The Darkest Storm

Chapters

Night
Odd
Thunderstorm
Harmful
Effort
Restless
Ice
Sins
Catastrophe
Objection and Resolution
Departure
Arrival
Determination

Night

2. Night.

A restless night was the least Ivanhoe needed right now. It had started out nicely, calm, nothing disturbing him but the faint drops of water on the window. The bed was wonderfully soft, cool and warm in all the right places. He wondered if Windy had tried to make them akin to sleeping on clouds, because if he would try to imagine it, this would be the best he could come up with. However, as the night dragged on the more restless he got. And then, at around midnight, he started to hear something.

"Come on...come on..." the voice was nondescript. He could not recognize it, he could not properly hear it, he wasn't even sure if he actually heard it or if he was just dreaming. "Come on, wake up!" yelled the voice with authority. Ivanhoe instantly got up, he was a bit confused but he was up. He looked around the room. "You have been chosen." There it was again, but where was it coming from? Ivanhoe walked around the dark room, listening. "I would not have expected someone like you, somepony so...lacking, a pony that is basically still just a colt."

"I'm legally an adult," said Ivanhoe, very wary of the voice. Where is that coming from?

"Keep telling yourself that. Still, your age is irrelevant. What matters is that you are here."

"What are you talking about?"

"Simple. You are going to save the world, my boy. You are going to make sure it stays the way it should."

"Where are you?"

"Far, far away. I can't stay here long. You are here because I needed you to be here. You have been chosen to carry out the will of something much more than yourself, to do wonders bigger than yourself! All you have to do is listen to me."

"I might not have a choice. Who are you?"

"I am a prince, no, a king. Where the princesses represent the sun and the moon respectively, I speak for the world itself. I do not rule any part of the world, I am it, something the princesses' glory can not quite match. Yet I need your help."

"Right," said Ivanhoe skeptically.

"You doubt. No matter. I need you to do something very important. I need you to get three artifacts. One is in Cloudsdale, the second in the Everfree Forest and the last one is beyond."

"Beyond? Beyond what?" asked Ivanhoe. It was pretty obvious where the voice was coming from now, inside his head. The thought scared the living daylights out of him.

"You'll find out. Let's just say it's impossible to find right now because nopony knows where to look." Ivanhoe was silent for a short moment, waiting for the strange voice to speak again. It didn't say anything else. Ivanhoe's curiosity was piqued.

"Where were the things again? I'm not from around here."

"Cloudsdale, Everfree Forest and beyond. I have made sure that you'll recognize these artifacts when you have them in your sight. Now, of course you don't have to do this, but if you don't, the world will be a terrible place to be in. Are you really ready to take that risk? The options aren't great either way, you can either listen to the voice in your head or just shrug your head, sit back and enjoy the fireworks."

"But I-"

"Sleep on it."

"What is...what is your name?"

"I have no name. I am merely the king of the world."

"Could you tell me more? What's going on? And why me?" asked Ivanhoe but there was no voice to answer him. It was gone. The room was silent again. "Sleep on it, right," said Ivanhoe, realizing he was talking to himself, and that he'd been doing that for several minutes. He just shut up and tried to go back to sleep, which at this stage seemed impossible. There was absolutely no way he was going to- he fell asleep.

***

Sometimes dreaming is like theater, you can't control what happens on stage, sometimes you love it, other times you loathe it. But no matter how much you boo or cheer, those actors, one of which is you, will always carry out their directions. Fortunately, this current dream was one of the good ones. Not great, but not bad either.

"Mother, I'd prefer not to leave my home right now," said Ivanhoe to his mother. Her caring face blurred out, forgotten in this dream.

"Come on now, Son. It's not like Equestria is a bad place, it's quite lovely. Just go if you want to. It will be great fun. A note might just be a good thing to follow. It's like an adventure. Take this opportunity."

"Father, what do you think?" said Ivanhoe to his father who was reading the newspaper.

"Do whatever you want, Son. Don't forget to get back soon. The farm will always be here, needing your help. Although, be a little wild, enjoy yourself as much as you can," said his father with a little chuckle. His face obscured by the paper. Why were their voices getting so blurry?

"Will your girlfriend be coming with you?" asked his mother.

"I don't have a girlfriend, Mother."

"Oh, that's right. Silly me," said his mother and laughed.

"I get the hint, but stop pestering me about that."

"She'll never stop pestering you, Son. Believe me."

"Maybe I should go, just so I can get away from you two a bit. You're a bit much for me right now."

"Well, whatever you want to do, we'll be here when you get back," said his mother.

"Just like always. So, will you be doing writing or chores today? And...oh, is that your breakfast?" asked his father.

"Huh?"

"Grass pancakes? Smells lovely," said his mother, but nopony was cooking. So where did that smell come from? Suddenly there was a knock on the door, a door far away.

"Mr. Ivanhoe? Breakfast!"

"Just a moment, Father. I need to wake up," said Ivanhoe like it was a simple formality. He opened his eyes and looked towards the door. It was morning. He could barely remember what he had heard yesterday. Maybe that was a dream too? His dream-father had to unfortunately wait a lot longer before they could discuss the daily chores. What a funny way for a dream to end. "Eh, come in, Miss Stables, I mean, Windy." The door opened and Windy walked in carrying a tray on her wings.

"Did you have a good night's rest?"

"Yes," he lied to her. It was hardly her fault he couldn't sleep, so why bother telling her otherwise?

"The flowers you planted has already started growing, by the way. You earth ponies certainly have a way with plants."

"Great. Oh, this smells good."

"My own recipe. With grass from our garden."

"Do you have any sugar?"

"Indeed I do," said Windy and opened a little box on the tray.

"Great. Oh, juice too. Fantastic. I'm starving."

"I managed to find a lot of time to prepare your breakfast. You are literately the only guest here right now. This season is even more off than usual."

"What can you do?" Ivanhoe asked and shrugged. "Windy, by the way. Do you know of a place called Cloudsdale?"

"My mother's from there."

"It's a town?"

"A pegasus town. Not that far away from Ponyville. Why do you ask?"

"I want to visit it."

"You'll never get to visit it if you don't have wings. Unless you're planning on making it a very short visit followed by a 7000 feet drop."

"Alright, how about the 'Everfree' Forest?"

"You're not planning on going in there are you? It's dangerous. Then again, if you just want to see the outskirts it's right on the edge of Ponyville, toward the mountains," said Windy.

"Thanks, I might do that."

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, Windy. That's all. Thank you for the breakfast."

"Just leave the tray when you're done, Ivanhoe."

***

The dish had tasted as good as its smell would have had one believe. Afterwards when Ivanhoe walked down the stairs he was remembering the night vividly. That voice without a name... 'The voice without a name', huh, sounded like a good name for a depressing rock band. Still, insane or not, the voice Ivanhoe had heard made him feel uneasy, mostly because it was right. From his point of view it was either right or wrong, and in the off chance it was right...catastrophe. Ivanhoe walked out of the inn, thinking to himself that he had an easy way to check if this was real or not: finding one of the artifacts. Then he could prove to himself he was not insane.

"Yeah, follow the voice in my head to prove I'm not crazy. Seems about right," said Ivanhoe. He noticed that his sudden comment made three mares with flower cutie marks hastily turn around and walk away from him. Ivanhoe didn't bother explaining and kept walking. He didn't really have anything to do. He ended up walking around for almost half an hour before arriving at a park. He decided to sit down on a bench, he needed to relax a bit. Two other mares were there already.

"So, anyway, I sat down in a weird way once, and now I never hear the end of it," said the mare. She had a mint-green coat and light-green mane.
"Please, I drank from a punch bowl without using a cup once and now everyone assume I have a drinking problem!" said the purple mare next to her.

"I thought you did. You did drink a lot of cider a few weeks ago."

"It was an annual thing. Pinkie Pie drank almost ten times more than me!"

"Really?" Ivanhoe asked. They both gave him a really mean look that instantly told Ivanhoe he got here at a bad time. He quickly got out of there. He kept walking. He tried to keep his mind off the fact he heard a voice in his head. For the moment he just enjoyed seeing the town. He stopped by a little pond. He took a deep breath. This town didn't seem to have any flaws at all. Seems like his grandfather just had a thing against ponies from Equestria, though he often had a thing against everyone that wasn't him. What other reason could there be that he had constantly badmouthed everything about Equestria?

"So, what do you think?" asked a familiar voice. The voice of a young dragon.

"Spike, a cape is a look that is really difficult to actually pull off. You would be required to be a knight, or in the least nobility. I see you as noble at times, but that does not mean you would look good in a cape. Frankly it would look more like a security blanket on you. You are technically a baby after all," said a very elegant voice. Ivanhoe looked over and saw Spike and a unicorn walk in his general direction. The unicorn's mane was very well kept. She was completely white with a very purple mane and she walked with grace.

"I don't like it that everypony call me a baby. I'm just as old as most colts around here."

"If that's the case then you are still just a child. A child can not pull off wearing a cape."

"Aw, come on!"

"No means no, Spike. Although, I might be able to make you a hat. Wouldn't that be lovely?"

"I guess," said Spike, visibly disappointed.

"Don't look so glum, Spike. It's not like... Oh, hello," said the unicorn when she noticed Ivanhoe looking at them. She did seem to have some sort of interest in him, oddly enough. She had a look in her eye, a sort of creative spark.

"Oh, it's you," said Spike.

"You know him, Spike?"

"Not really."

"Well, he might be able to pull off wearing a cape. He would have to remove those particular pants, however."

"Him?"

"Well, the color of his coat and mane would help in his case. Do you any idea how hard it is for green and purple to complement each other in fashion?" she said as she seemed to more carefully inspect Ivanhoe's body with her eyes. Ideas seemed to be forming in her head.

"Did you need something?" asked Ivanhoe.

"Oh, well. I was wondering if you could help me with a problem, you are just right for it."

"Him?"

"Me?"

"Oh yes. I need to work on a tuxedo for a client. You have the same slightly taller build that he does."

"He's not that tall," said Spike.

"Hush, Spike. Well, Sir, my name is Rarity. If I may be so bold I wonder if I could ask you for your kind assistance," she said and let her eyes flutter. At first Ivanhoe got the impression she was just trying to use her feminine charms to use him but that thought quickly vanished. She did give him the feeling she had a genuine need for help. Ivanhoe simply shrugged. He didn't have anything better to do today anyway.

"Well sure, I guess."

"Fabulous! This way please. I'll see you tomorrow, Spike," said Rarity and started walking. She was barely able to contain her joy. Ivanhoe started following her, but suddenly he lost his grasp of the ground. He was suddenly levitating, covered in a glow that dragged him with her like he was a balloon. He did not enjoy the experience but he kept himself silent.

***

A while later they approached her house, it was a tower just as extravagant as she was. She opened the front door and dragged him inside. Ivanhoe wasn't prepared when she finally let him go, making him stumble on the ground.

"Just step right over there, Sir. I am very grateful you're doing this for me."

"No, no problem, Miss," said Ivanhoe as he walked up on a little platform.

"Please, call me Rarity. I didn't catch your name."

"It's Ivanhoe Mane."

"That's a lovely name," said Rarity while she was getting out some equipment.

"So, into a lot of fashion?" said Ivanhoe as he did a quick scan of the rooms, with its many mirrors and outfits.

"Oh yes."

"That's sort of...girly, isn't it?" asked Ivanhoe. Rarity glared at him for a second before continuing.

"Not enough ponies understand that fashion is so much more than just making and wearing clothes. It might be seen as feminine, but it is nothing short of art! Capturing an impression and showing it to the world along with emotions. Constantly flowing, changing every year. There is nothing quite like it."

"Aha. Well, I like writing myself."

"Just like a good book is timeless, so is a dress when made by a master. It's difficult, however, and makes writing a book seem like a, well, a much easier task. I wish ponies would see the hard work I put into my work. Inspiration that takes months to fully realize!"

"Don't let her kid you, I made a 'mess' in her room once and she made an entire line of outfits in less than a day," said a small voice suddenly behind him. Ivanhoe turned around. A young filly, probably a relative, looked up at him.

"Sweetie Belle! Don't play in here while I'm working!" said Rarity.

"But you said that..."

"I know what I said, but I'm busy."

"Just like always."

"Hey, I promised you we'd go out and play and I'm going to keep that promise. Just not right now. Now, go on. The sooner I can work the sooner we can have some fun," said Rarity with a caring voice.

"Well, okay..."

"Great, now. Please stand still, Sir," said Rarity. A bunch of needles suddenly floated into view, there were some fabric there too, but Ivanhoe could not keep his sight away from the needles.

***

It took just short of an hour before Rarity was done with her work.

"You are very patient. Do you often pretend to be a statue?" she asked jokingly while removing the half-finished garment.

"No, but I don't mind waiting."

"Thank you very much for all your help."

"I don't think standing around doing nothing really counts as 'help'."

"Nonsense. Sweetie Belle! I'm done, could you get that returned order?!" Rarity yelled up the stairs.

"Coming!" Sweetie Belle yelled back.

"I think you deserve a little something, I recently had a failed order. The customer ordered brown and white, but 'meant' purple and yellow. It would fit you, rather than those old things," said Rarity and pointed at Ivanhoe's old dirty pair of pants.

"I can't accept something like that."

"Please, it would be my pleasure," said Rarity as Sweetie Belle entered the room with a box on her back. Rarity opened it and took out a pair of pants. The top was brown in a similar hue as Ivanhoe's coat, but the lower half of the legs had a few stripes of white. "Please try it on, Ivan."

"Ivanhoe," he corrected while she used her magic to change his pants. It happened in a flash.

"They look great on you!"

"They also look a bit odd, but I do find them comfortable."

"Believe me, they suit you. The design is simple, but it fits you quite well. Which is impressive since they were literally originally designed to be part of a clown-costume."

"What."

"I didn't know that at the time, however. Did cause me to have a bit of a...well, in lack of better terms, a fit."

"You flipped out?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Ladies do not 'flip out', sister dear."

"Well, thank you."

"No, thank you, Mr. Ivanhoe."

***

Ivanhoe didn't expect anything like this today. It was a positive turn of events in an otherwise troubling day. But it was not over yet. Cloudsdale, or Everfree Forest. One or the other. Dangerous woods or walking on clouds? Both seemed like impossibilities. Should he even care?

"So...what did you two do?" asked Spike right behind him. Ivanhoe turned around to look at him.

"What is it with everyone in this town and sneaking up on me?"

"So?"

"So what?"

"What did you do!? Did you help her out?! Did you talk to her or something? Oh, you did, didn't you?! You got really close to her and now she has asked you to be her boyfriend or something this is terrible oh no what am I gonna do this is just awfulstayawayfromheryousneaky...!" Spike was quickly losing his cool and started hyperventilating.

"Calm down."

"AndthenyouandherwillhavelikeamillionfoalsandI'lljustbethatreallyweirduncleobsessedwith-"

"Calm down!" Ivanhoe yelled and gave him a slight smack across the face.

"pineapples... Ouch."

"Sorry, but you're overreacting, Kid. I don't even know her. She just needed help with some of her 'art'."

"Oh, great," said Spike and a sigh of relief quickly followed.

"Aren't you a little young to- you know what? I'd rather not think about the implications of that. I'm off. Have a nice day, young dragon," said Ivanhoe and walked away.

"Hey, hey wait!" said Spike and hurried to keep up.

"Something wrong?"

"Well, no, but, who are you anyway?"

"I told you yesterday, my name is-"

"I know, but who are you? You sort of smell weird."

"Well, I did just stay still on a single spot for about an hour in a boutique surrounded by needles and someone who kept using magic on me. Ugh, imagine how much I must've been sweating."

"Well, where are you from?"

"Ask your employer. I'm hungry again, I need to go eat something."

"Twilight? She's not really my employer. More like, my big sister, I guess."

"Her?"

"Well, yeah. She even hatched me."

"So she's also like your mother?"

"No, my mom is my mom. Well, the princess was sort of like a mom. She raised me."

"As in, Celestia?"

"Yep."

"You actually, actually seriously know the princess?"

"Both of them. Twilight is a good friend of princess Luna."

"Who's princess Luna?" asked Ivanhoe. Spike just glared at him like Ivanhoe was crazy.

"Cool, I've never met a pony who was born in a cave before," said Spike and rolled his eyes.

"Your 'sister' had a similar reaction."

"You don't know her? Princess Luna? Nightmare Moon? Ring any bells? Seriously, it should ring so hard you should be going deaf."

"I'm not from around here."

"Or anywhere close for that matter."

"Still, a second princess? It mentioned 'princesses' now when I think about it," said Ivanhoe and thought about last night.

"How come you like pants?"

"I wear pants because they have pockets."

"You're weird, you know that?"

"And you're purple."

"And I'm out of here," said Spike and simply left.

"He's not the only one," said Ivanhoe and continued on with his day.

***

"Welcome back, Ivanhoe. Did you have a good day?" said Windy as Ivanhoe entered the inn. The night had arrived.

"So so. I'm almost considering leaving."

"Oh no, why?"

"It's a very nice town, but not much seem to be going on in it."

"You're just here in an off season. Believe me, a lot of things happen here, all the time. Dragons, chaotic gods, eternal nights, stampedes of bunnies. You're just lucky nothing interesting is going on right now."

"I'm not that lucky."

"Will you eat tonight?"

"No, thank you. I already ate."

"Alright. Oh, nice pants."

"Thanks. I'm tired. Good night, Windy," said Ivanhoe and went up the stairs.

"'Night. Will you be coming to the party?"

"The party?"

"A local pony is holding a party during the night of the summer sun celebration. She loves creating parties and they are often great."

"I suppose I might as well come. When is the celebration?"

"In two days."

Odd

3. Odd.

A nice, calm night's rest was exactly what he needed. No voices in his head, no urges to solve any mysteries. Just sleep. That's exactly what he got. He got up, took a bath, and then went down for some breakfast.

"Good morning, Windy," said Ivanhoe. She was behind the desk as usual. This morning she didn't have her usual smile, she didn't even seem happy. In fact she just stared at a piece of paper. "Windy?"

"Oh, what? Excuse me, Ivanhoe."

"I was on my way to the lunchroom, but you seem to be busy."

"No, I'm not busy. Just some troubling news."

"What news?"

"It's my parents, they decided... No, sorry. I shouldn't lay my troubles on the guests. Would you like breakfast?"

"Please. Could I get another batch of grass pancakes? They were delicious."

"Just a moment," said Windy and walked out of the room, into the kitchen. She had left her note on the desk. Ivanhoe considered reading it, he even reached for it, but he immediately stopped. Her private matters were none of his concern. He respected that.

***

After breakfast he walked outside to explore as was his new daily routine. He wanted to know why the notes wanted him here for. And why the library? Could it have been that voice? It was ridiculous, but still. It was certainly possible. That was when Ivanhoe decided to walk to the library again. Perhaps it said something about a king in one of the books. He just hoped it wasn't closed, although the odds were not in his favor. As Ivanhoe walked through the town on this very sunny and warm day he was looking at everything he possibly could. Everything was just fine. End of the world, right. It had probably just been a dream. Why listen to a dream? He was a rational pony, he was going to confirm it. If it said about a king of the world it would be in there. It didn't take long for him to reach the library. He knocked on the door. Spike opened it.

"You again?"

"Sorry, but would it be too much trouble if I did some research here?"

"Dude, we are close-"

"Sir, if you have any general questions I can probably answer them," said Twilight's voice. She appeared at the door.

"Oh, I see. Do you know anything about a 'king of the world'?"

"I am very certain I've never read anything about that."

"Are you sure?"

"Listen, she's the smartest pony in the entire town. She has read more this month than you have your entire life! If Twilight says it's not in one of these books, that's just the way it is," said Spike. It wasn't aggressive or protective, it was with pride he said it.

"Well, that might be true," said Twilight a little embarrassed.

"If that's the case, thank you," said Ivanhoe and then walked away from the library. See? That wasn't that hard. No need to fly up in the clouds or walk into a forest. It didn't exist. Everything was just fine, except the part of him hearing a voice in his head. He realized he might need to visit a doctor within the week.

"Ivanhoe!" a voice suddenly yelled. Ivanhoe looked around, trying to find its origin. It was definitely Windy's voice. She landed right in front of him. "I just saw you from up there and I wondered if you would like to be shown around town," said Windy and folded her wings.

"What about the inn?"

"I've put up a sign saying I'll be back within a couple of hours. It was just so boring in there. I figured I might as well just get some fresh air."

"Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind a tour from somepony sane."

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Great. Come on, I'll show you Sweet Apple Acres," said Windy and started walking. Ivanhoe followed her.

"You mentioned that you were working at the inn as a punishment. What did you do? If I may ask."

"I accidentally burned the greenhouse to the ground."

"What?"

"I had an internship as a weather-mare. I took one of the clouds over our house, thinking it was a raincloud...it was a storm cloud."

"Oh."

"Yeah... Got fired at once."

"I've heard about that. It's different in my village, well, most of my country. The clouds there move on their own."

"Really? Freaky. It's the same in the Everfree Forest, by the way. Why did you ask me about that forest anyway?"

"Just curious. While I'm here."

"Are you from far away?"

"Yes. Quite far."

"I have lived here in Ponyville my entire life. My mom is from Cloudsdale and my dad is also from here. I was born in Cloudsdale, however. My dad had to borrow a huge balloon to be there during the birth."

"A balloon?"

"Oh yeah, but there are not many around now. I think Twilight Sparkle might have one though. Or she knows where to borrow one anyway."

"Well, it's not like it matters now, but thank you for telling me."

"Thank you for making the wait for this celebration a little less boring."

"I'm not doing much."

"But you actually make me work. I hate just sitting around."

"I can see how that would bother you. Since you're a pegasus."

"Excuse me?"

"You know, that you can fly. If I could fly I don't think I would spend a whole hour inside a house."

"It's overrated. When I see my dad looking at my mom sometimes, it's like he's sad. I get the impression he wished he could fly just like me and mom, like he just wished he could overcome his limitation, like he could break a rule about not flying we don't even have."

"Or maybe he's just sad he can't fly with the two of you."

"That might be it...I remember when mom taught me to fly for the first time. He looked so happy."

"Wait, 'taught'? Don't you pegasi learn by doing?"

"Most of us do, some however are a little slow. I certainly was. How about you? How are your parents like?"

"Both are earth ponies, most in my village are. Both are farmers."

"Okay, they are farmers, sure, but what do you think about them? Annoying? Lovely?"

"Really nice ponies both of them. Strict, but caring, in my opinion. Although, my mother keeps saying I should start thinking about settling down. I haven't even started my life yet. My father is more lenient though."

"My mother is the strict one too. My father isn't very assertive at all, except when it comes to the inn. It's been in our family for about two and a half generations now. It was here at the very founding of the town."

"It certainly did seem to have a lot of history."

"It sure does. How about your farm?"

"Nothing special about it at all. Built by my grandfather a few years before he passed away. It was actually a gift to make my mother's family allow a marriage between her and my father."

"Wait, what?" she asked with surprise.

"There's a lot of that were I come from. It's just part of our culture. I, however, never appreciated tradition much. I prefer a more practical approach to my life."

"Aha."

"Yeah. So, this Sweet Apple Acres, where is it?"

"On the outskirts of town, near the forest," said Windy as they kept walking. After that they actually didn't talk much the rest of the way, Ivanhoe didn't mind chatting, but Windy seemed to be somewhat quiet after talking about her family.

***

Before long they started walking on a path out of the town and then he saw it. It was like a sea of apple trees. Sweet Apple Acres certainly wasn't false advertising. "Sometimes when I fly over the Apple-family's farm, I can smell their pies. It's heavenly."

"I don't like pies."

"What? Everypony likes pie!"

"Except for me."

"Why? That's insane."

"I'm just not a fan, it's just a mush inside some sweet bread, basically. If I eat it I at least want it covered in whipped cream."

"You're a bit odd, Ivanhoe," said Windy and smiled. Then she looked somewhat horrified. "I am so sorry, Sir! I should not say something so unflattering about a customer."

"Relax, Windy. I'm not offended by something like that."

"Thank Celestia. If you complained and my mother heard about it, why I would be in so much trouble."

"You're an adult."

"But she's still my mother," said Windy with a serious look on her face. Suddenly they heard something from the large buildings at the end of the road. It was a dog barking. "Is that Winona?"

"I hope it's a dog, otherwise somepony might have escaped from the mental ward."

"Was that a joke?" asked Windy and gave him a subtle smile.

"I've been known to make a few to lighten the mood," answered Ivanhoe. As they got closer they suddenly saw something odd. A brown and white dog was running all over the place. Trailing behind it due to being stuck in a leash, desperately trying to get it under control, was a little yellow filly.

"Applebloom!" exclaimed Windy and rushed to help. Winona the dog was in a state of panic, she jumped straight over Windy, Applebloom collided with her but it didn't stop her. Windy just fell over. Winona jumped towards Ivanhoe who in a moment of calm took a step to the side, and bit off the leash. The young filly finally stopped.

"Ow, that hurts," said Applebloom. Ivanhoe noticed a strange accent he was unable to place, but he didn't say anything except:

"Are you alright?"

"It hurts all over, but I'll be okay."

"Good. Windy, you?"

"I'm fine too." answered Windy.

"Thanks a lot, Mister, I don't know what happened. I was trying out the new leash, and she just went wild and started running around like a chicken." Ivanhoe looked for Winona, but she was gone. Probably off to hide somewhere.

"Where's your sister, or granny, Applebloom?"

"Applejack's in Canterlot today, she won't come home until the celebration tomorrow. Granny's sleeping. Big Mac is in the barn though."

"Come on, let's go get your father," said Ivanhoe.

"Brother," corrected Windy.

"Oh, right."

"I'll be fine, Windy, really. I'm more worried about Winona. She's never panicked like this before," said Applebloom.

"Let's go get your brother just in case," said Windy and walked off with Applebloom. Ivanhoe followed them while they walked over the dirt to the barn. It really was a farm, it had a very strong scent of hay and apples, just to name a few of the scents flowing through the air. It reminded Ivanhoe of home, except this was so much better. These buildings were really well built. Would his grandfather still have been alive to see this he would've been insanely jealous. Ivanhoe waited outside the barn while Windy took Applebloom inside. After a while she came out again, followed with Applebloom on the back of a big, really big, red pony. He looked even calmer than Ivanhoe. "Do you need any help, Big Macintosh?"

"Nope," he said with a somewhat deep voice.

"I'll see you on the night of the celebration, right?"

"Eeyup."

"We'll just leave. I do hope you get better, Applebloom," said Windy.

"Bye, Windy!" said Applebloom as the siblings went inside their house not far from the barn.

"Really chatty, that one," said Ivanhoe.

"He's just shy, but he's a really nice guy. I almost thought about asking him for a date last Hearts and Hooves Day, but I didn't."

"Are you sure he's the shy one?" teased Ivanhoe.

"Hey, he barely knows who I am. I don't want to bother him. It's just a waste of time."

"Maybe you should ask him out for this celebration?" suggested Ivanhoe.

"Maybe I should."

"No, wait, don't listen to me, I give horrible advice," said Ivanhoe.

"I was joking, Ivanhoe. I wanted to ask him out because I hoped he would bring a pie to a picnic," said Windy with a smile. Ivanhoe smiled right back and then turn to take in the wonderful surroundings.

"This is a very nice place."

"It is. You might be interested in that this very place was the reason Ponyville was founded."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

"That's quite interesting."

"My family's inn was one of the first buildings built here after ponies were starting to become interested in the town."

"You mentioned that earlier, or something like it," said Ivanhoe and stopped along the way. He rested his front hooves on the fence, looking over the trees. "I love the smell here, very calming," said Ivanhoe and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, it's certainly somethin- what was that?" said Windy suddenly surprised. Ivanhoe turned around, Windy was looking at the sky in the other direction.

"What was what?"

"I thought I saw something, could you wait here? I'll be right back," said Windy and suddenly took off into the sky. Ivanhoe just looked at her as she took off.

"Those pegasi sure are quick," said Ivanhoe. Realizing he was talking out loud yet again. He sighed and breathed in the fresh air once more. It didn't take very long for Windy to return. "What was it?"

"Nothing, I didn't find anything. Odd, I was sure I was something up there. Behind the clouds."

"What did you think you saw then?"

"A cloud."

"A cloud up in the sky? Wow, we better alert the authorities."

"Don't be sarcastic, it doesn't suit you. Whatever it was it didn't look like anything I've ever seen before. It was a cloud...but it was wrong somehow. It was just off. It was black like coal."

"Like a storm cloud?"

"No, nothing like that. It was probably just my mind playing tricks on me."

"Well, if that's the case, should we perhaps go back?"

"Yeah, why not?" said Windy and started walking again.

"By the way, Windy. This party, is it formal attire? I have nothing like that."

"I doubt anything with Pinkie Pie would ever be formal," said Windy and chuckled.

"Pinkie Pie? She's going to the party?"

"What? No. She's the host," said Windy.

"I suddenly consider not going."

"She can get on the nerves of ponies, I know. But she's a lot of fun if you just let go for a bit. Not to mention she might be the nicest pony in all of Ponyville. That's no small feat in this town."

"Well, alright. I'll come to the party. Maybe it was just a bad first impression. I don't like surprises, and she certainly surprised me when we first met."

"Oh, you've met her... She sang to you, didn't she?"

"And did a little dance. It was coming up behind me that bothered me the most."

"Well, I'm sure you'll have a great time," said Windy with a smile.

"I'll certainly try my best."

Thunderstorm

4. Thunderstorm.

The next day started out very calm, quiet. As time went on Ivanhoe did notice a change in the locals. They were excited. Apparently the party was going to be one of the biggest Miss Pie had ever organized. Everypony in town, and even a few from outside of town, were going to be there. It would be held in and just outside the town hall. Ivanhoe heard Pinkie Pie had gotten special permission from the local mayor.

"Too bad Celestia won't be here this year," said a mare to her friend as Ivanhoe walked past them.

"Last year wasn't a lot of fun, if you remember?" said her friend with a meaningful stare.

"I'm just saying," she responded and shrugged. Ivanhoe ignored them. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been to a party before. Maybe when he was a little colt? Didn't matter. He was going to have a good time, he was convinced he would. He had almost forgotten about the whole doomsday voice-dream. He suddenly saw the librarian Twilight, the odd Pinkie Pie, and a blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail talk to each other.

"But Rainbow! It's the summer sun celebration! Can't you have the storm another day?"

"You're still not listening to me, Pinkie! I'm saying something is wrong! We have all been complaining to the weather factory and they are been busting their rumps to find the problem and fix it as fast as they can. I'm just saying that you might want to hold the party completely inside. Just in case we don't fix it in time."

"Do you know what the problem is?" asked Twilight to the pegasus seemingly named Rainbow.

"Somepony up top says some idiot probably spilled rainbows into the cloud makers. My money's on that it was Ditzy."

"You always say it's Ditzy," said Twilight.

"Well, it's often her fault. She's as clumsy as, as..."

"As Twilight is on ice!" Pinkie chimed in, resulting in an annoyed glare from Twilight.

"Anyway, just don't forget there might be some problems later. Got to fly!" said Rainbow and went off into the sky so quickly Ivanhoe couldn't even follow her with his eyes.

"Well, whatever the problem is I'm sure they- Ivanhoe Mane? Hello again," said Twilight when she noticed him.

"Hello, Twilight. Who was your friend?"

"Rainbow Dash, weather-mare. We sure bump into each other a lot."

"I was just on my way to a café when I overheard you talking about a storm."

"Problems at the-"

"No problems at all! I'm sure Rainbow Dash will take care of it in time for the party! I can't wait! Can you? Can you?" Pinkie Pie asked rapidly to both Twilight and Ivanhoe.

"I'm patient, no rush."

"And I'm...late! I'm late!" said Twilight. Suddenly her horn was glowing brightly, and in a flash she disappeared into thin air.

"What was that!?" Ivanhoe yelled out in complete shock.

"That was just Twilight teleporting, she does that sometimes," said Pinkie Pie with her constant smiling. Ivanhoe kept starring at the spot Twilight had disappeared from. He eventually calmed down a bit from the shock.

"I think I'll be off again. I'm thinking about getting a souvenir from my visit here."

"You're leaving?"

"Not today, but perhaps tomorrow," said Ivanhoe. The mystery of the note would have to be a riddle for the ages, never solved, always in the back of his mind, teasing him. He didn't care that much. The trip had mostly just been for recreational purposes anyway. A party would be a nice end to it all. He wasn't even sure he would come back at all.

"Well, have fun at the party," said Pinkie Pie as Ivanhoe continued walking.

"Goodbye, Miss Pie."

"Hi hi, that rhymes," said Pinkie and seemingly bounced away.

***

Ivanhoe returned to Steady Stables Inn at about sunset. Windy just walked in from the back room. She was wearing a necklace but nothing else.

"Hi, Ivanhoe. The party's about to start soon and I was just about to leave."

"Maybe we can go together? I just have to leave my souvenir," said Ivanhoe. It was a single, rather cheap pendant. He got it from a sale somewhere. He hardly even remembered where the shop was where he had bought it.

"Great. I just need to check the- oh no!" said Windy.

"What?"

"Half of the flowers are dead!"

"Which flowers?"

"The ones we prepared a few days ago," said Windy and looked into the back room.

"Well, only half? That's not so bad."

"I knew I shouldn't have tried to do it myself. I knew pegasi aren't as good with planting as earth ponies but I didn't know I was that terrible."

"Hey, maybe you just forgot to water them. You'll do better next time."

"I hope. My father is better with gardening than me, he should've done it before they left."

"Well, I'll be right down so we can leave," said Ivanhoe and hurried up to his room. He unlocked his door, went inside, left the pendant in his bag and quickly went down again in short order.

"This isn't a date, is it?" asked Windy.

"Certainly not. We're just...friends, right? Either that or just a customer and innkeeper. That's fine too," said Ivanhoe and gave a calm smile.

"Of course we're friends."

"Wow, my first friend."

"What?"

"In Ponyville, of course."

"Where are you from, by the way?"

"A little village far away called Marehaven."

"Never heard of it."

"Just like I never heard of Ponyville," said Ivanhoe and held the front door open for her to walk out.

"Thank you, good sir," she said in an overly posh voice.

"You're welcome, fine madame," said Ivanhoe right back at her. They couldn't resist laughing a bit while Windy closed the inn. In the distance Ivanhoe could see colored lights in the middle of town. They were on their way.

***

After a short walk to their destination Windy looked up with awe on the town hall.

"Pinkie Pie sure outdid herself this time," said Windy.

"It's quite impressive either way," said Ivanhoe. The town hall was almost covered in flowers and lavish but beautiful decorations in all conceivable colors. There were so many balloons Ivanhoe almost feared the building would be ripped from its foundation and simply fly away into the last of the fading sunlight. It was a sight to behold. It was, however, only the tip of the iceberg in terms of creating a festive atmosphere. What really sold the image of this being the party of the decade was the ponies already there. Probably more than a hundred ponies on the outside alone. Eating sweets, cake or food from the tables. Wearing crazy party hats and dancing to a small but certainly fantastic band whose skill might be better suited for an orchestra. Ivanhoe had never seen something this lively before. He couldn't help but to let out an excited and surprised chuckle at the very sight. The lights hanging from lines above the whole scene had all kinds of colors. Ivanhoe and Windy walked together further into the area. Ponies were dancing to the band.

"Never been in something like this, have we, Octavia?" asked the male playing the piano to a gray pony playing the hay out a cello like there was no tomorrow. They all looked classy, yet the atmosphere seemed to have an almost intoxicating, energetic effect on them. They, like many other ponies there, looked liked they were having the time of their lives.

"Shut up and play, Frederic! The night is still young!" she yelled, filled with energy, yet looking oddly composed at the same time.

"Come on, DJ! Or are we just too much for ya?" the piano player shouted to a white pony with a blue, almost electric mane with purple sunglasses. She didn't say anything, she just smiled and kept making the music.

"This is amazing!" said Windy and looked around everywhere. She suddenly ran off and started chatting with some other ponies, probably her friends. Ivanhoe wanted to see how the town hall looked like, so he walked up the stairs. He took a quick glance at the sky before he went in. The night sky was completely clear. Looked like the pegasi had fixed the problem. The sun was no longer shining upon the land. It was night, but the cello-player was right, the night was still young.

***

The inside of the building wasn't quite as lavish as the outside, but it was no less festive. There was even a band in here too and a huge dance floor. Ivanhoe could basically see everypony he had met or seen since he first got here. Twilight was talking to Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and two other ponies Ivanhoe have never seen before. They all danced too, seemingly good friends. Ivanhoe never danced however, he had four left hooves. He certainly didn't mind the music though.

"I curse the name, the one behind it aaaall!" sang the pony at the band in here. It seemed to be some sort of pop-band. Ivanhoe had absolutely no taste in music however, nor did he know a lot of genres. Music was music, why complicate it?

"This is great," said Ivanhoe.

"Sure is!" said a voice suddenly behind him. Ivanhoe was used to it now, he turned around and looked at Spike. He was wearing a very small tuxedo...and a cape.

"I never expected something like this in a town this small," said Ivanhoe.

"I bet Pinkie Pie would've made it like this last time, but since the princess was supposed to be here we had to make it much more official. This is still fantastic though. Want a cupcake?" asked Spike and offered him a half-eaten cupcake.

"Eh, no thank you. I'd rather go for some hay."

"I can't sit idly, no, I can't move at all!" the singer continued.

"I've never been to a party like this. I remember a little party at school, but that's it. Nothing more."

"We get parties here a lot thanks to Pinkie Pie but this is way beyond her normal limit. I even saw Hoity Toity! I was sure he would be in Canterlot."

"Who?"

"A stallion into fashion."

"Oh. Not interested in that, I'm afraid...and what's with the tuxedo?" asked Ivanhoe. He was more curious about the freaking cape, but baby steps.

"Do you like it? Made from leaves."

"What?"

"Magic."

"Oh. And the cape?"

"Looks cool, doesn't it?"

"It looks like a security blanket."

"I have claws and can breathe fire. It. Looks. Good," said Spike quite annoyed and left.

"He would look better in a scarf," said a nearby pony with a brown coat, spiky hair and an hourglass for a cutie mark before he walked off. Ivanhoe was really hungry so he went to the table for something to eat.

"So, so, so, so, so why aren't you in Canterlot with the rest of The Wonderbolts, Soarin?" asked Rainbow Dash with a weak voice to a pegasus-pony in a very odd blue getup with yellow lighting bolts on the sides.

"I was, but then I heard about the party and that there would be food by a certain Applejack. I came here for the pies," answered the pony. Ivanhoe noticed he was eating a pie off a table while doing so.

"Speaking of pies," said a voice behind Ivanhoe, again. Ivanhoe turned around. There was a orange pony with a cowboy hat partly covering her long blond mane.

"Here you go, kind sir," said the mare and handed Ivanhoe a little box. Ivanhoe recognized her accent.

"You're Applebloom's sister, aren't you? Applejack, was it?"

"Sure am. She told me about how you helped her out with Winona. That could've ended badly, so here you go, Sir. A pie to show you our appreciation. Made with the best apples, love and care," said Applejack and handed Ivanhoe a package with a nice red ribbon rapped around it.

"Eh...thank you... Do you have some whipped cream?"

"Such a kidder! I like you, Sir. You're alright!" she said. She was very energetic, not like Pinkie Pie who just seemed sort of random. This one was more amicable and sensible.

"How did you know who I was?"

"Why, I asked Windy of course! We don't know each other that well, but she's a sweet one."

"Have you found your dog yet?"

"She was hiding out under the porch. Shaking more than maracas used by rattlesnakes in a tumble dryer!"

"What."

"She was spooked, no clue why. She's a little better now, which is a relief to us all. Still won't eat, I'm afraid."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't you worry, she'll be running around in no time, and this time she won't be draggin' no sisters around."

"I certainly hope not," said Ivanhoe and placed Applejack's gift on a nearby table.

"I heard you were a visitor from far away, that right?"

"Yes."

"I have family all over Equestria, so I know what it's like to travel."

"I only have family outside of Equestria."

"Oh, don't let my granny hear that. She's sweet like strawberries but she's often real cautious around ponies from outside Equestria."

"Really? Why?"

"She has this story about how a family from outside the land promised they would burn down her apple trees one day, so she's a little suspicious about them coming and keeping their promise."

"If I decide to burn something down I'll be sure to tell you," said Ivanhoe.

"That was a good one. I didn't hear your name though."

"Ivanhoe Mane."

"Mane, huh? For a moment I thought you were related to-"

"Not Calamity Mane," said Ivanhoe.

"I know, I know. Oh, there's my brother! Have a nice time now, Ivanhoe," said Applejack and walked past him towards Big Macintosh who had just entered through the front door.

"You too, Applejack," said Ivanhoe. He glanced at the package containing his pie. He certainly appreciated the gesture, but he doubted he would enjoy the pie.

"Hey, Ivanhoe. Having fun?" asked Windy.

"I haven't even started enjoying myself yet."

"You're lagging. I've already had a daffodil-pizza."

"That sounds pleasant... Wait, isn't that poisonous?"

"Oh, um, maybe...I'll be right back," said Windy and hurried out with a nervous look on her face. Ivanhoe went over to a nearby cake, it looked so delicious it made his mouth water but before he was able to take a slice he had to stop. He was suddenly feeling a bit ill, his head ached and he felt strangely empty inside.

"Ugh, not enough water today," said Ivanhoe and went over to a punch bowl.

"Berry, want some punch?" asked a mare to her somewhat familiar friend.

"For the last time, Bon Bon: no!"

"Whatever," said Ivanhoe and ignored them. This sudden ailment wasn't exactly a good start to the party so he couldn't bother with anything right now. He drank several glasses of the punch. It helped, but now he didn't crave something to drink. He needed, quite desperately, food. He started to eat from the buffet.

"I shouldn't have starved myself for this just because the food was supposed to be good," said Ivanhoe while he was eating. "But, this is good." He ate quite a lot before he was full. At least the headache was over.

"The tasty treats, are they sweet?" asked a calm voice behind him.

"Very."

"A celebration at a time like this is all well and good, it us just unfortunate the situation is not understood."

"Wait, what?" asked Ivanhoe and turned around. It wasn't a pony, it turned out to be a zebra. Ivanhoe had seen a few in his life, not many, though. The voice was familiar, the one he met the day he got here. She had beautiful eyes and grace.

"A dark time lies ahead, the dark storm will be led."

"What storm? Led? By who? What are you talking about?"

"The who is not quite clear, I only know of the fear."

"Who are you?"

"Zecora is my name, may I ask you the same?"

"Ivanhoe Mane. It's nice to meet you but what are you talking about?"

"I came here to warn of doom, for danger is here soon."

"Warn me?"

"Of course not, dear friend, it is Twilight Sparkle I must attend," said Zecora and walked past him.

"Okay."

"What?" asked Windy who walked up to him.

"Something pretty strange, but it doesn't matter. Did you have any trouble?"

"No, the chef prepared them right. I'm alright. Do you want to dance?"

"Well, I'd rather not. It is not one of my skills."

"Not for me either!" said Windy and pulled him onto the dance floor. Windy started dancing to the music, she was lying, she was a great dancer. She moved with grace despite the high beat of the song. Ivanhoe was just awkwardly standing in front of her, unsure on how he should move. "Come on Ivanhoe. Just move to the rhythm, said Windy."

"I know how to dance, I'm just terrible at it."

"Try!"

"Alright, alright," said Ivanhoe and started to dance.

"You look good in those pants."

"They are pretty spacious for dancing," said Ivanhoe.

"I haven't seen your cutie mark now when I think about it. So what is it? A pencil? A quill? A book?"

"It's a pencil and a dagger crossed."

"Oh, a dagger. For adventuring no doubt," she said a bit excited at the thought.

"Writing about it anyway," said Ivanhoe and smiled.

"Nice."

"What's yours? I haven't noticed," said Ivanhoe and quickly took a peek. It was two yellow stars with five points each. "So what does that have to do with painting?"

"It's about capturing beauty in the moment. I got it after I painted a starry sky, where two little stars were shining so brightly it made the moon seem pale. It was beautiful."

"I got mine really late, I was just writing a dull story, and I kept going because I like writing it. Junk, of course, but junk I enjoyed making."

"Are you really that bad? It sounds like your just have a poor self-esteem when it comes to your work."

"No, I know it's just okay at best. I'm fine with that."

"I don't think I've met a pony who's just okay at his special gift. That makes you sort of special."

"We're all special, in our own way," said Ivanhoe. He tripped over his own legs. He got up somewhat embarrassed. Windy laughed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that just looked so funny," said Windy and tried to stop.

"It's alright," said Ivanhoe. Suddenly there was a large boom from outside. A flash went through the room. Everypony stopped with what they were doing, even the music.

"Thunder? But there's nothing scheduled today," said Windy a bit surprised.

"Looks like the weather factory didn't solve the problem after all," said Ivanhoe. He could see gray storm clouds outside, it was dark though, so he could barely make them out.

"A problem?"

"Something like that. I heard it from someone," said Ivanhoe. Pinkie Pie hurried out of the town hall and a while later she came back in with the outside band.

"So what do we do now?" asked the gray pony leading the band.

"Got a problem with lyrics?" asked Pinkie Pie with a grin. A while later the both bands played together and the party kept going just as it had before. It was simply great.

"Too bad about the weather, Pinkie Pie," said Twilight to her friend.

"It's okay, Twilight. I'm prepared!"

"Wow, nothing can make her stop smiling," said Ivanhoe rather impressed.

"Not even the end of the world," said Windy and shook her head with a smile.

***

Hours upon hours later the night was no longer young, and most ponies there were starting to feel like old farts themselves. The joined bands were sweating like they were playing under the scorching heat of a desert sun, but they kept going thanks to their passion of music, the quality didn't even suffer. The party's pace was slowing down, but it was still a party and everypony didn't stop to smile, only to rest their feet. Twilight suddenly got up on the stage.

"Everypony, attention! Celestia will soon raise the sun from Canterlot! If you all go outside you will see the sun coming up over the mountains!" announced Twilight with joy. Everypony started to walk outside. Ivanhoe was in no rush.

"Come on, Ivanhoe, or you'll miss it!" said Windy.

"What's so special about the sun rising? It's just the sun."

"But Celestia raises it faster today, come on," said Windy and started pulling him.

"I've seen the results of the sun rising quickly. It's just unnatural for me. Tends to make most back home nervous," said Ivanhoe.

"Come on! It'll look great," said Windy and practically forced him outside. It was still very dark. But the first rays of the new day started to shine on the mountains. They waited.

"Any second now," said Twilight, quite excited. Then they saw it rise. Very quickly in a smooth movement the sun became visible, its warm rays shining on them all. That's when they saw it. Small parts of the sky still looked like they belonged to a starry night sky. Like stains on the blue sky, a mixture of blue and black. When Ivanhoe took a closer look, he saw what the dark parts were. They were clouds, clouds darker than the deepest depths of any land. Glistening with sparkling, purple parts resembling foreboding dark stars. The sky wasn't exactly fully covered, but the parts that did have them made everypony there very uneasy.

"What's going on?"

"Is that normal?"

"Somepony fix this!"

"I knew I didn't imagine it," said Windy to Ivanhoe.

"That's what you saw at the acres?"

"Yeah."

"What the hay is this doing here? Don't worry, everypony, I'm on it! Somepony help me out!" yelled Rainbow Dash with confidence. She and two other ponies flew up there quickly like lightning. Then all three was hit by it. In front of the shocked eyes of everypony a dark and purple lightning hit the two pegasi right after it hit Rainbow Dash right in her forehead. All three were knocked out of the sky but it was Rainbow Dash who was hit the worst. She was twitching violently as she fell. Several ponies screamed as she was hurled towards the ground by the initial force of the strike.

Harmful

5. Harmful.

Just before Rainbow Dash hit the ground she was gently stopped by a purple glow that seemed to catch her and hold her up. It was clear that Twilight had saved her with magic.

"Rainbow! Are you okay!?" exclaimed Rarity in shock.

"These animals are all trying to steal my slippers," muttered Rainbow Dash barely aware of the situation.

"She needs medical attention! Quickly, Twilight, take us to the hospital," said a unicorn-stallion with authority.

"You got it, Doctor!" said Twilight. They were literally gone in a flash.

"Will Rainbow be alright?" asked Spike and pulled at Pinkie Pie's mane. He sounded far from confident, he sounded afraid, like a child.

"She'll be alright, she's been in more trouble than this before," said Pinkie Pie. Ivanhoe wasn't quite sure she was convinced about that herself. Spike seemed to calm down a bit, however.

"You better be a good boy and get her some of her Daring Do books, Spike," said Rarity with a encouraging, calming voice like it was no big deal.

"And write to Celestia about this too!" added Applejack.

"What are we going to do about the clouds?" asked a pegasus nearby.

"I don't know. I can't get home to Cloudsdale now! Did you see that? As soon as she tried to get above the clouds they fried them!" said another pegasus, worried.

"This is bad, if these clouds don't go away, we won't be able to make it rain. All the ponies in Cloudsdale will starve within a few weeks! They depend on the food from the ground," Windy told Ivanhoe. There was fear in her eyes and nothing but unrest in the air.

"Come on, Applejack, give these ponies some advice or something," said Pinkie Pie under her breath. Applejack jumped up on the empty stage.

"Listen up, everypony. Everything is alright! The important thing here is that we stay calm. Now, just in case, we better get back to our homes and prepare them for the worst possible thing. Let's not forget a lot of the pegasi can't fly home, so those of you that have any room, please be willing to lend our friends a hoof and shelter."

"There's plenty of room in my family's inn!" yelled Windy. Ponies cheered in response. Windy turned to Ivanhoe. "Sorry Ivanhoe, if this bugs you I'll give you a discount."

"I don't mind, you're doing what's right."

"Thank you."

"Now, everypony go home while we-" Applejack started saying, then there was a new voice.

"Not so fast! a voice yelled out. It was almost echoing in the air, it was large, filled with authority and so strict it reminded Ivanhoe of his mother. The worst thing of it all was the fact that it was coming from right behind Ivanhoe. He saw everypony in front of him suddenly bowing down in utter respect. Ivanhoe turned around and found himself looking at a mare with a coat so white it made snow seem gray like gravel. A mane flowing unnaturally in the air yet only gracefully, in several colors. The very air seemed to sparkle because of her grace. She had both wings and a horn. Ivanhoe had never seen anything like it. There was only a single thing he could say after witnessing such timeless beauty, with an atmosphere of power around her very being:

"Wow, you're tall!"

"Princess Celestia! You got my letter!" said Spike.

"I haven't actually read it yet. But I imagine it is about what is going on here. It has been happening all over Equestria. I'm trying to resolve it at once," said the princess. Wait, the princess? Ivanhoe bowed to her. He usually wouldn't bow to a monarch who's subjects he wasn't part of, but her very being seemed to beckon him to show respect.

"Our loyal subjects of Ponyville! We come here with grave news!" another voice yelled. A similar pony to the princess walked up from behind her. This one was like the darker, smaller version of the princess, however, still much taller than Ivanhoe.

"Princess Luna!" said Spike.

"The same!" yelled the other princess. Both princesses stood on the top of the stairs to the town hall, looking over their subjects.

"We are here to tell you about these clouds. If they are not stopped they will destroy the entire kingdom! Everypony who tries to get close to the clouds have been gravely harmed. Worst of all, once the clouds rain, too much exposure to the water makes ponies angry, violent, dangerous. We know that the effects are not permanent, but the damage done by the ponies might be! Avoid too much of the water for now. Save all the fresh water you can, before our drinking water is corrupted! The news have been spread over the land!" said Celestia to her followers.

"Tis not the only catastrophe! The clouds are spreading, covering more and more of the sky by the day. There were barely any clouds yesterday. Today they cover more than a forth of the sky. In less than a fortnight the entire kingdom will be out of control!" yelled princess Luna.

"What can we do?!" yelled Applejack.

"Be not afraid, our subjects! We shall be swift!" said Luna.

"There is a reason we are here specifically," said Celestia. They walked down the stairs. Celestia lifted one of her wings and wrapped them gently around Windy and walked her down the stairs. "Will you walk this way, dear?" said Celestia with a kind smile. Luna walked right past Ivanhoe who stopped bowing. Ivanhoe saw a few pegasi walk up to the area, surrounding the front of the town hall. Ivanhoe recognized them from a picture he had seen once, these were the royal guards. What are they doing here? Ivanhoe was the only one even close to the town hall at the moment. Celestia and Luna were facing their subjects. Celestia gently let go of Windy. That's when it happened. They both slowly turned around and faced him specifically. Their eyes suddenly strict, looking at him and only him. "There is always a reason for something like this. Whether it's something with ill intentions like Discord, or something scared and confused like a sister."

"You will never let that go, will you?" asked Luna with an annoyed voice.

"No."

"Are you saying there is some way that I can help?" asked Ivanhoe to the princesses.

"What is your name?" asked Celestia, ignoring his question and raised her head.

"My name is Ivanhoe Mane."

"Ivanhoe..." said Celestia.

"...Mane," continued Luna.

"Is there a problem?" asked Ivanhoe.

"No. There's only a solution," said Celestia. There was something threatening in their eyes. An intent to hurt. They both started walking towards him, their size alone seemed menacing to him. Ivanhoe felt enough fear to back away. He kept going until he bumped into one of the tables.

"Hey, you two, stay away. What's going on?" said Ivanhoe. They didn't listen, they just lowered their heads. It was threatening.

"Please just stop, what is this about?"

"Don't listen," said Celestia to her sister. Ivanhoe was quickly getting annoyed. Their size and their horns intimidated him, just as their eyes did. He looked down and saw Applejack's gift. He opened the box and took out the pie from inside.

"Would you just stop and listen up?!" yelled Ivanhoe and in frustration he threw the pie. It hit Luna right in her face, leaving a complete mess dripping from it. It didn't even faze her. A quick flick with her horn and about ten pies from the buffet levitated and were thrown right back in revenge. Ivanhoe ran, jumped and dodged them all. Ivanhoe took up another pie and threw it right back. It missed Luna and almost hit Celestia.

"Somepony stop them!" yelled Rarity in a slight panic.

"So what? They are just throwing pies. What's there to be worried about a food fight?" asked Spike.

"Well, they might hit my dress," said Rarity and tried to calm down, blushing slightly. Ivanhoe was about to throw another pie, then Celestia's horn lit up. Their eyes changed yet again, this time they were more intense. Ivanhoe knew he had seen those eyes somewhere before. Those eyes, filled with killing-intent. Ivanhoe just dropped the pie and jumped behind a flipped table and started crawling away just as the entire room lit up. Ivanhoe had to close his eyes not to go blind. When he looked around half the table was missing and there was a large round clean hole in the wall. There were still a few flames at the edges of where the beam had hit. Two of the most powerful creatures in existence, monarchs of an entire land, were trying to kill him. Very quickly, Celestia looked over the flipped table. Ivanhoe simply ran away from the spot. Luna suddenly appeared from around the table's corner. He was right in between them. Both of their horns started to glow yet again. Ivanhoe had no choice. He grabbed the tablecloth and ran away from them, straight to the window on the wall. He pulled the cloth in front of him as he jumped, the explosion behind him almost making him deaf and the force pushing him even harder. The window broke, cutting him all over, but only where it didn't hurt much thanks to the cloth. He landed on the cold hard ground. It felt like this morning was freezing, although that might have just been how Ivanhoe felt from his fear of his own probable death. The sun was still slowly rising. The cold morning air was filling his lungs. He quickly got up and started running, still with the cloth around him. He looked back, they were looking at him through the big hole in the wall. To his horror, their horns started to glow again.

"By the sun..."

"By the moon..."

"WE BANISH THE ILL FROM THE WORLD!" they both screamed with such ferocity it made him freeze up inside. Their beams intertwined, aiming straight at him. Ivanhoe tossed the cloth behind him, and in that short moment of being hidden behind it, he jumped into a small warehouse. The light from the beam pulverized the cloth.

"What did I do!?" asked Ivanhoe. Someone stronger than him would just have taken this in stride and kept on running, never hesitating, never feeling down, never feeling as alone as Ivanhoe did just then. Ivanhoe was not that strong, so it was only natural that he started to weep as he climbed up the stairs to the next floor in the dark warehouse. If only he could get to that window he saw up the staircase he could run away on the rooftops. When he got up on the second floor he heard them. They landed right outside with a large thump. They were already here. Ivanhoe tried to be quiet, but even though he was able to not say anything, he wasn't able to stop his tears. He didn't want to die.

"I know he didn't die... There something in here, I can feel it," said Celestia's voice from downstairs.

"Be wary, sister. We do not yet know what he can do."

"Listen closely, you. If you come out, we can at least promise you it will be swift," said Celestia with a decisive voice. It wasn't mean, or angry, it was just that same old authority. If he hadn't been scared to death he might even have felt compelled to comply with her.

"Are you so sure that we are-?"

"Luna, would I ask you to do this if I wasn't absolutely sure?"

"No, of course not. Apologies, my sister," said Luna. Her voice lowered with sudden respect. Ivanhoe couldn't open the window now, they would hear, they would know. They would follow him easily if he was on the roof. He simply sneaked further into the room. And eventually he just hid behind one of the many low boxes up there. Right before he heard them starting to climb the stairs he could swear he heard a window creaking. He heard them walk up to the second floor. Ivanhoe tried to stop crying, he didn't want to die without dignity, but it was so hard. He was terrified. He could feel his heart thumping so loudly he was almost sure they would hear it. Step by step they got closer. Some of the boxes were flipped over with magic. They knew without a doubt somepony was here. If he as much as raised his voice he would be dead without ever knowing why. So this would be how his life ended? A boring youth with a short adulthood and a non-existing writing career, crying in the dust of an old attic longing for the embrace of his parents? It was so unfair...so unfair. He heard the steps from somepony close, just beyond the large box in the corner he was hiding behind. Then he could hear Celestia pounce.

"There you are!" she yelled with triumph. A yell of fear could be heard and Ivanhoe was sure this was it. That's when the pony who had yelled backed up into view of Ivanhoe. Just about a few feet in front of him, against the wall, stood Windy. Staring at Celestia somewhere outside his field of vision.

"Stables? What are you doing here? You're lucky I didn't hurt you," said Celestia. Her threatening voice was gone, this one was caring and worried.

"I, I wanted to know what was going on, so I followed you here," said Windy and took a few deep breaths and lowered her head. In that moment she saw Ivanhoe lying there, in one of his worse moments. He was looking right at her, still crying.

"Have you seen this Ivanhoe Mane?" asked Celestia. Ivanhoe stopped breathing. Windy started to breathe a little more normally.

"Only at the inn basically. Why- why do you ask?" said Windy and looked at Celestia again.

"Ivanhoe Mane is a very dangerous being."

"What? How? Why?"

"I can't tell you, I'm sorry. If you do see Ivanhoe Mane, make sure you contact the royal guards. Luna, let's go back to Canterlot. We can't waste more time and the guards can handle this themselves. I wonder were Mane went."

"But why are you trying to kill somepony?!" Windy asked confused.

"We have a reason for all of this. I promise you. Stopping this coming catastrophe all hangs on Ivanhoe Mane." Then there was nothing but a flash, then they were gone. Ivanhoe slowly rose up from the dust, drying his tears.

"Thank you, Windy," said Ivanhoe. Windy kept her distance, however.

"Hold on, I just wanted to know what is going on. So? What is going on?"

"I don't know. All I know is that these clouds popped up from out of nowhere, your monarchs trying to kill me and that I have to get out of here. Ugh, I should've just ignored the party and left yesterday instead."

"So you don't know nothing about what is going on?"

"There is only one thing that has happened recently that could even be slightly related to all of this."

"Tell me."

"Well, the first night I was staying at the inn. I woke up, or, I dreamed that I heard a voice that talked about how I was chosen to save the world or something along those lines."

"A voice?"

"Yeah. As I said, it was probably just a dream."

"And it mentioned all of this?"

"It only mentioned a catastrophe and that I could stop it if I found two, no, three artifacts."

"Ivanhoe," said Windy and walked closer to him.

"Yes?"

"Look me straight in the eyes. Do you have anything to do with all of this?"

"Except what I just told you, no," said Ivanhoe. They stared into each others eyes for a short moment before she lifted her hoof and started wiping off Ivanhoe's tears.

"Well, I might be crazy. But frankly, something like this always seem to happen here. Let me guess, it has something to do with Cloudsdale and the Everfree Forest?"

"That's what the voice in my head told me."

"Well, you know what? Let's do it. If you can stop this from happening, you will be able to prove you're innocent. I really don't think Princess Celestia's right about you being dangerous. While she is often right, and is very wise...she is still just a pony. Ponies are wrong all the time. Come on, this will be us proving her wrong!" said Windy and gave him a slight punch on his front leg with a smile. Her confidence made it easier to wipe off the tears of fear.

"Alright. Let's do it. We only have to find one artifact, and if we can't. Then we'll know for sure if it was a dream."

"And if we can, then it's time to save Equestria," said Windy with a confident smile.

"But, I can't even begin to understand why she would try to destroy me. It's, is it because I'm not from Equestria? I thought your ruler was-"

"Hey, she wouldn't do that. This is probably a really, really big misunderstanding. We'll find out sooner or later."

"So what do we do now? Frankly I would rather pack my bags and get the hay out of Equestria before I get killed."

"You won't, will you?"

"I won't, but certainly not because of your monarchs. Only because of there are ponies here that might need my help, if I really am supposed to save the world somehow."

"Thank you. Now, we should get to the Everfree Forest. Nopony will go in there to look for you so you should be safe in there."

"Unless it rains. I have some things in my bag that might help me, well, might help us out. Could you get it for me? I'll stay here."

"Here? But it's so close to the town hall!"

"And Celestia and Luna just searched it. It's the safest place to be for a little while," said Ivanhoe. Windy nodded and jumped out of the window where she started to fly, low so she wouldn't get struck my the odd lightning.

***

Ivanhoe waited nearly two hours. Oddly enough, after such a traumatic time he felt safe in the silent darkness. The only one who knew he was here was her, and she would need a reason to betray him. He would rather die than give her one now. Not after she had showed such trust. Beautiful, nothing short of beautiful was that gift of trust. An entire country who probably thought of him as a threat and criminal. Yet she supported him. Lovely.

"I'm back," said Windy silently. Ivanhoe jumped, but he quickly calmed down.

"Did you find my things?"

"Sure did. Sorry it took so long but there were so many pegasi there and I just couldn't turn my back on them. One of them took your room after I cleaned it out, sorry. It's not like you need it now though," said Windy and handed him his bag. Ivanhoe looked through it.

"I don't have much in here that can- what's this?"

"What is what?"

"This, this wasn't here before," said Ivanhoe and pulled something out of the bag. It was a big cloak. Really hard not to notice, but right now it was more inconspicuous than his own face.

"Is this yours?"

"No, I've never seen it before," answered Ivanhoe and looked for anything odd on it, like a note or something similar. He found nothing. "Well, it might help. No reason to complain about that," said Ivanhoe and put on the cloak. Whoever had put it there was not important.

"Ivanhoe, listen. I saw the Everfree Forest while I was flying. We can't go in there right now."

"Why not?"

"Because the rain is pouring down there at this very moment. It will be like that for hours."

"It's just rain."

"The corrupted rain. The thing that made ponies violent," said Windy.

"Oh, can't we bring an umbrella?" asked Ivanhoe.

"It corrupts through touch. An umbrella won't help you well enough."

"How do you know that?"

"Because of the letter my father sent. My mother was in a hospital because she was one of the first who was affected. She should be better now, but he wrote how she started going mad when she stepped in a puddle. More than five seconds is enough. If we go in there, we're sure to fail. We would need an entire suit and I don't know anyone who has that."

"And we can't go to Cloudsdale. That's above the clouds. This is not good."

"Maybe we can get a talented unicorn to teleport us there?"

"That's too far even for a master as far as I know. I think the only one who could would be your princesses...not like I can ask them. And even then, how would I even stay up there? I can't fly and I can't walk on clouds."

"Walk on clouds... Walk on clouds!" said Windy with sudden excitment.

"What?"

"I have a risky idea, but with a little luck it might just work in solving how you can walk while up there. Actually getting up there would be the real problem," said Windy.

"What is your idea?"

"I heard about how earth ponies and unicorns can walk on clouds if the right condition is matched. How small can you make yourself?" she said with a cunning smile.

"Excuse me?"

***

A while later Windy was inside Twilight Sparkle's library.

"Come on Twilight! Please! I want to see if it would work! Maybe it somehow means the black clouds won't be able to touch me," said Windy.

"Windy, my spell will only affect how you interact with clouds, not the other way around. And why would you think the spell would reverse on a pegasus? I...suppose it would, now when I think about it."

"Well, I've always sort of wondered how clouds are like when you can't feel them like you do. And we might not have many normal clouds left soon. I'd want to test it before they all go..."

"Don't worry, I've been researching this all I can," said Twilight with enthusiasm.

"And you have solved it?"

"Well...no. Oddly enough, the clouds only seem to target pegasus-ponies directly. You have to be up there a few minutes before they start aiming at you if you're something else."

"Tell me about it," said Spike who was covered in bandages and drinking hot chocolate.

"Wait, so somepony who isn't a pegasus-pony could come and go through them?"

"Well, if the pony could find a hole between the clouds. Touching the clouds directly is almost deadly for everypony, pegasi or not," said Twilight.

"I'm just lucky I have these scales, said Spike.

"Well, could you try the spell anyway, Twilight?" asked Windy.

"Windy, the purpose of the spell is basically making sure ponies who aren't in the clouds will be able to be there. If I do this you would be unable to get there, in other words you wouldn't be able to fly with your wings for a few hours."

"Oh, um, well, could I test your balloon?"

"Well, alright. But be careful not to break it. It might be easy to fix for me, but it's not very fun."

"I promise I'll be careful. Oh, this is so exiting!" said Windy and jumped up and down with her bag, well, she tried to anyway.

"Alright, just close your eyes," said Twilight. Ivanhoe could from his hiding place hear magic starting up. He closed his eyes. There was a small bang. Then it was over. Ivanhoe felt oddly lighter.

"There, just don't crash. That's the least I need right now. The spell will stop working in exactly two hours."

"Thanks a lot, Twilight," said Windy.

"Balloon's out the back," said Spike. Windy went outside. When she went outside Ivanhoe hit his head hard on the door frame, but he kept silent. Windy went around the tree, and jumped into a large pink hot-air balloon. She opened her bag and Ivanhoe climbed out of it.

"Time to visit Cloudsdale. That was really uncomfortable."

Effort

6. Effort.

"Now, Cloudsdale is pretty much visible once you go over the clouds. You just have to scan around for rainbows, they will show you the way. It's often cloudy below Cloudsdale, hence the name. So it's better to go up above the clouds here, since there are less dark thunderclouds. We really hit a lucky streak here," said Windy. She looked around to make sure nobody saw them.

"Understood."

"There is one last thing, Ivanhoe. Since you weren't hit with the spell head on it might not have worked as it should...and clouds are an odd thing. They won't let anypony who hasn't shown trust in them walk on them, spell or not. In other words, if you want to actually walk on them, you need to jump from the balloon onto them. That works best," said Windy worried. Ivanhoe was just as worried as her if not more.

"I'll be alright. Time to see if this is true or not. Good luck down here. Avoid the rain."

"Can do," said Windy. Ivanhoe pulled the string with his mouth and the flames under the balloon intensified. It was slowly taking off. "Good luck."

"I'll be back soon," said Ivanhoe.

***

He got higher and higher up. Actually steering the balloon was difficult but nothing he couldn't handle. Eventually he could see the large castle or Canterlot far away in the horizon. He kept going higher and higher. Second by second the balloon rose towards the dark and blue sky. He couldn't even see anypony down in Ponyville anymore. The winds had never been this terrifying. One strong gust of wind and he could plummet to his very messy death. This was the worst time ever to realize he had a slight fear of heights. Still, he got up without much trouble. At one point he barely avoided touching one of the dark clouds, a few more feet to the left and he would've been fried. Fortunately, the most threatening thing they did to him was almost growling at him, it felt like that anyway when they let out a little bolt of lightning below. Eventually the balloon stopped. He had reached altitude where he couldn't even make out the buildings below. He looked around, it was supposed to be here somewhere. He just needed to find the rainbows... The rainbows that actually didn't exist. There was nothing there. Ivanhoe resisted panicking but he couldn't see it no matter how much he looked. There were only a few dark clouds, a few normal ones that seemed to slowly be eaten up by the dark ones and a really large dark one in the far distance above the rest- above the rest? Ivanhoe leaned out over the edge of the basket, peering at that particular cloud. He thought he saw something on top of it. Structures. That was it. The dark cloud had a fine layer of still white clouds on top. He hurried there. If he waited much longer those white clouds might be eaten up, making walking on top of the cloud utterly impossible.

***

It took almost an entire hour to get there in the painfully slow balloon. Ivanhoe knew he still had time, so he tried to not stress. He slowly lowered the balloon down to the outskirts of the town. It looked so different from Ponyville. Pegasi certainly had a different culture, a very interesting one. Ivanhoe looked at the clouds below him. They were white like snow, fluffy like cotton, solid like either a brick or air, this was the moment he would find out. Ivanhoe looked in his bag: rope, bandage, extra food, water, and of course his little pendant of a souvenir. Ivanhoe pulled it out and put it on. For good luck. Ivanhoe took a deep breath. The only 'comfort' was the fact that it wouldn't be a long drop to his death if the spell wouldn't work. The dark clouds at the bottom would certainly finish him off way before he reached the ground. He took a deep breath again.

"What am I doing here? How the heck did this happen? I could've been home, I could've been eating, I could've met a nice girl. I don't want to be here...I- I don't want to be here," said Ivanhoe, filled with fear. Honestly considering just turning around, giving up. Was it worth dying for? "Possibly dying, just because I heard a voice in my head," said Ivanhoe and looked over the edge, the street below looked so safe, yet so deadly. Ivanhoe let out a sigh. Disappointed in how stupid his whole decision had been. He turned back. Then he took a step forward. Then he turned again and jumped right out of the balloon. "But to save so many? SCREW IT!" he yelled while he was in the air. Then he fell. A shock went through his body as his hooves made firm contact with the clouds below him. He made it. "Alright, 'king', where are your little artifacts?" asked Ivanhoe and started walking along the streets. Where could that artifact be? Probably in some old building, something that had been around long enough, something that held secrets at least as old. He walked away from the balloon, not realizing something truly monstrous was observing him from the shadows.

***

Ivanhoe looked at a clock tower almost every minute, just making sure how much time he had left. Just below an hour. Where could that thing be? He was supposed to know it when he saw it. He went to the Cloudsdale's town hall. It was big, certainly looked old in style if nothing else. He hurried inside it. He pretty much ran into all of the rooms and hallways, trying to find what he was looking for. However, there was something really wrong hanging in he air. Ivanhoe knew something was off, but he was so focused on the task at hand he couldn't focus on anything else. He didn't have much time. Once he gave up in this building he went to the next one, looking at the clock again. Forty minutes. At this pace he could only check out two more buildings.

"Pick up the pace, you idiot!" Ivanhoe said to himself. His eyes focused on the nearby hospital. There he might find it, it looked just as old in style as the town hall. He kept running through it. There was nothing there, except a lot of blood. If he would've just stopped to think he would've realized what it all meant, but time waits for nopony. He couldn't find any 'old' wards. So he turned around. He froze. He was sure he had seen something at that door ahead. It had disappeared just when he gave it a glance. "Wait! You can help me!" said Ivanhoe and ran after the pony. He kept running but he didn't find who he was chasing. He just ended up running out to the center of town again. He was basically between all the important and popular buildings. But he could only thoroughly search one other building. Which one? All of these pretty much looked old. Sure, they were all made of clouds and could very well have been built yesterday. But what other thing could he go on? The only thing not made out of clouds here was the library clock and...and that's when it hit him. If this was in fact all true, then whoever left the notes, maybe the king, knew about all of this, which would make the notes very relevant. And the latest note that hadn't made any sense had clearly said 'Why not visit the local library?' Ivanhoe looked up at the clock, the iron clock. It certainly was the oldest thing there not made from clouds. Ivanhoe might as well take a peek, he rushed into it. He was starting to run out of breath, and time.

***

When he got inside everything there was just clouds, just like everything else. It was a very large and beautiful library. The sun's light lit it all up through the windows. The books were so well kept despite actually being around nothing but moisture. The very lifestyle of pegasi was reflected in how it was built: so open, so free. He walked further into the library, past the large bookshelves. He searched every little room he could. It was all empty, everything was so darn void and quiet. "Where the heck is it!?" yelled Ivanhoe, it echoed back to him. He probably only had fifteen minutes left. He was not going to give up now though. He kept going deeper into the library, he wasn't even sure he would make it back to the balloon from here on out. He suddenly got out into a very, very large room. The walls themselves were bookcases and the ceiling was a gigantic map of the starry sky. Suddenly something drew his eyes towards it. At the very end of the large room there was a gigantic book, larger than he was. The title written upon this book? 'The Artifact'. "Oh, you have got to be kidding!" said Ivanhoe. Still, it was eye catching. It had to be it. He rushed towards it. He pulled it carefully from its pedestal, but it was too heavy for him. To his shock he dropped the book on the floor. It shattered into pieces. "No!" yelled Ivanhoe. He tried to fix it, he tried to collect the thousands of large old pages, but there was no time. "I, I failed," said Ivanhoe. He looked down at the book, he tried not to cry, it was basically all he did. He had never been that disappointed in himself in his entire life. He slowly realized he was still under a ticking clock, so he slowly got up and was about to leave. Now, describing the large book as 'eye catching' certainly felt appropriate when he first saw it, it was freaking huge! But that description was not even close to the almost physical way his eyes were drawn to that one little thing stuck between the pages, like they were being pulled. The object had a tremendous effect on his very being. Deeply inside himself, something awoke. He didn't only think this thing was what he was looking for. He knew it. He pulled it out from between the pages. As he stared at the object, its very edge seemed to glow in a simply otherworldly way. He could swear he heard something mysterious inside himself. A little child laughing and yelling out to his best friend. It wasn't a quill, it was just a feather, used as a bookmark. "I GOT IT!" screamed Ivanhoe from the top of his lungs and then put it in the bag. He had done it.

"Very good work. You were chosen with care. There are two more to go. Good luck. And here is a useful hint: if you can't fly down, just fall instead," said a voice inside his head, the king. Ivanhoe didn't answer. He simply knew it was already gone. Now to hurry back. It was all true. He was going to save the world, and he felt great. He looked at the large mess he had made.

"I hope nopony will mind that I- wait," said Ivanhoe. That is what had been so wrong. There was nopony there. He had been there for an hour in one of the biggest pegasus cities in Equestria, and yet not really seen a single soul. It was all empty. It suddenly started to rain on the outside of the windows. It wasn't just any type of rain, it was black, purple and red in its hue. The corrupted rain was here. He feared what had happened to the pegasi, but that didn't matter right now. He simply needed to get off the cloud before he was electrocuted. He turned around, and at that moment he had never been so scared in his life, not even when the princesses had tried to kill him."No," whispered Ivanhoe, it was the only thing he could manage to say. What had happened to the population wasn't a mystery anymore. In front of him, dozens upon dozens of the Cloudsdale populace were standing, still as can be, without a single sound. Ivanhoe couldn't even hear them breathing.

"That, would be ours," said a really large one in the front of the pack. It wasn't a pegasus though, not anymore. Hooves had been switched out for claws, mouths turned into predatory maws, filled with large teeth, blood was less red than those teeth. The coat and mane had turned black, their bodies slightly longer, their eyes black as night. Their cutie marks gone, as well as their identity. The voices though, the voices were so much worse. Twisted, echoing, and enjoying the change into monsters. The by far worst thing however, was the fact that some of those monsters were smaller, fillies and colts turned to monsters to enjoy the hunt with the rest of their families.

"How?"

"The rain tastes excellent," said the large beast and took a single step forward. Ivanhoe grabbed the heavy loose cover of the book. Holding it as a shield. The monsters started to tear the clouds beneath them. They pulled away what turned out to be a very thin cover of clean clouds. Ivanhoe had been only inches away from death his entire time there. "You'll taste it too, or die," said the monster. They walked over the dark clouds themselves, unharmed. Ivanhoe strongly doubted he could do that, he would need to be turned first. That was the last thing he would do. Suddenly there was a cracking sound. The star map above him was being punched in from the outside. Rain started pouring through. He stepped back, making sure his mouth was closed.

"I'll never allow this!" said Ivanhoe to them.

"Not now, but soon you will," said the monster. Suddenly something pounced him from behind. He was forced down on the ground, still holding the cover. The rain started pouring down through the roof, making a puddle below, right in front of him. Then they started dragging him towards it. One of his captors had taken the feather from him.

"Stop it! I know you're in there! Stop this now!" yelled Ivanhoe desperately while struggling for everything he was worth.

"We don't kill, we change," said that monster, breathing heavily in excitement. Ivanhoe struggled, but he couldn't stop it. They were so many of them. All around him. The young ones were the most happy. Then they made him touch the puddle. A few seconds, how long before he lost his mind and started to drink? One second, two seconds, three, four, five...six...seven? Eight!?

"It's not working!"

"Drink!" yelled the monster to Ivanhoe. He basically forced it down into his mouth. He couldn't help it. He expected pain, drowsiness, losing his mind in general...yet nothing.

"It doesn't change him, why?!" yelled the monsters around him.

"This pendant, is this your pendant?!" asked the monster and held Ivanhoe's pendant in front of him. Maybe whoever made the notes made sure he would get that thing too somehow, or maybe it was the cloak. Either way, the corrupted water didn't work on him. They were, however, very surprised.

"I'll tell you the secret, come closer," whispered Ivanhoe. The monster wasn't smart. He leaned over, then Ivanhoe knocked him right in his ugly head. His own head hurt, but who cared? It was such a surprise he managed to get out of their grasp and steal back the feather. He ran towards the hallway beyond the black cloud floor. Sure, water didn't do anything, but a deadly shock was another story. He hit another monster with the book cover as he ran - very awkwardly but surprisingly well - on his hind legs. He tossed the cover on the black cloud and jumped. He was used to taking risks right now. The cover landed on the black cloud, and Ivanhoe hit it and jumped again to the white clouds on the other side. He just made it over.

"OUR FIRST KILL WILL BE HIM!" screamed the monster with a horrible screech. Ivanhoe ran much faster with all of his four hooves on the floor. He didn't look back, he knew every single one of those things were after him. If he stopped he was doomed. He got out of the building and quickly turned in the direction the balloon.

***

It felt like it took such a long time, yet he managed to get there quickly. He could hear the clock tower in the distance. The first ring: he kept going. The second ring: he saw the balloon! The third ring: he started to lose his footing a bit. The fourth ring: it was like walking on dough rather than solid ground. The fifth ring: the balloon, it was destroyed! The sixth ring: he didn't stop. The seventh ring: the roars of hundreds of monsters behind him filled his ears when the rings didn't silence them. The eight ring: he saw the edge, he was close. The ninth ring: what other choice did he have? The tenth ring: the spell was almost over, like running on foam that couldn't quite hold his weight. The tenth ring: he was used to taking dangerous leaps today. The eleventh ring: he jumped. The twelfth ring: darn, this was dramatic. The thirteenth ring: wow, somepony needed to fix that clock.

***

So he fell. The many clouds below him were mostly dark, but there were a few openings. He tried to aim for it, it was difficult though, very much so.

"Please be there, please be there, please be there!" said Ivanhoe like a mantra to just keep himself from crying. He fell down, in between the last clouds. There was nothing beneath him but the hard ground. "WINDY!"

"IVANHOE!" yelled her wonderful voice. Ivanhoe saw her coming in from the side. She grabbed him and tried her best to slow down."ARE YOU CRAZY?!" she yelled so he could hear her through the wind.

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW CRAZY IT WOULD'VE BEEN TO STAY UP THERE!" yelled Ivanhoe right back. Something was wrong. She wasn't slowing down quickly enough. "COME ON!"

"I can't!" she yelled. It was easier to hear as he started to filter out the wind.

"You can do it!"

"I can't! I'm not a good flier!"

"No, I'm a bad flier! You're a good one! Do it!"

"You're not listening to me! I can't do it! I mean it! Nopony but the best could!" yelled Windy, but despite that fact, despite the desperation in her voice, she didn't stop trying. Ivanhoe looked down. They were still falling very quickly, too quickly.

"Windy!"

"What is it?!"

"Let me go!" yelled Ivanhoe.

"WHAT?!"

"We can't both make it out of this alive. My cloak, or my pendant, protects me from the rain. There is a feather inside my bag. That feather is one of the artifacts. The third one is 'beyond'!"

"You can just shut up! I'm not leaving you to do your treasure-hunt for you!" yelled Windy.

"Do as I say!"

"Shut up! I'm going to do this anyway!"

"You said you can't!"

"But I will try!" yelled Windy with determination.

"Why?!"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE MY FRIEND!" Ivanhoe looked into her eyes, then downwards towards the ever approaching ground. It was close. She was ready for this. Ivanhoe embraced her, making sure she was above, so that maybe her chances would increase at the sudden stop. This was it.

***

Suddenly, an explosion in the distance. Something came by so quickly through the gigantic prism. Healed, ready and twenty percent cooler than any other. It was Rainbow Dash and she was carrying them.

"Did you miss me, Windy?"

"RAINBOW DASH!" they both yelled. Incredible, Ivanhoe had heard about how most pegasi almost seemed to control the power of momentum to varying degrees, but to direct two bodies from a 6800 feet fall into completely horizontal travel so quickly without hurting them, without even breaking one of their bones. That took a whole other level of awesome. Ivanhoe felt the wind passing by his mane as they flew. This was the closest he would ever be able to fly, and it was awesome.

"WE DID IT!" yelled Ivanhoe in triumph.

"Two to go!" shouted Windy.

Restless

7. Restless.

Ivanhoe was completely exhausted when Rainbow Dash finally managed to slow down. He was pretty sure he had almost died around five times today alone. Why does it feel like that number is going to go up before this day is over? Rainbow Dash stopped at last in a clearing in the woods outside Ponyville.

"Okay, so what is this whole thing about?" asked Rainbow Dash. Ivanhoe knew he had to explain everything he knew. She had saved their lives, she deserved to know. Ivanhoe was about to explain when Windy interrupted.

"Hang on, how did you heal so quickly?"

"The princess helped me. She said we would be needed," said Rainbow Dash.

"How did you know we were at Cloudsdale, or when we would fall?" continued Windy.

"Twilight told me. She figured out that you needed to get up above the clouds, and what was up there? Only Cloudsdale."

"How did she see through my lie?" asked Windy.

"She didn't. Spike said he was sure he smelled Ivanhoe Mane again a bit after you were there and that's how she figured it out. She knew the time the spell would stop, I just had to be ready and waiting, just like you got up there once the spell stopped for you, Windy. So, I answered your questions, how about you answer a few, or all, of mine?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"What do you want to know?" asked Ivanhoe, ready to tell her everything.

"Well, first of all. Why is Celestia trying to kill you? She almost never wants to kill anypony. She doesn't even kill her enemies, so why you?"

"I honestly have no idea."

"Honestly?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Completely," answered Ivanhoe.

"Alright, what were you after in Cloudsdale?"

"Some sort of artifact that is supposed to save the world, with two other artifacts."

"Alright. How was the ponies in Cloudsdale? Are they alright for now?" asked Rainbow Dash. Ivanhoe realized she was probably born there, had friends and relatives there. He wanted to be honest, but how could he? She would be so hurt.

"They, they are fine," said Ivanhoe.

"I can tell when you're lying," said Rainbow Dash right away. She didn't seem that worried.

"Okay, alright," said Ivanhoe. He couldn't take the pressure of it, he was tired. "The rain, they drank the rain. It made them into...into...."

"Monsters," Rainbow Dash finished and sighed.

"What? You knew that happened?"

"I did. It happened in Ponyville not long after you left. There was a little downpour and a couple of ponies drank it...probably thinking it was juice or something. They were quite young," said Rainbow Dash sadly.

"How, how about the Elements of Harmony! Why haven't you-?" asked Windy.

"They didn't work against it. Celestia can't even do anything. She says we need to remove the source of it, which she says it you," said Rainbow Dash and pointed at Ivanhoe.

"I am not responsible for this!" said Ivanhoe angrily. The very thought of it, that he would be responsible for such monstrosities... unacceptable.

"That's all we need to hear," said another voice from behind the trees. Ivanhoe turned around. Applejack looked at him, she had an odd necklace on her. Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and a yellow mare with a pink mane and tail had similar necklaces. Oddly enough, most of them were trying to smile, except Pinkie Pie who's really wild hair was just long and straight. It was the first time he had seen her truly unhappy. She was crying.

"What's wrong?" asked Ivanhoe.

"The ones that transformed were really close to her. Pound and Pumpkin Cake," said Rainbow Dash. Windy looked quite sadly at the ground, not wanting to see how Pinkie Pie just burst completely into tears.

"Not to fret, it's reversible!" said Applejack filled with hope.

"If we can stop it. Now, Ivanhoe, tell us everything. Applejack's element represents honesty. So we were apple- I mean able, to tell if you lied or not. We know you're at least telling the truth. Tell us everything you know. Spike, note it down," said Twilight.

"Ready when you are," said Spike who walked in from the bushes holding a quill and paper.

***

Ivanhoe told them everything he knew. Absolutely everything. It seemed like they really did know the princess. Maybe this was a way for him to just get to talk peacefully, without the threat of dying.

"I know nothing about a 'king', Ivanhoe, I told you that," said Twilight.

"Well, that's all I know anyway," said Ivanhoe. He was still tired.

"Everything?"

"Unless you want to know about my boring life on the farm, then I have nothing else to tell you. Add a normal life on the farm to the beginning of the story and you basically heard my entire life's story."

"Well, at least you have courage."

"Yes...courage," said Ivanhoe and tried not to remember all the times he had cried today alone. "Well, thank you for saying that. It means a lot to me that there are ponies here that do not wish to just end me."

"Spike, send the letter. I demand an explanation for all of this on Celestia's part," said Twilight.

"It's on its way," said Spike. It must've been magic, or burning the letter in green flames was just to mess with them.

"It usually takes around thirty seconds for her to get it, give or take. It depends on distance. We will have an explanation for this very soon, and I- already?" asked Twilight when Spiked suddenly gagged. He belched out a green flame that materialized into a scroll.

"Wow, that must be a new record," said Spike impressed.

"Well, read it, Twilight. Don't worry, Ivanhoe, everything will sort itself out," said Windy and walked up to Ivanhoe with a encouraging smile.

"What an awesome skill, Spike," said Ivanhoe.

"He, thanks. Can't more of you say that from time to time?" asked Spike to his friends.

"'My dearest loyal student Twilight. Ivanhoe is not a real name. Please do not read this out loud like you normally-' oh. Well, let me just read it," said Twilight and continued in silence.

"The thing I'm most afraid of is that she would somehow be right," said Ivanhoe. Twilight kept reading it, but the more she read it the more her expression started to fade from hopeful enthusiasm and instead turn to surprise, horror, and then an empty look.

"Twilight? What's wrong?" asked Rarity.

"Girls, I can't tell you right now...but let's just say Celestia is doing the right thing. Windy, I'll explain everything to you later, but for right now, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" asked Windy but Ivanhoe already saw that thing in Twilight's eyes. Just like with the princesses, or even the monsters: killing-intent.

"Move!" yelled both Ivanhoe and Twilight to Windy at the same time. Ivanhoe pushed her aside and then kicked dirt at Twilight's face. She was just about to use some sort of spell on Ivanhoe as she was blinded.

"What are you doing!? Both of you?!" yelled the shy little yellow and pink pony.

"Girls, this is important! Spike, tell Celestia where we are!" Twilight Sparkle yelled. Spike hesitated. Ivanhoe started running. Whatever this was about it was best to not let Windy be involved.

"I'm getting out of here. And I'll never come back. You can try to save the world on your own!" yelled Ivanhoe.

"Girls, the elements! Use the elements!" yelled Twilight, or rather, commanded. Ivanhoe couldn't see them anymore through the woods. What elements? It didn't matter, he just needed to get out of there. Whatever the reason, he didn't care. He just needed to get out of town. He would walk all the way home if he needed to.

"Are you-?"

"I'm sure!" yelled Twilight. Ivanhoe suddenly heard a strange sound behind him. He looked back, a light in all the colors of the rainbow was shining through the forest. Energy in the shape of beams shot through the forest and in a blinding light something big hit him, and went right through him. Ivanhoe just kept running. What was that?! "Did it work?" asked Twilight.

"What have we done?" asked that shy voice. Suddenly there was another sound: thunder. Ivanhoe looked up. Dark rainclouds. A lot of them. And Ivanhoe didn't have either his coat or his pendant with him. Suddenly he saw raindrops, small but faint. It was coming right towards him, towards them. He turned around.

"RUN!" screamed Ivanhoe to all who would listen.

"What did he say?" said Applejack.

"It's a trick!" said Twilight.

"No! There's rain coming!" yelled Ivanhoe. The thunder sounded again.

"He's right! That's a downpour!" yelled Rainbow Dash. He got right back into the clearing. He stopped to look at them.

"Fly, you foals!" Ivanhoe shouted.

"Hurry!"

"Let's get out of here!"

"Mares and dragons first!" yelled Spike.

"Come on! Hurry!" yelled Ivanhoe. So they ran. Not enemies, not allies, just some ponies running for their lives. The rain started to intensify, but they were right ahead of it. They needed shelter at once, they needed somewhere dry.

"Back to Ponyville!"

"Teleport us, Twilight!" yelled Spike.

"I can't! I don't know where we are! I need to know that!" yelled Twilight. Ivanhoe had grabbed his bag and was going through it. He picked up the cloak and pendant.

"Windy, wear this! It will help!" yelled Ivanhoe and gave them to her without stopping. Windy didn't use it, instead she wrapped them around Spike and put him on her back.

"Rainbow, fly somepony out of here!" yelled Twilight. Then the clouds started to strike with lightning everywhere above the trees. "Never mind!" she quickly added.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on!" said Ivanhoe and looked back. Suddenly the yellow and pink pony who was flying low hit a tree. She fell down and was completely out of it. Only Ivanhoe and Applejack noticed it.

"Ivanhoe! Help me!" Applejack shouted to him.

"Coming!" he responded and hurried back to the pegasus with her. "Come on, on your hooves," said Ivanhoe.

"No time!" said Applejack and simply picked her up on her back.

"I don't think you needed my help with that."

"You were willing to help and that's alright with me," said Applejack. They kept running. Was it night already, or was it getting darker? Ivanhoe looked up, the sun was still up but the clouds were starting to blurt it out. It would not be long until all the sky was covered, or until they were soaking wet.

"Keep your mouths closed!" Twilight shouted.

"Any bit of it is too much!" said Pinkie Pie.

"If anypony stops here I will personally make sure you're all going to do my chores for at least a month!" said Applejack.

"Look, that cliff! Cover!" yelled Spike and pointed at a very large cliff, there was a large hollowed out bit of it that would make a good cover for them all. Applejack jumped over a log, and that's when the pink and yellow pony fell off.

"Fluttershy!" yelled Pinkie Pie.

"Don't stop! I got it! Spike, the things!" yelled Ivanhoe. Spike threw them at him. Ivanhoe jumped and bit them while in the air. He hurried back and tried to pick her up but she was stuck in the log. Ivanhoe struggled. The he felt a raindrop on his nose. He covered Fluttershy in the items and pulled harder.

"Come on! Do it!" said Rainbow Dash from under the cliff. They all looked very nervous and almost seemed to struggle with not going out in the rain to help them.

"I'll help!" said Twilight.

"I've got this! Stay back!" He finally managed to rip off the branch that was stuck in her mane. He tried as hard as he could just to pick her up. He had to drag her slowly. The rain really started to pour now. There wasn't much time before they both would be filled with madness. Fluttershy suddenly woke up and tried to get free.

"Girls!?" she asked in a state of confusion and panic, looking up at the sky. Ivanhoe couldn't do anything as he was sure he witnessed the single drop that went into her mouth. She started to shake immediately, it was horrible to watch.

"No! Don't! Come on, don't do this!" said Ivanhoe. Her coat was darkening bit by bit as Ivanhoe tried desperately to cover her up against the rain. The cloak itself was wet, and the pendant hard to even grasp.

"Fluttershy!" yelled her friends in terror. Ivanhoe tried to stop it, he tried to cover her up more, he tried to push the pendant onto her very forehead. Nothing worked, it kept going.

"Fluttershy! Get your head together!" screamed Ivanhoe.

"I can spread this," she responded a bit distant. Her voice already so intimidating. It was like she was just realizing the possibilities, like there was opportunity.

"No! You listen to me. Get your act together right now!" Ivanhoe screamed into her face.

"I could easily spread this. I love the rain," she said in a calm sincere tone that was incredibly disturbing.

"Fluttershy, I don't know who you are, only that this isn't you... Please don't...you seemed like such a sweet girl. Please go back to normal," pleaded Ivanhoe in desperation. He was soaking wet. He put his hoof on her head. "Come on. Just...just don't do this," Ivanhoe begged. There was suddenly a very odd sensation inside his front leg, it reached deeper inside him, all the way to his chest. Was this the effect of the rain? But if felt so natural. Suddenly Fluttershy's coat started reverting back to its old color. Every minor transformation that had already occurred simply stopped and slowly reversed. Within a few moments she was her old self again, she was even sound asleep. The thunder had stopped, the rain kept falling regardless. It just kept coming and coming. Now when Fluttershy was back to normal again there was a calmness in the air and except the rain all was silent. Ivanhoe looked at the pendant. He had thought it had been a magical object, protecting him. He, just like the monsters, had assumed it had some sort of power. But now when he didn't even have it in his mouth, yet being soaked at the same time without becoming mad or a monster... It wasn't the pendant, or the cloak. It was him, wasn't it? He picked up Fluttershy, this time when there was no stress to do so and he carried her over to the rest. They didn't say anything. Windy just looked at Ivanhoe, too afraid to speak. They accepted Fluttershy and got her into their little shelter. Spike made a fire for them to get warm. "This really does have something to do with me, doesn't it?" asked Ivanhoe, confused, ashamed, scared.

"It does," said Twilight and looked at him with a determined look in her eye.

"Tell me."

"I can't."

"What do I have to do?"

"You have to die. It sounds horrible, I know that...but Celestia is right. That's a promise."

"No. No. I will solve this my own way. I will find the two other artifacts. Unless of course you tell me what this is about."

"I can't."

"Twilight, tell Ivanhoe already," said Applejack.

"He has no name," said Twilight.

"I'm leaving for the Everfree Forest. I'll get to the bottom of this."

"Saving Equestria is our job. Today it just involves putting an end to you," said Twilight.

"You're not doing a very good job though, are you?" said Ivanhoe in a slightly mocking tone, he was fed up with that mean look in her eyes.

"You saved Fluttershy. I'm just giving you a head start."

"Thanks. I'll find out what I have to do with this, how I can stop it and show you all how crazy you are. That's a promise. You're probably brainwashed or something," said Ivanhoe and walked off in the the overly depressive rain.

"Hey!" shouted Twilight after him.

"What?"

"Next time, I guarantee you that none of us will hesitate. That's another promise."

"Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for all your help, Windy," said Ivanhoe and walked away.

Ice

9. Ice.

Ivanhoe opened his eyes, and there he was in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Everything was so white, without form. He had to blink a couple of times before his eyes got used to the light. Nothing in here except him. The pain was gone, so was the wounds. His pants were still there, but the artifacts were gone.

"Am I dead?" asked Ivanhoe, more curious than afraid.

"No," answered a familiar voice. The king. "You did well, Ivanhoe Mane. Sure, you got lucky, but you got here. That is what truly matters."

"Where am I, then?"

"You are nowhere, there is nothing here except you...and of course the last artifact."

"I don't see it, or anything at all."

"Just start walking forward, and you might just find it," said the king. Ivanhoe started doing just that, he walked deeper into whatever white void this all was. "This place was created by me a long time ago. I intended it to be a type of storage, basically like a magical closet that only I could enter. Normal ponies, or even the princesses, can not go inside here. You needed the two artifacts, they were keys for you."

"I thought I was going to die there for a moment."

"Your body would have if you hadn't been thrown in front of the train. Right now your real body is somewhat closer to the real world, in here you exist as a mental image. Your body is being repaired as we speak but without you it's just a useless shell. You better be cautious so you do not get lost in here. It's a very big place."

"I'm not sure I'm walking the right way."

"For you, in here, forward is the only right way you can take," said the voice. Ivanhoe started to see something in the distance, a shape of some sort. The closer he got, the colder the air seemed. He had to focus on the blurry form in the distance, it seemed like some sort of building. Suddenly Ivanhoe realized that everything white around him had started to take a shape, a characteristic, a texture. He was standing in a never ending landscape of ice and snow. The building in the distance had a very distinct and familiar outline.

"What is going on?" asked Ivanhoe as he got closer. It was a simple building, but time had taken its tool on the once stable house. He recognized it very easily, it was his own house. It was his farm, his parents' farm.

"You have to face your fears in there, my dearest Ivanhoe. Only someone who has courage can get the last artifact. Do not be afraid, however. I will be here, by your side. I'm closer to you in here than I've ever been before. You are not alone." Ivanhoe inspected the ruins of this old shack, it had a very large crack around its middle than went from roof to foundation. The large crack was the most eye catching damage, but hardly the only one, there were smaller details that further told of the home's neglect such as that of the fading red paint and the cold ice covering parts of it.

"This is my farm. Why is it here? What happened to it?"

"This is not what you remember. It is here because it is 'close to home', as they say. This could've been anywhere that held deep meaning to you, it could just as well have been Steady Stables Inn," said the king and chuckled.

"Why is it so broken? This doesn't seem quite like my farm," said Ivanhoe with doubt in his voice. He wasn't sure he wanted to go in there, it was very ominous.

"Your 'farm'? No, dear Ivanhoe. This isn't a farm," said the king. His voice left an echo in the white, dead landscape. The echo stayed, however, and with time it grew, it grew and grew into something more like a bombastic shout that settled in a vibration. The sound destroyed the ice on the house. Ivanhoe heard the sound of wood breaking apart. In front of his eyes the building was split apart and teared its two sides from each other, opening up the entire building to him. "It's a doll house," said the king. There was silence again. Ivanhoe felt safer being able to see inside the building, there was nothing in there but old cold furniture. Ivanhoe stepped inside it, both curious and cautious. "Now, Ivanhoe. To get to the artifact, you are required to take upon yourself a role, like you are in a play. This play will be disturbing, horrifying and incredibly macabre. The door will always be open for you to step out because of fear, but if you do this at any moment without getting the artifact, you will at least be cast out of this realm and into the real world. Then you will not be able to return here, the artifact will be beyond your or anypony's grasp for a long time. You must be strong and endure the play until you can touch the artifact. It should be noted that if you are cast back into the real world, you will inhabit your body that is still under intense repair. In other words, you need to endure this...or die."

"Under- understood," said Ivanhoe. If it wasn't so cold he would probably start sweating.

***

He explored a bit around the enormous doll house. Everything looked like it normally did, just frozen. He just walked around without any real goal for about ten minutes before he realized he needed to take the initiative. "So, how do I start this 'play'?" asked Ivanhoe to the king.

"Why not take a seat for a nice and warm dinner? This is a piece of your everyday life, after all," said the voice. It was all Ivanhoe needed to hear. He went down the stairs to the kitchen. This kitchen looked great in the real world. He could almost smell the baking his mother sometimes did above the old stove. The most modern thing in this old home was the refrigerator. Ivanhoe looked at his usual chair at the end of the table. It sure looked familiar enough.

"Break a leg, Ivanhoe...hopefully not from a train this time," said Ivanhoe and took a deep breath. He jumped up on the chair and sat down. For a short moment nothing happened, then he heard two things. Hoof steps from the upper floor, and a creaking noise. Suddenly the other half the building started shaking with great intensity, and like a trap it snapped shut.

***

Ivanhoe could not see anything. He was stuck in complete cold darkness. For a short moment he was almost panicking at the idea that he would be in this void forever, but he quickly calmed down. The steps got louder and louder as they walked down the stairs. They got closer and closer to him in the darkness. Ivanhoe just sat completely still. He didn't know what to expect. He was shivering, both from fear and the biting cold. Then, the steps stopped. There was nothing in the darkness but his very loud breathing, he could hear his heart thumping. He jumped when the light returned in a flash.

"Why, calm down, Son! What's all this about?" said his father in his usual chair. He was smoking his old pipe. Ivanhoe looked around. Despite the fact he hadn't really moved from his chair, he had lost his bearings. The kitchen was... nice again, it was warm. There wasn't a winter landscape outside, just the usual farm. Everything in the kitchen was colorful, fresh and right. There was an odd scent in the air. His mother was standing by the stove and was cooking something in the frying pan. They both looked mostly normal, but there was a reminder they were not real. They had strings in them. They were the dolls, Ivanhoe just had to play along.

"Oh, nothing, Father. I'm just, I was thinking about a play my friend told me about," said Ivanhoe. His voice wasn't very convincing, but his 'father' didn't seem to notice. It seemed like he could play his part badly if he wanted to.

"Well, maybe you can go see it. What is it about?" asked his 'mother'.

"It's about this...uh, this odd disaster and how everypony and a dragon is trying to solve it," said Ivanhoe. He realized he hated having to ad lib.

"What genre is it?" asked his father.

"I bet it's a tragedy," said his mother.

"I don't think I've ever actually seen a play that is a tragedy," said his father with interest.

"I don't think it is. I prefer a comedy. I know someponies like tragedies, but I want a good resolution to this. I mean, the story," said Ivanhoe.

"I sure hope you get it. It better not be one of those stories that have a cruel sad twist at the end. Those are just the worst," said his mother and rolled her eyes.

"Indeed," his father agreed.

"Breakfast's ready," said his mother. She put something from the frying pan into some plates and walked over with them. She put it down right in front of Ivanhoe. "Hungry, aren't you?" asked his mother with a smile when she saw how he stared at the meal. It was meat, not hay, not grass, it was fried meat. Ivanhoe felt disgust at the prospect of eating it. Ponies were supposed to be vegetarians! This was disgusting.

"What's wrong, Son? Not actually hungry?" asked his father. Ivanhoe noted how it was starting to get cold again. Ice started to form around him, to his shock. It grew not only on the walls and his parents, who were oblivious to the entire thing, but on him as well. If he didn't play his part, he would be here forever. He just shook his head and gave his 'parents' a smile. Then he leaned his head forward and started to eat. Now, the idea of creatures eating the flesh of other creatures was not unnatural, he knew that, but ponies eating meat... They were supposed to care about life and nature, even in some lands have control over it, never devouring life like this. The thing that truly horrified him though, is that despite how much the thought sickened him, despite how much he didn't want to, despite the fact he should hate this, he actually enjoyed the taste of it. The taste of cooked flesh, not only could he eat it, he enjoyed it. It was like some sort of twisted torture, but eventually he managed to eat the entire thing. Why was it so easy for him? Why did the taste seem so familiar?

"Was it good, dear?" asked his mother.

"Yes, it...was...good," said Ivanhoe and tried to keep himself from tearing up.

"I think I'm going to make cupcakes later. Would you check the fridge for some eggs?" asked his mother and walked out of the kitchen. Her movement was so smooth, so natural. It wasn't like she was a puppet, it was like she was alive. Ivanhoe walked towards the freezer. Why did he wince at the word 'cupcakes'? He opened up the fridge and looked inside. His body froze, not literally, though. In shock, he kept himself from screaming. There was a head inside the fridge, and it was still alive.

"You think you've had a bad day? How about you finish this play so I can go home?" asked the pony head in the fridge with a very calm voice. Ivanhoe closed it very quickly.

"Well, there's something I'll never speak of ever again," said Ivanhoe who had to keep himself from shivering.

"Did you say something, Son?"

"No, Father. Only that there are enough eggs," said Ivanhoe.

"Excellent. Perhaps it's time for you to do your chores," said his father, his intention was pretty clear.

"Alright, I'll do them," said Ivanhoe, finally being able to at least somewhat effectively hide his own fear. Ivanhoe realized right afterwards that to do that he would have to step outside. If he did that then he would...

"It's alright, Ivanhoe, following the play's script is within the rules. Simply going outside is not necessarily not the same as running away," said the king with a calming voice. Ivanhoe gathered whatever courage he had and started walking towards the door. As he got closer it opened by itself, he expected a chilling wind, but he got warm sunlight. The grass outside was as green as he remembered it, the mountains in the distance as majestic as they always had been, the wind soothing and relaxing. Flowers covered the hills in the distance, the ground around the farm was worn out from the countless hours their chickens had scurried around pecking at the ground. Ivanhoe could feel the familiar smell in the air, a smell of home. This illusion was very convincing, but when would it show a darker side again? The answer to that came very soon. As he stepped on a single flower, it suddenly twitched, and with a quick movement it showed fangs and bit him right in his leg. He jumped back, it wasn't a deep wound, he would be alright. "Ivanhoe, constant vigilance is key. Just because you have a role to play doesn't mean all parties will support you blindly," said the king.

"I get it, this is used to protect the artifact after all," said Ivanhoe and looked over at the chickens walking around. They were his first basic daily chore. He needed to get them inside their coop. He cautiously walked closer to them, those chickens were most likely very dangerous. He gave a quick glance up at the second floor, at his bedroom window. Why was his eyes suddenly so focused on it? It was almost like...he could feel it. The artifact was in his room. He just knew it, he didn't know why, but he was absolutely sure it was in there. He could even feel where it was, on his bookshelf. He couldn't stop the play though, he had to keep going and get up there naturally. He walked up to the chickens and started very carefully to lead them into their coop. He never stopped being afraid, but to his surprise and relief he managed to get the chickens in without any hassle. It had almost been easier than usual. He was about to close the coop door, but then he felt something, a moist faint air current. A breath. He looked inside the chicken coop, there was nothing in there but chickens.

"Ivanhoe, move, NOW!" yelled the king. Ivanhoe withdrew his face immediately, just in time too. Sharp spikes were only a few inches away from chopping his hair off. He started running backwards from the little structure. The chickens were dead, but the coop was alive, it was itself a monster. Ivanhoe didn't know what to do. He was quickly thinking about solutions. This thing on top of the other two chores...the chores, he would always go up to his room for a nap after they were done, that was it! He needed to focus on the chores.

"Well, since that's done I better start to water the garden!" said Ivanhoe with a very poor impression of a pony in a situation where everything was just peachy. He started running towards the small fields behind the stable. He picked up a watering can while doing so. He would have to do a really half-flanked job. He simply ran past the garden and threw water on it while being chased by that wooden monstrosity. Before his eyes the vines and vegetables, who looked disturbingly like pieces of raw meat, started to shiver and turn into black and red snakes with teeth frankly too large for their eyeless heads. "Boy, this day sure isn't a walk in the park!" said Ivanhoe who tried and failed to give a convincing smile."Today is just dandy!" he said in that same phony voice. He was a very bad actor in his current situation. He focused on not breaking character and going to work on his next chore: what was it? Washing the clothes? Doing the dishes? It was hard to focus with monsters on his tail, literally, he had to shake off three of the snakes who tried to bite him. He remembered, he had to simply retrieve the mail. He turned quickly around the barn, his 'mother' and 'father' walked out of the front door. They looked more like dolls now than anything else with expressionless eyes and rigid motions. Ivanhoe could see their porcelain joints. He rushed past them towards the mailbox. He didn't know what would be inside, but he simply crashed into it. "Oh, silly old me. I'm ever so clumsy!" Ivanhoe said as a lame excuse for taking care of the problem quickly. He grabbed the single envelope that had fallen to the ground. It was addressed to him. It started folding itself into a shape, it turned into some sort of small dragon-like snake. He needed to bring it back inside, upstairs where he always read his letters, but that wasn't easy as it kept cutting his face with its sharp edges. He rushed to get to the front door. Ahead of him there were monsters and two uncanny dolls, blocking his path. "I sure would love to go to bed, rather urgently, in fact!" said Ivanhoe and bit down harder on the envelope to keep it from hurting him. He could see the ending of the letter inside. It said 'Your dearest father, D.' Ivanhoe jumped through the window. He suddenly felt a chilling wind, the ice was returning, slowly. He would've picked the front door, but there was just no way.

"Run Ivanhoe! The world is unable to uphold itself. You are playing your role wrong!" said the king with urgency.

"I play my role as I want to!" said Ivanhoe and rushed up the stairs. Behind him everything was freezing up. He needed to get into his room. He broke down the door and immediately jumped over the bed. He could see it, it had that faint glow around it as the others had. It wasn't a feather, or a ball, it was a lock of glistening blue hair. He could feel his body freezing as he in mid-jump reached out his hoof for it. Just another inch, just another inch and he would be out, just another inch and he could save the world. Then he touched it. Clearer than ever he could hear that echo from the young voice, it was a boy's voice.

"We'll always be friends, right?"

"Of course we will, silly!" said a new voice, but a familiar one.

"Good, pinky swear on it?"

"But I don't have fingers or claws!" said the other voice and laughed.

"But you swear, right, Celestia?" That was it, it was a young Celestia he heard, but who was the other one? Well, it was obvious by now, who else to be a friend with a princess but a prince, or rather, king? Everything around Ivanhoe was falling apart, bit by bit all around him got warmer and white, just like when he had entered. The ice encasing both him and the artifact started to melt.

"Ivanhoe. You have done well," said the real king's voice with pride. Was it just Ivanhoe's imagination, or was his voice slowly becoming clearer?

"King, why could I sense the artifact? I just knew it was there, it doesn't make any sense," said Ivanhoe quite perplexed. He didn't even know if he could be heard from inside the melting ice.

"Because, as you have been talking to me, been gathering my artifacts, you and I have made a connection. We are linked, which should help you with your next task. After all, it seems to have helped you not getting destroyed by the rain, and it helped that young Fluttershy, did it not? Somebody as you should be able to know where you need to go once you have reached your next destination."

"What is the next task, then?" asked Ivanhoe. The ice was no longer cold, he actually started to sweat.

"The next, and last thing you need to do is fortunately simple, yet more dangerous than ever," said the kings voice as Ivanhoe's head broke free. He was basically just floating in an endless white glow.

"Don't sugarcoat it. Please tell me at once," said Ivanhoe.

"Your final goal is in the Canterlot castle. The center of Celestia's and Luna's domain... Good luck," said the king. The ice cracked, and he was falling with the artifact. He reached out his mouth to grab it, he couldn't lose it now, not now! As everything started to fade, he managed to bite down on its velvet texture.

Sins

10. Sins.

Ivanhoe instantly awoke to the loud distinct whistling of a train. He looked around, he found himself on the balcony of the very last cart. The winds were powerful and the corrupted rain was fierce. To Ivanhoe's horror the landscape was covered in those black and red puddles, the trees and grass corrupted on these great plains. It was night, but the moon, in a shade of red, shone over the land from the horizon. Ivanhoe was soaking wet, but alive. He looked at himself, but he could not find a single scratch. It was as if he hadn't even been hurt by Celestia. He checked the pockets of his pants, and to his relief he found all three of the artifacts. He felt rested, and ready to face the next challenge: getting into Canterlot without being noticed. He was probably the most sought after pony in all of Equestria. It was him against the world in order to save it. Suddenly, everything went dark and the rain stopped. They had entered a tunnel. Ivanhoe only had his pants with him, no cloak, nothing to hide himself with. It only took a few seconds before he was blinded by a bright light on the other end.

***

There it was, Canterlot. He had seen it in pictures, read about it in books, heard about it in stories but to see it himself sure was something else. The entire city of buildings with ancient history and fantastical architecture was shielded from the rain in a bubble of bright light, it seemed to emanate from the gigantic, magnificent castle at the side of the mountain. As Ivanhoe looked at the castle, he suddenly felt an incredibly powerful urge to go there. He knew it, to set the world straight he needed to go there. The train went through another tunnel, and then it started going down to the city. The bubble started to get closer and closer. Ivanhoe wanted to go inside the cart, but he would probably be recognized. The problem with that bubble which shielded the city from the corruption was that it would hinder Ivanhoe from getting around untouched. In the rain he was safe, in the rain nopony could touch him. In there, every single pony would be able to beat him easily. He was hardly strong enough to beat guards, and even if he would have been he simply didn't want to.

"Let's do this. Everything or nothing," said Ivanhoe. The train's engine went through the bubble like it was air, the rain was destroyed instantly. Ivanhoe went through the warm, comforting barrier, then it turned blue as the train left it behind. A shrieking alarm went through the entire landscape. Ivanhoe was confused by the deafening sound, but once he got his head together he realized to his horror that the signal was made specifically to alert them to his presence in the city. Everypony in the entire city, thousands of ponies who all wanted him caught, they all knew exactly where he was. "Oh, crud." As the train went by on a bridge he heard a commotion inside the last cart. The door opened and three guards, the ones he had seen in Ponyville, looked at him with ferocity in their eyes.

"Stop right there, you monster," said the dark guard. Their wings actually managed to look sharp as blades.

"Look, the princess!" yelled the other guard and pointed. Ivanhoe turned around with nothing but fear. A bright light was on its way, he could almost already feel the pain in his body. Ivanhoe looked down over the rail. Below the bridge was a dark and red river. The river didn't seem to be affected by the bubble. Ivanhoe knew it was crazy, it was a very long fall.

"Why do I keep falling down?!" yelled Ivanhoe and jumped off the train to the dark water below. He expected a few broken bones at least, but maybe he would be able to get away. He hit the water, but he wasn't hurt. It seemed this water couldn't even hurt him in that sense, incredibly fortunate, odd, but fortunate. He swam under the surface, he needed to get away from it all. Celestia was on her way.

***

Several minutes later Ivanhoe pulled himself up on the shore under a bridge.

"Did you see that?" asked a voice above the bridge.

"I don't know what's going on, wasn't that the last train from Ponyville?" asked a second voice.

"Yes. I was on the second to last," said a familiar third voice. Is that... Big Macintosh?

"You're from Ponyville? I'm so sorry," said the first voice shocked.

"How many got out? Ow!" asked the second voice but there came a sound of a slight smack with a hoof.

"Not enough. I managed to get my granny and my little sister out, but then they came," said Big Macintosh.

"The Cloudsdale pegasi?" asked the second pony.

"If you can call them that," said the first pony. Ivanhoe could see in the reflection of the dark water that Big Macintosh was hanging his head over the side. He could make out a face that depicted strength through hardships. "Only about fifty got out, Celestia said that everypony else was corrupted... Ponyville as we know it is gone." Ivanhoe couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Wait, I heard they forget things when they are corrupted and don't travel far, how did they even find Ponyville from Cloudsdale?" asked the second pony.

"Princess Celestia said that they tracked somepony who went up there."

***

"It's because of me," said Ivanhoe to himself with a weak tone in his voice. Everything had sort of become a blank for about ten minutes. Almost every single one of those pleasant wonderful ponies were no more, now just creatures...and it was his fault. He didn't get enough time to mourn, he needed to hurry before something like this happened again. He needed to get to the castle. He needed to get it together. It wasn't over yet. If he would've gotten a choice ahead of all this. If the king would've asked 'do you want to do this?', then Ivanhoe would've answered 'no'. That was hardly the case. He had started this, and he was going to finish it. He stepped into the water and started swimming, on his way towards the castle grounds.

***

"I might not be able to pay you back, I'm sorry," said Ivanhoe under his breath as he stole a cloak from a nearby clothes shop. He didn't want to, but desperate times... He quickly put it on and started walking on the streets. He couldn't avoid walking out in the open anymore, the only way up to the castle was on the road or flying. Those sharp cliffs would repel any attacker or visitor. He tried to walk in a group. He could hear their nervous voices as they talked about the disaster.

"This is even worse than chocolate rain!"

"I know, I don't even like that song."

"I was talking about Discord."

"So? At least Discord had night and day, short and random, sure, but it was certain. This is almost like an eternal night. Those clouds make everything darker...and corrupts stuff."

"So this is worse than both Discord and Lu- Nightmare Moon?"

"Well, yeah."

"At least we're not corrupted."

"What if we are, and our bodies are running around trying to corrupt others, and we're just hallucinating this?"

"Knock it off, Conspiracy Conner. You need to get that not everything is a plot."

"You're a plot," answered the voice annoyed. Ivanhoe didn't really want to listen to them. He was barely able to focus on things as it was. The shock of Ponyville's fate was still making him walk with uneasy steps. He eventually split from the group as he got near the main gate, and it was open. Ivanhoe wondered why it wasn't closed. Isn't everything at high alert? He noticed a faint light around the castle itself, another bubble, another alarm. There was no way in there without getting detected. He had to stop to 'admire the scenery' when he got so close he could see a very faint blue hue on the wall of the bubble. It reacted to his very presence, but he probably needed to actually touch it to set it off. He looked over the edge of the bridge down towards the city as he tried to come up with a plan. In a situation like this, what would a character in a story do? Obviously not one his stories because he couldn't write well, but a better story... They would be crafty, use what they had to get a desired result. So what do I have? A stolen cloak, a pair of pants, a feather, a ball and a lock of hair. He didn't have anything else but his mane... His mane... Ivanhoe came up with an idea. He looked around at the incoming ponies who seemed to walk into the castle. There were not a lot of them but among them he saw what he needed: a brown pony, with a black mane. It had to be enough. It was a gamble, but it was worth a try, he had risked his life several times over the course of the day, so why not once more? He didn't really have any other choice. He would use his cloak, which probably had a few pieces of his hair in it by now, and give it to the brown pony on his way up to the castle. He would follow the pony, hoping the guards wouldn't recognize him. When the pony would pass the barrier, the alarm would sound. The guards would notice the pony and give chase. Ivanhoe would in the chaos run through the barrier during the alarm and then be inside the castle while somepony else was running away from the guards. There were many variables: the pony could be civilized and simply stay; the guards could recognize Ivanhoe without his clothes and chase him instead; the princess could be so sharp she would be there quickly and see through the plan at once. Everything or nothing. Ivanhoe was about to approach the pony, and with a smile offer his cloak, but then:

"Oh, and everypony, while you're visiting, don't forget to try out the magically insulated secret tunnel entrance down the hill. It's an exit nowadays to visitors," said a random guard towards the ponies walking by. Ivanhoe just stopped in his tracks, looking at the guard.

"Well, alright then," said Ivanhoe and walked down the hill, asked a guard, and was shown the secret tunnel.

"Have a nice visit to the castle, please only stay on the designated path for tourists. The museum is one of the best in the world," said the guard with a smile.

"Okay, sure," said Ivanhoe and walked into the dark but clean old tunnel. He was the only one in there. "Wow, this big white building really has terrible security," said Ivanhoe surprised. He soon got out of the tunnel and into something that looked very much like a museum. The paintings would make Windy's jaw drop. The floor was so clean it was sparkling. The halls were very roomy, and it was just as beautiful as the city it represented. He started to walk on the path, he let his feelings guide him. He felt something here, it was close. It was... He looked at the ceiling, it was above him, far above. He kept going.

***

"Let your feelings guide you," said Ivanhoe quietly to himself. He opened a door and looked inside, then his jaw dropped. About twenty guards were sitting around tables, talking to each other, listening to music and eating their rations. They all stopped and stared at him.

"Oops, sorry. Wrong door," said Ivanhoe.

"That's him! That's Ivanhoe Mane!" yelled one of the guards, one he had seen on the train. Ivanhoe closed the door and started running.

"My feelings suck!" said Ivanhoe. He could hear a normal alarm in the building, at least an alarm that simple would not immediately alert the princesses to him specifically being there, he had a little extra time. The guards were behind him, far behind him, though. The only reason they were still a threat was the fact he could not hide in this linear hallway. It suddenly split into four directions. Ivanhoe rushed to the right. He saw a beautiful big door, he rushed through it. A terrifying sight made him stop dead in his tracks. He was in a very large room, and at the end of a long red carpet she was sitting on her throne. It was Celestia. Right in front of her were Twilight Sparkle and her friends. They all look very shocked and the only reason Ivanhoe wasn't impaled on a long horn was the fact that he had caught them by such a huge surprise.

"There he is!" yelled Applejack.

"Get him!" yelled Twilight. The guards behind him actually just all ran past him, straight ahead in the crossing. Ivanhoe slammed the door shut and went back the way he came. He could hear them right behind him. He saw a window, he opened it and went outside. He closed it and hid behind the curtain. He tried not to look down. It seemed Twilight kept her promise, they didn't hesitate, none of them, not even Fluttershy. The wind was very powerful. He looked up. He might have been able to climb up on some of these white rocks. He couldn't go inside again and he sure as heck couldn't climb down, so he started climbing up. The way up was very slow and so scary his heart wouldn't stop racing. His hooves were shaking as he pulled himself up on the roof. He was a pony, not a freaking mountain goat. At least he had finally reached the roof. He lied down and took a deep breath. He looked up, on the other side of the castle there was a tower. It was very large, very impressive. It was up there, whatever it was. He walked on the roof, being very careful not to slip. He went by a window on a smaller tower, he looked inside on a whim, and he saw them. The princesses, Twilight and her friends were down there, even Spike, in the throne room again. He could hear them from up there.

"It was very clever of him, in any case. I would've never expected something like this...but all the signs were there. There was no mistake. I knew it was something like him, and I knew he would stop at nothing."

"We could've stopped him sooner, if it wasn't for the two of you," said Twilight with a stern look.

"I couldn't do it...he saved my life," said Fluttershy.

"Celestia, why would he save her life if he wasn't a good guy?" asked Spike.

"I'm not sure...but it's very possible he doesn't know what he's doing. That would in a way make the most sense."

"But what if you're wrong, Princess?" asked Spike.

"Spike, I know it now more than ever. We know he helps this 'king', we need to make sure his king doesn't take away our rightful rule," said Celestia.

"When you put it like that, my dearest sister, you make it feel as tough we are merely protecting our thrones," said Luna in a quiet voice.

"It's not that far away from the truth, is it? We must stop this 'Ivanhoe Mane' at all costs. I just don't know where he is. At least the tower is guarded. Unless he can fly he can't get in there, and I doubt anypony would help him," said Celestia.

"Not after you chewed everyone who would out like that," said Spike. Celestia gave him a stern look.

"Windy Stables has put us all in danger. I can not punish her or you, however. She just doesn't understand it enough. She's a good girl, she just needs to learn to understand that I don't act without reason. I'm still proud of you, Spike. You tried to help, your only fault was that you too didn't listen to me. Naive, that's the situation as it is...I need to get better security," said Celestia. Ivanhoe kept going towards the tower. He was almost there. When he got to its base, he looked up. He might be able to climb this just as he did with the outer wall. Celestia really did need better security.

***

It seemed like it almost took half an hour to scale the gigantic tower, but at least he did it. The feeling was stronger than ever. He was so close to his goal, he wasn't even sure he could stop now if he wanted to, it was so compelling. He saw an opening in the tower. He reached out and pulled himself into it. After tumbling into the tower, he quickly got up and looked around. It was a treasure vault. The only door in the big round room was probably locked with guards on the other side. Ivanhoe looked at all the treasures, there were so many gemstones, so much gold. Ivanhoe didn't want any of it though, he needed something else among the many treasures. Then he saw something behind a large pile of diamonds. Was it a pony? He hid, but he quickly walked out again. He just knew that pony was what he needed. He could again feel it. He slowly walked towards it and could finally see what he was looking for. It was a statue of a big male pony. It was very impressive, very old.

"So, you finally found me," it said. It was the king. His smooth authoritative voice was so clear he might as well have been right next to Ivanhoe, which he was. Ivanhoe walked to the front of his stone body. His eyes were piercing and lively, despite being nothing but stone. His mane very long and straight. He was even larger than Celestia. He had the horn of a powerful unicorn and large impressive wings. Ivanhoe bowed in front of him. "Yes, that's very good and well, but do you have the artifacts with you, young worthy stallion?"

"I do, all three of them."

"Very good. It seems you were a wise choice. Not even I would've been able to make such a fine decision. You have done well, Ivanhoe."

"I could not have done it without my friend, Windy Stables. You owe her your life, just as I do," said Ivanhoe.

"It will be nice to finally stretch these legs again. You have no idea how long Celestia has kept me in here. She has a tendency to deal with some of her problems by turning them to stone. I'm hardly the first. She made sure that monster Discord was turned into stone, twice even."

"What are these things, anyway?" asked Ivanhoe and pulled out the three artifacts.

"They are items from my childhood. My old ball I used to play with, the feather I used as a bookmark for my journals, the lock of hair Celestia gave me, promising her allegiance and companionship. So much for that promise. Will you undo this curse and let me set the world straight from the lack of proper order she has wrecked upon it? I admit that she works hard and that work makes a very nice kingdom. However, she is still not doing it proper. "

"She's done a pretty good job for somepony who wanted to kill me," said Ivanhoe.

"Yes, but she did not allow me my rightful rule. That is a rather serious crime. Never the less, I think I might forgive her. In my absence she has done well. We all believe what we do is right, while others deny us. That is the way of the world, it seems."

"Okay, as long as nopony gets hurt."

"I do not punish ponies without proper reason. They will at first probably object to sudden change such as this, as many would. Some are so silly. They will see it my way after I make sure this catastrophe ends the way it should. Now, place the three items in a triangle in the order you found them at the base of my feet." Ivanhoe did as he commanded and placed the feather, the ball and the lock of hair. "Now, stomp your hoof in the middle of the triangle. And Ivanhoe Mane? Thank you." Ivanhoe lifted his front leg up in the air, at last it was over. He stomped right in the triangle. A bright light was starting to shine through the room from sudden cracks in the statue.

"And after such a short time for me, I am free yet again," said the voice, it wasn't in Ivanhoe's head this time, it was the actual mouth of the king that uttered those words.

"What is your name, king of the world?" asked Ivanhoe in respect.

"It is as though you would've thought. I am the king of the world. I am the king of everyone. I am the king of chaos. I am Discord."

Catastrophe

11. Catastrophe.

The stone shattered, and in its place something distinctly not a pony was standing. It was like a long dragon with the body shape of a serpent, or was that a horse for a head? It was hard to tell with those horns. Every single part of the creature seemed to belong to a different animal. He looked old, wise, but very ominous. His one eye seemed bigger than the other. The eyes were yellow, red and utterly piercing.

"I shall be very frank with you, Ivanhoe Mane. I have been lying to you...a lot. Like you wouldn't believe."

"You've been lying to me?" asked Ivanhoe. He was still in shock, he didn't understand.

"I sure have. There never was a king, technically, but I am the real ruler of the world. It's just that somepony doesn't want me to. We have such differing interests. She wants order and harmony, I just want to rule and make chaos. I'm not evil, I'm just somewhat of liar who really, really likes chaos," said the kin- Discord.

"What are you talking about!?"

"I will tell you everything, Ivanhoe, and from now on I will be very honest with you. Why lie now when I'm capable of doing things myself? You still have a part to play in this, however," said Discord and walked over to the window Ivanhoe had entered through. Ivanhoe was very confused. Twilight had mentioned him, they had defeated him. "Ivanhoe Mane, let's go visit the princesses and their little friends," said Discord with a mischievous smile. Suddenly his face appeared right next to Ivanhoe, for a split second there were two of him, but when Ivanhoe looked at the face and back the body was gone. Ivanhoe was enveloped in a flash of light and then he was suddenly somewhere else entirely.

***

He and Discord were standing in the throne room. Celestia rose up from her throne with anger in her eyes.

"Discord! You monster!" shouted Celestia and suddenly shot a beam towards them. Ivanhoe tried to dodge but Discord held him close to himself. The beam just phased through them, no harm had been done, to either of them.

"What happened!? What's even going on?!" shouted Ivanhoe in a confused panic.

"You little pathetic instrument, I should've destroyed you a long time ago," said Celestia.

"Now now, he deserves some answers, doesn't he?" asked Discord with a mean glee in his eyes.

"The elements!" said Twilight.

"Ready!" answered her friends. There were sparks and powerful lights in all imaginable colors, and then Ivanhoe witnessed a beam in the form of a rainbow coming right at them. Ivanhoe tried to get away, but he was still firmly being held.

"Go ahead," said Discord to them all with a smile, it was even gentle. The beam hit, but to no effect. They stared at him while the dust settled.

"What is going on?!" yelled Ivanhoe.

"Calm down, Ivanhoe. You're the least likely to be hurt here," said Discord, yet with a snap of his fingers there appeared a wall of half-transparent darkness between them.

"Girls, charge up another shot, make it a big one," said Celestia not taking her eyes off Discord through the ominous wall.

"Why, go ahead. By the time I'm done rambling you will realize there is nothing you can do," said Discord.

"Oh, you are not going to announce your plan now, are you? That is such a cliché," said Spike.

"My 'plan'? It's not really a plan, you little dragon. To all of you: I usually don't learn my lessons, but Celestia, and you little ponies, have made me realize something from after all this time, the pain of being turned into stone certainly helped to convince me, however. It's quite unimaginable, as cell by cell hardens, your nervous system reacting so strongly you can't even speak. I'm not mad, though," said Discord and appeared alone over by one of the large windows. "I realized where I went wrong. I was unfit to rule you ponies, you are more headstrong than in my time. You are fighters now, rather than lowly ponies in the mud. There is no way I can be a king of the world, where everyone would be fighting me. I could make a few see my way, sure, see the wonderful chaotic world for what it is: art. I like chaos, but there is no fun seeing stupid ponies ignoring your art and just focusing on the artist. A piece of work means nothing if everyone keeps focusing on the creator. And they would be far and few between. I can not rule this land. You are the true ruler of ponies, Celestia...I see that now," said Discord with respect. He bowed his head almost like in defeat while looking out the window.

"Wait, you give up?" asked Spike.

"Whoever said anything like that?" said Discord and laughed. He turned around, sitting on the open window with a rather smug look on his odd face. "I can't rule ponies, I had to get creative. If you can't rule ponies, rule something else. I decided I should turn them into something, something better. I made the rain, designed to turn them into somewhat more chaotic creatures. They just want to spread it, and when that is done they will go back to their old mindsets, just with a affinity for...art."

"But you were in stone, how could you?" asked another voice suddenly. They all looked towards the big door. Windy had entered the room.

"I'm glad you asked, Windy. My powers were locked inside the statue. There was no way I could do it from inside there. So before Twilight and the rest turned me into stone, I used the last of my strength through the intense pain to form and start a plan. I forced the artifacts of my youth into the world again, giving them the same power I used to escape from the start, and I threw a single little drop of my power out, far outside of Celestia's reach, where she could not see or reach. I spent the next several months inside the statue, inside my mind, playing," said Discord and snapped his fingers. In front of them a very small little doll house appeared and right beside it there were a few dolls. It was a very small version of the house Ivanhoe had done his 'play' in. Two dolls, dolls of his mother and father were very noticeable to him. "I made up scenario after scenario in my playtime. I needed something that could play a role of an innocent youth who would do anything to help me. Ivanhoe Mane, the reason Celestia and everypony is so willing to kill you, is because you are not a real pony. You are not even an individual. You are a creation I made, if you have a soul you would even classify as my son," said Discord. Ivanhoe just glared at him.

"What."

"You are not a real pony. You are a creation I made specifically to get me out of my stone prison and help me change the world into something better, into something it was supposed to be. A world where I am the ruler," said Discord.

"What are you talking about?! I'm just a pony! There is nothing special about me!"

"Yes! And that is why nopony noticed you at first! And you are special. The rain doesn't affect you," said Discord and gestured with a happy face towards him.

"But that was the link you mentioned, it must've been!"

"Ah, the link. That wasn't really so much of a lie as it could have been. As I played with my dolls, creating your memories and back story, how do you think I managed to get it out of my prison? I pushed it through the link, into you."

"You were never 'chosen', you were a tool," said Celestia.

"You are just kidding me! This is a sick joke!"

"I have proof except just the rain. How do you explain how you sensed things that was close in relation to me? How did you hear my memories of a time long ago? You have a talent you can't even do right, one of my flaws I'm afraid. Also, here's some pretty nice proof that you are nothing but a treasured puppet. How do you explain the notes? Remember those? Think back, really think back on when you found them. Who gave you those? It wasn't all me. Remember," said Discord and looked directly at Ivanhoe. Ivanhoe thought back... he was at the reception desk... he had the pencil in his mouth, and... he suddenly remembered writing a note that advised him to go to the local library, and then pushing it aside where she would find it a moment later. "That note sure helped you, didn't it? I made them in those short moments I actually had some control, very limited control."

"That- that doesn't prove anything!" said Ivanhoe. It was impossible, it was a lie made by his magic, it must've been.

"How did you climb up here? You have hooves, you would need wings, or at least sharp claws to do so. Remember when you scaled the wall, how did you do that?" Ivanhoe thought back again, he was outside the window...he looked up at his goal...he used his hoof that had without him noticing turned into a sharp claw that pierced the wall allowing him to climb. "I could make you see things and experience it however I needed to," said Discord with a cunning smile. "You think you are adult of age, but to be honest, the memories are fake, your life is fake. The moment you woke up on the train the day you came to Ponyville was also the moment you did something completely by your own accord. You actually entered this world two days earlier when the energy from me was ready, when it took a physical form. By that time I made you think the shack you were in was your own farm, of course. It doesn't really exist, well, it does, but it has been a ruin for decades now." It wasn't true, how could it be? It was all lies to make him unsure of himself.

"You are all lying!"

"They sure as heck didn't tell you the truth, because my power, my curse or spell or whatever created you had a clause in it that Celestia was aware of. If anyone but you or me made you realize that you were a part of me, then this entire little quest you had would've been over within a second. Not only that, but I would've returned to the world ten times as powerful as I am now."

"If you would've died, however, he would only come back a tenth of his strength, something I could fight on my own," said Celestia.

"There was a time limit. It was ten days, and if so many days passed then I would've also come back stronger. She could only try to kill you. Awful, isn't it? Since your presence allowed me to create these nice clouds, she felt it was necessary."

"You are all still just confused! You must be! I am Ivanhoe Mane! Not some part of this Discord! I am just Ivanhoe Mane!" yelled Ivanhoe as loud as he could. Confusion turned to panic and anger. Their words made him feel all alone. Ivanhoe felt a claw on his shoulder. It was Discord again, he gave him a reassuring hug that still managed to create a cool shiver up Ivanhoe's spine.

"Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe. I would not make a mistake like this. So I have one last piece of proof that you are in fact just a part of me. You recall how I said 'I have no name' when you heard me the first time? A small detail, I know, you probably don't remember, but even Celestia said that you have no name. This spell that made you could only work if you actually didn't have a name. If I would've given you a name, any name, like Simon, or Robert, or Will, then the spell would not have worked. You are not even able to accept a nickname."

"But I have a name! It's Ivanhoe Mane," said Ivanhoe in triumph, there was proof. They were all wrong! He was just some random pony.

"Here is where my genius truly comes into play. I could hide it. Celestia was clever enough to instantly notice it, sadly. Observe!" said Discord and started waving his claws in the air. A name was being written in the air in bright strings.

IVANHOE MANE

"Take one down, spin them around," said Discord and gave a wave with his claw. The letters were getting scrambled.

IVANHOE MANE
IVAHNOE AMNE
I V HAE ON ENAM
I HVEA ON NMAE
I HAVE NO NAME

Ivanhoe felt like he had been struck with a stone right between his eyes. He couldn't breathe. His denial, his will to protect himself from the truth was gone... It was the truth. He was nopony...he was no one.

"Now, Ivanhoe, stay right here like a good young...thing while your 'father' fixes everypony into something a little better, said Discord and walked away. Ivanhoe couldn't move even if he wanted to. He was so shocked he couldn't really think. Discord went over to the window again, looked outside and snapped with his claw. An explosion was heard in the distance and outside one could see the sudden rain falling down on the kingdom. The bubble was gone. Ivanhoe could hear the screams, they caused his heart to freeze up. Then there was nothing but silence. Every pony looked at the window with complete shock. Celestia looked like she struggling to contain anger and sorrow. "There we go, much better. I think only about a thousand or so ponies out of a few million are even left now. You really could have avoided this, you know, Celestia. If you would have only smashed me while I was in stone, shattering me."

"I am not a monster, if I ever go down that road I'll never be able to return. A kingdom with a monster for a ruler will never last. We are going to set things right, we will stop you. I've been looking for a solution and I will still find one," said Celestia with a biting tone. Even now, in her fury, she was regal, relatively tranquil, even now in a time of such crisis. Still, what had just happened seemed to have affected her deeply. She was strong, however, she didn't show weakness, none of them did. Despite this impressive feat to stay so upright against despair, Discord didn't even seem to listen to her. Instead he focused his attention on Ivanhoe, his creation.

"Ivanhoe, you have done a lot of good for the world, now I want you to do one more thing. I want you to join me, like you were always supposed to. Let your body become part of mine. My power, more than tenfold, hundredfold, no, more than even that! Not only will my power be like that of a truly almighty chaotic god, but I will become younger too. No sense in making a scheme like this if there aren't some perks," said Discord. Ivanhoe turned to him.

"I can't believe this. All of it was a lie, I should have died several times over and stopped this already, but I got lucky...and what happens? An entire city in chaos."

"An empire," corrected Discord. "Marvelous, isn't it?"

"And now...now you want me to join you?!" shouted Ivanhoe with nothing but intense anger.

"Ah, so you don't see it my way, then? You are still following the role that I so carefully gave you," said Discord. He wasn't angry at the denial, he just sounded annoyed.

"You know what? Maybe that's how it is! If my entire life have just been a play, then I'll keep playing that role until the end! I don't care what anypony - or you - think of me. I am still Ivanhoe Mane, the pony! I still have memories, I still have a cutie mark! You can't take that away from me!"

"Oh, right, that. Well, you really don't. You don't have a talent because you're not real. Just look," said Discord and appeared right behind Ivanhoe, his pants just floated a few feet next to them. With a gentle wave of his paw over Ivanhoe's flank the cutie mark, a cross of a pencil and a dagger just turned into a big red cross. Like he was not real, like he was defective. The pants returned.

"You need to drop this pretense of being a pony and realize you are just a very small part of me. Like a strand of my hair. You can become so much more than that through me."

"Never."

"It's not like it really matters to me now. The time limit is still in effect, either you make me much stronger by choice or slightly stronger by time. Dying won't do any of us any good, but at least I won't be affected by it because, oh, say, I don't know, the fact that you already set me free? Due to that, the time limit will still make me stronger," said Discord with a smirk so smug Ivanhoe just wanted to buck his teeth out, but he was too afraid to do anything else but to deny him the satisfaction. He was as good as gone anyway. Ivanhoe looked at everypony else around him. Windy couldn't stop staring at him and Discord. Celestia and Luna just looked on with disdain at the monster and everyone else seemed to charge their
'elements'.

"Ready, Princess," said Twilight.

"Give him all you've got," said Celestia. The dark wall shattered. There was a sudden light so bright he was blinded for the moment. Discord laughed at their attempts.

"The elements of harmony are supposed to deal with disharmony, but I'm not! The very idea of this plan was that I would be brought back by a logical yet nonexistent creature. The very act of him freeing me with a certain spell works, in essence, like a shield. The spirit of chaos is being protected by reason! Isn't that just...wacky?"

"What?!" yelled Spike in disbelief.

"They can't remove the rain because I'm the cause, they can't remove me because Ivanhoe was the cause, and they couldn't remove Ivanhoe with it because he wasn't in disharmony. He was still very reasonable. It won't matter now. It has been done... If any of you hurt him now it will do noting at all. So tell me, Celestia, will you come up with any other counter-scheme? You are not able to hurt me either with magic or with physical attacks. So what will you do?" asked Discord. Ivanhoe's knees started to feel weak. He couldn't stand up anymore, it was all too much. He had doomed the entire world. He wasn't a real pony. He couldn't take the guilt. It was hopeless.

"What we will do? We will fight!" yelled a voice so impressive Ivanhoe couldn't fathom something sounding so hopeful in a situation like this. Ivanhoe looked over at the six ponies. They all stood as ready as ever. Twilight in the center like always. "We haven't learned so much, seen so much, met so many, just so you can destroy it all! You can make any scheme you want, Discord, you've done it before and we've defeated you before. I said that friendship was worth fighting for and that hasn't changed," said Twilight. Ivanhoe looked at them, not a single one of them looked afraid, not a single one had doubt. They all just stood there in the face of danger. It was inspiring, Ivanhoe even felt a little lighter just looking at them. He slowly pulled himself up.

"Ivanhoe, want to make yourself useful? Get Windy and Spike out of here," said Twilight. Her eyes alone would've convinced him of doing that. Ivanhoe just ran over to Spike and picked him up on his back and ran towards Windy and the door. She followed him out through the door. The moment they turned towards left there was a bright light.

"Go get him, girls!" shouted Spike with his fist in the air.

***

As they ran through the hallways Ivanhoe noticed that Windy was just as silent as him.

"If anypony can do it it's them! I know they will do it!" said Spike.

"I hope so, I do," said Ivanhoe. Frankly, he was still a little tired from all of this. Even without everything that had happened, what he had learn was tiring enough.

"You didn't know, right?" said Windy.

"No, I never did. I promise you, I never knew anything about this. If I would've...I would've turned myself in... What should we do, Spike?" asked Ivanhoe.

"You're asking me?"

"You've been here before, right?" said Ivanhoe.

"I was hatched here!"

"So? Where should we go?!"

"I think we might be able to make it to the emergency train, if enough ponies are trying to get on. If there really is any left," said Spike after a few short moments of thought.

"But it's raining! And the emergency rain-cover doesn't go all the way up to the castle."

"My cloak. I bet I can still go through the rain, I can wrap one of you in it and carry you," said Ivanhoe. They looked at each other.

"It has to be Spike," said Windy.

"Agreed," said Ivanhoe.

"Hey, me and Windy can both fit under it," said Spike.

"Spike, it's not thick enough to protect a pony from touching the rain, it will seep through. But it could be enough if we wrap it around you and Ivanhoe hurry," said Windy.

"Windy, I can't leave you. You're the only friend I have...literally," said Ivanhoe.

"That's not true. You've got me too!" said Spike. Ivanhoe turned and looked at him, too touched to actually say anything more. They suddenly saw the main entrance. They stopped right before it, the rain was like a threatening veil they had to run through.

"Remember, run straight to the train station. You can't miss the clock tower if you follow the road," said Windy.

"Windy, I-" said Ivanhoe but suddenly the entire castle shook as an explosion went off somewhere in the building.

"Don't look back. Just go and get him to safety," said Windy.

"Maybe Marehaven. It doesn't rain there often and it might be beyond his reach...if it actually exist. But what am I supposed to do?"

"Whatever you can to protect a friend, getting away from Discord so he can't at least get more power... I don't want him to corrupt you," said Windy with a smile trying to be comforting.

"But what about that time limit? I'm going to die!"

"Then Discord will have won if they don't stop him. At least get the kid away from his domain, buy him more time...I don't think there is anything else you can do. Just run, Ivanhoe."

"Windy... I-"

"JUST GO!" she yelled and kicked him, hard. Ivanhoe wrapped Spike in his cloak and ran out into the rain. She was standing there looking at them while the castle stirred again.

Objection and Resolution

12. Objection and Resolution.

Ivanhoe just barely managed to jump up on the train as it was leaving the station, the rain was worse than ever and the wind was so terribly strong he was almost thrown onto the tracks. Fortunately it seemed to also stop the corrupted ponies from following them. Ivanhoe instantly went inside. Only about half the seats were filled in the cart. The ponies there were filled with grief, still in shock after the sudden rain and subsequent escape from their home and safe-haven. Ivanhoe could see those more strong comforting those who couldn't bare with it anymore. Ivanhoe looked out the window towards the castle in the distance. Bright lights pierced the dark rain from all the way up there. The battle was probably not going to stop any time soon. Ivanhoe sat down on one of the seats and finally unwrapped Spike. The cloak was wet, but at least Spike was dry.

"Are you alright?" asked Ivanhoe.

"Yeah, yeah. Just a bit worried about everything. The girls can handle it, but still...Twilight, Rainbow... Rarity. This is just so wrong."

"Spike, I'm sorry," said Ivanhoe and looked through the window. He was so tired, tired of everything, tired of the rain, tired of the danger...tired of himself.

"Hey, don't be like that. Discord is really great at tricking ponies."

"And whatever I am," added Ivanhoe and sighed.

"I probably would've done the same. Heck, it's just as much my fault as it is yours. Don't forget that me, Fluttershy and Windy helped you get away from Celestia," said Spike. Ivanhoe turned to him, simply confused.

"But, you knew at that time, didn't you? You knew but couldn't tell me. So why did you help me?"

"Well...Windy and I...we were really dumb. We just sort of assumed that Celestia was mistaken, or that even if it was your fault you would actually fix it. I believed in you because Windy did. I don't know her much, only that she's a hard worker and can be trusted, but she just seemed so sincere when she said you would fix it. I believed her. We didn't know everything. Me and Windy didn't actually know you were made by Discord. Nopony told me or her anything about that part until after we saved you from Celestia. They thought we would accidentally tell you sometime and unleash him totally strong."

"Well, seemed like I managed without any help," said Ivanhoe sadly and looked out the window again, resting his head on the cool glass.

"I sort of regretted helping you. Windy didn't. She was still sure you would fix it," said Spike. Ivanhoe didn't say anything, he just felt more guilt in the fact he hadn't stayed behind to help them. He felt like he had betrayed everyone and that he now was getting Spike to safety while just running away from his problems. If his parents would've been there now, if they even would've existed, then they would've been so ashamed. Ivanhoe wasn't strong enough to deal with all of this, so much at once, so he finally broke down into tears. "Hey! I'm the baby here, you should not cry!"

"Adults can cry, you know," said Ivanhoe while sobbing.

"Sissy, I don't really see what Windy saw in you," said Spike.

"I thought you said you were my friend."

"Hey, I still am, but I can chew you out, you know. You make mistakes, we all do... Sure, your mistakes are potentially going to end the entire world as we know it and start the reign of an evil chaotic irrational dictator, but why focus on the little things? Stop crying, sissy," said Spike and showed him a gesture, telling him to smile. When Ivanhoe didn't react to it Spike stood up on the seat. "Pinkie always wants ponies to smile. And you better get yourself out of this and give a smile! Sure, it's your fault, but when things get tough you need to get tougher! We've had problems in Ponyville before, but we get tough to deal with it. Moping will not help anypony," said Spike. Ivanhoe looked at him. After a little moment of silence Spike did the smiling gesture again.

"You're a good kid, you know that?"

"Well, I am the best," said Spike and couldn't keep himself from bragging.

"But I'm going through a rough bit right now. I have literally lost everything but my life, and that is going too in a few days."

"I can see how that's a bummer. Do you want a present?"

"What?"

"A present. In the throne room I sort of snagged something from Discord while he wasn't looking."

"What's that?" Spike presented two small things he had hidden from him all this time. Two small puppets. The things that Discord had used to 'create' his parents. Ivanhoe couldn't even speak as he accepted them and looked at these crude dolls. He couldn't stop crying as he watched these objects that were the only things in the entire world that could even be considered to be from his parents...his memories of them. "Thanks, Spike. I wish I could give you something, but I don't have anything...want my pants?"

"Nah, I'd rather have a cape. This cloak could work...it's wet with dark rain though," said Spike.

"You still could not pull off a cape," said Ivanhoe.

"You can barely pull off those pants...ah, who am I kidding? They look great, Rarity knows her art," said Spike.

"I swear I'll do my best to protect you. Your sister told me to, and I will," said Ivanhoe.

***

The train never seemed to stop, neither did the rain, both kept going far into the night, and into the night after that. Ivanhoe kept looking out through the window when he was awake, did he have two or one day left? He had lost count, could be anything. Spike seemed incredibly bored and worried. Something that astounded them both was the fact that the most likely epic battle of the princesses and the wielders of harmony against the most dangerous tyrant who ever existed was still going strong. At times you could see bright lights in the horizon, sonic rainbooms going off at regular intervals. It seemed to never stop.

"If anypony can beat Discord it's them," said Spike at one time during the trip. At the current moment, however, Ivanhoe was asleep. He awoke by Spike shaking him. Ivanhoe stirred and woke up. "Ivanhoe, we're here, look," said Spike and pointed out the window. The train had stopped. Ivanhoe was looking out at bright blue skies and white clouds. They were in Marehaven. Ivanhoe might never have actually been there, but he remembered everything about the place. It seemed more barren somehow. It was a very dry place, it was in the middle of summer though, it was to be expected here. This place tended to thrive in the fall.

"Spike, if you want we can keep traveling. The dark storm will spread if they don't win, but could we just make a quick stop?"

"Sure."

***

Ivanhoe walked with Spike on the dry old dirt road. The fence was breaking apart next to them, it was covered in vines and dry moss. They walked around a large rock that was just standing there, like it always had been. That's when they saw it. The farm. The farm was nothing but ruins, a building that needed to be condemned and destroyed. It was there on borrowed time, just like he was. The trees had all died and the flowers had withered away a long, long time ago. Nothing but weeds grew on the land. The sun scorched everything, even Ivanhoe wished for rain.

"I can't believe it."

"I'm sorry, Ivanhoe."

"I knew it was true, but this just hammers it in. I wonder who actually lived here."

"I wish I knew. Sorry." Ivanhoe walked up to the front door, it was broken down into hundreds of pieces.

"Spike...I'll just need a moment alone, okay?"

"I'll stay out here." Ivanhoe walked into the kitchen. It was just a mess, the only thing still even barely standing was a chair and the table. Everything else was either rotten, broken or both. Ivanhoe walked towards the chair and decided to sit down. He didn't cry, he couldn't, he had run out of tears. He decided to pull out the puppets from his pockets. He put them down on the table.

"Welcome home, Mother, Father," said Ivanhoe and aligned them to look less like puppets and more like ponies. "If you would've been real, what would you have told me?" asked Ivanhoe to himself. "Maybe I keep talking to myself because I've always actually just been alone? That would explain a lot." Friends and parents that never existed, only dolls and fake memories to him. Ivanhoe noted that he wasn't completely alone anymore. Those six better save the world, because there was so many wonderful ponies in it, especially in Ponyville, where everypony was ready to smile, and so many were ready to be strong in the face of danger. They were so different from him, and he wished he could be anypony there, but how could he ever fit in there? "What would my parents say?" Ivanhoe started gently pulling their strings. "What's the matter, Son? You seem a bit glum," Ivanhoe said trying and failing to imitate his fathers voice. "I'm- I'm just in some trouble, Father," said Ivanhoe playing his own role. He had probably played roles his entire existence, inside that little mental doll house. So what did it matter if he played it a little more? "Son, is it that bully Cameron Cattle again?" he said trying to imitate his mother. "No, Mother. I just sort of learned something troubling." "What's that, Son?" "Nothing, Father. It's just that sometimes things turns out in ways you didn't expect."

"That's quite true, Son," said his father.

"So what should I do?"

"Well, did you learn anything from it?" asked his mother.

"Not really, nothing of value. It just made me miserable."

"Ah, life tends to do that sometimes. When I met your mother things were not easy for us either," said his father.

"There were a lot of fights because of what his parents wanted and what mine wanted. We know how it is when you're just out of luck."

"I could use some luck," said Ivanhoe.

"Well, can we help you with your problem?" asked his father.

"No. Nothing can help me with that. I just need to make myself useful before it's all over."

"Well, is it a big problem?" asked his mother.

"Very," said Ivanhoe.

"Well, do what I always do when such and such happens. Look over it carefully and see all the ways you can approach it. What more can a pony do?" asked his father. Ivanhoe sighed.

"Father, it's not that simple."

"Well, are you sure you can't try?" asked his mother.

"What could I do? This will ruin the rest of my life, that's written in stone," said Ivanhoe and sighed again. His head and heart felt heavy.

"Now just that is just plain wrong. You should know better!" said his father with a seldom heard stern voice.

"Dear?" said his mother surprised.

"Ivanhoe Mane, nothing is written in stone. Things change, it can be slowly, it can be quickly, but it always, always change. If life is tough, you need to get tougher and not give in. You need to deal with it and move on.

"How could I? I'm...I'm a sissy," said Ivanhoe and turned away.

"There is nothing wrong with showing weakness, as long as you have the strength to make up for it eventually, or at least grow. And you're no sissy. We know you, you have courage. Come on, you have to at least been a little brave in your life, right? At least when it mattered?" asked his father. Ivanhoe looked at his father. Yeah, when things mattered he kept going. Sure, he was hardly a great hero, heck, he was probably more like a really, really poor villain, but he had risked his life to save other ponies, and even if it had been for nothing he still intended to do good. He had braved the sky, a dangerous forest and even death in a way. At least that was something to be proud of.

"Some," said Ivanhoe.

"That's enough, you know. You are not the type of pony to run away from your problems. Whatever is disturbing you, just, just face it and move on," said his mother. Ivanhoe looked at his parents. Ivanhoe realized that fake memories for years were still memories, they had an impact on him, and he could impact the world. They still mattered, he still mattered. Ivanhoe had to honor the memory of his family. He was going to face his problem, somehow he was going to help in the fight against Discord. Ivanhoe's grief slowly but surely turned into something else: new hope. He gave his parents a last look, and then he stood up and embraced them both. He managed to find some of his last tears.

"Mom, Dad...I love you."

"We love you too, Son."

"Always," said his mother with a gentle smile.

***

Ivanhoe walked out of the building with the two dolls on his back. His face showed nothing but focused determination. Spike walked up to him.

"So, what's the plan?"

"I'm not sure. I just need to do two more things here before I figure that out," said Ivanhoe and walked around the building. He started digging at the ground, and after about ten minutes he respectfully dropped the dolls into the grave and covered it with the dug up dirt. Earth ponies belonged near the earth. He marked the spot with a small rock and turned around.

"And the second thing?" asked Spike. Ivanhoe walked up right next to the house, and with all the force he could muster he bucked the building right in the side. It collapsed in large thick dust cloud. Without a word Ivanhoe walked back towards the large rock by the dirt road. He jumped up on it and sat down.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm thinking. If I'm part of Discord then there must be something in that we can use. My father said I should think over my problem carefully. I'm going to follow his last advice."

"Okay...whatever. So...any ideas?"

"No. What the heck can I do against the spirit of chaos? The elements of harmony won't work because I set him free. They work against chaos, but he's not chaos, because I'm not chaos. Wow, that's a bit confusing. He's protected from the elements because of what I did, and he's protected from everything else because he's just powerful. Soon nothing in the world will be able to stop him. If the time runs out, he'll be even stronger, and if I join him he'll be even stronger than that! Dying is only good to make sure I won't join him, but it won't stop anything now."

"So there are two things we could do to solve this: we could remove the harmony-shield, but how could we? Or we could just make him weaker. The elements of harmony wouldn't do anything, but regular magic might hurt him then. But it might not work on a spirit of chaos. How would we even do any of those things?"

"He uses magic, right?"

"Of course."

"I know nothing of magic."

"Basically, neither do I, except of course you need to stay focused to use it no matter what type it is. Magic is fueled by the user's talent and focus after all," said Spike.

"Wait, what?"

"You need to stay focused. Or else it won't work."

"No, the other thing," said Ivanhoe..

"Magic is fueled by the user's talent. Rarity is good with spells for making clothes, Twilight's talent is magic, so she's good with a lot of things."

"Spike, I think you might just have given me an idea for defeating him. It depends, and it's pretty much a gamble, but I'm going to try. I have to try...I never should have run away.

"So, we're going back to Canterlot?" asked Spike. He didn't look scared, he actually seemed to enjoy the idea of returning to his hometown. They saw a big flash of light in the distance, the battle was still going strong.

"After we find you somewhere safe, I'll go back there."

"No way! My, my 'sister' and 'mother' is fighting for their lives. I will come with you and help in any way I can. My friends mean too much to me. I try to listen to Twilight, that's why I'm here, but if I can help I want to be there!"

"Are you sure?"

"I have claws and can breathe fire. I. Am. Sure," said Spike.

"Well, alright. Come on. I don't know how long I have left before he gets more powerful and I die," said Ivanhoe and jumped off the rock.

***

Not long afterwards they found themselves at the train station. Ponies were evacuating as the dark clouds got closer and closer by the hour. The last remaining trains stood still, abandoned. All the few trains at the station only went back to Equestria, the rest had left. They needed to take a train and it needed to be fast, but there was no way that any single pony who could operate a train would be willing to take them on that journey, not into the storm's eye.

"Who in Eques- in the world would be wacky enough to drive a train right into the center of the biggest catastrophe in centuries?" asked Spike. They suddenly heard a train whistle loudly right behind them. They turned around and saw a single train engine and cart stopping by the station on its way back to Equestria. A gray pegasus jumped off the engine and looked at them. She looked familiar. She brushed her yellow mane from her face and he saw her somewhat distinct eyes.

"Hey you, Spike. I think I forgot my real voice back in Equestria. Do you guys want a lift?" Ivanhoe and Spike glanced at each other sharing a smile.

"Hay, yeah, Derpy!" they both shouted.

"Okay, no problem guys. I should warn you though, I'm in a hurry, so it's going to have to go really fast."

"I think we can manage, Miss," said Ivanhoe and gave Spike a satisfied smile, finally something was going their way, literally.

***

"So, what's your plan?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to try to remove his talent of chaos, his very concentration on it by simply talking to him. I'll convince him he's wrong."

"Dude, nopony can convince him about anything," said Spike.

"That might be true, but I'm not really a pony, am I? I'm part of him, so maybe he'll listen to me. I don't think it's going to work, but I'm willing to try. If I can manage to be at least a distraction for your friends then that will have to do. Miss Hooves, Spike will be looking after you a little bit while I'm away, alright? You can do that, Spike, right? Be brave and keep her safe?"

"Well... alright. If that helps," said Spike.

"Okay," said Derpy and just kept working the train engine, she didn't seem to know what she was doing, she was constantly improvising but still got great results. They went so fast even winds couldn't keep up with them. "I never knew trains were so much fun. No wonder ponies who can't fly keep using them."

"It is used for long distance travel for everypony, you know," said Ivanhoe.

"Really? I've never had to use it before. I just need it to get protection from this weirdo rain," said Derpy and looked out the window. They had just entered the storm. Ivanhoe suddenly felt weak. He had to lie down on the floor, he gasped for his breath.

"What's wrong?"

"I think, I think the time is running out. I just hope we have another day, that should be enough to get us there in time, right?"

"I hope," said Spike.

"Sure, we'll get there tomorrow. I can't wait to have my real voice back," said Derpy.

"You should rest, Ivanhoe," said Spike, but Ivanhoe had already fallen asleep.

***

Ivanhoe woke up when Spike shook him gently.

"We're back, Ivanhoe!" said Spike. Ivanhoe opened his eyes and stood up.

"How long was I out?"

"An entire day. Ivanhoe, I'm scared. The explosions from the castle stopped, well, exploding," said Spike and pointed towards the castle. It was silent, the only thing Ivanhoe could hear was the never ending rain.

"If it's alright with you I want to go back to Ponyville. I think my voice is over there somewhere."

"Good, take care of Spike now, okay? Promise."

"Stick a cupcake in my eye," said Derpy and covered one of her eyes with her hoof. Ivanhoe didn't get it, but whatever. It was probably a promise.

"Take good care of her too, Spike."

"Be careful," said Spike.

"I will," said Ivanhoe and jumped off the train onto the station. He started running towards the castle, more determined than ever.

***

Ivanhoe had run past corrupted ponies who quite frankly didn't even take notice of him. He had reached the castle grounds and ran up the long path to the front door. He didn't rest until he got inside where he stopped for a breather. He felt gradually weaker as time went by. It could be only hours left, but he didn't know for sure. He had to hurry. There was no sign of Windy. Ivanhoe walked with a quick pace towards the throne room. Pretty much every single part of the castle had been ruined, burnt. The fight must've been quite a sight to behold, just another reason Ivanhoe wished he hadn't run away. Ivanhoe stopped before the almost destroyed doors to the throne room. Again there was that compelling feeling that something important lied behind those doors. He could feel him, Discord was there. Ivanhoe opened the doors. Discord was in a pose, holding his claw and paw up towards a type of cage. Inside that cage the princesses and the six were held up. They looked at him with determination, but they all also looked very tired, exhausted, sweating.

"You can't win, Discord."

"I just need to hold you inside this for just a few more hours. Boring, I know, but at least this way you are wasting your time without trying to burn me to a crisp. Whatever happened to your otherwise peaceful attitude?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. You should know that," said Ivanhoe. Discord turned around. He didn't look surprised, he did however give a subtle smile.

"Ivanhoe, you're finally back. Have you reconsidered my proposal, then? Have you finally found your place in life?"

"Discord, I will never join you," said Ivanhoe. He didn't say it with spite, or anger, or even fear. He simply just said it.

"To me you are not making any sense. You can be part of something great and eternal here but you deny me and yourself. Why is that? " asked Discord. More curious than disappointed.

"You being unable to realize why I would not help something hurt my friends and innocent ponies just told me so, so very much about just what a monster you are. The reason I wouldn't join you either way, however, is because you're not even remotely worthy as a spirit of chaos." In a flash Discord appeared right in front of Ivanhoe looking furious with intimidating rage.

"WHAT?!" Ivanhoe didn't budge or show fear. Discord still kept the cage up behind him.

"You heard me. You call yourself a spirit of chaos, but you're really, really lacking in that regard. The truth is that I'm much better at chaos than you've ever been. And I'm less than ten days old." Ivanhoe was lying more than he ever had, but at least he had caught his creator's attention.

"What are you talking about?! I have made almost everything in Equestria fall. Everypony and everything is a dark being of destruction and terror!"

"Yes! Destruction, but they have goals, they have structure. It's destructive, but it's still not truly chaotic."

"You should see me when I'm not busy dealing with these ponies. I'll make everything unpredictable, everything chaotic. Everything will be marvelous, one won't know if the next breath will be air, salt or ash. It will be art, and everything will appreciate it."

"Very nice, you're getting better. But you're still not perfect. I would only join you if you were perfect. A true artist," said Ivanhoe like he was bored.

"And in what way am I not perfect?" asked Discord. He was trying to hide his rage, but it seeped through in the way he spoke.

"Well, how did we get here?"

"What are you talking about?" Ivanhoe pointed his hoof at the creature.

"Discord! You say you're a spirit of chaos, but you know what? You have used plans, very intricate plans. You have weighed loss and gain against each other to get a good enough result. That is logic a spirit of chaos should not use. Even if you were just some guy who called himself 'the spirit of chaos' it's not a role taken half heartedly! I should know about taking up roles. Using logic as means to an end is not acceptable for a spirit of chaos. You are a miserable failure that is unworthy of me! I speak to myself at random, I defy reason in order to reach my goals, I take chances where I have no idea of the outcome and I don't scheme! Out of the two of us, I'm the one who better qualify for that title. You are worthless!" yelled Ivanhoe in Discords face. Discord was speechless.

"Well, I- how would I be able to- I mean-"

"Just give up, Discord. This entire charade is meaningless. You have a lot to learn about chaos," said Ivanhoe coldly and turned his back on the being, letting the insult seep in. Suddenly, Discord grabbed him with his claw. He lifted him up by his neck while still holding out his paw towards the cage.

"How dare you speak like that to me? Your creator! Your father! You even have my eye color!" Ivanhoe managed to whisper out some last words.

"You are a lot of things, but you are not my father. You are terrible at what you do! Where is the chaos? Where is the unpredictability?! The rain follows rules, you know what it does every time! I am the only thing it doesn't affect, I can even cancel its effect! What I do is more chaotic than everything you've done today! You know what I think? I've heard from Spike how chaotic you were once, but even then you schemed. I think you lost something when you created me. You lost your touch. It's actually just a tragedy, isn't it? I feel so sorry for you, because I've never seen something so pitiful."

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK DOWN TO ME!" Discord roared in his face with eyes filled to the brim with wrath. He used both his claw and his paw, he was trying to strangle Ivanhoe in a fit of rage. He was trying to kill his own creation that had given him his protection against the elements, did that hold some meaning?

"NOW!" shouted Celestia, realizing their chance to strike was now. Ivanhoe saw some bright lights form behind them. A light in all the colors of the rainbow suddenly embraced them both.

"Discord. I don't care what happens to me, but I will never allow you to hurt the ones I care about!" shouted Ivanhoe right in his face. Discord reached out his claw in an effort to stop it. Ivanhoe felt a shock of of impact going through his entire body. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't breathe. Ivanhoe could feel Discord who wouldn't stop holding him. He needed air, he was getting hanged. Discord's body slowly turned into stone from his feet to his head. Ivanhoe needed to get away before his claw turned as well. Still, the bright light that embraced them both felt good, it was calming and warm, there was nothing quite like it. He felt stronger, he felt healthier, but he couldn't get out of this grip. He suddenly felt something pulling him as hard as it could. Discord lost his grip right as the claw became stone. Ivanhoe tumbled back onto the floor. Somepony had her wings around him, it was Windy.

"You came back," said Windy exhausted.

"I had to. I couldn't run away from it. It was my fault," said Ivanhoe while gasping for air. He looked at the petrified remains of Discord. Twilight and her friends were levitating in the air, their eyes so filled with energy they were glowing. Suddenly a beam of light pierced the ceiling. A wave expanded as through an explosion of light, it went through everything in the room and beyond. Ivanhoe couldn't see, but when the light faded the entire throne room was repaired, everything was fine. A familiar light could be seen through the windows: daylight, from the blue sky with white beautiful clouds. Ivanhoe could hear something from outside the windows, something that filled him with joy: cheering from ponies who had regained sanity and each other. They had done it, it was over. The only thing seemingly confirming anything strange had happened at all during these days was the echo of a voice subtly hanging in the air before it faded away.

"Come on, not again...."

Departure

13. Departure.

What followed that event was nothing short of the biggest and most joyful celebration the land had ever seen. Ponies were partying, hugging, laughing. Pinkie Pie was so overjoyed she was shaking with glee. Ponies from Ponyville and other nearby towns such as Cloudsdale had gathered here against their will before the rain ended. Now their presence just meant a bigger celebration. Within the hour banners were on display, the only thing that rained down was confetti and music and song filling the air. Before long, food and drinks were everywhere. The six walked down along with the princesses from the castle. Ivanhoe walked much further behind them. As they walked on the streets of Canterlot ponies celebrated them, Ivanhoe, however, stayed in the background, he didn't want and he knew he didn't deserve the attention. Spike came in from the crowd and embraced Twilight.

"You did it! I knew you could do it!" he shouted in relief.

"It was easy!" said Rainbow Dash with her usual confidence. Ivanhoe was just happy to finally being able to see colors other than red or black in the world. The music was so loud he couldn't even think. Ponies were dancing and playing, they were crying with joy. Ivanhoe saw everypony cheering. He decided to remove himself from the scene, after a while he found a donut shop. He walked inside and sat down near the desk. Everypony were outside and celebrated, in here it was rather empty and relatively quiet. A rather chubby but friendly looking unicorn walked up to him.

"You want donuts, or maybe hot chocolate? It's on the house today!"

"I'd love some tea, sir," said Ivanhoe. He was given a hot cup with a strong sweet scent. Despite the wonderful joy of the celebration Ivanhoe wondered if he was still going to die.

"There you are, Ivanhoe," said a familiar voice. Ivanhoe looked around and saw Twilight Sparkle and Celestia standing by the door.

"Are you going to end me now? Do you think I'll make it happen again?"

"If you want to perish, then I'll do it...but there's no need for that now. The elements of harmony severed the link between you and him. You are free, creature. You won't die today," said Celestia. She still filled him with fear, maybe that was to be expected if he had been a part of Discord. Her marvelous still terrifying presence did not stop Ivanhoe from feeling joy sprouting up inside at the thought that he was going to survive.

"Celestia, he might not be a real pony but he helped us. That has to be worth something," said Twilight to her mentor.

"It's still not a pony, Twilight Sparkle. He is not one of us. He's an illusion," said Celestia.

"You can keep thinking that, I won't let anypony's words change the way I think of myself," said Ivanhoe and took a sip of the delicious beverage.

"Keep what you think of yourself to yourself then," said Celestia. She wasn't acting cold, or mean. She was just in a way telling him that she wanted as little as possible to do with something so 'unnatural'.

"I will," said Ivanhoe. Twilight Sparkle walked up to the counter and looked at him.

"Ivanhoe, I came here because I was curious. How did you know that him trying to kill you would remove the protection?"

"I didn't. My plan was actually to make him doubt himself in his chaos-talent so much that his magic would fail and make him so weak he couldn't fight you anymore."

"That's it? That was a terrible plan! Magic doesn't work that way!" said Twilight.

"I didn't know that. It doesn't matter now, however. He's gone."

"You were very lucky in that you managed to hit him where it hurt: his pride about his 'art'. It is as you said however, it does not matter. But Discord is never 'gone'. He always returns. Still, we won't have to worry about him for some time now," said Celestia and for once sounded a little glad in Ivanhoe's presence.

"I'm not sure what I should do now...I'm free. No more quests, no more rain, no more chaos, no more Discord."

"I wonder if I should really set you free in the world. Who knows what a drop of his power could do?"

"I only know that I won't do anything, wherever I go. I don't have a talent, a home, or even a proper name. Ivanhoe Mane: 'I have no name'."

"Well...you could stay in Ponyville," said Twilight. Both Ivanhoe and princess Celestia turned to stare at her.

"Well, you did try to save the world, and you're a nice guy. In Ponyville I can keep an eye on you. At least that way we'll know where you are."

"I wouldn't mind that," said Spike who suddenly popped up behind the counter.

"Whoa!" said Ivanhoe and jumped back, spilling hot tea all over himself. He wasn't mad, he was just happy to be alive, not to mention it had been mostly his fault. "I'll...I'll have to think about it. Alone if possible," said Ivanhoe hesitantly.

"Alright, I just came in here to give you this," said Spike and pulled out a flat box. He put it down on the counter. Ivanhoe opened it and looked inside, it was a cloak, no, it was a cape.

"Rarity made it in like five minutes, she wanted to know if you could pull off a cape," said Spike. Ivanhoe tried to tell him no before Spike put it on Ivanhoe.

"Looks okay with those pants. You're lucky you're tall," said Spike.

"Why did she make this for me?" said Ivanhoe, nearly unable to speak in surprise.

"Something about you trying to help me out and fixing the mess you caused."

"I... She really does represent generosity. Tell her I'm very grateful."

"I shall be leaving. I need to spread the news of Discord's defeat," said Celestia and walked out of the store. Twilight and Spike walked to the door together. Twilight turned around before she left.

"Sure, it was your fault...but thank you, Ivanhoe. At least you weren't a coward. Plenty of ponies would run away from much smaller problems but you didn't run away when the world was ending. That still means something. Why didn't you run?"

"You can thank my real father for that. He taught me a valuable lesson. When things get tough, you get tougher. Running away from your problems is never the answer."

***

Ivanhoe didn't move from that spot for the entire day and it soon became evening. He carefully considered Twilight's suggestion about moving to Ponyville. At least it was a nice town. He suddenly heard Pinkie Pie shout in complete joy. He looked outside and saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake with their two foals. He shed a few tears of joy, so strongly did Pinkie Pie's happiness seem to affect everypony around her. Suddenly the door opened and Zecora walked inside.

"Oh, hello Zecora."

"Hello there, Ivanhoe Mane, I hear your life will never be the same."

"Sounds about right."

"It seems you lost my cloak. Did it keep you from getting soaked?"

"Your cloak? Wait, it was you who put the cloak in my bag, wasn't it?"

"Indeed it was, you needed some aid, I didn't want you to be alone and afraid."

"Did you know about all of this?"

"Very much, I saw you had a certain touch. I did find this, I think it is yours, I wish you well on your current course," said Zecora and left something on the counter. Ivanhoe looked and saw the old pendant he had bought several days before. He turned around to thank her, but she was already gone. Spike however came inside again.

"I'm so bugged that I couldn't really do anything against that chaotic jerk again, next time I'm going to be stronger, and- and better," said Spike while trying to sound fierce.

"Spike, I want to give you something."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You might not be able to pull off a cape, but this would look good on you," said Ivanhoe and handed him the pendant. Spike looked at it, and after a while he shrugged and put it on. It fit him alright, the green went well with his scales.

"That's for giving me those dolls, and being such a great guy."

"Cool! I can't wait to show this to Rarity! Thanks, Ivanhoe."

"Are you having fun?"

"Oh yeah! Tons! The food here is great! The music is awesome! Why don't you party too?"

"I wouldn't really fit in. I don't really deserve to celebrate. I'm very happy for all of you, don't get me wrong. It's just that I feel guilty. Oh, but don't mind me, have a great day," said Ivanhoe and gave Spike a reassuring smile.

"Well, okay. Bye!" said Spike, picked up some donuts and rushed out again as he saw Rarity walk by the windows.

"Bye, Spike. Thanks for everything," said Ivanhoe just as Spike left the shop. Ivanhoe wasn't sure if Spike had heard him. Ivanhoe suddenly wondered if he could get the princess to reward him in a particular way. He ate a donut before leaving the shop to be bombarded with wonderful music. He needed to find any of the two.

***

After about an hour of searching through the town, avoiding large crowds and trying not to get distracted he finally found her in a beautiful park. Just as always he feared her, but he approached anyway. She looked at him without any real expression.

"What is it?"

"Celestia, I want to ask you something. A favor."

"Why should I comply?"

"No reason at all. I'm just asking you, you don't need to do it, or even listen, but here goes: I want you to remove the mark Discord gave me," said Ivanhoe. Celestia seemed honestly surprised.

"You want me to remove it?"

"It's nothing but a lie, and it makes me feel even more like a lie. I don't want to be marked with a red x my entire life. I just want my flank to be blank."

"It won't be pleasant," said Celestia immediately.

"Nothing has been pleasant today. I can deal with one more thing." Celestia's horn lit up and Ivanhoe's pants were removed by magic. A sudden burning pain spread along his coat, and after a few short but very painful moments it was over. Ivanhoe's flank was just simply brown. He put on his pants again.

"Thank you," said Ivanhoe after calming down and walked off after a respectful bow. Celestia walked her own way without saying a word.

***

After a while of walking he came to the little stone bridge he had heard Big Macintosh under. He could see him laughing with his family. Ivanhoe was quite jealous, but happy for them. He looked into the shallow water. He could see he looked absolutely ridiculous and tired in his getup in the reflection. His gray short mane looked terrible too. His brown coat was dirty, sweaty and roughed up. His eyes looked so tired, that yellow color just reminded him of everything that had happened, and which thing that had created him. Seeing that he was very dirty he just shrugged and put his clothes on the bridge and jumped into the water where he just cleaned himself up a bit. Getting to see natural, cool, clear water was a blessing. He almost longed to see natural rain again, but for the moment he didn't want to hear the sound of rain for at least a week. While bathing, he loved the way the water felt against his coat. Eventually, he got out of the river and dried himself off a bit. It was getting darker. He could see Luna raising the moon in the distance, on top of a hill. It still felt odd to him to see her perform such a feat with such ease, that much hadn't changed. Ivanhoe didn't know what he was going to do next.

***

He went to the local library on a whim, it was a very old building but smaller than the one in Cloudsdale. He realized something and he wanted to try it out. He went inside and took out the first book he could find. He started to read and didn't stop until dawn. Once he finished it, he sighed with relief. He still enjoyed reading about adventures, it was hardly his talent, but it was a hobby. At least that was still true, his life still had some structure in it. Ivanhoe smiled as he put the book back into the shelf. The story hadn't been very well paced, or even that good, but it was what it was: the first story he had ever read. There were plenty of things he was unsure of, mostly about his future, but whatever happened he was going to make the best of it. He was going to face each thing as it happened. He had a proper life to call his own...so what was he going to do with that?

***

The party kept going for a total of three days, at the end most ponies just slept, mostly in the streets because they were so exhausted from the nonstop celebration. Ivanhoe however, was on his way back to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie on the other hand, or hoof, or claw, or whatever, was still dancing in the middle of the streets, filled with energy.

"Come on everypony, the day is still young! And we can still go on for at least-" then she just fell over asleep. Ivanhoe couldn't keep himself from laughing at how funny she was. She sure could brighten up his day. He walked over and got her up on a bench and pulled a nearby blanket over her. He then continued towards the station where he got on the train to Ponyville. He sat down right next to Derpy Hooves.

"Hello, Derpy. Thank you for staying with Spike."

"No problem," said Derpy. Her voice sounded really weird, but fitting somehow. It was very charming.

"I take it you found your voice?"

"It was hiding under a flowerpot."

"What."

"Those blue flowers are really clever at times."

"I- I bet," said Ivanhoe. He suspected that there was a good story somewhere there, but he didn't really feel like caring. These three days he had felt very little, except guilt, at least the guilt was almost gone, seeing everypony happy again had helped him.

***

The train stopped at the Ponyville station. Ivanhoe got off and started to walk towards the Steady Stables Inn. The streets were quite empty, ponies were probably all inside, with their families. When he got to the inn he noticed it was completely deserted. He tried knocking on the door but nopony opened. He tried to open it, it was unlocked. He was here to acknowledge a debt he had. He walked over to the counter and picked up a pencil in his mouth, the taste still disgusting to him. He wrote down something on a piece of paper.

"Don't have any money, will pay you back sometime. Sincerely, Ivanhoe", said Ivanhoe as he wrote it and placed the paper on the counter. He was about to leave, but then he noticed something behind it. It was Ivanhoe's old bag. He wasn't sure who had gotten it there, but that didn't matter now. He walked behind the counter and picked up his bag. He found some of his money in it. He edited the note and placed the sum he owed. "Might come back sometime. Sincerely, Ivanhoe." Ivanhoe put on his bag and walked out of the inn. He had decided on Twilight's suggestion. He was leaving Ponyville. He didn't actually know when he would come back, maybe never now that his dept had been paid. Ivanhoe walked out of the inn and went back to the train station. He ran into Fluttershy on the way there.

"Hey, Fluttershy, thanks for saving my life." She acted really shy and spoke with a very gentle voice.

"Thanks for trying to save everyone. At least your heart was in the right place, if you have one. I think you do though."

"Thanks, have a nice day. Goodbye."

"Bye." Ivanhoe kept going and he eventually met Applejack.

"Heya there, Ivanhoe. Going somewhere?"

"I guess. When did you all come back?"

"Yesterday, Pinkie's still at the Canterlot party, I think."

"She is."

"I bet she's having loads of fun."

"Probably. I have to go now. Bye. I hope I haven't made your life miserable because of all of this."

"Oh, don't be silly. It's the thought that counts. You helped us out in the end after all. I'll have to bake you a pie as thanks sometime."

"Make sure there's lot of whipped cream," said Ivanhoe and kept walking, giving her a grateful smile as he went. As Ivanhoe kept walking through Ponyville he saw the Cakes out in the sunshine sitting on a bench. They looked so happy together, a real family. Ivanhoe didn't stop to chat. He just sort of felt ashamed for making them go through that terrible nightmare. He didn't stop to chat when he saw Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash and Rarity either. They were close friends, but they weren't his friends, except Spike. This moment when they talked and laughed again was their moment, not his.

***

Ivanhoe finally reached his goal. The train was going to leave within a few minutes. He frankly didn't know where it was going. He had decided to just go with the flow. In the wake of this averted catastrophe he felt surprisingly empty. He prayed that emptiness would go away. Maybe he could go to the land of the Zebras? Or go to the outskirts of Equestria? It didn't matter where he went, he just hoped he could find himself there. He stepped up on the train and opened the door, but before he could go inside he heard a voice.

"Ivanhoe." Ivanhoe turned around to see Windy standing there. Ivanhoe didn't wonder why she was there. She could've seen the note, she could've just seen him by chance, it didn't matter how, not now.

"Windy."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know, to find myself, I guess. I'm not a pony from Marehaven. I'm a thing just a few days old. Who am I? I'm Ivanhoe Mane, but what does that mean?"

"Can't you find yourself here in Ponyville?"

"Here? Where everypony knows I'm not a real pony? No matter how nice they are or how much they try they will never stop looking at me like I'm something not quite like them. I'm sure of it. To them I will always be the pony who almost helped destroy the world."

"No. The ponies here are so kind. They will respect you, they won't mind."

"But I will. Even if they don't dislike me, being here I would never stop thinking about what I almost helped do to the world, what I did to them. I need to get away from it all."

"So you're running away again," said Windy disappointed, she even sounded a little angry.

"No. Running away is supposed to be an easy solution, but leaving this nice town is actually hard. Here I feel safe, everything I really value is pretty much here now, but right now I just don't belong here. Besides, I won't learn anything here. Unless you can tell me who I am."

"You're... You're Ivanhoe."

"But what does that mean? Do I still have a purpose? Am I really an individual, or am I still a puppet? Do I think, or do I just act like it? If I don't have a purpose in life, can I find one? I used to think that I was just like everypony else, but now when that belief is gone it's driving me insane. Can you tell me what it means to be me?"

"I don't know."

"Neither do I, and that's why I'm leaving. I need to know. I could be just as normal as you, or I could mentally, even physically be a monstrosity. I need to know which one it is. If I could know, if I could experience how it is to be a normal pony for just a moment, then I would know with certainty. But that would be simple, and there is no simple way."

"Will you ever come back?"

"I hope, but I don't know. I don't know where I'm going or what will happen. I can just hope for the best and deal with my problems as I face them."

"Well...so this is goodbye then?"

"Yeah. Thank you for everything, Windy. I wish I knew you better and I'm sorry you were pulled into all of this."

"I got into it on my own. It's nopony's fault."

"But it is, mostly mine. You were so nice to me though. You saved my life at least three times in a single week. I want to go and make sure that what you saved is actually worth something. You are my closest friend. Goodbye, Windy."

"Ivanhoe...goodb- see you later."

"Yeah...see you," said Ivanhoe and after a short silent moment where they just looked at each other he went inside the train car and closed the door.

***

Windy could see him walking through the train's passenger car and sitting down with his head against the window. Windy would miss him, she was also a little jealous. He would go out into the world. Who knew what he would see out there? She wished she could go and see it for herself as well, but unlike him she had a life here in Ponyville. Windy felt really miserable as she turned around and walked away. She wished she could've gotten to know him a little better as well. Lost in thought she bumped into somepony before she could even take five steps. She shook her head and looked up. Two ponies, a pegasus and an earth pony were standing in front of her.

"There you are, dear," said her mother.

"We've been looking all over for you," said her father. She felt a burst of joy as she embraced them both.

"Mom! Dad! I was so worried!"

"We heard you had a hand in almost destroying the world," said her father. He didn't sound angry or even stern. He was actually in a good mood.

"It's... been a very busy week," said Windy, slightly ashamed and very embarrassed.

"So was that the thing? The fake-pony? I hear ponies are calling him all kinds of things," said her mother.

"Yeah that was him. He's a friend."

"I know. Is he leaving?"

"Yeah, he's leaving. He needs to find himself."

"I see. Will he be coming back?"

"Probably not soon...but I think he will," said Windy.

"Oh well, what can you do? Come on, dear. Let's go home to the inn. I think the garden could use some work. Maybe you can create a painting out of it, I brought your painting equipment," said her mother and dropped a big bag on the station floor.

"Why did you bring that all the way out here?"

"Oh, you know. One never know when it could be needed," said her mother with a sly little smile. Windy heard the train's whistle.

"The train to Phoenix City is about to leave. All aboard!" yelled the conductor. Windy could see Ivanhoe giving her one last look through the window. He was about to face the world all alone. Who knew what sights he would get to see?

"Didn't you a few months ago say you wanted to visit Phoenix City? The buildings there are supposed to look wonderful, they could look nice on a canvas," said her mother mother with a knowing smile. Windy thought it over, but in the end she decided on impulse. She grabbed the bag with her mouth and jumped on the last part of the train as it was leaving the station. She looked back towards her parents.

"Take your time, dear, and make sure to paint all kinds of things!" shouted her father to her as the train went further and further away. With teary eyes Windy waved for all she was worth until they were no longer visible. She got inside and saw Ivanhoe leaning against the window, oblivious to her, or any, presence. She sneaked up to Ivanhoe and sat down right next to him. He still hadn't noticed, he was focused on the landscape and he was clearly very tired, his eyes filled with melancholy longing. Windy decided to pick up a block from her bag and started to sketch a little portrait of him, just so she could mess with his head if he didn't turn around until it was done. That would be hilarious.

***

It took about an hour, but she was finally done with the sketch. She had to keep herself from giggling because he still hadn't noticed her, he had actually fallen asleep. He stirred a bit and turned around, falling towards her. She caught him and let the poor guy sleep, leaning on her side. She was feeling sort of tired herself, and before long they were both sleeping against each other. Two friends exploring the world together just asleep as the train took them far away from her home. She would return one day, but for now she would explore the world, just like she had always wanted. She would also be there and support Ivanhoe as he searched for himself. She smiled in her sleep. A week ago she never would've expected to have such an adventure, or to leave Ponyville like this, completely unsure about the future. Whatever problems would come her way, at least she would deal with these problems together with a good friend.

***

Somewhere else entirely, in an endless cold darkness, an entity which was filled with disappointment floated silently. A voice sighed within the black void. The echo of it lingered unnaturally long. He didn't lament his situation, he was neither scared nor desperate. He was just very, very bored.

"Dearest Princess Celestia. Today I learned a lot, not of friendship, not about love, or anything that you hold dear. Today I just learned something about what I can do, and more importantly what you think of me. Let me tell you that creating life, is surprisingly easy. Creating life that deserves to live, is hard. One needs the talent to do it, one needs to have a keen eye for detail, one needs to have the drive. There needs to be a just right environment and there needs to be just right parental figures in there... It's not that he's not a pony that disturbs you, is it? You don't mind that it was I who created him. You could tolerate him perfectly well if circumstance was different, you might even have found him pleasant. The reason he so easily creeps you out is the fact that you know that his 'mother' was based on you and that his 'father' was based on something kinder, but still like me. He represents something that makes you sick to your stomach. It makes my stay in stone a little more tolerable, knowing that somewhere out there I have created a fascinating creature that you can't stop thinking about every waking second. Enjoy your stay out of stone. Out of the two of us, you're the one who will be the most miserable. Your childhood friend, Discord."

Arrival

Author's Note

Alright, so just a heads up. This is the first fanfiction I've ever written. It has some neat ideas in it, sure, but other than that it's just sort of dumb. I'm fairly sure the main character is a Mary Sue, and the story isn't really that well put together.

Still, there are far worse stories out there. Feel free to continue reading. Point and laugh if it makes it more enjoyable.

Arrival

1. Arrival.

He could see the dust just outside of his window, swirling chaotically. A train, such a monstrosity of metal and engineering slowing down so quickly across the countryside would certainly have that effect on the land. He was lying alone in the cart on one of the seats, leaning his head on the clear cool glass. He stood up on the floor, securing his bag with his teeth just before he walked out of the cart and off the train. Losing his bag now would spell disaster, if he lost this then he could say goodbye to whatever hotel or inn he would wish to stay in during the night. The lingering sound of the engine filled the area. While he was getting off the train several ponies were in a rush to get on. The carts were filled surprisingly quickly. With that many ponies on their way, he wondered to himself where that train was heading next.

"The train for Canterlot is about to leave! Please hurry up everypony, we're way off schedule!" yelled the conductor right next to the train. Canterlot, really? Well, why is everypony going there now? Maybe...of course! The summer sun celebration. They were leaving to see the monarch of the land raise the sun. The pony who had left the train realized that he was so confused he didn't even consider the date. Just as the train started to leave the station, he too started to leave the area. He looked up at a nearby sign, it was so cheery he couldn't hold off a gentle smile. In very large, hoof-carved letters it said 'Welcome to Ponyville!'.

"Ponyville. Sounds pleasant," he said out loud. He felt a bit embarrassed when he realized he was just talking to himself, and that some noticed that. He continued, away from the train station, further into the town. He had actually thought it would have been a smaller village. He hadn't expected to see something so well-developed, not after the train's last stop. This town made that one look like a hole in the ground, which was an apt comparison, considering it had literally just been a bunch of holes dug out by some sort of underground dog-like race.

"Why, hello there, welcome to Ponyville, you look a little lost," said a welcoming voice. He turned his head to the right. On a bench there was an older male pony with a young filly right next to him. Unsure how to respond he simply gave a polite nod to the elderly pony. "A pony of few words, aren't you?"

"Not exactly. Just a bit unsure."

"Well, do you need any help with anything? I'd be happy to help."

"Well, I'm not sure."

"Is that his name, grandpa?" the young filly asked. She was very young. Her coat was yellow, with a brown mane, unlike her grandfather who simply was gray all over.

"My name is Ivanhoe Mane. I want to know if there's an inn, or hotel around here. Anything would do. Do you know, sir?"

"Well, I think there is one close to Sugarcube Corner, I think it's called the Hay and Stay hotel." said the old pony, seemingly with some difficulty remembering. That was something they both had in common today.

"Excuse me?"

"The local bakers, youngster! It's close to the middle of town. Just follow the roads and ask for it. They have the best sweets too. The owners recently had both a filly and a colt. Cutest little critters I've ever seen."

"Mommy says they'll be lucky if they don't get fat!" the filly exclaimed in excitement.

"Well, thank you. I'll just be going now. Have a nice day," Ivanhoe said and then walked away.

***

For a couple of minutes he got further and further into the town. It was simply a beautiful place to live, that was for sure. The inhabitants seemed happy, the buildings looked old, and yet like they had been built the day before. The sun was shining in the blue sky, the grass was so fragrant he might as well have been standing in the middle of an ancient forest. Everything here seemed to be just perfect.

"Hey, what's up!" a voice suddenly shouted right behind him. Ivanhoe jumped and turned around, still gasping for air. A bright pink - as in, shockingly bright pink - mare stood just in front of him. Her cutie mark looked like balloons with a quick glance. He briefly wondered if she was a balloon salespony.

"I've never seen you here before! Hurray! Another friend to add to my collection of bestest best friends who ever friended me! Simply the best!" she shouted with a filly like glee that made the young filly Ivanhoe had met just a few moments ago seem mature. Wow, somepony insane. Didn't expect that today, Ivanhoe thought to himself. Still, while a little weird, she was just smiling. She seemed harmless enough.

"Let me introduce you to our town," said the mare who was suddenly holding an harmonica. Where did she get that from? She made a single note with the instrument and then she started singing.

Welcome to our little town, the best one that there is!
Let's not be tardy, make a party! One you don't want to miss!
I am the very Pinkie Pie, a mare of fun and smiles!
Have a blast, make a splash! Great many cakes in piles!

And then nothing but silence. Ivanhoe just stared at her. The rhythm was okay, the choreography was a bit much though.

"Speechless. I did it again!" said the pony and giggled.

"I'll, be leaving now, miss."

"Oh, well that's alright, I guess," said the mare Pinkie Pie with a suddenly depressed voice. Wow, her sudden change in demeanor made Ivanhoe feel like a complete jerk.

"Well...could you show me to the 'Hay and Stay Hotel'? I need a place to stay for a while," asked Ivanhoe. She shifted into high-gear again immediately.

"Oh, it'll be fun! Let me show you around town! If you want my advice you should check out Steady Stables Inn instead. The hotel is too expensive," said Pinkie Pie. Ivanhoe did not particularly enjoy her very energetic personality, but he did like the sound of a cheap place to sleep.

"Please tell me where the inn is, Miss Pie," said Ivanhoe. "And only that," he added after a short moment. He knew she was just trying to be nice, but their personalities just seemed to clash, well, his did with hers anyway.

"Oh, well."

"Sorry, I'd rather get the lay of the land on my own," said Ivanhoe.

"Well, alright. Shoot, I thought I'd have the best day ever there since last Friday, but oh well. It's just down that alley, then to the left," she said in a very bored tone and pointed to the left. Fortunately she looked up with a smile when she noticed another mare walk past, a gray pegasus pony. She said goodbye and walked with her.

"Hey, Derpy! Did the Poison Joke stop messing with your voice?"

"No. I just don't know what went wrong," said the pegasus. Her voice sounded off somehow, it just didn't fit. Ivanhoe shook his head and just kept going, following Miss Pie's directions.

***

It didn't take long for him to arrive at the inn. It seemed to be one of the older buildings there but it was well kept, inviting. He stepped in through the front door. The entrance was simple, the entire building seemed to be simple. It was also very beautiful, painted murals on the wooden walls, old photographs covering parts of those walls, a stone fireplace. This place had a history, that much was certain. There was a young mare sitting behind the desk. Her coat was a very bright hue of blue, so bright it almost appeared white at a first glance. Her mane was a shade of orange and bright red. Ivanhoe walked up to her.

"Are there any available rooms, Miss?"

"Oh yeah, Sir. A lot. Every traveler has gone off to Canterlot, we don't usually get many ponies around this time," said the young mare. Ivanhoe pulled the bag in front of him and left it on the desk. He opened it and searched through it. He pulled out a small container with all of his money in it, one of the few things of value in the bag.

"I'd like to stay for just a few days."

"Sure thing, Sir. Do you mind if I ask why you aren't on your way to Canterlot?"

"No clue. That's what I'm here to find out."

"Alright. Name?"

"Ivanhoe Mane."

"Alright, Ivan wi-"

"Please, call me Ivanhoe."

"Sure thing, Sir. I will need your signature," said the mare and pulled out a piece of paper and pencil. Ivanhoe wrote down his name. Ivanhoe really wished he was a unicorn, because he hated the aftertaste of pencil.

"Thank you, Sir. Here's your- where did I leave that key? Just a moment, Sir," said the mare and walked out the back. Ivanhoe waited a few moments before realizing he still had the pencil in his mouth. He spit it out. Disgusting!

"Here it is! Your room is up the stairs. Have a great day, Sir," said the mare and handed him his key.

"Thank you, Miss," said Ivanhoe and then took off with his bag, up the stairs right past the fireplace. He found his room, 215, without any problems. He walked in. Sure, the room was simple, but it had a bed, a table and a lamp, what more could he ask for? It was cheap and clean, more than enough. Ivanhoe left the bag right on the bed. He searched through it and took out an old brown pair of pants, he'd need the pockets for his key. After he got them on he walked into the bathroom. He made sure he didn't look absolutely ridiculous in his getup in the mirror. His gray short mane looked alright though. His brown coat was clean and his eyes didn't look tired, today they actually complemented his gray mane somewhat satisfactory with that yellow color. Suddenly there was a knock on the front door. Ivanhoe walked out and opened it.

"Yes?"

"Sir, this note was left at the front desk and it was addressed to you."

"Really? I...hm, thank you," said Ivanhoe and accepted the note. He closed the door and put it on the table. There was only a single sentence on it. 'Why not visit the local library?' "Okay," Ivanhoe said hesitantly. There wasn't even a signature on it. Ivanhoe considered doing it. It wouldn't be the strangest thing he had done today. It's not like it could be a trap or something, he had no enemies. Ivanhoe examined the note further, but no, nothing on it but that one sentence. Ivanhoe shrugged and walked out of his room. He made sure to lock his door. As he walked down the stairs he called out to the young mare. "Hey, where is the library?"

"Oh, just turn to the right when you go outside and keep walking. It's a big tree, you can't miss it." Ivanhoe instantly stopped and turned to face her.

"A...tree?"

"Yeah, I think it's a big oak or something."

"Your library, is a tree?"

"A hollowed out tree,"

"Your library...is a tree?"

"Yes! A tree, Sir," said the mare. Ivanhoe said goodbye and walked out. A tree? Seriously? Who makes a library out of a tree? With all the bugs, it simply did not make sense to him. Still, again, not the strangest thing today. Suddenly everypony outside started to pick up the pace noticeably. The reason for that was obvious, dark clouds were approaching on the horizon. Not long after he first saw them the first drops of rain started hitting the ground. Typical. He didn't mind rain, when he was inside. He sort of wished he would've been a pegasus. Soaring above the clouds on rainy days seemed like the best thing ever. The weather suddenly turned for the even worse. It started pouring. Ivanhoe started running, feeling the cool drops on his face as he ran. He was soon able to spot the very large tree. It wasn't even dead, it was still fully healthy. He got to the front door where the leaves gave him some shelter. It didn't look like just any public library, so he quickly knocked on the door. He did not want to get more wet than he already was. When no one came to open it he started to really bang on it while looking behind at the last ponies running back to their homes. Then it opened. Ivanhoe turned to face the pony opening it, but he had to adjust his view. For a second he expected a purple filly, but no such luck. It was nothing short of a short dragon.

"Whoa."

"Dude, we're closed today," said the little dragon.

"And she didn't tell me, what a little annoyance," said Ivanhoe and sighed.

"What did you call me?"

"Not you, Sir. I mean, somepony at the inn, she...you know, it doesn't matter. Maybe I should just head back. This weather did not come at a good time."

"Yeah, our friend had to cut it pretty close today. She was off watching a show."

"Your friend?"

"Yeah, weather-mare."

"Okay, whatever. I'll be leaving now."

"Great!" said the little purple dragon and was just about to close the door.

"Spike!" shouted a voice from inside the tree, eh, library. The dragon jumped in shock.

"What's wrong, Twilight?"

"Don't just make him go off in the middle of a storm! That's not dignified, polite behavior!" said a female voice from inside the tr- library.

"Well, it's not really a storm," said the young dragon. A bolt of lightning hit just a few feet behind Ivanhoe.

"Sorry!" shouted a voice somewhere in the storm clouds.

"Come on, get in," said the voice. The door opened fully, revealing a purple pony with a mane in a darker hue. She was a unicorn. Ivanhoe walked inside. "Sorry about my assistant. For once he follows the rules and it's the worst possible time. What can I help you with?" asked Twilight. Ivanhoe was suddenly very embarrassed. What would he say? Something along of 'Sorry, Miss, I wasted your time and made your floor muddy because of a note I got.'

"Um, did you get any notes or something recently concerning me? I'm Ivanhoe Mane."

"Ivanhoe Mane?"

"You wouldn't be related to Calamity Mane, would you?" asked Spike.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not. I've never heard that name before."

"You haven't? But she's awesome. We have nothing to discuss!" said Spike and then left the room.

"Sorry about him, he missed his bedtime last night, he's a little cranky."

"That's alright. But, about me..."

"Sorry, but 'Ivanhoe Mane'? I haven't heard that name before."

"Odd, I got a note at the local inn that said I should go to the library."

"The local...? Oh, Steady Stables Inn! I've never been in there before."

"That's its name? I didn't notice."

"Well, Mr. Ivanhoe, I've never heard about you."

"Story of my life."

"You're not from around here, what are you doing in Ponyville?"

"I, I'm not really sure."

"What?"

"About two days ago while I was home, there was suddenly a note on my table. It told me to take the train and get off at the twentieth station. That's here."

"And you just did that on a whim?" she asked with skepticism.

"Well, I don't know. There was just something compelling about that note. It was like a mystery to be solved, you know? This other note just seemed to be part of the mystery. I didn't have anything else to do, and my parents always told me I should go visit Equestria. I took the opportunity."

"You're, you're not from Equestria?"

"I'm just from outside it. I've never been this far in before."

"Wow, outside Celestia's rule. Maybe I should visit there someday. It could be a very educational experience."

"I don't really think anything is outside the rule for somepony who controls the sun."

"Oh, yeah. Well, while you're here, any book you'd want to borrow?"

"Well, do you have anything about Equestria history? Or, maybe local history? Might as well learn something while I'm here."

"Well, I have this book right here," said Twilight. Her horn suddenly glowing, a book came flying right onto the table next to them.

"Isn't this a story-book?"

"It's presented as one but all of it is actually historical fact. It's an easy read, perfect for a vacation."

"It doesn't really feel like I'm on vacation. I think the only rest I will get I've already gotten. I slept the entire train-ride here. I can't remember anything after getting that note and going to the station" said Ivanhoe while glancing at the book.

"Well, this book pretty much changed my life forever. The part about the elements of harmony might just be my favorite," said Twilight with slight glee. Ivanhoe was just about to open the book.

"Well, sorry, miss. I'd rather just...this thing has a hole in it."

"Oh, sorry. That was the old edition. It was ruined several months ago."

"What happened?"

"Discord happened. He hid the...well, he hid something inside the book, ruined it in the process."

"Who's Discord?" asked Ivanhoe. He wasn't expecting such a vivid reaction from Twilight. Her jaw dropped.

"You don't know who Discord is?"

"Well, no. The name doesn't ring a bell."

"Very funny, she said with irony."

"No, seriously, who is Discord?"

"You're not joking. Wow, I thought everypony knew about him. Maybe he didn't reach so far out before we defeated him. Still, word of mouth about someone like him should've been heard everywhere."

"So who is he?"

"He was just the most menacing creature who has ever existed! A draconequus, magical and very powerful. Nearly unstoppable. He tried to take over the world! Almost did it too. Fortunately me and my friends stopped him," said Twilight. Yeah right, like that actually happened. Ivanhoe would've heard about it. It didn't matter. It was just a story, though it was creative, he had never heard such a imaginative term as 'draconequus'. "Well, I suppose not everyone would've heard. Not that I'm complaining. Nopony ever brings it up anyway and I'd rather forget about the whole thing. It was just like when Nightmare Moon came back."

"Nightmare Moon? I...I don't think I've heard of her either."

"We stopped her too," said Twilight, blushing a bit. Again, a story. He felt that he was wasting both of their times.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but I think it's about time I'll leave."

"Oh well, too bad! I was hoping I'd actually get to be a part of the storm sleepover this time. What a shame! Spike yelled with sarcasm from the upper floor."

"Ignore him. He's still just cranky. Well, I'm sorry but I have to write a report today to send to the princess. It's probably best that you leave."

"The princess? Celestia?"

"Oh, I'm her student."

"Really? Then why aren't you in Canterlot?" asked Ivanhoe, now somewhat interested in her next fairy tale.

"She specifically asked me to stay in Ponyville. I don't mind, I've been to her celebration for years now."

"Well, I'm off. Thank you for letting me stay. Goodbye, Twilight."

"Bye then, Mr. May."

"Mane, Miss," he corrected and then walked out of the tr- library.

"Right. Well, bye then."

***

On his way back to the inn something even stranger happened. While he walked alone through the empty streets he saw someone approaching him further ahead. Whoever it was he, or she, wore a cloak in the rain. They walked right passed each other, but she suddenly stopped and turned towards him.

"What is it we have here? Someone wet, drained and filled with fear?" asked the pony. It was a soothing voice, female.

"Huh?"

"I must go now young steed. Just make sure you take heed."

"Take heed of what?"

"Everything of matter. I have no time for natter."

"Again, huh?" asked Ivanhoe. He noticed her fur was black and white, but suddenly there was a bolt of lightning, right in between them. It blinded and disoriented him. Once he looked up she was gone. "Everypony in this town are crazy," said Ivanhoe and rolled his eyes before hurrying back to the inn.

***

Once he got back inside the inn the young mare was just sitting at the desk. She seemed bored and was planting some flowers in pots.

"Welcome back, Sir. How are you?"

"Wet, and tired. Not to mention hungry."

"I can come up with some hay to your room if you'd like."

"That would be quite nice. Will that add to my bill?"

"Not at all, Sir."

"Great. So, what are you doing?"

"Just planting these flowers, they'll be in the garden out back once they grow a little. If you'll help me out I'll also prepare some dried lilies," said the mare with a friendly smile.

"Well, I wouldn't mind some extra food," said Ivanhoe with a hint of joy in his voice and started helping her with the plants.

"So good to have an earth pony helping out with this. It will be wonderful."

"Aren't you an-?" Ivanhoe started to ask, but she spread her wings quickly to show him. He hadn't noticed them behind the counter. "So what's your name?"

"Windy Stables."

"So, are you the owner of...?"

"Oh no, my parents own this inn. I'm just taking care of it until they come back from Canterlot."

"I see. Why didn't you go with them?"

"I really wanted to, but I owed them big after I messed up a couple of weeks ago. This is currently both my job and my punishment."

"Oh. Well, at least you're doing a good job."

"Thank you, but this isn't exactly my talent. I paint."

"Paint?"

"All kinds of stuff. See those paintings over the fireplace? Those are all me," she said. Ivanhoe gave them a quick glance, then he had to look at them again because they were simply stunning.

"They are very nice."

"He, thank you. So what do you do?"

"I'm a writer, well. Writing is my talent, or, 'talent' is probably a better way to put it."

"Not very good at it? That's weird."

"I enjoy it, but everybody tell me I'm terrible. Still, I can take criticism, unlike some authors. I wouldn't mind actually finish my first novel, however."

"So what are you writing about?"

"Adventure in distant lands, danger and epic confrontations. All amateur work. It's supposed to be stressful to have a talent you haven't developed, but to be honest I don't mind. I take each day as it comes."

"Adventure in distant lands...I could paint all sorts of landscapes and ponies if I explored the world. Griffins, dragons, maybe even zebras. I knew I should've asked Zecora today. I guess I'll have to wait a few weeks now."

"I'm almost jealous at your talent, Miss Stable."

"Call me Windy, Ivanhoe."

"I could do that," said Ivanhoe and smiled a bit. Finally somepony who wasn't crazy in this lovely town.

***

After dinner Ivanhoe was lying on the bed. He was staring out the window, considering most of it had been sitting in a train and just looking for someone's note, the day had still drained him. He didn't feel content, he felt stressed. Like he could do more while he was here. Not that he could do much during the night. So for the moment he simply needed to relax and try to get some sleep. At least he wasn't particularly hungry anymore.

Determination

8. Determination.

Ivanhoe did not have a clue how he was related to all of this, but it didn't matter. He had two choices. He could either run away or he could keep going and follow through with his little quest to save the world. The choice was obvious, so he kept going. He walked through the woods, through the rain. He didn't hurry because he didn't have anything to fear. No princess, no guards, nopony would dare to go outside in this rain to fight him. The most dangerous phenomenon in the world, and it was his safe-haven. He wondered why the dark rain didn't affect him. He should be mad, turning into a dangerous monster, but yet he was unaffected. He felt a constant fear that it really was his fault, but the odds were still just as good that it had all been a mistake and he was just really lucky. It didn't matter because he would do his best to find out, and finding the artifacts was the only answer to this riddle. He was sure he would understand why he had been able to save Fluttershy the way he did if he just kept going. Why? What made him special? Was it luck? Destiny or a fluke? He needed to keep his attention on his quest, however, so he tried to make himself stop asking these questions with a most likely insane answer. As he walked through the cold never ending rain he noticed something disturbing. Some of the plants, the flowers, the grass, the trees. It all was very slowly turning black and red. It made him pick up the pace a bit, just being around the corrupted plants made him feel nervous.

***

At least two hours later the rain had finally stopped. Black puddles were everywhere and everything had a threatening red hue due to all the water. Ivanhoe suddenly saw buildings, it seemed he had found his way back to Ponyville. It was so different, seemingly deserted. The further in he went, the more quiet it got. Ivanhoe feared the silence. It was just like in Cloudsdale. Ivanhoe kept his guard up until he finally saw ponies through the windows, staying inside due to fear of it raining again. He noticed the only ones outside: three pegasi. Two were large, white and had a golden armor. The third one was just as big but dark, with bat-like wings and a threatening appearance. They all looked tired, one looked like he was about to crack. They were sitting on the steps of Sugarcube Corner.

"Come on, Rightly, we can do this," said the dark pony.

"I just can't. I can't forget it. I want to, but I can't. How could they do that to themselves?" asked the disturbed guard.

"I would've done the same thing if it would've been my son", said the other white colored guard.

"I'm sorry, Steady, but I think it has already happened. Cloudsdale is beyond help," said the dark pony.

"I...I know, but don't worry. Celestia will fix it. I know she will. I don't blame the Cakes for what they did," said the guard. Ivanhoe recognized the name Cake...the two foals...

"What happened? asked Ivanhoe. The guards didn't even look at him, they were too downtrodden.

"Two foals in this residence accidentally drank from the rain... They turned into two little monsters. And the parents couldn't take it. The foals were so lost, scared, angry, alone...so...so..."

"The parents turned on purpose so their children wouldn't be alone," the dark guard finished. Ivanhoe was just as speechless as he was horrified.

"I wish I could've been there for my son," said the depressed guard.

"They ran away, we couldn't follow them through the rain. We failed."

"Don't worry, this will be over soon", said Ivanhoe and walked past them.

"Wasn't that the pony Celestia wanted caught?" the dark guard's voice asked behind Ivanhoe as he walked.

"I don't even care," said one of the other guards with a heavy sigh. Nopony followed him. Ivanhoe was more convinced than ever, so now he started to run. He ran through the entire town and he didn't stop.

"I don't care what it takes. I will make this right," said Ivanhoe to himself. If it was his fault, no, how could that be? Seriously, how? He was just a random pony. Why was Celestia so sure? Was she brainwashed? It didn't matter. He would stop it...somehow.

***

Some time later he arrived at the forest. It was still raining there. He was just at the edge. His goal would be in there somewhere. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. The most noticeable thing about the forest was that it got very dark, very quickly. Every step he took not only seemed to get him deeper into the forest, but also seemed to make the rain more intense. The wind was like ice on his coat. It was still day, yet he could barely see where he was going. He just stayed on the path as well as he could. He took one step at a time. The wind was getting stronger. After what seemed like almost an hour it got so intense he could barely take a step forward without getting blown two steps back. This could hardly be a natural wind, so Ivanhoe took it as a challenge. Maybe it was protecting something very important. Perhaps, an artifact? Ivanhoe wondered what Windy was doing right now. She was probably in Twilight's library, explaining things and getting them explained to her. Ivanhoe was so worried he had gotten her in trouble because of all of this. She was innocent. She was the nicest pony he had ever met. His mother would've probably liked her too. Ivanhoe started thinking about his parents. What would they say if they saw him now? That they were ashamed? Did they have something to do with this? He wished he could see them now, talk to them. He would've given anything to just be home and not have anything to do with this.

"Keep. Going. Don't. Stop," Ivanhoe said to himself. He started repeating those words every few steps. He couldn't walk back now. "Don't. Let. This. Get. You. Dooooown!" screamed Ivanhoe as he suddenly fell. He rolled down a muddy hill. When he finally hit the bottom his ears started ringing. He felt hazy and his vision was worse than ever. He had hit his head pretty badly. He was trying to keep focused by imagining where the second artifact might be. Perhaps it was hidden in an ancient temple? Maybe it was deep inside the earth in a cave created by an ancient tribe? Who knew? It might just be in a tree right above him. He was too tired to actually check. "This is the worst vacation ever," said Ivanhoe. After all the running and walking today, the last hour was too much all on its own, he was so tired he could barely stand. His legs gave up at last. He fell over exhausted. He couldn't go on any more, it was wet and cold, but maybe he could take a short rest? Just a little rest. He was sure he hallucinated, he saw two odd legs in front of him.

"Are you giving up already, my son?" said his father's voice.

"Father?"

"Come on now, Son. Get down from there" said the fatherly voice.

"What are you-?"

"Zecora, he's waking up!" said a womanly voice, it certainly seemed to be motherly, but it wasn't his mother.

***

Ivanhoe opened his eyes. He was clean, dry and felt much better. He was still quite tired. An oddly tall and skinny pony looked down on him. Just above was a wooden roof. The pony had an orange mane and a yellow coat. He really needed to shave. Ivanhoe was more concerned with something else however, a smell in the air. Somepony was cooking up something good.

"Who are you?" asked Ivanhoe, surprised at how weak his own voice was.

"I'm Carrot Cake. Are you alright?"

"Pound Cake, don't touch that, now," said a female voice. A slightly pudgy blue pony with a purple and pink swirly mane was talking to a pegasus-foal flying wildly around.

"I'm, I'm alright. What happened?"

"You fell over just as Zecora found you in the forest," said Carrot Cake.

"I'm better now, thank you. Wait, Cake? Your name is Cake?" asked Ivanhoe.

"Yes. This is my wife and these are my children. Zecora is helping us out a little right now."

"But in town they said you were-"

"Turned into monsters? Yes, that is unfortunately true. Zecora has some magic that is keeping us normal for now."

"For now?"

"We'll be normal as long as we don't leave her house. It was some potion she mixed up. You must be hungry, do you want some dinner, deary?" said the mare.

"Yes, please, Mrs. Cake," said Ivanhoe.

"It is good to see you awake, thank you, Mr. Cake," said Zecora's familiar voice. She walked in from outside. Ivanhoe noticed the rain and wind from outside the doors and windows. He looked around. It looked like he was in some sort of hut, or tree. There were plenty of traditional objects Ivanhoe had seen before. He saw a mask on the wall that signified a welcome. He felt safe in here.

"We were very lucky Zecora found us all," said Mr. Cake.

"I heard about why you were transformed," said Ivanhoe.

"We didn't like it, but they were so young and scared. A young pony will always need his or her parents, no matter the circumstances. We do not have any regrets," said Mr. Cake.

"That's very admirable," said Ivanhoe.

"So, why are you out here? How did you get here?" asked Mr. Cake.

"I walked. And sort of fainted."

"You should've been turned by now. Every single thing in this forest has been turned. You're lucky the animals have all run away."

"I'm...I'm seemingly immune."

"That so? Why?"

"That's what I'm here to find out, Mr. Cake."

"An artifact to counter doom, before all is consumed," said Zecora.

"How did you know about that? Wait, the artifact. I forgot it! I don't have the feather!" said Ivanhoe. It was probably still in his bag, but he didn't know where it was. It could be anywhere.

"Do you mean this?" asked Mrs. Cake and held up a feather, the feather.

"How. How did you find that?"

"It was in your pockets," answered Mrs. Cake.

"Who could've, when? It doesn't matter. What is important is that I have it," said Ivanhoe and sighed in relief.

"The dinner should be ready now," said Mr. Cake. He sort of tucked Ivanhoe in and walked over to a large boiling cauldron in the middle of the room. "We'll talk more during dinner."

"The soup smells great, Mr. Cake, I simply can not wait," said Zecora.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay. I'm in a rush. I need to find something in the forest," said Ivanhoe and tried to get up. Mr. Cake kept him lying down in the bed.

"Zecora says you need your rest."

"But I'm in a hurry. Every moment more and more of the land is being corrupted. More and more ponies. I have to do this to stop it all," said Ivanhoe in protest but Mr. Cake would not budge.

"Ivanhoe, do not fear, what you seek is right here," said Zecora. Ivanhoe looked at her while she went up towards one of her shelves. She pulled something out of it and showed it to him. It was a round little orb, a small red ball. Ivanhoe couldn't take his eyes off it. She was right, he had found it.

"In the darkest depths in a harmonious temple, I found this thing, it is quite simple," said Zecora. Ivanhoe just wanted to get to that thing, he reached for it from the other side of the room. He wanted it, he needed it.

"It will not leave, now, be relieved."

"Let's eat," said Mrs. Cake with a smile.

***

Ivanhoe couldn't let himself be refused about the artifact, so he complied. He was eating the soup, he didn't take his eyes off Zecora's bag for a single second. The soup was delicious, but he almost didn't notice. Until he was able to get his hooves on the object then this soup might as well have tasted like paper for all he cared. Zecora said something but he didn't pay attention.

"Hello, she spoke to you," said Mr. Cake. Ivanhoe teared his eyes away from the bag and looked at everyone at the table. They looked at him.

"Obsessed after all, does the object call?" asked Zecora with a knowing smile.

"It sort of feels like that, yeah," said Ivanhoe and drank the rest of the soup.

"Beyond is not a place, but a daze. A friend you would need, to succeed," said Zecora. Ivanhoe who almost started staring at the bag again looked at her. How did she know about that? Ivanhoe finished the rest of his soup.

"There, I'm done. Now could I please have it?"

"If you feel prepared, then this object I shall spare," said Zecora and picked up the ball from the bag. There it was, he needed to just touch it. Nothing in the world could take this away from him. He reached out his hoof, and felt the orbs texture. He instantly heard something echoing from far away. It was a young child laughing and running.

"Mother, mother! Today I made a new friend!" the very young voice said with joy. It slowly disappeared and was replaced with something a little closer, more familiar. It was the king's voice.

"So, you have reached the second stage. You are on your way to set things right in the world. Now the second to last step. You need to find the object hidden beyond."

"Beyond what?" asked Ivanhoe. He didn't even care about those around the table staring at him.

"It lies beyond not a place, but existence itself. You need to go where nopony has gone before: outside of existence. It lies beyond reason and doubt. It lies beyond a train.

"What do you mean?"

"To enter this place, it's simple. Holding these two artifacts, you need to face death itself in its swiftest of forms. In simple terms, you need to be an idiot. Hold the two items, and jump in front of a train. If you do not 'die' so quickly you don't even feel the pain, then you will just simply die. Good luck," said the voice. Ivanhoe imagined a grin on the face of whoever said it. It was gone before Ivanhoe could ask anything.

"I'm sorry, but I will have to leave now. The train to Canterlot is probably about to leave soon if they haven't stopped using them," said Ivanhoe and went over to take his pants on.

"Ivanhoe, you need to wait, I have a few words about your fate," said Zecora.

"What? Tell me quickly so I can leave. Thank you for everything, Zecora," said Ivanhoe and struggled with his pants.

"When you doubt, you still must be sure, never give up and just endure. When you face danger in its chaotic form, be sure of yourself and do not reform," said Zecora and took a deep breath. She looked him dead in the eye and seemed very strict with him. "You will face a force of great power and might, but when you do, do not feel powerless fright. You will do what is right, and against injustice always fight."

"What are you talking about?"

"All will soon be revealed, until then be a brave steed."

"Um, thanks? Anyway, I must be going. Wait, maybe I can cure you four like I cured-"

"Do not attempt that at the Cakes, you fool, this level of curse you can not fully rule"

"I'll solve this somehow. I promise," said Ivanhoe.

"Thanks anyway. Good luck," said Mr. Cake.

***

Ivanhoe was able to get back to Ponyville much quicker this time. He had the two objects in his pockets. The fact he needed to go through Ponyville again made him nervous but there was no other way to get to the train-tracks. It was slowly getting dark, the almost completely covered sky was making it even darker. Ivanhoe was going to use the cover of darkness to sneak through the town. The first time he had gone through here nopony was expecting him, since he had been there recently, they might have expected him to get back. This plan worked just fine for the first half of the way, when he got to the town hall, however...

"Ivanhoe Mane!" a voice shouted loudly like thunder.

"Not her. Not now," said Ivanhoe and turned around. There she was, standing, lit up by the lights behind her. Just as regal as always, but with an even more frightening aura, Princess Celestia.

"I can sense you have two of the artifacts now. I do not know much about them, only that for you to use them, you need to die as suddenly as if you would've been hit by a train," said Celestia.

"At least the voice didn't lie about that, then," said Ivanhoe and turned to face her. She couldn't 'kill' him. So he felt a bit safer. Sure, he would probably need to hold the artifacts, as in actually touching them, but he didn't want her to know that.

"Don't get so confident. It only means that I can't kill you quickly. A slow death with a large wound will still get the job done," said Celestia and lowered her head. Her large piercing horn was visibly being ready to be used. It quite clearly seemed like she was prepared to get her hooves dirty. Ivanhoe started to take a few steps back. A slow death by horn, or a quick 'death' by train. In a magical flash Celestia disappeared. Ivanhoe turned around, he knew, he just knew she would turn up right there. He was right. She appeared there in a deafening bang and slashed her wing right at his legs. He jumped. Sure, he was scared, but he wasn't crying. He just felt like he was so close to doing his duty, he couldn't be a useless little crying foal right now. He had experienced so many bad things today, to his own horror he had realized that he was getting used to it now. Maybe his mind was so much more tired than his body that death wasn't a big deal. No matter what else was on his mind, dodging Celestia's next slice of her sharp wings was all that mattered in the moment. He ducked and jumped backwards. Celestia followed him and raised her front hooves. Ivanhoe was hit right in the face. He was thrown several feet backwards. His face was aching, his ears ringing. The pain was horrible, but he wouldn't die because of that, but he was so dazed he couldn't walk properly. "I'm sorry you have to be removed in ignorance. It just feels like I'm not getting closure," said Celestia. Ivanhoe walked backwards but he fell over. Celestia stomped him right on his hoof. A blinding pain shot up through Ivanhoe's leg as the very hardened surface of his hoof cracked and shattered. Ivanhoe screamed, which echoed into the night.

"I won't give up now!" he managed to say after the initial shock of the pain.

"Of course you won't. You can't," said Celestia.

"Why are you doing this?!"

"To set things right," said Celestia and stomped on his entire back leg. An even worse pain, burning, freezing, like burning coals inside his muscles.

"I'm trying, ugh, trying to set things, things right," said Ivanhoe through the pain.

"What is 'right' is relative," said Celestia and pierced his other leg with her horns. It burned intently just touching it. He could smell his own flesh burning. At this point he could barely keep his focus, he had already forgotten where he was. He just needed to get to the train on the other side of town. He could still do this.

"If you die slowly, this nightmare will be over."

"You, keep...saying I have to...die! Why!?"

"If I tell you, everything would've been for nothing!" Celestia shouted and kicked him. It was obvious she had to keep her own strength back so he wouldn't die too quickly. Ivanhoe could through his blurry vision make out ponies standing around looking horrified.

"Why won't somepony help me?!" yelled Ivanhoe in despair. Nopony came to his aid, they just tried to avert their eyes from the fight, or rather, more accurately: slaughter. Ivanhoe looked up at her face, her very beautiful face, his deepest fear right now. Forever her beauty would frighten him. She was weeping as she was hurting him.

"Just die and get this over with, no more of this," said Celestia.

"Why don't you toss me in front of a train? Or stomp my head?" said Ivanhoe, for some inexplicable reason he laughed. He laughed through his sudden tears.

"You're insane."

"Probably, but I'm not the one killing somepony," said Ivanhoe and coughed. He could taste something in his mouth, it was the bitter taste of blood. Somehow he got the impression this was the first time he had actually tasted it.

"Stop it princess, you're killing him!" yelled a voice with panic in the crowd. It was her voice, Windy's voice.

"You know what this is about, so stay out of-"

"I don't care! I believe in him!" yelled Windy. Ivanhoe could see her running towards them.

"There is nothing to believe in, this thing has to die!" said Celestia. Ivanhoe looked at Windy. He was so hurt, so tired, death would be easy now. Whether it came slowly or quickly, it would be worth it just to get out of this situation.

"Windy Stables, stay out of this," said Celestia and stopped paying attention to him for a moment.

"Spike, now!" yelled Windy. A barrage of green flames started appearing above them both. Almost a hundred scrolls started raining down on the two, obscuring everything. Ivanhoe suddenly felt somepony grab him. Somepony was flying away with him. It was Windy, and somepony else. It was that mare, Fluttershy.

"Windy, I need to-"

"I know, I know. Die quickly. Fluttershy explained to me what the princess told them," said Windy, her voice a bit shaky.

"The artifacts in my pockets, put them in my mouth," said Ivanhoe. They helped him as well as they could. Ivanhoe heard a train in the distance. Even if the death wasn't sudden enough and it wouldn't work, at least he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. He was glad there wasn't a mirror around, he probably looked horrible. He held the feather and the orb with his teeth as hard as he could. He could see Celestia flying toward them with determination.

"I trust you, Ivanhoe. I do."

"I don't, but I owe you this one," said Fluttershy. The train was close. The kings words were important, so he followed them without hesitation. The pegasi dropped him.

"No!" yelled Celestia. The last thing Ivanhoe saw was the oncoming train's blinding lights in the darkness. The last thing he heard was the deafening engine from the mechanical monstrosity. He closed his eyes, ready for it. Then everything went silent.