Ranma looked up with eyes wide in wonder, whispered, “you have a beautiful aura,” and passed out.

Twilight looked on in shock, as she thought, “what the hay was all that.” As the pony rested there in her lap quietly, she grew concerned that the filly was no longer purring but would have to wait for Ranko. Not that that helped her nerves.

“Okay she’s not purring which could mean she is out of the state that Ranko mentioned earlier. Or, that she feels betrayed and possible threatened by what I just did and…, and…” Twilight started to panic but was ultimately still pinned by death incarnate.

The door burst open and in bounced a pony, derailing Twilight‘s thoughts. The pony, a pink coated earth pony mare with a dark pink mane and tail that looked like cotton candy, a cutie mark of three balloons two blue and one yellow in the center, and crystal blue eyes, had a bit of worry on her face. As soon as she saw Twilight she started shouting, “Twilight we have a doozy, a doozy!”

Panicking, Twilight immediately tried to calm and quiet her friend, “Pinkie relax and calm down. Take a deep breath and calm down. Now quietly tell me what’s happening.” She indicated the sleep filly in her lap while holding a hoof to her muzzle and going, “shhh.”

Pinkie’s face went from slightly worried to absolute horror as she ran over to Twilight. Before Twilight could even think Pinkie wrapped her in a hug and started crying, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” She repeated over and over.

Twilight pulled her to leg’s length and asked her, “what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” She was still worried about Ranma, but her friend was distraught.

“I didn’t throw you a baby shower,” Pinkie whined.

“What?” was all Twilight could say as her brain tried to wrap around what Pinkie was talking about.

“Good news, Fluttershy is fine,” Ranko started as she entered. “It appears that my close proximity to the event horizon while maintaining the spell at the time reality snapped back seems to have reinforced…” she trailed off as she took in the scene.

What happened next made Twilight’s heart stop. In an instant Ranko’s head spikes flare in aggression and her muscles coiled like a spring. Then she launched herself at Twilight’s friend claws first and jaws second. As Ranko land in front of Twilight on all fours she turned to where Pinkie seemed to reappear.

“I won’t let you kill and/or marry him,” growled Ranko.

“Of coarse not silly, she’s Twilight’s filly,” giggled Pinkie.

“Everyone who has that… wait, what?” Blinked Ranko as she deflate as she shook her head to try and clear it.

“Twilight’s my friend why would I want to hurt or marry her foal?” Pinkie asked.

“But, she not hers,” stated Ranko.

“Oh, then who’s?” questioned Pinkie with a smile like a cat that had a mouse cornered.

“Um, that’s complicated,” was Ranko’s reply as she began sweating nervously.

“Will somepony tell me what the hay is going on!” demanded Twilight.

“It’s quite simply, silly. You removed the headband and reality went swish, whoosh, with a bit swoosh, and a lot of bendy,” Pinkie answered with over exaggerated movements.

“Yeah, but… wait, what?” stammered Ranko.

“How did you know that?” questioned Twilight with a blank stare on her face.

“I read the previous chapter, duh,” explained Pinkie. “Which reminds me why aren’t you transparent anymore?” she asked Ranko.

“What are you talking about it will take months, if not years, for my chi and magic to reconstitute my,” Ranko began as she placed her hand on her chest for emphasis. “…body. What? …How?” she asked as she started studying her hand more closely. Her eyes widening she turn toward Twilight and leapt again.

Once more Twilight’s heart stopped. Panicked she closed her eyes and wait for the…

Oof! It took her mind a few seconds to realize that she hadn’t been mauled or torn limb from limb. Then, a few more seconds to piece together that she had been tackled and was currently being hug while Ranma still slept in her lap. Finally she recognized that someone was saying something.

As she opened her eyes she noticed that Ranko was hugging while crying and repeatedly saying, “thank you.”

“Thank you, thank you , thank you,” Ranko continued. Then suddenly she stopped put both clawed hands on Twilight’s face and pulled her closer. “But, don’t you ever do that again. You almost got the three of us killed. Well, you might have died, but Fluttershy and I might have suffered a fate worst than death.”

“What do you mean?”

As Ranko sat up, she started laughing it wasn’t a pleasant laugh, “have you ever had your consciousness stretched, even a little? And I don’t mean by your own volition, but by force,” she paused to let it sink in.

“I’m not sure I understand. How can you stretch your consciousness?” asked Twilight.

Before Ranko could reply Pinkie interrupted, “that’s easy you simply go like this and this.” As she spoke she mimed actions of pulling something apart and squishing it back with her hoofs.

“How the hell did you do that?” Ranko asked as she stared at Pinkie wide-eyed.

“Am I missing something?” asked Twilight as she sat there confused.

“Yes. Yes, you are but I think I need to explain some things first,” Ranko answered never taking her eyes off Pinkie. “Do you know what an aura is?”

“Everyone knows about the magical auras of unicorns, and it has been theorized that peagusi and earth ponies have an invisible aura due to the subtle nature of their magic. Along with other races and objects with magical properties,” Twilight answered.

“Yes and no. Where to begin… oh yes, of coarse. What an aura is. Well first it is an energy matrix composed of three separate fields confusingly enough also called auras. There is the physical aura, the spiritual aura (sometimes called the life aura), and the magical aura. The physical aura is generated by everything and anything that has a physical presence whether or not it actually is perceivable. As such, it is usually limited to the form. The spiritual aura is generated by life itself whether directly or indirectly and extends beyond the form to interact with each other and reality itself. The magical aura emanates from the magic of anything with potential regardless of whether it can be altered or not and can be used to manipulated the forces of nature and the universe itself,” explained Ranko.

“The consciousness is at the core of this matrix. Almost always tied into the physical aura. It is connected to all three auras and with practice can be spread out among anyone of them. And that’s the thing, they’re connected kind of like how the nerves are connected to the skin. Now when you force the consciousness across the auras it’s not that bad because it’s meant to, but stretch it even a nanometer beyond is like having your nerves ripped from your skin. Not to mention that that pain from just existing increases exponentially the further it is stretched,” continued Ranko.

“Now we come to the important part. Do you remember the spell I was casting?” asked Ranko. Twilight and Pinkie nodded. “I was taxing Fluttershy’s aura which would have destabilized and then strengthen the matrix as I explained. This means I was using my aura to manipulate Fluttershy’s when I stepped into that chaotic magical maelstrom. The results were at that point unpredictable with the most likely being our consciousnesses being spread across half of Equestria if we were lucky,” she finished while giving Twilight a glare.

“And Pinkie?” Twilight asked shifting uneasily.

“Oh, she was simply stretching and squishing her consciousness like it was taffy.”

“Huh? But wouldn‘t that be painful?” Twilight gave a worried glance to Pinkie.

“Not the way she did it. You see, her physical aura is so intertwined in her spiritual aura which causes the physical aura to extend beyond the form and the consciousness with it. Probably gives her some unique abilities,” answered Ranko while Twilight chuckled nervously. Before adding, “never seen anything like it,” in a whisper. “This actually allows her to physically manipulate her consciousness at will or at least its manifestation within her aura. Since it is mixed so completely with her spiritual aura though not as extended I mistook her for a high caliber martial artist, who extend their consciousness along their spiritual auras. That is why I reacted so poorly to her, due to a lot of bad experiences with martial artists,” Ranko turned to Pinkie, “I’m so sorry for that,” she apologized.

“Martial artist? Where?” asked Ranma whose eyes snapped open and began scanning the immediate area. She moved her forelegs to defend Twilight while staying in her lap. Her eyes locked on Pinkie and narrowed dangerously.

Catching sight of this and realizing where it might go, Ranko immediately got between Ranma and Pinkie. “She’s not a martial artist, your safe, everyone is safe. Calm down,” she pleaded quickly. Twilight notice that Ranko was very worried but before she could do anything…

“Twilight, Fluttershy are you here? You won’t believe this, the weather did some crazy stuff before dying down…” said a voice from outside.

At that time a cerulean pegasus mare with magneta eyes, a rainbow lighting cutie mark, and a rainbow colored mane and tail entered. As she took in the scene, her mouth hung open before she started snickering. “An alicorn, a dragon, a foal, and an earth pony, you guys are like the start of a bad joke,” explained the mare while she continued snickering.

As the rainbow mane mare headed through the small town toward a palace made into a crystal tree she was followed by an earth pony mare with an orange coat, green eyes, a cutie mark with three red apples, and a blonde mane and tail. The earth pony says to the pegasus, “so why does Twi want us at the palace again?”

“All I know is that it involves a new dragon and filly,” replied the pegasus.

“A new dragon, ah reckin it ain’t one of those big ones, seeing how the town ain’t in a big ole ruckus,” said the earth pony in a thick accent.

“Nah, she’s about the size of Spike, so no rampaging, yet,” joked the pegasus as they entered the palace.

“That’s good, so where we going anyways?”

“They’re in the throne room,” the pegasus answered.

They entered a room with seven thrones. On one side was a few piles of books, parchments, and quills. On the other was Pinkie playing a game of tag with a young filly.

“…mentioned something about an indirect way for life to generate a spiritual aura, what did you mean by indirect?” asked Twilight from the pile of books.

“Indirect by infusing life into something which is by far the safest form of necromancy,” replied Ranko to Twilight’s gasp.

“But… but… but…necromancy is illegal in accordance with the International Immortal Accords and Death Regulations,” shouted Twilight causing the filly to stop and focus on her.

“That makes sense, considering the way necromancy works when using the physical or magical aura. Now that’s some nasty business,” shuddered Ranko. “Since all your doing is reanimating the corpse.”

“Isn’t that the point? I mean it is called necromancy, basically magic over the dead,” interrupted Twilight.

“Well, with the spiritual aura it is more like reviving the dead but it is still technically necromancy. Unlike using the other two auras where if you repeat the same thing over and over you would get the same results. The spiritual aura may fail if: one they don’t wish to come back, two their time is up, three the damage is so extensive that life is prolonged not sustained, and a few other obscure rules. The spiritual aura can be used to even extend the life of the practitioner naturally and safely. I can understand why this would elude you considering that there are only a few if any high caliber martial artist here,” explained Ranko.

“Hey!” shouted the pegasus. “I’ll have you know I’m a black belt in karate.”

As the filly started snickering, Twilight said, “Rainbow Dash, you’ve returned with Applejack, good. Applejack this is Ranko,” she indicated the dragon. “And this,” she indicated the filly, “is Ranma.”

“Where’s Spike, ah don’t think he’d miss out on this?” asked the earth pony identified as Applejack.

“Spike what a weird name for a pony,” thought Ranko.

“Oh, he was helping Rarity out today, so he’ll get here when Fluttershy returns from getting her. Then we have to head to Canterlot. Apparently, Ranko needs to tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna something important,” explained Twilight.

Rainbow Dash groaned knowing that they might take awhile and not wanting to get into Twilight's obvious egghead-a-thon. She decided to join the game between Pinkie and Ranko. Meanwhile Applejack took this rare moment to just relax.

As Fluttershy enter she was accompanied by two others. The first one was an unicorn mare with an alabaster coat, azure eyes, a cutie mark of three diamonds, and a indigo mane and tail. The second one, a dragon with purple scales, lime-green underbelly, and emerald green spikes and irises, however caught her attention. As she focus on the dragon her eyes narrowed. Shortly afterward she lunged at him with her claws extended.

As she tackled the dragon, the others could hear her crying while she hugged him. He was looking at the others for help and they all just shrugged. Through the crying Ranko began, “brother, I thought you were dead.” There was many gasp and the dragon was shocked. “Especially after that bearded starred nutcase smashed your egg.”

Everyone gasped, again. “‘Bearded starred nutcase?’” asked Twilight worriedly staring at Spike.

“Yeah, this freak who used to be a big shot for ponies. Always wore this crazy blue dress, pointed hat, and can’t forget the bells. Always with the bells,” replied Ranko dismissively as she continued to hug her brother.

This time the gasp came specifically from Twilight as she stammered, “St-S-Starswirl the Bearded?”

Ignoring Twilight, Ranko continued, “if it hadn’t been for Discord there would have been another war between dragons and ponies.” Again, more gasps. “Our parents were so furious,” she continued to cry as the other dragon just sat there in shock. He had a sister and maybe even parents.

Celestia, an alicorn mare with a white coat, magenta eyes, a cutie mark of a blazing sun, and ethereal mane and tail the colors of a sunrise, sat on her throne. She wore gold regalia adorning her hooves, neck and head. In the neck and crown pieces sat a single magenta jewel each.

She had received a letter from her most faithful student, even if she was technically no longer a student, requesting the fastest of transports. The letter went on to explain that a new dragon and filly appeared in the Everfree Forest and were connected to the strange events that occurred recently. Furthermore, the letter mentioned that the dragon may be Spike’s sister and she had something urgent for the princess and her own sister.

Celestia didn’t know how to respond to that. She did have three pegasi chariots sent to retrieve the nine of them. She had sent a response informing them that immediate transport had been arranged and should be arriving shortly. She had an attendant waiting to wake her sister, Luna, when they arrived for it was mid-afternoon and Luna was usually asleep until she raised the moon.

Despite that she was nervous, the events recently had concerned her deeply. Not to mention, Spike’s family had always been an enigma. None of this showed as she waited with regal pose.

As the three teams of royal guard pegasi, wearing the golden armor of the day guard, were approaching the city of Canterlot, Ranma started to fidget. Ranko noticing this leaned in and told her, “don’t worry. I know they’re royalty and all, but I promise I won’t let anything bad happen. You do trust me, right?”

Ranma merely nodded, but it was clear she was still nervous.

As they entered the throne room Celestia signaled the attendant. The attendant noticed the nerves of the little filly and couldn’t help but think, “meeting royalty for the first time is always nerve-wracking.”

While they waited for Luna, Celestia couldn’t help but smile a little as the filly took a defensive position in front of Twilight, even though it was clear she was nervous. “This is Ranma,” Twilight began indicating the filly, “and this is Ranko. She was insistent that she meet with you and Princess Luna before she explained what was going on, your Highness,” she finished while indicating the white dragon.

“Your Highness, it is an honor,” replied Ranko with a small bow. Ranma, however, gave her a defiant stare, all the while keeping the defensive position in front of Twilight. Celestia almost laughed at how cute it was.

“Twilight, as I have told you before, you and your friends need not be so formal. Though I most admit I am curious about your new friends,” Celestia responded with mirth.

“Um, your Highness,” Ranko began nervously. “I heard Princess Luna had been saved. If it isn’t to much to ask could she be here before we start?”

“I have just sent an attendant to wake her if she is asleep as is usual for this time of day and request her presence. Would you like something while we wait?” assured Celestia.

Just as Ranko was about to politely turn down the offer Ranma’s stomach rumbled. Sighing, Ranko instead stated, “maybe a few treats if it isn’t too much trouble.”

“None at all,” chuckled Celestia who then order a guard to inform someone they would like a few snacks.

A few moments later entered an alicorn mare with a dark blue coat, cyan eyes, a cutie mark of a crescent moon against a starless night, and ethereal mane and tail the color of a spring night littered with stars. She wore silver regalia on her hooves, an ebony regalia with the insignia of the crescent moon from her cutie mark around her neck, and an ebony crown upon her head.

“Here she is now. Dear sister, I apologize for waking you at this hour. How was your sleep?” Celestia asked with a smile. As everyone turned to the new entry to the throne room they all bowed. All except one. As Ranma stood there she froze.

Those beautiful crystal blue eyes stared at Luna and became unfocused. She began glowing, literally, when before anyone could react she plowed into Luna.

As everyone started to move, the guards to defend their princess, Celestia to save her sister, and the six Bearers of the Elements to hopefully save both, they were all stopped by one word.

“Mommy.”

Author's Note

A. n. okay about the chapter tittles. I didn’t really think about them at all when I was initially working on the story. When I realized I needed a title for the story I started thinking of titles for the chapters. The first one just jump out at me and fit so well along with the second. The third however, was because I got the song partially stuck in my head from the second chapter and it still fits. Any of you have ever something click like that?

A. n. I apologize for my atrocious rendition of Applejack but I am not very good at accents.

A. n. when I was writing the scene where Ranko met Spike I originally didn’t know what I was going to write. My muse kept yelling there was suppose to be something big but not what. At first I was going to have her attack him and reveal something about dragons that will come up later but it didn’t feel right. Then after I had it and went over it for the third time in my head I realized there was a similarity with the story “A New Dragon in Ponyville”, so I would like to thank that story for the inspiration.

A. n. three chapters and Ranma only has three lines. And, two were in this chapter.

A. n. I came up with the matrix initially to combine magic and martial arts. But I also wanted to take into account chemistry and biology especially with how some stories and cultures separate ki and chi. That was when I had a bit of inspiration with string theory and thus the physical aura. So basically magic, martial arts, and science, oh my. If you want to use it (and it qualifies as copyright? Not sure) just ask or mention this I think that’s how it usually works.

A. n. 3000 words yay. I would like to write longer chapters but they just aren’t working out that long.