Enlightening Circumstances

Chapters

Displacement
Enlightenment
Enlivenment
Engagement
Torment
Encroachment
Excitement
Experiment
Revealment

Displacement

Chapter 1:Displacement

"Are you sure about this, Twilight?" Spike asked, clinging to the purple unicorn in question as if she were a blanket, nervously looking around at shadows cast by the strangely foreboding trees.
"I mean," he continued, "Couldn't you do this somewhere... safer?" Twilight shook her head.
"I know it's dangerous, but the technique I'm going to try requires a lot of magic, and the Everfree Forest contains much more ambient magic than Ponyville. Plus, I don't want to risk Ponyville or the library being damaged if the spell goes wrong." She turned back to the path ahead.

"Besides, I'm in no danger; not with my number one assistant here to protect me!" She added with a smile. At this, Spike jumped up with a grin.

"Y-yeah! No monster stands a chance against me!" He struck a heroic pose that lasted until a twig dropped on his head from above, and he returned to his cowering. Giggling at this, Twilight continued to move forward.

She wasn't lying; she wasn't worried in the slightest. Twilight Sparkle, Most Faithful Student of Princess Celestia, was not the sort of pony to rush into things. She had prepared for weeks, arranging for every possibility, every danger. Not that she thought anything would happen, after all, she was not going to venture too far into the forest. Just far enough. But Spike was right, even with his judgment clouded from his recent clash with a dragon. This was still the Everfree Forest, and she should tread carefully.

A few more minutes of walking later, Twilight suddenly ceased moving, jolting the baby dragon who had remarkably managed to fall asleep.

"Here. This is the strongest place of magic I can feel, at least for as far as I am willing to walk." Spike jumped off of Twilight's back, looking around the area curiously. It was a small clearing, or at least, as much of a clearing as one could find in the Everfree Forest, surrounded by the strange trees so characteristic of the forest.

"Are you sure, Twilight?" Spike asked, doubt evident in his voice. "I mean, this place doesn't look any different from the rest of the clearings we've seen."

"Of course I am, Spike." Twilight replied, setting down the objects that she had been carrying in her satchel: two jars, one containing a small rock, the other, was empty.

"I can sense it; all unicorns can. Though it's easier for the more magically inclined." Spike watched her prepare the test with interest. "If you say so. But... what are you doing?" Twilight flicked her mane in a pleased manner, glad to have a chance to practice her second most favourite pastime: lecturing.

"Why, that's simple! You see this rock?" At this she gestured to the corresponding jar. Spike nodded. "I am attempting to practice upon this rock both transportation and transmogrification magic."

At Spikes lost expression, she simplified her explanation.

"The rock will be moved into the other jar, and changed into something else."
Spikes draconic eyes brightened with comprehension.

"Oooh. Well... that's cool and all, but... you've been practicing those spells a lot lately, and you can easily do that stuff. Why does this need so much magic?"

"Because, Spike, while the spells may be simple on their own, it is exceedingly difficult to gather enough power and concentration to cast them, or any spell, simultaneously. I will channel the high ambient magic to make up for not being able to summon enough magic, and I should be able to cast both spells at once. It may not seem all that impressive, but it requires finesse and timing. Once I do this, and practice it, I will eventually become accustomed to it, and be able to use it without the extra push. And then..." Her eyes shined for a moment, lost in fantasy. She shook herself out of her daydreaming.

"Well, the possibilities are endless." Speech finished, she set the jars roughly two metres apart, and took a position in front of both. Spike moved to a safe distance behind Twilight, and watched her begin casting.

It was simple. She knew how to do it, she'd studied the techniques, the tomes and texts. This would work.

She could do it.

Concentrating, she formed the transportation spell in her mind, her horn igniting in a purple glow, indicating a readied spell. Instead of releasing it, she began to form the other component: the transmogrification spell. As soon as she felt it begin to pull on the previous enchantment, she spread out her mind to the surrounding area, drawing in the magic she needed.

"Perfect." She muttered, merging the two incantations into one "Just the right amount of magic. Now to re-"

Suddenly, a burst of magic. It flew to the horn of the concentrating unicorn, connected as it was to the surrounding magic.
Twilight gasped, feeling her control falter as the ambient magic rose. The spell was becoming difficult to direct.

"I'll just... increase the spells power output..."

She felt relieved as the spell stabilized once again, accepting the extra magic.

Then another burst hit. And another. And another.

"Where is this coming from?" Twilight looked around desperately, attempting to locate the source of the ever increasing magic. An azure glow from near the trees to her left caught her attention, and her eyes widened as she recognized the origin of the light.

"Spellblooms! They must be reacting to the presence of my spell!" This was just her luck! Any other time she would be ecstatic to see Spellblooms-they were rather rare- but now of all times? She turned to her companion.

"Spike! Those flowers! Pick them, quickly! They're the source of the magic!" She gestured to the offending plant with a shaky hoof. Spike jumped up hastily, swiftly making his way towards the flowers.

Twilight was struggling to channel this new magic into a controllable form, but it was becoming harder as the spell took more and more magic from the surrounding area, and it was leaking.

Just as Spike reached the cluster of sapphire blooms, they were no longer there.

"Huh?" He looked about the area in confusion, and quickly caught sight of the plants again, and ran to fulfill his task once more.

But every time he neared them, they managed to jump away, or move something to block his path.

"Argh!" Spike growled in frustration, the fiddlesome florets once again narrowly eluding his grasp.

"Nevermind, Spike! You'll never catch them, they are magic flowers after all! It's too dangerous, the spell is becoming unstable!" By now Twilight was the very picture of concentration, eyes narrowed, brow furrowed, attempting to keep the knot of ever growing magic in line.

Spike ran to Twilight's side. "What do we do?" He asked desperately.

"It's fine! I just have to control it! I can do this!"

However, it was clear that the magic was anything but under Twilights control, the single horn that currently acted as a conduit for it sparking and fizzing with the effort of containing the writhing tendrils of energy.

"Too...much...magic!" Twilight forced out through teeth gritted in concentration. "Can't... hold it! I will try to release it...slowly. Control it."

However, this particular endeavor was swiftly cut short, as the Spellblooms started shining brighter than they had been before, and with the light came a high pitched whine that seemed to bypass the ears and head straight to the brain. One final burst of magic, greater than those that had come prior, slammed into Twilight's frayed concentration.

Which shattered like a wine glass in an opera house.

Objects flew around, changing and disappearing in the twitch of an eyelid, the ground beneath them buckled and roiled, with strips of it turning to blue glass. The wind tore through the clearing as the magic ran wild. Spike clung to Twilight for dear life as the maelstrom continued to tear the area apart. Overhead, an ominous black cloud formed, and Twilight felt her coat prickle as the cloud buzzed with power, lightning striking down to where both pony and dragon...

...Had disappeared.

"-wlight? Twilight wake up! Oh pleasepleaseplease be alright."

Twilight heard the familiar and worried voice, and her eyes slowly opened in response.

Greeting her was the upside down face of her faithful assistant, whose expression turned from concerned to overjoyed as he noticed this.

"Twilight! You're okay!" He latched onto her in a tight hug.

The unicorn sat up woozily, the reptilian infant still clinging to her, and groaned in pain; every part of her ached.

Examining her surroundings, she noted they were back in the library. Her teleport spell must have kicked in, narrowly saving them.

She sighed. "Well, that could have gone better." It was not her fault, she knew. She could not have known about the Spellblooms. Although, if she hadn't gone to the forest in the first place...

She sighed again, but sounded more relaxed. At any rate, they were alive. However they were lucky that they weren't more seriously injured. She should have prepared for the possibility of something like this happening. She could have done... something. More than she did. Still, no harm done this time, they made it through relatively unharmed. Nothing for it but to continue to read up on things, to ensure that nothing like this happened again.

"Spike. Get me that copy of Arcane Alchemy, please."

The baby dragon stared at her incredulously. "Seriously? A near death experience and you're going back to studying?"

Twilight blinked. "Well, yeah." She said as if this were the most natural thing in the world. "I have to make sure I know what to do next time."

Spike couldn't argue with that. He rolled his eyes and climbed up to the shelf where the book was kept and tossed to the studious purple equine below, who caught it with telekinesis, setting it down on her desk.

"Have fun." said the dragon with more than a hint of sarcasm. I'm going to bed; I'm beat!"

Twilight opened it and turned to the chapter she wanted.

"Ah, here it is. 'Spellblooms and their effects'."

She began to pore over the volume, occasionally scribbling down a particularly interesting passage in her trusty notebook. For Princess Celestia's Most Faithful Student, work was never done.

Deep within the Everfree Forest, a creature lay sleeping in a lightning scarred clearing, its peaceful slumber at contrast to the frantic activity in the hollows between the trees of the forest.

Then, the creature whose like had never been seen before in Equestria, awoke.

I groaned, turning over in an attempt to return to my slumber, but the hard soil had other ideas. And it was cold, too.
"Stupid heating, with it's stupid breaking..." I muttered.

"And someone aught to shut that owl up, it's driving me..me..." My complaints ground to a halt as I did a mental 180.

"...."

"Hard soil?"

My eyes snapped open, and I was greeted with a horrifying sight.

"Gaaagh!" I scrambled to my feet as I realised where I was. In the middle of a...a...

"A freaking forest! What? How? Why?" I was completely baffled as to my sudden change of scenery. Last I knew, I had gone to sleep in my bed, in my bedroom. Not in the middle of a dark... foreboding... I gulped as my eyes took in the shadows that seemed to shift as I looked at them, the gnarled bark of the trees that seemed almost like faces in a certain light. Scary forest.

Now that I was awake, I felt strange. My chest felt... tighter, fuller. My back felt slightly heavier. I was thirsty, so once I had finished freaking out (which took a good ten minutes) I went to find some sort of spring or river. I remembered something about a certain type of vine which held perfectly drinkable water, but I also remembered there was a similar, more poisonous type it could be confused with. Eyeing the tangled vines suspiciously, I decided I didn't really feel like trying my luck.
I didn't need to worry, anyway, as there was a small spring right near where I had awoken, and I eagerly quenched my thirst. Thinking about it, it also probably wasn't a very good idea to go drinking from a random spring in the middle of a forest, but I was thirsty, damn it!

Sitting up after drinking, I studied my reflection. I looked like the same girl I always did. The same greyish blue eyes, the same medium length brown hair, the same face that has, on occasion been called "pretty". I shook my head and got up from my kneeling position. As I did, I noticed that I was not quite my usual self, after all.

Namely, on my back, I now sported two pairs of insect wings.
"Wh..wha?" I was understandably, in shock. After all, this was-

"This is so cool!" I shrieked, turning round to take a better look at the translucent wings now adorning my back. They were reminiscent of a dragonfly's wings in shape and design, with colourless veins criss-crossing through them. I twitched the muscles that I now realised were the cause of the tight feeling in my chest I had noticed earlier, and my newly gained appendages mirrored the action.

"Wow! I'm like a...fairy! Nah, that sounds stupid... A pixie? A sprite? No, wait, a sylph! Yeah, now that sounds awesome!" I preened at my reflection, posing in the mirror to show off to myself and the forest. But, looking carefully, I noticed something. Everything seemed slightly...bigger than usual...

"Oh god damn it!" I cursed as I realised what it was.

I was now at least a head shorter. Perhaps not too much, but I had always been sensitive about my height, and this just added insult to injury.

At least I got a good trade for the loss of height. Some seriously awesome wings, and, now that I looked, my eyes were not as mundane as they had first appeared, different colours appearing at different angles. Damn, that was cool.
However, I suddenly realised my predicament: I was alone in a forest, with newly gained wings, newly weirdified eyes, and I was shorter than yesterday.

And I was still wearing my pajamas.

...

Darn.

I sat down and thought about my plan of action. I would probably need to get out of this forest, but, looking around, I had no idea where to go. I looked back at my wings curiously. I wonder...

But. First things first. And the first thing...was shelter.

And then I was so gonna try to fly.

Author's note: Oh, still here? Then you just took time out of your undoubtably busy lives to read my little proto story! Daww, thanks! This is my very first attempt at writing, let alone a fanfiction, so reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated! (You know, whether you like it, should I continue, what should I change) Please don't be too heavy on the criticism part, though. I prefer construction! But, hey, whatever you want to do, you know?

Enlightenment

Chapter 2: Enlightenment

The air was stiller than I would have expected forest air to be, free from noise aside from the occasional bird singing that was often cut off mid chirp. By what, I dread to think. A shiver ran up my spine as I felt a small furry creature scramble over my foot, but I resisted the urge to shriek. It didn't seem right, breaking the silence. But I liked this place less and less the longer I stayed there, the excitement from the discovery of my changes had long worn off at the quiet hostility of the tree entangled forest. I glanced back to my newest set of appendages, and they seem slightly more menacing than before; now that I thought about it, I had no idea how I had even gotten them, or my unusual eyes. The thought of someone, or something, messing around with my body was... unnerving, to say the least.
Lost in thought, I tripped over yet another tree root, and cursed my new centre of balance once more. The wings were cool, and all, but I had no idea how to use them.

I stopped suddenly, seeing a cave up ahead. It looked dark, but I was sure I could get a fire going. However, I realised that to just go in and light a fire would be foolhardy. For all I knew, there could be a bear or something in the cave. So, I decided to attempt to make a torch. To start, I looked around and selected a reasonably dry stick from the ground. Then I got stuck. I had no idea how to make this stick into a flaming torch. All I knew about making fire is that you twisted a stick it really fast between your palms, and it caught fire.

I tentatively took hold of the stick between my palms. I held the end I wasn't holding against the ground, and spun the stick between my palms. It snapped after about five seconds, and all I ended up with was a splinter. Sucking the wound, I picked up a sturdier looking stick and tried again. No dice. 5 minutes twisting, and not as much as a spark. I was fed up. It worked in films, so why not for me?

"Gah! Why. Wont. It. Work!" I shouted in frustration, punctuating each word by hitting the earth with the stick.

And that’s when it caught fire.

On the end I was holding.

"Wohayayaya!" I shrieked incoherently and dropped the stick immediately. However, I had received no burns, and quickly picked it back up, at the unlit end this time, and held it aloft triumphantly.

"Ha! I knew it would work! Just needed to show it who's boss! Me! That's who!

With my newly lit torch in hand, I considered the plan I had masterfully constructed. It went like this: Sneak in with torch, stick torch ahead. If there was nothing there, I would sleep! If I saw even a trace of brown fur, then I would get the heck out of there.

So, armed with a burning stick, I stepped into the dark cave, wondering what horrors awaited me.

Twilight felt the sun on her face, and slowly stirred from her study induced slumber.

"Huh? Buwu...bwa." She blinked at the seemingly harsh sunlight beaming in from the window, greeting her a very unwelcome morning.

"Gah. It's morning? I don't remember falling asleep..." She looked down at the books and notes adorning her desk. This was not the first time she had slept like this, and it would not be her last. She had been researching ways to control the unstable amount of magic exuded from the Spellbloom plants, after her last disastrous encounter with the tricky plant. If she could-

Spike walked in, having heard her getting up.

"Oh, hey, you're awake! I made breakfast. It's downstairs." He wandered over to the desk and jumped up to see what it was that had kept Twilight so busy. He usually couldn't understand half of it, but he knew it helped Twilight to explain the problem to someone else.

"Oh, hello Spike. Well, given our last encounter with them, I felt it would be prudent to look up more about Spellblooms. I think that if I could somehow control the magic output, I could create a special high magic background space to practice the more advanced spells. At their current output, there is simply far too much magic for a spell to handle, and so it overloads, so to speak. I think that if I were to tweak the amount they give out, or maybe the amount that gets through, or-"

Twilight was now fully awake, giving the problem her full attention. Spike knew that Twilight kept obsessing over a problem until late at night, whereupon she was in no fit state to be thinking. Then in the morning, she nearly always had an epiphany in the suns first light. Spike had tried telling her to just get to sleep a little earlier, as there was no sense in staying awake for something that would invariably be of no use to her, but Twilight could be stubborn as a mule about some things. Quite a lot of things, actually, Spike mused.

Twilight had been speaking, unaware of her less than attentive audience, not that she would have cared if she did.

"-of course, increasing the amount of magic the spell can take could work, but it would take a lot of valuable time and effort. There has to be an easier way! Like... of course! If I combine both... yes that could work. But I would need..." Twilight continued muttering to herself, now oblivious to the little purple and green dragon.

"Your welcome." Spike rolled his eyes at her. See, if Twilight would just listen to him, she would be saved a lot of trouble. But nooooo. No one listens to Spike. He sighed and walked back to the stairs.

"Your breakfast is still on the table, if you want it." He called over his shoulder. Twilight waved at him dismissively.

"I'll be down in a moment, Spike."

Oh great. Now I'll never see her again. Spike had come to learn that whenever Twilight Sparkle said that she'd "Be down in a minute", she would disappear for hours on end, puzzling over her latest problem. However, on this day, that law was broken. For no sooner than Spike had sat down to eat his breakfast, Twilight barrelled down the stairs, jumped, and landed in front of the table just as the hungry dragon was about to take a bite.

It had been exactly one minute.

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed hurriedly. "We are going to the Everfree Forest! I have figured out how to manage the problem of to much magic flow with the Spellblooms! I remember where they were, so we just have to go and-"

"But Twilight!" Spike interrupted. "You promised Pinkie you'd be at that "I'm so glad we survived that rockslide" party! You don't want to miss another of her parties, do you?"

They both shivered as they remembered what had happened last time when Pinkie had thought that they didn't want to be her friends anymore.
"N..no, Spike. I forgot about that. Tomorrow, then."

"Watching Rainbow Dash at that tournament?"

"Oh, yeah. Thursday, then."

"You promised to help Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom see if magic was their special talent."

"Oh, no I forgot about... hey! Scootaloo and Applebloom don't even have horns! How can their special talent be magic?"

Spike shrugged. "I think they were hoping you would tell 'em." Twilight sighed.

"Well it seems that I have a busier week than I thought. I'll just have to go on Friday." Sigh. A whole 3 days away. I hope the Spellblooms will still be there. Still, Pinkie Pie's party wouldn't be such a bad idea; she had been feeling kinda stressed lately.

"Well, nevermind." Twilight moved to sit down opposite Spike, but then stopped, having suddenly thought of something.

"Spike, wait! Grab a parchment and quill! We need to make a checklist of this!"

Spike looked horrified. "But...what about breakfast?"

"Breakfast can wait! Quill, now!"

"Oh. My. Goodness."

Jewels. Hundreds. Thousands. All piled up in the middle of the cave, along with golden trinkets, baubles, and beauties with all degree of shapes, sizes, and tackiness. The light from my torch reflected off of them, filling the cave with a golden light. It was beautiful. I practically floated into the cave, entranced by the bright shine.
When I reached the stack, I felt something call to me. My eye was drawn away from the intricately designed jewellery, and towards a simple, but beautiful, deep blue gem: a sapphire. With an air of reverence my hand closed on it, and I pulled it closer. It was smooth, and ovoid, as if shaped by the wind itself, without an imperfection to be seen, save one: a jagged hairline crack went through the middle. I placed it in my pyjama pocket, and examined the rest of the pile. It had been seemingly intricately arranged, smaller gems and prizes at the bottom, with larger, more expensive looking treasures place higher, as if they were trophies. Almost as if someone had stored them here, like a treasury, a trophy room-

A hoard.

Then, I felt it. Hot breath against the back of my neck, and the smell of molten rock and sulphur.

Oh my god. This is the part you see in films, when the monster is behind them, they feel its breath, then they turn around slowly, it roars, they scream, and then the monster... it's okay. I just have to not turn around. Don't turn around. Don't turn-

The thing behind me breathed a second time, the barest hints of a growl could be heard.

Oh god oh god I'm turning around, I can't bear it any longer!

I turned around slowly, and found myself staring into the cold, reptilian eyes of something ancient, powerful, and impossible.

A dragon.

The green dragon roared in my face, forcing me to cover my ears and scream. Then it the sound stopped, and I opened the eyes I hadn't even realised that I had closed just in time to see the beast open it's mouth again, and...

Speak.

"What, are you doing in my cave, insect?" It growled at me.

I was speechless for a moment, but I quickly recovered my senses.

"Um.. I..uh..didn't know it was your..cave.."

"Didn't know? And you expect me to accept this and leave you alone?"

I was delirious with fear, and that is the only excuse I have for what I said next.

"Um, yes?"

The dragon's eyes widened at this, then narrowed again.

"You have a nerve, creature! Die for your foolish trespass!"

The enormous reptile lifted his gargantuan tail, which promptly grew spikes long enough to skewer me in one stab. He then brought it around in a wide swing.

I saw the tail coming, and managed to duck with an agility I never knew that I had, but this only seemed to further enrage the dragon, as it brought it's great clawed hand down for a swipe. Somehow dodging again, I ended up cornered in part of the cave, the colossal scaly form of the dragon blocking my exit. The dragon laughed when he saw this, and positioned himself with his mouth pointing at least.

"You have provided momentary distraction, insect, but now you pay the price for your transgression." His mouth opened wide, and he inhaled deeply.

If I knew anything about dragons, I knew what it was about to attempt. I had to do something.

And then, I saw them. Like red clouds of glowing dust in the air, guiding the way to the dragons head. I could feel it buzzing inside of me, eager to follow the path outlined for it, all I had to do, was release it.

And so, I did.

The sizzling lightning bolt that flew from my palm slammed into the chin of the dragon, jerking it upwards at the last minute, causing it to release it's fiery breath into the ceiling instead. It grabbed it's face in pain with it's paws, and I realised that it would recover from its surprise in a moment. It was now or never.

So I ran between the dragons legs, and out through the entrance of the cave as fast as I could, hearing the dragons angry cries fading into the distance.

I sat there in the damp cave I had found, staring at my hands. I had done something amazing back there, back with the...dragon. I had shot lightning from my hands! I looked up, and concentrated, trying to replicate the feeling I had before. Nothing happened. I stood up, faced the wall of my cave, and concentrated on the feeling of power I had. With excitement, I realised I could feel something buzzing, and pushed it into my palm. Then, I tried to push it out of my palm, and...

A few sparks jumped out of my palm and drifted forlornly to the ground, where they winked out of existence.

I slumped back down, and concentrated on pushing the power into my hand. As I watched the sparks danced between my fingers, I remembered something that had happened when I had created a lightning bolt. I had seen red dust leading the lightning to where I wanted it to go.
So I looked back up, excitement renewed, and tried to form a path. It was difficult at first, but it got easier as I kept on trying it, making paths in curves, straight lines, zig zags. I noted that most of the time, there was a certain way the path wanted to form, and following this made it easier to make. Then, when I was sure I had the hang of it, I tried pushing the power to my hand, and then forming a path. I felt what I had felt earlier, the energy I held straining to follow the path I had made.
I grinned widely, and released it.
The bolt screamed along the path I had forged for it and crashed into the side of the cave with a bright flash, and a boom of thunder.

...

"Yes! I did it!" I crowed in excitement, pumping my fist in the air. "I am so awesome!"
I ran over to the glowing scorch mark on the wall, feeling the heat of it.

"Well, at least I won't have any trouble with making fire!" This thought cheered me immensely; making the torch had been very annoying, especially seeing as I had dropped it in the dragons cave.

I looked outside, and my face fell as I saw dark clouds forming overhead.

Oh no! I thought. I need to get some firewood quickly!

Dashing outside, I collected as much dry sticks and leaves as I could, and put them in a pile in the back of my cave. I used a smaller lightning bolt to light the pile, and with some poking and prodding, soon had a nice fire going.

"And not a moment too soon !" I murmured, as the first drops of rain began falling.

I lay back on my improvised bed of leaves, and sat in the warmth of the fire. Today had been a good day. I learned how to shoot lightning bolts, slew a dragon (Kinda) and made a fire all by myself.

Yes, today was fine by me.

...

"Damn it, I forgot to try to fly!"

Authors Note: Well, folks and folkettes, that was the second chapter! I totally promise not to give her crazy godlike powers, okay? Trust me, it'll be fine.
Speaking of her, though, I dont actually have a name for her yet... I will have to think of one! Suggestions accepted! So please review, and let me know what you think. Remember that I can't change it if you don't tell me what it is, though! Predator20 out.

Enlivenment

Chapter 3: Enlivenment

The dragon growled contentedly, as it was time for his favourite time of month. The time to sort out his hoard. Oh, how he loved seeing all the delicious gems and beautiful rare metals adorning his cave in the forest, and knowing that they were all his. His mood darkened as he remembered the foolish baby dragon that he had found in his cave snacking on them. And then he had the audacity to call him his "Brother". The scaled beast snorted in derision. As if such a pitiful dragon would be his family. It was lucky the unicorn and its pet had shown up to rescue it. And then, his mood turned positively black as he remembered the strange creature from earlier, the insolent insect that had dared to even try to wound him. He rubbed his chin gingerly; it still stung slightly from the impact.

Two intruders in one century and both had gotten away. He must be losing his touch.
But no matter, anymore. He had his hoard. He let his eyes roam across the jewels and trophies, each unique, each with their own story to tell. Ah yes, his hoard was his greatest treasure. The little creatures always thought that he wouldn't miss just one jewel, one gilded necklace. What they didn't understand, was that the hoards beauty lay in its completion. Separate from each other, the various parts were merely pretty trinkets to be admired for a day or two, and then forgotten. When combined in the beauty of the hoard, they became something magnificent, a wonder to fit to be beheld for thousands of years.

A good thing, considering a dragon’s life-span.

He ran his clawed hand along the pile, feeling the familiar treasure beneath his fingers. Ah, but his hoard was magnificent. And it was his, which made it more so. Each goblet, for the finest of occasions. Each ring, a family's most treasured heirloom. Each gem...

Wait.

Something was wrong. The dragon moved its hand back to where he felt the disturbance. There! Near the bottom of the pile, a treasure, gone! He saw glimpses of his past in his mind. Flying past the mountain, seeing a beautiful gleam, flying down to see what it was. In between the cracks in the mountainside, a glorious deep blue gem.

A gem, gone.

The dragons eyes narrowed, and it reared up in anger. One of his gems, gone! Stolen!
The insect! It must have taken his precious gem! But he would find it, oh yes. Find it somewhere among the forests trees and caves, and when he did...

He spread his wings, faced the heavens, and roared fire above.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
My scream filled the isolated cave in the forest, marking my awakening. It was daytime now, if earlier than I was used to. At some point during the night, the fire had died down, and it was now just some embers.
I jumped to my feet, and looked with horror at what had been so close to my face when I was sleeping. It was a spider. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind spiders. I'm not a total wimp. But then, those were normal spiders. Small, spindly, not-very-likely-to-eat-you spiders! But this, this was not a normal spider. It was huge, for one thing. Bigger than my hand, with orb like eyes...

My, god those eyes. They stared into my soul.

"Go away! Shoo! Out of my cave! Bad spider! Bad!" I managed to herd it back outside, and sighed in relief. Last nights sleep was surprisingly good, aside from the rude awakening. Although I think I was just tired; a lot had happened yesterday. There had been the hunt for this cave, the fight (sort of) with a dragon, and the subsequent discovery of my powers. Oh, and the actual transferral itself. Although to tell the truth, I hadn't really thought of home at all. I was rather enjoying myself in this new place, where ever it was. I haven't heard of any forests with dragons in them before. Maybe I was in Switzerland, or something. More likely, something more fantastic was in play. And it was fun.

And speaking of fun. I thought to myself, looking back at my wings. I need to learn how to use these babies. My stomach growled, and I realised that I had nothing to eat since two days ago.
But first, I'll have to find something to eat.

I looked out of the mouth of the cave, and peered dubiously at the forest. An unidentified creature howled in the distance.

How am I meant to find anything to eat here? I don't know the first thing about what to eat in a forest!

Warily, I crept out of my cave, looking around for danger. Seeing nothing, I began foraging. Almost immediately I spotted some mushrooms growing by the tree. After brief consideration, I decided that anything quite that shade of purple probably wouldn't be edible.
The rest of my "foraging" went much the same way. I saw some likely looking fruit, but after picking it, I found it was impossible to crack its hard shell. It was as if this forest was designed to be as inhospitable as possible! I decided that I could try again after collecting water from that spring I had seen earlier.

"Ooooh." I moaned in hunger after my 6th failed attempt to extract an edible meal from the stingy environment. "I'm so hungry!"

"Chirp!"

I heard a bird calling. Looking up, I saw a brightly coloured bird of some sort; (I'm no ornithologist, okay?) blue, with an orange crest. It was surprisingly large, and it looked at me with intelligent eyes.

"Heh. Well, aren't you cute?" And indeed it was. Too cute for a place like this. It seemed out place.

"Chirp!" The bird called again, in the same unerringly cheery tone. I tentatively reached out a hand and stroked its head. It didn't shy away.

"Awww, you are cute. Such a pretty bird, with pretty feathers, such big, strong wings... large... plump... body..."

No! I internally reprimanded myself. You can't eat this bird! It's too adorable! For shame, self!

"Grooowwwl". said my stomach.

"..."

After a delicious meal of inexpertly spit-roasted bird, I decided that now would be an excellent time to make good on my earlier plan. To fly. I stayed in the cave to practice. I started by testing how muscle movements affected my wings, utilising the pool of water I had gained from earlier. Once I thought I had figured it all out, I practiced fluttering the wings. It took rapid rotational muscle movements, which felt strange, but natural at the same time. I moved them faster and faster, fluttering soon fading from sight into one blur. I felt myself get lighter, and my feet started to lift off the floor.

"Yes! Yes, I'm doing it!" I began to practice circles at the caves ceiling. Then something occurred to me.

"Wait, how am I doing it? These wings shouldn't be able to support me, even if I do feel lighter!"

My face had a brief affair with the hard stone floor. Apparently there was some kind of Tinkerbelle logic at work here. If I believed I could fly, I could. If I doubted it, then say hello to floordom.

"Ow, damn that hurt. I won't try that again. But, staying in the cave is boring." I turned to the exit.

"It's time to do some real flying." Donning my non-existent shades, I near skipped outside, and took off without a thought. I had tried the other way, after all, and it was painful.

"Woohoo!" I cried exuberantly. This was a thrill I had never expected to experience. Well, maybe through skydiving or something, but the thought had never really appealed to me. I mean, throwing yourself out of a helicopter and just falling? No thank you!
It probably didn't even compare to this, though. The sense of freedom that came through being propelled through the air by your own means was immense. I flew over the treetops, when something made me stop in shock.

"What..is that!"

Over in the distance I could see buildings. No, more than buildings, there was what looked like a whole town there!

"Should I head over there?" I wondered aloud. Then I realised that even with wings, the journey would still probably take a few hours. I wasn't sure I was ready to make that trip yet.

Besides, one more day in the forest couldn't hurt.

...Right?

Turning back, I reluctantly flew back to my cave. However, when I was there, I realised that I had another problem.

"I really need a shower." The strenuous activities I had been taking part in had not been kind to my aroma, and I felt really grimy. Living in a forest will do that for you. I groaned as I realised I would have to take another trip out back to the spring, the only source of water I knew of around, besides my drinking supply, and I was not bathing in that. I started to leave, then as an afterthought, picked some of the same kind of large flat leaves I had used to make my makeshift bedding.

It was odd (and cold) washing outdoors in a pool of water, but I managed it, folding my filthy pyjamas in a pile next to the spring. As I did so, I found in my pocket a sapphire. The gem I had taken from the dragons cave! I set it down next to the pyjamas. Using the leaves I scrubbed most of the dirt off, and emerged feeling a lot cleaner. I looked at the dirt-caked pyjamas, and knew that wearing them again would leave me as dirty as I was before. Besides, they were not the most practical of forest going garments, that was for sure. But I couldn't exactly go naked. Well, I could, but I wasn't very comfortable with the idea.

Besides, it would be cold.

And so I washed the pyjamas in the spring, then as they sat drying on a rock, pondered what to do with them. I stood up, and clicked my fingers, an idea lighting my face.

"Got it! But I'll need something to cut it with..." Looking around, I saw a jagged piece of stone lying on the ground.

"That'll do!" Picking it up, I grabbed the pyjama bottoms, and using the stone, I cut off half of the length of the legs. I set the strips to the side. Then I did the same to the arms of the pyjama top, again setting the strips to the side. Now I had a more functional, if no less unattractive, pair of shorts and t-shirt. They looked very... bare. My eyes fell on the leaves and flowers around me.

I guess I won't be doing much else! And this is a good time to see if those arts and crafts lessons mum told me to take really were worth it like she said.

Half an hour of decorating and wrapping later, I now had a much more brightly coloured outfit. I nodded appreciatively.

"Not bad, if I do say so myself! Very Natural Chic!"

I looked at the strips of fabric left over from the pyjama cutting, and wondered. My creative side was in full swing now, and I pondered what I could craft with these forlorn scraps of fabric.

Of course! I arrived in my pyjamas. I have no underwear! Eyeing the strips, I started to feel doubtful. But I have no idea how to make any. Maybe I could just improvise...

Shortly, I had myself a matching pair of underwrappings, (Trademark) top, and bottom. I slipped on the entirety of my new ensemble, and was quietly pleased at the job I had done. I looked up, and seeing that it was getting dark, grabbed my gem and rushed back to the cave.

I began the task of collecting firewood, and got another fire going. I had collected more leaves (Those things were useful) to be used to cover myself when I slept. I didn't want bugs crawling all over me in my sleep. I turned to the sapphire I had kept. It certainly looked valuable, but it would be difficult to carry around with me. Plus, the more I looked at it, the more it seemed to fit me. That crack was starting to look almost like a lightning bolt. I tried to think of a way to keep it with me, but I produced nothing. I guess I was all crafted out. Yawning, I decided that I could think of something tomorrow.

Then I would head to that town I had seen, and find out who was living there. But for now...

I pulled myself into the bed, and drifted into sleep.

Authors Note: Okay, yeah, I chickened out about the characterisation. This was just a chapter to get some necessary things out of the way. But it will happen, I promise! Maybe when she meets the ponies, and has a nice, long, angsty chat about her feelings.

If she even meets the ponies! After all, as the author, it is my duty to neither confirm nor deny this. Not because I don't know yet. But because I am both cool and mysterious. In any case, the next chapter should hopefully be more exciting. Thanks for reading, please comment, even if you didn't like it! After all, I can't change anything if you don't tell me what it is! Predator20 out.

Engagement

Chapter 4:Engagement

I felt myself start to reluctantly awaken, so I tried to curl up tighter to prolong my precious sleep. Even in cave in the middle of a forest, I was still not a morning person. Then my eyes shot open and I scanned the area around me. I sighed in relief. I didn't feel like waking up to a repeat of "The Spider Incident", so I was glad that this morning there were no errant arachnids waiting for me. Well, actually I didn't feel like waking up at all, but it had happened now. There was nothing for it but to go and get some breakfast. I doubted I'd find any edible fruit, judging by my luck last time, but there was always adorable avians again, if nothing else. Part of me felt guilty for that, but it was shushed by my sensible side. It had been delicious, after all, and sacrifices must be made. He will be remembered. And put in a recipe book. Mmm.

Grabbing the outfit that I had made yesterday, I made my way out into the hostile wilderness I now called home. Temporarily, at least. I had to check out that town soon.

I had a hard time finding food that day, I kept getting glimpses of similar birds to the one I had consumed yesterday, but they always flew off when I approached. I guess someone had spread the word. I was about ready to give up and try my luck with one of the various chromatic capped mushrooms about the place, when I saw something that I couldn't believe.

Is that...? I thought to myself incredulously. ...A chicken?

And indeed it appeared to be a chicken. What one was doing in this forest I had no idea, but I was not passing this up. I crept up to it as quietly as I could, lightning readied in one hand. I had practiced on some of the fruit, and was becoming quite proficient at aiming. In retrospect, of course, I probably could have just zapped it with lightning right then and there, but I really wanted to do the whole "Hunter stalking her prey" thing, and feel like a badass. And it was working, as I slowly moved closer, and the chicken just stood there, oblivious, pecking at the dirt. Then, I messed it all up by stepping on the inevitable dry twig, with snapped loudly. Immediately, the chicken whizzed round and looked in the direction of the noise, and I stopped, worried that my meal was about to run. However, chickens in this place were no less stupid as they were at home, as when it noticed me it just widened its eyes, and glared at me. Not wanting to waste this chance, and not knowing how long it would stay there, I hit it between the eyes with a crackling bolt of energy.
As I neared the "chicken" however, I noticed that my earlier assessment was not entirely correct.

About half right, actually.

Where the tail and hindquarters of a chicken would be, were shiny green scales.

"Uh... okay. That's not normal." I stated the obvious in an attempt to get my head around this. Was this chicken a mutant? Or was this creature...normal? I seemed to remember seeing something like it before, but I couldn't remember where. Which was strange.

"Hmm." My stomach growled again.

"..."

As I picked my teeth with a small twig, I noted that I had to stop letting my stomach make decisions for me. Even if they were delicious, delicious decisions. For all its strangeness, the chicken snake had still tasted just like chicken. Even the snake part. Heck, especially the snake part. Full of breakfast, I realised that I hadn't had anything planned for today, except... I swiveled my eyes towards the gem that was resting by the fire pit. I was going to make something to carry it around yesterday, but was too tired. I stood up, having reached a decision. I would make the jewel easier to carry, and then I would practice my newfound abilities. After all, you never know when you'll need to be able to lightning bolt something to death. Although considering this forest, I did. I scooped up the gem, and was about to head out, when my eyes were drawn to the discarded chicken snake skin.

It would be a shame to waste those pretty scales...

Gingerly picking up the snaky skin, I walked back to the fire pit and sat down on the bedding. I wrapped the sides of the sapphire in scales, but couldn't just stick them on, so I looked just outside for some twine or something. Finding something suitable I tied the scales to the gem in a fairly symmetrical pattern. It wasn't perfect, but I felt it was okay. The twine was too thick for the next bit, so I thinned it out using my trusty sharp stone, and then threaded it through the gap I had left in the binding, tying the two loose ends together. I looped my neck through my new shiny necklace, and admired it in the pool of water.
I frowned. I had realised that a necklace probably wouldn't be practical when flying. It would swing around too much. So, utilising the leftover twine, I tied the bottom of gem to my t-shirt, stabilising it. Now it was much more functional. It was pretty, but it didn't match my eyes, which were looking decidedly green, today. I tilted my head, and the colour shined blue. I grinned. Now it matched.

Satisfied with my unnecessary fashion statement, I flew out of the cave to practice. After flying a ways out, I decided to try some tricks. It hadn't been that long since my first flight, but I felt fairly confident. I started with a few simple loops and twists, but soon they grew easy, so I flew as high as I dared, then dived. I was going faster than I had gone before, the ground rushing up to meet me. I pulled up at the last possible second, which turned out to be very close; my wings were quite manoeuvrable. I hovered over the trees, elated at this new success. Suddenly, I felt pressure above, and an enormous shadow fell upon me. My heart thumped in fear as I looked up and saw something that I had hoped not to see again: a colossal scaled figure diving out of the sky with claws outstretched, murderous intent in its eyes. I dodged to the left not a moment too soon, and the dragon from the cave rushed past me, wind from his gargantuan wings pushing me to the ground. The green dragon turned to me and roared, then spoke.

"I have found you, thieving insect. I had expected you to be hiding, and yet here you are, proudly flittering for all to see." His eyes narrowed as he noticed the sapphire I was wearing. "And wearing my gem around your neck as if it were yours, no less! You are a bold one." The beast grinned, an action that unfortunately showed off his numerous jagged teeth.
"Did you think I would not find you? That I would not miss my treasure? You were wrong, and now, you will pay the price." He flexed his hands, and sharp claws extended, as if he were a cat.

I grabbed the sapphire at my neck and thrust it forwards.

"Wh..what? This old thing? Take it! I don't need it! I'm sorry I took it! And trespassed in your cave!" But even as I said the words, something screamed at me to not relinquish the jewel, and I was inclined to agree.

It didn't matter anyway, as the dragon just shook its head.

"Do you think it is that easy? I could just as easily kill you and take the gem. And you must pay for your theft." He leapt forwards, dealing a massive swipe that I barely dodged.

"Whoa, wait! I don't want to fight you!" In the cramped quarters of the cave, I had stood a chance, but out here, the dragon was free to exercise its entire length against me. Not to mention in this fight, it was no simple matter of just running away. This would be a fight only one could win.

And I didn't like my odds.

The lizard snorted, emitting smoke from its nostrils. "Of course you don't. But you must. You will fight, or You! Will! Die!"
It swung its tail horizontally, which I avoided by taking flight. There was clearly no way to reason with this dragon. I had no choice but to at least try to fight. I created dozens of paths to the dragon, and then pushed the power out at him.

The dragon roared in pain as multiple lightning bolts struck him simultaneously, but aside from patches of blackened and charred scales, I could see no lasting damage.

"So." My scaly adversary growled. "The insect has its sting. Good. Then perhaps I will finally get that hundred year crick out of my neck!"

His mighty wings beating slowly, he rose majestically into the air. I didn't stop to watch, though, and flew as fast as I could away from him. I had a head start, but I could hear the steady beating of his wings getting closer. I felt heat at my heels, and knew that he was getting close, if he could use his fire breath. It was unfair, really. It was huge, could breathe fire, and fly. I had no advantage...

...So I just had to make one. I dived closer to the trees, making the larger and less manoeuvrable dragon have to slow down and move his wings more slowly, then I moved as fast as I could, to get as much distance between us to allow me as much time as possible for this. When I believed I could get no further ahead, I spun round and as quickly as I could, drew paths to the dragons massive-and sensitive-wings.

I was lucky, as I caught him just as he was lifting his wings up, and had exposed them to me. The lightning bolts shot over to him, and burned great holes in the weak wing membrane. Unable to sustain its lift, the dragon crash landed, the fiery breath it shot at me whirling inches past me. I could now move faster than him; I could run, if I wanted to. But that would only buy a few days, the dragon would find me again, and I doubted I would be so lucky twice. No, I had to finish things, here and now. If I could. But I had an advantage, now. I could fly, and now he couldn't. If I used this, I could win. Maybe.

I started circling the grounded dragon, sinking bolt after bolt of energy into its thick hide. But despite the roars of protest he was giving, the dragon showed no signs of stopping. I was definitely affecting him, though. The swipes were slightly more sluggish, the interludes between fire breathing were becoming more frequent and long. But as the saying goes: I had to be lucky all the time. He had to be lucky just once. And then, he was. The spiked tail slammed into me, miraculously, none of the spikes hit me, but I was still knocked to ground, in serious pain. I was sure that some bones were broken, my leg seemed twisted at an odd angle, and my breathing was strained.

"The dragon put a clawed hand down either side of me, victorious relief evident on his face.

"You fought with remarkable cunning, insect. You were a worthy adversary. I will remember your tale, when I hold my gem, once more. However, this outcome was inevitable. Farewell, creature." He inhaled one final time, in preparation for my final, fiery moments.

Then I heard a sound. Singing, you could call it, coming from near my chest. I looked down. The sapphire. I moved my hand onto it, and the singing intensified, rising to a triumphant keening. I touched it, and felt the energies inside connect with my own, eager to help. I looked up at the dragon, and raised my palm towards him, feeling the gems power swirling within me. I connected a path between me and the dragon, and pushed.

The light and noise was disorientating, the dragon screaming as the huge lightning bolt seared through its scales. After what seemed like ages, the light stopped, and there was the blackened and charred dragon, laying still. Dead. I tried to get up, and was punished with pain from my left leg. I countered this by fluttering my wings just enough to take the weight of it, too tired for true flight. I hovered/stumbled over in a direction which I hoped was towards my cave, for what seems like hours, but must have been more like 30 minutes. Dimly I noted that the sapphire had turned grey and dull at some point, but I concentrated on moving. Then, I realised I had reached what appeared to be the edge of the forest, and gave up. I passed out, crumpling to the floor.

Twilight sighed as she thought of how much time she had lost by attending to all of her friends needs. Not that she didn't want to! She was always happy to lend a hand, or join one of Pinkie's parties, but she hadn't really been able to focus on anything, her research at the forefront of her mind.

She hoped the Spellblooms were still there.

"It'll be fine, Twilight, stop worrying!" Reassured Spike, having noticed Twilight's agitation. "It's not like anyone would move them, right?"

"I'm sure you're right, Spike, it's just...I've had a bad feeling about those flowers since that "incident" three days ago. It's been worrying me more than it should." Before Spike could speak, she added: "But I'm sure it's nothing, I'll be fine, Spike."

They had reached the start of the Everfree Forest.

"Ah, here it is. Now, I think I remember where the flowers were, I wrote it down in my notebook... Spike?" The infant dragon was looking at something in the distance, concern etched into his face.

"Twilight, there's somepony over there! It's some sort of creature; I think its hurt!"

"What?" Twilight looked over where Spike was pointing, and saw it: a strange crumpled figure on the ground, wearing a bloodstained outfit. She rushed over to it, and saw that it had four legs, but with very strangely designed hooves on the end of them. One of its hind legs was twisted oddly. At first she feared the worst for the odd creature, but then she saw the gentle rising and falling of the chest, and knew that it was still alive, barely. She gently picked it up with her telekinesis, turned to Spike and ordered:

"Go get Fluttershy, quickly! Tell her we've found an injured animal that needs her attention!"
The dragon nodded and darted off as fast as he could towards the cottage that belonged to Fluttershy. Twilight moved after him, but moved slowly, so as not to damage the creature even more. Now it was floating, she could she that it had wings, but not feathery like pegasi. They were more like an insect. She had never seen anything quite like it. As she walked slowly to the cottage, she hoped that it would make it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Authors Note: First contact! I told you it would happen, and surprisingly, it did. Or did it? Yeah, it did. There's pretty much no refuting it, actually. And our brave little sylph took care of that mean 'ol dragon! OR...did she? Wait and see! Next chapter: Nursing, non-truths and nonsense, oh my! Remember to like and favourite if you liked it and it was one of your favourites, and comments are appreciated! Even if you didn't like it! After all, I can't change anything if you don't tell me what it is! Predator20 out.

Torment

Chapter 5: Torment

Pain. That was the first thing I noticed. Not quite the burning, stabbing pain I had felt earlier, it had since quietened down to a duller, throbbing pain. Earlier. The fight with the dragon! That gem had saved my life! I moved my hand to where I kept it.

And that's when I noticed the second thing. The gem, along with my top, had gone. I was a bit miffed at this; that top wasn't the greatest thing in the world, but it had done a sterling job protecting my modesty these past few days. Although in its place were some bandages, so there was no problem on that front. I attempted to stumble to my feet, which soon proved an impossible task, as it sent sharper waves of pain running through my left leg, and I only didn't collapse again because I caught myself with my thankfully undamaged wings. To be fair to my leg, it was doing a better job of not being twisted in the wrong direction than I remembered. I must have been treated while I was out. Wincing, I examined my surroundings through the bars.

Wait. Bars?

I was in a cage! I must have been sleepier than I thought for that not to be the first thing that I noticed. I was probably in that town I saw earlier, but they obviously weren't that peaceful. I could have been taken captive by slavers! Who knew how people did things out there? Or maybe I had been smuggled into a lab by scientists for...tests. Which, as everyone who has watched any alien movie ever, inevitably means dissection! I was starting to hyperventilate, so I forced myself to calm down and think rationally. The area outside the cage didn't look like anything a slaver or scientist would live in. It was quite pretty, actually, in a rustic sort of way. And the cage itself was fairly spacious. There was some furniture about the place and as I now saw, plenty of animals.

There was, I decided, something suspiciously familiar about it.

A sound rang through the building. The front door was opening. I ducked away from it and readied my lightning. I didn't need my left leg to deliver a high voltage bolt of lightning to the face. I liked doing that. I hadn't been able to do it for long, but it was decidedly fun. The door opened, I readied myself to push, and in stepped...

A pony.

A yellow pony.

A winged yellow pony. With a pink mane and a picture of some butterflies on its flank.

The sparks in my hand sputtered out as my mind reeled with this new information, finding it impossible to compute.

This can't be real. I thought in disbelief. She doesn't exist, she's just a character in a cartoon, I must be hallucinating from pain. Yeah, that must be it.

The pony set down the flowers that it had been holding in its mouth, turned to me, and said something that I couldn't understand.

That did it. I had a broken leg, with possibly broken ribs, in a cage in a fictional cottage, and a yellow pony with wings just spoke to me in another language. As the Pegasus carried on talking, I did the only thing sensible in that situation. I passed out again.

Earlier...
Fluttershy had once again been attempting to get Angel to complete an entire meal.

"Come on, Angel." She coaxed. "If you don't eat all your food, you won't grow up big and strong!"

Angel just rolled his eyes and pouted, in a way eerily similar to the small children of Earth.

"Oh, Angel. What am I to do with you?" The gentle Pegasus kept continuing this way, as she did always. It would seem to be a futile exercise, but Fluttershy was sure that with enough kindness and encouragement, the errant bunny would see the error of his non-entire-carrot-eating ways. Fluttershy's ear twitched as she heard a familiar voice in the distance, and she ceased her persuading to go and see what Spike was shouting about.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy!" Spike ran up the path of the cottage belonging to the Pegasus in question, urgency in his voice.

"Sp..Spike? What's wrong?" Fluttershy was always happy to see her favourite baby dragon, but he was looking very worried. He explained the situation to her in between gulps of air.

"Twilight (gulp) sent me. She found (gasp) an injured (wheeze) animal. She told me to get you." Fluttershy gasped in horror.

"Oh, no! What kind of animal?" she asked with sudden curiosity.

"Well, it was sort of this big." He stretched out his arms as far as they would go to show how big "This" was. "It had really weird hooves and it..uh...I can't explain it! But it looked really bad, Fluttershy! In a lot of pain!

A poor little creature, in pain? Her eyes narrowed with resolve. She would do everything in her power to help it.

"Where are they?" she asked with a hint of the Fluttershy version of determination in her voice.

"She found it down this way, at the entrance to the Everfree Forest. She'll be closer now though, hurry!" Fluttershy didn't need to be told twice, and she dashed after the purple dragon at speed. Angel started to sigh with relief, but was stopped when Fluttershy whizzed back for a moment for just long enough to Glare at the white rabbit.

"And don't think this is over, mister! When I get back, you will have eaten that carrot! ...Please."

She dashed off after Spike, and together they moved for 10 minutes before coming across Twilight and the creature. Fluttershy's eyes widened; Spike was right, this did look bad. She flew over to Twilight.

"What happened?" Asked Fluttershy, distraught to see that anything could be in such a state. Twilight shook her head quickly.

"I don't know, I'm afraid. I was walking to the forest for some research I was doing, and I found it like this."

"Her." Said Fluttershy firmly. The yellow Pegasus may not have seen anything like this creature before, but her special talent was with animals after all.

"Her, then. Can you help, Fluttershy? I knew that you were the best person for this job, you know just about any animal!"

"Well... I don't know.. I've never seen an animal like this before... but I have never turned my back on a creature in need, and I won't do it now. I'll do all I can for her. Twilight, carry her to my cottage, please! Uh, that is. If you don't mind...."
Twilight nods and continues towards the out of the way building as fast as she dared, with Spike and Fluttershy following behind. They soon reached Fluttershy's house. Fluttershy draped a blanket over a nearby table.

"Umm..put her here, please. Gently though! We don't want to hurt the poor thing..."

"What next?" Asked Twilight, always eager to help.

"Oh, well...if you want to help...could you use your magic to get her clothing off? I need to get to the wounds, and I don’t want to hurt her."

While Twilight complied with the polite order, Fluttershy floated over to the cupboard where she kept the medical supplies she sometimes needed for injured animals. She took out a bag with a cross on it (some things are universal) and flew back to the impromptu operating table.

Fluttershy pulled out a purple veined leaf from the bag and gently placed it in the creature’s mouth, which swallowed in reflex. Its rapid breathing became slower, as it fell into a deeper sleep.

"From Zecora." Explained Fluttershy to Twilights quizzical expression. "Now first things first, I had better do something about this hind leg. It looks...painful." The timid Pegasus looked to Twilight and Spike with an odd expression. "You, um. You may want to look away."

The pair looked at each other, and then away from the twisted form on the table as a sickening crack sounded from that direction.

"You can look now." The leg was, to be fair, looking better. It was the right way on at least. From what could be told.

"Ooh. That might need a cast, but I don't think there are any with that..unusual leg structure. I'll just bandage it up; it should be okay if she stays off of it for a bit." The temporary vet reached again into the white cross adorned bag, pulling out a roll of white linen bandages, and proceeded to bandage the affected limb with a surprising amount of dexterity.

"Umm, Fluttershy? What would bandaging it do? It's not bleeding."

"Well, it's more for the look of it. I find that the injured animal is more likely to not use an injured leg if it looks like it's injured." She gave a small smile. "They can be ever so reckless sometimes."

"I think her ribs are broken, too." Piped up Spike. Fluttershy shook her head apologetically.

"Only slightly, I think. I'll just bandage them, too." She looked at the dragon and unicorn with a concerned expression. "I'm not really qualified for this, you know. I know a bit, but I can only do so much."

"That's okay Fluttershy." Reassured Twilight. "Just do what you can." With a nod, Fluttershy bandaged the creature’s midsection.

Once she had finished, Twilight spoke. "Thank you. Now, do you think you could look after it here?" Fluttershy eagerly indicated to the positive.

"Oh, yes. I'm used to taking care of all sorts of sick animals. I'll take good care of her." Twilight smiled.

"I know you will, Fluttershy. But, do you have a cage, or something?"

The Pegasus blinked in surprise. "Whatever for?" Twilight looked slightly apologetic.

"Well, for the creature, actually." She held up a hand to quiet the protests from the caring yellow pony. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy, I know that you have a connection with animals, but this thing did come from the Everfree Forest, so we can't take any chances. And you can't control your "Stare" whatever it is, so you can't rely on that to protect you if the creature turns violent."

"B..but it seems so wrong to imprison the poor thing after it's recovering from injuries! How do you know it's dangerous! It doesn't look dangerous."

"I know, or, I think that I know, because of this." She held up the now grey gem with magic and presented it to Fluttershy, who examined it with a confused expression.

"I don't understand...." Twilight pointed to the green decorations on the sides of the gem.

"Look at these, Fluttershy. Do you know what they are?"

"Um...scales?" Twilight nodded.

"Cockatrice scales. This...creature, whatever it is, managed to kill a cockatrice, faster than it was turned to stone."

Fluttershy gasped, remembering her run-in with the half snake creature, and how she had come across Twilight frozen in stone in the Everfree Forest. She sighed. Twilight was, she had to reluctantly admit, correct. Anything that could take on a cockatrice was probably not something to be messed with.

"Okay, but...I don't have a cage big enough. I mean, I have a few small ones I use as timeouts and to stop the bigger birds bullying the little ones, but she'll never fit in one of them!"

"Oh, won't she?" Princess Celestia's most faithful student replied with an air of smugness. "Where are these, Fluttershy?" The timid pegasus procured one such cage from in her cupboard, and squeaked as it was encased in a purple glow and levitated out of her grasp and over to Twilight.

"I've been practicing size changing magic." The unicorn explained. "All I have to do is this." She lowered her horn at the cage, which began to flex and bulge as it increased in size, until it was sufficient to hold the winged creature.

"Wow, you have been practicing Twilight!" Cheered Spike enthusiastically.

"Oh yes, your magic is as amazing as always." Fluttershy agreed.

Twilight tried to be modest, but couldn't help a pleased grin from appearing on her face. She levitated the creature into the cage through the door, locking it behind it. She turned back to Fluttershy.

"I'm going to go to the library to see if I can find any books mentioning this creature. Can you come and get me if it wakes up?" Fluttershy nodded, and Twilight turned to leave, but stopped and turned back.

"Actually, to be sure, I should magically reinforce the cage. A simple spell of strengthening should do..." Her horn lit up once more, and the cage gleamed once, and then grew still.

"Goodbye Fluttershy. Take care of the creature!" The purple pony walked through the door, deep in thought. Spike followed suit.

"Yeah, nice to see you, Fluttershy. Take care of yourself as well!" Fluttershy waved goodbye to them both. She then sighed, and turned towards her newest visitor.

"What should I do about you, then...?" She mused. Her face brightened as she thought of something. "Oh, I should pick you some flowers! Everypony loves flowers when they're feeling ill." The soft-hearted Pegasus trotted outside to pick the flowers. She pondered briefly over what flowers the creature would like, eventually deciding on blue sunflowers. They seemed to suit the creature, somehow.
After retrieving the plants, she pushed through the front door, flowers in her mouth. As she turned to the cage, she saw that the creature was awake, and staring at her. She almost jumped, but didn't want to scare the little thing, so she calmly set down the flowers, and said to her:

"Oh, you're awake! She nudged the flowers towards the cage. These are for you." The creature’s eyes widened as she said this, and only seemed more scared than before. Assuming that this was from its current abode, Fluttershy attempted to reassure it.

"I'm so sorry about the cage, by the way, but Twilight insisted. But she's really a very nice pony! I'm sure you'd get along." There was an awkward pause. Fluttershy took a chance and moved closer.

"Um... I'm Flutter-"

The creature collapsed.

"...oh, dear."

Authors Note: So sorry about the appalling delay for this chapter, I have only recently discovered how to use the Italics on Fimfiction, and am attempting to edit earlier chapters. Plus, this chapter is harder to write; it's much easier to develop a character that you have made yourself than to develop an existing one, as you are confined mostly to their existing characterisation. I hope I stayed true to the characters.
Of course, this chapter was mostly dealing with how they meet and tieing up a few things, and setting the events in motion for the proper big meeting of the two species. Stay tuned! Please like and favourite, if you liked it and it was one of your favourites, and please comment! Even if you don't like it. After all, I can't change anything if you don't tell me what it is! Predator20 out.

Encroachment

Chapter 6: Encroachment

Ow... I can't believe that I actually did that. I thought as I woke up, rubbing my head gingerly where I had knocked it after (sigh) passing out.

God, you actually fainted. I mean, sure, this is pretty stressful, but come on girl! You've got your image to keep up! I opened my eyes to see a the same yellow pony as before, who I now remembered as Fluttershy, looking down at me from behind my bars with a small smile on her face. In front of her, a bunch of flowers. Blue...sunflowers? Are they for me?

Fluttershy started to say something, and my suspicions were confirmed: the shy Pegasus was definitely speaking a different language. Although, she didn't seem all that shy now, chatting away to me. Then it hit me: To her, I must be an animal, or just another strange creature. I'll need to handle this carefully. I was clearly in another universe now; the arrival of this pastel coloured Pegasus pony confirmed it.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore... I thought dryly.

However, this didn't change the fact that I couldn't understand a word that came out of the pink maned pony's mouth. I shook my head and attempted to communicate this fact to her.

"I don't understand you!" I exclaimed, putting my hands up. Fluttershy stopped speaking when I said this, confusion plastered across her face.

"Yup, don't understand you. Not a single word, actually. Not one. She seemed more confused at this, so I stopped talking. There was a pause, and then the Pegasus asked something else.

I sighed. "I still don't understand you." At this the pony seemed thoughtful, then suddenly looked as if she had remembered something. She spoke quickly at me, and then dashed out the front door. After a few seconds, she poked her head back round and said something firmly that had a definite "Stay here" vibe to it. Yeah, like that's happening. I waited until I was sure she was gone, then immediately set about trying to get out of the cage. I wasn't going to leave the house, but I really did not care for being in a cage. Besides, I could see my top, and so, my gem, lying on a table to my right. At first I tried using lightning to blast out of the cage, but it became clear that this wasn't working after the first 12 or so tries, so I abandoned that pursuit. Then I realised something.

The door did not have a lock. It had a latch, as if this were a giant birdcage. Mentally facepalming at both mine and Fluttershy's inattention to detail, I lifted the latch and fluttered out of the cage. I took a moment to look around the cottage. There were many, many animals, with one rabbit in particular that kept following me around with a vaguely annoyed look on its face. I thought a little bit about my predicament. This was very strange, being in a television programme. I had watched it a fair few times, and had rather enjoyed it, being that it was much more tolerable than the pink sparkly vomit of most other "girls" shows. I realised that this would be a rather detrimental decision to me, as I would not be able to navigate through the world of Equestria as easily as, for example, my brother. A prime example of a brony, if I ever saw one. And boy had I; there were some seriously weird people in the world.

Sigh. My brother would have loved this; he's the one who likes the show the most out of both of us.

My mood turned sober as I thought of my brother, and of home. I didn't miss them yet, I had not been away long enough for that, but I was worried. I liked this world, so far. The past few days had been some of the most fun that I had ever had, if not the most painful and dangerous. I had accomplished things, made a small life of my own, by myself. The truth was, I felt more at home here than I did back at my home. My new powers and wings, they made me feel so special. And isn't that what anyone ever wants? To be special? In fact, if I had to choose whether to stay here or to go back home...I wasn't so sure that I wouldn't choose to stay.

I shook myself out of such thoughts. That was a long ways off.

After I had my fill of snooping, I went to the table to retrieve my apparel. As I reached for it, I felt a stab of agony run through my leg, and I cried out and clutched at it. I whipped round to see who could have done it, and there sat that white rabbit with a smug look on his irritatingly adorable rabbity face. I growled at him and snatched him up, holding him close to my face. I did not need any sass from a freaking bunny.

"Listen, bunny. I know you can't understand me, and I don't care. I have beaten a dragon. A freaking dragon." I snarled. I attempted to mime killing a dragon with one hand, to limited success. "You know, enormous, wings, sharp claws, breathes fire? I killed it. And!" I suddenly realised. "I killed and ate a cockatrice. Do you think that you are going to prove a problem?" I threatened, lightning crackling in my hand. The rabbit said nothing, being a rabbit. However, I considered his shivering and terrified expression to mean that he was suitably nullified, so I set him down and pat his head. "Good boy." I turned back to the table, and picked up my top by the gem.

It's...grey? Indeed, the once vibrant blue surface of the beautiful jewel had faded to a silvery grey. I must have used up all the power inside of it against that dragon. That's a bit of a shame. I shrugged and pulled on the top.

Halfway through the process, I heard the front door open, and after I hurriedly finished putting it on, there stood a shocked looking Fluttershy and a purple unicorn-Twilight Sparkle, I remembered. A terrified and shivering blur of white shot past me and huddled up to Fluttershy, looking at me with fear.

"Ummm. Hi?"

For a moment, everything stood still as two worlds stopped and stared at each other.

And then, all hell broke loose. Twilight lowered her horn and moved in front of Fluttershy protectively.

"Stay back, Fluttershy! We don't know what this thing can do!"

("Whoa, hey now! I just wanted my things!") The flying thing jittered strangely.

Twilight saw the creatures forelegs go up, and decided that she wasn't taking any chances-she lit up her horn in a violet glow, and grasped the thing in her powerful telekinetic grip, preventing it from moving to harm anyone.

Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen.

It was a thoroughly unpleasant experience, being grabbed by magic. It felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing me, which I suppose is actually what was happening. However, even as I felt myself being crushed, I felt a strange sense of power, similar to when I was using the energy of the sapphire. I latched onto this, following the power to its source.

Twilight. I could feel her magic, flowing within her, just ready to be used. Sorry about this, but you are really hurting me. I pulled on the connection, and I saw Twilights purple eyes widen as she felt her magic being drained away. She was stunned for a moment, but she quickly let go of me, and the connection was severed. I saw her looking slightly below my head, and I looked down to see what it was. There, hanging on my neck, was the gem, glowing as blue as when I had found it.

Well, that explains where all that power went.

I looked up to see the two ponies looking at me with something approaching fear. Twilight said something to Fluttershy, who gasped when she heard whatever it was. There was a tense moment of me and Twilight having a staring match, and then Fluttershy tentatively stepped forward. She started making "Gootchi gootchi goo" noises that, no matter the actual language, would always be heard as "Come on, little fella. It's okay, I won't hurt you." You could just tell, it was the way she was talking. Besides, it was Fluttershy. I could make an educated guess. Rolling my eyes, I extended my hand to her outstretched hoof, slowly so as not to alarm the two of them, and grasped her hoof in my hand.

I suppose it must have been a historic moment, two separate sentient species shaking hands/hooves, but at the time, I felt rather silly. As it was, Fluttershy broke into a warm smile, which made it impossible for me not to smile. This in turn caused Twilight to smile, and there we were. Ponies and a not-quite-human. Grinning like idiots.

I have to say, it was refreshingly relaxing. Twilight broke the moment by saying something, then gesturing to her horn, then me. I wasn't sure what she was getting at, but I assumed that it was permission to use a spell off some sort on me. My guess was healing magic, to show goodwill, and I wasn't going to say no to that! I nodded to her, and she lowered her head and her horn became bathed in a purple light. Then, I lit up with the same light, and I felt a tendril of magic work its way into my brain, then a sudden sense of clarity.

"Hello? Did it work? Can you understand me now?" I looked at her in shock. I could understand her!

("Yeah, I can! What did you do?") Twilight shook her head.

"I can't understand you, just nod once for yes." I nodded, and the amaranthine unicorn beamed at me.

"Wh..what did you do, Twilight?" Fluttershy said in her oh-so-adorable voice. Twilight turned to her.

"I used a spell that I researched just in case the creature couldn't understand us.” She gestured to me. "It can understand us now, though!"
I bristled at this description.

("It? I'm a she, darnit! Anybody can see that!") Twilight frowned.

"But I can't understand it. ("Her!") I'll soon fix that!" The horn ignited once more, and Twilight blinked, and then asked me:

"Hello, can I understand you?"

("I don't know, can you?") I retorted somewhat snappily, still sore about the improper pronoun usage. Twilight looked taken aback, but soon smiled again.

"It worked then! Greetings, I am Twilight Sparkle, Most Faithful Student of our benevolent ruler, Princess Celestia. Who might you be?" She paused, and then added: "And what might you be?"
Alright. This is it. I am about to decide what our future negotiations are going to be like. I am definitely not telling her where I am really from. That would end in disaster. I will have to be clever...

("My name is Ka-") Katie Eldon, I had been about to say. My birth name, the name I had back at home. I liked it. But it didn't fit me, here. Here, I was a different person, so to make a start in this world, I would need a new name. One that fits me. Then, I knew it.

("My name is Ashni Skye. I am a...Sylph.") I said, quickly remembering the name I had made for myself earlier. Twilight seemed pleased with this, and I allowed myself to breathe.

"Okay, Ashni. Where do you live? In the Everfree Forest?" Asked the unicorn curiously. I latched onto this.

("Yes, in the Everfree Forest. Definitely.")

"Are there any more of you?" I thought more carefully about this question.

("Yes. I come from a very distant land. I came here to see if there was anyone else out there. I came across this settlement, and have been quietly studying you and your habits from the forest for a while now.") At Twilights slightly disturbed look, I added: ("I had to make sure that you were not violent.")

The pony seemed slightly more at ease with this explanation, and Fluttershy piped up with a confused expression on her face.

"Um, excuse me Twilight, but what are you talking about?"

"Oh, sorry Fluttershy! I forgot that you couldn't understand us." Twilight apologised. "Here, hold still...there!"

("Welcome to the conversation. Ashni Skye.") I introduced myself, getting a feel for the name. Fluttershy did the same.

"O..oh, nice to meet you, Ashni. My name is Fluttershy." An awkward pause. "Oh, those injuries look painful, how did you get them?"

Now this I figured that I could answer truthfully. Nothing wrong with a bit of boasting.

(I got them getting this.") I said, holding up the gem for them to see. ("I had to kill a dragon to get it.")

"A-a-a dragon?" Squeaked Fluttershy. I nodded, enjoying the stunned reactions.

("Yes. I accidentally wandered into its cave, and it wasn't taking sorry for an answer.") Twilight seemed a mixture between surprised and impressed.

"Well, if you don't mind me asking, how did you defeat a dragon? I mean, no offence, but you don't look like the fighting sort." It was true, I supposed, so I didn't take offence, and smirked.

("Well, let's just say that unicorns aren't the only ones with magic, Twilight Sparkle.") I held up a hand and pushed the lightning into it; making sparks play about my palm. Hey, we're all allowed a little bit of showmanship, aren't we?

"Ah, I see! Magic really does make up for shortcomings, doesn't it?" Twilight smiled at me.

("Well, I'll admit that I had a little help.")

"From who?" I pointed to the gemstone hanging around my neck.

("From this.") At their intrigued looks, I elaborated.

("The dragon had me pinned. He was about to unleash his fiery breath! Then...I used the power inside the gem and merged it with my own, frying the dragon with a giant lightning bolt!") I told them excitedly with accompanying actions. Twilight in particular seemed excited by this.

"You merged your power with that of your...crystal? How is that possible? May I see it?" I untied the jewel and reluctantly relinquished it to Twilight, who examined it, turning it over with her telekinesis.

"This...this is a Lightning stone, isn't it? That's quite rare. I've never heard of anyone harnessing magic from them before, though..."
I shrugged.

("Well, I don't know how it works, exactly. I just connect with it-and other things with magic-and use their power.") Twilight seemed thoughtful.

"Aha! I have it! We could ask Spike! He's a dragon, so he should know more about gems than anyone! We'll go right away." She turned to leave, but Fluttershy called to her, making her turn back.

"Um, Twilight?"

"Yes, Fluttershy?"

"Shouldn't you introduce Ashni to more ponies first? They've never seen anything like her before, and we don't want to scare anyone. Oh, but, whatever you think is best is fine..."

Twilight shook her head. "No, Fluttershy, you're right. I keep letting myself get caught up in my research." She turned to me.

"You should definitely meet my friends. I'm sure that they'd love to meet you!" I was, of course, all for this. It's not every day that one gets to meet fictional characters. Although I suppose that this proves that they are not fictional. At least, not in this universe. But I digress. I said that I would meet them, and Twilight, in one of her trademark adorable little OCD moments, arranged a meeting for all of them at 2.00 pm. (Time apparently works the same in Equestria)

Fifteen minutes later, and all of Twilights friends were at Fluttershy's cottage, with me out of sight of them. I wasn't being shy; I just felt it would be more dramatic. I could hear Rainbow Dash complaining. Or just talking. It was difficult to tell.

"So, what's this all about, Twilight? I should be training! Or sleeping!" Rarity stepped forward.

"Yes, why ever did you call us all out here?" Twilight seemed pleased at the question, and began to explain.

"Well everypony, you are all here to meet somepony. Or rather, not somepony, and not a griffon, a donkey, zebra or dragon, either! In fact, she is something that has never been seen in Equestria before!" I rather thought that she was milking it a bit at this point, but I let her have her fun. Pinkie Pie was predictably getting excited, but then, is she ever not excited?

"Ooh! That sounds cool!" Cheered Pinkie, bouncing up and down. She looked around the room.

"So where is she? I wanna meet her! *gasp* oh my gosh! If she's never been in Equestria before then she's never been to Ponyville before which means she's never met me before which means I haven't thrown her a party yet!" Before Pinkie could get too excited, Applejack laid a hoof on her shoulder.

"Now hold on there, sugar-cube.", said the hat-clad Earth pony with a smile. "I think we better actually meet this gal before going and throwing her a party don't ya think? I know your parties are great an' all, but they tend to be a mite overwhelming for those that ain't used to them."

"Fiiiine!" Pinkie huffed.

"Okay, Ashni! You can come out now!" Taking my cue, I buzzed out into the gazes of the assembled ponies. There was an assortment of gasps. Despite myself, I flinched at all the attention. Pinkie, as always, was the first to act, rushing up to me and giving me a vigorous handshake with her hoof (A hoofshake?)

"Hello Ashni! It's really nice to meet you 'cause I love meeting new ponies, and even though you're not a pony you're still new 1 out of 2 isn't bad! I'm Pinkie! Do you want a party? I'm only asking because Applejack says that my parties are 'overwhelming' but that is totally not true because everyone loves parties, but Applejack thinks that you wouldn't want one which is just silly! Don't you think that's silly?"

The pink earth pony's hyperactive antics were even harder to keep track of when you were actually talking to her, but just as in the show, she had a bubbly likeability about her that counteracted the difficulty in speaking with her. I was puzzling over a way to get my views across, when Twilight came to my rescue.

"She can't answer you, Pinkie. Only me and Fluttershy can understand her because of the spell I cast, and I've used up my magic for today." Not to mention all that magic she drained from me "She can understand you, though."

"She speaks another language, huh? Well, what is she, anyway?" Rainbow Dash was looking at me suspiciously.

"She says that she's a 'Sylph', and that she comes from a land that's really far away. The implications are exciting, don't you think?" Applejack peered closer at me, and then winced.

"Those wounds look mighty nasty. How’d ya get 'em?"

("Oh, you know. When you bump into those pesky dragons, it's difficult not to get hurt.") Applejack blinked, and turned to Twilight.

"Uh, what did she say?"

"It doesn't matter; she's told me this story already. She got these wounds fighting a dragon."

"A dragon?" Everybody exclaimed at the same time. Twilight nodded.

"Yes, a dragon. She managed to defeat it, but was very injured in the process. She managed to crawl her way to the edge of the Everfree Forest, where I and Spike found her. We took her to Fluttershy, who bandaged her up." Rainbow Dash was looking at me with a new respect, which I thoroughly appreciated.

"Taking on a dragon, huh? Well that must have taken some serious guts! Think you're as good as Rainbow Dash?"

Oh dear. I think that I would prefer suspicion. I thought worriedly. Twilight once again saved me, thankfully.

"Now, Rainbow Dash, she's only just gotten here. Besides, you should at least wait for her injuries to heal, don't you?" The competitive Pegasus deflated.

"Oh. Right." Rarity was next to introduce herself, walking up to me with a flick of her mane.

"Well, welcome to Ponyville, dear! I'm absolutely certain that you'll find it lovely." She smiled at me. Then there came a glint in her eyes as she noticed what I was wearing around my neck.

"Oh, and you have a simply fabulous taste in jewellery, darling! We're sure to get along." She looked me up and down. "Although, I will have to do something about the rest of your ensemble." After Rarity, it was Applejack, who greeted me relatively simply.

"Howdy. I reckon y'all have had quite enough excitement, so I'll just wish you luck in our town and leave it at that. I look forward to learning more about 'ya!" After the introductions, I answered questions and chatted with the ponies for a bit. Then it stopped, and Twilight delivered a final message.

"Okay girls, thank you for coming! I know that you'll make Ashni feel at home!" Everyone said goodbye, and went to go do...whatever it is that they do, and I was left with Fluttershy, Twilight, and a warm fuzziness. I had a good feeling about this. Perhaps living in Ponyville would be better than I thought?

It skulked between worlds, eyeing the world of Equestria with what passed as frustration. This was a setback. But no matter. It had waited a long, long time. It could wait a while more. It sent a small tendril of itself into the world, all it could fit, and snaked through the forest, searching for the appropriate catalyst for its plan. There. In front of it, the corpse of a dragon, touched by the power. It may have grinned had It had a mouth to grin with, and glowing petals bloomed all around the fallen beast. Yes...

This would do nicely.

Authors Note: The plot thickens, eh? Sorry about the actual delay this time, guys. School and all. Still, the stage is set for my much-more-exciting-plot-than-before to take place. What could be happening? Wait and see! Remember to like if you liked it and favourite if you thought it was one of your favourites! And do leave a comment. Feedback is appreciated! Even if you don't like it! Remember, I can't change it if you don't tell me what it is! Predator20 out.

P.S: About the name, Ashni means "Lightning", so it's appropriate. Don't worry! And Ashni is speaking in brackets because not everyone can understand her. It's easier to put in translations than to keep switching perspectives all the time.

Excitement

Chapter 7: Excitement

"Spike! I'm back!" Twilight called to her draconic assistant, who tumbled off the ladder he had been on in shock, him having been cleaning up the mess that the studious purple pony had created earlier in her mad search for information.

"Well it's about time!" Spike said, rubbing his head. It wasn't really hurt, but it felt like the right thing to do. "What took you so long? After Fluttershy came and told you that the creature had woken up, you were gone for hours!"

"I'm sorry, Spike, but I was busy with some highly interesting interspecies introductions! The creature that we found...is sentient!"

"Sentient?" said Spike with surprise. Twilight nodded and smiled.

"Yes. I'd like you to meet..." The arcane equine raised her glowing horn to the space next to her. "...Ashni!" There was a flash, and there hovered the creature from before, leg wrapped in bandages. Spike gulped. When it was lying crumpled on the ground, it hadn't looked so...big. He pushed these thoughts aside, however, and gave a nervous smile.

"Uh...hello?" The creature waved in response, an action that seemed strange with it's oddly placed limbs.

"She can't speak with anyone except me and Fluttershy, yet. She can understand you, though. She's very nice!" she added at Spike's distrustful expression.

"Right." Spike said warily. He wasn't going to trust a thing with eyes that colour just yet. "So what's she doing here?"

"Well, she tells me that she's been studying Ponyville for some time now..."

(Studying is a bit strong...")

"...And then she ran into a dragon, probably the same one that you found during your, ah, episode actually." Spike shuddered.

"Don't remind me."

"She managed to defeat it, but was injured. That's when we found her!"

("Only because of this gem. If it hadn't been for that, I would have been done for.") Twilight's face lit up.

"That's right! The reason we're here is to ask you something, Spike!" The small dragon in question returned to his "Number One Assistant" mode.

"You want to ask me something? Well, I'm ready! Shoot! What do you want to know?"

Twilight grabbed Ashni's Jewel with her magic and thrust it forwards so Spike could see it. "I know that you know a lot about jewels, Spike, so what sort is this?"

Spike's eyes widened when he saw the azure gemstone. "Wow! That's a Storm Sapphire! They're really rare!" The crystal loving reptile began salivating. "And delicious."

("You are not eating this.") Said Ashni, moving her stone out of range of the hungry dragon, who looked devastated at the loss.

"You do know what it is! Excellent! Tell me all about it." At Spike's forlorn expression, she rolled her eyes in amusement and added: "I'm sure I can get Rarity to give you a gem or two."

Spike brightened up at this prospect. "Well, Storm Sapphires are kinda special, because they can hold more magic than a lot of gems. I don't know how, though. Sorry." He added apologetically at Twilight's inquisitive expression. "They're normally found after a serious lightning storm, I think, and they have lot of connections with lightning. But that's all I know..."

"Oh, that's okay Spike!" Twilight turned to Ashni, and grinned hopefully. "Can I borrow that gem for study? I really need to see how this works, and I've never come across anything like it in my books."

Ashni seemed to be reluctant, but sighed.

(Fine. Only because you're awesome, though.") The unicorn smiled gleefully.

"Thank you! I'll take good care of it." A thought hit Ashni suddenly.

("Uh, by the way, Twilight? Where will I stay?")

"That...is a good question, actually. I hadn't thought about it...maybe you'd be best off with Fluttershy? Her house is fairly out of the way, she can understand you, and she likes anim-uh...sorry."
Ashni waved off her apology.

("Sounds fine to me. Just so long as Fluttershy's okay with it.") Twilight seemed satisfied with this.

"Excellent! We'll ask her right now!" she said, trotting towards the door.

("Moving somewhere else again?") Ashni asked dubiously. (And what about the invisibility spell you cast before? aren't you going to use that again?") Twilight shook her head.

"I think that the rest of Ponyville needs to see you sometime, don't you? And going about it as if it were completely natural for you to be here makes it easier. They won't be worried if they don't think that they have to."

("If you say so. You do live here after all.")

They both moved out of the library, Twilight uttering a farewell to Spike, who once they had left, gave an exasperated sigh.

"This won't end well." He foretold to no one in particular.

Rainbow slept peacefully, dreaming predictably of speed, recognition and the Wonderbolts, the fluffy cloud she was on serving as a comfortable bed, high enough to be away from the distracting noises of Ponyville, leaving Rainbow Dash, with Rainbow Dash.

Until a sudden movement of the cloud almost threw her off of it.

"Wowowoah!" She yelled, grabbing back onto the cloud and hoisting herself back onto it. "What's going on?!" Her temporary bed was...moving?

"It's moving all by itself? How?" Peering over the top of the cloud, she noticed a familiar figure walking through the town: Twilight Sparkle. And was that...what'sherface? The weird creature? She noticed, in fact, that the cloud seemed to be following them.

"Gah! I should have known that weird thing would have something to do with this!" she exclaimed. "Spying on us, using her stupid magic and weird wings..." She continued to mutter. "Twilight shouldn't trust her! I bet the others feel the same-" Suddenly, she fell straight through the cloud, but she caught herself in time.

"That's it!" The Pegasus fumed. "I'm going to see Applejack! She's sure to know what I'm talking about!" She turned and dashed towards her stated destination.

Applejack was doing her usual thing over at Sweet Apple Acres when a furious multicoloured blur almost crashed into her, making her drop the baskets of apples that she had been carrying.

"Wh..hey! Watch where you’re flying, rainbow!" Applejack shouted after the blue Pegasus, who whirled round in mid air and ground to a halt in front of her.

"There you are!" Rainbow Dash immediately started off with nary an apology. "I have been trying to find you for 5 minutes!" she huffed.

Applejack grinned. "5 minutes? Are you okay? That sure is an unusual amount of time for you to pay attention to somethin'." Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Whatever! Look, I need to talk to you about something. You know, Twilights new discovery." Applejack stopped grinning.

"Oh." She shook her head. "I tell you, somethin' doesn't set right with me about that girl. Like there's somethin' she ain’t tellin' us..." Rainbow Dash threw her hands up in triumph.

"Thankyou! I knew it wasn't just me! She's hiding something, and we gotta find out what! C'mon!" She made to fly away, but her tail was grabbed by the sensible earth pony.

"Hold on there. You can't just go charging in there, Dash. These things need somethin'...subtle. Y'know. Tact." Rainbow Dash looked offended.

"Well, duh! I wasn't going to just ask her about it!"

"You weren't?" Applejack said in a surprised tone.

"Of course not! I'm not stupid!"

"Well I can say I'm proud of you, Rainbow. I underestimated you, and I'm glad that you're taking this ser-"

"...That never works! I'm going to follow her around and spy on her! See ya! Glad you agree with me!"

"Wait, wha-? Rainbow! Get back here!" Applejack shouted after the fleeing Pegasus.

"Sigh...consarn it."

"Trust me Ashni, you'll be fine! Everyone loves Sugarcube Corner!" Twilight said with a reassuring smile.

("I know! People will be there! Staring! Like they all do!") Ashni retorted anxiously.

The purple mare shook her head in amusement. "Of course they'll stare. You're a very interesting sight! But they don't mean anything by it; you're overreacting."

"I'm just uncomfortable with it. I'm not used to attention." The unicorn and sylph continued on their way, with Ashni trying her best to ignore the glances and whispers. Soon, the familiar sight of Sugarcube Corner came into view.

("Here it is. Thank goodness. I have to say, I am feeling really hungry.") Twilight looked at her oddly.

"How did you know that this was the place?"

("Oh, uh. I...guessed.") Twilight looked suspicious for a moment, but accepted this, and they walked inside.

That was close! I thought. Ordinarily I would not have made such a silly error, but I just felt so...hungry...

As we walked through the door, I suddenly stopped in horror and shock. W...wait a minute! Isn't this where...?

"Hi, Twilight!" A high pitched voice rang through the air.

Oh, no...

I was not in the mood to deal with Pinkie Pie. I was way too stressed, and hungry, and worried, and hungry.

Wow. I sure am hungry. It was strange.

Twilight acknowledged Pinkie Pie, who was waving wildly from the counter, causing a brown earth pony customer to back away or risk being hit.

"Oh, hi, Pinkie!" Twilight acknowledged. "Helping out Mr. and Mrs. Cake, again?" Pinkie nodded.

"Yup!" She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I may have eaten a cake meant for an order...so to make it up to them I offered to watch the store for them while they went out and did stuff!" Twilight blinked.

"Stuff?"

"Yeah! You know? Stuff!...So *ahem*" The pink earth pony adopted a professional posture. "What can I help you with, madam?" She asked in a sophisticated manner, which was unfortunately ruined by her breaking into fits of giggles soon after.

"Oh, we're just here to get some delicious baked goods!" Pinkie leaned impossibly far to the left to wave at me.

"Hi, Ashni! I didn't see you there! Have you changed your mind about the party?"

("What? Oh, uh. I'm not sure about that Pinkie Pie.") I said distractedly. Seriously hungry.

"'Cause if you haven't, I've got lots of plans for it!" She continued with a smile on her face, somehow much closer than she was before. "There could be balloons, and streamers, and confetti..." Twilight, bless her purple sparkly soul, attempted to intervene.

"Pinkie, I don't think-"

"...And marshmallows and music and we could have so much fun!" The oblivious earth pony continued, much to my chagrin.

Does she have to be so loud? It's giving me a headache...

"We could play games! Like pin the tail on the pony, oh I love that game! It's my favourite, did I mention? 'Cause it is! I mean, some ponies like other games and I respect their opinion and all and I think all games are fun but I think that pin the tail on the pony is the best because you have a blindfold and then you go all: wheeeeeeeee! And get really spindizzy, and that's really fun, but you don't wanna get too dizzy..."

She's being really annoying. Too loud! And I'm really hungry! Why am I so hungry?

"...And then you fall everywhere! But anyway, I really think that the party would be a good idea, so I made up plans! Did I tell you? There'll be balloons, streamers..."

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! So annoying! So...hungry! Shut up shut up-

("Shut up! Why do you constantly talk! I don't want or need a stupid party! I'm just hungry, okay? So be quiet for once in your life!") I yelled. The general noise and chatter stopped, and everyone stared at me in shock. Pinkie Pie looked surprised and upset.

"W..wha?" I saw tears welling up, and I came to my senses, hastily attempting to fix what had happened.

("I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I've just had a confusing time, and I don't like all the attention..." I babbled franticly. "...And I'm really sorry, I'm just...hungry." I finished lamely. Remembering the communication problem, I looked desperately to Twilight, who reluctantly translated. I think she was rather rightly angry. When she finished, Pinkie Pie looked slightly better, no longer crying.

"O-oh. It's okay, I'm sorry I was being annoying." I waved my hands wildly in an attempt to communicate that it was by no means her fault. "And I'm sure I get just as angry and shouty when I'm hungry." She said unconvincingly. Still, shaking her head, she resumed her previous cheerful demeanor, and the customers, seeing the situation more or less resolved, returned to their business. Although Twilight gave me a suspicious look that promised serious lectures about proper communication and how to conduct oneself in a pony society. Darn it.

Suddenly, I heard a muffled: "Aha!" behind me, and I turned to look out of the window. A bush rustled suspiciously, but there was no one there. Or nopony. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched, however.

"So, what can I do you for?" Pinkie asked, returning my attention to her.

"Just a strawberry iced cupcake for me, Pinkie." Turning to me, Twilight asked. "What would you like, Ashni?

("Oh, anything, please. I'm so hungry that I really don't mind.") I replied. The unicorn made a movement that could be considered a shrug, if shrugs were in fact possible with pony anatomy, and ordered another cupcake.

"Okie dokie lokie! Wait right there!" Pinkie dashed off, and returned a few seconds later with the order balanced on a plate grasped in her mouth. "'at'll 'ee 'our 'its, 'ease."

Twilight magically opened her saddlebag, and placed the appropriate amount of money onto the counter. Pinkie waved us goodbye as we moved to the table, then greeted the next customer, who looked slightly irritated at the wait.

When we were comfortable, Twilight took the opportunity to admonish me.

"We're supposed to be trying to get ponies to get used to you, and not be worried." She said in a low voice. "How do you think that outburst will reflect on their opinion of you?"

("I'm sorry...") I responded sheepishly. ("I don't know why it happened, I just felt so weird...") I was slightly distracted, as eating the cupcake appeared to be doing nothing for my appetite, as I felt as hungry as I had before, if not more so.

Twilight sighed. "Well, so long as it doesn't happen again. We just need to...Hey! Are you listening to me?"

I wasn't, as I had just noticed something. I could feel something strange. And it felt...delicious. In a trancelike state, I floated up and towards the door, Twilight's protest behind me.

"Woah, look at that storm out! I don't remember the pegasi saying anything about this." I vaguely heard a pony say to my right. Looking up outside, I could see that he was right. Large storm clouds were forming overhead, and I felt inexplicably drawn to them. My odd hunger gnawing at me, I fluttered up to the largest one, which had flashes of lightning randomly darting through it. I was close to it now, close enough to see the red smokey lines that told of an imminent lightning bolt. And then it hit me. Literally.

And it felt great. The energy coursed through my body, filling up the ravenous hunger I had been feeling, and rejuvenating me. I don't know how long this went on for, but apparently I had blacked out, as suddenly I was on the ground, with Twilight looking anxiously at me.

"Ashni? Are you okay?"

("Never better.") I replied dreamily. ("And I'm not hungry anymore!") Then I registered the pain in my leg. ("Gaaahaaaowowow! Or, not, or not. Wow, that hurts. Remind me not to fall on this leg again, okay?") Twilight looked both irritated and amused.

"Well, that's what you get for flying into a lighting storm! What in Equestria were you thinking?" I shakily floated back up, and shrugged.

("I dunno. I just felt, sort of, drawn to it. It felt really delicious.")

"Delicious?" Twilight said incredulously. "That's certainly a unique way of describing lightning. Although...did you say that you are not hungry, anymore? Hmm. Tests!" She exclaimed with a grin just a little too wide for my liking.

("Umm, Twilight? What do you mean? Gah!") I said nervously. Then, I found myself being dragged by magic towards the library, Twilight running alongside with a glint in her eyes. ("Somebody heeeeeelp!")

So terrified was I, that I didn't even notice the storm dissipating behind me.

Rainbow Dash watched the sylph be dragged off with a grin.

"Nice job, Twilight. I knew that there was something up with her! I mean, shouting crazy stuff at Pinkie Pie like that? Obviously a bad guy! And what was with that crazy storm? She had to have had something to do with that!" The Pegasus examined the skies. "Seems to have cleared up now, though... But this is just the beginning! I must gather more evidence, and find out what it is she's up to!" Then she heard the sound of running hooves, and turned to see an out of breath Applejack standing before her.

"I finally *gasp* caught up, with you." The earth pony said. "As I was saying, shouldn't we just ask Twiligh-"

"Can'tstoplookingforcluesbye!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she dashed off again, leaving the hat-clad pony on her own.
Applejack stared after her for a moment, then groaned and collapsed to the ground.

Deep within a gem filled cave in the Everfree Forest, a Presence lay building it's body, waiting for it's plan to come to fruition.

Authors Note: So, sorry about the actual wait for this one, guys. It's been what, three weeks? Four? I don't remember, but it's because of school tests and gardens that need weeding, so sorry. Stupid dandelions...

But, yeah! Don't forget to like 'n' favourite, if you think it deserved it. And comments are appreciated, even if you don't like it! I need to find out what you don't like; I can't change it, if you don't tell me what it is. I'm looking at you, 6 dislikers...

Experiment

Chapter 8: Experiment

Ashni shifted uncomfortably, wires and clips digging into her. The purple unicorn was fiddling with some dials, but turned around to reprimand her.

"Please hold still or I can't get a proper reading." Turning back to the machine, she pressed a few more buttons on a machine that seemed to be making a clear "ping" on the occasions where stuff was located.

("I can't! I feel energized, like I should be doing...something. How long did you say this would take?") The sylph questioned, still fidgeting despite Twilight's warning.

The pony sighed. "Not too much longer. I'm just trying to find out how you absorbed that lightning-and what you did with it. Hold this, please." She held out a wire with a strange device reminiscent of an electrode at the end. Ashni stared at it unsurely, but held it as Twilight requested. "Perfect! Now..." The unicorn gestured excitedly to a thin metal pole. Hit this with a little lightning bolt. The smallest that you can do."

Ashni was back at the library, currently residing in Twilight's own basement, outfitted to serve as a laboratory. After Twilight had dragged her away, she had been hooked up to a menagerie of strange monitoring equipment, supposedly in an attempt to measure "electromagic power". The bemused sylph couldn't tell whether that was supposed to a pun or not. And now here she was, about to shoot a bolt of lightning at a metal pole. Go figure.

("Okay. Stand back.") Ashni pushed the power into her hand, but cut it off straight away, so only a small amount of charge was stored, before released it. A flickering spark about the thickness of a piece of string jumped to the pole.

"How was that? Do you feel any different? Weaker? Hungry?" Interrogated the curious unicorn eagerly.

Ashni considered the question. ("Not really.")

Twilight examined one of the machines thoughtfully. "Yes, the machine shows only a negligible change in electromagnetic levels. Alright!" Donning a pair of goggles from who-knows-where, she pointed at the rod once again. "This time, hit it with the strongest bolt you can! Don't be shy, electrocute with the energy! Let loose with the lightning! Stun it with a storm!" She cheered, in a worryingly gleeful voice. Ashni looked doubtful.

("Most powerful? Are you sure? I can muster some serious bluster, when needed.") Although in truth, Ashni wasn't quite sure what her most powerful would be like. Twilight waved away her concerns.

"Oh, don't worry. I enchanted that myself. There's no way that you could overload the enchantment causing a catastrophic magical backlash resulting in an arcane detonation strong enough to level the entirety of Ponyville!" That didn't exactly make her feel any better. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Ashni shrugged and, gesturing for Twilight to stand back, began to build up power, more power than she had before. Soon her hand began to vibrate slightly, in effort to hold the energies. Drawing the path to the pole, she prepared to release it.

The enormous lightning bolt crackled through the air, striking the pole with a thunderous crash. A monitor starting smoking, and Twilight enveloped it in magic to extinguish it.

"See? What did I say?" Said Twilight nonchalantly, surreptitiously lowering the shield she had raised just in case. "Perfectly fine." She trotted over to one of the more intact devices, and spoke again after examining it for a moment.

"So how do you feel now?"

("That time took a lot out of me. I feel sorta drained. And some of that hunger is back.") Twilight nodded, as if she had known all along and had just wanted to hear it for herself.

"I thought so. Now!" She levitated the Storm Sapphire over from where it had been resting prior. "I think you said that you drained power from this before?" Without waiting for confirmation, she continued. "Can you do it again?"

Ashni shrugged. ("Okay, I guess.") Holding out her hand to the gem, she attempted to form the connection that she had made earlier. This proved easier than before, and soon the current flowed from the azure gemstone and into her, its crystalline surface fading to a monochromatic grey. When she was done, Twilight scrutinized the jewel, sparks of energy still jittering across its surface.

"Hmm. This is what it looked like when we first saw you! Did you find it like this?" The unicorn inquired.

("No, it looked like it did before: blue.") The sylph rubbed her chin thoughtfully. ("Funny thing, out of all of the jewels and trinkets in the dragon's hoard, this one seemed to...call out to me, almost.") Twilight's eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"Oh? That's rather interesting, considering your predilection for electrical magics."

("Well, I can't actually use any other magic.") Ashni said sheepishly. Twilight's ears twitched in interest.

"Really?" The purple mare returned the jewel to Ashni, having finished her examination. "That's odd. Most creatures with magic are capable of a plethora of complex spells, even if most don't learn them. Are all members of your species like that?"

Ah, darn it. More difficult species questions. Well, I suppose honesty is the best policy in this case. Well, sort of honesty.

("No, just me.") Ashni said as casually as she could manage; she did not want Twilight prying to deeply into her hastily constructed fabrications.

"Interesting." Twilight murmured, eyes seemingly staring straight through her. "Electromagic is one of the purest forms of magic; as it is literally pure magic given the shape of lightning." The unicorn recited absently. "The fact that you cannot form your magic into more complex shapes, along with the abilities that you have exhibited, suggests that your arcane physiology is more of a...conduit of sorts...you're absolutely sure that you cannot perform any other magic? Not even telekinesis?"

Whilst Ashni was obviously worried that the mare in front of her may find out more than she was comfortable with, she would be lying if she said that she was uninterested in what Twilight was saying.

("I'm positive.") She wasn't, but the sylph knew that saying that she wasn't would result in more tests, and there had been quite enough of those.

"Well, I've never heard of something like this before...but the library has lots of books, maybe there's something that I've forgotten?" She pondered. After a moment, she shook herself out of her thoughts. "Anyway, before you go..." A sinister looking medical syringe floated to her side. "I would like to take a blood sample, if that's okay with you." She said with a smile that Ashni felt was inappropriately cheerful, considering the subject matter of sticking a needle inside her and draining her blood.

("Uh...with that needle?") Was the nervous reply.

Twilight laughed easily. "Oh, it's fine, just a little prick, you won't even feel it. I promise."

Ashni sighed and held out her arm in defeat. ("Okay, just make it quick.") She winced as the needle drained a small amount of blood.

Twilight placed the container filled with blood in one of the machines. "That wasn't so bad was it?" Her expression turned sheepish. "Uh, sorry about dragging you down here, by the way. I just get like that when there's something that I don't understand."

("Oh, no, it's no trouble. You did save my life, after all. I kinda owe you one.") Pointed out the temporary patient.

"Oh, I didn't do much. Spike found you. Um, what will you do now? You could walk around town; get a feel for it, if you want?"

Ashni nodded; she hadn't really gotten a chance to see Ponyville by herself, and was interested to explore this new, but familiar world. She said goodbye to Twilight and her assistant, and left the library. After she had left, Twilight turned back to her work.

"Spike! Could you get that copy of "Fantastical Forms of Magic" please?" The unicorn called up.

"Right away, Twilight!" Came the reply. Good.

There was research to be done.

Rainbow Dash was a mare on a mission. That mission: uncover evidence of the dastardly deeds that the sylph had no doubt committed. The first step...interrogation.
The chromatic Pegasus adjusted the spotlight, and turned to the pony in the seat; a brown coated earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark.

"So. You're saying that you know absolutely nothing about the activities of the creature known as Ashni, then?" She asked with a glare.

The unfortunate pony squirmed in discomfort under the accusing gaze of the mare. "Yes! I don't even know what that is! Can I go now?" He pleaded.

A few more moments passed, whilst Rainbow glared at him a bit more. "Alright. You can go. But I'm watching you!" She said after she had decided that she had glared at her victim long enough. As he ran, eager to be away from this crazy mare as soon as possible, Rainbow considered what she had seen and heard. There was definitely something strange about "Ashni". If that was it's real name. First there was that thing with the weather; that storm had moved with "Ashni" and disappeared when Twilight dragged it off. And then there was that outburst at Sugarcube Corner...Dash shook her head in frustration. There was no way she could solve this on her own. She needed assistance, from someone down-to-earth, someone with common sense. Someone like...

"Rainbow Dash! Don't you run away from me this time!" Called a familiar, and angry, sounding voice.

"Applejack! Just the mare I needed to see. Listen, I've been keeping an eye on that "Ashni" person, and I saw a whole bunch of really suspicious stuff! I know it all means something, but I can't figure it out! If I can just-"

"Rainbow!" Applejack interrupted. "Look, ah find this just as suspicious as you, but you can't just go around spying on somepony!" Rainbow folded her forelegs and huffed.

"Why not?”Ashni" is probably doing it! Besides, it worked! I found out lots!" Applejack sighed.

"Look...wait. Ya did?" The earth pony said in a surprised tone.

"Yeah!" Replied Rainbow Dash indignantly. "Did you notice any weird weather patterns? Like storms out of nowhere?"

Applejack looked thoughtful. "Why as a matter of fact ah-"

"They were following it!" The blue Pegasus continued. "And not long a go it went crazy, and started shouting at Pinkie for no reason!"

"Why, that no good-"

"And get this!" Rainbow interrupted once again. "She flew up into the storm...and ate the lightning! How weird is that?"

"Very." Applejack said dryly, obviously irritated about the constant interruptions "Now ah reckon the best thing to do would be to go see Pinkie, see how she feels about this. There might be something we're missin', and we don't want to be being to hasty now." She glared at Rainbow pointedly. "Do we?"

The brash Pegasus rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever. Now let’s go!" She made to dash off, but while the rest of her moved forwards, her tail lagged noticeably behind.

"Oh, no you don't!" Said Applejack with a mouthful of tail hair. You are walkin' this time." The farmer pony raised an eyebrow. "Or do ah have to drag ya?

"But walking is boring!" Rainbow Dash protested. "Can I at least hover?"

"Fine." Applejack relinquished the Pegasus’s tail and trotted alongside her. "But ah have ta ask: what's gotten y'all riled up about that one, Rainbow?"

The Pegasus in question stopped, putting her hoof to her chin in an oddly human gesture of thought.

"Well, ever since the whole Discord thing, I've been thinking. About how that creep was able to get me to abandon you guys so easily! I almost doomed the whole of Equestria!" A look of steely determination appeared in Dash's eyes. "I made a promise to never give in that easily again! And I guess I just feel responsible for what almost happened, so I've been on the lookout for weird stuff happening, and this "Ashni" character is practically the definition of weird! And from what we've heard, she is dangerous. So keeping an eye on her is the sensible thing to do, don'tcha think?"

Applejack gave a small smile. "Well, Rainbow. That is awful noble of you." she said. "Surprisingly noble." She continued with a smirk.

Rainbow Dash put her hooves behind her head in a display of nonchalance that was ruined by the proud grin she wore.
"Heh, well, what can I say? Who's gonna save Equestria if not Rainbow Dash!" She exclaimed, striking a pose that had been carefully rehearsed for maximum awesomeness. "Besides." She continued. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

Applejack just rolled her eyes in amusement.

The two mares reached Sugarcube Corner just in time to catch their pink and excitable target bouncing out of the door.

"Hey, Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash called, causing the candy floss coloured earth pony to turn towards them.

She waved enthusiastically. "Oh, hi, Dashie! Hi AJ! Whatcha doin'?" Bubbled Pinkie.

Rainbow ignored the question. "Actually, Pinkie, we need to talk to you."

Pinkie giggled in response. "Well, we're talking right now, silly!"

Applejack cut in. "We were hopin' ta speak with yer about that little incident that happened earlier on, sugarcube."

"We're on an investigation!" Rainbow Dash added.

The hyperactive mare squealed with delight. "Ooh, an investigation!? I can help, I can help! Let me get my hat and pipe!" She dashed off to a nearby tree, and reaching into a hollow, pulled out a hat and pipe such as those which would be found in a detective novel. Donning them both, she rushed back.

"Detective Pinkie, at your service!" Said Detective Pinkie, blowing mysteriously into the bubble pipe.

Her friends just stood staring for a moment. Looking between the tree and her. At their questioning looks, she said:

"Oh, I keep hats and pipes stashed all over Ponyville! In case of detective emergencies! So, what needs solving!"

Shaking off the sudden Pinkie induced coma, Applejack spoke. "Look, Pinkie. We jus' need ta ask yer a few questions, is all."

"Aww..." The party pony's lip started quivering, and she looked up at Applejack with eyes glistening with tears.

"...Ye' can keep the hat and pipe."

"Yipee!" Exclaimed Pinkie, returning to her previous cheerful demeanor.

"Now, the questions?" Interjected an exasperated Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, of course! What do you want to know?" The co-operative mare said brightly.

"It's about that 'Ashni' guy. You know, when he went crazy, started screaming at you? Why did he do that?"

"Oh, that. It was kinda scary, actually! I was just talking to her about the party I was planning, when she totally just started shouting at me! I don't know what she was saying, but it didn't sound very nice!" She smiled brightly. "But it was okay, she said she was sorry afterwards, and that she only did it because she was hungry. Which is weird, 'cause I don't go all shouty when I'm hungry, but what can you do? Then she ate some lightning!"

Dash turned to Applejack. "See? It goes crazy and shouts at Pinkie because she was hungry for some lightning! What happens if it gets hungry again and someone happens to be in it's way? It's could be way worse than a bit of yelling!" Pinkie tilted her head.

"Why are you investigating Ashni, anyway? You were alright when you met her."

The blue Pegasus rolled her eyes. "Well duh! I'm not completely paranoid! At first she seemed okay, really weird looking and kinda strange, but okay. Then I noticed all the crazy weather following her! Which was kinda suspicious, don't you think? It's like she brings the Everfree with her, or something. And then she snapped at you, Pinkie, which practically confirmed my suspicions! She's up to no good!"

Applejack placed a hoof onto the worked up mare's shoulder. "Or she was havin' a bad day, what with bein' almost killed, 'n all." She sighed. "Look, ah'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this. Don't get yer wings in a twist over this. Isn't she supposed to be stayin' with Fluttershy? We could-"

"She's staying with Fluttershy!?" Shouted Dash in alarm. "What if it reveals it's true colours! Fluttershy's too meek to defend herself! What the hay was she thinking!" She continued her outburst, the worst outcomes playing through her mind.

"But Fluttershy takes care of dangerous animals all the time, sugarcube. Ah think sometimes you forget that."

"But this is different!" The riled up pony wouldn't be soothed. "We've never seen anything like this guy before! She's never seen anything like him before! What if he's a secret assassin!?" Applejack looked at her skeptically.

"What?" Rainbow defended. "He could be!"

Pinkie giggled. "Well, you can ask her yourself! She's right there!" A pink foreleg pointed off behind the other mares, who turned to look.

Walking through town, I began to think about what had happened. Apparently I'm a conduit then. Whatever that is. Still, one step closer to actually finding out what these powers are. Apart from just magic, that's a stupid explanation. And I managed to avoid properly answering a tricky question! If I keep this up, I'll be fine. Grinning at my deviousness, my mind shifted to other things. I hope that I don't have to keep it up forever, though. I need to find a way to get home. I need to see my family again. My brother must be worried. I looked to the skies, as if he would be able to see me. Don't worry, I'll get home soon...uh...um...

I had forgotten my brother’s name.

I panicked slightly, I must admit. E! It began with e, I'm sure! Or was it g? I thought about it as hard as I could, but all I could seem to remember was a kind word, a protective hug. I knew that I had a brother.

So why could I remember nothing about him? I knew I had been gone a while, but not that long. The same went for the rest of my family. All of them a vague blur. It was disturbing, to say the least. However, there was nothing I could do about it. I would remember when I got home, for sure.

if I got home.

Deciding to clear my head of these thoughts for the time being, (which I had been doing a lot recently) I moved through the town, taking note of all the shops and buildings that were not shown in the show. It was an interesting experience, and I felt slightly privileged to see the inner workings of Ponyville, the very town that hundreds dream of going to.

Although, I wasn't all that excited by it, even if common sense dictates that I should. I had no idea why. I began to contemplate the fact that I had not seen many of the Mane Six recently; just Pinkie and Twilight. It was odd, as I was used to seeing them as the focus of the show. It was interesting to see the other ponies though. And they didn't look the same or similar as they often did in the show, they were each clearly unique. I could even recognise a few from their colouring, even though they looked different.

Stopping, I realised where I had reached. Sugarcube Corner, one of the only places in Ponyville that I had visited. I could see Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack standing in front of it, and the latter two appeared to be having an argument of some sort. Suddenly Pinkie Pie blurted out something, pointing over to me. When Rainbow Dash looked over and saw me, her expression became one of suspicion and anger.

Oh, dear. The serious looking Pegasus flew over and glared at me. It was adorable, really.

"I know you're up to something!" She said in an accusatory tone.

("Huh?") I couldn't talk to them, but 'Huh' is really universal.

"You know! What's with the weird weather? I know you caused it! And you go crazy at Pinkie, and now you expect me to stand by and let you stay with Fluttershy?
I won't let you lay a single...whatever those things are on her!" Applejack had reached us by this point and placed a hoof on the aggravated mare's shoulder.

"Now, now, Rainbow. Just calm down. Like ah said, we should ask her what's going on." She turned to me with a stern look in her eyes. 'Cause ah would very much like to know what you're not saying, too."

("I, uh, would love to. But, you know. You can't understand me.") They both blinked at me.

"Oh, right, the talkin' thing. Forgot about that." The cowgirl mare said sheepishly.

"Well, where's Twilight? We'll get her to put that spell on us, I need to know what's going on!" Said the other pony somewhat less than sheepishly.

"Ashni! There you are!" Shouted Twilight urgently, skidding to a halt in front of us. "I have discovered something most troubling from the analysis of your blood!"

"Hey guys! Look here!" Interrupted Pinkie. "Look at all these pretty glowing flowers!" Four heads turned in the direction indicated.

"Are those..." Twilight began with a troubled expression.

"GRRAAAAWH!" A terrible roar crashed through the air, and the sun was blotted out by an enormous shadow. I felt a sense of deja vu, along with a growing feeling of dread.

This only increased as the thing landed. It's scales were black and purple, and it's spines were gnarled and twisted, but there was no mistaking it.

This was the same dragon that I fought in the Everfree. Only...eviler.

"Wh..what the hay is that!" Shouted Rainbow Dash.

"A dragon! But it's nothing like any recorded species...!" Twilight puzzled.

The great reptile stooped it's neck down to my level and widened it's mouth, an action clearly meant to be a grin. "Hello again, insect."

I gulped. "...Oh dear."

Author's Notes: Sorry again about the delays, please don't forget about me! Loads of exams. Biology, Physics, English, Geography, all in one week. Not fun. And I also tried to put a bit more thought into this chapter, as I haven't been pleased with how my chapters have been turning out. Next chapter is my favourite chapter yet; I've spent a lot of time thinking about it. It's in fact the original idea for this fanfic. So I'm excited to write it! I will start that tomorrow, and try to get it out earlier than three weeks this time! Sorry again!

Remember to like if you liked it and favourite if you thought it was one of your favourites! And do leave a comment. Feedback is appreciated! Even if you don't like it! Remember, I can't change it if you don't tell me what it is! Predator20 out.

Revealment

Chapter 9: Revealment

Celestia was troubled. For days now she had been feeling a strange sense of apprehension, as if something were about to happen. Currently she was seated at her window, looking down at the gardens at one statue in particular, one that represented all that she was against. Sunlight made the stone Draconequus's eyes appear to gleam as she looked at it, a sobering reminder of the pure evil and malevolence contained within the unassuming statue. However, there was nothing to indicate the spirit’s prison weakening. Celestia went to turn away from the window and go about her business.

Wait.

She felt something. Something that she had thought she would never feel again. "That power..." She murmured.

Suddenly she turned from the window, and her hooves clattered on the marble floor as she galloped to the room on the opposite side of the castle.

"Luna?!" She urgently called, skidding to a halt as her sister appeared in front of her, wearing a troubled expression.

"I feel it too, sister."

"But, if you're...how-?"

"I don't know. We must hurry." The Sun Princess nodded. Their horns shined gold and cobalt, and they disappeared in a flash and a rush of displaced air.

"A dragon!?" Yelled Rainbow Dash, seemingly more annoyed than scared. She glared at me angrily. "One of his friends, too?"

What was with this pronoun misuse? ("'His'? I'm a she, damn it! Why don't you get that?") I snapped.

Twilight walked between us. "Uh, dragon? We need to focus!" she reminded. Turning to me. "Ashni! This is the dragon you fought before?"

I held up my hands defensively. ("I swear that it was totally dead last I checked!")

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I don't care if you did or didn't kill it before. Just tell us how to get rid of it now!"

("I don't know how! I just hit it with a big lightning bolt until it fell over! And as you can see, it obviously didn't work!") I heard a derisive snort. Twilight and I turned to see Rainbow Dash flaring her wings in preparation for flight.

"Ugh! All this talking isn’t getting us anywhere! It’s time for Rainbow Dash to get things done!" She said with steely determination.

"No, Rainbow! You can't beat this dragon on your own!" Twilight pleaded with her. The dragon, which had been remarkably patient throughout all this, spoke.

"My fight is with the insect, not you, little pony. You'll get your destruction soon enough. Wait your turn." This infuriated the prideful Pegasus even more.

"Excuse me?! It's me you should worry about! You're looking at the fastest flier in all of Equestria!" She bristled.

The scaly beast nonchalantly puffed a smoke ring over to the fuming mare” Forgive me, but you are hardly threatening. Your mane looks like a failed art experiment." He said casually.

There was a moment of silence "Oh. You. Are. Dead." She shot up into the sky at top speed, her trademark rainbow trail gleaming behind her. She had soon reached the highest clouds, by now a small chromatic blur in the sky, the sun shining through her wings. She gracefully positioned herself above the dragon.

And dropped from the sky with the force of a rainbow coloured meteor.

She screamed through the sky, and as she reached halfway to her destination, a colourful shockwave rippled out from her, indicating that she had broken the sound barrier.

The dragon was watching the object hurtling towards him with vague interest, as if he did not truly believe that this pony could harm him.

He was wrong.

Rainbow slammed into his head, smashing it straight into the ground. My jaw dropped as an enormous rainbow coloured mushroom cloud bloomed up from the point of impact, the shockwave shattering windows and blowing over a few stalls in the market. I winced; that was going to be expensive.

The Atomic Rainboom! I remembered the fan made name for this manoeuvre. There were a few tense moments as the dust settled.

"What did I tell you?" Came a smug sounding voice. The owner of the voice soon became clear, as the wind revealed Rainbow Dash standing proudly in front of the dragon, whose head lay in a good-sized crater. "I always get things done."

The dragons head rose up out of the crater, and the reptile spread its wings rising up to its full height in an intimidating display, forcing the brash Pegasus to back away.

"Ouch." The dragon said gruffly, moving a clawed hand to his jaw to rub it gingerly. "I think I just bit my tongue. And with teeth like these, that hurts." His mouth twisted into a threatening leer. "Perhaps you are worthy of a demonstration?" He moved his talons to snatch up Rainbow Dash. I had to stop him.

("Stop!") The dragon ceased its movement towards Rainbow and moved to face me. It stared at me with mocking interest on its face.

"Oh?" I swallowed nervously, but managed to speak.

("If I fight you, will you leave the others alone?") The winged demon grinned.

"Ashni, no! We have to fight it together! Friendship is more powerful than any magic!" Twilight was silenced by a glare from the dragon, who then spoke.

"Truly? You would place the lives of these..." He waved a clawed hand towards the others. "Ponies. Before your own?" I hesitated, but nodded.

"Interesting. Then you have my most sincere promises."

("Regardless of the outcome?") The dragon leaned back and smiled.

"Well, we'll have to see, won't we?" Not really satisfactory, but it would have to do. I took off as quick as I could, injured leg smarting from the push. I had to end this quickly, or I would have no chance at all. I connected with the gem around my neck like I had the first time, drawing in as much power as possible. I drew the line to the dragon, and pushed everything I had through it. The huge bolt connected with the dragon, its crackling glow hiding it from sight. My whole body shuddered with the force of keeping it going.

“Incredible!” Twilight gasped. “That electromagic bolt is much larger than the one that I recorded. This “Crystal Power” has some amazing ramifications for magical storage!”

“Yeah!” Said Pinkie, wide eyed. “And it’s really sparkly!”

“Meh. I’ve seen better.” Dismissed Rainbow Dash.

Finally, I could no longer sustain the blazing corona of energy, and it flickered and died.

To my great dismay, the dragon was completely unfazed. "Has the insect lost its sting?" It mocked. "A shame. MY TURN." He breathed in deeply, and I barely had time to dodge before a seething mass of black flame came writhing towards me, singing my hair as it passed over my head.

("P..perhaps using all my power in the first shot was a bad idea...") The hunger was back, and worse than ever, a constant gnawing at my sanity. I felt storm clouds brewing overhead in response to this.

It's not going to be enough. I need more. More power. More energy. So hungry. Need it. Soon it overwhelmed all other thoughts, my mind repeating it over and over.

Need power. More power. So hungry. More power. More power.

I could vaguely hear Pinkie Pie amidst the roiling thoughts of hunger and need.

"Wow! There's lots of pretty flowers! They're growing all over the place!" I felt the presence of the things she spoke of. Rich and full of magic. I turned to them and dived. I had to use them; I had to have more power to defeat the dragon.

The beast made no attempt to stop me, and instead gave a satisfied smirk.

"No!" Screamed Twilight urgently. "Spellblooms are dangerous! Nopony knows how-" I touched the petals of one of the flowers, and made the connection.

I screamed in agony as black fire scorched my mind.

In my head I could hear a voice, mocking and cruel.

"Ahahahahahaaa! And so, your purpose is complete! You certainly set back my little plan when you ran off to make friends with the ponies, but that no longer matters. At last, Equestria is within my grasp! I tried to reply through my thoughts..

"I don't understand! Who are you?" I questioned.

"I am the one they called Nightmare Moon, though this was not my name."

"Are you the one who brought me here? Took me away from my family?" The presence seemed highly amused by this.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You mean you still believe that? I expected you to have figured that little change out from the start!"

"What do you mean? My family is real!" I protested.

"Oh, really? What's the name of your brother, then?

"I..I don't know..."

"Your mother? Father? What were they like? What did you get for your 14th birthday? Did they rock you to sleep when you had a nightmare, their comforting embrace filling you with the knowledge that nothing will ever hurt you? Did they? The voice asked mockingly.

"I can't remember! You made me forget!" I shouted.

"Did I? Let me refresh our memory!" Suddenly, images formed in our mind. Being forced back into the gap between dimensions by the Elements. Finding a parasite, a weak creature, feeding off of the scraps of energy present in the rift. Changing, it, warping it to fit our purposes. A face.

My face.

As I reeled from the revelation, the voice began to speak. "You see? I cannot break through into this world by myself. I require a host. But once inside one, my thoughts are clouded by their own desires and aspirations. Once I was forced back into the void after possessing a particularly powerful host, I began to think. If possessing an existing host leaves me open to their thoughts, I would have to possess one with no aspirations of their own. And then, I found you. A parasite living between worlds, leeching spare power from the dimensions and the creatures that dwelled there. No thoughts other than a base hunger. Formless. Perfect. "

I took you, molded your form to suit my needs, modelling it after a species I had seen through one of the small rifts in space. Then, I planted seeds of my magic inside the place with the weakest barrier, and waited. I did not have to wait long. A unicorn came into the forest, practicing magic. When she began the spell, I latched onto it, and using my magic, brought us into this world. All you would have to do would be to touch one of the flowers, and allow me through." Here the tone turned slightly annoyed.

"But you ran off straight away, leaving me to defend you. Who do you think guided you? Against the cockatrice? Finding food? The fight against the dragon? And then you got yourself injured despite my intervention, befriending the very ponies who stopped me before, blissfully unaware of your true purpose. Until you touched the flower, the extension of my power.

"This can't be true!" I said in distress. "I know who I am!"

"Why deny it? You are a parasite, whose only purpose is to gain more power. We can give you that power. It is your fate, really." It said.

"No! What about Twilight and the others? They became my friends! I don’t have to do this!."

“Friendship? You call this…” Images of ponies filled my mind, staring at me with distrust, whispering about me. Rainbow Dash, following me through the town, trying to find evidence of the slightest wrongdoing. “Friendship? Face it; they never would have accepted you. You were too different, too strange, to ever be their equal.” The voice had become difficult to distinguish from my thoughts, with both blending together into one. And as terrible as they were, I knew that they were true.

“…Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s better this way…”

“Yes…And the you don’t have to do a thing. Just relax, don’t worry. I will do all the work. You won’t have to feel sad, or angry, or anything at all, anymore. All you have to do…is let me in.” The voice crooned.

“…Okay. But…I don’t want anyone to be hurt-“ My weak protest was cut short by the voice.

“Hush. No need to worry. No need to think. No need to feel. Just…relax…”

I felt my mind shift, and my thoughts changed from ones of loneliness and confusion to ones of plotting and gleeful domination. I spoke in my mind, trying out the processes of the form that I had crafted for myself.

“Such a pathetic soul. Easily controlled. Now to gather enough power to bring myself through entirely. And then… Equestria is mine.” I smirked, enjoying the feel of my new body. Perhaps I would make my form similar to this one, once I was free.

"And all shall know my glory." I whispered.

I opened my eyes.

The assembled ponies had been staring with horrified fascination at the swirling vortex of black smoke and lightning that had risen up from the Spellblooms as soon as Ashni had touched them for a while now, their attempts to get closer foiled by the black dragon strafing crackling black fire whenever they moved in.

"What do you think is happening?" Asked Pinkie Pie fearfully.

"Yeah! You're smart, Twilight. What's with the crazy light show?" Rainbow Dash chipped in.

Twilight shook her head in befuddlement. "I'm not sure!" Noticing the panicked tone in her own voice, the level-headed unicorn forced herself to calm down and think rationally. She began to recite. "Spellblooms are first recorded over 1000 years ago. Nopony knows where they come from, only that they hold an enormous amount of magic. However, nopony has been able to examine them, as they defend themselves with magic, teleporting away and using simple transformation spells. Since no plant is that intelligent, there is evidence to suggest that they are merely extensions of a larger being, but again, because of their nature, this remains a mere hypothesis. This, combined with the fact that they are only found in the Everfree Forest, means that ponies just leave them alone. I myself actually encountered some a few days ago and they...caused a slight malfunction in the spell that I was attempting..." She trailed off suddenly.

"Well? What else? What's happening now?" The chromatic Pegasus impatiently asked.

Twilight looked disturbed. "I knew that I recognised that magic. That same aura...I felt it before! It's..."

There was a great flash of gold and cobalt, and the Goddesses of the sun and moon were there, wings spread and heads held high.

"NIGHTMARE MOON!" They both called, the Royal Canterlot Voice amplifying their voices and making them a terrifying spectacle indeed.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Pinkie, Dash, and Twilight exclaimed in unison.

"Ehehehehehe." Laughter echoed out from the maelstrom of energy and smoke. Everyone turned to the slowly dissipating storm, and the source of the noise was made clear through the fading smoke.

"Nightmare Moon...the name that you gave us...dear Princess Luna and I, that is. It is not my name. You know less than you think you do, little ponies." Sneered the Entity possessing Ashni, draconic green eyes shining through the fog.

Luna gasped in recognition. "You! I remember your voice, telling me...telling me all those things! And I believed you! You were real?!"

Celestia turned to her in confusion. "Luna, you know of this creature?"

"Well, not in this form, but that voice is unmistakable. It is the voice which made me believe that my situation was one of great injustice, which turned me against you, my sister!" Luna said more firmly.

"Hah!" Scoffed the Entity. "I was not the one to turn you. You did that yourself. I cannot directly influence your desires or beliefs. I simply guide. How you interpreted what I said is your fault."

"Lies!" Yelled Luna with anger, whirling round to glare hotly at the sylph, who only smirked in response.

Twilight interrupted. "Forgive me Princess Luna, but we must hurry! Princess, do you have-"

"The Elements." Celestia finished. "Yes, I brought them with me. Where are your friends?"

"Right here!" Came the response, and all turned to see Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy running up from Ponyville.

Fluttershy offered an explanation. "I could see the storm from my house, and i..it looked really scary, so I wasn't sure I should go, but then I thought that my friends might be in danger so..." She trailed off.

Applejack nodded. "And ah could see that big ol' lightnin' storm brewing from way back on my farm, so ah ran on over to Rarity's place and told 'er what was goin' on."

"And then Applejack and I made our way over here as fast as we could, meeting up with Fluttershy along the way.” Rarity finished.

"Great! Quickly, girls, the Elements! Nightmare Moon has returned! You must-" Twilight began to say.

Suddenly, the Entity was there. Scooping up the Elements of Harmony with tendrils of magic, she flew up out of range of Celestia's return kick.

"Not so fast, Avatars of Harmony. Did you really think that I would just let you banish me once more? You know what they say, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Everypony stared blankly at her.

"I've never heard of that expression." Twilight said after a few moments.

The Entity was flabbergasted. "Really? Not at all?" Six head shakes. She turned to the Princesses. "Celestia? Luna? No?"

"In all of my many years of ruling Equestria, I have never once come across that saying." Celestia said with finality.

"Well it's a saying somewhere!" Snapped the godlike being. "Now be quiet whilst I consume the power of the Elements of Harmony!" Her hand stretched out to the floating Elements.

"No! Not the Elements" They're the most powerful magic we have!" Shouted Luna in alarm.

A few awkward moments passed, during which there was distinct lack of powerful magic being drained. It was said, in fact, that never before in the history of Equestria has there ever been a moment more lacking in ancient artifacts having their power drained by strange entities.

"Uh...is somethin' supposed ta be happenin'?" Asked a confused Applejack.

"I don't understand!" Cried the Entity. "I can't feel anything! Useless trinkets!" She shook them in impotent rage. "Bah! If I can't use them, then I'll just take a leaf out of Discord's book and hide them!" The Elements zoomed into the sky and vanished with a twinkle. "Good luck finding them!" She turned to the dragon, which had been looking very confused the entire time.

"And as for you, O' dragon. You made a useful tool, but I am afraid that I will need all the magic that I can get. Return my essence to me." Black lightning burst forth from the dragon and into the Entity's outstretched hand, to the chorus of the great dragons roars of pain. It was over shortly after it had begun, and the dragon fell to the ground with a heavy thud, scales shining an iridescent green once more.

"Aaah..." Sighed the Entity, flexing in mid-air. "It feels good to have so much of me in one host. Everything seems clearer, sharper. Much better than when I was in dear Luna. All that grey..."

Celestia reared in anger. "Where have you taken the Elements?" The Entity looked surprised, as if she had forgotten the presence of the two most powerful ponies in existence.

"Ah, yes. Wouldn't you like to know?" The being mocked. "That is for me to know, and for them. Here she pointed at the Mane Six. "To find out." And just to make sure they don't cheat and get you to help..."

Celestia sensed what was coming and threw up a defensive shield, just in time for a spider’s web of black lightning bolts to come crashing into it. This turned out to be a bad move, as the white alicorn suddenly felt a tug on her magic.

Accompanied by a crackle of power and a change in pressure, the shield shattered spectacularly into brilliant shards of light as the Princess's magic was drained away.

"Princess Celestia!"

"Sister!"

Cried Twilight and Luna, but it was over before they could even try to help. With the magic that once filled her gone, Celestia's wings could no longer support her, and the seven ponies watched in horror as she tumbled from the sky.

"Sister!" Luna screamed, diving down to Celestia's falling form.

The Entity watched thoughtfully as Luna caught the Sun Princess. "Hmm. That was a lot of magic." She chuckled as if she had not just attacked the ruler of Equestria. "She certainly earned the right to be the Goddess of the Sun. Not anymore though, obviously. Now, if you don’t mind every...pony. I will respectfully take my leave. Places to go, magic to consume, you know how it is." Giving a particularly showy mid-air bow, the Entity gathered the energy in her hands that would be needed to twist into the crude shape of a teleportation spell.

"WAIT!" The buzzing electricity that the being held died down, and she turned to whoever had made this request.

"You have to give us a clue about the elements! Discord gave us a clue!" Pinkie Pie demanded. The Entity looked affronted.

"I don't need to do anything! Discord was a fool! Why would I give you a clue about...?" Something that may have been discomfort or pain momentarily flickered across the Entity's face, so fast that almost everyone missed it. "...Very well. I will give you your clue. I'll have more than enough magic by the time you figure it out anyway."

Clearing her throat and adopting what she probably thought was a refined pose, the Entity began to recite a clue.

"Return to the place where your friendship began.

With spires that stretch since before your lifespan.

If you are to defeat me, you must reach there soon.

The place of regrets, of the Nightmare Moon." Raising herself up on sheets of lightning, she gathered her power once more.

"Cheerio!" There was a burst of black light and sharp pop, and the possessed creature was gone, leaving the Avatars of Harmony and Luna to worry over Celestia, despite her protests.

"Please, everypony, I am fine. I merely feel...weak. I cannot use magic or fly, but I can stand." To prove her point, Princess Celestia shakily got to her hooves.

"You sure yer okay, yer Majesty? That thing hit ya pretty darn good." Asked Applejack with a concerned expression.

Princess Celestia waved her away. "I am sure, Applejack. What we need to worry about is finding the Elements of Harmony. There is no way that we can defeat this threat without them."

Pinkie gasped. "Ooh! There was a clue! Remember?"

"Hmm..." Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. "'Return to the place where your friendship began?' What could that mean?"

"Uurrrgh..." A rumbling groan came from the prone form of the forest dragon, causing Fluttershy to jump behind Rainbow Dash.

"Uh..um. Shouldn't we do something about that d..d..dragon?" Gulped the timid Pegasus.

"Yes, cannot simply leave it there. It looks so out of place!" Rarity agreed.

Luna nodded and stepped forward, her horn glowing. "I can send him back to the Everfree Forest."

"Wait, Princess!" Twilight exclaimed, then trotted over to the Princesses and bowed her head. "I wish to speak to the dragon, if you will let me."

"Of course, Twilight, if that is the course of action you feel is best." Celestia answered.

"Thank you." The purple unicorn tentatively made her way to the waking dragon. "Umm. Excuse me?" Asked Twilight, who gasped and jumped back as the scaled beast suddenly stirred.

"Aargh...where are you insect? Come to me, so I may rip you limb from limb!" The dragon roared weakly, before unsteadily getting to his feet.

Twilight shuddered from being so close to the threatening creature. "Um, the 'insect' isn't here. She teleported away."

The dragon lowered his head to meet Twilight's level, and narrowed his eyes at her. "A pony? What is that you say, little pony? Not here?" Raising his head to the sky he roared once more, stronger this time. "Then I will find it, and crush it. It will pay for what it did! My thoughts are my own, not to be twisted by some insect!"

"Well, actually, that wasn't her. At least, not then it wasn't her. But it is now, or it would be had it been. Or...something. Anyway, the point is, Ashni-the 'insect'-is possessed, and the only way to defeat her is to use the Elements of Harmony." Twilight explained.

The dragon was intrigued. "I see. And why do you tell me this? Go, then! Use your 'Elements'! Leave me in peace."

"Well, I was hoping that you would help us. I mean, you want revenge on the thing that possessed you, right? And you would certainly be a big help!" The studious unicorn asked sheepishly.

"Help you? Why would I do that? Your pony affairs are of no concern to me." The reptilian behemoth said dismissively.

Twilight steeled herself, and looked the dragon straight in the eyes. "Because it's not just a pony affair. If she is not stopped, the Entity will ruin the lives of all creatures. Pony, griffon..." She stared pointedly. "Dragon. All will be lost. We need all the help that we can get." She finished her speech, and waited anxiously for a reply.

A thoughtful silence continued for a few minutes. At last the dragon spoke. "...Very well, pony. You have made your case. I will help you." Spreading his wings wide, he rose up to his full height. "Point me in the right direction, and I will go! Swift as an arrow, and thrice as deadly!" Boomed the great creature.

"Well...actually...we don't know where the Elements are, yet." Twilight said hesitantly. The dragon looked a bit off-put.

"Well, how do you plan on finding them?" Inquired the dragon.

"We were given a clue, in the form of a riddle. I think I have an idea, though.".”Now, if we are to work together, I think that we should know each other's names. I am Twilight Sparkle; this is Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy." The ponies nodded as they were introduced, except Fluttershy, who just cowered. "And this is-" The dragon moved forward when Twilight gestured at Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.

"Princesses Luna and Celestia. It is an honour to stand before you." The scaled creature gave a bow, and swept a wing in front of it. The two Princesses were taken aback by this display. Celestia was the first to recover.

"I did not realise that dragons acknowledged Equestrian rulers." Spoke Celestia in a curious tone.

The dragon shook his head. "We do not. However, it would be foolish to not show respect for the millennia old beings that control the very day and night." Returning to a less formal position, he continued. "Long ago, as a hatchling, I witnessed your majesty raising the sun. A wondrous sight to behold, indeed."

Princess Celestia accepted the compliment with a gracious smile. "Thank you...but do not forget the beauty of the night sky."

The reptile’s eye's widened. "Oh, of course not! Many a night have I been grateful for the wonders of the moon and stars to guide my path."

Luna gave a pleased smile. "I do try my best. But what is your name? I do not remember hearing it, O' dragon."

Sweeping once again into a bow, he answered. "I have been called Razorfang, Your Highnesses. Also Sharptooth, Swiftwing, Longtail. But most recently, Greenscale has been my label."

"Then we are pleased that you have chosen to aid us, Greenscale." Said Princess Luna.

Rainbow Dash yawned. "Yeah, right. Now that's out of the way, let's get on with the important stuff! Element's of Harmony, here we come!"

Greenscale leaned in to Twilight, and whispered in voice still loud enough to be a shout. "I am not fond of the rainbow one. She is loud and annoying. She does not have to come with us, I hope?"

Twilight held back a grin. "She is one of the bearers of the Element's of Harmony, so I'm afraid that you will have to put up with her."

"A pity." Greenscale sighed.

The rainbow-maned Pegasus in question bristled. "Hey! What did you say about me!? I'm not afraid of you! I dare you to say it again!"

The dragon looked irritated. "Yes, very annoying indeed. And I seem to vaguely remember being hit by it. Odd."

"What!?"

Applejack shook her head in amusement. "Just let it go, Rainbow. ‘Sides, you can be kinda...persistent." She said tactfully. Rainbow just huffed.

Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat and spoke again. "When we do find the Elements, we will need a plan. I suggest that we go to the library to make one. But first..." She looked up at the intimidating form of Greenscale. "We may need to do something about you."

Author’s Notes: Well, here it is! My favourite (And longest) chapter so far! And within the week, I believe! Shock and horror! It would have been up earlier, in fact, but I was distracted by attempting to create characters using the Hero Generator 2.5. Oh, and there was a History GCSE exam, or something, as well. Probably not important. Anyway! I hope that you like this chapter, as I do, for two reasons.

One: It was my original idea. As in, this was the first chapter that I had an idea for.

And Two: It is the first (And hopefully not the last) chapter that was looked over by the wonderful BrilliantPoint! Thanks, BrilliantPoint, for taking time to plow through the mess of fragments and vague plot devices that I call writing! Everyone go and say nice things about him now. Oh, and my story. That would be nice.

Be excellent to each other!