She looked at Elise, "Thanks again for helping me Elise, if it weren't for you carrying those packages I'd just be finishing Ponyville."

Elise smiled, "You're welcome."

"The great thing is there are only five packages left to deliver and four of them are next door."

"Hopefully they'll want the four heavier packages. I'm willing to believe that I'm carrying a small weight machine."

Ditzy looked in the bags real quick, "Lucky you, you're right. They go to the next house."

Elise grinned, "Alright."

Ditzy smiled, "After that you can go do what you want to."

"I'll stay with you two, maybe take more of the load off of both of you."

"Really? Thank you."

Dash looked around as her mind drifted back to the fight in the cloud factory for the third time since they arrived in Cloudsdale, "Wait a minute..."

She flew over to Elise, "Don't you have some sort of spell that could help Derps?"

Elise shook her head, "The healing spell I used on you was what was left of the spell used on me, AJ, and Rarity...before Fate proved to us that he wasn't as weak as I thought."

"So you don't have it anymore?"

"Since I used it before I could learn it, I don't have it anymore."

"That kinda sucks."

She followed Ditzy to the next house, "Tell me about it."

Dash thought for a moment, "So why did you use it on me?"

"You wouldn't have admitted it, but your brief exposure to Spitfire's fire cyclone left you teetering on the edge of not being able to fight. If that had happened then the two of them would have overpowered me, and Fate would've had two Wonderbolts as his personal minions, or Agents, as he calls them."

Ditzy knocked on the door as Dash sighed, "One little spell would've made that much of a difference...", she smiled at Elise, "Thanks."

The door opened and a brown Stallion with his light blonde mane hanging in front of his eyes looked out, "Hey, is that who I think it is? Yeah, it's Rainbow Crash!"

Dash sneered, "Hey... Billy, great to see you too..."

"So, you've hit a new low, Mailmare."

"What makes you think I would do this as a career? Maybe you're as dumb as your cutie mark."

"Oh, it's ok to be ashamed, it just means you finally realized that you'll never truly be cool."

Elise shook her head, "Let me know when you save this world, then I'll think of you as cool."

Billy looked at Elise, "Huh? Got yourself a weird friend?"

"Let me save you some effort, I'm a freak of nature called a Dracaen, or if you can't understand the name, Dragonfox. Got that Dumb-bell?"

Dash looked at Elise, "What're you doing?"

Billy laughed, "You're right, you saved me some work, now I know what to call you, freak."

Elise grinned at Dash for a moment then looked back at Billy, "And you couldn't have done it without me, way to prove yourself as the self-reliant genius."

"Huh? HEY!"

Dash snickered, "Yeah, Billy. You never could build any good names to use on me without Hoops. Say didn't he first coin 'Rainbow Crash'?"

Ditzy snickered, "At least I can think up my own nick-names."

Billy blushed, "Can you just give me my mail!"

Elise pushed the four packages with Billy's name into the door and he pushed them to the side, "It's not over.", he closed the door and the three ladies laughed.

----[ Carousel Boutique

Meanwhile, at the Carousel Boutique Rarity was busy. After Sweetie Belle had run off with her dressforms the other day, she had to put so many new dresses on hangers that they couldn't stay in the right shape for her to consider new changes to their designs. Now that the dressforms had not only reappeared but had also been thoroughly cleaned of tree sap, she placed the new designs on them quick as can be. Of course, being careful not to place a work of art on one that was still wet. She dressed the last dry dressform as a knock came to the door, she turned and trotted to the door calling out in song, "Comiiiiing!"

With her magic she opened the door, ready to say the greeting she had used hundreds of times prior but paused when she saw Fluttershy on her porch with a smile on her face, "Oh, Fluttershy, hello! I take it you're here to work on your dress for the Celestial Centennial Celebration?"

Fluttershy nodded, "Uh-huh."

She stepped to the side, "Then please, do come in."

Fluttershy trotted in and looked around for a moment, "Where do you want me to go?"

Rarity closed the door, "Let's see, where would be the best place to work?", she looked at a small area near her gembox, "Not there.", she looked at a large mess, "Oh, definitely not there.", she looked at a somewhat clean area, "Aha! Over there near the mirrors."

"Ok.", she walked over and checked her reflection, she noticed the reflection of a silver cat looking in the window, "Huh?"

Rarity donned her work glasses and looked at Fluttershy, "What is it, darling?"

Fluttershy turned to look at the window and the cat was gone, "I thought I saw a cat."

Rarity looked at the window, "Strange, Opal is upstairs."

"That wasn't Opalescence, that one was silver and had spots. Like a lynx."

Rarity levitated Fluttershy's Grand Galloping Gala dress out of a closet, "One of yours?"

"I don't take care of any lynx."

The dress fit onto Fluttershy as Rarity examined it, "I suppose the police will handle him then?"

"I guess."

Rarity started to look over Fluttershy more carefully, "Now hold still, I need to think."

"Ok.", she held her body very still and looked around the room with her eyes. She noticed a dressform that was still dripping with water, "What happened to that mannequine?"

Rarity sighed, "I had to clean all of my dressforms, somehow Sweetie Belle and her crusader friends covered them in so much sticky filth I couldn't dare use them until they were clean."

Fluttershy lowered her head a little, "They try so hard to find their special talent."

A scroll levitated over and a quill took down different notes as Rarity moved around her Pegasus friend, "It gets so frustrating that she would just take important things without asking. Did she ever stop to wonder if I needed those for my projects? No. She just up and ran off with them, I don't know how but she did."

Fluttershy just kept quiet.

"If she didn't live with mother and father things would be so very different. Instead of her getting to spend the week with Apple Bloom, I would have grounded her until she got her Cutie Mark. But, given the circumstances I have to simply put my hoof down.", she stamped a hoof and made something rattle, "And live with it!"

Fluttershy looked back at her, "Uhm...Rarity?"

Rarity looked down at her hoof which was deep inside a deep bowl of pins, "Oh dear, right into the bowl with all my pins."

"Are you ok?"

"Odd, normally that stings more than a bad review, but I barely feel anything.", she lifted her hoof out and several pins were stuck in her leg, "This really is quite odd."

Fluttershy moved closer, "We should get those out."

Rarity focused her magic and pulled them out slowly, her teeth clenched at first. She relaxed as not a single one of them hurt, "There, that wasn't too bad now."

----[ Sweet Apple Acres Farmhouse | 2pm

AJ managed to find Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with help from Pinkie who was upstairs washing the two fillies. She looked all over the farmhouse and couldn't find hair or feather of the young Pegasus, "Scootaloo? Ya need to get that tree sap outta yer coat before it solidifies ag'in, you know what happened last time it did."

Braeburn had made himself semi-comfy in the living room where Granny Smith was tugging on his vest and straightening his hat, he kept still and smiled, "I'm gonna be here all week Granny, ya don't need to keep on straightenin' me up."

She smiled, "Ah jus' don't get ta see ya very often, Braeburn, I see ya less than I see mah son who married ya mother."

Big Macintosh grinned, "Eeeeyup, you get all the pent up straightenin's."

Braeburn grinned back at him, "I'll make sure to say that to ya next time Ma's doin' this to you."

Granny Smith finished adjusting Braeburn's vest, "There ya go, you look all fine an' dandy fer now."

"Thanks, Granny."

AJ walked into the living room, "Big Mac, you happen ta see Scootaloo run by?"

He shook his head, "Nnnnope, ya reckon she went home ta get cleaned up?"

"I doubt it."

"Hmmm, did ya check th' barn?"

"Twice."

"How 'bout th' pantry?"

"Hmmmm, Lemme look there.", she wandered into the kitchen and looked around in the pantry for a moment, "There ya are!"

Big Macintosh walked to the front door and sat down.

"Git back here!"

Scootaloo ran out of the kitchen and right into Big Macintosh, "Eep!"

He looked down, "Come on now, ya need ta get that outta yer coat."

"Fine.", Scootaloo turned and went upstairs with AJ following her.

Braeburn walked over, "This happens a lot?"

Big Macintosh nodded, "Eeeeyup. Can't help but wonder if this goes on at her house."

"Any reason?"

"She spends most of 'er time here, playin' with Apple Bloom. If I didn' know any better, I'd say she hadn't been back home in months."

"Might be a rough home, you never really know."

"Eeeeyup..."

----[ Cloudsdale

Out of all of the mailbags that the three had in total, they were down to the last home on the list. Ditzy smiled and knocked on the door, "Package for Heather Vane."

The door opened and Elise looked at the mare, "You again?"

She looked at the half-breed, "I hope you didn't rough up my package like you did the cloud factory."

"I don't do things without good reason. Fate screwed over that machine and in an attempt to stop him, there was some other damage."

"Fate? A friend of yours?"

Elise sneered, "That depends. Do you define friend as the being in the top slot of your list of beings to horrifically maim, torture, stab, rend, obliterate, behead, and murder?"

Heather Vane's eyes widened a little, "Oh, come in."

All three of the deliverers looked at her for a moment. Dash eyed her, "Why the change of heart?"

"I'll explain inside.", she walked back inside.

The inside of the house didn't look like it had anypony living there, it was dusty, and the furniture was barely used and covered in plastic. Dash looked around and even noticed how little stuff there was, "Wow, empty."

Ditzy looked at the package as she placed it on a table, "I guess this is the start of a collection or something?"

Heather Vane turned around and looked at her, "Yeah, why not...would one of you close the door please?"

Ditzy bumped into the door and it closed.

Heather Vane looked at Elise, "Now, your choice of words to describe what you would do was...", her voice shifted to a more sinister tone, "...perfect."

Elise looked at her surprised, "Huh?"

"He's a loveless manipulator and for that I would enjoy having him as my little pet, but he took care of that chance when he found out I had my own little plans for his game."

Dash thought for a moment, "You sound familiar."

Elise looked closer at Heather Vane, "You had your own plans for his game?"

"I was planning on cutting it short and seducing him, but that wouldn't do. He knocked me around some room and sealed off my power. Said something about a 'half-breed's poison being the only way I can regain my power' before he vanished claiming that I'm part of his game now."

Dash glared at Heather Vane, "Chrysalis."

Elise looked over at her, "Who?"

She turned to the door, "Come on, she can handle herself."

"What did she do?"

"She tried to take over Canterlot by impersonating Princess Cadence. Then she had an army of changelings attack when she was found out."

"Oh."

"She even managed to knock out Princess Celestia!"

Elise paused and realized how much of a feat that is, "Oh..."

Chrysalis stepped forward, "Well, it's out there. Now make with the poison."

"I'll tell you what I told Applejack, I don't know what Fate meant by that. I don't produce any poisons of any sort."

"Well, make some. I'm not giving you his crystal until you do."

Elise looked at her, "Crystal? He gave you one of mine didn't he."

She opened the package and pulled out a clear crystal glowing with magic, "You tell me."

"It is, give it to me."

"Go ahead.", Chrysalis grinned, "Take it from me."

Elise grinned and slouched down, "You got it!"

She leapt forward and grabbed for the crystal, Chrysalis stepped to the side and let Elise fly past her, "Try again."

Elise made another grab for the Crystal and missed again, "Hold still."

"Don't count on it."

Dash flew forward and made a grab for the crystal, Chrysalis looked her at just the right moment to watch the crystal get knocked into the air, "No!"

Elise and Ditzy both jumped for the crystal, it spun through the air as both of them just missed it and collided with each other. They hit the floor as Dash tried to grab it again, she was pulled down by Chrysalis and the crystal crashed on the floor. The spell inside exploded which caused all the dust in the house to blow around and obscure everyone's sight.

They coughed and wheezed as the dust settled, once it did Ditzy looked at Elise, "Are you ok?"

Elise stood up, "Don't worry, my head is plenty hard."

Chrysalis stood up and shook off the layer of dust she gathered, "Tell me about it."

Dash stood up and looked up at her, "Oh, great."

Chrysalis examined her black hole-filled hooves and smiled as she moved her mane to the side and spread her insectoid wings, "So that's it, your poison is spells in your crystals. Maybe I oughta get another one of those big enough to shatter all over my hive."

Elise looked at her, "Poison?! That was a healing spell!"

Ditzy stretched her healed wing, "Sure was."

A familiar voice sounded, "How delightful, your greed for your power was so strong that you accelerated a few events. Why am I not surprised..."

Chrysalis grinned, "So what. I'm going to break you and make you into a sobbing mess..."

"How adorable, you think you can break my emotions. It is difficult to break what doesn't exist.", the voice paused, "Speaking of what doesn't exist, I have the option to add a queen to that list."

Her grin faded, "Really..."

"Consider it equivalent exchange for messing with the flow of my game. I have in my sight the crystal infused with your power, the one that was supposed to have sweet little Cadence's power."

"What are you getting at?"

Dash and Ditzy stepped back as a crystal appeared, brimming with green energy. Elise moved away from her, unsure about whether or not to get ready to fight.

Fate laughed, "It's up to the half-breed, whether you live--", the crystal shattered and sent a large feedback of energy through Chrysalis, "--or Die."

Chrysalis tried to resist the energy until it overpowered her and made her scream.

His vicious laugh faded away as she collapsed, Elise moved close to her. Dash moved close, "Elise?"

Ditzy looked at Chrysalis as Elise started to focus.

Dash looked between the two, "You're going to heal her?"

Elise mumbled something under her breath and listened. The whispers of the mana returned once more and formed a harmony. Elise nodded, "Mending of the body, through force of light's restoration. Heed my call as a descendant of three blood-lines! Aura!"

She stood up and waved her paw multiple times, each motion released a light that streamed into Chrysalis. Dash frowned, "You did..."

Chrysalis looked at Elise and stood up, "What the..."

Elise looked at her, "Listen carefully, I've encountered Fate before. He's a wannabe god that I've killed. Once again, I'm fighting against him--"

"No, now we are.", Chrysalis interrupted her.

"Huh?"

"He takes most of my hive and makes them into those shadows, then he blocks my power to change forms, now he tries to kill me. I think I want to see him writhe and to see that I'm willing to help you."

Elise stood there with a dumbstruck look for a moment, "What?"

Chrysalis smiled and moved next to her, "You said you killed him, and I don't think you did the job right. So, I'm going to tag along and have a little fun as I help you tear him down and properly kill him this time."

Dash glared at her, "She's pulling a trick on you."

Chrysalis sneered, "I wish."

Ditzy looked out the window, "Somepony is coming."

Chrysalis tried to transform into somepony and failed, "What? Fine.", she tried a simpler form and copied Dash, "Too tomboyish."

"Hey, Whaddya mean by that...", Dash grumbled.

Chrysalis settled on Heather Vane again, "This'll have to do."

A knock came to the door and Chrysalis cleared her voice so she sounded like the innocent Pegasus again, "One moment."

The door opened and a police officer looked at her, "Pardon me, but there were reports of an explosion here. Is everypony alright?"

"We're ok, just a little crash landing."

Ditzy shrugged, "My bad."

The officer looked at her, "Well, as long as nopony was hurt. Sorry to bother you four.", he tipped his hat and flew away.

Chrysalis closed the door and Dash sighed, "I don't know what you have planned, but you'd better not pull anything on us."

Elise looked at Chrysalis, "There's a long struggle between where we are now and the point where we can fight against him, and stand a chance."

She reverted to her normal form and walked around Elise, "You think I don't know that? It's clear that I have a lot of work to do if I'm going to get my full power back."

"What makes you sure of that?"

"If my first transformation succeeded then the police officer would've been greeted by an Alicorn."

Dash eyed her, "Trying to copy Cadence again?"

Chrysalis shook her head, "Why would I borrow the form of a princess who doesn't ever leave Canterlot."

Elise shrugged, "Good point. Now what's your point?"

"Each and every time you sank your claws into those shadows a little energy built up inside of you and anypony else that received a spell through your crystals. That energy is the key to building up the power in each of them, so you and me free my former minions and build up our power."

"Just remember you'll being doing something good for different ponies."

"The only thing I care about is seeing Fate beg for mercy, I don't care if I save Equestria while doing that."

Elise looked at Dash and smirked.

----[ Ponyville

Lusce had gotten comfy in a little corner behind a small group of town homes, the trashcans weren't filled with anything that stank, and this large box here was perfect for a cat to hide in. He had two weapons that he pulled from a little pack he had, both of them were guns that he clearly took good care of. He pulled a small roll of tools from the pack and unloaded the weapons, it was tricky to pull back the slide to get the current shot out of the chamber but he succeeded. He unrolled the tools and pulled out a round brush that he used to start cleaning the barrel. He kept his ears perked up incase someone tried to wander by, he finished with one of the weapons and started to work on the other. The sound of hooves landing nearby alerted him to a presence and he placed the pieces into his pack in one swift movement.

Soarin walked up to him, "Spitfire's turn."

Lusce looked at him, "Fair enough, well, what did you find?"

"Not much, she helped with mail delivery up in Cloudsdale. She seems to have a new follower though."

"Any idea who?"

"No. Some mare with an off-blue mane and a light gray coat."

"Hopefully just a fan."

"I hope so, too."

There was a slight pause as Lusce found a new topic, "So, tell me. Enjoying this work so far?"

Soarin looked at him questioningly, "What do you mean?"

Lusce grinned, "It may not be as glorious as being a Wonderbolt, but are you enjoying it?"

"I guess so, it's not as restricted."

"Restricted?"

"Yeah, used to be your standard sort of special ops unit, then Windholm came along and started trying make us train as some sort of private army."

"Windholm, eh? He the one who kicked you out?"

Soarin sighed, "I swear he was waiting for the chance to do that."

"Wouldn't be the first time I've heard that. Take a break, I'll let you know when I've had my turn."

"Your turn?"

Lusce smiled, "Yeah, I want to see some of this for myself."

07 - A Lunar Request

As the sun set Elise, Ditzy, and reluctantly Dash, pooled some bits to rent a room for Chrysalis, or rather "Cascade" at the Silent Horseshoe Inn. Elise returned to Sweet Apple Acres to await a contact.

----[ Sweet Apple Acres

The moon was full as it loomed over the farm. Elise noticed the lack of any creatures on this night as a cold breeze blew through the orchard. The clubhouse was void of any little fillies since it was decided they would stay in the warm farmhouse. Luna landed near her and smiled, "I hope you're ready for what I have for you."

Elise looked at her and grinned, "That depends on what you have."

Luna snickered, "You told me last night that you were good at stealth, and I would like to see this in action."

"What do you need?"

"Recently a cult that worships the corrupt mind of Nightmare Moon, The Nightmare in the Moon has come into possession of certain tomes."

"Tomes?"

"The Tomes of Chaos, they hold magic that alters the minds of whomever they are used upon. My contact in this group alerted me to the presence of these cursed tomes."

"If it's a cult it should be somewhat unorganized, correct?"

Luna shook her head, "No, this cult is the most prominent and the most active."

"How so?"

"They have been performing rituals to try and bind her to a new body through sacrifices. These rites have failed considerably and have been costing ponies their very lives."

Elise sighed, "That seems to be a common thing with the cults I've seen."

"You must realize that with these tomes, they could reawaken her power, like they did over a thousand years ago."

"What would you have me do?"

"You tell me."

Elise thought for a moment, "There are two easily identifiable choices. One is to locate the tomes and take them before the ceremony, or its completion. The other is to find a means of disabling their ability to cause future problems: elimination."

Luna looked at her, "As much as elimination seems like the better idea, I'd prefer it if I didn't have a hoof in the death of ponies."

"Then I will retrieve the tomes and bring them to you."

"Better, but still not what I would want."

"How so?"

"I have a history with those tomes that I don't want to risk being near them."

Elise paused, "Of course, what should I do with them?"

"Tia has been searching for them since they first aided the creation of Nightmare Moon, but nopony could ever locate them, not even Starswirl the Bearded. I suppose if they could suddenly turn up for her to do what she will, it would give her something to do to take her mind off of things."

Elise nodded, "I can arrange that. Just one question though."

"Yes?"

"What do these tomes do?"

Luna paused, "They imbalance the emotions of anything you cast it on. With the right combination they were able to make it so that I was easily irratable about everypony sleeping through the stellar events I set up for them in the sky. Even to this day it feels like there is this rage slowly eating away at me."

Elise nodded, "I see. I will do this job."

Luna grinned, "I'll lead you to where they are, and with luck your partner will be there too."

"Partner?"

"Yes, now, let's go. We'll remain on the ground so they don't see us.", she started walking.

Elise shrugged, "Alright.", and followed.

----[ Everfree forest

Lusce had both of the firearms in his paws, as a shadow creature turned to smoke and drifted away. He grinned, "Whatever that was, it's gone now."

He took the attachments off and examined them, Silencer's got around four fifths of its life left., he looked closer, Yeah that's heat damage.

The sound of things moving through the grass caught his attention, quickly he moved behind a tree and pressed the barrel of one of the guns into the back of the other. Slowly the parts shifted and locked into each other, until a quiet click signalled that the weapons had been combined into a rifle. Lusce gazed around the tree and noticed two figures, Elise has a friend, eh. I'll just watch then.

Luna walked alongside Elise, "Now I will admit it has been a while since I last traversed this path to the old castle."

Elise looked at her, "Old castle?"

"Yes, before Canterlot became the capital of all the pony populated regions we used the old castle in this forest."

"Must have been hard for loyal subjects to work their way there."

Luna shook her head, "Of course not, back then this forest was tame and beautiful."

"What happened?"

Luna thought for a moment, "I'm not that good at explaining it, perhaps you could ask Twilight Sparkle about the phenomenon called Dissonant Equilibrium."

"I suppose I will."

Lusce quietly moved between trees, 'Dissonant Equilibrium', huh. I'll have to listen in on that.

Luna looked around, "Now, what you need to get should be locked away someplace safe until they start the incantation. After that you will need to steal the tomes before they start to draw from them in order to prevent a magical feedback which has the potential to kill them."

Elise nodded, "Understood."

"Once you've retrieved the tomes, I trust that you and your partner can deliver them to Celestia."

"It can be done. Who is my partner?"

A Griffin landed next to her, "Sorry I'm late."

Elise looked at the Griffin, "Gilda?"

Gilda grinned, "That's the name."

Luna looked at Elise, "You two have met?"

She looked over the half-breed, "Nope, haven't seen you before."

"I've heard rumors of a short-fused Griffin with the name Gilda."

Gilda grinned smuggly at her, "Keep that up and you'll see how short the fuse really is."

Luna rolled her eyes, "Ladies. We have work to do."

"Yeah, let's get this over with."

Luna held back a sigh, "Yes, Elise will sneak in and get the tomes. In the meantime Gilda, you will act as a distraction."

"Why me?"

"Some griffins have been known to join into these events, mainly ones that are displeased that Ponykind is such a majority of the population on Equestria."

"You want me to act like one?"

"Yes, you can keep some of them busy with chatter about some ponies that you aren't fond of."

Gilda rolled her eyes, "That'll be hard."

Luna looked at Elise, "Can you do your part quick enough?"

She nodded, "Yes."

The group stopped with Luna, "Good. Now when you're ready let me know."

Elise thought for a moment, There's no equipment for me to check, so no need to do that., she nodded at Luna, "I'm ready."

Gilda shrugged, "Same here."

Luna looked around for a moment, "Then continue on ahead and when you're done meet me here again."

Elise and Gilda both nodded as Luna made herself invisible with a spell.

----[ Cave of the Shadow

A unicorn stood guard outside of the cave entrance, her enchanted eyesight letting her see most of what wandered by. Within these untamed woods she had seen numerous small creatures slither, flutter, crawl and creep by. Gilda walked up to the guard and she stepped in her way, "What do you desire?"

Gilda kept her cool, "To see a few mares get what's coming to them."

The guard stepped to the side, "Then enter."

Gilda walked by with a small distortion following her.

The walls of the passage inside the entrance had carved pillars that featured the fearsome visage of Nightmare Moon and lanterns with blue flames hung overhead. Elise stayed close to Gilda who was oblivious to her presence as the crystals coating her body redirected light just right to render her invisible. Deeper inside a large chamber was perfectly crafted into a beautiful shrine to the cult's dark figure. A unicorn stallion approached the Griffin and his eyes examined her from underneath the hood of his robe, "This one isn't one of our guests, what is she doing here?"

Gilda looked at him, "I've got a little something you might be interested in."

"And that is?"

"There's something sneaking around looking for some sort of books you guys have. If she hasn't grabbed them already then she'll be here to get them."

"And what is this something?"

"Some sorta overgrown fox."

The unicorn paused, "I see, we'll keep our guard up until the time comes for us to perform the ritual."

Elise slunk by with her invisibility maintained, Some distraction...

"As for your service, I suppose you could be one of the Griffin guests to observe the return of Nightmare Moon."

Gilda rolled her eyes once more, "Gee... thanks."

In a hallway that extended from the back of main chamber there were other Unicorns and some Pegasi on patrol. Elise pressed against a wall and reduced her build as the strain of the invisibility ability became too much for her to sustain. A Pegasus near her looked up the hall to the main chamber for a moment, and Elise made her move down the hall and into a dark recess in the wall. The Pegasus turned around and she slowly walked by, Elise stayed perfectly still. Once the guard moved far enough past her, she stepped out and matched her pace with the Pegasus. With a pause Elise moved out of sight as the guard turned around and stared down the hall, "Hm."

The Pegasus wandered back up the hall and Elise quickly moved through a doorway into a storeroom. Inside there were two Unicorns that were guarding a chest, fortunately for Elise they were looking down at it. She closed the door quietly and slowly crept forward as her build returned to normal. One of them, a Stallion, looked to the other and started talking, "Tonight is the night our wish will be granted. The return of the Eternal Night."

A mare replied, "Yes, the summons we call to take the night from daywalkers will go unchallenged by the light of the sun."

"It will be a sight for eyes that can only see through the night."

Elise moved towards them and waited for any further conversation. Without anthing else to say the Stallion looked around the room. Elise quickly got hold of the mare and held her muzzle. There was no real struggle from the mare as she fell unconscious, the Stallion turned to see Elise before she pinned him down and stared deep into his eyes, "Tomes, are they here?"

He focused on a spell and launched a blast of energy, she quickly rolled to the side to dodge it. It hit the ceiling and dispersed as he got ready to send a second one. She focused and made crystals form around his horn. Oblivious to the crystals he released the spell and it backfired knocking him backwards and into a wall, "What?!"

Elise moved forward and pinned him down with one paw, "No magic will help you. Now, where are the tomes?"

"Why not just open every chest you find?"

"After finding chests trapped with spells, you tend to get paranoid about stealing from arcanists. Now, where are the tomes?"

He sneered, "You really think I'd just tell you that."

She placed her other paw under his jawline and unsheathed her claws, "You can feel those, can't you?"

His eyes widened, "They're with Acious."

"Acious?"

"He's delivering them here for the ritual, this chest is reserved for the Tomes."

"Where is he right now? Incoming?"

She heard a voice say, "Right behind you."

Something hit her in the back of the head hard and twice.

----[ ???

Elise opened her eyes and looked around the room, "Ugh... Who hired the Psiakkin..."

"Well, look who's awake."

She looked ahead at Gilda who was chained to a stone wall by her forelegs, "Where are we?"

"Yeah about that, welcome to the old castle."

She tried to move and found out she was also chained up, "How'd we get here?"

A robed Stallion entered the room, "The chest you were near was a passageway to the dungeon here."

Gilda growled, "Great, it's the Savage Winds..."

He barely acknowledged her remark and turned to Elise, "So you are the one that Fate is toying with, how delightful that you should be used as a different tool."

She looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"The Tomes need the blood of a dragon, and you seem to meet that requirement just enough we won't have to go and steal the one from the library."

"Considering the alternative, take as much as you need."

The stallion smiled, "Good, we'll return shortly.", he left the room.

Gilda grinned, "I knew they'd find a use for you. Maybe you aren't completely useless."

Elise rolled her eyes, "Regardless of that little comment, there is still a mission in progress and I don't leave behind allies."

"And how do you expect us to get out of here."

Elise crystalized the chains holding her up and broke free, "Like that. Come on.", she ran forward and broke her partner free.

Gilda landed on all fours and fought to stand up, "I don't know about you but a little payback sounds like fun."

"What did he do you?"

"Does it matter..."

Elise just shook her head, "Come on, we're stopping this thing."

----[ Castle Exterior | Meanwhile

Luna watched as the moon slowly drifted through the night sky, her mind stuck on the mission she gave. Lusce was in a tree with the sights of a detached scope fixed on a window on the lower level of the castle. Luna started pacing around and grumbled to herself quietly.

His ears twitched, "Not one to hold back and let others do things for you?"

Luna looked up at him, "No, this is something I should be doing."

"Then why send Elise?"

"Should I be discussing that with you?"

Lusce adjusted the scope some, "I like to know what's going on with my friends."

Luna eyed him, "Really, she's a friend of yours?"

"Yeah, we've known each other for the last eight months."

"And what do you two do as friends?"

"Well, she saved my tail a few times and I've given her a place to live and a job. Sure, she's my assistant but she's also family to me and my siblings."

"Might I ask your family's name?"

"Argus, my name's Lusce."

Luna paused for a moment, "Argus? Are you Moira's son?"

Lusce nearly dropped the scope, "Moira? Moira Argus is one of my ancestors, about fifteen generations back."

Luna facehoofed, "I apologize. A thousand years on the moon toys with your perception of time."

He reattached the scope to his combined guns and started to watch the castle, "Don't worry about it, as for Elise, I'll keep her covered."

----[ Castle Halls

Elise leapt up the stairway that led to the dungeon, she rushed through a doorway and knocked down a Pegasus. Gilda just wandered in, She's got fight. This I've gotta see., she ran to keep up with her.

An apprentice summoner caught sight of Elise as she approached, he focused his magic and summoned forth shadow creatures like the ones at the apple farm, "Stall them!"

Elise rammed into one of the creatures and knocked it on its back. She pinned it down and started thrashing it with her claws as Gilda tore into one with her talons. Two of the creatures merged into a bigger one and got ready to attack the Griffin. No sooner had it raised it's dark claws to strike, the creature fell limp and faded away. Elise had rushed the summoner and knocked him out, Gilda smiled, "Maybe you're not as much of a dweeb as I thought."

Elise nodded, "Alright, let's keep going."

The two continued down the hall encounters with newly summoned shadows were quick as both of them tore through them effortlessly. However, the enjoyed spree of shadow rending and summoner stunning continued for a very short time before the two ladies stopped at a large wooden door. Elise examined it closely, no handles to pull and the hinges suggested her approach as she pushed against it, "Locked from the other side."

Gilda looked at her, "And what's the next move?"

Elise thought for a moment, she recalled the delay between her ramming a tree and the apples falling, "Wait here."

Gilda watched her run back up the hall, "Huh?", after a moment she noticed a glimmer, "Now what."

Rapidly the half-breed plowed into the door. It gave way and fell completely to pieces, much to Gilda's surprise. She ran to catch up with Elise, "Not bad."

The Unicorn Stallion near the tomes saw the two as the dust cleared, "Impressive, just as sturdy as a dragon."

Elise turned to face him, "Of course, now, about those tomes."

"With the Lunar Princess within range of our magic's influence we can return her to her true form. Though it seems your initial interference has made Acious curious about why she would bother sending to lesser beings to retrieve them."

"What?"

"Since the ideal time has passed, we will use the tomes to unleash a different power, one to serve the queen of the night once she returns."

Elise slumped down, "Who will you use?"

He looked at a Pegasus, "Bring her in.", he looked back at Elise, "Such a sweet little mare, it's almost a shame we must use her."

The Pegasus carried in a peacefully sleeping Fluttershy.

Elise stepped forward, "You demented little..."

Gilda got next to her, "Let go of Dash's friend!"

Fluttershy stirred, "...gilda?"

The Unicorn smiled, "Fury's wrath as the guide for the relentless attacks! Take this gentle mare and make her more vicious than a thieved dragon!"

A spell flowed towards Fluttershy and her eyes opened wide. A brown blur intercepted the spell as Elise dashed forward and slashed at the Unicorn. He levitated up and away from her, "I'll be watching, so will the...", he motioned to four empty pedestals, "...Tomes?! No!"

Elise got ready to leap up at him, "Looks like you misplaced them."

Gilda rammed Elise, "I'll misplace your jaw!"

Fluttershy jumped and hid behind the Pegasus that brought her in.

The Unicorn shook his head as he landed on a high ledge, "Too bad, it seems she only got a regular berserk spell. Have fun."

Elise got back into her stance as Gilda roared at her. Fluttershy hid behind a stone column once the other Pegasus flew up to join his ally. Swiftly Elise jumped to the side avoiding the Griffin's talons, "Snap out of it!"

Gilda rushed at her again, "Get lost!", she swiped at Elise with everything she had. Elise rolled across the floor from the impact, she timed a kick to jump onto all fours again. Fluttershy peeked out from behind her cover and quickly moved to another column. Elise stiffened up and held her ground as Gilda repeatedly attacked her, after a moment Elise launched forward and returned every bit of punishment she recieved. Gilda flew backwards into a wall, and hit it hard enough to shatter the stained glass next to where she hit. The wall toppled over and buried her under stone. Elise moved close carefully, "Gilda?"

Fluttershy started to move close, "Elise?"

Gilda rocketed out from the pile of rubble, her sight locked on Fluttershy, "Come here!"

Elise grabbed Gilda and pinned her down, "Stop this! She's not worth it!"

She started kicking and clawing Elise, "Let go of me!"

Elise snarled, "Over my dead body!"

"That can be--"

Elise felt as Gilda's fight suddenly faded away, "Hm?", she looked towards Fluttershy.

The gentle mare was giving Gilda a stern stare, "Gilda. I know that this isn't even close to something you would do. You need to calm down and stop trying to hurt us, right now!"

The berserker fog on Gilda's mind cleared away, "Yeah... thanks."

She smiled, "You can let go now."

Elise released her grip on Gilda and all three looked up at the Unicorn on the ledge. He sneered, "Something so kind and harmless able to stare down a berserk griffin."

Gilda glared at him, "So what. Is this going to ruin your night?"

He grinned, "Hardly.", his horn glowed with magic, "Yours on the other hoof, is about to be far worse."

There was a gray flash that blinded them for a moment. By the time the trio could see again he had disappeared.

Elise looked at Fluttershy, "Are you alright?"

She smiled and nodded, "I am, thank you for catching her."

"You're welcome.", she looked at Gilda, "Gilda? Are you feeling better?"

There was no response, Elise moved closer, "Gilda?"

Fluttershy walked over, "...Gilda?"

Elise noticed a lack of color on the Griffin, "Huh?"

"O-oh my..."

She frowned, "Turned to stone."

"We need to get her to the hospital!"

Elise picked up Gilda and adjusted the strength of her hind legs. She stood up and kept two paws on the griffin, "Princess Luna should be outside the castle walls."

"R-right!"

Both ran for the front gates.

----[ Edge of the Everfree Forest | 20 minutes later

Twilight's illumination spell shined bright and showed the path in the forest, AJ and Rarity both kept close to her as they walked along. Twilight looked around, "So according to Ditzy Do, Fluttershy was last seen around here."

AJ stifled a yawn, "T'ain't like her to wander inta the forest for no reason."

Rarity nodded, "I agree, as far as I could tell there were no missing animals from around her cottage."

Twilight looked ahead and stopped, "Did you hear that?"

A voice came from ahead, "There is no need to fear, a friend comes near."

Twilight smiled, "Zecora?"

The Zebra walked forward, "To see you is a delight, what brings you out here tonight?"

"We're trying to find Fluttershy, have you seen her?"

She nodded, "She is safe at my home, though her evening has been troublesome."

AJ stepped forward, "What happened?"

"Her story is one to hear, now stay near. The creatures hide from the full moon, as it descends they will come out soon.", she started to lead the three to her home.

----[ Zecora's home

Fluttershy kept a close eye on Gilda as the stone slowly flaked away and released her. Elise looked around the home, all the masks that hung on the walls confused her for a moment. Gilda looked at Fluttershy, "Hey."

Fluttershy looked at her, "Yes?"

"I'm...I'm sorry I scared you off a while back. I was jealous that Dash made new friends and spent more time with them instead of me."

She smiled, "I understand, sometimes we want something to stay the same and don't like it when it changes."

The door to the home opened and Zecora walked in with Twilight, Rarity, and AJ following.

Fluttershy walked over to them, "Is something wrong?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, we were trying to find you."

She shuffled a hoof, "I'm ok. I'm sorry if I worried you."

Rarity looked around, "The important thing is you're safe."

Fluttershy looked at Gilda, "Someone made sure of it."

Gilda stood up and flicked the last of the stone off of her tail, "That's the last of it."

AJ looked at her, "When'd you come back ta Ponyville."

"Just passin' through.", She walked to the door and flew away.

Elise looked at the gathered mares, "Did I miss anything in Ponyville?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, but I'd like to know why you're out here in the Everfree Forest."

Elise thought carefully, she knew that Luna didn't want anyone else to know about the mission tonight, "To be honest I was chasing a shadow, I thought I heard the voice of someone I knew from Ayis. As it turns out I stumbled into something, and it was something meant to inflict Fluttershy with uncontainable rage."

Fluttershy nodded, "Gilda saved me from that spell. Then Elise fought with Gilda to keep her from hurting me."

AJ smiled, "Still actin' like a shield, good ta hear."

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, "What exactly happened?"

Zecora looked outside, "Slowly the moon has vanished into the night, the only way to your homes demands might."

Elise looked out the window and a large number of glowing red eyes looked back at her, "Hm."

AJ looked among her friends, "Ah'll need ta get back to the farm."

"I'll go with you."

Twilight looked over, "You might need an illumination spell or two."

Rarity nodded, "Yes, it would be nice to see, in general."

Fluttershy smiled, "I'll go too."

Zecora smiled, "Choose carefully who will lead, the creatures tonight are dangerous indeed."

Elise looked at AJ, "What do you think?"

AJ smiled, "You lead."

"Alright.", she turned to Twilight, "You have strong magic right?"

She nodded, "Yes, why?"

"Making sure.", Elise looked at Rarity, "You and Twilight can take turns doing the illumination spell."

AJ grinned at Fluttershy, "Jus' stay close and we'll keep ya safe."

She smiled and nodded, "Ok."

Elise looked out the door, "Let's go."

----[ Everfree Forest Path

AJ and Elise stayed slightly ahead of Twilight as they moved along the path with Fluttershy and Rarity close by. Twilight moved a little closer to Elise, "So why did you want to know about my magic?"

Elise continued to move, "While it's nice to have brute force, some creatures can be kept completely off balance with a spellcaster throwing spells at them."

"Oh, I'm not that good at any offensive spells."

"Do you know anything?"

Twilight thought for a moment, "Only something my BBBFF taught me."

"Who?"

Twilight blushed a little, "My big brother."

"Look out!", Rarity shouted.

Elise entered stance as some shadow creatures took the form of a manticore being ridden by a diamond dog.

Twilight looked at the creature duo, "What the?!"

Elise entered a defensive stance, "I'll distract it, AJ hit it with everything you've got, Twilight use what spells you have against it."

AJ nodded, "Gotcha!"

Twilight stepped back, "Alright."

Elise snarled at the rider, "Come on!"

It turned its attention to the halfbreed as she slouched down. Twilight looked at AJ and hesitated before the rider jumped forward and hit Elise. AJ knocked a couple apples up into the air and bucked them straight into the mount which dazed it momentarily. Twilight focused her magic and released a bolt of magic that pierced through the mount and its rider. Infuriated the manticore roared and started to stab at anything close enough with its tail. AJ jumped back to avoid several stabs while Twilight kept her distance. Elise used quick shuffles to evade most of the stabs, though /one hit her in the leg. She lost her balance for a moment and regained her composure, "Ugh."

AJ rushed forward and jumped to the side of the manticore before she planted one hoof into it's side, followed by the other, then both combined, "Go on! Git!"

The manticore knocked AJ away with the back of its paw and into a tree.

Another magic arrow passed through the manticore and its rider, the rider fell off and faded away. Elise rushed forward and with crystal coated claws slashed it across the face to the side, then embedded its head in the ground with an overheard bash. It pulled back and roared loud, the trees shook vigorously for a moment before a rain of sharp sticks rained down. The three tried their best to evade the swarm of projectiles but several caught up with them. AJ shook some of them off of herself, "That hurt."

Elise looked back at Twilight who stumbled and layed down, "Twilight!"

Twilight looked at her, "I'll be ok, in a week..."

Rarity rushed next to her, "Go stay with Fluttershy, I'll help them."

Twilight nodded and limped away as quickly as she could to get out of range.

The manticore charged at Rarity, only to get bucked clear sideways by AJ, "AH'VE GOT HALF A MIND TA SKIN YA!"

Rarity focused her magic and gemstones erupted from under ground knocking the beast into the air, "Take that!"

Elise leapt into the air and with every fiber of her being sent the beast spiraling into the ground. It hit hard enough to bounce back up slightly and get bucked away into a tree by AJ.

The manticore got onto its feet again and slowly advanced towards the three, its tail whipped through the air ready to strike with its poison once more. Suddenly the creature stopped and faded away a long sword sticking out of the ground where it once was. Elise's sight became distorted by the poison as the sword disappeared and a black robed figure appeared. AJ looked up at the figure, "Well, ain't you a bit big."

Rarity stepped back, "Should I bother asking why you're wearing that robe?"

The figure stepped forward and looked at Elise before the area fell dark and the surprised shouts from the group were cut short.

----[ Sweet Apple Acres | Farmhouse front porch

Big Macintosh was keeping a good lookout for any sign of his sister, his attention on the road ahead left him oblivious to most anything else. Braeburn stepped up next to him, "Any sign of 'er yet?"

Big Macintosh shook his head, "Nnnnnope."

"We shoulda gone with her."

"Eeeeyup."

A moment passed as the breeze blew through and Big Macintosh yawned. The area became dark for a moment, Braeburn tried to see anything, "Some kinda fog you get 'round here."

Big Macintosh shook his head, "This type's new ta me."

The darkness cleared away and Twilight's illumination spell lit the area around the mares. Big Macintosh ran forward, "Applejack? What happened?", he noticed how beat up Twilight was, "Miss Sparkle?!"

Fluttershy quickly moved next to her, "Please, don't force yourself to do anything."

AJ looked at Braeburn, "Get th' first aid kit!"

The figure appeared again, and dropped Elise on the ground, before it disappeared.

08 - Blessing

The brawl in the forest against those stronger shadow creatures turned out to be exactly what Zecora warned them about. Twilight was admitted to Ponyville General after one of her injuries turned out to be worse than expected.

----[ Ponyville General | Morning

Applejack was asleep in the lobby with her hat covering her face, it had been a long night. She blamed herself for Twilight getting hurt so badly, so she decided to stay at the hospital. Nurse Redheart walked over to her and waited for a moment, AJ rolled over and fell out of the bench seat. She quickly got on her hooves and put her hat on, "Wha?"

Nurse Redheart examined her, "Are you alright?"

AJ nodded, "I could care less 'bout me. How's Twi doin'?"

She looked down for a moment, "The poison is trying to overpower the antidotes we recieved from your zebra friend, they're still putting up a fight, but I'm afraid that she can't handle it."

AJ sat down speechless.

"Something else to note is that we found that poison in you and Elise. Yet, it seems to have been rendered invalid by something you two share."

"What?"

"I don't know what's going on, this type of poison in the smallest amount would spell the end of anypony. And here you are, no damages whatsoever."

AJ thought hard, "But how?"

Chrysalis wandered in disguised as a unicorn mare, "Hey, trying to find Elise, you seen her anywhere?"

Nurse Redheart looked at her, "Could I ask your name first?"

The disguised changeling didn't skip a beat as she immediately said, "Cascade."

AJ kept quiet as Nurse Redheart nodded, "I'll go and see if she's awake."

A moment passed and Cascade grinned at AJ, "What's your problem? Somepony step on your dog?"

AJ glared at her, "Ah'd advise ya to go bother somepony else."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

"Sorry, you a friend a-Elise's?"

She rolled her eyes, "We'll call it that for now."

AJ looked up the hall and fell silent again.

Cascade smiled, It may not be love, but sadness is almost as satisfying., she focused her magic and tried to draw from AJ but failed, "You've GOT to be kidding me!"

AJ looked at her, "Huh?"

She smiled, "Looks like we've got something in common."

"What do ya mean by that?"

Elise walked up with Nurse Redheart, "Both of you have my blessing."

AJ stood up, "What's that mean?"

"You share some of my capabilities, and also my fate if I fail."

"Two-sided... Why'd ya give it ta me?"

Elise shook her head, "I didn't, Fate did."

"When?!"

"Remember when we fought him in the diamond dog mines? He used a healing spell on all three of us before he proved he wasn't as weak as I thought."

"Why didn't ya tell me?"

Cascade grinned, "Because she didn't know about it until I showed her."

Elise looked to the side, "Chrys..."

"Hey, I said no nicknames. The last thing I need is friends."

AJ looked at her, "Ya gotta be kiddin' me... Ya ain't..."

Cascade smiled and sarcastically said, "Of course I'm not."

Elise stepped forward, "She's going to help kill Fate."

"Correction, I'm going to make him writhe, and you're going to kill him and do it right this time."

AJ looked at Elise completely betrayed, "Don't ya know what she tried ta do?!"

Elise nodded, "Dash told me."

She glared at Chrysalis, "What trick are you pullin' on us."

Chrysalis reverted to her normal form and glared back, "There's no trick. If anything you should consider yourself lucky to have me fighting alongside you."

From up the hall the voice of Dr. Hoofington shouted, "Nurse! She's fading!"

Nurse Redheart galloped up the hallway, "I'm coming!"

AJ turned pale, "Twi!"

Elise ran up the hall.

----[ ???

Luna approached her sister with magically sealed saddlebags. She smiled, "Tia. I brought you something you've been seeking."

Celestia didn't respond.

"Tia?"

She looked at Luna, "She's hurt..."

"Who?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

She paused, "Who did it..."

Celestia bowed her head, "Fate."

Both of them felt a surge of power and fell to their knees.

----[ Ponyville General | Room 117

Twilight couldn't see anything but red, she wanted to scream but couldn't. Elise ran in as Dr. Hoofington started issuing orders to Nurse Redheart and two interns. AJ barreled in and tried to figure out what to do, 'Cascade' stood at the doorway and watched.

The medical team gave her a new antidote, it only stabilized her slightly. There were tubes that ran to a dialysis machine, which had no effect. Desperation began to take over, and as it did the medical team worked themselves nearly into a frenzy. It wasn't long before Chrysalis shouted, "Back off!"

They froze and she stepped in, "You're louder than a hundred larva! Shut up!"

Elise looked at her and nodded while mouthing the words, "Thank you."

Dr. Hoofington stepped forward, "There is nothing else to do. We weren't prepared for manticore venom."

AJ started to tear up, "Twi..."

Elise focused and the air around her shimmered, "Aura.", she reared up and motioned her paw. The orb of light released went towards Twilight as the staff watched. It went into her and some of the pain faded. Elise continued to throw aura spell after aura spell, each one bringing Twilight closer to the land of the living. She heard a voice say something never wanted to hear at a time like this and the spells started to be reflected away from Twilight, dropping her back into a world of pain. AJ quickly turned to Elise, "Wha...What's happenin'?!"

Elise frowned and walked forward speaking in some language consistant of syllables and snarls, "Yiuo liei jakiokoixeri, jaloix qida hiakoa uioki yioalo yia qidaixoki jiriukoalo rioiylo pyodaoyiukoixuadaori Prisata. Uioki loikokiutyukouakieri laoloixkiakieri teelaidayieri tyudaulo rioelo jawoa jaix tyki'ixkiolo ixealo loakouakieri shiekiuodayi'ri jipy jayiutyukoikouadao uiaixodaixuio qidaixki' iyridaupyelo da'pyulo. Rioulo kokieiloixihi'i, koadaloixkiudawoa la'lo, Twilight Sparkle.", she placed her paw on Twilight's chest, "Uioki loidawoeudaori, uioki ixaixeri, uioki louiukiuixeri, ixe'ri jidauri' ixai.", she muttered in a louder tone, "Rioa Kokieiloixihi'ulo."

Both she and Twilight glowed brightly, the room became engulfed in the radiance. The light cleared and Twilight's vitals returned to normal. Dr. Hoofington looked at them, "What in all Equestria was that?"

AJ looked around and took a deep breath, "What hit me?"

Chrysalis shook off some dizziness, "What she said."

Rarity looked around, "How did I get here?!"

Gilda rubbed her head, "Don't know, don't care."

Ditzy looked around, "What happened?"

Dash hid her Daring Do book under a wing, "What's going on?"

Big Macintosh looked at AJ, "That's what ah'd like ta know."

Soarin looked around, "Teleport spell?"

Spitfire shrugged, "Maybe."

Nurse Redheart looked at the large number of sudden guests, "Ok, I'll bite. How did you all get in here so quick?!"

Elise pulled away from Twilight, "The blessing is fully realized now."

Twilight looked over at her, "Elise? What was that light just now?"

Dr. Hoofington checked her pulse, "Normal, do you feel any pain?"

"No. I feel great.", she looked at Elise, "Elise, what did you do?"

Elise collapsed.

----[ ???

Celestia stood up and moved next to Luna, "Luna?"

She looked up at her, "More of the world's crystals."

"Yes.", she noticed the seal on the saddlebags, "What do you have with you?"

She stood up, "A gift. The tomes that made me turn bitter so easily centuries ago."

Celestia smiled, "I've been searching for those for ages. How did you find them?"

"I asked for the help of Elise."

Celestia teared up, "She's done two things for me now."

"Tia?"

"I'm...I'm so happy."

----[ Ponyville Library | 30 minutes later

Twilight managed to gather the entire group at the library, including Gilda and "Cascade" with some persuasion from Dash and AJ. They were talking amongst themselves for a little bit while they waited for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to show up. Twilight even managed to send a letter off to Princess Celestia before a knock came to the door. Rarity opened the door with her magic and Pinkie trotted right in, "So, what's the big meeting for? Is it time to go on another adventure? Are we throwing somepony a surprise party? Is it for me?"

Twilight shook her head, "No Pinkie, we're here to discuss Elise."

Fluttershy walked in and saw Gilda, "Oh, hello again."

Gilda just grinned and looked somewhere else.

Pinkie thought for a moment, "So what's going on with her? Is she here?"

Rarity moved next to her, "No, she's back at the hospital."

"Really? Sounds like she needs to be more careful."

Twilight looked around, "Well, everypony is here, so I might as well start. Practically all of us who are here were teleported into the hospital room where Elise used some sort of blessing to negate the effect of manticore venom that was, killing me."

Soarin's eyes widened, "Manticore Venom?!"

Spitfire elbowed him, "Let her talk."

Twilight continued, "Yes, this blessing is something that poses a lot of different questions about Elise, but I feel confident enough that she doesn't have any malicious intent when she passes it to somepony."

AJ spoke up, "Or that Fate Pony forces it onta one of us."

Gilda moved forward, "So you mean to tell me that when that Acious guy shoved that crystal knife into me that it was Fate's job?"

Twilight nodded, "It could be the Acious was working for Fate."

Spitfire looked over, "Acious? Acious Windholm?"

Dash grumbled, "Didn't he kick you guys out of the Wonderbolts."

Spitfire thought for a moment, "He's holding a position in the Equestrian Air Force that's watched very closely, he wouldn't be stupid enough to do something like attack a civilian."

Twilight thought it over, "True, but we can't rule him out as a suspect just yet. Which brings me to the next question. How did all of you get your blessings?"

Ditzy looked at her, "Fate gave Chrysalis some sort of crystal that had a spell in it."

Dash looked up, "Oh yeah, the healing spell gave you and Chrys", she noticed Cascade's twitch, "that blessing thing."

Fluttershy's eyes widened, "C-Chrysalis has that blessing?"

Twilight looked at Cascade, "Yes, but so far she seems to want to settle a score with Fate."

Cascade nodded, "I also found out I can't feed off of any emotions from anything with this blessing."

Fluttershy looked at her, "Oh that's good. Wait..."

Pinkie wandered up to Cascade, "Hey, can you copy me?"

She didn't even look at her, "Not in the mood."

"Awww."

Gilda rolled her eyes, "So what's this thing going to do?"

Twilight thought back to the incantation, "I remember being able to understand some of what Elise was saying when she was giving me that blessing."

AJ looked at her, "What'd she say?"

Twilight thought it over carefully, "Through your sacrifices to aid in my goal I and your fellow allies draw from the building power within us all.", she looked back at Gilda, "If I were to guess, we'll become stronger as the blessing does."

Rarity looked around, "Wait... How did I get this?"

AJ moved next to her, "Same way ah did, Fate used that healin' spell on us."

"Oh, now that I think of it I stamped my hoof into a bowl of pins on accident recently, and it did not hurt one bit. Also I had a toaster bounce off of my head that barely hurt."

Twilight looked at her, "So your blessing is fortifying your body against damage?", she looked at AJ, "Applejack have you noticed anything changing about you since you recieved your blessing?"

AJ thought for a moment, "Ah think mah kicks got a lot more sting recently."

"I would believe that, you really kicked that manticore around last night."

Gilda smiled, "So we all get stronger. I've got so many scores to settle."

Twilight looked at her, "I don't know if that strength is ours to use for everything. Isn't Elise fighting Fate?"

AJ looked to the side, "That means that we are, too. Doesn't it."

"We'll have to ask her and find out."

Rarity backed down, "I'm really not the type to want to fight against anypony with that kind of power, blessing or not."

"I know. We'll figure out what we can and can't do as soon as Elise is conscious again."

Spike had been listening throughout the entire meeting until he let out a burp and a letter formed from the green flame, "Twilight, you've got a letter from Celestia."

She looked at him, "Really?", she faced the crowd again, "If there aren't any questions left, feel free to leave."

The group looked amongst themselves for a moment then started leaving. Spike opened the scroll and handed it to Twilight, "Here."

She read it and paused, "Spike, I'm going to the hospital. I need to ask Elise questions."

He looked at her, "Take me with you."

"Alright, get on."

----[ Ponyville General | Room 118 | Meanwhile

Elise opened her eyes and silently grumbled to herself, Wow, same room three times in the same week. It's like you're holding that low D-Rank again.

She sat up and looked around half expecting to see Lucky again, instead she was greeted by Celestia, "You're Elise, correct?"

She nodded, "Yes, are you Tia?"

She smiled, "Yes, that's the nickname my sister uses. My full name is Celestia."

Elise nodded, "Of course, I apologize, you're royalty aren't you."

"I'm not here as a princess, I'm here as a grateful mentor and sister."

Elise's eyes widened, "Why?"

"You helped Luna acquire the tomes of chaos after I had nearly given up on trying to find them. Just as important you just saved the life of my loyal student."

"She's alright now?"

"She wrote me about her recovery."

Elise smiled, "Good."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"What is it you want in life?"

She looked to the side, "To not fight."

"From what I've seen you are good at it."

"I was well trained. Whether or not I liked it."

Celestia grinned, "Secrets can find their own way."

Elise gave a quiet laugh, "Lusce said that to me once. Though, why would you say that?"

"You learn to read others after being a leader for centuries. Where do you hail from?

She hesitated trying to think of the proper name, "I know it's supposed to be some sort of six-dimensional positioning, but ...I've only really known it as Home Terra"

"He started letting beings live on Terra?"

"Huh?"

"Dracire, he still rules Draconia, correct?"

"How?"

Celestia smiled briefly, "We're old friends."

Elise just stared, "How is that possible? The Transmod was recently discovered."

Quietly Celestia made a mental note, "Elise, Luna talked with you about Fate, right?"

"Yes, she told me that he's sapping your power?"

"He's not draining it for himself, not anymore. It's as though he feels a forming power that could be a threat, so he's destroying the crystals that me and Luna created to fortify our power and protect this dimension from another crisis."

Elise raised a brow, Another?

"We've been using our magic to focus on sustaining barriers to defend what is left of our crystals, but he nearly killed my prized student for us trying to ward him off."

"Using those close to you as a means of breaking concentration."

"Which let him quickly penetrate the barrier and break another two crystals."

"How many are left?"

"Since Cadence hasn't experienced that feedback, there should be four."

Elise looked up, "Cadence, why is that name.", Elise remembered the events in Cloudsdale, "Chrysalis was the one who had Cadence's crystal."

Celestia paused, "You're right. How did you know?"

Elise scratched her head, "From the changelings mouth before she decided to join in the fight against Fate."

"You gave her your blessing didn't you."

"We'll need as much help as we can--"

Celestia nodded, "I understand, and only ask one thing of you."

"What?"

"I can tell that there is a long road ahead, I only ask that if Fate breaks the last of our crystals, that you bless us."

Elise looked at her surprised, "You and Luna?"

She nodded, "If you are going to involve anypony from Equestria, let us join you as the warriors we once were."

"I will."

Celestia smiled, "Thank you.", she turned to the door and shuddered.

"Princess?"

"If you can hear it, listen to the mana of this world. It will tell you why I made this request.", she walked out of the room.

Elise waited for a moment for the hooves walking along the tile in the hall to fade into the distance. Once she had silence in the room she closed her eyes and started listening. A subtle moan seemed to echo throughout, it faded in and out as a gentle wind blew through. She heard Fate give off a condescending grunt followed by a drawn out wailing scream that sounded from all around. Elise opened her eyes as the ground shook, her heart raced as she tried to figure out what happened, "What was that?"

With Spike behind her Twilight walked in, "Elise? Is something wrong?"

Elise smiled, "Since you're still alive, I don't think so."

She smiled back, "Thank you. How are you?"

"I'm fine, apparently that blessing takes a lot out of you when you willingly cast it, and make it bound to your own magic instead of the lingering fragments of armor that contained them."

"That reminds me, I got to talk with the others that recieved your blessing. They seem to be getting stronger."

Elise nodded, "They are, the blessing is something given by a Prisata to those they'd use as pawns for their cause."

"What are the Prisata?"

"They are a type of dragon that can redirect magic and light through the crystals that their bodies naturally generate. Through this ability it was discovered that they could bless beings to share from their knowledge and aid them in gaining deity status. During the nine millennial war they aspired to rise to the top and purge the inferior dracons."

Twilight looked at her, "I've never seen anything about a war going on for that long."

"That's because it didn't happen on Equestria."

"It happened in the Ayis region? No, that is a part of Equestria."

Elise shook her head, "Ayis isn't part of Equestria. It isn't even part of the dimension Equestria is in."

"Excuse me?"

"The Ayis system is the name agreed upon by the draconic council. It was chosen as a means of opening peaceful channels between Draconia and the planets that once orbitted the star Ayis."

Twilight eyed her, "You're kidding, right?"

Elise shook her head, "No, I'm from another dimension, with its own history."

Twilight looked to the side for a moment, "Which explains why you fought somepony named Arla in Canterlot."

"Yes."

"Can you tell me who she is?"

"Was, I'm not completely clear on her history but she was a loose cannon, she would kill others to try and satisfy the void in herself left behind by not killing someone she had a grudge against."

Twilight stared for a moment, "Then why did you fight her?"

"She was planning on killing the daughter of a deity I knew."

"Oh, I'm glad you stopped her. What was this deity's name?"

Elise thought for a moment, "I don't remember his name, yet I remember his daughter Abigaile."

Spike elbowed Twilight, "We don't need to bother her anymore about her past."

Elise smiled, "It's alright, Spike. Now that she has my blessing, some things need to be known. Though there are things that her friends would need to know too."

Twilight nodded, "I can arrange for everypony to meet at the library as soon as you're out of here."

Elise stepped out of the bed, "I'm ready."

"Really? I guess I can send letters to Spitfire and Soarin."

"No need, they have rooms at the Silent Horseshoe Inn, next door to Chrysalis."

Twilight paused, "To imagine somepony who caused so much trouble is one of us fighting Fate."

"Twilight, just because I gave you my blessing doesn't mean you have to fight."

"This blessing is something I would like to research."

"If you go along with the fight against Fate there will be danger. We'll have to fight against anything he throws at us, things that would want to kill us."

Twilight walked forward, "I understand that, but this opportunity to see new worlds is just too good to pass up."

Elise was surprised by how eager Twilight was, "Even with the risks involved?"

"Much like Magic Powered Machinery, or Etherwork as its last researcher called it, sometimes the best research has risks associated with it."

Spike looked between the two, "Then you've got to take me with you."

Twilight looked at him, "Spike?"

Elise looked at him too, "But you're a Youngling, from the looks of it just a little older than one I know."

Spike nodded, "I know, but I've been with Twilight for most of my life, I want to help her in any way I can."

"It's not my decision to make Spike, it's up to Twilight."

Twilight nodded, "It is, we'll discuss it later at the library.", she looked back at Elise, "Can you find Gilda, Ditzy, and the others?"

She nodded, "I'll let the staff here know I've recovered again and go do that."

"Great, let's meet at noon, that gives everypony at least an hour to show up."

Elise nodded and left the room. Twilight looked back at Spike, "Let's go."

----[ Ponyville Outskirts | 5 minutes later

Gilda stood at the edge of town and looked up, she grinned and spread her wings.

A voice called to her, "Gilda!"

She looked behind herself and noticed Dash running up, "Dash?"

Dash stopped, "Where're you going?"

"I figured that I'd go settle some scores."

"Where?"

"Does it matter..."

Dash grinned, "Just like old times."

Elise landed next to Dash, "Gilda."

Gilda grinned, "Hey, you handled yourself in that castle pretty well."

Dash looked between them, "Castle?"

Elise glanced at Dash, "I'll tell you later."

Gilda turned around, "Unless either of you need something, I'm outta here."

"I have things to explain about the blessing and who I really am. If you want to know about what you're getting into, meet at the library at noon."

"I guess I could stick around and hear what it does. That reminds me.", Gilda turned around and punched Elise, "That fight in the castle hurt."

Elise barely flinched, "Alright."

Gilda walked by and mumbled to herself, "That's one settled."

Dash looked at Elise, "I knew she could hold a grudge, but you did what you had to to protect Fluttershy."

Elise smiled, "Like AJ said, I still act like a shield."

Dash smiled back at her, "Thanks. I'll see you at the library."

"Of course, before you go, have you seen Ditzy Do?"

"She oughta be at her last stop for her route in Ponyville."

Elise thought for a moment, "The library?"

Dash nodded, "See you there.", she flew away.

That leaves Spitfire, Soarin, and Chrys.

----[ Silent Horseshoe Inn | Room 3 | 10 minutes later

Spitfire and Soarin had listened to the story that Lusce told them about last night. Spitfire smiled, "Never would've expected a Zebra to do a seal on some saddlebags."

Lusce grinned, "Surprised Luna, too."

Soarin nodded, "At least you grabbed those tomes in time, a Griffin in berserk is not easy to handle if you can't outfly them."

"Elise seemed to know what she was doing, she wasn't too roughed up when she carried that stoned Griffin out of the castle."

Spitfire looked out the window for a moment, "You said you followed them until a dark figure made them vanish?"

Lusce nodded, "Yeah, after that I worked my way to my hiding place."

Soarin looked at him, "So what do you think of this blessing thing Elise has given some of us?"

"I think that she might be digging her own grave with that, especially if Lord Drakoss finds out about it. It might be great for you guys to get stronger, but as soon as he finds out and gets any negative information about it he'll kill Elise."

Spitfire raised a brow, "Why?"

"One of Elise's bloodlines. To use his words, 'The Prisata aspire to surpass the gods at any cost'. I haven't looked into the legends behind the Prisata Dragons but he would know more about it than anyone else."

"Fair enough."

His ear twitched, "Anyways, you've got a guest coming.", he opened the window, "Later.", he jumped out and darted behind a bush before Elise turned around.

Spitfire looked out the window, "Hey, Elise, looking for something?"

Elise looked at her, "I thought I heard something."

"Probably just a bird."

"I guess, either way I'm here to ask you, Soarin and Cascade to meet at the library at noon."

"Any reason?"

"I need to explain things about the blessing, and about myself. So anyone who has my blessing might want to show up for this."

Cascade looked out her window, "Really? I'll be there."

Spitfire nodded, "We'll all be there."

Elise nodded, "I'll see you then."

----[ ???

The tomes levitated by Celestia's magic were sealed inside of a magic box as the void of space surrounded her with stars that shimmered in the distance. She looked past the tomes at the immense star that her magic had control of and launched them forward. For one brief moment the magic energies that surrounded her were gone and her mane lost its flow. She immediately focused and called for the return of her magic. She breathed deeply from the mini atmosphere she sustained around herself once it restabilized. With a gaze towards the star she watched as the tomes left a smoking trail as they came closer and closer to their final end. Celestia turned around then spread her wings and legs. The magic within the tomes erupted into a massive explosion of energy that propelled her back towards the world of Equestria as a streak of magic energy. She watched as the world she and her sister ruled over came closer and closer, until she stopped herself and looked around. She watched as a star simply vanished, Odd.

She waited and kept looking around, another star vanished. After another minute another star disappeared. She dove down for the planet headed for Canterlot.

----[ Library | Noon

Most of the group gathered in the library again, Ditzy showed up and grabbed a spot to sit down as Twilight looked up at the clock. Elise walked in and sat down in front of everyone, she considered wether or not to simply render herself invisible and flee or stay and bite the bullet.

She sighed, "Alright, where do you want me to start? My history with Fate? Where I really came from?"

Twilight gave her a calming grin, "Whatever you think would be a good starting point."

"Alright. I suppose it would be appropriate if I introduced myself as a proper Dracon. I am Elise of Clan Elas, Warrior of Crystalline weapons. Slayer of Fate--"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes.

"-- and member of the Dimensional Mercenaries, Class A."

Twilight looked at her, "Class A?"

"High rank in that group. At the moment I am employed as the assistant of Lusce Argus, owner of Bertrand Industries."

Pinkie looked at her, "Is it story time?"

Elise nodded, "I suppose."

Pinkie pulled a bowl of popcorn from nowhere, "I'm all set."

The halfbreed took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts and her memories. She counted the pairs of eyes on her and began her narrative, "It started about eight months ago."

Chapter 01 - Arrival

Game of Fate - Chapter 1 - Arrival

Armor...Worthless. Attempts to evade...Worthless. Identifying Light...Unsuccessful. Movement restricted, armor fractured, crushing weight of possibilities. A little monitor went red as it flew off with fragments of armor.

----[ ???

This was the second time she was pushed into another dimension like this, the walls of other dimensions closed in on her, pushing and crushing her until she reached her destination. She laid there her body ravaged, the new transmod hadn't done its job right and she was left as a lump of mangled flesh and fur where she landed. Her yellow fur covered most of her body, her underside and her paws shared the white color of her mane and tail. She looked like a fox but a bit different, the shape of her body suggested she was something else. Her muzzle wasn't thin like a fox, it seemed broader. Her ears were naturally pointed back and could only swivel slightly. She had a mane that went from the top of her head to around her neck and shoulders, and down her chest. It looked like she landed in a peaceful field, no one around for miles, maybe some wildlife, but that was it. With no visible threats in sight, she pushed onto her legs as pain shot through her and blurred her vision, she stifled a yelp and tried to step forward but a loud snap came from one of her front legs as it buckled under her. With a thud she landed on her side and aggravated several injuries. She let out a scream mixed with a snarl and started to fade into unconsciousness. As the world around her slowly became dark she saw as a white blur, an orange blur, and a yellow blur appeared in the distance.

All she could do was listen, she heard a squeak before a voice with a southern drawl started to talk, "What in all Equestria?!"

A second followed the first, it had more of a trans-atlantic tone to it, "She was moving a moment ago."

"She's hurt badly. Come on! Get 'er on me!"

A very soft and very shocked voice spoke out, "Oh...my..."

For a moment sounds slurred together as she felt something move her.

The trans-atlantic voice spoke again, "Is that?", it became loud, "Is that Blood?!"

"Darn straight it is, come on!", The southern voice replied.

"O-ok!", the soft voice responded.

She started shift and a quickly stopped. The southern voice took a more commanding tone, "Steady 'er with yer magic!"

She became balanced again and the soft voice spoke again, "I-I'll help keep her on you."

"What about her...", the trans-atlantic voice asked.

The southern voice shouted, "Ta Tartarus with her jewelry!"

"But..."

"Move!"

She could feel a fast rhythmic movement start that didn't let her body try to recooperate, she coughed and a moment later she vomitted something warm with an iron taste. All three voices gasped and the trans-atlantic one shouted, "Gracious!"

The southern voice shouted out again, "We need ta keep movin'!"

Things became slurred again as only the soft voice could pierce through her dulled hearing, "Please don't leave...We're getting you somewhere...Please..."

----[ ???

She could see past her burnt furless chest as a silver lynx held his paw under her chin. He turned to someone she couldn't see, "She's hurt!"

The voice of the other one was deep and objective, "Sir, she could be a threat!"

He yowled at the other person, "I don't care if she's a threat!"

"But, sir!"

"Get a doctor, NOW!"

A little dragonling with light blue scales climbed into her sight, the plates along the front of his body were hidden by the little shirt he wore. He looked at her and asked, "D-dwaggyfoff?"

----[ ???

Her eyes opened and started to focus, she placed a paw on her muzzle and quietly groaned. She knew her body had recovered because of her Expander trait, How long have I been out?

As the color returned to the world she started to test her mind, DM Dimensional Travel protocol, Section 5, "With the inclusion of expanders capable of altering the size of themselves, the use of the expander growth or reduction abilities is not allowed unless used in defense against certain creatures but not on local sentient beings. Any other use will result in disciplanary action to be determined by the offending operative's commander(s) during debriefing or in the field depending on severity of the violation." That sounds right.

She looked around, I'm still not going to use it for that, it doesn't feel right.

Details in the room came into focus. The cieling was an off olive green with a swirl that was a lighter green, the walls were made of blue-ish aqua panels, she followed the swirl on the cieling with her eyes and at went past a curtain rod. She looked across the room at the bed on the otherside of the open curtain, "Hm?"

She squinted and looked at the silhouette of the being that was asleep in the bed. In an attempt to sit up she pushed an end table away from her bed, the lamp tried to topple over but she quickly grabbed onto it and steadied it, Reflexes are returning.

Her second attempt to stand was more successful, until she tried to stay standing on two legs. She lost her balance and quickly fell onto all fours, the rush cleared away some of the foggy feeling in her mind, No balance yet, I'll stay like this for now.

The floor had tiles that alternated between light and dark shades of tan, This floor is clean at least., she paused and looked around again. This time she noticed the wall mounted machines above the beds and the small intercom on the wall, A hospital room?

She continued to the other bed and took a look at the occupant. The body cast on the being was wrapped around a head with a broad, flat muzzle. The two left hooves of the being weren't wrapped but the rest of the legs were, this being had a coat that was a lighter shade of gray-blue than the wall panels. She thought carefully and decided that this being could have hailed from the Ayis star system, the closest match being the equine Mahra or Stallis. She moved away from the bed to try and not disturb this poor being any more than she might have already. As her legs worked to pull her back away, she came to the realization that she had taken an altered form, a form she was familiar with. Immediately gears spun in her head, in one grand conclusion she knew exactly what dimension she was squeezed into and that this being was actually a Pony Stallion. She looked at him again, It has to be, I can't take this form voluntarily. This has to be Equestria, but if I was forced into this existence, than this will be a different Equestria. I get a fresh start, a chance not to be known as one of the six beings that tore half of Canterlot apart.

A breeze from the window blew a leaf past her as she summed up the possibilities.

"Yes!"

The door to the room opened and a brown maned, orange-yellow Unicorn Stallion entered. He seemed rather surprised to see Elise out of her bed, "How in... You must be more eager to be up and about than some of my other patients."

Elise looked at him questioningly, "What do you mean?"

The doctor magically levitated her medical charts close to his face and analyzed them, "According to this, when you were brought in you had several broken bones and severe internal injuries. Medically speaking you shouldn't even be standing right now, or walking around, or even conscious for that matter."

Elise grinned, "I'm a fast healer, a very fast healer."

"I still have to ask how are you standing? You vomitted blood in the ER! Twice!"

"Like I said, I have an advanced rate of regeneration. As long as I don't move around too fast I can quickly recover from injuries."

"Or you're just good at hiding your pain, if you would kindly climb back into your bed we can begin applying your casts before you damage anything else in your body by simply moving."

She thought for a moment, "Let me ask you this: If I weren't capable of regenerating so quickly, wouldn't the loss of blood leave me in a near comatose state?"

"Yes, you have a point there. However I am more than aware that there are some creatures that can force their bodies to maintain a proper shape regardless of broken bones. Which, according to your medical chart you have 59 different broken bones."

"And if said bones were still broken wouldn't I be unable to sustain this conversation due to the pain?"

"Considering that all but one of your ribs were broken, you wouldn't be able to, not without stressing yourself. Then there's the fact that you are standing with a cracked vertebrae, when you were brought in your hind legs were limp."

"How about a wager?"

He looked at her suspiciously, "What?"

"If you take another X-ray, you'll see that I'm fine. My bones have all mended and nothing is going on inside of me. If I'm wrong, I'll let you apply a body cast without any resistance."

He thought about it for a moment, "Alright, to do that you need to get back in bed first. So, if you'd please."

Elise wandered to the bed and climbed back in, as she did Nurse Redheart pushed in a cart with a bowl and the resources necessary to make a large number of casts. She looked at Elise then to the doctor, "Doctor Hoovington? Was she?"

He nodded, "Yes, she was up and about.", he used his magic to levitate a small film into the air above Elise and released a spell that copied an image of her skeleton to it. The film levitated back to the doctor and he took a close look, he did a double take and looked even closer, "Well, I'll be a Windigo's uncle, when you were brought in all of your legs were broken, and all but one of your ribs, now they're all fine. Even the cracks on your vertebrae and your skull have healed up. You went from 59 broken bones to none, in six hours! How-how is this even possible?"

Elise climbed back out of the bed, "Just because of what I am."

The doctor looked at her, thinking about what she could be, "Well, you aren't a pony, that's a given. Not a gryphon, not even a dragon, or a Manticore. I've never seen a fox grow any larger than a small dog, And you don't seem mystical or mythical. Alright I'll bite, what exactly are you miss?"

"Half-breed. Half Vix--erm--Fox and half Dragon."

"Half Fox? Half Dragon? That just raises further questions."

Elise scratched behind her head, "I get that a lot."

"I'm sure you do, but there isn't enough time to address every one of them."

"Why not?"

The doctor took out a quill with his magic and wrote on her charts, "I'm a doctor, not a biologist. As for records, I'll need your age and your name."

"Oh. I'm twenty years of age, and my name is Elise..."

"Alright, I suppose that since you've...uhm... recovered so quickly, you are free to go."

"How much do I owe for your services?"

Nurse Redheart looked at Elise, "The mares that brought you here already paid for your admission and opened a small credit line with additional bits in case we needed to do anything serious."

Elise looked at Nurse Redheart, "Any idea who they were?"

She thought for a moment, "I've seen them a few times in the last few months. Ah, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack."

"I suppose I'll visit them and thank them for helping me."

"Considering how bad you were, I think you mean 'saving' not 'helping'."

The doctor looked at Nurse Redheart, "Nurse, why don't you go and escort Miss Elise to the front desk."

Nurse Redheart nodded, "Alright."

"Elise, if you follow Nurse Redheart, she can check you out and offer you a refund of any extra bits."

Elise nodded, "Thank you."

As the doctor went to check on Elise's room-mate, Nurse Redheart turned to her, "This way please."

She nodded and started following her down the hallway past a large number of doors. Most of them were open and the rooms unoccupied, a curious sight to her. For a small hospital it was void of hurt ponies, apparently the populace was careful, very careful. Elise quietly followed Nurse Redheart along other hallways until they arrived at a set of doors.

----[ Main Lobby

The doors swung open as the two approached, the lobby shared the same color scheme as the room Elise was in. The only thing different is that there were painted lines along the floor as guides to different parts of the hospital. Nurse Redheart walked to the front desk as Elise counted the empty chairs in the lobby, and the lone mare with a gray coat, a blonde mane and tail, and her eyes looking in two different directions.

At the front desk Nurse Redheart counted up 79 bits and placed them on the table in a small bag, "Out of the 97 bits they had on hoof your six hour stay cost 18 bits. So here's the remaining 79."

Elise bowed her head, "Thank you."

"Now be safe, you can heal quickly but it might not be worth the pain."

"I'll be careful. Say, that pony I shared a room with, what happened?"

"Lucky? A week ago he galloped under a falling piano. Everypony kept warning him that Derpy isn't all that coordinated, but he was convinced his unusual good luck made him immortal."

Derpy kinda shuffled into her chair, "I just don't know what went wrong."

Elise scratched her head, "Oh, is he all paid for?"

"He's got about 69 bits left to cover.", she paused as Elise took 10 bits from the bag and placed it closer to her, "That's very generous."

"He's had enough bad luck for a while."

"I'll let Doctor Hoovington know. For now, here's your discharge papers.", She pushed a rolled up scroll towards Elise.

She took the scroll and tucked it between her mane and her left ear, "Thank you. I'll see you around.", she turned and walked away.

Nurse Redheart grinned a little, "Hopefully not around here."

Derpy got up and moved close to Elise, "Hey...uhm...I was gonna do that."

She looked at her, "Oh, I didn't mean to..."

Derpy smiled, "It's ok. I can give you the spare bits I was gonna give them.", she reached into her right saddlebag. Involuntarily she extended the wing for a moment before she quickly folded it, "Ow!"

"What's wrong?"

"I was delivering a big hammer to a griffin, when it slipped out of my mailbag and this sharp edge on it cut my wing."

"A warhammer? I didn't know you could mail those."

"You can't, somepony gave me a request personally."

"Well, I hope your wing heals."

Derpy smiled, "I hope so too. Uhm... can you reach into my saddlebag and get my bag of bits?"

"Sure.", Elise reached in with her paw and took out a small bag, "This one?"

"That's the one! I brought 20 bits for Lucky, so you can have them instead."

"Thank you.", Elise took 20 bits out of the bag, "Should I put it back in?"

Derpy shook her head, "No, I'll take that. Thanks...uhm...what's your name?"

She placed the bag on the ground, "Elise. What's yours?"

"Ditzy Do, but some ponies call me Derpy. If you need something delivered, you can count on me.", she picked up the bag with her teeth and walked to the front desk. Elise watched her for a moment then pushed open the front door.

----[ Hospital Exterior

Outside of the hospital was a well cared for lawn that surrounded the dirt pathway to Ponyville. The warm afternoon sun was shining brightly, not a single cloud was drifting along in the clear blue sky, and Elise could see why as a bright aqua colored Pegasus was patrolling the area for any loose cloud cover. A grin crept along her muzzle as she thanked luck for her having her summer coat. She began to walk calmly along the path that would take her to Ponyville.

No need to hurry, she thought to herself, While Hirana is repairing the Transmod I have all the time in this world to do my mission.

Her mind cranked out a worst-case scenario that made her pause, Assuming she can repair it.

She looked up at the empty skies, I'm the only other connection to the existence we came from. If I can't return to our 'new' home dimension, then little Follow won't be able to learn about where he really came from. He's too young to remember much more than his family, Nathaniel, Zeke, even Ticier.

A happy high-pitched, "Nafe!", sounded inside of her mind and she calmed down, He's always so optimistic, like any child should be. He would probably find a way to save me, or just plain be happy.

She smiled and started walking again, I guess this is as close to a mother I'll ever want to get. I should be able to handle him. I'm a half-breed, half Vixaen and half Gaudis Draconian. My mind and feet will be quick like the canid Vixaen, that should let me keep up with him. My other half is that of the draconic royal guard, the bipedal dragons that stand between the king of the dragons and any murderous scourge, my hide is thick and all the elements don't affect me as much. I'll be ready for the light blue scaled, Azuri Dragonling's ice breath sneezes. All I need to do at this point is find a way back to that dimension, so that I can be there for him in the absence of his mother, Myri.

Her mind drifted back to before her ill-fated dimensional transfer, Hirana and Fyren, they won't leave me here. They'll fix things, they'll come looking for me.

She paused again, her ears sagging a little, So will my Fyren, the one from my home existence.

Memories started to flow as she started to saunter along the path once more.

She recalled the Human named Letty, Why did he always wear those light blue glasses? Why did he always fall asleep playing with that paddleball...How did he keep going and counting in his sleep?!

Images of Letty's sister, Melody surfaced, To be able to do complicated surgery with a chainsaw, how is that possible?

The image of a bi-pedal dragon covered in tan scales surfaced, Lynn, the only Wyvern Huntress I know who could draw blood from a stone, and enjoy it.

A mechanical Draconian appeared in her mind, Vathar, a kindred weapon, maybe your going on about your perfection is your imperfection.

Tons of other images surfaced, one after another reminding her of the existence she hailed from and how far away it was. Beings that grew up normally, beings that were meant to be weapons, and even the long dead beings that wanted the destruction of both types. She had formed bonds with all her allies and all her friends in the Dimensional Mercenaries, one even surprised her.

The image of a black scaled, deep gray plated Draconian with glowing red eyes appeared. He didn't seem like he would be a threat until he drew the sword from underneath his robes, and caused the magic infused blade's fragments start circling him. His cold demeanor sent chills along her spine as he recited words that were a threat to her, as the mouth of the image moved in her mind she subtly said aloud, "There's no place for organic weapons in any world, they can learn to act like others, can learn to feel like others, but deep down there is a chain that forever brands a weapon as a weapon."

She paused as the image turned and walked into the black void of her mind, she shook her head and laughed a little, "Maybe by going after Follow, I not only saved him from harm, but I may have kept him from knowing Dracire."

She continued along letting more memories, happy memories flow, losing herself in them.

----[ Pathway

The other end of the path had a different scene, a pack of mares were traveling to the hospital. Three were walking, two were flying, and one was bouncing along in the colorful equine ensemble. The lavender library-dwelling literature loving leader at the front of the group was reluctant in traveling today but stories from her friends had piqued her curiosity, and this unicorn wanted to satisfy it, whether or not it was true. "Rarity, could you tell me exactly how this happened again? Nothing simply appears without some trace of magic."

A white unicorn with curled purple mane and tail cleared her throat and spoke with her trans-atlantic voice, "I'll say it one last time, Twilight, she simply appeared from nowhere. There was no flash, no plume of smoke, and no spectacle aside from that dreadful landing."

A colorfully maned, cyan Pegasus let out a sigh, "Rarity, it sounds to me like you guys found somepony who lost her balance and fell through a cloud."

Rarity looked up, "I told you, Rainbow Dash, there was nothing she could have hit aside from the ground."

An blonde maned, freckled orange pony wearing a brown Stetson looked up at Rainbow Dash, her southern drawl challenged what the Pegasus said, "RD, you of all ponies should know, twern't a single cloud in the sky this mornin'! An' there still ain't, this girl jus' showed up outta the blue and hit the ground harder than a chopped down tree. Right, Fluttershy?"

A butter yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail nodded, "She was hurt so badly, when we found her, I-I was afraid she wouldn't make it. Oh, I hope they've been helping her."

The pink party pony kept bouncing along, "Hey, maybe when she's all better we could throw her two parties in one! Both a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party and a 'Congratulations-you-just-got-better' party! It'll be a double blast!"

Twilight looked back at her while still marching forward, "Pinkie, I think you might be getting a little ahead of yourself. First off, there's no way a fox could be as big as a pony. They usually don't get any bigger than a little foal. Second, if she was as bad as Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity said she was, she might not be out for a few--"

Twilight ran into something and fell on her haunches, "-- hours?!"

Elise snapped back to reality and looked down at Twilight, "Huh? Oh, I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry."

Twilight looked at Applejack who grinned and said, "Now do ya believe us, Twi?"

Twilight jumped onto her hooves and started looking over Elise, "I thought you said she was badly hurt."

Rarity was intrigued, "She was, honest."

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh, "Knowin' you, Rare, she had a paper cut."

Applejack looked up at Dash, "Then who's blood was I washin' offa me when ya came to the farm!"

Rainbow Dash twitched, "That was blood?!"

"Like Big Macintosh always says, 'Eeeeeyup'."

Twilight stopped examining Elise, "It's impossible for anything to heal so quickly, especially from what you described. Where are the casts? The bandages? The heart monitor? The iron lung?!"

Elise reached up and took the scroll from the hospital from her mane, "I can heal fast. Very fast. Here...", she offered the scroll to Twilight who opened it with her magic and read it.

Dash moved closer to Elise with Fluttershy close by. Twilight's eyes widened as she read, "Half-breed? Fox and Dragon? How is that possible?! Well, I suppose that half-dragon factor is what let you heal quickly, since they usually get so big they have to heal quickly from territorial fights."

Pinkie jumped forward and smiled widely at Elise, "HI! I'm Pinkie Pie! Who are you? You're somepony new aren'tcha!"

"Pinkie? Oh... Yes... I'm Elise," she had to remind herself that this pink party pony hadn't met her before.

Fluttershy moved next to Pinkie, "I'm so happy that you recovered, I was so worried."

Dash landed next to Fluttershy, "Say, if you're half-dragon where are your wings? You've gotta be old enough to have 'em."

Twilight looked at Dash, "Dash, it's possible that she didn't get that from being a half-breed. Which brings up the question, how did you get up there?"

Elise looked at the group, "I'd...rather not say."

Dash raised a brow, "And why not?"

Applejack looked at Dash, "And why don't ya not ask why not. Th' important thing here is that she fell."

Pinkie smiled, "Hey! I'm gonna throw you a double party for getting well so quick and for coming to Ponyville, and I'm gonna invite everypony! There's so much to do! I've gotta go get started!", Pinkie vanished leaving behind only a pink blur.

Twilight, Elise, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity just watched as the blur vanished.

Twilight broke the silence and offered a hoof to Elise, "I suppose we should introduce ourselves.", it took a moment for Twilight to raise her hoof high enough to try and offer a hoofshake to the half-breed standing twice her height, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia."

Elise picked up a front leg and wrapped her paw around the offered hoof, "It's a pleasure to meet you." Again.

Once they shook paw-to-hoof Twilight looked away and Dash dashed between her and the half-breed, "I'm Rainbow Dash, the most awesome flier in all Equestria."

"I'll take your word on that."

Applejack tipped her hat to hide her rolling eyes, "Name's Applejack, ah work over at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Nurse Redheart told me that you helped get me to the hospital. Thank you."

"Twern't any trouble."

Fluttershy stood next to Applejack, "I'm... Fluttershy."

Elise bowed and recognized the voice, "I don't think I could have left without saying thank you for your help."

Fluttershy smiled as Rarity stepped forward, "I'm Rarity, if you ever need a dress, then please ask for my help."

"And thank you for helping, too."

"Well, yes. A-as much as it pains me to say this, your jewelry has crumbled away."

Elise looked at her, "Jewelry?"

Rarity levitated a crystal out of her saddle bags, "All that I have left in one piece is this one crystal."

Elise recognized the shape of the degrading crystal, it was a part of the crystalline armor she formed to protect herself before her landing, "Thank you for saving what was left. I should be able to repair it."

"Perhaps I could be of assistance?"

"I wouldn't want to trouble you with having to learn Draconic magic."

Twilight raised a brow, "A unicorn can't learn dragon magic, but I suppose a half-dragon could."

Rarity heaved a sigh, "I suppose."

Applejack looked at Elise, "Looks ta me like you were headin' towards Ponyville, and now that we've bumped into ya, I guess we're headin' back that way too."

Elise knew that even though she had won the trust of Pinkie Pie, the town crier and party planner, her obviously large stature and half-breed nature would at least spark some fears. If she could stay with the main ponies of this town, maybe there would be no panic. She grinned nervously, "Could I stay with you ladies for a while? I'm new to town and don't want to get lost."

Twilight nodded, "Of course! I might want to ask you some questions about your nature."

"I guess that's alright."

"Really? Great! I'll run back to the library and retrieve a few books and a list of questions.", she galloped away.

Uhm...

----[ Ponyville Marketplace

All of Ponyville had to be out today, the marketplace was packed with so many ponies that there was hardly any breathing room. All the stands were selling fruits and vegetables of all sorts. Apples, carrots, celery stalks, oranges, corn, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage, cherries, cucumbers and bananas; and that only covered about a twelfth of the variety Elise could spot as she followed the other five mares. The introductions didn't seem necessary to Elise, until she reminded herself that a different existence has different timelines for each of the dimensions within it, and since she hadn't been to this version of Equestria nobody knew her. Though, the curious mares examining her was a little less desirable than getting the full introduction to each of the mares she somewhat knew already.

Rainbow Dash was eyeing where her wings would be, trying to figure out how something half-dragon had no wings. Twilight returned with two books from the library, one on mythological beings and the other on common fauna. Fluttershy was watching to make sure that Elise was moving alright, and that she wasn't faking recovery.

Now I understand why Fyren said being the first to a new world can be uncomfortable., Elise thought to herself.

Fluttershy paused and looked at the long line for a tomato cart, "I need to get some tomatoes, I'll...catch up later."

Applejack nodded, "Alrighty, I'll need ta go see if Bloom's been doin' a good job with th' apple cart."

Fluttershy got in the tomato line while Applejack galloped along towards the apple cart.

Twilight looked up from the two books and levitated a list of questions with a quill, "So according to these you could be either Lithovoric or Carnivorous. Do you know which one?"

Elise hesitated, "I couldn't eat anything like a rock, I'll eat most anything else."

The quill marked the parchment, "Omnivorous, alright. The next question becomes..."

"I wouldn't eat a pony."

Twilight looked up at her, "Well, that question, too. Have you exhibited any habits of dragons?"

"Like?"

"Hoarding things?"

"No."

The quill moved and wrote again, "Do you have fire breathing ability?"

Rarity got between Twilight and Elise, "Twilight, darling, you do not need to bombard this young lady with so many questions so soon. She can tell you what you need to know whenever she's ready."

"But..."

Elise looked at her, "She's right. I've got a lot on my mind, please let me resolve my own questions first."

Twilight closed the books and let them slide into her saddlebags with her list of questions, "Sorry."

"I understand that you want to know about me, but... I don't know if it's time yet."

"You will let me know when you want to, right?"

Elise grinned, "Of course, it shouldn't be too long."

The small group worked their way to the apple cart where both Applejack and Apple Bloom were selling apples. Apple Bloom quickly looked at Elise and galloped over, "Hi, Miss! Can ah interest ya in some quality Apple family Apples?"

Applejack called out to her little sister, "Apple Bloom! Get back over here."

Apple Bloom looked back at her sister, "But Sis..."

Applejack wandered over, "This young lady is Elise, she's the one we found this mornin'."

"Th' one who was badly hurt?"

"Yep, she can heal right quick compared to other things."

"Really? How long does it take for a cut ta heal? Can you break a leg and walk away?"

"Apple Bloom!"

Apple Bloom pulled back, "Oop, sorry..."

Elise grinned, "That's alright, she's young."

Applejack grinned, "She still needs ta learn to be respectful of others, but she's doin' well."

Bloom smiled, "Thanks, Big Sis."

Pinkie Pie appeared from nowhere, "Hey Elise! Your party is all set up!"

She stared at Pinkie for a moment, "That was quick!"

Rarity shrugged a little, "It's what she does, darling."

----[ Ponyville Streets

That evening the party was in full swing, ponies to the left, to the right, and up above. Everypony was having a great time as Pinkie threw a doozy of a double-party. Elise was happy to be there, if she had lived as a kit or youngling, she would probably think of youthful times. This sensation was new to her and she truly enjoyed it, getting into the spirit of partying nearly as much as the host. Party sweets to eat, party appetizers to sample, just plain party everything all around! The only thing that could've made this greater would be if she had Follow with her. She took solace in the fact that she didn't try to bring the youngling. If she had tried to bring Follow along, he may not have survived the botched transfer. The ponies all around her were familiar, even if they didn't know her, still they enjoyed Pinkie's Parties enough to want join in the festivities. A conga line formed behind Elise and she had to go with the flow. Some time went by and she was starting to feel drained, normally her body recovered from any exhausting activity within seconds but for some reason it wasn't. She decided to wander a little in the hopes of finding some place to rest for a moment. A moment's reprieve could be found at a park table where she found Twilight. Even at a party she was buried in books, Elise sat next to her, "Having fun?"

Twilight looked at her, "I guess, isn't this a party for you?"

"Of course, but shouldn't everyone have some fun?"

"Everyone? I guess. Everypony certainly is."

"Still, why bring a book to such a celebration?"

"Like I told Pinkie, I've been doing some research lately."

"On?"

"There are theories that it's possible to create magic powered devices capable of things that normal machines and unicorns aren't. I've been trying to find a way to find the right balance between the two."

"That is a curious field of research, even if it has potential for good, evil, maybe even rifts between."

Twilight seemed surprised, "I know of both the good and evil sides, but I didn't think anypony else would be interested in that combined field."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you what I've seen", with that Elise seemed to drift away into a snooze.

Twilight looked at her, "You know something...don't you..."

Elise curled up mumbling something that Twilight managed to pick up on before entering a soft snore. Pinkie wandered over and looked at the sleeping half-breed, "Aw, there were still so many games we had left to play."

"Pinkie, could you see if Applejack could come and help us move her someplace?"

"Okie-dokie-loki!", Pinkie bounced away.

Twilight lowered her head down close to Elise's muzzle and started listening.

----[ Pathway to Sweet Apple Acres

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight were all walking along the path to the apple farm. Both Applejack and Pinkie were pulling along a small wooden cart that Elise was asleep in. Twilight was keeping up with them, watching Elise's peaceful face as she rested.

Pinkie smiled, "That was so great a party, she's just so tired from all the excitement!"

Applejack nodded, "Ah reckon' that she enjoyed herself like a little foal."

Twilight looked at Applejack briefly, "Applejack, thank you for taking her in."

"T'ain't nothin' to it, Twi, she's a guest here and she needs some shelter from th' night."

"But why would you want to take her to your barn? Why not the guest bedroom?"

"She's bigger'n Big Macintosh, she'd have a mighty hard time movin' about the house. Well, without grazin' ev'ry doorframe an' ceilin' with her head."

Elise mumbled in her sleep, "What if I can't be more than that..."

Twilight listened closely, "Huh?"

Applejack was even listening, "Sounds like she's got some dreams."

"...Fyren I'm...daughter?"

"Some personal one's at that."

They continued along the path and kept a slow pace to not wake the half-breed, Twilight listening to the mumblings all the while. From what she was able to figure out, Elise knew somepony named Fyren, and somepony else named Follow. She guessed that Fyren might be a Dragon or a Fox, and is her father. As for Follow, she couldn't figure out much, just that he said "nafe" a lot, for some reason. Ramblings like these made her think back to a psychology book she read a week ago. These ramblings may mean that Elise was hiding things, serious things, Twilight was even starting to worry that she may not be as peaceful as she seemed throughout the day.

Elise reached out a little, "F-follow...protect you..."

Twilight kept watching her.

"...not a weapon...defense..."

She moved a little closer.

"...not Fate...a weapon..."

Why does she keep talking about weapons?, Twilight thought to herself. She looked at Applejack briefly and could tell that she was also listening in on the mumblings.

"...not going to...mmf...stab me....slash me...all you like...stop you Arla..."

Pinkie was even starting to listen at this point. Twilight moved closer to understand more of what she was saying.

"...m not a weapon. I'm more than just..."

Twilight counted another weapon reference, She must know about different weapons, she just keeps mentioning it.

Elise's forelegs twitched, "...rend every ounce of flesh off of..."

Twilight stepped back as the other two ponies paused.

The mumblings got slightly louder, "...End the war across millennia...no more suffering...more worlds lost...I'm no weapon..."

Twilight jumped back further as Elise's claws spread and encased themselves in crystals.

"...end to bane of all...Fate..."

The ponies looked at each other as the crystals cleared away and her paws relaxed.

"Follow...not your mother...I will protect you...though I were...no need to cry..."

Twilight looked at Applejack, her expression asked the unspoken question. Applejack shook her head, then nodded at Pinkie. The three continued along the path as a light in the farmhouse appeared in the distance.

----[ Sweet Apple Acres

Big Macintosh had lain out a blanket over a pile of hay in the barn as Applejack and Pinkie both moved Elise close. They let her down onto the makeshift bed where she adjusted her position, and curled up into a sleeping ball of fur. The four ponies exited the barn, and as she closed the doors Applejack considered whether or not to latch the bolt incase her guest did something. She didn't lock the door, instead she just walked to the farmhouse with the others following her. Once inside she placed her Stetson on a hook near the front door and walked into the living room. Twilight was deep in thought, trying to figure out exactly what Elise had been through. The fireplace was lit only by a couple of smaller logs, keeping the living room warm compared to the cool temperature outside.

Twilight finished running through what she could remember from this trip and that book, "I'm guessing that Elise has been through a lot more than just a rough landing."

Applejack looked at her sternly, "Ah reckon that with all that weapon talk, she might know her way 'round some war zones."

"Unless she's been living for thousands of years, she couldn't have been in any. Applejack, I'm not sure she just crashed here. I think she might have lost a fight."

"Seems like it, ah thought that bit a jewelry Rarity picked up was a bit off, Elise made crystals appear as longer, sharper claws. That don't settle right with me."

"In a way I'm glad she did that with only us around, if she did that in the middle of Ponyville with everypony around."

"We'd have ev'rypony bein' 'fraida her like it use'ta be with Zecora."

Twilight looked out the window, "Right. Maybe in the morning we can try to figure out what exactly is making her mumble in her sleep."

"Twi, as much as ah'd like to know what all's goin' on inside that head of hers, I just can't shake th' feelin' that there might be some trouble brewin' with her, and we don't need ta risk it bein' caused by meddlin', ya hear?"

Twilight nodded, "Yeah, I guess so. I'm going to go back to the library, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alrighty then, get some rest Twi."

"You, too. Pinkie?"

Pinkie peeked out of the kitchen, "Yeah?"

"We should get back to Ponyville."