The next morning Celestia sat in the throne room after lowering the moon and raising the sun. She had cleared all of her meetings and canceled court for the day. The first time in roughly four hundred years she would be taking a day off. Or, that is what everyone else was told. Though without the annoyances of politics or a national disaster, it might actually be considered a day off.

So she sat there eating her curds and whey, all the while dreaming of the danish she kept at bay. When along came a sister. Who’s face both pale and dreadful sat down beside her with a story that would scare the danish away.

“Sister are you alright you look like you’ve been through Tarturus and back?” Celestia asked as she continued to eat.

Now it might have been the nightmares she witnessed or the ones they caused. It might have been the lack of sleep or the underlying fury she felt towards people she didn’t really know. It might have been a combination of all the above, but one thing was for certain Luna was not in a good mood. And, her sister callously eating breakfast like nothing in the world was wrong was the straw that broke the camel’s back. So, with a malice grin she asked, “dear sister, it is so terrible hard to explain. Do you remember that spell to share memories?”

“Why yes, Lulu,” replied Celestia. “Are you sure it’s alright?”

“Oh, most definitely,” Luna’s grin went up a few notches.

What followed could best be described as a study in gag reflex comedy and high velocity projectiles.

“What in the name of the sun, the moon, and Equestria was that?” demanded Celestia.

“That, dear sister, was a young fillies dreams,” responded Luna in a calm voice. “And the worst part is, there were several others.”

A shiver ran down both of their spines.

“You will be cautious next time, dear sister?” Celestia confronted her sister.

“You know me well, dear sister. The next time I confront her demons I will take better care.”

“So where is the child, now?” asked a concerned Celestia.

“After the nightmare passed, she seemed to find peace so I let her sleep. Where is her dragon friend? I have a few questions for her.”

“She left with her brother. I believe she wishes to know what his life has been like. I asked Twilight to keep an eye on them. Should I send her a letter to them, requesting their presences?” asked Celestia as she levitated a quill and a piece of paper. On Luna’s nod she scrolled a short note and sent it.

“So what did happen to his egg? And, how did it end up in a test for your school?” questioned Luna.

“If what she claims is true, and there are some irregularities with the first results that I need to discuss with her, I have a theory. About fifty years after the Nightmare Moon incident, a letter arrived the very day Starswirl the Bearded passed away. The letter stated that he had devised an idea, that being a school for gifted unicorns and along with the logistics for such a school, he also developed a test. The test being a dummy dragon’s egg used to see not only what the unicorn could do in their vain attempt but how they reacted to the pressure of possible failing. The argument he made was sound and unfortunately the young dragoness’s story is lent creditability by his actions. If what she said is true no one remembered the incident in that alleyway and so the egg being a dummy made sense at the time. The thing is initially he said a truly gifted unicorn would do something truly unexpected. So, my theory is that he sent the egg somewhere with a previously set-upped enchantment and more than likely used an enchantment in the cart to maintain a temporal stasis spell. The spell would be reinforced by every examinee until Twilight overloaded it with the awakening of her cutie mark,” explained Celestia.

“So, what your saying is that he nearly got have the city fried for apparently no reason at all, except maybe finding the bearer of the Element of Magic?”

With a heavy sigh, Celestia admitted, “it looks that way.”

“And, we owe Discord for preventing bloodshed,” Luna continued with a smirk. Celestia’s only response was to groan helplessly.

By the time the two dragons and the youngest alicorn entered, Luna was laughing in mirth and Celestia was furiously blushing with embarrassment.

Upon seeing Ranko, Luna’s expression dropped. All mirth and good cheer leaving her.

Seeing the mother of her charge losing all good nature upon seeing her sent a chill down her spines. “Is there something wrong, Your Majesties?” Ranko asked nervously.

“Yes, something is most definitely wrong…” began Luna fighting to remain calm. Ranko gulped hard.

“Before that however, there is an issue that must be addressed immediately,” Celestia interrupted to the irritation of her sister. Ranko was thankful for Celestia’s interference. “There is a little problem in regards with the results of the first test.”

“Oh, what problems?” Ranko and Twilight asked simultaneously for decidedly different reasons.

“The results are a bit distorted and undefined,” Celestia stated.

“Well you did take into account the fact that she traveled between universes and the exotic magics and other effects correct?” Ranko asked.

Celestia only response was to face-hoof.

“Speaking of which, how and why did the elements send Ranma to another dimension?” asked Twilight while Celestia made the necessary adjustments. She also made a mental note for the rest of the tests.

“I have been working on that for nearly five thousand years. With the help of the tree of harmony we have worked out a possible theory. We figured that the elements used Luna’s natural connection to the moon as a path of least resistance to banish her since you couldn‘t cleanse her of the nightmare,” Ranko indicated Celestia. “Her unborn foal would have been like a small boat in front of a tsunami almost absolutely impossible to move out of the way, even if it was conscious. Normally the resonance would have reflected off the moon and follow the path of her connections back to the planet. As Luna was at the time temporarily disconnected from the planet, the harmonics to send her foal back just weren’t there. To send the foal back would require greater energy and increase the risk to the child. Fortunately there was a dimensional alignment of several worlds. This means that even though the distance traveled would be greater it would cost less energy to send the child to another dimension’s moon and then to that earth. From there the elements would find the best and willing candidate. Willing in this case meaning anyone wanting a child more than anything but for one reason or another unable to have one. Unfortunately the only dimension of the ones available with an open connection between the moon and earth was the one we ended up in.”

“Wow,” stated Spike as Celestia and Twilight looked on with slacked jaws. Luna’s expression was merely one of sorrow.

“There you are…” shouted Pinkie Pie as she busted through the door of the throne room. “Good I didn’t miss my cue,” and with that proclamation she vanished. With a whump everyone turned to look at where Luna was and found her missing too. As they looked further back they noticed that Luna had been tackled into a hug for the second time in just as many days. “I’m so sorry about those terrible nightmares,” Pinkie cried into Luna’s shoulder. “There, there, those mean people are a far, far ways away. Most of them weren’t that bad, they were just stupid,” she kept comforting Luna. “But, what you did to your sister earlier today was mean and wrong. So, you should apologize to Celestia later, okay?”

Luna nodded in understanding, before a look of confusion crossed her face. “How did you know about what I did and the nightmares?”

“Oh, I noticed the story updated when I woke up. So I read Night of Terrors part 1. Discord ain’t got nothing on those nightmares,” answered Pinkie with a shiver and a smile as she continued her hug.

“What nightmares?” asked Ranko, curious.

“My sister here can dream walk and has been helping the ponies of Equestria with their problems since her return,” explained Celestia in a neutral tone as she still tinkered with the scroll the results of the first spell.

“Okay, so wha… YOU CAN DREAM WALK?” Ranko was nearly hyperventilating. “DEAR GOD, DON’T TELL ME… no, not the neko-ken,” she finished in a whisper while her eyes darted around. Twilight doing the same looking for the cat god of death.

“Why does everyone keep mentioning it,” Luna nearly snapped, her worry getting the better of her. “First Ranma’s subconscious, then that old lady, and now you. What is so bad about this neko-ken?”

“Oh, it’s this crazy training technique thingy. That requi…” Pinkie began before being tackled and muffled by Ranko.

“I don’t know much about it, myself,” began Twilight, “but it causes Ranma to go into a cat like state. When we first found her she was in it and had caused serious injuries to six manitcores when they accidentally came upon her,” Twilight stated while nervously scanning the area for the cat.

“I’ll leave that for later,” Luna looked at Ranko still muffling a giggling Pinkie. “Now about the others…”

“Wait! You said you met Ranma’s sub consciousness? Um, your not mad at him are you?” Ranko interrupted nervously.

Luna was taken aback by that. “Why would I be mad at him? I found him to be a bit sad and tired. Like he was tired of the same old dog and pony show, but decent none the less… once he realized I was there to help. Now back to what I was going to ask. There are a few people I ran into in her nightmare that I need info on,” Luna stated with a glare that broke no argument. Ranko gulped. “The first, a monster of a girl with blue hair and a giant mallet. The second, a stick wielding child in a blue and white outfit. The third, a monster of a child that wears a black and yellow outfit with a black and yellow spotted bandana. The fourth, a female elder of some kind, I believe her name was Cologne and her granddaughter subordinate. The fifth, a brown haired waitress named Konatsu. And finally, Konatsu employer, a brown haired male with a giant spatula.”

“I still can’t believe he didn’t put his foot in his mouth,” Ranko began until she caught the look Luna threw her way. “Cough, um, yes. The first is Akane the first of his fiancées and the first he found out about, yes fiancées as in multiple and no that’s not his fault. Anyways, Akane is possessive, easily jealous, short tempered and seriously undisciplined for a martial artist of her caliber. The second, I can only assume is Kuno, arrogant, ignorant, delusional, self important, and not much of a kendoist but dangerous to the untrained. The third, is Ryouga is dangerous martial artist, delusional, self loathing, and incredibly strong. Both him and Kuno are obsessed with Akane.”

“I gathered that by the way she commanded them around,” interrupted Luna.

“I take it this was in the dream?” Ranko asked and Luna, Celestia, and Pinkie all nodded. “Well, Kun Lon and her great granddaughter, Xian Pu, are Chinese amazons from the village of heroic warrior women. The elder is the matriarch, a bit eccentric, extremely wise, one of Ranma’s martial arts masters, and a little like a grandmother or estranged aunt. The younger is obsessive, seriously competitive ,and a little slow when it comes to common senses. Unfortunately Ranma and the amazons parted on bad terms. Especially after they tried to kill me…”

“What?” everyone interrupted.

“It’s a long story. It begins with a misunderstanding, But, it ends with them running off with their tails between their legs while vowing that they would have their revenge and that no whore spy for the Musk will keep the god-slayer’s blood from being theirs.”

“God-slayer? They mentioned that in the dream what does that mean?” asked Luna.

“Oo, oo! I know! I know!” Pinkie was waving her forelegs franticly. Everyone else was giving her a incredulous stare.

“Cough, cough. The reason they call Ranma god-slayer, is because Saffron,” Ranko gritted her teeth as she said the name, “the monster who trapped me, declared him self a god. And, with the power of the waters of the Tree of Harmony, he came pretty close,” Pinkie let out an “aw” as her face shone with disappointment.

“And, the last two?” Luna prompted.

“That’s a little tricky, you see the waitress, Konatsu, is in fact a cross-dressing waiter,” Ranko revealed to gasps. “He a bit lonely, due mainly to the fact that the first ones that were nice to him were Ranma and his employer. Another repercussion of this is that he fell in love with his employer and is diehard loyal to her. Besides that he is a genius ninja if a little lacking in common business sense. His employer is a female okonomiyaki chef.”

Pinkie was drooling. “What is okonomiyaki?” asked Twilight.

“It’s like pizza or pancakes, but a little different,” Ranko stared disbelieving at Pinkie, who looked off into space, after she answered. A dreamy expression on her face, still drooling.

“Anyway, she is an old childhood friend of Ranma’s. Unfortunately, that has been distorted by the fact she too was engaged to Ranma as well. She’s a bit ambitious, a little self absorbed, and dedicated to her pursuits,” Ranko finished.

“But, I…” Luna began.

“Yes, finally,” declared Celestia. Ranko let out a sigh of relief thankful for the distraction.

“What is it, dear sister?” asked a very annoyed Luna.

“Um,” Celestia began sheepishly, “I finally finished clearing up the results of the first maternity test. Hehehe.”

“And?” Luna asked as everyone held there breath.

“Um, the results are there is trace amounts of the Tree of Harmony magic and very high quantities of Tree of Harmony magic.”

“How is that possible? For there to be trace amounts and high quantities of the same thing… Discord are you messing with us?” called Twilight as Luna sat there stunned.

“Sorry,” apologized Celestia, “I should have been more clear. The is trace amounts of native Tree of Harmony magic and high quantities of exotic Tree of Harmony magic. The frequencies are very similar and threw the readings off until Ranko mentioned the exotic magics. The exotic Tree of Harmony magic is intermingled with draconic magic. This lends credibility to Ranko’s claims. Now, the interesting thing is that there are a number of exotic magics along with…”

“WHAT THE HELL, DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!” shouted Luna as she stared daggers into her sister. “Enough of this useless discussion. I want to know what the results are, right now.”

“Cough, cough! Um, yes the results are…”

Pinkie held a banner exclaiming “THE EXICTING RESULTS NEXT TIME ON… CHAOTIC HARMONY!!!”

The banner immediately went up in flames. “I want my answers, now,” spoke Luna in dangerously calm voice.

“YES!” Celestia answered.

“Yes, what?” Luna demanded.

“Yes, Ranma is your and another mother’s child. I have yet to check if Discord is the father.”

“That might not be possible,” voiced Ranko.

“And, why is that?” asked Twilight.

Taking a deep breath Ranko answered, “because how much giving into his chaos may have altered his auras.”

“So what now?” Ranko asked nervously.

“Well, little dragon we have to wait for the rest of the results, along with recalibrating for the…” Celestia began, only to have her jaw and everyone else’s who was present, drop.

There in the center of the throne room was Princess Luna, one of the Diarches of Equastria, immortal alicorn, Guardian of Dreams, and Stuart of The Moon, was prancing in a circle like a filly on Hearth’s Warming Day singing over and over, “I HAVE A DUAGHTER!”

It took a moment but Pinkie quickly joined in. “So how many birthday parties do I have to throw to make it up to her, Ranko?” asked an excited Pinkie.

Celestia’s eye just kept twitching.

“Luna, um, I kind of think you broke your sister,” stated Twilight.

Luna stopped mid-jump in a close imitation to Pinkie and took a look. “So I have. Oh well,” she said nonchalantly and went back to her prancing.

“Will you two stop dancing, this is serious,” demanded Celestia. “Luna, you know as well as I that that test is not a hundred percent conclusive. And, we need a plan of action in the meantime.”

“Sister, I love you, I truly do, but regardless of what the rest of the tests say, that is my daughter. And, I’ll do whatever it takes to see her happy,” Luna declared as she went back to her celebrations.

With a heavy sigh of defeat, and wistful smile no one noticed, “Very well, should I have the other elements and Discord summoned? We will need them to discuss this matter further.”

“What are you scheming now, dear sister?” Luna asked annoyed and the last part was said a little to sweet.

“Now, now sister I don’t know what your implying,” Celestia said in her most innocent tone. “I merely wish to keep my family safe and sound.”

“Fine, whatever you say, dear sister,” the emphasis Luna placed on the last part sent a chill down the back of everyone present. Everyone, expect Pinkie who in her obliviousness kept bouncing in place with a smile.

“Now, Pinkie I’m going to need you to Pinkie Promise not to discuss this with anyone, okay?” Celestia pointedly ignored the her sister‘s implied threat. “And, Pinkie can you keep Ranma company?”

“Okie, dokie, lokie. Oh, and Ranko,” she ran over and hugged said dragoness. “that’s a great idea, Luna’s gonna love it,” she finished before disappearing out of the room in a cloud of dust.

“Okay, anyone know what she’s talking about,” asked Ranko. Everyone avoided looking at her while whistling innocently.

Eventually Spike walked over patted her on the shoulder and said, “it’s best not to think about it. Great minds have been driven to madness trying to figure her out,” Twilight couldn’t help the heavy blush on her face.

Ranma awoke to a pair of feminine blue eyes. At that point years of training and conditioning took hold. And, Ranma did the only thing that made sense. While screaming, “Akane this is not my fault,” she jumped out of bed and clung to the ceiling.

Pinkie simply tilted her head and asked, “how’d you do that?” with all the curiosity and wonder of a little kid.

As the moment passed, and the dream faded gravity reasserted it’s hold. “Um, years of practice,” Ranma stated nervously.

“That’s so cool. I can do it too, watch,” in a flash she was gone. When Ranma looked up a smile crossed her face. Pinkie was standing there on the ceiling looking down on her smiling. Ranma jumped up flipped sideways in the air landed on the ceil herself. “How’d you do…” she got of in her hang time. As she fell, she flipped sideways, again, landed on the bed, and once more took to the air. “…that?” she looked down, err, up and her eyes went wide. As she landed again she asked, “where’d you get that spy gear?”

“Oh, these,” she indicated the suction cups, “I pulled them out of my mane, silly. Would you like a cake?”
At Ranma’s eager nod, she pulled out a large three layer cake and said, “happy birthday.”

Ranma giggled, “it’s not my birthday, silly. Or, at least I don’t think it is.”

“What you don’t know your own birthday?” gasped Pinkie in shock. “Oh well, I’m sure Ranko will. Anyway, this cake is the first of many to make up for the birthday parties you missed out on.”

“Really?” Ranma asked in shock. At Pinkie’s nod, she launched herself into the air once more and ate the cake in one bite. “Sorry, I didn’t leave you any.”

“That’s okay, the cake was yours. What do you want to do, now?”

“I got an idea, why don’t we play tag, but not just any tag.”

That day was forever marked as the day of the chaotic winds. Two blurs rampaged through the castle of Canterlot leaving mayhem and destruction in their wake. And, the night was filled with complaints of hoof prints and plunger marks on ceils and walls alike.

With Pinkie gone, Celestia turned to Ranko, “now little one, while we await the arrival of the others, would you mind telling me why those people have cause such trauma to your charge?”

“I’ve already explained it to Luna,” protested a nervous Ranko.

“No you have explained who they are,” Celestia explained in the same manner a teacher explains the difference between can and may. “But not what they have done to cause such a young child so much anguish. Let alone, your involvement in it.”

With a heavy sigh, Ranko began, “over the last year or so, they have, due to multiply agreements, misunderstandings, and a few ancestral laws, either tried to kill and/or marry him,” there were several gasps.

“What a lucky dude, to have so many ladies wanting to marry him that he made the guys jealous enough to want to kill him,” Spike chimed in his admiration.

“Actually Spike,” Ranko began with a bit of a sly grin. “Some of the guys wanted to marry him and some of the girls wanted to kill him.”

His face falling, he asked, “how many?”

“Well, of the thirty-four fiancées and fourteen potential fiancées, I’d say about half.” Her smile only grew as her brother’s face turned white. “As for the males only a third of them wanted to marry him at one point or another. Not to mention, that most of them, regardless of whether they wanted to marry him or not, attempted to settle any misunderstandings their jealousy brought on with violence,” and with the coup-de-grâce he collapsed. The look on Luna’s face, however, removed the grin on Ranko’s.

“Not that I mind you having a little fun with your brother,” Celestia began in a stern motherly tone. “But, you failed to explain your involvement in this.”

“What involvement? I was sealed until just a few weeks before we left,” defended Ranko.

“Your memory spell, young lady,” Celestia stated to the shock of everyone. Ranko, feeling the eyes of everyone focus on her, gulped nervously. “It is unsettling to think that you would overlook such an obvious result of regressing such a heavily burdened mind, to that of a child.”

“Okay I can explain,” Ranko noticed a flash of something dark cross Luna’s face. “You see, Ranma, the one from before my spell, was adapted at coping with the dramas of his life, mainly by suppressing and repressing them. This is neither healthy nor wise. In the long run, he probably would have snapped and taken half a city with him,” she paused to let that sink in. “The problem was that he was not emotionally strong enough to deal with these burdens. Truth is, no one probably could be. The issues stem from the fact that his childhood abruptly ended when he began the training trip at five years old. And, the combination of the isolationism and tortuous, if effective,” Ranko grudgingly admitted, “training techniques of Genma effectively tore down any means he had to deal with his emotions. So since he was lacking the fundamentals of any kind of emotional support and he was pretty much starting over, anyways, I made a few suggestions. The first was to live as a girl. The main reason for this was because of Genma’s misogyny which had seriously affected Ranma from the years of living with him. The second suggestion I made was that he relive his childhood both physically and mentally. This way he’d have a chance to learn to properly interact with people. But, more importantly he would be able to build the necessary emotional support to not just cope with, but deal with the burden of his first childhood…”

“AND THAT, JUSTIFIES DESTROYING HER MIND,” demanded Luna, the fury of a mother at full bare as her patience ran thin.

Ranko fought down the fear induced trembling that threaten to over take her. Taking a deep calming breath, “okay, now this might sound wrong, but hear me out. You weren’t suppose to find out…” a blast of magical death whizzing passed her head interrupted her. Belatedly she notice the golden aura surrounding Luna’s ear, and tugging it, thus altering the trajectory of Luna’s horn. And, the blast that just missed her. Stammering Ranko continued, “a-a-ab-about th-that because though the spell regressed the conscious mind, it left the subconscious one intact. That way the subconscious mind could continue to handle the stress by suppressing the burdens without increasing them. Thus, the consciousness would be allowed to grow normally and healthily while only having to deal with any burdens that come up during the second childhood. The only negative side effect being a few sleepless nights when the burdens become unreasonably difficult. This is the main reason for the memory leaks…”

“Such as the suicide pack, she mentioned,” stated Celestia, while all Luna could do was glared at the dragon.

“Um, y-yes, if he had remembered the entire thing, she would have remembered that we took care of it prior to leaving that dimension,” Ranko answered, hoping to pacify Luna. “So even though a child’s mind would be more susceptible to the mental burdens the subconscious would of protected it from the worst of it. If it weren’t for those cat-things…”

“Manticores,” interrupted Twilight, again.

“…triggering such a severe,” Ranko pointedly ignored Twilight, again, “neko-ken reaction, she probably wouldn’t have had a problem for a couple of days, if not weeks. And then, when the subconscious and conscious minds remerge, the lessons learned and the strength acquired would carry over. Worst case scenario, she’ll only need a psychologist to help her through the rest.”

“And, why didn’t you just remove the memories completely?” Luna asked. She was shocked by the death glare she received from the dragoness.

“IT WAS NOT MY CHOICE,” Ranko stated through clenched teeth. “And know this, I don’t care who it is, but if anyone messes with his mind without his permission, I will DESTROY THEM!!!”

“Did you just threaten my sister and I?” Luna asked with a grin of genuine mirth.

“If you tried to harm her, then yes,” in an instant she was snout to muzzle with the Princess of the Night. “And, that goes for anyone trying to harm my family.”

Spike felt a ping of jealousy as he started to frown. “But, she’s my sister…” he began to rant in his mind, “which means… she would do the same for me,” at this revelation, a smile slowly grew on his face.

“And, how would removing such painful memories be harming her?” Celestia asked trying to pacify Ranko, and completely missing the smile on her sister’s face. She received a look that clearly asked ‘are you serious?’ from the dragon.

“Firstly,” Ranko began as if she were scolding a child, “in the eventuality that removing them didn’t keep. The result would have been a child’s mind under that heavy burden, as you pointed out earlier. And, should the strain be too much, it would have destroy her mind and that would have been far worst than a simple braking of the mind. If her mind had been destroyed, it would have been catastrophic,” a noticeable tremble ran through her body.

“How bad could it have been?” asked a very nervous Twilight Sparkle.

“Well, to put it bluntly if they had broke him he would have simply released the frustration and anguish that had built up. The result would have been a cathartic, albeit devastating, blast that would have taken out about half the metropolitan city of Tokyo. But with her mind being destroyed…” this time her body didn’t just shiver, it shook with unbridled fear.

Luna surprised everyone when she draped a wing over the trembling dragon. “It is okay. Take your time,” she said soothingly.

After collecting herself with a deep calming breath she whispered, “thank you.”

With a sigh she continued, “the Neko-ken works by destroying the mind,” her voice was ominous and listless. Twilight gasped as she grasped what was coming and started shivering a little in fear, herself. “ Cats were primarily used because they were believed to be the guardians of the underworld. And, ever creature with a survival instinct has a primal fear of death. But now, what would she fear?” realization dawned on Luna’s and Celestia’s faces while understanding still eluded Spike. Spike realizing something, at least, was wrong with his friend, gave Twilight a comforting hug. Twilight, so enthralled with morbid curiosity, hadn’t realized how badly she’d been shaking until Spike’s hug. Ranko continued in the same listless way, “when friends and family, those you trust the most, replace the specter of death. The simply answer is, everything. Everything, becomes a threat…” the horror on their faces spoke volumes.

Celestia masking her fear and horror asked, “what would’ve happened?”

“When Ranma was ten years old and first learned the technique,” Ranko began, “he was able to take on and defeat a master level martial artist and create ki claws of any length that cut through anything, shredding it instantly. With reflexes and skills unmatched and uncontrolled. Since then, he has learned to control ki building a massive reserve in the process. Taken on and defeated several of the foremost martial artists. Two of his fights destroying a mountain, each. The first against a human from a dragon lineage. The second he not only defeated but had also slain a phoenix demi-god.”

Ranko had begun shivering again. The wing Luna had draped around her gave a comforting squeeze. Ranko took another deep breath, “now what would happen if someone like that fell into the neko-ken.” Spike finally got the implications as the hug he was giving to comfort Twilight morphed into clutching her for dear life. “And worst yet, all she would see is shadows and threats. She would destroy all in her wake.”

After several painstaking moments of dead silence Ranko continued, “the second reason I wouldn’t remove the memories is simple. He chose to keep them,” her statement was answered with gasps.

“Why?” was the only word Luna could say. It came out as barely even a whisper.

Not having the strength to look any of them in the face, Ranko found the floor very interesting. “Even with all the bad times,” she began hesitantly, “there were moments of true happiness. Moments of friendship, moments of care, and even moments of love,” the tenderness in her tone brought curiosity to the others. “I’m sorry those are not my memories,” she reprimanded herself. “Even so, those memories are a part of who he is. They are a source of great strength and character. But, most of all he would not let them beat him. He has always been a sucker for an impossible challenge,” she said as a sad but mirthful smile graced her face. “And, for one to deny him his true self, is the most harmful action I can think of. It would be like a pony being denied a cutie mark. A sense of self lost forever,” as she looked up to face her accusers her face was both sad and determined.

Luna shifting from her position headed straight for her sister, “me and my sister need to speak in private for a moment.”

Celestia nodded, as her sister and her head to a more isolated part of the throne room. The rest simply moved to the other side of the room to give them their privacy.

With Celestia and Luna…

“I think, I like her,” said Luna.

Celestia stared at her incredulously, “you just tried to kill her, no more than fifteen minutes ago.”

“That was when I believed she had betrayed and irrevocably harmed my child,” stated Luna as she smiled wistfully at Ranko.

“Sister, are you mad?” Celestia asked barely able to keep her voice calm and level.

Luna merely tilted her head slightly in confusion, “no, why do you ask? Didn’t she say it was a misunderstanding?”

Back with the others…

“How upset, with me, do you think Luna is still?” Ranko asked the other two.

“I wouldn’t worry,” Spike stated nervously, “I’m sure they realize you didn’t do anything wrong. I mean it was all a misunderstanding, right?”

Twilight could tell Spike was trying to convince himself just as much as his sister. Taking a deep sigh, “of coarse they’ll take that into consideration.”

As Luna and Celestia returned their faces were emotionless masks.

Luna step forward, “for your actions against the crown of Equestria, included among them are deceit of the crown, endangerment of the crown both of which could be considered treason in their own right,” the three gulped hard at the tone and manner she addressed Ranko. “As well as several other crimes ranging from misdemeanors to more serious crimes, you stand accused. How do you plead?” the question rang with finality.

Ranko steeled her nerves and faced her twin judges, gulping she answered, “guilty.”

“Then as you have admitted to your guilt, I shall pass judgment,” Luna stated. Spike and Twilight both worried for their sister and friend respectfully. “…I shall adopt you.”

From their triple face-fault they could hear someone laughing uncontrollably, most likely at their expense.

“Um, what?” was the intelligent response they answered with.

“You have suffered much and yet continued to carryout your duty towards my child. And, I wish to give you a home at least until your parents have returned. Much like the Sparkles and young Spike here.”

As the three stared speechlessly, Ranko merely nodded.

Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy had been summoned to the throne room.

Rarity would have complained about waking early expect she could not sleep with the juicy drama that played out just hours before. She jumped at the chance to find out what was happening.

Applejack and Fluttershy were worried about their homes. One for the work she left undone yesterday, and the other for the pets she left in another’s care. They both worried for the little pony and dragon they only just met.

Rainbow Dash on the hand was both missing out on food and sleep. Unlike the others she had no reservation about voicing her complaints. To the consternation of the guards that escorted them.

The scene that greeted them upon entering was strange and not just a bit confusing.

Luna stood there nearly laughing with Ranko apparently trying to squeeze herself into the princess. Spike looking caught somewhere between annoyed and ecstatic. Twilight was standing there with her mouth agape. And, Celestia with a neutral expression on her face, even as her eyes belied a great deal of mirth and a hint of worry.

“Cough, um, your Majesties,” began Rarity.

“What’s going on,” asked a confused Rainbow Dash.

“What she said,” stated Applejack.

“Oh, um, sorry to… um, interrupt. If, um… you want we can come back,” came Fluttershy’s voice just above a whisper.

Luna simply whispered, “we’ll talk about this later, okay?”

Ranko stepped back with a blush turning her white cheeks a deep pink from joy and embarrassment and simply nodded.

Celestia turned and addressed the guards, “you may leave us.” As they left, the doors swung shut and Celestia activated the many charms and seals on the camber to securing the privacy of this meeting. The reason for holding this meeting in the throne room was that few, if any, even new of these enchantments. And, no one would be suspicious of a meeting between the princesses and the element bearers taking place in such a public setting, or so she told them as it began.

“Discord?” Celestia called.

The draconequus walked out from behind the throne, apparently reading something. “You know it is rather rude to assume that getting into such heavily enchanted room would not be any trouble for me?”

“Oh, but you would be the master of chaos if it was,” she replied with a bit of humor.

“Shall we begin…”

…sometime later.

“…but, but the scandals, what would ponies do? What would they say?” over-dramatized Rarity.

“Who cares? They’re family, that’s all that should matter?” argued Applejack.

This argument had been going around in circles for sometime. Everyone else was off trying to figure out how to break this stalemate. That was when it hit Celestia. Discord had been quite for awhile. Too long awhile. Hesitantly, Celestia turned to said draconequus. She stared in wide-eyed shock.

Discord just stood there causally flicking through note cards, a bored look on his face. A chill ran down Celestia’s spine, “what in the nine hells kind of Armageddon is upon us?” she screamed in her head.

Gulping, Celestia asked, “Discord, what are you looking at?”

“Oh, just some notes Pinkie gave me for this meeting. Discord said and showed Celestia the note card,” Discord said and showed Celestia the note card.

Celestia's mouth dropped, as she read Celestia's mouth dropped.

“Now, I’m suppose to say, 'It's too bad, Luna can't have a simply live with her daughter.' I think that's the line," he read in a monotone, as he turned the cards back around.

"Yeah, that would be a beautiful dream come true," commented Luna, having missed byplay between them.

"...I have an idea," declared Ranko.

…
…
…

“That a great idea and it might actually work,” stated a near gleeful Luna.

A pink blur ran in hugged Ranko and ran out as a second blur gave chase. “See, I told you she would love it,” shouted the first blur.

“Ah, did a normal earth pony and a child whose magic is sealed just manage to enter and then leave one of the most secured, magically and physically, areas in all of Equestria? Without so much as touching and/or triggering the seals put in place to prevent such a thing from happening?” Celestia asked incredulously.

“Pinkie’s not really what most ponies would consider normal,” Spike nervously chuckled as everyone else formed a giant sweat drop on their heads.

…

After everyone else left Celestia turned towards Luna, “is it just me, or does it seem like Pinkie is orchestrating everything, like some crazed conductor?”

“Dear sister, I think your time alone on the throne against scheming nobles has made you paranoid,” was Luna’s only remark as she left.

In a corner, covered in shadows, a dark figure stood watch. With a giggle, she whispered, “dance my puppets, dance.”

The light immediately came on revealing the culprit. “Pinkie, who are you talking to?” asked a curious Ranma.

“No one, I just thought it’d make it seem more mystifying and ominous,” stated Pinkie with a smile and another giggle.

“Okay… oh, and Pinkie, one more thing,” Ranma started. When Pinkie tilted her head in curiosity, Ranma poked her nose, “tag your it.” With that Ranma was off.

A moment of surprise later, and Pinkie was off. Throughout the castle, guards, nobles, and servants alike were shocked and surprised by twin blurs with laughter full of mirth, trailing in there wake.

Celestia had offered to take over night court as well as raise the moon once more for Luna. This allowed for Luna to make sure her child was sound a sleep and resting peacefully before her duties as steward of Equestria’s dreams.

The night was grueling as nightmares had plagued the subconscious of Equestria. The epidemic had spread from VanHoover to Manehatten and from the Crystal Palace to Appleloosa. It startled her, though each were not sever, they were numerous and wide spread. As if something had attacked the Dream Realm itself. She would have to be wary in the future. However, though the work was grueling, she managed to ease the minds of all.

Exhausted she awoke to check on the child that lay beside her. Ranko was once more catching up with Spike. The child rested peacefully the fit from the night before seeming to have passed. Though the next few days will be quite busy setting up Ranko’s idea, she spare some time and energy.

A bit hesitantly, she once more approached the head of her child and proceeded to enter his dreams.

The sight that greeted her was similar as before if a bit bright. In the middle of the room she saw the hueman she recognized as Ranma. She was awestruck at what she beheld.

Ranma was going through a light kata. Just the motions and precision. None of the strength or speed. No emotion, just calm and the motion. It had been years since he last lost himself so completely in a simply kata. It had become all about defeating his next enemy. Lost had been the simply act of bettering himself and the love of the art.

As he finished, Luna applauded startling him. “That was amazing, was it a dance from the world you came from?” Luna asked with child like enthusiasm.

He lifted one arm and began scratching behind his head. “Not exactly, it’s a kata,” he began only to stop a her blank look. “A form in martial arts,” he elaborated to her understanding nod. There was a bit of an awkward silence. “Um, it’s nice to see you again, um, princess…”

“Luna, but I wouldn’t mind if you call me mom or mother,” Luna said sheepishly.

“Um, I don’t know about that,” at Luna look of dejection he immediately added, “I’ve had some problems with that in the past but I can try.”

“Thank you, um…” she fidgeted, “if it’s not too much trouble could you tell me about the people I saw last night?” she asked then add quickly. “I’d like to know the situation better so I can help.”

Ranma flinched, “it’s only been a day?” Ranma sighed, “it’s not too much trouble.” With a bittersweet smile he began, “it started with a panda bear carrying a redhead girl down a street in a ward of Tokyo, known as Nerima…”

Author's Note

A. n. was going to add a little more but I think this is a nice little reward for those who got past the last chapter. hope you enjoy this preview.

A. n. sorry the full chapter took so long, I kept getting sidetracked.