L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)

by Ospero

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Trixie, Spike, Gilda, Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 43692

The Elements are faced with a bigger threat than ever. Sequel to "Love Will Set You Free".

Six years after the events of "Love Will Set You Free", the peace in Ponyville is disturbed as an ancient prophecy seems to be coming true, involving eight new elements - of which only four are known.

"Love Will Set You Free" should be read first, otherwise the story will make little sense in some places. Also, as in that story, this one's chapters are titled after songs from the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, as is the story as a whole.

Character tags mostly include characters new to "L'amore è femmina". For characters returning from "Love Will Set You Free", please refer to that story's character tags - they all apply to this one as well.

Cover illustration by Madame Castafiore (csimadmax.deviantart.com)

Published 2012-05-29 17:04:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-14 00:31:29 UTC

Prologue: Suus

Ponyville Library, 10.30 p.m., February 3rd, two and a half years after the Doubt incident

Twilight was already halfway up the stairs when she heard the knock on the door.

Who could that be at this time? she thought as she walked to the door. "Hello? Who's there?"

"Twilight? Can we talk?"

She took a second to recognize the voice, because it sounded curiously flat and was extremely quiet, barely above a whisper. When she did, she immediately drew back the latch and threw the door open.

The purple unicorn could barely suppress a gasp at the sight before her. The dragon standing in the doorway was soaked through and trembling, but as much as that alarmed her, it was his eyes that truly drove home the seriousness of the whole situation. They were dull and lifeless.

Spike's eyes never looked like this. Not when he was ill, not even during the worst time of his life, back when he'd finally had to face the fact that Rarity wasn't meant for him.

"Celestia's mane, Spike, what happened?" Twilight finally managed to ask.

He raised his head slightly, meeting her gaze.

"It's over." Still in that flat, quiet tone, but she could hear the pain beneath. He was barely keeping it together.

"What do you..." She broke off as the answer came to her. Only one thing could possibly have driven the dragon to march all the way from Sweet Apple Acres to the library at this time of night, through a sleet storm.

She led him to the sofa and levitated some towels over, drying him off.

"Now, what happened?" She hadn't used that tone in quite a while, and she'd secretly hoped never to need it again.

Spike blinked his nictitating membranes twice, and something inside him seemed to break. The next thing Twilight knew, he was holding on to her like a drowning pony, his body wracked by desperate sobs.

She didn't know how long she just sat there, silently trying to comfort him, but eventually the sobs subsided. Spike was still shaking, but the worst seemed to be over for the moment.

Twilight gently released the hug. "Better?"

The dragon swallowed. "No. It will never be better." His voice was rough, but at least the flat, dead tone was no longer there.

"So, what happened?" Twilight asked again.

"It's over, Twi. Apple Bloom doesn't want to see me ever again." Spike was trying to make it sound like a statement of fact, and failing miserably.

"Yes, I guessed as much, but how? Why did this happen?" Even in this situation, Twilight's analytical mind would not be denied.

"I don't know!" The dragon was almost screaming. "She just told me it was better for both of us if we broke it off. I have no idea why, or why it happened now."

"It wasn't anything you did or said?"

Spike frowned in concentration. "I've gone over everything that happened recently, and I don't think so." His hands clenched into fists. "Twi, what should I do? I don't want it to be over."

"Well, first you need to find out what happened. This might just be a big misunderstanding." Twilight thought for a moment. "I'm not good at this, so I think you should speak to somepony who is. You should go see Rarity first thing in the morning."

***

Carousel Boutique, the next morning, 9 a.m.

"Excuse me?" Rarity stared at Spike and Twilight. "She broke it off, just like that?"

Spike just nodded.

Rarity scowled. "That's not the Apple Bloom I know. Nopony from that family would do something like that. If you'd done something wrong, she wouldn't be shy about telling you."

"Then what happened? Some sort of mind control? Changelings?" Spike asked sarcastically.

"If you permit?" Fancy Pants was coming down the stairs. "I believe I might shed some light on this issue."

Spike looked at the stallion in disbelief. "How so?"

"I've come to know Rarity's friends quite well over the last years. This goes beyond Apple Bloom."

"What do you mean?" Twilight cut in. "Beyond in what way?"

Fancy Pants fidgeted with his hooves. "I don't want to speak ill of any of your friends, Rarity and Twilight, but I think one of them is behind this."

"What?" Rarity gave a short laugh of disdain. "None of our friends would break up a couple!"

"Not for selfish reasons, certainly. But what if they thought it was better that way?" Fancy Pants looked over at Spike. "He's a dragon, Rarity. Hatched and raised among ponies, certainly, but you and I know that there are ponies in this town who wouldn't want their daughters dating someone from a different species."

Twilight couldn't believe her ears. "Yes, there are such ponies, but our friends are better than that."

"No."

All eyes turned to Spike. Something in his eyes seemed to have ignited, and smoke was rising from his nostrils.

"There is a pony we all know and love who harbours such thoughts, and always has."

Rarity stared at the dragon. "What? Who is that supposed to be?"

Fancy Pants cut in before Spike could answer that. "Think a moment, Rarity. Would you want Sweetie Belle to date a griffon?"

The apparent non sequitur threw Rarity off for a moment. "Well – it would not be a pleasant thought, but I could manage."

"Is that how you see me?" Spike stared at Rarity in horror. "You can tolerate me, but that's it?"

Rarity seemed to realize what she had said. "Oh no, Spikey, but don't you see? We're all protective of the ponies we love."

"Exactly." The fog lifted in Twilight's brain. "We want to keep them from making terrible mistakes. And that goes double for family members."

"You don't mean ..." Realization dawned on Rarity's face, and she turned to Fancy Pants. "Applejack? She drove Apple Bloom to this?"

Fancy Pants breathed out slowly. "She was never happy to see her sister date a dragon, and I think she must have realized recently that this was not a teenage romance that breaks off after a short time. She probably really believes it best if Apple Bloom found a nice stallion to settle down with somewhere down the line." He turned to Spike. "What I wonder is, how did you know about that? Applejack has hidden those feelings very well, and I thought I was the only one to know about them."

"Doubt." The word sounded like a curse. "It was one of the things it tried to break me with. It showed me what the others thought of me, and that was one of those things. I had forgotten all about it until just now."

Twilight stared at Spike. They had never really talked about what had happened back then, mostly because none of them really wished to remember. "And you believe anything that thing showed you?"

Rarity cut in. "Actually, Twilight, Doubt never really lied to us. It misled us, surely, but was anything it said or showed a lie?"

"No," Twilight admitted. "It left things out, but it never invented anything."

"Whatever is true or not, what do we do now?" Spike looked expectantly at the others.

Fancy Pants sighed. "I fear there is very little we can do at the moment. If Applejack has really gotten to her sister with this, Apple Bloom will have to work this out herself. And that might take some time."

"What?" Spike jumped up. "So I'm just to take this lying down?"

"Spikey, Fancy is right. You would probably make things worse if you tried to force the issue now." Rarity walked over to the dragon. "Something like this happened to me when I was about your age. I fought for him, but that just made him think I was trying to badmouth his family, and so I drove him away eventually." She gave him a tearful look. "You and Apple Bloom are something special, Spikey, and I won't let you make the same mistake I made back then. Give it time."

"Okay, I will." Spike tried to smile. "How long do you think it will take?"

"Impossible to say. I think she will come around, but this is the Apple family we're talking about – they're reluctant to admit they're wrong." Twilight nodded at Fancy's words.

***

Four and a half weeks later, Sweet Apple Acres, 10 p.m.

"Well, I'll call it a day. Good night, everypony." Apple Bloom slowly rose from the table and walked upstairs.

Granny Smith looked after her, worry etched onto her face, before turning to her other two grandchildren. "What in Equestria is wrong with her? She hasn't been herself this past month. Is there anything I oughta know?"

Applejack coughed. "She had a nasty breakup recently. She'll come around."

"Breakup?" Applejack winced as she realized that she had piqued her grandmother's curiosity. "With who? And why do I only hear about this now?"

The orange mare looked at her brother, silently imploring him to help her out, and he took the hint. "Gran, do you remember that dragon friend of Twilight's?"

The matriarch looked at him in confusion. "Of course I do. I tend to forget things, sure, but not something like that. But what does he..." She broke off as the truth sunk in. "Wait. My granddaughter used to date a dragon?" Her eyes hardened as she looked at her grandson. "How long did this go?"

Big Macintosh cleared his throat nervously. "Over two years, ever since that Doubt incident."

"Are you kidding me?" Granny Smith's face was showing angry red splotches now. "My granddaughter has a dragon for a coltfriend for two and a half years, and nopony thinks to tell me about it? What were you whippersnappers thinking?"

"Truth be told..." Applejack hesitated. "We were afraid of how you'd react to it, and after it ended, there was no reason to tell you anyway."

"No reason?" Granny Smith was really getting into it now, her voice growing steadily louder. "Apple Bloom goes through her first love and heartbreak, and I'm not there for her because I don't even know about it? She probably hates me for that right now."

"She'll get over it, just as she'll get over him." Applejack was aware how shaky her voice sounded.

"Of course she will, but that's not the point, Applejack!" The old mare had gotten up from her seat and now was staring her older granddaughter in the face. "She's young, the wound will heal, but for her, it doesn't feel like that right now." She looked at Big Macintosh, then back to Applejack. "Have you two already forgotten what it was like for you?"

Applejack and Big Macintosh looked at each other. A dim memory rose in Applejack's mind, of a beautiful blue unicorn filly with a striped mane. Colgate and Big Macintosh had been inseparable for a few months, and then it had suddenly been over, and Applejack had seen her brother's more vulnerable side for the first time. Up until then, she had thought him unshakeable.

Her memories turned further, to a certain colt she had almost forgotten. Has it been that long? she thought, remembering all the tears she had shed over him. Now she couldn't even recall his name. But the pain was still there, dulled over the years, but not quite passed yet.

"Ah." Granny Smith smiled. "So you do remember."

"That wasn't the point," Applejack heard herself say. "It would never have worked between them anyway."

"What now?" Her grandmother stared at Applejack, and the smile vanished. "Whatever do you mean by that, young lady?"

"Gran, she's a pony, and he's … not." Again, the orange mare's voice started to shake, the words suddenly sounding a lot less logical and obvious than they had in her head.

Granny Smith turned her eyes skywards for one second. "Great Celestia, grant me patience." She fixed Applejack with the angriest eyes the younger mare had ever seen on her grandmother. "You think it can't work because they're different species? Need I even mention cousin Braeburn here?"

"That's different, gran, and you know it!" Applejack shouted. "Little Strongheart is a buffalo, Spike is a dragon. She won't ever try to eat Braeburn or anything!"

The silence that fell over the room was thick enough to cut with a sword. Big Macintosh stared at his sister in abject horror. "That's it? That's why you convinced Apple Bloom to break it off – because you're scared of Spike?" The stallion's voice was thick with disbelief and anger.

"Wait, wait. Did you say 'convinced her' to break it off?" Granny Smith stepped closer to Applejack until their faces almost touched. "You made her do it? They didn't just break up?"

Applejack shrank back from her grandmother's wrath, trying to find words to justify what she had done. It had seemed so clear at the time, but now, faced with her brother and grandmother, all her good reasons boiled away like fog in sunlight.

Granny Smith looked at Big Macintosh. "Okay, young stallion, out with it. What really happened?"

"Applejack talked Apple Bloom into breaking up with Spike." The stallion swallowed hard. "I thought she was right, that they were too different, and that it was just a teenage crush anyway. I swear, Gran, I had no idea that she was afraid of Spike, or I'd never have gone along with it. And now that I've seen how hard Apple Bloom is taking it, I'm not sure it was a good idea anymore."

"You're darn right it wasn't, young foal." The old mare was speaking more calmly, but she was still radiating fury. "Dang it, what a mess you've made of things. Applejack, off to your room. I'll take care of you tomorrow."

Without another word, Applejack slunk away, just hearing her grandmother's words to her brother. "Mac, first thing tomorrow morning, you go off to Ponyville and get Twilight and Rarity here. Some ponies need some sense talked into them, it seems." Hoofsteps towards the staircase. "And now if you'll excuse me, I have to speak to the only pony in this forsaken house who isn't completely out of her mind."

***

Apple Bloom had gone to her room, but sleep simply wouldn't come. It rarely did these days, and even then, her dreams wouldn't let her rest.

She was shaken out of her dozing by a knock on the door. "Bloomy?"

"Come in, Gran," Apple Bloom called out.

The door creaked open, and her grandmother walked in slowly. The filly was startled to see the look on Granny's face – grimly set jaw, eyes alight with anger.

"What's wrong? Have I done anything?"

The older mare smiled. "No, it's nothing you've done, sweetie. Your siblings, on the other hoof … but that's neither here nor there." Granny Smith lay on the rug next to Apple Bloom's bed. "Now why don't you tell me about that dragonfriend of yours?"

"He's not..." Apple Bloom choked slightly. "He's not my dragonfriend anymore. It's better that way."

"Yes, I know that's what Applejack told you." Granny Smith stretched out a hoof and softly stroked Apple Bloom's mane. "Is that what you really think?"

Over a month of suppressed emotion seemed to break loose inside Apple Bloom at that simple question. "No. No, I don't. Not at all." She looked at her grandmother pleadingly, tears in her eyes. "I know I'm young, and I know you won't take this seriously, but I love him." She turned away, burying her head in her pillow so as not to let her grandmother see her cry.

Soft words cut through the haze. "Then why don't you go and tell him?"

Apple Bloom lifted her face from the pillow and stared at her grandmother. "You … you believe me? And you don't mind?"

The green mare laughed. "Dearie, I have a grandson engaged to marry a buffalo, and a niece who eloped with a griffon." Apple Bloom stared at her grandmother, never having heard that last bit. "Oh yes. We rarely talk about your cousin Belle de Boskoop from Marestricht, but she writes to me every Hearth's Warming Eve. So tell me, why would I mind my granddaughter getting with a dragon, as long as they're happy?" She turned serious again. "And sure thing I believe you. You're broken up about this, even over a month after it supposedly ended. I've seen teenage crushes end more often than I can count, and I know the difference between a fling and the real thing." She pulled Apple Bloom into a hug. "If you won't trust your own heart in this, trust somepony with a lot of years under their saddle. Talk to him and try to mend the fences."

Apple Bloom leaned into the hug and let her tears flow freely. "I will."

***

The next day, Ponyville Library, 9.30 a.m.

"He's still not over it, is he?"

Twilight just shook her head at Rarity's question. "He does his chores, but he might as well be a statue otherwise. He doesn't cry anymore, but this is worse in a way."

Rarity took a sip of tea. "Perhaps he'll have to live with it after all. Could it be that my dear fiancé was a tad optimistic?"

Twilight had had similar thoughts over the last week, but she had always tamped them down. "No. I simply refuse to believe that. Can you imagine what that would do to our friendship with Applejack?"

"I can, and I have." Rarity's brow creased. "It's not a pretty line of thought, Twilight. The thought that she could do something like that to Apple Bloom and Spike..." She pressed a hoof to the table, flushing with rage. "Wherever Doubt is right now, I bet it's laughing its swirly head off. We don't need an ancient evil to destroy our friendships. We manage just fine on our own."

Before Twilight could answer, a third voice rang out from the library. "Twilight? Are you there?"

"In the kitchen, Big Macintosh," she called out, trading glances with Rarity.

The big red stallion entered and nodded at the two mares. "Good morning, ladies. Do you have a moment?"

"Of course we do, Big Mac. What's the matter?" Rarity asked.

"My grandmother sent me to fetch you." He lowered his head. "Truth be told, Applejack and I made a pretty huge mistake, and we're trying to put things right again."

"A mistake?" Twilight asked. "This doesn't have anything to do with Apple Bloom and Spike, by any chance?"

"Right in one, Twilight. AJ talked AB into breaking it off with Spike, and I let her." The stallion was shaking. "I'll go talk to him, but we need you to talk some sense into Applejack. I think she's realized by now how wrong she was about AB and Spike, but you know her. You'll need to force her into admitting it."

"Oh, we can do that, Big Macintosh." Twilight winced at the barely suppressed glee in Rarity's voice. "In fact, I daresay I'm looking forward to it."

The stallion looked out the window and pointed. "Then let's go. I believe she'll need a little space for herself and Spike."

Twilight and Rarity turned their heads and saw a certain young mare walking towards the library. They made their exit through the kitchen door.

***

"Spike?"

He was sure he had imagined that voice. Celestia knew he had dreamt about her often enough these past weeks. But the scent that reached his nostrils was unmistakeable – a light breeze of apples and freshly carved wood, the best smell in the world as far as he was concerned.

Spike turned slowly, as if afraid to scare her away. There she was, in the doorway, gaze cast down.

She raised her head, and he could see the tears in her eyes. Her lips were moving, but he couldn't hear anything. He walked over to her, coming to a halt right in front of her, and they simply stood like that for an eternity.

"I'm sorry."

The simple words broke the spell. They hugged, clinging to each other with all their might, determined to never let go.

"Don't ever do that again," Spike whispered. "Don't you dare do this ever again."

"I won't." Apple Bloom released the hug and looked Spike in the eyes. "Nopony will ever come between us again."

"So it was her?" Spike felt blood rush to his head. "Your sister? She did this to you?"

"Yes, but..." Apple Bloom exhaled slowly. "She meant well."

"Didn't seem like that from where I stand, AB!" The dragon could feel heat rising in his throat and had to fight a sudden urge to set something on fire. "She tried to get you away from me. That's not a wise thing to do to a dragon."

"Am I just part of your hoard?" Apple Bloom asked, half laughing. "Is that all I mean to you?"

The very thought was so absurd that Spike felt his anger subside just as suddenly as it had risen, replaced by bewilderment. "No … of course not. But who tells me she won't do something like that again?"

"She's free to try." Spike almost recoiled at the sudden icy fury in his fillyfriend's voice. "Family or not, I'd rather lose her than you. Do you remember what I told you in that hospital room after we'd defeated Doubt?"

Despite the situation, Spike smiled. "How could I forget that?"

She stepped closer, her muzzle almost touching his snout. "Let me say it again."

He pressed a finger to her lips. "I'll go first." His eyes met hers, and suddenly the last five weeks seemed to melt away like a bad dream. "I love you."

"I love you too." She pulled him into another embrace, and their lips met.

***

Sweet Apple Acres, half an hour later

Applejack had not slept well.

Truth be told, she hadn't really slept at all, mostly lying awake thinking about what she'd done, and why. She had barely noticed the sunrise, only dimly remembering that she was supposed to get to work, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

She recoiled at the knock on her door, and she shrank back even more when she saw Twilight and Rarity enter her room. The purple unicorn was radiating disappointment from every inch of her being; the white mare's face turned bright red when she saw Applejack.

Rarity slowly walked up to the quivering heap on the bed, thought for a second or two, and then struck Applejack across the muzzle with enough force to draw blood. "I never thought I'd have to say this to somepony I thought was a friend, but I'll rip you to pieces if you touch one scale on his cute little head!" She lifted her hoof to strike again, but Twilight managed to hold her back this time. "You hurt him, Applejack! Not physically, perhaps, but what you did to him was probably even worse. Why?"

Twilight turned her gaze to the farmer. "Yes, I'd like to know that too. Why did you do it, AJ?" In sharp contrast to Rarity, the purple unicorn was calm and controlled, but that was worse than the anger and violence. Applejack knew she deserved every bit of rage on Rarity's part, and she wished for Twilight to be angry as well.

"I don't know." It sounded every bit as pathetic as Applejack felt. "I thought I knew exactly what I was doing, that I knew what was best for my sister, but I was wrong."

"Yes, you were." Rarity seemed to have gotten herself back under control, just barely. "I never would have believed you were capable of something like that. I know Canterlot ponies, the snobby, arrogant, scheming type, who wouldn't lower themselves to doing what you did. Was Apple Bloom dating a dragon really that bad?"

"Yes!" Applejack leaped to her hooves and glared at Rarity, her own anger finally overcoming her shame and guilt. "Yes, it was! We all saw what he could become, Rarity, and I thought you'd be the last pony I'd have to explain that to!"

"Is that what this is about?" Twilight stared at Applejack, comprehension dawning in her eyes. "You're afraid of what he might be one day?" The purple unicorn continued on, as if needing to speak the words out loud to really grasp them. "You were willing to destroy your sister's happiness to avoid a possible bad future?"

"That's not all," Rarity said, now staring at Applejack as if seeing a ghost. "You were jealous."

"What?" Twilight's head swiveled around to the white unicorn. "Are you serious?"

"Oh yes." Rarity smiled icily. "Trust me, Twilight, two and a half years with Fancy Pants have taught me something about what ponies don't say. Applejack might have convinced herself that she was doing what was best for Apple Bloom, but in truth, she couldn't stand the thought of her sister finding her special somepony."

Applejack felt every word cut into her like a blade of ice. She's right, and you know it, a little voice in her head said.

"Applejack?" Twilight asked. "Is that true?"

"Have you heard what the stallions say about me?" Applejack could barely hold herself upright, she was shaking like a leaf, and she was breaking out in cold sweats. "They're afraid of me!"

"You know about that?" Rarity looked astonished. "How?"

"I have eyes and ears, Rarity, dammit! I know what they say when they think I can't hear them! Married to her work, not interested in stallions, too formidable to even talk to." Her legs gave way, and she simply let herself sink to the floor, hooves pressed to her face. "Yes, it's all true. My brother is the most desirable bachelor in Ponyville, and then my little sister goes and gets herself her special someone. I couldn't bear it. Two and a half years, and every time I saw them was like a knife in my heart."

When Applejack finally managed to peer past her hooves, she saw Rarity and Twilight stare at her, pity in their eyes. She immediately hid behind her hooves again - that was even worse than the anger and disappointment had been.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Twilight whispered.

Applejack laughed mirthlessly. "I don't like to talk about stuff like that, and I didn't want to rain on everypony's happiness."

"Oh, horsefeathers!" Rarity exclaimed. "You put on a mask for two and a half years, and you fooled us all. I knew what they said about you, but I never would have guessed you took it to heart like that."

"I didn't. At least, that's what I told myself." Applejack smiled bashfully. "I believed it, and so I could fool everypony else. How does that sound for the Element of Honesty?"

"It sounds like a living, breathing pony." Rarity and Applejack turned to Twilight, who was wearing a genuine smile. "You made a bad mistake, yes, but you are not a bad pony." The smile vanished. "You will have to apologize to Spike and Apple Bloom, and I hope they won't let you off easily, but if I have learned anything over the years I've been in Ponyville, it's that friendship isn't always easy - but it is always worth fighting for."

***

Somewhere...

A grey alicorn stared at a smooth golden disc in wonder. The glow had only lasted for a fraction of a second, but it had been there.

So the time is drawing near. They have avoided the pitfalls and snares until now, and even their own bad impulses haven't managed to draw them off course. Good. Very good. The keeper sighed and turned to gaze over the grey plain. He had never understood the appeal of love, with all the complications it introduced into perfectly working friendships. But the Six That Endured had held up in the face of many different kinds of adversity, including the kinds that needed no primordial evil behind them to endanger all that they stood for.

Eight will need to stand at the Dawn of the Seventh, and Six will be needed to pave their way.

Nije ljubav stvar

Carousel Boutique, November 3rd, 8.30 pm, six years after the Doubt incident

"I just don't know what to do."

Rarity had to strain to hear those words over the whistling of the teapot and the patter of the rain against the windows. The teenage dragon opposite her at her dinner table had obviously not wanted her to hear them. She looked at him sternly. "Sorry? I didn't quite catch that, Spikey."

He winced, and a guilty look crept onto his face. "I don't want to bother you with this, Rarity."

"Of course you do. Why else would you be here, rather than with your marefriend?" Rarity said, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Spike drew a deep breath, then looked her in the eyes. "Have you ever argued with Fancy?"

It's as I guessed, then, Rarity thought. "Of course we've had our differences over the years. So you had an argument with Apple Bloom?"

"Yeah." Spike seemed to deflate, letting his head sink onto the table.

"What was it about, if I may ask?" Rarity took a sip of tea.

"She wants us to finally move in together, or for me to move to Sweet Apple Acres at least, and I simply can't do that." The dragon drained his glass of water, seemingly wishing for something stronger. "Twilight still needs me."

"And you don't want to decide between your sister and your marefriend, because you're afraid to scare one of them away." Rarity couldn't hide a smile. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Spike took a moment to realize what she meant. When he did, memories came flooding back, and he grinned awkwardly. "Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to pick at old scars."

"Spikey, that was six years ago. We both overcame our problems with what happened long ago. Would you be sitting here otherwise, coming to me for advice?" Rarity asked, though she had to admit to herself that she still felt a slight tingle of guilt every time she thought of what had happened.

The dragon looked at her with those peculiar green eyes. About two years ago, they had started to change, turning from the round eyes of a baby dragon to the narrower ones of an adult. Spike had complained about headaches for a few days, but had then realized that the new shape also seemed to bring with it a heightened awareness. Every time he looked at Rarity now, she felt scrutinized, as though the dragon was peering into her mind and soul.

He only held the gaze for a second or two, then he looked away, dropping that particular topic as he seemed to recognize her discomfort. "What should I do?" Despite all the changes over the last six years, the greater body size - he was almost as massively built as Big Macintosh now -, the new eyes and scales, he sounded like a helpless kid now, even a little scared.

"Talk to Apple Bloom, and to Twilight. You will find a way, I'm sure," Rarity said.

They were interrupted by the doorbell. Rarity looked up in surprise. "Who can that be at this hour?" She got up and headed out into the showroom. "I'm terribly sorry, but we're closed at the moment," she sang out.

"Rarity? Is Spike with you?" the voice of a young mare asked from the other side of the door.

Rarity cast a brief glance into the kitchen at Spike, who nodded. "Of course, Apple Bloom. One moment, dear." Rarity unlatched the door, then gasped at the sight before her. The young mare was soaking wet and panting.

Spike was at the door in a heartbeat. "AB? Did you just run all the way from Sweet Apple Acres to here?"

"Yeah," Apple Bloom gasped out. "I wanted to say ..."

"Shh." Spike hugged her, then his face scrunched up in concentration as he very slowly breathed over Apple Bloom's mane and coat, drying her off. "Whatever it is, it can wait."

"No. No, it can't." The young mare looked up at the dragon. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things about Twilight."

Spike released the hug in surprise. "You are sorry? AB, it's me who needs to apologize. I don't really believe Sweet Apple Acres is an old heap of wood and rust."

The two looked at each other, then started to chuckle in unison. "Why were we arguing again?" Spike asked.

"We don't have to ..." Suddenly Rarity realized that Apple Bloom's lips were still moving, but that she wasn't hearing anything. A second later, everything went black.

***

Rarity opened her eyes.

She recognized the place at once, even though she had only been here once, six years ago, and she had tried her level best to forget all about it – a grey, featureless plain stretching endlessly in all directions.

The Spaces Between.

She saw a speck in the distance that was approaching at great speed, until it came to a halt only a few feet away from her. Rarity shook her head and blinked once or twice, unsure of what she was seeing.

It was a pony - an alicorn, to be precise, with a dark grey coat and an open eye for a cutie mark. But it looked like no other pony Rarity had ever seen or heard of. It lacked a mane and tail, and its eyes were deep pits of dark purple, with no visible pupils or irises. Its wings looked draconic, nothing at all like the delicate feathery wings of a pegasus, and its front hooves seemed strangely segmented, almost like fingers or talons. Around its neck, it bore a necklace similar to her own Element of Generosity, but made of dull black metal and not set with a gemstone.

The alicorn looked at her, and then something strange happened.

Welcome to the Spaces Between, Element of Generosity. It was a male voice, deep and resonant, but Rarity hadn't seen the alicorn move his lips or heard a sound. She simply remembered that he had spoken.

"Who are you, and why am I here?" she asked, not quite able to keep a tremor out of her voice.

My name is Warden Grey. Again, they seemed to skip the part where he spoke, jumping directly to her memory of him just having done so. I am the keeper of the Spaces Between.

"The keeper? Then why didn't you show up the last time?" Rarity asked.

Warden's head lowered by a fraction of an inch. Doubt - isolated me, for lack of a better word. It kept me from doing my duty, and that is my greatest shame in all those millennia.

Rarity's head swam. "Did you say 'millennia'?"

Yes. The purple eyes looked down on her, and she suddenly felt the weight of time in them. I was picked to stand watch over the Seven Gates of Darkness, to ensure that nothing ever managed to crack those boundaries from either side, and until the Doubt incident six years ago, I fulfilled that duty.

"Who picked you?" Rarity asked, awestruck.

The Three Tribes, and their dragon and griffon allies, needed a guardian to make sure that nothing ever escaped the Seven Gates, and that no one would ever try to break them from outside. I am a creature of magic, the last great project the Five Allies undertook before the alliance fractured. The sadness in Warden's voice at the last sentence was almost unbearable.

Something dawned on Rarity, and her eyes widened in horror. "Does that mean you have been alone here for five thousand years?"

I was never alone. I had my prisoner for company, and though I am grateful you prevented its escape, the last six years have truly been lonely. The alicorn waved its right front hoof - or paw -, and seven golden discs rose from the ground behind him. But that is not the matter at hand, Element of Generosity. Look and see. Do you notice something?

The disc furthest to the left was only too familiar to Rarity, particularly the pit at the bottom of the six-pointed star engraved on it. The other six discs looked similar, all except for the last one on the right. There were no pits or indentations upon it - in fact, its surface was completely pristine, a flat expanse of gold. She pointed to it. "What happened to that one?"

Nothing at all. It has always looked like this. I know the six prisoners behind the other discs. Warden began to list off names as he pointed to the discs, going from left to right. Regret - where Doubt now resides as well -, Fear, Hatred, Selfishness, Cruelty, and Loneliness. His gaze came to a rest on the seventh disc. Yet no one knows who or what this disc holds. It was here when the Five Allies arrived to forge the other six gates, and they used its magic as a blueprint. In all the many years I have been here, this gate has never moved, never trembled, and I have never heard anything from behind it.

"Why are you telling me all this, Warden? Why am I here?" Rarity's voice was now shaking.

You need to know about this, Element of Generosity. You and the Element of Magic are the only ones out of the Harmony circle I can speak to.

“Why just the two of us?” Rarity was beginning to feel frustrated – every answer Warden gave her seemed to raise a new question.

Because the two of you are the Elements of Harmony bound to neither day nor night, but to the twilight that bridges them. You are bound to transition, and so am I, albeit in a different way.

“So why do I need to know all this? These prisons have held for five thousand years, after all,” Rarity said.

The Dawn of the Seventh is at hand. She remembered him suddenly speaking in a chorus of five voices. Four have shown themselves, but eight will need to stand at the Dawn. Thus spoke Stargazer the Wise at the breaking of the Alliance.

Warden closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, they were pools of inky blackness punctuated by white pinpoints of light resembling stars. Out of the ashes of the Elements of Community, Virtue, Power and Discipline, Unity will rise, yet it will only form one half of the Eight. The Four That Are Hidden will be pulled into the light by the Four Revealed and the Six That Endured.

“What does this mean?” Even as Rarity was saying the words, she noticed the grey turning to black around her. The last words she remembered hearing from Warden were tinged with pity.

Farewell, Element of Generosity. We shall meet again, sooner than either of us would like.

***

“Rarity? Rarity, speak to me!”

She slowly came to, realizing that she was lying on the floor of the boutique. She scrambled to her hooves and shook her head to clear her mind.

Spike and Apple Bloom were staring at her with alarm on their faces. “What happened to you?” the dragon asked.

Rarity dropped onto one of the sofas. “I had a vision of the Spaces Between.”

Spike and Apple Bloom looked at each other. “Did it get to you?” Apple Bloom asked.

“What?” For a moment, Rarity wasn't sure what the other mare wanted, then it dawned on her. “Oh, no, it didn't have anything to do with Doubt. That thing still seems to be imprisoned safely. No, I spoke to the keeper of the Spaces.”

“Keeper?” Spike asked, confused. “What keeper?”

Rarity filled them in on what she had seen and heard. When she was finished, silence persisted for a few seconds before Spike spoke up. “I need to go see if Twilight is okay.”

“Twilight?” The non sequitur confused Rarity. “Why do you think ...” She broke off as she realized what the dragon meant. “She might have had a similar vision.”

“Oh goodness.” Spike and Rarity turned to Apple Bloom, who was wearing an expression of dawning horror. “Scootaloo.”

Rarity didn't understand at first. Spike, on the other hand, seemed to grasp what Apple Bloom meant. “Dear Celestia. If a vision struck her while she was airborne ...”

Now Rarity got it. “She's a twilight element too.”

**

At the same time, several miles to the north of Ponyville

The Great Northern Mountains were a beautiful place in autumn, their lower slopes covered in trees that bore a riot of different colours. Yet the rain pouring down today seemed to wash out the reds and oranges, leaving only a uniform yellowish-brown mass clinging to the hills, the peaks behind almost invisible through the veil of water. It was quiet, except for the patter of the rain on the leaves.

A sudden screech broke the silence, followed by a crunch as talons found their target. The talons' owner smiled, as much as she was able to. Still got it, she thought as she began devouring the hare she'd caught. She did legitimately enjoy fruit and vegetables, but she couldn't deny her needs as a carnivore indefinitely, and six months had passed since her last hunt.

When she was done, Gilda carefully pulled the feathers on her head back into position, then worked over her wings with the same precision. Flying in this weather was dangerous enough without risking anything.

As if on cue, the clouds suddenly parted to the west, revealing the very last rays of the setting sun. The mountains lay outside the weather ponies' jurisdiction, and for once, that proved beneficial. As Gilda turned eastwards to check her flight path home, her eyes fell on the most magnificent rainbow imaginable – a perfect half circle stretching almost to the ground on both sides. Manufactured rainbows somehow never quite caught the beauty of the ones found in untamed wilds. Gilda had never before seen a rainbow this beautiful.

That's not quite true, and you know it, a little voice in the back of the griffon's head said. It's only the second most beautiful rainbow you have seen.

Gilda sighed. Over seven years had passed since she had last seen that pegasus, and the pain was still there. She had tried to run away, back to the griffon lands, but it hadn't lasted. One year ago, Gilda had returned to Equestria, though she had intentionally chosen the corner of the ponies' realm furthest removed from Ponyville.

And what use is that? I still think about her. About what I destroyed. Gilda dug her talons into the ground in frustration. “I loved her.” She rarely admitted that last part, even to herself.

Yes, you did. It is time to make amends for what you did, Gilda of Clan Boldfeather.

She whirled around and found herself beak-to-muzzle with a strange-looking pony. Her talons unsheathed instinctively, and she growled. “Who are you?”

The grey alicorn looked at her with deep purple eyes without irises or pupils. I am the guardian of the Seventh, and you will have to stand by the Elements if they are to bear witness to the Dawn. Strangely, the alicorn's mouth didn't seem to move – Gilda simply remembered hearing his words.

“Stop speaking in riddles, nag. What do you want from me?” Gilda spat. “I'm not in the mood for this kind of pseudo-profound nonsense.”

The pony's eyes shifted from purple to a deep, iridescent shade of orange. Return to Ponyville, Gilda. There, and only there, will you be able to claim your birthright.

Gilda had to admit she was a little scared of this weird alicorn, but a Boldfeather never showed fear or regret – it was ingrained into their culture, ever since the old days. She growled again, deeper and more threatening this time. “What birthright would a griffon find in a city of ponies?” she asked, automatically lapsing into the more elaborate form of the High Speech.

I cannot say. But you have walked in shadows for seven years. It is time for you to finally return to the light. The alicorn's eyes flashed with orange light. You are the First of the Four That Are Hidden, Gilda of Boldfeather, and you will be the guide for the other three. With that, he faded away. A few seconds later, nothing was left to show that he had even been there.

Now that she had no witnesses, Gilda sat on the ground, lost in thought. What in the name of the Three Clans was that about?

She didn't know, but she knew one thing – the alicorn was right. She had wasted the last seven years of her life pining after a lost love. It was time for her to step out of that memory and back into the real world.

It's time for me to get over Rainbow Dash, Gilda thought as she felt a strange fire in her chest. It's time for me to be myself again, if I ever even was myself before.

She took wing, into the setting sun, towards her place of shame, her place of loss.

My place of redemption.

**

Rainbow Dash's house, that night, 2.30 am

“Nooooo!”

Rainbow Dash rarely remembered her dreams. She knew that they were mostly pleasant, but that was about it. She had never really thought about them.

The one that had prompted her to wake screaming in the middle of the night just now was different. She still didn't really remember any details, but it had been very unpleasant, and it had involved her deepest fear – the loss of her wings.

She stumbled into her kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, waiting for the nightmare to fade as her dreams usually did, but to no avail - while the exact happenings of the dream did fade away, the feeling it had evoked in her remained as powerful as when it had woken her.

Rainbow Dash had no idea how long she sat there, but she must have dozed off, for she was jolted out of her sleep by the ring of the doorbell. She glanced at the clock. Five a.m.? Who in the hay can that be at this uncelestial hour?

She stumbled to the door. “Hello? Who's there?” No answer came, except for a soft thud, like …

Like a flier's body dropping onto a cloud. Rainbow Dash opened the door a crack and peered outside. What she saw made her bite back another scream.

Lying on the clouds immediately outside her house was a very familiar griffon. By the sweat drenching her coat and feathers, Gilda must have flown all night, only to fall unconscious at Rainbow's door.

As the pegasus stood there pondering what to do, Gilda opened one eye and looked at her. “Hi, RD,” she said, quieter than Rainbow had ever heard her.

“G? What in the world happened to you?” They hadn't met in over seven years, and now the griffon almost got herself killed getting to her?

“There's something I need to tell you.” Gilda's voice was growing even quieter. “It's important.” She beckoned the pegasus to come closer. Rainbow Dash leaned in to pick up the whisper now coming from Gilda's beak.

“I'm sorry. For everything I did last time.” With that, the griffon seemed to have exhausted her last reserves – she dropped back onto the cloud, unconscious.

Rainbow Dash's mind was racing, filled with a thousand questions, but one thought stood out above all others. She needs help. Right now. As the pegasus took off toward Ponyville Hospital, she kept muttering the same words, over and over, like a mantra.

“Hang on, G. You'll be fine.”

Vida minha

Ponyville General Hospital, 4th November, 9.30 a.m.

The blackness slowly faded.

Gilda saw that she was lying in a hospital bed. Every muscle in her body throbbed with a dull ache, and she realized she had no idea what had happened after she'd blacked out at Rainbow Dash's door.

Just my luck. I manage that entire night flight easily and then break down right at the most important time.

She became aware of a soft snoring somewhere close by. She tried to turn her head, only to have a wave of fresh pain shoot up the right side of her neck, causing her to gasp involuntarily.

The snoring stopped abruptly, replaced by confused mutterings. “Just five more minutes, mum...“

Even this quietly, the voice was unmistakeable. Gilda tried to turn her head again, more slowly this time. Her eyes met those of the mare who seemed to have fallen asleep on the chair next to her bed. Purple eyes, as the griffon had expected.

“Hey, G.“ Gilda had never heard Rainbow Dash speak this softly, as if scared to wake somepony.

“Hey,“ the griffon croaked in reply, only now realizing how parched her throat was. She reached for the water bottle on the nightstand and drained it in one gulp.

“How are you feeling?“

The innocent question hung in the air for a moment as Gilda tried to find an honest answer. “I'll live. What happened, anyway?“

“You woke me at five in the morning, and when I went out, you had collapsed.“ Rainbow Dash seemed to think for a moment. “You apologized to me for what you did last time, then you fell unconscious again.“

Oh Great Lords of Virtue, forgive me, Gilda thought. She had actually committed one of the Three Deadly Sins?

Rainbow Dash looked at her in alarm, obviously realizing the effect her last sentence had had on Gilda. “What's wrong, G?“

“I...“ Gilda hesitated. “Do you remember what I told you about the three Boldfeather laws?“

“Sure. Don't fear, don't hesitate, and don't ...“ The pegasus' eyes widened as she realized what Gilda was trying to say. “And don't regret.“

Gilda hung her head. “What have you made me, RD? What have I become, living among you grass-eaters for so long?“ She had wanted it to sound angry, but it came out sad.

“You are who you are, Gilda.“ The use of her full name made the griffon raise her head again. Rainbow Dash was smiling. “So what if we've rubbed off on you a little? I could say the same, you know. I live by that Boldfeather creed.“

Gilda hissed. “So you think you make a better griffon than me, is that it?“

“Oh, for Celestia's sake, why does it always go like this between us?“ Rainbow Dash threw a hoof in the air in a gesture of exasperation. “Why do you have to twist everything I say or do?“

“I didn't...“ Gilda broke off as she suddenly remembered why she had come to Ponyville in the first place. She was glad that she was already flushed with anger, for the blood now rising to her face had nothing to do with rage.

The pegasus looked at her for a moment, then her brow knitted in confusion. “What's really going on here, G? Why are you here?“

Gilda felt a sudden surge of fight-or-flight instinct well up inside her. No, you don't, so-called Boldfeather. You need to do this. She swallowed and looked Rainbow Dash directly in the eyes. “I came her because I had unfinished business in this town. Stuff that's been dragging me down for seven years now.“

As the griffon tried to lose herself in the purple depths, as she'd done so often back at the camp, she suddenly seemed to hit a wall. The spark wasn't there anymore. Gilda had known that, or at least sensed it, but now that she was face-to-face with the former object of her affection, it felt like she'd lost something very important. Tears came to her eyes, and Rainbow Dash reached out for her with a forehoof.

“Whatever it is, Gilda, we can solve this. Together. Like old times.“

“No, RD. That's precisely why I've come here.“ Gilda turned her head away, unable to hold back the tears. “I finally want to live my own life, escape your shadow.“

“My shadow? What the hay do you mean?“ Rainbow Dash sounded confused, almost hurt.

Gilda mustered up her courage and looked at the pegasus. “You've hung over my life since we met, RD, like a cloud that wouldn't go away. I used to think I could make it work somehow, even though I'm a griffon and you're a pegasus. Then, after I first came here and insulted your friends, the cloud became an anchor, dragging on me.“ Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, but the griffon carried on. “I used to imagine what this moment would be like. It had to be cool, not sappy, obviously, but I never found the courage to tell you. And now it's too late.“

The pegasus stared at Gilda as if seeing her for the first time. “Do you … did you …?“

“Yes.“ Gilda closed her eyes, wishing as far away from here as possible, yet still continuing. “I loved you, Rainbow Dash. The Lords forgive me, I fell for you the very second I saw you. It was awkward and impossible, so I hid it the only way I could, by being even more of a braggart and a fool.“ The griffon managed to force her eyes open just a tiny bit, wishing she hadn't done so the instant she saw Dash's face. Tears were streaming down the pegasus' cheeks.

“Then why do you say it's too late?“ Rainbow Dash whispered.

“Don't try to confuse me, nag,“ Gilda spat, instinctively putting her facade back up. “I know you never loved me, and I just now realized that I'm over you as well. I like you, and you look fantastic, but the spark has gone out.“

Rainbow Dash stretched out a hoof and touched Gilda lightly on the cheek. “Why do you say that like it's a good thing?“

That question pierced all the defenses the griffon had built up over the years, going straight for her heart. The next thing she knew, she was weeping uncontrollably, turned away from the pegasus who was the source of all her pain.

That is not true, and you know it. She might have started it, but the pain is all yours, the little voice in the back of her head said.

And then she felt the soft embrace of pegasus legs, exactly as she'd dreamt it a thousand times. She felt wetness on her back, realizing that Rainbow Dash was still crying, and she heard a whisper. “It could have been so awesome.“

The regret that tinged the voice hit Gilda like a wall. That sounded almost like a farewell. Could it be she once felt the same for me as I did for her? But even if that was true, their chance had passed.

“Yes.“ Gilda turned to face the pegasus. “But it wasn't meant to be.“

Slowly, almost unwillingly, Rainbow Dash released the hug. “Maybe not. But we can be friends again.“

The griffon felt a weight lift off her chest, and that strange fire that had started burning after she'd met the alicorn returned in full force. “Perhaps we can, now that I have a chance to be myself around you,“ she said, smiling.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “I look forward to getting to know the real Gilda.“

A knock on the door interrupted them. “RD? Are you in there?“ A very soft voice, almost inaudible and naggingly familiar to Gilda. She saw Rainbow Dash blanch, though she had no idea why.

“Yes, she is. Come in,“ the griffon called.

The door opened a crack, and a pair of teal eyes peered into the room. “Um … hello, Gilda.“

Oh dear Lords, not her of all ponies. Gilda remembered her outburst against this particular pegasus only too well, and she wasn't proud of it.

The yellow mare – Fluttershy, Gilda dimly recalled – made her way into the room tentatively, avoiding the griffon's gaze. “Dash? I just talked to the doctors. Scootaloo will be released this afternoon. That head injury looked far worse than it really was.“

“Yeah, they tend to do that.“ Gilda didn't know why she spoke, but she felt a need to do so. “Head injuries bleed heavily, even if they're superficial.“

The two pegasi gave her surprised looks, and Fluttershy eventually found the courage to ask the question on their minds. “I don't mean to sound rude, but how do you know something like that?“

“Over the last seven years, I had to work whatever jobs came my way,“ Gilda explained, smiling faintly. “That included a five-month stint as an assistant nurse over in Hope's Peak, some three years ago.“ The smile faded as the memories came flooding back – that had not been a pleasant time.

“You? A nurse?“ Rainbow Dash looked equal parts astonished and amused. “I can't imagine you doing something like that.“

“Neither could I before I actually tried.“ Gilda closed her eyes. “It was hard. Compared to what you have here in Equestria, griffon medicine is primitive. I saw things that I'd rather forget.“

“Don't say that.“ Gilda opened her eyes and looked at Fluttershy, who was wearing a strange expression, halfway between a smile and a sad frown. “Everything that happens to you is a part of you.“

“Easy to say for you, but you weren't there. I saw griffons die, Fluttershy, griffons who could have been saved easily with the tools and magic you have at your disposal.“ Gilda felt her heart pounding, the old familiar anger rising again. “We used to be one of the great civilisations, but that was ages ago. The Great Loss robbed us of our birthright, and...“ She abruptly broke off as she remembered the words of that strange alicorn.

Return to Ponyville, Gilda. There, and only there, will you be able to claim your birthright.

“G? What's wrong?“ Rainbow Dash's voice sounded faint, as if coming from a great distance.

Gilda made to answer, but she was interrupted by another knock. “RD? Fluttershy?“

“Come in, Scootaloo,“ Dash called out absent-mindedly, not turning away from Gilda.

The door opened, and yet another pegasus mare entered. She looked significantly younger than the others, in her late teens at most. Gilda's eyes wandered over the orange coat, the reddish-purple mane, and the ugly-looking bandage around the left side of her head, eventually meeting the gaze of the light purple eyes.

Something happened. Gilda had no idea what it was, but she felt every bone in her body reverberate with a sudden surge of power as she locked gazes with Scootaloo. The whole world took on a reddish-orange hue for a split second, then a flash of light made the griffon squeeze her eyes shut.

“What in the hay was that?“ she heard Rainbow Dash ask in shock.

“That … looked familiar,“ Scootaloo said hesitantly, as if not quite believing what she was seeing.

Gilda opened her eyes and saw the three pegasi staring at her in wonder. “Hey, what is this, Circus Gilda? I'm not a fairground attraction for pegasus mares, you know?“ She tried to make it sound intimidating, but she could hear the trembling in her voice.

Fluttershy raised a hoof and pointed at Gilda's neck, obviously lost for words.

The griffon looked down and recoiled in surprise. Some kind of metallic-looking necklace had formed around her throat, shimmering in all colours of the rainbow. Right in the centre, directly above her heart, a yellow gemstone was embedded in the metal, carved to resemble an open eagle claw.

Scootaloo stepped near the bed and looked at Gilda. “You are one of the Four That Are Hidden.“

Again, memories of her encounter with the alicorn came back to the griffon. “I think so. But how do you know about that?“

“I had a vision. A grey alicorn with dragon wings and griffon paws spoke to me about the Four That Are Hidden, and told me I had to find them.“ The pegasus grinned. “One down, three to go.“

“Hold on a moment.“ Now that Gilda was seeing her up close, Scootaloo seemed familiar. “Aren't you that athlete pony? The one who won the Fillydelphia Stakes two months ago?“

“The one and only!“ Scootaloo exclaimed, proudly turning her rump so that her cutie mark, a streaking comet with a star-shaped head, came into view. “You've heard of me?“

Gilda put on an exaggerated frown. “How could I not? You were all over the papers for weeks, I thought they'd never find anything else to report ever again.“

Rainbow Dash tousled Scootaloo's mane, carefully avoiding the bandage. “She may not be the fastest flier in Equestria, but she can outrun earth ponies.“ The pride in her voice was palpable.

“So you're Scootaloo.“ Gilda stretched out a foreleg. “I'm Gilda.“

Scootaloo's eyes widened. “The Gilda? The one Rainbow Dash wouldn't shut up about?“

Gilda turned her eyes on Dash, who had her head lowered and was staring at the ground. “You wouldn't shut up about me? What's that all about, then?“

“You...“ Rainbow Dash seemed to struggle to find the right words. “You ran out on our friendship, Gilda. I'm the Element of Loyalty, and what you did hurt. Quite a lot, in fact. When Scootaloo finally managed her first flight and came to me for flying lessons, we got into talking quite a lot. She's like a sister to me, and so we eventually shared some of our deepest secrets.“ She grinned. “I won't talk about hers, but one of mine was how much it hurt to lose you like this, after you had insulted and alienated my friends.“ The grin faded, replaced by confusion and sadness. “What I still don't get, even after seven years, is why you did it.“

“I...“ For a moment, Gilda hesitated, not sure whether she wanted to talk about this in front of two strangers. To the Barrens with that. I wanted to get this resolved, time to get it over with. “I hadn't just come to Ponyville to see a friend. I wanted to tell you something – you can guess what that was, we just talked about it before they arrived.“

Rainbow Dash blanched again. “You had come to tell me...?“

“Yeah. And after it was over, when I was on my way home, I suddenly realized what I'd done.“ Gilda felt tears well up again. “The Lords be damned, I'm sorry.“ She turned to Fluttershy. “I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. I'm sorry for what I did to that pink earth pony. I was jealous, and I didn't have any other way of dealing with it. I thought you'd taken RD away from me.“

Gilda took a deep breath, forcing the tears back. She felt like she was being drained of something toxic – it was painful, but she knew she'd feel better afterwards. “After I came home, I cried for hours. I'd never before felt so lost. I had committed all three Deadly Sins in one go – I had lashed out at others because I doubted my feelings, I regretted what I'd done, and I feared going back to Ponyville.“ She hung her head in shame, realizing that tears were falling from her eyes, yet not caring in the slightest. “It took me seven years to finally come to terms with what I did. All I can say is, I wish I could undo it.“

She felt the embrace of hooves once again, and when she looked up, she saw that Fluttershy was hugging her. “I forgive you. What you did was wrong, but you did it out of love.“

Scootaloo's face suddenly lit up in understanding, and she turned to Rainbow Dash. “She was …?“

“Yeah.“ Dash was fighting hard to hold back tears. “And Celestia forgive me, I'm not sure whether I didn't feel the same for her.“

“Water under the bridge, RD.“ Gilda tried her best to sound light-hearted, though she knew this issue was far from really resolved. “Friends?“

“Friends,“ Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy replied in unison.

Scootaloo coughed. “Um, guys, now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, perhaps we can deal with that?“ She pointed to Gilda's necklace. “A new element has just shown up here.“ She looked around, frowning. “What is it with this hospital? That's, what, the third element to manifest here in six years?“

Time

Ponyville Library, November 3rd, 10 p.m.

Twilight woke with a start.

She had dozed off while reading, but while that was nothing out of the ordinary, the vivid dream she'd had did qualify as unusual. She remembered a grey alicorn and a warning about some ancient prophecy.

That was no dream. More like a vision, the unicorn thought to herself as she stretched her neck, working out the kinks that falling asleep on the table had caused. One would think I'd be used to that by now.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. "Twilight? Are you okay?"

"Yes, Spike. Come in, the door's open." She couldn't help but wonder what her assistant was doing here, during his week off.

The young dragon stormed in, wildly casting his eyes around as if searching for hidden enemies. His gaze fell on Twilight, and she saw the tension drain from him slightly. "Oh thank Celestia, you're okay."

"Uh...yes, of course I am. Is there any reason I shouldn't be?" Twilight asked, confused at the worry in Spike's voice.

He collapsed onto one of the chairs. "Rarity just had a vision, and by what she said, it might have affected you as well."

"A vision?" Twilight felt her curiosity rise. "What kind of vision?"

Spike briefly filled her in on what Rarity had told him. When he had finished, he looked at her. "You saw something too."

"Yes. It was very similar to what you described, in fact." Twilight levitated a glass of water over and took a deep gulp. "That strange alicorn warned me that 'the Dawn of the Seventh' was at hand, whatever that may be." She realized something. "Where are Rarity and Apple Bloom?"

"They've gone to look for Scootaloo," Spike explained. "Since she's a twilight element as well - as far as we know -, she may have had a vision too, and if she was flying when that happened..." He let the sentence trail off.

Twilight frowned. Something from her vision was tickling in the back of her mind, and she couldn't quite put her hoof on what it was. "Spike, do you remember any names or dates from what Rarity told you?"

The dragon thought about that for a moment. "Something about five thousand years, and I think she mentioned a seer, Stargazer or somesuch."

"Hmm." Twilight turned to the shelf with the history books and levitated one particularly musty-looking tome over to the table. "Stargazer ... Stargazer ... ah, here we are."

Spike glanced at the book. "Which one is this?"

"Famous Names in Equestrian History," Twilight answered absent-mindedly. "Here, look at this." She pointed to one entry headed 'Stargazer the Wise'. It was very short, little more than a mention of approximate dates of birth and death, but the sentences below those dates had caught Twilight's eye.

Stargazer the Wise is believed to have been blessed with Second Sight. He made many prophecies over his lifetime, most of which have unfortunately been lost to time. A collection of his most famous oracles was given to the library at Maresilia, an ancient centre of learning, and is presumed to have become part of the Royal Canterlot Archives at the Grand Unification.

They looked up from the book, and Twilight saw a gleam in Spike's eyes - the same gleam that she knew was showing in her own. "Spike, take a letter."

***

Sweet Apple Acres, two hours later

Big Macintosh was restless.

That was already cause for concern, for restlessness was not exactly typical for him. He was as sturdy, reliable and stolid as popular opinion made him out to be, for the most part. Yet as if that wasn't bad enough, he also had trouble falling asleep, and that had never happened before. Work on the farm was almost always plentiful and exhausting, and since it required early rising, he scarcely ever stayed up after half past nine at the latest.

Now it was midnight, and he was wide awake and feeling uneasy. The red stallion wished he could put a hoof on what exactly he felt, or why, but he couldn't. Something bad was happening, and he had no idea what, or where.

His brooding was interrupted at that point.

"Aaaaaah!"

He was out the door and down the corridor to Applejack's door before he even realized he had moved. From further down the hall, he saw Apple Bloom run his way. "What in the hay was that?"

He ignored her for the moment, pushing open the door. "AJ? You alright?"

His elder sister was sitting up in bed, eyes wide open. She stared at the two figures in the doorway in confusion for a moment before she seemed to realize where she was. "Y...yeah, I think so. Just had a bad dream, that's all."

"You too?" Apple Bloom stepped near the bed. "That's funny. I thought it had to do with nearly losing Scoots."

Macintosh nodded. Apple Bloom had only returned to the farm half an hour previously, telling her siblings through sobs that Scootaloo had had an accident while flying and was at the hospital with head injuries. "Strange, that. So you both had nightmares?"

"Yeah." Applejack looked at her brother. "Why? Not you too?"

"Nope. But something strange is afoot. I've been feeling under the weather all day, and I've been trying to get some sleep for three hours now." He rubbed his muzzle. "What in blazes is happening?"

Apple Bloom spoke slowly, almost reluctantly. "The last time I had a dream like that was six years ago."

"That Doubt affair?" Macintosh frowned. "But it was just you and Spike back then, wasn't it? Why is it happening to me and AJ now, too?"

"No idea, but Rarity and Twilight had visions, and now me and AJ are having nightmares." Apple Bloom was staring out the window at the night sky. "Whatever is happening, it must be big."

***

The Royal Palace at Canterlot, five hours later

Harmony. Discipline. Virtue. Power. Community.

The late hours of the night were the best, as far as the Princess of the Night was concerned. The soft light in the east, turning the sky from black to blue, told her that her waking hours were drawing to an end, and that she could turn over responsibility for Equestria to her sister.

At least, that was the way it had been in the first years after her return. Yet over the last two years, something had changed. Where Celestia had been happy to rise and assume the mantle of ruler for the daylight hours, now she seemed colder.

'Twas to be expected, Luna thought as she made her way to her sister's chambers. The joy of reunion can hardly last forever. Still, something about Celestia's behaviour bothered her.

The guards at the door stood at attention as she approached. "Celestia? Time to rise and shine, dear sister." Luna smiled to herself. Yes, the joke was almost too obvious, but she still loved it.

The door opened, and Luna almost recoiled. She had rarely seen her sister like this, so distinctly un-amused. For a brief moment, Luna thought she saw a golden flame dance in Celestia's eyes, but it was gone so swiftly it might have been a trick of the light. "Good morning, sister. We will take over from here."

Only when Luna lay down for her daytime sleep did she realize what had been wrong about what Celestia had said.

In all the years since my return, I have not heard her use the Royal We even once.

The Princess of the Night, second most powerful being in Equestria, shuddered. The very thought of something happening to her sister was enough to freeze her blood.

Her eyes fell on the scroll on her writing table. Nighttime missives from her sister's favourite student came to her, so as not to disturb Celestia's sleep. Normally, she would have passed the letter to Celestia at the earliest opportunity.

Circumstances can hardly be called normal anymore, however. Luna shivered. I am not sure whether I can trust my sister any longer.

She picked up a quill and began to write.

***

At the same time, somewhere between Manehattan and Ponyville

A knock on the door woke her, accompanied by a sonorous voice. "Ma'am? You wished to be woken at 6 a.m."

She shook awake slowly. "Yes, thank you," she called out as she walked to the sink and splashed cold water over her face, trying to wash the last remains of sleep away. She failed miserably.

All these years, and I still haven't gotten used to the hours. She smiled. Then again, how could I? Her workhours varied, quite drastically sometimes, and while she still disliked that, she was by now able to pull a shift at any time, even while half asleep.

Yet this time was different. Something else was niggling at the back of her mind, something she couldn't place her hoof on.

Probably just nerves. Nopony can blame me after what happened last time. She shuddered, unsure of the welcome she was about to receive. But her manager had booked her for that reception in Ponyville, and there was no backing out of that contract - it even bore a royal seal of approval.

She looked up at her reflection. Just for a second, she thought she saw a flash of golden light pass by somewhere behind her head, but when she turned, it was gone - if it had even been there in the first place. She put on her best stage smile, proud of the fact that it still worked even at this un-celestial hour.

Nothing so simple as lack of sleep will put The Great and Powerful Trixie off her game!

***

At the same time, at a house in Ponyville

She didn't usually dream. Or if she did, she rarely ever remembered her dreams.

She had barely managed to bite back a scream when she had woken from her nightmare. Her daughter was asleep in the room next door, after all, and she certainly had enough to worry about.

She checked the clock. Six a.m. Might as well get up, I'm certainly not going back to sleep after that.

Her colleagues at the Mail Service would wonder, of course. Then again, she knew how nearly everypony talked about her behind her back. She might be a tad slow, but she wasn't stupid.

Let them wag their tongues about Derpy being early for once, she thought bitterly as she made her way to the bathroom.

La La Love

November 4th, 9 a.m., Sugarcube Corner

Pinkie Pie didn't know what was wrong.

Her Pinkie Sense kept buzzing away in the back of her mind, occasionally adding a twitch or two, but the combinations just didn't make sense. She had never felt anything like this before, and considering that tomorrow was Colt Fawkes Night, the final event of the autumn season, the timing could hardly have been worse.

The bell above the bakery's entrance took her back to reality, and when she saw who had just come in, she smiled. "Fluttershy! You're up early today."

The pegasus looked at Pinkie from beneath her mane and shook her head. "Actually, I didn't sleep much last night. Something is..." She halted, looking for words.

"Wrong?" Pinkie felt alarm bells going off in her head. "You too?"

"So you feel it as well?" Fluttershy seemed almost relieved. "Thank Celestia, I thought it was just me."

Pinkie took two strawberry cupcakes from beneath the counter and slid one over to Fluttershy. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Fluttershy admitted. "I just feel that something's terribly wrong. But I can't put a hoof on what it is."

"Same here." Pinkie tossed the cupcake into the air and caught it with her teeth, swallowing before she spoke again. "None of the other customers said anything, though, so maybe it's just the two of us?"

"Maybe, but I don't think so. Whatever this is we're feeling, I think it's something big." Before Fluttershy could elaborate further, the bell rang again.

A large red earth stallion marched in the door, looking about as exhausted as Pinkie felt. "Howdy, miss Pinkie."

"Hi, Big Mac. What can I do for you?" Pinkie asked, smiling.

"I need something to keep me awake. Didn't get much sleep last night."

Fluttershy and Pinkie exchanged glances. "What happened?" Pinkie asked, getting a cup of coffee ready.

"Oh, just bad dreams, is all. AJ screamed the house down something fierce round about midnight." Big Macintosh emptied the cup in one go and pushed it back to Pinkie. "Another one, if you don't mind."

"Sure." Pinkie did as asked.

"Um, Big Macintosh, what did Applejack dream about?" Fluttershy asked.

He turned to the pegasus, slightly stumbling over his words. "Don't know. She wouldn't say, and neither would Apple Bloom." The earth stallion took another deep gulp of coffee. "We've all been feeling a bit under the weather. Probably just the time of year."

"Oh, maybe." Fluttershy averted her gaze, and Pinkie couldn't help but see the deep blush on her friend's cheeks. The earth mare grinned inwardly. Tomorrow night. You've waited long enough.

From time to time, Pinkie had entertained the thought of forcing the two to see what was directly in front of them, but she had always shied away from doing that. One false move might do irreparable harm, and while Pinkie was as random as most ponies believed her to be, she was neither insensitive nor irresponsible - six years of babysitting for the Cakes had taken care of that. But the party would be the ideal environment for them to finally take their feelings out into the open, and Pinkie would make sure that it happened.

He's been pining after her for four years now. Celestia knows how long she's been dreaming of him. Auntie Pinkie is at the ready to get you two together. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.

***

Carousel Boutique, two hours later

"Rarity?"

The white unicorn slowly opened her eyes. I must have nodded away. She blinked a few times, and the blob of white and purple in front of her slowly resolved into her sister. "Hello, Sweetie. What brings you here at this time of day?"

The younger mare suppressed a yawn. "I wanted to check on the new dress you promised me for Colt Fawkes Night."

Rarity shook her head one final time and really focused on Sweetie Belle, gasping as she did so. "Darling, whatever happened to you? Frankly, you look terrible."

"I know." Sweetie yawned again. "I didn't get much sleep last night. Do you have a feeling something strange is afoot?"

"Strange that you should say that," Rarity answered as she walked over to one of the ponyquins. "Pinkie asked me the same when I got my breakfast this morning, and she said that Fluttershy was also feeling it."

"Maybe this has something to do with that vision you had yesterday evening?" Sweetie suggested.

"How do you know about that?" Sweetie Belle hadn't been there, and Rarity hadn't seen her after the vision.

"Apple Bloom told me, when we met at the hospital last night." Sensing the unspoken question, Sweetie Belle continued. "Don't worry, I was there just now, and Scootaloo is already back on her hooves. She took a nasty bump to the head, but," the young mare laughed, "Celestia knows how often that happened back when we went crusading."

"Only too true. Now, where were we?" Rarity withdrew the tarp from the ponyquin. "What do you say?"

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened as she took in the dress, a simple affair in white with some pink highlights. "Fantastic! This is exactly what I was thinking of. Just how do you do it, Rarity?"

"You're my sister, Sweetie. If I didn't get what you wanted, I might as well close my shop right this instant, because I certainly wouldn't be able to do proper work for friends or strangers." Rarity smiled. "Simply go out on that stage tomorrow and blow them away."

"With that dress? Foal's play." Sweetie looked around. "Say, where's my dear brother-in-law got to?"

"He's in Canterlot. They're celebrating Colt Fawkes too, and he's coordinating it all over there. And where has your current beau got to?"

Sweetie's smile froze. "Featherweight? We broke up two weeks ago. Didn't I tell you?"

Rarity just stared at her sister in shock. "No. No, you didn't. That's, what, the fourth colt in one year?"

"Fifth, actually." Sweetie Belle cast down her eyes. "I don't know what it is, it just never seems to work out with me and colts. Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course I can."

Sweetie turned away, head still bowed. "Sometimes I'm jealous of you."

Rarity was silent for a moment. "Sweetie, I'm almost nine years older than you. Give it time."

"What about Apple Bloom, then? She's my age, and she's been with the same colt -" Sweetie Belle hesitated. "Okay, the same dragon for six years now. What's she doing right, and what am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing at all, Sweetie. Yes, there are some who find their special somepony very early, but that's rare. Do you know any other couples your age who have been with each other for even two or three years, much less six?" When Sweetie Belle just shook her head, Rarity touched her shoulder lightly, causing her sister to turn to her again. "Dearie, there is somepony special out there for you. Keep searching."

Sweetie Belle smiled weakly. "Perhaps you're right. Now..." She broke off and turned her head around, as if searching for something.

"What is it, Sweetie?" Rarity tried to follow her sister's gaze, but she couldn't see anything unusual.

"For a second, I thought I saw something." Her smile deepened. "Nevermind, it's probably just nerves."

***

Ponyville Hospital, the same day, 3 p.m.

For the hundredth time that day, Gilda's eyes were drawn to the necklace now lying on her nightstand.

I'll have to talk to that egghead unicorn - Twilight Sparkle, wasn't it? - about this. I need help finding out what this means.

She stared at the gemstone embedded in the centre of the necklace and saw a dozen yellowish reflections of herself staring back. Something about her seemed to have changed, something she couldn't put a talon on.

She blinked, and when her eyelids opened again, the hospital room was gone, as was the necklace - no, that wasn't true, she was wearing it again.

Gilda looked around. Nothing but featureless, flat grey, stretching as far as her eyes could see.

"Where am I?"

Welcome to my home, Gilda of Boldfeather.

She recognized the voice even before she turned and found herself beak-to-muzzle with that weird alicorn again. "Oh. Hi again. What do you want now?"

You still bear much hostility and pain inside you, Boldfeather. But your healing has begun. Excellent.

"I guess I owe you thanks, alicorn. Care to explain what happened to me?"

The strange purple eyes turned solid black. I cannot do that. I know that your Element is bound to Twilight, not Day or Night, for I would not be able to speak to you otherwise. Yet even I do not know who the other Hidden are, or what their Elements signify. But perhaps you can form your own impressions. Look and see. The alicorn waved a paw, and a golden disc rose out of the ground.

Gilda looked at the disc for a while, trying to find anything special, but nothing showed. It was just a featureless circle of gold. "That's supposed to give me any information? It's a golden disc, no more."

Oh, but it is. So much more than you can see with your eyes. Try to really feel it.

Gilda closed her eyes and tried to do as the alicorn had told her. For a long time, nothing happened, but then she opened her eyes again and saw a golden shimmer around the outer rim of the disc that vanished quickly even as she looked at it. She couldn't say why, but that light filled her with dread. "Whoa. What in the blazes was that?"

The first sign of the Dawn of the Seventh. I know what you felt when you saw the light, for I feel the same. Whatever this Dawn may be, it is by no means a good thing. You need to overcome your difficulties with the Elements of Harmony and Unity, or all of you shall fall.

Gilda blinked again, and found herself staring at a dozen yellow-tinted reflections of herself again. She thought for a moment, then she pushed the button next to her bed.

A few seconds later, a white earth mare looked in the door. "Can I do anything for you, Ms Boldfeather?"

"Yeah. You can tell me when I can leave." Gilda tried her best to push her contempt for this whole town and its ponies away, and found to her surprise that it was a lot easier than it had been seven years ago. Maybe I have changed, after all.

The nurse consulted a file. "Well, according to this, there's really nothing to keep you here anymore. Just don't overexert yourself for a few days."

Gilda grinned. "Trust me, I'm none too keen to end up here again any time soon."

"I'll go get the discharge papers, then." She turned away.

Gilda hesitated for a moment, then she called after the nurse. "Hey, Nurse...?"

The mare turned in surprise. "Redheart."

"Thank you." Again, Gilda found herself surprised at how easily the words came to her.

"You're welcome." Nurse Redheart smiled, then turned away.

Gilda let herself sink onto her bed again. What is going on here? I'm having visions of some scary stuff, and yet I feel ... right. As though I'd found my place.

Maybe this whole thing will turn out for the best, after all.

***

Sweet Apple Acres, the same day, 11.30 p.m.

The trees were dried-out husks, clawing their roots into parched soil beneath a relentlessly burning sun. The farmhouse looked close to collapse, the barn had long since come tumbling down, and only a few bleached bones were left to tell of the animal population of Sweet Apple Acres.

Worst of all, though, was the face of day itself. The sun's mild yellow glow had been replaced by a remorseless golden glare that brought nothing but death to the face of Equestria. Five words echoed around the desert that had been Ponyville's premier farm.

Harmony. Discipline. Virtue. Power. Community.

***

Spike managed not to scream as he shot awake, but he couldn't keep a gasp from escaping him. He stormed to the window and looked outside, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of a nightly Sweet Apple Acres decidedly not burnt to a crisp by a merciless sun.

He sensed her approach before he heard the hoofsteps. Hooves wrapped around his chest, and he heard her whisper. "What happened?"

"A nightmare," he replied without turning. "Like the one you had last night, only more vivid."

Apple Bloom turned him around and looked him in the eyes. "It's happening again, isn't it?"

"No. It'll be worse this time." He hugged her, needing to feel her touch.

"No matter what happens, it will turn out alright." The words were quiet, but full of conviction.

He gritted his teeth, then he smiled at her. "If the Element of Confidence says so, who am I to argue?"

She leaned in to kiss him when he suddenly felt a familiar grumble in his chest, leaving just enough time to get out the warning. "AB, get out of the way!"

Apple Bloom knew what this meant, so she leaped to the side as Spike burped up a green flame that swiftly manifested into a letter bearing the royal seal.

Spike picked it up gingerly and stared at it. "Why would Celestia write to me at this time of night? Besides, she should know that I'm not with Twilight this week." He broke the seal and unrolled the letter. His eyes widened.

"What is it, Spike?" Apple Bloom asked worriedly.

"Look for yourself." He held out the letter.

Dear Twilight and Spike,

my sister has denied you access to the Royal Canterlot Archives for reasons unknown to me.

I won't put much of what I think is going on in writing, but suffice it to say that I'm not sure of my sister's motives any longer. She is not to be trusted at this moment. Rest assured I am researching what is happening to her. I have attached the most important passages from Stargazer's prophecies to this letter. Memorize them carefully, for the letter will burn itself to ash within five minutes of anypony opening it.

Difficult times lie ahead, my little ponies. Prepare yourselves.

Princess Luna

Euphoria

November 5th, aka Colt Fawkes Night, Ponyville Town Square, 11 a.m.

Remember, remember
The fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot
I see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot

The old children's rhyme from Trottingham was going through Trixie's mind as she examined the stage set for her. It looked quite a bit more magnificent than the last time she'd been to Ponyville, but then, she wasn't just any traveling showmare anymore. She was The Great and Powerful Trixie, and she had earned that name over the years. Still, she couldn't deny she was nervous.

"Trixie?"

The showmare looked around and saw a bright pink earth pony approaching. The other mare was holding a clipboard between her teeth and was squinting down at it.

"Yes. You must be Pinkie Pie." The unicorn turned to the earth mare and bowed slightly. "Is everything ready?"

"Mostly." Pinkie dropped the clipboard onto one hoof and smiled at Trixie, a wide, dazzling smile that seemed to fill the showmare's entire field of view with white.

"What exactly do you mean, 'mostly'?" Trixie asked suspiciously. She had far too many experiences with hosts who promised a dozen times everything would be fine, only for her to arrive and find it was anything but. Admittedly, those were more the theatre owners in big cities, yet weasel words like this made her uncomfortable.

"Well," Pinkie went over her clipboard, "there is a problem with the amount of fireworks you asked for. This is Colt Fawkes, and most of it is needed for the great fireworks show at midnight."

"Oh." Trixie thought for a moment. "How much do I get to work with, then?"

Pinkie drew a sheet of paper from the clipboard and gave it to the unicorn. "This is the list."

Trixie stared at the earth mare. "Forgive me if I sound rude, but from what little I saw of you the last time I was here, you seem to have become quite a bit more organized."

"Oh, silly, I didn't make those lists. Twilight did. Ah, here she comes, perhaps she can explain this to you." Pinkie leaned in conspiratorially. "To be honest, I have no idea what half these numbers and figures mean."

Trixie looked down on the paper. While 'half' might be a bit extreme, there were a few points on that list that might need explaining. Why are there streamers and balloons on there? I asked for one or the other, not both.

"Hello, Trixie. It's been a while."

The unicorn looked up at the sound of the voice. It sounded familiar, yet she couldn't place it until she saw the other unicorn mare in front of her.

Oh, great. It just had to be her.

"Twilight Sparkle. You've made quite a name for yourself," Trixie said coolly.

"So have you, from what I can tell." The purple mare sounded just as distant.

Trixie coughed. "So, shall we get down to business then? The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't like to keep anypony waiting."

"With pleasure." Twilight levitated the list over, and they began working on it.

***

Three hours later

"...oh, I see, Pinkie must have added both of those points." Twilight smiled apologetically at Trixie. "She gets a bit overenthusiastic at times."

Trixie looked around and saw that the earth mare had long since vanished, probably because of boredom. A look at the clock tower confirmed that it was high time for a lunch break.

"So, are we done? I think those were the last two points on the list, and frankly, I'm starving." Trixie managed to keep the irritation at the last three hours out of her voice. Mostly.

"Oh, heh. Sorry. I tend to get lost in planning and things like that." Twilight smiled. "Say, why don't we go have a bite? On my tab, as it were."

Trixie was proud of her self-control, which permitted her at that moment not to stand in the middle of Ponyville Town Square with her jaw dropped to the floor. "Why are you so friendly?" She hadn't wanted the question to sound as antagonistic as it came out, and she winced slightly.

"You're a guest in this town, and I want to make you feel welcome." Twilight didn't look angry, but bemused. "Why wouldn't I be friendly?"

"Uh, hello? Last time I was here, I nearly destroyed this city."

Something seemed to click in Twilight's head. "Trixie, that was seven years ago. Most ponies in this town probably don't even remember that."

"Perhaps you're right, but I do." Trixie turned away, uncertain why she would even talk about this, but feeling a need deep inside her to do so. "I lost everything I had that day. My cart, my hat, my robe - gone. I -" she swallowed. "I don't want to talk about the year after, but it was hard. I know I brought it on myself, but it was the worst time in my life." She raised her head and looked Twilight in the eyes. "I hated this town, I hated the stupid idiot colts who brought the Ursa Minor here, and I hated you for so effortlessly dealing with it. I didn't want to ever set foot here again."

"What changed your mind?" Twilight's voice was quiet, nearly inaudible.

"My manager booked me for your Colt Fawkes, and I never go back on a contract." Trixie shivered. "Are there ponies in this town who still remember what I did to them?"

A new voice cut in. "You bet there are, showgirl." Trixie looked up and saw an orange earth pony wearing a stetson approach them. "I'll have an eye on you tonight."

"Oh, you most certainly will!" Trixie suddenly felt heat rising up in her chest. "Two eyes, whenever you can spare them, and an open mouth to accompany them. Applejack, wasn't it?"

The earth mare seemed astonished. "You remember my name?"

"I never forget a face." Trixie grinned devilishly. "Though I might make an exception in your case."

Applejack's cheeks turned bright red. "Why, you little...!"

"Applejack, please! I'm sure she didn't mean it like that." Twilight turned a furious gaze on Trixie. "Did you?"

Trixie blanched. "N...no. I didn't." Focus, showmare. You antagonized this town once, that's plenty for one lifetime.

"Good." Twilight smiled. "Now, I believe we were going to lunch?"

***

Eight hours later

Well, that went far better than expected, Trixie thought to herself as she left the stage. No neighsayers, no jeers - well, no more than usual -, and no unexpected interruptions by giant monsters from the Everfree Forest. So far, so good.

"Miss Trixie?"

She turned around and saw the source of the voice, a purple dragon about her size. "Yes...?"

"My name is Spike. I was wondering how you did that thing with the purple and blue flames. All I got is green."

Trixie put on her best showmare mask. "Sorry, but the trick is told when the trick is sold. Experiment for yourself, and maybe you'll..." She met his eyes.

A sudden jolt of power made her leap back a few feet. "What in the hay...?"

Spike had dropped to the ground and was scrambling back onto his feet. "What just happened?"

"I have no idea." Trixie shook her head a few times to clear her mind. "Was it something I said?"

"I don't think so." Spike seemed as uncertain as she felt. "Perhaps we should go talk to Twilight about this."

***

Pinkie sat at a table by herself, sighing into her sarsaparilla.

Everything had started off exactly as planned. She had gotten Fluttershy and Big Macintosh to talking, and even though that conversation consisted mostly of silence and an occasional "Um...", it still seemed to have the desired effect.

"Pinkie? Why are you alone?"

She looked up and saw Apple Bloom standing there. The pink mare forced a smile. "Silly, I'm not alone, you're here."

"I'm here now. Before that, you looked like you were about to start crying into your drink. What went wrong?" The younger mare sat down.

"Promise me you won't tell anypony?"

Apple Bloom smiled. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"I was trying to get Fluttershy and your brother together." Pinkie sighed and took a sip of her drink.

"Well, it's getting high time, that's for sure." At Pinkie's surprised look, Apple Bloom laughed. "I'm not blind and I'm not stupid, Pinkie. I've known for years that my brother's pining after Fluttershy. But he's always been the good little stallion who thinks of Sweet Apple Acres first, and he's always been afraid of how Applejack would react."

"Wait." Pinkie was trying to wrest some sense out of what Apple Bloom had said. "What do you mean, 'thinks of Sweet Apple Acres first'?"

"We're an earth pony family on an earth pony farm, Pinkie. You grew up on a quarry, you know how hard the work gets." Apple Bloom looked down. "We're not sure whether a pegasus or unicorn could manage, much less somepony as fragile as Fluttershy."

"Fragile?" Pinkie had to bite back a laugh. "She stared down a dragon, she's one of the Elements of Harmony, she can fly almost as fast as Rainbow Dash, and you still think she's fragile?"

"I never said I did. I think it's the excuse that my brother has used to avoid actually talking to her." Apple Bloom shook her mane in frustration. "He's never done anything for himself in his life, never tried anything new without knowing exactly how it would go."

"Well, he did talk to Fluttershy tonight." Pinkie sighed again. "But it went nowhere."

"He still puts the farm and the family first, doesn't he?" Apple Bloom looked up, and a sudden grin appeared on her face. "Then again..." She pointed, and Pinkie followed her outstretched hoof.

A big red earth stallion was making his way through the crowd towards a yellow pegasus mare sitting alone at the bar, a look of resolve etched on his face.

"Sorry, Pinkie, but I've got to see this." Apple Bloom leaped to her hooves.

"Are you crazy? I can't miss this for the world!" Pinkie bounced after the younger mare.

***

Big Macintosh was solid.

That really was the best word to describe him. Solid as a rock. He was reliable, hard-working and stoic, and had never been a pony of many words. Hardly anything could shake him.

Which made it all the more astonishing to him that a meek little pegasus mare could do exactly that. She was the chink in his armour. He had made excuses not to talk to her for several years now, painfully aware that they were just that - excuses. He was reasonably sure that she felt the same for him, but he had been too solid, too rooted in his family business to ever act on his feelings.

Don't forget cowardly there. You've never dared to take the plunge because you don't know how she or your family would react.

He was getting closer to her now, and he noticed his steps were slowing down. He cast his gaze around, looking for any kind of excuse - excuses again - to not speak to her, and his eyes fell on two ponies standing just a few feet away. Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom. Great. Just what I needed - spectators.

His eyes met those of his younger sister, and he felt a sudden impact, as if he'd been struck by lightning. Apple Bloom smiled, and Big Macintosh felt a rush of confidence. Whatever happened, it would turn out for the best, but he had to take the jump first, go chart unknown territory for the first time in his life.

A door inside of him seemed to open, one that he had kept locked and barred for all of his life. He stepped up to the bar. "Fluttershy?"

She looked up at him, and the wild hope in her eyes almost made him turn back. Oh no, you don't, you big lug. This is your chance, and you're not going to waste it.

He cleared his throat and pointed to the dance floor. "May I have this dance?"

Fluttershy stood up. "Of course."

Neither of them saw the hoof-pumping that Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom engaged in.

***

Two hours later

They had danced as if they'd never done anything else in their lives. Now they were simply lying next to each other under one of the big trees, out of the way of the other party guests.

"Mac?"

He turned his head. Fluttershy was looking at him with a strange mix of joy and worry in her eyes. "What happens now?" she asked.

"No idea." He felt a smile forming. "For the first time in my life, I don't know what tomorrow will bring, and I've never felt better. It doesn't matter, as long as you're with me."

She wrapped a wing around him. "Why did we wait so long for this?"

"I was scared," he admitted, even more quietly than usual.

She looked at him in astonishment. "Scared? Of what?"

"I've always been the solid, responsible one of the family. I've done what was expected of me, and falling for a pegasus definitely wasn't." He was still avoiding that word. "But I don't care anymore."

She whispered something, so quietly he couldn't hear it. "Sorry?"

Fluttershy looked up at him and repeated her words, but even now he couldn't make them out. "Didn't quite catch that."

She surprised both of them by pulling him closer and pressing her lips to his. He returned the kiss, letting all the feelings he'd suppressed for so long flow into it.

When she drew away, her face was flushed deeply. Her words came out quietly, but clearly this time. "I love you."

If she can do it, I certainly can. "I love you too."

Before either of them could say any more, a blinding flash of golden light made them squeeze their eyes shut.

***

Applejack had not had a good Colt Fawkes Night.

She had come alone, and while she'd danced with a few stallions, none of them gave any sign of wanting more than that. A few hours ago, she'd seen Apple Bloom and Spike dancing cheek-to-cheek to a slow song, and all the ambiguous feelings she held threatened to overwhelm her right then and there.

That had been before all the cider and dandelion wine. She wasn't drunk, exactly, but she felt ... giddy, somehow. Light-headed, yet at the same time her feelings were creeping even closer to the surface.

And then, not even five minutes ago, she'd seen her brother and one of her best friends leave the dancefloor and head for one of the big trees. Her curiosity was piqued, especially considering how long Big Macintosh had denied his feelings for Fluttershy. Has the dolt finally made up his mind?

Her question had been answered when she saw the two kissing, but then something unexpected had happened - an explosion of light had forced her to turn away. When her eyesight returned a few seconds later, she stared in disbelief at the happy couple.

Her brother was looking down at his neck in wonder. Directly above his yoke, a necklace had formed around his throat, shimmering in all colours of the rainbow, and set in the centre with a green apple-shaped gemstone.

"That makes it three for three among the Apple siblings, hm?" Applejack whirled around at the sound of her sister's voice. How did I not notice her, dammit? She was right there, looking at their brother. "I wonder what this Element is."

"AB, why are you here?" Applejack realized the moment the words left her mouth that the question did not exactly sound all that intelligent.

"Same reason as you, I'd wager." Apple Bloom grinned. "Honestly, it was getting a little ridiculous with our brother and his crush on Fluttershy."

Applejack laughed. "You can say that. But I sure wasn't expecting him to show an Element tonight."

"Me neither. I guess we need to talk..." Apple Bloom was cut short by an explosion ringing out from the main square.

"What in tarnation...?" Applejack stormed off, and after a second of hesitation, both her siblings and Fluttershy followed her.

***

"Okay, let me summarize." Twilight looked from Spike to Trixie. "You were talking about one of your tricks."

Trixie nodded. "The multicoloured fire."

"Right. Then you made eye contact with Spike, and you felt something happening." Twilight blushed, seemingly realizing how suggestive that sounded.

The showmare smiled. "Yes, and while I think he looks pretty good for a dragon, I don't think it was his charm that triggered it."

Spike looked a little miffed for a moment, but then nodded. "It was strong enough to throw me back and off my feet."

"Hm." Twilight scribbled something down. "And what did it feel like, exactly?"

Trixie thought about that for a few moments. "I can't really say. Like ... like something was trying to break free inside me, if that makes any sense. And I think it's not complete yet."

"Not complete? What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

Trixie snorted in frustration. "I don't know! That's why I came to you, because this is like nothing that's ever happened to me."

"Would you allow me to examine you magically?" When Trixie just nodded, Twilight focused her magic on the blue unicorn. The next thing Trixie and Spike knew, the librarian was collapsing to the ground.

"Twilight!" Spike was at her side in a flash, checking for lifesigns.

Trixie just stood and stared. "Is she okay?"

"She's unconscious, but she's breathing, and her heartbeat sounds stable enough." Spike looked at Trixie. "What in Equestria is going on here?"

Before the showmare could answer, an explosion rang out from somewhere quite close by. Trixie stared in alarm. "What in the hay was that?"

"Colt Fawkes does get pretty rowdy sometimes, but I've never heard anything like this." Spike gently shook Twilight, who was coming around.

Trixie looked at the purple unicorn expectantly. "Well? What happened?"

"You are on our side, but you are far removed from Harmony." Twilight's voice was distorted, as if overlaid with a second, much deeper voice. "And that will be of great importance in the days ahead." She opened her eyes, and Trixie and Spike gasped. They were deep, fathomless pools of orange, with no pupils or irises visible.

From where the explosion had come, a voice drifted in. "I just don't know what went wrong!"

***

It was tradition to light fireworks on Colt Fawkes Night. Normally, they would be starting at midnight and continue until well into the morning.

Where Derpy Hooves was involved, though, 'normal' wasn't exactly the default state of things.

She had no idea what had happened. She had delivered the last box, a late delivery from Canterlot, and she must have misjudged the distance, and then the next thing she knew, the whole stack of boxes had been blown skyward. All twenty-six of them.

The fireworks display was impressive, but also very short-lived. Not even five minutes later, all the crates lay empty and charred. Derpy felt a lot of angry stares, but before the tension could erupt, a booming voice from above cut through. "Citizens of Ponyville! By order of Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia, some among your number are to be immediately taken into custody, wanted for questioning in Canterlot!" A large balloon, evidently with a lot of guards on board, was hovering above the town square.

That certainly took a lot of steam out of the celebrations. Silence fell, until finally the Mayor stepped up to the speaker's podium and addressed the guards above. "Who do you seek?"

"The wanted ponies are the Elements of Harmony, the Elements of Unity, the earth stallion Big Macintosh, the unicorn mare Trixie, the pegasus mare Ditzy Doo, also known as Derpy Hooves, and the griffon Gilda of Boldfeather."

Again, silence descended on the town square. Finally, the Mayor found her voice. "What are these ponies accused of, exactly?"

For a moment, no answer seemed to be forthcoming, then finally the booming voice returned, sounding slightly shaken this time.

"An attempt on the life of Princess Celestia."

Should've Known Better

The Dungeon beneath Canterlot Castle, November 6th, 10 a.m.

When Spike finally returned to his senses, his first thought was that that had been a spectacularly bad idea. His head was pounding like mad, his mouth tasted of sulfur and something even less savoury, and somepony seemed to have given his stomach a good coating of acidic paint.

Then he saw the walls around him, blank and slightly damp, and the memory of the previous night came back full force. They had taken him and the other Elements into custody, along with a seemingly random collection of other ponies, and even Gilda. They had submitted willingly, even to the subdual spells.

If somepony had told me that they'd have these kinds of side effects, I certainly would have thought twice about that, Spike thought to himself. He was alone in the cell, the bareness of the walls interrupted only by the equally bare wooden door.

"Spike? Are you awake?" The voice had come from the left-hand wall of the cell when looking in from the door.

"Twilight? Is that you?"

He heard a deep breath from the other side. "Yes. Thank Ce- thank goodness you're still with us. I was afraid the spell had done something bad to you."

"Well, it certainly pulled a number on me. Remember when I did that binge on the impure sapphires? This is worse."

He practically heard her wince. "Ouch. Anyway, I was told we would be called in for questioning at noon."

"Questioning for what, exactly? Do they seriously believe we tried to kill Princess Celestia?" Spike couldn't keep his disbelief out of his voice - the very thought was too absurd to even consider.

"Well..." Before Twilight could continue, a voice from the corridor outside caught their attention - a rather loud voice.

"We do believe it is our privilege by birth to speak to prisoners, Lieutenant," the unmistakeable tones of Princess Luna's Royal Canterlot voice thundered. "If thou meanest to deny us that right, take it up with the court magistrates."

The answer was too quiet to make out from inside the cell, but the door was suddenly thrown open, and a rather shaken-looking guard looked in. "Princess Luna wishes to speak to you."

Spike stepped outside and saw the other prisoners standing there, as well as a frowning Princess Luna. She looked over the assembled ponies and others, then simply waved a hoof at them to follow her.

***

The room they were led into was spartan and seldom used, judging by the musty air. A few benches had been hastily placed around the walls, to which the prisoners were led before Luna dismissed the guards with a quick wave and look.

As soon as the guards had left, the princess of the night seemed to relax visibly. She stepped over to a door and knocked on it four times. The two ponies stepping inside at that signal were only too familiar to most of the prisoners. Twilight simply stared for a few seconds before she found her tongue again. "Shiny? Cadance? What are you doing here?"

Shining Armour and Cadance walked up to the prisoners, each withdrawing a key and unlocking the magic-suppressing manacles the unicorn and pegasus prisoners were wearing. Spike noticed that both the captain and his wife were not wearing their formal attire. Twilight's brother smiled. "What does it look like, Twily? We're breaking you out of prison."

Luna spoke up. "Should your case go into questioning, or even to court, there is no doubt you would be convicted."

"But why?" Trixie asked, voicing the prisoners' confusion. "What have we done?"

"You haven't done anything, but that won't matter." Shining Armour said, looking unusually serious. "Yesterday evening at around 6 p.m., Princess Celestia was found in her private rooms. She had obviously been attacked by somepony or something - she had scorch marks all over her body, even a cut or two."

Sharp breaths were heard around the room. "Who could do something like that to her?" Twilight finally asked.

"Nopony knows. Yet you haven't heard the worst of it. When the court wizards examined the rooms, they found a unique kind of magical residue that has only been reported three times in recent Equestrian history." The guard captain set his jaw. "Twice on Discord, and once on Princess Luna after her return eight years ago."

It took a moment for the bit to drop, and when it finally did, Twilight just gaped at her brother. "The Elements of Harmony?"

"Exactly," Shining Armour answered grimly. "They went over it five times at my request, and the result was always the same. They also found two other kinds of magical trace - one of which has only been seen once before, and another that completely baffled them. They managed to identify the former as the Elements of Unity."

"But how could that be?" Spike cut in. "All fourteen of us were in Ponyville at the time."

"Yes. And what are we doing here, anyway?" Gilda asked. "What do the four non-Elements have to do with all this?"

"Nopony knows," Luna admitted. "The names on the warrants were signed by my sister. I have never seen her this furious, and to be completely honest with all of you..."

A thundering explosion that blew one of the doors into the room to smithereens cut the princess off. "Conspiring against us, sister?" the voice of the Sun Princess rang out. "Again?"

The dust settled, and Spike caught a glimpse of Princess Celestia standing in the doorway. He gasped. This wasn't the sweet-tempered princess they all knew and loved, nor even the resolute defender of her realm who had gone up against Discord or Queen Chrysalis. Her mane was not the usual pastel-hued flowing mass, but a solid, unmoving armour of purest gold covering her head and most of her neck, and her eyes had gone from purple to a reddish-golden blaze.

Luna moved between the doorway and the other ponies in the room. "If what I am doing here is considered a conspiracy, then you were conspiring against me when you banished me to the moon. You are not yourself anymore, Celestia."

A blazing ray of golden light shot from Celestia's horn and hit Luna in the chest, throwing her back several feet. "You dare? These ponies tried to take my life, Luna! Ponies I thought were friends and loyal subjects, one of whom I taught as my student, and one whom I raised from an egg." Her eyes fell on Spike, and for a second, he thought he saw a glimpse of the old Celestia there, but it vanished just as quickly. "You have betrayed me, Elements. All fourteen of you. Time to pay for your deceit."

Another ray of light shot out from the Sun Princess, but it scattered harmlessly against a shield of energy that suddenly flickered into existence between her and her targets. She turned her gaze toward the shield's source. "Captain, cease this at once! You are assisting criminals."

"Perhaps I am, your Highness, but my oath of duty obliges me in this. You tried to attack prisoners before their trial, which is..." He was cut short by another, far more focused ray of light that cut right through his shield, hitting him at the base of the horn, making him collapse.

Several cries of "Shining!" rang out, while Celestia advanced on them. Spike looked around frantically, and his eyes met those of the blue unicorn across the room.

A flash of golden light made him lower his nictitating membranes. He recognized what happened even before the necklace manifested - shimmering rainbow-hued metal set with a pale blue crescent moon.

Celestia cried out in triumph. "Aha! Three down, one to go!" Her gaze fell on Trixie. "So, showmare, what are you going to do? Blindside me with smoke bombs and mirror panes?"

"You have no idea, Princess." Trixie somehow managed to make the title sound almost insulting. "I almost destroyed their town, and yet they welcomed me back, forgiving yet never forgetting." She gritted her teeth and caused a few minor light effects to dance around her head. "I may not understand them, but I can respect them. Which you evidently do not, seeing as how you're violating your own laws here."

"Well spoken for an entertainer, no doubt," Celestia said, sounding bored. "Yet what are you trying here?"

Trixie grinned. "I was stalling for time and misdirecting your attention. And like a good mark, you fell for it, hook, line and sinker."

"What...?" A flash of silver light tinged with purple and dark blue cut Celestia off, forming into a barrier around her.

"Thank you, Trixie, but I do believe it is time to scram." Luna was sweating profusely, as were Shining Armour and Cadance.

"We can't just leave you here!" Twilight shouted. "She will do nasty things to you..."

"Twily, please, this is not the time for discussion. She wanted you out of the way, which means that you can somehow stop her. But you won't be able to do that from the dungeons. Get out of here, now!" her brother shouted back, indicating a door.

The prisoners ran.

***

Somewhere outside Canterlot, three hours later

"Sorry, guys, I can't go on," Spike huffed, collapsing to the floor. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Looks like the outskirts of the Everfree Forest," Fluttershy said, looking up into the trees. "Or a similar forest, at least."

Rainbow Dash took off straight into the sky, returning just a few seconds later. "I can't see anypony behind us. I guess we're safe for the moment."

"Yes, but what do we do now?" Twilight looked at all of them in turn. "We're on the run, we have no idea what is happening, and we only have one Element here." She bit back her tears. "And we have no idea what happened to my brother, Cadance or Princess Luna."

"Uh, Twilight?" Derpy pushed through the small crowd, carefully setting a box down on the grass. "Perhaps this might help us."

Twilight opened the box and drew in a sharp breath. "The Elements! Where did you find this, Derpy?"

"Just outside the room where we fought Celestia. I thought it looked conspicuously inconspicuous, if you know what I mean, so I took it." The grey pegasus smiled. "So you thirteen now have your Elements, at least."

"Don't forget yourself, Derpy," Sweetie Belle piped up. "The princess wanted you arrested as well, so you are important in some way."

Twilight was dealing out the Elements as she spoke. "I agree with Sweetie Belle. All of us are."

You most certainly are. More important than you can probably realize at the moment. Twilight, Rarity, Scootaloo and Gilda looked at each other and nodded - they had recognized the voice.

A grey alicorn with dragon wings and griffin paws stepped out from beneath the trees. Welcome, Elements. For those among you who do not know me yet, my name is Warden Grey. I am the keeper of the Spaces Between.

"What is happening, Warden? Do you know why the princess did this?" Twilight asked.

I do not. I do know, though, that it is somehow related to the Dawn of the Seventh.

"The Dawn of the Seventh? What in tarnation is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked.

I wished to wait until the Four That Are Hidden were revealed, but I think we do not have the time anymore. Warden waved a hoof, and the world around them vanished, replaced by a flat, featureless grey plain.

"Hey, I remember this place!" Rainbow Dash looked around. "Though I tried my best to forget about it."

Fluttershy wrapped a wing around her. "We all did."

When the Dawn of the Seventh begins, the Six That Endured, the Four That Are Revealed and the Four That Are Hidden will have to prove their mettle, for if they cannot resist the strains put upon them by the guardian of the Seven Prisons, they will not be able to stand up to the Seventh, and all will be lost. Warden's voice suddenly seemed overlaid with other voices, a chorus of dread.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Twilight asked. "Some kind of test?"

Yes. Warden looked at Rarity. Do you remember what I told you the last time we met?

"We would meet again, sooner than either of us would like," Rarity answered.

You will know what I meant by that soon enough. Warden waved a paw, and the Elements of Harmony collapsed to the ground, the gemstones in their Elements going dark.

"Twilight!" Spike tried to run to his sister's side, only to be cut off by a crackling grey energy barrier.

You cannot. Warden looked at him with those fathomless purple eyes, and an unspeakable sadness threatened to overwhelm the young dragon. You have your own test ahead of you, and that will take all the willpower you have. Her test is not for you.

The Elements of Harmony started to writhe and twitch, occasionally letting loose with a scream, and the ground beneath them soon turned dark with their tears.

"Hey, Warden." All eyes turned to Gilda. "You said that the Elements would be tested, but then what are we doing here?" She gestured toward Big Macintosh, Trixie and Derpy. "Yeah, we have those fancy new necklaces now, but who are we, exactly? Are we just here to watch our friends suffer? Are you that sadistic?"

Save your anger, Gilda of Boldfeather. I am not your enemy, hard as that may be to believe at the moment. Warden blinked, and his eyes turned a deep blue. Your true enemy awaits behind this. The golden disc rose out of the ground, bearing a slight golden shimmer around its edge that made Spike grit his teeth. Something was horribly wrong.

All of you will be needed. It is time for you to prove that those Elements picked worthy bearers. Warden waved his paw again, and the world suddenly went black.

We Are the Heroes

"I hope you're happy, Applejack."

The orange earth mare just stared at her little sister. This couldn't possibly be the Apple Bloom she knew and loved. That Apple Bloom could never look this defeated, this desperate.

The younger mare turned away. "He's gone. Twilight told me he's back in Canterlot and doesn't want to see me."

"And you'll just let it stand like that?" Applejack asked indignantly.

"What does it matter to you all of a sudden? Having an attack of conscience?" Apple Bloom's words dripped with venom. "You talked me into breaking up with him, why would you care now?"

"I know I made a mistake, and things got cleared up!" Something in Applejack's head railed against this whole conversation. This couldn't be happening - this hadn't happened.

"Cleared up? Sure, if you want to call it that." Apple Bloom stared at her sister as if seeing her for the first time. "I'll never let the family down, Applejack, you know that. I'll stand by Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. But you are a different matter. You drove a wedge between me and the love of my life, and I'll never forgive you for that. You're just somepony who works on the farm. I have no sister."

The orange gemstone around Applejack's neck - why am I wearing my Element? - blazed, and she heard her own voice in her mind.

It isn't true, but it very well could have been.

***

She was gone.

Rainbow Dash stared down at the letter, feeling her disbelief and sorrow threaten to overwhelm her. This couldn't possibly be true. She wouldn't do that. She was far too lost in her own importance. Yet there it was.

RD,

I'm sorry. I had time to think on all the names you called me at the party, and you were absolutely right about every single one of them. I destroyed everything we had, and more. There is nothing left for me now.

Forgive me if you can. Goodbye, Rainbow. I love you.

Gilda

The red lightning bolt around her neck - why do I have this thing on in my own house? - flared up, and a voice whispered in Rainbow Dash's head.

She didn't. But she was thinking about it, because you just let her go.

***

The parties were always so much fun. Even when the others - Barking, Screwie and the other inmates - couldn't make it, there were always her four best friends. Granted, Madame LeFlour did complain about the food from time to time, and Rocky wasn't exactly the smoothest talker, but they always got along, and they never disappointed her.

That was the worst thing anypony could do to her - disappoint her. But the ward was her safe zone from that. She would never be disappointed again by her friends.

The blue balloon-shaped gem around her neck - huh? Where does that come from? - began to shimmer, and suddenly she saw herself from outside - Pinkamena Diane Pie, resident of room 4 at the Ponyville Hospital Psychiatry Ward.

You're not here. But you let yourself go down this path, if only for a little while.

***

The black, billowing shape laughed in triumph. You really believed those children could stop me? it hissed. Maybe if you could have overcome your self-loathing, my dear Element of Generosity.

Equestria would never know peace and harmony again, and it was her fault. She had let everypony down. Generosity? She had tried to lead a double life, if only for a few days, and it had blown up in her face.

The blue diamond around her neck - my Element? This can't be... - lit up, and she saw the Spaces Between and the triumphant Doubt for what they were - illusions. A voice roared in her mind.

You did fail them, but they stood up for you. What if they hadn't?

***

It felt good. That was the worst thing about it. Being assertive was intoxicating.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight was staring at her in disbelief. "Pinkie's gone. She's moved back to her parents' rock farm. Rarity's gone to Canterlot, and she said she probably won't come back anytime soon. What have you done?"

"Just words, Twilight. If they couldn't take them, the words will break them. What use do we have for weak friends?" Even as she said the words, she knew something wasn't right.

"You're not the Fluttershy we all knew and loved anymore." Twilight turned away. "I thought I knew you, but I was wrong. Perhaps you've finally shown your true face beneath that mask of kindness." The unicorn spat on the ground. "I never want to see you again. I can't be friends with anypony capable of such cruelty."

The pink butterfly around her neck - why do I even have this anymore? - glowed softly, and she heard her own voice.

You came close to this. Oh so very close. They forgave you. But they didn't have to do that.

***

"No. What use is reading now?" Twilight shoved the heap of scrolls aside, even as Spike burped up another one. "What is she thinking? There's a spirit of chaos on the loose, and she writes to me? Seriously?"

She tossed her belongings into a suitcase and stormed out of the library, leaving Spike writhing on the floor. She only came to a stop at the edge of the Everfree Forest, when she noticed a glow above her head. Her crown - I left that at the library, why is it here? - crackled with energy and light, and her own voice seemed to reprimand her.

Celestia still got through to you. But it was a desperate ploy, one that could easily have failed.

***

Twilight opened her eyes and looked down on her own unmoving body.

Once her scream had faded, she managed to take in her surroundings. She was floating above her body, a shimmering, half-transparent figure, and she thought she saw similar outlines above the bodies of the other Elements of Harmony.

"What's happening?" she wondered aloud.

You saw your own weakest hour, Element of Magic. Warden Grey stepped into her field of view. Each Element of Harmony is currently confronting the time in her life when she acted most drastically against her own principles, her own Element. Denying the truth to herself, giving up on a friend, surrendering to unnecessary despair, suppressing generosity in the name of subterfuge, drowning kindness for selfish purposes, and losing friendship to isolation. The alicorn looked at Twilight with those strange purple eyes, and she felt stripped, naked down to the very bottom of her mind and soul. What possible justification do you have, Element of Magic? Warden asked, with a voice like a judge's gavel.

"I..." For a moment, Twilight found it hard to argue with Warden's words. "It didn't happen that way."

Perhaps not. But all it would have taken was one small change, one almost imperceptible shift, and things would have turned out for the worst. The alicorn blinked, and his eyes turned solid white. What use is friendship, what possible power does harmony hold, if so much is left to random circumstance?

Twilight pondered that for a moment, and her mind latched onto one key phrase. "It wasn't random."

What do you mean by that? Warden seemed genuinely interested in where she was going with this.

"Yes, one seemingly minor decision would have led to a massively different result, but there was nothing random about that decision." Twilight's eyes were blazing, she was staring at Warden with pure contempt. "I knew I could trust the Princess, however random her actions seemed."

Applejack's voice cut in from somewhere to their left. "I knew I was lying to myself, and I couldn't deceive myself forever."

"I knew Gilda would eventually come around." Rainbow Dash was fixating Warden with a stare similar to Twilight's.

"I knew I could trust my friends, even if I couldn't see it at the time." Pinkie grinned. "How silly would it have been if I didn't?"

"I knew that my friends would stand by me, no matter how blind my love made me." Rarity's haughty mien would have done a princess proud.

"I knew that what I did was wrong, and I knew that if I did the right thing, I'd be forgiven." Fluttershy had the Stare at full force, even though Warden seemed unimpressed by it.

Good. The one word seemed to resonate around the plain as though the alicorn had struck a bell. You have learned much over the years. Your friendship could have splintered and fallen apart on any number of occasions, but it never did. You always kept it together, through good times and bad. Slowly, as if his face had to relearn the movement, Warden's lips curled up into a smile. The Elements of Harmony could not have found worthier bearers.

"So...that was it?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We can go home now?"

Oh no, Element of Loyalty, certainly not. You have passed your tests, showing that the foundation of Harmony stands, yet now comes the more important test. Warden gestured with one paw, and Twilight saw the Elements of Unity start to twitch in their sleep. Strangely, they didn't scream or cry. Instead, the faces of Spike and the three young mares were curled up into happy, radiant smiles.

"What are you doing to them? Do they have to face their worst hours, too?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Would that they had it that easy, Element of Laughter. Their tests are far more dangerous and hurtful. Warden frowned, and Twilight thought she saw a hint of true sadness in the alicorn's eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked, confused. "What could be worse than facing your weakest hour?"

Isn't it obvious, Element of Honesty? Warden pointed at the four figures again. Look at them. They will have to face what they have buried deep inside their souls, for no one to see.

A sudden dread crept over Twilight. She looked at Spike, smiling in his sleep, and she got it. "They're not facing anything bad at all, are they?"

Very well done, Element of Magic. Warden waved a paw, and the other four figures on the ground started to toss and turn. The new Elements will have to help them with this. He looked at the grey pegasus. Even she, who has not found her Element yet, will be needed.

The keeper of the Seven Prisons cast a grim look at each Element of Harmony in turn. No one escapes their deepest wish without help.

Beautiful Song

"Captain?"

Scootaloo turned around, feeling slightly dizzy. Hadn't she just been standing ... no, she must have zoned out for a second. She looked at the young green pegasus mare before her. "What is it, Loop?"

"I'm not sure whether I can do the triple-flipped barrel roll run for the show tomorrow night. I've been trying for hours, and it simply won't work out." Cirrus Loop was staring down at her hooves.

"Cirrus, I've seen you pull the run off, more than once." Scootaloo smiled at the youngest member of the Wonderbolts. "You have it in you, and if my instincts aren't totally off, you'll be the star of our little team tomorrow. Courage, kid."

"Yes, but..." Loop managed to look Scootaloo in the eyes. "It always looks so easy when you do it. I bet you've never had problems like this."

The orange pegasus managed to bite back a laugh, just barely. "I wouldn't put too much into that bet if I were you." She looked around conspiratorially. "Do you want to know a secret?" Loop just nodded. "I was thirteen when I first managed to take to the air."

Loop's eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets. "You're kidding me. That's three years over the standard age!"

"Yep. And I was an incredibly weak flyer at first, to boot. These babies," she flapped her wings, "only really started to develop when I was fifteen."

"And you still managed to become a Wonderbolt?" Loop bit her lip, seemingly realizing how condescending that sounded.

"Well, obviously, but it took a lot of effort, that's for sure." Scootaloo grinned. "I remember the face of my mentor when I got the acceptance letter. Yeah, she was proud, but she was also jealous."

"Your mentor wasn't a Wonderbolt, then?"

"Oh yes, she was, but she was a fair bit older when she was accepted, and she never managed to become captain. In fact, you only just missed being on the same team with her - she left last summer," Scootaloo said.

"You mean...?" Loop's eyes widened further. "Rainbow Dash was your mentor? She taught you how to fly?"

"I don't make a big thing of it usually, but yeah." Scootaloo ruffled the other mare's mane. "And if the fastest flyer in Equestrian history could see something in me, I can definitely see something in you."

Loop just smiled, eyes glistening with tears, and took off back towards the training parcours, Scootaloo looking after her.

"So this is it?"

The voice seemed to cut through a haze of some kind, right into Scootaloo's mind. She turned and saw the team's first and only honorary member lounging on a cloud sofa.

"Gilda? When did you ... how much did you see?" Scootaloo was confused - Gilda wasn't usually the quietest of flyers, and she wondered why she hadn't heard the griffon approach.

"I saw it all." Gilda stood up and took a few steps towards the captain of the Wonderbolts. "What is this, Scootaloo? I know it can't be real - you don't do flying stunts, and certainly not better than RD. Where are we?"

A sharp pain tore through Scootaloo's head, and for a second, she seemed to be somewhere else, hovering over a grey plain. Gilda looked at her with a strange gleam in her eyes. "I see. This is a dream of yours, isn't it?"

The pegasus mare squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on what was real and what wasn't. "I've always wanted to make Rainbow Dash proud."

She felt something soft touch her cheek. "You and me both, kiddo. But is this really what you want? In here, you're Rainbow Dash the Second, not Scootaloo the First. You have managed to build a career of your own, back in the real world, and I've seen that Dash is proud of you, even though you don't do anything related to flying."

Scootaloo fought to hold back the tears, barely managing to choke out an answer. "I know that, and still I've never been able to let go of this." She clenched her teeth, digging her front hooves into the ground. "This is what I dream of, but it's not what I really want. I am Scootaloo, not the next Rainbow Dash."

A flash of yellow light seemed to envelop them both, and when Scootaloo opened her eyes, she saw that they were standing inside a yellow gemstone. "Huh? What...where are we?"

Gilda looked around, fascination in her eyes. "I'm not sure, but I think we're inside my Element." The griffon looked at Scootaloo. "You do remember those, don't you? The Elements of Harmony and whatever else there was?"

"Unity." The word was out of Scootaloo's mouth before she even realized it, and in response, something around her neck seemed to flash white for a second. "I'm one of the Elements of Unity. I'm Courage."

"I see." Gilda touched one of her talons to a facet of the gemstone. "But this isn't the Element of Courage, is it?"

"No. My Element is white, not yellow." Scootaloo looked at Gilda's neck, expecting an Element, but her eyes seemed to reject focusing on that area.

"This is my Element, then," Gilda said, gazing upon her reflection in the jewel. "But what does it mean? What am I? And why are you here with me?"

"Wait." Scootaloo looked around again. "Your Element only showed itself when we met, didn't it?"

"True." Gilda turned and looked her in the eyes. "You pulled it from within me. It took courage for me to open that final door, break down the last barriers, in order to find..." The griffon hesitated. "To find myself. I lived a life of lies for seven years, and you finally helped me to shake that off."

Scootaloo stretched out a hoof and touched Gilda's crest. "So what exactly was it that you found underneath all that ... that wrongness?"

"I told you already, I found myself. My own spirit, my..." The griffon broke off abruptly, as if afraid to say the next word, then steely resolve crept onto her face. "My individuality."

As if in answer to the word, the gemstone rang out in a clear tone, and the next thing Scootaloo knew, they were standing on the grey plain again, looking down onto their unconscious bodies. The gemstones in their Elements were glowing brightly.

"That's it, isn't it?" Scootaloo pointed to Gilda's necklace. "You pulled me from that dream when you reminded me of who I really am."

Gilda looked down at the necklace for a second, then her beak twisted into the griffon equivalent of a happy smile. "This is who I really am, then. I'm the Element of Individuality."

***

"Of course you can have the evening off, Applejack." Apple Bloom couldn't suppress her grin. "Celestia knows it took you long enough to find your special somepony, who am I to stand in your way?"

Apple Bloom's younger sister could barely keep from jumping up and down in joy. "Thank you, AB. I'll be taking up the north fields tomorrow morning, then."

"Don't think about that for now, AJ. Just go out and have the time of your life." Apple Bloom turned back to the stove, where a pot of stew was bubbling happily. Just a few more minutes, and it'll be perfect.

"Oh, I will. Thanks again, and see ya!" Applejack sprinted out the door and up the stairs. The oldest Apple sibling found that joy infectious, and she started humming to herself while stirring the stew.

"AB? Can we talk for a moment?" Her brother was standing in the doorway, looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. She could have sworn he hadn't been there a second ago, but then Big Macintosh, despite his bulk, could be very stealthy when he wanted to be.

"Sure. What is it, little brother?" As she said the words, something stirred in Apple Bloom's mind. That sounded wrong.

"This isn't real, AB. You're not my big sister." The quiet, matter-of-fact tone robbed the words of any hurt they might otherwise have caused.

"What do you mean, you big lug? Of course I'm your big sister. Apple Bloom, eldest of the Apple siblings. Have you been working too long in the south fields again?" The earth mare tried to smile, but it refused to reach her eyes.

"Shake out of it, AB, please. What is this place? Why are we here?" Big Macintosh looked around.

"You're acting really strange, brother. Perhaps we should..." A sharp pain made Apple Bloom break off, as though somepony had driven a spike through her head.

Spike... That word - something about the word made her double over in pain suddenly.

"Where are we, Bloomy?" Big Macintosh stared at his sister helplessly, something green starting to shimmer around his neck.

"I..." Apple Bloom gritted her teeth, trying to focus on her surroundings. "I've imagined this sometimes. What it would be like if I was the eldest. If you had to look up to me and respect me, ask me for permission, not the other way round."

"Ah." The red earth stallion approached his sister and hugged her. "Trust me, AB, being the eldest isn't all it's cracked up to be. I've been jealous of you sometimes, getting away with things I never could have done without getting grounded for a month."

"Really?" Apple Bloom looked up at her brother. "You? Jealous of me?"

"More than you can imagine, AB." The stallion's gaze wandered off into the distance. "I've always been the responsible one. I've never done things just to see if it would work, like you used to do with the Crusaders." A smile slowly pulled at his mouth. "Well, almost never."

"I wouldn't really want to be the one responsible for Sweet Apple Acres," Apple Bloom admitted.

A deep green flash of light enveloped them, and then they were someplace else, inside a green gemstone.

"Whoa." Big Macintosh stared at the walls. "That does look like my Element, doesn't it?"

"Yup." Apple Bloom put a hoof against the wall, but it felt solid. Then she remembered something. "Wait. You said 'almost never'. What did you mean?"

It wasn't easy to tell when the stallion blushed, but it was fairly obvious this time - his cheeks seemed to have caught fire. "Well, there was Colt Fawkes. Me and Fluttershy."

"I know. I saw you finally make your move." Something stirred in Apple Bloom's memory. "Come to think of it, you really only went in for it after we'd made eye contact."

"Eeyup. I felt like something had opened up inside me when that happened," Big Macintosh said. "It felt like a door opening, and you gave it the final push."

"I'm the Element of Confidence," Apple Bloom said, trying to gather her thoughts. "But this isn't my Element, it's yours. So what are you?"

"Hmm." Big Macintosh stared at his reflection in one of the green facets. "I wanted to try what would happen, and I've never really done that before. I just gave in to it."

"To what?" Apple Bloom asked. "Try to give it a name, Big Mac, I think we're onto something here."

"Well, I just wished to try, even though I had no idea whether it would work. I wanted to indulge my..." The stallion's eyes lit up. "My curiosity."

A deep, resonant tone shook the gemstone, and then they were standing out on the grey plain again, above their unmoving bodies, the gemstones in the necklaces almost too bright to look at.

"You wanted to know where you were, and you managed to pull me out of my dream by just asking that." Apple Bloom stared at her brother in wonder. "No offense, Mac, but I'd never have thought of curiosity as that important to you."

"It wasn't." Apple Bloom had never seen her brother this radiantly happy. "Don't you see that that's the point of it all? I suppressed it all this time, because it wasn't expected of me, but it was always there, and now it's found its way to the light." Big Macintosh's face hardened into a mask of resolve, though he didn't lose the smile. "I'm the Element of Curiosity, and let nopony say any different!"

***

"Spike, dear, would you be so good...?"

Spike hastened to Rarity's side and helped her push the dress puppet back into balance. He shot her a look of mock exasperation. "Haven't I told you a thousand times that you should leave this to me?" His glance wandered down towards her rather large, bulging stomach. "I wouldn't want you to overexert yourself."

Rarity glared back at her husband with a ferocity that could have melted steel. "I'm perfectly able to look after myself, darling. I just lost focus for a second, that's all."

Spike stepped around the puppet and embraced her. "I know. I'm just nervous. This is the first time this is happening, after all."

Rarity smiled. "I know, and it's just as unfamiliar to me as it is to you." She stroked her belly with one hoof. "It's worth it, but I'm in no hurry to take any of those supplements again."

"They're that bad, huh?"

"Try chowing down on a piece of iron sometime and..." Rarity broke off. "Nevermind, you'd probably enjoy that, you philistine."

"Philistine?" Spike huffed and struck a pose. "I would have you know, Lady Rarity, that I am a dragon of the most exquisite tastes, in food," he couldn't suppress a grin, "as in matters of the heart."

Rarity tried to keep up her haughty facade, but after a second or two, she returned the grin. "Touché. How could I possibly argue with that?"

Something in her tone made Spike step closer again. "What is it, Rares?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really. I just suppose I'm nervous as well."

"Perhaps one of those strawberry cupcakes of Pinkie's could remedy that." Spike opened the door. "Don't move an inch. I'll be back in a heartbeat." He stepped out into the street, blinking his nictitating membranes once or twice against the sunlight, and made a beeline towards Sugarcube Corner, returning a few minutes later with a box of his wife's favourite sweets.

"I should have guessed."

Spike pressed his free hand against his temple as a sharp pain jolted through his head. When he looked around, he saw a familiar blue unicorn mare leaning against Rarity's fence.

"What do you mean, Trixie? And why are you here?" Spike asked, completely lost. He hadn't seen the showmare in Celestia knew how long.

Trixie sighed and pointed to her hat. "I'm an entertainer, Spike. One of the basic skills of that is knowing how to read an audience. I saw you back when I first came to Ponyville, and I immediately knew you had a thing for that white unicorn." She looked down, almost as though ashamed. "Which reminds me, I probably need to apologize to her for what I did to her mane."

"Trixie, how long ago was that? And yes, I loved Rarity from the moment I first saw her. Why do you think I married her?" Spike asked, growing ever more confused.

"No." Trixie raised her head and looked the young dragon straight in the eyes. "I know that you did not marry Rarity, because I performed at her wedding party - the one in Canterlot, with Fancy Pants's side of the family. You were there, Spike. You were Fancy's best dragon, because he wouldn't trust anypony from Canterlot with anything like that. Don't you remember?"

Spike collapsed to his knees as another bolt of pain shot through his skull. "What's happening?"

"You tell me." Trixie looked around. "This is your playground, I guess. A dream, perhaps?"

"No. This is reality, and you don't belong here," Spike snarled.

"Snap out of it!" Trixie was almost shouting. "What about that yellow earth mare with the red mane? From what I saw at Colt Fawkes, you two are an item. And you'd simply discard her like that, forget about her just because your precious Rarity whistled?" The showmare's eyes were blazing, but there was something else beneath the anger, something far more deep-seated.

Apple Bloom. As Spike thought the name, snatches of memories started flying around in his mind, and it seemed to him that the world began to fracture.

"Rarity is with Fancy Pants, and you're with Apple Bloom. Would it really be worth hurting them just so you could indulge in your kid fantasies?" The rage had evaporated from Trixie's face, leaving only a deep uncertainty.

Spike clenched his teeth. "No. I've never been able to let go of Rarity, but I think nopony can really do that with their first love. I want her to be happy, that's all."

"And you're not really ready to be a father either." At Spike's surprised look, Trixie laughed. "You're barely more than a child even by pony standards, and your kind live far longer than we do." A shadow fell on her face. "Trust me, I've seen what happens when stallions and mares - colts and fillies, really - have foals before their time. Not a pretty sight."

Spike simply nodded, wondering what the blue mare was talking about, when the world exploded in a flash of light. When sight returned, they were standing inside a light blue gemstone.

"Wow." Spike tried to sink his claws into one of the facets instinctively, but it didn't budge an inch. "This is not an ordinary gem. Where in the hay are we?"

Trixie just gawked, open-mouthed. "This is my Element. I can feel that this thing is a part of me, somehow."

The dragon turned to the unicorn. "But what is it, exactly? What are you?"

"I still don't know. I thought you could tell me, or Twilight," Trixie admitted. "Besides, it only showed up when..." She stared at Spike. "When we made eye contact, back at the palace."

"Yeah. And before that, at Colt Fawkes, you said it opened something in you." Spike slowly let one claw slide down the facet he had tried to cut into, leaving no trail of any kind.

"When that thing at the palace happened, I finally felt complete." Trixie cast down her gaze. "I finally found the resolve to leave my hate and anger behind me, so I could treat Ponyville and the Elements of Harmony, if not with friendship, then at least with..." Realization dawned on her face. "With respect."

A clear tinkling sound resonated through the gemstone, and then they were back on the grey plain, hovering above their own unconscious bodies, Elements glowing with power.

"You pulled me out of that dream by reminding me of how it would affect others." Spike breathed out slowly. "Respect, hm?"

"I'm honestly as surprised as you are," Trixie admitted. "I always wallowed in my pride and arrogance, but..." Her voice began to crack. "I really only wanted to be admired. Why else would I do what I do?"

Something clicked inside Spike's mind. "But if you don't show anypony respect, how can you expect to be shown any?"

"I know. But I could never find the resolve I needed to overcome my arrogance. I had hidden behind that mask for so long that I had forgotten how to take it off, until I met you." Trixie looked at Spike, tears gleaming in her eyes. "Thank you, Spike. The Great and Powerful Element of Respect owes you one."

***

"And now, fillies and gentlecolts, the highlight of the night!"

Sweetie Belle beamed as the announcer continued heaping praise on her. This was it. This was the moment she'd been waiting for all her life.

"For one night, and one night only! The new Princess of Pop, the Queen of Glamour - Sweetie Belle!"

It was perfect. The lights, the sound, the audience going wild during the uptempo songs and then tearful during the ballads - nopony who had been there would ever forget it. Sweetie Belle gave it her all and more, including three encores, and at the end of the concert, it seemed the audience would never stop applauding and cheering.

"That was beautiful, Sweetie Belle."

The voice had come from behind her, but it didn't belong to any of the crew. The white unicorn turned around slowly, coming face to face with a grey pegasus mare with distinctly odd eyes.

"Derpy? Why are you here?" Sweetie Belle couldn't remember giving a ticket to her, much less a backstage pass.

"I don't know." The pegasus smiled. "I guess I need to be here for some reason, maybe to get you to wake up."

"Wake up? What do you mean?" The unicorn felt a pressure mounting inside her head. It was starting to hurt.

"Oh, come on." Derpy's smile deepened and turned almost sad. "Anypony can see that this is a dream, Sweetie."

"Yes, of course it is. A dream come true." The pain intensified.

"I saw you perform yesterday. On a small stage in Ponyville, at Colt Fawkes Night. You were brilliant, as a friend of mine would put it, but how did you go from there to here in one day?" Derpy gestured towards the audience. "Look at them, Sweetie, and try to see their faces."

Sweetie Belle did, and she realized that most of the ponies looked eerily similar, almost identical. "What's happening?" The pain in her head was making it hard for her to think straight.

"You need to wake up." Derpy had never looked this serious for as long as Sweetie Belle knew her. "Yes, this is great, but would you really want to skip all the steps ahead of you? Remember how long you worked at getting your cutie mark?"

"Yes, but it didn't lead anywhere! The adults were right all along, I should just have given in to what they said." The white mare was fighting hard to hold back tears.

"No." Derpy managed to focus both eyes on the singer before her. "Never give in. I saw some of the things you did with the other Crusaders." She grinned, and her lazy eye danced out of line again. "I see a lot of things with those eyes. You had fun. You were a carefree foal, and you had great friends. Would you really have wanted to miss out on that?"

"I..." Sweetie was speechless. She never would have believed the grey pegasus to be this perceptive. "No, I wouldn't. You saw all that?"

"I know what you're thinking, everypony does," Derpy said, lowering her head. "Slow, stupid, clumsy Derpy."

Oh no. The white unicorn stepped close to the pegasus and hugged her. "I'm sorry. I never really thought about it, and you are a bit prone to accidents."

"I know, and I'm not mad at you." Derpy broke the hug. "Trust me, I know all about dreaming yourself to a better place. But it never helps. Not until you wake up and actually do something."

"You're right." The world exploded in light, and they were standing on the bottom of what looked like a giant translucent grey soap bubble.

"Ooh, I like this place!" Derpy exclaimed, shooting up into the air until she floated right beneath the upper end of the sphere. "This isn't your dream anymore, is it?"

"I don't think I've ever wanted to be trapped inside a bubble made of..." Sweetie Belle probed the ground with a hoof and found it hard and unyielding. "Made of rock, it seems."

"Well, me neither, so what is this place?" Derpy floated back down.

"That alicorn said something about all the Elements being needed," Sweetie Belle reflected. "That would include you, even though you haven't shown an Element yet."

The pegasus stared at Sweetie Belle in disbelief. "Me? An Element? Is this a joke or something, because I don't get it. Elements are ponies of legend, larger than life, ponies like Twilight Sparkle or Rainbow Dash. How could dumb little Derpy ever be worthy of something like that?"

The self-loathing oozing out of the grey mare's voice hit Sweetie Belle almost like a physical blow. "Don't do that to yourself, Der...Ditzy. I could not have gotten out of that dream without your help. We wouldn't even be here if you hadn't noticed the Elements back at the palace." She stepped right in front of the pegasus and looked her in the eyes. "You are every bit as worthy of bearing an Element as anypony who holds one. I believe in you."

Derpy stared back at Sweetie Belle for a second, then a flash of silver light enveloped both ponies. When their sight returned, they were hovering over their unconscious bodies, cast in purplish light by the glowing gemstone in Sweetie Belle's Element.

"What just happened?" Derpy looked down at her own body and gasped. "Sweetie, look at that!"

The unicorn turned her head and saw what had the other mare so excited. Around the unconscious Derpy's throat, a necklace had formed. Sweetie Belle grinned. "See? Told you so."

"You did this. I felt your trust, and I just thought, to Tartarus with what anypony thinks of me." Derpy still sounded as though she expected to wake up any second. "But what am I supposed to be, exactly? The Element of Crashing?"

Sweetie Belle laughed. "That would have to be Rainbow Dash, certainly? Besides, I think it has to be something more ... personal."

"Like what?" the pegasus asked.

"Hm. Let's see how you pulled me out of that dream, I believe that'll be our answer." Sweetie Belle frowned in concentration. "I was fighting you, because I didn't want to believe it was a dream. You got through to me when I realized you really grasped what my dream was about."

"I've always been good at noticing things nopony else cared about." Sweetie's enthusiasm seemed to have jumped to the pegasus. "And when you said you believed in me, I felt that I really knew who I was for the first time. I..." Derpy's eyes widened. "I understood."

The grey bubble-shaped gemstones in Derpy's necklace started to glow. "That's it!" the pegasus mare exclaimed. "It's the final step in the cycle."

"Cycle?" Now she had lost Sweetie Belle completely. "What cycle?"

Derpy pointed to Gilda, Big Macintosh and Trixie. "Those three and me aren't just a random gaggle of strangers lumped together as Elements." She grinned. "Okay, maybe we are, but that seems to be the point. The Elements of Harmony found themselves only when they became friends, and the Elements of Unity were friends before the fact. But these four are different."

"Different in what way? And how do you know that?" Sweetie stared at the other three new Elements.

"I'm the Element of Understanding. I have no idea how I know, but then that may be part of it. I just...understand."

Yes, you do. Warden Grey appeared before them. My congratulations, Elements of Unity. You have passed your test, as have the new Elements. He waved a hoof, and the ponies, dragon and griffon stirred awake, suddenly pulled back into their bodies.

"Urgh!" Gilda spat. "Now what? Was that it?"

Most certainly not, Element of Individuality. Warden looked at each of the fourteen Elements in turn, finally focusing on Derpy. So your Element has shown. Just in time. Do you know who you are?

Derpy's eyes seemed to glow slightly. "I'm Understanding, Fourth in the cycle of Diversity." Her voice seemed overlaid with a second, much deeper one.

"Cycle of Diversity?" Twilight looked from Derpy to Warden in confusion. "What does she mean?"

The Four That Are Hidden have shown themselves, and they will have to explain their nature, for I do not know it. Warden pointed at Derpy.

"It's actually pretty easy, Twilight," Derpy said, now sounding normal again, and even smiling. "Even somepony as slow as I am can understand it. The four of us," she pointed at Gilda, Big Macintosh, Trixie and herself, "are the Elements of Diversity. Harmony and Unity are very well..."

Gilda took up the thread. "But they will stagnate, like a pond with no streams flowing into or out of it, unless Diversity turns things around every now and then. Individuality is the First in the cycle of Diversity: Every one of us is a different individual, and it's good that way."

Big Macintosh continued. "When Individuality looks at others, it could easily find flaws. That's where the Second in the cycle comes in: Curiosity. We're different, yet we want to learn from each other."

"And when Curiosity exhausts itself, finding some things strange about others, the Third in the cycle takes the helm: Respect. We're different, and we can take that as a simple fact, not a challenge to turn others into copies of ourselves." Trixie's eyes were glowing softly.

Derpy took up the reins again. "And then, when Respect has had time to mature, it turns into the Fourth in the cycle: Understanding. We're different, yet we can embrace that."

The Elements of Harmony and Unity stared in wonder at the three ponies and the griffon in their midst. Finally Spike turned to Twilight. "That's why you said Trixie was far from Harmony."

"Yes," Twilight whispered. "They're on the side of good, but they're very different from us." She smiled. "And that's a good thing."

Pinkie bounced up and down. "Of course it is, silly. Can you imagine how boring parties would be if everypony was the same? Duuuulll!"

Warden looked at the pink earth mare with a half-smile. Laughter always was the maverick among the Elements of Harmony.

"Like we couldn't tell," Rainbow Dash laughed. "So what happens now?"

The ground shook violently, and the golden disc rose from the ground. Cracks were beginning to make their way from the outer edge into the centre, and that eerie golden glow had intensified.

I do not know, Element of Loyalty. The Dawn of the Seventh is at hand, but everything after that is hidden beneath a veil of shadow.

A single ray of golden light shot out from the disc and over the heads of the Elements. A slight hiss was heard, and then a voice rang out from behind them. "Then it is time to pierce that veil with all the light of the sun."

Slowly, the Elements turned around to face the source of the voice.

Princess Celestia stood on the grey plain, eyes blazing with golden fire.

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For a few seconds, nopony said a word. Finally, Twilight stepped out of the small crowd and stared at her mentor. "Why are you here? And what happened to you?"

The princess smiled. "I have seen the light, my faithless student. The true power of Harmony lies behind that disc, yet to be unlocked, and I am here to make sure nopony gets in the way of the Dawn of the Seventh."

This is not how it is supposed to go, Sun Princess, and you should know that. Warden Grey stepped in front of Twilight. The Dawn must come, and then the Eight and the Six will hold their final battle against whatever it is that lies in the Seventh Prison. You have no place in this, and you have no power here.

"You may be right on the first count," Celestia said as her horn began to glow, "but as for the second, you could not be further from the truth." A lance of golden light shot from the tip of her horn, colliding in midair with a similar beam of greyish light streaming out from Warden's forehead.

This is not your battleground, Princess. You shall not harm the Elements while I stand. Warden's eyes were pools of the deepest black, and his necklace seemed to absorb light now, turning a darker shade of grey.

"Do you think you can stand against my Dawn?" The voice was Celestia's, but the reverberations were not. Twilight stared at the princess, and her own horn began to glow as she tried to understand what had taken possession of her mentor. Yet her magic failed to reveal anything - for all it told her, the white alicorn in front of her was the same Celestia she knew and loved.

I do not know if I can. But I know that I must. The grey beam gained a few inches against the golden one. This is my destiny. This is what I was created for all those millennia ago.

"Oh, is that what you think? You do realize that that word in the prophecy can be read two ways, don't you?" The wicked grin on Celestia's lips widened. "This is not your destiny, Keeper of the Spaces Between. It is your doom."

The golden light flared up, and the grey beam was driven back almost to Warden's horn. The grey alicorn gritted his teeth, barely staving off the impact. It was clear he couldn't hope to hold out much longer.

Twilight didn't even notice the tears streaming down her face. This was Princess Celestia, her mentor, her ruler, her friend. Yet at the same time, she wasn't. Something else had taken hold of her, and that thing had to be fought.

"Elements of Harmony, we need to help Warden!" she called out, and in answer, five lights flared up among the crowd. Twilight felt her own Element begin to tingle and glow, and she turned to her teacher. "Whatever you are, we will drive you out of her!"

A rainbow of light shot out towards the Sun Princess, and a single note rang out through the Spaces Between. For a second, Celestia's body glowed brighter than the midday sun, and Twilight had to avert her eyes.

When her sight returned, she turned towards Celestia. The Elements had worked perfectly, she had felt it. Perhaps this was enough to stop the evil that had taken hold of the princess.

Her hopes were dashed when she saw Celestia standing there, looking completely unharmed - and more than that, seemingly invigorated by the burst of energy the Elements of Harmony had just unleashed upon her. The white alicorn threw her head back and laughed. "Foals! You honestly believed that was the weapon to use against me?" She stared at Twilight. "Have I taught you nothing? Just as you cannot fight evil with evil, you cannot fight good with good."

She is right. Warden was staring at the princess with open-faced wonder and horror. Though perhaps 'order against order' would be a more appropriate terminology.

"What do you mean?" Twilight had never felt weaker in her life, drained from using the Elements and despondent from seeing that they had strengthened Celestia.

Whatever may have happened to her, she is ultimately still a creature of order, as is the force possessing her from what I can tell. Warden dug his front paws into the ground. The same is true of the Elements of Harmony. You just tried to quench a fire by pouring oil into it. The grey light holding the golden one at bay dimmed, and Warden's eyes turned back to their usual purple. I was blind. I thought I knew it all, yet this thing caught me completely unawares. He turned to look directly at Twilight, and his next words were more than just her memory of them.

"I failed you, Elements. Fight the Dawn with all your hearts." The grey alicorn closed his eyes and turned towards his opponent. Another lance of golden energy shot out from Celestia and hit the keeper square in the chest, flaring up into a yellowish explosion. A deep rumble shook the ground, as if the very fabric of the Spaces Between cried out, and then subsided again.

The black metal necklace clattered to the ground, shattering on impact, and Warden Grey was gone.

Celestia smiled. "Well, that was easier than I expected." She turned to look at the assembled Elements. "Any other candidates for pointless sacrifice?"

"Don't you dare." All eyes turned towards the dragon now stepping out of the crowd towards the Sun Princess. "It can't have been pointless, since he died fighting you, and whatever you may be, you won't play down what he did."

"Moving indeed, Spikey-Wikey," Celestia sneered. "You would fight me, then?"

Spike gritted his teeth for a second, then he grinned. "I'm not that stupid, Celly." Outrage flared up on the Sun Princess' face at the name, yet the dragon continued. "Even if I was willing to fight my mother, Unity is just as much a force of order as Harmony is." The grin widened, now showing off some fangs. "But there are others here willing to fight you. Scoots, Sweetie, AB, remember Twilight's rainbow in the battle with Doubt?"

Twilight realized what was about to happen a fraction of a second before it did, and she smiled. You've learned more than I gave you credit for, Spike. Four beams of light erupted from the Elements of Unity, converging not on Celestia, but on the other four Elements still standing next to them.

Gilda, Big Macintosh, Trixie and Derpy lined up, and the griffon turned to Celestia, unsheathing her talons. "We are a force for good, and you most certainly aren't. Whatever you might be, whatever you want to do, I will fight you. No fears, no doubts, and no regrets."

The princess sneered. "We shall see as to that, Boldfeather." Twin rays of golden flame shot from Celestia's eyes straight at Gilda. Seconds before they could pierce her chest, the yellow claw-shaped gem in the griffon's Element glowed, and a flickering sphere of energy took shape around the four, deflecting the flames.

"Is that all you got?" Gilda drew a talon across her forehead and flicked a few droplets of blood at the Sun Princess. "Take a good look at this, because it's all you'll see or touch of my warm blood!" Rainbow Dash drew in a sharp breath.

Twilight saw a hint of uncertainty flickering on Celestia's face as the princess' eyes fell on Derpy's element. "Very well. If we have volunteers, who am I to say no?" Another beam of light, this one thinner and seemingly hotter, shot out at the Elements of Diversity, piercing Gilda's shield.

And stopped in midair, only a few inches from the four, held at bay by a lattice of deep green light. Big Macintosh looked at the golden light quizzically, then at the Sun Princess, and smiled. "Nope. Interesting try, though."

Trixie closed her eyes, and both her horn and Element lit up in the same shade of light blue. "You will not have your way with them unless you can pass us first." She opened her eyes, and a hail of blue light began to rain down on Celestia. The small glowing spheres didn't leave any mark of impact, yet Celestia screamed as though she were being pelted with rocks.

A small flickering cube of grey light emerged from the fourth Element and shot towards the princess, constantly changing shape as it did so - first a cube, then a sphere, a pyramid, eventually shifting so quickly that it was nothing but a blur. It seemed to do nothing on impact with Celestia's horn, yet a second or two later Derpy called out, "Gilda! Mac! Trixie! Focus on her mane!"

The other three exchanged glances, then four rays of light streamed out of the Elements, straight up into the sky, and then down at Celestia's head.

Twilight averted her eyes. She couldn't bear seeing this.

"It's working!" she heard Derpy shouting, and her curiosity got the better of her. She slowly opened her eyes to look at Celestia and saw that something was flowing out of the princess' mane, something burning with golden fire. It hovered in the air for a second or two, and then another ray of four-coloured light struck it, and it seemed to melt, boiling away like ice in a frying pan.

The light diminished, and then it was gone. Princess Celestia collapsed to the ground, the familiar pastel-hued mane fanning out around her head and neck.

"Princess!" Twilight was at her side in a heartbeat. "Are you alright?"

"I am now, thanks to your friends." Celestia's voice was quiet, yet steady. "They purged this thing that had taken hold of me."

"But what was it?" Twilight turned to look at the Elements of Diversity, and her eyes met Derpy's. The grey pegasus seemed shaken to the core.

"It was Harmony."

"What?" Twilight managed not to laugh in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean? That thing couldn't possibly have been Harmony!"

"Oh yes, it was," Derpy said firmly. "A strange, corrupted form of it, but Harmony all the same. Why do you think your Elements gave it strength?"

"She's right, my faithful student," Celestia whispered. "It named itself Harmony, yet I would call it by another, more appropriate name, for it has been this malevolent, evil force for a long time from what I could tell." She beckoned Twilight closer, whispered a single word into her ear, and then fell back, unconscious.

Twilight blanched, turning to the others. "Stay vigilant. This isn't over yet."

"What did she say, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Who are we fighting?"

Twilight stared at the golden disc that was now cracking all the way to the centre. "Now I understand what Warden meant when he said he'd been blind. This is not meant to hold a splinter of the Ancient Darkness after all."

Derpy walked to her side. "No. It's a cell for a force of good gone insane. It's not a prison. It's an asylum."

"Asylum?" The other twelve just stared at Twilight and Derpy, Spike voicing their thoughts. "For who?"

"For the one that used to be Harmony. It must have gone insane a long time ago. It wants to remake the world in its image. When everything is equal, nothing will be unharmonic ever again. This is who we're up against." Derpy focused both eyes on the disc, and her next word sent rumbles across the Spaces again.

"Conformity."

This Is the Night

"Conformity?" Spike stared confusedly at Derpy. "What do you mean?"

The pegasus mare's eyes twitched slightly. "I'm not sure I can find the words for this, Spike. I just know that what's behind that disc used to be Harmony, but it went bad quite some time ago."

"So what do we do now?" Applejack asked. "How are we supposed to fight Harmony? We saw what the Elements did to the thing that had taken hold of Celestia. They were worse than useless."

Twilight, who had been standing stock still, her horn glowing a soft purple, opened her eyes. "We can't fight it. This is not Harmony's battle, but we will be needed here."

"How do you know that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Don't tell me your Element has suddenly become Understanding too."

"No, but I am the Element of Magic, and I haven't exactly forgotten about our battles against Nightmare Moon, Discord and Doubt." Twilight grinned. "One of the little things I developed is an analysis spell. And if I'm not mistaken, it should be ready right about ... now!"

A ray of purple light shot out from Twilight's horn and streaked towards the disc, surrounded by small purple motes of light resembling eyes. When it hit the golden circle, its colour changed abruptly into a deep, shimmering gold, before it vanished.

Twilight took several gasping breaths. "That was ... more draining than I thought."

"Did it work?" Rainbow Dash stared at the purple unicorn expectantly. "What did you find out?"

"Hang on. I'll show you." Twilight closed her eyes, and a sphere of light sprang from her horn, forming into a three-dimensional image in mid-air.

***

"Our parents are gone." The green stallion looked at the assembled alicorns.

"What do you mean, 'gone'?" A light pink mare that looked astoundingly similar to Princess Cadance got to her hooves. "Without Order and Chaos to guide our way, we are lost. And if we can't follow, how should we lead?" She made a wide, sweeping gesture with her right front hoof. "The ponies out there depend upon us, Virtue, as do the dragons and griffons. What are we supposed to do now?"

A third alicorn got up, this one a stallion with a coat the light grey of an overcast winter sky. "What they used to do, Harmony. We shall lead."

"Easy enough for you to say, Discipline. But none of us really have any experience in doing that." The pink mare - Harmony - looked at the two alicorns that had yet to say anything. "What about you two? Do you believe you can take the place of Order and Chaos?"

The two - a deep brown stallion and a fiery red mare - looked at each other, then the mare turned her gaze towards Harmony. "I don't know if we can. But how could we ever call ourselves the offspring of Order if we did not at least try?"

"What about the offspring of Chaos?" the brown stallion asked. "Where are they?"

Virtue lowered his head. "They have vanished without a trace, probably following their - our - mother. They always were a little unpredictable."

"They're not here, and we are," Discipline said. "If fate demands of us that we lead the ponies, dragons and griffons, so be it."

Harmony gritted her teeth. "Yes. And if this is what the future holds, I will make sure to be the best leader I can be."

***

"Sister?"

Harmony looked up from her desk and saw Virtue standing there. She smiled. "Brother. How long has it been?"

"Far too long, if what I saw out there is any indication." Virtue's face was set in a mask of grim determination. "What do you think you're doing, Harmony?"

"Being the best leader I can be, of course," the pink alicorn answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. "Do you take issue with how I rule my part of the world?"

"Need you ask?" Virtue's eyes flashed. "I didn't want to intrude upon your realm, but things have gone out of control. I thought Discipline ruled with an iron fist, but compared to what you're doing here, he's like a summer breeze next to a hurricane. The ponies out there are suffering, Harmony!"

"Yes, and don't you think it kills me a little every day to see them like this?" Harmony countered heatedly. "But I have an obligation to be the best replacement for our father I can be, and by Chalice and Banner, I will fulfill that obligation."

"Our father would be horrified to see what you've been doing, possibly more so than our mother." Virtue stepped closer to his sister. "Change your ways, Harmony. Your ponies are starting to grow disgruntled. They've accepted everything you've done to them so far as necessary, but their patience is at an end - as is mine and that of our siblings. If they can't overthrow you, rest assured we will." With that, he turned and left the study.

***

Virtue stared down at the battered, bleeding form of the - thing - he had once called sister. Harmony was unconscious, barely breathing, yet he couldn't find it in himself to kill her and end her insanity, the madness that had cost countless pony lives when she had expunged her chaotic side to become a better ruler. Instead, she had imposed the most tyrannical form of order ever seen upon her subjects, and finally the remaining Progeny of Order and Chaos had taken it upon themselves to remove her from power.

It was the first war the world had ever seen, and it had been long and brutal, but with four of the five Progeny on one side, the outcome was never really in question. And now they had to decide what they would do with their sister.

"We can't kill her," Virtue said. "Father's laws don't allow for the slaying of Progeny by Progeny's hoof."

"Community lies dying," Power murmured, the gaping wound in her throat quivering slightly with every breath she took. "Discipline will never fly again after what she did to his wings. We need to make sure she never endangers anyone again." She slowly raised her head and looked Virtue in the eyes. "You have to make this decision, brother. What should we do?"

Virtue closed his eyes and focused every last bit of power into his horn. A beam of pure white light streaked toward Harmony, flaring up into a blinding glare upon hitting her. When the light dimmed, six golden horseshoes lay on the ground in front of the pink alicorn.

Power stared in wonder for a moment. "What did you do?"

"I saved the parts of her that can still recover from her insanity." Virtue pointed at the horseshoes. "These contain the essence of who she used to be. They're the Elements of Harmony. This," he pointed at the body, "is beyond redemption and beyond hope, yet still I would not kill it. We shall imprison it."

"Imprison?" Power whispered. "You do remember what Mother used to tell us about prisons?"

"Yes. 'Every cell has its weakness, and can be escaped eventually.'" Virtue focused again, and a swirl of grey opened up in front of them, drawing Harmony's old body in. A brief flash of gold flashed up before the gateway closed again.

"We are not immortal, Virtue." Power said, picking up the horseshoes. "And what will happen when we go, and the ponies forget what happened here?"

"They will forget. But we will remain with them, if only in spirit." Virtue smiled, even as tears shone in his eyes. "We will do the same thing I did to Harmony."

"You would have us die?" Power exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. "How should we protect our subjects when we're dead?"

"We shall pick worthy bearers of our most important qualities to carry our torch. Ponies, even ones as powerful as us, will be forgotten eventually, but good qualities last forever." Virtue looked up into the blood-red sky. "Besides, Community and Discipline are near death as we speak, and I don't think you would make a full recovery either. I can't carry on alone, Power." Tears were streaming down the green alicorn's face. "I could not make it through a dozen millennia by myself. Not with the knowledge of what I had to do to Harmony."

Power's horn glowed, and a wave of resolve washed over the two. "I'm not sure I could do that, brother, and I certainly won't force you to live like that. It might do worse things to you than what happened to our sister."

"Then let us get Community and Discipline. We have a lot of work ahead of us."

***

The assembled ponies, dragon and griffon stared at the projection as it froze on the image of Virtue and Power turning to leave.

Finally Spike found his tongue. "That is what we're up against?"

"Yes." Derpy swallowed hard. "I knew what we were dealing with, but I hadn't seen the full picture."

"Why haven't we ever heard of any of this?" Rarity asked. "We should..." She broke off suddenly, her face turning slightly green.

"Rarity? Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"I'm fine. I just wish this had picked a better time..." The white unicorn broke off again, retching violently.

"What's wrong with her?" Spike asked.

Fluttershy was staring at Rarity as if trying to figure out a stubborn puzzle, then suddenly the pegasus mare blanched. "Oh no. This isn't good." She bit her lip. "I mean, of course it's good, it's just exactly the wrong time."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, feeling frustration rise within her. "What's happening here?"

Derpy smiled. "None of you have been through this, but I have. Nausea attacks, and she hasn't eaten anything bad? You should recognize the 'problem'." She turned to Rarity. "Congrats, by the way."

It took Twilight another second or two to put the pieces together.

"You mean she's...?"

Fluttershy just nodded.

Twilight pressed a hoof against her forehead. "Oh dear Celestia, as if we didn't have enough on our plates as it was."

Rarity seemed to slowly regain control. "This won't hinder us, darling. Anyway, where was I?"

"You were wondering why we hadn't heard of any of this," Twilight said. "From what I can tell, all of this happened a very, very long time ago."

"It must have been long before the war against the Ancient Darkness," Spike mused. "Six to seven thousand years, or even more."

"Twelve thousand, actually." All eyes turned to Derpy, who smiled apologetically. "Sorry, that's all I know."

Before anyone could say any more, the disc shook violently, and a flash of golden light washed over them. All went black.

***

Spike came to, wishing instantly that he hadn't. His head was pounding, and he felt a strange itch at the back of his neck, as if some kind of insect was trying to chew its way through his scales.

He scrambled to his feet and looked around. The other Elements of Unity were getting to their hooves, as were the Elements of Diversity. Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony were nowhere to be seen.

His eyes fell on the disc - or rather, on where the disc had been. It was gone, leaving only a circle of absolute darkness. "Twilight?"

"Where are they?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking around. "And what is that thing on your neck?"

"Huh?" Spike reached up a hand and met with something soft and flexible stuck between his first and second spines. "You have something there too. AB, Scoots, you too." He stepped closer to his marefriend to get a good look at the thing. It was barely the size of his fist and glowing with a soft golden light, showing no other distinct features. "What in Equestria is that?"

"It's trying to get into your heads." All eyes turned to Derpy, who was now clutching her head. "It's getting too much. Please, make it stop. I'm just a dumb mailmare, I'm not made to handle all this knowledge."

Spike touched her cheek with one claw. "Yes, you are. You saved us all, more than once. Courage, Ditzy. You can do this." His element glowed softly, and Derpy looked at him with gratitude in her eyes.

"Thank you, Spike." She turned to the others. "Those things on your necks are trying to get to you, but something is holding them back. I don't think they can get in unless you let them."

"So where are Rainbow Dash and the others?" Scootaloo asked. "And if Conformity has broken out, why are we still here?"

"Oh Celestia, no," Spike whispered, turning to Apple Bloom. "Do you remember that letter from Princess Luna?"

"Yeah, but what..." She broke off, realizing what he was getting at. "How did that one passage go again? The battle of Eight and Six?"

"No." Spike stared at the black void. "Not Eight and Six. Eight against Six."

Six figures began to manifest in the darkness, approaching rapidly until the Elements of Unity and Diversity could clearly see them. The young dragon had to bite back a scream.

Golden flames enveloped the bodies of the Elements of Harmony, and their eyes were blazing orbs of orange fire. The gemstones in their necklaces and crown were burning with the same golden light. But it was their facial expressions that really drove home that something horrible had happened to the six. Their lips were curled up into dismissive smiles, and behind the fire, their eyes betrayed the same contempt.

Gilda was the first to find her voice. "Who are you, and what have you done to them?"

Twilight's grin widened. "She showed us the way, griffon. Surrender while you can, or face the assembled wrath of Indifference, Allegiance, Authority, Brutality, Sacrifice and Control." As one, the five mares behind her stepped into line, and all six spoke in a chorus.

"Submit now, or be destroyed by the Elements of Conformity."

Verjamem

For a very long second, silence hung over the assembled Elements. Then a single disbelieving laugh broke the spell.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Gilda shouted, beak twisted into a half-mad grin, before turning to Rainbow Dash. "You saw what I did when Celestia attacked me. Do you seriously think I'll just go back on a Blood Pledge?"

"No." The blue pegasus' voice was accompanied by a strange echo, as if the other five mares by her side were whispering along. "I was hoping you'd do the sensible thing for once in your life, but I wasn't really expecting you to do that. You never knew just when to stop."

Gilda raised her paws, talons unsheathed. "Pot. Kettle. Black," she hissed.

"What about the others?" Rarity asked. "Surely at least the Elements of Unity are not completely beyond salvation?"

Sweetie Belle stepped forward, determination written on her face, yet Spike noticed the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Stop this, Rarity. Please." Her eyes wandered down towards her sister's belly. "If not for me, then for your foal."

For a fraction of a second, something danced across the older mare's face, as if Sweetie Belle had gotten through, but then Rarity's jaw set again. "He or she will live in the best Equestria there ever was. Don't try to stop us."

"Are we quite done here?" Pinkie Pie asked, sounding bored. "They won't see reason anyway, so why bother?"

Twilight raised her head. "You're right." Her horn flared with golden light, and Spike felt himself lifted from the floor and tossed into the air, a golden cage of energy forming around him. He tried tearing through it, but the bars, while seemingly made of light, didn't budge an inch. From somewhere below, he heard Apple Bloom scream.

"What did she do?" he heard from behind him. Turning around, he saw Gilda standing there.

"It should be obvious, but I'll explain anyway," Twilight's voice rang out from the ground. "What use are the Elements without their leaders?"

Spike and Gilda just stared at each other. "Does she really believe that we're the leaders?" the dragon asked.

"Perhaps she can't think of it any other way," the griffon thought out loud. "She's a force of perfect order now, right? The very thought of a bunch of random Elements like me and the other Diversities probably gives her a headache or something."

"Perfect order..." Spike mused, then something seemed to click inside his head. "That's it!"

"What's what, scaleboy?" Gilda asked. "Don't tell me you've suddenly found the perfect solution for this whole tangle."

"I'm not sure, but we don't have much to lose." Turning away from the griffon, still bristling at the name 'scaleboy,' he shouted down towards the other Elements with all his might. "Guys! Get them one on one! They're strongest when they work as a group!"

The six remaining Elements of Unity and Diversity looked at each other for a second, then each of them leaped at one of the Elements of Conformity, throwing them back into the void where the disc had been.

As soon as Twilight was out of sight, the cage vanished, and Spike suddenly felt a heavy wave of deja vu. He knew what happened when you found yourself high above the ground in mid-air, and this time, no pegasi were there to come to the rescue.

"Oof!"

Griffons were a different matter, however. Gilda managed to slowly glide down to the ground, casting an evil stare at the dragon. "You could do with losing a little weight, you know?"

"Hey!" Spike exclaimed, dusting himself off. "It's all muscle!"

"Sure." Gilda held her stare for one more second, then she grinned. "Though that was actually fun. Too bad you're already taken. I certainly wouldn't mind a bit of dragon for a change." Spike couldn't tell whether Gilda meant that in a culinary sense or in the more obvious way, and he couldn't decide which thought he found scarier.

The dragon looked at the griffon in confusion for a moment, then he laughed. "I'm almost flattered, but sorry, the answer is no."

"You're missing out on the time of your life, dragon boy." She turned towards the void. "Where do you think they are?"

"I have no idea." Spike followed her gaze. "But I have a feeling this isn't over by a long shot. Say, there's something I'd like to know. What exactly did you mean when you said 'Blood Pledge'?"

"It's a griffon warrior oath." Gilda absent-mindedly stroked her forehead. "When you make that gesture at an enemy, it means you'll fight them until one of you lies dead or admits defeat."

"But..." Spike's eyes wandered over to Celestia's unconscious form.

"She wasn't the real enemy here. She was possessed, that's all." Gilda turned to look at the void. "The real enemy is somewhere in there, doing Virtue-knows-what to your friends."

Spike hesitated for a second, then he softly put one hand on Gilda's shoulder, causing her to turn to him in surprise. "They could be your friends, too, if you let them."

"You know, scaleboy, I actually think I'd like that." Gilda turned back towards the black circle, but Spike could feel her relax ever so slightly.

***

Derpy hit the ground.

That in itself was strange, since everything was dark, and the 'ground' looked just like the 'air' above it. But her hooves had definitely touched down on something solid. More strangely, she could see Pinkie Pie just a few feet away from her, scrambling to her hooves, still burning with that golden fire, even though it didn't seem to illuminate anything between them.

All of that, however, paled in strangeness compared to the third presence she felt. Something - perhaps even someone - else was here, and it was not the corrupted Harmony she'd felt from the void. Before she could put a hoof on it, though, Pinkie had closed the distance between them. "What did you do, walleye?"

"The most sensible thing." Derpy had no idea how she knew - the headaches were starting again -, but she did know that what had looked like a desperate last-ditch attempt had in fact been exactly the right thing to do. "You are creatures of absolute order. As a group, you'd have beaten us to a pulp within minutes. Duels, though? Not exactly your strong point."

"You are dangerous." The sentence by itself might have sounded funny, even ludicrous, coming from Pinkie, but combined with the stern expression on her face and the weak echo in her voice, it seemed rather less so. "You will be excised. You are chaotic."

"Says the mare who owns a party cannon." Derpy smiled. "You used to be as close to chaos as one could get without turning into Discord. What happened?"

"Harmony showed me the light." The golden flames around Pinkie flared up briefly. "She has been imprisoned for so long, and she only wants what's best for everypony."

"No, she doesn't." The pegasus mare spread her wings. "Her siblings fought a war to stop her. Whatever she did to her subjects must have been terrible."

"It was necessary!" Behind the echoes, Derpy thought she heard another voice, quiet yet enormously powerful. "She did what had to be done. Besides, what would a creature of chaos like you know about all that?"

"I'm the Element of Understanding, if you recall," Derpy countered. "And I know that you hate me and the other Elements of Diversity. What I don't get is, why?"

Pinkie seemed to think for a moment. "You are forces of good, but you bear no sign of Harmony's father. You are kin to her mother."

"But there never were Elements for the Progeny of Chaos, were there?" As tense as the atmosphere still felt, Derpy knew she was onto something here, and that she needed to follow through with this conversation, despite the feeling that somepony was trying to nail pictures to the inside of her head.

"Not that anypony knew of. Your Elements show signs of all four of Harmony's siblings, but not a trace of order." Pinkie blinked once. "And that is why you need to be excised."

Derpy dug her front hooves into the ground, trying to show a confidence that she didn't have, as the pink mare charged her. Understanding is not a combative Element at all.

The impact hurt. Pinkie wasn't exactly the most slender of ponies, and having her barrel into you at full speed was extremely unpleasant. Derpy felt something crack in her side, and pain shot through her. For a moment, she was on the cusp of surrender.

And then she saw a face in her mind's eye. A young unicorn mare with a purplish coat and light blond mane.

"For my daughter, for my friends, I will stop you." The bubble-shaped grey gemstone flared with light. "For your own unborn foals and your family, I will stand against the thing that's inside you."

Grey light exploded outward from the pegasus mare, and darkness fell.

***

Apple Bloom barely managed to dodge Applejack's first charge.

"AJ, please stop it!" she called out to the blazing orange mare. "Why are you doing this?"

"You're an unstable Element. You might still be cleansed, but I can't be sure of that." The worst part of it wasn't the naked, brutal honesty in the words, nor even the fact that her own sister was tossing her aside like that. The worst part was that she sounded genuinely regretful, as though she were cutting down a tree that had been infected with fire blight.

"How could you live with yourself if you do this?" Apple Bloom asked, leaping out of the way of another charge.

"I don't know if I can, but I must do this." Applejack's voice was shaking, subtly enough that only a close friend or family member would notice it.

Apple Bloom leaped at her chance. "No, you don't. Remember the last time you thought you knew what was best for me?" She felt a surge of self-loathing at the low blow, recalling how Applejack had taken weeks to look her in the eyes again, but she had to try this.

"What do you mean?" Applejack stared at her sister for a second or two, then realization dawned on her face. "Oh no. Don't you dare bring this up. We both swore never to speak of it again."

"You're forcing me to do this, AJ." Apple Bloom felt tears rising and had to swallow several times to keep her voice steady. "You forced me and Spike apart. You made a terrible mistake. What tells you this time is different?"

Applejack lowered her head for an inch or two. "She knows what's best for us."

But Apple Bloom didn't answer. Her sister's hesitation had given her the opening she needed, and she leaped at the older mare, teeth bared and all thought focused on the gemstone around her neck.

"Leave my sister alone, you self-righteous little bitch!"

She heard a crack upon impact, pain shooting through her right front hoof, and the last thing she saw was a flash of orange light.

***

The magical duel was going as badly as Trixie had expected.

She was up against the Celestia-damned Element of Magic, after all. Nopony except the princesses held a candle to Twilight Sparkle in terms of magical power, and now that her moral inhibitions had been erased, she wasn't shy to prove it to her adversary.

"Stop resisting me, Trixie. It's utterly pointless." Twilight sounded annoyingly calm, as if the battle wasn't particularly taxing - and for her, it probably wasn't.

"You have chosen the wrong unicorn to mess with, Twilight Sparkle." Trixie managed to equal Twilight's calm, and even add a few layers of swagger and taunting on top. "Do you really think you can rid the world of The Great and Powerful Trixie with a few parlour tricks?"

"Parlour tricks?" Twilight snapped. "I'll have you know that these spells aren't meant to hurt you, just burn out your Element."

Good to know. Keep her talking. Everypony is a potential mark, if you know their weakness, Trixie thought as she dodged another beam of golden light. She had hoped her opponent would exhaust herself eventually if she continued firing like this, but Twilight showed no signs of slowing down. "Burn out an Element? Has that ever been tried? Do you know the possible results?"

The golden barrage stopped, and when Trixie dared to raise her head and look at Twilight, she saw the purple mare frowning in concentration. "No. It's never been done before." Her eyes flared up. "An experiment, then. Whatever happens, I'm more likely to survive it than you are. Remember that Ursa Minor?"

Trixie gritted her teeth. That was her darkest hour, and she didn't need to be reminded of it by that smug librarian of all ponies...

Hang on. Her eyes widened. I took down three of her friends back then. Let's see whether that technique works a fourth time. She looked at Twilight. "Anything you can do, I can do better!"

"Oh, you can? Then improve upon this!" Another ray of golden light, this one wider and higher, shot at Trixie. She focused every last bit of energy she could muster into her horn and Element.

The beam hit her, and she felt her whole body shake. Her horn started to vibrate violently, and she heard Twilight's voice. "What have you done, you madpony?"

Trixie managed to grin despite the pain running through her body. "I couldn't block your attack, so I looped it. I have no experience with this kind of magic, but it should overload any..."

An explosion of pale blue light flared up along the beam still connecting the two unicorns, and Trixie thought she could smell something burning before everything went dark.

***

A small part of Scootaloo found the chase exhilarating - a very small part. The rest of her was only too aware that she could never hope to outfly Rainbow Dash. She was surprised that she had managed it for as long as she had.

"Give it up already, squirt. I don't want to hurt you. I need to help you." Rainbow Dash sounded honestly worried, which only served to heighten Scootaloo's fears.

"Help me? By destroying what makes me into who I am?" Scootaloo stopped in mid-air and turned to look at her pursuer. "You of all ponies should know that I can't let you do that."

"There's hope for you yet, Scoots. You..."

"Don't call me that." Scootaloo's voice could have made lava freeze. "Only my true, loyal friends get to call me that."

Rainbow Dash winced visibly, and Scootaloo felt a brief pang of guilt, immediately quashed by the blue pegasus' next words. "Let me show you what I do to those who betray me."

Scootaloo pounced at the opening. "Like Gilda? You just let them go and hope you never see them again, is that it?"

She knew her gamble had paid off when she saw Rainbow Dash's face contort in rage. "You do not get to call me out on that!"

"Make me stop." Scootaloo focused on her wings and hind legs. I only get this one chance.

Rainbow Dash charged at the younger pegasus. At the last possible second, Scootaloo shot straight up, letting Dash pass immediately below her, and then clamped down on the blue mare's neck with both hind legs, while her front hooves struck the wing joints with full force, causing Dash's wings to lose mobility for a few crucial seconds.

Scootaloo grinned as she saw Rainbow Dash's eyes widen. "Legs that can race earth ponies," she shouted.

Only then did she realize that Dash had been flying at a slightly downward angle. While the ground wasn't visible, she could feel it rushing towards them.

It was scary. It was the most dangerous thing Scootaloo had ever done. There was only one appropriate response to it, an ancient phrase of great power in times of need.

"Geronimo!"

The world exploded in white light.

***

Sweetie Belle had taken to the fight the only way she could - she was completely on the defensive, dodging charges and magical attacks alike.

I won't fight my sister. Even if she's completely lost, which I don't believe for one second, I can't endanger her foal. My niece or nephew is in there.

Rarity, on the other hand, showed no such inhibitions - if anything, she seemed more than prepared to go down with Sweetie Belle if it was the only way. They had been at it for what felt like hours, and Sweetie was on the verge of collapse.

"Sweetie, please, I only want to help you." Rarity was panting audibly as well, though she sounded nowhere near as exhausted as Sweetie Belle felt. "Just give in and let me clean you up. I've done that often enough, haven't I?"

The younger mare shuddered at the thought of what that 'cleaning' might entail. "Rarity, snap out of it, please. I know that you're in there somewhere, and that you know this is wrong."

"Wrong? How in the world could it be wrong to want the best for your child?" Rarity appeared genuinely astonished at the thought. "You're chaotic, Sweetie, but you're not yet completely hopeless. She can help you, if you let her."

Sweetie Belle felt an itch on the back of her neck - the thing there was trying to dig in again. "Is this what happened to her? This dug into her, and she couldn't fight it? But then why can I?" she called out, stalling for time to catch her breath.

The voice that answered her sounded like her sister's, at first. But the undercurrents were different, and Sweetie Belle knew somehow that whatever was speaking to her now was ancient beyond measure. "You are a creature of both order and chaos, and unless you renounce the latter, I cannot help you."

"Is that so?" Sweetie Belle gritted her teeth and dug her hooves in. "I know I can't trust you any further than I could throw you, Conformity." Rarity gasped, but her sister continued undeterred. "My trust isn't blind faith. I know that Rarity can fight you, and if I can help her do that, then by Sun and Moon I will." She closed her eyes and focused all her power into her horn - and her voice.

A few months ago, she had been to a concert at Canterlot Gardens. A mare about her age from the southern reaches had performed there, and one song in particular had stayed with her. It had been in the mare's mother tongue, but she had tracked down a translation.

Sweetie Belle sang, and the darkness seemed to shrink back from her crystal-clear voice.

"I believe that we will catch each other again
And that yesterday will return for good with a river of light
Even the song will find its way to the rhymes if I go after her"

A blaze of purple light streamed forward from her horn and Element, and the darkness shattered.

***

He simply couldn't do it.

Big Macintosh was being battered with attacks, seemingly from everywhere at once. He never would have believed that Fluttershy, of all ponies, could move this quickly, much less use that speed to attack anypony. But there she was, lashing out at him with everything she had. He was strong and tough, and she wasn't exactly physically powerful, but she was wearing him down ever so slowly, aided by the fact that he didn't even try to resist her. He couldn't.

She seemed to notice, and for some reason it seemed to stoke her fury. "Why don't you try to resist, Mac? You're an Element bearer, and you won't even fight?"

"I won't fight you." He just looked into her eyes, trying to find the real her behind the flames.

Her voice changed subtly, turning deeper. "I can't believe she'd ever find it in herself to love someone like you. You're a creature of chaos hiding behind a mask of order, and those are the worst of all."

His gaze intensified. "Who are you?" If this wasn't really Fluttershy, perhaps he could bring himself to do something after all.

"You've seen me, haven't you?" The pegasus mare spread her wings proudly. "I am Harmony, keeper of order in the universe."

"You went mad." The disbelief Mac had felt drained away, replaced by anger. "And you're using her to spread that insanity."

"Is it insane to want the best for the world?" Fluttershy smiled. "I'm thinking of what's best for her, Big Macintosh. And that certainly is not you."

"You've been in here for twelve thousand years," Mac said. "And you've never known what love is. You only knew your parents, your siblings, and your subjects." He started circling Fluttershy, always keeping his eyes on her. "I don't understand you, and you don't understand me, but you need to know one thing. I love her. I won't let you destroy her. I'll fight you with everything I have, even if that means I hurt her." His round complete, he again looked her in the eyes. "I'll never forgive myself for this, but I'll do it if I have to. Please don't force me to."

The golden flames around Fluttershy died down for a second, and her eyes turned back to their usual teal. "Mac? Don't let her get back to me." Even as she said it, the flames were beginning to dance around her hooves again.

He wrapped her in his front hooves. "I won't."

Their lips met, and a green explosion erupted from them, even as Mac felt the insides of his mouth and throat burn like he'd just swallowed a flame.

Nebo

Princess Celestia coughed.

Spike and Gilda, who had been watching the gateway attentively, turned to the white alicorn, ready to do battle again if necessary, but she showed no signs of aggression. "Where are the others?"

Spike pointed at the void. "In there. It seems that whatever corrupted you also got the Elements of Harmony."

Celestia slowly got to her hooves. "So they're fighting the other Elements now?"

"Highness, we..." Gilda was cut short by a loud sucking sound from the gateway, followed by a brilliant flash of light in all colours of the rainbow. When the light subsided, the twelve missing Elements were lying on the ground, six of them struggling to get to their hooves.

Spike ran to Apple Bloom's side, only dimly aware of Gilda and Celestia at his side. He knelt beside her. "Are you alright?"

Apple Bloom drew in several deep breaths before answering. "I don't know. My right front leg..." she broke off, looking down at it. Spike followed her gaze and gasped. The limb was hanging at an unnatural angle below the knee, the bone sticking out of a gaping wound just above the hoof.

Letting his gaze wander over the other Elements, Spike noticed that all of them were showing similarly serious injuries. Derpy was clutching a hoof to her left side, face scrunched up in pain. Trixie was helping Sweetie Belle to her hooves, both unicorns showing burn marks from their horns down to their chest. Scootaloo struggled to keep on her hooves, her hindlegs seemingly ready to give way any second.

And then his eyes fell on the big red stallion still lying on the ground, locked in what looked like a final embrace with Fluttershy, who, like the other Elements of Harmony, wasn't moving. Big Macintosh slowly got up and turned to look at Spike, and the dragon realized that the fight had taken even more of a toll from the earth stallion. Mac's muzzle was scorched black, and when he opened his mouth to speak, Spike saw that his gums looked similarly burnt, as if the stallion had swallowed fire. "Help her. Please." Spike could tell that every word was causing Big Macintosh excruciating pain, yet he was pointing down at Fluttershy.

A pulse of golden light washed over the Elements, and Spike felt the dread returning. This wasn't over yet, but how were they supposed to fight anything in this state?

"Get the Elements of Harmony out of here, Highness." All eyes turned to Derpy at these words, uttered respectfully, yet almost amounting to a command. "They can't fight Conformity's influence forever, and we can't leave them here for the final battle."

"I won't be able to heal you if I do that." The princess looked at the void. "And there is something else coming as well. Can't you feel it?"

"I did, when I was in there, but I don't think that this other...thing wants to hurt us. But Conformity does, and they need to get out of here. I can't help them, but you can." Derpy's eyes focused on Celestia. "They will not survive if they go up against her again."

Celestia bowed her head and focused. Her horn glowed white for a second, then she and the unconscious Elements of Harmony were gone.

The second the seven ponies were gone, Derpy collapsed to the floor. "Ow."

"Now what are we gonna do?" Apple Bloom asked. "We're all hurt, completely exhausted, and Conformity is still out there?"

"Let her come." Gilda took a position between the injured ponies and the void, talons at the ready. "She's managed to hurt all of you once. Not again."

"Don't challenge me like that, griffon." The void flared up with golden fire, bright enough to make the ponies and Gilda squeeze their eyes shut. Spike could see a figure taking shape within the flames through his inner eyelids, and he shivered.

She was tall - even taller than the princesses. And she was beautiful, the kind of beauty you'd see in a wild beast or a thundercloud, best observed from very far away. The pink coat, the mane in three stripes of purple, pink and pale yellow, the shining golden eyes, even the golden hexagon cutie mark all combined into the kind of regal figure you would expect the original Harmony to be. Yet one look into her eyes was enough to turn awe into dread.

The golden fire died down, and Conformity regarded the assembled Elements with a haughty smile. "I was hoping it would not come to this. I have no wish to harm anyone, yet what must be done, must be done."

Slowly, painfully, the Elements staggered to their hooves and turned towards the alicorn.

"We are the Elements of Unity," Spike growled. "You are a corrupt, evil thing, and we will stop you."

"We are the Elements of Diversity," Gilda hissed. "My blood is where it belongs, and there it shall remain."

"How impressive." Conformity lowered her head and focused, sending a shockwave of golden light into the assembled Elements.

Spike had to use every last bit of strength he had to remain standing upright, and he saw one or two of the ponies keel over. His Element flickered furiously, trying to put up some kind of resistance to this assault of pure order, yet finding no purchase.

"Is that all you have to offer?" Conformity asked sarcastically. "Had I known, I would have taken to more direct tactics earlier." She redoubled her efforts, and Spike felt the light beginning to pierce his scales. From the screams that reached his ears, the ponies and Gilda were less fortunate than that.

A deep, resonant note echoed from the gateway, a sound that made Spike think of white marble halls for some reason, and the onslaught of light ceased. Conformity turned her head. "What is the meaning of this?"

A ray of green light shot upwards from the void, slowly taking shape in mid-air, a deep male voice issuing from it. "You know that I cannot let you do this, Harmony."

The pink alicorn gaped in disbelief. "This cannot be. You have been dead for twelve thousand years."

"True, and yet false at the same time." The light flared up briefly, brighter than the midday sun. When it died down again, a second alicorn was standing between Conformity and the Elements - a green stallion clearly not in the best of health, his coat patchy and ragged, gaping wounds visible in his legs and chest.

Spike recognized him from Twilight's vision, and he couldn't help but share Conformity's astonishment.

"Greetings," Virtue said, bowing his head to the assembled Elements. "I think I might be of some assistance."

"How...?" Conformity was struggling for words, and Virtue turned back to her.

"I am the part of your brother that he sealed into the gateway's wards. Call it the final line of defense against your escape, if you will." The green alicorn frowned. "Though it seems I have failed, as he knew I would."

"And you intend to fight me?" Conformity let her eyes wander over the battered shape before her. "He barely defeated me even at full power. You stand no chance."

"I am quite aware of that." Virtue's horn began to glow. "Yet for the sake of the innocent, I shall not let you harm them while I still draw breath."

Conformity's eyes narrowed, and she grinned. "There is only one solution to this little problem, then." Her horn flared up, and a shockwave of golden light shot towards Virtue.

Strangely, the green alicorn showed no signs of resisting his sister's assault. His horn never stopped glowing, even as the rest of him slowly dissolved into the wave of light, but whatever he was trying to do with his magic, it seemingly wasn't working.

A final, brief flash of green light erupted from Virtue's horn, washing over the assembled Elements, and Spike heard the stallion's voice in his head. I cannot stop her, but you can. Do not kill her if you can avoid it, but take all I can give you. Faith, hope and love be with you always.

Spike saw the ponies' wounds begin to mend, though they didn't completely close, and he understood. Virtue had never intended to fight Conformity directly. He was counting on the Elements to do what they had come here for, and he had helped them in the only way he could.

Conformity gritted her teeth. "You always were the saintly one in our family, Virtue." She turned back to the Elements. "So, he got you back onto your hooves. How aggravating, and how irrelevant."

Another wave of golden fire washed over them, and this time, Spike could feel the heat even through his scales. He could only imagine the pain this must cause to the ponies and Gilda, and he instinctively moved in front of Apple Bloom to shield her a little from the flames.

"Stop it! Why are you doing this?" The agony in Apple Bloom's voice was enough to drive Spike to tears. As if in response, his Element blazed again, and the golden light seemed to retreat a little.

"You cannot possibly be serious, filly. I am doing this because it is necessary. Sacrifices must be made, in the name of my father." Conformity's assault lessened for a second, and Spike could see that his marefriend was still standing, if barely.

"What about your mother?"

The question came in a quiet, almost demure voice, from the grey pegasus in the line of Diversity, yet Conformity recoiled as if from a physical blow. "My...mother?"

"You were a child of Chaos and Order." Derpy's Element was glowing brightly as she stared at Conformity, eyes completely focused. "You denied your own mother. I have a daughter myself, and if she ever did something like that, it would kill me. How do you live with the knowledge of what you did to her?"

"She abandoned us!" Conformity roared, losing focus on her assault momentarily. "She left me and my siblings to fend for ourselves!" The wave intensified again, and Derpy was thrown back.

"And yet you still pine after her, and after your father." Big Macintosh's eyes were shimmering in the golden light. "I get that, believe me. But they're gone, and they won't come back."

"Be...QUIET!" the alicorn screamed, lashing out against the earth stallion with a lance of golden fire that hit him in the chest, causing him to collapse to his knees.

"You were a foal thrown into an unfriendly world before she was ready." Trixie's voice was thick with swallowed tears. "So was I. You tried to find something - anything - to hold on to, as did I." In the blue glow of the Element of Respect, Spike saw that Trixie was barely holding it together. "Your way was to try to be the best copy of your father you could be. I tried something else, but in the end, neither way was an answer to our problems."

Another lance of golden fire dropped the showmare, but Spike realized that they were getting somewhere - and by the look on her face, so did Gilda. The griffon stepped directly into the alicorn's field of vision, spreading her wings. "You never even tried to be the best Harmony you could be. You wanted to become a second Order." She stepped closer until she was almost eye-to-eye with Conformity. "It doesn't work that way. Every one of us exists only once. You have to face that."

This time, Conformity didn't even bother with magic. She raised her front hooves and brought them down on Gilda's head with all her might. The crack made Spike wince even at this distance.

"Does there happen to be anyone else who wants to tell me how to live my life?" Conformity looked at the Elements of Unity in turn as Gilda dropped to the ground, earning nothing but unflinching stares from the three mares and Spike.

The dragon looked at the alicorn, and he finally understood why Virtue hadn't found it in him to kill his sister, even after all she'd done. For all the evil inside Conformity, she was not to be hated.

Spike swallowed, very much aware that his next words might very well drive the mare into killing him. "I pity you."

Conformity stumbled and collapsed to her knees. "I do not need your pity!"

Apple Bloom managed to drag herself next to Spike. "No. You are incomplete." Her Element blazed. "You need closure. I promise you everything will be alright."

Sweetie Belle moved beside them. "You can still fight this. I believe in you."

Finally, Scootaloo joined the other Elements of Unity. "You've been running from this for twelve thousand years. It's time to face it."

A rainbow of four colours erupted from their necklaces, hitting Conformity head-on. The alicorn screamed, yet Spike could feel that something was still missing.

"Get up already!" He turned his head in astonishment at the bellowed order, never expecting Big Macintosh to raise his voice like that, especially with his mouth and throat still burnt. "They can't do this alone, and I'll be damned to Tartarus if I don't help my brother-in-law and sister in this!"

Trixie, Derpy and Gilda slowly got up, and the griffon bowed her head to the screaming alicorn. "It's time to be yourself."

"You've done nothing new in twelve thousand years." Big Macintosh grinned. "Go for it."

"Your vision isn't the only one." Trixie managed a smile. "Respect others."

Derpy took her place by the side of the other Elements of Diversity. "You've been ignorant for so long. It's time you understood."

A second rainbow erupted from the Elements of Diversity, joining forces with the first. A starburst of colour exploded outwards from Conformity, and Spike could feel the last vestiges of resistance from the alicorn lashing out at her surroundings. He felt a sharp pain, as if someone had driven a stake through his right shoulder, and then everything went dark.

Be My Guest

"Hey, everypony, he's coming around!"

Spike had awoken from unconsciousness more often than he wanted to remember, and every single time it had happened, he'd regretted waking instantly. This time was no different - if anything, it was the worst awakening he could recall, mainly due to the searing pain in his shoulder.

He opened his eyes and saw Apple Bloom staring down at him. "Are you okay?" she asked, and he noticed her red eyes and choking voice.

"My shoulder..." he managed to croak, realizing how dry his throat was. "Water? Please?"

Someone put a bottle to his lips, and he drank greedily. "Thanks. I needed..." he broke off as he saw that the hoof holding the bottle was light pink.

Memory came flooding back, and he sat upright, ignoring the fresh stab of pain. "Where is she? What happened?" he asked, looking around wildly. The assembled Elements - including, to his surprise, the Elements of Harmony, as well as the Princesses - were scattered across the grey plain of the Spaces Between in small groups. Right next to him were Apple Bloom, relief now creeping onto her face, and a light pink alicorn he recognized as Princess Cadance.

He grinned sheepishly. "Heh. Sorry, for a moment I thought you were..."

"Don't mention it. Honestly, I have difficulty telling the two of us apart." Cadance smiled.

"Wait a moment. Does that mean...?" He leaped to his feet and cast his gaze around, and indeed his eyes fell on a second pink alicorn nearby, lying on the ground, yet breathing. "She's still alive? How?"

"You did something to her." He turned his head and saw Twilight approaching their small group. "I can only speculate, but I believe you gave her back a little of the chaos she tried to remove from herself."

"So what happens to her now?" Spike tried to point at her, which his shoulder rewarded with a fresh stab of pain. "And what happened to my shoulder?"

"She fought back to the very end. All of you were unconscious when we arrived here, after Princess Celestia told us she'd felt the corrupted Harmony vanish." Twilight cast down her gaze. "Some of you were heavily injured by that final blast, it seems. You actually got lucky - she shattered your shoulder, but it will heal in time."

Spike immediately looked at Apple Bloom, who bore a strange expression halfway between a frown and a grin. "I'm okay. You shielded me from the worst of it. Don't ever play the hero like that again, you hear?"

"Sorry, no can do, sugarcube," he replied in his worst imitation of Applejack's accent. "Get hurt myself, or watch you get hurt? Easiest decision ever." He looked back to Twilight. "What do you mean, 'heavily injured'?"

"All of you will be spending some time in a hospital, I'm afraid. Most of you will retain scars, but everything will heal eventually." Twilight looked past them, and her eyes began to shimmer. "That is, except for one injury."

Spike followed her gaze, but his view was blocked by the two Princesses. "Who is it, Twilight?" he asked, feeling dread rising in his throat. She didn't have to answer, as Princess Luna chose that exact moment to step aside, revealing the group.

Rainbow Dash was lying on the floor, head buried in her hooves, sobbing uncontrollably, while Scootaloo tried to comfort her. Next to the two, Gilda lay on a makeshift stretcher. She was showing no obvious injuries, and Spike was just about to ask what was wrong when the griffon turned in her sleep, revealing the left side of her face.

The dragon gasped. Conformity's hooves had done worse damage than the griffon had let on - in fact, he wondered how in Equestria she had managed to stay conscious with an injury like that. The entire left side of her face and head was covered in bandages that failed to hide the hideous wounds beneath. "Will she ever come around?"

"We're not sure." Twilight's voice was barely above a whisper. "But one thing we do know: even if she recovers, she has lost her eye. It's damaged beyond repair, even for the most powerful of unicorn doctors."

Spike took a moment to realize what this meant. "But...she's a flier and a huntress. She needs both eyes."

"I know. But there's nothing we can do." Twilight raised her head. "Highness? Can we leave this place now?"

"We most certainly can," Luna replied. "And I believe we should."

***

Royal Canterlot Hospital, two weeks later

Spike carefully tried to move his arm. It still hurt, but at least the limb was responding again.

"Now, how about when you do this?" Apple Bloom asked, trying to bend the arm backwards.

"Ow!" Spike gritted his teeth, tears coming to his eyes. "No. Not yet."

"Okay." Apple Bloom marked a red "X" on the chart tacked to the wall. "You're far beyond what the doctors were expecting anyway."

"I can't wait until I can get out of here, honestly." Spike looked out the window at the huge park surrounding the hospital. "I want to go home."

Apple Bloom hugged him. "We all do."

"Speaking of that, how about the others?" Spike hadn't left the room since their return, depending on his marefriend for information about the other Elements.

"Scoots is up and running again. Sweetie got released yesterday, but she's staying until we're all out of here. My brother is taking time to get used to those scars, but I think he'll manage." Apple Bloom broke off.

"Scars?" Spike asked.

"Around his muzzle, and a big one on his chest. He got hit with a lot of Conformity's fire." Apple Bloom smiled. "Fluttershy hasn't left his side. Why did it take those two so long to see what was in front of them?"

"Probably his fault," Spike said, grinning. "Celestia knows I aimed at the wrong mare when I first came to Ponyville."

"Yes, but you were a kid back then." Apple Bloom's gaze wandered out the window. "We're still kids, and yet we've saved the world twice. Why did it have to be us?"

Spike pointed at his Element, lying on the nightstand. "Because we were there, and we could do it. Now, how about Trixie, Derpy and...?" He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence.

"Trixie can't use magic for the next two months, or she'd risk burning herself out. At least, that's what I think I heard." Apple Bloom frowned. "Unicorn medicine is complicated. Derpy had a few ribs smashed in, and that fire blast singed her wings pretty badly, but it was mostly superficial - she'll be up and flying within the week."

"And...?" Again, the name wouldn't come to his lips - it seemed to get stuck halfway up his throat.

"She's recovering, far better than anypony thought she would. No lasting damage, except for her eye."

"No chance of healing that?" Spike knew it was probably futile, but he wouldn't give up hope.

"Nope. It was completely destroyed by that blow." Apple Bloom's face seemed to lighten up. "But she's actually taking that better than anypony expected, too. She's already betting with Rainbow Dash on who can do one of those training courses better while wearing a blindfold!"

Spike laughed. "That sounds like Gilda alright. Is that really a good thing, though? She might get hurt again."

"I don't think she cares," Apple Bloom said. "If having only one eye is part of who she is, she'll deal with it. She really is the Element of Individuality." She leaned in closer, whispering confidentially. "And don't tell anypony, but I think she's got her eye on Scootaloo."

Spike shot upright, wincing as fresh pain shot through his shoulder. "What? Are you kidding me?"

"Nope." The grin on Apple Bloom's face would have made Pinkie Pie proud. "And I think Scoots is eager to try something different as well, if you know what I mean."

Spike blushed. "Oh, thanks, AB. There's a mental image I didn't need to have." Then he remembered something, and a grin spread on his face. "Did I ever tell you she tried to come on to me?"

The change was astonishing in its speed - Apple Bloom went from happiness to rage in less than a second. "She did what?"

"While you were fighting the Elements of Conformity. Something about 'wanting to try dragon'." Spike shuddered. "I'm honestly not sure whether she was coming on to me or wanting to eat me."

Apple Bloom slowly managed to get herself under control. "If she does that again, she'll never have to worry about her eye again."

"Hey, hey," Spike said, alarmed. "It was just a joke. We were standing there and wondering what had happened to all of you." He hugged her, running his fingers through her mane. "And I told her I was taken, so that's that."

"You make me so mad sometimes," Apple Bloom whispered. "I don't know why I put up with you."

He could tell she was only half-joking, but before he could say anything, a knock sounded on the door. Spike released Apple Bloom and called out "Who is it?"

"The prisoner wished to speak to you," came a rough male voice from the other side. "Should we let her in?"

Prisoner? "Yes. Come in."

The door opened to reveal Conformity, head bowed and hooves scuffling nervously. Her horn was encased in a shining sheath of metal, which Spike recognized as a spellblocker, and her wings were bound to her side. She entered, and her watchcolt followed, taking position next to the door.

The pink alicorn looked at Spike and Apple Bloom with bloodshot eyes and whispered "I'm sorry. I wished to apologize to all of you before I leave, and I hope you find it in you to forgive me one day."

"What do you mean, before you leave?" Spike asked, quickly exchanging glances with Apple Bloom, who looked just as surprised at this revelation. "Where are you going?"

"I shall return to the Spaces Between, there to take up my post as Guardian of the Six Prisons." She bowed her head again. "Someone needs to keep an eye on them, someone with the magical powers to take care of them, and I am the only one available for it. Perhaps in time, I can find redemption for the slaying of their old guardian."

"But...that wasn't you." Spike stared at Conformity - or Harmony - in astonishment. "You've changed, I can see that, and so should everyone else."

"I let this happen to me, Element of Resolve. You saw what I did to my siblings, and to your fellow Elements. I can't ever be set free again, for should this happen a second time, the consequences would be dire." She gritted her teeth. "Princess Celestia would have forgiven me for what I did, but I asked for this punishment. I am a danger to everyone around me."

"Stop it!" Apple Bloom stepped close to the other mare and hugged her. "Whatever you did, it's over. You're not dangerous."

Harmony broke the hug forcefully and stepped back. "Would that I could believe you, but I know better. In time, I might become who I used to be, but I have a long way to go, and I have to walk it by myself."

"No." Spike stretched out his unhurt hand and stroked her cheek. "If you need help, we'll be there for you."

"Why?" Harmony asked bitterly. "I almost killed you. I hurt your friends, one of them permanently. Why would you want to help me?"

Spike didn't need to think even for one second. "Because that's what friends do. They're there for each other."

The alicorn blinked once, then she seemed to relax a little. "I am a dangerous one to have as a friend."

"I'm a dragon among ponies, assistant to the most powerful magician this side of the Princesses, friend to the Elements of Harmony and Unity," Spike replied with false pomp, then he winked and grinned. "What difference does one more dangerous friend really make?"

"Thank you, Spike." Harmony turned back to her guardian. "One more, then we shall be done."

The guard raised his eyebrows slightly, which amounted to a shout of surprise from one of them. "Are you quite sure?"

"I certainly will not start shirking responsibilities at this point. Lead on, to the Element of Individuality." For a second, Spike could see a flash of the old Harmony, as she'd been before her fall - a queen among ponies, even a goddess. Then the moment was over, and all that stood before him was a scared filly, steeling herself to face her punishment. Without another word, she and her guardian left the room.

***

Canterlot Hospital, one week later

"Spike!" Big Macintosh sat up in his bed. "What're you doing here?"

The dragon smiled. "I just asked to be the one to tell you the good news. You're free to leave - paperwork's already dealt with and all. The others are already waiting at the station, so we better hurry up a bit." The smile widened. "Well, all of them except for Fluttershy. She insisted on picking you up here."

The stallion leaped out of bed. "Where is she?"

"Keep it down a bit, loverboy," Spike said, now grinning. "She's waiting down in the lobby. There's something I need to talk to you about, in private."

"Oh?" Now Macintosh's newfound curiosity was piqued. "About what, exactly?"

"Remember what you called me during our fight against Conformity?"

Mac scratched his head. "Erm...oh, eeyup, I think I do." He blushed. "Sorry about that, but it was kind of hectic."

"Mac, you don't have to apologize for that," Spike said, surprised. "I'd feel honoured to actually be your brother-in-law. In fact, that's what I wanted to talk about."

The stallion's eyes narrowed. "Wait a sec. If you're asking what I think you're asking...don't you think you're awfully young for that?"

"She's the one, Mac." He'd wanted to state it matter-of-factly, yet Spike could tell that his voice was quivering. "Why wait when I know I want to spend the rest of my life with her?"

"Will you, though?" When Spike scowled at that, Macintosh quickly amended, "I don't mean it like that. But you're a dragon. Nopony knows how long you'll live, but chances are, it'll be quite a bit more than AB." The stallion's frown softened slightly. "If I'm the one to give her away, I need to make sure you've thought of things like that."

"I know that, and I've often wondered about this whole thing. But I don't care." Spike looked up, directly into Mac's eyes. "Perhaps I'll live to be a thousand, and perhaps tomorrow a tree will fall on me. If I do live that long, I want happy memories, and nopony makes me happier than Apple Bloom. But I won't ask her if you don't want me to."

Big Macintosh turned his head away to look out the window. "Spike, I've seen what you do to her." The neutral tone made the dragon shiver - what did Mac mean by that? Then the stallion turned back to Spike, and the smile on Mac's face dispelled any doubts he might have held. "You make her happy too. If she'll have you, I'll gladly give you my blessing."

Lautar

Sugarcube Corner, 10 a.m., two weeks after the Conformity incident

"Pinkie?" Spike called out as he entered the seemingly empty room. "Are you there?"

"Just one teensy moment!" her answer came from the back rooms of the bakery. "Gotta wait on those vanilla cupcakes for...ah, there they are now." Metal clattered, and then Pinkie bounced into the front room, balancing a tray of various baked goods. "Oh, hi Spike. What can I do for you?"

"You've been planning that 'Back Up and Running' party for over a week now. I wanted to check whether anything had gone wrong with it," the dragon replied.

"Don't worry. I just want to make sure this is the most super awesome spectacular party Ponyville has ever seen." Pinkie set down the tray and smiled. "Why are you asking?"

Spike scratched one foot along the floor nervously. "I have something big planned for that party, and I really need to know when exactly you'll be ready."

"Something big?" Pinkie's eyes narrowed. "Why do I get the feeling we should talk about this in private?" Before Spike could answer, she grabbed him with one hoof and pulled him down the stairs into the cellar, shoving him into a small, rather dusty room. "What exactly is the plan?"

"I don't want to spoil too much. It's a surprise, you see." Spike fidgeted with his claws.

"Spikey, you know how much I love surprises, but if you want to do this at my party, I need to know all about it." Pinkie started a familiar set of gestures. "I Pinkie Promise you that I won't tell anypony else."

"Okay." He breathed out slowly. "You're only the third pony to know, but I want to ask Apple Bloom to marry me."

Pinkie Pie seemed ready to go off like a rocket, seemingly remembering at the last second that that wasn't a good idea in an enclosed space. "Woo-hoo! This is so fantastic! Can I plan the wedding party? Can I, can I, can I?"

"One thing at a time, Pinkie, please," Spike answered, feeling a grin tug at the corners of his mouth. "First the proposal, everything else can wait. If she says yes." At the last sentence, he abruptly felt the nervousness and doubt returning.

"Of course she will, duh! Now tell me, what exactly do you have in mind?" Pinkie produced a clipboard and a pen, seemingly out of nowhere, and looked at Spike expectantly.

***

The 'Back Up and Running' party, Ponyville Town Hall, five days later, 9 p.m.

Apple Bloom was feeling a bit under the weather.

She wasn't sure why, because everypony else at the party seemed to be having the time of their lives. As she sat in the corner nursing a glass of cider, she observed the various couples on the dancefloor.

There was Derpy, dancing away with wild abandon, not exactly in time to the music, but still so overflowing with joy that Apple Bloom felt a smile coming on, in spite of her resolution to feel miserable or at least bored. Dinky was tearing up the dancefloor herself, along with Pipsqueak, casting exasperated glances at her mother from time to time, yet Apple Bloom knew better than to take those looks seriously. She had seen Dinky when they returned, beaming with pride at the sight of her mother in the ranks of the Elements.

Apple Bloom's gaze wandered to Sweetie Belle, who had been dancing all night with every stallion who didn't get out of her way fast enough, and then to Scootaloo, who was doing some weird mix of dance routine and flight exercise with Gilda and Rainbow Dash as her wingmares, the black gemstones on the griffon's eyepatch glittering in the spotlights. Apple Bloom still wasn't sure what, if anything, would become of Scoots and Gilda, but for now, they seemed to be having fun.

There was her brother, trying out more dance moves on this one night than he had in his life, and beaming all the while, Fluttershy never far away from him. Apple Bloom sighed, nearly melting into the bench, just as Big Macintosh looked her way. He winked at her and grinned, mouthing something that Apple Bloom thought she recognized as 'This is gonna be great!'. Strange.

Trixie had taken a place on one of the benches, similar to Apple Bloom herself, seemingly content with simply observing. Apple Bloom still wasn't sure what to think of the showmare, but she had proven herself against Conformity, and that had to count for something.

The young earth mare sighed. She knew exactly why she wasn't feeling in the mood for this party. The reason was a good deal taller than her, with purple scales and green spikes. Her coltfriend had excused himself immediately after they had arrived, muttering something about 'finishing touches', and she hadn't seen him since. Where could he have got to?

The music died down, and Pinkie leaped into the spotlight that had just gone up on the stage at the back of the hall. "Friends, former friends, enemies, former enemies, and politely disinterested neutrals - welcome to the 'Back Up and Running' party for all the Elements!" A cheer rose from the assembled ponies. "We're here to party, but that's not the only reason. There is someone up here, behind the curtain, who has a very special announcement to make." Mutterings went up among the crowd, and Apple Bloom's gaze met her brother's.

He looked curious, but not surprised. He knows, she realized with a jolt. Whatever's coming, he knows about it.

Pinkie interrupted her train of thought. "Fillies and gentlecolts, allow me to welcome our special musical guest for tonight. All the way from Coltshinau, Maredova: Mr. Pasha Prancefeny!"

The curtains parted to reveal a young unicorn stallion with a bright yellow coat, his red and blue striped mane complemented by a short beard in the same colours. He looked rather funny, Apple Bloom thought, particularly with the backing dancers arrayed behind him, whose outfits would probably drive Rarity into a fit by the end of their first song - a riot of colours that went beyond garish into outright eyesores.

And then the second curtain went up, revealing the stage backdrop, and Apple Bloom thought for a moment she must have gone insane, because there was no way - no way in Tartarus and the Spaces Between - that there really was a huge picture of herself and Spike up there.

I'll kill him. I'll grab him and drown him in icy water. Spike had to be behind this, yet she couldn't for the life of her figure out why he would do something like that.

The lights in the hall went out, and spotlights illuminated the painting, which Apple Bloom now recognized as a scene from Rarity's wedding a few months back - you could see the bride and Fancy Pants in the background, rendered lovingly in every detail, yet not taking a thing away from the foreground of her and that dragon.

The music started, and under more normal circumstances, Apple Bloom would probably have burst out laughing at the ridiculous prancing going on - this was less of a dance routine and more of a vaudeville act. But her eyes were still glued to that backdrop - until she noticed the first lines of the lyrics, coupled with the fact that the singer was looking directly at her.

At the wedding tonight
She looks nicer than the bride
When she smiles I forget my lyrics
I got blind, I got mad
Not from the diamonds she had
But from the beauty that put my heart on fire

Apple Bloom's breath caught in her chest. Had this been written specifically for her? And if so, where was Spike? And what was the point of it all?

The chorus started.

You have never been to my show
You haven't seen before
How looks the trumpet
But the sound goes straight to your soul
Gets you out of control
This trumpet makes you my girl

The trumpet solo that had started the song rose again, and there he was, working away at the brass instrument like he'd never done anything else in his life. When he was done, he smiled at Apple Bloom from behind the trumpet, and suddenly everything clicked into place. She knew him better than almost anypony else, perhaps even better than Twilight, and he'd never do something this ridiculous in public without a plan - a stupid plan, perhaps, not entirely thought out, but a plan nonetheless.

He had planned this.

It had something to do with her.

No, she thought, even as her heart threatened to leap out of her mouth and fly away. This can't be.

This trumpet makes you my girl, the final chorus rang out across the stunned audience, and then everything on stage went dark - everything except for the dragon with the trumpet, who now lowered the instrument and grabbed the microphone. "Thank you, everypony. As most of you have probably realized, this performance was a surprise for a very special somepony in my life. We've been through a lot together, and I believe it's time for us to take the next step, the one that's more intimidating than facing off against unspoken horrors and corrupted goddesses."

A single spotlight shone down on the audience, and Apple Bloom took a second to realize that it was aiming straight at her. She could dimly make out Pinkie and Twilight at the controls, apparently giggling like schoolfillies, but her mind and eyes were focused on Spike, who was shifting to a tone of mock formality. "Apple Bloom, youngest of the Apple Siblings, Element of Confidence, are you willing to share your life with this sorry excuse for a dragon?" He dropped the mask, and she saw that he must be a quivering mess inside, probably feeling even more nervous than she was.

Spike dropped to one knee. "Will you marry me, Apple Bloom?"

The silence that followed couldn't have lasted long, but it certainly felt like an eternity to Apple Bloom. She could sense all the assembled ponies holding their breaths. Come on, he asked you a question. You have to answer.

"Yes."

It was so quiet that even Fluttershy could have learned a thing or two about whispering from it. But then Apple Bloom felt something inside her break open, and suddenly she was on the stage next to Spike, hugging and squeezing and kissing him while repeatedly yelling "yes!" at the top of her lungs.

The lights came back on, and the audience erupted in cheers. For Apple Bloom, though, the huge hall might as well have been completely empty. The one person that counted at this moment was right in front of her, grinning from one side of his face to the other, and she knew she must look pretty much the same right now.

"Would you say it again?" he whispered into her ear. "I think there might be a pony or two in Canterlot who didn't hear you."

"You're absolutely impossible, you do know that?" she replied, trying to frown for a second and then giving up as her mouth pulled back up into a smile. "Yes, Spike. I will marry you. Because despite all this, and although you drive me mad sometimes, I love you."

Words no longer seemed necessary at this point, so they proceeded to other means of communication, losing themselves in those for a while until the yellow unicorn - who, Apple Bloom realized in horror, had been standing right next to them all this time - lightly tapped Apple Bloom's shoulder and pointed at the audience, smiling. "Perhaps you want to go somewhere else for that?"

Extinct volcanoes could have been re-lit with the glow on Apple Bloom's and Spike's cheeks. The dragon scratched his neck uneasily. "Heh, sorry. I guess I got carried away a bit."

Before the situation could get any more uncomfortable, Apple Bloom felt a rush of air, followed by a sense of dizziness. She looked around, realizing that they were back in the fields at Sweet Apple Acres. "Whoa! What happened?"

"Twi got us out of there," Spike answered, dusting himself down, checking for scorch marks and then looking back at his fiancée. "I owe her for that."

"Yes, we do." Apple Bloom made her way for the farmhouse, blanching as she reached the door. "Oh Celestia."

"What?" Spike stared at her in alarm. "What's wrong?"

"Gran wasn't at the party. Said she wasn't feeling well. Which means..."

Spike pressed a hand against his forehead. "We need to tell her tomorrow morning. Oh joy."

Epilogue: Stay

Sweet Apple Acres, 7 p.m., March 13th, six months after the Conformity incident

The ceremony had gone off mostly as planned.

Admittedly, Twilight Sparkle breaking down in sobs halfway through the vows hadn't exactly been part of the plan, but Spike and Apple Bloom had accounted for the possibility. Spike knew his sister and her reactions to weddings, after all. The same thing happening to Rarity, on the other hand, had been provided for from the word go - her pregnancy had had some side effects, mood swings being one of them.

Princess Luna had guided the young couple through the ceremony. Her sister had gladly given that responsibility to her - the groom was Celestia's son, or something close to it, and she'd wanted to enjoy the wedding without the added duty of presiding over it. Seeing the Sun Princess next to Twilight, with a literally dazzling smile on her face even as a few tears made their way down her cheeks, had made Spike stumble over one or two of his vows, yet nopony batted an eye.

Now the young husband was sitting on a bench at Sweet Apple Acres, drinking in the beautiful spring evening. Spike had excused himself for a moment, and not even Apple Bloom begrudged him this moment for himself. It had been a very busy day, and it was far from over.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"

The quiet voice made Spike turn his head. Princess Luna was gazing up at the sky only a few steps away.

"The best night ever." Spike smiled.

"If you don't mind me asking, where do you think you'll go from here?" The Moon Princess looked at the young dragon, and he saw the depths of time in her eyes, suddenly reminded of how old she was.

"What do you mean?" Spike asked, uncertain. "I love Apple Bloom with all my heart, what else is there?"

"Love is a great power indeed, but there is one who rivals it for power and persistence."

Spike stared at Luna for a moment, then the answer came to him. "Time."

"You are a dragon. A pony's lifetime is barely more than a blink of an eye to you. Whether it happens in forty or sixty years, eventually your wife will pass on, and you will be left behind." The words were harsh, but Luna's tone robbed them of their sting. "What shall you do then, Spike?"

"I don't know." He fixed her with a stare that would have done Fluttershy proud. "I've been thinking about this a lot, Luna. I know I'll outlive her. And I think I can live with that. I've found the love of my life, and I could bear the thought of losing her only if I knew that I'd done all I can to make her happy. So that's what I'll do, from now until the end of my life or hers."

"You really do your Element proud, Spike." Luna smiled, and Spike felt as if a weight had been lifted from both of them. "And you show wisdom beyond your years. Indeed, that is the only way to live among those who do not share your longevity."

"Wait." Spike raised a hand. "Was this some kind of test, then?"

"In a way, yes." The princess lowered her head. "I apologize for bringing this up, but I know from bitter experience how these things can play out. I wished to make sure your marriage would not end in bitterness, and now I am certain that it won't."

"I'll do my very best." Spike grinned and made his way back to the party.

***

Ponyville General Hospital, six months later, 3 p.m.

"Spike and Apple Bloom?" The young couple looked up at that. A young unicorn doctor stood in the waiting room door. "Your results have come in at last."

Spike tensed up. "And what do they say?"

The doctor smiled. "We've run the samples through every test we have, and a few new ones for good measure. All of them indicate the same thing. Despite your differences, you are in fact biologically compatible."

It took a moment for that to sink in. When it did, Spike and Apple Bloom stared at each other, grins spreading across their faces. "Does that mean what I think it means?" she asked.

"It does," the doctor replied. "You have the same chance of having children as two ponies your age."

They barely made it out of the hospital, erupting in cheers on the street, drawing some funny looks from passers-by. Apple Bloom threw her forelegs around Spike in a crushing hug. "I was so scared."

"Me too." Abruptly Spike's happiness evaporated. "So what happens now?"

Apple Bloom blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we can have foals, or hatchlings, or whatever, but AB..." He hesitated.

"You don't want any?" She looked at him in alarm.

"I do!" he hastily replied. "I really do, a few years down the line, but not today or tomorrow, or next year."

Understanding dawned on Apple Bloom's face, and she smiled. "You can be really dense sometimes, you know that? I'm not even of age yet, Spike. We have all the time in the world." The smile became a grin. "Besides, married or not, Applejack would probably give me a pretty good ticking-off if I got pregnant now."

Spike breathed out in relief and returned the grin. "Can you imagine Twilight's lecture if I told her I was going to be a father at my age?"

"Sure can. And we'll have our hooves and hands full as Aunt Apple Bloom and Uncle Spike anyway." She gave a mock frown. "My brother is really making up for lost time, isn't he?"

Spike gaped at her. "Huh? What does Big Macintosh have to do with anything? I thought you were talking about Rarity and Fancy Pants' foal."

Apple Bloom looked confused for a moment. "But - oh, right, you were already on your way to the library this morning when AJ brought the news." Her lips curled into a wide smile. "Fluttershy is pregnant. Two and a half months along."

"Oh dear Celestia, you know what that means?" Spike stared at his wife with exaggerated horror. "Another wedding is coming our way!"

***

The pink alicorn mare that was observing them through a little gap between universes smiled as Spike and Apple Bloom made their way back home. They are so incredibly happy.

A second voice, an unsteady coltish tenor, answered from somewhere behind her. There will be tears. Pain. Anger. Sorrow.

Harmony's smile widened. Of course there will be. Those are part of life, but so are smiles, pleasure, peace and happiness. Those two will find the right balance.

They better should. Their responsibilities as Elements are far from over. The green alicorn colt stepped next to Harmony, blinked once, then he smiled as well. But I do believe you are right, sister.