The Poisoned Barb's Tale

by ManlyDerp

Chapters

Entry 1, Part 2 (Laughter and Honesty) {RE-EDITED}
Entry 1, Part 3 (Loyalty and Generosity) {RE-EDITED}
Entry 1, Part 4 (Chapter 9: Progression) {RE-EDITED}
Entry 1, Part 5 (Kindness) {RE-EDITED}
Entry 1, Part 6 (And Magic...)
Entry 1, Part 7 (Makes it All Complete)
Entry 1, End
Entry 2, Part 1 (My Little Pony)
Entry 2, Part 2 (Do you know...)
Entry 2, End (... that you're all...)
Entry 3, Part 1 (... my very best...)
Entry 3, Part 2 (... Friends?)
Entry 3, End (Friendship is Magic Part 2)
Entry 4, Part 1 (The Ticket Master)
Entry 4, Part 2 (The Ticket Master)
Entry 4, Part 3 (The Ticket Master)
Entry 4, End (The Ticket Master)
Entry 5 (Applebuck Season)
Entry 6, Part 1 (Griffon the Brush Off)
Entry 6, Part 2 (Griffon the Brush Off)
Entry 6, Part 3 (Griffon the Brush Off)
Entry 6, End (Griffon the Brush Off)
~In Another Time, In Another Place~ (Dra Lidea Na-Syng Bynd 1)
Entry 7, Part 1 (Boast Busted)
Entry 7, Part 2 (Boast Busted)
Entry 7, End (Boast Busted)
Entry 8, Part 1 (Dragonapped)
Entry 8, Part 2 (Dragonapped)
Entry 8, Part 3 (Dragonapped)
Entry 8, Part 4 (Dragonapped)
Entry 8, Part 5 (Dragonapped)
Entry 8, Part 6 (Dragonapped)
Entry 8, Part 8 (Dragonapped)
Entry 8, Part 9 (Dragonapped)
Entry 8, End (Dragonapped)
Entry 9, Part 1 (Look Before You Seer)
Entry 9, Part 2 (Look Before You Seer)
Entry 9, Part 3 (Look Before You Seer)
Entry 9, Part 4 (Look Before You Seer)
Entry 9, Part 5 (Look Before You Seer)
Entry 9, Part 6 (Look Before You Seer)
Entry 9, Part 7 (Look Before You Seer)
Entry 9, Part 8 (Look Before You Seer)
Entry 9, Part 10 (Look Before You Seer)
Entry 9, End (Look Before You Seer)
~In Another Time, In Another Place~ (Makaht uv Zecora)
Entry 1, Part 1 (Heart) {RE-EDITED}
Entry 3, Part 3 (Friendship is Magic Part 1 &...)
Entry Derp, Part Derp (April Derp... Er, Fools)
Entry 8, Part 7 (Dragonapped)
Entry 9, Part 9 (Look Before You Seer)

Entry 1, Part 2 (Laughter and Honesty) {RE-EDITED}

“... Stop pouting, Dusk.”

“... No.”

“Stop it this instant, mister.”

“No.”

“...”

“... Don’t make me read the letter to you again, young man.”

“Barb… no.”

“I’m going to read it.”

“Barb…”

“I’m taking it out of my purse.”

“Barbara…”

“It’s in my claws…”

“No...”

“Ahem.”

“Barbara The Dragoness,” Dusk Shine turns around and snaps at me, damn near roaring. “Don’t you even dare think about it!”

My response is to blink blankly…

… And then I read the letter aloud.

“My dearest, most faithful student Dusk.”

This results in the colt moaning loud enough for even the pegasus guards pulling our chariot to pause and glance backward; just to make sure everything was alright. Upon discerning that Dusk wasn’t being brutally murdered or something, they swiftly return to paying attention to where they were flying and that was the end of that.

“You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely,” I continue to read, fighting hard not to laugh over my friend’s frustrated grumbles. “... but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!”

“You’re the one who gave it to me…” the unicorn mutters to himself as he drapes himself over the chariot’s edge again…

… As an aside…

… it was actually me who got Dusk the specific book he’s talking about right now, not the Prince…

...

… I choose not to correct him as I instead read further.

“My dear Dusk, there is more to a young pony’s life than studying, so I’m sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year’s location,” Pause for dramatic effect. “Ponyville. And I have an even greater task for you to complete…”

Leaning closer to Dusk’s side, I cheekily smile his way as I read the final line as loudly as I can

“Make some friends!”

Though he glares at me at first, I watch in a grin-filled silence as the stubborn colt finally lowers his head in defeat. It would appear as though he has finally accepted his fate... Yay!

“Hey look on the bright side, Dusk,” I offer kindly, trying to at least get him to cheer up a little. I can’t recall anymore if Spike said anything during this part of the cartoon, or if this conversation was shown at all, so I’ll just improvise. I know Dusk pretty darn well, so this shouldn’t be hard. “The Prince arranged for you to stay in a library! Come on now; doesn’t at least that make you happy? New books!”

Dusk remains quiet as he keeps staring out into the distance... After a moment though, he suddenly perks up and turns to me with something akin to a smile.

“Yes, yes it does actually,” he says in what appears to be brighter spirits… only to then push himself closer to my face and ask “You know why?”

"Because… books?" came my mental reply.

Trust me. Around Dusk, that’s always a safe answer.

“Because I’m right!”

… Not this time though, apparently.

“I’ll check on the preparations as fast as I can,” he explains to me, the beginnings of one of his hair-brained schemes forming before my eyes. Uh oh. “Then I’ll get to the library to find some proof of Nightterror Nebula’s return.”

“Then…” I try to cut him off before this got out of hand. “When will you have time to do what the Prince asked of you and make some friends, Dusk?”

From what I can still remember of the show, things just kinda… happened. Twilight goes through the list and bumps into her new friends along the way. I know that my prodding isn’t going to change anything, I know this both because of my secret knowledge and because I know Dusk personally…

… But asking is what a concerned friend would do in the end, so that’s what I’m going to do. Screw the show, it doesn’t dictate my life… just what happens to the lives of the ponies around me.

“He said to check on preparations, Barb,” Dusk was quick to counter my question, proving for me that I really do know him well. As he explains himself, I passively start to feel the ‘sinking’ feeling which signifies that our ride is beginning to descend through the air, preparing to land. Homely cottages and imaginative buildings fly by my field of vision in rapid succession as we enter Ponyville proper. Dusk is too wrapped up in justifying his actions to even notice though; opting instead to continue speaking.

“I am his student,” he points out the obvious for me. “and I’ll do my royal duty… but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends.”

Snort. Famous last words, pony.

Thump

It was a minute later that we finally land softly upon the ground, in the middle of a somewhat empty street, and come to a complete slow stop. Our guardmares whinny loudly as the chariot halts fully; the poor dears are probably beyond tired. I imagine we’re not the only privileged Canterlot group they’ve transported to Ponyville today... This would explain why our landing isn’t drawing any of the passersby's attention right now. They’ve already gawked at more than enough other visitors to their lovely little village today to even care anymore. As Dusk and I depart the cart, I spare Ponyville a glance.

It’s so much… bigger than I’d thought it would be! Buildings were closer together and taller, crowds were larger overall, and there were stands literally everywhere; as far as the end of the street and overflowing into the parks even.

… Granted a majority of this radical observation can be attributed to the fact that I’m not even three feet tall yet... but it's still pretty big. Wish I had gotten a better look at it from the sky…

“Thank you, ladies,” Dusk suddenly speaks up, returning me to the now. He gives both our guardmares a single nod of his head in gratitude. The two enchanted white pegasi proudly accept this nod with a powerful huff, and equally proud smiles, before they both gallop off; returning to the blue skies above. I watch them go, but a moment later I bring my eyes forward to the equine crowd around us.

‘Alrighty then,’ I internally scheme, ready to get this ‘show’ on the road. Left alone on the streets of Ponyville, I scan my eyes around for one pony in particular amongst the many. ‘Now… Where are you, Laughter?’

Dialogue and order may have slipped my mind over the years, along with perhaps entire episodes, but I still vaguely remember giggling over jokes. Fluttershy’s tail extensions, Twilight’s mental freakout, Applejack’s “I didn’t learn anything!”; I remember the show better when I have a memory of me or Ashley laughing hysterically attached to it. That having been explained, I can state confidently that one of these aforementioned ‘bits’ is about to take place here and now… at least from what I can recall.

This particular joke involves a certain pink, little… Aha!

...

… Well, dang. That is a pretty pink colt.

Even if I wasn’t searching for him, I think I’d have a hard time not spotting Pinkie Pie’s double in a crowd. Pink coat, with a fuzzy pink mane, a short fuzzy tail, and three colorful balloons for a cutie mark? Pretty difficult to miss, I’d think.

I take in other little details about this stallion as he draws nearer, one of which being that it was actually incredibly hard to tell that he's a stallion at all! If I didn’t know for a fact about the nature of this alternate dimension, I would have totally mistaken him for a she. His colors aren’t the cause of this misgendering, oh no. I’ve grown to accept that the color pink doesn’t instantly mean ‘girl’ or ‘girly’ in this world, and neither does blue mean the opposite. I guess when you have a society that can literally be all the colors of the rainbow, said rainbow doesn’t get tied down by gender norms often.

Anyways, back on subject; Male Pinkie Pie is short and tiny. Like, ‘mare’ short and tiny. Even at a distance, I can tell that he’s shorter than Dusk. His eyelashes are pretty long too, and he even has a peculiarly feminine accessory in the form of a trio of tiny jewel-shaped piercings on his right ear. This part surprised me quite a bit at first, but I eventually accepted it upon rationalizing it away. He’s not a cartoon character anymore, after all, so why would I think he would need to conform to what little I remember of the show? All the ponies were the same height and weight in that cartoon, for example, while here they are clearly not.

It stands to reason that the cartoon was overall not an accurate depiction of this society.

… Wow. I keep getting distracted here. Wrapping things up quickly, so I can draw Dusk’s attention towards this stallion and cause the snowball effect that leads to a party later (Amazed that I even still remember that after all this time); these piercings are light green, purple, and grey in color, lie on the outside rim of his ear and comes in different shapes and sizes. Only the green one can be clearly made out at this distance; it looks like a picturesque cut diamond... I think.

These, combined with his body shape, lead me to think that he just might actually be a she…

… but his muzzle is the same boxy shape I've come to associate with stallion physiology though.

That thankfully and quickly put an end to my wild guessing.

… Speaking of moving quickly…

“Er… Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about?” I suggest for Dusk, continuing our earlier discussion of how, actually, the fate of Equestria does depend on him making friends. My question comes out strained, as I was admittedly grasping at straws here, but I continue forth regardless as Pinkie Male Pie suddenly stops in front of us. He's smiling quietly, and looking at Dusk queerly, so now's my chance. I take the initiative by waving my arms in front of the earth pony for my friend’s sake, drawing his attention “Come on, Dusk!” I plead, trying hard not to sound antsy. “Just try!”

At first Dusk looks taken aback by my sudden forwardness, and his ears flatten themselves against his head to show this… But then he looks up from me, stares right back at Pinkie Pie male version two point zero, and, for possibly the first time in his entire life, actually appears to be considering talking to somepony new! Oh my gosh, wow! ‘Come on, Dusk!’ I cheer him on in spirit. ‘You can do it!’

“U-um…” the unicorn mumbles a bit at first, his shyness leaking out of every pore, but after a moment he straightens himself out and manages to spit out his greeting completely. “H-hello?”

Yes! Whoo! He did it! I’m so proud of him!

“GASP!”

Sigh… I just wish I didn’t know what was going to happen next.

WHOSH!

“...”

… I spoke too soon.

With speed rivaling even the fastest automobile, or maybe the fastest pegasus, I had ever witnessed in person to move before; Pinkamena Diane Stallion Pie jumps about a yard in the air, stays there, and then somehow manages to zoom off past us to parts unknown. Dusk and I simply stare in silence as the pink blur rapidly disappears into the distance.

What also disappears along with him is what little of my safe perception of reality I have left.

"I… I-I always thought that Pinkie’s actions were just exaggerations for a cartoon’s sake! W, w-well; shows what I know, I guess. H-heh..."

Everything has been so real until now though! Everything... I… I-I… I don’t know what to believe in anymore!!

Internal screaming is intensifying as we speak.

“... Well that was interesting alright,” complains Dusk eventually, returning to his ‘I hate everypony’ posture. I guess the hovering earth pony isn’t enough to shake him as badly as it had to me.

Lucky.

I sigh as the two of us begin to head down the road towards our next destination. I’m not sighing over the death of my ‘innocence’ or any of that nonsense. I’m instead sighing over the fact that I knew that the interaction with PinkiMale was going to end poorly, yet I encouraged it to happen still. I made the snap decision that it was a necessary evil in the long run; that it needed to happen for future events to transpire. Things will turn out better later this way, I know they will. I just have to believe in not only Dusk, but also in five other stallions to be able to be the best that they can be tonight. Only then will this day end properly, and only then can friendships begin to blossom between these young ponies.

A self-driven Dusk Shine is still sigh-worthy though, thus I decided that another one was in order.

"Sigh… Oh well," I muse to myself as I keep pace beside the grumpy unicorn along the open road. "With Pinkie Colt out of the way, things can at last start in earnest. That’s good...

"... Now then, if I'm remembering this correctly; it's time to get a taste of the good old country life."

Apple trees stand tall and proudly along the dirt path as the two of us make our way to the bright red barn on the horizon. I have our checklist in claw as I pat along beside Dusk, who is taking in the sight of the large orchard all around us... Hmmm... There are a few rock farms up in Canterlot, and a few smaller potato and pumpkin patches here and there, but no Apple orchards at all… It's in realizing this that I mentally make the connection that this is probably the first time Dusk has ever been on a real farm before, and even more so the first time he’s ever been surrounded by so much nature. This would explain why he’s being so quiet right now; he’s taking in the scenery!

That’s actually kinda adorable when you think about it.

Shaking my head, I resume what I was doing. “Summer Sun Celebration Official Overseer’s Checklist,” I read the title of my scroll out loud as we draw closer to the Apple Family’s main gate; reminding us both what exactly we're here to inspect.

That’d be a good thing to know.

“Number one,” I begin. “banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres...”

Upon reading this, I had a thought. My eyes start scrolling further down the parchment, towards the next numbers. I can learn the other girl’s stallion names right here and now if I just peek ahead…

… I decide against this though, and instead keep my eyes glued on item number one for now. It’ll be more fun for me to just wait and see!

Besides, it’s not fair for Duskto be the only blind person out here today, heh-

“YEEHAW!”

A deep and powerful voice suddenly cuts off my train of thought, and causes both Dusk and I to jump in surprise. We turn on the spot toward its source only to find…

… the second-largest stallion I have ever seen before in my two lives.

This is Male Applejack, no question. Blond mane, orange coat, stetson, and three bright red apples as a cutie mark; he looks a lot like how I remember Applejack the mare to look. This is similar to how Pinkie Pie the stallion looks a bit like Pinkie Pie the mare too… Unlike with Pinkie Pie the stallion, though, there's no question here on Applejack’s gender.

He's almost twice the size of the more minuscule Dusk Shine, and thus even taller than that for little old me down here close to the ground. Not since Prince Solaris himself have I felt so tiny in comparison to a pony. I don’t think it would be hyperbole at all to claim that Stallionjack’s hindlegs are as thick as flipping tree trunks! His forelegs aren’t too skimpy themselves either. There's also quite a bit of noticeable muscle around his barrel as well, along with fat, which only serves to prove that he's a stallion who actually uses his strength regularly; not just show it off. If we were to change his coat to red, and his mane to orange, I think we’d end up with a strong candidate for a Big… whatever-his-name-was lookalike here. Big… M? Big… Tack?

… Hey I can’t remember everypony’s name from that stupid cartoon, okay? Applejack’s brother! The big red one? That’s who I’m talking about here… though I guess he’s a she in this world, making her his big sister like Gleam is to Dusk...

Well… whatever. There’s one funny little thing I’d like to point out about AppleColt here while I still have the chance, and it’s that I find it incredibly funny and cute how he still has a bright red hairband on just like AppleFilly did.

I find it funny because, while his mane and tail aren’t long enough in this dimension to warrant such a thing, he got around this ‘hurdle’ by placing it elsewhere on his body...

… It’s around his blond goatee, turning it into a bit of a rattail. Ha! That’s kinda clever… er… Universe. Good job… I think?

THUMP!

With a sickening crack echoing throughout the field, AppleMaleJack promptly ends my mental assessment of him by bucking a tree hard enough to dislodge all of the apples. Just… all of them… wow! I read about how earth ponies are super strong and junk, but to actually see such a feat in real life is honestly kinda… cool! I thought Applejack’s skills in the cartoon were an exaggeration as well, just like Pinkie’s Pinkieness, but, unlike with the aforementioned pink colt, I can actually believe the incredible feat this time. He certainly has the body for it! Makes me a little curious as to just how big the other Applejack is...

Dusk doesn't seem as impressed by this as me though.

“Sigh…” he resumes his sulking, lowering his head to the ground in apparent frustration over needing to converse with somepony again. “Let’s get this over with,” the unicorn complains as he makes his way over. I follow shortly behind, close enough to watch as he takes in a few deep breaths of air to compose himself again. “Alright…” he mutters softly before raising his head again and putting on a (fake) kind smile.

“Good afternoon,” Dusk greets the turned back of XY chromosome configuration Applejack, relying on his Canterlot snootiness training to sound large and important. “My name is Dusk Shine-?!”

Before Dusk can say anything more to the farmer the larger stallion turns on the spot, wraps Dusk’s foreleg with one his own, and simply… squeezes.

The earth pony squeezes my Charge’s hoof so darn hard that I think I heard bones begin to snap.

Apple I-really-hope-he-introduces-himself-soon Jake then flails my fragile friend around like a boneless chicken as he happily ‘shakes’ his hoof.

“Well howdy-doo, Dusk Shine buddy!” the blond stallion gives out a hearty cheer. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, haha!”

Dusk’s terrified eyes dart my way momentarily, seeking aid, but there was nothing I can to help the poor boy out… I can barely even stop myself from laughing here! As the farmer continues to seemingly try to rip Dusk’s foreleg clean out of its socket, he thankfully and finally introduces himself to us.

“I’m Applejack!”

I’m surprised… though admittedly not entirely. ‘Applejack’ is a gender-neutral name, from what I’ve gathered, so it’s not too far-fetched that he got to keep it during the cosmic event that created this place. Everypony else will probably be different, so I’m not too disappointed or anything. There’s always the next one.

Applejack resumes his sales pitch in high spirits, none the wiser to my internal observations. I don’t think he’s even noticed me yet! Meh. “We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin’ new friends!”

“F-f-f-friends?” Dusk stutters out weakly. This isn’t due to him being nervous or anything… it's just because his teeth have undoubtedly liquefied by this point at the rate Applejack is still shaking his arm! “A-a-actually I-I-I-I…”

“So what can I do you for?” the farmer asks Dusk good naturally with a wink, having finally let go of his arm.

Dusk didn’t get this memo though, and his arm keeps on shaking as a result. Seeing as how his eyes are closed, it falls on me to reach out and use my claws to stop him before the darn appendage goes flying off to parts unknown. He blinks upon realizing that the ‘friendly’ contact was over and done with, and shoots me a dirty look as I snicker under my breath, but he eventually clears his throat and resumes his official duty.

“Well,” the equally young stallion starts. “I am, in fact, here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.” Dusk gestures his hoof, the one that was still visibly shaking, to Applejack and asks “And you’re in charge of the food...?”

The pony with the green eyes lets out a loud and boastful “HA!” thanks to this. “You bet your purple flank we are, buddy!” He then leans in closer and returns Dusk’s question with one of his own.

“Care for some samples?”

This only ends hilariously from what I can recall.

Dusk, completely unaware as to the consequences of his next few words, replies to the question with

“As long as it doesn’t take too lon-”

Applejack was gone before he could even finish.

Racing to a hanging metal triangle, and gripping a separate equally metal beater with his teeth, the large stallion strikes the two together in rapid succession before dropping them both and yelling at the top of his lungs

“SOUP’S ON, EVERYPONY!”

And then the ground rumbles beneath us.

A literal flood of equines pour out of the woodworks at the call, appearing from behind every nook and cranny and even tree. Against the force of such an impressive ‘army’, neither Dusk nor I stood a chance. We both end up getting swept away in the river of ponies, and carried upon their powerful backs, to a well-set picnic table. After being deposited in seats, Applejack smoothly moves in next to us, as if on cue… I’m starting to think that we were expected. Eh, makes sense I suppose. I would go through a similar song and dance whenever Jason had a potential customer over, so I can’t really blame these ponies for doing the same for inspectors from Canterlot such as ourselves.

Sitting at this table, now the center of attention for this massive group of ponies, Applejack laughs loudly as he smirks at us, waves his foreleg over the gathered crowd of ponies, and asks Dusk a single question that wasn't really one. “Now…

“... why don’t I introduce y’all to the Apple family?”

Dusk grows visibly terrified at this suggestion.

“T-thanks,” he weakly responds as he stands up and begins to draw himself away. “but I really need to hurry-”

No dice, my friend. That apple fritter being shoved into your face right now is asking you to stay awhile. The new stallion who had just placed the item there quickly backs off as he sets it down…

… and allows the rest of his kin to repeat the act with gusto.

A literal pile of deserts starts to form before us as Applejack begins to list off name after name after name. Everything was going so fast that I couldn’t keep track of anything; I heard a Brioche and a Cinnamon Crisp and a Jazz... maybe… Ah! I can’t follow at all!

“... Red Gala, Apple Buck...” Applejack adds, just as lovingly, after a much-needed breath of air. I can’t see where he's pointing from where I'm now standing, as a note, so whoever the heck Red Gala and Apple Buck are are as much a mystery to me as they are to you... Though I can hazard a few guesses.

Taking advantage of Dusk’s deer-in-a-headlight open jaw and thousand-yard stare, the orange earth pony quickly shoves a nice green granny smith apple into the unicorn’s mouth right before finishing his name listing with “Aaaannnnnd Grandpa Smith over yonder! Hehe. Up’n’attem, Grandpa! We got guests!”

I look over to where the farmer was pointing and was able to, this time, spot an aged green stallion sleeping peacefully in a rocking chair; one that was set up smack dab in the middle of nowhere. With a start, the graying pony gets up, mumbles groggily nothings under his breath, and then slowly hobbles his tiny self over to the table and our gathering.

…

… I was supposed to grow that old with Jason someday…

…

… Sudden melancholy aside, it's with yet another hearty laugh that Applejack finally ends his sharing. “Why, I’d say you’re already part of the family!”

At this, Dusk immediately spits out his food.

“Bleh!” he yaks, though Applejack doesn't seem appalled at all. With a timid laugh, my purple unicorn Charge makes one last-ditch effort to leave this whole situation altogether. “O-okay, well... I-I can see that the food situation is handled, so we’ll just be on our way!”

And he would have gotten away with it too…

“Aren’t you gonna stay for brunch?”

… if it wasn’t for that meddling kid! Ha!

…

… Okay I’ll be honest with you here, I’ve been holding on to that one for seven years... Seven!

Just… just let me have my fun for once, would ya’? Please?

Disregarding my silliness for a moment; though I can’t see the little pony who had asked this question through the forest of legs surrounding us, I can tell that it was a young colt’s voice. This must be Apple Bloom, or Buck as I heard Applejack mention earlier. Unlike with Big Whatever, I remember Apple Bloom from the show because she was part of that little group with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo; two other main characters out of the ten. They probably haven’t formed said group yet, but that’s beside the point.

The point is that a tiny cute child is most likely looking Dusk straight in the eyes right now, with big wide peepers himself, and asking him why he’s trying to run away from his happy 'little' family right now.

Though he tries to dodge out of the way…

“Sorry, but we have an awful lot to do…”

“Sigh…”

… electing a round of disappointed sighs from the gathered ponies…

“... fine.”

“WHOO!”

… Dusk isn’t heartless. Not by a long shot.

Oh he's not pleased with this turn of events one single bit, as indicated by his frown and angry eyes, but he’s not the kind of pony to disappoint others. I smile brightly at Dusk as Applejack and the crowd of ponies swamps him, trying to vie for his attention, and as they begin to feed him more of their treats and more of their stories. I'm left by the wayside as this happened, nopony really paying me much mind, but I'm ultimately fine with this. Dusk’s the main star here, not me… though I still hope I can get a slice of that apple pie over there later on here, please and thank you. Maybe if I as-

“E-excuse me, Miss?”

Caught unaware, I end up blinking blankly for a bit before realizing that somepony was actually talking to me. I turn to my right.

I find a little yellow colt, with a bright red mane, standing there; staring at me with giant, mystified eyes.

“Are you a real dragon?” asks the tiny, cutie mark-less Apple Buck in soundless wonder. He's clearly Apple Bloom to a tee; from the colors to the size to even the big bright red bow that's tied neatly around his throat. This is certainly a little boy version of that filly in every aspect.

… Admittedly, even though I say that he’s tiny, he really isn’t in comparison to me. We’re about at the same eye level, and probably even the same age…

Remembering this specific detail about myself never fails to sadden me a little... but it has yet to completely dampen my love of children overall. Though I technically am one nowadays, I can still separate myself from their age group and treat them appropriately when the need arises.

Thusly did I then, after smiling gently to him, respond to his innocent question lightheartedly with “Last I checked I was.”

“Cooool,” he whispers in awe, his eyes full of stars. I’m actually quite used to this kind of response, truthfully; oftentimes a foal would approach me out of the blue while I’m out and about in Canterlot and ask similar questions. I always try to answer entertainingly for their benefit. Sometimes they love it, other times they turn into little spoiled brats… but that’s always a risk I’m willing to take. Long ago did I learn the all-important lesson that you need to be proud of your body, no matter what. It was a good creed to live by as a ‘big’ woman back on Earth, and it has served me here in Equestria just as gracefully so far.

“C-can…” Apple Buck starts to ask nervously, his eyes darting this way and that as if searching for eavesdroppers. Upon the coast apparently being ‘clear’, he asks me fully “Can you really breathe fire, Miss Dragon?”

Hah! ‘Miss' Dragon.

Bless this colt’s heart for being such a dear.

“Hmmm,” I reply slyly, making a show of thinking ‘deeply’ over the simple question. “Well… I don’t know! Let’s see, shall we?”

I then turn my head to the side and blow out a tiny little tongue of green dragonfire for my youthful audience.

Apple Buck’s face swiftly transforms into the image of a little boy who has just witnessed the coolest thing in their entire life.

Holding a claw before my mouth, I giggle a little over the sight. I curtsy to him soon after, with the dress I'm currently not wearing, as well; glad to have put on a good show.

“Again again!” the colt is quick to beg, giggling himself as he excitedly jumps up and down in place. He eventually calms down after a time to tack on the magical “Pllleeeaaassssse?” to his request.

Oh good lord. I think I've just received a fraction of the same force that ensnared Dusk not two minutes ago! In the face of such a cutie, how can I possibly say no? “Hehe, alright alright,” I agree with a laugh, making a pitiful attempt to calm him down by moving my claws up and down. “It makes my breath stink when I do it too much… but I think I can make an exception this time.”

“Oh thank you thank you thank you!” the little colt cheers in jubilation. He's acting like Hearths Warming has just come early this year. Awww. The sight of it is warming my old/young heart.

What can I say? I’m still a mother under all these scales and youth.

Upon agreeing to perform on more time, I swiftly decided that I'm going to make an even bigger flame this time for my lovely little pony. To ensure his and everypony else’s safety, I take a single step back and tilt my head at an angle towards the sky. I start to suck in air, and take a big breath, as I-

“Apple Buck.”

Cough cough! I-immediately choke on it thanks to a sudden loss of concentration. Bleh!

As I cough up black smoke, I turn towards the source of this voice just in time to see Apple Buck cringe. He turns as well towards the feminine call a moment later, though he does so slowly.

He discovers a large red pony standing before him.

A large, large pony.

Like, holy fudge; that is a large pony. Solaris is the tallest stallion I’ve ever met. Applejack is the second tallest.

This pony is taller than him, marking her as the tallest mare I have ever seen before, period.

And she was a mare, surprisingly. Her rounded muzzle gave her away. If not for it, though, I think I would have had just as difficult of a time identifying her as a her as I had with Male Pinkie Pie being a stallion! She's just as muscular as Applejack, just as well built, and, no question, just as powerful… if not more! She has a body that can make most guardmares weep in jealousy. Even more shockingly, she looks stronger than Gleaming Shield! This confuses me greatly; she’s clearly Applejack and Apple Bloom’s older brother, I can tell. The yoke around this mare's neck stands as proof of this assumption, and she even looks like him quite a bit if not for the slightly longer hair and the non-square muzzle.

What’s confusing me about this, however, is the fact that she and Gleaming have completely different body shapes, while I remember this gal’s male half and Shining Armor having the same on the cartoon! I know that there are some discrepancies when it comes to transitioning from a cartoon to real life, but this is still a pretty big one.

… Although, Applejack’s body is a pretty big change as well… Maybe everypony just transitions differently between the two sexes. I guess It’d be silly if everyone came out beautiful looking after a simple gender switch.

That is not to say that this mare isn’t beautiful. Not at all! I may not be attracted to women, let alone ponies, but that doesn’t prevent me from noticing how well she treats herself. Her mane is well kept, as is her tail, and her coat is as clean as can be.

She’s a big hefty mare and she clearly loves being herself.

A pony after my own heart.

“R-red Gala,” Apple Buck sputters out his sister’s name meekly, trying to look small and inconspicuous. “Ah… ah wasn’t botherin’ her none! Honest!”

Red Gala continues to silently stare at her little brother, only moving the wheat stock in her mouth around and doing nothing else.

“... You finish your homework?” the large mare questions in a slow drawl, her voice deep and commanding.

“N-...” the little yellow boy croaks in response. “N-nope…”

“...”

“... S-... s-should ah go and do it, sis?”

“Do you want to stay up and see the Prince raise the sun?”

“... E… eeyup, Red…”

“Then ‘eeyup’, Buck.”

“... Okay,” the colt finally relents with head hung low. He starts to trot off, only to then stop and look back towards me. “Thank you for showin’ me your fire, Miss Dragon! It was really cool!”

With that, he speeds off towards the farmhouse in the distance, and shuts the door behind him.

Red Gala watches this passively before she looks down at me herself.

“Sorry for him botherin’ you, Miss,” she speaks to me softly.

I wave this off with a claw. “Oh, he wasn’t a bother at all,” I assure her honestly. “Really. The dear just wanted to see a real dragon. I can understand that; I am pretty rare, after all.”

“Eeyup,” she concurs, turning her head to look at the mosh pit the gathering of ponies has devolved into. She continues to rotate the wheat stock in her mouth silently as she gazes over it with an unreadable expression.

With nothing better to do now but just wait, I decide to pass the time with this giant of a pony here. “You’re Red Gala, right?” I asked. “Are you Applejack’s sister, as well as Buck’s?”

“... Eeyup,” Red Gala explains to me poetically, looking back down. “Don’t think I got your name, sugarcube. You by chance that Dusk fellow’s sis as well?”

“Hah!” came my instant reply. “No no,” I wave her off. “Nothing like that. I’m just his loyal assistant.”

I offer her a claw.

“Barbara The Dragoness.”

She gently places her hoof within it.

“A pleasure.”

We shake… and then that was the end of it. The two of us proceed to turn our heads forward and quietly watch the festivities that are happening before us. Just as I had been earlier, I'm okay with this. Watching Dusk actually interact with ponies is a treat to watch, both because of how awkward he is during most of the exchange, but also because of those rare instances where his face will light up in a “I get it!” moment of clarity. These scant few occurrences brighten up my day, as they show me that he's actually starting to slowly understand ponies besides himself for once.

It's a wonderful sight to see.

… Though a different sight soon takes precedence over the other in my mind.

A sight that I can’t stop myself from asking about.

“... Red Gala?”

“... Eeyup,” the mare beside me answers, apparently well aware of what I'm about to ask.

“... Why is Applejack sticking his entire hoof down Dusk’s throat?”

“...”

At first, Gala says nothing, but she eventually sighs and answered.

“He… does that sometimes, Miss Barbara.”

“Barb is fine,” I offer automatically, before asking plainly “Why?”

“Big, Red, or both works for me,” the mare offers me in exchange before placing a hoof on her forehead and sighing yet again. “And to answer your question, Barb; it’s because he’s… hearty.”

I blink.

“... I don’t understand, Red.”

“Ah mean,” she explains further and tiredly. “He gets excited to help ponies out… often times too excited. So excited, ah'll admit, that he... forgets things… Things like hooves don’t belong in mouths… Ugh.”

I chuckle softly. “You’re embarrassed by it?”

“... Sigh... Eeyup.”

“Don’t be.”

Though she pauses at first, the big red mare momentarily removes her hoof from her facepalming to gives me a questioning look. Smiling to her softly, I state quite clearly that

“Dusk is worse.”

Big Red considers my words for a moment… before snorting and smiling back.

“Ah doubt it,” she counters confidently, her grin never weaning.

“Challenge accepted,” I retort, crossing my arms over my chest as I smirking right back up at her. “I’ve got stories that'll make you laugh so hard that your cutie mark will fly right off your flank, and make Dusk’s cheeks turn just as red as your own, pony.”

“Hah,” Gala chuckles, clearly not believing me. “Prove it.”

My grin only grows larger.

“Gladly.”

Sitting bowlegged on the ground, I gesture with a claw for the mare to take a seat along with me. Folding her own legs, she obliges. Once she's as close to my eye level as she can get, I begin to share this tale.

“Alright,” I start. “So this one is actually a story Dusk’s big sister shared with me once. She’s Gleaming Shield, Captain of the Royal Guard, so I don’t really have a reason to doubt how truthful it is. Plus it totally sounds like something Dusk would do, so that’s even more reason for me to believe that this actually did happen. I also have proof, but I’ll share that at the end.

“So, to open up here, understand this; Dusk loves stars. He loves them. That cutie mark isn’t just a bunch of stars because he’s good at magic, oh no; it also represents his love of stargazing. He has three different brands of telescopes, an entire room back home full of star charts, and he’s even enchanted his bedroom ceiling to display the night’s sky. Bottom line; he’s in love with the cosmos, you dig?

“Now then; once upon a time, Dusk went to a stargazing convention up in Canterlot. It was a big old meeting of the minds; all the experts in the field were there to share stories and their experiences. I can only imagine that he was literally in heaven that day. The convention even had lectures! Tons and tons of lectures, all dedicated to Dusk’s second favorite subject next to magic; astronomy. I’m told that he managed to go to all of the talks on the first day! For a bookworm like him, it must have been one of the greatest times of his life!

“... All good things must come to an end though.

“On the second day of the convention, Dusk made his way into one meeting room and ended up having to sit behind a girl. Now, this pony loved stars too. She loved them so much that she wore this, I’m told, beautiful dress that was decorated in hundreds upon hundreds of constellations. You can imagine it was a sight to behold.

“Too bad for her though; she made the poor decision to sit in front of Dusk Shine.

“Now, understand that Dusk is not a bad pony; not at all! He doesn't like to interact with other ponies, and instead likes to be with his books, but he is by no definition a bad pony. He wouldn’t hurt a fly!

“A dress, on the other hoof…Well, this one, in particular, was unfortunately flawed; it had one, only one I say, star more than what the actual section of space it was displaying actually held. No normal pony would have spotted it… But Dusk is anything but normal.

“So, because he felt as though it was his sacred duty… he used his magic to make this single star disappear.

“... The cloth underneath it disappeared as well.”

Placing a hoof over her mouth, Big Red Gala fights hard to suppress a gasp as her eyes grow wide in shock.

“Yes,” I agree with her. “That was my reaction too. Dusk, as inexperienced with sewing at the time as he was, failed to see that these stars weren’t attached to the dress but instead were sown into it! In using his magic to make the star vanish, Dusk instead ripped a hole in it completely. So shocked was he over his mistake, he ended up doing the only logical thing he could think of doing at the time…”

“... Put it back?” Gala asks me shakily, daring to hope.

I offer her a small smile.

“... Nope… He made the entire row disappear next to compensate!”

This time the large mare does gasp.

“That was my reaction too!” I again agree, laughing a little as I do. “You know what the best part is though?”

“What?”

I grin cheekily.

“That’s not the worst part!

“The worst part is that Dusk, upon making an entire row of this poor pony’s dress disappear, tried to ignore the gown for the rest of the discussion… only to fail miserably. You see, in erasing the row…”

“No,” Red Gala suddenly exclaims, having put two and two together. “He didn’t…”

I continue unabated. “... the constellations were now even more incorrect than they were before…”

“Tell me he didn’t!”

“... so he…”

“N-no!"

“... cut the dress down even further!”

“Gasp!”

I nod my head somberly.

“Yes. Sad but true. He kept hacking away at that poor defensive dress for the rest of the discussion. The girl only noticed what had happened once it was all over; when she stood up and discovered that her once gorgeous gown had become a miniskirt!”

“...”

“... Snort.”

This single snort is all it takes for the dam to break open. Soon the two of us were laughing up a storm, all at Dusk’s expense.

“S-snort,” Gala again chokes up. “Heh… Ah guess little colt’s will be colt’s; ah can completely see Apple Buck pullin’ somethin’ like that off by mistake!”

Lowering my own chuckling to a more manageable level, I decide that it's now time to deliver the punchline.

“Yes, little colts will be little colts,” I concede with the nod of my head. “... The thing is though?” I playfully question, leaning closer to the large mare. Curious; she leans in closer as well, turns her ear towards me, and allows me to whisper within it…

“... This happened last year, and Dusk is still banned from that convention center to this day!”

“...”

Our laughter resumes shortly thereafter; this time even louder than before.

“Ah like you, kid,” Big Red tells me honestly after our chortles subside. “Fan of Hoofball at all?”

“Sorry,” I apologize, feeling a bit ashamed. “But not really. Wherever Dusk goes, I go. If the stick legs and pasty skin of his didn’t tip you off already, he’s not much of a sports pony. I don’t get to go out and see the games often as a result.”

“Well that’s a shame,” the green apple cutie mark baring mare says simply, her smile never leaving her face.

Not wanting to seem rude, I offer up a suggestion myself. “Umm… Have you read any good books lately?”

Drawing a hoof to her chin, the earth pony thinks a bit about my question before properly answering it.

“Hmmm. Ever read anythin’ by... Haw Riming?”

The world around me suddenly goes dead silent.

“... He’s Dedicated to Roses?” I title drop one of my favorite Equestrian cheesy romance novels, hoping greatly that she’s read it before. “In which a filly, trying to escape the stress of being bullied…”

“Dresses as a stallion,” Red completes for me, our eyes both becoming wide in realization. “And joins a street gang…”

“Where she becomes the top dog!” I happily chip in. “Gaining infamy!”

“And,” my new best pony friend picks up. “The eyes of a lone stallion, who's fallen in love with her male alter ego!”

“He steals her first kiss!”

“She breaks his snout!”

“But in the end, she grows to love him too!”

“Now, there’s a problem though…”

“He’s Dedicated only to ‘Roses’!”

“Eventually this filly comes clean with him...”

“Revealing that she’s been a she the entire time…”

“At first he’s sad…”

“And so is she…”

“...”

“... But then the stallion declares,”

“In a complete show of passion…”

“Stallion, Mare; I’ve decided that it doesn’t matter! For now on, I’m only dedicated to you!”

“EEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!”

“Er, are you two ladies… okay over there?”

With our totally mature and dignified fangirl squealing having suddenly been put on hold, Red Gala and I stare at each other for a moment before turning our heads to Applejack... discovering that everypony present is now staring at us as well.

… Opps.

Standing up and blushing bright red (Gala’s coat covered up quite a bit of her own blush, the lucky B word), the two of us sputter incoherently for a time before settling on a simple reply of

“Eeyup.”

“...”

With a roll of his eyes, not sparing us another thought, the orange pony resumes shoving food into Dusk’s pie hole. Gala and I stand silently next to each other as we watch as things slowly go back to normal.

“... Barb?” the mare asks me after the coast was clear.

“... Yeah?” I ask as I strain my neck trying to look back up at her.

The big red pony smiles kindly down at me as she gently noogies the top of my head.

“Ah think we’re gonna be good friends.”

All I can do is smile back in agreement.

“Heh… Eeyup.”

Well… that was fun!

After a small length of time had passed, Dusk and I now find ourselves back on the streets of Ponyville, ready to head towards our next destination. The scroll and one of my seldom used pencils are in my claws as I check off the first completed task.

“Food’s all taken care of,” I tell Dusk over my shoulder. I glance further down the list and note what was number two before actually looking at the corresponding name. “Next is… weather!”

“Ugh…” Dusk moans from behind me, moving sluggishly. “I ate too much pie…” he whinnied.

‘And apples, and fritters,’ I mentally add. ‘And… cake, for reasons that escape me. How does one apple up a cake to such an extent? I hardly think there was any flour in that monstrosity. Still wish I got a slice though...’

Shaking my head, I decided that I need to focus on the now for… er… now. Weather's next, huh? Looks like it’s time for Rainbow Dash.

‘Or,’ I muse to myself with a grin, moving my clawed thumb over to read what this now stallion’s name is. ‘Should I say; Rainbow…?’

I stop and stare at the name.

It is not what I was expecting it to be.

‘... Huh… Weird...’

Shrugging, I end up realizing that it really isn’t worth worrying about as I instead look upwards and scan the cloudy skies for the elusive pony. Despite his added girth, Dusk quickly saddles up beside me as he waits patiently for me to list our next target.

“Hmm,” I begin, still looking upwards. I eventually explain, despite how much my brain wants to scream at me about how what's written is wrong, that…

“There’s supposed to be a pegasus pony named… Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds.”

Applejack is Applejack and Rainbow Dash is… Rainbow Dash still? That can’t be right… can it?

… No, it can’t really… It can’t be right, because…

“Well, she’s not doing a very good job, is she?” comments Dusk after looking up at the still cloudy skies. And there we have the problem that's been silently bugging me right now. Applejack’s name is gender-neutral.

Rainbow Dash’s isn’t.

… At least, it isn’t from my limited knowledge of Equestrian names. It can be short for Dashing, which is considered highly girly in the minds of the Canterlot Elite. A stallion with the name isn’t possible… right?

I honestly don’t know.

… Guess I have one way of checking though...

“He,” I correct for Dusk as I turn to face him.

The stallion gives me an odd look for this.

“What?” he questions me in complete surprise. “But Dash is clearly a mare’s nam-”

WHUMP!

And then a rainbow-colored, pony-shaped bullet suddenly strikes my poor friend down where he stands before he even had the chance to answer me properly.

R.I.P. Dusk Shine. May your next life be full of stars.

... Letting up on the joking for now, I rush forward towards the mudpuddle Dusk had just been pushed into, thanks to a flying pegasus, to see if the two of them are okay at all. Once I make it there and get a good look at this now mysterious rainbow pony... I find myself left with even more questions than I had before!

Just… Wha?

Straining his head up, getting a better look at the small blue pony now on top of him for himself, Dusk weakly smirks as he turns over to me and utters cockily

“T-told you so…”

He then goes on to completely lose his lunch on the side of the sunny Ponyville road.

… I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that that part wasn’t shown in the cartoon.

I am understandably grateful for this.

Entry 1, Part 3 (Loyalty and Generosity) {RE-EDITED}

This can’t be right.

This can’t be right.

Twilight is a stallion in this world; her brother is her sister, her parents are reversed, and her mentor is known as a father to ponies for crying out loud! That’s another thing: the Prince of Equestria has a little brother instead of a little sister here. He also has a legion of guardmares under his command instead of stallions! Other ponies are like this too; Apple Bloom is Buck, Applejack is a stallion among stallions, Red Gala is all woman despite how she looks...

… and I’m still female as well, despite Spike being a boy…

I… I know what the gimmick is in this dimension. I know with certainty.All the genders are flipped here! Every, single, one…

… So why is Rainbow Dash still a mare?!

I don’t think there’s any question about that either! Dash’s snout is round like a mare’s and hi-, screw it, her eyelashes are long as well. Her tail is as long as a mare’s too, as is her colorful mane. She’s a little shorter than Dusk on top of things, which is perfectly normal for most girls around her age.

Lastly…

… well…

… j-just look at those hips for the love of Solaris! Those are child, er, foalbearing hips right there.

Trust me. I know my hips.

‘W-what’s going on?’ I’m forced to ask myself, still unable to properly process what I’m looking at. ‘Why is she different? Why would everything else be consistent up to this point except for a main character like her?!’

My thoughts keep on spinning as the two downed ponies begin to stir and move around in their mud puddle, trying to separate themselves from one another and get back up.

‘This can’t be right,’ I attempt to convince myself, trying desperately to understand what I’m even seeing here. ‘It just can’t! Up to this point the only real variation I’ve been able to clearly spot in this world, versus the one shown on the cartoon, is… is...’

My train of thought suddenly comes to a complete, screeching halt as the answer finally reaches my mental lips.

‘... me.’

…

‘... Is it… possible?’

“Heheh… Uh, e-excuse me?”

A scratchy voice summons me from out of my innermost thought, forcing me to return to the present. Looking forward, I watch things unfold as a blushing Rainbow Dash… wait, blushing? Did… did that happen on the show? I don’t think so, from what I remember... But Pinkie also didn’t have piercings either in it, so… Ugh! This whole meeting is either going to leave me with a headache or just plain old heartache by the end of it; I just know it.

… Whatever. So, anyway, I watch in a daze as a blushing Rainbow Dash smiles softly at Dusk’s unmoving form. The flying I-can-only-keep-assuming-for-now-mare continues to giggle as she lifts herself further up into the air. Oh great. To add even more fuel to the ‘Rainbow is a mare’ fire, even her voice sounds the same! Dusk’s, Applejack’s, Colt!Pinkie’s… even little Apple Buck’s voice is deeper than hers!

“Lemme help you with that!” she suddenly offers to Dusk, who’s still flat on his face in the mud. He sits up groggily and turns around to face the blue pegasus, but she zooms off right over my head before he gets the chance. She returns a second later, though, with a fluffy storm cumulous in her furry hooves. Unintentionally flashing her colorful lightning bolt Cutie Mark in my face for a moment, she proceeds to hop on top of the cloud and give it a few quick jumps, resulting in a downpour of rainwater falling right on my charge’s poor head. Sitting in wet mud, his entire body now soaked thoroughly, Dusk looks like a picturesque example of an unhappy unicorn.

“Oops!” the mare says with a snort from up in her new cloud perch... Mysterious mare(?) aside, the whole ‘sitting on a cloud’ thing still startles me whenever I see it happen. Heck, it still startles me that I get to see it at all! They keep clouds so darn close to the ground here in Equestria...

After giggling to herself for a little bit longer, the rainbow-themed pony eventually stammers out, “I-I guess I overdid it! Um, uh… how about this?”

I take a step back, and fight hard to stay standing, as the pegasus begins to make tight flying turns around the puddle, creating bursts of wind which quickly leads to the creation of a freaking multicolored tornado! Ah! Again, I find myself wishing that crap like this was just an exaggeration for a cartoon’s sake!

“I call this, the Rain-Blow Dry!” Rainbow hoots over the wind as Dusk rapidly gets assaulted by a storm of colors.

... I, meanwhile, am left feeling like parts of that speech have been left out. I can’t remember the exact words anymore after all these years, granted, but I also can’t shake this nagging feeling that something here is clearly different. Considering how the prior encounters felt the same, except with stallions instead of mares... it says a lot about this whole strange situation.

What on Earth and Equus is going on here with this pony? She’s acting differently from how the other main characters I’ve met so far did. She blushes she stutters, she’s nowhere near as cocky as I remember her being, and she’s not even saying all her lines! It’s like she’s trying and failing to remember a script…

… Which is a lot like what I’ve been doing, actually…

…

… Maybe… just maybe...

"... Damn it all, Barb. Don’t get your hopes up now."

What? But, brain, I-

"Broke down into a crying mess when Solaris turned out to not be one himself," I finish for… er... me...

…

… Sigh… Fine fine. I’ll just… I’ll just let this play out I guess.

"Good girl."

Shut up, brain.

“Hopefully that did the trick,” the speedy pegasus says cheerily as she slows down the flapping of her wings and thus lowers herself to the ground. “You’re welcome!” she adds ‘helpfully’ as she lands fully and opens her eyes to inspect her work.

Putting my suspicions on hold for now, and curious as to what had actually happened while I was busy sorting out my mind, I circle what was left of the mud puddle and stand next to the flyer. She has the best seat to check Dusk out right now... I take a gander at his condition myself right as Dash starts to cover her mouth with a hoof; trying to suppress her sudden laughter.

She ultimately fails in the end…

… and so do I.

I find myself falling backward into a heap alongside the stunt pony as the hilarious image of the now spiked-do Dusk Shine burns itself directly into my mind. Just… snort, s-so funny! Oh my goodness, he looks like one of those Japanese cartoon characters! He reminds me of that old blond one with the orange suit, from that show Nathaniel used to watch with Jason!

The fact that Dusk is not happy about this in the slightest is only serving to make this even funnier.

Not as enthusiastic about the whole affair as us, looking to all the world like a stallion ready to kill somepony quietly and professionally, his voice takes on a blunt edge as he states steadily and clearly “Let me guess. You’re Rainbow Dash.”

I’ll give Dusk this much credit, at least he didn’t growl as he said that. He really is growing up!

I’m so proud of him.

Realizing that she’s being talked to, Rainbow lifts herself off the ground in a, well, dash. She gets up so fast, in fact, that I, having been unintentionally using her barrel as a pillow during our laughing fit, get sent flying up into the air as a result.

A whip of Dash’s tail and a burst from her left wing corrects my path at the last possible second though, resulting in me landing firmly, if roughly, across her back. Blinking, it takes me a good couple of seconds to figure out where I even am right now so that I can begin to dismount myself back to the ground.

She kindly lowers herself downwards so that I can accomplish just this.

I’m caught by surprise by the act, but I accept it after a moment and offer her a small nod of my head in thanks. Turning her own head, whipping her long and only slightly air-damaged mane over her withers, the blue pony smiles at me as well before lifting herself back up and returning her attention to Dusk.

“That’s me! You heard of me before?”

“I heard you were supposed to be keeping the sky clear,” Dusk retorts grumpily, returning to his default state. With a sigh, my purple friend surprises me by taking the mature route of starting over. Aw, he’s learning! True, he still seems a bit ticked off over it all, but at least it’s something. “I’m Dusk Shine, and the Prince sent me to check on the weather.”

With a flap of her feathery wings, Rainbow swiftly returns to the now pure white cloud and makes herself visibly comfortable within its, I can only assume, fluffy embrace.

“It’ll be done in a snap,” she assures Dusk, looking down at him from her makeshift bed. “Really! I’m just practicing my moves a bit with them first.”

More exasperated than angry at this point, my charge only tilts his head to the side and asks plainly “Practicing for what?”

At the question, Rainbow Dash grew as giddy as a little schoolgirl.

“The Wonderbolts!” she nearly squeals, happily pointing a hoof off into the distance towards a Wonderbolts advertisement poster. Dusk and I turn our heads towards it as she goes on. “They’re gonna perform at the Celebration tomorrow, and I’m gonna show ‘em my stuff!”

I know the Wonderbolts. They were mentioned in the show a few times, from what I can recall, and it was always Rainbow’s dream to join them. Since coming here I’ve learned a little bit more about their organization... despite never paying them any real mind, and never even attending a derby or flyby.

I’ve learned how they’re not just stunt ponies, but also a completely separate branch of the Equestrian military nowadays. Whenever there’s a big problem on the horizon about to strike against Equestria, the Wonderbolts head out first and try to deal with it themselves. That having failed, they can easily escape with their lives and provide important information concerning the enemy to the rest of the remaining branch. From there the situation gets told to Prince Solaris and it swiftly gets dealt with appropriately. In admitting that she wants to join them, Rainbow Dash is basically saying that she either wants everypony to see her skills or that she honestly wants to prevent disasters from befalling Equestria before they even happen...

… What can I say? My lessons with the Bluebelles were really in depth.

“The Wonderbolts?” Dusk asks doubtfully, the mocking tone clear in his voice.

“Yep!” chimes Rainbow Dash happily, none the wiser.

“The most talented flyers in all of Equestria?”

“That’s them!”

“Pfft!” articulates the studious Dusk with all the grace and dignity he can muster. Oh dear. “Please. They’d never accept a pegasus who can’t even keep the sky clear for one measly day.”

Harsh, but not unfounded. Not just anypony can be a Wonderbolt. They only accept the best of the best from what I’ve gathered. They only accept ponies who can fly as fast as they can gracefully and who are as brave as they are determined.

In translation; they only accept ponies like the Rainbow Dash from the show.

“Hey!” the (still debatable) pony in question shoots back in a huff. Her cheeks puff out too and she blushes as well, a motion I know for a fact this time didn’t happen on the show. I know it didn’t because little Ash replayed this part specifically about two thousand times back in her youth, all for one particular line.

That line being…

“I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat!”

… I still don’t know why my daughter liked that silly line so much.

Moving on; since nopony is watching me right now, I decide to use this time to take a step back. I did so so I can get a better look at the cloudy skies above. I want to make sure I can see all of it right now, and that not even a single cumulous is out of my field of vision. My reason for this? Well… Solaris can actually move the sun, Pinkie Colt can actually hover in the air without wings, and Applejack can actually knock all the apples out of a tree with a single buck…

By that logic, I want to watch it fully as this Rainbow Dash of questionable origin makes Dusk eat his next two words.

“Prove it.”

There they are.

Let the show be-

Whoose!

-gin.

...

… Jesus tapdancing Christ that was awesome.

“... Loop the loop around, and wham! Heh, What’d I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I’d never leave Ponyville hanging!”

Dusk is more statue than pony at this point; with his jaw firmly locked in place and his eyes bugging out to the point that them falling out was a legitimate concern. Frankly, I can’t blame him; mine are pretty much in the same state right now. Numbly, I rotate around and watch as the pony (whose father probably made unholy love to a jet engine) performs a victory aerial lap around us overhead.

She laughs her prismatic head clear off just looking at as. “You should see the look on your face!” she chortles directly to the still petrified unicorn beside me. “Ha! You’re a laugh, Dusk Shine! I can’t wait to hang out some more.”

Choosing not to elaborate further, she performs a single corkscrew in midair and begins to speed away…

… only to stop and land near the bridge right in front of us. Something had apparently caught her eyes. Trotting up to the edge of the structure, Rainbow Dash lowers her head around a corner and then audibly grips her prize with her teeth. Yanking her head back with a snap, the object surprisingly turns out to be…

... a pretty yellow sunflower.

Rainbow must have been thinking the same thing as me because the next thing she did with the tiny little thing was chew off the end of its stem, swallow it, and then… sits down so she can happily braid it through her mane as she hums.

…

… She flies off once again before I even have the chance to ask. Now left with a brain full of more questions than answers, and more confusion than stability, all I can think to do is…

“... Wow… She’s amazing!”

… realistically play the part of a starstruck little girl; because I honestly am one right now.

Hey! Don’t judge me! I’m entitled to have some childlike wonder in this life, okay?!

Just… wow! Ignoring the whole issue with her being a her instead of a he for a second, as well as everything else; I never knew that it was possible for any living thing short of a cheetah to move that fast! Ten seconds! She really cleared the whole sky in only ten seconds! From my spot down here, even as short as I am now, I was still able to see how the clouds in the far-off distance suddenly disappeared one after another. That rainbow coattail could probably be seen for miles out! The cartoon wasn’t exaggerating! It wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest! Oh, how I wish my children were here to see this with me! Ashley would have loved to watch it for sure, seeing as how this was basically her childhood, and even little Nathaniel would have gotten a kick out of the impossibility of it all at least!

And Jason…

… Oh who am I kidding?

Jason would have probably been too busy trying to get everpony to wear clothes to even notice.

Ha!

I finally decide to turn to Dusk, who is still speechless here. I’m ready for him to either mentally come to terms with the amazing mare any second now... or for him to provide for me a scientific explanation of how she’s either possible or impossible. Hehe. Turning around… I almost poke my eyes out on the unicorn’s now spiky mane.

Snort. Haha, oh goodness. I forgot all about Dusk’s sudden ‘makeover’! Now why did it come out like this, I wonder… oh! I know! Dusk’s hair gel! It must have re-hardened itself thanks to the heat provided by Dash’s tornado, thus turning the mane into this odd shape. Giggling even further under my breath, I, rather sillily, give the borderline ‘weapon’ I few experimental pokes with a claw… Yup! It’s pretty darn solid! Haha!

Dusk finally moves thanks to this, leaving his stupefied form to stare at me blankly. After a time, which I use to continue to snicker over how ridiculous he now looks, Dusk catches me completely off guard by saying one single word.

“He.”

I stare back in silence, my laughter ceasing completely.

Gesturing his head to where Rainbow had left from, Dusk, of course with a grumble first, simultaneously admits to himself and corrects for me that, “‘He’ is amazing.”

“... Wha?” is all I can really say in the end. I turn myself away and watch as the last of Rainbow’s colorful trail vanishes on the horizon. I’m quick to point out to Dusk that, “B-but you were the one who said, that she was, and then she... her hips… Just...What?!”

“I know,” Dusk concedes with a grunt. “I know… But then I got a better look at him during that tornado... A much better look. Bleh.”

“...”

… I’m sorry, but your call to a one Barbara The Dragoness has been interrupted by the trainwreck that is her mind.

Please hang up and try again another time.

“You’re going to have to trust me on this one… Eh. Whatever. Come on, Barb. On to the next stop.”

Clipclopclipclopclipclopcli-

“... Aren’t you coming?”

“... Y-yeah, Dusk,” I finally say after a second, though I’m still trying to sort out my new feelings on this subject.

I soon realize that said feelings actually have a name.

They like to be called ‘disappointment’.

Prince Solaris’ prophetic words from this morning suddenly echo in my mind.

“... five certain stallions in ponyville…”

Sigh… I had the answer all along. Solaris gave it to me plain and simply through his Seer powers, but this Rainbow Dash was just so different and strange that I… I-I dared to hope.

I dared to hope when I should have known that there was none to be found here.

Him being a he explains away quite a bit of that rainbow pony’s weird quirks, especially the ones that made me think that he was a reincarnated person like me. He’s probably had a rather different life than Rainbow the Mare, or at least different enough to result in a pony with a slightly altered personality. Maybe his mother played a bigger role in his life here where it was Rainbow's father in the other world, or maybe he had a different foalhood as a colt in this world than she did as a filly over there. Either way, something strange and similarly one-sided must have happened to him earlier in his life. Everypony else I’ve met so far seems to be exact replicas of their mare or stallion-halves, so only a really extreme event like those first few examples comes to mind as to why this Dash is now the way he is.

How he’s different is a bit easier to spot now, now that I know that he’s a he. It’s certainly not because he’s not Dash or anything, as I originally thought. He’s just a little less arrogant and hotheaded here, and a little more blushy and giggle-y. From a tomboy to a feminine colt, I guess you could say; that’s all it really was in the end...

… Sigh… I really should’ve known better than to think that someone like him was special like me. I really should’ve known, and I really shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up the way I did. I shouldn’t have, just like I shouldn’t get my hopes up thinking that perhaps other things are different in this world as well… Like that the other two friends aremares in this dimension instead of stallions...

...

… Or that… Rarity… isn’t a stallion here too…

… Stars above, grant me strength for what comes next.

Well… we’re here. City Hall's entrance. It didn’t take us long to reach this building, not even two minutes of walking from the bridge. Just a hop skip and a jump, one could say.

It felt longer for me though, seeing as how my mind is anywhere but here at the moment.

…

… Look...

… I’m not stupid.

I’m anything but stupid.

Call me a child, call me young; call me inexperienced or foolish or even emotional. You wouldn’t be wrong in saying any such things about me right now. This is who I’ve become, truthfully...

But don’tcall me stupid.

I’m not by any definition of the word.

… I remember the show... Rarity is behind these doors.

Rarity... who is now a stallion.

The same Rarity who made pretty dresses and had a generous heart.

The same Rarity who I claimed was just like my beloved husband who I miss so much...

… The same Rarity who is likely going to be the same gender as him right now.

…

… Spike had a crush on her.

I am now the Spike of this world.

Therefore, logically... I should have a crush on this pony too.

…

… Like, freaking, HELL.

I’ve been steeling myself for this day for years now; for the day that I meet a pony who is like the man I once fell head over heels for. I haven’t even opened these doors yet to confirm my suspicions, but I still know for a fact that they’re true. Rarity was pretty much Jason to a tee, after all; with only species, gender, age, and spatial dimensions separating the two from being the same person.

Now the gender and spatial dimensions parts have been removed, leaving only the age and species.

Said species is one I’m unfortunately now more accustomed to seeing regularly. I’ve gotten so used to them, in fact, that I can easily read romance novels about them and no longer feel alienated like I once did...

… This doesn’t mean I’m ready to start a relationship of my own with one though. I’m not attracted to ponies that way. I’m not attracted to dragons either, come to think of it...

…

… I’m… I-I’m actually not attracted to anyone anymore, now that I'm really analyzing this.

Male, female, stallion, mare, human, pony; I, as much as I loath admitting it, am simply too young to feel anything substantial yet. I’ve been reduced to a blank slate… Why I was even attracted to humans in the first place slips my mind from time to time.

There are days where I’ll try to picture a random male in my head. I’ll imagine all the little things about them that would always interest or excite me about them back on Earth, gather the feelings together into one big old handsome man, and ultimately feel… nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

What’s worse, I’ve been steadily seeing the signs of this affecting my mind. Meatier romance novels have been replaced with books with simpler premises, complicated relationship tales replaced with cheesy fluff, and tomes of commendable length… Well I simply don’t have the patience for them anymore for one thing.

I also don’t understand them for another.

It’s like I’ve forgotten what romance even is anymore; or, putting it into even grimmer terms, it’s like my understanding of it has devolved to a point befitting a real child of the age of seven.

I… I-I once even found myself thinking about my own relationship with my husband, who I loved like the sun itself, as, in the exact words I used in that horrible split second…

… ‘icky’.

Brrr

Through my memories I remember why I loved and still love Jason, and it's through the admittedly cheesy romance novels I remember what it means to truly give yourself to another. Why I went through the pain of bearing children, why I dedicated my life to raising them and staying by that man’s side; through these silly books, I find it easier to remember my feelings.

Through these feelings, I continue being myself and no one else; certainly not Spike, and certainly not a child.

Though my understanding of love has regressed I will not fall prey to this body’s cry that ‘boys have cooties’, just as I will not allow the pony behind these doors to steal my heart away from Jason. If I have to live the rest of my centuries-spanning draconic life as a widow, blatantly rejecting the notion of ‘till death do us part’, then so, freaking, be it.

The show does not dictate my life.

“Barb? What’s the hold-up?”

“... Nothing, Dusk,” I tell the unicorn before me honestly, stepping up beside him in front of the twin doors. I pull out my checklist as he opens them with his magic, and soon we journey further inside. We’re ready to take care of the next task and nothing else... Both of us, myself absolutely included. Do your worst, world.

Bring, it, on.

“Next up,” I speak with confidence, bringing the list before me. “Decorations! Ah... Oh…”

...

“... Oh…”

“Yes,” Dusk agrees to my statement. “The decor is coming along nicely. This oughta be quick. I’ll be at the library in no time! Awe-inspiring indeed.”

“...”

“... Barb?”

Though Dusk glances at me… I do not return the favor.

My eyes are no longer behind the protection of a thin piece of parchment but instead focused elsewhere.

Specifically, they’re focused now on the tall white unicorn stallion in the center of the room.

His horn is aglow in soft blue light as he speedily levitates banner after banner, and decorations aplenty, to their proper places. His mane is a seemingly messy pile of curled purple locks and his tail, longer than a normal stallion’s, is similarly spiraled. Three blue diamonds make up his Cutie Mark, which can be found on decently muscled hind legs. He works out more than Dusk; that much is certain. His jaw possesses the telltale sign of a stallion, being lightly square in shape, and lastly he’s fairly tall. Not as tall as Applejack, but close. He’s at least taller than Dusk, and certainly much taller than me.

He’s also… a-also…

“...”

“Barb?” Dusk asks me again, growing concerned.

I look up at him this time, then back to the white stallion…

...

… With youthful speed fueling me, I awkwardly shuffle myself behind Dusk’s foreleg and try to look as tiny and inconspicuous as possible. I soon bury my head in the fur as well, shrinking as far down to the floor as I can manage.

“Don’t let him see me… D-don’t let that pony see me...”

“Barb?” Dusk asks me for the third time, now clearly worried. “What’s the matter? Talk to me.”

“P-please don’t see me, Jason… Please don’t see what I’ve become…”

“Who? Barb, you’re talking nonsense,” he prods, running a hoof through my spines in a calming manner. “Come on, Barbara... Come on my little assistant. Let’s get this over and done with so you can take a nice long rest at hom-”

“Hmm?” a new voice suddenly pipes up, halting Dusk’s petting and leaving me frozen in place. N-no. Oh God no. It… i-it sounds just like... “Are you two back there by chance the inspectors that were supposed to stop by today?”

Shakily, I lift my head.

The white unicorn is addressing us while his back is still turned our way.

“Just a moment, please!” he begs in a voice that’s both deep but elegant; clearly refined and cultured. He continues with his work a moment later, never sparing us so much as a glance as he talks with himself. “I’m ‘in the zone’, as it were. Hmmm; shine always does the trick, does it not? Why, Elusive, you are a talent!”

Finally, he turns to us.

“Now, um, how can I help yo-”

His eyes are… a-are the bluest of blues. Even as they grow wide in shock, this fact remains true.

“Wha wha wha?!” the… unicorn gasps animatedly as his gaze falls to Dusk Shine and his uniquely damaged mane. “Oh my stars, my good sir! Whatever happened to your coiffure?! That can not be what it was intended to be!”

Dusk blinks at first before drawing his attention away from me.

“Oh, you mean my mane?” he asks J-… Elusive, glancing up at his own purple hair as he does. “Well, it’s a long story,” Dusk admits with a roll of his eyes. “I’m just here to check on the decorations and then I’ll be out of your way.”

“Out of my way?” Elusive replies with another gasp, hoof on his chest. “I’m afraid that will no longer be possible, my good fellow! The travesty that is your mane will simply haunt me for the rest of my days if I allow it to exist for even one second longer!” The white stallion then puts a foreleg across the back of Dusk’s neck and drags him across the floor. “Come along now,” he orders unwaveringly, clearly not going to take a ‘no’ for an answer.

“Wait!” Dusk shouts as I step up from out of his legs and stand to the side. “Where are we going?! Help!”

At the pace Elusive is moving at, the two of them are quickly out of sight... thus leaving me all alone in this fully decorated room...

“...”

… I eventually built up the courage to silently follow after them.

Dingalingaling

“Ah! Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, but I’m afraid that I’m a bit tie-… Oh! Why hello there, little one. You’re… Hmm… I think he said his name was Dusk… You’re Dusk’s assistant, aren’t you? Sorry for stealing him away from you so suddenly, dear, but I simply had to fix his mane. You understand, yes?”

“...”

I say nothing as I raise my head and stare numbly at Elusive. A moment later I passively scan my eyes around the rest of the heavily tinted pink room, looking for my charge.

“If you are looking for him,” Elusive quickly explains for me, as he uses his magic to clear his show floor. “Then I’m afraid you're in for a little bit of a wait. I forced him into my shower not two minutes ago. He desperately needs it, don’t you agree?”

“...”

Again I remain mute.

… I’m alone with Elusive.

Alone with…

...

"... They have the same eyes."

… Shut up.

"They have the same voice…"

Damn it to hell and back, brain; shut up and stay shut.

"B-but they have the same expressions!"

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

"THE COLOGNE"

"THE AIR AROUND HIM"

"THE PASSION FOR HIS WORK IN HIS EYES, THE WARMTH OF HIS SMILE"

GODDAMN IT DON’-

"JASON!"

Damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it all to hell!!!

Huff… Huff...

D-damn it… damn it… It’s…

Sniff

… I-it’s not, freaking,fair.

It’s not fair in the slightest.

Elusive is too much like him. Too. Much. Everything about him, down to the littlest detail, is Jason in essence. He’s younger, yes, but so was my husband when we first met.

We met when he was this age himself.

All my memories of him are flooding back into me as I shakily gaze at this busy unicorn. Everything I love and miss about my beloved is slowly floating its way to the surface of my mind, leaving me nothing more than a ruined crying mess.

Sniff

W-watch. Watch it now as these tears begin to fall and as I turn away in shame. Even as a teen this would occur; whenever another was crying near Jason he’d be able to sniff it out like a shark sniffs blood in the water. Friend or stranger, it never really mattered to him.

It’s how the two of us first met.

… He was rather obtuse otherwise, and not as capable at translating others’ emotions such as anger or frustration... but crying? C-crying was Jason’s kryptonite and Batsignal, all wrapped into one.

Watch it as it proves to be Elusive’s now as well. D-don’t play dumb with me, you sick world; I now know your gam-

“Dear, whatever is the matter?”

Knew it.

F-freaking knew it.

They’re the same, I now know. My heart’s pitter-patters are telling me as much.

"I’m... falling in love with his stallion."

NO!

No d-don’t do this to me! Please! Don’t take Jason’s memory away from me as well! Y-you can’t replace him with a damn horse! I WON’T LET YOU!! I still love Jason with all my heart, and he’s alive out there damn it! As long as I hold on, as long as I keep fighting to regain what I’ve lost, someday we might… I-I might… m-might…

...

"... I’m never going to see him again," I cruelly tell myself cold and emotionlessly, unable to drum up even the slightest sliver of light to soften the blow. "I accepted this fact long ago. My daughter, my son… my love… I accepted my death and all that it represented."

...

… I’m not replacing him.

I won’t.

… I-I don’t want to…

… Don’t make me, please...

Glump

… I suddenly find myself in the middle of a warm, fuzzy hug.

“There there,” the teenage tailor speaks softly, as he runs a hoof through my spines. “Whatever it is that’s troubling you, I’m sure that it will be over soon.”

...

"…"

… Please… p-please let me summon the power to at least hate this pony. Please give me the option...

"..."

… No? Not even a little frustration, or just the strength to growl? My heart isn’t pure; I know quite well that it contains the fire to hate another. Please let me use it now to protect my memories… Please… I can’t have used it all up ‘hating’ Solaris. There has to be a dark light from my early days of cursing this life… G-give me a fraction, or an inch. Give me something to work with, anything…

"..."

...

… Fine… Be that way.

I’ll just do the next worst thing then...

… I’ll smash this illusion in a million stupid pieces.

It’ll be a simple task; I’ll just ask an equally stupid question. It’ll be stupid in the fact that I already know what the answer is going to be. My mind knows it, as does my soul, but my heart, selfish as it is, refuses to listen.

This will end up being like with Solaris all over again. This will be just like when I was forced to decide between being adopted and leading my own life or throwing it away to take care of Dusk. My heart decided the outcome of the decision that day, bypassing even my head to get what it wanted. I’ll allow it to do the same thing here; to take the reins of this situation away from me, and to do what is illogical with them.

"... This will be like with Solaris again for one other reason," I tell my fragile self, my thoughts having caught on with my soul’s desperate plan. "One, agonizing, reason…"

From within this one-sided embrace, I look up at Elusive.

I open my mouth for him...

"L-lyh oui ihtancdyht draca funtc, so pamujat?"

...and pour my whole heart out uttering a single line of foreign words.

"… This will be like what happened with both Solaris and Dash; when I foolishly held onto the belief that there was another out there like me… and was ultimately disappointed beyond description."

English... I-I had just broken through all my carefully placed mental barriers to speak English aloud for the first time in seven years. It unsurprisingly came out strained and possessing an Equestrian accent; this body of mine is unused to speaking in such a way, after all. I never trained my new tongue to speak it... And why should I have? It’s gibberish to ponies. There’s no other language on this planet like it from what I’ve researched. It’s structured the same way as Equestrian, the native language, but it isn’t pronounced anywhere near as beautifully.

But I had still spoken it all the same.

I had spoken it bluntly in the hopes that Elusive could understand it.

In the hopes that Elusive was a human as well...

… In the hopes that Elusive was Jason, having died and been reborn like me.

“C-can you understand these words, my beloved?” is what I had just said to him, hoping beyond hope for him to understand. I knew it wasn’t to be; I knew it in my head and my soul.

Only now did I believe it in my slowly breaking heart as well.

Tears stream across my face as no answer comes, and as the stallion lets go of me completely. There… I-I did it. I broke the ‘spell’.

Now… look at me, pony. Look at me like a child or, better yet, as a freak. Look at me through new eyes... Look at me through eyes Jason would never use on me!

Prove to me that you aren’t him so that I can be through with you forever!

Let me have my memories, Elusive. Let my husband live within them forever. I… I-I don’t need you in my life! I don’t need you to become an object for me to project my feelings onto. My heart belongs to me, and I will continue to hoard it like the greedy little dragon that I am.

I… I-I don’t need you… I-I… I have my m-memories… I’ll have them forever...

Clop

…

… There’s a hoof now planted firmly under my chin.

Forcefully lifting my head upwards, so that my eyes could see into his own, I find Elusive staring at me intently. He’s looking at me, just as I wanted… but it isn’t with a face that holds a questioning expression as I was expecting.

Instead it holds... a small and kind smile.

I blink back tears as I end up being the one to look on questioningly, unsure what’s happening.

The young stallion, in seeing this, lets loose one loud yet refined “Ha!” in amusement. Settling down from this, having apparently had his fun... Elusive finally tells me, as plainly and kindly as he can, “Don’t go throwing the words ‘my beloved’ around so readily, little lady, haha.”

The very ground beneath me vanishes as my world suddenly stops spinning.

“W-w,” I stutter feebly, taking a single nervous step away from him. “W-what… did you just say?”

In seeing my shocked reaction, Elusive simply smirks.

Smirks...

“... Oui'na meypma du kad ouin raynd pnugah dryd fyo.”

… and then burns my entire reality to the ground.

Only chaos remains in his English-speaking wake.

Entry 1, Part 4 (Chapter 9: Progression) {RE-EDITED}

Author's Note

Dedicated to a friend who passed before his time. KHIII won't be the same without you, Ben. R.I.P.

Entry 1, Part 4 (Chapter 9: Progression) {RE-EDITED}

“... Good lord, it’s like I’m trying to fit a whale into a dress here.”

“Oh hush, you. I know for a fact that you love every, square, inch of this beautiful bod.”

“Hmm, perhaps... I could always use an ‘upgrade’ though, or at the very least a model without as many... curves.”

“Hah! Hate to break it to you, hun, but they smashed my mold after I was made.”

“Hmph. Probably for good reasons no doubt.”

“Yup, good reasons indeed... They didn’t want to jinx perfection!”

“Hehe. Yes… I suppose that sounds about right, dear.”

“You bet your needle and thread it is… We good with this thing yet?”

“Just one, more, second… Aaannnndddd done. There, you have now been properly entombed in a fitting sarcophagus of fashion.”

“Great!”

Ssssssss...

“... ‘Cause now it’s time for this mummy to gather her ‘treasures’ for the next life. Come here, you.”

“Ah. It would be my honor, madam.”

Smmmmmooooocccchhhhhh~

“EEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!!”

Halting our loving kiss, my husband and I blink at one another for a time before turning towards this sewing room’s entryway. Immediately we spot a little boy’s head poking out from around the corner right as its owner attempts to beat a hasty retreat.

“Uh uh uh!” I halt the scamp with my teasing words before he can escape. “Where do you think you’re going, young man?”

“...”

… When I receive no response, I proceed to tap my high-heel shoe against the ground in a steady rhythm as I prepare myself to use the deadliest parental trump card in my arsenal...

… The dreaded full name drop!

“Nathaniel Douglas Burns,” I recite loudly and threateningly. “Do you wanna come back here right now and explain to your momma why you just went ‘Ew’ over her kissing your daddy?”

A quiet voice from the hallway eventually ‘honors’ me with an answer.

“... Fine, momma…” mutters my son as he drags his feet across the carpet; entering the room proper.

“Well?” I again ask the dark-skinned, nicely dressed child before me with a huff. I keep on tapping my lady-stilt-clad foot as I wait patiently for his response.

Said response is to again mumble under his breath.

“... It’s icky…”

“Hmm?” I pry mercilessly using only a soft hum and a stink eye.

“... It’s icky,” he finally admits, gaining a blush as he looks away.

“...”

“... Hehe, what?” I question these words with a soft giggle, allowing all of my fake annoyance and anger towards him to melt away. I lighten up on my teasing as well… though not completely.

Can’t change who I am, after all.

Illustrating this point, I assure my son quite clearly that, “It’s not ‘icky’, babe...” I then turn back to my quietly chuckling husband beside me. “... Right, Jason?”

Jason Eugene Burns, my beloved, nods his head once for me as he turns to look at his son as well now.

“Oh yes… it’s simply horrifying, my boy; like she’s trying to suck my very soul out of my body with her succule-”

A quick punch on the arm, provided by me, effectively knocks that nonsense off.

“I-I mean it’s a lovely show of affection that should never be thought of in such a way, Nathaniel.”

“Darn straight,” I mutter to my hun with a cheeky smile. He happily returns this by sticking his tongue out at me. I simply snort in exchange, and so does he a moment later.

“B-but you can get sick!” Nathaniel quickly points out in a gasp, effectively interrupting our flirting to show off that knowledgeable little noggin of his. “Saliva has the potential to contain and transfer thirty known illnesses and diseases a-and-”

Whoosh

Smoooch~

One slyly given kiss on the cheek later, provided by the fastest moving plus-size women this side of the Mississippi (that would be me, as an FYI), Nathaniel is now one bird-dropping away from becoming a real statue right before my playful eyes.

“MOM!” he stutters out, jumping away from me and quickly using his hands to rub away the ‘cooties’ I had ‘poisoned’ him with. “Gross!”

Standing back up fully, and straightening out this custom-tailored dress as I do, I smile down quietly at my son as he continues to spit and gag.

Jason, meanwhile, laughs lightly in the corner as he starts to work on putting his sewing materials away. “You better not act up during this wedding today...” he jokingly scolds over his shoulder as he sorts his spools. “... when our not so little Ashley seals her vows with that Chad fellow at the alter.”

Nathaniel slowly straightens himself back out.

“I promise nothing,” is what he and I both soon retort for Jason, obviously in alternate levels of seriousness.

He snorts briefly at this as he resumes his cleaning work, and as Nathaniel cranks his head upwards to pout at me.

I grin at him softly as he does.

“... Sometimes we do things that hurt us out of love, baby boy,” I speak with him honestly, allowing the warmth of my heart to shine forth through my words. “We do it because it’s worth it.”

“...”

Nathaniel turns away.

“Hmph,” he grumbles, crossing his arms and lifting his nose into the air. “Still dumb…”

I choose to say nothing at all, and instead opt to run my hand calmly through the dreadlocks atop his head in a comforting motion. I keep on smiling as I do...

… Jason, meanwhile, suddenly lifts his head in a snap and remains motionless where he stands.

“... I sense a disturbance in the fabulouscity.”

Rolling my eyes, I take a step back as my obsessive-compulsive husband moves like the wind past me to Nathaniel’s side. His critical eyes scan our son’s painstakingly styled do for a moment… before the fashionista moves a single strand of it over, thus undoing the ‘damage’ I had just inflicted upon it. “Crisis averted,” Jason reports with a thumbs up to a now dazed Nathaniel before turning to point at me. “I will forgive you this time, dear… This time. If it happens again though...”

“Divorce, hun?” I offer sweetly with an innocent smile.

“Super divorce!” he declares with a flare of his hands.

“I see,” I nod my head in a show of apparent comprehension, only serving to confuse Nathaniel the bystander even further. Compounding to his confusion; I proceed to lean down, and wrap my arms around him in a tight hug, as I tell his father clearly that, “I’m taking our son though, and I’m willing to go to court over it… That and the dishes slash silverware...But I’ll fight mostly for the boy!”

My statement is then soundly made legally binding by my highly mature, and extremely cultured, noisy wet raspberry. “Pffft!”

With a stage gasp, Jason takes a ‘frightened’ step back.

“You fiend,” my hun whispers lowly, eyes wide in ‘shock’. A second later he returns to something akin to ‘normal’ for him, though his eyes now hold a false hard edge. “... Very well. Though it pains my heart, I guess I’ll have no choice but to bear the burden of, alongside buying new dishes, only being able to watch my boy grow up from the comfort of the shadows… Nathaniel!” Jason then cries, animatedly pointing his manicured finger to the child in question. “Remember this here and forever! The fabulously cloaked figure in the stands will not be a mere lowly stranger in your eyes but instead your loving old father, fighting against a cruel and corrupt world! Remember me, my son!!”

Letting go of our now thoroughly flabbergasted little boy, I stand up again and watch quietly as Nathaniel takes a single look at his father, a single look back at me…

… and then he starts to angrily stomp his way right out the door.

“Grown ups are weird!”

SLAM!

With that declaration, Nathaniel roughly forces the door shut behind himself as he exits completely out of both this room and (in his eyes only) strange conversation. Jason and I witness this passively at first…

... but then we both soundly burst into laughter.

“Weird?” Jason asks me around wiping happy tears out of his eyes.

“Us?” I inquire right back as I do the same.

“...”

“... Naaaahhh! Hahah!”

More chuckling and hollering then follows, leading into a cooling period where the two of us simply stand in place and enjoy each other’s company. An arm gets placed over my shoulder during this downtime, bringing me closer to Jason’s side.

“... Ashley was like that not too long ago,” my hun mentions after a moment of silence. His eyes stare forward at the closed door before us.

“...”

… I shuffle closer to him, and place my head on his shoulder, in response.

“Y, y-yeah… T-t-thanks for reminding me, you, sniff, j-jerk... Sniff.”

“Oh, darling,” Jason coos to me as tears of the sad variety begin to streak across my face. He wipes these droplets away with a finger as he stares deeply into my eyes. “... We knew that she couldn’t be our little girl forever, dear. Ponies and kindergarten had to give way to dates and college eventually. And now…”

“Our b-baby is all grown up,” I sniffle weakly, turning into a sobbing wreck. “She's not our little Ash a-a-anymo-…”

“Shhhhh,” Jason comforts me gently, bringing me into a proper hug. “Shhhhh... I miss our baby girl too, Barb.”

He hugs me harder as I shudder even faster.

“I miss her every day...” he continues. “... but I love who she’s become just as much. She’s her own beautiful woman now, and one to be proud of; don’t you agree? To fail to see such a wonderful thing would truly be a shame.”

“...”

I now lean towards him in our embrace, accepting his warmth fully.

“... I ‘hate’ you so much, Jason,” is what I end up saying in the end as I snuggle with him deeply. “For always being so s-stupidly right sometimes…”

“Heh, I have my moments... ‘Hate’ you too, dear,” he snarks right back; smiling just as brightly as he holds me tightly. “Someday I’ll be ‘free’ from you and that will be a ‘happy’ day indeed.”

Now weakly smiling myself, I playfully consider these words with a hum.

“Hmmm, yes… But that’ll still be quite a while I’m afraid, hun,” I report happily in jest. “‘Till death do us part’ and whatnot.”

At these words, Jason only ends up laughing harder.

“Oh please,” he snickers, pulling himself away from our hug so he can open the door for me. “You’re too heavy to float to Heaven, and you’re too big to slip into Hell... Knowing you, Barb? Ha! You’re probably going to haunt me until the day I die myself.”

“...”

I couldn’t help but grin brightly at the thought.

“Haha… Perhaps,” I chortle casually as I step forward. “I won’t argue there, hun… Hmmm… Well! I guess I better start practicing for this oh so important ‘role’ than.”

Stepping through the room’s portal into the hallway; I turn to face my beloved as he held the door, offer him my own hand, and then I happily smirk at him as he accepts it and joins me in one final embrace.

“Boo,” I utter seductively.

“Ah,” Jason fakes a scream... only to then lean in closer and passionately lock our lips once again.

I accept this touch without a second thought.

For all the joys he’s brought me: for all the ups and downs and wonders and sorrows, I shall forever love this man with all of my heart and all of my soul.

Smooooocch~

May this happiness never cease for us both, and only prove to grow stronger in time.

…

...

~Eight Years Later~

“Oui'na meypma du kad ouin raynd pnugah dryd fyo.”

No.

“You're liable to get your heart broken that way.”

N-no…

“Hehe… What fun!”

This can’t be real...

English. Elusive… E-Elusive just spoke in English.

… He spoke it better then me.

“What fun what fun!” the pony in question continues to chuckle to himself, laughing up a storm. He soon addresses me with a warm smile. “As you can probably no doubt imagine, little lady, I don’t get to use that often enough… Thank you ever so much for the opportunity!”

“How,” is all I’m capable of choking out in Equestrian as I take another shaky step back. My tail presses up against a wall as I do, cutting off my retreat... I stare up fearfully at the sole pony in the room as I again try to demand an answer from him. “H-how do you know that language?!”

“Hmmm…” Elusive playfully considers, raising a manicured hoof to his chin in apparent thought. He soon grins...

… As he does, Jason’s image replaces his own in my misting eyes for the briefest of seconds.

“Why, I assume I learned it in the same fashion you did, dear... through regular and daily application!”

“...”

… I now find myself rendered completely speechless.

‘... Prench,’ my inner voice begins to list. ‘Griffonese, Minatuarian scripture, Zebracan, Español de caballos, Breezilian, Equestrian; even ancient Equine! I’ve looked them all up! The Canterlot Archives has them all listed! I-I’ve spent years trying to find anything similar to the English language in this world...

‘... I found nothing in return.’

…

Elusive… knows English… Pure English... Learned through application of all things…

… On a planet where it doesn’t exist at all…

...

… This can’t be real.

This can’t.

W-where’s the trick?! Where’s the ‘but...’?! TELL ME ALREADY! Don’t string me along like this anymore, you goddamn sick world! He can’t know English, he can’t be human, he can’t be from Earth…

H-h-he… he can’t be… b-be…

“J-... J-Jason?”

“Hmmm?” Elusive asks with a start, having still been chuckling to himself this whole time. Blinking mutely for a second, he quickly cranks his head downwards to speak with me once again. “Oh… Oh, I’m terribly sorry about that; my mind was stuck in days long since passed. Did you just ask me something, miss…?” Suddenly he gasps. “Goodness me! I don’t believe we’ve ever been properly introduced! Hmph! Well, now that simply won’t do! Not one single bit... Better late than never, I suppose... Ahem!”

With the clearing of his throat, effectively starting this whole conversation all over once again, Elusive, in the hands-down showiest fashion I’ve ever seen a pony do such a thing, rolls and raises his hoof to his chest simultaneously as he dips his head lowly before me. The result is a highly refined and eloquent bow.

“Elusive Belle of Ponyville, madam,” he introduces himself with a smirk, flashing his pure white teeth for me. “And you are…?”

The act causes my heart to skip a beat…

… B-but only for logical reasons, I assure you! It has nothing to do with how fancy or handsome it makes him look or anything. Really...

“... Barbara,” I eventually answer for Elusive in return; speaking as plainly as my voice can allow at the moment. I fight against the familiar urge to politely curtsy as well as I instead focus my eyes solely on the gentlecolt’s own. ‘If he is Jason...’ I contemplate as I wait on bated breath for his response to my hopefully familiar name.

Said response turns out to be a pause...

… He pauses far longer than a pony would normally pause.

“... That’s a pretty name,” the suspicious unicorn replies kindly with the same smile, and single nod of his head, that he had given me earlier.

My heart now races at lightning speeds.

With the long since thought dead flame of hope rekindling itself inside of my soul, becoming a painfully hot presence in my very chest; I drum up the entirety of my courage as I repeat my name for him one time more...

… My full, real, name.

“Barbara,” I speak as clearly as I can through accented English. P-please be my hun! Please be someone I know at last! “Barbara... D. Bur-”

“Bleh.”

!!!

...

… A new voice suddenly halts me.

A new voice suddenly silences me completely.

… A new voice sucks the air from out my lungs; a new voice causes time itself to slow down…

...

… A new voice reduces me to a silently whimpering child right where I stand.

‘N-no,’ I pitifully plead to the powers that be for this not to be happening; for this to just be a bad dream. ‘No no no! Not now, not now!! ’

Begging desperately, bargaining pathetically, prayinghypocritically…

... all actions turn out to be useless in the end.

I knew they would be, just as I now know that there’s nothing I can do to stop what is to come. I know this to be true in my heart, my soul, and in the deepest, innermost core of my being; I know that my fate is now sealed…

… I know...

… for you see…

Clipclopclipclop

... this is too inopportune of a time for Dusk notto suddenly reappear and ruin everything.

“Ugh. Thanks for the shower, man... I guess,” my dripping wet charge complains/shows gratitude to Elusive as he enters the room proper in all his purple glory. “Could have gone about it without zapping me with your horn, but whatever.”

I’d call his timing impeccable if it didn’t piss me right the hell off.

Clipclopclipclop

Despite how much I try to will them to stay, my earlier words now fade away into nothingness on my tongue as Dusk Shine approaches us fully... I know for a fact that they’re never coming back either.

I’m not going to be able to say a damn thing with him now here, breathing down my neck.

‘Not, freaking, f-fair...’

Truer words, self…

…

… Sigh… Time is still moving at a snail’s pace around me, and it’s showing no signs of speeding up anytime soon. Frankly, I should be grateful for being given these precious few seconds to organize my splintered thoughts… but I’m still incapable of doing that right now... or anything else, for that matter.

I’m still paralyzed with fear, after all.

With no real way to know such a thing beforehand, and with sure as hell no way of knowing now; Dusk Shine and Elusive Belle have somehow together managed to stumble upon the scenario that’s synonymous with my worst nightmare of all...

… They’ve somehow managed to trap me into having to choose between my past and current life.

“...”

My heart won’t allow me to speak another word, or uproot myself from this spot, because of this terror; it won’t allow me to take any sort of risk...

… Please, you must understand this one thing if you are to understand my situation. While it might sound silly to you that my body acts this way when confronted with such a, seemingly simple, choice... this doesn’t change the fact that this is still what I’m scared of the most in all of creation. More so than dying again, more so than being reborn again; losing family by not losing them physically but instead spiritually, by being forcefully rippedout of their hearts and minds by their own, free, will… Makes me shutter just thinking about it…

… It also keeps me up at night when I’m alone, causes me to quietly hyperventilate when in public, cry more the usual literally everywhere, and, when I was a young toddler still trying to regain control of her body... w-well let’s just say that I sometimes played my given role a little too embarrassingly well and leave it at that.

...

... If Elusive is actually my beloved Jason, I run the risk of being seen as a stranger by Dusk. This will no doubt cut me deeply; after all that we’ve been through so far, I’ve come to love him dearly. You need not look much further than my writings and ramblings to know this to be the truth… And if Elusive turns out to not Jason, and is instead just another human from Earth; well then I’ll be exposing myself to both him and Dusk for no real reason. This guy could be an ally or he could not be; I can’t really be certain anymore in this strange dimension. I once thought I had a good understanding of my new reality, and that I knew how things were going to play out…

Oh let me count the ways that this day has constantly proven that little notion to be false.

A single truth remains though; the choice between my past family or my current. I can’t pursue one of these lives without losing the other, essentially, and both routes have the potential for me to lose everythingall over again. I barely survived the first time I was reduced to nothing; my greatest fear of all is being forced to endure such oppressive loneliness again in this, or any, lifetime.

That is my greatest fear of all...

… because I’d view Death as my only savior in such a scenario.

...

… Even if he did fail to show up the first time…

...

… Thusly do I then, as I bite my lip to the point of bleeding, remain silent as time resumes moving forward once again... and as Dusk continues to drip all over Elusive’s floor uncaringly.

The mentioned gentlecolt has a few choice words about this particular matter.

“Good heavens! W-what do you think you’re doing?!” our host suddenly wails at Dusk, and I quickly find myself having to fight hard against a sudden, painful, wave of nostalgia as he does. S-still the same voice as Jason’s, down to even the yelling. Not fair in the slightest, world...

“Er… There weren’t any towels?” Dusk shrugs with a blush upon realizing his mistake. His eyes focus themselves entirely on Elusive as he says this; my now pathetic form is thankfully being ignored by both of them. Nopony can see my pained expressions as I continue to fight against tears, regrets, the urge to speak, and my bleeding heart. During my battle with my inner turmoil, Elusive sputters uselessly as a result of Dusk’s words; his face is clearly displaying just how hard he’s trying to simply comprehend the ungodly levels of awkwardness that my charge is capable of generating through his mere existence.

I wish Elusive great luck in this endeavor; I still haven’t quite come to grips with it myself.

“Weren’t any-, Didn’t I tell you that the third closet from the right, past the hoof cloths… Oh, whatever!” he eventually shouts, having lost the unwinnable battle. With a huff, and a nose held firmly in the air, Elusive lights his horn bright blue as he uses its magic to grip Dusk’s ear and drag him further into the boutique. “Come,” the fashionista orders unapologetically to his fellow unicorn. “I’ll show you… And then, once you’re clean, we can come back and begin working on giving you a presentable outfit for your restored do!”

Dusk’s eyes widen thanks to this.

“W-wait!” he cries out in surprise as he’s again taken somewhere against his will.

“W… w-w… w-wait!”

This…

… t-this what I say as well as the two of them begin to leave.

My body is still shaking with fear, and my heart is still beating as loudly as a drum... b-but I still want my answers! I-I want them so badly... badly enough to act without thinking about my fears first… Damn it all...

It still gets the job done either way; it still stops Elusive like I was aiming for.

“... Barbara, dear,” he says to me sweetly enough, turning to grant me the same cheery smile. “I’m terribly, terribly sorry... but my muse is screaming at me to fix up your friend here! It shan't take more than a little while.”

“But,” I try to argue, not wanting him to leave; not wanting to go on a second longer without an answer to my burning questions. “B-but J-,”

“Barb?”

I’m suddenly left frozen in place all over again.

Dusk is staring at me now as well.

“What’s wrong?” he asks me innocently enough in his forced magic hold; completely unaware of the conflict he’s creating within me simply by asking.

As my heart and mind and soul wage a hellish war inside of myself for the right to take the reins, and as my body itself begins to break down into a shaking, sweating, whimpering mess...

… I stare back nervously at Dusk at first…

… then heatedly at Elusive thereafter…

“…”

“...”

… A-and then I, finally…

“... Nothing, Dusk...”

… tearfully fold.

“N-nothing at all… Sniff...”

“...”

… I can feel it through my scales as Dusk’s soft eyes unintentionally drill holes into my turned head. Clearly concerned, but lacking the information to proceed... ‘H-heh… Dusk’s relationship with me in a nutshell, fillies and gentlecolts.’ The familiarity of it grants me a little comfort, actually... but does nothing to ease up this now heavy atmosphere one bit.

“...”

“... I think my little brother left a coloring book or the like up in his spare room, little Barbara,” Elusive suddenly offers to me after a moment of awkward silence. He blatantly ignores the prior mentioned heavy atmosphere to do so... which only makes him look even more like Jason then before. The unicorn’s memory summoning smile remains strong as he continues speaking. “You may help yourself to it if you need something to do... We can talk later as well, if you so wish!”

Twinkletwinkle

He then resumes magically gripping Dusk’s ear.

“For now though... I have bigger fish to shove into a fancy suit today!”

Dusk’s intense staring stops altogether upon hearing this.

Elusive had unwittingly just uttered the magic, trauma inducing, word.

My charge’s eyes dilate to tiny pinpricks right before my own wet ones. “S-suits?!” he whimpers in shock as he tries to turn his head towards the tailor with the still glowing horn.

“Oh yes,” Elusive chimes happily as he resumes dragging Dusk out of the room with him. Slowly they start to leave my sight completely. “Dozens upon dozens, dear Dusk! Old and new and strange and… oh this is going to be so much-”

With that...

clipclopclipclop...

… they were gone.

This left me here with only myself… and my now screaming thoughts.

"G… G-go after him!"

... N-no…

"Please go after him right now!"

I-I can’t…

"I need answers!"

B-but…

"I deserve answers!"

Pl-

"JASO-"

“What if he is him?!” I suddenly scream in a hush, successfully shutting both my crying heart and shattering mind right the hell up.

"..."

…

… Untrusting of both of my chatty organs at this time, I continue to talk aloud to the silence as I try to untangle myself from the big yarn ball of emotions I’m now unhappily ensnared in.

“W-what if he is Jason?!” I again ask no one, as I slide against the wall behind me; finally resting my drained body. “What… what would that even mean...?”

…

“...”

"... It would mean…” my mind pipes up, starting to slowly put things back together for me. "That he’s… dead… like me..."

“...”

"..."

… Then…

...

... T-then that means that N-...N-n-Nathaniel is n-now a… a-a...

“... Oh God,” I gasp in shock. “Oh God, no.”

My tears return with a vengeance as the implication of this begins to strike me harder than anything else before it.

“N-not my baby… Whatever god exists, not my baby,” I beg through a sob, my personal religious opinions be damned. “P-please don’t tell me that my baby boy is now an o, o-orphan. P-p-please… A-anything but, sniff, t-that!”

"Ashley is fully capable of acting as a godparent at her age!" my brain quickly points out for me, returning to being the logic spewing entity that I need it to be right now. "If Jason did die, then Ashley can legally cover as a guardian if my friends can’t be godparents like they said they would! I know that she loves her little brother... and Nathaniel isn’t a child anymore either..."

“...”

"..."

“... T-that’s still too cruel though,” I keep on crying quietly. Bring my knees closer to my chest, I hug them tightly for strength. “He might be a y-young man now, but losing both his parents so close to each other is still jus-…”

…

"..."

“...”

… Wait.

"That..."

“... That’s not right.”

"Why isn’t that right?"

It doesn't sound right for one thing.

“Why doesn’t it sound right?”

"What am I forgetting here?"

It’s on the tip of my tongue…

“Something obvious that I’m overlooking…”

…

"..."

“...”

… !

"!!"

“!!!”

If he died,

"either in the same year as me,"

“or afterwards...”

… then why is he older than me now?!

"... then why is he older than me now?!"

“... then why is he older than me now?!”

All at once the broken pieces of myself snap back together, creating a cohesive (if completely scared out of her gourd) whole. I stare blankly ahead and blink back tears, as my heart, mind, and soul try to analyze this newly realized detail.

“He’s… older than me,” I repeat in a whisper to the empty room around me. “He’s… as old as Dusk… He’s a teenager.”

Why is he a teenager though? I died almost eight years ago…

"He would have to have died… eighteen years ago for this to make any sense."

“...”

I turn towards the hallway and glance at where the two unicorns had left not too long ago.

“... He’s older than me,” I continue to list the facts, not allowing my emotions to bleed through. “He’s been on this planet longer than me…

“... He… can’t be Jason then… Right?”

"... Not… necessarily," my inner voice reluctantly points out, as another dark fact enters the light. "There is another possibility here..."

“...”

… My eyes suddenly fall to the frilly lady purse draped across my shoulder.

I consider it for a time…

“...”

… before opening up the strap and forcefully rummaging around in it as quickly as I possibly can. Not even a second later, I find The Poisoned Barb firmly gripped in my now shaking claws. Opening it, I rapidly flip my way through the small tome and look for a specific entry. “Four four,” I murmur lowly, searching for something between the few used pages. “Verse Verse… ah. Chapter four, verse.”

I flip a page forward, and find what I’m searching for.

“... Maybe everypony is a filly where here they are a colt,” I recite my own written words for myself, needing them now more than ever. “... or perhaps the whole dimension is simply... three minutes ahead of us... the possibilities are... endless...”

…

"..."

“...”

… With a small slam, I close the book and stare deeply at its cover; as I again gather together my wayward feelings and thoughts.

“... He’d have to be from the future,” I finally acknowledge the answer fully... though no part of me wanted to.

It’s too sad to even think about if it’s true.

“If… i-if he is Jason… then he died after me… He died lord knows how many years after me…”

"... He could have lived out his life fully, years upon years ago…

"...

"... He could have lived them out happily… perhaps even with…"

…another...

"... woman."

…

"..."

"..."

And thus my tears resume their falling.

“I-I shouldn’t hate him if he did,” I lie as I hold my face in my claws. “I-I-I shouldn’t, sniff, h-hate… I w-won’t hate him if he did. He… h-h-he had every right to be, b-be hap-”

My selfish crying soon overwhelms me, preventing me from uttering a single word more.

Clipclopclipclopclipclopclipclop

“... but regardless; it still looks much better this way, Dusk. Don’t you agree?”

“Well, yeah… but this is still just my old mane style though.”

“Oh? Then your stylist obviously has exquisite taste! You simply must give me his or her name this instant!”

“Er… It’s Gleaming Shield, but I highly doubt she’d be willing to… Barb?”

I barely move my head up to look at the two returning stallions from my spot on the floor.

Neither one of them comment on my now hollow expression.

“... Ah! Found that book I mentioned, have we?” Elusive asks me with a laugh, beaming brightly.

“...”

I look down at my claws... and discover that he’s mistakenly referring to The Poisoned Barb, which is still currently being held in my weak grasp.

“...”

“Hopefully that can entertain you for just a moment longer, dear,” he keeps on speaking, ignoring the odd look Dusk is now giving me beside him. He soon turns to him, though his words are still aimed at me. “It’s time for the fun part, you see!”

For the third time today, Elusive is successful in completely stealing Dusk’s attention away from me.

“We don’t really have t-” Dusk attempts to escape one last time.

“Nope!” Elusive chimes sweetly, using his magic to push Dusk onto the room’s runway and levitate several stacks of clothes closer. “I’m afraid the time has finally come to make you sparkle quite brilliantly, my new friend! You have just the absolutely perfect body shape for this new line I’ve been working on!”

“B-but I have t-” Dusk argues.

“Let’s start with a this combination!” he gets ignored completely. “The gems on this undershirt will complement the color scheme of this top hat quite nicely, I think!”

“But, b-but… Ugh!!”

With that final frustrated scream, Dusk reluctantly submits to Elusive whims. It looks like we’re now on the road to perfectly recreating the cartoon’s first episode once again…

… Good.

This is a good thing.

Elusive is still Rarity. He knows English, but he’s still the same pony Twilight Sparkle became friends with. Dusk is still heading down the proper path; no major deviations have been found yet.

Everything is… fine.

Everything.

…

… My eyes wander downwards towards The Poisoned Barb.

I stare at it.

“...”

… And then I reach into my purse and pull out my pencil.

Opening to a blank page...

… Scriblescriblescrible

... I begin to write my thoughts.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

I’m unsure if I should start this chapter with the words “Dear Diary.” On the one ~~hand~~ hoof I feel as though I’ll have many new things to write about in the near future, which would certainly justify the transformation of this journal into something akin to a diary. As the show starts in earnest, and as the adventures begin to ramp up, I know with certainty that I’m going to be granted more than enough content to fill out these pages within the many years to come.

On the other hoof though; telling my life’s story is but one of the two main goals of this journal. The other goal, one which I’d be neglecting upon turning this into a proper diary, is to educate others like myself in both the horrors and wonders of their second lives. Perhaps I can better highlight the "wonders" portion through the ritualistic sharing of my day-to-day life, but this might end up giving you a false image of how well my life now actually is.

~~Spoiler alert; hell is still preferable.~~

Regardless of what I’ll ultimately end up doing, I still feel the need to share with you, dear reader, my latest epiphany. Said epiphany is this:

You’re never going to be reunited with your loved ones.

Never.

The multiverse is too big a realm for such nonsense to happen. As romantic as the notion of reuniting with the love of your first life is, or being reborn into a lost parent’s arms, in the end these dreams are nothing but more than that; dreams.

For the longest time I dared to hope, and I dared to dream; but no more.

I won’t allow myself to fall prey to such flights of fancy any longer; I won’t build myself up any further in the delusion that I will see my Jason or my family ever again. You, dear reader, shouldn’t get your hopes up either.

Neither gods nor miracles are real, after all.

Duplicates of loved ones might exist in the worlds you inhabit, appearing as horrific reminders of all that you’ve lost, but take my next words to heart; they will never be the ones you’ve left behind. The sooner you accept this fact as the unquestionable truth that it is, the sooner you will be able to finally move forward.

And I need not remind you at this point that moving forward is always the goal, fellow ~~reincarnee~~ Lost ~~Soul~~ One. Never let it not be. The moment you stop is the moment you die in this, and all, lives. I have Elusive Belle to thank for this revelation; I have him to point to as the source of my inspiration. He speaks in the same tongue as me, as I’ve discovered, and when I first met him I saw him as possibly being my husband reborn.

No longer.

He may turn out to be a human like me, and he may even be Jason as well in the end, but nopony will ever be my Jason again.

Nopony.

My beloved is as good as dead to me now. May he live on forever in my heart.

~~And may I find love again someday.~~

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... Too… sparkly… Now go on, my good sir! You were telling me where you’re from."

The sound of Dusk’s winces of pain forces my head up and out of my journal. Standing up, and stowing the book back into my purse, I watch in somewhat lighter spirits as Elusive uses his magic to forcefully try to pull a tight pair of dress pants over my charge’s hindlegs. As Dusk continues to grunt from the discomfort, and as Elusive grits his teeth from the magical strain; I find myself…

... giggling...

… Maybe I’m even smiling too... I honestly can’t tell right now. I feel numb, and I’m not really sure what to make of my life anymore…

… but Dusk is spending time with a pony who is, unknowingly, about to become a good friend of his. After this day they're going to go on adventures, save countless lives, make suits, read books, chat, hang out, go on picnics, stand by each other’s sides through thick and thin, come to understand the Magic of Friendship better than any other pony in history... and ultimately secure their own paths to happiness

together…

… I do know this much at least.

...

‘... Inhale… Exhale...’

...

... I’ve... decided on something else just now too, along with what I’ve written.

I’ve decided...

... that this event, right here and now...

… will be what ultimately leads to myhappiness as well.

Yeah...

...Yeah…

...

… YEAH!

I… I get it now… I really get it! It was staring me right in the face, but I couldn't bring myself to fully accept, or even acknowledge, it. It's so simple...

... My,

life,

is,

over… And I’ve now finally decided that that’s a good thing.

Simple.

My past opportunities, my original family, my assured happiness; all were snuffed out in an instant when a kid decided to drink and drive. It was tragic... but I can’t keep mourning any longer. I can’t stay chained to old ties, less they bind me forever. I can’t keep clinging to that which I don’t have. I have to take my own advice and move forward.

So then... let’s again start anew.

Ahem…

... Dusk Shine is not Nathaniel, Gleaming Shield is not Ashley, and Elusive Belle is not MY Jason!

There… I said it. I have to start looking at these ponies differently; I have to start looking at them as their own people, and not just as replacements for my family like I’ve been doing. I now see just how unhealthy such a thing was, and how much it was reducing me as a person. I need to… move on... That just leaves one more thing than that needs to be discarded for everything to be complete, and for me to finally move past this day.

I do not need for it anymore, so this will be one loss I won’t be mourning.

So, again… Ahem...

...

... I am NOT Barbara Debra Burns!!

Not anymore! She’s dead, but I still live!

I am Barbara The Dragoness!

That’s all that should, and will, matter to me for now on!

I will not cry!

I will not mourn!

I will notlament this life any longer, for it is mine and mine alone!

I’m seven, not forty-seven! I’m young, not experienced! I don’t have the wisdom of an adult! I don’t have a husband to hug! No children, no big beautiful body, no humanity; I have nothing substantial to my name!

What I do have is a sweet tooth for gems and chocolate! A love of reading and writing! A hilariously immature potty mouth and sense of humor! The friendship of a Prince and two lovely ladies who are stallions in another universe! I, am, awesome!

And, most importantly...

... I have the one thing that kept me moving forward; the one thing that stood as my beacon in this everlasting darkness. The one thing that shaped me into who I am today, and what prevented me from foolishly taking my lifetime and time again.

I have the magic of friendship on my damn side!

I, have, Dusk Shine!

BUCK YOU, my worst nightmares! You can't control me any longer!

I now choose my CURRENT life as the one I wish to live in!!

Huff… Huff…

H-... H-hehe… Haha! I’m…

... free.

I’m finally free from myself.

Slumping slightly, I sigh contently as I feel yet another great weight finally be lifted off of my tiny shoulders today. Heh... funny how you never really realize just how much you’ve been carrying until it’s gone.

True I still have memories of a past life, I still have a Lost One journal and diary to write, and I still have responsibilities and roles that I need to play in this life… But, you know what? That’s an awful lot for a little girl like me to worry about all at once.

Let’s take baby dragon steps, not giant woman strides, towards the future from now on.

Let’s start acting our age.

"Heh.”

Now, for the first time since entering this boutique today… I find myself smiling brightly once again. I beam as happily as I can as I resume watching two unicorns unwittingly bond with one another. ‘Hehe,’ I snort inside my head. ‘Poor Dusk; this must be a living hell for him… So funny! Ha!’

The sound of laughter now begins to echo throughout my newly cleared mind,

it triumphantly takes the place of the sobbing that was once so prominent as it does.

"I’ve…” my best and closest friend, who saved me from myself more times than he’ll ever truly know, tries to answer Elusive’s earlier question through his continued grunts of pain. His hindquarters are being crushed by his too-tight dress pants as he does… which hilariously raises the pitch of his voice until it’s almost a one for one copy of Twilight’s! Haha! I think I’m starting to sorta dig this cartoon world!

“been sent…” Dusk keeps trying to finish talking. “from Canterlot… to-"

"Huh?” the possibly secret human Elusive suddenly deadpans, dropping his magical hold on Dusk and allowing him to fall to the ground in a heap. “C-Canterlot?!” he gasps loudly soon after, drawing my charge’s now frightened attention. My own eyes fall on him as well as I internally laugh over his slowly growing sillier expressions of surprise. He then pauses…

... only for the fashionista to proceed to (I hope I’m using this term right) ‘squee’ in such a high pitched fashion as to make Rainbow Dash seem manly in comparison! S-snort.

"Oh, I am so envious!” Elusive admits in a proper flamboyant show of flailing his hooves and forming entrancing posses. “The opportunities, the regality! Sigh... I have always dreamed of living there!”

Standing back up, Dusk is now capable of taking an important single step back (to prevent being accidentally impaled by a horn, I’d imagine) as Elusive gets way too close to his comfort zone so that he can drape a foreleg right across his withers.

“Dusk Shine, buddy old pal?” the grinning white shark, formerly known as Elusive, asks his now thoroughly uncomfortable friend/victim. “We are gonna be the best of friends, guaranteed…” He then frowns, giving the suit Dusk is wearing something I can only describe as being a trained death glare. “... Rubies? What was I thinking? Let me get you some emeralds!"

With this plan of action having been settled, and after disengaging the one-sided embrace in the progress, Elusive promptly heads further into his store to search for more gems to beautify Dusk’s attire with.

"..."

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

Said attire is promptly yanked right off of Dusk’s person with the help of his glowing horn.

"Quick!” he then yells to me as he begins to gallop off towards the door. “Before he decides to dye my coat a new color!"

Dingalingaling

The bell atop the main doorway rings out loudly as Dusk roughly crosses the threshold and dashes off into the crowded streets of Ponyville.

"..."

I, meanwhile, remain rooted in place...

“... Heh.”

... but not for too long.

Dingalingaling

The bell rings a second time as I exit soon after Dusk does, willingly leaving all that resides in that boutique behind as I do.

Elusive… English… Jason...

... There’s no need to rush things. I’ll get my answers eventually; I know I will.

"I still have my whole life ahead of me, after all,” I cheerily speak with myself, as I briskly skip my way down the dirt pathway after Dusk. “I’ve waited for seven years thus far, Elusive; I can certainly wait a little while longer.”

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

"Come on Juliet!” Dusk suddenly growls at me from a nearby bridge, using his magic to levitate me through the air and onto his back. “We have to pick up the pace! We’re far behind as is here!

Rolling my eyes, and holding on tightly to Dusk’s fur as he trots, I sigh happily as the tension of the last half hour melts away completely, granting me with many reasons to smile honestly once again. “Fine, Dusk,” I answer him with my new grin as I pull out our shared task scroll once again. Though life may get strange; though it may bring with it as many fresh hells as new tragedies, I should never take for granted the little rare moments of happiness and joy that come along with it. They're what make life so worthwhile.

I can’t wait for Dusk to come to this same conclusion himself someday, with the help of his friends.

"Alrighty,” I soon repeat for my trotting friend, now focusing on reading over his list. “Let me just see what we have left to d-”

I stop speaking, however, when something suddenly crosses my mind.

I replay the last few minutes in my head for a moment…

... only to then ask a single question aloud.

"... Did you just call me ‘Juliet’?”

Now it’s Dusk’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Oh don’t act like you don’t know,” he snarks, briefly smiling again himself… though he then turns his head towards his back so he can give me a flat look instead. “... I saw you making googly eyes to your ‘Romeo’ the whole time back there, young lady.”

"..."

"... W-what?!” I choke out in reply, turning beet red in the face. “I-I wasn’t making googly eyes at him, Dusk!”

Yeah! I sooo wasn’t…

... Right?

Dusk simply snorts at this answer.

“Eh, whatever floats your boat, Barb,” he proceeds to huff frustratingly. “... To think I was worried about you too…”

"..."

"... He was kinda handsome, okay?” I finally admit for him and myself, with a deep blush; pushing the tips of my claws together embarrassingly. It’s… it’s not like it’s not true or anything, I-I guess… Sighing slightly, I shyly add under my breath, “... Thank you for caring about me though, Dusk. I appreciate it...”

"Yeah yeah,” Dusk grumbles in return, concentrating instead on where he’s carrying me off to. “Focus, my little wannabe femme fatale; what’s next on the list?”

"..."

... Oh how easy it’d be for me to set his mane on fire right now... You're lucky you're cute, pony.

Though I grumble to myself at first, I eventually clear my throat and give the list before me another quick once over. “Uh, let’s see... Oh! Music! It’s the last one!” I cheer in jubilation. Yes! It’s time for the last task and the last pony!

This means that this hellish day is almost over!

Yay!

We’ll both get to go to the library soon after this then, meaning that Dusk will finally get the chance to recharge himself. I know from experience that there’s only so much an introvert like him can handle at a time; he needs to take breaks, less he gets irritable. Though he probably won’t outright admit it right now, he is starting to get a little cranky after all he’s been through. Relaxing alone with his books during Male!Pinkie’s ‘surprise’ party, before being forced to save the world, should hopefully do him some good! I’d like the opportunity to rest myself too, but I have a feeling that I’m not going to be able to during the party.

Somedragon has to keep social ponies away from Dusk’s room, after all.

So I’m happy right now because of this news… but I’ll also concede as well to the fact that I’m excited that we’re about to meet a soft and shy little pony like Fluttershy finally. I wonder what his name is... Oh, wait; it’s probably on this sheet somewhere. Let’s see then… The chorus is being helmed by a stallion named... Butterscotch?

That’s…

... a really cute name, actually! Awesome!

Ahem. So, like I was saying; I’m happy that we’re about to meet Butterscotch! After the roller coaster of emotion that was Elusive and Rainbow Dash’s introductions, I’m looking forward to having something smaller and quieter to deal with at last. What better fits that bill than a male Fluttershy?

If Rainbow Dash is any indication, there’s no reason for this shy little pony to not stillbe a shy little pony in this universe. As I’m slowly starting to realize, genders don’t really matter here too much. Yeah, it changed Rainbow Dash into a femboy... but his cutie mark is still the same! That means he still flies fast and dangerously enough to make that giant rainbow explosion thing… the rain boom or whatever it was called... What that says to me is that he’s probably still that same daredevil tomboy under all that giggling and flower accessories.

Following that train of logic, Butterscotch is most likely still that cute yellow pegasus pony whose toy I once owned myself...

… Hey, what can I say? I really did mean it when I said that she was my favorite. Nothing wrong with a full-grown woman having a little plastic pony on her worktable, especially when her daughter was the one who bought it for her for mother’s day.

Resuming back on point; after the emotional hell that was the meeting with Elusive and Solaris before him... I think I deserve a little break from the madness, don’t you? Okay? Okay.

Tweettweettweettweet~

The entrancing sound of music on the wind summons me from my thoughts and returns me to the now. Dusk soundlessly turns to look at me queerly over its sudden appearance...

... and I return this strange expression with one of my own shortly thereafter. It’s clearly birdcalls, just like how it was on the show, but I’ve never heard birdcalls quite as pretty as these before. They feel otherworldly, beautiful, and even a bit nostalgic... and they only serve to hype me up even further. I honestly can’t wait to meet this, no doubt, sweetheart of a pony now. To command birds that sing as amazingly and delicately as these; I can only imagine that this stallion’s heart is as pure and kind as they come.

Fighting and losing hard against my (un-ironic) childlike excitement; I dismount myself from Dusk’s back and join him as we sneak our way closer to the music’s source. A row of bushes stands in our way but we, being in a wonderful too-tired-to-care-anymore mindset, don’t see this as an obstacle in the slightest as we unwaveringly bury ourselves deeply in the hedging in an attempt to pop out on the other side. I, being smaller in stature than my charge, manage to make my way through first and lay my eyes on the yellow pegasus stallion before he can. I take in this new sight now...

... and my brain halts all of its higher functions as I do.

...

"... I should have freaking seen this coming,” I tiredly moan under my breath as I facepalm, and as Dusk silently pops up next to me.

"Should have seen wha-” he starts to ask… only to then turn his head towards Butterscotch and receive his answer. "... Oh,” Dusk Shine says after a time, unknowingly reflecting my own thoughts perfectly.

"Yeah…” I agree, lifting my claw off of my face to further observe the sight of the unaware Butterscotch.

Dusk and I remain standing in the bushes for a solid minute longer, simply taking in this pony in all of his, er, uniqueness.

Just… wow

"..."

“... I,” I begin to say, no longer able to keep this detail to myself any longer.

It’s just too strange not to point out.

“... I was unaware that ponies could even grow chest hair, Dusk…”

“I was unaware that we could grow beards that long,” Dusk retorts in exchange, still staring at the giant, lumberjack-esque pony in the distance. “... Or as thickly pink…”

“...”

… Dusk then starts stoking the bare edge of his muzzle, and a look of quiet jealousy flashes across his eyes as he does.

“... I wonder if I should try to grow a beard like th-”

Fwoosh!

A warning tongue of emerald-tinted dragonfire, streaking across his field of vision, quickly expunges such thoughts from his mind before they can properly form.

“Try to grow one,” I punctuate my threat sweetly with a big old toothy grin. “... and I’ll burn it off your face in your sleep… along with everything else you own… Do I make myself clear, Dusty~?”

“...”

Dusk audibly gulps.

“C, c-crystal, Barb.”

I now smile just a tiny bit brighter.

“Good boy.”

Entry 1, Part 5 (Kindness) {RE-EDITED}

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Entry 1, Part 6 (And Magic...)

“... and that’s the story of my whole entire life!” I finish triumphantly. Phew! That took awhile, and unlike last time I told this story I didn’t shed a single tear! Yay baby dragon steps! Granted, I might have slightly altered it a tiny bit… and abridged it… and erased every mention of humans and reincarnation... and reduced the angst by 50% for good measure…

…

… Well Butterscotch enjoyed it either way. That’s all that matters. That and it most likely annoyed cranky-pants Dusk Shine too. Any opportunity to pick on my favorite Equestrian nerd is a bonus in my book~

I think back to my last spoken words as I regain my thoughts. Seeing an opportunity, I quickly add “Well… up until today at least. Do you wanna hear about today?”

Butterscotch’s smile grows larger at the suggestion. He’s been such a good audience so far; never interrupting, never judging, and no questions asked which I especially like. I thought there would have been one or two with my purposely vague mentioning of being ‘trained’ by the Bluebelles… but on second thought maybe he’s more entranced by the sheer novelty of a dragon talking to him then the actual story itself...? Well, whatever the case, he’s not hurting anyone so I really shouldn’t complain. He didn’t even step on anypony!

I’m especially impressed by this fact.

Despite his largeness, Butterscotch has really good control over his giant gait. He's been able to fluidly move through the crowds of Ponyville as if he were half his size. It also helped that most of the townsponies gave the burly pegasus a wide berth as he strutted along. Nopony was particularly rude, thank goodness, but they certainly weren’t as friendly to him as they were when it was just Dusk and I. If this bothers Butterscotch at all I can’t tell. His muzzle is really the only thing about his face that’s expressive. I wonder if Elusive will try to fix those bangs of his when they start doing those spa days like in the show…

… Wait. As guys, would they even still go to those? What would be the guy equivalent? A bar? It’s probably a bar… which I will not allow Dusk to set hoof in yet thank-you-very-much. He’s much too young!

… Says the kindergarten aged dragoness... *Cough*

“Oh, yes, please!”

I blink a few times at Butterscotch’s energized reply before remembering what I was doing. I was about to tell him about my day, right? Right… well, let’s go! I take a deep breath and then, Huh wha-

“Gyah!” I gag on my air in surprise as I'm myself forcefully turned away from my audience. Dusk Shine had about faced so he could face Butterscotch himself.

“I am so sorry,” Dusk says a tad louder than need be, taking over the conversation so I can’t purposely extend it. “How did we get here so fast? This is where I’m staying while in Ponyville!”

Unintentionally having been brought to look at what's being referred to, I draw my attention away from the two young stallions and am quickly greeted by the sight of a familiar looking treehouse.

Golden Oaks Library; one of Ponyville’s few famous landmarks, according to Dusk Shine. Grown and Owned by an eccentric unicorn who was cast out of Canterlot around the time of the village's founding, it was only made open to the public a number of years back when the last of said unicorn’s surviving family left the place abandoned. This relinquished all claim to the books that remained behind. It was because of this sudden boon, and because the town lacked a proper one before this, that the whole place was quickly converted into a library for the local ponies. Rumors circulated as a result though; rumors that secret tomes lie hidden inside behind forgotten doors and secretive compartments...

… Yes, Dusk told me all of this prior to us coming here. No, he had not studied about it in the incredibly small window of time granted to us between the Princes’ rejection letter and our departure. Instead, I am actually recalling this information from a time when I had suggested for Dusk to go on a vacation. In the face of such a audacious suggestion, my charge instead spent his limited free-time researching possible libraries to visit instead of actually visiting them himself.

Boy I sure do love him with all my heart, but good gosh is he such a freaking los-

“... And my poor baby dragon needs her sleep!”

Wait what

“No I don’t,” I start to say, being brought back to the present. Before I can get the words out though I’m unceremoniously tossed off by my ‘trusty’ steed. “Eep!” I squeak as I hit the hard ground.

Making a large show out of it, obviously hoping to chase away the only other stallion in our small group, Dusk leans in close to me and starts baby talking loudly. “Aww! Wook at that! She’s so sweepy she can’t even keep her wittle bawance!”

“And neither will you after I burn off your stallionhood, Dusty Wusty~”

Okay okay okay... That’s what I really really wanted to say in response to… whatever the hell that just was... but I only manage to give my so called friend a stern look of disappointment before I’m gently scooped off the ground by a pair of surprisingly gentle (though very very very hairy) forelegs. “Oh the poor thing,” offers Butterscotch with a voice full of concern, though his face remains neutral. His wings flap cautiously as he cradles me softly as if I were his own.

My cheeks begin to burn as it quickly dawns on me that, due to my age and size, the baby comments and teasing suddenly feel well justified.

Heedless of my embarrassment, the kind hearted pegasus carefully maneuvers his massive frame through the library's main entrance and carries me with him into the pitch black darkness within. “You really gotta get her to bed,” he calls out to Dusk through the door in what I can only assume was his loudest voice.

With a small gasp and a quick gallop I watch as my unicorn friend pushes his way into the library as well, and carefully around Butterscotch, in order to reclaim me from the infantile hold I find myself trapped in. Once I’m levitated back down onto my feet, Dusk proceeds to use the larger stallion’s confusion against him to trick him into backing up and out of our sleeping quarters for the night.

“Y-yes yes!” my ‘rescuer’ retorts, distracting the pony now outside the front door. “We’ll get right on that… Well, good night!”

SLAM!!

Completing his goal of both disrespecting Butterscotch’s feelings by slamming a door in his face, and disrespecting the fact that anypony can see that it’s not night yet, Dusk breathes a sigh of relief before trotting over to me. Though I can tell from his body language that he regrets what he’s just done, I refuse to give him an inch as I cross my arms and try to look as disappointed as I can in the dark.

“Rude much?” I ask plainly, allowing my companion to come to a conclusion himself over what I’m particularly mad about.

It’s the part with Butterscotch in case you’re wondering, though the baby-talk is a close second.

“Sorry Barb,” he replies remorsefully, his honesty evident in his tone. “But I have to convince the Prince that The Nightterror is coming, and we’re running out of time!” A sliver of panic leaks out of the spooked pony’s mouth as he admits this last part. At hearing this I uncross my arms and start to feel guilty all over again. I’m hiding so much from him...

“I… I-I just need to be alone so I can study,” he practically begs me, hoping beyond hope that theirs a way I can grant this to him. “Alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time to distract me!”

I cringe as Dusk practically spits out these last few words, and I can feel my heart tightening as he does. His rant causes a miniature civil war to spark within me; one side wishes to tell him that everything is going to be alright and to take him far away from this chaos, so I can grant him the quiet that he so desperately seeks. I can’t stand to see him so distraught like this… but here is where the other participants in this inner battle come into play.

They represent the side that remembers what Dusk stands to gain by enduring these ‘hardships’.

They remember the Magic of Friendship.

They remember Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Butterscotch, Pinky-Guy-Pie… Elusive…

… and they remember a happy, better pony; a better Dusk Shine.

“Now... where’s the light?”

I wish for all of this and more for him, no matter the struggles. I can’t baby him through this; he needs to face these challenges bravely!

“SURPRISE!!”

“Ahhh!!!”

… He also needs to not scream like a little filly when he gets spooked.

That’s my bit.

And scream we did as the room dramatically bursts into life; as an explosion of lights, confetti, and party ponies consume our vision. Though I’m mostly prepared for it mentally due to my fading knowledge from the show, I imagine that the combination of a surprise brightened room plus the cries of a plethora of different ponies would be enough to rock anyone off their feet.

I also imagine that a firepony would take one look at this party and swiftly have it canceled due to it blatantly ignoring the maximum occupancy fire code.

Like, seriously! There’s barely enough room left for anypony or dragon to move! What little space is left for traversing is covered in streamers and string and all sorts of other colorful party paraphernalia. Not many ponies seem to care though, from what little I can see from my nonexistent vantage point. Everyone’s either stuffing their face with food, talking amongst themselves about tonight’s festivities, or trying to approach the two of us to say hi.

Dusk’s clear frustration shifts into a look of pure fear as the latter group of ponies draw ever closer to him.

None make it a step further as their fastest, loudest, and pinkest member of all zooms on past them and just as quickly introduces himself to my little shaking horse.

“Hi I’m Bubble Berry!” the fluffy pink stallion welcomes Dusk the statue with all the enthusiasm of a child being told that their birthday now fell on Christmas… and that Christmas will henceforth be celebrated every flipping day. “And I threw this party just for you you you!!”

Recognition dawns on Dusk’s face as the hyperactive earth pony continues his vicious assault against his personal bubble. He must be remembering back from when we ‘met’ him this morning; back when Dusk had way more patience for strangers then he does right now…. Granted I don’t think even I would have much patience if a random pony started jumping all around; hounding me with questions on whether or not I was surprised.

“Very surprised,” answers Dusk to this query through gritted teeth. “Last I checked, libraries are supposed to be quiet.”

“That’s silly!” Bubble retorts plainly with a chuckle as his new ‘friend’s’ words either flew right over his head or simply got caught in his massive puffy mane. “What kind of welcome party would it be if it were quiet?!” He shakes his head, grinning all the while. “I mean, duh! Bor-ing!”

Having clearly had enough, Dusk attempts to walk away from the pink colt’s apparent insanity to no avail.

Bubble Berry is nothing if not insistent though, and trots alongside him in perpetual good cheer. No breaths were taken or bucks given as he continues running his mouth. “You see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all, “Hello.” And I was all gasp! Remember?”

Dusk marches on, refusing to acknowledge his traveling companion with every fiber of his being. As I watch from the back, quietly following them to the refreshment table, I appear to be the only one noticing Dusk’s eye beginning to twitch ever so slightly.

After a second look around at our surroundings, I quickly redact my last statement; I appear to be one of the few here noticing Dusk’s spazzing eye and still remaining close to him. The patrons of the party are keeping their distance from the guest of honor, most likely for their own safety. A potent killing intention is radiating off of Dusk’s being, signaling not only that he has finally hit his breaking point but also that an explosion of pure anger and malice was about to detonate on the next poor unfortunate soul foolish enough to push him any further.

“You see, I never saw you before,” continues Bubble, the designated poor unfortunate soul for the evening. “And if I never say you before, that means you’re new! ‘Cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony, in Ponyville!”

Groans emanate from Dusk’s throat as he finally makes it to the concessions table. Too tired to bother with his magic, and too tired to read what it was he was picking up, Dusk grips the first bottle on the table in his muzzle and pours it sloppily into an awaiting glass. You can’t drink your problems away, Dusk; pretty sure Prince Solaris taught you this lesson already after the Finals Week Dr. Peppercorn Incident…

“And if you’re new,” Bubble Berry resumes, though in all honesty he never really stopped. Breaking up his constantly charging Welcome Train with bits and pieces of what’s going on around it is about the only thing I can do to stay just a tiny bit saner then Dusk Shine at the moment. Being a narrator is hard… “You hadn’t met anyone yet. And if you haven’t met anyone yet, you must not have any friends!”

Pony you have no earthly idea.

“And if you don’t have any friends then you must be lonely. And that made me so sad. And I had an idea! And that’s why I went gasp!!”

He breathes, fillies and gentlecolts! By the powers that be he breathes! It’s a miracle!

In response Dusk takes a sip of his drink through a convenient straw.

“I should throw a great, big ginormous, super-duper, spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!!” finally finishes the great party planner Bubble Berry. Unbeknownst to him, or perhaps instead perfectly timed, the four other stallions Dusk and I had met today stand and float beside Berry, nicely illustrating his point.

Having just spent all of this exchange in silence, racking my brain to remember how this part of the show originally went, everything clicks together in my mind as Dusk chokes on his drink. I’m left unsurprised as he turns around to face the group with a quickly reddening face. As sweat starts to drip from his face, Applejack, who lacks the same benefit of ‘seerer’ powers as I do, asks “Are you all right, haystack?”

A high pitched whistling sound is the country stallion’s only response as Dusk’s mane and tail bursts into a raging inferno. A few of the party-goers spare the odd scene a glance before discreetly taking a few steps back. After a few seconds of panicked prancing and gasping, the flames adorning his body revert to mere strands of hair as he gallops angrily out of the room for what I can only hazard a guess to say is for water.

For a time the room is silent, save for the record player in the back.

“... Aww! He’s so happy he’s crying!”

With that baseless claim from the pink host, the party around us smoothly returns to normal. This really wasn’t an odd sight to see, all things considered. Embarrassing, yes; but not all that out of the ordinary. It’s well documented in Equestria that pony manes and tails are directly linked to their owner’s source of magic. They’re an extension of this source and are the reason why they can come in all variety of colors and designs and why magic itself can’t be used to regrow them. Temporary conjurations of mismatched beards and mustaches? Hard, but not impossible. Anything involving the area directly in contact with the brain, hooves, or the excess magic dispersing tails? Not going to happen. Dusk and I learned that the hard way during a rather infamous dinner with his family that involved sticky cheese...

… I got a little off topic. As I was saying; the fire thing we just witnessed? Totally normal. It happens with unicorns every now and then in response to high emotional stress. This is like the third time I’ve seen it happen with Dusk in my life so the surprise of it has really warn off now. You should see the ice version of the phenomenon; it's pretty.

Enough about that though. With Dusk now gone, I take the opportunity to sneak a quick peek at the bottle my friend had grabbed earlier. Yep, it's just as I remember it. “Hot sauce,” I finish for myself aloud, taking note that it was listed as the mild version of this particular brand.

Heh, what a drama queen.

A sudden hoof pressed against the bottle in my claw ejects me from my pondering. I unthinkingly release my grip, allowing the bottle to be tipped completely and pour out it's contents on a previously unmolested cupcake. Said cupcakes finds its way into Bubble Berry’s maw and soon it’s thankfully short existence is brought to an end.

“What?” he asks the staring ponies with mouth full, spewing crumbs everywhere. “This is good!”

The other stallions present shake their heads, but still smile at the pony’s good cheer.

I find myself smiling too… and then my mind goes blank.

What… what happens now?

I think the show next goes on to follow Twilight in her room when it’s at night, and when it’s only a few minutes away from the scheduled sunrise.

But, the sun has only just set. That’s hours away!

So… what should I do now?

…

… Well… Maybe a nap? It would be hard with this party raging on, but I want to be nice and awake for the sun rising later. It’s important that I stay awake; I made a promise to myself long ago.

I promised myself that I’m going into that forest with the others tonight, no matter what.

From what I can still recall, Spike falls asleep in the show and can’t lend a claw to help out. He’s a secondary character in a show about ponies so I understand it from a narrative standpoint. He’s also a child who stayed up too late so it makes logical sense too. I’m a kid as well, yes… but I’m also not Spike. Thusly I will aim to stay awake. It’s true that Twilight Sparkle and her friends were able to beat Nightmare Moon on their own but, not unlike me… Dusk isn’t her. Dusk is his own pony… he’s my pony… S-sure I have every faith in him that he could accomplish the same feat! And I promised not to baby him… but what if I did the wrong thing when it came to being his assistant? What if I failed to schedule him in for an important lesson that resulted in him not being as trusting of others? Or what if I handed him a book Twilight didn’t read before, filling his head with new ideas which he implements tonight causing a domino effect that ruins the whole expedition?!

… Or what if I sneeze and cause him to say 'gazuntite' which makes him lose his place in a book that was about surviving in the wilderness?!?!

Nope, that’s it; my mind is settled. My mere existence screwed up the natural order of things. In penance I will journey with him and set right that which I set wrong.

And it's plain to see that I am not overreacting about this in the slightest.

Yup. Not one tiny, little, bit.

…

… I wonder if Bubble Berry was right about this?

One hot sauce drenched cupcake later, I discover that he… was actually spot on, holy crap.

“Wow,” I remark after swallowing my shockingly good treat.

“I know, right?” chimes in Bubble Berry as he slides up next to me. “I wanted to serve them this way by default but Applejack told me no.”

“And ah will again,” adds in Applejack as he steps up to the table. “No...” The farmer then turns to look at me, beaming nicely as he does. “Pleasure to see you again, little lady. I don’t think I got the opportunity to say hello to you too this morning...” Placing his stetson over his chest, he tips his head towards me lightly. “Mighty sorry about that.”

I offer the stallion a content expression before explaining that “It’s fine Applejack. Your sister and brother gave me a proper Apple Family welcome of their own…” A thought occurs to me as I mention this. “Are Red Gala and Apple Buck here too?”

Applejack makes the attempt to answer, only for Berry to cut him off. “No, but I invited them! Guess they just wanted to be party poopers like the rest who didn’t come,” he finishes with a pout.

The other stallion grunts at this. “BB,” he scowls, looking directly at Bubble Berry. Maybe a nickname? “Ah told you already that they’re back helpin' the rest of the family get situated, just so ah could even come to this party at all!”

Like a spoiled child, BB crosses his forelegs and keeps pouting.

“But I invited everypony Applejack! Doesn’t mean they couldn’t stop by to say hi… party poopers.”

“Now quit calling them that!”

"..."

“... Poopers of parties. Their undies are filled with shattered dreams and confetti....”

Applejack growls. “Why you little…”

As this argument starts to ramp up and kills my appetite, I stealthily back up away from the snack table.

Well… colts will be colts I gues- "Umph!"

"Eep!"

Soon it becomes apparent that my boy troubles weren’t quite done yet as my silent retreat results in me backing up into another pony.

The blue, rainbow mane colored pegasus turns to face me as I do the same for her.

... er, him, I mean. As I do the same for… him...

... I have to heavily remind myself that, despite him clearly looking like a mare who cares about her appearance, Rainbow Dash here is a stallion according to Dusk. I should remember to treat him as such… unless he tells me otherwise.

Not given the opportunity to contemplate on it further, Rainbow snorts lightly as she exclaims “Opps! Sorry for being in your way here, filly.”

“N-no no, Rainbow Dash!” I hurriedly reassure, trying not to embarrass myself any further. “It was my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going h-hehe…”

“Heh,” he laughs back. “No biggie… Hey,” he then says as he leans in and observes me closer. “You’re Dusk’s friend, right?”

“Um, well…” I softly hum, trying to formulate my next words carefully. “Dusk doesn’t really like that word. I think of him as my friend, but I play more of an assistant role for him.”

“Assistant, huh…” he mulls this over for a bit. “So… do you think he’s going to come back downstairs later tonight?”

“Knowing him, probably not.”

Rainbow sighs at this.

“Well that’s too bad,” he goes on. “Kinda wanted to see about getting him to come out of that shell a bit before you two head back to Canterlot.”

My mind goes blank at this.

“... How-”

“Did I know that he’s a shut-in nerd with a stick up his plank who rarely sees sunlight on any given day?” Dash interrupts, smirking brightly at me as my eyes grow as large as saucers.

Unaware, or perhaps totally aware, of my confusion, Rainbow Dash stretches his wings and lazily floats in the space in front of us. “I see a lot of stuff while I’m flying,” he elaborates in a proud tone. “And I figured out a long time ago that my brain records everything when I do. It’s honestly the only reason I passed flight school, hehe...”

He... passed flight school? Wasn't mare Rainbow a dropout? I vaguely remember that being brought up when my little Ashley tried to skip school one day...

“So,” Rainbow goes on, his voice still full of pride. “Because of my awesome powers, I can remember his poor attitude and pasty skin vividly, filly!” Another laugh. “Classic nerd traits! I see it all the time when I fly by Canterlot’s Art District.”

My brain feels like it's running a marathon just trying to catch every morsel of information being offered right now. “You’ve been to Canterlot?” I inquire, deciding on this being the part I want to focus on right now.

“Phsh~” Dash whinnies before pointing a hoof at his backside. “I got wings, remember? Sure it takes a little while to get there, but Canterlot is the only place I can pick up new copies of Dashing Dare early! It takes forever to show up on Ponyville’s shelves…”

“YOU READ DASHING DARE ALREA-”

Rainbow Dash cocks an eyebrow as I slam a pair of claws over my mouth, having enough presence of mind to not finish the ‘already’ part of my statement. An eye twitches as I do.

H-holy crap this Rainbow Dash reads this world's Daring Do books already.

H-h-holy crap that’s already one of the few episodes I remember that’s probably not going to happen anymore.

H-h-h-h-holy crap that changes this character drastically.

H-h-h-h-holy, momentous, crap

This, to my great surprise, is the straw that breaks my camel's back; it's in this moment that the weight of the entire day comes crashing down all around me. Solaris knows I have 'visions' of the future, Elusive knows my native language, and now Rainbow Dash is on a whole different reading level from his show counterpart?! And nothing he's doing is lining up with what little I can recall about the original pony! How is this going to change tonight's events? How is all of these factors going to change the show's events?! I just wanted to follow the trail laid out for us as closely as possible so we could survive the three world ending events I know are coming up, and so we can survive whatever else happens after that!

I don’t know how to deal with this anymore!!!

“... Er… yeeeesss?” Dash follows up in confusion to the question I guess he interpreted my outburst into being. “I do read Dashing Dare. Well… I only really got into it after flight school when I didn’t have those boring textbooks to read anymore.” A feminine giggle slips. “I actually used to not read at all, but when I was younger… well it’s a long story, hehe.”

“That's nice,” I reply numbly as my brain slowly turns to oatmeal at the revelation. “... I like your flowers.”

Now it was Rainbow’s turn to stare blankly at my sanity saving attempt to change the subject, though it only lasts for a moment before he realizes that I was referring to the ones braided into his multicolored mane. The one from this morning was still in there, but a few different colors and varieties now joined it as well. “Oh! Thank you! I picked them out myself.”

Hovering slowly in the air, the stallion shares with me how the earthly accessories were spread out throughout his long mane and even on his tail.

“I found daisies, petunias, and lilies in a bunch of different colors throughout the town today while I was flying. I have a different shade for each part of my mane. See, I have this orange petunia on the blue patch, and this red one is on the green; opposites on the color wheel!” he giggles again. “Well, as close as I could get. It’s sort of supposed to be a rainbow on top of a rainbow… on top of me, Rainbow!”

Landing back to the ground, Rainbow Dash rubs one of his hooves against his foreleg as a slight red tint glows on his cheeks.

“D-do you think it works?” he asks me sweetly, his early confidence fading slightly.

“...”

… Rainbow Dash… I have no idea what in this crazy world your existence is going to amount to. I don't know if it will enrich Dusk's life or hinder his growth. I don't know if you're going to be the pony up to the task of being the Element of Loyalty or not. And I don't know if you're hiding anything that could prove dangerous to my charge or anypony else...

“I think it makes you look beautiful.”

But, like I promised myself with Elusive earlier, everything will come together with time.

I just need to be... patient with my answers, and have faith that these ponies will offer them when they're ready.

The girly stallion hoof pumps to himself in response, absolutely ecstatic with my answer.

“Thanks…” he starts to say. “... Oh, wow! I never got your name, filly!”

“It’s Barbara,” I answer for him warmly. “Friends call me Barb.”

“Will do, Barb,” he chirps just as enthusiastically. “You’re pretty cool, and not just because you’re a dragon… though that’s pretty cool too.”

“Naturally,” I comment humbly.

With a quick chuckle and a wave of his hoof, Rainbow Dash draws my attention to the once again gathering group of Applejack, Butterscotch… Elusive… and Bubble Berry and proudly proclaims “You can totally join our colts club anytime, dude! Don’t worry, we don’t believe in cooties here!”

Save for Butterscotch who remains as quiet as when Dusk and I first met him, the gathered stallions chortle at this joke… though Applejack’s laughter lasts a tad bit longer. Long enough, in fact, for all of our attention to be drawn to him.

“Now there’s a laugh,” he barks before taking a long sip from his drink. As he finishes, he shoots Rainbow Dash a look that was just a few hairs short of being what I would call dirty. Not full on maleficent, but close. However you would describe it, it succeeds splendidly at shutting us all up.

“... You still pretendin' to be a colt then, Dashie?”

The heat leaves the room as Applejack finishes verbally throwing down the dueling glove. A few small gasps can be heard from the crowd as all eyes turn to watch Dash...

Rainbow, for his part, easily manages to one-up her opponent in this surprise competition by smoothly keeping his lips curled in amusement; unflinching in the face to what was just uttered.

“Yup!” Dash replies sharply with such good cheer that it threatens to usurp BB’S own. “Thanks for noticing... Do you need any tips, Applejack? It looks like you could really use them~”

A pin drops.

A fly buzzes its wings.

A tick coughs.

A molecule farts.

The silence in this room is now so palpable that the expression ‘quiet as the dead’ would be an insult to it’s true nature. This isn’t your everyday silence. This is,

Advanced Silence.

The fact that even Dusk pokes his head out from his sulking room is testament enough to the severity of this direly sick burn, and the consequences it would summon forth.

Consequences that Dash is (yet again) either unaware of or fully aware of, as evidenced by the happy expression still etched to his face.

Applejack’s face, meanwhile, was…

… well let’s just say that he looks a heck of a lot redder like his namesake now then he did ten seconds ago.

“... Rain…” He finally manages to choke out through his seething, biblical rage. “... bow… DASH…”

“Yes sweetie?~” the pegasus replies with a bat of his long eyelashes.

He is then promptly bucked in the face.

With a loud squeak I frantically dash backwards as the two stallions violently interlock in a brawl which causes hats to go flying alongside feathers and flowers. Heavy strikes and painful snaps can be heard as the two combatants wail on each other; as Applejack’s face remains tightened into a look of pure fury and Rainbow Dash’s…

… is still smiling brightly.

Party music and conversations soon resumes as the battle being waged goes on ignored. A slam of a door signifies that Dusk has left our presence as well, and I was once again left alone to simply gawk over the absurdity of it all.

Thank the stars I never had two sons.

“Let’s leave them be for now, dear,” chimes a smooth yet refined voice, as a hoof gently turns me away from the carnage and towards hopefully more sane souls… and Bubble Berry.

I glance up briefly to see my savior, wanting it not to be who I think it is, though I just as quickly turn away as my fears are swiftly confirmed.

Elusive presents me to the now reduced group of Butterscotch and Bubble Berry with an exasperated sigh. “Will those two never get along?” he asks in an exasperated tone, sparing all three of us a glance.

Butterscotch grunts but otherwise says nothing.

I’ve only known these ponies for a day so all I can do is shrug.

BB helpfully suggests, “They just need to work out aaaaaaaaalllll of their pent up frustrations by going behind Applejack’s barn and Fuc-”

A small “Eek!” escapes my lips as Butterscotch covers my ear-fins with his massive hooves, deafening me fully from the conversation.

Elusive glares angrily at Berry at this time, and I can tell that words are being said, but it’s not until Butterscotch releases his hold on me that I’m able to hear anything again.

“... besides he doesn't swing that way,” the tailor finishes ranting with a huff and a flustered flick of his stylized mane.

For his part, BB did at least look a tad embarrassed for his slight social faux pas. Perhaps in an attempt to correct this mistake, the party stallion next directs his attention towards me. “W-well then,” he continues, tittering. “Don't you pay those two silly billies any mind now, Little Miss Dragon!”

“My name’s Barb.”

“Little Miss Dragon Barb!”

“...”

“Here,” he then offers, gripping a cup in his curled foreleg. “It’s a party! We can all still have just as much fun with ourselv-”

“BB, which drink is that?” Elusive suddenly interrupts, staring at the cup in hoof.

Berry blinks, looks at it himself, and then slowly turns back to me.

“... Quick super short and totally unrelated question. You’re, like, one of those really really really really old, like thousands of years old, dragons that makes princesses and offers sage advice from your totally actually-an-adult experiences, right?”

“She’s seven and a half,” Butterscotch offers quietly.

Berry’s lips make an O shape in reply.

At first I’m confused by this display, but then the gears in my head turn for a moment and grant me a... strange answer.

“... Is that alcoholic?”

BB’s only response was to give me the biggest, most disturbing grin I had ever seen.

“If you’re old enough to know what that means..." he starts, manic look in his eyes. "... then you’re old enough to drink it!”

“Berry no!”

“Berry yes!”

With his words having zero effect on the crazed party pony, Elusive takes the initiative by levitating me up onto his back and trotting away. “We’ll be talking about this later, BB!” He calls back angrily. “Mark my words!”

“Bye!” BB cries back undeterred, waving his arm frantically as if we were departing on a grand expedition. Butterscotch offers a small one for us as well, though I’m willing to bet he’s just as confused as I am right now.

And oh lord am I confused.

With the group now reduced down to only Elusive and myself, my guest sees it fit for us to gratefully retire ourselves to a remote corner of the library where it is quieter. Here we can catch our breaths, relax…

… and totally not grill one another on whether or not we’re long lost, reborn lovers!

Yay...

“I swear,” Elusive begins, once he’s confirmed we’re as alone as we can be. “That pony is going to end up in jail someday… Are you alright, Barbara?”

I can feel my cheeks burning as the handsome pony directs his gaze at me. D-damn it, I promised myself I would, move, forward. Lingering on the past isn’t going to do me any good… but saying one thing and actually following through on it are two completely different things.

“Y-yes,” I answer after a time, once I’m able to wrangle my emotions down to a more manageable level. “Thank you J-, Elusive…”

His teeth shown brightly at this. “Oh it’s my pleasure. Somepony needed to play the role of gentlecolt in this situation, and it just so happens that I’m usually typecast as such.” He finishes his statement with a small bow and a flourish of his hoof. I can’t help but chuckle at the display, but a question about what just happened bubbles to the forefront of my mind.

“Is Berry really serving alcohol at this party, Elusive?”

Elusive’s smile fades at this.

“I’m afraid so, Barbara,” he tells me truthfully. “You see Bubble Berry, or BB as he likes to be called, grew up on a rock farm. From what I understand a big component of his cutie mark story, in which he discovered his special talent for throwing parties, involved a copious amount of the stuff despite his age at the time.” Elusive shakes his head. “How that was the case is anypony's guess; the story changes all the time."

Elusive looks past the crowd of ponies and back towards where we had just left. Whether he is gazing at the pony our conversation is about or not I can't tell; I'm too short to see over anypony's heads.

"... Over time," he goes on, returning his gaze to me. "ponies have thankfully encouraged him to downgrade his festivities to only the weakest stuff on the market, but still he adamantly refuses to host even a single foal’s Cute-ceañera without the stuff. He's one of the kindest, if not also one of the most overly excitable, ponies around but like the rest of us he has his quirks and his hangups. One of these hangups is, as plainly as I can explain it, that a Bubble Berry party will always be served…

“... on the rocks…”

“I… see…” I nod my head slowly, getting it.

Spoiler alert; I don’t.

I really really don’t.

... But in this world the Element of Kindness has a beard, the Element of Honesty starts fights, the Element of Loyalty is a fabulously self confident femboy, and the Element of Generosity speaks English so sure. Whatever. WHY NOT?

I'm so tired.

“Do you five know each other well then?” I ask, both to change the subject and because I’m actually curious. I remember the rainboom story from the show, but I don’t recall if it was ever brought up whether the original group from Ponyville were close.

Elusive graciously complies to my request. “You could certainly say that, from a certain point of view. I’ve personally known Applejack for most of my life here in Ponyville. Our interests are different so we really don’t see each other often. Bubble Berry came to town when I was a young colt and I see him often when I visit the bakery he works at. Hehe, he’s being quite truthful when he states that he knows everypony in this town. As for Rainbow Dash and Butterscotch, well they both came a bit later after BB as a kind of two-for-one deal. Dash and I talk fashion every now and then, though mostly when he wants an opinion on whatever form of expression he’s currently into at the time. And Butterscotch… well he likes animals. He mostly keeps to himself, but he seems like a nice pony." Looking forlorn, he adds to his description that "I just wish he would talk more often.”

I snicker briefly at this.

“You just need to be a small cute animal,” I add helpfully. “Then he’ll open up to you like he did for me.”

Clearly in good humor, Elusive rubs his chin in 'deep' contemplation.

“Ahhh… so that’s the trick. I’ll have to remember that on my next go around.”

I begin to laugh...

... but then I pause as I run what he just said through my mind again.

“On your next… go around?”

“Hmm,” Elusive chimes. “Yes… on my next go around…”

He turns to look at me,

... and then smirks.

“At visiting his house!”

“...”

"..."

“... You really shouldn’t be so on guard, Barbara.” Elusive continues to beam, unfazed by my reaction. “You’re going to develop wrinkles well before your time at this rate... unless that's a thing dragons don't get. In which case, jealous~”

“...”

I take a step back from the once friendly pony and position myself to face him head on.

“... Barbara?”

“...”

… This conversation has just taken a dramatic turn.

Now I’m debating where I should take it.

We have a lot to discuss, after all.

Do I... ask him my questions now?

Do I wait until later?

… Do I just live a life of blissful ignorance and forget this ever happened?

That… we ever happened?

…

… If he’s not Jason, but instead another like myself, does he know what’s to come?

Is he a ‘seerer’ like me?

If he has knowledge of the show, is he going to follow the script?

Is he going to go off the rails?

Is… is he going to become real friends with my Dusk Shine, or will he just use him…

So many questions. Too many questions…

…

...

… After a long moment, I finally make up my mind.

I take a deep breath...

… and then Elusive makes my ultimate decision irrelevant by again taking the initiative.

“Now is not the time or place for your answers, Barbara.”

The sudden shift to a serious tone leaves me frozen in place as I stare at him. All I can manage to wrangle out of my quickly tightening throat is a strained

“W-what?”

With a hardened gaze, Elusive looks past me yet again towards the crowd around us. He simpers a moment later as he turns back towards me.

“This… really isn’t the best place for one to air out their dirty laundry,” he elaborates for me as his moment of severity passes. “Wouldn’t you agree? Rumors spread like wildfire in a tiny town such as this… best we let sleeping dogs lie for now, so to speak.”

“...”

… Though he smirks, I can feel a nervous kind of energy now flowing around him. As I stare up at him, I can see beads of sweat beginning to drip off Elusive as I unintentionally grill him with my eyes.

If I ever needed more proof that he’s hiding something, this would be it.

...

... But… what do I do with this information? He has a point; now probably isn’t the best time to be doing this. Even with Dusk upstairs, there’s no way of knowing what would happen if the fact that reincarnation is a thing suddenly becomes well known. In a land of magic, such audacious claims tend to hold a bit more water and will usually be taken seriously. It could really spell the end of both of our lives if it gets out. I don’t want Dusk to look at me differently, to see me as a liar, and I’m sure the same is true for Elusive and his family.

So, I now know that he is hiding details from me and everyone else. What exactly that is I don’t know. I'm confident I'll get the answers I seek in the future, however. With the amount of screen time Rarity and Spike share alone, I’m sure it will happen sooner rather than later. Still… that doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of questions I want answered. 'Is he Jason?' is a big one. 'Is he my Jason?' is also important.

'Does… does he still love me?'

... Frankly I don’t know where to start; I don’t know which one is eating at me more! And each is so loaded; I’m pretty sure whatever he's hiding isn't going to be as easy to explain with a simple 'Hey are you Jason yes or no?'. And even if I tried that right now, I think either of these answers would be enough drive me up the wall and back until it could be elaborated on further!

“Well,” Elusive interrupts my jumbled thoughts as he stands back up. “The night is still young! What say we gather ourselves some more age appropriate beverages and enjoy the festivities, Barbara?”

Hey! You can’t change the subject on me that easily, boy! I raised two kids! I know a getting-out-of-telling-the-truth distraction when I see one! But… Ooooooh! What to do what to do what to do?! Ugh this is driving me crazy! Maybe…

…

… Sigh…

… Maybe I should admit that I’ve made myself miserable a little too much today… Maybe I should admit that I’ve mentally beaten myself to a emotional pulp more than enough already in this long, looooooooonnnngggg, day. Maybe I should realize that I’m too drained to keep hating myself for what I do, don’t do, or should be doing.

Maybe… Maybe I should admit that a party is in order right now…

… Yeah, I think it finally is.

“Okay… Okay you win, Elusive,” I finally admit in defeat. Surprising myself, I find the strength to grin through the disappointment. “Let’s just have some fun tonight and pretend that everything is a,o,k.”

Elusive grins as well, and lets out a small “Ha! There’s no need to pretend, my little friend. Everything is a,o,k.”

“Say’s you,” I retort, though my good joy never leaves. “Can… can you at least tell me when I can get answers though, Elusive? Pretty please?”

Elusive’s face droops slightly as he again draws a hoof to his chin.

“Hard to say…” he speaks as he contemplates. “I imagine that our dear new friend Dusk Shine will be heading back to Canterlot in the morning once the celebrations are complete. I would think that you’ll most likely have to go back with him too, correct?”

“Yea-” I start to say, but then I stop walking and stare at empty space.

“... Am I wrong?” Elusive follows up, confused by my response.

Ignoring the question, I let the last exchange stew about in my mind for a moment, digesting what little information that it just proved to me. Whoever this pony is or was, he doesn’t have show knowledge like me. That means…

… that means that his friendship with Dusk will be genuine.

“... No,” I answer after a time, my good vibes returning as I say “No that’s correct, but I think we can figure that stuff out later.

“For now... “

A hot sauce covered cupcake materializes in my claw before I can finish my sentence, and an upturned lampshade finds itself placed on my head. Tilting it slightly upwards to clear my vision, I'm just in time to see the wink aimed towards me by the passing by Bubble Berry, who bounces further into the crowd with drinks (both adult and non) balanced carefully on the tray set across his back.

I pay this event little mind as a split second later, with my claw now devoid of treats and my mouth pleasantly full of vinegary/sugary goodness, I happily give the ponies around us a hardy and crumb-filled battle cry of

“Let’s party!”

And there was much rejoicing.

Entry 1, Part 7 (Makes it All Complete)

The room that had been converted into Dusk Shine’s bedroom obviously didn’t start out as one. With an inner sanctum two floors high, a lack of closets or decently sized drawers, and the fact that the bathroom couldn’t be any further away if it tried; it’s clear to see that comfortable lodging was not the first thing on the creator's mind. What was on their mind is pretty evident to see though.

Hold on to your hats; it’s books.

Shocking I know.

While there’s no amenities for actual day to day survival, there is plenty of essentials for writers and readers alike. There’s desks with tiny flat drawers, walls lined with shelves for books both old and new, and even a fireplace to both help keep the place nice and warm during cold nights and to banish less savory creations into the fiery pits of hell!

Boy I would have loved to have that option in my old writer-for-hire days.

With these key features in mind, this room sure as heck beats my old (wo)man cave in the writing and reading departments hands down… That’s all it beats it in, though. Unlike my old little office space-shaped slice of heaven back on Earth, this work nook isn’t connected to an actual livable home to help offset the aforementioned living shortcomings. More gimmick than house, it’s certainly not the Canterlot Spire Dusk and I spent the better half of the last two years in. I seriously had my doubts that this library could ever serve as our future home.

These fears were quickly put to bed, however, when BB and I discovered the fully equipped kitchen hidden in the back and swiftly proceeded to put it to good use. Home is where the icebox is empty and there's cupcake batter on the ceilings, after all.

Backing things up here for a sec, to the earlier talk of bedrooms; that’s where I now find my Dusk Shine currently sulking. As I enter the room of questionable bed worthiness I can tell, with books scattered haphazardly around and with a pillow firmly planted over his head, that he has finally given up on his struggles in uncovering the truth.

This is a good thing.

Firstly, I was half afraid that the stress was going to give him an aneurysm. It didn’t happen on the show, but neither did Pinkie Pie get anypony drunk (allegedly), so who can really say anymore? Secondly, I’m glad he didn’t decide to, like, leave the party or anything. I was thinking he might try to run off to see the Prince and make one last ditch effort to convince him that the prophecy is true. How that would have affected things is anyone’s guess. I’ve been glancing over at his door all night in paranoid fear as a result, making sure he didn’t attempt to escape. After awhile I had the realization that he could have easily snuck out the window without me being the wiser, or even attempted that teleportation spell he’s been practicing, hence why I’m checking in on him now.

Thirdly, it’s a good thing he’s given up because maybe now he’ll actually take me up on my offer.

“Hey Dusk!” I shout over the booming party music as I enter. I then add, as I lift up the lampshade still fixtured to my head, “Bubble Berry’s starting pin the tail on the pony! Want to play?”

Equestria doesn’t have electricity widely available yet, but lamps still exist here thanks to magically charged batteries.

Thus, party lampshades.

Amazing.

“No!”

And Dusk is still a grumpy pants.

Not so amazing.

“All the ponies in this town are bucking crazy!” he screeches at me from the second floor, his eyes narrowing into a scowl as he does.

In the past, before actually getting to know these ponies, I probably would have argued against this point and tried to insist that he’s just exaggerating...

… Now though, after having bared witness to a ditzy pony eating ten baked goods, at once, while simultaneously chugging Bubble Berry’s custom Brew upside down to thunderous applause... it’s safe to say that I would no longer have a leg to stand on in such a debate.

This town’s ponies are crazy, outgoing, loud, collectively weird, and most important of all… they’re an entirely different brand of crazy from Canterlot’s own.

I love it here.

“Do you know what time it is?!” Dusk’s rant continues on uninterrupted, preventing me from calling him out on his use of such bucking inappropriate language. Not allowing my friend’s bad vibes to keep my good (most likely candy fueled) mood down, I cheerfully give his simple question a simple answer.

“It’s the Eve of the Summer Sun Celebration! Duh! Everypony has to stay up now or else they’ll miss the Prince raise the Sun!” Seeing Dusk roll his eyes at this, I pause for a moment to reign in my sugar high before adding, “You really should lighten up, Dusk… It’s a party!”

Dusk mumbles mockingly under his breath, but I pay it no mind as I tip my hat back down and rejoin the festivities. Not going to let him ruin my fu-

“Yaaaawwwnnn~”

…

… Wait, what was that?

A yawn?

Was that… me?

Did I just yawn?

… Oh good Lord that was me! I just yawned! T-that can’t be right though! It’s not that late! It’s only… four in the morning… the Eve of the Summer Sun Celebration like I just told Dusk…

Waaaaayyy past baby dragon bedtime.

Crap crap crap! I promised myself! I promised myself that I was going to take a nap before I got too tired; so I could be awake to help the boys out tonight! I got so dang carried away partying, trying to forget about my day, that the most important thing slipped my mind! Argh! M-maybe I can still fix this? Maybe a couple more cupcakes, or or maybe if I down the whole bottle of hot sauce! Or mayb-

“Yaaaaawwwnnn~”

YOU’RE NOT HELPING, STUPID UNDERDEVELOPED BODY!!

Damn it all I’m not a kid! I’m a full grown woman… when it best serves me… and I am perfectly capable of staying up late like the big girl I am!

Yeah you tell her, me!

… Wait

“Is Dusk coming down?”

Thankfully distracting me from myself, I turn away from my panicked thoughts and see Bubble Berry waiting at the bottom of the steps to Dusk’s room. He hops in place as he waits eagerly for my answer.

Sadly I have to disappoint him. “No he isn’t, BB. I’m sorry.”

“Ahhhh! Bummer,” the stallion pouts.

“That might be for the best,” Elusive then chimes in as he approaches us. “The sunrise is almost upon us gentlecolts… and Barbara.”

With a grunt, Butterscotch makes himself known to us as well by pointing out, “Ponies are leaving.”

BB gasps.

“You’re right! Oh we don’t want to be late for that!” He then wails at such a volume that I have to cover my ear-fins, “PARTIES OVER, EVERYPONY! YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO HOME BUT YOU CAN’T STAY HERE!”

With a few grumbles and groans, the patrons to the welcome party start to shuffle out and head for (what I can only assume) town hall where the Prince is supposed to be situated.

“T-time to leave already?” asks a woozy, yet undeniably perky voice.

I turn towards the voice’s source and discover in shock that it belongs to a much battered looking Rainbow Dash. His pretty flowers are long gone, as are a few nonessential feathers. There are bruises here and there, and it seems a black eye is forming, but otherwise he doesn’t seem too damaged. He’s also still in high spirits.

“H-has anypony seen mah hat?”

The second voice’s owner is equally as exhausted sounding as the first’s. Beyond the lost cap, Applejack’s seems to be the one who handled the beating the best of the two. There’s scratches, and a few hairs are missing from his no longer bound goatee, but overall he seems to have come out of the melee as the more presentable pony.

I assume it’s because of this fact that Elusive, after taking a single look at both of these stallions, ultimately decides to approach Rainbow Dash instead of Applejack. “My boutique is on the way there,” he offers to him as he leaves the library for town hall. “I have a first aid, and makeup, kit we can use, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash smiles softly at the offer as he follows behind the generous pony upon battered wings. “You’re the best, Elue,” he praises.

“I assure you, I am well aware.”

After watching the two depart, BB slides up next to Applejack and extends him a slightly beat up stetson.

“Your hat, sir?” he asks playfully.

Applejack groans at this.

“I reckon,” he answers unamused.

BB then slips a bag of ice into the accessory before hoofing it back to its owner.

This act results in a much improved response from the bruised pony. “Thank you kind-” he starts to say as he lowers the cap back onto his head. He winces and hisses as the frozen object touches his cranium, but the pained cry soon morphs into one of relief as he lets it sit there. “Ly,” he finishes after a second.

Content with the results, Bubble Berry waves goodbye to Applejack as the latter decides to exit as well. BB then proceeds to offer the same courtesy at all of the departing guests. This includes Butterscotch, who silently slinks away once the crowd thins out enough for him to navigate through.

I, meanwhile, head back upstairs to grab Dusk Shine.

It’s time to have a… “Yawn~” … a Nightterror.

_______________________________

It took more convincing than I thought it would to get Dusk moving out of bed. Threats of disappointing me and his new friends proved futile, and he made a compelling argument about being in a fortified structure for when all Tartarus breaks loose (which almost won me over), but ultimately one mention from me about letting Prince Solaris down was all the motivation he needed to start galloping out of that library like his life depended on it. I was fortunate enough to grip his mane at the last possible second and use the momentum to swing myself onto his back; without his assistance I would have had to rely on my stubby legs to carry me all of the way there. In the time that would have taken there would have been no conceivable room left for me.

Right now the town hall is, and I’m not trying to be funny by describing it this way, a zoo. Although it looks large enough to hold a sizable chunk of Ponyville’s populous on any given day, the entire town is kinda pushing it. Thankfully the pegasus ponies can fly to free up space, and I can see that both Butterscotch and a cleaner looking Rainbow Dash are opting to do just that, but this doesn’t change the fact that this town was primarily an earth pony settlement back in the day. What that means is that what little balconies this place has aren't meant for the general audience, and instead are for lighter guests such as Butterscotch's birds or the sole speaker on the central stage. Unicorn and pegasi architecture tends to include more sturdy vertical options, but with that being neither here nor there us ground stompers will just have to make do with what little standing room is left for now.

Well... Dusk does, at least. I, on the other hand, get to use his back to boost myself up and actually get a chance to see what’s going on. It's the embarrassing equivalent of a child being hoisted up onto their mommy or daddy's shoulders, but hey if it works it works. No forest of knees for me tonight, thank you very much!

And it looks like, despite the crowd, we’ll have a guest with us this evening. As he has proven time and time again since we met him, crowds mean little to Bubble Berry. He goes wherever the heck he wants to go, personal bubbles be damned, and right now the one place he wants to be is right here next to Dusk and I. “Isn’t this exciting!?” He asks Dusk as he slides up next to us. I grin a little at this as I raise myself higher on Dusk’s withers and remain quiet. Having gotten to know BB a little better, I’m now aware that this party pony has a ton of different options for who to stand next to tonight. He has long time friends and foalhood acquaintances all gathered here in this room right now… but out of all of them he decided to saddle up next to the one pony who needed a new companion the most. This was a conscious decision, despite how silly and random the pony who made it seems…

… The sugar is making me ramble. In summation; BB is awesome. That is all.

“‘Cause I’m excited! I’ve never been so excited! Well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town, and I went gasp! But, I mean, really; who can top that?”

He might also be just as hopped up on our lord and savior Sugar Rush as I am right now, but I don’t think I have enough evidence to prove that.

Before my derailing thought train could go off on another mindless tangent, the sound of avian music filling the silenced halls takes a hold of my attention and keeps it in a vice grip. Other ponies join me too including Dusk, and soon our eyes are directed towards the source; the conductor Butterscotch and his bird choir. We, the audience, linger on this pony for only a moment before a spotlight redirects our sight towards the center stage.

Long dormant memories within me stir as the scene begins to inch closer and closer towards Friendship is Magic: Part One’s climax. As another yawn tries to escape out of my mouth, I fight back against it by steeling my gaze on the stallion who now takes center stage. A tiny mantra of ‘Stay awake’ repeats itself over and over in my head as the battle against my internal clock rages on.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts!” announces loudly the pony with the monocle and green necktie. “As Mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!”

Though everypony cheers, and a few of those on the ground stomp their hooves in celebration, Dusk doesn’t join in. From my perch I can see a look of concern slowly forming, one that perfectly mirrors the one on my own face. He doesn’t need ‘seer’ powers like me to sense that this isn't right.

The Mayor’s speech about this being the longest day of the year and about how honored Ponyville is to host it goes ignored by Dusk Shine and myself as my oldest friend’s head swivels about in a desperate attempt to spot the coming storm. As I watch the stage… “Yawn~”... c-closely for what’s about to come, I spot out of the corner of my eye as a shape towards the skylights catches Dusk’s attention. Whatever it is, it causes his ears to droop and for his back to tense up in fear.

My heart pounds in my chest as I feel the anxious energy within my little pony radiate outwards and into me. I painfully bite my lip to keep my own nervousness in check as the birds’ music reaches the apex of their performance and as the speaker’s speech reaches its close.

This is it.

This is what seven years of life on this planet has led me to.

This is where I prove I’m not Spike, but instead Barbara The Dragoness!

“... the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria!” declares the Mayor one final time before the spotlights switch to the closed curtains on the balcony above him. “Prince Solaris!!”

Elusive, having been given the honor for his part in decorating the hall, uses his teeth to grip onto the rope keeping the concealing drapes together and then uses his glistening neck muscles to tug it.

What follows next could only have been predicted by those who gaze into the future such as Solaris and I, or those as smart and dedicated as Dusk Shine.

… If we had not known better, Dusk, the Prince and I probably would have told you that we believed you long ago. Though I joked about it in the past, to selfishly ease my own guilt, I took no joy in keeping this from you and I’m sure neither did Solaris. Watching as somepony’s worst fears are proven true; watching as their stomach drops and the air is stricken from their lungs leaves not a feeling of satisfaction within me. Instead I feel anger; anger that I had to intentionally hurt him by playing dumb. Anger that I’ll most likely have to do this again in the future.

As the herd gasps over the curtains revealing a blank spot where a Prince was supposed to be, and as Dusk utters in a low tone to himself, “This can’t be good,” I find myself now more alert than ever. I also find myself briefly reflecting on my earlier promise, the one about going into the woods tonight with these six stallions to insure Dusk’s safety, and only now realizing that I’ve been lying about it the whole time. This isn’t in penitence for me screwing up Dusk’s life.

This is in penitence for me having to hurt him like this.

Determination flows into me as I finally set my path straight, and as the Mayor attempts to calm the steadily growing fear of the masses. Bubble Berry starts to make wild guesses about the Prince playing hide and seek, which on a normal day I wouldn’t put past him, but as Elusive returns to the stage from his search to announce “He’s gone!” did it finally truly dawn on everypony that things are seriously amiss.

“Oh he’s goooood!”

Everypony but Bubble Berry, obviously. Hey I said he was smart, not observant.

That said, even BB struggles to hide his shock behind his normally playful facade as bluish smoke overtakes the stage and engulfs it in it’s swirling vortex of stardust and magic. We're not spared from the assault either, and an ominous air from the arcane whirlwind sweeps over us all. This back-draft startles us all, causes the smaller foals to seek shelter behind larger ponies’ legs, and it forces my eyes to shut tightly against my will. I curse my weakness as I grip Dusk’s mane tighter and urge myself to open my lead lined eyelids once more. I manage to reopen them just in time to see an equine shape begin to form from the screeching maelstrom.

The alicorn now present in the room stands as tall as his brother Solaris. With coat as black as a starless night, horn long and visibly sharp, and mane as alive as it is enriched with wild magic; the dark stallion stands silently over the citizens of Ponyville and watches each and every one of us through dragon like eyes.

“Nightterror Nebula,” Dusk breathlessly gasps.

I gasp as well...

… as I triumphantly give destiny a big old middle finger by simply, staying, awake.

I remember this part. This is the part where Spike faints in the show.

Instead, this is where I stand.

… Well, technically next to Dusk Shine is where I stand. A combination of him rearing up slightly in fear, plus my weakening grip, caused me to fall off of his back just like Spike did in the show. It was almost a pure recreation too, as the ground was feeling extra soft and comfortable today thanks to my sleep deprived mind, BUT I FOUGHT THE URGE! Now I stand here, awake, and ready to do… something! Something involving this terrifyingly armored manifestation of everypony's deepest darkest fears that even the pony who moves the sun couldn’t do anything about!

...

… I might have not thought this part through enough...

Despite having been prepared for this moment for literal years, actually seeing The Nightterror face to face is filling me with the same sense of fear and urge to run as everypony else right now. His appearance is not as one-to-one to his mare self as I was expecting; while his body’s features and colors are about the same to Nightmare Moon’s, his armor is an entirely different story. A open helmet, metal shoes, and a simple breastplate was all that Princess Luna’s alter ego adorned in the show. It was enough to give the viewers the impression that she was a sort of warrior princess kind of villain. In contrast, only one word comes to mind when I look at this stallion’s choice of attire.

Warlord.

His helmet covers his entire muzzle, leaving his eyes the only thing visible. Pointed spikes line the bottom half of the headgear as if to form a threatening metallic stubble, and the rims of his horseshoes bare this same aesthetic. His breastplate now covers the entirety of his chest and back leaving only his legs and wings bare, save for the sharpened pieces of metal that have split themselves off from the main back plating and now run along the length of his feathers. At his wingtips they stop, stretch, and fold along with the fallen’s Princes’ movements, giving the illusion that they’re a natural part of him.

To complete his horror ensemble is one an important piece, and it’s a piece that only became apparent once I noticed the other glaring difference between this stallion and the mare from the cartoon. Nightmare Moon had both a mane and tail that flowed with mystic energy, not unlike Princess Celestia and Luna herself. Nightterror Nebula, meanwhile, has this same mane but not the tail. It exists, but this tail is wrapped up and armored as well; the same as the rest of him. In it’s defensive garb it gives off the appearance of a lion’s tail, one that swishes back and forth uninhibited by the plating. At its tip lies a blackened bundle of fur which completes the lion comparison, but it’s also here in my visual strip-down where my heart just about leaps out of my throat.

Attached to the tail’s tip is a one sided warblade.

On the tip of the blade drips fresh blood.

The imposing pony remains silent as gasps and screams start ringing through the halls as this last part becomes more well known; as more eyes take in his horrific visage. Like the member of royalty that he is, The Nightterror exerts his authority by raising his head up high and training his twisted eyes on the gathered crowd as a whole. His gaze succeeds in silencing all who are unlucky enough to make eye contact. Soon the room is completely still again.

After a time, he speaks.

“My… beloved subjects,” Nebula rumbles loudly, his voice deep and piercing as it filters through his helm. Chills run through me as he continues, venom ever present in his words.

“It has been so very, very long since I’ve last laid my eyes on your pathetic, puny, sun-adoring mugs.”

Warning bells blare in my head. This is a lot more aggressive than I remember it being. Quite a number of ponies are slowly backing up now in the face of it and I find it hard not to do the same. I’m shaking; w-what did I just sign myself up into fighting?!

“What did you do with our Prince?!”

Thankfully I’ll be with ponies braver than myself.

Ponies like…

… Applejack?

With my brain half addled by the sugar crash I am desperately trying to ignore, it takes me longer than it should have to notice the country tinge to those last words. I look over just in time to see the farm pony tilt his hat down menacingly and scuff a hoof against the ground. He gallops towards the pony of terror… only for the tips of a blue pegasus’ wing to grip the goatee at the end of his chin and yank it downwards, painfully halting the charge.

“Easy there cowboy,” Rainbow Dash hisses, straining to keep the hearty stallion in line.

I… think this is wrong too, but the details are fuzzy. Time and the general slowing of my mind are making things hard to recall. Need… sle-

I silently slap myself on the cheeks. Keep it together, Barb. Just a little while longer and Dusk will run back to the tree house. There’s coffee there. We will make this work damn it.

At the boy’s earlier outburst, The Nightterror narrows his eyes but ultimately says nothing. No evil laugh, no growl; except for his mane and tail he is as still as a statue.

This is almost worse.

“... Am I not Royal enough for you?” Nebula starts up again, staring at the aggressive earth pony intensely. “Do peasants not know of my past glories, or the victories I’ve won for this mighty kingdom?” With a flick of his tail, the blood that had been covering the tip of his warblade goes flying and splashes down next to a drape where three little colts were hiding. Yellow, white, and orange heads scream at the sight and retreat further into the cloth’s protective cover. The sight of this causes Applejack's anger to dissipate and for a look of concern to replace it on his face, but this was short lived as The Nightterror interrupts to pose him and all ponies present a single question.

“Do you not know who I am?”

“Oh oh, more guessing games!” replies Bubble Berry, not missing a beat. Daggers are glared at him by literally everypony in the room as a result, but I feel that I’m the only one who notices his knees banging against each other as he starts randomly guessing names. Hazarding a guess based on future and personal knowledge involving him; he’s as scared out of his little pony mind as the rest of us are right now, but his desire for everyone not to be scared has overridden his sense of self preservation. The result is him being thrust into a sort of party boy autopilot. It’s actually admirable when you think about it.

“Um, Hokey Smokes?”

Like… really really think about it.

“How about King Tyranny?”

SUPER hard.

“No… oh! Obsidian Snarky, Obsidian Snarky!”

… Or maybe I have to take back my earlier statement about him being smart.

Really hope that’s not the case.

Rainbow Dash thankfully puts a stop to this before it can get any worse by using his remaining wing to shove an apple into his mouth. Crisis averted.

“Does my crown now mean nothing?!”

Oh. Whoops. I take that back. Crisis is still imminent. All eyes turn back to the corrupted Prince yet again as he raises his voice for the first time since his arrival. With a single flap of his wings, Nebula soars through the air and lands harshly on the balcony next to Butterscotch. Though he is his equal in height and stature, the pegasus’ body shivers as he tries to slowly float up and away from the coming verbal assault.

“Has my imprisonment for a thousand years stripped me of the Honor I have rightfully earned through tears, sweat, and blood?!” he roars into Butterscotch's face, sending tremors through the entire room. Town Hall is soon assaulted by another quake as the scare factor alone causes the poor yellow pony’s wings to give out, making him plummet to the ground.

My blood then boils as the terrible alicorn next turns his attention to Elusive, who is still frozen in place on the stage where Solaris was supposed to appear. No. No no no no NO! “D-Dusk!” I whisper fiercely into my charge’s ear, trying to prompt him into action early.

This whole situation is quickly spiraling out of control and I don’t know what’s going to happen anymore! Things aren’t matching up exactly, and this pony is so much scarier I… I-I don’t know what to do! “Dusk!” I again hiss into his ear.

My words go unheeded as Dusk continues to gape at the pony of legend now in his mist. His legs wobble as he does, the same as everypony else's, but I can see his teeth starting to clench. I know that look; he’s on the fence. He needs to take a step forward into action, but he doesn’t know what. He’s not going to act without a plan, but time is of the essence! My own teeth clench too as I turn my head back and forth between him and the stallion slowly approaching the one pony I’ve found in this world that might be like me.

I don’t want to lose the one possible connection I might still have to my old life!

I can’t lose him again!

Come on... come on! I try to reach out for Dusk one last time.

“Du-

“Yaaaawwwwnnn~”

A yawn slips out instead.

The result is like I fired a gun in a library.

Now all eyes were on me; Dusk’s and his friends’ and most of the town. I was the one who just interrupted the monologuing maniac, after all. You remember... the one who has us all rooted in place out of fear?

The one whose eyes are now drilling into me as well?

And drill his unnatural eyes did; burning holes into my soul. Sweat drips from my forehead as he stretches up so that he may better leer at me. I take a step back reflectively as he bares his altered wings up fully for all to see.

I fall onto my tail as he next leaps down from his perch and lands roughly mere feet away. It was only now that I could see that I barely measure past his fetlock in height.

“No no no,” I uncontrollably whimper as I crawl backwards, away from the approaching monster. One tiny step is all it would take, o-or a swish of that tail; only the smallest amount of effort would be necessary for him to snuff me out. “No no no,” This wasn’t how it was supposed to go!

“S-stop it!” A frightened voice calls out, it’s owner taking a step forward and placing himself between the two of us. Though he quivers just as violently as me, unlike myself Dusk Shine remains standing as he glowers upwards at the being threatening me.

But his defense proves futile as The Nightterror, with his far superior height, continues to glare at me. Ponies begin to call out both our names fearfully, begging us to get out of here, but my stupid legs won’t budge. Just when I thought I couldn’t be anymore afraid, the alicorn’s horn suddenly bursts into life. A bluish aura, tinted with shades of the night itself, envelopes the appendage with such intensity that it threatens to suck the light out of this room.

Not a second afterwards, this same aura envelopes my body fully.

And unfortunately I’m not alone.

With a turn of his head to survey the room, Nebula's evil magic finds itself locked onto a handful of other victims out of the many. One by one we each find ourselves forcefully levitated up into the air and brought forward towards the blackened beast. Shouts and angry screams from friends and loved ones alike fill the air as the horrific act proceeds. In terror I grip my purse and breathe heavily in my hold as the others who had been captured cry and wail around me. The noise is so high pitched, and the emotions so raw... It’s only as I force my head up, resulting in me locking eyes with the equally scared unicorn colt next to me, do I realize why this is the case.

“I have a fondness for children,” Nightterror Nebula explains himself as his wandering eyes soften for a fraction of a second…

… only for them to then harden once again.

“But they’re better off seen and not heard.”

With one final pulse of light from the monster's horn, a shock wave covers all his hostages and instills in me a feeling not unlike an electrical current running havoc under my scales. The magical aura around me fades away as the tiredness I once felt returns with a vengeance; intensifying itself to levels I can no longer hope to have control over.

Dusk calls out for me one last time before I hit the floor and everything fades to black.

Entry 1, End

“Mommy!!! MOMMY!!”

“DAAADDD!! DDDDDAAADDDD!”

“Sniff, mama…”

“Applejack! Red Gala! G-grandpa!”

I don’t know where I am.

I don’t know whose crying.

I don’t know what I’m doing.

“I-I WANT MY MOMMY!!”

Despite the cries all around me, I feel… still.

My body is still, and I am quiet.

This is fine… But I feel… like there’s stone pushing against my spines.

I must be lying down.

Yeah… I can tell now.

Suddenly things… click.

I’m lying down on a floor; a new floor. Things are becoming clearer in my head... This is not the same floor I had fallen down on earlier. That floor was earthly, this floor… stone is the best way I can describe it.

What I can describe with certainty is what I’m hearing. The screams from before are now much less numerous, yet at the same time far more intense. I can’t recall if they had ever stopped between the blast and now.

I can’t recall why I’m laying down either.

It feels like I’ve always been here but… also not.

… This is weird.

It takes me a second to start getting back up; to not only find my footing and to blink the sleep out of my eyes, but to also find the desire to rise. The oddness of it all is quickly filling my actions with a sense of purpose, though, as I discover more and more strangeness occurring all around me. Speaking of, the next weird thing I find is that there isn’t any sleep left in my eyes. In fact, it feels as though I was never tired in the first place! I dwell on this new oddity for but a moment, long enough for the third weird factoid to soon present itself to me.

This factoid being that I’m now apparently in space.

…

… OKAY I’M UP NOW

With a start I use my restored energy to stand up fully and to take in my new, lovecraftian surroundings. Above and around me lies a darkened array of stars and auroras of all shapes, sizes, and hues. No shadows exist here, even though everything is properly illuminated. Flashes of light dance sporadically across the alien skyline, like rogue bolts of lightning wreaking a soundless havoc every which way. Chaos lies below me as well in the form of a glowing white road of compacted stars and stardust that stretches out into all conceivable directions. It isn’t a solid road; I can see cracks along it’s surface, and parts in the great distance where patches have broken off completely and are floating away. These shards can be seen littering the whole starry ‘sky’. Along these many paths lie small obelisks, numerous in design and stability, that almost resemble unconnected doors. These too are in a similar state of disarray and decay to the rest of this star road. And many of these ‘doors’ are cracked or outright destroyed, with their remains drifting away to parts far removed from the main path. Some of these pieces are now being used as hovering platforms.

This is where this realm's visitors are currently residing.

Many foals of young ages and various pony races now populate this strange infinite space and are clearly upset over the whole ordeal. Most are crying out for their parents and guardians, and many more are simply just crying for the sake of crying in the way only a child can. They’re scattered about at random; a few are on top of these aforementioned flying doors, more are on the broken path or it’s missing pieces, and the pegasus children that have the power to do so are trying to stay afloat in the debris filled air. From what I can see, their act of gravitational defiance doesn't usually last too long before an erred piece of the broken land forces them to land wherever there’s room.

I had never seen anything like it before.

Not in Equestria, Earth, or even the show.

“Where… where are we?” I ask aloud, to assure myself that this impossible place is real.

“Y-you don’t know?”

With a tiny shrill shriek I jump at the sudden question, and to my further shock I discover that the gravity is all borked in this place. Panic sets in as I begin to uncontrollably rise up into the air, but the timely grab of white and orange forelegs helps drag me back down to the ground before it’s too late.

Catching my breath, I attempt to shake this recent scare off by looking up at my heroes. In a nice change of pace, I didn’t need to crane my neck upwards to see my saviors as we're all the same height and (technical) age.

The orange hoof had belonged to a small pegasus colt with a solid mulberry mane, and the white one belonged to a familiar looking unicorn colt with a mane a mixture of a more grayish version of his partner’s, with equally gray-rose streaks. It didn’t take me long to realize that this was my world’s Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

I mean, give me some slack, guys.

“You’re, like, not from around this place then?” asks the young pegasus shyly, continuing with the question which caused my earlier jump. “I just thought… well you’re not really a pony, so…”

Before I can answer, the unicorn beats me to it.

“No, Scooter. I think she’s real like us.” He then turns back to me to smile, though his words are clearly still for the pony next to him. “I saw her before that Nightterror wannabe zapped us.”

Scooter pouts at this.

“Phooee,” he complains, crossing his hooves as he sits down. “And I thought we could finally get out of here.”

I find myself unbelievably dazed by this sudden scenery and cast change, but with a hard shake of my head I try my best to reorient myself. The brain tumbler action quickly proves itself to have been one of the best calls I had made all day long, as my restarted brain next takes hold of what was just said and starts to connect the scary dots.

“Wait,” I interrupt, drawing the two kids’ attention back to me. “... Finally?” I repeat Scooter’s last words. “W-what do you mean ‘finally’? How… how long have we been here?”

At this question the two colts glance back at each other, scrunch their faces up in deep calculation, and then turn back to me.

“It’s been hours for sure,” says the white unicorn.

“Like, a bunch of hours,” his friend finishes. “It’s really hard to tell but it’s been awhile.”

“A-are you sure?” I plead to them both as I became painfully aware of the strain starting to take form in my chest.

“Yeah,” the pegasus repeats, crushing my hopes. “It’s about the one thing we are sure about in here, Miss Dragon.”

My heart shatters at this.

I… I’ve failed…

Dusk and his new friends are probably already in the forest by now…

… I didn’t come with…

The only thing I managed to do, to ‘help’, was… cause this.

“Oh Dusk…” I sob loudly as I’m overcome with the most extreme feeling of guilt I’ve ever felt in my twin lives. Seven years down the drain; I only managed to cause the group more stress! Now everypony is going to be distracted with their loved ones being... wherever the hell here is… and after I promised not to hurt Dusk again I…I...

“I-I really screwed up.” Sniff~ “I screwed up everything...”

As I sit back down on the road and choke back tears, curling up into the tiniest ball my stupid self could manage, I forget myself for a time as the disappointment washes over and engulfs me completely…

As a result I also forget that I’m not really alone right now.

“H-h-hey hey hey!” shouts Scooter, his eight year old mind clearly not mentally prepared to handle the sight of a crying baby dragoness. “D-don’t cry! It’s, um, g-gonna be okay! Right, Sweepy Belle?”

“Uh-huh! Scooteroll is right,” adds in his partner, whose tone is just a little bit more confident sounding then his own… even if it’s a little squeakier. “And I’m sure the big ponies are trying to get us back from wherever the hell this place is right now!”

Scooteroll blinks.

“Um... what’s ‘hell’?”

“Something my big brother says every now and then.”

“Your brother sounds weird.”

“Hey! He’s awesome I’ll have you know.”

Scooteroll tilts his head at this.

“If you say so. I’ve only met you, like, an hour ago so I’m just going to have to roll with it.”

“Would you say… Scooteroll with it??”

“... Never say that again.”

Now it’s Sweepy’s time to pout.

“You’re no fun.”

This causes me to chuckle quite a bit. As I do, I realize that my tears have stopped falling. Almost as if reading my mind, Sweepy resumes beaming warmly at me.

“That’s better,” he chimes happily even as his voice cracks. “Now you can help us figure a way out of here!”

I stare at him blankly for a split second before I narrow my eyes and nod my head determinedly.

It’s embarrassing that a child had to remind me, but all the same he’s right. I can play the blame game later. For now, we’ve gotta leave this place and find a way back to Equestria. Who knows what else could be going on right now? Sweepy offers me a hoof to get back up on my feet with, which I graciously accept. Now standing with the rest of them, I use my claws to rearrange my purse strap as I introduce myself properly. “I’m Barbara. Friends call me Barb.”

“I’m Scooteroll!” introduces the pegasus with a buzz of his tiny wings.

“And I’m Sweepy Belle,” answers the unicorn with his head held high, obviously channeling his big brother Elusive’s behavior. I remember Rarity and Sweetie Belle being sisters quite well from the show, so it didn’t take me any longer than a microsecond to put two and two together. Jason didn’t have a brother or any other kind of sibling if I remember correctly, so I can only assume that Sweepy is just an ordinary pony. This may change later as I learn more about Elusive himself, but I have bigger worries to think about right now. Him being just a normal pony is perfectly fine by me. “Did you… I guess we can call it waking up… just wake up, Barb?”

I nod my head, understanding both his question and his aside’s meaning. “Yeah I did. It didn’t feel like I went to sleep, or even woke up. There’s just this… gap in my memory... Have you two been up long?”

Scooteroll nods his head furiously. “Yeah! It was the same thing with me! One second I was in Ponyville, and the next I was floating around and junk. Which was super cool, by the way!” He chirps excitedly, whatever lingering fear disappearing as he reminisces. “Because I can’t do that normally, but I wasn’t able to really move around all that well... Then I bumped into Sweepy!”

“Literally,” Sweepy adds helpfully.

“He had just ‘woke’ up! And that was cool too, because we kinda recognized each other from class but we never really talked before, which makes sense cause we’re both blank flanks! You know how it is, right?”

“... Riiiggghhhttt,” I respond with a nod, trying to be polite.

I guess Sweepy doesn’t think the pleasantries are necessary though, as he next bluntly states that, “Dragons don’t get cutie marks, Scooter. She wouldn’t know.”

Scooter tilts his head to the side at this.

“Really? That’s dumb.How do they know their special talent then?”

“Maybe all dragons are just good at the same thing?” Sweepy suggests.

“Like what, fire breathing?”

“Or maybe gem eating.”

“Or hoarding!”

“OR BURNINATI-”

As cute and precious as this is, Dusk needs me right now. We gotta move forward. “Guys, focus,” I interject before we get any more off topic.

“Right right,” Scooter blushes as we resume. “So, yeah, we got together and started walking down this road. We tried these door thingys but none of them open. There’s also a lot of ponies scattered all over the place… but there has to be a way out of here. We know there is one!”

Interesting. “What makes you say that?” I inquire plainly.

Sweepy answers this time. “There were a lot more ponies here earlier, but now they’re gone. Some of them just blinked out suddenly, like they teleported.”

“It’s really creepy to see,” nods Scooter.

I digest this information, along with the few other clues I’ve been able to pick up since I… ‘woke’ up.

… Wait. Solaris' words from this morning are coming back to me.

_______________________________

“... Once upon a time, there lived a pony who was born with an interesting gift. The realm of dreams was his domain...”

_______________________________

“Are they… waking up, you think?”

The two boys look at me blankly after my sudden suggestion.

“But… aren’t we already awake?” Scooteroll asks me, clearly confused.

I’m just as confused as him, but what I said makes a small amount of crazy sense, so I turn my head from side to side and stick to my guns. “No no,” I reply to him, formulating my thoughts with my tongue. “When we ‘woke’ up, it didn’t really feel like we woke up, right? We all agree on that. It felt like we just… appeared. There was no actual waking up involved, and I have no knowledge of coming here any other way. Yet here we are...”

My theorycrafting causes Sweepy’s eyes to suddenly widen in realization.

“Just like the beginning of a dream!” he chirps in confirmation, tying all of my loose thoughts together with one fabulous little bow.

“Exactly,” I nod in agreement, smiling at his youthful enthusiasm.

“Well then this will be easy!” interjects Scooter in equal good cheer.

He then slaps Sweepy in the face.

Hard.

“Ow!” the victim, and the more delicate looking one of the two, cries out in pain. “What’s the big idea?!”

Scooter flutters his eyes in confusion before again tilting his head like a bird.

“Isn’t that how you’re supposed to wake up from a dream?” he asks innocently.

“YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO HIT YOURSELF, DINGUS!”

“Hey quit shouting at me!”

I groan as the two colt’s argument devolves into a screaming contest. Boys will be boys I suppose. I tune out the rumble so I can better think. So pain doesn’t work for getting us out of here; for getting us to really wake up. And I’m pretty sure I’m right in thinking that this is a kind of… er... Dream Realm, I suppose you could call it. Solaris had mentioned there being a place where nightmares could be fought, so my current best guess is that this dilapidated dump is connected to his brother’s power. That has to be the case, because this ethereal plane can’t possibly exist in the world of Equus. The roads go on for seemingly forever for one thing, and did I mention how borked the gravity is here? ‘Cause it’s borked real bad. This has to be a dream… but why did The Nightterror send us here? Why trap all the foals at all? Are we bargaining chips? If that’s the case, how are ponies currently escaping? Is Nebula releasing us one by one? Ugh! Too many questions! I should start writing these do-

“Sis?”

Before I can dwell on the big ball of unanswered questions any further, one of the foreign voices I had heard earlier suddenly starts speaking again.

“Red Gala...?! Red Gala!”

I turn away from the other two colts and listen carefully for this new third one’s voice again. I think it’s coming from… below me? Cautiously I approach the edge of the star road and lean equally as carefully over the edge. This allows me to peer below. Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll quit their childish fighting during this and slide up next to me so that they can investigate this disturbance as well.

It doesn’t take us long to find the speaker; poor young Apple Buck can be seen talking to himself on a floating piece of the broken road aways away from us.

“Red Gala!” he shouts again, scanning every which way. “A-ah hear you but ah can’t… Big Sis!”

And then, as if he was never there to begin with, he disappears into thin air.

I stare worriedly at this.

“... Is that kid from our class?” asks Scooter to Sweepy.

“I think so,” he scratches his head. “Maybe the morning one? I never talked to him though.”

“Huh.”

I look back and forth between the two children.

“Did that… not surprise you?” I ask them in confusion, trying to understand.

In response Sweepy does the pony equivalent to a shrug by raising a leg.

“It sounded like he was talking to somepony,” he formulates aloud, imitating how I broke down our last revelation.

“Yeah... maybe they woke him up?” Scooter suggests. “I saw it before.”

“Me too,” continues Sweepy, allowing me to further understand their lax attitude towards what just happened. “I was scared at first, but knowing this is a dream makes it a little less scary.”

“So,” I repeat, gathering the information present into a cohesive whole. “We need somepony else to wake us up to get us out of here?”

“But…” Sweepy adds in, mulling over this part as well. “Wouldn’t that be the first thing they'd would do for us in this situation?”

Dang. That’s right. I put a claw on my lip and think about this harder. My brow tightens in concentration.

“Maybe… we’re supposed to wake up at a certain time?” Scooteroll throws out, trying to see if the idea would stick.

I mule this over.

“... What would that time even be?” I wonder loudly, thinking that we might be on the right track but not fully convinced yet.

“... Maybe…” Sweepy adds yet again. He’s quite the little puzzle solver, I’m quickly discovering. “... Maybe the time is when we’ve had enough sleep?”

We all fall silent at this.

I rewind my mind to this morning yet again, and recall in great detail Princes Solaris’ comments about his brother’s supposed weakness for crying babes.

Or, in this case, tired foals.

“That’s stupid enough to make sense,” I admit after a time, unable to deny that it all made sound logic.

Didn’t keep me from facepalming though.

“What kind of monster makes sure you’re well rested?!” Sweepy squeaks, just as flabbergasted by the answer we came up with as me.

“One who has a ‘fondness for children’,” I air quote using my beloved gift of fingers. “I guess that means he wants to make sure his subjects aren’t cranky.”

“Oh come on! That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Sweepy deadpans.

“But all the pieces fit,” I counter. “Kinda… It’s the best guess we’ve got until we get the answer from the pony’s mouth.” A thought occurs. “Do you know anything useful about Nightterror Nebula, Sweepy? Like any local stories or rumors?”

I know a little bit about The Nightterror legend from what I read in the book I bought for Dusk the other day, and I know a tiny bit more than that thanks to the Nightterror Nights I attended in Canterlot (last year I went as a pretty princess. Don’t judge me), but beyond that I find myself woefully unprepared for this sort of situation. I had been banking so hard on this night playing out just like it did in the show, with only my addition to the forest scenes to insure that everything else went smoothly, that I never felt the need to prep myself any further than what was necessary! Come on, it was a fair assumption! Nightmare Moon only appears for two episodes! Never did I dream that this would happen. I’m going to have to remember to really prepare myself better for the other three villains I know of. For Discord, that changeling queen thing (Chrysalis I think her name was, according to Ashley), and for the last one I got to see before my viewing days ended; King Sombra. Hopefully the episodes after that, the ones I didn’t get to see, were full of nothing but cute slice of life episodes. I quite liked those ones better.

Knowing my luck, that won’t be the case in the slightest.

After thinking about it for a time, Sweepy shakes his head. “Not really. Most the stuff I know about him comes from Nightterror Night. But there’s no way he’s the real Nightterror Nebula… right?”

“... Dusk Shine thought so,” I confide in the colt guiltily. “He was researching this prophecy about him, b-but the Prince and I brushed him aside and said he was crazy.”

Sure we both had ulterior motives, but everything I just admitted was 100% true.

“I’m a lousy assistant…” I speak honestly as my head droops.

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

I lift my head back up and meet Sweepy’s eyes.

“I’m sure you did the best job you could do,” the colt reassures truthfully, with no hint of manipulation in his voice. “He was calling your name before we went under, I could hear it. I don’t think he would have if you were lousy at your job.

“He cares about you, Barb, even if you didn’t believe him one time.”

I’m… left speechless.

“... How old are you?” I ask, generally surprised by how this conversation went down.

“Eight,” he answers, confirming my earlier guess. He taps his chest proudly and adds, “Though I’ve been told I’m mature for my age.”

“I can see that,” I nod, really impressed.

“Yup, all thanks to my big brother… but we’re getting distracted again,” he admits, his face turning red. “I-I don’t think that pony is the real Nightterror Nebula. He’s just an imitator. You agree with me, right Scooter?”

“...”

“... Scooter?”

It’s only now that it dawns on us that we haven’t heard from Scooteroll in a tick. The two of us turn towards our third… only to discover that his ears are twitching and that he’s looking away from us altogether.

Sweepy and I watch him queerly for this.

“Um… you okay?” Sweepy beats me to the punch in asking.

Scooter is quiet for a moment, but then his head jerks up and he beams brightly.

“Uncle-”

And with that he disappears, just like Apple Buck before him. Taken aback at the suddenness, Sweepy and I turn towards each other and simply stare.

“...”

“... I never asked him where he lives,” Sweepy breaks the eye contact first by whimpering, clearly heartbroken. “And summer vacation just started too...” his ears lower, full of sadness.

They then perk up a second later, and begin to twitch.

My heart races at the repeating sight. “Sweepy…?” I poke him gently on the head as he starts to stare off into space.

“…Dad?” he asks absentmindedly, confirming my fears.

He’s about to wake up.

A million little thoughts run through my mind as the end draws near for my last friend here; so much still left to figure out, so much to plan… and oh crap something big just dawned on me! “Sweepy Belle!” I plead desperately as I reach for and grab his ears, to turn his face towards my own. “Wait! Please don’t go yet! I-I don’t think I have anypony to wake me up on the other side!”

“What?” he asks as his attention is dragged between me and the waking ponies calling for him.

“Dusk is probably going to try to fight The Nightterror!” I shout over the voices from the other side. I hear the ghostly whispers of a concerned mother and father in my ears as I tighten my hold on the young colt’s own. “That’s just the kind of pony he is!” My mind blazes at high speeds as I try to recall the show yet again. We’re so off the rails now that it’s not even funny, but if there’s a small chance that one thing is still accurate…

“The library! I might be sleeping in the library!”

“Where?” the unicorn whispers. “Barb I… I-I can’t hear you anymore.”

“The library!” I scream as the volume increases for the otherworldly voices my grip is causing me to hear. “Please! The library! P-please don’t leave me alone here...”

“Wher-” Sweepy tries to ask me one more time, but he doesn’t get to finish before his eyes unfocus and his attention is lost.

“... Mom?”

Then he was gone too.

And I’m once again left alone.

...

… Thus is my lot in this life.

You’d think it would get easier, but it never does.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Scooter was right; it’s hard to tell time in the Dream Realm.

I believe it was only a few hours ago since I saw the two future crusaders, but I think I would be equally right in saying that it could have been days ago.As I continued my wandering of the illusionary dimension, I tried reaching out to other ponies and tried to share with them what the three of us had worked so hard to uncover.

Key word being tried.

I was unlucky a few times in which I would approach a pony only for them to just so happen to wake up at the same time and disappear. Other times I received a frightened response as, go figure, normal kids are afraid of fire breathing dragons. Who knew? I did meet a couple of nice, if a little dimwitted, fillies my age named Sugar and Spice, but they left just as quickly as everypony else; long before I could ask them for help.

It was at this point that the true horror of this situation made itself known to me.

When it became apparent that I was the only one left.

Over time the screams and sobbing had become inaudible, until finally they were nonexistent. Where once the sky was filled with scared foals, now it was as dead and barren as I assume it was before we arrived. Everyone must have woken up by now.

Everyone but me.

I feel terrible in admitting that I wish somepony was still here with me. Now by myself and truly alone, I found the time to sit and reflect on this day.

And I found the time to write in this book again.

Quite the first entry, huh?

I wrote long ago that this journal would become my diary in the future, and that future is now it seems. Still coded in English, and still full of my innermost thoughts concerning reincarnation, The Poisoned Barb will now be used to keep my raging thoughts and opinions about any given day in check.

My opinions on today, for example, can be summed up in one simple declaration.

It sucked eggs.

I woke up only to get interrogated by Solaris, I then fought every step of the way to get Dusk to move his lazy flank and make friends. After that I got confused over Rainbow Dash's gender identity, Elusive’s identity period, almost got crushed by a Manly Fluttershy, and I failed to stay awake to help Dusk and friends with The Nightterror!

Now I’m stuck in this dream limbo for lord knows how much longer.

~~And the worst part is that I don’t know if all my sacrifices and lies even amounted to anything.~~

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“No!” I yell into the void, vigorously slicing through this last sentence. “No no no no!!The were worth it damn it!!”

A teardrop drops on my book and warps the words.

S-stupid little thing. Where did, sniff~, t-that come from?

“I just… have to have faith that it worked.” I choke up. “I just have to have faith that those stallions are the heroes this world needs them to be. I-I have to have faith that my choices were the right ones.

“Faith that my birth brought something good for this world.”

The uncaring void ignores me as I sniffle in melancholy.

...

“... It wasn’t all bad,” I finally speak again, forcing myself to see the silver lining. “Yeah… there were good bits..."

...

"...Solaris doesn’t know the truth about me, but he’s still willing to help me out...”

Yeah...

“... I-I made a friend with Red Gala today, along with all of Dusk’s soon to be friends.”

… Yeah!

“I… I even know all of the cutie mark crusaders now! Ponies my age! T-that’s pretty cool.”

Yeah... Yeah!!

“And... there’s a tiny, itty bitty sliver of hope that I’m not alone on this world! I MIGHT NOT BE ALONE!!”

YEAH!!!

“My life isn’t meaningless!”

YEAH!!!

“I have friends!”

YEAH!!!

“And I’m going to be okay!!”

YEAH YEAH YEAAAAHHHH!!!

“I should write this down!”

I pick back up my book,

lick the tip of my quill to moisten it…

...

… and then realize that this is a dream dimension, and that everything I’ve been writing about for the last few hours probably wasn’t recorded in any real physical form whatsoever.

…

… SON OF AN ABSOLUTE BIT-

“Barb! Wake up, Barb!”

… Wha?

Did… did I just hear a voice?

“Please… BARB!”

With eyes widening, I jump to my feet as a familiar voice rings softly in my head.

“Is that…?” I ask nobody as my head swivels back and forth.

“Barb!!”

The world around me turns into a bright white afterimage as I gradually begin…

_______________________________

… to wake up.

“Barb!” cheers Sweepy Belle as he wraps his forelegs around me. “You’re up!”

“S-sweepy?” I groan weakly as I return to the world of the waking. The sight of dusty old books all around me is enough to convince me that that is where I now am.

Well… that and the pain and tiredness coursing through every fiber of my being.

Ow.

“You’re crushing me,” I squirm about pathetically.

“Oops,” the colt’s cheeks redden as he releases me. “S-sorry, but I’m so glad you’re awake!”

Woozily I try to stand up out of the basket I find myself in, but I end up tripping and almost falling on my face. If it wasn’t for Sweepy’s quick rescue, said face planting would have most certainly happened. The smile I grant him says “thank you,” while my actual mouth says, “I’m just glad you actually heard me when I said I might be in the library!”

Sweepy’s face remains red, though this time I think it's for a different kind of embarrassment.

“Actually... I didn’t hear what you said,” he admits looking away. “I’m only here because I found one of Bubble Berry’s old party invitations about hosting one in this place. Complete random guess. Sorry… again.”

“Hey, you still got me up,” I reassure, patting him on the head. “All that matters is that you’re here.”

“Well… I would have gotten here sooner, Barb,” he begins to explain for me as he runs a hoof through his mane, correcting the ‘damage’ I had inflicted on it. “but I had to find a way to sneak away from my folks. They’ve been a teeny bit overprotective of me since, well, you know…”

“Actually I don’t know, Sweepy Belle” I retort sarcastically as I let go of him and try to stand on my own. “I just woke up, remember?”

Again he blushes.

“Right right. Well… we were really close with our guesses! Nightterror Nebula, who's the actual real Nebula if you can believe that, put all the kids in Ponyville to sleep so he could adjust us to his new ‘eternal night’ sleep schedule.” Sweepy then yawns. “It really messed us up…"

"Why just kids?" I inquire, trying to put the last few pieces of the puzzle together mentally.

Sweepy pony shrugs.

"Don't know. The papers think that he only started with the foals because of our weaker magical defenses or something.”

Well... a good enough explanation until we can hear it from Nightterror Nebula himself, I suppose.

“A few ponies woke up all on their own after a while though, Barb,” Sweepy continues on. “We were wrong there. It was a good guess though.”

“Then…” I start to ask, wrapping my head around things as they were revealed to me. “... why was I the last one in there? I must have slept the longest…”

“Maybe you were just really really tired?” he answers my simple question with a simple answer.

And you know what? As much as I hate to admit it, that actually makes sense. I stayed up late for the sun rising and I stayed up late the night before to start writing my novel. Boy does that feel like it was forever ago. With how much has happened, I can’t believe that it was only…

Only…

...

… There’s a ringing in my ears.

I’m overlooking an important detail.

A detail that vitally important.

A detail that’s now pushing itself violently to the forefront of my mind.

A detail that’s now causing me to hyper analyze every little detail available to me, from Sweepy’s words to the state of the room to my dwindling show knowledge, and to process down the information until only a single question remains.

The question of why Sweepy is the one waking me up...

… and not Dusk…

Only one answer comes to mind.

I pray to the high heavens that it’s wrong.

“Sweepy…” I start to ask, my words slow and deliberate; my whole body not wanting to hear the answer.

Anticipating this, Sweepy Belle’s ears droop as he looks away.

The body language is all the answer I really need. I don’t want to hear more now; I shouldn’t ask for more.

But… I need to know.

“... What… w-what time is it?”

Sweepy… answers my question with another question.

“... You said that Dusk was probably going to fight The Nightterror, right?”

“Sweepy…”

“Do… d-do you think my brother probably went with him too?”

“Sweepy Belle…”

“Cause, um… you s-see…”

“Sweepy,” I ask one final time as I place a claw on the shaking pony’s withers. “Please… just tell me…”

Sweepy looks me in the eyes before shaking off the contact and walking away towards a closed window sill. With a bounce he jumps up onto the bed next to the frame and uses his new vantage point to reach the string attached to the blinds. With the string fully wrapped around his hoof, the young colt turns to me gravely and answers,

“The Nightterror came three days ago, Barb.”

Like his brother before him, Sweepy Belle has the great misfortune of having to open the curtains to a nightmarish sight.

In this case, a darkened sky.

“It’s been midnight ever since.”

Entry 2, Part 1 (My Little Pony)

Ponyville is nothing if not resilient. Eternal Night, while horrific in concept alone, doesn’t also grant ponies an eternal sick day from work it seems. It's the only explanation I have for why the entire town is already back to business after only three days. Shops are open, errands are being run, children are cautiously out playing in the darkness; beyond the sudden lantern obsession and the increased royal guard presence, one would be hard pressed to tell that anything was out of the ordinary. The crisis has come and is here to stay; no point in crying over spilled milk, I suppose. Everypony has had their panic attacks… mourned… and now have to get on with their lives full of groceries, summer camps, and the latest in sports.

As I trudge through the illuminated marketplace, absentmindedly listening to just how normal the conversations sound, I find myself unable to feel anything towards how messed up this whole situation is. Their Prince is gone, as well as their sun, but hey; somepony has to put food on the table. Is this just how things are going to be now? Is this just life? How will we stay warm? How will we grow food? Where is The Nightterror now? Will he be merciful to us? I know that these are the questions floating through everponies’ heads right now; I know that the same fear Nebula instilled in us so long ago still lingers in each of our hearts…

… But I’m finding it hard to really care right now.

My mind is clouded and my emotions numb as my feet move without my input and continue to carry me towards my destination.

To Sweet Apple Acres.

_______________________________

Knock knock knock

The sound of old wood creaking and bending can be heard inside the building in front of me, as somepony on the other side of the door trots through the old farmhouse. The noise stops once the occupant reaches the front of the dwelling and slowly opens the door for me.

“Eeyu-” begins to ask Red Gala as she lifts her head to look at her visitor. The massive pony’s words stop as she sees only empty air, but she quickly regains them as she looks downwards and spots me by her front hooves. “Barb?” she asks, the concern highly evident in her voice.

I stare back up at her.

“... Can I come in?” I ask after a moment, once a rogue icy breeze helps remind me where I am.

Red Gala, though clearly still worried for me, steps aside and holds the door open. “E… eeyup,” she replies simply.

Muttering a quick thanks, I enter the home and take in the rustic sights. It’s shaped like a barn on the outside, but inside is anything but. Walls are filled with framed pictures, couches are lined with hoofstiched cloths, and the sheer history of this building can be seen in every nick and dent and scratch. This place is everything the Library is not; this place is a home.

Home…

… I find myself being ushered towards a couch by the kindly prodding of a big red hoof. Said hoof reaches down below my tail and gently aids me in getting up on top of the seat’s comfy green cushions. Red Gala gives me a small smile once I’m fully situated, and then slowly retreats to the next room before I can give her thanks again. I hear a water faucet being turned on, and a moment later I can also hear the tell tale signs of a teakettle settling. As I patiently wait, I remain silent so that I can better listen to all the other noises this house is producing. Hoof steps can be heard all over, mostly centered in the back towards the barn portion of this dwelling. That must be where the rest of the extended apple family is hanging out. Makes sense. I didn’t see anypony tending to the pitch black fields on my way in. I can hear elderly snoring as well; Grampa Smith must be asleep in the room right above me. Boy is he loud.

So loud, in fact, that I didn’t hear Red Gala’s noisy trotting as she re enters the room. It’s only when a cup of steaming hot tea was offered to me did I notice her return.

“Thank you,” I state as I gratefully accept the drink with my claws and sip it.

The couch sinks a little as my host mare lowers herself down on to it. With my claws I cover my tea so as not to spill any of it, at least until my friend can get situated. Once she’s seated, she replies with a “Eeyup” before taking off the yoke around her neck and setting it down on the coffee table. With that task is complete, she starts taking rewarding swigs from her own teacup that result in tiny, adorable little hums of approval.

Together, the two of us sit silently as we sip our tea and simply… be. I’m not being asked anything, nopony is barging in to interrupt us; with the exception of the other ponies in the house everything is nice and quiet.

It’s lovely.

It’s just what I needed.

It’s…

… not meant to be.

“You’re wondering why I’m here,” I ask, though it’s not really a question. More of a statement for my less talkative friend’s benefit.

“... Eeyup,” Red Gala answers after a brief pause. Maybe she’s debating on whether or not to pry, but it’s certainly within her right.

Gulping a large amount of the tea (which is quite delicious and as you might have guessed apple-infused) to calm myself, I stare into what little remains in my cup and gather my thoughts.

“... The trains to Canterlot are being restricted to military usage only right now, Red,” is what I choose to start with as I explain myself. I find it easier for the words to come as I stare into my reflection in the teacup, so I forgo looking into Red Gala’s eyes and simply continue as is. “And none of the balloons or pegasus chariots are allowed to depart right now as well. I-I’m stuck here in Ponyville...”

Red Gala starts to inhale, ready to comment, but I choose to ignore her as the words start rushing out of me faster.

“I can’t get a scroll out to Gleaming Shield either,” I go on, uncaring if she only vaguely knew who that is from my earlier stories. “S-she must be casting her shield spells in Canterlot. I used up my one emergency scroll seal for her and now I can’t write to her at all! And the ones for Solaris are just getting returned back to me!”

It feels as though my heart is slowly being crushed inside my chest.

“I-I don’t have anywhere else to go…”

As the helplessness of it all sinks in.

“Sweepy Belle’s family wanted nothing to do with a d-dragon…”

As my options dwindle to nothing.

“We didn’t even know w-where Scooteroll lives…”

As… as…

Red Gala places a hoof on my shoulder. Shakily I turn my head and look up into her big, green, judgeless eyes.

“Barb?” she finally asks me plainly, as is her style. “Where’s that fella that came to town with you?” Straight and to the point. “Where’s… Dusk?”

And that was it.

That was the plunger push that caused the dam to blow right the hell up.

“GONE!!” I sob loudly, unable to hold my grief back any longer. I bury my face in her chest as I grossly hiccup. “And it’s a-all my f-f-fault!!”

My mind shuts down after this, and the next thing I know a large amount of time has passed and my nose feels dry and raw. Through puffy eyes I watch as Red Gala, having left the couch earlier without me noticing, returns to the room with the teakettle in her teeth. With a tilt of her head she refills a cup that had been placed on the coffee table. I can only assume it’s mine, as I can’t recall where it had wandered off to in the… half hour, according to the clock on the wall… where my higher brain functions decided to check out.

“Thank you,” I utter softly for the third time since I’ve arrived. “... Sorry…”

“Nnope,” states the mare after refilling her own cup. “Nothin’ to be sorry about, and nothin’ to blame yourself for. You cry all you wan-”

“Is Barb okay, Big Sis?”

Weakly I look upwards towards the source of the third voice, and spot Apple Buck’s little worried face peeking out from the top of the staircase.

Turning to address her youngest brother, Red Gala puts on a braver front then I and states, “Eeyup.” For good measure she adds, “Girl talk,” in the hopes of scaring him off.

It seems to work, as the young colt’s ears droop and he takes a step backwards towards the upstairs.

“O-okay,” he answers, clearly still concerned but not wanting to push things further. Such a sweetheart. “... Can you please tuck me in when your done, Red?”

“Eeyup.”

“T-thanks.”

Tiny retreating hoofbeats follow the school age earth pony as he, I assume, heads towards his bedroom for the night… well the continued night. Day four is fast approaching...

With a sigh, the remaining pony brings her attention back to me. “Be right back,” she says as she begins to trot upstairs herself. Whether to further assure me that her departure was necessary, or to stealthily protect Apple Buck’s pride, Red Gala tacks on that, “He’s been too scared to go to sleep on his own since that no good Nightterror fella zapped him and since Applejack’s… yeah.”

“I understand,” I reply shortly. “Been having troubles sleeping myself.”

Red Gala doesn’t say anything as she nods her head in understanding and resumes heading up above. In her absence I drink my tea and use a tissue to attempt to make myself more presentable. Crying isn’t going to solve anything, but it feels like the only thing I have left. Four days… Dusk is probably… p-probably dea-

I force my mind shut yet again as I take a strong sip of my drink. I listen to the ambient sounds of the apple household once more as I wait. There’s still murmurs and trotting noises from the back of the building, and Grandpa is still snoring. A few minutes pass and everything remains mostly the sam-

Wait, no, that’s a lie. I can hear a sort of lullaby being sung upstairs by a deep, yet clearly feminine voice. Is that Red Gala? Though I can’t make out words, the melody and instruments can be heard clearly through the wood. I think I’m hearing a flute, and maybe a bell… it’s nice.

… Whether the flute and bells are real is anyone’s guess. An oddity about ponies that I don’t think I’ve ever been able to write down and explain is that their magic, regardless of race, is able to affect all five senses. You can see it, you can feel it, you can hear it, you can surprisingly taste it, and yes you can smell it as well. Conjured food allows one to taste it in all it’s horrid glory, and all spells usually leave behind a variant on a plastic like odor. Hearing magic is beautiful though, and it’s been described to me as a feeling from deep within a pony’s soul taking over their lips and enhancing every little thing they do. As they sing, the magic within their body sings too and can produce the instrumental sounds I’m hearing now. This phenomenon doesn’t make everypony amazing at singing, and starting unprompted can be considered rude, but it can allow them to easily sing harmoniously with others without ever having to learn the song.

In summation; the ponies really do sing the songs from the show, and their arcane bodies produce the music. Instruments were invented in this world to enhance and better control this instinctual power, which is insane to think about. It’s an insane concept to think about all together, and it’s definitely a phenomenon that can only happen here in the magical land of Equestria…

… but Equestria isn’t feeling that magical to me anymore.

After a time the music from up above stops, and the house shakes as Red Gala tries her best to slink away back to the living room. “Thanks for lettin’ me take care of that,” she speaks in a whisper, trying to let her brother sleep.

“You’ve already done enough for me, Red,” I whisper back with cheeks, well, red. “More than enough, actually… Thanks for listening.”

“Eeyup,” she smiles back. “It’s what friends do, Barb. If you need a place to sleep, we ain’t got a lot of space left... but you can certainly sleep with me tonight.”

“Red, I can-”

But she raises a hoof in objection to my protests.

“Ah insist. You got caught up in that whole dream trap nonsense too, right?” Her expression shifts to one full of warmth as she adds, “You’ll be safe with me tonight, little buddy. Hehe, you could even call it a sleepover if it makes you feel better about it,” she chuckles.

While I’m thoroughly touched by the offer, a question dawns on me from this.

“How did you know?” I inquire, referring to the mention of the dream trap.

“Ah was in Town Hall that day too,” she replies as she sits back down, again causing the couch to shake. “In the back with Gramps. That Dusk fella was sure shouting up quite a storm about you at Nightterror Nebula.”

I blink at this, taken aback. “H-he was? What did he say?”

Her coat almost made it impossible to tell, but I think Red Gala is blushing. “L-let’s just say he was sayin’ things inappropriate to talk about it polite company and leave it at that.”

That’s… actually kinda touching... in a twisted sort of way.

“There’s another else he said though, Barb, that I’d like to ask you about if that’s okay.”

Taken aback, I stare at my big red friend and try to fathom what it is she could be talking about.

“G-go right ahead, Red,” I offer to her despite not knowing where this is heading. “It’s the least I can do for you.”

With a nod, Red Gala first pauses to gather her thoughts before she next asks me her question.

“How... did Dusk know that that pony was the real Nightterror Nebula?”

My heart skips a beat.

This…

…

… This is just what I needed.

My eyes wander to the purse at my side.

Red Gala continues, taking no note of my reaction as she instead stares out at her yoke on the coffee table. Maybe the sight of it, and all it personally represents, is helping her concentrate… “He was the only one in that room that called that pony by his name. Not even the Mayor had any guesses!”

“He…” I begin formulating my thoughts, eyes zooming back to my host. “... Was researching an old prophecy before we got here. He thought that it spoke about the Man in the Moon escaping during the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“Did he tell the Prince about it?”

I bobble my head yes. “He did… He didn’t believe him though.”

“... But he was right about it... right?”

Again I nod my head yes. “I don’t think we can really deny that fact now, Red.”

The room grows quiet.

… I stealthily move my purse into my lap in this time.

I…

…

I... didn’t come here just to cry.

I didn’t come here just to give up.

… I-I didn’t come here with a solid plan, but I did come here with the makings of one.

I came here to recuperate.

I came here to sort out my mind.

I came here,

“After you fell asleep, Barb, ah saw him run off to the library…”

because despite how little we’ve gotten to know each other thus far,

“... and Applejack followed him.”

I know a woman willing to do anything for her family when I see one.

“Do you know where my brother is, Barbara?” rumbles Red Gala lowly, her eyes focused and burning with righteous fury. She's knows I'm hiding information now. My revealing that Dusk is missing too, and the honest blaming of myself over it, were the final puzzle pieces this mare needed to complete the picture I was trying to paint for her.

Applejack is gone.

Her precious hearty brother.

One who was last seen following Dusk Shine into the great unknown...

My precious nerdy bookworm.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that we're in the same boat, her and I. All my actions thus far were to erase the difference in age, species, and backgrounds that separate us… and to make this simple fact a hundred times more clear.

To save our families, we need to work together.

Thusly then, with eyes equally as determined appearing as her own, my response to Red Gala’s loaded question is to smile sadly, reach into my purse,

Flop!

and to lay a single book on the coffee table.

A book titled The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.

“I might have an inkling, Red.”

Entry 2, Part 2 (Do you know...)

There’s a benefit to having friends less filled with mind numbing angst than yourself; they usually have better ideas than your own.

Red Gala is such an angst-less friend, thank goodness. Though she’s just as frightened about the status of her missing brother as I am about Dusk, she seems to have a better head on her shoulders than I do right now. Once I explained how Dusk had left the book about the Elements in the library before departing, and how I ‘theorized’ that they went into the Everfree Forest to search for them, the farm mare quickly came up with a battle plan for how to save everypony. Step one was actually kinda obvious in retrospect.

Step one was to talk to the Mayor.

Riding through the chilly night upon my friend's back, the two of us reach Town Hall and discover in short order that the chaos resulting from the Summer Sun Celebration had never really left this place. In the sunless days that had passed, the whole area had been converted into a sort of command center for both the Ponyville officials and the military ones left behind from the Prince’s personal entourage. Fliers made up of civilians, guards, and even an on duty Wonderbolt can be seeing racing in and out of the many opened windows; providing crucial information about the outside world for all parties present. Unicorn guards work their magic upon arcane circles in the far corner; casting scryer spell after scryer spell until their horns visibly grew black with mana burnout. A collection of earth ponies are coordinating the whole effort where they can, sharing with the guards information pertaining to the lay of the land, while others are galloping in and out of the building with their strong backs being used to transport equipment and supplies.

In the center of the whole operation stands Ponyville’s de facto leader. According to Red Gala, his name is Mayor Mustang. The graying, light brown earth pony barks orders to all who would listen; the impossible task of keeping this town running through what could well be a climate disaster unseen since the days of the Windigos has obviously taken its toll on the poor stallion. Bags can be seen under his eyes, and his usually solid white mane has bits of his (supposedly natural) pinkness starting to peek through. Despite these difficulties, however, he remains standing in the face of this great challenge. Even as townsfolk approach him, demanding answers he most likely can't provide, the monocle bearing pony stands firm and expertly addresses the concerns as they come. He makes his commitment to solving this crisis well known to all.

“Wow,” I mutter lowly. “Gotta han-, er, hoof it to him; dude handles himself well under pressure.”

“Eeyup,” my steed retorts. “Better than anypony else could in this situation, ah reckon.”

I nod my head in agreement, even if Red Gala couldn’t see it while I was riding on her back. “I… I really should have come here first, huh?”

“Eeyuuuup,” Gala again replies, though the ending part is extended as if to offer me a follow up remark.

Blushing, I take the hint. “A-and I really should stop beating myself over what I should or shouldn’t have done.”

“Eeyup,” she chirps happily with my response.

We had a… ahem… intense conversation about me blaming myself for everything on the way over here. Specifics were never addressed, thank goodness, but it was pretty obvious that I was starting to go down a slippery slope. Red Gala can be really insightful and caring when she actually feels like talking. One on one conversations seems to be more her speed; she really clams up when it comes to groups though. This begs the question...

“How are we going to get his attention, Re-”

CRASH!!

With a start, I stare wide eyed in surprise as the stack of neatly categorized filing cabinets next to us collapses over in a horrifically loud display. My surprise doesn't stem from the simple act of them falling over, no... Instead it stems from the large red hoof that had applied pressure to the structure and caused said event in the first place.

Well… ask a stupid question, I guess.

Our wish to have the Mayor’s attention is soon granted as all eyes turn to us. I find myself again cursing lucky Red Gala’s thick crimson coat for preventing her blushing cheeks from being as visible as my own. Her’s is the perfect poker face.
Mine is the perfect imitation of a deer in the headlights.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Demands Mayor Mustang as he marches his way through the room and pushes his muzzle up to Red Gala’s own. “Do you have any idea how much that’s set our search efforts back, young lady?!” he yells, uncaring of the height difference.

“Eeyup,” my friend states completely neutral, refusing to flinch.

This declaration causes Mustang’s expression to change. It softens even further as he removes his monocle, breathes into it, wipes it with his tie, and then places it back where it came from. A look of happy recognition soon erases the angry one and changes the overall mood in the blink of an eye.

“Ah! The eldest apple sibling!” he greets Red Gala in his new good cheer. “My apologies! The lack of sleep seems to be doing me no favors!”

“Nnope,” Red Gala concurs honestly.

“Haha! Indeed!”

“Hehe..."

“...”

"..."

“... You still need to pick that up though, missie.”

With a sigh, Red Gala groans loudly, “Eeyup,” before taking a knee and gently shaking me off to the ground. I raise an eyebrow at her for this, but this just causes Gala to use her muzzle to scoot me closer to Mayor Mustang.

“Hmph, how troublesome,” Mustang complains to himself under his breath. “And after all the work I’ve put into trying to find her brother...” He then spots me. “Oh! Er… hello?”

After wasting a second by staring blankly at the Mayor, I look back towards Red Gala one last time and spot the motioning of her eyes. It’s at this point that I stupidly catch the hint. Oh. Right. She doesn’t like talking to groups. Guess it falls on me then. Typical. Well… here goes nothing.

“Greetings, Mayor Mustang,” I reply as formally as I can. Come on Noble etiquette classes, don’t fail me now! “I am terribly sorry to interrupt you during these troubled times, but I come baring information most vital.”

Mustang uses a hoof to rub his chin.

“Wait,” he answers after a moment of reflection. “You’re the one who yawned during The Nightterror’s speech. The dragon.”

I nod my head in acknowledgement, before reaching into my purse and pulling out one of Prince Solaris’ magical scroll seals.

“This is correct, sir,” I answer, flashing the object like a badge. “I am Barbara The Dragoness; Assistant to Apprentice Dusk Shine, Squire to Prince Solaris, Property of House Shin-”

“PROPERTY?!”

Red Gala’s outburst turns every head in the room towards her, but she ignores them all as her flabbergasted expression is aimed squarely at me.

Caught off guard at the interruption, my cheeks soon turn as bright as a tomato. “Oh… d-did I forget to mention that part?” I stutter, shying away from her new hardened gaze. “Oops. It’s just a l-legal definition, so that Noble ponies don’t throw temper tantrums and think they can get away with kidnapping dragon eggs. It really doesn’t mean anything, honest!”

“...”

“... Dusk’s family loves me,” I try to convince my concerned friend. “I know Gleaming loves me, and you saw that Dusk does too. I know I’m loved. That’s enough, right?”

“...”

“... Eeyup,” Red Gala eventually relents, allowing me to continue. I should probably rethink how I introduce myself in an official capacity for Ponyville...

“Like I was saying, Mayor,” I proceed. “I’m connected to the Prince, and I came here this week with his direct apprentice Dusk Shine. I have information about our current situation that you need to hear.”

Having recovered himself from the outburst, Mustang retorts, “Really.” He resumes rubbing his chin. “If that’s the case, my dear, then why have you not approached me earlier?”

“The reason is twofold, sir,” I reply, now well aware how quiet the room is becoming thanks to my speech. I have the floor. “Firstly, as you no doubt noticed during the celebrations, I was trapped in the same dream limbo as the rest of the foals of this town. I met the age requirement, because I’m only seven.”

“Goodness! You’re quite well spoken for your age!”

“Thank you,” I brush his compliment aside without a thought. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have anypony to wake me up from that realm so I was forced to wait for aid.”

“How terrifying!”

“I-it was.”

“You’re a brave little filly.”

“Thank you,” again I brush the praise aside. “Once I woke up, I found myself alone in this town and completely lost on what to do... Red Gala encouraged me to seek you out, sir. She informed me that you're trying to locate the Prince, as well as other missing ponies.”

“Eeyup,” added Gala around the stack of papers left in her mouth from cleaning.

“I see…” the older pony hums, digesting what I’ve so far disclosed. “And your friend is right, little lady. We are trying to locate Prince Solaris as our number one priority at the moment, though quite a number of my citizens have sadly disappeared as well..." He then shakes his head, and narrows his eyes slightly before addressing me again. "Their friends and families are counting on us to return them safely. We may lack the power to fight The Nightterror, but we can at least do this much.

"So then, Miss Barbara; what is this so called vital information that you have for me? I'd rather like to get back to our search efforts, post haste.”

The grip I have on my purse tightens at this.

Well… here we go.

Probably the greatest deviation from the show I can possibly do right now.

This could potentially change a lot.

This could ruin the series premier.

This could snowball into unspeakable horror…

...

… And that’s perfectly fine by me.

I just want my Dusk back. I want Red Gala’s little brother back too. I want Sweepy’s big brother back; I want this town’s number one party planner back, as well as their number one weather pony, and their number one gentle giant.

I want my sky back.

“Dusk Shine was researching a prophecy connected to the return of The Nightterror before we arrived in Ponyville,” I explain to all those listening as I reach into my bag and present The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. “He predicted that this might happen, and never stopped his searching even in the final moments. When I woke up, I found this book laying out in the empty library. It details a weapon powerful enough to potentially reseal Nightterror Nebula in the moon.”

Murmurs begin to spread amongst the gathered ponies.

“It was left behind, a-and I haven’t seen Dusk since I woke up.” I swallow my bubbling fear and finish my speech strongly. “I believe that he must have tried to seek out these Elements in their last known resting place; the ancient castle of the royal pony brothers in the Everfree Forest. I also believe that he didn’t go in alone. The other missing ponies Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Elusive, Butterscotch, and Bubble Berry were slowly becoming friends with him before everything went down. Red Gala can confirm that she saw her brother chase after Dusk, who left after the fleeing Nebula. She could not pursue, due to her other brother’s sleeping state.”

“Eeyup,” Gala adds.

“I now believe that all six of these ponies are lost in the Everfree Forest, probably scared or hurt or… d… d-dead.”

The murmurs stop completely at this.

“... That’s quite a theory there, Barbara.” speaks Mayor Mustang after a moment, forcing all eyes to shift to him. “And a little outlandish, if I may comment.”

My heart sinks.

“But!” I start to protest.

“I believe that you are completely correct in your assumptions.”

… Huh?

The murmurs resume and increase in volume as the Mayor directs his attention to all those gathered.

“Eye witness reports have stated that the six, unaccounted for ponies we've been trying to locate were last seen heading towards Golden Oaks Library, shortly after the celebrations were forcefully concluded. Testimonials from their friends, coworkers, and families confirm that none of them returned to their dwellings at any point in the following days. We've not been able to gather any information about what happened beyond this… until now.

“I believe this may be the lead we need, everypony," Mustang declares boldly, raising his voice. "The words of the Prince's Squire should be enough for me to push the cabinet into action ... Thank you very much for your assistance in this matter, Barbara The Dragoness.”

Caught completely by surprise, I end up falling onto my back as the room soon explodes into a thunderous pony applause full of hooting, hollering, and stomping.

It… worked?

It worked?

...

... H… h-holy crap it worked!

“We will be hosting an emergency town meeting in two hours, everypony!” orders the Mayor in his loudest scream, in order to be heard over the mighty roars of approval. “This is just enough evidence to allow me to authorize a full scale sweep of the Everfree! Spread the word! Gather up as many able body ponies as you can find, and any guards willing to lend a hoof! Nightmare Nebula will not hurt or take another pony under my watch... NO PONY LEFT BEHIND!!”

“NO PONY LEFT BEHIND!!” parrots those still gathered, their cry equally as robust. “NOT IN PONYVILLE!!”

“NEVER IN PONYVILLE!!” finishes the Mayor as he slashes his foreleg down and grants everypony permission to leave.

The timely grab of my tail by Red Gala's teeth saves me from the sudden stampede of departing ponies, as they enthusiastically gallop up and out of this confined room into the chilly Ponyville night. I’m left dumbfounded by the sight, It’s only as the fact that I’m getting actual, real help slowly sinks in do I finally find the strength in me to do something I had not done at all in the last few days.

I smile happily.

“Red Gala?” I beam joyfully to the pony whose large hairy legs are preventing me from being crushed.

“Eeyup?” she asks me in our hold, eyebrow fully raised.

“Ponyville is awesome.”

“... Hehe.” she couldn’t agree more. “Eeyup.”

_______________________________

Two hours for Ponyville pass about as quickly as four days did for me... as in not quick at all. In this lllllooooonnnnggg (For me at least. Remember; technical seven year old here) span of time, a crowd even larger than the one from the Summer Sun Celebration now stands firm in front of Town Hall. Ponies from all walks of life are present here during this frigid night. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, townies, visitors, guardmares, and even the few guardsman have gathered in frozen unity in order to lend a helping hoof where they can. There are many faces I recognize from the library party, but many more are unknowns. Red Gala is among the many, as are her kin. From my place on center stage, right next to Mayor Mustang, I can see children lining up next to a stallion with a mixed pink mane. I doubt the foals are here for anything more than motivational support. From my vantage point I can spot Sweepy Belle on one end of the line, Scooteroll on the other, and Apple Buck is actually in the center of the crowd with the rest of his family. So close yet so far; you’ll meet soon, boys. I promise.

The whispers and excited energy of the herd grows quiet as the Mayor takes a step away from me, as well as the members of his cabinet, to approach the podium in the center of the stage. He waits until all is nice and still before beginning.

“... Fillies and Gentlecolts,” he starts, not unlike how he had kicked off the original gathering all those days ago. His icy breath bellows in the night's air; illuminated fully in many lantern's bright glow. “We are gathered here this night to take stock in what we have.

“We have our foals back safe and sound after several grueling days without their presence.

“We have enough emergency food rations for years, thanks to several of our town’s families having mastered the art of canning for situations as impossible as this.

“We have enough lights in this town to make Manehattan blush!"

This grants the Mayor a few chuckles from the crowd. He allows himself a small grin before turning serious again. “And we have the most important survival tool of all; we have each other. We have the light of Friendship.

“... We don’t want to dwell on what we don’t have; we shouldn’t dwell on what the monster in black armor has taken from us... But, unfortunately, we must address this fact now and we must address it with one heart and one mind. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Elusive, Butterscotch, Bubble Berry, and the Prince’s visiting pupil Dusk Shine have been missing since Nightterror Nebula’s arrival. We have not heard hide nor hair from any of them in the last four days. Five of our own, and the sixth who was brought into their fold…”

The Mayor then steps beside the podium and waves a hoof towards my direction.

“Thanks to the aid of Dusk’s assistant, we now have an idea as to where these six missing ponies have disappeared too.”

I look away as I blush. This is t-too much attention for my liking...

The whispers pick up yet again as this information is made known to all the gathered ponies. With a raised hoof, Mustang silences the crowd once again before he continues.

“... I, speaking as your Mayor, believe that they have entered the Everfree Forest.”

There are a number of gasps.

“I believe that they entered of their own free will, hoping to seek out the lost castle within.”

The gasps morph into confused questions.

“According to an overlooked book from our own library,” the Mayor explains, holding the book aloft. “Within this forgotten sanctum lies a weapon capable of ending The Nightterror’s reign.”

The gossiping turns excited.

“I believe these ponies went into the forest to seek this weapon...

“... And I believe that this was a foolishly youthful mistake.”

The murmurs cease all together. With hard eyes, filled with age and experience, the Mayor sweeps his oppressive gaze over the entirety of Ponyville disapprovingly.

“We… are gathered here to save our little ponies,” he declares loudly, further silencing the crowd. “We are not gathered here to run a fool’s errand. If not for the rumors already circulating, I would never have made this information known!”

I cringe at this, but ultimately I say nothing. It’s… for the best. The show has clearly failed to start properly. W-we’ll just have to find another way. Focus on the now; the future can wait.

“We will be organizing groups to enter the forest, in a coordinated fashion, to insure that we cover the most ground!” the Mayor explains, dropping the book and starting to point his now free hoof at those who have already volunteered to lead groups. “Each party will have one of each tribe present, as well as a trained guard who volunteered to step away from their duties to assist us. We will be rotating groups every two hours and relying on a buddy system to insure that we don’t accidentally add to our missing pony list.

“With that said, I must repeat the most important part of this excursion; I will not be tolerating heroes. Any pony present thinking of sneaking off to search for a means to fight The Nightterror will hear from me personally about how they are no longer welcomed in our community.”

The buzzing of the gathering becomes toxic as the unified opinion of how this is being handled turns sour. But Mustang wasn’t voted their leader for nothing, it seems, as his judging leer alone is enough to snuff the angry mob out before it can fully form.

“... I understand how you all feel,” he admits in a saddened tone. “Truly I do. Our sun has been taken away from us and I’m telling you not to fight back?

“Well… yes! That’s exactly what I’m asking from you. I ask this not as your Mayor, your duly elected representative, your leader, or any other title you’ve deemed fit to give me. No… I am asking this of you under only one title, and under one solitary banner. It’s the same banner we have waved since the founding of this town. It is the same banner we have proudly hoisted up since the founding of this nation.

“It is the banner of friendship, fillies and gentlecolts. I am asking this of you as your friend. Please, don’t do anything to hurt yourself this night. Please, don’t do anything to hurt this great community with your absence.

"Please have faith that we will make it through this night, and see the sunrise again! Have faith in Harmony that goodness and love will prevail, and that evil will falter! Have faith that what is just will be done! Have faith that we will bring justice down upon The Nightterror, and take heart that such plans are slowly being put into place with the help of our neighboring towns...

“... But the time is not yet right, and these plans are not ready yet this night. Tonight we are here to save our missing youth. We are here to save them for their friends and family, and nothing more."

The earth pony then tips his head low, bowing towards his concerned citizens.

“... Thank you, everypony, and may the Sun and the Moon bless us all.”

With that, and with a clip and a clop, Mayor Mustang steps away from the podium one last time and exits the stage altogether. He heads towards where the leader volunteers are currently stationed and ready to receive any additional help for the cause. It takes a moment for the stallion’s speech to really truly sink in, but soon large amounts of ponies gather together and form groups. Not everypony gathers, unfortunately; a small collection are now leaving in a huff. Perhaps they were here for the rumors about the Elements, and a way to fight Nebula? I understand their frustration, but as the failure of this world's mane six has proven; Nightterror Nebula isn't somepony to take lightly. A union greater then six ponies must be necessary... but I'll leave that part to the Mayor for now and take his advice in the mean time; let's focus on saving these boys. Thankfully, there's still a large number of ponies remaining willing to help with just that. For those still here, preparations to depart are now underway; saddles are being stuffed with supplies and makeshift weapons are being distributed into every hoof, wing, chompers, and magic aura willing to accept them.

Stealthily I leave the stage while everypony is preoccupied, using my minuscule stature to sink into the crowd and move through it without anypony being the wiser. Sneaking through, I navigate my way towards the Apple Family’s group and try to locate Red Gala. Let’s see… where are yo-

“BUT AH WANNA GO!!”

A high pitched scream jerks my head to the left and aids me in finding my big red friend. In front of her is a clearly upset Apple Buck, crying his little head off.

“Big bros in there!” he explains through his whimpers, as if it would magically allow him to go. “W-we can’t lose him, Red!”

“Eeyup,” Gala states crossly, glaring angrily at the younger pony.

“Ah have to save him!”

“Nnooooooppppeee!” the usually stoic pony shouts forcefully, causing her younger sibling to flinch back.

“B-b-but,” Apple Buck tries to justify himself one more time, only for his words to get caught in his throat. As a result, he sniffs out weakly, “Ah can’t lose you too...”

Softening her expression, Red Gala leans closer to the smaller pony and kisses him gently on the forehead.

“Nnope,” she smiles weakly to her brother, trying her best to reassure him. “And you never will.”

“Come along, dear,” adds in a rickety old voice. Apple Buck turns around and spots an elderly green stallion shuffling slowly up to the group. “Leave your sister to her work.”

“But-”

“Butters Buckington Apple!” Grandpa Smith warns gruffly, pointing an aged hoof at his face. “No butts from you, mister! Don’t make me double your chores for tomorrow!”

The threat seems to have merit, as Apple Buck recoils at the mere suggestion like he was just slapped. With ears wilting, the small sad pony gloomily follows his elder away from the gathering. He spares his sister one last glance before he departs. “Please come back, Big Sis.”

Before she could even reply, the crowd shifts and churns abruptly. This results in the early separation of the two siblings completely. Red Gala exhales depressingly to herself upon discovering that she's now well and truly alone.

I decide that this is probably the best time for me to enter the scene.

“Hey,” I wave, making myself known.

“... Howdy,” she replies, though it’s clear that her heart isn’t in it.

“Heading into the forest I see,” I comment, trying to change the subject.

“Eeyup,” she nods, still staring at the spot where Apple Buck had disappeared from.

“... You know that this line is for the first group to go in, right?”

“Eeyup.”

“It’s going to be dangerous.”

“Eeyup.”

“Lots of deadly creatures in there.”

“Eeyup.”

“Lots of deadly flora.”

“Eeyup.”

“The Nightterror might even show up.”

“Eeyup.”

“You might get hurt…”

“Eeyup.”

“Which is why I’m going with you.”

“Eey-” she starts to say, but a quick double-take kills the words right out of her mouth. She simply stares at me after that.

I stare right back.

“... Nnope,” Red Gala finally responds, shaking her head.

Well too bad, Red. I already made my decision long ago. Reaching out with my claws, I grip hard onto Gala’s long orange mane as it waves back and forth, and then I use that momentum to fling myself onto her back. I next wrap my arms and legs around her yoke and hold on for dear life.

“B-barb,” the farm pony grunts as she tries to shake me off. “Nnope nnope nnope!!”

“Red,” I try to squeak out as I’m given an experience not unlike a bull ride.

“Nnope!”

“Just l-listen.”

“Nnope!”

“Please.”

“Nnope!”

“Listen to me!”

“NNOP-”

FWOOSH!!

A burst of my emerald dragon fire, streaking across her vision, at long last grants me the results I’m looking for. It finally shuts up the most aggressively untalkative pony I’ve ever met.

“Now listen and listen good,” I roar, not playing nice anymore. Hot green smoke leaks past my lips as I tell her whats what. “I am going into that forest tonight, understand? I am a walking, talking, flamethrower for Solaris sake! You need me, Red.”

Clearly upset, Red Gala tries argue further but I cut her off yet again.

“You need me so that I can help you bring your family home!” I point out, going for the metaphorical jugular. “You’re going to let me come and watch your back, so that you don’t disappoint Apple Buck by not coming back at all!”

Red Gala’s struggles against me ends with this line.

“I know you well enough by now, Red,” I growl, yanking one of her ears so as to turn her head. “I can see it in your eyes; you don’t give a flying feather about the Mayor’s restrictions! You’re probably going to stay in that forest as long as you can, until you find your little brother.”

My friend is unable to deny these claims, so instead she remains silent.

“... Which is why you’re going to let me come with you,” I finish as I let go of her ear. “Because I want to save my friends and family just as badly as you. And, yes; by friends I mean you too, hay for brains. Capisce?”

Though my overall grip starts slacking, I do not find myself being suddenly thrust off my unwilling steed’s back. She contemplates my words with her head down, mulling them over and clearly struggling…

... until with one last sigh she relents.

“Fine,” is her answer. “But you’re not to leave my back, ya hear?!”

“Understood,” I confirm with a nod of my head.

“GROUP ONE WILL BE DEPARTING SOON!” comes a beige colored pony's voice from the front of our pack. “FINISH UP YOUR PREPARATIONS AND BEGIN TO LINE UP! GRAB YOUR PARTNERS, EVERYPONY!”

Us two ladies turn our heads to face one another upon hearing this. With a unified nod, we confirm that we’re both ready as can be. Red Gala shuffles off, with me displayed proudly on her back, towards where we’re supposed to gather. A few ponies give us odd looks as we pass, most likely due to my presence, but nopony tries to stop us or tell me that I couldn’t go so I ignore them all. My eyes are set on the road ahead, the one that leads to the Everfree’s entrance, and nothing more.

“GROUP ONE DEPARTS IN THREE MINUTES!!” orders the lead earth pony for our gathering one last time, turning to face forward. He brings a whistle to his lips.

“Let’s get my brother back, little buddy,” proclaims my usually quiet friend. Her words are meant to convey a sense of importance, a sense of urgency… but I know they are meant just as much as a source of encouragement for herself as they did for me.

I offer a small grunt of acknowledgment, and an equally tiny declaration of “Yeah,” in response. My words are filled with the same sense of finality as Red Gala’s own.

The two of us are of one mind in this instance.

“And let’s get my Dusk back, Red,” I command, the fire evident in my eyes and in my voice.

Hell or high water, we're both going to get our families back this night.

With a snort of amusement over the situation she finds herself in, and probably over how serious my tone sounds despite my young voice; Red Gala rears up and shouts towards the heavens, for all the ponies gathered, a resounding war-cry of

“EEYUP!!”

With that, alongside other brave townsfolk and a loud shrill whistle blow, the two of us charge towards the Everfree Forest, heedless of our own safety. The sun rises in the east as we do, blessing our noble quest with its glow. Our stampede can be heard throughout the entire town, vibrating windows and kicking up dirt in our wake. We are like a unified army, galloping into the light. As we pass the marketpla-

...

… Wait

Rewind that.

What… what did I just say a second ago??

Our frontal momentum stops all together as other ponies start to notice this oddity as well. We all turn our heads skywards in unison…

… towards the rising sun.

My jaw hits the floor alongside countless others. Many of us rub our eyes, many others smack or ask for their partners to pinch them... but it's true. It's all true.

Dawn has risen, and the morning is approaching.

... All eyes next turn towards the Mayor.

His poker face is almost as good as Gala’s.

“... Raindasher!” he calls out a moment later to the nearest pegasus pony he can spot. “Give me a status report of the forest!”

“R-right,” cries out the light blue stallion with the white mane in response. With a flap of his wings the pony disappears from sight as he flies over the many buildings of Ponyville. A few minutes pass before he returns in an excited frenzy.

“I can see a magic beacon being cast out from the forest!” he happily reports, raising the spirits of everyone present. “It's in the shape of the Prince's cutie mark!”

The eyes of the guard ponies left in the crowd grow into the size of saucers at this. Before anything more can be said, each one mobilizes into action by galloping back to their stations for further instructions. For the pegasus guards, this means taking to the air and heading towards this beacon as fast as they could alongside deploying Wonderbolts. The stragglers can be seen carrying a number of empty golden chariots with them, just in case.

As more and more soldiers forcefully push their way through the crowds, and as the sun's rays wash us clean from on high, whispers can't help but be spread as theory after theory is thrown out…

… but this only lasts for the span of a moment; long enough for Raindasher's next report.

It is short, but oh so sweet.

"I can see eight ponies!" he shares in glee, letting us all know the fruits of the guard's extraction efforts. "They all look fine!"

And with that the crowd's whispers are swiftly replaced with bombastic cheers instead. Nopony wonders about this eighth pony, because nopony cares.

All we care about is the other seven.

“Well… Change of plans, everypony,” enthusiastically calls out the Mayor, the relief clear in his being. His grin shines brighter then the sun itself. “Let’s get this town ready for the return of Prince Solaris and our friends!!”

“YYYYEEEEAAAAHHH!!!” roars a slender, white coated pegasus mare at the top of her lungs. Many more voices join her shortly thereafter... with Red Gala’s and my own being the loudest of all.

... Pretty sure nopony noticed us also bawling our eyes out and hugging each other too…

… or at least I hope nopony did.

Faster than what I could ever hope to process, streamers and confetti fill my vision as the entire town transforms itself into the same beacon of joy and laughter I had originally found it to be. Music blares as ponies bask in the returned sun’s light, and as children run through the streets unaccompanied for the first time in days. I am soon among their numbers as I depart from Red Gala's side and dash between pony legs aplenty. I push myself hastily through the crowds, to the center of where they’re gathering, in the hopes of catching the sight of the descending golden chariots. My heart leaps out of my chest as I hear a familiar peppy voice cry out cheerfully, “A party!” and the result is the instinctual doubling of my efforts. I trip and fall on several occasions, but I get back up each time with renewed haste. Finally, after a wait that was realistically only a couple of minutes but felt to me like an eternity, I aggressively breach the forest of legs, rubber band my head all around…

… and triumphantly lock green eyes with purple.

My tears burn hot as I dash forward and wrap my arms around the owner's body the best I can.

With tears of his own, a tired Dusk Shine returns the embrace just as lovingly.

~In another time; in another place~

“Let’s get my sister back, little buddy,” proclaimed the usually quiet stallion. His words were meant to convey a sense of importance, a sense of urgency… but they were meant just as much as a source of encouragement for himself as they did for his rider.

The being who sat upon his back offered a small grunt of acknowledgment, and an equally tiny declaration of “Yeah,” in response. Though not even a third of the size of his steed, the drake’s words were filled with the same sense of finality as Big Macintosh's own.

The two were of one mind in this instance.

“And let’s get my Twilight back, Mac,” commanded Spike, the fire evident in his eyes and in his voice.

Hell or high water, they were both getting their families back this night.

With a snort of amusement over the situation he had found himself in, and for the young boy’s serious tone; Big Mac rears up and shouts towards the heavens, for all the ponies gathered, a resounding war-cry of

“EEYUP!!”

With that, alongside other brave townsfolk and a loud shrill whistle blow, both the dragon and the stallion charged towards the Everfree Forest, heedless of their own safety.

… And then the sun rose high into the morning sky.

Entry 2, End (... that you're all...)

My apologies for this slight interruption in my retelling, but a thought now occurs to me. Since I was unable to do this previously, due to the circumstances surrounding Entry One’s original creation, please allow me to start this chapter properly.

It’s just not a diary without these classic two words.

~Dear Diary~

Boy that’s satisfying to write.

This will technically be Entry Two in the grand scheme of things, though it will be written first canonically. Entry One will be written second and inserted into this book in it’s correct order afterwards because ~~it was stupidly written in another dimension and needs to be rewritten as a result~~ it’s complicated. While I’m moving things around, I believe I'm going to take the time and rewrite the chapters I wrote in Equestrian previously too. I’ll translate them into English, and then reattach them to the book in their proper order; that way The Poisoned Barb will be one solid language through and through. I feel that the more consistent I am in this, the easier this book/diary will be to read for those who take the time to translate it. It will also give snoopers and others unable to read this, like Dusk, less chances to figure out that I’m the author. My claw writing is very easy to spot when I’m recording things in Equestrian, you see, but not so much in English. Every layer of deceit helps, I feel.

But I also feel that you, dear reader, are not interested in the logistics that goes into producing this book. With this little intermission now concluded, allow me to continue where we left off. The sun had just risen, and the boys had returned victoriously. It was a joyous occasion for sure. Despite the excitement in the air, and the overwhelming sense of relief flooding every inch of my body, I treated my reunion with Dusk Shine like the mature adult I occasionally remember I am.

I assure you that I was the spitting image of a respectable lady of class.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“DON’T DO THAT AGAAAAAIIIIINNN!!” I blubber loudly over the party music as I use Dusk’s chest as a giant tissue. “I-I-I was so s-s-scared that you were, w-were, D-d-d-deeeaaaddd!!”

Dusk winces at my waterworks, and at the mucus hanging from my nose, but he impresses me greatly by not backing away and instead hugging me tighter. “It’s okay Barb,” he coos gently to me, patting the back of my head reassuringly. “Really. I’m fine. We’re all fine.”

He then uses his hoof to gently direct my eyes towards his (I’m so happy I can now properly call them this) friends.

“Right, guys?” Dusk asks the boys, his smile large and cheerful.

“Right,” Butterscotch softly nods his head, as numerous critters run up and down his large frame. A small white rabbit can be seen crying into his beard.

“D-darn tootin’,” Applejack tries to comment, though he’s finding it hard to do so while Red Gala is sobbing loudly in a one sided embrace.

“Indubitably,” Elusive answers proudly unabated, save for Sweepy Belle quietly leaning against his hindquarters in a touching display.

“You know it!” Rainbow Dash hoots as he performs several victory loop dee loops in midair. I spot Scooteroll gazing intently from the shadows, mouth agape. His eyes are full of stars.

Bubble Berry bounces up and down in place, beaming the largest grin ever for all to see.

“I almost died of blood loss!” he reports happily, with the same enthusiasm one would use to say they had won the lottery. “Twice!”

Rainbow Dash slaps him upside the head for this, glaring angrily.

“I-I mean yup yup yup!” BB quickly corrects, excitement never waning. “We're all okily dokily!”

Dash nods his head in approval.

I stare open mouthed at first…

… only to swiftly come to the realization that it doesn't matter. They’re all here. They’re all okay!

That’s good enough for little, old, unfaithful me.

Dusk is forced to resort to his magic in order to pry myself off of him, as my grip was too great for just his hooves. He removes me just in time for the two of us to spot a second royal chariot now descending from the sky. Upon it is the sight of a familiar alicorn… and a not so familiar one too.

Next to Prince Solaris stands a much smaller pony than the one who had scared the crap out of me days ago. Nightterror Nebula’s true form, that of Solaris’ little brother Prince Artemis, lacks most of the features I’ve come to expect from alicorns. Though he bears both horn and wings, his solid blue mane lacks the same energy his brother’s autumn red one exudes constantly. His stature is also not unlike a common pony’s, and in fact I’d say that he’s about the same size as Elusive. To top everything off, he doesn’t even have a beard! His light blue chin is as bare as Dusk’s, and overall it makes him look much younger than he actually is. His body language also reminds me of a shy child’s; one who was just caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. He sticks close to his brother as the two depart the chariot and approach the gathering. As everypony, including Dusk, his friends, and I dip our heads low to bow towards our royalty, Prince Artemis blushes in embarrassment and quietly tries to disappear behind Solaris’ outstretched wings.

Normally I would say this is cute, but I’m still just a teeny tiny bit peeved that I almost died of hunger and or dehydration from sleeping for three days, so it’s overall effect is diminished on me.

… Or maybe I would have been okay, since dragons can apparently sleep for hundreds of years…

… Either way, I think I’m within my right to be angry at him.

Despite this ire, I still find myself a little happy when I watch a pair of pegasus colts fly by him and place a wreath of flowers around his head in a show of forgiveness. I think most of the ponies here can tell that this ‘mysterious’ new alicorn is the same one that tormented us not too long ago, but as this world’s history has taught me time and time again; ponies are a quickly forgiving bunch. You can call it naive if you want, because I can't say that it isn't.

But I'll, meanwhile, will call it admirable instead… at least a little bit.

This peace offering perks up the saddened stallion’s mood quite a bit, but Solaris and I soon spot another pony’s mood dropping for a completely unrelated reason. Turning away from his returned kin, though still keeping him very close, Prince Solaris addresses this pony with a tone full of an equal amount of concern and warmth.

“Why so glum, my faithful student?” he asks Dusk, who raises his head to meet his mentor’s gaze. Solaris turns his head as well, so that his left eye is now facing him and so that his disarming smile can be more prominent. “Are you not overjoyed that your quest is complete, and that you can return to your studies in Canterlot?”

This fails to raise Dusk’s spirits, as he quickly looks away in shame.

“That’s just it,” he explains for the prince, his words laced with a deep inner sadness. “Just when I discovered how wonderful it is to have friends, I-I have to say goodbye to them...”

And damn it all; upon hearing those beautiful words I can’t help myself any longer.

My eyes begin to mist over.

Even as my vision blurs, and even as my heart does cartwheels of jubilation in my chest; nothing on this planet is going to prevent me from missing my next cue. Five lovely words; I’ve been waiting many long and painful years, just for the chance to hear five heavenly words. Despite everything that has happened; despite my failures and mistakes and all of my many missteps, all I need to do now is glance at Solaris in order to tell whether or not we’re on the same wavelength.

With a grin aimed towards me, I can totally tell that we are.

“Barbara,” Prince Solaris declares loudly, granting me the opportunity to smile brightly now too. “Take a note, please.”

With pleasure, my ‘liege’. Hehe.

From my purse I procure a ready quill, and a blank piece of parchment. With a nod of my head, I confirm that I am as ready as I’ll ever be to record these next set of orders.

“I,” he begins, being as formal as ever in order to make this as showy as possible. Theatrics aside, my quill dances across the page all the same. “Prince Solaris, hereby decree that the unicorn, Dusk Shine, shall take on a new mission for Equestria.

“He must continue to study the Magic of Friendship.

“He must report to me his findings from his new home… in Ponyville.”

And there is much celebration. Surrounded on all sides by friends, both old and new, Dusk can't help but cry. “T-thank you, Prince Solaris!” he vibrates in elation, fighting the tears now in his eyes. “I’ll study harder than ever before!”

And I don’t doubt that one bit.

As the group bunches up together, burying Dusk in what I'm betting is the manliest pony pile that has ever existed, I roll up my scroll and turn my sight towards Solaris... only to blink in surprise when I see that he’s actually gone. Walking about in a circle, snapping my eyes all around, I quickly spot him and his brother trying to leave towards their chariot. Taking one last look back towards Dusk I confirm that he’s still busy, so I use this opportunity to begin sneaking my way over to the two Princes' side.

By the time I reach them, Artemis is already seating himself down on the cart’s interior. Before Solaris can join in, I call out to him. “Sir?”

Blinking, it takes a moment for the ruler of the sun to notice that I'm trying to speak with him. He swivels his head back and forth for a bit as a result, before thinking to look down. “... Barbara?” Solaris ponders aloud upon spotting me with one of his eyes. "Wha-"

“Prince Solaris!” rudely interrupts Mayor Mustang, who emerges from the crowd of celebrating ponies next to us in a rush. His louder voice captures Solaris' attention quickly, and drags it away from me with ease. “Your majesty! Please wait! I need answers for my citizens concerning what just happened!”

"..."

From my spot, I watch as the Prince’s focus rapidly shifts from me, to the Mayor…

… until lastly settling on a single chest lying in wait on the back of his royal chariot. Tilting my head to the side, I can see that the lid of this mentioned chest is slightly ajar. Now slightly curious over its importance, I lean forward to try to catch a quick peak. From where I stand I can just barely make out... what looks like a collection of colorful gemstones! Those must be the Elements of Harmony!

… But it doesn’t look like they’re attached to golden necklaces and a tiara, as was the case in the show. I can still see the yellowish metal, but it's clearly now been warped into a much different design. It almost looks like…

A guardmare places a hoof on the lid and closes the crate fully, preventing me and others from seeing anything more. Well… darn. Better luck next time, I guess. Solaris breathes a sigh of relief upon seeing this, before returning his focus towards the Mayor.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mayor Mustang,” he apologizes, bowing his head down lowly. “But I do not have much time to dwell here. I must return to Canterlot and inform everypony of what has transpired here, post haste.”

“But!” The Mayor tries to argue, pushing himself up closer to the Prince. "I can't just tell everypony nothing!"

This action... actually makes Solaris seem uncomfortable, strangely enough. His ears even wilt briefly as he takes a step back from the much smaller stallion vying for his aid.

“I-I will be sure to send you a letter as soon as I can, detailing everything there is to know,” Solaris surprisingly stutters as he tries to reassure the earth pony. To my further shock, he proceeds to gesture a hoof in my general direction. With eyes still locked with the Mayor, he explains, “Once the letter is complete, I will have it sent via our dear friend Barbara here. With the use of magical seals, she is able to send and receive messages almost instantaneously!” Hey! Don't advertise that without my permission, jerk!

Now having been made the target of the Mayor's scrutiny, a mischievous look enters the pony's eyes as he slowly turns to acknowledge me.

“Reeeeeaaaally?” Mustang inquires evilly, rubbing his chin as he wickedly grins. Maybe it's just my imagination, but it looks like shadows are now engulfing his face and sucking all of his features away; only his single monocle is now visible for me. “Think of how... helpful that would be in my line of work…”

~Gulp~

Thankfully, Solaris saves me just in the nick of time (from his own mess, I might add) by quickly scooping me up onto his back with the use of his wings.

“I-I’m afraid it is limited to just her family and myself though, my good sir!” he explains, discouraging any tomfoolery that was about to transpire. He nervously laughs. “Perhaps she can make an exception for you if you ask her nicely? What says you, Barbara?”

Ignoring the Prince for a moment; from my new perch atop his back I contemplate the pony's suggestion by scratching my own chin. I really don’t want to be turned into a mail-dragon full time, obviously, and as they say; if you give an inch…

... But if he can provide the hard-to-craft and expensive magic seals himself…

“... I can do it a few times for you if you’d like, Mister Mayor,” I explain. I guess I do owe him quite a bit for the attempted rescue. I grant the old stallion a small smile on top of this. “It’s the least I can do for you for listening to me earlier, and for trying to save my friends.”

Though he’s clearly disappointed at not having been granted around-the-clock access to Equestria's version of emails, the Mayor still gives me a large grin all the same for my generous offer.

“Think nothing of it, dear,” he replies, waving a hoof dismissively. “It's what Ponyville does for it's own, which I'm now happy to say includes both you and Dusk Shine! I do hope we can feel like home for you two soon... Reach out to me for anything. I insist.” The kind old stallion then turns to bow lowly to the Prince, offers a few thanks for his time, and then disappears into the crowd.

This leaves me with the two Princes; both the talkative and the not so talkative one.

“... I’ll be right back, Artemis,” Solaris whispers kindly to his brother. “I have one last task to complete before we can depart.”

At this, Prince Artemis wobbles slightly in his seat; his fearful eyes wandering to the massive amounts of ponies partying all around him. After a moment of false starts and jitters, he shrinks even further into his chair and finally mutters out the first words I’ve heard from him since his arrival.

“If thou sayest so… We beseech thee, though; please return w-with great speed, dear elder brother.”

... Woooowww.

Now that's a one hundred and eighty degree personality flip if I've ever seen one!

What the hay happened to that Warlord persona from earlier? He sounds like Gleaming Shield when she's trying to role-play in Ogres & Oubliettes (Equestrian D&D. She plays a paladin, naturally... I play a wizard)! N-not that I'm complaining at all, mind you, but still... What the hay was Nightterror Nebula in the first place? A possession? A split personality? I better ask either Dusk or Solaris about this later; they should be able to explain this to me. I'm honestly curious.

With a sad sigh, Solaris uses a wing to gently hug his scared sibling. They hold their position for a short time before the elder brother separates from the embrace and starts trotting off into a nearby field…

… with me still planted firmly on his back.

My first thoughts are that he's forgotten I'm still here with him, but this is swiftly proven false as he next lowers himself to the ground, in order to allow me to easily depart. Now alone with him, far far away from the rest of the town, I stare up at Prince Solaris as he rises back to his full height before me. That's strange; he usually uses his magic for such minor things as moving me around... Weird.

“Phew,” the Prince breathes loudly, now turning to properly address me. “W-well, little one, I think it’s safe to say that this has been the most interesting Summer Sun Celebration I've ever experienced! Wouldn’t you agree? Haha...”

I continue to stare.

“... Thankfully my little ponies were just fine on their own, it seems!” He goes on, ignoring my silence. “T-true the sun’s absence most likely caused a few hiccups, but I’ll be sure to address them all it short order! Haha…”

Still I stare.

He's acting... odd.

… Well odder than usual, at least. He’s a manipulator by nature, I know from experience, and a natural jokester. But… it feels like he's being a lot more forceful than usual with his words, and he’s sweating...

“Is… Is everything okay, Sir?” I ask him honestly, now worried.

Unflinching, and with another laugh, Solaris brushes my concerns aside with a waving of his foreleg. “Oh Artemis will be fine, Barbara.” He explains without a care, turning to keep an eye on the mentioned pony in the distance. “He just slips into the Royal We when he’s nervous. I’ll be perfectly frank; it’ll take a long time for him to heal completely… but at least now he has the opportunity to heal at all! Haha!”

Again he laughs in a joyful manner.

I’m not buying it for a second.

“No, my Prince,” I repeat, causing the stallion to halt his chortling. “I meant... are you okay? You're acting strange...”

“...”

… Solaris refuses to look at me, and instead continues to stare at the distant chariot.

“... Didn’t you have a question you wanted to ask me, Barbara?” he inquires, tilting his head to his left slightly and towards me. I’m still only seeing the back of his head. “Before the Mayor arrived? Y-you should ask that now before I must depar-”

“I was just going to ask for a ride so I can pick up mine and Dusk's things from Canterlot,” I cut him off to explain. I then take a single step forward. “But Solaris, please; why aren't you talking to me? Aren’t we... friends?”

This causes him to wince.

I wince as well. Maybe I’m overstepping my bounds here. “I-I’m sorry.” I speedily apologize. “I’ll just take the train inste-”

“I’m worried.”

Solaris’ words silence my own.

After a momentary pause, he finally turns to face me. A frown now adorns his muzzle.

“I’m worried,” he parrots himself. “And… s-scared, Barbara.

"I’m scared for the future.”

A shiver runs up my spine.

“W… w-what?” I ask him, completely startled. “But… you’re a Seer!” I try to point out, hoping that this is just another one of his sick jokes. “The future is the last thing you should be worried about! Ever!”

“... True... Yet… I am,” the Prince admits, looking down in shame. “This night, Barba-, no… Barb. Barb my friend... This night, Barb, was too close. The two of us, you and I… we both foresaw this night coming in our Visions.

“Together we both knew the major players involved.

“Together we both knew the overall outcome of their adventure…

“... But we both almost lost so much regardless!”

I’m taken aback by the shout, and by the anguish in his voice. W-what is he talking about? Dusk won in the end... right? He completed the prophecy! Everything went down almost exactly like the show! He's Equestria's hero now! I-I don’t have anything to fear…

… Right?

“Y-you still shouldn’t be scared, Solaris,” I pathetically try to convince him, as well as myself. My words ring hollow, as I lack confidence in them, but darn it all I'm not at least trying. “Dusk and his friends found those Element things, right? We’ve got nothing to worry about!”

I try to laugh for the Prince, in order to get him to join in.

But it fails, and he remains quiet.

“... I… wish I could believe that, little one,” he speaks bitterly after a time, my attempts having failed. “But there was so much about this event that my Vision failed to warn me about… It was the same for you as well, correct?” He asks me, now setting me on guard. “I feel that I am not being too bold to assume as much...”

My knee-jerk reaction is to look away, and to clam up. It doesn't take me long to realize how foolish I'm being, however, so I just as quickly turn right back around. “No... Your assumption is correct,” I answer truthfully; no point in lying about it now. “I-I saw the future Element bearers heading through the forest without issue... I did not see The Nightterror zapping the foals and I into the Dream Realm, and I also didn't see the journey taking four days in total.”

“So our visions are failing us,” Solaris concludes from my admittance, grumbling angrily to himself. “Perhaps a dark force is to blame, or the machinations of a wayward spell... I worry for what this could mean for what's to come.”

A feeling of anxiety starts to creep up within me. I’m now worried too. Very worried. If my show knowledge isn’t going to be one hundred percent accurate anymore, and if even Solaris’ future sight can’t predict everything... how are we going to proceed? What should I be doing? How will we know we’ll be safe?

How will I know that Dusk will be safe??

…

... Suddenly, the answer becomes crystal clear in my mind.

It's not perfect... but it's the best we can do.

“We just have to have faith, Sir.”

Solaris’ inner reflection halts due to my words, and soon he returns his gaze towards me.

“We just have to have faith," I repeat, solidifying the idea into my soul. "I-I didn’t have faith in Dusk today,” I reveal, the guilt evident in my voice. “I was so wrapped up in my fears, and so wrapped up in what I thought I knew... that I forgot what I already did. Regardless of what we ‘saw’, Solaris, and regardless of what actions we deemed were for the best; tonight was really not our story to tell. It was Dusk’s, and we should have known from the get go that he was up to the task.

"All we needed… was a little faith.”

“...”

“... Heh,” Solaris laughs quietly, his mood visibly improving. He then grants me a tiny, honest smile. “You never fail to impress me, Barbara The Dragoness. I dare say you and Dusk were cut from the same, wondrous cloth.”

My own smile grows a tiny bit thanks to this. I politely bow my head slightly in appreciation. “Thank you, Solaris.”

He waves a hoof at my display. “Now there’s no need for that, dear. I should be thanking you! I greatly appreciate that you are now more willing to speak to me as an equal these days. Though I clearly do not deserve such kindness, I still highly enjoy our talks…” His smile unfortunately turns back into a frown before my eyes. For the second time, he turns away in shame. “... But I should not be this forward with matters concerning the future, especially with one as young as yourself. It should be the burden of the adult, not the child, to prepare for what's to come.”

“No worries,” I shoot right back without a thought, waving off his concerns with a claw. In an attempt to save that dying light of hope, I fire a more hopeful looking grin at Solaris and declare that, “Us Seers have to stick together, right?”

To my great surprise... my small attempt at levity actually works. The Prince loudly laughs in response; not in great guffaws, but at least in tiny snickers.

“Hehe... I thank you again, Barb" the Prince answers, now appearing more like his usual cheerful self. "Thank you for lending me your ear today.”

“Anytime,” I reply to the alicorn. Though under the surface he’s still clearly worried, and obviously I am too to a similar degree... I think this is as fine of a place as any to leave this subject for now. Things aren't all doom and gloom, after all. There's still plenty to be happy about right now; like Dusk's new friendships and Solaris'...

Suddenly, a thought occurs.

“... But you don’t have to confide just in me anymore, Solaris," I helpfully start to point out, smiling brighter. "Remember… you have Prince Artemis by your side again now too! I bet he’s eager to reconnect with his big brother after all these years!”

For the second time, I receive a response I was not expecting. I was thinking that Solaris was going to respond to this in good mirth, and that such a response would in turn ease my own worries as well. Instead…

“That… may still take quite awhile, little one.”

Instead I think I only made him even more depressed.

Me and my big mouth...

“The void between us is still vast,” the ancient stallion explains for me. He then turns his head away, simply to check that Artemis was still waiting patiently for him. “And much effort will be necessary, from both of us, in order to return to what we once were…”

“But... he’s back now,” I try to point out once more, in a vain attempt to raise his spirits again. “Surely that has to count for something!”

“... Barb…” the Prince responds, turning again to address me. His words sound weak and defeated. “It saddens me greatly to admit this, but the actions from both of us this night have only resulted in the continual expansion of this mighty gap; not it's shrinkage. And... t-there are things that, once lost, can never be truly returned again...” In correlation to his words, the Prince sheds a single tear from his left eye.

I can’t help but stare at the overly dramatic display…

... And I can't help but stare even more as the ground beneath the pony is assaulted by not one, but two separate teardrops. Huh? Where the heck did that come from??

What happens next… confuses me even further.

Firstly, Solaris notices my staring and gasps as a result; becoming self-conscious of his crying. Secondly, he locates the tears still on his face and proceeds to wipe… both his eyes with a single foreleg. Lastly his right eye…

...well…

... I guess the best way for me to describe it is that the mere contact caused it to... wobble… like gelatin…

…

What the actual hell.

“Ahem,” the Prince breathes with a blush, trying to ignore my shocked reactions by speaking with himself. “I-I suppose this will not be a long term solution. Good to know.”

I’m… still incredibly confused. Sensing my confusion, Solaris nervously rubs his beard for a moment in deep contemplation. A solid minute passes before his attention returns to me.

“Barb,” he starts to say, trying to pick his words carefully. “There is… a reason why I’m thinking these thoughts and feeling this fear. I had intended to keep this a secret from my little ponies as long as I could, because it is quite personal… but I now feel that you have earned the right, as my friend, to know the truth.

“You should know why it is I’m afraid for the future.”

Unsure how to respond, I watch in silence as an intense magical aura bursts into life around the alicorn’s entire horn. This yellowish aura soon appears over the Prince’s right eye as well, and it proceeds to cause the surface of the face to ripple like it was made out of water. The pony then lowers himself to his knees in order to better show me that the area in which the eye... I guess we can describe it as ‘flows’... is beginning to shrink…

… and underneath the fading glamour I can now see the color red, standing in clear contrast to the Prince's all white coat.

It's red like a fresh scar.

It's red like dried blood.

A horrific sense of deja vu envelops my mind, and proceeds to drag me backwards to four days ago.

_______________________________

… In it’s defensive garb it gives off the appearance of a lion’s tail, one that swishes back and forth uninhibited by the plating. At its tip lies a blackened bundle of fur which completes the lion comparison, but it’s also here in my visual strip-down where my heart just about leaps out of my throat.

Attached to the tail’s tip is a one sided warblade.

On the tip of the blade drips fresh blood.

_______________________________

“No,” I can’t help myself but gasp, even as my claws cover my mouth.

Prince Solaris smiles in a sad, poignant manner, before allowing the illusion to once again settle over his new… deformity.

“It takes a lot out of me, just keeping this spell going,” he explains for me with words sounding as tired as he appears. “And, as I’ve just demonstrated, it’s unable to hide wayward tears. It’s certainly sufficient enough for a quick fix, but it leaves me hoping that nopony notices my sudden lack of advance spellcasting. Even the rescue flare from earlier was pushing my new limit a bit, h-hehe.

"... Please do keep this from Dusk, Barb. I promise I will tell him the truth in time, but I'd rather he not be distracted from his new companions right now."

I'm left completely and utterly speechless; both in voice and in thought.

“... Though I wish this conversation could have been had under different circumstances, I am content that you now know the risks of being a Seer, dear little Barb.” Solaris speaks truthfully, once again rising fully. “While the beginning and the end of the story may be crystal clear in our Sights, the middle act will most certainly be filled with much unknowable strife... So do be cautious, please,” he tries to finish lightheartedly; going so far as to chuckle and pretend that everything is still fine.

It doesn't work.

With claws still planted tightly over my quivering lips, I find myself now crying uncontrollably. “T-that's… that's…” Sniff~

With a reassuring pat on my head from his armored hoof, the Prince tries once more to comfort me. “There there, child. Do not weep. I am quite certain that I will be the only one-eyed monstrosity in the foreseeable future. Mine is just a cautionary tale; nothing more.”

“I'm not crying for me,” I choke out at last, as I try to wipe my eyes. “T-these are for you… and your brother."

Now it's Solaris' turn to be silent.

"That poor pony is full of too much grief already," I go on. I feel the internal anger I once held for Artemis now vanishing little by little. "I can see it. I may not know what the full story is about him yet, but... I can at least see that he's not the same pony who hurt me earlier. N-not completely, at least... And I don't think he's the same one who hurt you either, Solaris... Please don't let this ruin his second chance," I sniffle as the last of my tears dry.

Another moment of silence soon follows. All that can be heard between us, as we stand and think, is the sound of the distant party still raging in Ponyville none the wiser.

"..."

"... Hahaha..."

Catching me completely off guard, the Prince abruptly gains a completely jovial grin as he proceeds to playfully noogie the fins atop my head. “H-hey!” I whine, trying to bat the hoof away with my claws.

But Solaris only beams larger in response.

“Equestria is most fortunate that this strange power was granted to one with a heart such as yours, Barb,” he laughs bombastically. After having his full of teasing me (at least for now), Solaris eventually eases up on me. “Trust in it, little one, and it will be your guiding key.”

“What the hay does that mean?” I fume as I work on fixing my look. Rude.

“It means you have my blessing to continue what you’re doing,” the royal pony reports proudly as he turns to face the chariot one last time. He slowly starts to trot off. “It’s obviously working… Oh!" He then shouts, stopping in place and turning to focus his one good eye on me. "Before I forget; in regards to your original ride request, Barb, I'm afraid my chariots will be much too full of guards to accommodate another at this time." Resuming his trot yet again, he calls out his final plans for me as he departs. "I will be sure to send for another chariot to come grab you as soon as possible. I will also have a guard assigned to assist you in the task. I already have one pony in min-”

“Wait!” I interrupt; calling out to him before he can leave fully. “M-may I have an audience with you when I return, Prince Solaris?”

Halting his retreat yet again, Solaris turns to me for our final conversation.

“Well… certainly, dear… but whatever for?” he inquires, now granting him time at being the confused one for once. Better him then me. “True there are many things about Dusk’s new arrangements I’d like to go over, but they can be easily covered in a single scroll… What would you like to discuss?”

Pausing, I think my next words over with the utmost care I can muster. In the past I would have avoided Solaris like the plague, fearing that he may uncover the truth about me. Upon becoming a ‘Seer’ in his eyes, I wanted to see him even less. I didn’t want to really share with him what I knew, under fear of changing the timeline…

… after what’s happened though, and what Solaris has lost… I don’t think I have the right to keep my knowledge to myself anymore.

Faith is a welcomed guest... but plans will always get top billing in my book.

“I’d like us to prepare early for the next storm, Prince Solaris,” I state plainly and without jest, making sure that he understands that my next words are dead serious.

“We have to be ready… for the Lord of Chaos’ return.”

Entry 3, Part 1 (... my very best...)

~Dear Diary~

A few days have passed since I last wrote in you. Quite a bit has happened in that time. Conferences were had, plans were made, books were re-shelved, ponies were met, and plenty of well deserved ‘sorry I made you worry, Barb,’ gems were eaten. Dusk and I have moved fully into Ponyville's Golden Oaks Library at this point. I still stand by my earlier declaration that it isn’t much of a home, but I’m sure it’ll grow on me.

It’s currently night time in Ponyville, so I once again have the opportunity to write down my thoughts while my roommate, Dusk, is asleep. Midnight in this town is so serene and quiet; it’s nothing like Canterlot. I’m certainly going to have a hard time staying awake, even with a trusty cup of steaming coffee by my side. I'll try my best to press on, however, because I feel it’s important to now note how the results of my meeting with Prince Solaris has undeniably changed this world. Recording these events is the responsible thing to do, and will make things easier to ~~place blame~~ understand what went exactly wrong later when things ~~inevitably~~ potentially go south.

So then, with that ~~said~~ written, let’s pick up where we last left the previous entry off at. As I recall, I had just shared with the Prince my knowledge of the next major villain coming up; Discord. Without a single word more shared between the two of us, the secretly one-eyed stallion acknowledged me by determinedly nodding his head and swiftly departing for Canterlot. The act was all I needed to see to confirm that he knew exactly what I was referring to.

It would take a full day before I was granted the opportunity to speak to him about it. He had many other obligations to attend to, due to his disappearance and his brother's sudden reappearance, so the wait was to be expected. I’ll disclose the results of our meeting in a little bit; before this entry is complete.

Firstly though, please allow me to share with you, my secret diary, how I made it back to Canterlot in the first place. The journey involved a few new faces, along with plenty of old.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... we quickly learned that we were in for a fight! Each and every one of us were ready to throw down, so you know that Manticore didn’t stand a chance!” animatedly retells Rainbow Dash to the gathered crowd before him, here at Sugarcube Corner. This has got to be, like, the tenth time he’s retold the entire Everfree Forest story by this point. Despite this, he’s still telling it just as excitedly as he did the first time. “That’s when Butters; quiet, sweet, not-so-little Butterscotch, yelled at us to stop… and then proceeded to lift the Manticore up with one hoof, like it was a common house cat!”

“There was a thorn in her poor paw,” Butterscotch whispers softly to himself… again. He’s done this every single time Dash has gotten to this part but due to how quiet he’s speaking, and how much the audience is oohing and aahing, I’m not sure if his fellow pegasus ever really heard him. All this attention must be torture for the big guy.

Doesn’t help that Rainbow Dash is using him as his personal podium, forcing him to remain on stage.

How rude! Still, I find myself laughing at the sight all the same as I calmly munch on my cupcake treat. Relaxing myself even further, I lean backwards into my soft personal pillow and sigh contently... Said personal pillow, for reference, is Dusk Shine’s warm barrel.

… Hypocrisy, thy name is Barbara The Dragoness. My cozy pony doesn’t seem to mind at all, though, as he continues to lay down on the ground and watch his new friends happily.

Bubble Berry is jumping all over the place, hoofing out treats. Applejack is helping to tell Rainbow’s story by setting facts straight. He is thankfully not perched on top of Butterscotch's head too like the main speaker. Lastly Elusive is laying down next to Dusk and I, passively combing his spiraled mane with the aid of his sparkling blue magic and a small, hoofheld mirror.

It’s been three whole hours since Solaris left for Canterlot. In that time, I’ve more or less learned the entire story about my friends’ journey. According to the six of them, Nebula was crafty, and the forest was thick. These two factors combined were what caused the trip to take as long as it did. If it weren’t for Bubble Berry’s foresight in bringing food, even if it was all party sweets, and if not for the filtered water provided by a certain sea serpent that lives in the forest… well I really don’t want to think about what could have happened. Beyond this, everything else was mostly the same from the show.

… Mostly.

Applejack proved to again be the Element of Honesty by honestly telling Dusk that he was going to be fine when in danger; even when he was hanging for dear life to the edge of a cliff. This was just like the show… except male Applejack didn’t give Dusk a chance to let go himself and instead opted to push him over. No patience with that one, it seems…

Butterscotch’s kindness shined through his rough and unkempt exterior thanks to the Manticore attack, as you just heard. His scenario was the most like the show’s from what I’ve gathered.

Bubble Berry, in contrast, set the scary trees on fire.

Yup.

He had smashed a bottle of his special brew over the offending plant life and proceeded to use his three ear piercings (which each represent one of his brothers, as a sweet side note. Apparently he has three?) to start the spark that lit them all up. The laughter that followed the insane act convinced Dusk that BB was for sure the Element of Laughter… because reasons.

This was still all done to a song about giggling at the ghostly.

With the flaming backdrop and the deeper voice, I can only imagine that this world's version was metal as hell.

Moving on; Elusive had pretty big horseshoes to fill when it came to calming down the sea serpent from her initial turmoil. With Rarity, she just had to fix the watery beast’s mustache by generously chopping off her tail. While Elusive has a long flowing tail like Rarity's, his was unfortunately not up to the task at fixing what Nightterror Nebula had taken from this reality’s mustache-less lady Everfree dweller. Here, the fallen Prince had used his warblade to haphazardly slice off most of the unfortunate woman’s flowing mane. From the sound of it, he had even cut it off unevenly which made it next to impossible to rearrange or restyle without cutting off even more. So… what did Elusive do then?

Well he asked Dusk for a spell to shave off his entire head and tail, that's what.

With her new do, the serpent was more than happy to let the six cross her river and Dusk was more than happy to give the now bald Elusive the Element of Generosity. Thank goodness the Elements regrew all that hair; I remember mourning the loss of my own in my first few years of life, so I feel his pain. Stupid dragon physiology... Anyways, the Elements didn't just do the impossible and restored Elusive's mane to it's original form, but their light also cleaned up all the scars and minor damages the journey had inflicted on him and the rest of the bearers as well...

… Speaking of damage, this brings us to Rainbow Dash.

He almost got everypony killed.

Now don’t get me wrong; it’s comforting to know that Dusk has a friend who, when given the choice between his companions and his lifelong dream, chooses his friends every time. That said; the extreme confidence this Rainbow Dash exudes, thanks to whatever event in his life gave him the courage to present himself as a mare while still preferring to be called a stallion, needs to be simmered asap. I thought that his earlier stopping of Applejack’s charge against Nebula was an indication that he might have a good head on him; but when the three ‘Shadowbolts’ showed up and offered him a spot on their roster, in exchange for abandoning the mission, Dash’s response… was to imply that each and every one of their mothers was a 'lady of the night' who did tricks for peanuts.

Their cutting retort to this was to start angrily waving swords around.

A fight broke out soon after, and only halted when the bridge that it took place on snapped and sent everypony tumbling. The Shadowbolts disappeared into ethereal smoke shortly thereafter, and the boys were forced to climb back up the misty mountains in their injured states. Eventually they made it to the castle and proceeded to battle The Nightterror who, thanks to having actually been the conjured Shadowbolts himself, was still tired from their last encounter. This left him weak enough for the group to handle thanks to the aid of the newly discovered Elements of Harmony.

So… yeah. I’m now really glad I didn’t go. I have no idea how I would have reacted to any of… that nonsense, but it probably wouldn’t have been pretty nor helpful in the long run.

Knock knock knock

A sudden banging on the door to the bakery shakes me out of my thoughts and returns me to the present. Since Sugarcube Corner is currently packed to the brim with ponies wanting to hear about their new heroes, the door has been shut tight to prevent anypony else from entering. Everypony mostly ignores the interruption but, since I’ve been waiting here for a guard with a chariot to come pick me up, I decide to leave Dusk’s side for a moment and take a quick peek outside. He doesn't even notice my absence; he's clearly still too enamored by the mere novelty of 'hanging out' with his friends to care. Working my way over to the other side of the room, I move a stool up to the door once I'm there and then open the top half of it, leaving the bottom half closed. Now able to see the outside world again, I turn to look who's knocking.

I about fall right over when I see who it is.

“D-dusk!” I tilt my head-backwards and whisper lowly, trying to catch Dusk's, and only his, attention. “Dusk!”

To my surprise, this works. Dusk alone turns his head…

… and his eyes widen when he sees a familiar white mare’s head sticking out from the entrance’s windowsill.

Looking back and forth, making sure nopony spots him, Dusk stealthily gets up from his spot and heads over to the portal. Soon thereafter, the two of us head outside together and ready ourselves to address this new pony. The reason for our silence and secrecy is quite simple, you see.

Dusk had told me prior his desire to introduce his new friends to his sister at a later date, once he’s gotten to know them better himself.

You can imagine our shared surprise, then, when we now find a fully armored Gleaming Shield standing before us. A flying chariot, with two pegasus guardmares standing watch next to it, can be seen behind her as she… she…

… fights hard not to throw up. Did she forget that air travel makes her sick? I’m betting that’s the case…

“BSBFF!” Dusk squees happily, jumping up and down in place. “I’m so happy to see you! You’ll never guess the week I’ve had! You se-”

“O-one sec, little Bro,” Gleaming begs, leaning over and breathing hard. “M-must have been something I ate…umph... Just give me a minute...”

Dusk and I wait patiently as the captain of the royal guard, who has had a number of years of work expeditions and traveling under her belt, pants heavily in a hunched manner due to another lost battle against motion sickness. Poor girl...

Before I’m given the chance to feel anymore sorry for her, or to ponder on why she’s even here, Gleaming's panting stops... but her head remains tilted downwards towards the ground.

Dusk takes this as a cue to continue.

“Gleaming,” he chirps excitedly. “I told you I was right about The Nightterror! And you didn’t believe me, hah! But don’t worry! My new friends and I showed him who's bos-”

SMACK!!!

Time slows to a crawl as I recoil in sudden horror, and my eyes take in a terrible sight. A noise, not unlike the snapping of thunder, rings out loudly in my ears as my sluggish mind tries to decipher what had just transpired. Gleaming…

... G-gleaming Shield just slapped her brother across the face.

Hard.

With an armored horseshoe.

From his new position on the ground, having been sent flying, Dusk shivers in fear as he brings a hoof to his bright red, stinging cheek. “W-w-what?” he asks desperately towards one of the few ponies he had thought would never hurt him. Tears begin to form.

Gleaming glares coldly in return. All traces of her former sickness have been erased fully from her features.

“... There were thirty guards stationed at key locations throughout this town on the date of the celebrations, Dusk,” she begins to list, never once raising her voice. “Of those thirty, five were trained under me personally and were assigned to town hall for the entirety of the event, Dusk.”

“G-gleaming…” Dusk shakily speaks back, shrinking under his elder sister’s scary expression.

“Ponyville also had pegasus ponies and Wonderbolts trained for aerial combat on standby,” she goes on, continuing to stare aggressively. “And unicorns trained in counterspells, as well as earth ponies trained in fortress busting… But none of them knew where to go, Dusk.”

“G-gleam…”

“None of them could enter the Everfree without an organized assault plan, Dusk.”

“BSB-”

“None of them had any Intel about the Elements… But you know who did, Dusk Shine?" She asks, almost innocently.

She then ominously leans closer.

"... An untrained, unqualified, and unarmed civilian!”

I stumble backwards as the guard captain finally raises her voice. Dusk starts whimpering as Gleaming’s hoof proceeds to poke him hard in the chest; there's nothing I can do about it either! I'm completely frozen in place and can’t do anything but helplessly watch things unfold. I-I’ve never seen her like this before in my life, and I don't think Dusk has either.

“And that, little brother, is what you are,” the older mare growls, bringing her eyes close to her brother's own. “I don’t give a single, flying, feather about who your teacher is, Dusk; you are a civilian first and foremost and should have known better!”

“B-but,” Dusk tries to defend.

“You should have given the book to the guards!”

“Bu-”

“You should have let them handle it!”

“You don’t underst-”

“You could have been killed, Dusk!” Gleaming chokes up, but she recovers quickly; refusing to show weakness. “You could have gotten yourself and all those ponies that went with you killed. Then… who does that leave behind, Dusk? Hm? Do you even know? Well... I’ll tell you who, buster.

“That leaves six families without their sons.

“That leaves several ponies without their brothers.

“That leaves not one, but two Princes that would miss their favorite pupil dearly. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about your old foalsitter, Dusk! And…”

~Twinkletwinkle~

Being forcefully lifted off the ground by Gleaming’s magical aura, I now find myself hovering before the yelling mare. I'm treated like an at-ready shield as she uses me as her final example.

“... that leaves one baby dragon without a charge to watch over!” she finishes, awkwardly levitating me closer to Dusk’s face. “Come on, Dusk; you know she would blame herself forever if something bad happened to you. How could you do that to her?!”

W-well... she’s not wrong, sadly...

Regardless; this final addition causes Dusk’s ears to wilt, and he turns his head away from both his sister and I in a small attempt to escape from the guilt.

“... I know…” Dusk eventually whispers. He then tries to raise his voice as he repeats himself. “I-I know, Gleam.”

The magic around me abruptly ceases to be, which leads me to falling on my tail. Oomph! I rotate myself around, ready to angrily address the pony who had rudely picked me up only to drop me...

... But the sad looking pony I find instead snuffs out my ire entirely.

“If you knew...” Gleaming Shield speaks tiredly, as her own angry spark slowly dies out too. All it leaves behind is a hollow husk of a mare; one who is clearly beyond both anger and sadness. “Then… why did you risk it all, Dusty?” she asks, using his foalhood nickname. “W-why would you even think to hurt us like this?”

“Isn’t that what you do everyday, Sis?” Dusk shoots back defensively, finding the strength to rise back to his hooves.

Gleaming shakes her head.

“I’m a trained soldier of Equestria,” she explains. Her tiredness is evident in her voice. “And it’s what my cutie mark has always told me to do. It’s who I am. I’ve made peace with this life long ago, as did every guard under my command… But it isn’t your life, Dusk!” she pleads weakly. “The life of a scholar is your calling! Everypony knows that! There was no point in you risking yourse-

“YES THERE WAS!”

At the sudden raised voice, Gleaming and I take a step back from the now fuming Dusk Shine. His mane temporarily shifts into a flame-like form due to his anger but, with a single breath to calm himself, the fire dies out as quickly as it appeared.

“... Big Sis,” Dusk speaks up, addressing his sister properly. Despite this, his head is still lowered as he tries to verbally sort his mind out. “Something... magical happened a few days ago that I don't think I can explain with my books. I saw the unthinkable; a pony of legend. I saw him attack and hurt so many foals and children… including Barb," he adds, glancing my way for a moment before resuming looking down at his hooves. "It was in that instance, as I held her still form, that I realized just h-how out of my depth I was, and how little of a chance I stood against him…

“... But I still told Nightmare Nebula, to his face, to buck off.”

Gleaming absentmindedly mutters “language,” probably for my sake, but it goes ignored as Dusk starts to paces about. His head begins to rise as his words pick up steam.

“I told him so many things, Gleaming, that were crude, and rude, and not befitting of a student of Prince Solaris… but I said them anyways. And then I raced to find a weapon to stop him, without thinking, only to be rewarded with five others willing to die for the cause; to fight and to bleed to get the sun back.

“And then…then... we just… did it! Without really dwelling on it; without overthinking it... we won. We fought and laughed and screamed and… G-gleaming Shield,” Dusk stutters, finally focusing his eyes on his sister’s own. The stallion sucks in air briefly before steadying himself, so that he may say his next words more clearly. “These last four days have taught me what kind of pony I really am. And… you’re right. I am a scholar...

“... but I’m also a fighter.”

With that honest declaration, coming straight from the heart, the tables have turned. Suddenly Dusk is the one glaring, and Gleam is the one too shocked to speak.

I, meanwhile…

… remain the same flabbergasted little dragon I was at the start of this whole ‘simple’ exchange. I guess it's safe to say that one of Twilight Sparkle's songs was full of baloney now. 'We never had a single fight' my, scaly, butt.

“I'm a fighter, Gleam,” Dusk repeats once again, for both his sister's sake as well as his own. “And I’ve learned that I’m willing to fight until my last breath for Equestria, as well as for my... my friends. Was it the best option available to me? Solaris no! But... would I do it again in a heartbeat?

“Yes.

"Yes I would.

“... I don’t see anything wrong with that, do you, Sis?”

“...”

"..."

“... Why couldn’t you take more after our mother, Dusk?” Gleaming groans loudly, finally granting us her first real smile since arriving. “The worse we have to worry about from her is maybe a paper cut from a bingo card. Heh; fighting an evil alicorn, in order to save the world from eternal night, is most definitely not on one of her neatly crafted schedules. A true role model if ever there was one, haha! ”

“... Hehe,” Dusk laughs back too in an improved mood, grinning slightly as well. "I’m not completely like dad now if that’s what your afraid of, Gleam. No thrill seeking for me, thank you! For example; on top of discovering that I actually have a spine, I also discovered that I handle being thrown off a bridge the same way as everypony else does!”

“Really?” Gleaming snorts in amusement, taking the bait. “And how, exactly, does one handle such a thing, Dusty? Hmm?”

“Poorly,” Dusk responds, delivering the punchline.

The two of them crack up further over this, now thankfully back on good terms with one another. I keep my lips sealed during the continued exchange, and try my best not to muck up this lovely sibling reunion.

This has been surprisingly sweet... in a weird sort of way.

Thinking about it, while I wait for these two to wrap up; I barely saw anything about Gleaming Shield's other worldly half, Shining Armor, from the little amount of the show I got to watch after his introduction. Because of this, I've never been entirely sure what his relationship to Twilight Sparkle was actually like, outside of the one song about him and the few exchanges the two shared on screen... But long ago did I realize that I didn't need 'future vision' to see how strong the love between Dusk and Gleaming is.

All I needed, all anybody ever needed, was two (or one, in Solaris' sad case) clear eyes to see that it's as strong as a brother/sister bond can possibly get.

One little argument isn't going to break them up that easily.

“Well,” Gleaming starts to say, now done whooping it up. “Guess I better finish up here and head back to Canterlot, little Bro. Things are pretty crazy up there at the moment, as you can imagine.”

“Oh… Okay,” Dusk replies, sounding disappointed. “What were you even doing here anyways, BSBFF?”

Gleaming hums to herself. “Well... to start…” Then, using her magic, the mare drags Dusk closer to herself and proceeds to noogie the top of his head roughly. “I came firstly to cheerfully yell at my dunderhead of a little brother!” she happily scolds. “I’m still unbelievably pissed about what happened... but I’m happy you’re okay.”

“I-I-I won’t be f-f-for long,” Dusk jitters as his sister tightens her headlock and rubs his scalp harder.

“His Highness only gave me the run done on what happened here, so I'll be sure to tell the folks you're okay too when I can. No need to worry there, Bro... Secondly,” she wraps up, finally releasing her grip. She then turns to address me, though her words are clearly meant for all parties present. “I came to give Barb a ride back to Canterlot. Prince's Orders.”

Shaking the daze out of his eyes, Dusk takes a second to reorient himself before looking at me queerly.

“Back… to Canterlot?” he asks, darting his attention back and forth between his sister and I. Oh, oops; in all the excitement I must have forgotten to tell him what I’m doing.

I better correct that. “I'm just swinging by the old place and picking up a few things, Dusk,” I explain, offering him a reassuring smile. “Clothes, toothbrushes, combs… secret gem stashes… you know; the essentials!”

Dusk nods' in understanding. “I see... Good thinking! That's why you're my number one assistant... Say, while you're up there... Can you als-”

“I’m not bringing your book collection, Dusk.”

Dusk blinks blankly at this straightforward, humorless response.

“... Oookaaayyy... But what about jus-”

“I’m not bringing twenty books,” I shoot back, standing firm.

“Ugh! Fair enough... But how about one set instead, lik-”

“I’m not bringing even five books back, Dusk.”

“What?! P-please bring at lea-”

“I am not bringing any books. Period," I roughly lay down the law. Gleaming snickers in the background as I go on. “You have a new library full of new books. Finish what's already on your ‘plate’, mister, and maybe I’ll bring some more over later... Deal?”

“... Fine,” Dusk answers, pouting like a foal. The savior of Equestria, fillies and gentlecolts. Oy vey.

“I’ll probably be gone a day or so, Dusk,” I continue, choosing to ignore his embarrassing display. My words cause him to grow up a little before my eyes, and change his expression from spoiled-child sad to just… sad sad, I guess you could describe it. This doesn't stop me from tacking on, “Please don’t stay up late reading again, and remember to eat actual food and not just snacks.”

... Says the girl whose had nothing but cupcakes for lunch, h-hehe…

“A couple days?” my oldest friend asks me sadly, his ears wilting. “D-do you really think you’ll be gone that long, Barb?”

At first I’m confused by such a clingy sounding question… but then I recall that this is one of the first times Dusk has ever been away from Canterlot, and one of the first times he’s been away from members of his family, myself, or members of Prince Solaris’ castle. Now no longer fueled by a purpose and copious amounts of adrenaline, he must be getting just a tiny bit nervous about being on his own...

... This... t-this is probably how things would have played out with my little Nathaniel, if his momma was still alive to see him grow up...

...

... Keep it together, Barbara. Keep it together. Breathe in, breathe out...

... L-like I was just pondering in a overly normal manner, and certainly not angsting about anything in the slightest; everyone has to leave the nest eventually, my friend. Today just happens to be your day.

“You’ll be fine without me,” I reassure him kindly as I approach his side. “You were just fine last night, remember? And you won’t be alone...”

As if to prove my point, a crashing noise can be heard from behind us at Sugarcube Corner. We about face just in time to see Bubble Berry’s silhouette, behind the closed blinds, bounce onto Applejack’s own silhouette and accidentally start an impromptu dog pile. Shouts can be heard as a brawl breaks out; one angry cry is full of country hollering, another is full of cheeky banter, a third has small whimpers in it, the forth has undignified sounding screeches, and the last one is full of large, jovial laughter.

“... They seem nice,” Gleaming comments plainly.

“They… are,” Dusk admits after a pause. Despite having to take the second to process the declaration, his words are clearly full of truth. “They really are… Please have a safe trip, Barb.”

“And have as much fun as you can handle, Dusk,” I order right back. “Maybe even more than that. It’s what you deserve.”

With a slight blush now on his cheeks, Dusk leans low and wraps a foreleg around my form. I wrap my own arms around his muzzle and hug him right back. We hold our place for a moment before breaking up and waving goodbye to one another. Gleaming Shield joins in, and the two of us only stop our flailing once Dusk has fully disappeared into the chaotic mess that is Sugarcube Corner.

“Ready to go, Barb?” the head guardmare asks me cheerfully, now offering me a grin.

"Um-hum," I chime, smiling as well.

“Alrighty then! Gleaming laughs. "Let’s get going!” she orders loudly as she starts to trot away.

Granting the bakery one last backwards glance, I quickly pump my legs up in down in order to catch up to my mare friend’s long-legged stride. It doesn’t take the two of us long to sit ourselves down inside the chariot, and it takes even less time than that for the two pegasus guards to flap their wings and raise up into the air. Once we're high up and above it all; Gleaming removes her helmet, and allows herself to scoot up next to me, in order to watch the peaceful scene of Ponyville shrinking further and further away into the distance. A comfortable breeze washes over us as we take it all in; flowing through my spines, and Gleaming's once helmet-pressed mane, in order to grant us both a well deserved sense of calm and peace

“... That was the happiest I've ever seen Dusk be in his entire life,” my blue haired companion speaks up finally, after the momentary bout of silence between us. “And the most… driven!”

A chuckle leaves my lips at this.

“He’s made great friends, Gleam” I answer truthfully. “I think they’ll help him a whole lot.”

“I think they already have,” she counters, now fighting hard not to cry. She sniffles slightly, and uses a hoof to wipe her eyes. “Our little Dusty is growing up…”

Patting her back with a claw, I nostalgically dwell on how similar Gleamings reactions to this have been to my own. I'm betting their parents are probably going to act pretty much the same to this news as well... including having similar panic attacks over how the friendship initially kicked off.

"Thanks," Gleam beams in appreciation for my patting...

... She then leans in closer, forcing the massage to end, in order to ask me a very vital question.

“Please tell me you got a picture of him with his new friends, Barb!”

The question causes me to blink blankly.

A... picture?

...Really?

A-after aaaaalllll the commotion that's happened today... Does she really think I had the time, or even the foresight to take a single... What kind of gal does she take me for???

…

... With speed that would make even a ninja jealous, I swiftly reach into my purse and produce about twenty different photos of various shapes and proportions.

“Do you want wallet sizes, or 8 X 10s?” I ask Gleaming proudly as I sort out my newly acquired collection of freshly printed group and head shots. As I look down and shuffle my new prizes in my claws, I explain that, “I met this earth pony dude with glasses and a fashionable shirt, named Snap Shot, who had one of those new instant camera thingys. He gave me a good deal for little over a bundle. I’ve got shots of them all together, and a few profile shots too! S-sorry that I have more shots of Elusive than anypony else, but I think you’ll agree with me that it was bits well spent when you see how handsome he looks at this angl-”

“BLARGH!!!”

"Hm?" I ask in a confused manner; having been interrupted from my sorting. My head tilts upwards as well, in response to the noise, as I glance over my pictures and see that Gleam is no longer paying attention to me, but is instead… Oh ew ew ewwww!! Grrroooossss!!

One sec, BRB!

…

...

…Okay. Back. Ahem... Like I was saying; I turn to see Gleaming Shield now hunched over the edge of the chariot and nothing else happened before this. Nothing gross and nightmare inducing at all, eeyup... Right now the poor sick pony stuck here with me, for another half hour or so, is currently… um...

… strategically assaulting the Everfree Forest below with a classic showing of chemical warfare!

Yeah!

...

... T-this is about the nicest way I can put any of this, people. Please don’t make me say more. Being a narrator sucks in times like this. With the photos now safely re-stashed away in my purse, I decide to hold Gleaming’s mane back in my claws as she… well... does her thing.

“I-I blame the mess hall’s veggie tacos,” she pathetically tries to justify herself, unwilling to point at simple air sickness as being the culprit. “I’ll have to… ungh… h-have a word with the cooks later, obviously…”

I roll my eyes.

“Don’t think about food, girl,” I groan. “I know I’m not going to now. Think about something else, like…”

My sight drifts to the purse at my side; the photos within grant me an excellent idea.

“... Like how Dusk is now friends with a farmer, a crossdresser, a suit maker, a giant, and a pony on a perpetual sugar high.”

“...”

Rotating her head slightly, even as I still gently held her mane, Gleaming grants me a weak smile.

“I-I’d very much would like to hear more, Barb.”

Heh. Your wish is my command, dear.

Entry 3, Part 2 (... Friends?)

I'm happy to report that my flight between Ponyville and Canterlot was mercifully short, and devoid of further incidents. Our chariot departed from us equally as quickly too; well before I could so much as say 'thank you' to the pegasi who had broken many, many speed laws for the sake of getting Gleaming Shield's hooves back on steadier ground. In their absence I was left to tend to my 'little' airsick pony all by my lonesome. To ease her suffering, we used the spare time we had to quietly sit down on the ground, off to the side of the docks, and simply wait things out until she was feeling up to moving around again. The familiar mountain air did wonders to restore her to a state of normalcy, as too did the circular motions of my claws on her back.

My efforts would ultimately prove pointless, however. What really restored Gleaming's vitality and energy, and got her up and moving again, was not my gentle care or concern but instead the timely arrival of a stallion.

An alicorn stallion, to be precise.

He was a pony I was unfamiliar with at the time, and certainly one I had not met before in person. Similarly to the rest of his kind I had met thus far, this pony was a majestic being through and through; one whose presence turned Gleaming’s four knees into pure jelly, and whose smile tinted her cheeks bright red. To those reading this who were originally from Earth, and who even less likely watched the show my new life is based on; this mystery alicorn was none other then Dusk’s old foalsitter from before I was born.

He is this world’s version of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

The surprise encounter was actually the first time I had ever met Princess Cadence’s male counterpart. I had remembered seeing pictures of him throughout Canterlot Castle, hearing small stories about him from his adopted uncle Solaris, and I vaguely recalled actually talking to him once before; back when I was an infant still relearning how to talk. I didn't think that counted at the time, and I still stick by that call now; the two of us had never properly crossed paths prior to that day. As another small note, Cadence’s character was introduced on the MLP show at around the same time as Shining Armor’s introduction. So, just like when I originally met Gleaming Shield; that day I knew that I was basically going in blind. From what I could still recall, from before we officially met, Cadence was the typical Princess archetype, save for possibly a bit more of a backbone.

Thinking back on it now, as I write this, I'll admit that I was honestly a little excited for the encounter I was about to have with this man. He was another one of Dusk's teachers growing up, like Solaris, and based on her reactions Gleaming obviously liked him already. With two roundabout votes of confidence coming from two of my good friends, I was ready to accept this Prince in his entirety with open arms.

Then he opened his mouth, and swiftly destroyed my excitement.

This was due to the discovery of him being ~~an ass a jerk a difficult pony Solaris Jr. evil cupid a~~ well, him.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“Captain Gleaming Shield... Heh, you look like shit!”

… I think it’s safe to say that our TV -Y rating has been thoroughly flushed down the toilet by this point, folks. I don’t think those words would go over well with the target demographic’s parents one bit...

I don’t think a Prince of Love would go over well with parents period, now that I think about it. Especially when he looks like this.

The best way I can describe the alicorn now approaching us is that he has… swagger. The way he trots is mesmerizing, I’m embarrassed to admit, and he travels about with his wings standing firm and fully erect. The pink of his coat is almost blinding as well, and it makes the magenta highlights in both his wings and mane stand out even more. Speaking of hair, the three colored mane on his head flows majestically uninterrupted over his features, resulting in it completely covering his ears and almost an entire eye as well. It sort of reminds me of Butterscotch’s mane in that respect, though it's admittedly a more organized mess then his. Not a split-end in sight, amazingly.

As I watch him close the distance between us, I start to notice how mares across this shipyard, and even a few stallions, are now snapping their necks every which way for even the chance to catch a glance of the sauntering Prince… or maybe just his backside. That tail of his is super short, after all. It’s certainly not covering much of anything…

… Oh dear god, Elusive might have made me attracted to ponies…

Sudden horrific revelations aside; upon realizing exactly whowas calling out to her, Gleaming gasps loudly and regains enough sense of her mental facilities to lower herself down in a speedy bow. “Prince Mi Amore Bolero!” she stutters out quickly. “W-what a pleasant surprise! What brings you here, your Majesty?”

“A vacation,” Prince Mi Amore Bolero beams in good spirits, gesturing with his horn towards a fancy looking luxury airship docked a little ways over. A tinted pair of sunglasses are next levitated out of his royal saddle bags and, after a quick magical parting of his mane, are firmly placed in their proper place on the ridge of his snout. “I’ve been the acting ruler of Equestria for the last four days, Gleam!" he further explains, which takes me aback. I didn't hear anything about that in Ponyville! I should try to read a newspaper when I can... I wonder what else happened up here when Dusk and I were gone?

While I ponder this, the young Prince chortles as he goes on to say, "Thanks to that literal nightmare, I need to spend the next four years in Los Pegasus to recuperate, stat! I think it's the least Equestria owes me right now, heh. You agree with me, right Gleaming?

"... Get off the ground already, my dude. You’re making a scene.”

With a nervous cough, Gleaming complies. “M-my apologies, Prince Boler-”

Bolero rudely cuts off my gal friend by poking her hard in the breastplate, and randomly shouting, “Bolo!”

I blink blankly.

“... Bolo?” I ask in the awkward silence.

“Bolo,” Bolero repeats for me, despite never looking my way. He nods his head in a sagely manner as he says it.

I’m... confused.

Without acknowledging me any further, the Prince resumes addressing Gleaming. “You know I like to be called Bolo, Gleam,” he chides the captain, laughing. “The least you can do is remember it, dude.”

Gleam’s cheeks burn a deeper shade of red. “R-right, Bolo. Sorry…”

“... Bolo?” I ask a second time, still very confused.

Bolo disregards my lack of understanding with the wave of a golden horseshoe adorned hoof. “Oh, it’s just a nickname this cute little colt I used to foalsat a lot gave me. Smart kid, we even had a secret hoofshake, but he still had just the darnedest time trying to pronounce Boler-... wait…” the alicorn interrupts himself as he turns his head and looks at me a little bit closer. He tilts his sunglasses up a smidgen too, so that he can train one of this light purple eyes on me. “Heeeey... you’re Dusk’s dragon assistant!” at last recognizes the Prince of Love. He then lightly taps a hoof against the ground and hums as he rummages his memories. “What was your name what was your name… You’re Borb!”

“It’s Barb,” I correct.

“Yeah! That’s just what I said, my dude Borb!”

… I don’t like this guy.

Ignoring my clear frustration, Bolo keeps on chuckling away. “Yoooo! It’s been forever since I saw you or old Dusty around! Heheh! You probably don’t even remember me do you, little gal?”

“Thankfully no.”

“Haha!” he guffaws, happily allowing my insult to flow off him like water from a duck’s back. “Wow! You really took after Dusk, huh? Always loved how blunt that little dude could get... Say, how’s my favorite social despot doing these days anyways, Borb?”

Snorting and crossing my arms, I make my clear lack of care for this pony’s brazen attitude evident to all. “He made friends and saved the world,” I state plainly, purposely leaving out details. “What have you done recently, hmm?

“... I-I mean besides the whole ruler of all of Equestria for a bit thing,” I cough, adding this last part under my breath.

Again Bolero laughs heartily, choosing to ignore my comments completely…

… but then the laughter slows to a crawl as my words actually register with him.

“He… made friends?” Bolero asks us; this evidently being his biggest takeaway from my report. He then turns his head back to Gleaming and redirects the question a little more forcefully. “He has friends, Gleam?!”

This question causes Gleaming to finally let up on her shaking and her stuttering; she now grins joyfully towards her secret coltfriend (I mean it’s totally obvious, right?).

“He made five,” she reports, smiling as brightly as her lips will allow.

Prince Bolero mimics the expression perfectly.

“O, M, S,” the pink stallion can’t hide his elation, even behind the massive wings he's now using to cover his mouth with. “After all those failed play-dates with his classmates? I-I thought he would never be able to... Are you two for real?”

“It’s all true, Bolo,” Gleaming continues to gloat, glowing proudly. With her horn now shining bright pink with a levitation spell, a few of the photos I had handed out earlier float right on out of her saddlebags and present themselves forward towards Bolero. “Barb and I have the pictures to prove i-”

“GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE!!”

I squeak in surprise as Bolero’s horn suddenly bursts into life and yanks one of Gleam's gifted pics away in a baby blue aura. The act shocks my unicorn pal just as badly, and causes her to drop the remaining pictures on the stone ground. With the group shot now successfully in Bolero's grasp, the Prince’s eyes meticulously jump about the sheet; carefully scanning every little detail the snapshot can provide for him.

“... Large stallion, stylized goatee,” Bolo whispers rapidly under his breath, taking information in at a lightning pace. “Below him; a larger stallion, laying down, almost knocking his friends out of frame. Pink crest, pink beard, can’t see his eyes… A well groomed unicorn next to him; I'm jealous of the mane… Pink earth pony above him, overly excited. Love the piercings… There’s Dusk in the middle. Hasn’t changed his style since he was a foal, I see. Lastl- GASP!! GLEAMING!” the alicorn shocks us again with a large scream. Having assured our attention, he rotates the picture forward in his magic and points the tip of his hoof at one pony in particular.

Rainbow Dash.

“IS THIS ONE A MARE?!”

Blinking, Gleaming recovers first from being stunned by answering the question with, “No. That’s a stallion, apparently.”

“BUT IS HE A STALLION OR IS SHE A STALLION?!”

Gleam takes a step back from the now very close pony. “W-why does that mat-”

“THIS IS IMPORTANT, MY DUDE!!”

“He!” my friend replies, flinching. “Barb said that he’s a he! He just likes being pretty!”

Now its Bolero’s time to blink. Flipping the photo again in his magical aura, the stallion takes a closer look at the image...

… He then conjures a pink pen out of the ether and uses it to draw little circles around both Dusk and Dash’s head-shots, as well as straight lines in order to connect the two together.

I... don't like where this is going.

“This could still work,” Bolero contemplates aloud, probably forgetting that we’re still present. “A little nudge here, a push there..." He begins steepling his feather tips in front of him, tapping each digit against one another. "Yeeeessss, hehehe… This could work indeed...”

Sweat drips across mine and Gleaming Shield's faces as we start noticing, from the other side of the floating photograph, how Bolero is adding little hearts and stars around the two ponies’ images.

“W... w-what could work, Bolo?” I drum up the courage to ask the flipping Pony of Love. I am fearful of the answer.

Never looking away from his picture, Bolo, in a Solaris sort of way, answers my question with another question.

“When do you think this ship will sail?”

Gleaming and I both take this about as well as you would expect.

“WHAT?!” we scream in unison; with Gleam's horn sparking fiercely and plums of emerald flames dancing in the back of my throat.

Briefly I ponder if it’s still frowned upon to set ponies on fire around these here parts.

Before my thoughts could stray even further towards the dark side, Bolo draws his gaze away from the photo and stares at the two of us intently for our reactions. His sunglasses magically float off of his face as he does, and perch themselves atop his forehead.

“... The ship…” he repeats himself for us, drawing out his words effortlessly as we hang off of each one.

He then…

... gestures with his horn towards the luxury airship still standing by behind us.

Prince Bolero smiles brightly.

“I wonder when it will depart?” he finishes in an innocent tone, fluttering his eyelashes.

Gleam and I can only stare mutely in response.

Having foolishly fallen into his trap, Bolo laughs loudly once more. “Hah! You girls are a hoot... But, like I said earlier, Gleam; you look like shit, dude!” he repeats himself, now choosing to change the subject. “Come on,” he then orders, lowering his shades again and stowing the photo away into his saddlebag. “You’re coming with me, soldier.”

Gleaming Shield recovers quickly thanks to this command, and is no longer suffering the effects of the heart attack that almost claimed us both mere moments ago. As a quick side note; Dusk may be his own pony, and capable of making his own decisions…

… BUT HE’S STILL TOO YOUNG FOR DATING END OF DISCUSSION.

Moving completely on with our lives and never thinking about such direly dark thoughts again; the guard captain beside me shakes off the last traces of her daze and stands diligently at attention before the Prince. “Where am I needed, your highness?”

Puffing out his chest, and raising his wings high, Bolero makes the honest effort to appear serious and, dare I say, royal for us for a brief shining second. “You are needed, Captain Gleaming Shield…

“... In Los Pegasus… With me… As my personal guard… For like a week…”

Gleaming’s posture weakens.

“I… beg your pardon?” she inquires, her confusion clear. “Bolo… I can’t leave Canterlot right now. Prince Solaris-”

“Is back and well and with his brother,” Bolero cuts off bluntly. “... Who I guess is also my uncle too, now that I think about it… Weird.”

Gleam shakes her head.

“No, Bolo. That’s not what I mean. I’m already duty bound to helping Barb right now,” she points out, aiming a hoof at me. “Prince’s orders.”

“Well I’m a Prince too, my dude. I’m saying you’re good to go.”

“Prince Solaris outranks you in the chain of command, Prince Bolero.”

“And I outrank him in karaoke night!”

“... How does that change anything… at all?”

“Heh,” Bolero snorts in amusement. “It means that I can easily beat Uncle Sol on this, or any order if it’s challenged. So… come on! When was the last time you had a break, Gleam? You look so tired, and… I-I would very much like to spend some time with you,” the Prince blushes, turning away. “We haven’t really gotten to hang out since school, and work keeps things too... professional between us. Bleh.”

Gleam’s face returns to its original crimson glow right alongside Bolero's own, and her knees resume their earlier wobble as well.

“I-I-I still c-can’t, Bolo,” she answers, after having taken a second to somewhat compose herself. “Barb n-needs my hel-”

Alright; I've seen enough.

“Just go already,” I grunt, slapping Gleam roughly on her backside. She neighs cutely thanks to this, and unintentionally gallops away from my side and towards Bolero’s own due to the contact. With her cheeks burning even further red with embarrassment, and with her tail swung to the side to cover her now stinging flank, Gleaming pouts angrily at me.

Crossing my arms yet again, I remain unamused.

“I’m not really bringing back that much,” I explain, impatiently tapping my tail against the dock’s paved ground as I speak. “I can handle this myself. Besides, Prince Bolero is right,” I spit out spitefully, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. “You do look like… poo… You should really take a break.”

“Bu-”

My arms remain crossed. “Do it now, or I’ll tell him all about the last Ogres and Oubliettes session you invited me to. You know; the one where your minotaur paladin completed her quest to save the beautiful and majestic Prince Bootycal- oomph.”

I now find a white, armored hoof in my mouth.

Gee, I wonder where that came from.

“O-okay okay!” Gleam hisses at me, glancing back to make sure the Prince doesn't overhear us. “I’ll go! I’ll go!”

Behind the hoof, my lips curl upwards.

“Go get him, tiger,” I cheekily cheer my friend on; after using my claws to remove the offending appendage blocking my mouth, of course. “Knock his socks off… or on... Whichever floats your boat. I'll be sure to let Prince Solaris know where you're at too, so no worries there either, you hear?!”

Gleam now smiles back at me.

“Thanks, Barb,” she whispers right back. We hoof/fist bump briefly before Gleaming rises up fully and turns back towards Bolero. “I’m ready to go if you are, Bolo.”

“I couldn’t be more ready if I tried, Gleam,” bellows the Prince, now swaggering off to his ship. “Hope you’re okay with sharing a room with me for the trip… and the hotel… and literally every waking second for the next week!”

Gleam and I stare dumbly at the Prince of Love one final time as he trots away.

“... This is a dream come true,” Gleaming Shield admits quietly to herself, hearts clear in her eyes.

"Gag me with a spoon," I mutter to myself alone as my unicorn guard gallops off after her so called Prince Charming. With a long wave goodbye to the two lovestruck fools, I watch silently as their ship departs slowly into the horizon.

… Is it sad that I’m happy that Gleaming Shield is probably going to get sick again on that airship, and that Bolero is going to be the one who has to deal with her?

Sigh. Yeah... it kinda is... I'm still going to feel good about it though!

I’m sorry, but I do not like Bolero. At all. He's pretty loud and obnoxious, and his dude/bro voice makes my scales crawl. He has that manipulative atmosphere about him too, just like his uncle Solaris. It almost radiates off him when he so much as moves! It's like his whole being was simply made like this, like a perfect Greek god... which makes me a hundred percent certain that it was not. His entire persona has got to be fake. I mean, what does a Prince of Love even do, in all seriousness?! All I know is that he better not mess with Dusk or his friends any or I swear to the powers that be that I’ll… I'll... Ugh!

...

… Double sigh. Despite my feelings on the subject... all that matters in the end is that Gleaming clearly loves him and, while still annoying; he doesn’t seem to be a bad pony. I guess I really don't have the right to object. Even if I didn’t already know that one of the future episodes is about their wedding, I think I could find it in me to give them my (reluctant) blessings towards their union.

This is actually not the first time I’ve encountered a situation like this in my double length life. Back when I was Barbara D. Burns, I had similar reservations concerning my daughter Ashley’s choice of husband. The not-so-gentleman, Chad, was certainly not the kind of guy I imagined would take my little one’s hand in marriage. I didn't care for him as a person either... but I still cried like a faucet for both of them when they shared their vows.

Ahhhh~

Good memories.

… Well, I better get going.

No point in sticking around here at the docks.

With the clicking of my clawed toes against stone, and eventually marble, I take off towards the city. Despite the sun having risen not too long ago, we must be approaching the dinner time rush where Canterlot gets super busy. Where originally this loading and unloading area was bare and empty, save for a couple chariots and the Prince’s airship, it’s now becoming rather crowded. A few large flying vessels have just landed as well so now ponies, alongside other creatures from all over, are milling about as we speak. It’s sort of nice to watch all the foreign species exchanging ships or exiting towards Canterlot for their visits; it makes my little dragon-self feel a lot less like an outcast in the grand scheme of things. Minotaurs, oxen, and even what looks like a tall anthropomorphic cat are all gathered here today on equal footing, ready to take in the fabled land of ponies in all its splendor. The variety doesn't surprise me at all, not even the cat. Though rare, I’ve seen creatures like her before while growing up again in this city.

I only ever get to see this sort of cultural variety when I'm granted the opportunity to visit these docks, however. Most visitors usually book it towards more entertaining cities like Manehatten or Las Pegasus the moment they're able to make it through the rather strict customs department. There's an atmosphere about this town that just seems to rub foreigners the wrong way. Perhaps Canterlot's generationally ingrained 'unicorns-are-better' mentality is to blame for this lack of diversity and unwelcoming atmosphere... but I'm rambling.

What's important to know is that this planet is made up of so much more than just ponies. Yaks, griffons, cows, donkeys; and that's without even mentioning secret races like changelings! Equestria is such a small part of this world, and it's a part that sadly keeps mostly to itself. We know so little about what's going on out there beyond our own borders. A war could be raging on the other side of the globe and we'd only know about it once a survivor crawled their way here! We don't even really trade anything either; our land is bountiful, so no supply line would fall if a country out there was conquered overnight. About the only thing we do trade is stories; stories of heroes and adventures and history as well. I suppose that has a tiny bit of worth. For example; the story behind why creatures in this world still keep cats, parrots, and dogs as pets, despite there also being talking subspecies versions of all three, is actually really interesting. You see, long ag-

“OMPH!”

“Ah!”

Ow ow ow!

... Whoops.

I-I probably should have looked where I was going, huh? Hehe. I don’t know which one of us caused this crash, but I now find myself on the ground next to a similarly downed cloaked creature.

“S-sorry,” I stammer out a quick apology as I rise back to my feet. I offer this person a claw to get back up with, more as a peace offering then any actual help. I'm stronger then you think I would be, but at the end of the day I'm still just a short kid. “That was totally my fault. Are you okay?”

The blanket wearing… being remains lying down and unmoving. If not for the groans, I would have thought that they were seriously hurt. Whether it’s a he or she I can’t really tell, but I can tell that they are at least a fair bit taller than I am.

A real shocker there, I know.

After a solid awkward minute of silence, the creature shifts around on the floor and brings an arm up closer to my offered claw. It’s at this point that I’m finally given a clue to work with for figuring out what they are. The appendage being presented to me now is actually a hoofed foreleg with a light grey coat…

… and with many black stripes running up and down the length of it.

Huh?

A zebra?

In all my years living in Canterlot, I've never met one of those before. They apparently live really far away! Despite being taken by surprise at this revelation, I still lean forward with my arm so that I may better help him or her back up with it…

... though perhaps I can now refer to him as a he? It's a bit of a leap in logic, but there was only ever one zebra pony on the TV show. Not only that, but said pony is one who should be receiving their introduction episode any day now, if the show is still accurate in any significant way. Putting the puzzle pieces together, it would stand to reason that this must be Zecor-

SLAP!!

“Ow!” I gasp out as a sharp pain radiates from the claw I had been keeping aloft this whole time. Retracting my offer, I grip my injured digits with my other claw and gently blow air onto them to ease the stinging. I turn to glare at the mean being who I had been so kindly trying to help out.

The pony in question is now back up on their hooves, having done so all by themselves. With the cloak still concealing them, I still can’t tell their expression right now.

“W-what’s the big idea?” I angrily growl back at the zebra, once my mind processes that they were the culprit for this pain. “I said I was sorry!”

The pony remains quiet.

Before I can say anything more, I'm next forced to take a step backwards as the hidden pony leans closer towards me and puts their muzzle into my face. With them now uncomfortably close to me, I can finally tell that this… is a mare, not a stallion. The single scar around her lips is the second clue that convinces me that this is for sure not male Zecora.

The third clue, the one that puts the final nail into the coffin, is her next few accented words.

“Clumsy dragoness, interrupting my grand quest; begone from my sight!”

That doesn't sound like a rhyming sentence to me, now does it?

Having confirmed that this is a complete stranger, and a rude one at that, I snarl audibly in annoyance as she turns her back and tries to trot away. “I was just trying to help!” I raise my voice, not letting this injustice pass. “There’s no need to be such a bul-”

SWISH!!

The words die on my lips as, faster than my eyes could hope to process, a long wooden staff speedily materializes itself from out underneath her cloak. With practiced ease, the zebra twirls the carved weapon threateningly above herself before settling it mere inches away from my nose.

I… I-I may have bitten off just a tiny bit more than I can chew here, folks.

~Gulp~

Now it's the mare’s turn to growl as she holds me at staff point. The object remains held in the crease of her foreleg, but it still looks plenty well gripped and masterfully handled despite this.

“One who smells of fire,” she rumbles, “whose soul attracts birds of ash; your aid is poison.”

With claws raised upwards in a ‘for-the-love-of-Solaris-I-surrender’ poise, I take a step away from the clearly deranged mare. Where’s a guard when you need one?! “Okay okay!” I plead, trying to retreat. “I’m sorry! Please p-put the stick away an-”

“To call it a stick,” she points the staff closer to me. “Ignoring its length and strength; the insult is great.”

“IT’S A NICE STICK!!” I cry, real tears dripping across my face. “I TRULY MEAN IT!!”

"..."

This pathetic display actually works, because the next thing I know the mare grunts one last time in annoyance and twirls her weapon back underneath her cloak. Without a single word more spared for me, she turns to leave... and I let her do just that without fuss thank you.

As soon as she disappears down the path towards the train station, I collapse on my scaly butt and pant for breath. W-what the hell just happened?

How the hell did she get past customs with that staff?

... And where the hell was her when The Nightterror showed up?! I think that stick is going to replace Nebula’s sword in my nightmares! Brrrr...

... Also, something about what she just said is bothering me now too.

Something that’s on the tip of my forked tongue…

…

"... Let's see... 'One, who, smells, of, fire," I take a second to count the tips of my claws as I repeat the foreigner's words. "What was the next part...? Ah! Right. 'Whose, soul, at, tracts…’ Hmm..."

...

...!!!

The light-bulb turns on in my head.

Oh my gosh.

I…

... I-I think that she…

… was speaking in haikus!

Huh... neat, I guess.

Weird... but neat.

…

… I hope I never see her again.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Once the craziness of the docks had come and gone, I decided that a well deserved break was in order. I wanted a place to sit down for a bit, and to write a letter to Solaris’ about our meeting as well, so I hit two birds with one stone by going to my favorite place in all of Canterlot. I ignored the fact that I had a dozen or so of BB's cupcakes piled up in my gut at the time, and I double ignored what happened on the chariot ride prior, as I made the highly productive decision to hit up mine and Dusk's old stomping ground; Donut Mary Joe’s Shoppe.

It was going to be awhile before I had a reason to come back to Canterlot, so I thought I might as well leave it behind on a high note. My journey to the old store was not without difficulties though; Canterlot was still recovering from The Nightterror's, and now Prince Artemis’, return. There was much buzz in the air, and many ponies from all walks of life were sharing rumors with one another in the streets. This blocked the road, unfortunately, and made it difficult for me to navigate. I was forced to take the back roads and alleyways in order to progress. The chatter could be heard wherever I went, however, and made it impossible to ignore.

From what I took away from it, everypony was scared.

Prince Solaris had returned to the castle a few hours prior to this, and there had been no word on what had transpired. Members of the court weren’t able to help alleviate the fear of the masses either, as they too lacked answers. Whispers throughout the city spoke of a possible royal address happening in a few days, but it was speculation at best. To make matters worse, news of Artemis’ appearance had leaked; either from Ponyville or the royal guard is anyone's guess. According to a newspaper I read today, at the time of writing this, he was officially introduced to all of Equestria only this morning. The Summer Sun Celebration was a full week ago, for reference.

On the day of my return to Canterlot, there was a nervous energy in the air as the city slowly approached the scheduled sunset.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Ding ding ding-a-ling~

The bell above the door to Equestria’s premier donut bakery rings out loudly as I enter the establishment. Nopony bats an eye at the noise or my entry, and frankly I don’t blame them. Based on how absolutely packed this place now is, and how busy the owner Java Cayuse (or Mary Joe, as she likes to be called) seems to be; I don’t think this should come as much of a surprise. Looks like a good chunk of Canterlot had the same idea as me and decided to go get some nice stress food to enjoy. There’s barely any room left in here, and no more outdoor seating either, so I guess I’ll be taking my order to go today.

At least one thing is still constant throughout the multiverse; donuts are perfect for eating while on the move. May I never be reborn into a reality where this fact doesn’t ring true.

Back to what I was saying, it looks like it’ll be awhile before I’ll be able to grab anything. I guess I have the time to wait; it’s not like I’m starving, and there’s no way Solaris will be able to answer my letter to him right away anyways.

With mind made up; I grab an order number, pop a squat on the floor in a far off corner, and make myself comfortable. I make good use of my time too by drafting and sending off the meeting inquiry with the aid of my fire breath and a magic seal. Solaris promised me that he would find time for a talk but, now that he’s actually back on his throne, I figure that he must have a better idea of when said meeting could actually take place for us. He’s bound to be busy at the moment, but maybe he’ll clear his schedule early for me? I guess that’ll ultimately come down to how much he trusts my fake ‘seer’ talk. I’m pretty sure he’s still buying everything I’ve been telling him, but it’s really hard to tell with the guy. I know he knows that I’m still hiding things from him concerning my true nature, but he didn’t make any attempt to wrangle it out of me last time. That could have been due to him being exhausted from the night and his spell but, again, it’s hard to tell with him.

One thing I know for sure; I imagine that we’ll probably not take care of this today. As I mentioned previously on the docks; despite the sun rising not too long ago, the clock on the walls says that it’s almost dusk time (the part of the day, not the pony). Through the window above where I sit, which I had cracked open slightly in order to send my scroll, I can see the sun beginning to set as if it were a normal day.

Upon finishing my sightseeing through the portal to the outside world, having sated my curiosity, I turn around in order to sit back down.

Before I can complete this task, I lift my head up slightly and notice that literally everypony in this room has stopped what they were doing… and are now jittering fearfully in place as they stare out the windows. It takes me a second to process the sight, but soon this reaction makes perfect sense to me.

We’ve been devoid of the sun for the last four days. Now upon its return, after having just risen not five hours ago, it’s already setting? If I wasn’t so in the loop about the Elements and Dusk’s fight with Nebula, I’d imagine that I’d be shaking in my scales the same as everyone else! I wish I could tell everypony here not to worry, and that they don’t have anything to be afraid of, but I’m pretty sure nopony would seriously listen to the words of a chi-

“LOOK UP THERE!!”

A sudden voice, crying from outside, yanks me out of my thoughts and returns me to the now. I stand up, along with many others, as we all turn to see who had just said that. A few ponies gallop outside, to see what the speaker is talking about, and many more rush to crowd the windows. The one I had used not even a minute ago is abruptly taken away from me as I’m rudely swept aside without a second thought.

“For the love of-. Does nopony in this town know how to properly treat a lady?!” I fume audibly, expecting to be ignored.

Good thing I keep my standards low for this town, because that’s exactly what happens.

Figures. Instead of focusing on my anger, I instead use this time to dash between the patrons’ many legs and work my way over to the front door. Once I make it outside, I stare as all heads turn upwards towards where the original, nondescript speaker’s outstretched foreleg is now pointing. My eyes soon join in as well, and trace where she’s trying to lead us all…

… only for my sight to be drawn towards the highest tower in Canterlot Castle. This is where the Prince’s personal chambers lie.

Taking my gaze off of the scene for a brief moment, I look around searchingly for a better vantage point. Spotting an abandoned table, I push myself into action so that I can climb and jump up on top of it with ease; all so that I can see things just a little bit better. From my raised platform, I draw my eyes back upwards and, as a result of my efforts, I can now thankfully make out what everypony else is currently watching very intently. You see, there's this small balcony attached to the Prince’s quarters where he uses his telescope and where he raises the sun and moon on a daily basis. Seeing him out on it now is such a normal, benign occurrence that on an average day I’m sure nopony would have ever taken the time to glance up to see if anything was amiss… But today is not an average day.

Today the Prince has a guest.

The murmurs from the pony crowd around me pick up in strength as this detail becomes more well known. The rising and lowering of the sun is such a private act for the Prince, only shared with his subjects on select days throughout the year, that the sight of a pony now standing next to him is enough to send the rumor mills into overdrive. Even from all the way down here, I can just barely make out the sight of Solaris’ horn glowing in direct correlation to the setting sun. As it dips over the horizon, there is a moment when the world is bathed once again in complete blackness. Arcane street lights start to turn on in response, and candles are burned as well as Canterlot passively fights against the night once again; the same as any other day.

Gasps of shock pass over the gathered ponies, and the whole of Canterlot itself, when this normal nightly routine reveals one tiny deviation.

That deviation being that the light from Prince Solaris’ horn is now fading. He has lowered the sun, but not raised the moon.

The world is silent.

…

… And then Artemis’ horn glows bright blue.

Screeches of panic and confusion ring out loudly in the streets as the unthinkable happens; as another is revealed to possess the power to move celestial bodies. As the moon streaks across the night’s sky, not aided by Solaris’ magic, ponies begin to cry out that this has to be the work of Nightterror Nebula. Many point out how the moon no longer has its ancient mark, and many more are begging to the sky for there not to be another eternal night. The angry whispers turn toxic as more and more rumors are born and quickly circulated; as poniestheorize that Solaris has been possessed by Nebula into relinquishing control, or that the so called ‘Prince’ Artemis was him in disguise. On and on the mob churns, getting madder and madder before my eyes. This lasts all the way through Artemis’ first moon rising since his return, and keeps going once the massive object has settled in its proper place in the sky.

It's only once his horn ends its glow, and the stars start to slowly come out, did the crying and the fearful talks of fallen alicorns… finally stop.

Words are lost on us all as we observe what is honestly the most beautiful night sky any of us had ever seen in our entire lives.

This is not the same darkness Nightterror Nebula had created when he first returned to this world. That night was just like all the other nights Prince Solaris had conjured in his brother’s absence for the last thousand years. It was cold, and dark, and only broken up slightly by a few stars and, of course, the moon. Outside of the imprint of the imprisoned alicorn on the lunar surface, I would be hard pressed to tell you the difference between Equestrian Night and a regular night on Earth.

With Prince Artemis back at the helm… well…

I don’t think there’s a dry eye in the whole dang world.

The stars don’t simply glow now, they shimmer and ignite. They are many and numerous, full of shapes and designs previously unseen on this or any world. Formations of creatures both mythical and real dot the heavens, and shine down on us now complete and whole for the first time in eons. Comets race across the black abyss as well, with coattails made of stardust sparkling brightly behind them. They’re not the only objects that shine brightly either. The moon is now larger and more prominent than ever. Though it doesn’t look any closer then where it was last night, it’s still now possible to see so many little details across its surface; from craters to scars to even the dusty remains of where the Man in the Moon’s image once dwelled.

And I haven’t even mentioned the colors yet.

I’m not talking auroras or describing any sort of technicolored hellscape here. No… what I’m talking about is the overall expression of everything, if that makes any sort of sense to you. The stars are made of blues and reds and yellows, and the moon isn’t just white. Rainbows dot the sky, made up of unthinkable amounts of stardust that fade slowly into the infinite expanse of space as quickly as they appear.

I feel like a blind woman seeing the sky for the first time.

It’s all so… indescribably wonderful.

“If only I could see Dusk’s face right now,” I wish as I stand in awe of Artemis’ work. I wipe away happy tears from my eyes as I continue to enjoy the display. “I bet he’s losing his astrology loving mind, and saying things like, ‘Oh my gosh oh my oh my gosh!!’ He's probably bouncing all around with his friends too...”

Hehe, yeah… that sounds just like him…

...

… A cynical part of me is now pointing out that it’s going to get pretty hard to sleep in the future with all these lights now up in the sky...

… I tell that part of me to shut the heck up.

“Wow,” comments a nearby pony. It’s hard to tell where that came from, as similar things are being said and shared between all the ponies around me. There are still the occasional dangerous sounding whispers dotted here or there, muttering things about not trusting the sight, but they're being soundly drowned in the sea of excited and cheerful voices. Good.

Despite this, I still make an effort to try to figure out who had just uttered their surprise so close to me. It sounded… a little familiar, so I’m curious. Rubbernecking about helps me locate this pony pretty breezily, as the speaker was actually sitting at the table right next to mine.

I call out to this pony as soon as I spot him.

“Lunardanseur?”

Startled that somepony had called his name, the yellowish grey coated unicorn quits his stargazing as he searches back and forth for the speaker. His mane, filled with dark purples and brilliant amaranth (and styled so similarly to Dusk’s own, I might add), bounces as he jerks his head my way and settles his eyes on my form. He adjusts his glasses briefly, making sure they are correctly settled…

… and then he frowns at me.

“I told you to call me Moonhoofer, Barbara.”

My cheeks light up thanks to this.

“Oops,” I stutter. “Sorry, Lun-, Moonhoofer. Old habits are hard to break, h-hehe…”

Moonhoofer continues to glare at me. I have a pretty good inkling as to why this is the case, and it’s not because I had just called him by his original name versus the one he gave himself upon getting his cutie mark.

It’s been awhile, but if you can recall way back to four days ago; I was set, with gift in hand, to go to a party being thrown by a former sitter of mine. That sitter, I said at the time, was Lunardanseur. That’s what he was called back when I was, like, three. His was the first complicated pony name I was able to properly pronounce, so it was difficult for me to let that go when he changed it. Again, old habits are hard to break. Being a sitter, and working the castle part-time, wasn’t Moonhoofer’s life calling though; the study of magic was, similarly to Dusk. The two were even classmates for a time, along with a few other unicorns, and as recent as last year they were still attending study sessions together. Sadly I don’t think Dusk ever noticed Moonhoofer always being closely nearby, but that didn’t stop the latter from inviting him to that party we…

… ultimately skipped out on.

Pretty sure that’s why he’s mad now.

“S-so,” I stammer out, trying to be friendly. I was the one who called out to him first, after all. “Sorry Dusk and I couldn’t make it to your party earlier.”

The stallion remains quiet.

I decide to keep talking. “W-we were totally going to go, I swear! But, well…”

“I doubt that,” Moonhoofer interrupts, propping his head up on the table with a hoof. “It was a long shot anyways. Should have known that he’d get distracted by a book or something.”

“That’s not true!” I retort loudly… only to immediately reconsider my words. “... Well okay it’s kinda true… but I was honestly about to come to your party, Moonhoofer! I had a gift ready for you and everything!”

A teddy bear, you may recall. It was tragically impaled by my tail. I didn’t have time to check out the state of the other gift I had put in there either; the picture fra-

“You don’t have to make stuff up, Barbara,” Moonhoofer cuts my thoughts off, continuing our conversation. “It’s fine that you guys didn’t come. It was a bust anyways…”

The unicorn then looks up from me, and scans the nearby crowd.

“... Where is Dusk, by the way? I don’t see him…”

“He's not here,” I answer, bringing his attention back to me. “And it's what I've been trying to tell you! We really were going to go to your party, Moonhoofer, but Dusk got ordered by the Prince to go to Ponyville instead!”

Moonhoofer cocks his head at this.

“Ponyville? Why? There’s nothing there but the Everfree.”

“And the Summer Sun Celebration!” I point out.

“Oh… I guess you’re right,” Moonhoofer concedes. “I heard that The Nightterror showed up there.”

“Yeah!” I reply, shaking my head. “And things got super crazy when it happened, but Dusk was able to handle it just fine!”

“Handle? What do you mean?”

I blink. Oh. Oops. Am I allowed to share the whole ‘Savior of Equestria’ thing with ponies outside of Ponyville yet? Gleam was going to tell her parents about it, so I guess family is okay... I probably should have asked the Prince about this before he left. Better play it safe for now.

“O-oh, you know,” I try to brush his question aside with a wave of my claws. I turn my head away, and try to hide my sweat. “I mean he didn’t scream or do anything too stupid. That kind of handle.”

I think he bought it. “Oh. That makes sense.” Looks like he did. “... But if you’re here… Does that mean he’s still in Ponyville?”

I nod my head happily. “Yeah! Just like I said! We’re actually moving there if you can believe it!”

“... What?”

Pausing, I’m slightly startled by the tone in which Moonhoofer had asked this one word question with.

“Er… yeah?” I answer, unsure about that response. “The Prince wants him to study friendship over there.”

“F-friendship?”

Again I nod my head.

“Yeah. A lot has happened this week, Moonhoofer. You se- Hey where are you going?!”

“Home,” the stallion mutters lowly, the words hitching in his throat. In leaving his spot, he abandons a half eaten donut, a full cup of coffee, and even a book. He mutters as he exits as well, but thanks to all the other ponies chattering I can’t hear a thing. “I really wasn’t good enough to be his friend… or anypony else's…”

“Wait!” I cry out, trying to grab him one last time before he left. “Moon- Achoo!”

Damn it Solaris your timing is freaking impeccable.

Before I can say anymore a magically induced sneeze awkwardly cuts off my words, and releases a small stream of fire out of my nostrils. With the smell of brimstone now overtaking my senses, an object forms within the flames I had produced. On practiced instinct, I stretch out my claw and grab the dragonflame transported scroll out of the air before it can drop onto the ground. It bares the royal seal, and it’s addressed to me. This is obviously my answer to my earlier inquiry about our meeting.

That’s all I notice about it, though, as I spare the object only a single glance before returning my attention back towards the retreating Moonhoofer.

Too little too late. He's already long gone.

Though I don’t have proper ears, the fins on the side of my head produce a pony-like response by drooping to show my disappointment. Moonhoofer…

… is kind of a jerk, if I’m being honest.

And he’s self absorbed.

And he doesn’t really give a flying feather about anything else but his studies...

… In other words, he’s Dusk Shine 2.0.

But... I’ve grown to love Dusk over time, despite his quirks. I was willing to give him a chance because I always knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel for him. With Moonhoofer, I’m unfortunately not so sure; I don’t remember if his mare version ever made an appearance on the show. Because of this lack of insight, and because I've never seen him make any attempt at bettering himself, I never really knew if the light at the end of his tunnel was the shining beacon of character development... or a speeding train.

The result of this is that I've never invested too much time with him, but I still thought of him as a kinda sorta friend at least, just like the rest of Dusk’s classmates. I mean, hanging out every now and then is sort of what real Friendship is, right? It’s how it works on Earth at least...

… Maybe this is why Spike, and by extension me, are not the main characters on a show aimed at teaching friendship lessons. 'On today's episode of My Little Dragon, we'll learn the value of calling up your friend once every three years, talking for only ten minutes, and then never speaking to each other for another three years! Yaaayyy!'

Mine and Spike’s questionable role model worthiness aside; it’s not my job to worry about how Dusk’s move is going to affect the ponies he’s leaving behind. I have other things to worry about, like figuring out how I'm going to present the Discord episode to Prince Solaris later. Moonhoofer, Citrus Heart, Harpsy, and all those other dudes who used to ‘hangout’ with us aren’t important to the overall story. Dusk never considered them friends before anyways. They only joined him in study groups so they could get better grades, I bet. Acquaintances at best, and not really worth my time fussing over.

…

… Maybe I should find time to get Moonhoofer that gift at least. Just like with this donut shop visit, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get another chance to do this again for awhile. Maybe I should even tell Dusk about how he reacted to the news of him moving? He might try to come back to Canterlot if I tell him though, so he can speak with him directly. With the show now starting, I’m not sure if it’s wise to distract him from all the lessons he’s about to learn. We really should just stick with the script... Which is hypocritical of me to even think about because I’m planning on completely dismantlingseason two’s premier before it can happen!

Boy this is getting confusing fast.

Bottom line; I need to be able to make the decision, on the fly, on whether whatever I’m going to do will be beneficial to the future or damaging. Even being concerned for a kinda friend will have far reaching consequences if it disrupts the show... But I won’t have the show forever to rely on either! I only have so many episodes still in my head anymore. Soooo... maybe I should get involved with this jerky Dusk look-a-like, and maybe I shouldn't do a gosh darn thing, or perhaps… Ugh! What to do what to do what to do...

…

… An object suddenly sparkles out of the corner of my eye.

Looking downwards, I spot a single Equestrian Bit laying by itself on the table Moonhoofer had just abandoned. Jumping across my table to the next, being mindful not to step on the 'Enchanted Objects Throughout History' book left behind, I pick up the common currency piece and consider it. One side has Solaris’ head on it, the other has his cutie mark. Due to its color and weight, it’s to be treated as the lowest amount of value a Bit can be; equaling only one of itself. Remembering that all payments are made up front at Pony Mary Joe Shoppe, and taking heart that this is most likely not some kind of tip, I grip the golden item in my claw and ponder it’s actual worth; the one it has to me in this moment.

“... This is stupid,” I spoke to myself, in reference to the idea now forming in my head. And yeah… it is…

... But...

"Both options seem viable," I frustratingly admit. "I-I can’t decide what I should or shouldn't do about this. I have a fifty fifty chance of my decision being the right one, and a fifty fifty chance it being the wrong one as well..."

Which is why I’m going to now leave Moonhoofer’s fate up to chance.

"Whichever god exists for real out there, please have mercy," I offer a small prayer, as I hold the unassuming coin aloft.

“... Heads,” I declare boldly. “And I’ll tell Dusk what happened here and leave it up to him.

“Tails,” I list in addition, balling up and applying pressure to the golden decider of destiny. “And I’ll seal my lips, and focus on the present. I’ve got more important things to worry about right now; I shouldn’t distract myself like this.”

The coin feels heavy in my grip.

My claw shakes.

... I take a deep breath to steady myself.

“Well… here goes…”

The Bit rests neatly on my thumbed claw, ready to fly.

“...something!” I finish, allowing Lady Luck to take the wheel from me.

Hopefully she's sober enough to drive.

~Flip~

Author's Note

Howdy howdy~

A quick shout out to Nopetrain for helping me with the gender-swapped names for a good number of characters. He also helped me brainstorm Prince 'Bolo' Bolero's personality a bit, which I greatly appreciate.

Another small note, as many may have noticed, Lunardanseur has been reintroduced as Moonhoofer. This was done so that it's a little more obvious which canon character he's based on. I also added a few things to his backstory here, in conjunction to what was already established, so that he better fits his counterpart's history.

I also retconned in the picture frame into Barb's gift for him in the same way the actual show retconned it for Spike's.

And this will be the only time I will ever use the dreaded RET word, I promise XD

'Till next time!

-Derply

Entry 3, End (Friendship is Magic Part 2)

“... Goodness you were right! You did see quite a bit more than me!”

“Hehe. Don’t get too jealous now, your majesty!”

“Hah! Perish the thought! From personal experience, my dear; less is more.”

“If you say so,” I chuckle right back, before downing the last few drops of tea from my now empty cup. The talks thus far have made me very parched.

This is understandable. I had just finished sharing the entirety of Discord’s two episodes with Prince Solaris, after all. No event was too small and no detail was left unmentioned; the CMC's role, the chocolate rain skies, the summons to Canterlot, the stolen Elements, the hedge maze disaster, the opposite ponies, the Spike abuse, the triumphant return, and the victorious re-stoning... I covered EVERYTHING. Though certain parts are still a little fuzzy to me after all these years, I think I went over most of the major stuff.

Solaris was thankfully a good listener during this. Outside of a few small comments, or a tiny inquiry concerning which mare was which stallion, he’s remained mostly quiet. He's allowed me to share my tale unhampered.

Now... it’s time for the all important question.

“What do we do now?”

I addressed these words directly towards the Prince, and I did so seriously and without my earlier good mirth. Its been fun to get at least this much off my chest, and I can't wait to share the stuff about the wedding and the Crystal Empire later, but it will all be for naught if we don't now act on this heads up!

This will ultimately come down to Solaris, however. He is the Prince of Equestria, and the only one between us able to do anything productive about this situation.

With a small hum to himself, the stallion in question meditates privately on the decision now laid out before him.

“... Now?” he eventually repeats, causing me to unabashedly lean closer towards him in anticipation. “Hmmm… Well…”

… TwinkleTwinkleTwinkle

Before I can react, I find myself once again unceremoniously lifted off the ground with the aid of golden magic, and just as swiftly deposited onto the Prince's awaiting back.

“... Now I feel that a change of scenery is in order!” Solaris snickers in amusement as he magics away our used cups and pillows.

“What?” I remark as the Prince begins the task of exiting the maze. I grip the back of his short mane as well in this time, so I won’t slide off. “Why?” I ask too, successfully using two fifths of the five major W’s in a single breath. “I-I don’t think we should be talking about these kinds of things out in the open…”

“And we won’t,” Solaris reassures me with only the slightest tilting of his head. “It's just that I'd rather we continue things inside the castle, Barbara. The weather ponies have scheduled a light rain shower for today, you see, and if those gathering clouds in the distance are any indication... I fear we are fast approaching the storm!”

“Oh,” I concur as we leave the maze and travel across the now darkening gardens. “I guess that makes sense... Are we heading towards your room then?”

With a slight halt to consider the feminine statue of Discord as we pass it by, the Prince shakes his head. “No, I fear that the old place is rather occupied at the moment. Artemis' room is still being constructed, so he's currently using mine... But have no fear! There are halls within this castle that have not been touched in years! I give you my word that we will be fine. There is a place I’d like to show you as well… That and I’d also like to stretch my legs a little, if I may. I don’t get many opportunities to simply walk about these days! Haha!”

I try to argue this, having not been fully convinced yet about this plan. “Bu-”

“I suppose I could also teleport us to this destination instead, if you feel that we are now pressed for time,” Solaris interrupts me to add. “Though I felt that I was being considerate to you by not simply casting the spell right now. I still remember quite vividly how Dusk’s first disastrous attempt at it went all those years ag-”

“Walking is fine,” I cut in, blushing hard. “Walking is suuuuper fine, yup yup!”

Ahem... If I may...

... Buck teleportation.

Buck it hard.

Quick background for the less informed; Dusk’s first attempt at the spell involved using me as a test subject. It was not as fun as I imagined it would be. I still remember feeling unbearably hot during the process, and I came out the other side with a migraine, an upset stomach, and covered head to toe in sticky black stuff.

Said stuff was not easy to get out of scales, let me tell you.

With these thoughts in mind, I remain quiet as we cross the gardens together uninterrupted. The sound of crunching grass beneath us fills me with an empowering feeling of calm, and a rare moment of normalcy. The sharp, pungent aroma of ozone graces my nostrils as well in this time, and aids me a little in taking my mind off of the now slowly growing sense of anxiety welling up inside me...

“... I understand that Captain Gleaming Shield has taken a vacation?” suddenly interjects Prince Solaris, during the momentary bout of silence that had formed between us.

Catching the hint, I respond, “Y-yeah." I guess this will be a safe enough topic as any to pass the time with for now. Hopefully it'll be distracting enough to tide me over for a couple minutes at least. "That’s certainly what I wrote in my letter last night… You’re not mad that she did that out of the blue, are you?”

“Goodness no!” the alicorn insists as we now enter the castle's doors. “That filly has more than earned a little R&R! That goes double for my nephew as well; I’m so proud that he stepped up for Equestria in her darkest hour!”

At the mentioning of the Prince of Love, my mind quickly imagines a scenario where Bolo is sitting lazily on his throne, playing matchmaker with everpony that approaches him while Canterlot burns to the ground in the background.

This image causes me to chuckle under my breath.

“Hm? What’s so funny, Barb?”

“N-nothing,” I whistle innocently. Speaking honestly, I add that, “I wasn’t here for his short rule, but I’m sure Prince Bolero followed your instructions to the letter!”

There’s a momentary pause.

“... Instructions?” Solaris asks, tilting his head so he can better see me on his back.

“Well… yeah?” I ask right back, equally confused. Taking a second to make sure it was safe to talk about more sensitive things, I whisper, “You know? The instructions for the Summer Sun Celebration? You guys knew The Nightterror was coming back, so I assume you had a plan in place for when you were gone…

“... Right?”

“...”

Turning his head back forward, the Prince continues to trot in silence. The rain begins in this time, and the sound of its splashing drops echos loudly throughout the castle's inner walls.

“... Sir?” I probe again, concerned about his new quiet state of being.

“...”

“... Here we are, Barbara.”

Startled by the abrupt return to words, I cease staring into the back of Solaris’ head and instead observe our new surroundings.

We're now… in the same sort of hallway that can be found anywhere in Canterlot Castle. Marble pillars, glass windows, pots with no flowers… Nothing looks special here to me.

“Upon my word, these halls are safe,” the Prince declares, probably sensing my lack of understanding. “We are free to speak uncensored once more.”

With the sound of hooves clicking and clacking throughout the corridor, and with the rain being reflected in the many windows surrounding us, we resume moving forward.

“... Allow me to pick your brain, my friend,” Solaris restarts the talks once more. “...Why do you think I brought guards with me to the celebrations this week?”

Huh? Why? Why is he asking me that?

I mean, the answer is obvious... right?

“Because it only makes sense to protect the ruler of the nation when he leaves his castle?”

Solaris laughs at this answer.

“Very true, Barb,” he concedes to me. “That truly is the logical solution to such a scenario, so please allow me to ask a different question instead... What role did they play in the prophecy that has already come to pass?”

Again I’m left stumped, and asking myself what's the point of this inquiry? Regardless, I still rack my brain for a bit before getting an unsure answer of, “Well… none. The prophecy was about the boys, who I guess were the 'stars', and The Man in the Moon, who was Nightterror Nebula...”

“Correct again!” Solaris cheers happily and animatedly, which causes me to dip slightly on his back. As I reorient myself, the Prince goes on to praise me a little more, “You even got the 'stars' portion correct! I'm impressed, Barbara...

"... Moving on though; the prophecy, the one an old Seer friend of mine wrote on her deathbed, included no guards. It didn’t include Gleaming or her soldiers, and it didn’t include either of us… So, again I'll ask you; why did I bring guards with me? If our visions didn’t include them, why would I bring them at all?”

Now this question stumps me the hardest at first. The ambient noise shrinks away to nothingness to my ears as I push all of my focus into finding an answer. Why did he bring them... Why why why...?

Eventually, I come up with a solution that seems fair enough.

“You didn’t know that Artemis could be restored originally,” I hazard a guess. “I was the one who revealed that to you, not your own visions! So you brought them... just in case The Nightterror needed to be contained...?”

That's about the best response I can think of.

Solaris still snorts at it though.

“C-close,” he cracks up, clearly taking joy in my struggles. Perhaps this is sort of petty revenge for my earlier blowing of his mind... “Very close, but you’re not quite there yet. You are correct in stating that I didn’t know my brother’s hopeful outcome to this whole ordeal. The idea behind this claim though, the one about how I didn’t know... that is as close as you got to the answer, Barbara.

“The real answer... is that Gleaming Shield didn’t know either!”

“... What?”

Now seeming a little more like his usual self, Solaris laughs at my confusion. “She didn’t know about my brother being restored as well. She also didn’t know about her own brother’s involvement, or that four days of darkness was coming… or that The Nightterror was returning at all.”

I nearly fall right off of Solaris’ back thanks to this confession.

“W-what?!” I jitter. “You didn’t tell the Captain of the flipping guards about a threat like that?! Why?! Y-you're pulling my leg, right? I mean, s-she had to secretly know about all this... right?!?”

“Hehe” the Prince continues to snicker at me. “I’m afraid things were not that elaborate, Barbara."

Then, as if he was unleashing a grand punchline, Prince Solaris grins brightly as he stretches his wings upwards to his side; reiterating proudly that

"Gleaming Shield and her soldiers were as blind as everypony else that night!"

I'm left dumbfounded.

"The same can be said for Prince Mi Amore Bolero," he further goes on to explain. "His temporary ascension to the throne was a noble sacrifice that he made of his own free will! The knowledge of his actions comforts me greatly, and fills me with confidence that the lessons on how to be a proper ruler have not been wasted on him, as was the case with Princess Bluebelle.”

As the Prince folds his wings back to his side, I find myself still too stunned to process these words properly.

“But… b-but they know you can see the future, right?!” I plead desperately, trying in vein to understand. “It’s not common knowledge, but I figured that at least your staff kne-”

“Only three beings currently alive today know about my Seer status, Barbara,” Prince Solaris states bluntly, halting my rant. “You, my brother, and an old enemy of mine. My powers have been a close kept secret for the entirety of Equestria’s history, and I'm afraid to say that I plan to keep it that way for the foreseeable future.”

“WHY?!”

Solaris chuckles further at my frustration.

I’m not finding this particularly funny though.

“If you have such a power,” I raise my voice. “Why aren’t you letting more ponies know?! S-so many of them were scared out of their minds when the sun went down yesterday! They were frightened too when Nightterror Nebula originally showed up! Red Gala thought she lost her little brother, and so did Gleam! And ponies weren’t prepared to see Artemis’ beautiful night, being too afraid of him, and, a-and…”

“And you’re afraid of letting Dusk know about your past.”

Solaris’ words silences me completely.

My eyes widen.

Again, the Prince turns his neck so as to better look at me.

His expression is reassuring and consoling.

“Fear is a natural part of life, Barbara,” he speaks wisely. “My power can't eliminate it as a whole, as it lies within us all in one form or another. It is as unavoidable as sadness, love, and death at the end of the line.

“That said... you're right to think that it is an emotion that should be mitigated to an extent. It is why I assume you have chosen to bury your secrets deep within yourself, and why I assume you express it through creative outlets such as… oh, I don’t know; let’s say…

"... writing?”

I now find my free claw subconsciously gripping the strap of my purse.

The same purse that holds The Poisoned Barb.

With heart beating fiercely in my chest, my two eyes lock on to Solaris’ one as the two of us participate in the fiercest staring contest I’ve ever been apart of.

It thankfully doesn’t last long, as Solaris willingly blinks first.

“Your secrecy is valid, my friend,” reassures the alicorn as he starts trotting forward once more. “In time I hope you'll understand that mine is as well... I also feel as though your fear will prove to be valid too. It is because of this assumption that I have not pushed you any further on the subject, and why I grant you your freedom in keeping the full truth from me...

"... Please note though that if I felt in any way that what you hide may prove dangerous to yourself or others, I would have under no circumstances extended such a kindness onto you in the past.

“And now, by that same token... This is the reason why I did not grant you the same freedom when it came to your Seer powers, Barbara. You have my word that I will never reveal to your friends either secret, if I am to ever learn more... But this will come at a... price.”

“P-price?” I whimper out as I shrink under Solaris’ metaphorical gaze.

“Yes...” he confirms, not granting me another glance. “A price. The same price, in fact, that even I still pay to this day.

"It is as thus, Barbara The Dragoness," the Prince goes on. "I expect, neigh, command you to follow the Code of the Seer that I have spent hundreds of lifetimes maintaining. In doing so, I feel as though we could together lead Equestria towards a truly harmonious future.”

“Code... of the Seer?” I mindlessly repeat, in an attempt to gain clarity from the words alone.

"... What was your intentions in showing me your vision, my friend?"

"T-," I try to choke out for Solaris. I'm scared of where this is now going. "T-to change it, sir..."

With head still aimed squarely forward, focusing on the path ahead, the Prince simply grunts in response.

“Just as I feared... and exactly why The Code was originally created."

My heart beats loudly in my ears.

"The Code's current form is a relatively new revision, Bard,” the Prince attempts to explain for me, emphasizing every vital syllable as if it were his last. “It's not even a decade old yet. I simplified the original contents myself after an event reshaped how I view our powers as a whole… and how I interpret their actual worth."

With no warning, my alicorn steed halts in place once again and intently trains his good eye on me.

“... The Code is as follows," he begins, making damn sure that I'm paying close attention. "It consists of only two truths, working in tandem, to insure that our secret society's morals can be easily passed down and preserved to those who will come after us.

"The first truth, Barbara, is that the Future is not set in stone; it is as fluid as a river and just as ever changing...

“... The second truth is that the Future is a stone; one whose face has already long since been fully carved.”

“That… t-that doesn’t make sense,” I stutter out weakly, grasping at straws; trying to get a straight answer for once in this miserable life.

There’s a pause as mine and the Prince's eyes remain locked in place.

Eventually, as he turns his head once more and resumes his slow stride, Solaris speaks plainly and clearly for me for the first time in a long, long while.

“It means that our visions must come to pass, Barbara.”

My heart plummets into my stomach as a result.

All sense of hope still within me soon follows suit.

“No,” I stammer out hysterically, shaking in my seat. “N-no no no! Y-you can’t be serious! You… you lost an eye!” I roar, gripping the pony’s mane harder. “That happened during an event we let happen! One we saw! One we worked at making come true! You can’t… y-you can’t be seriously telling me that what happened to you was fine?!”

“Barbara.”

“You can’t be telling me that we should just let Discord walk all over us and do what sh- he wants!”

“Barbara.”

Tears blur my vision.

“Y-you can’t be telling me that everything is going to be okay if we just do nothing…"

The future can change, but it's set in stone.

"... You can't be telling me..."

No matter what I do, I can't change the destination.

"... that you w-would have still had your eye..."

All I'm doing, all my mere presence in this world is doing...

"... if I h-hadn't tried to stay a-awake.”

... is making the journey bumpier.

Plunk! Twinkletwinkletwinkle

Before I’m given the chance to process what’s going on, I find a sort of white material softly wiping itself across my wet face. Fighting back my waterworks, my mind puts two and two together and causes my eyes to widen once more.

Solaris had plucked a few of his own feathers, and is using them to dry my tears.

With head once again turned to face me, that same pacifying smile of his from earlier makes yet another appearance.

“Barbara,” he coos gently to me. “You are not to blame for what happened to me. While it's true that what we do can send massive ripples into the future, and change events drastically for the worse; ultimately it was Nebula's choices and Nebula's choices alone that scarred me so, not yours!

"Please understand that I meant it when I said that your fears for the future are valid; I meant it when I said I value your Sight, and that I value our friendship! I would do nothing to purposely hurt you, child, and The Code is not meant to do that either, despite its bluntness.

"The Code was crafted long ago by Seers wiser than myself, in order to maintain a sense of balance to events yet to transpire. The changes I've made to it in recent times have not caused it to deviate from this original intention, but to instead better highlight this unbreakable law to all. I reforged and refined it into it's current form in response to an event that still haunts me now; an event that strengthened my trust in its words and its worth.

"This event of which I speak was when my Sight surprised me greatly.

"It surprised me by forcing me to watch the same vision... twice.”

Sniffing, I calm myself down enough to listen more carefully. This attempt at stability causes Solaris to lean the side of his head against my own, and to softly lie it on top of my forehead in order to comfort me. We remain in place as such until he breaks the contact first; perhaps sensing how my body is now stiller. Though he now looks away from me, the Prince's eye refuses to focus on anything in particular.

Instead he stares outwards forlornly through the rain soaked window besides us.

“... The scene I witnessed," he mutters quietly, before drumming up the courage to speak normally once more. "The scene was of The Nightterror’s defeat at the hooves of six ponies, and Artemis' timely rescue.

"It came to me first during a meeting with an old orphanage’s owner. The subject of the discussion I had with her has long since been lost to the recesses of my mind, but I still remember what the Sight provided for me that day as clearly as if I was watching it again as we speak.

“The vision I witnessed saw my then future student, Dusk Shine, standing triumphantly alongside his fire-forged friends…

“... all while the blue Element of Laughter dangled proudly off his form.”

“...”

“... Barbara? Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” I manage to squeak out, all while my head finds itself in a new daze. “Just trying to figure out how we had an entire conversation about a parallel Equestria where you’re a Pretty Princess…and yet you still found a way to one up me!!”

Despite the serious swerve and edge this whole meeting has taken, this still puts stitches right into Prince Solaris’ side.

“It’s n-not a competition,” he attempts to lie around his guffaws. “And the scenario is not as unlikely as you may think. A pony can mean many different things to many different ponies; where in one group you may be seen as the kind one, in another you could be known as the most loyal! Dusk wielding such an Element was not outside the realm of possibility to me back then, as this vision revealed itself to me quite a number of years before I even so much as met the young colt...”

Solaris' expression then turns dark.

“... But I’m afraid that my current student is not the focus of this old tale, Barbara. No," he then chokes slightly, as his words gain a mournful aura to them. "Instead... the focus of this sad story for today will be about the bearer of the Element of Magic from my original vision... It will be about my personal student before Dusk.

"It will be about a young unicorn known as Sunset Blaze."

Sunset... Blaze?

... That's not a name I recognize, from this world or the show...

But then... why does it still sound so familiar to me?

My friend's story continues on as I search my own memories, and try to find an answer.

“Destiny saw fit to bring the two of us together that day; the same day the vision appeared before me," Solaris waxes poetic. "Sunset started out as an orphaned foal within the walls I was visiting back then. He showed great promise in the art of magic at an early age, so I chose to take him under my wings and aid him in his growth.

"... Originally my intentions were not so noble, I'll willingly confess. I was only aiming to set him up to play the role fate had assigned to him; I felt it was my part to play in his story.

"This poor attitude of mine reflected greatly in his early lessons, and it only served to drive him further and further towards pleasing me. I, as the fool that I was and still am, saw this as a good thing, and as the sign of a worthy cultivation. My first vision contained Prince Artemis' safe return, Barbara! I wanted my brother back so badly that I... I-I refused to let anything stand in my way towards our reunion...

“... And Sunset suffered because of this tunnel vision. I pushed him too far... So eager to please me was he, so willing to rise up and win every challenge set before him... Before I realized it, he started to drift towards darker pursuits. He… h-he started seeking forbidden knowledge to better himself, and he eventually attempted to make himself an alicorn like me, consequences be damned.

"When it became apparent that I had failed him as a teacher, I prematurely ended our lessons and removed him from my school before I could hurt him any further. As it slowly dawned on me that I had just banished an orphaned, cutie mark-less eight year old into the cruel world all by his lonesome, he… left. He left before I could hope to correct my mistakes...

“... The event left a hole in my heart, Barbara; a hole equal in size to the one my mistakes with Artemis had left in me centuries earlier.”

Our movement stops completely as Solaris lowers his head to the ground in shame.

"My Sight, and my actions as a result of it, ruined a young pony's life, Barbara.

"I killed his happy future."

Rain continues to fall as the halls return to silence.

I…

… Wow.

T-that’s a lot to take in.

Sunset Blaze… I’ve heard this name before...

... and now I know from where.

Sunset Shimmer was the name of an old pony toy Ashley once had, whose box mentioned that the orange mare was a former student of Celestia's. The pony herself never appeared on the show, at least from what I can still recall, but I always knew that her colt self existed here in this Equestria somewhere. You may remember when I mentioned before how I stumbled on an old journal of his, way back when The Poisoned Barb was a journal itself instead of a diary? Well, outside of it being a completely full book with no pages left to write in it, I didn’t glean anything else of importance from the dusty old tome at the time. All it served to do, in the grand scheme of things, was to confirm for me how real this world actually was during the darkest point in my life; back when I felt that this place was only here to make me suffer. To hear such a sad story about him now…

“... Where did he go, Solaris?” I ask, momentarily setting aside our past conversation about the future. I honestly want to know. “His future may have obviously changed, but did he ever find peace at least?”

I don't receive an answer at first.

“That… is a story for another time, I'm afraid,” the Prince eventually deflects, walking forward down the hallway. Looking up, it seems like we’re about at the end of this winding road. We’ve hit a number of twists and turns so far, but mentally I still know where we are in this big old place. We’re for sure a long ways away from most of the common traffic; I don’t even think Dusk has been this far off the beaten path before. “This current story I speak of isn’t complete yet, Barbara. I haven’t explained my second vision; the one that replaced Sunset with Dusk, and the other bearers with five completely different ponies.

“I received this followup vision on the same day that you were born, actually, and the same day when I first met Dusk Shine. I recognized him from my first Sight right away, and upon meeting him in person I came to the discovery that a lighter touch was going to be necessary in order to push him towards his new destiny. My Sight may have shown me a future that lacked the return of Prince Artemis, but it was still a future I was willing to work towards. I refused to let another suffer because of my negligence… T-though I did briefly fail this goal when it came to you, my dear friend; when I sent you to those horrible Bluebelles for training. It seems like this has become a rather poor[ habit of mine. Perhaps my brother may be able to steer me back to the proper path, or perhaps even yourself or Dusk… Only time will tell, I suppose.”

Solaris then stops trotting; perhaps even for the last time today. We've now halted in front of a locked set of doors so far removed from everything else that I don’t have the foggiest idea as to what it could be here for. To further allude towards this being the final stop in our travels, the Prince next uses his magic to slowly place me back on the ground. Now able to face me fully, my friend chooses to do just that at this time by staring at me head on.

“These events,” he finishes strongly and passionately. “Are what motivated me to create the abridged Code of the Seer, and they are what drive me to be as cautious as I am towards influencing the future; or so much as letting other ponies know about what's to come.

"The events we see will happen one way or another, Barbara. The future can be changed, but I don’t believe even I have the authority to make such decisions lightly. Not without causing another tragedy like Sunset's...”

With ears wilting I…

… can only nod my head in agreement.

There’s no way I’m going to be able to break through a grief-wall that flipping thick! Solaris' reasons are sound, sadly. The future can be changed, but it will just correct itself towards a bumpier path like I said. I... I really can't do anything else but just go with its flow... It looks like Discord/Eris is going to return no matter what.

Guess I’m just going to have to rely on my old fall back; having faith in Dusk.

“I... understand,” I speak in defeat. “I don't like it, but I see where you're coming from... C-can we at least figure out a way to have the scrolls sent to Ponyville during Discord's return so that they won’t cause me to sneeze my brains out each time? I'm really not looking forward to that part!”

Is keeping my dignity intact in this world really that hard to ask for? I mean, seriously?!

Though I’m expecting an answer to my selfish question, Solaris doesn’t provide me one right away. Instead, he turns towards the door in front of us and proceeds to place a key within its lock. With a slight twist with his magic, the dusty room beyond reveals itself fully to the both of us in all its… oldness. It takes my eyes a second to adjust to the oppressing darkness. Although my sight tunes into the dark really quickly due to my draconic nature, the dust particles being thrown up into the air right now make the task quite a bit harder than usual to accomplish.

Eventually though, I’m rewarded for my perseverance with a good hard look at this location.

‘Junk closet’ are the first words that come to mind. Though the room looks to be as large as mine and Dusk’s new bedroom in Ponyville, it doesn’t look like it’s currently being used for much else outside of knickknack collecting. There's old picture frames lining ancient shelves, ratty looking books stacked haphazardly to and fro, and a large tarped object stands front in center over it all. The shape sort of reminds me of a large vanity mirror; perhaps an old one kept around for sentimental reasons? I did the same with an old broken mirror from my youth, back on Earth…

“What… IS this place?” I question as I step inside the room. Casting my eyes around grants me the sight of much of the same; old novels, old paintings, old furniture, old everything.

“This…” Solaris starts to explain as he enters the room as well. He takes in the same sights as me for a brief moment before turning to face me once again. Returning the favor, I bring myself forward just in time to watch as the Prince extends his wings fully, so as to gesture to the entire place as he explains that this,

“... will be Discord’s new home.”

My heart just about leaps up from out of my chest.

“W-what?!” I ask equal parts loudly and hopeful.

Is he insinuating what I think he’s insinuating?!

With a single nod, and calming smile, I confirm that yes; this is the case.

“I said that changing the future isn’t a decision I could make lightly,” Solaris jokes cheekily. Never have I been so overjoyed to be trolled by the master. “But this isn’t a decision I’m making by myself; this will be our choice, Barbara. Next time you have a vision, you tell me. We'll bear the burden together, as a team. You have a vision you don't like, we'll change the future together...

“... Does that sound acceptable to you, my dearest friend?”

Sometimes I love this jerk more than I probably should.

“I… I think it does, your majesty!”

I don’t believe Solaris could look happier if he tried.

“Excellent!” he cheers alongside me. “I’ll be honest with you; I have been dreading that monster’s return ever since I first received those visions about him! I’ve been trying to drum up a solution for months on how to, or even if I should, prevent his return. I believe his power may be too great for this world... But this isn't a change we can make lightly, Barbara. Even with our combined Sights, we may be unable to accurately predict how removing him from the equation will alter events... but together we should be able to steer the outcome towards a more favorable direction!

"From the sound of things, Dusk will be losing out on a valuable bonding experience with his friends as a result… I’ll be sure to replace the end event with one a little more controlled and safe."

"We can replace this stuff?!" I practically squee, hardly believing the words.

"For better or for worse; yes," the Prince confirms for me, sloppily straddling the line between his earlier seriousness and his usual silliness. "The future is set in stone on a few events, but not all of them. Sunset proved this to me long ago. It will not be an easy undertaking, but I feel as though we can together fabricate an equally important and better lesson in the long run... Perhaps a vacation will be in order around that time? I hear that Las Pegasus is quite the place to 'hang out' these days!”

“Now you’re speaking my language!” I joke right alongside the pony, now equal parts happy and emotionally exhausted.

So the typical result of a Solaris talk, basically... A question comes to mind, however.

“There's a question I wanna ask you, your majesty."

"Go right ahead."

"Well... If you were so worried about Discord coming back… then why the hay is his statue outside where anypony can access it?!”

Solaris winces at this.

“I’ll admit that it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to a casual observer, Barbara, but do understand that he’s been out there for hundreds of years without real issue! The fact that a common schoolyard argument will release him is ludicrous! I wonder if the Elements changing owners might have weakened his seal…”

“I guess that makes sense,” I concede, giving him the point. “But, still… why outside of all places? Why not in a museum?”

Solaris now blushes.

“T-the reason for that is a bit more… pony than logical, dear. While a museum would make a lot more sense, as it would still allow today’s ponies to learn about his history, it would not allow… well… Did you notice how his head is aimed upwards and is quite visibly open?”

“Yes… Why?”

Solaris face turns a shade even more red than the last.

“I may have wished an eternity of dirty rain water, dead spiders, and bird droppings upon him once upon a time and simply desired to follow through with the threat.…”

“... Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“... That’s gross.”

“I-I was a younger stallion back then,” the Prince shamefully pouts. “And it was mostly Artemis’ idea! I was simply… preserving his memory all these years! Yeah!”

“Suuuurrrreee,” I play along, though I still have to roll my eyes at this. Boys will be boys, I gues-

Wait.

By Solaris' train of thought, Celestia and Luna must have been doing the same thing back in their own world...

...

... Alicorns will be alicorns, I guess?

“A-anyways,” my friend coughs, trying to get me to forget about his humorous (and childish) choice. “I’ll be placing his statue inside this locked room as soon as possible. Moving it will be tricky; I don’t trust the use of magic to accomplish the task, and moving him by hoof might result in parts of him falling off. Even flakes and petrified pieces of Discord hold portions of his chaotic power, and have been known to cause bizarre effects… But I still feel that it will be worth removing him from the public’s eye.”

Turning my head around, I observe the storeroom one more time before asking, “Are you sure this will be a safe enough place? It doesn’t look too special…”

“You’re not incorrect in that deduction, Barbara,” Solaris agrees with me. “However, I feel that this place will be as good as any protection-wise. I feel that any place we hold Discord will be unable to withstand the full might of his powerful magic.”

“Y-you got a point there,” I admit. He did seem really strong in the show, being able to take away horns and warp reality and what not.

“I also feel that a high security vault may be the wrong way to go about things too,” the Prince continues. “It might attract the wrong kinds of ponies. I’m already busy trying to think of a good place to store the Elements… You said Princess Celestia kept her own set behind a sealed door? I may just steal that idea off of her... Hopefully she won’t mind! Haha!”

“I’m sure she won’t,” I giggle alongside him. “And, yeah; I get what you mean now. It’s like when you purposely hide a bunch of gems inside your home's vault... but all the while you're secretly stashing the juicer ones inside the hollowed out remains of a book instead! Classic misdirection!”

The alicorn lifts a single eyebrow at this.

“An oddly… specific example... but yes; this setup will hopefully be out of sight and out of mind enough to work.”

With the plan set, the two of us give the room one more look over before leaving it behind. Upon Prince Solaris taking a long peek at the state of the object underneath the tarp, and after locking the door and returning me to his back, we begin to retrace our steps and return towards the entrance.

“Our time is drawing to a close, Barbara,” Solaris informs me in a matter-of-fact tone. The sound of rain begins to wane at the same time, as if to highlight this truth. “I must return to my duties, and I imagine that you’re eager to return to Ponyville before it gets too late.”

Huh? Is it already that late? Checking out a nearby ornament window, I confirm that yes this is the case. There’s a tiny bit of redness in the skies now as the sun reaches the endpoint where Solaris’ magical path from this morning guided it to. The Prince actually doesn’t move the sun every step of the way; he sets courses for it to travel down from sunrise all the way to sunset. In a few hours he’ll have to lower it completely, so that Artemis can set his own path in, but the mere fact that we’re already this close to those specific times is bananas. Goodness this went on for awhile, didn’t it?

“I’m glad you listened to me, Solaris,” I thank the stallion kindly carrying me down the hallways.

Solaris chuckles in return.

“Think nothing of it, my little dragon.”

Heh. Oh you corny old coot...

“Honestly I should be thanking you here, Barb,” the Prince counters. “Your Sight will be a great boon for the path I have planned for young Dusk. Together, we will steer him towards a grand future; one that, according to my visions, we can all benefit from!”

“Spoilers,” I chide cheekily. “I think you’re a few chapters ahead of me there, big guy.”

“Ah yes. My apologies,” Solaris laughs right back. “I guess I must do better to remember my own words! Like I said earlier; sometimes more is less.”

“True that,” I retort. “Though… I do have a lot more to share with you…”

“Oh?" my rides tilts his head. "Well then perhaps we should continue this conversation next time. How does… a month from now sound? I would like the opportunity to hear how Dusk is progressing with his studies around that time. I’m certain he’ll follow through with my request to send me friendship reports as well, but I would appreciate to hear your take on things too... if you’ll grant me the time, that is.”

“A whole month?” I question, thinking how far away that is…

… but then I remember how many episodes there still are between now and season two’s premier, so I come to the conclusion that this will most likely be just fine.

“Sounds good to me,” I confirm as I quickly write a little reminder to myself on a spare piece of parchment from out of my purse.

With a nod of his head, Solaris and I commit fully to this date. “Excellent… Are there any other small visions or insights you care to share with me at this time, dear, before we must depart?”

Drawing a claw tip to my lips, I summon up my show memories and review them as I hum. Let’s see… everything else up in here is just slice of life stints all the way up to ‘The Best Night Ever’. Celestia’s involvement in season one was pretty minimal too; a ticket here, a request to move a dragon there, a small number of appearances as well if I’m remembering that right. Luna doesn’t show up again until the Halloween/Nightmare Night episode, so nothing to worry about there either. I don’t think there’s anything here worth bringing up except maybe the dragon, but I’m sure the smoke it'll produce will be enough of a tip to get Solaris moving into action.

“Nothing I can really think of right now,” I finish after a pause. “Nothing too big is going to happen between now and then, at least according to my Sight.” I think this is the first time I’ve ever said ‘Sight’ out loud without mentally adding air quotes… Heh. Guess I’m a real Seer now. “About the only advice I can give is to just… do more. Like, give things more thought, and maybe keep Dusk and I more in the loop about things.”

The Prince mulls this suggestion over.

“Do more… I think I can handle that just fine, Barb.”

“Good,” I chime…

… Then a thought occurs.

I’m probably going to hate myself for this, but…

“Is… is there anything else I should know too, your majesty? Vision or insight or what-have-you?”

There’s a pause.

It’s a longer pause than I like.

“Well…” he notes… cautiously. “I do believe there is one thing I should probably say to you before we part ways.”

Me and my big mouth. Why is blissful ignorance never an option for me?!

“W-what’s that?” I ask, dreading the answer.

Though the sense of nervousness never leaves his voice, the Prince still manages to make his next words sound deceptively confident. “Know that the secret of your power is safe with the two of us, my friend, and that we’ll always be here for you.”

I release the breath I’ve been unknowingly holding thanks to this declaration.

“We’ll that’s a relief,” I tell my pony friend as we reach the exit. “It’s reassuring to hear that you’ll be-”

Wait.

Freeze frame.

Rewind back by ten seconds.

‘... safe with the two of us.’

“T-two?” I whimper out pathetically as I’m levitated back towards the ground. Now on my feet, I stare slack jawed at my questionable friend as he rubs a hoof behind his head in an embarrassed manner.

“Yeeeeeaaaahhh,” the ancient pony shyly reports, like a foal caught with their hoof in the cookie jar. “About that… Your secret will be kept safe between myself…”

He then turns his head backwards towards the hallway, and yells out at the top of his lungs,

“AND MY LOVELY, NOSY LITTLE BROTHER!!”

“Eep!”

Catching the faintest sound of a stallion, I shoot my gaze down the hallway and just barely manage to catch a glimpse at a retreating alicorn’s blue tail.

...

… Buck me sideways.

“H-how…" I internally scream. "How much do you think he overhear-”

“Probably all of it.”

“ALL?!?!”

“I can’t apologize enough, Barbara,” Solaris turns to bow lowly towards me. “I am a millennium out of practice in sensing his presence! It was only towards the end there when I finally noticed him. I should have known better though; he is still relearning about this world, so of course he would be exploring the castle at this time!

"I will have ‘the talk’ with him about your powers and I will be sure to inform him that he is not to share your secrets with anypony. I’m certain he’ll comply to the request; he remembers everything he did as Nightterror Nebula, after all. He's already experiencing immense guilt towards his actions involving you and the children of Ponyville that horrid night… You’re secret will be safe, Barb; to this I swear to you as both a Prince of Equestria and as your friend.”

“Okay,” I respond a little too quickly, as I'm too numb to really say or do anything else. “Whatever you say.”

“... Have a great evening, dear.”

“...”

Turning my back towards the Prince, I wave my claw passively back at him as I begin my long trek back home. “Whatever you say, Solaris.

“Whatever you say.”

_______________________________

“... THE TRAIN FOR PONYVILLE WILL BE DEPARTING SHORTLY!!” shouts the train conductor outside my window. Since I'm all ready aboard the train, I tune the noise out. “ALL ABOARD THAT’S COMING ABOARD!!”

Since we are departing shortly, I recheck the contents of my bag to assure myself that everything I needed to grab from the Spire is already inside. I find my thoughts wandering as I do so, and they drag me once again back to my meeting. The result was ultimately the same to a typical talk with Solaris; a small amount of progress, and a lot to think about. More of my secret was revealed today as well, which is honestly a concerning trend.

At least I’m now free from him for a month; that’s a nice change of pace from the weekly correspondence I'm usually expected to accomplish. I also managed to change the future in a good way this time! That’s pretty nice too, and I even did it within Solaris’ Code of the Seer rule set!

I’m actually really surprised how smoothly everything went. About the only thing that’s a little troublesome now is that I can't seem to focus my mind; it’s currently jumping around from Eris to Sunset to Artemis to… Well, in summation, it’s a right old mess up there right now. I need find some fun and distracting activities in order to get my mind off this garbage. Activities like… like…

Absentmindedly, my claw readjust my purse's strap.

After a momentary pause to process the action, an idea suddenly forms within my mind. I’ve never ridden a train before, but this one is well known for supposedly being a smooth ride. Rumor has it that author A. K. Yearling once wrote the entire first draft of ‘Dashing Dare And the Great Train Robber’ on this same locomotive!

I think that’s a rumor worth exploring, don’t you?

With goal now set in mind, and with the train now departing, I take ownership of an empty privacy nook and whip out The Poisoned Barb. Once I’m sitting comfortably on the small bed, and once my wet quill gently touches the blank piece of parchment, the words flow out of me like water out of a faucet as my story takes shape before my eyes.

“... My apologies for this slight interruption in my retelling,” I read out loud after awhile, as I write; taking advantage of the rare opportunity to do so without repercussions. “But a thought now occurs to me. Since I was unable to do this previously, due to the circumstances surrounding Entry One’s original creation, please allow me to continue this chapter properly.

“It’s just not a diary without these classic two words.

“~Dear Diary~"

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

As you observed already upon finishing entry two, my claw writing was as steady as ever, even upon a moving train. I suppose this proves that the rumors about that Dashing Dare book are true. I’ll have to find a way to share this information with Rainbow Dash the next chance I get.

For now though, I believe that this would be the best place to stop for now. According to the yawn I just produced between this paragraph and the last, it’s getting pretty late here in Ponyville. I’m going to call it a wrap on this third entry, so that I can hit the hay and be nice and alert for tomorrow.

You see, Dusk and I promised Applejack that we’d help him with his apple bucking that day, as well as his little bet with Red Gala.

We certainly don't want to be late for that now, do we?

See you next time, my secret diary.

Author's Note

Fifty internet points (and maybe a small peek at the next chapter) to the reader able to point out the video game line I stole wholesale this chapter. VIDEO GAME line, remember :raritywink:

EDIT: As what was JUST revealed to me by Nopetrain, in Chapter 9 of the original The Poisoned Barb Solaris referred to his 'wayward student' by the name of Glare; as in Sunset Glare. This chapter relied on a LOT of knowledge from the first book, but I'm sorry to admit that I failed my dice role on this one.

For the sake of continuity, this stallion's full name will now be Sunset 'Glare' Blaze going forward. Sorry for the confusion.

Entry 4, Part 1 (The Ticket Master)

Author's Note

Last chapter I put up a challenge for readers to try to find the quote that I had lifted wholesale from a video game. Some got close to figuring it out, and one reader at least figured out the video game in question, but nobody got it (I think most were too distracted by the RvB reference to catch it)... Oh well! Thank you all who tried though! I might try doing that again in the future! Here's the quote in its entirety;

"Next time you have a vision, you tell us. We bear the burden together, as a team. You have a vision you don't like, we'll change the future together." -Reyn from Xenoblade Chronicles... moments before his 'Time'

Now, please enjoy Part 1 of The Ticket Master!

Entry 4, Part 1 (The Ticket Master)

~Dear Diary~

Today I was given a sobering reminder on how long its been since I last watched My Little Pony.

I was reminded on how long its been since I was last an adult woman.

I was reminded on how I shouldn’t fixate on making the now a perfect replica of fiction, or on transforming the future into a more easily controlled form.

I was reminded that I’m only ~~human~~ dragon at the end of the day.

~~And, most importantly of all, I was reminded how much I love~~

Most importantly of all, I was reminded that Prince Solaris is, to use a human phrase...

... A DIRTY TROLL.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... No.”

Toss.

“Nope.”

Toss harder.

“... Nope!”

Toss the hardest. It’s all squishy and icky and, just...Ew!

Boy... none of these apples look good!

With the bright summer sun beaming down on me from on high, as it had been doing all morning long, I dive back into my fruit pile and continue my assigned task. Though Dusk acts as my moving steed in this time, and holds my bundles aloft with the aid of two baskets firmly saddled to his sides, he pays me little mind as I go about my business.

“Thank you kindly, Dusk, for helping me out!” chuckles Applejack as he carries his own large load of freshly harvested apples down the dirt path. He resumes speaking shortly thereafter, needlessly reminding us of what our goal for the day was. There's some times where I think that he just likes to hear himself speak. “I bet Red Gala I could get all these Golden Delicious in the barn by lunchtime! If I win, she’s gonna walk down Stirrup Street in one of Gramp’s lederhosens!”

As the farmer chortles over the job well done, I find myself mentally smiling over the sight of him practically bouncing up and down, not unlike a child on Christmas day morning. For as rough and hardy as this pony likes to hype himself up as, Applejack is actually a rather cute colt when he's in his element.

Dusk calls back, “N-no problem at all, Applejack,” in response; doing his best to hide how tired and winded he clearly is. I roll my eyes at his pathetic attempt, but I pay it no further mind as I go through the apple piles still secured to his sides. The basket on my left (Dusk’s right) are filled with the sorted good fruit, the ones on the opposite side are the unsorted items, and the bad apples belong on the ground where they can decompose. Just like Applejack taught me... Hmmm... While we're on the subject of apples; according to what I’ve organized so far from Dusk's piles, he sure has picked quite a bit of bad crops today. Either bruised or misshapen or what have you; they're not suitable for pony consumption in the slightest! That's rather disappointing to see... though I guess this was to be expected in the long run.

There's a reason the term 'Unicorn Farmer' is a popular oxymoron here in Equestria, folks.

Here's a quick summery for the less informed. The odds of Equestrian fruit and veggies going bad early can increase substantially when active unicorn magic interferes with the passive Earth Pony magic used in the crop's creation or its harvesting process. It’s the unfortunate downside of growing food with forces that guarantee an always plump, delicious, and fresh product; said forces are very delicate and prone to going haywire if they’re disturbed too much. This is why Unicorns still use utensils, even though they have their horns. Not only that, but it's also considered rude and barbaric to eat with just your aura. It's kinda like eating soup with your hands; technically possible, but unsanitary and needlessly inefficient all at the same time.

This fundamental arcanic balance between when to manipulate magic and when not to is a pretty basic concept to understand. Even a 'common' child like me knows the gist, and of course both Dusk and Applejack know all about it too. They probably know it better than most.

Both boys knew the risks of upsetting this harmony, which is why Dusk tried his darnedest to buck as many apples off these trees the Earth Pony way. He did all that he could so as not to be a bother... but he’s no workhorse.

Never has this truth been made more blatantly clear to me than it has today.

With his lungs burning with an unaccustomed fire, and with his face drenched in the foreign fluid known as 'sweat', it didn’t take long before my scholarly friend’s heavy pants and whimpers of pain could be heard halfway across the fields. This made his discomfort known to all, despite him trying to hide the fact. Once the anguished cries finally got on Applejack’s last (and probably only) nerve, the stallion reluctantly gave Dusk the okay to use his telekinesis on a small dotting of trees here and there, just so that they could at least finish with an wisp of timeliness. This offer was given with the mutual understanding that a small fraction of today’s collection would become inedible as a result of the spell. Sure the contamination effect might not be completely guaranteed, so long as the caster is cautious of their actions during the spell, but I’m willing to bet that Applejack would have never been so willing to let him light up his horn if it weren’t for the fact that nopony else (extended family or otherwise) had come to his aid today...

... or for the fact that his family is currently boasting about record harvest numbers for the season. It's the talk of the town right now, literally everypony knows. It's probably why nopony else came to help; today's harvest is solely a victory lap for the sake of competition and perhaps one or two extra bits. A bushel of bad apples will little not hurt a darn thing. Working extra hard for produce he might not even be able to sell... I guess the power of sibling rivalries is just as strong here as it is on Earth.

Not that I would know or anything. I was a single child in my last life and I still am one now...

...

... What would it have been like to be reborn as another's sister, I wonder? It probably would have been an interesting life to lead... Would it be nicer to be the older one, or the younger one? My eldest daughter and youngest son both seemed pretty happy where they were in the hierarchy, even if they did fight every once in a while... I suppose the experience would depend heavily on whether or not the universe sees fit to grant me parents on top of a sibling. Being an orphan has granted be a few perks when it came to redefining myself, true, and probably freed me from the guilt I might have pushed on myself if I had potentially robbed a stranger of a perfectly normal child... but that won't stop me from thinking about the possibilities. What would being a part of a real dragon family be like? Do they even have the concept of family? Or... maybe I could be given the chance to be a member of a pony family here in Equestria... I'm not talking about what the Prince offered me years ago; the chance to be adopted into one and leave Dusk behind. No... I wonder what it would have been like to be part of a pony family from day one, either as a dragon or... maybe a pony?

What would life have been like if I was a filly?

....

... As I play with this fantasy silently, continuing to mindlessly sort my piles all the while, Dusk's conversation with Applejack marches on. “I’m glad the goal is lunchtime,” he remarks tiredly as I throw a few more bad apples to the ground. Toss. Toss. Nope. Nope. “All this hard work is making me hungry!”

“I know, right?” I add as I force my way out of the daydream. I toss another lumpy orb over my shoulder as I do, and make to throw myself even further into my work...

... but the soft thud sound the object made, once it had accidentally hit Dusk Shine on the head, snuffs out these plans before they were even given the chance to take root.

Ummm... Opps?

Crisscrossing my claws over one another, trying to appear as cute and innocent as I can, I give my most generous of steeds a large (though an admittedly guilty looking) smile.

Dusk glares back at me disapprovingly.

Double opps.

“Ple-ease, Barb,” snorts the deputized Element of Magic angrily. “You’ve been lounging on my back all morning while we worked, missy!”

“Exactly,” I shoot right back without pause; obviously referring to our earlier discussion about being hungry. “You two are taking sooo long that I missed snack-time!”

Hmph. Rude much, am I right?

Snack-time is the most important time for a growing baby dragon, I’ll have you know!

…

...

… Oh don’t look at me like that! I wasn’t slacking! I just can’t buck trees or levitate apples, so I’ve spent most of this morning simply trying to figure out why Dusk brought me here in the first place! Sorting these apples out is about the most I can really offer to this endeavor.

Frankly I think I was brought here solely to act as Dusk’s emotional support. He’s still new to the whole ‘there’s more to life than old dusty books’ thing, so I'm assuming that I was brought along just to make sure that he didn’t slack off himself.

It's the best guess that I have right now; being Dusk's number one assistant means that I have to occasionally be really good at guessing what his intentions are. I suppose that there's never enough time in the day to explain silly little things like what you're doing, or where you're going, when your snout is half buried in a book about Ponyville's agricultural development or the like.

Well, whatever his plan may or may not have been; the sudden rumbling of his stomach, followed by his nervous chuckling over it's loudness, thankfully drops the whole conversation between us all together.

“Hehe… Eh, I-I guess we better get some food,” Dusk notes shyly before turning away from me in an attempt to hide his now darkening cheeks.

With a roll of my eyes, I brush the words aside as I resume my sorting. The quicker I get this done, the faster we can eat... Let’s see… “Nope. Worm… A-ha!”

Hearing my joyful cry, Dusk turns his head back just in time to witness me holding up the most perfect, juiciest looking apple I’ve ever laid eyes on. Judging from the sparkles in his eyes, the audible smacking of his tongue, and the sudden saliva dripping from his lips; I think it’s safe to say that it’s the prettiest apple the colt has ever laid his eyes on as well.

“Oh Barb,” the hungry pony drools unabashedly as he stares longingly at the textbook definition of fruity perfection. “That looks… delicious…”

Yeah… it really does…

…

… Crunchmunchmunch~

“Barb!” Dusk growls at me disapprovingly as I finish off the single tastiest thing this world has ever produced for my taste buds.

Again I must repeat... snack-time is super important for baby dragons!

I have no regrets.

“What?” I shrug cheekily as I wipe the last few crumbs from my face. “Ladies first!”

Dusk continues to glare.

Before I can say anything more, a tickle reaches my nose, and along with it comes the familiar scent of brimstone.

Oh no; I-I think I feel a letter com-

“ACHOO!!”

‘Man I hate being a walking, talking mailbox,’ are the words that grace my thoughts (and not for the first time) as a single long jet of emerald tinted dragon fire dashes forth from my face. It unfortunately does so before I’m given the opportunity to prepare myself. Dusk thankfully ducks his head out of the way just in time to avoid being charbroiled, but he doesn’t react fast enough to also catch me before the recoil can send me flying right off of his back. My spines hit the dirt hard as a result, and the pain from the happenstance forces my eyes back open long enough to see the expected scroll materialize itself out of the ashes of my flame.

Applejack watches all this transpire silently, only to then approach the hovering object with a look of pure curiosity plastered to his face. Perhaps in sensing his friend’s well warranted interest in the bizarre sight, Dusk helpfully explains for the uninformed pony how “It’s a letter from Prince Solaris.”

Slowly returning to my feet, so that I can grab the letter out of the air as it floats down towards my level, it dawns on me that I’m now feeling an intense sense of... déjà vu? Huh? Why would that be the case...?

...

… Wait...

… Is... this an episode??

... Oh crap! I think this is an episode!

H-how did an episode start without me realizing it?! I... I-I had ONE JOB! How did I screw this up so badly?! How far are we into it now?! How how how how h-how-

Wait wait wait, caaaaalllllmmmm down, Barb. Calm... down... Think… Gotta remember… Loading memories… Looooaaadddding, annnnddd… done.

This...

... This is… Ticket Master, right?

Y-yeah... Yeah... I vaguely remember this one now. Twilight and her friends get tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala after lessons are learned about sharing blessings or whatever. What were the highlights…?

Um… There’s two tickets.

The girls fight over the spare.

Twilight returns them and gets the right amount back.

And Spike’s involvement was… minimal, I think. Slice of life fluff; good. Only thing of importance here are the tickets; I just have to keep that in mind and simply let Dusk do his thing… I can manage that just fine!

... Still can’t believe I forgot that this was where this little day with Applejack leads to though! I wrote in my book last night that I kinda sorta remembered it being an important event that led to another, but I thought this was for that other Applejack episode; the one with the baked bads and so on. I thought there was a day skip during this too, and that I still had a bit of time.... How did I forge-

“Barb? Why are you just standin’ there, girl?”

Oh... Oops. I got distracted and forgot that I'm in the middle of something right now. Just act normally, Barb; don't overthink these things or else everything will go to hell in a clawbasket just like last time with The NIghtterror.

“J-just letting that apple settle in my stomach,” I deflect quickly as I turn away from Applejack and his raised eyebrow. I focus all of my attention on the scroll in claw, and unfurl it so that I can read it out loud for both stallions present. Beginning by clearing my throat, I put on my best royal voice and project, “Hear ye, hear ye.”

… Did Solaris seriously just write ‘hear ye, hear ye?’ Hmm… while I wouldn’t put it that past the big dramatic guy, I doubt this was written specifically by him. I know Solaris’ hornwriting pretty well after all these years, and this isn't nearly as flashy. This looks more like the work of his secretary than it does his. It must be a mass-sent letter, meant for ponies besides Dusk… Wow I’m surprised by how little I’m remembering about this right now! 'What else am I forgetting...?'

I ponder all of this in my head, though on the outside I’m still reading this letter for my friends without any clear delay. “His Grand Royal Highness, Prince Solaris of Equestria, is pleased to announce the Grand Galloping Gala is to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot, on the 21st day of, eh…”

I… I think it’s saying it’ll be, like, three to four months from now, unforeseen events notwithstanding… but the language is way too flowery to keep straight!

“Yadda yadda yadda,” I sum the writing up, choosing to instead skip ahead to the next important bit that catches my eyes. “... cordially extends an invitation to Dusk Shine plus…”

I blink my eyes.

That… doesn’t look right.

I read it over once, twice… three times in total, before deciding that it’s more important to not keep my friends waiting any further.

So, with that in mind, I reluctantly finish the letter by stating…

“... two guests.”

Neither Applejack or Dusk catch my suddenly unsure words.

No... Instead, they're more focused on hooting and hollering over anything else.

“The Grand Galloping Gala!” they both gasp and wail in unison. The two of them exchange hoofbumps and arm pumps with one another as they together cheer loudly for this sudden boon.

I, meanwhile, am left to simply scratch my head.

Dusk plus… two guests? So then, that would mean three tickets. But… Twilight only got two in the show! My foggy memories are becoming a tad more clear now on this subject; I remember watching this episode with my little Ashley in another lifetime. I recall how my sweetheart asked me, in a way only a child could, why the Princess sent her student two tickets when she knew she had plenty more friends now.

‘Acceptable conflict contrivance for a show aimed at preschoolers’ was the writer in me’s quick answer at the time, but I instead told my angel how big important people/ponies ask others to do things for them when they’re busy, and how little details can slip through the cracks by mistake. That felt correct at the time, and if this letter had stayed the same then I probably would have assumed the same here.

Not so much now...

“ACHOO!”

… the three gala tickets resting in my claws are convincing me that this was evidently a set-up from the get-go.

“Look,” I say dryly, drawing the excited boys’ attention back towards me and the fire scented tickets in my grip. “Three tickets.”

“Wow, great!” chimes Dusk happily, his head obviously full of ideas for the eventual ‘Best Night Ever’. “I’ve never been to the gala… Have you, Barb?”

“No,” I state plainly and bluntly. “And I plan to keep it that way.” Momentarily putting aside my internal concerns towards this minor change in canon, I explain, “I don’t want any part in that social hierarchy tango.” I hate dealing with nobles in normal public settings; why would I want to go to what’s practically their national holiday? I can guarantee that it’ll be more of the same for me when I inevitably go...

"... Oh why isn’t that creature leashed up? Oh who left their belongings unattended? Really now, one should keep their things at home where they belong."

… Self entitled ponies can kiss my scaly butt, thank you… Except for Princess Bluebelle. She can instead kiss my hot, unwashed, sweaty fee-

“Aw, come on Barb,” Dusk interrupts my dark thoughts to quip. “A dance could be kinda cool.”

Ah poor, naive little Dusk Shine. You may have Canterlot blood flowing through your veins, but I’m glad that city never found its way into your soul. Good thing we live in Ponyville now, and away from all those jerks up in the mountains.

“Hehe… cool?” interjects Applejack, catching both mine and Dusk’s attention. Honesty’s bearer snickers slightly under his breath as he saunters over to my former ride’s side and casually lays a foreleg over his withers. Pulling him closer into a one-sided embrace, the suddenly smug looking stallion shoots his friend a toothy grin. “It’s a heap good more than just cool, Dusk. I’d lov-, no… I need to go to this here shindig, ya’ hear me?"

With an unfocused, distant look in his eyes, Applejack’s bearhug tightens as he wistfully elaborates his case to the slowly suffocating unicorn in his hold. “Land sakes… If I had an apple stand set up, them noble folks would be chowin’ our tasty vittles ‘till the cows came home!”

For the non-equestrian’s in the house; that’s a very long time. Cow Raves are infamous for lasting all night long, and thus are illegal in over thirty settlements throughout Equestria...

… I can’t make this junk up if I tried, people. Honest.

“Do you have any idea how much business I could drum up for Sweet Apple Acres?” Applejack continues to make his appeal. I’m unsure if Dusk can even hear him though; his face is turning a rather striking shade of purple as we spea- Oh. Wait. That’s just how he always looks. My bad. “Why, with all that money, we could do a heap of fixin’ up ‘round here! The roof the plow, Gramp’s hip… Shoot; if Barb ain’t want that extra ticket, we could even bring Red Gala with us and double our coverage!”

I… I think I spot drool dripping out of this dude's mouth as he salivates over the Bits clearly dancing merrily in front of his vision.

Ew.

Easing up on his accidental death strangling of my oldest friend, the orange pony wipes a good amount of the spittle from his lips before concluding his speech. “W-why, I’d give my left hind leg to go to that gala…”

Having been granted a window of opportunity, Dusk quickly acts on his ‘assailant’s’ wistful daydreaming by using his magic to remove his foreleg from off of himself. Now once again free from the 'horror' that is physical contact with another pony, Dusk takes a greedy breath of precious air for himself before considering his hearty friend’s words.

“O-oh,” the scholar eventually croaks out fully. Smiling weekly, he offers Applejack a small olive branch by saying, “Well, in that case, would you like to-”

Snap!

“WHOA!”

Time slows down for me as a rainbow colored comet violently descends from on high, smiting my boys with unfiltered animosity. As the dust settles over the assault, I find my claws involuntarily covering my lips as a messy, three-way pony pile reveals itself to me. Apples, baskets, and a well worn stetson find themselves scattered about as our newest arrival sticks his head up first and moans loudly.

“Ugghhhh…” bellows Rainbow Dash as he shakes himself off slightly an-, wait… There's something different about him today. What is it…? “Sorry about that… But are we talking about the Grand Galloping Gala??”

“Rainbow Dash,” Applejack groans loudly too upon picking and cleaning himself up, and upon returning his cap to his head. He narrows his eyes as he stares deeply into Rainbow’s own. “You told me you were too busy to help me harvest apples! What were you busy doing? Spyin’?”

“No,” counters RD with a flip of his mane, and a snap of his tail. “I was busy…”

He then points a hoof upwards towards a snapped tree branch above us; one which holds a pillow, a blanket, and a… book.

“... Reading,” the pegasus finishes. “No way was I going to miss the latest Dashing Dare book! It just came out!”

“THAT WAS TODAY?!”

At this surprise outburst, three sets of heads (mine included) turn in unison towards our fourth.

Dusk blushes deeply in response.

“S-sorry,” he mutters shyly, looking away. “I -I just can’t believe I forgot that the newest book was releasing so soon. I usually keep a close eye on that...”

“You’ve had a busy week, Dusk,” I offer sympathetically as I pat the pony’s side. Poor guy; it’s clear that he’s still trying to get adjusted to this new life of his. Needless to say, I know a thing or two about handling drastic changes like this. Hopefully I can help him along with his own. “It’s understandable…”

I then look towards Rainbow Dash once again.

… What is it about him that’s so different today? He’s not wearing his flowers from when we first met him, but I don’t think that’s what’s bothering me. I’ve seen him around a little bit ever since I first returned to Ponyville a few days ago, but he was always up flying about. With him back on the ground and in front of me again, he just feels… off, but I can’t put my claw on exactly what.

Hmmmm…

…

… Oh! Wait, I think I got it!

“Rainbow Dash,” I start to speak up, causing him to turn his head towards me. Now seeing him from the front end, I’m finally given somewhat of an answer towards my current burning question. I say somewhat, because... well... I’m still not really sure what it is I’m looking at right now.

Guess the only way I’m going to solve this mystery is by just asking Dash, plainly and bluntly...

“... Are you wearing lipstick?”

Proudly, and without hesitation, Rainbow Dash cheerily answers me with a resounding, “Yuppers!”

… He chooses not to elaborate any further...

…

...

… Oh well.

“It looks pretty,” I tell him truthfully. Try as I might, I can’t really remember too much more on how this opening part of the episode goes anymore, so I’ll just go with the flow for now. I have to remember that these boys are fundamentally different from the original stars of MLP, so minor deviations are acceptable. No point in trying to push them to be somepony they’re not.

Besides… it really does look nice on him.

“Thanks!” Rainbow Dash chirps happily in gratitude. He then points towards his lips and explains that, “It’s a coral blue, number five, semi gloss matte. I think it matches my coat pretty well if I do say so myself.”

“I think so too!”

“Ah you’re too kind, Barb. I’ve got spares if you want!”

“Thanks, but I don’t think blue would look good against my scales...”

“Really? Hmm… maybe you’re right… But maybe you’re more of a traditional scarlet… Wait! I think I have some purple laying around back home too!”

Gasp! “Ooohhhhh! Purple might be really cool, Dash! I’d love to give that a try!”

“Hah! Then I’ll totally hook you up the next chance I get, girlfrien-”

“Ladies!” suddenly roars Applejack, halting the private conversation Rainbow and I had accidentally slipped off into. “We were in the middle of somethin' here...”

Blushing slightly, I cough and take a step back from Rainbow Dash. R-right, the tickets and episode. I shouldn’t be interrupting this, it's important...

“Barb... You’re not old enough for makeup yet, young lady,” scolds Dusk crossly before turning his back towards me and facing the rest of his friends again.

I blow him a raspberry once his back is fully turned.

“Oh, right,” Dash laughs in reply, rubbing the back of his head as he does. With a quick shake of his mane, he returns to his usual cocky attitude as he resumes the earlier discussion. “Anyways, did I just happen to hear that you have a few extra tickets to the gala, Dusk old buddy?”

Snorting, Dusk answers “Yeah, but-”

“YES!” cheers Loyalties’ conduit as he performs a quick midair back flip. “That is so awesome! The Wonderbolts perform at the Grand Galloping Gala every year!”

As Rainbow Dash’s words begin to flow out of his muzzle at a rapid pace, regaling for us all his fantasies in showing the flight team his moves and earning himself a spot on their roaster, I notice out of the corner of my eye as Applejack’s earlier scowl slowly begins to turn nastier and nastier with each trick mentioned, and with each hypothetical scenario imagined.

“... Don’t you see, Dusk?” the blue flyboy wraps up, drawing his lofty dream to a close. “This could be my one chance to show ‘em my stuff. You gotta take m-”

Splat!

The sudden appearance, and explosion, of a red apple right against the back of Dash’s head cuts his pleas off completely. Stunned, the rainbow adorning pony turns around and spots the culprit quite speedily.

Not hiding his transgressions in the slightest, Applejack threateningly tosses a second apple up and down with the flat side of his front hoof.

“Now hold on just one pony pickin’ minute here, Dashie,” the irate looking stallion growls, staring down at the petite pegasus’ frame. “I asked for those tickets first!”

Though he looked briefly stunned thanks to the earlier fruit attack, Dash’s expression smoothly warps back into a laid-back smile as he beams happily at the (truthfully kinda intimidating) earth pony.

“Hmmm… so?” Rainbow neutrally replies, not allowing his friend’s words to get under his coat. “That doesn't mean you own both of them, Jack. There’s, like, three tickets in total from what I’ve overheard. Isn’t that right?”

Again Applejack grunts at Dash’s words.

“Yeah, you’re right…” he spitefully admits. “... But that means there’s only enough for Dusk, Red Gala and myself! Nopony else!”

“N-now wait a minute!” Dusk cries out, trying to gain control of this situation before it can get any more out of hoof. “Applejack, these are my tickets! I’m the one who gets to choose who's coming with me!”

“...”

… This seems to mildly work, as Applejack is now easing off a little bit from his pressuring of Rainbow Dash.

In sensing this calmer state, Dusk continues to speak. “Now then... since Barb doesn’t want to go to the gala, that means there’s enough tickets here for all three of us to go! It’s unfortunate that Berry, Elusive, and Butterscotch can’t come too, but I’m sure the guys will understand it if we just explain to them how you both have valid reasons for wanting to g-”

“Ah ain't goin' with him.”

“... W-... What was that, Applejack?”

Splat

Applejack allows the bad apple in his hoof to land harshly on the ground as he intensely locks his eyes with Dusk’s own.

“Ah said that ah ain't goin' with him, hayseed,” he repeats, spitting on the trail next to him as he does. “Don’t think for one solitary second that this blowhard won’t try to do somethin' stupid that gets us all tossed out of the gala in one fell swoop!”

“... What?” Dusk asks the fuming pony flatly. “You think he’ll do-… Where in the wide land of Equestria are you getting an idea like that from, Applejack?!”

“From the last Ponyville Wonderbolts Derby,” deadpans the stallion without missing a beat. Rainbow whistles casually to himself shortly thereafter, refusing to look at anypony in particular...

There’s a brief moment of silence after this statement. Upon realizing that no further explanation was forthcoming, Dusk asks simply, “What about it?”

Applejack takes a deep breath.

Rainbow Dash’s ears fall flat against his skull.

“Well, tumbleweed,” Jack starts slowly and softly; his words hardly above a whisper in volume… but this doesn’t last long as they soon explode into a mighty roar of “IT WAS FIVE YEARS AGO!!”

An accusing hoof is now aimed fiercely towards the still whistling pony.

“They used to come yearly! Brought in a lot of visitors to this here town; wealthy visitors who bought mah families' wares each and every time!”

The outstretched foreleg inches itself ever closer to Dash’s muzzle.

“That all changed when this one,” the hoof presses itself against the accused’s muzzle, ceasing his tune. “just had to bug them Bolts one too many times and scare the whole lot of them off… So which one was it anyways, Dashie?” Applejack demands angrily, driving his hoof roughly into Dash’s chest. “Was it that Leewave chick, or that Fireball guy?! Huh?! Which one were you tryin' to flirt with?! I honestly can never tell which is your type, you darn flip-flopper!”

Blinking blankly in response to the accusation, and to the orange pressure still placed squarely against his chest, Rainbow recovers surprisingly quickly; quickly enough, in fact, that he’s able to swiftly don his earlier casual expression with zero difficulties.

“... Why are you suddenly asking about my type there, Jackie~?” the feminine stallion teases with the batting of his eyelashes, and the slow batting of Applejack's hoof out of his presence. “Are you..."

He leans in ever closer.

"... interested?”

“...”

“...RRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Dusk and I both jump back in fright as the once-upon-a-time homely pony cries out in what is possibly the gruffest roar he could manage. Rainbow Dash’s grin never falters as he takes on the verbal assault in stride.

Applejack then pushes his leg forward, and thrusts it back into Dash’s reach.

“YOU, ME, HOOF-WRESTLE!” he orders with a venomous edge. “NOW! Winner gets the tickets!!”

“Guys…” Dusk tries to interject with a raised foreleg.

This tiny attempt to defuse the situation goes completely ignored as Rainbow Dash quietly observes the larger stallion’s massive foreleg. Looking down at Dash’s own, there’s an obvious size difference going on between these two colts. Rainbow’s foreleg is practically a twig in comparison to Applejack’s finely toned work legs. Dash is certainly not weak by any stretch of the imagination; Elusive and Dusk’s legs are even more thin due to their unicorn natures, for example. That said, this whole conversation is jogging my memories a little bit about certain aspects of the original show. Specifically, I vaguely remember another episode involving these two ponies where they were clearly evenly matched to one another… at least as mares.

As stallions, however, I think it’s clear to see which of the two ate their vegetables when they were growing up...

… Despite being at a clear disadvantage in this competition in all conceivable ways, Rainbow Dash surprises Dusk and I both by eagerly putting his own spindly leg forward.

“Deal,” he states clearly without the slightest hint of hesitation.

Applejack grins wickedly as a result.

“NOW you look like a dude, ‘dude’,” he openly mocks, laughing lightly. Taking the ‘arm’ within his own, he tightens his grip and readies himself. “Well then… On the count of three?’

“Sounds good to me,” Dash confirms with the single nod of his head.

“Alrighty… One.”

Dusk and I hold our breaths.

“Two.”

Sweat drips from our brows.

Silence reigns supreme.

“... THRE-”

Smoooooooch~

… It’s not everyday that you get to see the exact second in which a pony’s brain transforms itself into a thought devoid husk of flesh and chemicals.

That’s about the best way I can describe Applejack’s current state of being though; I can only assume that this is what's currently happening inside of the completely stunned pony’s slowly disintegrating mind.

I may not be a dude and/or a bro, but even I can imagine the confusion I might feel if my heated rival all of a sudden decided to lean forward in our ‘embrace’ and plant a nice, wet kiss right across my cheek.

With a new blue hickey glowing brightly off his face, Applejack clearly and intelligently states “B-baw?” as his thoughts turn to mush.

Rainbow smiles kindly at him for this…

...

... WHOOMP~!!

… before applying great pressure to his still interlocked leg, which ends up practically tossing poor Applejack right into the dusty dirt road.

Leaning down over his defeated opponent, so that his face is right up next to the downed farmer's own, Dash utters cheerily a short and simple declaration of, “I win~”

The speechless Earth Pony remains still and unmoving on the ground.

For his next trick, Rainbow Dash causes both Dusk and I to jump in place by addressing us with, “I guess we should figure out our third now, right, Dusk? If Barb doesn’t want to go, maybe we can ask Butters instead? I bet he’d love to check out all the critters the gala gardens holds on t-”

“Rain… BOW... DAAAAAAAAASSSSSH!!”

“Huh?”

A mighty battle cry roars out fiercely throughout the orchard as Applejack, having recovered from the surprise ‘attack’, lunges at the victorious pegasus and drags him into a full body wrestling match. I bring a claw to my eyes and try to protect them against the sudden kicked up dust cloud. Having to weather against it for but a moment, I’m thankfully yanked away from the scene with the aid of Dusk’s magic before it becomes any more intense. The unicorn huffs angrily towards his friends for a brief second before turning back towards the path that laid behind us.

“Come on, Barb,” Dusk orders, all while motioning towards the road ahead of us with his nose. “Let’s get out of here.”

“A-are you sure, Dusk?” I ask after a pause, glancing back towards the cartoon-like fight cloud that had engulfed our two friends. “Shouldn’t we do something about this?”

Dusk snorts at the suggestion.

“I’m pretty sure they can work their way out of this themselves. That's what they did back in the Everfree Forest anyways, when they-”

Grumple~

The sound of the Dusk’s stomach eating itself cuts off whatever else he was trying to say. He blushes a second time before looking back down at me at his side.

“A-anyways, Barb; I’m starving. I don't know about you, but I can't make important decisions or help ponies on an empty stomach. I'll think about this stuff over lunch and get back to them later, okay?”

“O… okay,” I answer uncertainly. Eating lunch right now isn’t going to affect anything, right? That happened in the show too I think…

… I really wish I remembered more of this episode. There’s tickets, there’s fighting, there’s a lesson… but everything in between is one big old blank void in my mind right now. Applejack wanted to go for her family business, Rainbow Dash wanted to go for the Wonderbolts, Fluttershy wanted to go for the animals, Pinkie Pie wanted to go for… the party itself, I think? And Rarity wanted to go for… ugh! I can’t even remember anymore!

Focus, Barb; remember The Code. Time is a River and a Stone; I don’t have to be Spike one hundred percent in order for us to reach the endpoint of this day. I can be just me and that will be good enough. Same with the boys; they can be themselves just fine and still get the same results, no worries.

Even though Rainbow just kissed Applejack, which I know couldn’t have happened on the show, we’re still on track towards finishing this episode properly. I just have to have faith in all of them, and try to vaguely remember anything important Spike did besides simply being there for Twilight. As long as I do that, everything will be just fine…

… Though the one thing I do still remember is that there were only two tickets originally! Why did Solaris send us three this time? I think it’s safe to say that his ‘prettier’ self, Celestia, sent her student two tickets on purpose to instigate this lesson; I have enough evidence to prove at least that much. The Prince is doing the same thing now, but he’s doing it without the aid of my Sight. Taking myself out of the equation, logic would dictate that he should have done the exact same thing as Princess Celestia! What could be so different this time as to cause such a change...?

...

... Suddenly, the last few words I shared with Prince Solaris come rushing forward to the forefront of my mind.

_______________________________

“... About the only advice I can give is to just… do more. Like, give things more thought, and maybe keep Dusk and I more in the loop about things...”

_______________________________

…

...

… I find myself unable to do anything more but sigh.

“Solaris dammit,” I utter quietly under my breath as I follow Dusk into town for a well deserved lunch.

Entry 4, Part 2 (The Ticket Master)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Entry 4, Part 3 (The Ticket Master)

Decisions decisions decisions... As we travel down the twisted path of life, full of highs and lows and everything in between, each of us will be forced to make an innumerable amount of life-altering decisions before our souls will be allowed to finally rest.

Life-altering decisions like whether to say yes or no to a marriage proposal.

Life-altering decisions like whether to stay with your desk job or to instead branch out and pursue a career in writing.

Life-altering decisions like whether to name your first born child Alexis or Ashley.

And, most importantly of all, life-altering decisions…

“Am I more in a sandwich, or a carrot dog mood today? Hmmm...”

… like what the heck are you going to eat for lunch.

“I want to have something greasy though,” I murmur under my breath as my eyes scan the entirety of the menu held firmly in my claws. “Hmmm...”

The Three-Leaf Chateau is certainly not the fanciest restaurant Dusk and I have ever visited. If it were to be placed alongside the assortment of other eateries available back in Canterlot, there’s little that would set this place apart from the rest. It’s outdoor dining area is haphazardly arranged with piles of hay being used in lieu of actual chairs, it’s menu is basic with only a clawful of interesting sounding options, and I’m not really sure what the deal is with the three-leaf clovers scattered all over the place. Ponies can eat the stuff, sure, but it’s kind of like if a bakery were to decorate their building with actual loafs of bread coming out of the floorboards, or placed right in the stalls in the restroom. Gross, right?

Questionable aesthetics and joking aside, I’m honestly not that picky when it comes to where I’ll eat my meals. As long as the food is tasty it doesn't matter to me whether the restaurant itself is a five-star establishment... or a rundown food truck with a cook who doesn’t speak English/Ponish. Dusk thankfully shares a similar mindset to myself, so when it came down to finally settling on a place to eat the Three-Leaf Chateau had the one and only thing we were truly looking for at the time; two empty seats.

High standards, I know, but the Chateau still provided. Now hopefully the rest of the dining experience will be just as accommodating.

Judging by the fact that the hors d'oeuvres being served is the classic pony snack of flowers with a side of nothing, I’m not going to hold my breath. I could really go for a few dinner rolls right about now.

“Sigh… Barb, what am I gonna do?”

Maybe if I had even the tiniest scrap of real food in me I could provide better support for Dusk’s current dilemma.

The stallion sitting across from me looks downtrodden and miserable. He hasn’t even picked up his menu yet despite clearly starving. The confrontation with his friends must have drained poor Dusk of all his energy, to which I can fully understand. He's barely become accustomed to interacting with colts his age and now he’s being sacked with such a heavy burden... It's just not fair.

I’m remembering bits and pieces of this episode as the day moves forward, which means that I now know with certainty that there’s going to be a few more scrapes for us to suffer through before this roller coaster comes to a satisfying end. Despite knowing this truth, there’s little I can do to lessen my friend's struggles and there’s little I should be doing either. This is a lesson Solaris felt that Dusk needed to learn, so it’s not my place to interfere or object...

… doesn’t mean I have to like it though.

“All five of my best friends have really good reasons to go to the gala,” laments Dusk Shine as he lays his head on the table. With a pink flare of magic, he plucks one of the appetizer flowers from it’s vase and begins to mindlessly play with it’s pedals. “Bubble Berry and Elusive? Or Rainbow Dash and Butterscotch? Then there’s Applejack and his family… Oh, who should go with me? Which combination of friends?”

Ggggrrr

It’s at this moment that Dusk’s stomach decides to remind us that he's also still present and also still hungry. As if summoned by the monstrous rumbling of the rogue digestive system, a waitress approaches our table ready to assist. “Have you made your decision yet, sir?” asks the earth pony as she smiles kindly, awaiting our order.

This, however, was a poor choice of words on the mare’s part.

“I CAN’T DECIDE!” wails Dusk in anguish, startling both the server and the rest of the restaurant's guests. Guess these ponies will be getting dinner and a show tonight… er… or, at least lunch and a show… today.

Cringing at my charge’s mistake (and maybe a little bit at my dumb joke too), I lower my menu a tad and gently explain, “Dusk, she just wants to take your order.”

I can see the gears turning in the unicorn’s head thanks to these words. They’re moving a bit slower than usual thanks to his stress and hunger, but at least they're still moving at all. “O-oh,” stutters Dusk as he regains his senses. “I’ll… ahem, have a daffodil and daisy sandwich please, ma’am.”

Upon recovering from the outburst, the mare resumes her smiling as she commits the order to memory. She then turns to me. I think I know what I want… buuuttt, just out of curiosity…

“Do you have any sapphires?” I ask her.

The only response I receive for my inquiry is a flat look. The pony is also no longer smiling.

“No?” I nod disappointingly, catching the hint. Worth a shot I guess. “Okay… I’ll have some hay fries,” I order as I toss the menu behind me into the marked basket for them. “Extra crispy.” I'm not usually so forward with my orders, but I feel that you should always state your requests as plainly as possible so that both the waiter and the cook can get the complete message. It makes the server's life a hell of a lot easier when they're not constantly running back and forth with corrections. Proper restaurant manners are multiversal, folks...

… That being said though, as I spy the waitress now writing our orders down on her little notepad, I can clearly see her marking mine down as just plain old ‘fries’ and nothing more...

...

… Sorry, but I think this girl and I are about to start a fight here in a second. I don’t care that I barely come up to her chest in height; you do not mess with a dragon’s food order, let alone a dragoness’ order! This will not go unheard! This will not go unanswered for! There will be retribution!

There will be blood.

In a move that I can only assume was due to her sensing my growing anger (or, more logically, her wanting to simply do her job), the working pony chooses to smartly walk away before I’m able to properly rain hellfire down upon her. Yeah you better run.

“What do you think, Barb?” Dusk Shine asks me searchingly, unconcerned with the great injustice that was about to transpire.

“I think we have to try another restaurant,” I state bluntly as I glare at the waitress lazily taking our orders inside the main building. “I mean, I like grass just fine, but would it hurt anybody to offer some gemstones?” Mentally I add, “Or some better service.”

On a side note; it’s not that crazy of me to assume that a town located right next to a freaking gem cave would serve a few of them on their own menus, right? Dragons aren't the only creatures who eat those things you know!

Before I can ponder on this any further, Dusk scoffs at me for my words. “I mean about the gala and the tickets and who I should take!” This causes me to turn my head back towards him.

Nodding in newfound understanding, I utter lowly an exasperated sounding, “Oh,” as I shift my tail and try to get more comfortable in my seat. Maybe my own sense of hunger is impeding my judgment, but I find myself unable to care enough to filter my words as I groan out a frustrated “You’re still on that?” in reply.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

In my defense for my own terrible choice of words in the heat of the moment, I was well and truly famished by that point in the afternoon. Again, snack-time is the most important time for a growing baby dragon; one that should never be missed, skipped, or taken for granted.

That’s my excuse and I’ll be sticking to it thank you.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Before I know what's happening, the table’s flower vase is knocked aside as my companion’s angry face pushes itself uncomfortably close to my own. “Barb, listen,” Dusk demands crossly, causing me to sink down deeper into my messy seat of hay. I have made a mistake.

I have made a grave mistake.

My frantic unicorn continues. “How do I choose?” he pleads with me. “And when I do choose… will the other three be mad at me? I-I mean, I could give up my own ticket and give away all three, but that would still leave two disappointed ponies. What… what if I-”

In between the span of one breath and the other, our waitress speedily returns in record time with our individual orders. “Your food, sir.” she chimes expertly in her accent as she distracts Dusk with his long awaited sandwich. This has the unintentional side effect of freeing me from my charge’s latest bout of ire...

...

… Okay… I guess I owe you one for the timely save, random waitress pony. May your immediate future be completely fire and dragon free…

… at least for now.

With food at last placed before me, I take advantage of the momentary break in the conversation to dig greedily into my generous helping of deep fried grass with ketchup. I find the simple dish actually quite delectable, or at least more delectable than what I was expecting it to taste like. They’re not extra crispy like I like them (or like I freaking ASKE- deep breaths, Barbara. Deep breaths), but I suppose they’ll do… Also, before you ask; no, hay fries aren’t a secret delicacy that humans would have never thought to try. I’m fairly certain that they probably taste the same on Earth as they do here in Equestria. I’m going to assume that my newfound enjoyment of them is due to the odd tastebuds this world deemed fit to gift me with and nothing more. I used to like peaches in my original body, for example, but now I can’t stand them. It's weird, but whatever.

“Oh thank you,” Dusk happily chimes as the mare walks away. By this point I’m already well into my own plate; thus was the power of my hunger. “This looks sooo good!” With dulled interest due to years of witnessing unicorn magic firsthand, I watch as the flowery sandwich is ‘miraculously’ gripped within Dusk’s hued telekinesis and lifted upwards towards his awaiting lips. “I’m sure everything will be much clearer once I eat.”

Well, it’s certainly working for me at least. My world is getting brighter, my thoughts are getting sharper, and I’m thankfully feeling much less cranky. My memory is also becoming clearer, which means I can now recognize this restaurant from the show and, more importantly... I think I remember this restaurant scene too! Said scene, if I’m recalling things correctly, is about to shift right about...

Rumblerumblerumblerumble

… now.

Sorry, Dusk, but I think you just unwittingly doomed yourself with your mere words.

As if on cue, our table and plates begin to rattle and shake as a literal stampede of ponies push their way past us and into the Three-Leaf’s inner diner. The nameless mare from earlier holds the door open for the fleeing horde and, once the last pony scuttles their way inside the keep, she calls out to us. “Em, sir? Are you going to eat your food in ze rain?”

This gives Dusk pause.

More importantly, it gives me pause.

I definitely remember this restaurant now, and I’m pretty sure Twilight either heads home after this or instead goes over to Rarity’s place… but I don’t remember the reason why she did either of those things. Was there rain involved? Now that I think about it... the paper did say that the weather brigade was going to be triggering minor showers in the afternoon today. It must be around that time…

… Oh, yeah! I can totally see the clouds being pushed into position now! Right on schedule, the rain begins to fall in blinding sheets all around us.

All around us, except for over our little lunch table.

“It’s… not raining,” Dusk answers confusedly as a literal curtain of rainwater is raging as he speaks.

Blinking slowly, I stare dumbfounded at my usually bright young man’s completely false statement.

Wow. Just… wow.

This is what we in the O&O scene like to call ‘failing a spot check’.

Fretting that I might need to schedule a future ophthalmologist appointment for Dusk isn’t going to solve a darn thing, so I’ll just blame his reaction on the same lunch-deprived headspace that tripped me up too and leave it at that. Whatever the case may be, the waitress should have warned us about the upcoming scheduled rainfall before we even sat down. That’s what restaurants in Canterlot do at least, even the fast food ones!

Remind me not to tip her when we leave.

“What’s… going on?” finally questions Dusk upon noticing our strange little oasis in the middle of this wet ‘desert’. Oh, right, I guess that’s still an unanswered question. I was so distracted with Dusk’s possible need for glasses, and mentally vowing to never eat here again, that I completely forgot about our current situation. I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but was this shower in the show as well? With the weather the way it is here in Equestria I would have to assume that it did rain too, but why is our spot still so high and thankfully dry…?

...

… Wait… Which one of our new friends is a part-time Weather Pony aga-

“Hi there, best friend forever I’ve ever ever had! Enjoying the sunny weather?”

Oh now it’s all coming back to me!

Holding back a slowly growing chuckle, I spare the sight of Rainbow Dash beaming down at us from on high a courtesy glance before resuming my lunch in earnest. I remember how this part goes down now, and I’m fairly sure that I’m not going to get another chance to eat in a moment or two here. Rainbow Dash was one of Ashley’s favorites growing up, you see, and I remember her tiny self laughing hard over this part in the show. She played it over and over again on the DVD, as children have a habit of doing, and she reenacted it countless times with her toys and a collection of fluffy pillows. Despite the changes in sexes and dimensions, I bet I can still quote most of this.

Let’s try… Dusk will next say, “Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?”

“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?”

Hah! I was right!

Now… Rainbow’s next words will be “Whaddya mean? I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rain-”

“Oooohhh I’m just holding your lunches ransom until you give Butters one of those tickets! That’s all~”

My claw remains outstretched and frozen in mid hay-fry-grabbing position as I halt in place and proceed to savor the taste of my own foot in my mouth.

I really need to stop pretending that I’m a know-it-all when I’m clearly not.

Impressively, despite his starvation, Dusk remains calm and unmoved in the face of the Element of Loyalty’s abrupt threat. “Rainbow, I know you want at least Butterscotch to go, but strong-arming me isn’t going to sway my opinion!”

Equally unthreatened, Dash strategically moves his head forward so that it’s now blocking out the sun. Whether he did this to produce a halo effect so as to appear more innocent, or to instead forcefully draw his usually feminine features into the shadows to appear more sinister I’m unsure.

“Dusk,” states the pegasus in a defiant voice. “Look, man, I like you. I think you’re a cool guy! They’re your tickets and it’s your call… but you have no idea how long Butters has wanted to go to the gala!”

“Rainbow-”

“He talks about it every year.”

“Rai-”

“And sure he might be a bit bias towards who he’ll want to go with besides you… *coughcoughmecough*... b-but I’m just sticking up for somepony who never speaks up for himself!”

“R-”

“You had to have chosen me for that Loyalty trinket thing for a reason, Du-”

“RAINBOW DASH!!”

In a single loud burst, Dusk at last manages to break through to the surprisingly passionate Rainbow Dash.

“Dash,” the furious stallion starts over, glaring up at the other stallion present. “I’m not going to choose before lunch, and I am not comfortable being guilted into a decision on this, so I’d appreciate it if you close up that rain cloud right now.”

“Bu-”

“Right… now.”

There’s a pause.

“... Ugh, fine.”

With a sound not unlike a zipper being pulled, Rainbow Dash manipulates the darkened clouds above us with his pegasus magic until the skyline is once again dominated by a single sheet of unending grey. With a content little nod of his head, Dusk states “That’s better,” before picking his sandwich back up and attempting yet again to take his first bite.

Drip drip... dripdripdripdripdrip

Unfortunately, unlike the bulk of their conversation, the aftermath of Rainbow Dash’s and Dusk’s little exchange plays out exactly how I remember it did from the show. In the blink of an eye both mine and Dusk’s lunches are simultaneously ruined by our newly awarded slice of afternoon precipitation.

Needless to say, Dusk is not pleased.

With sandwich ruined in front of him, and with mane laying flat and wet across his face, my friend looks absolutely miserable…

… which doesn’t stop me from giggling one bit.

I really shouldn’t laugh at his misfortune… but… well… the comedic timing of his words and the rain was legendary. Stuff like that only happens in cartoons, and while yes that’s what My Little Pony initially was for me I’ve been living here for almost eight years! This world is grounded in normal rules and expectations, despite all the magic and talking ponies. It’s why Bubble Berry’s show-quality quirks never fail to freak me out!

Seeing a gag like this in real life is, well, funny. So sue me if I laugh a little bit, even if I probably shouldn’t.

… Though I’ll admit that I’m unsure if I’m supposed to be laughing at Elusive’s saddle umbrella thing as well here. I'm unsure of it's intention.

The approaching stallion is wearing a collection of uniquely decorated rain equipment across his back. Though attached to the setup is a practical looking one pony umbrella, I’m unsure why it needs to be part of a rider’s saddle, or why it needs to be adorned with flowing designs and tasty looking gems. Is it in style? Jason often sewed his own patterns into his umbrellas too, sure… but that was a decision I understood even less back then! Who are you supposed to be showing that off too? The rain?? Normal people and ponies caught in the rain tend to focus on looking for places where they can go to get out of said rain! Often times they’re not taking the time to admire each other’s gear! Jason may have taught me a lot about fashion, but there’s still a lot I don’t understand even to this day.

Ugh. To each their own I suppose.

“Dusk,” calls out our latest arrival. Dusk does not answer, nor does he turn his head towards the speaker. “It’s raining.”

“No,” my charge retorts with venom, visibly nearing his limit. “Really?”

Though I cringe at this, Elusive hardly seems to have noticed Dusk’s less than friendly choice of tone. “Come with me before you catch a cold,” the white stallion next insists, forcefully reaching out and yanking his friend from his dining spot. He then whisks him away under the cover of his umbrella towards what I can only assume is his boutique.

“H-hey wait for me!” I cry out upon realizing that I’m being left behind. Digging into my purse, I produce a small clawful of bits and throw them on our table before pumping my legs and dashing after the two departing stallions…

…

… Returning briefly to the table, I take back a few of my bits before turning around and resuming the chase in earnest.

________________________________

Thankfully the Carousel Boutique isn't located that far off from the Three-Leaf Chateau. By the time I catch up with everypony, I can easily spot them drying themselves off within the confines of the fancy looking structure. Following suit; I drag my dripping wet self inside, properly close the bell-adorned door behind me, and then set my purse down so that I can try to pat myself dry too. One nice thing about being technically a reptile (and nude as well, I guess) is that rain doesn’t really bother me here like it did back on Earth. I’m okay with being slightly wet so long as I’m not dripping on the floor and so long as I’m not too cold.

Dragon supremacy aside; my decision to stop in place by the doorway ultimately proves to have been an excellent split-second choice, as the delay prevented me from unintentionally entering Dusk’s ‘firing range’. Shaking the water off himself like a dog, as is the norm for drenched ponies both sapient and non, the young stallion accidentally splashes his unicorn kin in a surprise shower of brisk water. Embarrassed by his mistake, Dusk weakly snickers as he squeaks out a tiny, “Oops, sorry.”

I catch a slight twitch in Elusive’s eye thanks to this, but it swiftly disappears as the wet pony laughs off the inconvenience.

“Oh, no, it’s quite alright,” he replies with questionable honesty. “After all, we are…” The waterlogged stallion then side-hugs Dusk Shine and brings him in closer towards himself, producing a squishing sound. “The best of friends,” he finishes, tightening his hold. “Are we not?”

He then lets my friend go, which causes him to take an involuntary step back. Not having any of that, our host next entwines Dusk’s forelegs with his own as he stares eagerly into his captive’s eyes.

“And you know what the best of friends do?” he then asks knowingly.

“Uh…” speaks Dusk nervously, his eyes darting towards me and screaming a silent cry for help. I’m… not really sure what he’s expecting me to do about all this to be honest. Being useless seems to be the sad norm for me today.

Even if I did remember this part from the show, I’m too awkward when it comes to talking to Elusive. I just haven’t sorted my head out about him yet. I’ve not been granted the opportunity to talk to him about his whole deal yet either, so stepping in is completely off the table for me. I… I-I just don’t know what I would say…

So, with that having been established; I really have zero power in preventing Elusive from now shouting something odd, though not unprecedented, to hear coming from a boy’s mouth.

“Makeovers!”

Guess I know now why Rainbow and him seemed like good friends already back during Dusk’s Welcome to Ponyville Part-

WHAM!

Hold that thought for a sudden news bulletin; apparently I also have zero power over being launched like a flipping missile through the air upon being whacked with the broadside of a levitated changing curtain. Owie.

Oh how I hate hate hate physical comedy.

Also, while we’re here interacting with and addressing the handsome elephant in the room; I might as well point out how for a pony who can speak English perfectly, and who clearly knows how rare such a thing is here in Equestria, this stallion, whoever he is, seems to not want to so much as acknowledge that I’m in the same room with him today. Maybe it’s because he’s so focused on going to that stupid gala, but he didn’t even attempt to say ‘hi’ to me back when I returned to Ponyville earlier this week. Sure none of the other guys did either, but the point is that Elusive doesn’t seem to have the same sense of agency in this matter as me…

...

… He... might not care about it as much as I do…

...

… He might not care about me at all…

…

… SMACK

Ah. There’s the wall.

I was wondering when I was finally going to stop sailing and hit this darn thing. Double owie. Hopefully my noggin will still be intact enough by the end of this horrible day for me to write all this stuff down.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

And it was. Hurrah for dragon scales and genetically thicker skulls.

~~I guess that technically makes me a bonehead.~~

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Meanwhile, Dusk was enduring a similar trial of unrequested agony to my own. His torture took the form of being forcefully dressed up by a enthusiastic Elusive, to which I’m unsure whether that’s better or worse verses being thrown directly into a wall like I was.

By the sound of it, it’s worse.

“Ugh, Elusive, ow, this really isn’t… I-I mean, thank you but, oH! That’s too tight…”

Dusk’s cries of discomfort causes me to wince and puts my own current pain into perspective. Maybe I was actually the lucky one in this exchange. As I pick myself off the ground from where I landed, I turn and watch as the changing panel is carefully moved aside. Side note; changing panels and rooms are more traditional than practical in Equestria due to historical reasoning, but I’ll explain all this at a later date. Right now I’m more interested in evaluating Dusk’s new look.

“There,” Elusive chimes as he wipes sweat from his brow in admiration of his own work. “Oh, you’re simply dashing.”

You know… he’s not wrong. Dusk does look pretty dapper in that new navy blue dress shirt of his, and in that dark plum suit jacket. A rainbow of gems make up the buttons, alternating between green, yellow, and blue respectively. There’s even a little yellow tassel along the back vent… I like it! It’s pretty. I wonder if Elusive has a camera around here so I can send a picture or two to Dusk’s parents?

Having been granted a moment to breathe and look himself over too, Dusk reluctantly admits the same. “Um, yeah, it is kinda cool, isn’t it?”

As I continue to admire the ensemble from afar, I find myself knocked out of my thoughts as Elusive rushes hurriedly over to my side. Ah! I wanted his attention, but not that quickly!

“And you,” purrs the stallion of my dreams, making me feel uncomfortably hot. “Oh Barbara, I have a quaint little outfit for the lovely little lady.”

With cheeks burning red, I take a cautious step back.

This was unfortunately not quick enough to escape Elusive’s fabulous ‘wrath’. With the privacy screen now placed squarely between the two of us and Dusk, I find my wish to be alone with this suspicious unicorn surprisingly fulfilled. The stallion hums to himself as he levitates over a rack of children’s clothes and begins to take one down.

“Um… E-Elusive,“ I stutter out, trying to catch his attention. “Hey, Elusive…?”

My plea goes ignored. I fear that he is, as my husband used to say as well, in the zone.

“Elusive?” I try again, this time whispering a little louder.

“...Fro tet cra ryja du lusa pylg? Not now.”

“Wha?” I ask, unsure if I had just heard something from him or not.

“... Not... now...”

Huh? What is he mumbling to himself? “Wh-”

Before I can finish my words, I find one of my arms roughly gripped in a field of magic and yanked forward.

“Ow!” I cry as I feel fabric being forcefully draped over my arm. “Hey!”

Again ignored, I close my eyes and feel it as I'm tugged and pushed every which way in order to painfully get shoved into a dress. A necklace is wrapped around my neck, a bow is being lanced onto my tail, and I think I just got dabbed with... makeup? The sensations only last for but a second or two before I feel a whoosh of air as the privacy screen is once again tossed to the side.

“Oh, Barb,” chuckles Dusk to himself cheekily.

Not liking that tone, I reopen my eyes and try to look myself over.

There’s a bright red ribbon wrapped around my tail now. The bodice of my dress is a blinding pink, and so is my skirt. I’ve been forced into little red heels that shine slightly, and at some point a blond wig had been placed on my head…

“Now you just need a bonnet…” muses my dresser/assailant mere moments before tying a scarlet colored one to my head. Combined together with the rest of the ensemble, this getup, is… cute.

This getup is… childish.

This getup…

… is cheap.

The shoes are plastic and covered with hastily applied glitter. The wig is old and it’s inner hem is falling apart. The bonnet’s strings are thin, which makes it feel like it came off of a toy doll. Most damning of all; the dress doesn’t have any of Elusive’s usual flare. There’s no gems, the stitching looks less than rock-solid, and every inch of the dresses’ design screams ‘lack of effort.’

Every inch of it screams ‘a play dress for foals'...

… But this must have been intentional, oh yes. I can tell that Elusive wasn't trying to seek my approval with this display. Not at all.

If he were… then why are his eyes still glued on Dusk's?

This was just a showing of generosity; a ploy to get those damn tickets for himself, just like Rainbow Dash did. I shouldn’t be surprised. I remember now that every main character is going to try to appeal to Dusk, even if I can’t recall exactly how anymore. I shouldn’t be surprised one bit…

… but… it means that Elusive well and truly doesn’t care about me. I could feel it as he dressed me. His actions were completely devoid of the delicate touch I had grown to expect from my long lost love. Despite everything; despite our shared language, the sheer ramifications of its existence on this planet, and his 'promise' to tell me the truth back when he assumed I was not staying in Ponyville for more than a day… he doesn’t care.

He well and truly doesn’t care about me at all.

…

Dripdripdripdripdrip

… The sound of rain striking the Carousel’s roof envelops my mind...

“... I…”

…

“... I-I told you I don’t want any part of these stupid grody gala games!” I declare angrily, glaring up at the two ponies present in the room.

But neither of them spare me a glance for my outburst.

Not even Dusk...

"..."

... In anger I rip the stupid kid crap off of myself and throw it to the ground. Madly wiping the makeup off my face, I next stomp over to the entrance, pick up my purse, and spare a single glance back towards the two young stallions.

Dusk continues to ignore me, as does Elusive.

“... See you back at the library,” I call out to my charge, pitifully trying to gain any sort of acknowledgement that I was being heard before I left.

Still nothing.

"..."

... Dingalingaling

Despite the rain's remaining presence outside, I open the entrance door and prepare to depart regardless of it. The sound of water splashing to the ground intensifies as I take my first step forward.

Right before I do, I hear a single rough “Hah!” leave Elusive’s refined lips. I turn to look as he continues to address Dusk. “Oh, who needs her anyway-”

SLAM!!

These were the last few words I hear from the unicorn before I smash his blasted portal closed behind me and willingly enter the storm’s icy embrace.

Entry 4, End (The Ticket Master)

Author's Note

On this day, in 2014, I posted the first chapter of The Poisoned Barb...

... Thank you all for 5 wonderful years :twilightsmile:

Entry 4, End (The Ticket Master)

Though my dramatic exit may have seemed super intense and emotional from how I just finished describing it, I’ll freely admit that the act came off more like a temper tantrum than anything truly substantial or head turning. I was just a kid throwing a fit about her dress, that's all. The adult in me will admit that it was immature to behave as such, like a child, but hindsight now tells me a different tale; one where I was not completely in the wrong for my actions.

The honest reality was that I was undisputedly in a dark place at the time.

When the world does nothing but push against you, I believe that it's only natural for one to want to push back against it out of spite. I don't think anyone reading this can deny that I have plenty of "push back" to work with if I ever wanted to do just that, but I hadn't really considered until now how a good portion of this frustration stems from nowhere else but within my own mind.

You see; not only was I being ignored by ponies who I thought cared about me deeply, but I had also failed to remember what was quickly dawning on me to be an important episode of My Little Pony. My lack of readiness for the day had made me feel all sorts of useless, which in turn fed into the negative thoughts and feelings that are always on my mind in one form or another; thoughts and feelings concerning my role and place in this universe, for example.

Prince Solaris’ speech about time being both a River and a Stone kept replaying in my memories as the rain continued to fall and even after it stopped. I tried to convince myself that The Code meant that I shouldn’t be so upset over the inevitability of these events, and that my "happy" future was guaranteed so long as I stuck to the script, but my injured heart wasn’t having any of that baloney. It ached in ways I can’t properly articulate with words, written or otherwise. ~~Elusive~~

As Applejack trotted past me with a wagon full of treats to bribe Dusk with, and as I silently watched as Butterscotch led a literal army of woodland creatures ahead of me towards the library, I found myself detached from the story and uncaring as to whatever was to happen next.

The act of not caring, however, is harder to follow through on when a surprise offer literally blindsides you at damn near terminal velocity.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

SMACK!!

“Ow.”

Okay... is it national hurt-a-baby-dragon day and nopony told me, or am I really just this unlucky?! Hopefully I won’t bruise from all this stupid abuse.

With sulky thoughts now swirling in my head... well, more than there was a minute ago at least... I rub my pained noggin with a claw as I pick myself up and then lift with me the latest cause of my discomfort.

A red rubber ball is now sitting comfortably in my two claws. It’s almost as big as my head.

“S-sorry about that, Barb!”

These words cause me to blink in surprise.

Wait… I recognize that voice crack!

Sure enough, upon lifting my head from the orb and scanning the slightly wet streets, I quickly spot the sight of two familiar looking colts.

“You really suck at this game, Sweepy,” snickers the cheeky pegasus I knew to be Scooteroll to his friend. “I wasn’t anywhere near there!”

The foal’s unicorn companion pouts adorably to this accusation. “The sun was in my eyes, that's all!” Sweepy Belle spits back crossly.

Oh, that's nice. It looks like the two of them finally found each other in the real world after the whole dreamscape incident originally brought them together. I discover my lips curling upwards thanks to their reunion and thanks to this cute little spat of theirs…

… only for said lips to change back to their original expression as my thoughts wander to Elusive, Sweepy’s older brother.

My mood returns to being sour.

“... It’s okay, boys,” I eventually manage to mutter. “Accidents happen.” I then underhand roll the ball back towards Sweepy and resume my slow march towards the library. I’m sure I’m supposed to meet back up with Dusk there so we can move forward to the ‘third act’. Let’s keep this plot train rolling, I guess. All aboard. Choo cho-

“Do you wanna play with us, Barb?”

With foot halting in mid-step, I find myself slowly turning back towards the pony who had just asked me this question.

Sweepy Belle smiles back innocently in response.

Scooteroll beats me to the punch by asking the well earned “Huh?” that his friend deserved for his sudden words. "Ummm, I think being Dusk’s assistant thingy is, like, her full time job or something, dude. You can't play games when your working.”

Before I can add in my own comment, Sweepy cheerfully counters his friend with, “I don’t see Mister Dusk Shine around anywhere though, do you? Maybe she has the day off?”

Again I try to speak.

Again I’m cut off.

“Bu-”

Sweepy then cuts off Scooteroll who was currently in the process of cutting me off. Wow; double teamed. “Come ooooon Scooter!” he pleads with the pegasus, his eyes growing even larger and more puppy dog-like than before. “Our folks said that we had to go outside and have fun, and three players will be way more fun than just two! It’s simple math!”

“... Huh?” the orange youth again questions. “What are you, an abacus?”

“It makes sense though, right?”

“I… I guess,” Scooteroll admits after a time. The foal then at last turns and addresses me directly. “Soooo... Are you in, Barb?”

“Uhhh,” I answer back quite intelligently. Huh... I’ve been caught completely off guard here.

If I'm remembering things right; Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were kinda main characters in their own right too, right? I think that's true... I don’t remember if they ever interacted with Spike in the show though, even though they were all around the same age give or take a year or two. He was never shown going to a school, I still remember that much at least. His interactions with the yet to be formed team must have been super minor then if that's how events originally went down.

For the sake of the timeline, I should probably steer clear of the whole darn group…

…

… But… this world's timeline is already kinda janked though, right? Eris’ statue has been moved, Solaris lost an eye, and I’ve interacted with these two colts already thanks to Nightterror Nebula’s dreamscape prison! Things are slightly different now in this Equestria thanks to my selfish influence... I don't know how things are supposed to go anymore...

…

“… N-no, I shouldn’t…” I eventually reply, taking a step back and resuming my walk towards the library. My mind is set.

I shouldn’t be entertaining thoughts that involve deviating from the show’s canon like I already have. Bad things happen whenever I try, just like with Dusk's book and just like during the Summer Sun Celebration. Sure it's true that I don’t know exactly what the original Spike did between leaving and rejoining Twilight’s side in this episode, but I still shouldn’t get distracted with, well… distractions like this! I have a job to do! I have responsibilities! I know what my next role for today is and it's simply being in Dusk's presence when he wants to write his letter to Solaris! That is more important than this. That will get Dusk and the other’s their damn tickets! This will amount in… nothing! Just me building up a sweat, getting dirty, and nothing else. For goodness sake, I’m a grown woman! I shouldn’t have to remind myself that Dusk needs me, just like he did at Sweet Apple Acres earlier today where…

… where I sat around and threw away apples all morning long…

...

… W-well he needed me by his side when his friends ganged up on him at least! Yeah! How else would he have... have...

...

... How else would he have told his friends off all by himself while I stood around and did nothing…

…

… I… I-I helped him find a restaurant to eat at!

But then I immediately laughed when his lunch was ruined and he was left miserable...

...

… I’m…

...

... I’ve not been all that helpful today, have I? And… I’m not destined to be helpful later today either. Not in a truly meaningful way at least...

...

... B-but writing that letter will be helpful! I’ll be helpful when that happens! Yeah... I will be… I really will be helpful then!

And… and then Elusive will finally...

Finally…

…

... Finally... what?

...

… All of a sudden... my purse is feeling… heavy…

Way too heavy.

…

… Gently, and with the utmost care, I make to lower my satchel into a nearby bush. Filled with The Poisoned Barb and three golden gala tickets, I make sure that the treasured item is properly camouflaged by a healthy collection of branches, twigs, and earthly bubs before letting go of it's strap all together. Once I'm confident that the bag will go both undisturbed and unnoticed by passersby, I proceed to take a nice, deep, and calming breath…

… before willingly letting it all go.

Shouting “I wanna play too!” while running back has the desired result I want, as Sweepy is now toothily grinning because of my change of heart. With one last nod of his head to confirm that I'm ready, the ball is kicked my way.

With the stretching of my foot, and the silencing of my head, I launch the toy over to Scooteroll without a second thought.

Just like that the game begins, and the streets of Ponyville are soon filled with the sound of children’s laughter and nothing more.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

It's funny; though I've lectured time and time again on the importance of not clinging to the past, and on the value of embracing the new you, I rarely follow through with what I preach. I still make adult decisions, and I still have adult thoughts and feelings, but I also still think that it's important for a Reincarnee, for a Lost One, to be able to connect with those in their world who closely match their new form. It was within the very pages of this book did I write the words, "Become a child's friend," yet I've become more attached to adults and young adults in this life than I ever did in my old.

Perhaps The Poisoned Barb is to blame for this discrepancy of mine.

Recalling and jotting down my thoughts on the past seems highly counterproductive in my pursuit to forget said past, but I can't bring myself to cease writing. My passion for the craft still lives on within me; I can't possibly dredge up the willpower necessary to forget such a thing. I've already written so many entries over these last few weeks as well. It would be such a shame to put an end to all of this while there's still plenty of mysteries left in this land to unravel.

I'll honestly state that the amount of clinging I do is unhealthy, but there are just too many aspects of my old self that refuse to die. My love of writing, my love of my original body's shape, my love for my husband and children... Perhaps this passion is toxic, but at least it proves to me that I'm a real dragon through and through now.

It's in a dragon's nature to be greedy, after all.

Someday I'll be free from the past in both mind and soul, but again I feel that baby dragon steps will be what sees me to this final destination in the end. Thankfully I found two colts today willing to show me which path I should be striding down.

The path towards a more fulfilling second childhood might not be as scary as I originally feared.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... So you never went to school?” Scooteroll asks me for the fourth time in a row. “Lucky.”

“Yeah, I wish I could skip all that too,” Sweepy adds in between heavy breaths.

“Psss, nuh-uh!” I shoot back with a snort as I lay tired and covered in mud on a nearby patch of grass. “You guys wouldn’t have liked it at all. The Bluebelles are totally evil! They made me learn shelving and taxes and all that boring junk.”

“Okay… yeah,” Scooteroll concedes as he collapses on the grass beside Sweepy and myself. “But you still got to live in a big old mansion though, right?”

“Hah!” I snicker. “You mean I got to clean a big old mansion daily! It was lame with a capital L.”

“Oh wow, what?" Scooteroll gasps. "Whoa... I might miss my parents, but at least my uncles don't make me clean their whole house when I stay over! That is lame, dude!"

"Yeah," Sweepy nods. "This kinda puts my own chores into a whole new perspective... That’s real rough what you went through, Barb.”

“I... T-thanks, you guys...”

The conversation ends shortly after this exchange as the three of us choose to relax in silence and listen to the pleasant sound of the wind blowing through town. The grass sways beside us as we collectively enjoy the summer’s wonderful warmth...

...

... I’m worn out.

I probably smell.

I’m covered in dirt, minor knee scrapes, and tree sap... somehow.

I look like a typical prepubescent little girl...

... but, despite this... I'm happy.

Undeniably happy.

...

... Why does this feel so foreign to me?

...

“... Dusk Shine is my bestest friend whoopie, whoopie~”

"Berry..."

Due to how close the three of us currently are physically, I can feel it as my two pony friends’ fuzzy ears perk up suddenly in response to the faintest sound of music playing in the distance. We glance at each other for a hot second before we rise to our feet and hooves respectively and try to figure out what's going on.

“Is that a Heartsong?” Sweepy name-drops the phenomenon as he shades himself with a hoof and tries to peer out.

Scooteroll replies, “I think so… Man, I can’t wait until we’re old enough to do that too! You know they say that cutie marks come in a little bit after your magic lungs do… Hey, Barb! What do you think your cutie mark would be if you were a pony like us?”

Ending my search for the singer, I giggle at the question. Goodness, I never thought about that before! If I were a pony, what would mine look like? A quill? Maybe a book! I would want something cool looking though, so maybe it would be a firebal-

“BEEEERRRRY!!”

My daydreaming comes to a screeching halt as a stallion’s voice angrily cries out, terminating the distant Heartsong. Turning my head towards the west, I spot the library, the place I was originally heading towards, now being assaulted by a horde of cheering equines. A speck of purple catches my eyes as it comes tumbling down into the crowd.

Oh… that’s right… the episode is still going on…

...

… For a second, one solid second... I'm not ashamed to admit that a tiny spark of hate may have ignited itself within my mind.

Hate that this newfound feeling of peace will be forced to come to an end soon.

Hate that I’ll need to get back to the library in time for Dusk’s breakdown and for his letter to Solaris.

Hate that I’ll finally, finally be needed then; that I’ll finally be useful for the first time today, if not for the first time ever.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

In that brief moment of time, and for the first time in a long time, I was starting to regard my duty to this "ridiculous" plot and to this "ridiculous" planet as the burden that it always was. I was starting to see this unasked for role of mine as the roadblock towards my own happiness that it was from the start.

In that moment, that one single instance, I contemplated on how bad it could possibly be of me to just.. sit down with those two boys, and just… do nothing? Maybe I would have continued to lay in the grass, maybe I would have taken Sweepy Belle up on his offer to go read comic books back at his home, or maybe I would have done something bold.

Maybe I would have torn those damn tickets into little pieces, made confetti out of their remains, and blown said remains into the eye-sockets of the next pony who asked me for them.

The only thing that stopped me from heading down that path, from abandoning my duty outright in the pursuit of more immediate bliss, was ironically my own two feet. Unbeknownst to even myself, my group had started making their way closer to the gathering in order to gain more details. Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll were obviously doing so out of a sense of curiosity, but I had followed too for reasons that weren't obvious to me at first.

Said reason became crystal clear once the moment of ~~stupidity~~ much needed introspection had passed in its entirety.

Dusk's panic, exhaustion, and misery were on full display for me to witness and soak in once I had approached closer... yet the sight didn't make me feel better at all. It didn't make my own pain feel lighter.

If anything, it made me feel worse.

This was because it wasn't an equivalent exchange, I knew. Not in the slightest. We were both being taken advantage of by Element Bearers, our words were both being ignored, and our own wants were both being trampled on by others yet it still wasn't the same.

At the end of the day; we may both be the chew toys of destiny, but only one of us had made the choice to follow a script instead of living their own life, and only one of us would receive Solaris' blessing if they ever decided to leave it all behind. Dusk isn't the one whose been granted such wonderful options.

Dusk is, in a sense, more trapped in his fate than even myself.

This is Dusk Shine's one and only life, and it's one in which he has no true say over where his future will lead him. He is Solaris' pawn, just like me; a game piece bond by rules and rigid movements that he can not possibly hope to comprehend or deviate from.

In understanding this, I also came to the realization that selfishly asking him to suffer the same way I had, for only my own benefit, would mark me as no better than how the rest of his ticket-starved friends were behaving today.

And I am better than that, dear reader.

I am better because I am Barbara The flipping Dragoness; number one assistant of all time, tied only with Spike himself.

The next course of action that I decided upon in that split-second, that I'm about to chronicle, should now come as obvious to all who have read and understood everything written thus far in this book. In the off-chance you are still confused, I will now fully reiterate my rationale for hopefully the final time upon these many pages. Feel free to say the words aloud along with me if you so desire, for I feel that you may know them already. You may choose the tone though, either glad or sad, for I am certain that my choice is not the one another in my scales would have made if given the opportunity.

Deep down in my heart of hearts; despite the moments of frustration, the allowance of slapstick abuse, and the rare times where I am treated more like his shadow than his assistant... I still love ~~my~~ Dusk Shine.

I still love the pony whose youthful innocence saved me from the darkness of my rebirth, whose quest for friendship has already given my new life deeper meaning, and who would be completely lost if not for my highly necessary secretarial assistance. I feel whole when I'm by his side and, though I'm certain he'll never admit it, I know he feels the same way about me. Though the road may get rocky at times, with dark days aplenty, I still believe that this love of ours exists and that it will remain in place for many more years to come. I will wait as long as it takes for him to become the magical young stallion that I know he ~~can be~~ will be someday.

Despite the never-ending hurdles that always permeate such a thing, I've always loved my family and that's an aspect of my former life that I'm more than willing to keep around forever.

Now that the record has been set straight once and for all, let us continue. At the point that I've just described, as the once dying flame of hope began to glow brightly once more within my chest; I quickly came to the epiphany that what was best for Dusk today wasn't going to be a ravenous mob, but instead a friend to simply stand by his side. My instincts told me that nopony from the chanting hoard of potential gala goers was going to step up to the plate in that task, so I ultimately decided that it might as well be me. The fact that Spike probably came to this same conclusion off-camera didn't mean a damn thing to me at the time.

Let it never be said that our relationships to our charges are not forged out of the goodness of our hearts and the stubbornness of our wills.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Hurriedly turning back towards my two surprising new friends, having at last come to grips with my feelings, I beam one last time as I declare how, “Guys, it’s been fun, but I better help my other friend out of this jam he got himself in.”

Scooteroll looks a little disappointed at this, but he still nods his head in understanding all the same.

“O-okay,” he grumbles a bit to himself. It’s funny how he didn’t want me to join in the games initially, but now that it’s time for me to leave he doesn’t want me to go at all! He's a child through and through for sure... though I suppose I’m no longer in a position to criticize such things. “We’ll play again soon though, right?”

There's not a single hint of hesitation in my voice. “For sure, Scooter.”

We then claw/hoof bump one another before I turn to address Sweepy… whose not where I thought he was. Huh? Where did he g-

“Don forge dis, Bar.”

Startled, I turn and spy Sweepy Belle holding onto my purse with his mouth. Though he had clearly spoken around the item gripped in his teeth, upon seeing his stance and wagging tail the words became so much more clearer to me. “Don’t forget this, Barb.” Awwwww~! Such a little gentlecolt!

Boy could his older brother use a few lessons from him, haha.

Gratefully I thank the sweet little pony... well we’re technically about the same height but you know what I mean… by saying just as much. “Thank you, Sweepy.”

With purse, tickets, diary and bits all reclaimed and secured tightly to my side, I bid the two colts a heartfelt goodbye before running purposefully into the gathering and making my way back to Dusk’s side.

Back to where I'm always needed and where I know I'm always welcomed.

"Out of the way!" I yell, forcefully pushing myself between ponies. "Make room! Number one assistant coming through! G-get your flank out of my face you perv. Ohhh is that a real Fire Ruby- No! No distractions! I need to get to... Dusk!"

Breaching the storm of ponies and entering it's eye, I find Dusk curling into a fetal position right smack dab in the middle of the whole mess. This is bad. Though I possess more strength than the average child, I still lack the power necessary to forcefully extract him from this sticky situation all by myself.

Thankfully it doesn’t look like I'll need to strain myself at all in order to get my charge out of this mess. It seems that my mere presence by his side, along with the feeling of my reassuring claw against his leg and the mirrored look of fear in my own eyes, is just what the doctor ordered. Though our gazes meet for but a fraction of a flash, it’s clear to both of us now that this is no longer a burden we have to deal with alone. Together we are stronger, and together we'll break free.

With passion reignited and burning like the sun, Dusk and I charge forward and attempt to escape the growing masses. We aren’t able to make it all that far out of the eye; everywhere we turn a new pony is cropping up and trying to offer us more and more in exchange for our desired tickets. Flowers, carrots, first born foals; nothing seems to be off the table for these deranged ponies! Dusk was right all those nights ago!

Everypony in this town is crazy!

Perhaps in realizing that on foot I’ll only slow us down, my friend with the mulberry coat leans over and allows me to climb up onto his back. “What are we gonna do?!” I shout out, trying to be heard over the hubbub.

“We’re,” Dusk begins to scream back, his head darting every which way in the hope of finding an exit. “gonna...”

And then, from my seat upon my steed, I feel it in my scales as Dusk’s internal well of magic chooses now to loudly resonate in the air around us. Invisible, magical instruments start to chime one by one as my frightened little pony unwittingly primes a Heartsong. I… oh crap, I remember this bit! I remember it so clearly!

Who could ever forget Benny goshdarn Hill?!

“RRRRUUUUUNNN!!!” whinnies my steed as he jumps up over the herd and at last manages to escape. We’re going to be ridiculously easy to track down thanks to this appropriate background music, but darn it all if we’re not willing to try! To quote something I’m fairly certain Bubble Berry has never said, but probably will at some point because he's, well, Berry;

“I’ve always wanted to be part of a montage sequence!”

_______________________________

“WHAT WAS THAT PONY DOING IN THAT FOOD CART?! THAT'S SO UNSANITARY!!”

“I DON’T KNOW DUSK JUST KEEP RUNNING!!”

_______________________________

“... They actually fell for this one?”

“Yeah I’m surprised too.”

“Right? But, Dusk… wouldn’t it have made more sense for me to be the one in the stroller? I am smaller...”

Dusk spits out a pacifier as he pokes his head out of the tiny cart.

“Yeah… you’re probably righ-”

“THERE THEY ARE!”

“Oh horsefeathers CHEESE IT!”

_______________________________

“... Dusk, I’m going to be the first one to use the shower tonight and there’s nothing you can do or say to change my mind.”

“What? But, Barb, I’m so swea-”

“Eh!” I cut him off by placing a newly pond and algae-soaked claw against his lips. “I am invoking my ‘ladies first’ right again today and that’s final. Are we clear?”

“Bu-”

“Are, we, clear?”

“ … Yes ma’am…”

_______________________________

“... Dusk… They passed us by... Please take off the coconut bra now.”

“No… It makes me feel pretty.”

“... Fair enough… Can I have a turn with it nex-”

“No.”

“Hypocrite.”

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Thankfully the chase music started to die down right around the time the sunlight was starting to do the same. Dusk would later explain to me that this was due to his emotions becoming too erratic for his body to maintain the subconscious spell, or something of that effect. We should have been able to run away more easily once this happened, but fate saw fit to make our next right turn into a turn that involved a complete dead end.

I was beyond frustrated by this. With the buildings in this town being so unusually far apart from one another I hadn’t thought that there were dead ends in Ponyville at all. You learn something new everyday I guess.

As the practically rabid ponies drew closer in, still shouting maddening offers of eternal servitude and countless riches, Dusk’s horn began to glow out brightly with the light of a charging spell matrix. In his haste, in his complete and utter desperation to escape the clingy horde, Dusk had called upon his most dangerous spell.

From what I understand with the little magic knowledge I possess, teleportation is not an easy spell to utilize. There are countless formulas, runes, and factors to memorize for even one "jump" to be successful, so the average unicorn usually forgoes learning the incantation during their stay in caster school. Combine this fact with how strictly the royal government monitors the users of said spell, and how often said users have to appear in court to testify whenever somepony blames a robbery on it's usage and it’s plain to see why it’s such a rare skill among the pony populous. It’s also a skill that Dusk hasn’t completely mastered yet, ~~so he’s not exactly licensed to use it outside of school yet either~~

Note to Self #3: Don’t write incriminating evidence inside The Poisoned Barb.

Note to Self #4: Review Note to Self #2 again.

In summation; Dusk shouldn't have been casting that spell today, but I believe that I have well established by this point that he was not quite in his normal headspace at the time. His hasty actions today should not come off as all that shocking in the grand scheme of things.

Not shocking, true, but to me it was still an unlucky turn of events.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

POP!!

Owowowowow! I hate teleportation so gosh darn much! Hothothot!! Why am I smoking?! Why am I- Oh no my purse! Pleasedon’tburnpleasedon’tburnplease… Phew! All safe and sound…

… Can’t say the same for me though.

“W-warn me next time you’re gonna do that,” I woozily sputter out as I try to reorient myself.

“I didn’t even know it was gonna happen!” Dusk wails back at me. OH SURE, TELL ME THAT YOU WINGED THE DELICATE TELEPORT SPELL! THAT WILL MAKE ME FEEL SSSSSOOOOO MUCH BETTER, YOU CLO- “Now quick, lock the doors!”

Returning to my senses, I quickly come to the realization that we’re inside the library and, thus, we have a slim chance at privacy once again! Following my orders, I aid Dusk in the task as fast as my legs can carry me. Doors are slammed, windows are closed, and every single enchanted candle is blown out. Eventually our reward reveals itself to be complete and utter darkness.

Never before have I been so glad to be thrust into utter darkness.

As the two of us collapse to the floor, having at last succumbed to our exhaustion, Dusk and I breathe a well earned sigh of relief. In the blackness of night, our eyes meet once again.

In each other's gaze do we at last find some semblance of peace and quiet...

…

… Do I even need to say that it doesn’t last long?

Electric lamps suddenly burst into blinding light as the library is once again illuminated fully. Now overlooking us from Dusk’s loft are five incredibly unwelcomed stallions/home invaders.

Dusk screams.

I debate joining in.

“I can’t decide! I just can’t decide!” Dusk sobs in anguish, consuming his metaphorical last straw. The other ponies present, for the first time all day long, at last look properly guilty as their supposed friend begins to rant and rave. “It’s important to all of you and I just can’t stand to disappoint any of you, and giving me gifts and doing me favors won’t make any difference, because you’re all my friends and I wanna make you all happy and I can’t! I just CAN’T!!”

Not a single pony present can bring themselves to speak as Dusk curls up into a tiny ball on the floor and lays there with his hooves over his face. A sniffle escapes his lips, completely breaking my heart.

Flapflapflap

In a move that at last proves to me that his own heart isn’t as cold and black as I was starting to fear, Rainbow Dash flutters himself over to Dusk’s side.

“Oh jeez,” Dash cringes, rubbing a foreleg behind his head in embarrassment. “Dusk, man, I-I didn’t mean to push you this hard. I just… I…” The pegasus then gently places a wing over his friend’s prone form. “I'm so sorry. Look, if it helps you out, I don’t want the stupid ticket anymore. Give it to somepony else for all I care. It’s your choice, dude. We cool?”

“I… I don’t want to go now either,” adds Butterscotch in a low rumble, drawing our attention and encouraging Dusk to stand up fully once again. “I didn’t mean to hurt anypony... I-I'd never want to hurt you guys...”

“Me too,” chimes Berry, bouncing in place as always. “It’s no fun upsetting your friends… besides! The seven of us can always get wasted right here in Ponyville instead!”

“Barb is still seven, BB.”

“What? Still?”

Elusive rolls his eyes before adding in his own commitment. “Dusk, it was ungentlecoltly of me to try to force you as I did. I hope you and Barbara can forgive me someday.”

I glance at Elusive for my inclusion in his apology.

The stallion replies to my gaze by deliberately turning away from it.

“Elus-” I start to ask, only to be cut off by a rather loud cry of

“Yaaaahhhooo!! Apple stand here we come!! Oooohhhh ah can taste the bits already...”

The six of us wordlessly turn towards our seventh.

Upon realizing that we’re all staring rather angrily at him, Applejack’s face visibly turns an awkward red. “... Y… Y-you know what?” the farmer then backpedals hard. “Ah’m pretty sure that Red Gala will be too busy with the chores to go to the, er, gala with me that day... and ah can’t rightfully bring Apple Buck or Gramps along with me instead... A-and it would be such a shame to not use all three of the tickets together…”

The room grows colder as our glares grow crosser.

Applejack gulps.

“W-what ah’m tryin’ to say is…” the earth pony at last bows his head in defeat. “Ah don’t need those tickets anymore neither.”

“Sorry we didn’t realize that we were being complete jerks to you, Dusk,” Rainbow steps in, intentionally diverting our gazes from Applejack to himself. “Everypony has this dream of going to the gala at one point in their lives, so when we were given the chance... I-I guess it drove us just the tiniest bit batty…” Reaching over, Dash extends his hoof in a show of peace. “Are we cool again, dude? Please say we’re cool, t-though I'd understand if we're not...”

Dusk looks down at the offered foreleg and stares at it...

“...”

… A moment later he bumps it with his own.

“Yeah… Yeah we’re cool again, dude," confirms Dusk with a smile.

Like a spell washing over us all, the tension in the room magically disappears as we release our collectively held breaths…

… Oh! I bet I know what happens next here! With the conflict out of the way and with bridges repaired, I bet I know exactly the next lines for sure this time.

Next, Dusk is going to say…

“Barb, take down a note.”

Ahhhhhh. Music to my weird-shaped ears~

With quill and parchment relinquished from my bag along with the three tickets, I stand by waiting to hear those three wonderful words.

Say it with me now, everycreature;

“Dear Prince Solaris…”

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

From there the rest is pretty self explanatory, my dear reader. As I detailed earlier on in this written entry, the final outcome of the day was that everyone in the room received their own ticket after the ones we had were returned and after the situation was explained fully to Solaris. Mine came in a rushed second burst of dragon fire, but that’s a detail that can be glanced over.

A detail that can’t be ignored though was that, as I left the library earlier tonight to join the others in a well earned dinner, I was first stopped by Applejack. He was having a laugh at my expense over my suspiciously two-faced excitement in receiving a ticket of my own, what with me having made fun of the event earlier and all. In reality I was actually just happy that the whole day was finally over with, but I decided that I wasn't going to correct him on this misunderstanding. Instead I chose to play it off like his assumption was actually correct the whole time, and that I actually did want to go to the party hosted by famous dragon hating unicorns!

Sometimes I forget how good of an actor I am.

Once this exchange was done though, I was again surprised when another pony stopped me in my tracks only a few scant steps after Applejack did.

Said pony was Elusive.

The unicorn didn’t so much as spare a single word for me. Though it appeared as though he wanted to say something, instead all he ended up doing was staring at me with a guilty expression before quickly departing for the diner. I still don’t know what that pony's deal is with me, or why he's since rescinded his offer for answers, but I hope one of us will find the courage to break the ice before this short summer ends.

For now though, I’m content with just living my best life here in crazy old Ponyville. Canterlot has got nothing on this place. I've heard rumors that applebuck season is almost upon us now too, which means that another episode isn't too far off. I have a strong feeling that I know what the event will entail, unlike I did with this one, but I'll still my quill on the matter until it transpires in earnest.

I've decided that I'll continue to play along with the script the best I can for now, but as Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll have taught me; I don't need to follow it as rigidly as I originally thought I did. There's still plenty of room for me to breathe and to re-grow up in. I must never forget again that this is my life too here, not just Dusk's, and that life is a beautifully unpredictable mess even with Seer powers. I deserve the same chance at prosperity that my charge is destined to receive.

I deserve the same chance to be happy.

That having all been said and sorted out;

Good Night, my precious diary.

May our journey forward continue to be both manageable and full of happy little surprises.

… A storeroom lies buried and forgotten within the corridors of a long standing castle.

...

… A storeroom untouched throughout countless ages and generations.

...

… A storeroom which now bares a new addition this eve; the petrified remains of a creature that should not be.

…

… In the peace of a harmonious night, a soft buzz of power suddenly rings out.

It is silent to all who matter, and booming to those who do not.

…

...

... A storeroom lies abandoned within a mighty castle.

The mirror within begins to ripple wildly under it's dusty cloth.

~In another time; in another place~

On a bright and sunny day in the little hamlet known as Ponyville, two pony foals found themselves engrossed in a youthful game of kickball.

One of the children was a unicorn filly, white in hue; the other was a pegasus whose mane was a mixture of pinks and purples. The two girls were friends, and thus they laughed and screamed as such as they chased their ball through the bustling market streets. They heeded not to the demands of older ponies telling them to slow down or to be more careful; summer vacation was in full effect, after all, and the pair didn't want to waste a single second of it.

For a brief moment though, the game found itself paused as the ball remained closely held in the unicorn filly's tired hug. Sweetie Belle hummed to herself happily as she considered what to do next with the simple toy…

… but, just then, the ball is all but forgotten as the girl's eyes catch sight of an unusual creature passing through.

A dragon was a rarity in Equestria, Sweetie knew; a baby drake even more so. The boy in the foal’s gaze was also melancholy in appearance, adding to his mystique. He was clearly distraught about something important, for he paid little attention to his surroundings as he carried himself through town with head held discerningly low and spirit seemingly broken. With these details combined, it is of little wonder why Sweetie Belle had stopped to stare.

The unicorn child took in the appearance of the boy for a moment, mentally noted on how sad he looked and how sad that made her feel…

… and then she proceeded to pass the ball back towards her friend Scootaloo. The two of them hastily resumed their game as they traveled in the opposite direction to the dragon's own path. The sight of the drake was certainly an oddity, of course… but it was nothing more than that; an oddity. Something to be considered briefly and to then be promptly ignored.

Sweetie Belle knew that she was acting like a good pony in walking away.

Good ponies listen to their parents.

Good ponies follow their rules.

Good ponies lend a hoof to those who are hurting, true...

... but a good pony never talks to strangers either.

Sweetie Belle was a good pony.

She knew that she was a good pony indeed.

Entry 5 (Applebuck Season)

~Dear Diary~

This week I learned an important lesson on how different Ponyville is to Canterlot.

Specifically, I learned how different the ponies of Ponyville are to the ponies of Canterlot.

Accents are more varied here, tastes are less rigid, and hearts are often times worn clearly on sleeves. When there's a reason to cheer a Ponyville pony will cheer; when there's something perceived as wrong a Ponyville pony will gather friends and family and demand for justice to be done.

It's an honest community filled with honest ponies; i.e. the complete opposite of Canterlot.

A Canterlot pony waits to cheer until the majority are cheering too, and they'll keep their lips sealed on injustice until it's a matter that effects them personally. It's certainly a stark contrast, like night and day, but it's a contrast I should have been anticipating. I have to be more mindful with my words if I'm going to continue to live here with Dusk, lest I make another pony uncomfortable like I already have. What's normal to ponies up in the mountains isn't necessarily normal to ponies down here in the plains, after all.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

It’s been almost two weeks since I last wrote in you, my precious diary, and there’s a good reason for this. Life in Ponyville has been going smoothly since the ticket episode; Dusk has been doing his studies, I’ve been tidying up our new tree home, and Elusive still hasn't built up the nerve to have “the talk” with me yet. I haven't been able to drum up the confidence either so I don't blame him. The two of us are locked in a mental game of chicken in a way; we're both waiting for the other to blink and spill the beans first before willingly doing the same. I’ve been trying to become less emotionally invested in the callousness, and uncaring towards the implications, but it’s admittedly been difficult.

If it weren't for my blossoming friendship with Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll, I imagine that I would be a lot less patient on Elusive's dodginess than I currently am.

I feel that this lack of frustration stems from the two foals having had a remarkable impact on my long overdue healing. Ever since our first game of kickball opened my eyes to the benefits of acting my age, I’ve been making the effort to see the pair regularly whenever I can. The stress and anxiety I felt when I first started writing this book has lessened significantly thanks to their simple interactions, and the games they share with me. Though last entry I may have described the experience like I was forcefully turning off my brain, all for the sake of acting more like a kid, as of this writing it doesn't feel like that in the slightest. Now I don't have to pretend nearly as hard in order to achieve the same result, ~~except for when I'm happily make-believing myself as a fair princess or wondermare.~~ It just feels natural.

Dusk Shine has thankfully been supportive of these playdates of mine... or at least he's not against the idea of them taking up my attention or the like. He's been granting me more time off as of late, which in itself is a good sign that he does approve in some small way; but I'm unsure whether such a change was due to him blessing my friendships or him discovering something about it's magic thanks to the act. Pondering on it now, I wonder if my increased vacation hours may actually be the result of guilt my charge developed when I stormed off in a huff during the last episode?

Well, whatever the case may be, I'm not going to complain over some well earned free time.

When Sweepy, Scooter, and I do get to form up we usually enjoy playing simple sports and imaginative games of pretend. Sometimes we like kicking back in the grass and enjoying the beautiful summer weather too, and when we do decide to relax we usually end up talking. At first our conversations were mostly centered around the differences between ponies and dragons, what Canterlot is like, what gems taste like, etc. Once these mini-interrogation questions were through, we swiftly switched to more broad and even topics like what our favorite books and comics are, what our home lives are like, and what we want to be when we grow up; to which I've yet to provide a satisfactory answer towards outside of "Dusk's assistant."

Laugh all you want, but Sweepy and Scooter haven't been able to come up with answers yet of their own outside of "cutie marks," so at least I'm not alone in this struggle to decide on a future path to take.

And that, right there, is the main reason why I've decided to become a friend to these two ponies; this feeling of not being alone on something for once. I'm a reincarnated human mother, a dragon, and a little girl in a mostly stallion-leaning town, but when I'm with these young colts I'm just another one of "the guys."

At first I was afraid of unintentionally alienating these foals with my adult soul, and my sad baggage, but the both of them have equally proven to be much more mature and tactful on certain subjects than I would have dared to imagine prior. Scooter, for example, has parents that don't live with him because their jobs as explorers keep them in a state of constant travel. This causes the poor child to feel lonely on occasion, but it hasn't caused him to become an emotionally distant pony on top of this thanks to his uncles' influence. He knows that the two of them take good care of him when they can, and for that he's deeply grateful, so he hasn't felt the need to complain about his lot in life for any real reason yet. While I feel that such an experience has matured Scooter without him realizing it, I'm happy to say that his youth hasn't been robbed from him on top of this. At heart he's still just a kid with a love of speed, a secret scaredy-cat side for all things dark and foreboding, and idealistic eyes for his hero in all things awesome and cool-looking; Rainbow Dash.

Sweepy, on the other claw, feels that he's living in Elusive's shadow. He undeniably loves his older brother, and he admires him deeply for his skills; but he also feels that his parents are being blinded by his success and, as a result, they aren't paying nearly as much attention to his own growth as they should be. Sweepy is smart and creative, as I will readily attest, but nothing is being done to help him capitalize on his untapped potential. Usually ponies like him are supposed to be examined and judged for free entry into Solaris' School for Gifted Unicorns, just like with what happened with Dusk on the day of my rebirth, but it seems like Sweepy's family currently has no plans to present him.

That truly stinks. I understand that Elusive Belle wouldn't really have much of a say on such a decision, as in the eyes of Canterlot he's not the true head of House Belle yet, but I still wish he was speaking up more for his shy brother's desires. I now feel deeply sorry for my tiny unicorn friend and the whole bum hand he's been forced to deal with. We are kindred spirits, him and I; destiny's chew-toys one and all.

The funny thing about Sweepy Belle’s situation, however, is that the colt is more worried for his parent's future then he is about his own. The idea of his mom and dad missing out on his successes, and them feeling guilty later in life for being obstacles in his way rather than the help they could have been, seems to be the main source of his dissatisfaction from what I've been able to gather. He recognizes that the sight of a child growing is an experience that few folks will ever get to appreciate during parenthood...

... which is way too wise and sophisticated of a feeling for a flipping eight year old like him to be expressing while, in the same breath, also explaining to me which Power Pony he thinks looks the coolest.

My current theory is that this had to be a lesson that the more world-weary Elusive instilled in my little friend for reasons I can't possibly hope to comprehend. It's certainly a very Jason-esque thing to say, I suppose, and one I can clearly imagine him ranting and raving about regardless of his audience; but that's a detail I'm thankfully finding myself caring less and less about with each passing day.

Overall the clawfull of hours I've manged to share with the two sweet colts, the ones I actually care about, have thus far been very entertaining and highly therapeutic. I've been laughing, grinning, and having more fun in general during these last two weeks than I've had in my last two years as Dusk's assistant.

I've been having so much fun, in fact, that I actually debated on introducing the two colts to Apple Buck early just so they can form this world’s Cutie Mark Crusaders ahead of canon. It made sense in my head at the time; the rushed creation of the CMC would result in the quicker acquisition of my friends' cutie marks, the quicker forming of their deeper friendships, and the quicker rounding out of our play posse...

... but I quickly decided against forcing their meeting once I took the necessary step back and remembered that time is both a River and a Stone for a reason. Sometimes you have to let things flow naturally, even when you're having fun. I don't particularly like the idea of purposely leaving somepony out because it's whats written in a stupid script, but I suppose Solaris designed The Code specifically with such meddling in mind. I shouldn't be trying to go against the stream just because I can; I just hope that cute bow-tie wearing colt won't be too bored on his own until the day destiny comes knocking finally arrives.

Now that I’ve mentioned Apple Buck though, and consequently the Apple Family, I can now segue this entry properly into the real reason for why I’ve decided to write at all this afternoon.

I’ve got apples on the mind, you see, and it’s all thanks to Applejack and his stubbornness.

Allow me to explain; about a week ago Red Gala hurt herself in a lederhosen accident.

The circumstances behind such a scenario are too ludicrous for me to describe properly in the few hours I've been granted to write in today, so please take heart that I will be illustrating it another time. My only reason for pointing the incident out at all is that, with Red Gala out of commission, the task of harvesting the fields for the coming market season had fallen solely on Applejack's withers. All of his extended family had long since gone home after the Summer Sun Celebration fiasco had subsided, and his remaining family was either too young or old to be of any real help with bucking, so he was well and truly the only pony left for the job. At first everything seemed okay; the hearty stallion was not only stripping trees at blinding speeds, but he also found the time to prevent a major cattle stampede from damaging downtown Ponyville. Everypony was so grateful for the latter that the elements organized a town hall appreciation event to thank the hothead personally for all his hard work.

It was at this gathering that we all came to realize that something was seriously wrong with our tired golden stallion.

But this is not the story I wish to write about today.

While everypony else was busy trying to convince Applejack to accept help and to not accidentally destroy the town with bunny stampedes, poison, and by ~~deservingly~~ launching Rainbow Dash into the heavens; I had instead made myself busy with another task entirely.

I had made myself busy remembering how Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll weren’t the only friends I had made since I first arrived in Ponyville all those many days ago.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Knock knock knock

“Ugh… Eeyup?”

Translating and accepting the invitation to come in, I turn the knob of the door in front of me and enter the foyer proper.

The home of the Apple Family looks about the same as when I last ventured here during the Nightterror’s ‘eternal’ night. It’s a very rustic, homely kind of place that makes me feel just a tiny bit jealous. Dusk and I should consider sprucing up the library sometime with picture frames and doilies too. The one thing we can’t truly duplicate is that antique couch though, nor can we duplicate its inhabitant.

With bandages wrapped all around her frame, Red Gala looks as if she had just gone a few rounds with an alicorn prince and lost. She never should have taken that stupid bet with her brother!

Dusk and I probably shouldn't have helped Applejack win said bet during Ticket Master either... but that's neither here nor there.

It's disappointing to see that Red is being forced to recover all by her lonesome. I'm guessing that Apple Buck is outside somewhere enjoying his summer vacation just like my other friends are doing, I can hear Grandpa Smith snoring up a storm upstairs just like he did during my last visit, and considering that Applejack is being… well Applejack right now in the fields; by process of elimination, this must mean that the poor mare has been left to heal without a single creature else to keep her company...

... I'm super glad that I was inspired to stop by to see her now, because this looks like a job for Equestria's number one assistant!

“Oh... Hi, Barb,” groans the full grown pony as she, with a bit of effort, rights herself up into a sitting position to better greet me. “What are you doin' here?”

Upon setting the decent-sized, nondescript box I came with onto the living room table, I offer up to Red Gala a nice cocky grin.

“Oohhh not much, Red," I snicker cheekily. "I just heard that somepony had gone and got herself hurt doing something stupid, soooo I thought that she would probably appreciate the sight of a friendly face... That’s all!”

Thanks to my earlier interactions with this amaranth shaded pony, I think I'm now one of the few creatures on this planet capable of telling when she's blushing.

“... E-eeyup.” the humbled earth pony confirms for me as her eyes dart downwards towards her bandages.

That's enough teasing for today I feel. “Would you like some tea?” I offer up to her kindly as I gesture towards the kitchen. “I can spot where you keep the hoofstool for Apple Buck, so I can totally do it all by myself.”

Red Gala grants me a tiny smile of her own thanks to this.

“Eeyup, Barb. Thanks.”

Nodding my head, I dash into the kitchen and start boiling a pot of water. “Cinnamon apple spice I take it?” I call back.

“Eeyup.”

“Do you need any honey with it?”

“Nnope.”

“Are the teacups kept in this far off cabinet?”

“Eeyup.”

“Got it… It’ll be about a minute then.”

“Eeyup.”

The teapot begins to warm.

“...”

"... The pegasi are doing a fantastic job with the weather this season."

"Eeyup."

"I think there's only suppose to be one or two more rainfalls scheduled before our next demi-season change, is that right?"

"Eeyup."

"It's really cool how they've got the dryness to wetness ratio down so tightly here! Canterlot's weather is nowhere near as well set!"

"Eeyup?"

"Oh yeah. We would get announcements of sudden schedule changes all the flipping time! It was annoying to plan around, especially when I needed to go out grocery shopping. Ponyville is way better at it... though the whole 'summer snowfall', followed by a 'spring into fall', is a bit weird if I'm being honest."

"Eeyup?"

"Yeah. I mean, I get why Cloudsdale needs to make sure that their snow makers are working before starting a full season shift, and that's why we have demi-season changes some years, but I never really thought about how all that practice snow needed to go somewhere in the end."

"Eeyup."

"Dusk is excited to be part of the whole 'Winter Wrap Up' thing next month, and I'm happy to see him wanting to try new things, but I'm not too thrilled by the idea myself. I used to like snow, because it reminds me of Minnesot- reasons! Just... reasons... but 'cold' and 'dragons' don't really mix too well. Literal cold-bloodedness sucks sometimes, Red... Sigh. I'm really going to miss this summer once it's over and done wit-"

The teapot begins to whine.

“Ah! There we go.”

With tray gripped firmly in my claws, I carefully carry the freshly brewed pot plus clean china over to the living room and set them down gently on the coffee table’s remaining space. I then place Gala's steaming cup in her upturned hoof, to which she responds by nodding her head in gratitude. She then slides over on the couch so as to make room for me, to which I respond by jumping up on the cushions beside her in acceptance. Reaching for my own teacup and lifting it tightly, the two of us take our first sips simultaneously, sigh contently, and together enjoy the tea's pleasantly nice warmth and aroma.

Good drinks, good company, and a good atmosphere; can't get much better than this. Awwww~ this is nice. I really need more days like this in my life and less like everything else.

I'm sure I'd be a whole lot more stable if I did.

“... Do you want any treats with this?” I next offer, thinking how snacks sound like a great idea right about now.

“Eh… nnope,” Gala responds simply, blushing as she gestures a hoof to her stomach.

At first I blink confusedly...

... but then I giggle in realization.

“You don’t have to worry about your waistline, Red.” I snicker. I then smack my generous baby fat to demonstrate that, “I sure don’t!”

Red giggles now as well, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. “Hehe… Eeyup.”

Moments later, after I had returned with a box of premade cookies for us to share, the big red mare gives me a searching look in between bites of her chocolate chip delight.

“... You wanna know how Applejack is doing?” I question in response to her gaze, believing to be on the right track.

“Er… Eeyup,” the concerned sister admits after a time.

Honesty is the best policy for Red, so I make sure that my words are just that; honest. “Well," I start, wiping away crumbs. "He’s seen better days, that’s for sure.”

I then relay to her everything I’m sure she was uninformed about; the town meeting, the accident with Rainbow’s latest trick that Applejack caused, how said stallion was slowly losing his marbles and making mistakes, the poisoning…

“Hmm?” Red asks, staring at me more intently now than before.

I visibly cringe as my mind wanders back in time.

_______________________________

“... No… not baked goods… Baked bads!” groans out Bubble Berry from what very much seemed to be his death bed if he wasn’t Bubble Berry. “Give me a hangover any day instead…”

Dusk and I stand in awe at the entrance to a makeshift quarantine zone as pony after pony is being rushed inside for very similar afflictions. I hold one of the culprits for this outbreak in a single claw; an overcooked looking muffin with a worm in it.

“Applejack,” glares Dusk, muttering to himself. It was pretty evident to all who was to blame for this horrific oversight. Even if he’s completely out of his gourd right now due to a lack of sleep, Applejack should have known better! He should have known that pony stomachs aren’t made to withstand such a thing! Dragon stomachs, maybe, but certainly not pony stomachs!

… Munch munch munch…

That’s a real shame too; these aren’t half bad!

“Want one?” I offer to Dusk absentmindedly, instantly forgetting what I had just said about stomachs.

Dusk's only reply is to give me a (probably) well deserved look of pure disgust and horror.

Eh. Whatever. Somepony here must have never had the curiosity to try some of life's more exotic dishes before and it shows. Deep fried grasshoppers and mescal worm tacos were staples of county fairs where I come from, so this is nothing.

Oh well. More for me.

_______________________________

“Hehe… It’s a long, complicated story, Red. I’m sure that’s one you're gonna want to hear from your brother’s mouth instead of mine.”

“Eeyup?” Gala asks again, tilting her head.

“Trust me.”

“... Eeyup," my friend relents at last, not prying further.

“Hey, don’t worry,” I try to comfort, patting her hoof with my claw. “Dusk and his friends are aware that he’s going overboard, so they’re not going to stop until he finally breaks down and accepts their help. I promise.”

Clearly appreciating the gesture, Gala takes a nice long swig of her tea and again exhales cheerily. “Eeyup.” I soon follow suit. The resulting silence, minus Gramp’s snoring from upstairs, is, again, nice. I should come by here more often. With Gleaming Shield so far away in Canterlot, Red Gala is really the only gal pal I have easy access to here in Ponyville. The boys are nice, sure, but it's also nice to be with someone I can relate more closely with on certain experiences...

"..."

“...”

“... Say… Barb?” I’m suddenly asked out of the blue.

Surprised by the additional vocabulary, even if it was only one word, I turn back to face my big red friend. “Huh? Um… yes, Red?”

The mare’s brow is now tightening into a look of pure concentration.

This surprises me even further.

“Can… c-can ah ask you somethin’... personal?”

Blinking, it’s now my turn to tilt my head in confusion.

“... Yes?” I strain to respond as I wrack my brain trying to think up what she could possibly want to ask me.

With a nod to confirm, Red Gala turns away from me and stares into her remaining glass of tea. The silence between us returns, but now it doesn’t feel nearly as pleasant as it did before. What... what is this about?

After a minute had passed, the pony sets her cup on the table as she at last speaks fully.

“Do you remember the Summer Sun Celebration?”

My blinking increases in speed.

“... Yes,” I answer plainly as I now scramble to try to recall any important details I can gleam from that horrible night. So much happened during that extended 'day' that I'm having a hard time recalling anything specific about it. I place my own cup down too as I attempt to focus my mind.

“And," Red goes on. "do you remember when we went to town hall together?”

“Yes,” again I answer. Oh good, she's being specific. Now I should be able to mentally zoom in on that particular moment and-

“Do you remember what you said to the Mayor, Barb?”

...

… Huh?

The... Mayor?

Mustang?

What I said to him… What... What did I say? I… think I can recall introducing myself to him, but what’s so unusual about th-

And then it clicks.

It clicks like the hammer of a loaded gun.

Oh no.

No no no no.

“Barb,” Red Gala speaks slowly and deliberately, her voice radiating a pure and primal sense of animosity.

As I fearfully turn to face her on the couch, I find myself unable to blame her for such a heated reaction.

I now know what this is all about, and…

“Why in the hay does a little filly like you have to go around and call yourself property for ponies?!”

… it’s about an aspect of my life that I’ve been purposely not thinking about for years.

I am Barbara The Dragoness; Assistant to Apprentice Dusk Shine, Squire to Prince Solaris... and Property of House Shine...

Property of House Shine. It's right there in the title. It's been there since day one, and I don't foresee this detail changing anytime in the near future.

“...”

“... Barb… Please answer me.”

"..."

... I turn away.

“It’s… just a title, Red.”

“Horsefeathers.”

Though I can't see her face now, I still shrink down all the same under what I can only assume was a very disappointed looking glare.

“Barb,” Red continues on, her voice growing ever louder. “That… t-that ain’t right. That ain’t pony!”

“It’s… just a title,” I repeat as I place my claws on my head.

“Barb.”

“Just a title.”

“Barbara!”

“Just-”

With a hoof landing softly on my shoulder, Red Gala gently rotates me until I’m facing her. Now placed in front of her once more, I discover that my assumption that she was glaring was false; she wasn’t doing anything of the sort.

No... she was just looking worried.

She still looks worried, just as she did when I finished talking to her about it at town hall. She was so concerned about saving her brother that she had allowed my excuses at the time to slide, but the concern must have never fully left her thoughts since then...

“Barb,” she again tries to prod, looking at me expectantly.

... This time I don’t turn away.

“It’s… i-it’s just a title,” I parrot, as I have done countless times before. Seeing that Red is about to respond, I quickly add, “B-but there’s a reason for it! It’s… not as bad as you think.”

Red looks unswayed, but she still remains quiet as she encourages me to continue.

“Red…” I begin. “Canterlot… C-canterlot is a very… old fashioned kind of city. Even more so than Ponyville.”

Although she raises an eyebrow at this, Red Gala says nothing.

Taking this as my cue to go on, I do just that. “The capital has been ruled over by the Prince and the descendants of the unicorns who used to raise the sun and moon for centuries! And, because of that, the city has become… er... I-I guess the best word would be... stagnant?

“Ponies up there just aren’t as willing to accept change like the ponies here have! They’re so used to their little social bubbles and their ‘ironclad rules’ that anything that deviates from their ‘perfect’ vision is dangerous! It’s… not normal.”

Red makes to say something.

“B-but most know that’s wrong!” I cut her off before she can comment. “Prince Solaris knows, a-and I'm sure Dusk does too! There are ponies trying to change that image, and to allow more creatures to come and visit the city… but… it’s admittedly a really slow process, Red. A lot of older ponies were taught growing up to fear dragons like me. Some of them even still remember the stories they were told about the attacks on the capital hundreds of years ago.

“So… s-so to make sure that everypony felt safe and sound, and to make sure that all their magic crafting stayed both worry and distraction free, Prince Solaris had to somehow promise his subjects that I wouldn’t be a bother to anypony while I was staying in Canterlot.

“And marking me as 'Property of House Shine' was just how he decided to do it. It really is just a title, Red! Just a title...”

"..."

My friend continues to stare at me, clearly still unconvinced.

“... Really?” she again demands to know, leaning ever closer to me.

Shrinking further under the stink eye, I back up into a pillow. “R-really.”

The stink eye intensifies in strength.

I find myself unable to turn away.

“W...w-w… w-well,” I crack at last, realizing that I’ll be unable to hide the nitty-gritty from her no matter how much I want to. “It… d-does give businesses the right to refuse me service if they want to... But that only happened to me once, haha! Most ponies are cool with me! And… a-and sure there’s a section of Canterlot I'm not allowed to visit because of the stupid Dragon Sneeze Trees unicorns created to ward off invaders, that I have no say in, b-but there’s nothing interesting going on over there anyways! I-I don’t need to see junk like the zoo or the theater or... o-or the museum or the park or... I… I-I…” Sniff “I-I have Dusk! I-I don’t need anything else!! I-I-I-I-”

Glomp

... Despite her injuries, and despite her winces of pain, I swiftly find myself being held tightly in a careful bear hug courtesy of one Red Gala.

"Shhhhhh," the large mare quietly coos to me. She runs a hoof through my spines as she does in a bid to calm my pathetic self down. "Shhhh..."

An equally pathetic sounding hiccup escapes my lips as my cheeks begin to burn bright red with embarrassment. D-damn it, I can easily picture her having done something similar to this with her little brother Apple Buck before. I shouldn't be letting her treat me like this, like such a little kid too... but... b-but it's hard. Her fur is just so... so...

... so gosh darn soft~

“...Barb... Please listen to me." Gala whispers gently as she rocks me in place. "... Ah'm sorry for what ah'm about to tell you. If you ain't got anythin' nice to say you might as well not say anythin' at all... but... well... it's just..."

With an exhaling of her breath, Red steels herself for her next words.

"...Ah don’t particularly like that Dusk Shine fella of yours, little firelight... Reckon ah don't like him at all truthfully, eeyup."

My eyes shoot open from within the embrace thanks to this.

"Ah know that Applejack has taken a real shine to him," Red continues on. "and ah can tell that you care about him a great deal too..."

Her rocking suddenly halts.

"... but ah don't know if that love of yours is all in good health. Ah'm not even real convinced yet that it ain't a one way road, if you catch my drift."

As my eyes begin to narrow, I make to argue this pointedly. "How dare yo-"

"Shhhhhhh" the farmer interrupts me again, now carefully placing a hoof over my lips. "Ah'm so sorry for this, but ah only really feel like talkin' when it's serious. It's tough for me to build up the nerve, so please... please just let me finish my thought first before you go and start rightfully hatin' me for it..."

I make a halfhearted attempt to resist my hold, one where I hover my fist over her injured stomach and debate whether to press the advantage or not...

... but ultimately I decide against it as I limply allow her to go on.

"Ah know that Dusk Shine shouted up a mighty storm when that there Nightterror Nebula varmint took you away from him," Gala confesses as she strokes my spines. "Ah know he did, so ah also know that there's somethin' there between you two... but... well... way ah see it..."

Red Gala's grip on me then tightens slightly as she ruminates, making me feel less like the mighty dragon I am and more like the stuffed teddy bear that I was being treated like all of a sudden. She's not hurting me, but I'm not really comfortable anymore either; neither physically or mentally, if I'm being honest.

"It just don't add up," the concerned pony continues on upon taking a deep breath. "It don't add up one bit.

"All ah've been able to think about ever since ah first heard you say those horrible words is about how if ah were in Dusk's horseshoes, and if somepony or dragon ah cared about was bein' forced to call herself property all honest like for others... well, firelight..."

The mare's eyes then tighten darkly as her next words turn frigid cold.

"There ain't a force in Equestria that would stop me from gettin' that sorta mess righted out all quick-like, cost be darned eeyup. If Dusk really cares for you like you act like he does, then it don't add up to me that you're still considered 'property'! It... i-it just ain't right! It just ain't pony neither..."

Her grip around me noticeably lessens.

"... Not in a very long time, at least..."

To anyone else, these last few words would have fallen on deaf ears and gone on forgotten.

Their dark implication was not lost on me though

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

To my potential human readers, as much as I don't enjoy bringing this up; Equestria does in fact have a short history with slavery.

Granted the history is several hundred years removed from the current date, but that doesn't change that it happened. It's one of Prince Solaris' lesser known shames, just like Nightterror Nebula, and it's one I'm certain isn't being taught to common ponies. It took me five years to discover what the word for "slavery" even is in Ponish, so it stands to reason that the subject is rather taboo. Neither Mayor Mustang or his helpers seemed to grasp the weight of the title when I reflectively used it to introduce myself to them, and it didn't seem to spark rumors either, so even the idea of one person owning another must be incredibly difficult for current era ponies to grasp. Not even Dusk fully grasps the words and he researches everything under Solaris' sun. The sheer fact that Red Gala of all ponies understands my burden while Dusk and the Major do not is mindboggling...

... I don't want to suggest that the ancient Apple Family might have a few skeletons in their centuries long closet. I truly don't. I wouldn't want to sling such mud at my worst enemies... but I can't deny the evidence I've been given either.

My digging into older, forgotten, ~~and slightly forbidden~~ texts revealed to me that slavery in Equestria stemmed mostly from underground cattle markets that rose up during what was considered the Gloomy Age; the era in which Prince Artemis "mysteriously" disappeared, and where Nightterror Nebula entered legends. Solaris was an inconsolable mess of a ruler on his throne during this age; while most written accounts tend to tiptoe around stating such outright, you can plainly see that the subtext is there. Sanctioned history books like to hype up the "one-and-only" prince's return to excellency, and the heralding of the current Golden Age we live in, as an overnight occurrence; but the misplaced journals left behind by those who actually lived during those hundreds of years paint a different picture for me entirely.

They paint the picture of a Prince who was going through the motions, a kingdom slowly slipping into ruin, and ponies unabashedly exploiting the hard labor of the Cattle Folk to keep themselves afloat during the less than harmonious time.

If you are unfamiliar with the race I just mentioned, please allow me the moment to explain. Cows, sheep, donkeys, and even pigs are part of a larger umbrella tribe known as the Cattle Folk. Each species contains sentient creatures that share much of the same rights and freedoms that ponies enjoy, but not all of their members have the ability to think or speak. Cows and donkeys tend to be the most adept at gaining such abilities over their kin due to their lower tolerance to Equestria's ambient magic. Looking at the details evenly as they are; the majority of unenchanted cattle folk aren't that much more intelligent then their Earth counterparts. Most usually end up living on farms like the Apple Family's where they can be shown love, affection, and given the space they need to live a happy and fulfilling life of grazing and breathing.

That said, many who can talk sometimes choose to live on farms just like their brethren do.

Such a thing is not considered strange in the slightest nowadays, but in the past the opposite was never offered.

Since cattle folk are able to provide popular goods such as milk, wool, and truffles; those who choose to stay on farms get free housing to support them, all payed for via taxes collected by the Canterlot government and distributed through the United Farming Guild of Equestria. Farm dwelling cattle folk also receive a weekly paycheck for their rendered services, a discount on products manufactured with their efforts, and a free scholarship available to any and all of their offspring who decide to leave the program and pursue a different way of life instead.

If that sounds like a lot to you, reader, trust me; it took everycow, everybull, everysheep, everydonkey, everymule, everyoxen, everyboar, and everygoat centuries of battles with both the Guild and the Canterlot Protected Creature Society to gain a fraction of the rights that most take for granted. They deserve every inch they fought for; for everycreature whose voice was silenced and for every family-tree left forgotten. While it's true that these events transpired well before either mine or Red Gala's time, I know that the scars left behind from that kind of massive injustice never truly fade away. The pain can only dull over generations as the future collectively strives to break the common molds that once ensnared us in the past. In understanding this; it's reassuring to see, at least in some small way, that the Apple Family has decided to pass down the knowledge of these old wrongs so that their descendants can learn and grow from it.

I find this highly preferable to burying it in the past like how Prince Solaris has resorted to doing.

His actions at times, especially in circumstances such as these, remind me not of the work of a great leader expertly manipulating events in his favor, but instead the work of a foal embarrassingly trying to hide soiled sheets from his parents.

I don't care what Solaris' Seer Sight may or may not have advised him to do about the truth, I still feel that learning from the past is the only real way one can prevent old sins from rising up again in the modern time. Though I'm personally striving to strikeout and become a new person, all while slowly learning to let go of certain aspects of my deceased self, the mistakes I made up to this point are what ultimately made me who I am today. Without them I am nothing.

Half the reason why I'm still writing this book is to make sure that the Barbara who writes this tale's final page is a wholly free Barbara who will never forget this undeniable truth for as long as she lives.

The Poisoned Barb is, and shall always be, me.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

"... All ah'm tryin' to say, Barb," Red Gala at last releases the hoof she had held against my mouth. "Is that ah'm your friend, not Dusk's, and as your friend ah just wanted to know that somepony, anypony in your life cared about you the same way a family is supposed to. That's all.”

"T-that's really none of your business, Red Gala," I deflect rather poorly once I'm given back my ability to speak. "We're not that close of friends yet..."

"Hehe, nice try," she laughs in response, seeing plainly through my attempt to weasel my way out of this talk. "You had mah back when ah wanted to storm the Everfree for Applejack, and you can't deny that ah would have had yours too. We were just a couple of ladies willin' to ride or die for our dumb brothers... If that don't make a pony and a dragon best friends that ah honestly don't know what does! Now...

"... as your friend, little firelight," Red emphasizes forcefully as she now rubs her cheek against my forehead. "If you're hurtin' inside, than this right old mess is mah business now too. Ah won't take anymore arguin'."

"..."

... My only response to this is to pout crossly.

"I'm starting to see where Applejack learned some of his stubbornness from," I snap back in a huff.

She laughs a second time thanks to this. "Eeyup..."

Red Gala is then silent. She's waiting to hear my answer to her honest question...

...

... I don't reply back right away...

... My mind is too busy trying to process the answer for even myself to understand it fully.

It bothers me a smidgen that said answer isn't coming to me as quickly as I want it to, and that I'm struggling to even come up with the words to describe my feelings. Prince Solaris is the one who drafted my ownership forms, Dusk's parent's are the ones who signed them... and Dusk is the one who never mentions them. Not even to his friends.

Is this because he's afraid of Prince Solaris' disapproval if he tries to speak up about it? Is this because he feels that it's impossible to change? Maybe he feels that it doesn't need to change, and that I'm fine with this being the status quo? Is he afraid I'll leave him if I'm not bound to his House? Does he even know that I've been given permission from the Prince to leave at my discretion? Does he not know that I have this choice? Was he ever made aware of the path I chose for myself back when I was five? Does he know how much I care about him?

Does he not care about me at all...?

...

... No.

If there's one thing I will defend until my last breath on this world, it's this:

“Dusk does care about me,” I state loudly in my one sided hug, one hundred percent confident in my answer. I'm confident because it's undeniably the truth; I have thousands of memories to back this claim up with.

I have thousands of memories that remind me just how big the young stallion's heart actually is.

_______________________________

"... Hello there, little one," the young colt cheers toothily. "Welcome to Equestria!"

...

“... Ah,” the sleepy stallion responds after a time. “... Duly noted…” I then feel it through my scales as he lowers his head closer to mine and nuzzles me behind the green fins affectionately. “... Thanks, Barbara.”

...

“That was a nasty fall,” Dusk points out plainly, gesturing his head towards the latter. “Just wanted to make sure my number one assistant hadn’t hurt herself.”

...

“P-please don’t see me, Jason… Please don’t see what I’ve become…”

“Who? Barb, you’re talking nonsense,” Dusk prods, running a hoof through my spines in a calming manner. “Come on, Barbara... Come on my little assistant.”

...

and together we'll break free.

_______________________________

"... He does care for sure," I finish strongly for Red Gala.

She doesn't know him like I do.

Dusk is unconcerned about my position because I've never put in the effort to make him concerned about it. I've been in a constant mom-mode ever since we reunited, and this has only served to make my charge inattentive of my own struggles. I want him to be happy, as I came to realize during the last episode, but I've been purposely keeping my issues a secret from him to avoid him worrying. Maybe I was doing such because I didn't want to focus on the pain myself, or maybe I was afraid that I would let slip my true nature by mistake if I simply started ranting...

... whatever the case may be; while it's true that I don't know exactly what Dusk's view of my situation is, I shouldn't be afraid to talk to him about it once I'm ready to do so. If Red Gala, Sweepy, and Scooter are any indication; my friends only want me to be as free and happy as they're allowed to be every single day.

When I'm ready to make that change, I know that Dusk will lend me his ear without fail.

"... And so does Prince Solaris," I tack on to my earlier declaration after a pause, and as I work on through my lingering feelings. "In his own special way... Him and Dusk treat me like a person, not a thing... I'm their friend. It may have taken us all awhile to get to that point, but they were at least willing to make a change where they could..."

My fist tightens in our hold.

"... They don't always show it, and they often times get too distracted with their own lives to help make a bigger difference in mine... but I know, deep in my heart, that they do love me... I am loved," I unclench my fist. "I know I am. I mean, I wouldn't still be Dusk's assistant if I wasn't! Prince Solaris has granted me the right to leave his side if I ever wanted to... I..."

Though I painfully strain my neck even attempting to do such a thing, I look directly up and stare purposefully into the earth pony's sap green eyes.

"... I am not a slave, Red Gala," I state truthfully with unbroken eye contact. "I'm nopony's property but my own, to hay with whatever the document I have instead of a birth certificate says!"

"..."

... Crimson fur inches closer to my face as Red Gala tightens her embrace.

“Ah'm so relieved to hear that," my dear caring friend releases her held breath. "When ah first heard that ‘property’ bit way back when, and with you bein' so much more mature than Apple Buck who ain't that much older than you ah just… a-ah guess ah just assumed the worse!" she admits, and at last I hear a hitch in her voice as she struggles to express herself too.

This must have been just as hard on her as it was on me.

"Ah'm awfully sorry for puttin' you on the spot like that after you were so nice to come all the way to visit me today," Gala sniffles. "A-ah'll understand if you want to skedaddle yourself on home now and leave me be...”

“...”

… I finally return the hug...

... Er, or I try to return the hug at least. My arms are so tiny that I barely make it halfway around her barrel, but it's the thought that counts.

“I'm sorry for making you worry without realizing it," I reply back as I lean into her absentminded nuzzling. Pony affection can be weird at times, but it's not a bad weird by any stretch of the imagination. "I don't really like thinking about this kind of stuff... b-but it's always there waiting for me, even when I try to ignore it, right?”

Gala nods in agreement, and sighs. "Eeyup. 'Fraid so, firelight. Ain't somethin' worth ignorin'..." she then leans in close and whispers something into my ear. "If anypony ever gives you a hard time about it, you run yourself over to Sweet Apple Acres and get either Applejack or ah to help you out, ya hear?"

"Huh?" I tilt my head back inquisitively. "You... or Applejack? Why?"

With a grin and a wink, Red states quite heartily for me that,

"The Apple Family always protects their own, honorary members included."

"..."

... I tighten the hug.

"Thank you, Red."

One satisfied grunt later, Red Gala at last releases our hold. “Anytime, Barb. Mah door's always open if you ever want to talk about it... Er... W-well, technically it's mah Gramp's door... but you get the idea.”

"Heh... Eeyup," I jokingly reply back.

Though we laugh briefly at our halfhearted attempts at jokes, an awkward calm still ends up falling between the two of us as we sit in place and wipe away our sudden bout of tears...

...

... I really need to stop crying so much when I stop by to visit this place. I'm two for two at this point... I swear I wasn't this much of an emotional time bomb back on Earth, folks! Honest! Stupid underdeveloped prepubescent body and it's inability to unhealthily bottle everything up for later usages like a normal adult's can...

“...”

“... Hm?”

Perking up at the sound, I turn back towards Gala and notice that she’s at last spotted the decently-sized box I had brought with me today.

“Oh… you want to know what that is?” I question as I catch her staring at the item with a sense of curiosity.

“Eeyup,” the mare responds with newfound interest.

Happy for the change in subject, I blush as I bite down on my nerves and scootch the box over to my now close friend.

“W-well,” I titter, this time in excitement. “Dusk got some care packages from Canterlot today. His parents sent him a few things like books and clothes..."

A grin graces my lips as I tap the box's lid lovingly.

"... but Gleaming Shield," I begin to explain with renewed vigor. "Dusk’s big sister, actually sent me something too!"

Gleaming's package was actually what had initially triggered my desire to visit Red Gala today.

Seeing it and it's contents had made me realize just how much I missed being able to see the love-struck guardmare whenever I wanted back in Canterlot.

While Dusk Shine may have been my first friend on this planet, his sister was my first real one; the first one where I was treated as an equal and not as an other at the beginning of the relationship. I wasn't a squire or an assistant-in-the-making or even a baby dragon in her eyes, nor was I someone deserving of differential treatment simply because those with more privileges demanded it.

No... to Gleaming Shield, I was just a lonely little girl in need of an unofficial big sister.

With a sigh to set the pleasant thoughts aside for later, happy to see that she still felt the same way even while we're apart, I resume explaining my gift's origin.

"Gleaming is always looking out for me, Red, even when she's busy with her job," my claws rap against the box's lid passively. "She's actually so busy with her job now, in fact, that her letter to me said that I would probably have more use for this then she would anytime soon."

"Eeyup?" Red questions with eyes still glued to the box.

"Oh yes," I answer her question. "She did. She gave this up to me because she thought I would have an easier time making friends of my own here in Ponyville if I had…"

Dramatically lifting the lid off of the container, I reveal to Red Gala my latest prized possession.

"... this with me!”

Red looks down into the box.

Her expression quickly changes to one filled with pure confusion.

“... What’s...?" she begins to ask as her eyes squint in an attempt to read the title.

Bringing the book out of the box and into the light, I hold it closer to the farmer so that she can see it better. Once she is able to, she tries again to ask her question.

"What's... 'Ogres and Oubliettes', Barb?” the mare finishes skeptically...

... though I thankfully hear a tepid hum of intrigue now present in her voice.

This gives me the confidence I need to push forward. “It’s a game Gleaming taught me awhile back! I never thought I’d be into something like it, but it’s all about using your imagination and pretending so it’s a perfect game for when you’re sitting back and recovering like you're doing now! I think my other friends might be a little too young for it still… Soooo what do you say?" I inquire hopefully with big round eyes. "Interested in giving it a try?”

Red now stares at the box with a look of contemplation that rivals the one she donned when our sensitive conversation first started.

Reaching into the vessel with a hoof, the earth pony gently removes one of the blank unicorn figures and admires it closely.

"..."

... After what felt like a long half hour... though in reality it was only, like, one minute... Red Gala at last grants me the wonderful single word answer I was hoping to hear.

“Eeyup.”

I can’t help myself from now unabashedly grinning ear to ear.

“Great!” I cry out happily as I sweep clean the table and start making the preparations. “We’ll start with a basic session so you can get a feel for the rules, but while I set this up let me tell you about this Wizard character I made. I won't use her this time, as she's a little OP, but she's smart, cool under pressure, and Gleaming let me homebrew her a little bit so that she could gain this fifth level transmutation spell that’s usually reserved for Druids!”

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Red Gala ended up having a blast with the game, which more importantly meant that I had successfully acquired a new O&O player to play with here in Ponyville. Now I would no longer have to worry about being lonely again once Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll have to go back to school in the fall.

All in all I would say that my meeting with Red had resulted in one of the most successful tea parties I’ve ever been apart of.

Joking aside, the facts and details that Red had managed to wrangle out of me were sadly completely true. My title is a lousy one, I can't deny, and one I will hopefully take greater strides towards rectifying before I'm a true adult once more, but I’ve adjusted to it by this point. Not the property bit, of course; I'll reject that fate until the day I die again. No, the part I've adjusted to is instead the part where life doesn’t always end up being this perfect little thing with a ribbon on top. Dusk's an oblivious stress-addict, I'm a workaholic mom-friend, and neither of us have the social skills necessary to change either description on our own but that's okay.

Maybe a car crash wasn't the best way for me to learn such a valuable lesson... but whatever. The point is; things could have gone a lot worse for me if I didn’t have friends in this second life, ~~and isn’t Friendship Magic?~~ and for that I am eternally grateful.

Anywho, the rest of the actual episode involving Applejack thankfully figured itself out with only a few shenanigan-full days to show for it. Despite Dusk’s best efforts to expedite the much needed lesson, and his attempts to avoid the headaches that cropped up along the way, the end result was that our not-so-little farm boy eventually broke down and admitted that he needed help all on his own. Happy to be done with the troubles, and more than willing to assist their friend, the rest of the elements offered to help where ever they could while I tagged along to provide the gang with much needed motivational support. ~~I even brought pompoms for the occasion.~~ Once the task was done, all seven of us ended the hard day's work with some well earned apple juice and a well humbled Applejack.

Feeling a bit mischievous at the time, I brought with me some of the baked bads that Berry had thrown out from the incident and proceeded to gross everypony out by eating the tasty things right in front of them. Not the most mature thing I’ve ever done, sure, but hey; Solaris isn’t the only one who gets to be a troll to these boys, am I right?

But I think that's enough for today. Farewell again, my diary.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I'm no longer afraid. The episodes have been going according to plan so far, give or take a few minor hiccups, and Ponyville itself is starting to feel like a real home for Dusk and I both.

Tropes be damned, I feel fine now in writing that everything is going to turn out oka-

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

SLAM!!!

An "Eep!" slips past my lips as I find my alone time suddenly and loudly interrupted by the sound of a door flying open.

"W-what did I say about knocking first, Dusk?!" I squeak in fright as I lunge forward and try to hide The Poisoned Barb from prying eyes. Upon successfully burying the tome the best I can underneath my minuscule body, gaining a few ink stains for my trouble, I turn my head and try to glare at the rude pony who had just decided to barge in uninvited.

I halt my glaring, however, when I quickly discover that my visitor isn't the stallion I thought it was going to be.

With mane having been done up in a cute ponytail for the day, Rainbow Dash was the last pony I was expecting to be standing in the bedroom's doorway… let alone standing in the doorway while looking nervous.

"S-sorry, Barb." apologizes the usually confident and easygoing pegasus. "I didn't mean to interrupt your… Er… fanfiction writing?"

Seeing as the intruder isn't Dusk Shine, as I originally feared, I choose to ease up on my alertness by sliding my form off of my diary and onto the floor.

"It's… ahem… a-a diary," I reply truthfully. Guess there's no real need to lie about such a thing to Rainbow Dash. "Just something I'm working on in my spare time... But that's not important! If you're looking for Dusk, Dash, he's reading books in the park again. You can probably catch him if you fly over now…

"... but p-please don't tell him that I'm slacking on my chores!" I, in a single breath, switch to begging. "Please! It's so hard to find time to write in these days!"

"Um… suuurrreee," Rainbow eventually agrees, all while making a zipper-closing motion with his hooves and mouth.

Good. Secret secured. Maybe I can let him and Berry off the hook now for that silly prank that they pulled on me just the other da-

"But, just so you know," Dash suddenly interrupts my thoughts, returning my mind to the present. "I wasn't actually looking for Dusk at all..."

He then points a single hoof...

... at me.

"... I was actually looking for you." the speedster declares cheerily, granting me a smile... Huh?

Well… I can safely say that I didn't see this coming...

...

… My eyes drift towards the last page I had just finished writing in The Poisoned Barb. You know... the one about not being afraid of the future...?

...

… With the shake of my head, I disregard the freshly brewed paranoid thoughts and return my attention towards the visiting stallion.

"Really?" I ask him, still just as confused as I was when he first entered the loft this afternoon. "Why?"

"W... w-well," Dash starts with smile shrinking. He's building up strength for whatever it is he's about to say. "I… I-I need your help with something... Something only you can do for me!"

...

... Okay…

... now I'm even more lost than I was before!

"And... what's that?" I question the stallion bluntly in an attempt to push through all his flustering.

Little did I know, I had just unintentionally tripped some kind of mental switch in the feminine pony's mind.

Where before he seemed jittery and afraid, now he was dashing forward and taking a single claw of mine in the grip of both of his outstretched wings. W-what the hell?!

"Barb," the boy pleads to me on all four of his knees. He then gazes longingly into my frightened eyes. "Dusk told me a little bit about what he knew of your assistant training and... a-and so I…"

He sucks in air.

"I-I need you now, Barb…"

What the actual hell...

... why are my cheeks blushing?!

"Y-yes, Rainbow Dash?" I stutter back, now equally as flustered. O-oh my...

"... P... P-Please..."

With one last gulp of air to strengthen his resolve, Rainbow Dash finally spits out his dire request.

His dire...

... and absolutely insane request.

"Please please please teach me the way to become a lady for real! Please!!"

A hush descends upon the empty library.

"..."

… Riiippp…

"... Barb... why are you ripping a page out of your book?"

"No reason."

… Munchmunchmunch…

"Why are you now eating the page you just ripped out, Barb?"

"Mo meason."

"... What?"

Gulp… Ahhh… "No reason," I repeat for Rainbow with a content little sigh.

Who knew that eating your own words could be such a delectable experience?

~In another time, in another place~

"... Roll for initiative!" commanded mighty dungeon master Spike. The drake standing upon the couch's cushions bounced in place as he used his abnormal vocabulary to describe an imaginary castle siege upon the mighty Fort Raramore. He wanted to make sure that his newbie adventurer friend's first session was a memorable one, and to achieve this he knew that he needed to pull out all the stops.

Big Mac grunted happily in reply to the order, with grin displayed readily across his features, as he eagerly tossed his dice forth to determine the fate of his fledgling unicorn knight. The farmer had found himself thoroughly engrossed in his young companion's storytelling, full of twists and turns and teeth-clenching suspense...

... It was certainly not enough to completely erase the troublesome thoughts that still lingered within him thanks to the pair's earlier conversation, nor prevented him from scheming ways in which he could delicately approach the one known as Twilight Sparkle on the matter...

... but, for now, the stallion was content in doing whatever he could to just ensure that the little drake's smile never fell again in his presence.

Apples always protect their own, after all.

Entry 6, Part 1 (Griffon the Brush Off)

~Dear Diary~

Today I'll be admitting that I am unsure how I feel in regards to this version of Equestria and it's insatiable need to throw curveballs at me all the gosh darn time.

While said deviations tend to get hurled at me while my guard is down, which I don't appreciate, in truth I recognize that they haven't always been to my disadvantage. One such canonical anomaly allowed me to retain my original birth sex, to which I am most grateful, while another erased Discord/Eris' return right out of the upcoming episode list. I'm hard pressed to consider such changes as anything less than positive, though I may be a bit bias.

These twists have also proven to me that the show’s events aren't nearly as rigid or scripted as I initially feared. It seems I've been granted some flexibility when it comes to living my own life, which certainly takes a bit of pressure off of my shoulders when it comes to playing my role as Spike. Slowly I'm starting to realize that a wrong turn here, or a misspoken "line" there, isn't going to send everything careening out of control. I'm free to be me.

The negative side of this freedom, however, is that I'm also starting to realize that it came with a rather hefty cost attached to it.

The toll is deceptively simple, yet still an indisputable blight upon my second childhood. It is an insurmountable obstacle, a prickly path, and a bottomless chasm all wrapped into one. Formed from the deepest darkness the forces of anxiety and uncertainty can dare to muster, it is an untamable monster that laughs mockingly at it's challengers. ~~It is the uneven yin to my yang, the ocean to my dragonfire, the hunter that sees me as prey~~

To put it into simpler, and less dramatic, layman's terms; for every good change to canon I receive, a weird change is not too far behind to counteract it.

Rainbow Dash's quest to become a lady is a great example of this universal balancing act, and one of the many that proved to me that the cost exists at all. I mean, female Rainbow Dash certainly never asked Spike to make her into a gentlecolt! I'm hard pressed to imagine such a scenario happening in the show's later seasons, so this event must have well and truly been a "Barbara" exclusive. A never before seen story, all for me.

Gee.

Thank you sooooo much, Universe.

What a "lovely" gift you've given me.

Now, not to sound too ungrateful, but if I had been given the choice between receiving your blessings and living in the mare iteration of My Little Pony...

... I think I would have chosen to be reborn as Spike in a heartbeat.

Yuck. I can't believe I practically just wrote the words "my life would have been better as a boy," but in a twisted way it's the truth. Stability and predictability are what I crave in my job of discreetly steering Dusk Shine's studies, but it seems I'm destined to never receive either. Whenever I try to convince myself that things are under control, and that I have nothing else to fear, fate has this funny little habit of sucker-punching me right when I'm getting a bit too big for my britches! At some point I imagine I’ll become an expert in rolling with these conceptual punches, and maybe I'll even have the courage to throw a few of my own back... but I don't want to have to bend over backwards to get my charge to where he belongs! I just want everything to stick to the stupid script already!

I'm aware of how hypocritical it is of me to be demanding both flexibility and rigidness within the same entry, but am I truly at fault here? I'm an actor with no lines memorized, allowed no prep time, and trapped in a play entering its flipping mid-production! My Seer powers are just for show at this point; I have as much of an idea as to what the next episode will bring as you! The future is uncertain and that's terrifying!

But that's just how life is, isn't it?

In truth, though I've just spent the opening paragraphs of this entry waxing poetics, I wasn’t worrying about any hypothetical "next times" in the following moments after Rainbow Dash had given me his odd request.

I wasn’t worrying about the future at all back then, actually.

A rare first for me, I know.

No... at the time I was only contemplating on how strangely different my world’s Rainbow Dash is in comparison to the Rainbow Dash from my daughter's old cartoons.

I’ve made mention of these discrepancies before within this book's numerous pages, but to reiterate; the cartoon Rainbow was a tomboy character with hidden girly tendencies. I remember enough of what little I saw of the show to be able to state such a thing confidently. She loved to race, and fight, and she needed to learn life lessons centered around humility; but ultimately she was still an incredibly loyal friend to the end.

In contrast, my Rainbow is a flamboyant eccentric who only taps into his masculine side on rare occasions. He loves racing and manicures in equal order, likes being perceived as both awesome and pretty in the same breath, and he enjoys trolling ponies who refuse to understand him. He’s already stumbled on his joy of reading too, the same joy that female Dash doesn't discover until much later on in the show's timeline, and because of this he's seemingly the most mature pony in our group. He was the one who held back Applejack's heated charge against Nightterror Nebula, was the first to apologize to Dusk during Ticket Master, and, if his interactions with Butterscotch are any indication, he's better in tune with other's feelings than the rest of the boys combined.

That said, Dash was the guy who triggered a fight with the Shadowbolts back during the gang's trip to the Everfree, and he rises to Applejack's challenges all the time, so I guess he's not all that different from the original article. Perhaps this Dash's future episodes will be more geared towards him learning to control his anger, or maybe instead tolerance lessons along with the humility oriented ones... but I'm rambling. Using a title I recall Ashley having used to refer to the group long ago; within this world’s “~~main~~ mane six” Rainbow Dash is easily the member a casual observer might consider to be the leader, or at least Dusk's second in command. Despite his tendency to tease and prank ponies as Bubble Berry does, and despite only recently sharing the truth behind his differences with me in private; I believe that such observations still ring completely true.

I have since come to accept him and his feminine quirks with open arms just as Dusk begrudgingly does. I love Rainbow the same as I do with ~~most of~~ the other stallions in my life, I only want what's best for him, and I can't wait to see him fly as the wonderful Wonderbolt I know he can be someday.

So then, now that you know where I'm coming from, I can now accurately illustrate what transpired next. The answer I gave the loyal colt for his selfless plea should no longer be that shocking to you, dear reader.

I practically spelled it out already.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“No.”

“Bu-”

“No.”

“You didn’t let m-”

“No.”

“Barb!”

“No.”

Rainbow Dash growls crossly at my stonewalling. He’s clearly upset.

Good.

“Come oooonnnn!” he begs, flying circles all around me. “Why won’t you at least hear me out?”

“Forty four bits, that’s why.”

Dash blinks blankly at my words as he halts to hover in place

“Wait, you want me to pay you??”

Shaking my head, I place The Poisoned Barb away into my purse and then just as quickly pull out one of my letter sending seals.

The source of my ire.

“No,” I snarl as I shove the enchanted item into RD’s confused looking face. Brimstone scented smoke escapes my nostrils as I explain how “Forty four bits... was what it cost to replace the scroll seals your stupid prank forced me to use up!”

At first Dash is flummoxed by my words…

... but then a look of realization dawns on him as he finally recalls what I wanted him to remember; how he and BB had earlier frightened me with a surprise thunderclap, which in turn caused me to hiccup flames and trigger some rather delicate cargo I had been carrying at the time.

The result was a month's worth of fresh sending seals being used up all at once, with only a thoroughly buried Prince Solaris to show for it.

Huff

I'm still a little salty over it, if you couldn't tell.

“H-hey! Wait a minute!” Rainbow shouts back, defensively getting closer to my own face. “You laughed when BB and I pulled that prank off on you!" he points out while leaning further, giving me an intense stink eye. "We even asked if you were fine and you said yes!”

"..."

With arms crossed, and lips pouted...

... I turn away from the sight of his upset glaring.

“Okay, it was funny...” I admit, shrinking a little bit under his gaze.

It's true that I've been meaning to enact some petty revenge upon Prince Solaris for some time now, with the goal being to pay him back for all his years of trolling... but I quickly discovered that doing it this way just wasn't worth it.

It wasn't worth it, because...

“... It stopped being funny when Dusk made me pay out of pocket for it!” I bark as I whip hate-filled eyes back on the trickster's floating form.

R.I.P., my little bit hoard.

May we meet again in the next life.

Dash gasps, now shocked by the revelation of the tragedy his actions had indirectly caused. “Dude did what?!” he balks at the thought as his wings stall for a stunned moment.

Nodding my head once, I detail plainly how “Oh yeah, he did. Dusk made me cough up my allowance for,” I add air quotes to this next part. “The undue stress such a thing caused Prince Solaris. Shame on you.” End air quote.

And, in addition, please allow me to add this... Phooey.

Just... phooey!

The outcome of that ridiculous prank still makes me mad just thinking about it! I mean, isn’t that the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard, folks?! A whole month’s allowance... gone! How the hell am I going to afford Haw Riming’s next book now?! I can't not read it; the last one ended on a cliffhanger for goodness sake! A cliffhanger!!

Will Mystic Diamond stay loyal to her foalhood coltfriend forever, or will Lunar Flower finally confess her feelings and snatch her away?! Will Bright Heart ever rekindle with his father... and what the hell did the dice role end up amounting to in chapter thirteen?! The author ignored it for, like, eight flipping chapters before deciding to have the gull to not tell us! Who the hell does that?! I may be a simple, average, forty seven year old woman trapped in the body of a tiny baby dragon, and I may be a very patient lady when you get right down to it...

... but I need to know these answers and I need to know them NOW damn it!!

Now looking properly guilty for his immature crimes against my person, Rainbow Dash lands and takes an uneven step away from me.

“O-oh,” he stutters as his head and ears droop with the weight of his sins. “BB and I didn’t mean to get you in trouble with the Prince or anything, Barb. I'm... I-I'm so sorry.”

I hiss and snarl at the boy for a solid chunk of time…

… before at last dropping my facade and laughing the whole thing off, just as I had intended to do from the start.

Snort

Ain't I a stinker?

“Gotcha!” I snicker victoriously as RD slowly becomes aware that he had just been counter-pranked. It’s now his turn to look all pouty and upset in return... but it doesn’t take long before he’s laughing right alongside me.

“Snik. Good one, Barb!” Dash concedes happily, having thankfully not taken my joke too personally. “You really had me going there for a second!”

“Haha, yeah," I reply humbly, glad with how everything turned out. "I’m real proud of that one..."

...

... In-between one blink and another, my gaze swiftly returns to it's earlier serious expression.

“Dusk really did make me pay though, Dash," I reveal pointedly with narrowed eyes. "Please keep that in mind for the next time you want to prank me, okay?”

Outside of a tiny gulp, this clams RD right the heck back up.

...

... Sigh

In an attempt to banish Rainbow's new bout of depression away, I wave one of my claws lightheartedly as I share my real thoughts with him. “Ehh, don’t worry about it. Dusk was just overreacting like he does, that’s all. Nothing you have to worry about.”

I'm speaking honestly when I say this, it really isn't Rainbow Dash or Bubble Berry who I’m truly upset with right now. I mean... Dusk was the one who punished me, not them! He's the one I'm upset with! He's the one who didn't hear my side of the story before yanking my bits!

Look, I understand that the seals still needed to be replaced, and that someone had to pay for them, but the injustice of it all is still bugging me. And after I had come to such a massive epiphany about our relationship too... Thirdly do I now say phooey. I certainly didn't make mistakes like that back during my days as a mother! I never punished my children unfairly without due process...

... I think...

“... Between you and me, Dash,” I continue on, returning my mind to the conversation. I don't want to think about my own potential sins, and I don't want Rainbow to feel guilty over his mistake anymore either, so I'm going to instead focus my energy on cheering him up. Maybe a fun fact will do it. "Prince Solaris is a bit of a prankster himself!" Hot gossip fixes everything. "He probably enjoyed the gag just as much as you two did!”

“Oh wow... really?” Dash gasps in disbelief, now no longer looking upset as was my goal. Mission accomplished. “That's really awesome! I've heard rumors about that being true, but I never thought they were legit.”

Now intently interested, Rainbow Dash leans in closer to me.

“Okay, you have got to spill the beans, filly!" he pries eagerly. "Come on! What's he into? Rubber chickens? Squirting flowers? Did... did he invent the whoopie cushion?? I gotta know!”

Um... Uh oh.

Looks like my plan to cheer him up worked a little too well.

“Well… no," I report cautiously, coughing into a fist to hide my discomfort, "P-prince Solaris is more into... Psychological stuff... B-but that’s not why you’re here!” I deflect as bluntly as dragonly possible. “You wanted to know... er... What were you asking me again, Dash?” Ha! Like I need him to repeat his ridiculous request!

Returning to the topic at hoof will be an excellent distraction though.

Fluttering his eyelashes, processing my words, it doesn’t take long for Rainbow to recall his original reason for seeking me out today. “Oh, right,” he stammers shyly. Apparently he needs a moment to regain his earlier confidence. “W-well, Barb, I… I-I need you to help me become a lady!”

...

… Huh... Second time I’ve heard him say those words... and yet they're still not registering. My brain is shooting error messages in every language it knows, and some that it doesn't.

“A… lady?” I repeat, trying desperately to comprehend what Rainbow Dash is asking of me.

“Yeah,” Dash answers quickly, no longer hesitating.

“Like," I decide to reword my question, tackling it from a different angle. "a refined, elegantly dressed, well mannered older mare lady?”

Rainbow parrots himself instantly. “Yeah.”

I stare the colt right in his unwavering, cerise colored eyes.

“... You want me,” I emphasize a little more forcefully with a pointed claw. “to help you to find a pretty dress, teach you how to prance in it correctly, show you how to present yourself to boys, and transform you, in essence, into a girl?”

There isn't a single hint of his earlier shyness as Rainbow Dash powerfully declares “Yes” for me with the same reverence one might use to finish a wedding vow.

"..."

“... And," I try one last calculated strike to get to the root of all this. "I’m the only one who can help you? There's really nopony else?”

“Y…” Rainbow’s ‘mask’ at last cracks slightly. “Y-yes…”

I silently push against this fracture with a flat stare. “...”

“...”

“... Elusive was too busy to let me ask him instead," he finally relents. "Okay?!”

... Oh.

Of course.

Now this makes way more sense to me.

“I see,” I nod soberly in complete understanding. Eeyup; crystal clear understanding.

“You were a close second though!” RD backpedals so hard he practically trips over himself. “Like, super close! Honest!”

“Right right,” I feign acceptance, letting the poor guy off the hook… though, now that I'm thinking those words...

... I’m confused as to whether I should even refer to Rainbow Dash as a guy anymore! What is he, and what's going on?! I don’t understand any of thi-

Well, no, scratch that. There's one part of this I do understand and it's why I was Dash's second choice for such a request. Part of my training with the Bluebelles involved etiquette lessons, you see; table manners, speech patterns, boot licking, etc. I’m certain that the boys must have asked Dusk about my past at some point, so I’m not all that surprised that Rainbow is aware of the skills I possess. While it's true that I've not displayed said skills to my friends yet, and while it's also true that I'm slowly trying to un-brainwash myself of their influence; that's not what's important.

Right now what's important is understanding where Dash's cry for help is coming from.

“Rainbow Dash, what's this about?” I cut to the chase as my voice fills with concern. Slowly I approach his side and lay a single claw against his barrel. If this is about what I think it's about, then I'm going to have to breach this subject as delicately as I can muster. “Do you..." I start off as if I'm walking on broken glass.

Clearing my throat, and summoning up all the tact available to me, I offer Dash my claw in support as I ask my question in earnest.

"Do you... not want to be a stallion anymore, Rainbow Dash? Is that what you're telling me?”

"Huh?" is Rainbow's only response. With head tilted, he's clearly not getting what I'm hinting at.

Okay... let's try this again. "Would you be happier being called ma'am, Dash?" I push forward, trying to encourage him/her to open up to me.

"Maybe," Dash shrugs back with cerulean wings. "Everypony already makes that mistake with me, so I've become cool with whatever."

"... Oh," I pause before I reply. I'm not sure how to process that remark... Maybe third time will be the charm? "Let's try this a different way; if I were to write a book about you-"

"That would be awesome."

"Dash, focus... If I were to write a book about you, would you be okay with me using she and her to describe you in it?"

"Hmmm... Yeah, you can," Rainbow grants me a little head shake for 'yes' along with this answer. Great! Progress! Now let's dig deepe- "That wouldn't be a hundred percent right though..." he interrupts before my thoughts have the opportunity to properly form.

My eye begins to twitch.

"... Wouldn't really be wrong either, I guess," he, she... they go on. "Heh. You know what they say; sometimes you have to call a duck a duck."

"THAT DOESN'T HELP ME ONE SINGLE BI-!" I start to roar before taking a nice deep breath and a single step back. "... Okay. Okay okay okay. One more try..." I'm going to have to dig deep into my imagination for this last one. "... In five years from now," I start, painting the scene. "if you found yourself desperately needing to use the 'facilities' one day... do you see yourself using the little colt's room, or the little filly's room instead?"

"... Weird question... but whateve'. Let's see... I think..."

I lean in closer.

"... whichever one has the shortest line would work best for me."

I fall flat on my face.

"Ooph!" Rainbow verbally winces at my pain, unaware that most of it is currently mental. "You okay there, Bar-"

"This is fine," I cut the words off with a raised claw. "This is fine fine fine... Hehe... I-I shouldn't have been beating around the bush like that. My bad."

Upon a second nice, deep, and loooooonnnng breath to calm my frustrated shaking, having had enough of this, I spit out what I was so delicately trying to ask.

Subtlety be damned, sometimes you have to rip a bandage off with the fury of a spiteful god and live with the consequences.

"Rainbow Dash are you asking me to help you become a mare yes or no I'll accept you either way just tell me already gosh!"

In the following silence from my outburst, I can practically hear it as the gears in the pony's head slowly start to turn.

How I'm able to hear such a thing over my own efforts to grind my teeth into a fine powder I'm unsure.

"... Oh!" Rainbow Dash at last realizes what I've been trying to flipping figure out. "Oh, hehe," they then chuckle over my frustration, which I do not appreciate thank you very much.

Is it too late to take back that earlier forgiveness I gave them?

"No... No, that's not it at all, Barb,” the no longer questionable guy finally rewards me with the truth. It's certainly not the one I was expecting though. "That’s got nothing to do with this, filly! I’m totally a stallion through and through!” The macho 'dude' then strengthens his argument with the deliberate stretching of his freshly preened wings, the flexing of his slender arms, and the cracking of his well braided tail.

Ah yes. Petite and pretty.

The very image of masculine excellency, of course.

“I... see,” I reluctantly relent, allowing all of my transitional theories to fall by the wayside. “But, if you're a stallion through and through, then why do you want to become a lady all of a sudden? Why not a gentlecolt?

"And, more importantly... what the hay is this even about, Dash?!”

Displaying a smidgen of embarrassment, perhaps now realizing the confusion he's caused me, Rainbow rubs one of his hooves behind his head. “Well, thing is... I suppose I could be a gentlecolt if I wanted,” is his first response, which doesn't clear anything up for me in the slightest. “My old man taught me how to be one, and told me how a colt is supposed to treat a filly... but that doesn’t mean I have to be one all the time! Why be somepony I'm not?"

My level of understanding is now at a complete zero, and threatening to enter the negative numbers any second.

"Being a gentlecolt doesn't work for me most the time, and I can't be one for what I've got planned for tomorrow," Dash goes on, barely giving me the time to grasp his words. "I need to be a real lady if it's going to work! Something's coming up that's... important to me... super important... super mega important even!”

Okay! That's a detail I can finally wrap my head around! 'Something' is apparently coming up.

Now... what could that possibly be?

Well I don’t remember there being any holidays coming soon for one thing, and I don’t think that there’s any birthdays or other events either outside of demi-winter... so... maybe this 'something' is actually from the show? Let's think; BB and RD played a trick on me earlier this week, which I only recognized afterwards as a prank that happened in an episode of My Little Pony... What was that one about again...? Hmmm. I... I think it was about Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash becoming closer friends until somepony got in between the two of them, which caused Pinkie to become jealous…

... !!

Wait, no… not somepony!

Somegriffon got in the way!

I remember this now!

“Here's the deal,” Rainbow continues as I silently come to this realization. “I got this letter from an old friend of mine. He's going to be showing up tomorrow to come hang out with me.”

Aha! I was right! Rainbow Dash wants to make himself into a lady for the guy version of… Gilda, I think her name was…

...

… Wait why the heck does he want to become a lady for him?? Ugh! I’m starting to understand this less and less the more I try to remember how things went originally!

I might as well shut up and let RD explain already.

Thankfully he's doing just that, all while casually flittering himself through the air. “Guilder and I went to the same flight camp together,” Guilder must be guy Gilda’s name in this world. “We were all in the same class as Butters, and the three of us used to hang out all the time back when we lived in Cloudsdale…

"... Well Guilder and I hung out together, at least," Dash stops to point out. "We usually had to drag Butters along with us until he got waaaay too big to carry. Guilder grew a pretty big bod himself around the time the three of us graduated, and that helped him build a ton of confidence in himself, but I ended up staying all small and cute and stuff... Snort. Can't really say I hated that though! It actually made my life easier, 'cause it gave me a bigger target on my flank then what I had before, hehe.”

Tilting my head in regards to this odd claim, I raise an eyebrow and quietly plead for the speaker to explain this part better.

Perhaps not expecting that I was going to be interested in details, Rainbow's cheeks lightly flush in color as he pushes himself forward. “Y-you might not believe me when I tell you this, Barb," he mutters. "but I was a, well...

"... stupid foal.

"Like… real stupid.

"I was voted most likely to drop out for buck's sake!" Dash curses, uncaring for my 'innocent' ears. He's now practically ranting, having forgotten the main topic. "That wasn't even a category on the voting list! The other foals made it up just for me, and the coaches didn't do anything about it... But I don't think I can blame them! I fritzed so many of those dumb written tests..."

“Dash, no,” I immediately interject, trying to put a stop to this toxic flashback before it's claws could sink in fully.

Guess the lifetime effects of bullying are the same regardless of dimension.

“You weren't stupid!" I next insist, speaking from the heart. "You just didn't know what you know now yet, that's all! Foals aren't supposed to be know-it-all's! If they were, then what's the point in growing up...

"... w-which are totally words of wisdom Prince Solaris taught me once!" I hastily tack on to the end of my little motivational speech. "Yup, just him and him alone! No original and or personal thoughts to be found here, haha!" Making Rainbow Dash think I'm some kind of know-it-all myself would highly compromise the integrity of the message, I feel...

... Also revealing my secret wouldn't be cool either... but mostly the message.

“Hehe... Thanks, Barb..." A warm smile is my instant reward for my words as the once upset pony starts to settle down.

Nice. Nailed it.

"... I'm still totally a dumbflank though."

Ah! Not nailed! Repeat; I have not nailed it!

"No you're not!" I make to argue, not allowing this self-depreciation-athon to go on.

That's my unhealthy shtick, thank you very much!

"Heh, nah," Dash brushes off my attempts to comfort him, though his face tells me that he appreciated the gesture. "I eventually figured out that there's some things you're just not made to handle, filly, and that's okay. I mean, it's not like I suddenly became an egghead or anything just cause I grew up! Experience only gets you so far...

"... but you'll understand when I mean when you're a little older."

I'm not going to dignify that remark with a response.

"The only reason I passed school at all is because I slowed down and accepted that I learn stuff differently than other ponies do," Dash explains, and again I'm taken aback by his maturity. Not even Dusk is this pragmatic about himself and he's an introvert. "Ponies have their own pace and I have mine; slow and steady where it needs to be, and lightning fast where it matters!" I'm starting to notice that his words are flowing much better now than they did before.

It's as if talking about his past with me, and sorting it out for himself, is lifting some sort of weight from off of his chest. Whether this was his intention all along, or instead a happy little mid-conversation discovery, I'm unsure.

"Don't get me wrong; I’m not, like, mad over who I used to be or anything," Rainbow pushes on proudly, now metaphorically flying high on top of his actual flying. "I may have hated reading before I gave it a shot, and I may have made dumb choices all the time, but those mistakes were what made me into the jaw-droppingly awesome guy that I am right now!” Oh, that's comforting to see. Male Rainbow is just as confident in himself as the female one was.

Flop

He's also just as thoughtless too sometimes. He better remake that bed he just belly-flopped himself on to, or so help me Solaris I'll...

... probably do nothing except angrily make it all over again.

"Anyways," Dash continues, unaware of the minor inconvenience he had inflicted upon me. “one of the dumb mistakes I made when I was a foal helped me realize something major about myself! You see, Barb I… well… I... I-I…"

Rainbow takes a deep breath and steels himself.

“I…" he restarts, drawing on all of his inner strength. "I-I like..."

He takes a second breath...

... and at last spits out his closest held 'secret'.

"I-I like doing girly things!”

Le gasp~

Setting my earlier grievances aside, I feign absolute shock as Rainbow Dash's innermost private thoughts come pouring out of his lips. “I like wearing ribbons and dresses and putting on makeup and... a-and looking cute!” the femboy bares his soul to me, which is kind of touching in a way. “When I put on my frills it's like I'm showing everypony how I feel about myself, and that helps keep my thoughts together!

"Whenever I'm all jumbled in my head, and I'm not sure I can do something right, one look in a mirror is all I need to do to remind myself of who I am; to remind me that I am awesome.

"That I am graceful.

"And that I am beautiful, filly!"

To accentuate this sense of liberation, Rainbow thankfully lifts himself off of Dusk's bed and back into the air.

"When I'm flying on by and showing off," the speedster circles overhead. "I'm not hiding the stuff I love, or being scared because I'm acting 'wrong'... and I'm definitely not pretending that I'm somepony I'm not! Hay no! Whenever I'm wearing how I feel, everything starts 'clicking' way better for me upstairs.

"Books hold my attention longer," he lists casually in his flight position. "the sky and the way the air flows are all easier to read, and it feels like nothing is holding me back anymore, right? Not the drag or gravity or even my own doubts, I'm just...

"...free...

"... Nothing can stop me from flying fast, doing crazy tricks, rockin' stylish skirts, or standing up to the mean ponies calling me Rainbow Fritz or Rainbow Lass because I know in my head that I’m, like, being braver than they’ll ever be in their entire lives! I... well... in...”

With a flip to right himself, and a quick rough landing, Rainbow shuts his vision and turns his hoof upward as if to hold a cup. The sight greatly confuses me at first, but it doesn't take long before he finds whatever it was he was searching for from within his memories.

“... In facing my fears I have conquered myself, the greatest foe of all," he starts to quote, catching me by surprise. "From this day forth I'll be a changed pony, one greater than the one I was before, because all future struggles will be mere trifles in comparison…”

He then reopens his eyes and smirks.

“Hehe, I read that in the first book I ever gave a shot to try," his smirk grows cockily. "It was some fluffy 'Mare Power' thing my mom gave me, but it’s still totally true stuff, am I right?”

...

... This is making all of the sense... and none of the sense, all at the same time.

Entry 6, Part 2 (Griffon the Brush Off)

Full disclosure, I was not expecting there to be such a complicated reason for Rainbow Dash being the way he is in this Equestria.

Up to that point I had been expecting for his explanation to be a trolling “because it’s pretty” and nothing more, but now it's clear to me that this was never truly the case. I can understand his past deflections concerning the subject now, for it's not one that can be easily understood without getting to know the stallion behind the lipstick first. The bearer of the Element of Loyalty is not only loyal to others, but also loyal to himself and his feelings. This means not backing down in the face of adversity, especially when it comes to defending the things he loves and the things he loves about himself.

I may not be as into fashion like my husband was, but I still know the power there is in wearing the clothes and accessories that show the world who you are. A shoe here, an earring there; even with my plus size there was always an option available to me if I ever wanted a little boost in my confidence, or to stand contradictory to my peers. There is an art in weaving these expressions together, just as there’s an art in the body movements and social cues associated with being a lady. I’m sure there’s similar options available for all the gentlemen and colts out there in the world, but that's a topic I am ill equipped to discuss. I was never like Rainbow Dash, after all.

I never had the courage to see how the other half lives.

Equestria may be a very progressive society when it comes to sexual orientation, but the population’s understanding of gender identities and roles is about on par with Earth’s own. Stallions wear suits, mares wear dresses. Stallions are gentlcolts, mares are ladies. Stallions like boyish things like getting dirty and fighting, mares like girlish things like cooking and playing dress-up.

There’s certainly some crossover for sure. I believe that a person can’t realistically be a hundred percent male or female without sacrificing compassion or willpower respectively, but there’s a real hypocrisy in which certain aspects of one’s self can be displayed without scrutiny. Female Rainbow Dash was into racing, competition, and she knew pony karate. These are all considered masculine traits, but she was never shown to be considered a lesser mare because of her perceived lack of femininity.

On the other claw, you needn't look much further than our Applejack’s constant heckling of Rainbow Dash’s lifestyle to see that the chromatic pony doesn’t enjoy the same level of acceptance for the opposite; for his perceived lack of masculinity versus femininity. Women like myself may be considered complicated creatures by nature, but men occasionally take the cake when it comes to the strangeness of their actions and the oddness of their views of one another. Neither viewpoint is inherently right or wrong, of course, but it’s nonetheless an interesting subject to meditate on...

... Though what's more interesting is the fact that this subject hasn't deviated all that much from how it was depicted in the original show.

Cartoon Equestria was a mare dominated society, and in my universe it's a stallion leaning one, but the inherently feminine aesthetic of My Little Pony has remained consistent between the dimensional hop. Lighter colors are preferred here, heart imagery is all the rage, and magical phenomenons have been given adorable names like "cutie mark" since time immemorial. You'd think things would be a bit more "manly" around here due to the sex flip, but they're really not. Replacing famous key stallions and mares throughout this planet's history, like Starswirl or Clover, with their mare and stallion counterparts respectively should've had a greater impact on how social norms developed and established themselves within modern society... but it didn't. It didn't change a darn thing at all. It's like each individual's personal biases were completely separated from their historical work.

How is such a thing possible?

How can a world exist where everything is the same in comparison to another, save for the sex in which a person was birthed into? How can it perfectly mirror the other world's citizens when they're all being born from the wrong mother? How is DNA keeping up with such baloney, and how is there still a perfectly straight gender line in which our Rainbow Dash has to ballet dance himself over? Canon Rainbow didn't have to do anything of the sort... or at least she didn't have to do it quite to the same extent as ours does. When it comes to gender conformity, this seems to be the greatest divergent of all on this planet; the fact that it didn't deviate at all! This is a world where a Rainbow Dash had to struggle to be themself, and where a combination of foalhoods and genetics has forever altered the lives of pre-established major characters.

This has led me to now theorize that this dimension isn't the simple sex-swapped realm that I initially thought it to be. If it were, then why is Rainbow Dash's deal such the head turner that it is? Wouldn't his life style be considered just as normal as his mare-half's was? No, I think I can safely say now that there's something else that sets my Equestria apart from canon Equestria. It can't just be my mere presence anymore, there's something older and far more fundamentally different about this dimension that has caused it to wander off from the so called "true" path. Maybe it's even something obvious...

... but let's leave this to be the topic for another, more future entry. They'll be plenty of time to contemplate all the great mysteries of the universe another day. I feel that such questions are worth exploring, but for now I wish to be a tad selfish by returning to the main event. I ~~need~~ want to get back to writing about Rainbow Dash's quest to become a lady.

I suppose I can't do that until I finish the rest of his story, so let's go.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... What was the mistake you mentioned?” I inquire after taking a moment to reflect on everything I had just been told. “The one you made as a foal?” This must be the event that made him so different in the first place; what made him into the literate fashionista that he is today.

Rainbow snickers lightly to himself at my probing question.

“Oh? The mistake?” he then coyly asks, pretending to be oblivious to my intentions. “Well, heh, it wasn’t that much of a mistake, actually. It was more of a stupid misunderstanding...

"... Do you know what they say the difference between mare and stallion pegasi is, Barb?”

“Huh?” I ask aloud, unprepared for that question. The difference between mare and stallion pegasi? "What they say… What who says?”

Confusled, I begin to pace back and forth.

“Dusk says that there isn't any concrete scientific differences between the two pegasus types except for maybe wingspan length and the growth of their tails. Taking that into consideration, we must be talking about something else...”

Now it’s Rainbow’s turn to look confused.

"... Oh wow, you really did grow up with Dusk, huh?" he chuckles something under his breath that I fail to catch. “Egghead Jr… Filly,” Dash then says a little louder, catching my attention fully. “I wasn’t talking about any real differences. I was talking about...

"... Well, actually, now that I think about it... maybe that's not a stereotype somedragon from Canterlot would know too much about! Might be more of a Cloudsdale thing.”

“What is?” I prod, now more interested. What’s this about a stereotype?

Grinning largely at me for my lack of knowledge, Rainbow leans in closer to my side and places a cupped wing next to my ear.

He then whispers the answer into it.

"..."

“... R-really?”

“Yup.”

“Pegasi really think that?”

“Yup.”

“Really… Even the foals?”

“Especially the foals.”

“O-oh… oh my…”

“...”

“... Why are you turning red?” Rainbow asks neutrally, his brow narrowing suspiciously. “All I said was that pegasi think that mares are faster than stallions.”

I bury my now tomato hued face into my claws.

“I know, Dash, I-I know...”

“...”

… A light bulb must have turned on somewhere, because Rainbow’s cheeks are now turning just as bright as my own.

“O-oh,” he muses passively before coughing into a hoof. "You thought I meant 'fast' as in...

"... that..."

"I-it's you're own fault for whispering it to me that way!" I shoot back weakly as Dash starts to laugh.

"Well, yeah, but I didn't intend to give you those kinds of thoughts, filly!" he counters easily between breaths. "For a seven year old, you sure have a dirty mind up there.”

“... I-I know,” I whimper as I try to disappear behind my claws.

“Haha, oh don’t sweat it,” Dash reassures kindly, side hugging me with a wing. “I still love ya’, you little perv."

"Please never call me that again."

"No promises," he waves a wing back passively. "Also, just so you know, it’s just an old pony’s tale! Some guys think that mares are more aerodynamic or something, but there’s nothing that really proves that one way or the other…

“... Didn’t know that when I was your age though! All I heard was 'faster'.”

…!

Oh!

That’s it!

Now everything is making more sense to me! Glacially putting the pieces together, I state my new theory and try to gauge the response to see if I’m on the correct track. “So, if I’ve got this right; when you were my age, you thought that in order to fly faster…”

“That I had to become a filly, yes." Rainbow completes the thought for me, proving me right.

Oh good lord...

... that is claws down the most adorable misunderstanding I've heard in my entire life!

"Nopony told me otherwise," he defends himself preemptively, though I have no intention of laughing. "So what was I supposed to think?! The Wonderbolt Captain back then was a mare too, so it just made sense to me in my dumb little head.”

Letting go of the friendly contact, Dash jumps into the room’s air once more and resumes fluttering. “I started wearing bows and makeup to flight camp, and trying to get ponies to treat me like a filly, cause I thought that's all it would take. My parents were super supportive of all that, which was awesome, but they’re super supportive of everything I do... At least they were cool enough to let me change my name to Rainbow Dash from-”

Rainbow shakes his head.

“… W-well, it was nice for a time for sure, and it forced me into giving reading a chance so I could learn more ways to change myself, but then bullies started cropping up!"

As rude as this is to say, I'm not surprised by this turn of events.

Sometimes Equestria disappoints me with just how similar it is to Earth at times

"I could take them on easily, of course," Rainbow flexes, though I doubt he actually used force to dismay them. "I was the fastest pony in school, and the most attractive one too if I do say so myself." Called it. Looks like humility is still a viable lesson this pony needs to learn. "It was way too easy for me to fly laps around the fillies giving me a hard time, and even easier to confuse the hay out of the other colts by blowing a kiss here, or by shaking my tail there.

"Flirting can be a powerful tool when you use it right, Barb!"

And water is wet.

More news at 11.

"Don't tell Dusk I taught you that...

"... It stinks that my tricks didn't work forever though," Dash then, out of the blue, laments sorrowfully; catching me yet again by surprise. His ears fold against his head to accompany this tonal shift. "The jerks eventually started to pick on the rest of my friends instead when they realized they weren't going to break me. Butters was even more of a scaredy pony back then than he is right now, if you can believe it, and Guilder... was even worse!"

"Horsefeathers," I call Rainbow out, not believing his claim for a second.

"Language," the pegasus scolds me, apparently caring about such things now.

"Hypocrite," I call him out a again, not backing down. "You're also a liar. Modern day Butterscotch alone passes out at the sight of imitation crab! I've seen it myself!"

Rainbow winces as he recalls the shared memory I'm referring too.

"Oh" he squirms, recognizing the strength of my argument. "Right, forgot you were there with us for that." Guess that's a believable enough excuse. I do often go unnoticed during group gatherings. "In the dude's defense for accidentally crushing that waitress into a pancake; if she had done her job right in the first place by not messing up our orders, she probably could have gone home that night without the mild concussion... and all the broken bones."

"I will not argue this undeniable truth," I nod my head once in complete and total agreement. "... But my point still stands! How could this Guilder guy of yours possibly be more afraid than a younger version of that?"

"Easily," Rainbow Dash states unhesitatingly, leaving no further room for objections. He then sighs tiredly as he turns to look outwards and away from me.

He's drawing once again on his memories.

"... G was the only griffon in our school back when we were foals... the only one," Dash makes sure to highlight. His eyes do not meet my own, not even to take in my reaction to the 'reveal' that Guilder, G, is a griffon. "Griffons usually do their own courses over in Griffonstone and stuff, but G's parents wanted him out of the nest sooner rather than later. They shipped his flank out to Cloudsdale the first chance they were given, which they got by signing him up for some weird cultural exchange program thing our school was trying out at the time.

"I've got no clue as to what the hay ever happened to the pegasus that got to go to Griffonstone in his place, but what I do know is that the exchange meant that G was miles away from his friends and family, and trapped in a pony city until he graduated.

"He was the only one of his kind,

"in a place that didn't know what to do with him,

"seven years old...

"... and alone save for a clawful of friends...

"... Sound familiar to you at all, Barb?" Rainbow Dash finishes his recap with a meaningful look now aimed my way.

...

... This pony is never going to stop surprising me, is he?

"He was like me," I concede willingly, realizing now what RD was hinting at. I hadn't thought that any of the boys had formed enough of a connection with me yet to start attempting to understand my feelings... Shows what I know.

Rainbow is now fluttering back over to my side. "And doesn't it scare you, sometimes, being the only dragon around?"

"S-sometimes," I answer this question of his truthfully. I'm fidgeting with my claws as I do; I wasn't expecting to be quizzed like this here. "It doesn't these days, but it did back when Dusk and I lived in Canterlot."

"Ponyville is different?"

"Hehe... You have no idea, Dash."

"... Well... at least it's cool that this town is starting to feel like home to you," Rainbow Dash chimes simply with a thoughtful smile. "Soooo, do you think you understand what I mean now when I say that Guilder was more afraid than Butters was, filly?"

"Yes," I respond right away, granting Dash the trust he had rightfully earned from me. "Yes I do."

"Awesome," he acknowledges gratefully, right before his smile starts to wane once again as he continues on. "I protected G from bullies cause I was the only friend he had at the time, and cause he was a real good one to me too back then... but that made the one's trying to bully him because of me hurt so much more! I-I didn’t want my friends to suffer just cause I wanted to fly fast, so I eventually stopped trying to change myself as much as I was doing.

"My body had other plans when it decided to keep me all mare-ish when I grew up, but I guess I don't really have anything to blame for that part except for maybe egghead science-y stuff Dusk or BB would be better at explaining than me...

“... Looking back on it; being forced to slow down was the best thing to ever happen to me.”

Before I could comment on this, blinking for all of half a second results in Rainbow Dash somehow disappearing completely from my vision. Wha? The fudge? Where did he g-

ZOOM

“Boo!”

“Ah!” I jump as the speedy pegasus just as suddenly materializes right to the left of me. And after I had warned him about pranking me again... A shame.

All I’m able to do right now is blow my cheeks up in retaliation to Rainbow's laughing, but better revenge will come later I assure you. At least he has the courtesy to offer me the tip of a wing to lift myself back up with. As I return to my feet, the cheeky pony allows himself to showoff a bit by backstroking in midair.

“When it turned out that I was just as fast after I took the dresses off as I was with them on, I knew then that I had what it took to own the skies whether I was a he or a she!" Dash elevates himself, becoming the one-pony hype machine I know him to be. "Nopony could keep up with me! I proved that stupid rumor to be totally bogus...”

Now gazing upwards at the blank ceiling, Rainbow Dash lets low a small content breath as a grin graces his lips.

“... I still came out of camp realizing that it was okay to like the kind of stuff I did though," he sighs peacefully. "I used to be so guarded over junk like that, but slowly I figured out that as long as my friends still like me for who I am, and as long as I’m happy with myself; it's okay if I want to braid my mane every now and then, or wear lipstick, or read a book at my own pace.

"I don’t care what other ponies think of me anymore, just so long as those around me are happy too. Butters was awesome enough to follow me to Ponyville after camp ended, and my folks still give me makeup kits every Hearths Warming, so they must think I'm doing something right...”

Rainbow's eyes then narrow.

“... Guilder, on the other hoof…”

Closing his wings in mid flap, Dash flips and lands gracefully before steadying his breath and turning to face me straight on.

A fire is now clearly burning brightly in those determined irises of his.

“He’s the reason I need to become a lady!”

At first I’m lost…

… but then everything once again clicks perfectly into place.

His past,

his passion,

his heartfelt declarations…

… It’s so obvious now!

“OH SWEET SOLARIS, YOU WANT TO ASK HIM OUT ON A DATE?!”

“Hay no.”

Eep!

Oops.

Okay… m-maybe things aren’t clicking quite as perfectly as I originally thought.

“Guilder is just a friend,” Dash reiterates, putting an abrupt halt to the millions of romantic scenarios my brain was in the process of generating. “I love the guy, sure, but only as a friend. I just... I just want him to be happy again, you know? That's probably why he’s coming to visit me tomorrow, he’s not happy! He's going to want to hang out with me just like old times, and that's why I need to be ready for him when he comes!”

“Rainbow Dash…” I speak clearly and plainly as I stare intently into his honest expression. “... you’ve completely lost me.”

With a frustrated whinny, Rainbow tries to explain himself for me yet again.

I’m not usually this thickheaded, folks, I swear.

“He used to be just like Butters,” Dash stomps to emphasize. “Used, to, be. During flight camp, Guilder was the kindest and most supportive friend I had! He helped me find magazines to read, taught himself and me how to do manes and tails, and he helped me figure out how to put on earrings!

"He also figured out and taught me how to curl my eyelashes, apply blush and foundation, and how to braid charms into my tail. He came up with my new name too when I wanted one to better match my appearance, and sometimes he would even paint my hooves for me... while letting me paint his own talons in exchange! Barb,” Rainbow begs, looking at me pleadingly. “He… h-he likes this stuff too! He wanted to be beautiful just like me… but when he started getting bullied because of how he was acting, he wasn't able to stay strong like I did.

"Instead he just… changed.

“It was like night and day! He started getting super aggressive about just about everything, and he also started getting super angry all the time on top of that! Griffons are known to be a little rude, I know, but he just stopped acting like himself! He wasn't scared anymore, but he wasn't G anymore either. I…”

The pegasus then exhales haggardly. With head held concerningly low, along with wings and ears, it’s as if all of his earlier bravado had upped and suddenly vanished.

In it's wake, only a deeply pained stallion remains.

“... I just want to get my friend back, Barb,” Rainbow Dash finally admits fully, no longer allowing himself to get sidetracked. “And I mean my real friend, not the fake he became.

"I want the Guilder who was willing to try on outfits with me, and who encouraged me to stay in school when I wanted to quit because of my grades. I know that Guilder is still in there somewhere.

"Maybe he grew out of all this, and that's fine too; I just don’t want to believe that the G that steals and yells at ponies is the one he wants to be over the G that cries at sappy books, and who wanted to be a chef when he grew up.”

"I don't want to believe that that G, my G, is gone forever."

...

… Okay…

... Third times the charm.

Now everything is starting to come together.

I should have known that Dash had noble intentions on some level. Loyalty is kinda his element, and I don’t mean his Element of Harmony. He’s the type of friend who won’t let you down, because his life feels so much more fulfilling with you in it. I’m so glad that I’ve been granted the opportunity to get to learn a little bit more about him today.

But... now there’s still one last piece to this intricate puzzle that needs to be uncovered if we’re to hope to move forward.

“How will becoming a lady help bring your friend back?” I ask wholeheartedly, now completely on Rainbow Dash's side for whatever this plan of his is going to turn out to be. I may be messing with the show’s canon a bit by aiding him in this endeavor, but this is clearly something he’s passionate about and something he’s going to still do regardless of my input.

I can’t rightfully get in the way of a plot to help out a friend now can I? That would fly in the face of this show’s very moral if I did! I’m just going to have to pray that Dusk learns… something from all this. A new lesson is better than no lesson, I suppose.

“If G shows up to Ponyville,” Dash begins to outline his grand scheme for me. “and discovers that I’ve been living my life to the fullest here, to hay with what anypony else thinks about it, then maybe he’ll figure out the same thing I did and start cooling off!”

Hmmm. I see what he's getting at here. Taking the school aspect out of the scenario that originally forced Guilder into his box, where he stopped acting like himself, might just work.

I can see a pretty large hole in this plan already though.

“But,” I start to explain, sharing my newfound concerns with my friend. “A lady though, Dash… That’s a pretty big change, even for you. You’re going to be really putting yourself out there if you do this.”

“It has to be big though, Barb,” Dash pleads with me with rapidly flapping wings, achieving zero lift. “If I just have my mane up in a ponytail like I’m doing now, o-or if I’m only wearing my lipstick he’s not going to take me seriously! Everypony in town has already seen me dress all girly too, so nopony is going to bat an eyelash if I’m trotting around in one of my skirts! A full gown though, with the moves, frills, and attitude to match…”

I’m starting to spot even more holes in this sinking ship.

“You’ll be turning heads for sure, Dash..." I detail gently. "... But are you okay with doing this to yourself? Think what the day after Guilder leaves is going to look like! You know? The one where not a single soul in this town is treating you like they used to? You're gonna end up being Rainbow Lass forever! I can't even begin to imagine how Applejack is going to react to all this.”

Surprising, or perhaps unsurprisingly, Rainbow Dash's only response to my valid concerns is to laugh them all off.

“Oh forget Applejack!" Dash barks undeterred, stomping a hoof down in a show of commitment. "Let the dude throw his hissy fits over me not being a 'real' stallion until his face turns just as blue as mine! And let everypony else do their own thing too! I’ve dealt with bullies my whole life, filly! One or twenty more isn’t going to put a dent in me! Hah! No...”

Rainbow's smile then shifts back from cocky to warm.

“... as long as you and the rest of the guys still like me afterwards, then I think I’ll be just fine."

"..."

"... You really trust us a whole lot, huh."

"Of course I do. You're my friends."

"And... you trust me just as much, Dash?"

"Hah! A hundred and twenty percent, filly!"

"..."

“... So… What do you say?”

A deathly silence descends upon the library as the most important question of all is cast.

My answer doesn’t come right away.

“...”

… Sweat glistens off of the determined pony's forehead…

“...”

After a full minute passes between the two of us where not a single word was uttered or thought, I at last offer a reply. “Well, Rainbow Dash.”

The stallion leans in closer in anticipation.

I proceed...

...to nod approvingly.

“I say that we’re going to need to work on your posture first, young lady," I report matter-of-factly, placing both my claws behind my back. "Your current one simply won't do.”

Needless to say, Rainbow is now ecstatic beyond description.

“Awesome!” he cheers at the top of his lungs, performing a quick aerial loop de loop to christen the success before landing before me. “Thanks! Okay, how do we work on that-”

SLAP

“Ow!” he then wails equally at the top of his lungs as I roughly smack the side of his foreleg with a closed fist.

“No talking,” I order as I stand on my tippy talons and place three heavy books atop his stationary head. Yeesh, it looks like I'm going to have my work cut out for me here.

Better start by laying down the rules.

“For the next twenty four hours, Rainbow Dash, you are to only respond to my words with a hearty yes or no 'ma’am’ and nothing else."

I push against the stack of books, adding further pressure to the pegasus' neck.

"I am now the only adult present in this room, and you, my dear," I whisper purposefully into his ear."... are just a little filly nipping at my coattails."

Rainbow's sweat returns as I add further pressure to the stack and further pressure to my words. As I do, I notice that I'm starting to sound a whole lot like my old instructor Madame Rum ‘Red’ Gibed right now. I'm also repeating a lot of her words too...

... If that's what this will take, then so be it.

Hopefully I can still retain some of my soul once we're done.

"We don't have a lot of time to make this perfect," I admit truthfully to my pupil, making sure that we're both on the same page. "You'll need to be doing exactly as I say and exactly as I do in order to survive this. Anything less will only end up making you look absolutely silly. I don't have to teach you which way the corset goes, for example, and I'm not obligated to tell you if your horseshoes match your blouse either.

"I'm not talking out of my tail here when I say that I'm now the master of your fate, Little Miss Dash," I apply some of my dragon strength to the tomes, causing Rainbow's knees to buckle. "I'm your only ticket to getting this done right. Don't think this means that I'm going to be picking out your ensemble for you, or doing anything else to make this easy. You're going to be doing that all by yourself as the final test for when you're done engraving my lessons upon that soft pink heart of yours..."

I grant Dash's shaking form a searching look.

"... Are we clear on the rules, cupcake?”

“C-cupcake?”

SLAP

“Ow!”

“Are, we, clear?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Good,” I grin cheerily, happy with his obedience. With the aid of threatening dragonfire, I proceed to march my temporary charge down the library's stairs and out the front door. His books remain perfectly stacked in his haste, impressing me straight away. There might be hope for him yet... As I strut my way onto the streets of Ponyville proper like I own them, I offer to the stallion a hearty laugh before asking a tension easing question of, "Do you own a purse?"

Keeping his weights balanced, Rainbow Dash shakes his head 'no' in reply.

"Ha! Well now that simply won't do, darling." Guess it's time to perform the ancient wiccan ritual known to woman throughout the multiverse as shopping.

May the goddess of the hunt watch over and protect this poor naive colt, for he knows not the cruelty of the battlefield he has just galloped himself upon.

Entry 6, Part 3 (Griffon the Brush Off)

“ … So Bubble Berry, are you sure that this friend of Rainbow Dash is really so mean?”

“Um, yeah! He keeps stealing Rainbow Dash away, he pops my balloons, spills my drinks, and he told me to buzz off! I’ve never met a griffon so mean… Well, actually, I’ve never met a griffon at all… but I bet if I had, he wouldn’t have been as mean and grumpy as Guilder!”

With a sigh, Dusk turns away from his book and locks his eyes with his pink guest’s own. “You know what I think, BB?”

“Hmm?” replies Bubble Berry as he leans in closer, waiting to be validated.

“Well,” my studious stallion winces as he readies himself to deliver some bad news. “I think… you’re jealous.”

“Jealous?!” Berry screams in response, acting like he was just slapped across the face.

“Green with envy,” I add in ‘helpfully’, not looking up from my own book… though I do lift my gaze for a moment to add, “Well, in your case, pink with envy."

Satisfied with my little joke, I return to my reading.

Dusk, meanwhile, is continuing his talk with his disheveled friend. His tone is a bit condescending sounding, but I guess he always sounds like that when he’s lecturing. “Well, yes. Jealous. Listen, Berry, I don’t want to upset you, but just because Rainbow Dash has another friend doesn’t make Guilder a grump. I mean, perhaps it’s you, Berry, who needs to improve his attitude.”

Ouch.

I don’t want to upset you… but I’m going to do it anyways k thanks bye.

Remind me to conspicuously place the ‘Tact for Dummies’ self-help guide on Dusk’s work desk the next chance I get.

“Improve my attitude?!” BB shouts back angrily. Never would have thought I’d be using the words ‘BB’ and ‘angry’ together in the same sentence, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. “But I… D… B… It’s Guilder that… D… Are you seri… AAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

SLAM!!!

With one last frustrated screech, Bubble Berry stomps his mad self over to the entrance and leaves the library with a rough slam of the door. In the resulting silence, Dusk and I spare each other a concerned look…

… before resuming our reading without a second thought. Thanks to my show knowledge I know what Berry is going to do next, so I’m not too torn up over what just happened. As for why Dusk isn't going after him to make sure he’s okay... Well, as rude as this is to say, I think he just doesn't care enough yet to put in the effort.

I can understand this sentiment of his to a certain extent; BB’s personality clashes hard with his own. The former is just too hyper for the latter to keep up with. It’s been super difficult for the two of them to come to any sort of understanding, which is sad because Berry obviously cares a lot about my charge and his opinions.

I’m sure Dusk will eventually warm up to the party-tastic stallion and his interesting quirks someday, but for now all I can do is leave things the way they are and hope for the best. Time is both a River and a Stone and whatnot; I've got to let my young stallion grow into his own on his own. At least he's been adjusting much quicker to his other friends' equally interesting quirks and habits!

Though, with that having been said... I wonder how he’s going to react to Lady Rainbow Dash later today at BB's yet-to-be-planned welcoming party for Guilder my purposeful inactions have guaranteed to occur? Hmmmm. Now that’s going to be interesting to watch. The anticipation is killing me, and granting me an uncontrollable case of the giggles to boot. A laugh escapes my lips as I try to imagine the coming meeting.

“Hm?” Dusk pries as he trots over to my side, having again turned away from his reading. “What’s so funny, Barb?”

“Heh. Oooohh nothing,” I lie cheekily in reply, not sparing him a glance. “I’m just enjoying a scene from my book, Dusk. The plot twists have been mindblowing so far, hehe.”

“...”

… ~Sparklesparklesparkle~

“H-hey!” I shout as I find my tome rudely yanked away from my claws with the aid of unicorn magic. “I was reading that!”

The thieving pony, Dusk, next commits the ultimate sin by flipping the cover shut before scanning the title; thus losing my place.

Gah!

You monster!

“He’s Dedicated to Roses 2, He’s also Dedicated to Petunias… " Dusk reads aloud, completely blind to his thoughtless actions. "... Isn’t this Haw Riming's latest book?” the fiend then questions with brow narrowing. “I thought I took away your allowance for prank messaging the Prince... Where did you get this?”

“It’s Rainbow Dash’s copy,” I grunt back in annoyance. Pouting quite fiercely with arms crossed, I stomp a foot and add, “I promised him I’d give it back once I was done reading it, so gimmie!”

Jumping up, I try to reach out and snatch the novel back from its magical grip.

Dusk lifts it up higher.

“Come ooooonnn!” I plead, jumping in place. Curse these short legs, arms, and… everything of mine! “It was just getting to the good part!”

With hoof placed against my forehead, keeping himself and the book out of arm’s reach, Dusk resumes his interrogation. “Why did Dash let you borrow it? There’s no way he could have read it all already, it just came out this week! ”

Halting my flailing, I allow my well justified bout of anger to dissipate as I’m reminded of what it was I was originally snickering about. Laughing once more, this time at Dusk's expense, I decide to grant my overbearing friend a quick peek behind the curtain.

“Weeeellll, let’s just say that Dash owed me a favor and leave it at that, hehe.”

“He... owed you a favor?” Dusk parrots in disbelieve, lowering his guard. “Why?”

SNACH!

Using all the finesse and grace my tiny body can grant me, I take advantage of my opponent's distracted state to reclaim my borrowed book without further difficulties. My grin only grows more sinister once the tome is back in my possession, as with his leverage now gone I’m free to push my teasing even further than before!

How wondrous~

“Oh… You’ll see, Dusk,” I lay the threat on thick, foreshadowing the life changing experience yet to come. “You’ll see indeed, mahaha!”

My charge recoils in the face of my evil laugh...

... or perhaps he did so in the face of my spiked teeth filled grin.

I'm perfectly content with either answer.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

The trials I had subjected Rainbow Dash to were nowhere near as grueling as the ones I was forced to endure during my toddlerhood, but my comparatively softer regiment still yielded favorable results regardless. Where before the speedster was just a casual fan of the craft; now he was a variable madam of class, a countess of elegance, a duchess of renown.

Rainbow Darling Dash was now well and truly a real lady.

I had adjusted his trot into a methodical sway, filtered his speech through the tongue of angels, and instilled within him a sixth-sense for fashion that would make Elusive himself swoon with envy. What can I say? I hate the Bluebelle’s, and I’m actively trying to repress the lessons they taught me, but they certainly knew their stuff when it came to the art of creating a classy pony.

Though the lessons took up the entire day, Dash relished every second of the challenge. He soaked up everything I taught him like a fabulous sponge, and his enthusiasm was infectious. Once I eased up on the shouting I ended up having loads more fun training him than I thought I was going to, and our fun only doubled once we reached the practical application portion. Practicing with random strangers on the streets of Ponyville filled RD with the confidence he needed to internalize everything he had learned.

If having a clawful of stallions, and at least one mare, trying to hit on you while you're all gussied up doesn't scream “big success” then I don’t know what does.

Rainbow passing wasn't the only big success we were granted yesterday, for another one came in the form of our scheme's complete secrecy. We had dodged Dusk, flew over Applejack, snuck by Elusive, and utilized teamwork to distract Butterscotch; in doing so we guaranteed that most of the boy's reactions were going to be completely genuine for Guilder to experience for himself, once the time had come.

Now, notice how I used the words “most of” in this last paragraph, in relation to Dash's friends.

Yes, unfortunately we did end up having one leak in the form of Bubble Berry and his insatiable curiosity towards his prank buddy's disappearance...

... Fortunately though, the stallion's only response to seeing Rainbow Dash in full attire was to simply say “Wow you look super pretty… Want to pull off some more pranks tomorrow?” before leaving it at that.

Good old BB.

About eighty percent of our plan involved the actual training, while the remaining involved a schedule of events that would gradually lead Guilder towards a grand reveal, so Berry’s obliviousness actually complimented things quite nicely. The idea for how we were going to pull off the grand reveal hadn’t crystallized yet at the time of the earth pony's arrival, but his appearance thankfully jogged my memories and reminded me of how this episode originally ended.

In the show, Pinkie Pie’s jealousy reached a boiling point, and the result was her throwing a party for Gilda to ease her own conscience. Figuring that Berry was the least changed member of the mane six, and thus it was fair to assume that he would be throwing a similar party the next day, I banked on my Seer Sight to be right and formed a three stage battle plan around it; one that went like this.

Stage One: RD would meet up with Guilder as his usual self. A flower, skirt, or a pretty bow was fine for him to wear, but the main idea was for him not to go overboard right away and accidentally reveal his hand.

Stage Two: RD would slowly start adding more feminine mannerisms and accessories to himself all throughout their day together, courtesy of his lovely new designer saddle bag. Their time would mostly consist of flying around and catching up with one another, as regular friends do, but this added wrinkle guaranteed that Guilder's mind would begin focusing on such details more and more as the day went on. This would stealthily adjust and prepare him mentally for the third and final stage, of which being...

Stage Three: The “surprise” Welcome to Ponyville party that it was my job to suggest to BB beforehand.

Obviously I didn’t tell RD that I knew that a party was destined to occur, and I didn't actually end up talking to Berry about the idea either, but in the end I didn’t have to do a gosh darn thing. Rainbow was already ready to go, Berry was already setting up the party, and Guilder was already in position as well. Everything up to that point had all gone according to plan so my influencing of events felt unnecessary.

Once the party started in earnest, however…

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... Sweet tap dancing Solaris,” Dusk mutters lowly in stunned awe as he enters Sugarcube Corner, and lays confused eyes upon Rainbow Dash’s breathtaking visage.

My earlier bout of giggles return in full force.

“Told you you’d see,” I nudge my frozen charge's form playfully, laughing all the while as I made my own way inside.

It seems that Dusk and I are pretty early to this party, as Berry is still busy getting it prepped. With the owners, Mister and Misses Cake, gone on a little vacation for their honeymoon; this leaves only four ponies in total present as of this time. Dusk, BB, Rainbow Dash of course, and lastly…

“YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY SMASHING DARLING!!” squees Elusive unabashedly as he dashes his way all around Rainbow’s form, taking in every deliberate detail. “Who did your lovely mane? You must tell me this instant!”

With a refined, dignified laugh now befitting a pony such as he; Rainbow Dash raises a gloved hoof up to his lips and offers to Elusive a loud and boisterous...

“Ho ho ho~ Why, I have our dear little Barbara to thank for my appearance!" the pretty pony proclaims pridefully, now unfolding a small hoof fan and concealing his face behind it. "Her aid was most enlightening.”

The beautiful stallion then flutters long dark lashes towards Dusk, causing him to jump.

“I say, you've been blessed with quite the marvelous assistant by your side, Dusk Shine.”

“R-right,” Dusk sweats, casting a nervous glance my way.

I respond with only another toothy grin, and a hearty thumbs up.

... I may have also mouthed the words "You're next" to him as well... but I'll leave it up to your imagination whether I actually did that or not.

I'll never tell.

“Almost ready!!” announces Berry from the ceiling as he continues to apply decoration after decoration in a hurried rush. “I hope everypony is okay with the party being off the rocks this time! Guilder is apparently a mean drunk, so I’m not going to take any chances.”

“It’s also two in the afternoon, Berry.” Dusk points out bluntly, forcefully taking his mind off of Dash.

“Hehe, oh Dusk. I didn’t ask for the time, silly!”

“That’s not what I mea-” my oldest friend starts to correct, only to then realize how pointless pointing such things out to Berry was so he willingly concedes. Wanting to distract himself from the pink pony’s hinted at insanity, Dusk then decides that his time can be better spent trying to unravel his blue friend’s own apparent insanity instead. “Dash, what are you doing?”

With a small tilt of his head, and a warm smile, Rainbow Dash coos softly as he refolds his multi-hued fan, “Oh? Can’t you tell? I’m waiting to be part of a welcoming party for my old friend Guilder, dear. What does it look like to you?”

“It looks like you're ready to go candy hunting for Nightterror Night,” is Dusk’s direct answer.

“How dare you!” Elusive interjects, getting right in his fellow unicorn's face. “Good sir, I’d be remiss if I allow your complete lack of good taste to belittle what is clearly a living work of art in our midst!”

Taking an awkward step back, Dusk shrinks away under Elusive’s judging gaze.

“A-alright alright,” my charge surrenders, backing off. “I’m sorry! I just… I-I just don’t understand what’s going on here.”

“It’s a party,” Rainbow Dash states plainly, taking a step closer. “That’s all it is. I just want to introduce you all to Guilder, and Berry was willing to help so our interests matched up.”

“I understand that part, Dash,” Dusk replies with a huff and a shaking head. “What I don’t understand is… this!”

“... Dusk... You just gestured to all of me.”

“Yes!”

"..."

Rainbow’s ears droop completely.

“... Oh… o-okay…” he mumbles disappointingly before looking away.

Realizing now that he had accidentally stepped in something personal, Dusk’s brows widen in shock as he now tries to backpedal. “W-wait, Rainbow Dash, I… I-I didn’t mean to…”

With a wave of a hoof, Dash sighs and assures his friend that “It’s fine, Dusk. It’s fine… Look, I’m sorry that I’m not being straightforward with you right now. I promise things will make more sense once the party really starts…” He then scrapes his hoof against the ground remorsefully; his head is held low too. “Please stick with me until then, okay? Please?”

At the display, Dusk’s defenses at last lower completely.

“What? Rainbow Dash, of course I’ll stick with you. I don’t get what’s going on here, but I can at least give you the benefit of the doubt. It’s what friends do.”

POP!!

The sound of a balloon bursting forces our heads towards where Bubble Berry was currently blowing them up.

“Hey wait just a cotton candy picking minute!” the party planner crossly interrupts the two, hopping over to Dusk’s side and pushing his face into his own. “You didn’t give me the benefit of the doubt when I told you that Guilder was being a meanie pants!”

Now all eyes are on Dusk.

My precious charge gulps.

“In... i-in my defense,” he tries to squeak out as he steps away from the gazes. “I’m still new to this whole... friendship thing! I’m... Sigh," he at last relents. "I'm really sorry, BB. I still don’t think that Guilder is all that bad yet, but I’ll refrain my judgment for now.”

Berry stares for a moment longer…

… before shouting “Okie dokie lokie!” and resuming his cheerful preparations.

In an attempt to steer this conversation away from the ‘abuse-Dusk-Shine-conga-line' it was slowly becoming, I ask to nopony in particular, “I wonder when everypony else is going to show up?”

“We should start seeing more ponies any minute now,” Rainbow Dash answers for me, no longer fearing my 'wrath'. I asked him to knock off the whole 'ma'am' stuff once his training was complete and he had earned the right for us to be gal pals. “I asked Berry to invite you guys first so you wouldn’t be as surprised as everypony else by my getup.”

“Are we reacting as you were expecting us to, Dash?” Elusive gently probes, placing a supportive hoof on Dash’s withers.

“Well…”

As if on cue, a whistling Applejack enters the scene.

Trotting through the doorway, he pays us all little mind as he spins in place and hooks his stetson on a nearby hatrack. The rat tailed farmer seems to be fully enamored by his little ditty; so enamored, in fact, that his blowing doesn’t cease as he about-faces from the rack…

… locks sights on Lady Rainbow Dash…

… and then, in one fluid motion, turns back towards the rack so he can reclaim his treasured cap and exit the building with a slam of the door behind him. His whistling grows quieter as he disappears into the unseen distance.

“... That’s about what I was expecting from him at least,” Rainbow finishes with a good-natured huff. Elusive shares a guffaw with him soon after, and I find myself doing so as well. Such a silly pony, that Applejack.

“... What in tarnation are you doin- Hey let go of me, you big galoot!! A-ah ain’t goin’ back in ther- STOP IT BUTTERS!”

As the door flies open once more, everyone present is greatly surprised to see the return of a grumpy Applejack, and the appearance of a pushy Butterscotch.

The larger of the two stallions lowers his wings carefully as he tries to enter the building after his stubborn friend. “Rainbow Dash wanted all of us here, Applejack,” the giant mumbles clearly in the face of Applejack’s heated glare. “It must be importan-”

All words die on the massive pegasus’ lips as he tilts his head upwards and catches sight of Rainbow Dash in all his glory.

“Oh… Oh my,” Butters gasps, placing his wings over his mouth. Delicately making his way over to his foalhood friend's side, he uses his wings once more to lift his bangs over his usually obscured peepers. “Rainbow... You..."

"..."

... Butters then beams largely from ear to ear.

"You look just like a Princess!” the burly pony cheers Rainbow loudly on, becoming more enamored by his reveal than even Elusive was prior. "How wonderful! I'm so happy for you!"

Dash’s cheeks turn bright red thanks to this.

“Thank you, Butterscotch,” the grateful girly guy giggles in gratitude. “It means so much to me to hear you say that.”

The room rumbles for a moment as Butterscotch sits down on his haunches, making to admire the attire more closely. I join him shortly thereafter.

I mean, I’m allowed to appreciate my hard work too, right?

Starting from the face, moving towards the flank, and ending with the mane; we first begin our tour at Rainbow Dash’s eyes. He normally wears fake lashes when he’s not doing tricks, but the ones he’s rocking now are significantly longer and curled inwards. They help to compliment his lavender glitter eyeliner, and bring out the cerise in his irises wonderfully.

Next we find a heart shaped locket displayed casually around his neck, hanging from a silver string, which matches perfectly with the mirrored earrings clipped gently to his earlobes. Purple is again the color of choice for these accessories, chosen once more for its complementariness. Silver gloves ride up on his forelegs, hiding the cracked hooves we weren’t able to work with in the little amount of time we had. This time crunch was also the reason for why we forgoed lipstick, but I think he looks better without it in that dress.

And what a dress it is.

While I had said that I wasn't going to pick out an outfit for him, the flowing gown of dazzling pinks and striking whites was certainly a gander well worth breaking my own rule to procure. It hugs at Dash's form nicely, emphasizing features a stallion shouldn’t have but Rainbow Dash does because nature can be funny like that sometimes. The color devoid portion of the bust is almost arranged like a toga, allowing it to be draped over his withers without compromising his well preened wings. His new saddle bags lay in a corner next to where I just set my purse, but when they were being worn on him they added an entirely new layer to the design. It was almost like they were made for each other… which, since they’re both imported items from Canterlot, they very well might have been.

And I haven’t even started on the mane!

I’m so glad he was able to replicate the design after we stumbled on it yesterday. Rainbow’s flowing mane was certainly a challenge, but by using a curler on the front bangs, and by carefully braiding the excess back hair into a single short bun, we were able to get a good base going. For the meat of the design I took inspiration from an old cartoon from my original youth and ran with it. Carefully making sure not to mix strains of colors together, we used silver ribbons to keep the doo from collapsing in on itself as it defied the laws of gravity. Reminiscent of a rooster’s comb, yet at the same time wholly removed from being an ordinary mohawk, Dash’s mane now stands a full head’s length above him in a head turning display.

Oh how I miss having hair of my own to play with.

In summation; Rainbow Dash is now hooves, claws, and hands down the prettiest stallion in all of Equestria…

...

… Elusive is a close second.

Anyways, the point of my breakdown is that Dash has succeeded flawlessly in his goal to become a lady. I don’t expect this to become a common occurrence for him, as his special talent and dreams still revolve around speed which this outfit does not support, but it’s hard to imagine a future passed this point where somepony would have the nerve to call him ‘chicken’.

Hopefully Guilder will catch the hint and free himself from his apparent self-imposed box of rage and anger; as a reminder, the goal here is for him to find the strength to live as full of a life as Rainbow Dash does every single day.

Dingalingalingaling~

Guess I won’t have too much longer to ponder on such things.

Ready or not, here comes the rest of the partygoers.

Ponies are now funneling their way into Sugarcube Corner one by one, ready to indulge themselves in another Bubble Berry Blast of a shindig. I can overhear murmurs from the small crowd that enters, filled with conversations centered around the fact that this gathering is for a griffon... but most of these discussions quickly switch gears to Lady Rainbow Dash the moment his ensemble was fully revealed to all.

“Welcome!” cheers Bubble Berry to every guest entering the party. “Welcome! Welcome!”

“Hello hello!” Rainbow Dash greets politely as well, making sure to carefully trot his way around the room so everypony can see him. “Thank you all so very much for coming out to meet one of my oldest friends! I hope he’ll feel right at home in Ponyville before too long!”

He then, with the aid of his wings to lift the hem of his skirt, finishes his greeting with a small curtsy just like I taught him.

Sniff. I’m so proud!

With the party already starting early without the griffon of the hour, Dusk and I decide to split off from one another and attempt to mingle. He heads straight for Butterscotch, while I head towards the dessert table...

… Hey don’t judge me! Mingling with the food totally counts! Besides, going solo will allow me to eavesdrop on ponies I’m curious to hear from.

Ponies like Applejack, for example.

The earth pony is making a rather big show of staying far away from Rainbow Dash as the latter is moving himself through the gathering undisturbed. Though he’s keeping his distance, Applejack's judging gaze isn't leaving the pegasus’ elegantly dressed form for even a second. He may also be muttering frustrated sounding swears under his breath as well... but I’m actually surprised by the level of restraint he's displaying today! I half expected him to start a scene the moment he entered the door! Perhaps he has a desire to avoid such a ruckus, or instead a desire to not have a repeat of what happened between him and Dash during the Summer Sun Celebration? Either way, he hasn’t started anything yet to which I am grateful.

In a blatant attempt to distract himself from the, in my opinion, gorgeous elephant in the room; Applejack taps Elusive’s side and asks him “Who’s this ‘Guilder’ ah’ve heard nothin’ about?”

“I heard he’s an old friend of Rainbow Dash,” the unicorn responds. I catch a snippet more of the conversation as I head further into the crowd. “A griffon, so rare.”

Indeed. I don’t recall ever having met one before, even during my time in Canterlot. I know roughly where they live outside of Equestria’s borders, but I really can’t recall anything else vital about the species.

As I muse on this, I next catch wind of Dusk and Butter’s own discussion with one another. “You’ve met Guilder, right?” Dusk inquires, trying to get the sensitive pegasus to talk. “What’s he like?”

Butters remains silent in reply.

“... That bad, huh?” effortlessly translates the inquisitive unicorn. “Maybe BB was right then…”

Uninterested in his friend’s educational mutterings to himself, Butters parts the crowd and relocates himself over to Berry by the entrance.

“Um... BB?” the towering stallion whispers to his louder friend. The fact that I’m able to still hear him should give you a general idea of just how ‘quiet’ he’s actually being. “Is this party for Guilder really a good idea? He’s… mean.”

Hmmm… Though I had planned on every little detail from the show playing out exactly the same way, so that Rainbow’s scheme could stand a chance, I honestly wasn’t expecting Butters of all ponies to get bullied just like little Fluttershy did. I’m having a hard time imagining somepony as big as him being yelled at and taking it, or someone else having the courage to get aggressive with him, but I guess it must have still happened if Butters is acting even more shy with others than he usually is…

… This doesn’t bode well.

Sensing his friend’s discomfort, Bubble Berry halts his greetings and proceeds to playfully ruffle Butter's pink bangs; i.e. the only part of his form that one can reach without having to resort to jumping up and down like a loon.

“Don’t worry your big old head about rude old Guilder!” Berry tries to comfort. “Your uncle Bubble Berry’s got it all taken care of!”

Letting go, BB resumes his duties as a host by greeting all who enter.

“... I’m a year older and three times heavier than you.” Butters mutters something darkly to himself as he trots away.

As I try to listen in closer to try to figure out what he was trying to say, Bubble Berry suddenly shouts out loudly for all to hear “Guilder!”

I cast my attention over to the doorway and se- Oh…

Oh my.

I think I know why Butters was nervous about this guy now.

He’s just as big as him.

His white feathered head needs to duck down lowly in order for him to so much as enter the building. His canary yellow talons are gigantic, easily capable of picking my body up in one claw if he wanted to. His brownish torso is about three pony lengths in total, and I can only dare to imagine just how long his wingspan is. Despite all of Rainbow’s warnings, his strut is full of confidence without the slightest hint that it’s an act.

Wow. Are all griffons like this? Are all griffons these massive, muscle bound, beautiful wing beating, elegantly crest bearing, thoughtfully yellowed eye wielding... sigh~, breathtakingly powerful creatures?!

…

… Am I into griffons now?

… Oh God I think I’m into griffons now...

...

… S-sudden very personal discoveries about myself aside, the moment Guilder’s eyes meet Berry’s own they swiftly turn annoyed looking. That thankfully kills any feelings I may or may not have been secretly building within myself before they may or may not have been fully formed allegedly… Maybe…

Either unaware or uncaring towards the look he’s receiving, Berry continues speaking. “I’m so honored to throw you one of my signature Bubble Berry Blasts, and I really, truly, sincerely hope you feel welcome here amongst all us pony folk!”

Berry offers the griffon a hoof in peace.

From my position so close to the ground, I’m able to spot a hoof buzzer stealthily attached to the limb and well hidden away from Guilder’s vision.

Uh oh.

Pranks were not on today’s menu!

I remember that the original Rainbow Dash set up pranks all around the party for Gilda, but our Rainbow Dash didn’t do anything of the sort! He did litter the place with stuff, but they were certainly not of the prank causing variety! Please please please don’t let this ruin our plans! Squinting suspiciously, Guilder raises a claw and accepts the hoofshake.

The buzzer goes off.

Guilder’s arm begins to shake…

CRUNCH!!

… before his grip tightens into a vice, crushing the device into a shriveled up hunt of metal in the process.

Berry’s hoof also crumples as well under the pressure.

The room falls deathly silent as we stare at the leg hanging uselessly at Bubble Berry’s side.

“...”

… Not reacting how a normal pony would to having their entire hoof being turned into a broken heap, BB’s only response to the minor inconvenience is to sit down on his haunches, hold his leg to the side… and then blow into his other hoof.

POP

The broken hoof miraculously pops back out into its original shape. The party music and happy conversations continue shortly thereafter. I… guess that makes sense. Berry’s not hurt, so why even care?

My brain, unfortunately, is now broken beyond repair.

Guilder’s looks to be in much the same shape, as he only stares blankly as Berry starts to laugh.

“O-oh Bubble Berry,” speaks Rainbow Dash nervously as he approaches the gathering. I'm unsure if this nervousness is due to his meeting with Guilder or with Berry’s Berryness. “The old hoof-shake buzzer. You are a delight!”

Whether the crowd is aware they’re staring or not, all gazes are now aimed at Guilder as he turns to greet Rainbow Dash.

Guilder takes one look at his childhood (chickhood?) friend and simply… stares.

And stares.

And… stares.

Rainbow’s makeup stays perfectly in place. Not a hint of sweat is dripping from his face as he endures the well earned staring.

“...”

Eventually Guilder builds up the courage to reply.

“Y… y-yeah!” the griffon chortles weakly as he turns to glare at Bubble Berry. “G-good one, Bubble Berry.”

Berry remains oblivious looking in the face of the glare.

Guilder also remains oblivious looking in the face of Dash’s getup, though his look is clearly an act.

“... Come on, G,” Rainbow Dash next insists, delicately wrapping a front leg around his old friend’s arm and gently directing him away. “Allow me to introduce you to some of my other friends.”

“R-right,” Guilder stutters, deeply confused by his friend's soft touch. “I… I-I’d like that, Rainbow.”

As they head deeper into the gathering, Bubble Berry makes an overdue declaration to all those gathered here, “Everyone, I’d like you all to meet Guilder, a long-time, dear friend of Rainbow Dash! Let’s honor him and welcome him to Ponyville!”

Despite all the ruckus that had transpired mere moments ago, everypony present still deems it fit to welcome the stranger with a loud cheer. That’s another thing I like about Ponyville over Canterlot; ponies are just more welcoming here…

… that doesn’t excuse the guests from being rude though, and Guilder definitely is that. His sights are still locked on Berry, despite the distance. He even spares a dirty look towards Butterscotch, to which the pegasus replies by turning away. Guess not even his concealing mane curtain can protect Butters from this brute... I really hope Rainbow was right about this guy's ‘hidden depth’ or I can foresee this party turning nasty. Invested in the conflict, I now train my own sight on the griffon and the various ponies gathering around him.

Being the generous host that he is, Berry waves a hoof over the snack table and declares, “Please help yourself!”

“Vanilla lemon drops,” Guilder grins, gripping an offered treat with a claw. “Don’t mind if I do.”

With a flick of his talon, he pops the candy into his beak…

… and that’s the end of that. No fire, no prank; nothing.

“G,” Rainbow speaks, leg still wrapped around the griffon’s arm. “Try some of BB’s punch.”

BB offers up a glass. “Yeah! Try some! I had to take out a pretty important ingredient, but it should still be good!”

Eyeing the glass suspiciously, Guilder swipes it out of Berry’s hoof grip and chugs it in one go…

… and again nothing else happens. No spills, no holes; nothing. Berry’s buzzer was well and truly the only joke set up here.

“Awww… Okay… I’ll admit… that is pretty good,” Guilder smirks happily as he lets BB pour him another glass. I release the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Okay… good. We’re officially out of prank country.

So… that must mean it’s time for Dash to utilize some of the items he did place around here.

Looks like some ponies have already stumbled upon one of said items, as a clawful of mares are now gathering around a far off corner and laughing with one another. Spotting the crowd, the sole griffon asks the obvious. “What’s going on over there?”

With a smile and a tug of the arm, Rainbow leads Guilder over to the table. “Oh, well, funny thing, G…”

Seeing that the main guest and secondary host were approaching, the mares take a step aside and allow the two to enter the circle.

The result is more staring from Guilder.

“... my parents have given me a ton of makeup kits over the years,” Dash finishes explaining, before lifting up a hoof held mirror from the table and applying some blush with a free wing. “I thought it would be fun if I shared some of them with everypony!”

“YEAH!!” shouts a slender white pegasus with shrunken wings as her friends continued to apply powder to her face. “THANKS RAINBOW DASH!!”

“Anytime, Snowflake…”

Dash then turns to Guilder expectantly.

“... Want to give it a try, G?”

Guilder continues to stare.

“...”

“... No,” is his plain answer after a time. He chooses not to elaborate further.

Unperturbed, Rainbow replies with a shrug of his wings. “That’s okay. We have a lot of other nice stuff around here anyways. Come on!”

As the two of them start walking away towards other activities...

...I can’t help but notice how Guilder’s gaze is... lingering on the collection of beauty products.

Hmmm…

Entry 6, End (Griffon the Brush Off)

Okay, so the party has lasted a good solid hour at this point, and so far all of Rainbow Dash’s attempts to get Guilder out of his shell...

... have failed miserably.

I probably should have checked with the guy ahead of time to see what his plan for this stage was; an hour in and I can already tell that it could have seriously used a second opinion. Mane styling kits, a hoof and claw painting station, and gifts of earrings and ribbons and all sorts of girly accessories? How Guilder has been able to keep a straight face this whole time is anypony’s guess!

That said... his mask has been cracking bit by bit with each passing minute... so maybe the bluntness was well warranted.

It’s been super easy for me to spy the rude griffon admiring the claw painting from afar, hiding his gifts underneath his wings for later usage, and casting longing gazes towards Rainbow’s dress whenever he thought no one was looking. He hasn’t built up the nerve to say anything yet, or to even ask Rainbow why he’s acting the way he is, but the question is still clearly weighing heavily on his mind.

“I wonder when he’ll break,” I ponder to myself quietly as I rub a painted claw underneath my chin...

... I went with two coats of scarlet red nail polish for both my claws and talons, in case you were wondering.

Anywho, once the party started slowing down, after brief introductions were made, Butters decided to bird call in some, well, birds and has since proceeded to focus on conducting them into a pleasant little melody. As I sit back and enjoy the music, I fail to notice Berry's departure from the room until he returned to it with a victorious cry of “Cake time everypony!”

He then wheels in a cake with him… Whoa that looks delicious! Two layers of vanilla and pink frosting, with a hint of coconut shavings? Yes please!

Making my way over to Dusk’s side, I coyly ask him, “Hey, can I blow out the candles?”

Get it? A fire breathing dragon blowing out fire?

I made a joke, hehe.

“Why don’t we let Guilder blow out the candles, Barb?” Dusk answers back, clearly not realizing the brilliance of my bit. “He is the guest of honor after all.”

Genius is unappreciated in it’s time. Eh, oh well. At least I trie-

WHAM!!

Hold that thought.

With a cry of, "Exactly," Guilder seems to have knocked me flying into the air, all so he could blow the damn candles out himself.

...

... Oh for the love of, AGAIN with the baby dragon abuse?! Seriously?! Did I piss off the god of physical comedy in a former life or somethin- Actually, wait... now that I think about it; with reincarnation being an actual real thing, that thought might not be all that far-fetche-

SMACK!!

Annnndddd there's the wall.

Lovely.

Hitting the side of the room, thanks to a ‘gentle’ griffon shove, I let out a grunt of pain as Dusk quickly rushes to my side; him being the only pony who was paying attention to me at the time. “Barb! Are you okay?”

“D-did anypony get the licence plate of that speeding griffon?” I sputter back woozily as my eyes twirl in my head.

Dusk blinks back blankly.

“... What?”

With the shake of my head to rid myself of my dizziness, I stare crossly up at my charge.

“... Really dude?” I question him with a voice filled with disappointment. “Even that joke flew over your head? Not even a chuckle? Been feeding you my A material all day long and you've been giving me zilch in return... Ugh! That’s it, you've forced my claw... I'm now totally getting you a book of puns for your birthday this year!"

Let's see if Mr. OCD can avoid reading that one! Hah! I can picture him squirming already.

Before Dusk can reply to this admittedly bizarre statement of mine (or brilliant threat, depending on who you ask), we find our heads turning away as we overhear the crowd cheering the guest for his successful candle blowing. Slices are now being evenly distributed, with the order thankfully being youngest first, so with a fresh plate of deliciousness in claw I decide to temporarily overlook Guilder's bad attitude (and, more importantly, my charge's lack of a funny bone) and just enjoy my just desserts.

Nom~

Awwwww, it’s even better tasting! For all the downsides being reincarnated as a comic relief character has granted me, and all that I've lost, at least I can still enjoy cake.

You can’t do that while you’re dead, I tell you what!

“... I’m watching you. Like a hawk.”

“Why? Can’t you watch me like a griffon? They have better eyesight comparatively.”

Momentarily distracted from my cake (sacrilege, I know), my ears perk up at the sound of whispering… Like actual whispering, not Butter’s 'whispering'. Standing, I speedily spot the source coming from an ignored corner of the party.

Guilder has one of his claws around the back of Berry’s neck and is snarling.

Bubble Berry, meanwhile, is remaining as peppy and cheerful as ever.

Before I can digest this scene further, Applejack at last speaks up for the first time in an hour and declares with a grunt, “Hey y’all, it’s pin the tail on the pony! Let’s get it on!”

Saved by the cry, Guilder drops Berry and struts his way over to where everypony else is heading.

“Oh,” chimes in Elusive hopefully. “My favorite game!”

Jason once told me he liked pin the tail on the donkey due to it's simplicity and nostalgia factor...

… At this point there’s not a single thing that’ll come out of Elusive’s mouth that will actually surprise me anymore, so whatever. Today's Rainbow's day, not his; I'll deal with him once I'm good and ready.

“Can I go first?” the unicorn goes on. “Can I have the purple tai-”

Before he can finish, Guilder pushes him aside and yanks the tail away. “I’m the guest of honor, dude. I’ll have the purple tail.”

Yeesh.

And I thought I was the only child in the room.

“Yeah...” Bubble Berry suddenly pipes up, all while inconspicuously sliding a blindfold over to me. Huh? What does he want me to do with-

Catching the wink in his eye, and the purposeful pointing of his snout towards Guilder, I quickly catch the hint as well. Oh! He wants me to... gotcha. I nod and use my claws to grip onto the cloth.

“... Guilder should definitely go first," BB declares innocently, seemingly without ulterior motive. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that this was his way of enacting some petty revenge for his earlier mistreatment. Thankfully I know better...

... I think.

"Let’s get you blindfolded!”

Taking advantage of the griffon's momentary lapse in attention, at Berry's cue I jump up onto the guy’s back and roughly blindfold him. I could've honestly done it more softly… but I’d be lying if I said I wasn't a tad bit upset over him pushing Elusive around like he did.

Call me petty all you want; this may be the guy's party, but that doesn't mean that he has the run of the place too.

“Hey what-” the griffon struggles against the binding. “What are yo- Rrrah!”

Bubble Berry probably could've been a tad more thoughtful too with his actions, and have tried to defuse the situation first before rapidly shouting the rules at Guilder while spinning him around in place... but if he had, then I don't know if I could have rightfully still called him Bubble Berry. His one-track mind was what lead him to annoying Guilder in the first place, starting the snowball of events which created this party, so I guess you gotta take the good with the bad sometimes.

“Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail!” the pink host cheers loudly, hooves still on Guilder’s back.

“Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail,” the blindfolded Guilder mimics back mockingly. “Look, dude, I can see right through your horseapples. I don’t trust you nearly as far as I can drop you!”

BB pauses thanks to this threat.

“... That doesn’t make sense.”

“It means that I, don’t, trust you!” Guilder repeats with a hiss as his head darts around, unable to see BB thanks to his temporary blindness.

“No,” BB corrects him, taking on a tone that almost sounds… lecturing? Huh? “The saying is ‘I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him’, which usually means, since the general census is that it's difficult to move the average pony, that you're unable to trust me at all due to this movement-based stipulation. What you said is that there is some distance that can be traveled, and that you are capable of making me move said distance, but then that also insinuates that you do trust me fundamentally more than a standing state of zero. The trust exists in your scenario, you’re just suggesting that it’s less than some arbitrary state of being you made up in your head that the recipient, me, wouldn't be in the know about…” he then giggles cheerfully. “Your threat doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, silly!”

The room is silent.

Dusk’s jaw is on the floor.

Umm... Looks like the scholar and the baker might have more in common with one another then they initially thought...

... I-I totally knew that already though!

Totally...

...

... Why do I feel the need to lie all the gosh darn time?

“... Well, have fun!” BB then shouts in his usual tone, remembering that he was currently in the middle of hosting a party. Slapping Guilder’s backside has the desired effect, as he’s now heading off in search of the elusive tailless pony.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

The journey, unfortunately, causes him to cross paths with a rogue patch of floor frosting; the deadliest frosting of all next to red velvet! Now sliding across the floor uncontrollably, the griffon’s new track is leading him directly into the kitchen’s closed doors.

“G! Look out!” Rainbow Dash cries out, turning away from the bluish grey pegasus he had been applying eyeliner to this whole time. His voice is full of so much worry for his friend that it seems he's forgotten that Guilder literally can’t look out right now due to his blindfold.

BOOM!!

Even if the griffon could see, Rainbow’s efforts would have still amounted to nothing as, with a crash, our 'guest of honor' still would have found himself unceremoniously lying on the ground in a painful battered heap.

“Ugghhh…” Guilder moans out in agony. I'll admit that the sight is granting me a small smidgen of sick pleasure, due to him having done much of the same with me earlier... but the feeling doesn’t last.

He may be a jerk, one that roughly pushes creatures out of his way without a second thought, but it’s clear to see from Rainbow’s rushing to his side that somepony still deeply cares about him.

“Uh… Guilder?” BB snorts out of the blue. “Sorry, but you, snort, p-pinned the tail on the wrong end!”

Lifting his head up, it’s plain for all to see that Berry is right. In lieu of where a tail is normally supposed to be located on one’s self, in the accidental fall Guilder has managed to stick the gamepiece to the back of his head instead. The image is honestly humorous, so when one pony starts laughing the rest of us can’t seem to help but do the same.

All of us but Rainbow, though, who instead remains sitting by his friend’s side and aids him in getting back up. “Are you okay?” he asks with words laced with concern.

“Yeah, I guess,” Guilder grunts, glaring daggers into Bubble Berry from across the room.

Unaware of this detail, Dash instead sighs with relief. “That’s good to hear…”

His eyes then linger on the piece of cloth still attached to the griffon’s head.

“... Hey wait here for just a second, G. I’ll be right back.”

Obeying the sudden command, Guilder waits patiently in place for his friend to return to his side. Once he does, he does so with a mirror now being cradled expertly in his forelegs.

“Here,” Dash insists. “Take a look.”

With a raised eyebrow, Guilder again obeys by taking the mirror in claw.

“... What am I supposed to be looking at here, Rainbow?” he asks after doing what he was told.

With a chuckle, Rainbow uses a now free wing to move the fabric tail over to the side of Guilder’s head. A great big smile graces his features as he next tells his friend “I think you look good in a ponytail!”

Blinking, Guilder takes another look into the mirror. Now that you mention it… it does kinda look natural on him.

“It matches your highlights,” Rainbow Dash continues on, pointing at Guilder’s head feathers to illustrate. I was just thinking the same thing. “You can probably grow it out this way if you try!”

As with all the earlier attempts at such, Rainbow’s only response from the griffon is the silent treatment…

… up until his beak twitches upwards into something that looks like a smile. Oh my gosh, I think we made a breakthrough!

“D… D-do you really think I can, Rainbow?” the once boastful bird of prey relents, asking his question meekly. “I don’t know…”

“Sure you can!” Rainbow encourages, getting excited. “I can show you how! There’s a lot of techniques and tricks you have to memorize, just like flight camp! I know you can pull it off if you just try, G!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“I… I-I don’t know…”

“... Barb?” I’m surprisingly called out by RD. I turn to face him. “Can you be a dear and get us the kit on the table over there?” he gestures with a wing. The one over there? But that’s...

Realizing which one he’s pointing at, I hurry myself over and bring with me the specific kit Rainbow was referring to.

The kit with the eyeliner.

Though the rest of the party continues on without us, the remaining members of the mane six turn to watch as I present the tools to Rainbow who then presents them to Guilder.

The griffon recoils at the sight.

Rainbow pushes the kit closer to him.

“You can do this, G.” Rainbow pleads with all his heart. “I know you have it in you. You taught me how to do this for pony’s sake!”

Guilder’s face turns beet red.

“Rainbow,” he growls. “Don’t bring that up.”

“No,” Dash retaliates. “I'll never stop reminding you of just how awesome you helped me become! You didn’t quit on me when I wanted to quit school, so I’m not going to let you be a quitter either!”

Shoving the tools into Guilder’s claws, Rainbow takes a step back and looks fiercely at his friend’s ensure expression.

“Come on, G,” Rainbow pleads, raising the discarded mirror up so that it’s facing away from himself. “I know you have it in you to be so much more too, you just have to stop listening to the little voice that's telling you junk like 'I don't know' or 'I can't'. Show us that you've still got what it takes to be the best dude, the best you, that you can be; whatever that looks like to you...

“... That is… unless you’re chicken~”

THAT seems to have done it.

Now steaming in anger, Guilder grumbles heatedly thanks to this challenge…

… but he still reaches down, picks up a stencil, and leans closer to the mirror all the same.

With one of his claws he holds his left eye shut, with the other he brings the tool closer to the lid. Breaths are held as we all watch expectantly. The music halts, and so too does the chatter. The stencil draws closer as the claw holding it shakes harder and harder.

Silence reigns supreme.

“...”

“.......... RRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!”

With an angry roar akin to that of a lion, Guilder chucks the pen aside and swipes at the mirror in Rainbow's hooves, knocking it over.

SMASH!!!

The glass shatters into a thousand pieces as soon as it hits the floor.

“This is your idea of a good time?!” the griffon continues to rage, causing us all to take a step back away from him as his head darts all around the room. “Stupid games, lame music, and makeup?! Who in Tartarus needs this junk you dweebs?!”

He then points an accusing claw at Bubble Berry.

“And you.” Guilder snarls, stomping his way over. “Berry whatever! You are the King of annoying pests!! You and your stupid pranks!!”

“I-it was only the one though,” Berry tries to defend himself, shrinking into a corner. “J-just the tiny buzzer... Did you mean the blindfold thing? I-I'm sorry for that one too; I didn't mean to laug-”

“Oh bull hiney!” Guilder roars again, getting right in the pink pony’s face. “Like that buzzer was your only lame prank! Don't try to trick me... You’re the lamer who brought all this beauty junk here, weren't you?!”

“... What?” Rainbow interjects, keeping his tone neutral. He then places himself defensively between the two before they could get any closer to one another. “G, what are you trying to say?”

Guilder's eyes now dart to Rainbow’s own.

“Don’t try to protect him, Rainbow,” he growls. “I know that’s your big ego thing, but I’m not going to believe you if you say that you brought this crud!”

“But I did!”

“No!” Guilder sneers. “No… This,” he gestures a claw at Rainbow’s form. “Is just a stupid prank. I like your pranks, Rainbow, but I can tell that this is all that idiot Berry’s idea because I don’t like it!!”

His clawed finger again stretches outwards as he points it accusingly at BB.

“He’s the one who put you up to this!” G rants and raves. “He’s the pony who bribed all these losers to keep quiet while you paraded yourself around like a blasted mare!”

“...”

Now no longer looking concerned, Rainbow’s brows begin narrowing.

A quiet fire is burning within him; vastly different from the one that blazed when he first spoke passionately about his scheme for me.

This was an angry flame instead. Deeply angry...

... as well as hurt.

“You’re wrong, G,” Rainbow speaks softly, not raising his voice. “Crazy and wrong. BB wouldn’t do that, he’s my friend.”

“What the… You’re supposed to be my friend, Rainbow!” Guilder glares in response. “Why aren’t you on my side here?!”

“Because I know Berry,” Rainbow answers coolly. “He can be a bit much at times, sure, and he makes mistakes and gets upset just like the rest of us... But I’m willing to bet that he knows me better than you do anymore, especially if you think I'm dressed like this just for a prank.”

“...”

… With the stomping of claws and paws upon the wooden floor, Guilder slinks his way over to Rainbow Dash until the fluff of his chest is pushing threateningly close to the pony’s face. The griffon then stares right down at his friend.

Rainbow is still and unwavering, facing Guilder head on.

“...”

“... Hehe… Enough.” Guilder grunts out cockily after a time. “Enough of this hot garbage. I’m your oldest friend, Rainbow. No one here knows you better than me and they never will.”

“... Really?” Dash questions, unimpressed. “Then what kind of lipstick do I prefer?”

“Stallions don’t wear lip-”

“Coral blue, number five, semi gloss matte!”

Guilder's eyes shoot angrily at me for this answer of mine.

I skittishly hide myself behind Dusk’s leg in response.

Eep

Thankfully dragging attention away from me and my spirited outburst, Rainbow continues the quiz. “What kind of purse do I carry?”

“Guys don’t carry purse-”

“A Pish Posh original!” Elusive adds in this time, undeterred. “Brand new too! The stitching is exquisite.”

“Shut up shut up shut up!” Guilder roars, though this time much weaker than before. “I don’t care what Berry is paying you morons to go along with this stupid prank! You… y-you can’t possibly expect me to believe that Rainbow's still… s-still…”

“I never stopped playing dress-up, G,” Rainbow states proudly, puffing his chest out. “I never let those darn bullies tell me what I was allowed to like either.”

The pegasus then gestures a hoof to everypony gathered at this party.

“Nopony here can stop me from being me! I’ve been strutting around like the lady I am all party long and none of them have tried to get me to change! If anything, most of them came here expecting me to come a bit gussied up! I love being this! I love being me!”

Taking a step closer until he’s facing Guilder’s chest, Rainbow Dash places a single hoof right on his feathery white crest.

“G…” Rainbow speaks quietly in a hush. “Guilder…”

He then gazes upwards into his oldest friend’s scared golden eyes.

“... Gilda… You don’t have to be afraid anymore. The bullies are gone. They’re all gone. They can’t hurt you anymore, I promise.

"He, she, whatever; you can be whatever you want to be... Just please... Please let your anger go. Please stop yelling and hurting everypony around you. And please...

"... Please just be my kindest best friend again."

“...”

… Guilder begins to huff.

Guilder begins to puff.

Guilder begins to hyperventilate.

Rainbow takes one last step forward, making to hug his friend.

RRRRRRRIIIIIIIPPPPPPP!!!

Guilder slices him with a claw in retaliation.

As the crowd gasps, Dash flutters himself back to avoid getting hurt further from the griffon's sudden attack. Looking down at himself, the stallion is visibly relieved to see that he's not in tatters.

His ears droop, however, upon discovering that his dress was now in tatters in his place.

"Blitz!" Guilder bellows spitefully at Rainbow. “You dumb dweeb! Haha... And here I was wondering why you weren’t a Wonderbolt yet… but now I know.”

The griffon aggressively steps closer, roughly poking the pony’s now bare chest as he does.

“You’ll never be a Bolt because you’ve been too busy pretending to be a filly!"

He pokes again.

“You’ll never be a Bolt because you aren’t serious about anything but your stupid self!"

He pokes harder.

“Be a stallion and get serious already, Rainbow Blitz!" Guilder's poke turns into a full on shove. "Get, bucking, serious, Blit-"

“DASH!!”

Guilder’s rant ends upon the uttering of this single word.

All eyes turn towards the speaker.

Applejack marches himself determinedly through the crowd as he repeats his words without hesitation. “His name is Rainbow Dash you oversized turkey.”

Guilder trains his sight on the new arrival.

“Back off, cowboy,” he spits back. “This is between Blitz and I.”

“Nope,” AJ counters, channeling his big sister's stubbornness. “Ah reckon it’s not anymore. The moment you started pickin' a fight with our friend, you made it our business.”

“Right,” adds in Dusk as he steps up beside Applejack.

“Indeed,” Elusive punctuates his words with a crack of his neck. Butters silently steps in line beside him shortly thereafter.

“Wait you guys!” BB jumps in front of his angry looking friends. “Let’s not fight! I threw this party to improve Guilder’s attitude, but I was totally being a meanie pants too! W-we can still start all over and get things back on tra-”

“No, BB,” Rainbow interrupts him, placing a hoof on his withers. “It’s… okay,” he adds as he looks forlornly down at his torn gown. “We don’t have to keep this up anymore...”

He then turns one last time to Guilder... and finally returns his glare.

“... I don’t want to be friends with a bully.”

To say that Guilder is not pleased by this choice of words would be an understatement.

“B-bully?! Blitz, I’m not a-”

Applejack, being one of the few ponies in the room beside Butters somewhat able to meet Guilder eye to eye, steps in between him and Dash. “You ain’t welcome here no more,” he orders, butting his forehead the best he can against the griffon’s own. “You best be gettin’ on your way now, and don't come back until you cool yourself off... Understood?”

Guilder glares at Applejack,

glares at Rainbow Dash,

… and then at last relents.

“Rrgh. Yeah?” he sneers as he starts retreating towards the door. “Well you, you, you are such a, a flip-flop, Blitz! Cool one minute and lame the next!” With back turned towards us, and wings spread, Guilder adds, “When you decide not to be lame anymore, gimme a call.”

One bird-like screech, and the flap of his wings later and Guilder The Griffon is completely gone.

Only his discarded gifts of bows and lipstick remain as they clatter to the ground behind him in his hasty departure…

...

... What the hell did he mean by ‘call’? There’s no such thing as phones in Equestria… Did he literally mean call like a bird call? Do pegasus ponies screech like that? Hmmm…

… S-sorry if I’m a bit scattered brained right now. My nerves are still shot from all that screaming.

“Wow, talk about a party pooper,” I try once more to inject humor into the situation, more for my own sake than for others. If my own nerves were this shaky thanks to being a bystander, I can't even begin to imagine how Rainbow is doing right now. Ponies are murmuring and gossiping all around us, trying to decipher what just went down, all while Rainbow looks on sadly towards where his former friend had left.

"..."

... With a quick breath, the pegasus slaps the sides of his face and composes himself the best he can. “I’m sorry everypony, for bringing Guilder here,” he apologizes, struggling with the words. “I-I didn’t know how rude he was…”

He then turns to Applejack, and smiles kindly.

“... Thank you for the save back there, AJ. You were a big help.”

Applejack offers Rainbow a side glance…

... before tilting his stetson downwards and covering his eyes.

“S’no problem, Dash,” the farmer grumbles quietly in reply, not meeting the other stallion's gaze. “... Ah’m sorry about your dress too.”

Applejack's stetson fails to cover his cheek's sudden blush.

“I-It was real purdy and... a-and stuff...”

Though he blinks in surprise thanks to these words, Rainbow Dash chooses not to press the embarrassed pony any further on this and instead decides to leave him be by turning away. I feel that this was a good call on Rainbow's part.

He doesn't have a hat to hide his own cheek’s blush with, after all.

“A-and BB,” Dash moves on, obviously trying to distract himself from his thoughts. “I’m sorry that he ruined that really thoughtful party you put on for him.”

Atypical of usually infallible pony, Bubble Berry sheepishly looks away.

"Eh, it wasn't that thoughtful..." the party pony admits, scraping a hoof against the ground. "... Unless you mean 'thoughtful' as in 'I-thought-this-would-be-a-good-way-to-say-I'm-sorry-for-getting-in-the-way-of-your-hanging-out-time' thoughtful."

"... Um... I... don't... think so?" RD answers back with head tilted.

"... Hehe... Sigh..."

With a defeated whine, and a side hug, BB sags as he at last confesses what's apparently been on his mind.

"After I talked to Dusk about it, Dash," he explains. "I had a nice sober think and realized that I was being a real rude-y crude-y by trying to steal your attention away from your friend like I was... Well ex-friend now, I guess."

Rainbow winces.

Berry does as well. "Opps. Too soon, got it. Sorry. My bad..."

"Nah... It's cool," Dash smiles sadly. "Barb was right; at the end of the day... he was just a big old party pooper."

Chuckling at the crass language, our Element of Laughter bounces back easily into his usual self.

"Hey, no judging here," he continues to giggle. "If you want to hang out with party poopers, that’s your business, sister!”

“I'd rather hang out with you,” Rainbow chuckles back in return, leaning closer into their semi-embrace. “No hard feelings about what I said about you earlier?”

"..."

... Berry proceeds to turn the side hug into a full hug.

“Only if there's no hard feelings for how I acted too,” he adds with his squeeze. "I shouldn't have gotten so hot and bothered back there like I did; that's not how a Party Pony should act.

"I just... I just don't like seeing my guests shoving my other guests around, you know?"

From within his embrace with RD, BB then leans over...

... and offers me a knowing grin.

... Huh. Well would you look at that...

Maybe Rainbow Dash isn't the only stallion whose been attempting to understand my feelings after all.

~Twinkletwinkletwinkle~

“Uh uh uh,” Elusive declares with a hiss, using his magic to abruptly extract BB's hugging form from Rainbow's. “As sweet and dear as this may be, ladies and gentlecolts, I insist that you mustn't injure my patient any further before I have the opportunity to operate on them!”

“Patient?” Dusk asks inquiringly, stepping closer to the group. “What patient?”

Scoffing, Elusive dramatically raises a hoof into the air. “Why…”

He then points it...

... directly at Rainbow’s ruined dress.

“... This patient of course!” the manic unicorn declares heatedly. “Rainbow, I can certainly repair your lovely frock. I have the technology…

“... B-by which I mean a sewing machine, of course.” he tacks on quickly in haste.

My brows narrow suspiciously, but I choose to say nothing.

“I want to help too,” Butters offers next, stepping in closer. “My dad taught me how to sew when I was a little colt. My hooves are too big to hold a needle these days, b-but maybe I can advise?”

“Oh?” Elusive beams in turn. “Really? Why, I’d love to have a second pair of eyes on such a project! You’re hired!”

“Yay.”

Rainbow blinks in surprise as the number of ponies willing to help him out multiplies all around him.

As he stands there in the center of it all in a shredded dress, smeared eyeliner, collapsing mane, and missing glove, a thoughtful look now graces his expression. He may have potentially lost a friend today, but now he’s surrounded by a strong-nit group uncaring about what he’s wearing or who he is.

I may not have an insider's scoop as to what’s really going on in that mind of his right now, but I think I can safely hazard a guess that its full of grateful little thoughts and feelings for those he's grown to love and trust.

“Guys,” Rainbow Dash speaks up, specifically addressing Elusive, Butterscotch, and Applejack; the three ponies physically closest to him. “You’re the best, you know that?” Stretching his wings out fully, he then lays the small feathery arms upon Elusive and Applejack’s backs and brushes them in closer for a group hug. Elusive returns the exchange with a hug and nuzzle of his own. Applejack doesn’t but he's not moving away from the embrace either. Butterscotch steps in closer and places his forehead lovingly against Rainbow’s own.

Dusk and Bubble Berry, meanwhile, have stepped aside in order to talk to one another.

“Hey, Berry,” Dusk starts off apprehensively. “Sorry I accused you of misjudging Guilder. Looks like I’m the one who misjudged you...”

“It’s okay Dusk,” BB answers back just as cheerily as ever, no longer allowing his own poor behavior to weigh him down. “Being a super smarty smart-pants is super tiring sometimes, am I right? Ponies like us have gotta rest these big old noggins of ours every now and then or else they get all overheat-y and mistake-y riddled; trust me.”

“I… I-I don’t think I really can though, BB.” Dusk answers back shyly. “How is a pony supposed to just turn off their brain like that?”

BB hyucks.

“Oooohhhh sweet and naive Dusk Shine,” Bubble Berry slides in slyly. “I think you know exactly how to turn that egghead of yours off, you’re just too afraid to ask me for help!”

“Ask… a-ask you what?” the unicorn questions nervously.

Bubble Berry grins…

… before reaching into his mane and producing a small hip flask. Giving the container a little shake, swishing its clearly alcoholic contents around, the earth pony’s eyebrows wiggle suggestively.

Seeing that this was to be the answer, Dusk’s nervousness swiftly disappears completely as he utters a flat and unimpressed, “Oh. That.”

“Yes,” BB snickers back. “That.”

“...”

“... Maybe after my last semester of school is done, BB.” Dusk relents with a sigh and a real smile. “Maybe then.”

Seeing this as a complete and utter victory, Bubble Berry pumps a hoof and whispers a tiny “Nice” under his breath, before raising his voice and shouting to the rest of the gathering, “Come on everypony, there’s still a whole lotta party to finish!! Who wants to help Dusk and I try on makeup?! We demand to be made super fabulous like Rainbow Dash!”

The stallions in the room cheer for the continuation of the Berry Blast, the mares cheer as they whisk BB and Dusk away with them to one of the stations, my charge screams out a horrified "Wait what?!" as products are forcefully applied to his face,

and I, meanwhile, find myself quietly smiling at the sight of the six boys and the continual growth of their wonderful friendship.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Later that evening Dusk Shine, after cleaning his beautiful mascara off, asked me to dictate a letter about the friendship lesson he learned today. I'm thankfully relieved to report that he indeed learned a similar moral to Twilight Sparkle about accepting that friends are allowed to hang out with other friends, and that sometimes friends can turn out to be false ones too no matter how much you want to deny it.

In addition to this, Dusk also added a small passage about Rainbow Dash and how far he was willing to go to get Guilder to break out of his toxic shell. He confessed that he admires Dash’s ability to see the good in even the seemingly worst, his determination to defend and help nurture said good, and the unique beauty of the stallion's heart. "There's so much more to Loyalty than I originally thought," were the last words my charge asked me to jot down in the weekly report. "I can't wait to learn more about the rest of the Elements with the help of my friends, especially Berry."

I, meanwhile, am personally of mixed feelings about how things ultimately turned out.

On the one claw I’m happy that Dusk was able to learn another friendship lesson, and grow closer to both RD and BB, but on the other I’m sad to see that Guilder chose to remain stuck in his box. He was clearly enjoying spending time with Rainbow Dash, and maybe in another setting he could have been convinced to give his friend’s unique view on life a second chance, but I guess the stars just didn’t align for him this day.

I’m certain that nopony is more upset over this outcome than Rainbow Dash himself though; it was pretty clear that he was shouldering the brunt of the blame for the plan's failure all the way up until the rest of his friends stepped in, and reminded him of what real friendship is supposed to look like. He could have easily blamed the party, and perhaps even Berry, for Guilder’s paranoia... but instead he came to recognize that the griffon himself was in control of his own actions, nopony else.

Understanding that there are those who can’t be changed so easily ~~if even at all~~, no matter how hard we want them too, marks Rainbow Dash as a much stronger willed lady then even myself. I’m certain that he’ll now return to wearing only simple accessories, so that he can focus on his speed, but perhaps one day I’ll encourage him to once again don his well earned mantle of gal pal and join me in a lovely little tea party.

I speak not of the same "tea parties" Prince Solaris and others have ensnared me in over the years, dear reader; filled with ulterior motives, interrogations, and lies.

No... I instead speak of a classier affair filled with beautiful ensembles and talks of books and romance ~~and boys.~~

~~Oh and there will be much talk of boys, I assure you. Though he claims to be willing to do “whatever it takes” to become a Wonderbolt, and though I’m certain that his tastes are a bit more varied than the average pony’s, I’m also certain that I saw Applejack blushing today and darn it all if that’s not the second cutest thing I’ve seen on this world so far and I’ll be damned if I don’t nurture the heck out of it while I still have the opportunity to play it off as the machinations of youthful innocence.~~

I believe that’s all I really need to write for tonight’s entry. I may have played a smaller part in today’s escapades than usual, but in the end this was more of Rainbow’s story than it was mine or Dusk’s. That's just how it'll be sometimes I suppose. My Little Pony may have started as Twilight’s story, but over time it evolved into a story about many different ponies too. It's to be expected that not every episode is going to be centered around him or I.

If I’m remembering things correctly, however, the next episode will be Dusk’s rodeo completely.

Next episode is where he'll get the much needed opportunity to show everypony just how Great and Powerful I know him to be.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

"Thanks for the ride home, Butters," Rainbow Dash exhaled tiredly, leaning into his companion's generous back fluff as they continued to soar through the night sky. "Being all dainty and civilized really drains a guy. It's fun, but I think I get why Barb says 'buck-it' most of the time now."

"Oh she does not, Dash," Butterscotch argued, not taking his attention off the air before him. The duo had been the last to leave BB's party, having done so to allow Elusive to salvage Rainbow's damaged gown properly. "She just goes about it in her own way, that's all."

Dash grunted in reply; not fully accepting such an answer, yet not denying it's validity either.

"Eh," the sleepy pegasus eventually conceded. "If you say so."

"I know so," Butters went on, insisting. "Remember, I have a sister, Rainbow Dash; I think I have a little better idea about these kinds of things than you do."

This uncharacteristic declaration of authority, needless to say, caught Rainbow completely off guard.

"Whoa whoa," he raised his unused wings up in a showing of surrender. "Where did this come from? Lovin' the confidence, Butters, but I'm a little confused as to what's bringing it on." The dolled up stallion than placed a hoof gently upon his friends head, causing the larger pony's ears to instinctively flatten in shame. "Is there something you want to talk about, dude?"

Though Butters remained quiet at first, it wasn't long before he was sighing and willingly sharing his thoughts with his foalhood friend.

"... I wish I hadn't let Guilder get under my skin earlier, before the party," the canary yellow stallion revealed. "I-I thought I was getting stronger about talking to other creatures, but I guess I haven't."

"Nah, you have," RD encouraged, patting the shy pony's head softly. "Really, but bullies are tricky. Remember, he got under my skin too! I wanted him to turn around so badly that I forgot to keep my guard up..."

"... I'm sorry he didn't hear you out," commented Butters, after allowing a brief pause to pass. "I didn't really like him like you did, but I know how important of a friend he was to you back then. Maybe you can try again someday?"

"... Yeah... well... Sometimes you gotta leave the past in the past," Rainbow answered back, allowing his melancholy to once again wash away into said past.

Ending a friendship such as theirs wouldn't be easy, he knew, but the speedster also knew the secret that would ease his pain and help it to maybe one day disappear altogether.

"I've got plenty of friends right here in Ponyville anyways," Dash snorted cheerily, bouncing back completely. "Who needs a grump like Guilder when I've got you, Dusk, Elusive, BB, AJ, and..."

Suddenly... Rainbow Dash stopped his listing.

A small wince in his foreleg, a phantom pain, had forced him to halt.

This was not due to the pain actually being painful at all, perish the thought. Even if it were, Dash was not the sort to complain about such minor inconveniences.

No... What had caused him to pause wasn't so much the pain itself as it was the thought of who had inflicted it upon him, and for what reason.

"... Barb..."

"..."

"... Say... Butters?"

"Hm?" Butter's tilted his head back, granting his rider a side glance. "What is it, Dash?"

Rainbow continued to stare at his sore foreleg.

"... You said you got to talk to Barb personally when she first came to Ponyville, right?"

"Oh yes," the animal loving pegasus answered happily, his mind ablaze with pleasant memories. "It was quite the interesting discussion! She told me so much about early baby dragon life an-"

"Yeah yeah yeah," RD cut his friend off, uncaring for the details. "I remember you telling me all about it... but... do you remember if she ever mentioned anything to you about... about..."

"..."

"... About... what?" Butter's pried, unsure why his friend had stopped talking.

"..."

... Piecing the last of his thoughts together, making sure his words would be precise and devoid of stress inducing triggers for his large friend's benefit; RD at last asked his question.

"... Did Barb ever tell you about her assistant training at all, dude?"

"..."

Though Butterscotch's flight path remained smooth and uninterrupted, internally his gears were moving as he tried to piece together what it was his friend was asking for him to remember.

"... Not really," was the eventual answer Butters offered. "She said something about going to a mansion for a few years, but she kinda gave it the brush off... Dusk told us that Prince Solaris himself organized her lessons though, Dash."

"And that he didn't know much more than that," Rainbow Dash completed for him, sighing at the latter's non-answer. "Yeah, I remember Dusk saying that too... Kinda weird how he doesn't know what 'assistant training' even means though, right? Egghead usually knows everything!"

"Maybe he's just respecting her privacy," Butters suggested in turn, shrugging off the oddness. "She's pretty young, Dash. I can't imagine her training was all that hard or noteworthy."

"I'm not so sure."

"... Dash?"

Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, then stared back down at his phantom pain.

As he did, memories from the day prior came flooding back into him:

Memories of shouts and orders and fire.

Memories of a regiment far tougher than what he had expected.

Memories of lessons he truthfully enjoyed...

... but, at the same time, couldn't imagine a foal surviving through without getting seriously hurt.

"..."

"... Dash... Is something wrong?"

"... It's nothing, Butters," Dash slowly responded, taking his eyes once again off of his foreleg. Instead of on the appendage... Rainbow's eyes now wandered elsewhere.

They wandered towards the far off mountains in the distance...

... They wandered towards the nightly silhouette of Canterlot.

~In Another Time, In Another Place~ (Dra Lidea Na-Syng Bynd 1)

Canterlot, Capital of Equestria; seat to the Royal Sibling's power, City of ancient unicorn nobility...

... and home to the best funded colleges, libraries, and laboratories in the world.

It is here where citizens are encouraged to head for their research; where they are more than welcomed to seek their heart's desire. The study of lost civilizations, the recording of current events, revenge or even baking; no purpose was too large or too small in the eyes of the studious populi. Though over the years various nobleponies have argued for the hoarding of such information, in order to safeguard it from those who'd wish to undermine the kingdom; such thoughts have thankfully failed to gain traction in the hearts and minds of the average Equestrian.

As long as it was sanctioned, and thus deemed 'safe'; knowledge would forever be considered a free commodity within the capital's mighty walls. This single ideal alone was why the School of Magic’s lecture halls, by royal decree, were to remain open to the public whenever a guest speaker was set to present. 'So that nopony may be barred the tools necessary to become their best selves,' were the words plastered proudly above the institution's entrance; inspiring countless throughout the years, and no doubt inspiring countless more in the years to come.

Princess Twilight Sparkle once adored this plaque, just as she once adored the decree that led to it's creation...

... Now that she had become a guest speaker herself, however, the alicorn's opinions were quickly becoming split on the matter. On the one hoof, it was reassuring for her to know that her presentation was going to educate a sizable crowd of eager minds.

On the other, it was terrifying to know that her presentation was going to educate a sizable crowd of eager minds... regardless of whether she was ready for them or not.

So many ponies to enlighten, and just as many to disappoint; the young mare's growing sense of stage fright worsened as the fateful day drew ever closer. Happenstances unfathomable ran frantically through her mind as her fear became all consuming... but Twilight refused to allow such thoughts to swallow her fully. Not this time. All she had to do to avoid her fate, to avoid making a foal out of herself, was to simply prepare for the coming 'battle' using all the means she had at her disposal.

Thus was it then that Princess Twilight Sparkle did prepare herself thoroughly. Almost to the point of nausea, truthfully. It mattered not that she knew the lecture was about her studies on Cutie Mark Magic, and it mattered not that she knew that there would assuredly be questions asked about herself as well...

'Going over my notecards two hundred more times couldn’t possibly hurt… right?'

... for better or worse, Princess Twilight Sparkle was, by all accounts, still Twilight Sparkle; champion to over-prepared bookworms the land over.

Spike wouldn't have this any other way.

"Yawn."

No... wait. Scratch that.

Spike would have most assuredly had 'this' another way; perhaps in an arrangement that granted him more hours of peace in his bed? Or perhaps instead in a scenario that gave him more sway over his charge's manic actions?

Either way; the little drake may have long since grown accustomed to his first friend's occasional bouts of insanity, and he may have gained a fair bit of insight over the years on when it was necessary to step in and when it was to tap out... but this didn't change the fact that he was still just a baby dragon at the end of the day, nor did it change his growing body's need for sleep.

If the yawn on his lips, or the sway in his step, hadn't yet clued you in, dear listener, then please allow me to illuminate.

Thanks to Princess Twilight and her paranoid practicing, Spike had not received any such sleep the night prior to today. As a result, the poor child now appeared as though he was ready to pass out at a moment's notice. He may not be the sort to share his troubles with his friends often, for in his heart of hearts he wished not to be seen as a burden; the thought of standing up to Twilight was starting to cross his sleepy mind. Perhaps Spike would lob his complaints discreetly once his friend's lecture was well and over with, or perhaps he'd be bold and involve their shared friends in an intervention once again...

... but, for now, the boy was content enough in his charge's progress to allow the slight to slide. Doing so made perfect sense to him at the time, even with his exhausted brain making the calls.

Spike was confident that Twilight would be the one apologizing to him first, after all.

Her track record had gotten considerably better at catching such mistakes in recent years, and truthfully this was a rare instance of neglect comparatively, so Spike felt no need to speak up and distract the young mare on this, her big day.

Thus was the life of Equestria's number one assistant; tiring as it was rewarding.

Sometimes more towards the former than the latter.

“This… yawn... b-better have been worth it, Twilight,” the dragon grumbled groggily, trying to stay awake in his solo journey through the School of Magic's many halls. In his outstretched arms he gripped a large box, one full of last minute slide cards that his charge had felt necessary to enhance her presentation with.

Though he didn't feel the need to complain to Twilight directly for her faults, this would not stop the youth from speaking his mind to any who'd listen... even if his audience was just himself.

“If you miss so much as a single line now," he went on, fighting hard to keep his eyelids open. "so help me Celestia I’m gonn-”

Trip~

Before he could complete this final thought, before he could even react; a rogue stairway step caught the tip of the dragon's talon and hurled his unprepared-self swiftly into a head over tail tumble.

He was already on his way to pain town by the time he realized what had happened.

“Ahhh!” Spike cried out in alarm as the ground inched closer to his face. He braced for impact.

~Twinkletwinkletwinkle~

The blow never came.

“Whoa! That was a close one,” a feminine voice called out, catching the drake's attention fully. “Are you okay, Spike?”

Opening his eyes revealed for the child the sight of a grey field of magic enveloped all around himself, his dropped box, and the horn of his surprise savior.

Said savior had a name, one Spike knew quite well.

“Moondancer!” he replied gratefully to his former foalsitter, happy that she had made an appearance.

With a small smile of her own; the yellowish grey mare released her magical hold over her former charge, and his belongings, and allowed them both to settle on the ground gently.

“Hi,” she greeted awkwardly, as she used a free hoof to adjust her glasses. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah!” Spike answered back, his tone friendly; truly glad to see the slowly healing pony once again. “Thanks for the save! You really helped me… yawn... o-out.”

The sight of the boy yawning caused Moondancer to giggle lightly. Memories of her short time as a castle foalsitter came rushing back to her, as a pleasant feeling of nostalgia washed over the scene.

“Sounds like somedragon needs a nap once this is all over with,” Moondancer teased with a humorous snort, remembering years long since passed. “Princess Twilight better not be working you too hard on this presentation of hers, Spike, or I might need to have a little chat with her afterwards, hehe.”

“Hehe... Nah. No more than usual,” Spike admitted honestly, his tone suggesting that he held no ill will towards his charge and her actions. Holding grudges wasn't in his nature. “She’s just super excited for this lecture. You know what she's like when she's obsessing over something... I'm guessing you’re here to check it out?”

Moondancer’s only response to the drake's question was the light shaking of her head for ‘yes’, followed by the excited whipping out of an inked quill and an empty notepad.

Needless to say, she was born ready.

“Cool cool,” Spike nodded approvingly at the sight, granting the pony a thumbs up...

… before proceeding to allow a snarky smirk to grace his lips.

“Speaking of friends,” he snickered to himself, pointing a clawed digit at the sole unicorn in the hallway. “How have things been since I last saw you? It looks like you're still wearing that ‘I-don’t-care-that-my-clothes-smell’ sweater and broken glasses~”

“Hey,” Moondancer winced... though her tone remained playful. She knew that Spike only had her best interests in mind. “My style isn’t that bad!”

“No, but it does scream ‘shut-in’,” chimed in a third voice from behind the duo. They heard the clipping and clopping of the owner's horseshoes first before being granted the opportunity to see the mare attached. “We should totally take you to that new boutique everypony has been raving about, Mooney!”

Turning to face the latest speaker, Spike and Moondancer quickly discovered her to be none other then the cornflower blue dentist-in-training Minuette. They also discovered that she was not alone, for flanked at her sides were Moondancer's other friends; the gold-ish grey star seeker Twinkleshine, and the brilliant yellow gossip lover Lemon Hearts.

“Hi girls,” Spike greeted all three of the new arrivals just as kindly as he had for 'Mooney'. Though not as close of friends as the ones he had made in Ponyville, the friendship student in his own right had garnered a greater appreciation for the trio's company in recent years. “Here for Twilight’s lecture too I… yawn... t-take it?”

The mares nodded their heads in confirmation to this probe, right as the school’s entrance began to fill up with eager ponies rushing their way inside and into the lecture hall.

“Whoa,” the sole male of the impromptu group gasped out, as his tired eyes took in the sight of the crowd growing in volume. “I didn't think Twilight was actually right about there being ponies interested in learning about cutie marks..."

“That’s becaus-” Moondancer tried to answer.

“That’s because Princess Twilight is the one teaching!” Twinkleshine cut her friend off with a squee, before she could even finish.

“Yeah!” Lemon Hearts added to this with fluttering eyes. “Everypony is probably going to ask questions about her princesshood! Heh, I know that’s why I’m here!”

“Oh, same, totally,” Minuette finished her friend’s statement with a little joyful bounce in place.

“... What? But that's... that’s terrible!” Moondancer next objected loudly to this reveal, causing a fair number of ponies nearby to stare. “I'm sure Twilight worked very hard on this presentation... but you’re only here to learn about her fame??”

“Er… kinda?” Minuette offered sheepishly, realizing now how cruel such a thing must have sounded. “I want to learn about cutie marks too, really... b-but I want to learn about the cool things Twilight did just as much!"

"Yeah," Twinkleshine parroted her friend's sentiment, defending it. "She didn’t really talk about herself all that much when we last saw her...”

“That’s not a good enough excuse to be-"

“Nah, it’s all cool,” Spike interrupted abruptly as he walked his way through the mini gathering, reacquiring his fallen box of slides in the process. “Twilight thought about the kinds of questions she was going to get from this thing, and realized that ponies were probably going to want to learn more about Equestria's latest princess too. She… yawn… c-came prepared for anything, as usual…

“... We came over prepared, to be honest,” he next groaned roughly, before shaking his held box to emphasize his point. “I think there’s a slide in here for every single friendship lesson she ever wrote! Talk about overkill, am I right ladies?”

With a chortle and a snort, Minuette laughed at this realization.

“That’s Twilight Sparkle for you,” she beamed cheerily, recalling what she had always admired in the former unicorn. “Always two steps ahead on just about everything!”

“Hmph… What’s so great about her anyways...?”

The conversation then unexpectedly halted, as a new voice made itself known.

Scanning the crowded hallways, the gathered mares searched high and low as they attempted to seek the voice’s source.

Eventually... they discovered another unicorn standing off in a corner all by her lonesome.

The shadows appeared to be her only friend.

“Um... heh... W-what’s so great?” Lemon Hearts laughed as she readied to refute this pony's absurd jab. “Um, hello? She saved all of Equestria, like, four or five times already. She’s kinda a big deal, lady.”

The antagonistic pony remained mute.

“... Nightmare Moon,” Twinkleshine started to list, stepping up to bat beside her companion. “Discord, Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra... Tirek? Any of those names ringing a bell? 'Cause she dealt with all of them, filly.”

Still the mare resorted to silence…

… though the vow failed to protect her ears from turning downwards in shame.

“Were you living under a rock or something?” Minuette inquired, stepping closer. “It’s totally fine if you did! Really! It’s just, well…”

“Most of this is pretty common knowledge,” Moondancer finished Minuette’s thought, uncaring for tact as her blue friend had been. “The library has an archive of newspapers from the last few years. I would highly recommend reading some of them once this lecture is over..."

...

... Just then... a thought crossed Moondancer's mind.

'... How would Twilight deal with such a pony if she were here to meet her..?'

...

... 'Probably the same way she "dealt" with me.'

"...Maybe... m-maybe I could show you where they keep them?” Moondancer then offered, raising a hoof towards the stranger in a showing of friendship. The act greatly surprised the rest of her gal pals... but the mares did not object to the overall development.

It wasn't too long ago that their scholarly friend had struggled to make connections of her own, and to allow others beyond her family to enter her life... But, thanks to the Princess of Friendship's apology and their own efforts, she was now slowly starting to open her eyes to magic she had long been blind to.

'Perhaps we have something in common?' Were the words that echoed within Moondancer's heart as her hoof remained outstretched and unyielding; her offer still standing.

The stranger's persian blue eyes, however, simply stared at the offered leg.

Her tongue was still being held.

"..."

... Rather then become discouraged at such a response, Moondancer instead took this as her cue to continue. "My name's Moondancer!" She beamed in good faith. "What's your-"

Sssssssnnnnnooooorrrrreeee…

Startled by a sudden booming noise; Moondancer, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine all jumped as one as they whipped their heads towards the interruption's origin and stared.

The sleeping form of Spike was all they discovered.

“...”

… Concerned... Moondancer turned her head back towards the forgotten corner.

The stranger was now gone without a trace.

“...”

Though what had just transpired may have seemed unusual...

… to Moondancer, it was not something worth sparing a single thought more towards.

She was content with the little amount of personal progress she had made simply in trying, as were her friends who offered her congratulatory words for the attempt. Though slightly miffed by the Outcast's choice, Moondancer understood the skittish reaction completely.

She remembered quite well what it was like to once be so afraid of the wonderful Magic of Friendship.

“Hey... You girls go on ahead without me,” the sweater-clad pony then commanded, addressing the friends around her.

Specifically the ones who were still awake.

“I'm going to stay behind and help keep Spike up for Princess Twilight's lecture.”

Upon hearing this declaration, Minuette snickered unabashedly at the very suggestion.

“Hehe, Oki doki, Mooney!” she answered back with a silly salute, honoring the selfless call. “I guess a foalsitter’s work is never done, huh?”

“Hey! That was years ago, Minuette,” Moondancer snorted back, though she remained smiling all the same. “Buuuut I guess you're not really wrong in this case, heh... Come on, Spike," she then cooed softly to the child, as a mother would her own. "Time for baby dragons to wake up."

With a gentle poke to prod him, and with a soft wisp of magic to aid him; the unicorn helped the sleepy dragon to arise from his slumber, and to relocate to where he belonged in their shared world's unbreakable timeline.

Moondancer's actions were for the greater good, dear listener.

No creature should be late for such a lovely show's rising curtains

Entry 7, Part 1 (Boast Busted)

“... Come on Barb."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Pretty no."

"Ugh! Barb, you gotta be reasonable here. I need the practice...”

"..."

... Sigh

"... I know you do, Dusk," I at last concede, upon better evaluating my position. "I know you do... But why can't your friends help you out with this part? Why does it have to be me...?

"Because you’re a dragon!" Dusk groans out in reply, clearly not happy answering what I feel to be a fair and reasonable question. "Your scales resist magic! You’re the best candidate I have for strength based spell checks!”

Darn it.

I was afraid he was going to pull the old 'magic resisting scales' card on me eventually. Looks like my original fears for today's practice were warranted. Why oh why did he have to pick now to use it though?!

“Bleh. Okay," I grunt out roughly, making my displeasure known. "I guess that’s true…

"... But does it really have to be that spell?!" I shoot back heatedly, granting Dusk a well deserved angry glare. "You know I hate it!”

“Yes it does!" Dusk shoots back harder, unfazed by my protests. I blame the natural adorableness of my baby cheeks. "It's the last one on my list! I can’t leave it unchecked!”

“But Dus-”

“I can’t leave it unchecked, Barbara," my charge snarls maniacally, unable to hold his OCD-fueled thoughts back any longer. "I just CAN’T!! One incomplete checklist could lead to two, or maybe even three! W-what if it leads to tardiness next?! O-or maybe even lateness!!"

"Those are the same things Dus-"

"It's a slippery slope!!” Dusk cuts me off for the second time, eyes now going wide. "One checklist could lead to me flunking school and losing my mentorship and joining a street gang and getting a tattoo and going to jail for shoplifting and resisting arrest and I CAN'T go to jail, Barb!! I can't!! I WOULDN'T LAST A DAY!!!"

...

... Weeeeelllll... poo.

Guess I can’t argue with such sane and totally not crazy sounding logic like that.

“Fine,” I throw my arms up in the air as I forfeit this unwinnable battle. “Fine fine fine. Just... j-just get it over with quickly, okay?”

“You can’t rush magic,” scolds a panting Dusk, once he's able to return to a somewhat normal breathing pattern. After I stroll my way across the library's floor, and over to my designated position, he resumes. “We'll want to make sure that this growth spell only affects your upper lip. Anywhere else and the results could be disastrous.”

With arms crossed, I resume pouting over my fate. It's just not fair. “Oh yeah. Solaris forbid we try to add hair to my head or anything. Can’t have me actually enjoying this now can we?!”

My attempt at cynicism ultimately falls flat, as Dusk continues on as if I were being honest. “You know we can’t do that."

Please remind me later to get him 'Sarcasm for the Humorly Challenged' for Hearth's Warming this year.

"Hairs connected to the scalp naturally absorb excess mana generated in the aftermath of the hypothalamus’ daily cycle," the scholar keeps lecturing, unaware that I'm slowly nodding off and only hearing every other word. "They act as an extra magical reservoir for even the most basic of spell tasks! Adding artificially created fibers to that process could severely impede your everyday life! Thankfully most magical creatures’ bodies tend to reject such haphazardly thought out incantations, but can you imagine how sick you would get if we could do something like that?”

“I can imagine how sick looking I could get if we could,” I snap back at the only part of his rant I actually paid attention to.

“Barb!”

“Yeah yeah,” I wave Dusk Shine off flippantly, resuming my age appropriate fuming. “I get it. No mane for me. Just get it over with and turn me into the bearded lady already. I know you want to.”

“... Fine," he grumbles with horn glowing. "You don’t have to be so rude about it.”

“Eh. Whatever,” I groan, waiting for this to be done with. "Staches are so gross."

“...”

“... You know, Barb… if you don’t want the mustache, I could always aim at your armpits, nostrils, or chest inste-”

“HEY WANNA HEAR WHAT'S IN FASHION?!” I shout frantically all of a sudden, not allowing Dusk’s train of thought to reach its logical conclusion. “FU MANCHUS! FU MANCHUS ARE TIGHT RIGHT NOW! GIVE ME ONE PLEASE!!”

A knowing little smirk now graces my manipulative friend’s face.

“Attagirl,” Dusk, looking more like Prince Solaris by the day, chimes cheerfully as he lowers his horn. A smell not unlike melting plastic soon fills the air, along with a quiet buzzing across my scales, moments before the spell is completed and then promptly fired into my upper lip.

ZAP!

Fwwoomp!

Yuck.

The things I put up with to be Dusk’s number one assistant. A brief peek over at the room's vanity mirror reveals for me everything I need to see. A long thick piece of black lip fuzz is now invading my features, taking up residency a little ways under my snout and draping itself all the way down to my chin. At a glance the conjured hairs appear more like a Winnfield in design than what I had requested, but I guess my input was of little concern in the grand scheme of the trials.

All that mattered was whether Dusk was capable of casting the spell at all, and in that respect he passed with flying colors.

“Congrats,” I cheer the unicorn on truthfully, shrugging off our earlier fight. “Growing magic is officially your thirtieth mastered spell, Dusk.” As I place the final check mark down on the neatly organized chart, the one next to the mirror, I can practically feel it in the room as my charge's anxiety over the incomplete list dissipates completely.

Unhealthy chart obsession aside; thirty spells is a huge accomplishment for a pony to hit. Once this homework is dragon-mailed back to Canterlot, it’ll mark Dusk as the undisputed top dog in his senior class for runic recall! Minor fire summoning, artificial wind manipulation, growth magic, scrying-based telekinesis, pocket space conjuration, transfiguration, and let's not forget his cutie mark's Talent Spell of magic copying... Dusk Shine's Spell Sheet is longer than even my O&O’s Wizard’s is, and she’s imaginary! Not even his old foe, teleportation, is slowing him down anymore; I bet he's going to crush his licencing test in the fall...

... That said, there are a few spells on this list that I don’t quite approve of him having... ones that I can clearly tell were sought after in a bout of boyish curiosity… but whatever. I’m still proud of him all the same.

Blushing due to the praise, Dusk sputters in reply, “T-thanks again, Barb. Sorry about the stache.”

“It’s okay,” I answer back as I rub a claw through the foreign feeling intruder on my lips. I observe how it reacts in the mirror. So weird. “It wouldn’t be okay if Elusive was here or something, but now that I think about it… that pony would probably relish the opportunity to work with a ruggedly feminine face such as mine! He could probably make it work; I know that he has the talent for sure, hehe.”

Well… at least I think he has the talent. I might be projecting Jason’s memory a tiny bit here without really meaning to.

“Well hate to break it to you, Juliet,” Dusk giggles lightly in response, reusing the nickname he bestowed upon me back when we first met the mentioned stallion. “But as unique and inspiring as you may look; it’s just for practice, and it’s gotta go.”

Pop!

With a single effort of will, Dusk Shine’s horn flashes brightly for a second time before the light and mustache both equally disappear into nothingness. Glad to be done with it. Good riddance to bad rubbish I say…

…

… Though... a real fu man chu might not look all that bad on a dragon’s face. Might even make me look more mature... Hmmmm…

"So, hey," Dusk suddenly comments, thankfully silencing my thoughts before they could properly take root. With a third wave of his horn he magics away the mirror, and his checklist too thank Solaris, before turning to address me directly. "I don't know about you, but I could sure use a stretch after all that hard work. Up for a walk?"

"Um-hum," I nod my head cheerily, liking that idea a lot. "I'm down! It's been a super long time since we last did that. It'll be nice to just hang out again."

Dusk blinks confusedly at this claim of mine.

"... What?" he then asks me. His eyebrow rises as well. "It hasn't been that long, Barb. Why, just the other week we bot-"

"Went over to Guilder's party?" I cut him off, causing him to don a surprised expression which I quickly chuckle at. "Or do you mean before that when we went to help Applejack out on his farm? Or... maybe you mean before that where we went to check on the ponies effected by the baked bads?"

This surprised look of his swiftly warps into a thoughtful one, as Dusk rubs a chin in contemplation.

"... What are you getting at?" he questions, apparently not catching what I'm suggesting.

His obliviousness forces me to snort back a second laugh. "All I'm saying is that it's been more than 'awhile' since we last walked together with the reason being... just cause! It's always 'help this pony with this' or 'our schedule says we have to be here!' There's nothing wrong with all that, it's just... well..."

"I'm always busy," Dusk finishes for me, eyes widening as he realizes what I've been trying to say. "Huh... Guess I never realized that until now... How long has it been since we just hanged out together?"

"Canterlot."

"What? That can't be right..."

A deadpan look now crosses my face thanks to this. Okay; there's 'cute' obliviousness, and then there's 'dumb' obliviousness.

This one very much falls into the latter.

"Oh no, it is," I explain neutrally. I then shake my head in a bid to clear it from the frustrated voices that were threatening to form within it. Remember that he's still just a novice friendship student, Barbara; give him time. "I remember it quite well. I remember when we last walked like that...

"... because it was my birthday at the time and I asked if we could... You thankfully said 'yes', in case you don't remember."

Dusk now winces.

"O-oh," he replies, ears drooping. "I-I didn't realize it had actually been that long..."

"..."

... Seeing his flustering, I sigh momentarily before vowing to make an attempt to sooth his troubled soul.

I hadn't meant to make him upset, just introspective.

"To be fair, Dusk," I begin my apology, aiming to take some of the blame off of his withers. "I've been just as busy these last few weeks too. Playing with Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll takes up a lot of my time; as does grocery runs, ink runs, cleaning, checklist filing, book shelving, schedule management..."

"That last one's my job though, Barb," Dusk interjects. "I'm the one who makes the schedules."

"And I'm the one who checks to make sure that they're not the ramblings of a mad pony, Dusk~"

"... Point taken..."

Dusk is now sighing alongside me.

"... We've had a lot on our plates ever since we moved here, haven't we?"

"You know it, dude," I answer sagely as my arms cross.

"So much studying and tests..."

"Don't forget the friendship making and parties," I point out helpfully.

"... Yeah... B-but I haven't been able to read nearly as much as I used to thanks to the guys! They're always wanting to grab my attention..."

"..."

"And... what's your opinion on this, Dusk?"

"..."

"... I wouldn't change this for the world, Barb," the once lonely stallion replies truthfully, his answer clearly coming from the heart.

Good. "Heh. Thought you'd say that," I snicker at his conviction. "I feel the same way."

And that's the honest truth, folks. Not even a month in Ponyville and look how far we've both come! Dusk isn't shuttering himself off from the world anymore... and I haven't devolved into a complete crying mess in at least three weeks!

I'm so proud of us!

"Good!" Dusk parrots my thoughts. "Glad to hear that we're on the same page...

"... Soooo," the pony resumes his earlier prodding, as he starts to make his way over towards the front door. With head tilted back my way, to see if I'm following, he asks me once more, "up for that walk?"

Smiling toothily, I bow my head back once in a simple response of 'yes'.

"Great," he cheers as he heads his way outside. "Let's seize the day!"

With a roll of my eyes for his newfound enthusiasm, I bite my tongue on the sassy comeback it was conjuring as I make my way out the library, and lock it closed behind me. Chores and training can wait for later, I feel.

A nice break sounds like the perfect way to start off such a beautiful looking day.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Dear Diary~

Something has gone terribly wrong.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

With no real destination in mind, the two of us ended up traveling aimlessly through the streets. We're attempting to better memorize where things are located here in this surprisingly large town.

While Canterlot has designated districts for specific types of needs, Ponyville instead has a very chaotic looking farmer's market spread out across several blocks. The positions of individual stalls rotate in a fixed manner throughout the week, but said locations are only known by the shopkeepers themselves and the regulars. Some more successful business owners are able to afford actual buildings for themselves, which obviously don't rotate around nearly as often, but said buildings usually act as the owner's personal home as well. This causes them to easily blend in unintentionally with their non-business owning neighbors, which means one has to really be on the lookout for plaques or signs that mark a specific home as the shop that it really is. No neon allowed here, I'm afraid; Mayor Mustang apparently banned their usage years ago when they made Ponyville 'tacky looking', or something to that effect.

It's certainly a strange setup, but one we're ready to tackle! Once the two of us ease ourselves into a comfortable walking rhythm, where we're able to look around and talk in equal order, I decide to strike up a conversation by pointing out “Thirty, Dusk. Thirty different kinds of tricks and counting.”

Dusk’s cheeks begin to tint once again at the achievement. He can be embarrassed by my prodding all he wants; it doesn’t change the fact that he’s more than earned the praise. I may not know a whole lot about magic personally, outside of how my scales help me detect it, but even I can tell how big of a landmark victory this was for him. Not every unicorn can do the things he does… which reminds me.

“I thought that unicorns were only supposed to have a little magic that matches their special talents?” I now ask him, generally curious about the answer.

I don’t really understand cutie marks all that well yet, or how they influence a pony’s skills, growth, and Talent Spells. Even after seven years they're still a mystery to me. Researchers aren’t all that certain on their nuances either, and have been unable to provide all that many answers about their function or origin… At least, that’s what my own studies on the subject have told me. I may enjoy reading about such things as language, lore, and the pony sciences, but I’m more of a casual student of such things rather than a true one. Outside of language, I’ve never had a real need to batten down the hatches and study one of these subjects thoroughly before.

I mean, why study when I can get answers straight from the horse’s mouth?

… Said horse is Dusk Shine, in case you needed that clarified.

“That's true,” ‘professor’ Shine begins to detail for me. “... for ponies whose talents are for things like cooking or singing or math. But… what if a unicorn’s special talent is magic?”

“Like you, Dusk,” I point out, catching the hint. “And you sure do know a ton of magic.”

Dusk may only know thirty different incantations, but he's also well versed in the basics of every major tree of magic; from abjuration to illusion and beyond. In a sense, he does know a literal ton about the art even if he won’t admit it.

“Oh, Barb, stop,” the modest pony shoo shoos my compliments. “I’m sure there are lots of ponies right here in Ponyville that know just as much magic as me.”

Haha, yeah right. From what Sweepy Belle has told me about his parents' woes in finding a magic teacher for him, Ponyville was most assuredly lacking in that particular department before Dusk and I moseyed ourselves into town. I make sure to highlight this fact by stating “Are you kidding? I don’t think there’s another unicorn in all of Equestria with your kind of ability, Dusk.”

A bit of an overblown statement, I’ll admit, but my words were still honest. Twilight was certainly the strongest regular magic user in the two full seasons of My Little Pony that I can still remember, so I’m pretty confident in stating that this fact will remain true for at least the foreseeable future ahead of us. I’m also finding it hard to imagine another pony out there being just as studious or gifted as Dusk is, so how could there possibly be-

“Gangway! Comin’ through!”

Huh? Whose screamin-

WHOOMP!!

“Augh!” I cry out as I’m suddenly whisked away off my feet by the force of two fillies running right through me. The ponies with the grayish opal and amber coats pay me little mind as they unwittingly drag me away from Dusk’s side.

Staring at them for a moment, through squinted eyes, eventually tickles the memory portion of my brain and reminds me of their names. “Sugar, Spice!” I cry out as I remember now how I already met these two fillies briefly during Nightterror Nebula’s dream prison. “What’s going on?”

Upon either realizing that they had accidentally abducted me without permission, or instead upon realizing that I was disconcertingly close to their sharp horns, the two unicorn girls halt their gallop and come to a screeching stop. I’m unfortunately thrown prone as a result... but thanks to weeks of practice, and pure determination, I’m now able to work my body into an elegant role. This allows me to land perfectly on my feet without a single scratch on my person whatsoever!

…

… Okay… that was a lie. I got thrown into the side of a building as per usual.

One day I’ll land gracefully though... One day~

“Wha?” Spice, the taller of the two children with the appropriate cutie mark, drones out slowly. If I hadn’t met these two prior, and already discovered that they’re both just the tiniest bit slow upstairs, I would have guessed that she was referring to my crash landing and not instead my earlier question as she is obviously doing. “Haven’t you heard?”

“There’s a new unicorn in town!” Sugar, the smaller and plumper filly with the equally appropriate cutie mark, finishes for her friend.

Strange how they're one of the few ponies I've met so far with different cutie marks to their colt counterparts... Maybe names play a role that I hadn't considered before? Something to write about later, I suppose.

With a nod of her head, Spice adds in to her friend's statement, “Yeah! They say that he’s got more magical powers than any other unicorn here!”

“R-really,” Dusk asks nervously as he approaches our impromptu gathering. The hitch in his voice was not lost on me. It looks like all my earlier hype talk has gone on forgotten…

… Good.

I was expecting this to happen eventually.

I was expecting this… and this episode!

Ready or not, Boast Busters, because Barbara The Dragoness has got your number!

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

I was so happy at the time to had remembered an episode completely before it “aired.” Up to that point I had been forced to play catch up whenever the show started playing, with only half remembered bits and pieces of the event to keep me safe and on the right track. Rarely do I even recall a title.

Boast Busters was different though.

Boast Busters was the first episode where Jason joined Ashley and I on the couch to watch.

My husband only did this with a scant few episodes. Boast Busters was one, The Return of Harmony was another, and there were a few others too though I can't think of them all. I don't know if he ever really liked the show as Ash and I had; all I can recall is how he would infrequently rewatch clips in order to gain “inspiration” from then. His reasonings were always odd, and I’m fairly certain that he never paid attention to little details like character names or plots. Return of Harmony was rewatched due to Discord’s voice actor being some big character from a show called Star Trek, for example...

... Boast Busters was rewatched due to Trixie’s cape and hat having once caught his interest, for another.

“Sweetie pie? What was the name of the episode about the unicorn that was full of herself?” is what he asked me one day, which led me to research and unintentionally memorize its title. As for the event’s timing; I had recalled it having taken place a bit before the story that involved Fluttershy and a dragon, but also after the one that starred Gilda. Since Rainbow and Berry had just finished up with Guilder, and since I’ve been seeing the odd black smoke cloud billowing in the sky as of late, it was fair to assume that this particular episode was about to "air" any day now. With the knowledge of the impending release date, and with a second viewing under my belt to aid me with the lines I often fail to recall, I felt that I was more than prepared to handle this story versus any other so far.

I was wrong.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

With a little prodding, Dusk was able to successfully get the location of this so called ‘super unicorn’ from Sugar and Spice’s lips. Trailing after the overly excited duo into town square, we were eventually met by an ocean of equines chatting amongst themselves in front of a seemingly barebone’s wagon. Word of mouth travels fast in this town apparently, as even the likes of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Butterscotch, and Elusive are out and about and equally congregating with one another. Pushing our way past big old Butterscotch, who was standing perfectly fine in the back, and wading our way through the crowd to join the rest of our friends upfront; Dusk and I end up making it just in time to behold the wagon unfolding and revealing itself fully as the grand stage that it is.

Okay… so far so good. Everything is exactly how I remember it…

… My eyes can’t help but wander over to Elusive as the magic show readies itself to begin. Jason has seen this episode too, so if Elusive is him then I’m definitely going to want to keep a close eye on his reactions and words during this. He’s still close-lipped on his past, and inconspicuously out to lunch every time I try to confront him at his boutique about it, so this may be my best bet to twist his arm and remind him of who I am.

My husband may have been blessed with a better poker face than me, but his acting was always subpar.

If that mask of his is going to crack, this would be the day.

“Come one, come all!” suddenly cries out a stallion, as the audience oohs and awws over the fireworks launching forth in the wake of the wagon's grand transformation. I turn my head away from Elusive in order to watch the show along with the others...

…only to blink in surprise as I discover a pony on stage not matching up with my original vision for how this day was going to go down.

The stranger is a unicorn, I can tell that much even with the pale pink top hat resting neatly atop his head… but his mane is all wrong. The shade of his coat is also completely off, as is the design of his tail. His voice is nowhere near what I was expecting male Trixie to sound like either, and his eyes are differently hued to her's as well. Lastly, thanks to his butler-esque suit, I can also tell with certainty that his cutie mark is incorrect as well.

This isn’t Trixie.

This is another pony entirely.

“Come and witness the amazing magic…” the new stallion declares loudly as he radically rolls his hoof up in the air before us. “... of the Great and Powerful…”

He then, with a performer's flair...

... takes a single step to the side, revealing in a puff of smoke that there’s been a second stallion on stage this whole time.

“... Trixster!” the first unicorn declares proudly with a pointing of his hoof and a bowing of his head. More fireworks blast off soon after in his wake, raising the crowd's excitement levels through the roof.

Okay... this new pony looks more like a male Trixie.

Phew. Guess the other one is some kind of hired hoof or something.

Azure coat, grayish violet eyes, and a purple cape with accompanying wizard cap full of exploding stars; definitely Trixie to a, well, T. This stallion doesn’t look that much different age-wise than Dusk himself, though come to think of it neither does the other unicorn on stage. Said unicorn isn’t departing, I notice, despite Trixster's near overwhelming presence.

“Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixster performs the most spectacular feats of skill ever witnessed by pony eyes,” Trixster boasts unabashedly, yanking my attention again off of the second stallion. Fireworks launch outwards following his welcoming cheer, hurting my ears in the process. Ow! At least the performance still seems to be just as ‘modest’ as the original's was. I guess that’s a good thing.

“My, my, my! What boasting!”

Somehow having been able to speak over the ringing in my ears, I grant Elusive a sideways glance for his words. A frustrated look settles itself on his face as he glares up at the stage, just as I recall Rarity doing. Hmmm… Either his words are honest, or he remembers his lines a whole lot better than I ever do.

I stopped trying to replicate Spike’s words a long time ago, and I don’t remember exactly how he originally reacted here when it was just Trixie, so let’s see how well Elusive handles some... ad libbing.

“Oh come on,” I raise my voice, trying to catch his attention and only his attention. “Nopony’s as magical as Dusk! Especially not this Trixie-, opps~, I mean Trixster!”

Elusive now grants me a side glance of his own thanks to this.

I wave back cheekily for my intentional slip up. “Hi.”

He makes to say something.

I lean in closer.

“T-there’s nothing wrong with being talented… is there?”

… Damn it Dusk and all your self doubt.

I almost had Elusive’s attention fully if it weren’t for you! But now he’s looking up at you and away from me and, just… bleh. Worst part is that he doesn’t even say anything to you once he takes his eyes off of me!

Instead, Rainbow Dash does! How unfair is that?!

“Not really,” answers the pegasus pony in the cute long skirt, turning to address Dusk. “Some cutie marks are just geared towards it, like mine.” He lifts the rainbow-colored hem of his one piece of clothing to illustrate. “You gotta be careful with how you do it though. Not everypony can fly, and not everypony can do magic. It’s basic stuff.”

With a nod of his head, Elusive adds in to this affirmation. “Indeed. Just because one has the ability to perform magic, or even a lot of magic, does not mark them as better than the rest of us.”

“Yeah,” Applejack grunts to confirm. “Magic shmagic! Ah didn’t need no fancy magic to make me the flank kicker ah am today!”

“Earth ponies consume more mana than most other races on the planet, AJ,” Rainbow, of all ponies, states flatly. Dusk looks a little disappointed that he wasn't the one who got to point this out.

“Aww boo you, birdbrain,” is AJ's very mature response. “Boo.”

Perhaps thinking that the booing was aimed towards Trixster, the second stallion on stage steps forward.

“Well, well, well,” he singsongs as he approaches the edge of the arena. “It looks like we have some neighsayers in the audience,” he whinnies.

I try my hardest not to chuckle at this aggressive horsedge of his…

Snort

… A curious peak towards Elusive yields a sight most unusual; that of a pony very much trying to hold in a chuckle of his own at something that should be considered intimidating, not humorous, to his ears…

… Hmmm… interesting…

Before I’m given the chance to ponder on this further, the top hat wearing stranger stomps a hoof and gains back the entire audience’s notice.

“... Trix?” he then asks the other stallion standing center stage, once attention had been reestablished. “What’s your opinion on neighsayers?” he again whinnies.

"..."

... With head held high, and chest puffed out, the magician answers back plainly and clearly for all to hear...

“The Great and Powerful Trixster adores them, faithful assistant.”

Silence falls over the gathering.

The first pony, the one with the flat mane doo, nods his head in understanding. “That’s what I thought.” He then turns back towards the crowd and raises both hooves. “If anypony here wishes to test their skill, they are more than welcome to enter the arena and prove themselves worthy in the eyes of the Great and Powerful Trixster!

“Be warned though, fillies and gentlecolts… You’ll be stepping into the presence of a pony who bested an Ursa Minor!” the top hat unicorn finishes this statement with another stomp, releasing a firework which forms into the shape of a single Ursa Minor.

Conversations restart abruptly thanks to this last declaration and display of pyrotechnics.

I, meanwhile, remain quiet as I digest these words.

Trixie... boasted about beating an Ursa Major before... right? It was the most impressive feat she bragged about during her episode... But Trixster’s apparent assistant just claimed that it was a Minor instead… Why change that kind of story? Isn’t his job to make Trixster look better? That’s what he’s been doing this whole time at least, so I had just assumed… Trixster isn’t making any bids to correct this slip-up either…

… He... must be okay with him low balling the story or something...

...

... What does that mean though?! It's such a minor change that I really shouldn't be giving it as much thought as I'm doing right now, but I can't help it! Why is this beginning part playing out differently to how I remember it did? Guilder’s episode changed from being about pranks to makeup, sure, and that was undoubtedly a bigger deviation in comparison to this... but this extra stallion is making Boast Busters feel… odd.

I glance back at Elusive and try to gain so much as a hint of an answer.

Elusive’s expression is unfortunately unreadable...

…

… Argh! I can’t keep distracting myself with all this Jason nonsense today! Things are clearly different somehow, but so was Gilda’s episode! The future is a River and a Stone; the path may be bumpy but the destination's the same. I can't forget that I have a job to do here, and that job is to get Dusk to break out his magic just like Twilight did! He will learn today’s lesson, damn it! Regardless of the obstacles in our way I’ll make sure he gets there.

Thankfully, I know just how to get this ball rolling down stream.

Number one assistant once again to the rescue.

“It’s just a bluff!” I cry out, gaining a fair bit of attention. I give Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Elusive each a single nod of my head as I state factually how, “We all know that Dusk here is-”

“Barb!” shushes my charge under his breath, as he rudely uses the tip of his horn to push me away from the crowd. “Shhhh!”

“What?” I answer back innocently. “What’s wrong?”

“You saw the way they reacted to those two,” Dusk hisses my way. “I don’t want anypony thinking that I’m a show-off too!”

“Bu-”

“Please, Barb,” he then insists, gently placing a hoof over my heart. “Don’t…” he mutters lowly. A pained expression is now settling on his face.

The sight of it is like a punch to the gut for me.

This is such a necessary evil that it’s not even funny, but it needs to be done. Dusk needs to build confidence in himself if he’s going to survive some of the future episodes coming up! To do that, I need to push him over this hurdle. This feels like that ticket crap all over again, only this time I’m the only jerk present in this scenario!

Before I can dwell on this any further, the murmuring of the audience intensifies as the first volunteer steps themselves onto the stage.

“Ahhh,” purrs Trixster as he eyes his competition. “The Great and Powerful Trixster welcomes you to his stage, Mister…?”

“Applejack,” the earth pony challenger states plainly. “And ah’ve had it up to here with all this gloatin’! If you’ve got somethin’ to prove…”

Raising up his hat, Applejack yanks out his trusty lasso from underneath it and begins to twirl it around.

“... Then prove it with actions, not words!”

Trixster’s eyes linger on the rope for a moment…

… before smiling softly and providing a single nod towards his assistant.

The assistant bows back in turn and, with a flare of light turquoise magic from his horn, walks over to the back curtain and produces a cape that's a complete replica of Trixster’s own.

Floomp!

Releasing his hold on the cloth, the stallion allows the item to gracefully land on Applejack’s back.

It covers him completely down from neck to tail.

“Hey!” AJ shouts in response to this strangeness. “What’s the big idea?!”

“If you’re going to compete with The Great and Powerful Trixster,” the unicorn on stage (the one who doesn’t speak in the third person) begins to explain, all the while tightening the yellow gem holding the outfit together. “then you have to be ready to look the part after you succeed.”

“After ah… what?” asks Applejack on our behalf, just as confused as the rest of us. Whispers are now spreading throughout the audience like wildfire.

“After you succeed,” the assistant repeats himself, as if he had declared that the sky was blue. “Well... if you succeed. I promise you that you won’t, but if you somehow do... well then the mantle of Great and Powerful will be yours to keep... I think that’s a fair enough prize, don’t you?”

“The cape won’t interfere with your performance, Mister Applejack,” Trixster adds in as he waits patiently on the other side of the platform. “You have The Trixster’s word.”

“Like your words mean a load of hay,” Applejack swears under his breath, grumbling. The fact that I can hear it from down in the audience should indicate to you just how ‘quiet’ he’s actually being. Think Butterscotch’s level of ‘whispering’ but louder and blunter. “Well… whatever. Ah’m still gonna wipe the floor with you, you no good blowhard!”

“Then, by all means, go right ahead,” retorts said blowhard, as he stands by for his opponent to begin.

The second unicorn is stepping back towards the stage’s shadows, I notice; perhaps to avoid being in the way.

Anyways; channeling years of rodeoing and wrangling into his jaw, Applejack goes on to display all the skill of a master rancher as he twirls and whirls his lasso all around himself. He's expertly switching his hold on the rope between his teeth and tail faster than the eye can catch, jumping over and through the loop without disturbing the rotation, and not allowing a single hint of strain to grace his features. For his grand finale, AJ chooses to pinpoint grab a single apple off of a nearby tree and eat it whole in one fell, skillfully calculated, swoop.

This showcase of his is exactly how I remember it was from the show, even down to the country fiddle playing in the background via the use of minor Heartsong magic. Most importantly, Trixster was right; that cape of his didn’t interfere at all. If anything it added to Applejack's performance as it bellowed powerfully behind him, never once lifting off from his flexing back.

Once his amazing display comes to it's talented end, the crowded masses around me cheer unabashedly for their hometown hero and his undisputed success.

Trixster, meanwhile, never ceases his gentle smiling.

“Well,” Applejack pants deeply as he wraps up his show. Pointing a hoof now across the stage, towards his opponent, he shouts out a heated and non-negotiable decree of “Beat that!” without a moment's hesitation.

“The Trixster will certainly try,” the other caped stallion on stage answers back… humbly? Wha? “May he," he taps himself to better highlight. "borrow your rope for a moment, Mister Applejack?”

“Ummm… sure?” ‘Mister’ Applejack answers in an unsure tone, though still hoofing over the lasso all the same.

~Twinkle twinkle twinkle~

Light magenta light shines brightly from the horn hidden underneath Trixster’s cap, as he levitates the brown tool into his own hooves. He judges the weight of the fibers for a moment…

… before tossing his hat aside and gyrating the lasso with pure determination and drive; just as Applejack had.

His movements are precise and purposeful, with not a single action wasted; his circles are perfect as well, with not a single hitch or lump present. The cord is switching it's hold between all four of his hooves within the blink of an eye... He's practically pirouetting...

He's practically dancing.

As the demonstration continues on, without a single word being uttered, it slowly becomes clear to see why Trixster had discarded his cap as he had.

He had done so to prove that he was more than capable of copying Applejack's skills without the use of his unicorn magic...

… No… wait... on a second observation…

… h-he’s capable of copying them better!

Not only is Trixster swinging the line around with both tail, teeth, and hooves, but he’s creating shapes in the loops that transform with as little effort as a single crack of the wrist. Stars, squares, even random faces from the crowd! At one point he swirled the entire lasso into the shape of a pony... before proceeding to jump right freaking through it... and then repeating the feat with different poses. He even wrapped it around his unused horn at one point!

The audience's deathly silence only grows as the unicorn, for his last trick, readies himself to perform the same apple grabbing technique as Applejack had.

With little, practically microscopic, effort on Trixster's part; he managed to grip the fruit just as masterfully as AJ... but, with a little extra flair added in, he also managed to knock off two adjacent apples as well. With a bounce, all three orbs end up hurling their way towards the lasso wielder who drops the rope… only to then, without missing a beat, juggle the unbruised fruits as if they were balls he had casually relinquished from his cape.

‘Jaws on the ground’ isn’t an appropriate descriptor to properly articulate everycreature's stunned reaction right now.

‘Jaws have now been relocated to flipping Neighponfor their own protection’ is more accurate.

The... t-the worst part? The part that's now shaking me to my very core? I could feel it in my scales while he was performing:

There wasn't a single wisp of magic in the air.

This display... this whole routine of his... was legit.

Poor Applejack is completely and utterly shocked, and not a single pony here can blame him. “B-b,” the once confident stallion stutters out, equally not believing what he had witnessed. “B-b-but mah m-mama taught me that trick…”

“And The Trixster is certain she was an excellent teacher,” the victor coos gently as he lifts back up the rope and floats it over to AJ’s prone form. “The Trixster is just equally as gifted as you, it seems.”

“Oh don’t be so modest now, Trix!” adds in the assistant, as he exits the shadows and roughly yanks the spare cloak off of Applejack’s back. “Didn’t you use a lasso to tame the Minor? You're definitely more talented for sure!”

Applejack cringes thanks to this claim.

“Hmph... Of course The Trixster isn’t,” gruffly replies...

... The Trixster himself.

Applejack blinks in surprise thanks to the other, less aggressive unicorn's claim. Lifting his head back up from his sulking, our honest stallion soon discovers Trixster now standing side-by side with himself.

“It’s all in the swish,” Trixster speaks in a kind tone, as he uses his magic to levitate the cord into his once opponent's jaw. “Picture what you want, have the confidence that you can do it… and then…”

He then whispers something into Applejack's ear.

“... Really?”

“Please… trust The Trixster,” is the magician’s last plea before he takes a single step back, and encourages the other to take center stage.

"..."

... To the great surprise of us all...

... Applejack obeys.

Now facing forward, the usually loud and boastful pony in his own right takes a deep breath, and begins to twirl his lasso once again.

At first it’s a circle...

... but then it's the deliberately lumpy form of three whole apples.

His cutie mark.

The rope ceases it’s twirling the moment Applejack’s own jaw joins our own on the floor, unintentionally releasing his hold. As the bundle of fibers falls haphazardly over his form, the rest of us slowly turn, mouths agape, towards Trixster the Great and Powerful.

The assistant giggles at this, and grins toothily at our shocked staring...

... Um... Is... i-is it my imagination... or are his persian blue eyes...

... now locked on Dusk and Dusk alone?

“Soooo," the stranger grips our attention yet again, further agitating my fresh goosebumps. "Who here wants to challenge my best friend next~?” he finishes cockily with laugh now sounding like a mocking bark, and friendly aura completely and utterly shattered. This thankfully erases my perception of him being just an ordinary hired hoof.

It, unfortunately, also erases my perception of this being just an ordinary episode. This doesn't feel like that at all anymore.

This... is something else.

Entry 7, Part 2 (Boast Busted)

W-what the hell is going on here?!

Trixster’s skills are legit?

Trixster’s boasting was warranted??

Trixster… Trixster is actually… a-actually…

Trixster is actually Great and Powerful for real?!

There’s no way. There’s no, flipping, way! This has to be some kind of trick! Like... like a magic trick or something!

...

... I just realized how dumb accusing a magic show for using magic tricks sounds...

... B-but Trixster is actually competent in them! That's still something worth discussing! What the actual hell?! Trixie’s debut hinted at her being a fraud through and throug- Wait, no... Now that I think about it... only her failed smoke bomb escape, and her lies, hinted at such a thing... For all I know she was a real magician, just one that didn't get to prove herself in her first showing... Under that train of thought... perhaps something changed in Trixster's past that resulted in him becoming who he is today? That wouldn't be too unlike how male Rainbow Dash is more mature in comparison to female Dash, so I guess this isn't that far-fetched of an argument for why Trixster i-

Ugh!

Stop!

Quit theory crafting up there, brain!

I can't go around making junk up just cause I think it's the answer; there's waaaay too much wronggoing on right now for any of my guesses to be accurate! All I'm going to end up doing is confusing myself even further than I already have... I need to focus on who this Trixster is, not who he was. Thinking he's the same Trixie isn't going to get me anywhere, because for better or worse he's his own stallion with his own hopes, dreams, and friends. I don't have nearly enough show knowledge to say otherwise...

... Okay... Okay... Breathe in and out, Barb... In and out...

... Let's start getting to the bottom of all this, shall we?

A rousing game of ‘Spot the Difference’ sounds like the perfect way to kick things off. The rules will be simple, folks. First one to point an accusing finger at the biggest darn elephant in the room will be the winner. No points will be granted for aiming at either Trixster or Elusive, as neither of them are who I'm talking about anymore. Lastly, being the generous host that I am, I will be granting you one hint to help you along with this task; the main target is the strangest deviation that I've encountered thus far in my short second life, and the one I have no name for.

Now then... Are you ready?

3...

... 2...

... 1, Go-

Eh! Too late!

Hate to break it to you, everyone, but my claw was already targeting Trixster's creepy assistant from the moment he referred to his employer as his 'best friend'!

Thank's for playing though!

Such a simple answer when you think about it; this performance has to be his work somehow! Every inch of it! He’s the unknown factor! He's the glitch in the system! I don’t recognize him from My Little Pony either, so that makes him a double suspect in my book! I bet he’s doing something from the shadows to give Trixster an edge!

Hah! Yeah! It's so obvious!!

...

... That said...

... I can't, for the life of me, figure out what this 'something' of his could possibly be!

Casting spells would be the most likely answer, considering that he’s a unicorn; thanks to my magic detecting scales, however, I'm no longer so sure. Whenever somepony is spellcrafting nearby I'm usually the first one to notice, as the act sends a soft buzzing sensation along the surface of my skin that's impossible for me to miss. My range isn't worth writing home about but that's beside the point; I've demonstrated this quirk of mine many times before in the past, and I utilized it earlier during Dusk's magic practice too! There's little doubt in my mind that its still working now as nature intended... but the only spellwork I’ve felt thus far has been from one Heartsong, two levitation incantations, and nothing else!

This, unfortunately, rules out traditional unicorn spells hard.

Quick magic lesson for the arcanly challenged; levitating objects is one of the smallest consumers of mana out of the entire spellbook, and one of the most benign magical processes still capable of tickling my scales at a distance. What this translates into is that, essentially; if it was possible for me to feel it down here in the audience, then I should have been able to feel everything else that happened onstage as well!

This, admittedly, might seem like quite the bold leap in logic, but it's still the best hint I've been granted so far! I'm going to have to grant my ability more stock than I usually do if I want to figure all this out. Utilizing it now, I should at least be able to cut down a fair amount of the guesswork, and maybe even narrow my choices to something that's easier for me to grasp.

Time to whip out our big girl thinking caps one more time, everycreature. If these two unicorns are not using complicated spells in their act, and Trixster's display was too good to be just raw skill, then by process of elimination they must be using magic even smaller than levitation... But what's more minor than that?

Hmmm... I can only really think of two possible magical matrices less sophisticated than levitation. Number one is Horn Sparking; an incantation that's commonly used to jump start spellcrafting via a process that's basically mental flint against mental steel. It barely qualifies as a real spell, and it barely interacts with the world outside of the caster's head, so that leaves us with only matrix number two as our possible answer.

Number two, for reference, is... is... Talent Spells... The magic that's tied to the event that revealed a pony's cutie mark...

...

... I want to say that we may have just zeroed in on our culprit... but I'm still not so sure.

Talent Spells are notoriously weak incantations, to the point that they're often the first one's growing foals practice when their magic is at their weakest. Four out of five times they're not that noteworthy in comparison to everyday spells, which were actually crafted thanks in part to ancestral unicorns dissecting their own for research. To give some further examples of their inherit shortcoming; a list of them would include the likes of Dusk’s limited magic copying, Elusive's gem pinging, Gleaming Shield's remote barrier fueling, Moonhoofer's basic night vision, and Prince Solaris’... er... c-complete and utter control over the sun...

... With alicorns apparently being the clear exception, most Talent Spells are stupidly small and unnecessary. The unicorns I personally know don't even cast them in their daily lives, and heck... I'm willing to bet that there's some ponies out there that would be hard pressed to remember what their own Talent Spell even is! Seldom are they powerful, and seldom are they capable of altering another pony’s skills or body; especially to the degree necessary to make Trixster’s display appear completely legitimate.

Ugh! So then… after much internal debate... we're now left with only two possible answers:

One is that Trixster’s display was an honest showing of his rodeo skills,

the other is that it was an honest showing of his and his assistant's magician skills instead...

...

... I don’t like either of those answers!

Both of them suggest that these are ponies worth worrying about, and both suggest that this is a lesson that I’m going to have to start worrying about as well! It feels like the walls are closing in all around me! Ooooohhhh... What to do what to do what to do?!

“What we need is another unicorn to challenge them.”

Now blinking in surprise, I shake my head and return my focus to the present. A voice had suddenly spoken up, breaking through my frantic worrying and thankfully silencing my never-ending guessing. In response to these words, I turn towards the member of our group who had just uttered them, with unclear intention, over the crowd’s enthusiastic cheers and hoots.

Elusive doesn’t return my gaze, as his eyes are instead locked on the returning form of the still flabbergasted Applejack.

“Someone with some magic of his own,” the white stallion continues on, still pointedly not looking my way... though I'm unsure who else he could be speaking to. He's too far away from AJ and Dusk, and RD is only now turning his way...

... This suggestion of his is also nudging something loose from my memory banks... but I’m not sure as to what yet.

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash agrees eagerly, taking his concerned gaze off of AJ. “A unicorn to show these unicorns who’s boss!”

!!!

Dash's words finish the work Elusive’s own had started, releasing with it the nugget of knowledge that had been trying to materialize from out of my past! A quiet gasp escapes me as it does, one I quickly smother as I make to insert my two bits; taking advantage of what I now remember.

“A-a real unicorn to unicorn tussle!” I add to this wave, hesitating only briefly as I do. The rest of the stallions join me soon after in leveling our gazes towards Dusk, making our intention clear...

... Feelings of guilt begin to bubble up within me as soon as the words leave my lips. I had just intentionally stepped on Applejack's original line for this scene, and robbed the male one the opportunity to contribute to it in the same way...

...

... Ultimately I felt that this was for the greater good...

… because Elusive had just done the same with Spike’s line!

Whether he had done so as purposefully as me I'm unsure; whether he did so with me in mind I'm equally uncertain. Perhaps my frozen state had forced his hoof into action early... perhaps he’s misremembering this part as I have a habit of doing... or perhaps I’m overthinking things, as I also have a poor habit of doing. Whatever the case may be, Elusive just proved that he does, in fact, have some show knowledge buried deep within that beautifully handsome head of his...

... This small revelation will have to do for now.

I need to get back to focusing on Dusk. My charge still has to be uncomfortably pushed so that he naturally makes the decision to leave on his own, and so we can hopefully return to the canon path! Trixster’s welcoming attitude to his audience is an unaccounted wild card in this scenario, and one I’m unsure how to deal with... but we still need to reach the endgame somehow! The one where Dusk learns that it’s okay to be proud of his talents, and that it's okay to show them off when appropriate! I’m not sure if this highly unusual Trixster is capable of delivering such a message as meaningfully as Trixie did, but we still have to try.

There’s also the little matter of his assistant... The one that's still shooting ominous glances Dusk’s way whenever he thinks nopony is looking…

… Nope. That’s it. The solution is clear; I have to indirectly inspire two idiot fillies into leading a bear made of stars into Ponyville, so that Dusk can magic it away and gain confidence in himself as a result.

I mean, duh, am I right?

So obvious.

As Applejack returns and joins us in our highly intentional prodding of Dusk with our eyes, and as the four of us draw in closer to encourage him into challenging Trixster himself (even though that's not my goal); the too-modest-for-his-own-good stallion shrinks under our pressure. He's beginning to mumble weakly to himself as well, “Uuuummm…”

“Come on, Dusk,” RD pushes, fluttering above him.

“W-well…”

“Teach him that he ain't all that,” Applejack cheers under his breath, clearly still desiring for somepony, anypony, to show Trixster up.

“But I don’t…”

“We got your back,” I chime in honestly, though I don’t expect to receive a response.

“Uhhh…”

“...”

“... Sigh...”

Remaining just as unpredictable as I’ve grown to expect and hate from him... Elusive apparently experiences a change of heart.

“Enough. Enough, all of you,” the unicorn tailor orders, sternly giving the other stallions a look. He also does so while blatantly ignoring me, as per usual. “Take the hint, gentlecolts. Our Dusk Shine is clearly above nonsense such as this.”

He then turns around...

... and determinedly marches his way onto the stage- wait what?!

“Thankfully, though; Elusive is not,” he finishes cheekily, taking his place in the challenger circle and leaving me speechless. W-what is he doing?! Rarity only challenged Trixie in response to her mocking! She didn't flipping volunteer!

Maybe my assumption about Elusive remembering this episode was a tad too hopeful for it's own good...

... Pleasedon’tscrewthisuppleasedon’tscrewthisuppleasedon’tscrewthisup!!

“Oh ho,” Trixster chuckles lightly at the sight of the new challenger. “The Trixster welcomes you, Mister... Elusive, was it? Now then…” he mutters, allowing his eyes to wander over the white unicorn's body. “... You certainlyseem like a stallion capable of wearing The Trixster’s treasured cape quite elegantly!”

“Damn straight I can, Tecluihd Lubbanveamt,” Elusive spits something crossly under his breath, before raising his voice and placing a hoof on his own chest. “Indeed... Though don’t expect that Elusive,” he taps himself with his hoof to emphasize. “will wear it nearly as flagrantly as The Trixster does once he wins it for himself!”

“Oh? Well… The Trixster doesn’t expect he will,“ Trixster shoots back, granting us the first hint that he possesses a bite. “... because The Trixster now expects that Mister Elusive won't be granted the opportunity to wear it off this stage at all.”

“Oooohh?!” Elusive grunts back indignantly, rising to the jab. “Now what does The Trixster mean by that, ‘Mister’ Elusive wonders?!”

“Mister Elusive need not wonder any further,” Trixster answers, delicately swishing his cape for dramatic effect. “for The Trixster will soon demonstrate why this will undoubtedly be the case. So sorry.”

"..."

... Elusive's face turns bright red with anger thanks to this simple barb, with his coat unfortunately only serving to aid in it's glow. The sight brings a small smile to my lips; looks like mother nature severely nerfed my husband's poker-face in his conversion from man to pony, heh.

Maybe there is some justice left in the universe after all!

“O-OH YEAH?!" Elusive now rages loudly as a result of this boast, having stupidly taken the bait. "W-WELL ELUSIVE HAS A FEW CHOICE WORDS TO SHARE ABOUT THAT, Y-YOU... YOU CHARLATAN!!”

“HEY!! YOU LEAVE THE TRIXSTER’S GREAT AND POWERFUL MAMA CHARLATAN OUT OF THIS!!”

“Um... guys?” the mysterious assistant finally deems it fit to step in, interrupting the shouting match before it could escalate any further. “Can we, um, hurry this along... please?”

He then turns to Trixster, and places a calming hoof on the stallion's chest.

“Come on, Trix," he speaks softly, trying to calm the surprisingly aggro pony down. "You know that the mayor only gave us an hour to rent out this space! We’re already fifteen minutes in with only one act to show for it... Think how that'll make you look...”

“...”

... With a blush now upon his cheeks for his behavior, Trixster coughs into his hoof and settles down completely before our eyes.

“R-right,” the azure unicorn stutters in embarrassment, scraping a foreleg against the wooden stage. “The Great and Powerful Trixster apologizes to his Great and Powerful guest, and to his Great and Powerful assistant, for the inconvenience. He shouldn't have gotten so heated over silly words as he had.”

“... Er… W-well,” Elusive stutters back in turn, becoming self-conscious of his own immature actions. “Elusiv-, I-I mean I apologize as well. Name-calling is unbecoming of a gentlecolt such as myself.”

“And antagonization is unbecoming of a rising star such as The Trixster,” Trixster bows his head slightly, returning to his own gentlecoltly mannerisms. “Please, allow us to return to the show at hoof... Assistant! The cape, if you'd please.”

With a nod of his own head to confirm, the assistant levitates over the spare cape and secures it to Trixster’s latest challenger, before silently exiting the limelight once again.

Elusive squees briefly as he runs his eyes and hoof over the silken cape... before burying his enthusiasm behind a hoof, and an inconspicuous cough. “Very well. Allow me to demonstrate how a true rising star should conduct themselves! I may not understand the secret behind your tricks, Great and Powerful Trixster, but there’s more to magic than simple deceit...

"... Observe!” he then orders, horn igniting into a light cornflower glow at the apex of his shout. Utilizing his Equestria given unicorn abilities, Elusive proceeds to reach out with telekinesis and yank a section of curtains right out of the stage’s set...

... which causes a minor inconvenience for Trixster’s assistant, who finds himself having to sidestep out of the sunlight now poking into his camouflaging shadows.

Uncaring of this detail, the Element of 'Generosity' makes excellent use of his ill gotten cloth by transfiguring it into a stunning royal blue suit coat with golden trims; one that compliments his new cape quite nicely. The audience oos and aas as every detail of the transformation is done deliberately slowly, showing off the mastery work being pumped into the spellcraft. The dying of colors, the de-stitching and re-stitching, and conversion of one state of matter to another; not even Dusk is this good when it comes to transfiguration! It looks like Elusive, this pony of questionable origin, is highly attuned with his special talent.

Despite the mixed feelings I may have for him, I can’t deny that he’s very mystifying and strong looking when he’s in his element. It takes me back to my days of hovering over Jason when he worked on his commissions; the pure concentration regardless of my prying eyes, the sparkle in his gaze as inspiration strikes, the sweat glistening off his forehead as he powers through his body's limitations... Just like back then I... I-I can’t seem to look away from him! When he's working it's like he's a different man completely; a slender, gorgeous, thoughtful, powerful, hot ma-

“Now don’t go sighing too dreamily there, Juliet~” Rainbow Dash snickers loudly, ejecting me from my fantasies with a playful ribbing into my side. “You’re going to pass out if you don't come up for air!”

“I-I wasn’t sighing!” I snap back, with cheeks feeling warm and bothersome for no reason whatsoever I assure you. “And who told you about that ‘Juliet’ thing anyways, Dash?!”

Still laughing, the pegasus chooses not to elaborate further as he instead whistles innocently in reply.

Pouting at Rainbow's apparent spying behind my back, I turn to watch the show... only to discover that, outside of a quick combing of his mane, Elusive was already finished.

“Magic should be just as stylish as the pony casting it,” our challenger finishes with a bow aimed towards Trixster, and then a bow aimed towards the cheering masses. Hooves are stomping mightily, shaking the very ground beneath me...

…

… I reluctantly add my own claps to the applause. Elusive may be a jerk who has yet to give me answers, and who always keeps me guessing... but I can't deny that he's at least a talented (and somewhat hot) jerk at the end of the day. So sue me if I grant him a little of the praise he's rightfully earned!

I'm only dragon.

Meanwhile, once the cheers at last settle down; Trixster's face, in complete opposition to how it appeared after Applejack's showcase, warps itself now into a not so amused expression. He's eyeing the aftermath of his challenger's latest display.

“... The Trixster wishes you had asked for permission first before indiscriminately destroying his stage,” the showpony grunts briefly, using grayish magenta magic to readjust what little is left of his curtain.

After taking a stealthy breath to calm himself, perhaps in a bid to avoid getting heated again, he continues on.

“That having been said... The Trixster does agree with your words all the same. He feels that a caster should be just as stylish as his magic! This is why…”

As he holds his 'why', The Trixster's own horn begins to shine out brightly in a light cornflower blue glo-

Hey.

Wait…

... Wasn’t it more of a pinkish color a moment ago? Did I only imagine that...?

...

… I guess he hasn’t been using it a whole lot during this performance, so maybe I’m mistaken. It's pretty bright out here, plus nopony else seems to be talking about this oddity, so that's just more fuel to the 'I imagined it' fire. On top of this, unicorn magic changing hues isn't completely unheard of; Dusk's own has been slowly changing from a grayish color into a raspberry-ish one ever since he discovered the magic of friendship!

Well, anyways, like I was saying; as Trixster held his last word, his own magic begins to radiate brightly from underneath his trusted cap, and quickly weaves itself into a highly similar telekinesis spell to Elusive’s own. Unlike Elusive, however, the performer doesn’t use his stage’s curtains as the base of his design.

Instead his magic reaches out further, and gripes with it two complete spools of purple silk from offstage; presumably from where he keeps his fireworks and other wagon belongings during a show. With the cloth in ‘hand’, Trixster unravels the rolls together and magically disassembles them simultaneously. They fuse momentarily, colors warp, an army of needles rake and pillage it’s surface, and measuring tapes fly past the magician like trained fighter jets.

They also fly past Elusive as well, taking his own measurement.

The display lasts for only a minute, but once the task was done there's a single popping sound of teleportation magic that accompanies it. This particular spell fails to move anypony, but it quickly becomes clear that this was not the caster’s intention. No… instead it was utilized simply to make the two new costumes easier to apply to both his and his opponent's forms.

Standing tall in height adjusting horseshoes, Trixster now towers above Elusive in a new white dress suit that overlaps his cape. Gemstones dot key points throughout the ensemble, marking over where wings could have gone on a pegasus while etching distinct designs into the flanks. At first I’m unable to understand what design he was going for…

... but then I spot how Trixster's hat had been transfigured into a reddish wig and it all became shockingly clear to me, just as it had for about everypony else.

Trixster’s quickly created suit was twice as intricate as Elusive’s own, having been designed to invoke the very image of Prince Solaris, while the blues and blacks of the other outfit transformed our potential human into what little the general populous had seen of Prince Artemis.

“... The Trixster always dresses in style,” The Trixster finishes his sentence proudly, smiling brightly down at his ‘little brother’.

“I-I…” Elusive stammers, looking himself and his costume over. “T-this is, how did you… GASP!” he then, well, gasps, as he points to Artemis’ faux cutie mark beneath his cape. “Is this made out of white topaz?!”

“Why, yes,” Trixster answers truthfully, directing everypony’s attention to the fresh series of holes that had appeared next to his stage. “There seems to be a vein of them underneath your village's town hall... The Trixster assumes that you already knew this though, correct?”

"U-um, w-w-wwell, of cour-. er, y, y-you see... Heh... Hahah, ha... haa..."

With cheeks once again flushed apple red...

... Elusive guiltily shakes his head ‘no’, as he lowers it down in defeat. The crowd goes wild as Trixster, for the second time today, proves himself to be the more skilled performer.

One pony, however, doesn't seem all that thrilled with this development as they were prior.

“... Trix...” snarls Trixster’s assistant slowly and angrily towards his best friend, resulting in the magician jumping in surprise. As he steps forth from the shadows to reclaim the cape Elusive no longer had claim to, his eyes fix themselves entirely on 'Trix', causing the latter to wince.

"Y-yes?" mumbles the suddenly frightened stallion; the one trying to shrink away from his partner's glare. "W-what is it, my faithful assi-"

The assistant stomps a hoof, cutting him off.

“Those holes... " he continues to fume, all while pointing exasperatedly at the marks Trixster had made during his performance. "... are going to screw us out of our down deposit! We needed those bits to replace all the fireworks, what were you thinking?!”

“...”

... Trixster’s cheeks are now equally as flushed red as Elusive’s own.

“Oh. H-hehe… Opps,” the guilty unicorn nervously laughs, rubbing a hoof behind his restored cap in shame.

This 'assistant' is starting to remind me more of a 'manager' with each passing minute.

“Um… here!” Trixster then shouts, as he magics the white suit off of himself and holds it aloft in his… pinkish magic?! Okay, I’m definitely not seeing things now! “Does anypony want to buy this suit?! The Trixster would really appreciate it if you did!” Assuming that this is all part of the show, half the audience laughs at the ‘joke’ while the other half provides Trixster with his much deserved second round of applause.

“...”

… As quietly as a mouse yanking unguarded cheese…

Clompclinkclink

… Elusive throws a small bag of bits in front of Trixster, before taking the two costumes within his magic and scurrying himself off the stage.

“Don’t judge me,” he grumbles lowly, returning to his place beside me and the rest of his friends. “I just want to study them, that’s all. They're… inspiring…”

Though I role my eyes, I choose to say nothing.

There's no real need to, after all; the rest of the gathered ponies are doing my job in laughing him off for me. So much for our first unicorn ringer... Upon settling on the decision to ignore what had just transpired, I turn towards Dusk and try to figure out what kind of state he’s in.

He's still being quiet, and he looks uncomfortable with how blatantly magic is being showed off... but it also looks like there's a certain glint in his eye now; one that tells me that a part of him is enjoying this show to some degree...

... That's a perfectly understandable reaction, I feel. I mean... there’s been outstanding magic, there’s been unprecedented skills; a few laughs here and some brain stumping tricks there…

...

… Damn it. Am... am I having fun here too?!

…

...

... Y-yeah… Yeah! I guess I am! This is an honest to goodness magic show! One with volunteers, boasting, and a host not only capable of backing up his big talk, but one willing to impart some of his apparent wisdom on his challengers!

I’m having a hard time staying mad at all this...

... Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m still worried beyond heck as to why this is so different, and I’m still worried about whether Dusk is going to learn today’s moral or not… but, at the same time, I can’t bring myself to be one hundred percent against what’s happening. Different isn’t always bad; Rainbow Dash proved as much to me last week! The Trixster's assistant may still be giving me some real bad vibes, and he's undeniably a weird spanner in the works... but maybe these two stallions will be able to help Dusk with this lesson after all!

I just have to play my cards right.

“Well, Dusk,” I speak up gently, as I place a reassuring claw on my charge’s leg. “It looks like it’s all up to you. You can do it.”

Surprised by the contact, and my confident words, Dusk looks my way first…

… then at Trixster…

… and then he tries to slink away once more into the background.

“Come on,” I plead with him, raising my voice and causing his friends to turn towards him as well. “Show him what you’re made of!”

“I’m… I-I’m not that special.”

“Yes you are!” I press harder, speaking from the heart and for every pony present... though my intentions aren't as noble as they seem. Remember; I'm trying to get him to run away from confrontation, so that we can move into the next act.

Said next act is the one where two colts led an Ursa into town, for reference.

We don't really even need Trixie's double for that part! As long as Snips and Snail's fairer sex counterparts, Sugar and Spice, still get inspired enough by this show to pull off the same stunt; even if I have to get involved just like Spike stupidly did, I'm confident that Dusk will rise into action and save the day!

He just needs to be poked hard enough first. “You’re one of the most magical ponies we know!" I continue on, speaking truths while simultaneously sowing the seeds of disorder. Being a Seer flipping sucks! With fists balled up, hiding my discomfort for doing this, I finish up my 'motivational' speech by stating, "If anypony here can give these guys a run for their bits, it’s going to be you-”

“Weeeellll,” Rainbow Dash abruptly hijacks my speech, stealing Dusk’s attention away from me. H-hey! “While what Barb’s saying may be super true, I think I might actually have the best shot out of all of us here!”

Before I’m able to refute this (honestly true) claim, Dash halts my words by flashing the cutie mark hidden underneath his cute skirt.

“No offense, dude, but it’s all in the cutie mark,” he finishes his explanation with a large grin, letting go of the cloth in the process. The pony then flutters his way over to the challenger circle.

Though thoroughly frustrated by his insistence... I ultimately decide to let this slight of his slide.

One more showcase before I push Dusk into competing again isn’t going to hurt anything, I guess. Dash's mare half faced Trixie in the original episode too, so we might as well let the inevitable showdown happen. Also, judging by how easily Trixster took out both AJ and Elusive, I'm not all that worried about RD accidentally winning and messing up the timeline in any meaningful way. Time is a River and a Stone; I may be outwardly rooting for my unofficial gal pal to take home the gold, but inwardly I'm certain that he's going to lose.

Unhealthy thoughts concerning the potential illusion that is freewill aside; as I highlighted just a little bit ago, this is actually not too shabby of a magic show when you look at it unobjectively! I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a tiny bit interested in seeing how Trixster is going to beat a flipping pegasus at their own game!

I might as well kick back and enjoy the ride for now.

“Ahhh!” Trixster beams happily, as Rainbow Dash lands gracefully upon his stage. “Welcome to the Great and Powerful Trixster’s humble abode, madame~” he greets his challenger in a… sultry sounding voice.

... Snort

Oh... This is going to be good...

... though I'm curious as to why Trixster's assistant is now staring at RD with a raised eyebrow.

“Thanks!” Rainbow beams right back just as happily; pointedly not mentioning Trixster's change in tone, nor his usage of the word ‘madame’. “I’m Rainbow Dash, the pony about to force feed you your words, Trixster!”

“My my,” Trixster practically purrs in response, casually trotting closer. “Well... if the one feeding The Trixster is to be a beautiful lady such as yourself, then perhaps it will be an enjoyable experience!”

Fluttering his eyelashes in turn, and hiding behind his mane in a seemingly shy manner, Dash playfully coos right back with, “Oh you~ Thank you for recognizing me as the lady I am, dear... Buuuuut I’ve got one thing to say to you.”

“Hmm?” the performer flirts just as playfully, completely unaware of what's about to come. “Do tell, Miss Rainbow Dash. Do tell~”

“Weeelll,” RD flirts harder, giggling. His smile is infectious. “you seeee…”

I preemptively repress another snort as, between one blink and the next, my gal pal's eyes harden cockily; as he drops all pretense of foreplay and states quite clearly for all to hear that,

“I’m a dude, dude~”

The stage becomes dead silent.

Applejack represses a snicker of his own right alongside me.

Trixster blinks blankly in reply…

...

… before slyly leaning in closer.

“And… What’s your point in stating that, Mister Rainbow Dash~?”

Dead air is the stallion’s only answer, save for a quiet chuckling now emanating from the assistant in the background.

“... Ummmm,” Rainbow retorts intelligently, with cheeks now crimson in hue. “Well… that backfired spectacularly. Guy's usually get super flustered when I... I... L-let’s…” he then titters, trying to recover. “Let’s just do this thing already, o-okay?”

“Humph. Very well,” Trixster laughs victoriously. “The Trixster is already taken anyways... Now, assistant, please bring forth the cape an-”

“Whoa whoa whoa... Not so fast there, dude.”

Startled by the interruption, Trixster and his assistant turn their heads towards the speaker.

Rainbow Dash's grinning returns in full force, as all traces of his earlier fumble disappear completely.

“I’m good without the cape, thanks,” he tells the two stallions bluntly, his tone authoritative and full of a sense of finality. “I’ve tried them on before, and they only end up messing with my style.”

“B-bu-”

“If you want me at my best, dude,” RD cuts Trixster off, leaving no room for compromise. “And to prove to all of us that you’re really as Great and Powerful as you say you are, then I’m going cape-less. Flying in those things is dangerous anyways,” he stomps a hoof, spitting spitefully. “I lost my nana to a blimp propeller once thanks to them!”

“O-oh... The Trixster is sorry to hear that, Mister Rainbow Dash...”

“Eh, don’t sweat it," Dash wing shrugs. "We found her eventually.”

“...”

“... The Trixster… does not know how to respond to that.”

“I know how!” RD adds in cheerily, grinning largely as he regains his usual level of confidence. “Just say that you’re cool with me ditching the cape, dude! It’s as easy as that!”

“...”

"..."

“... Oh that birdbrain can be such a smarty mare sometimes,” Applejack suddenly whispers hushedly beside me.

“Huh?” I ask him, drawing his attention.

“Hmmm... Well,” the earth pony begins to explain, granting me a sidelong glance. “Ah was just startin’ to think that there was somethin’ fishy goin’ on with that there cape of Trixster’s... Ah’ll bet you two bits that it’s the reason he’s all Great and whatever!”

Huh? The cape? That’s…

… actually a really good point! How did I miss that?!

Along with the assistant, that cape is another wrinkle that’s making this day play out completely different to the original Boast Busters! Dusk once told me that cloth was capable of being imbued with spell matrices that last multiple years at a time, and that the incantation is simple enough for even novice spellcasters to do. While outfits may not be as good as gems or metal at the task, it’s still a very real possibility.

I’m with Applejack on this. That cape must be enchanted or somethin-

“That cape has nothing to do with this, you two.”

Startled, Applejack and I turn our heads and cock our eyebrows towards the latest speaker.

Said speaker, Elusive, simply pony shrugs back in return.

“... Now how in the hay do you figure that?” Applejack asks first with a huff. “Makes the most sense to me as anythin’ else!”

“And it did to me too, I assure you,” answers our defeated sounding unicorn, as a sigh leaves his lips. “Outside of it being a hundred percent fabulous and a hundred percent silk, however... it’s also a hundred percent inert. There’s not a single wisp of magic on it, not even in the lovely citrine gemstone holding the ensemble together.

"Trust me... I checked the outfit thoroughly when I possessed it for that fleeting moment.”

“... Well… horseapples,” AJ swears in response, uncaring for my ‘virgin’ ears despite now turning to face me. “Don’t suppose ah can convince you to take an I.O.U. for those two bits ah owe you, Barb? Ah'm a bit short at the moment...”

Opting not to humor Applejack with an answer to this, I choose to instead set my focus on what's currently happening on the stage. Despite what Elusive had just explained about the cape... Trixster is still casting a nervous glance over towards his assistant all the same. He's also now visibly sweating.

The equally suspicious unicorn, in turn, is stroking his chin as his eyes scan the entirety of Rainbow’s form. His peepers start first at his mane, move down towards his wings, and eventually settle themselves fully on our friend's long beautiful skirt…

… before he nods his head once towards Trixster, and proceeds to step back into the shadows without another word.

“The Trixster... will allow this,” Trixster concedes, hiding a relieved sigh. “J-just don’t expect him to be wearing your clothes once he defeats you!”

“Hah!” Dash laughs back at this, not granting the change a second thought. “I bet you couldn’t fit in this pretty little number even if you tried, dude!”

"..."

... Trixster’s ears deflate completely.

“Okay... Pointing attention to The Trixster’s generous waistline was uncalled for, Mister Rainbow Dash," the blue stallion laments. "Not cool.”

“Oh… um… s-sorry?" the other blue stallion apologizes, rubbing a hoof behind his head. "Didn't think that was something somepony like you would be worrying about. You look fine to me, dude; probably could even rock a few of my old dresses if you wanted them."

“... Hmph... The Trixster thanks you for understanding... and for your kind offer.”

"Hey no prob, Trix."

"... Only The Trixster's foalhood friend may call him 'Trix', Mister Rainbow Dash."

"Oh... Sorry again then, I guess."

“... Pst! Hey! Barb!”

Knocked from my intense stage watching, thanks to the sudden cry of a familiar voice, I blink for a moment before coming to the conclusion that somepony was trying to get my attention. Huh? Glancing briefly at Dusk, Elusive, and Applejack fails to yield an answer for me, so I discreetly excuse myself from the group and poke my head out of the crowd. Once I do I first turn my gaze towards the back, and try to see if Butterscotch was the one who had just called my name... but, seeing as the guy is still stuck in the rear, I highly doubt he’s my target. Turning my head the other way, towards the bushes lining the backside of the stage, my eyes stumble upon the sight of the one I was looking for.

In doing so, they also stumble upon the sight of a pony I was not expecting to be seeing at all today.

“... Sweepy Belle?” I call out to the young colt hiding in the tall foliage. Scanning back, to make sure that nopony was following me, I approach closer. “Not that it’s not good to see you or anything, but what are you doing here?”

The unicorn foal grins goofily in reply.

“Um, hello?” he laughs as he whispers. “Free magic show? As if I’d ever miss something like that!”

“Hehe... Good point,” I concede with a little grin of my own. Guess that's not all that surprising; I’m hard pressed to imagine any young unicorn willing to miss out on the chance to see some real magic being performed, just as it’s hard to imagine a pegasus foal not willing to see the Wonderbolts…

… That said... such a response doesn’t really answer my question now does it?

“Why are you hiding in the bushes though?” I repeat, and further define, my question; leaving no further room for mistranslation. “Doesn’t seem like all that comfortable of a spot to me... Why don’t you join Elusive and the rest of us over at the front? We’ve got plenty of room up there!”

Sweepy blushes at the suggestion, and stammers as he replies back with, “N-no thanks, Barb. I’m… I-I’m totally cool right here!”

I stare at the colt dumbly.

“... Really?” I again prod, giving him the stink eye.

“R-really,” the pony shrinks under my gaze.

“... You can’t really see all that well from back here,” I point out, offering a glance towards the stage as the ponies on it move into position. “I guarantee you that it’ll be cooler looking from the front row.”

“Well… y-yeah, but…” he stonewalls, not giving me a straight answer. “You see, from here I can, um, c-can…”

Pop!

“Ah!” I shout, and totally not shriek girlily, in response to the sight of Scooteroll bursting forth from out of the bushes.

“Sweepy thinks that Trixster’s cape is cool looking, so he was gonna try to steal it when nopony was looking,” the pegasus youth tattles plainly, much to his friend’s great displeasure.

“Scooter!” Sweepy squeaks crossly, cheeks burning red. He then, befitting his status as a little boy, punches his friend roughly in the arm for his double-cross. “Y-you didn’t have to tell Barb that!”

“It’s the truth though, dude,” the harmed colt replies while rubbing his arm. “She was going to figure it out anyways!”

While I’m flattered by his faith in my intelligence, let's be honest with ourselves here...

... There was no way in hell that I was going to figure such a thing out on my own.

Giggling behind a claw, I make to comfort Sweepy Belle in his adorable aspirations at becoming a master thief. “It’s okay, Sweepy. That cape is kinda cool... but you shouldn’t try to steal it. Maybe your brother can make you one for Nightterror Night instead!”

“It wouldn’t be made of silk though,” the unicorn pouts to himself, equally as adorably. “Elusive always chooses my costumes for me anyways…”

“Better than going to jail though, I bet.”

“That’s what I said,” Scooter adds in, with a little self satisfied nod to himself.

“... Then why are you in the bushes too?” I next point out, tilting my head at the oddness.

Scooteroll then, without missing a beat, replies with,

“I want to ride in the police pony’s chariot when they come to take Sweepy away for his crimes.”

Needless to say, I’m now laughing even harder.

“You two are too much,” I choke up, as I wipe away a tear.

Now about-facing from the bushes, I start making my way back towards my original group.

“I’d like to hang out with you some more, guys, but Dusk needs my help with some stuff today," I explain over my shoulder. "I’ll catch you both later-”

“Wait, Barb!” Sweepy interrupts me, forcing me to halt. “I didn’t call you over just to say hi or anything!”

"... Huh?” I inquire loudly as I turn back, genuinely curious. “Then… why’d you do it?”

"Becaus-" Sweepy tries to give me an answer, but Scooter swiftly cuts him off to say it instead.

“Because we figured out Trixster’s trick!” he practically yells into my face, resulting in me having to wipe away a sudden shower of spit.

“What...? Really?!” I gasp out, greatly surprised. “How?!”

“You can’t really see how they’re doing it from the audience,” Sweepy details, now making room for me in the hiding spot. “You can only catch it from back here! Come on, check it out!”

"..."

... I give Dusk, and the rest of the stallions, a quick glance to make sure that they’re all still where I left them, and that Dusk is still petrified with fear…

… before accepting Sweepy’s offer to sit beside him in the bushes.

“Show me,” I ask pointedly, as I allow my scales to protect me from the foliage’s pointy bits. “I want to see.” This might be the big breakthrough that I needed.

Something is clearly wrong here, but I still haven't been able to figure out what! Maybe in discovering how Trixster and his assistant are performing their act I can start getting my answers.

The timeline has deviated somewhere important and the result is a brand new Trixie. That’s not something that I would have had any influence over! As I theorized earlier; similarly to Rainbow Dash, something must have fundamentally changed in Trixster’s past in order to create the stallion that he is today. Where before his mare-half was all talk and no bite, this version of the same pony is a stallion who has an assistant, and who can actually perform quite well with very little prep-time. Perhaps in solving this mystery I can better protect Dusk from future deviations like him, and maybe I can start to better understand what makes my Equestria so incredibly different from the canon one too.

It's a long shot, but it's the best shot I've got.

Sweepy nods his head excitedly in confirmation to my request, happy to have me aboard. “Okay! Here's how you do it; wait until Rainbow Dash finishes his stunts, then keep your eyes on Trixster’s assistant first.”

“Got it,” I reply, hardening my gaze onto the pony shrouded in the backstage’s shadows.

“Then you’re going to want to switch to Trixster right after that, Barb.”

“Got it,” I repeat for Sweepy, mentally preparing to change my target at a moment's notice.

“Then look closely at Trixster’s flank!”

“Got-” I start to parrot... only to then blink and stare over at Scooter.

Scooteroll wing shrugs in the face of both mine and Sweepy’s concerned expressions. “What? It’s just what you have to do.”

“You didn’t really have to put it that way though, Scooter,” Sweepy deadpans towards our orange friend.

“... Did you want me to say ‘stare at Trixster’s butt’ instead, dude..?”

“... Ah... Point taken.”

“Guys,” I insist, with sight still trained on what little of the stage I could see from back here. “Focus. Rainbow Dash is starting.”

A deathly hush falls over the bushes, as the three of us slide further into our childish hiding spots and watch as Rainbow takes flight. I’m able to catch glimpses of his performance, and I’m able to hear the audience’s reactions to his undoubtedly spectacular stunts, but my attention is too divided to properly care for either.

The moment that mysterious assistant does whatever it is he’s been doing, I want to be the first to see. No awesome performance is going to distract me, and neither will the sounds Scooteroll is making as he fanboys over it beside me! My patience is eventually rewarded, as I’m soon able to barely make out the ending of Rainbow's show, and hear him state a hearty “One up that!” right before Trixster’s horn begins to glow softly. With the spell he casually adjusts his cap…

… all while his assistant’s horn starts to glow as well underneath his tilted top hat!

My scales aren’t picking up any mana manipulation from him at this distance… This must be his Talent Spell! I guess he’s been casting it from his hiding spot behind the curtain, and shielding it’s glow behind Trixster’s minor telekinesis! Classic misdirection; my earlier guess that Trixie's equivalent was a talented magician seems to have been the right one. Nice.

So I now know that his assistant’s cutie mark holds the key to his performance... but what in Equestria could he be capable of doing with it that allows Trixster to be just as skilled with rope and cloth as Applejack and Elusive?! Like I said earlier, the spell unicorns gain from their cutie mark is ridiculously weak! Gem locating, magic scanning, harp tuning, sand counting, and smell enhancing are about the most ‘powerful’ spells the average caster has access to with them! They can’t affect another pony’s skills, they can’t change a pony into somepony they’re not...

~Sparklesparkle… sparkle~

Whoosh

?!?!

A-and they certainly can’t do something like that!!!

If it weren’t for my young friends’ advice I would have missed what had just happened completely. In the tiniest, most missable spec of a second possible; the assistant's horn had flashed out mutely in an invisible wave, had washed over both performers, and had gone on completely ignored by all... But Scooter’s tip to watch the flank had revealed for me the spell's most important detail during the flicking of The Great and Powerful's tail, and the microscopic window where his cape had lifted up slightly. Unbeknownst to us this whole time, that long silken robe of his had been hiding secrets most foul.

Secrets like how The Trixster is a blank flank...

... and secrets like how Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark is slowly starting to appear where his own should have been.

Entry 7, End (Boast Busted)

~In Another Time, In Another Place~

Ponyville is beautiful at night.

Such a simple statement, but nonetheless a true one

The homely country hamlet becomes serene and picturesque the moment the sun sets in earnest. It has no nightlife to speak of, thus not a soul feels the need to linger once the shops close up for the eve. Outside of the occasional insomniac or studious scholar, most choose to willing heed the sandpony's beckoning cries; resulting in a village that is both peaceful and still beneath Princess Luna's lovely moon.

No ponies, no lights, no prying eyes...

... It was the perfect stage for Trixie Lulamoon's less-than-grand return.

Under the concealing cover of darkness, the shamed showmare snuck stealthily into the settlement where she had been so thoroughly 'wronged' mere hours ago. As she darted across empty streets, hugging at the shadows, she focused her attention on becoming a ghost pony; a being who leaves no trace of themselves behind, and who might as well never had existed at all.

Envisioning herself as such, even if only for a fleeting moment, sickened The Great and Powerful Trixie to her very core. Her cowardly hiding stood in direct defiance of everything her cutie mark told her to be, and who she fundamentally was as a pony... But Trixie was no fool either. She knew that if she wished to achieve her goal discreetly, and avoid further humiliation, the temporary swallowing of her pride was a necessary evil. If anypony witnessed her pathetic return, let alone the same pony who had somehow bested her so easily...

The thought sent shivers down Trixie's Great and Powerful spine. “Twilight,” the azure mare snarled lowly to herself, committing the name to memory; cursing it with every fiber of her being. “Even if it takes Trixie a lifetime, she will have her revenge on you yet.”

Smothering a growl behind a hoof, and shoving her bloodlust to the side for later; the pony shook her head, and resumed the search for her trusty-

“Aha!” she suddenly cried loudly, only to immediately clamp her mouth and scan for onlookers...

... Satisfied that her cover hadn’t been blown, Trixie proceeded to step forward into the clearing and cautiously approach her target.

The sight of the mangled wagon was a sobering one for the young mare, and one that only served to strengthen her inner anger. Plywood, wood chips, and torn cloth laid abandoned in a massive heap exactly where the Ursa Minor had thoroughly stomped it. Perhaps the crushed fireworks, and the scattered remnants of their explosive contents, had discouraged the locals from disturbing the wreckage Trixie pondered.

'Either that, or because of the weight,' Trixie then realized, as her magic failed to so much as lift a single plank from the pile. Even the wheels proved to be unwieldy, refusing to budge from where they had fallen on their sides. 'Trixie never trusted those things anyways...'

... Slowly, the lone unicorn came to accept that there was no efficient way for her to salvage all of her smashed stage in a single night. Defeated, a begrudging compromise was then made within her mind; one where she recovered only the valuables for now, and vowed to return to reclaim the rest once it was carted away for the trash heap. The idea of dumpster diving was appalling to Trixie... but, with a sigh, she reluctantly admitted that it wouldn’t be the first time she had resorted to such a filthy act.

"... Grrrrr..."

Dwelling on this fact, this often ignored history, only served to make the ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie even more flustered than she was before. As a distraction from her growing rage, she went to work throwing herself heavily into the mortifying task. Nudging the remains of what had been her home thankfully yielded most of what she was seeking; her tarnished cape, hat, bit purse, and remaining smoke bombs. Holes dotted the star adorned cloak completely, frustrating Trixie further than she thought ponily possible.

Unable to spot anything else recoverable, and unable to tolerate being in Ponyville for even a second longer; the magician then roughly donned her tattered clothes and made to beat a hasty retreat...

Slip~ Slip~

The appearance of a falling piece of paper, however; one that had been unintentionally disturbed from its resting spot, caught Trixie’s attention completely. Its entrance alone had forced her into halting... but the unknown oddity failed to truly brighten the mood in any satisfying capacity.

~Twinkletwinkle~

With the aid of magenta magic the strange object found itself yanked abruptly out of the very air, and presented fully for the furious caster’s eyes to glare at.

The piece of paper revealed itself to be a faded photograph.

Within the photograph lied the image of a young blue filly, with tired mother standing proudly by her side.

“...”

… Delicately placing her old treasure underneath her cap, Trixie never looked back as she galloped silently into the all consuming night.

~Back to the Then, and Now~

The assistant… can steal cutie marks.

The assistant can steal… CUTIE MARKS…

…

… Well… that’s not completely accurate, I guess. Both Applejack and Elusive had their marks returned to them sometime before they had their challenger capes yanked away...

…

… BUT THAT DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT THIS PONY CAN MANIPULATE CUTIE MARKS!!

H-how the hell is something like that possible?! How does a pony even develop a Talent Spell that does that?! Is he some kind of researcher of them? An ex-counselor? A serial murderer?!

Calm down, Barbara. Caaaallllm yourself down… Don’t go jumping the gun yet. Outside of a few tidbits I learned from Dusk, I don’t really understand cutie marks all that well yet. I know that stealing and exchanging them is a crazy talent to have, and probably on par with Dusk’s spell copying one... but that’s about it.

I can start making the assumption that gaining Applejack’s and Elusive’s marks is what allowed Trixster to pull off those earlier lasso and tailoring tricks, at least, and it’s probably how he's now self-hovering himself in a bid to one-up Rainbow Dash. Another thing I can start assuming; judging by his reaction towards Rainbow's insistence on not wearing the cutie mark concealing cloak, The Trixster is in on his assistant's spellcasting. If it weren’t for RD’s skirt doing the job for them, I bet their whole operation would have been blown wide open right there and then!

Yeah! Their whole operation of…

…

… What are they trying to accomplish again?

Trixie wanted unconditional admiration I think, regardless of who she stepped on... but so far Trixster's only been putting on a show and nothing else. Him and his partner hyped themselves up a bit, sure, and they have the audience wrapped around their hooves… but that seems to be the extent of their aspirations. For all intents and purposes, they're just traveling magicians looking for attention as traveling magicians do. It's how they make their money.

You’d think that a talent that allows you to steal cutie marks would be more of a money maker than street magic, but maybe they're not really doing this for the bits? They could just be expressing their love of the art for all I know...

... Actually… what do I know anymore...?

...

... I know that this Trixster isn’t the same Trixie from the show... I know that his assistant isn’t somepony I recognize from the same show... And... I know that said assistant has had his eyes locked on my Dusk Shine this entire time.

I may not know much, but what I do know is that Boast Busters, and it’s associated friendship lesson, are now at risk of being canceled thanks to a wobbly timeline.

I also know what I have to do next.

“Thank you so much for showing me this, you guys,” I tell the two children next to me, as I rise out of the hiding bush and back to my feet. Half watching the crowd as they cheered over Trixster’s aerial displays; I then turn to the colt who had shared his cover with me first, Sweepy Belle, and quickly grant him a grateful squeeze. “This helped me out a lot!”

"Snort," I overhear Scooter snickering, under his breath, at the sight of his friend being too stunned to return my hug. “Anytime, Barb.”

“Y-yeah,” Sweepy sputters a moment later in reply. "A-a-anytime."

With determination fueling my movements, I let the unicorn go and speed my way back to Dusk’s side. I’ve got to tell him about this! “See you later!” I give the young foals a hasty goodbye as I leave, mind focused only on my task.

“... Hehe... Dude.”

“Ugh… Yeah I know, Scooter.”

“... Snort. Duuuuude~”

“S-shut up, Scooter…”

By the time I make it back over to the rest of the stallions, Rainbow Dash was already making a huffing return to the stands.

“It took me months to perfect those moves, and a flipping unicorn does them in ten seconds flat?!” The usually chill pegasus rants and raves, revealing that his chill levels are currently at zero percent. “Ugh! And he has the balls to tell me to,” Dash attaches a hoof on his snout for this next part, making his voice sound nasally. “Place faith in your wings to catch you, not the ground, and you can do anything.” He releases his held snout. “Dude doesn’t even have wings! What the hay does he know?!”

The furious pretty boy then aims his eyes on Dusk’s own and gives him a single, nonnegotiable command.

“Kick his flank into next week, Dusk.”

“I-I don’t want to kick his flank into this week!” my charge protests heavily, backing away from his eager friends. “How many times do I have to tell you guys that I’m, not, special?!”

“Yes you are!” I insist loudly, pushing myself forward to the front of the group. “You're just as special as Trixster is... but he's only using tricks! You’ve got skill, Dusk; real skill! You have to show off how hard you've worked, please!”

Okay... hear me out, everybody.

Up to this point I’ve been prodding Dusk into action because I knew that’s what Spike did for Twilight. His was a very childish rationale; all he wanted was for his charge to put a stop to Trixie's unbearable boasting. The drake’s efforts ultimately didn’t amount to much... but it did, at least, manage to push Twilight out of her comfort zone enough to scare her into leaving. My own efforts thus far were being done in the hope of achieving a similar feat, so that we could preserve the episode...

... But now I'm trying to get Dusk up on that stage, and challenge Trixster, for real.

Forget the bear, forget the assistant, and forget Spike; this magic show isn't the same as Trixie's was! Not anymore! I've got no guarantee that things are going to end the same way, outside of Time's Stone, so I might as well preemptively utilize the tools I've been given. Though AJ, Elusive, and RD may be salty over having been one-uped in their respective fields, that doesn't change the fact that Trixster has been giving them tips on how to improve themselves after each and every display! He's not belittling them as Trixie did, and he's not trying to humiliate them either; he's showcasing their abilities along with his own!

That's awesomely noble, almost to the point of me overlooking his assistant's secret cutie mark theft... Almost.

Anyways, like I was saying; I want to get Dusk to go up onstage all by himself so that Trixster can help him see that he's just as Great and Powerful as he is! And even if Dusk somehow wins, which I have equal faith in him accomplishing, Ponyville will go wild...

... just like they did when Twilight saved them from the Ursa!

It's a win win!

The sort of realization Dusk can gain from either outcome can help him discover today's moral! I know it can! I’ll have to work with his friends later to correct any aftermath that results from this slight deviation... One I can easily see happening is where Dusk still thinks himself as some kind of show-off for doing this, and another is where Trixster gets upset over losing. The latter should be easy enough to fix with a round of applause for his performance, as I don't see this stallion being as sore of a loser as Trixie was. The former, meanwhile, if it does happen I'll directly encourage Dusk to focus on the fact that it’s okay to be proud of his talents, and that it’s okay to show them off sometimes; especially when he’s standing up for his friends like he'll be doing! Twilight's friends helped her realize this lesson originally too, so it's simply Time's Stone resting in the River!

... Oh god, is this what it's like to be Solaris?? Yuck if it is. I said it once and I'll say it again; being a Seer sucks. 3D chess has got nothing on this nonsense... Though admittedly I don't know how to play that game...

... o-or regular chess either, come to think of it, hehe...

“Barb, stop it!” my charge yells at me, clearly not appreciating what I had said. Looks like I'm going to need to push just the teeniest bit harder. “No means no! I’m not more special than Trixste-”

“His assistant is taking cutie marks,” I disclose in a hushed whisper, yanking one of his ears and forcing it closer to my lips. Dusk has to hear this so that he stops being all scared, and instead becomes inquisitive; hence my need to spoil it. I also don't want to rudely ruin the secret for anypony genuinely enjoying the show; hence my need to whisper. “I saw Rainbow Dash’s own on Trixster's flank right before he copied him! The capes cover up the swap, and then the assistant takes them away after he puts them back!”

This revelation results in Dusk halting.

“...”

… He then grants the stage a searching look,

glances over at Trixster,

meets the assistant's eyes with his own for the first time all day long…

… and finally he looks down at me and… sighs disappointingly. What?

“Barb... Don’t make stuff up like that,” Dusk scolds me, shaking his head.

“What?!” I repeat my mental thought verbally. “Dusk, I’m being serious!”

“And so am I,” he retorts, no longer listening to his friends or their insistence of him going onstage. “Cutie mark alteration spells are forbidden for a reason. Nopony knows what the long term consequences of their use is.”

“Bu-”

“Suggesting that Trixster is using such a thing for a magic show is very immature.”

“Immature?! But, Dusk, they really ar-”

“It’s irresponsible too.”

“DUSK!”

“And also not likely,” the 'teacher' finishes, not allowing me to get a word in edgewise. “Cutie mark manipulation is an incredibly advanced spell, and one that requires a lot of talent to perform. It’s not something just anypony can learn from a book. It’s not something anypony is allowed to learn either!”

“Bu-”

“Besides,” Dusk cuts me off one final time. “If they really are swapping cutie marks…

“... then why has Trixster been able to copy everypony's talents better?”

“That's becaus-” I start, making to argue this point… only to realize...

... I don’t really have a ground to stand on in this fight.

Dusk… is right.

Trixster has been better at these feats than the original pony. He out-fancied Elusive’s design, learned Dash’s tricks faster that he did, and he actually taught Applejack a thing or two about lassoing! There must be more to his routine than I initially thought... I saw that Trixster is normally a blank flank before the cutie mark swap; maybe the answer lies there...?

...

... Ugh! You know what? That's probably going to be it!

That's probably going to be it...

... because nopony would believe me if I told them that Trixster is a blank flank! It's the hardest truth to believe; such a thing is scientifically impossible!

For the less informed; pony puberty is tied to cutie marks. They're what influence their height, weight, features, and overall growth. It's why children are obsessed with them, because regardless of when they get theirs they know that they're not that many years off from becoming young adults like Dusk and his friends are. If Trixster was really cutie markless, then he'd be looking a whole lot more like a Great and Powerful Colt than a Stallion. I suppose such a thing can happen; if I remember correctly the oldest recorded case was with a thirty year old who looked like he was ten... But it's a super rare condition, and clearly one Trixster didn't have to suffer through.

He has to have a cutie mark somewhere... It's just not on him now... and its absence didn't leave any indication of it's existence behind; indicating unbelievably complicated spell crafting which, as I've established earlier, shouldn't be possible without my scales having detected it...

... Ugh! Just my rotten luck!

My lack of magic knowledge, the unlikelihood of a Talent Spell being this powerful, and the assistant's unassuming nature has resulted in a cocktail of BS where I look like a big fat liar. Telling Dusk that Trixster is better at the talents because he's a blank flank can be refuted by my charge simply pointing out that he looks the same as him in age. Claiming that the assistant can not only swap marks but steal them temporarily would lead to an inquiry about what my scales have been picking up today, which has been a whole lot of nothing. Arguing that this last point was due to it all falling under his Talent Spell would result in me getting laughed off, and the rest of my guesses labeled as the ramblings of a child! If I was better versed in what's possible and impossible with unicorn magic, maybe I could made a stronger case... But at this point I think it's safer to just drop the whole subject, cut my losses, and stop talking before I lose anymore credibility.

Two steps forward, and twenty back.

My life in a nutshell.

“Barbara,” Dusk goes on, making sure to lecture me for my oversight. "You have to think your words more carefully."

A truer sentence has sadly never been spoken. Chessmaster I am not. I should probably stick to playing O&O... or maybe checkers.

“When you look at the facts unbiasedly, Barb, the answer is clear. There’s no way tha-”

“That a pair of ponies from Sire’s Hollow could ever dareto be as gifted as a unicorn from Canterlot, hmm?”

Blinking at being interrupted; Dusk and I, along with everypony present, turn towards the speaker.

With eyes locked on my charge's, Trixster's assistant leers back; his grin wolfish.

“... What?” Dusk answers, unsure how to process what the stallion had just implied.

“Be as gifted,” the assistant repeats himself, as he removes his top hat and focuses on casually dusting it off. “Sorry, but I overheard you mentioning something about there being ‘no way’ we could ever be as ‘talented’ as whatever and I, just…”

He halts his hat cleaning.

“... took offense to that,” the threatening pony finishes strongly, now using his turquoise hued magic to set the cap aside.

… ~Twinkletwinkletwinkle~ POP!!

Within the span of the second necessary to release his hat and set it on the ground, the assistant's magic rapidly twists itself into a new matrix completely; a teleportation spell.

One aimed at Dusk.

Collectively gasping along with the rest of his friends, I turn and watch as my charge is forcefully relocated to the stage’s challenger circle. He's still reeling from the experience even as we speak.

“W-what the,” he mumbles fearfully, becoming acutely aware of the massive amount of ponies now on watching him.

“If you think you can best a couple of country ‘bumpkins’ like us in magic,” the assistant heckles, getting in Dusk’s face. “If you think you have more talent then both of us combined, then… come on. Show us what you’ve got.

“Show us all.”

“I-I,” Dusk stammers, shaking at the knees under the other unicorn’s unwavering glare.

Moving without meaning to, I start to make my way closer to the stage. “Dusk!” I cry out, taken aback by the malice; wanting to get my friend out of this situation. He was supposed to face Trixster, not this psycho!

I-I don't know what's going on anymore!!

But... Thankfully...

... It would seem that I’m not the only one instinctively crying out for their companion right now…

“Stardust!”

… as Trixster is doing much of the same with his own.

At the calling of his name, the assistant takes his eyes off of Dusk and levels them evenly with his friend’s own.

Trixster does not look amused.

“... Is this a new challenger you have hoofpicked for The Trixster?” the azure stallion comments piercingly, his face very clearly shooting an unspoken message of ‘Control yourself’ towards his partner.

The assistant, Stardust, stares back neutrally at the meaningful expression…

… before taking a step aside, and performing a modest bow.

“You got it, Trix,” Stardust replies with head held low, and foreleg pointing at Dusk. “I think this one will put on a decent enough showing.”

“Hmmm… The Great and Powerful Trixster accepts then.”

Stardust’s sneer grows in his bow.

“As you wish,” he chuckles, stepping aside.

“H-hey wait a minute!” Dusk protests, trying to get a handle on what's happening. “I didn’t agree to-!”

“Come on, Dusk!” Applejack, without warning, cheers from the crowd, causing Dusk to freeze in place. “You got this!”

“N-no I don’t, AJ,” Dusk denies, trying to remove himself from the stage discreetly.

“Put those smarts to good use, egghead!” Rainbow Dash next prods.

“Can’t I do that without making a foal out of myself?”

“Shine out like a diamond!” Elusive adds in, raising his voice over the others.

“Diamond’s don’t possess a natural light source of their own to do tha- Ugh! Guys! Stop it!”

“... We believe in you,” I speak softly, claws clasped as I put all my faith in fate, my charge’s hard earned skills, and Trixster's desire to put on a show, not a roast. This Stardust character may have blood out for Dusk, for reasons I can't possibly imagine... but his partner has earned my trust with his actions.

The Great and Powerful Trixster has earned the right to teach my charge his lesson; the one written in Stone.

“Barb…” Dusk mutters weakly, halting his retreat. His ears droop as he looks out over the eager crowd…

… only for said ears to rise in shock as he spots the challenger cape now being slowly levitated over to him.

Perhaps he’s recalling what I tried to warn him about the secret to their trick; perhaps he's seeing the cloth as a symbolic representation of there being no escape from this challenge, perhaps it’s as simple as him not liking the colors, or perhaps he thinks it'll chafe.

Whatever the case may be, it looks as though my charge is terrified of wearing that stupid cloak now.

Visibly panicking on stage, prancing in place, Dusk’s fight or flight reflex instinctively kicks in; fully charging his horn with a spell. Leaning his head down, aiming the magic directly at the closest pony, the incantation goes off in a brilliant burst of raspberry hued colors.

The result…

~ZAP~

... is the underwhelming appearance of an incomplete, patchy looking handlebar mustache upon Trixster’s upper lip.

Stardust, still holding the yet to be applied cape with his magic, stares mutely at his partner’s new facial hair.

Trixster wiggles his lip experimentally, but otherwise says nothing.

The entire audience is equally as silent and unsure how to respond.

…

... Snrk…

That had done it.

One tiny snicker, one little confirmation that what we had witnessed was humorous in some way, was all that was needed to open the floodgate; transforming the stillness into a tidal wave of jeers. Dusk’s cheeks turn crimson with embarrassment, as the audience starts their booing; unimpressed by the meager showing of skill. Even the stallions next to me can’t help themselves from laughing under their breaths... Though, to their credit, at least they were trying to spare their friend's feelings the best they could. I think the only one here not laughing at all is...

... me.

... I...

...

... What have I done?

“Hehe… an… interesting tactic, The Trixster admits,” Trixster chortles himself, taking his own humiliation in stride; playfully batting his new doo. “Truly! It's just, well…”

“Not one we expected to see coming from a unicorn above the age of five,” Stardust bluntly finishes, pointing out what had most likely started the mocking laughs. When you hype something up and not deliver on it, even if you weren’t the one doing the hyping, such a reaction is to be expected.

Trixster hesitates, before confirming his assistant's words with a nod. “Well... there is that too, The Trixster supposes... But The Trixster was more not expecting his opponent to be using a spell…”

~ZAP~

“... that he himself dabbled with when he was a foal,” the showpony ends his sentence with a little satisfied shake of his head, having slung a perfect replica of Dusk’s spell right back at him.

Even without borrowing his opponent's cutie mark this time; as was the case with every other display today Trixster did so better. My charge's face is now adorned with a long and flowing white beard, one that starts at his chin and ends on the floor. It’s simple and uninteresting, but that wasn’t the point.

The point was to show Dusk Shine just how outclassed he was, cutie mark or not.

“The Trixster can show you how to perfect the spell, if you so desire, Mister…” the winner of the duel begins to offer, though he quickly realizes something important. “Oh! I never ask-, I-I mean The Trixster never asked for your name! Apologies, but the invitation still stands.”

Trixster offers Dusk a hoof.

“Would you like to learn ho-”

Dusk takes a skittish step away from the hoof.

Snipsnipsnip

Dusk hastily summons a pair of scissors to forcefully remove his new beard with.

Clip… clop… clipclopclipclopclipclopclipclop

Dusk...

... runs away.

“D-dusk! I yell out, trying to give chase after the fleeing pony.

I make it about as far as the outside rim of the audience before I trip and fall on my face; everypony is too busy stomping their hooves in cheer over Trixster’s success to grant me even grounding. The three stallions I leave behind in my haste remain rooted in place, unsure how to react to what had happened. “Wait!” I shout again, scrambling back to my feet, trying to run. From my position so close to the outskirts, unlike with the rest of the group and perhaps even with the rest of the distracted crowd,

I'm the only one able to tell that Dusk is crying.

Either uncaring or unaware of this, Trixster pony shrugs at his opponent's rejection for help, and instead turns to address the rest of the lively audience. “Thank you! Thank you all so very much! The Trixster is honored to have had such a wonderful greeting to your fair hamlet!

“But… please do not grant The Trixster all of the glory, for he would be nothing if it weren’t for the assistance of his best and oldest friend.”

Not giving a flying feather over what Trixster is yammering on about, I push my way between pony after pony as I try to cut a straight line to my hurting stallion. “Dusk, wait!”

“So then,” Trixster continues on. “Please honor The Trixster with an equally loud cheer…”

“Dusk!” I scream over the murmurs as I burst forth from the back of the pack. Where is he where is he… Ahh! He’s already galloped himself into town!

“... for his Great and Powerful Assistant…”

What to do what to do what to- !!! Wait! I know one of the ponies back here! If I’m remembering things right, he should be somewhere over… “Butters!” I shout out, trying to get the massive pegasus’ attention.

The burly stallion, having actually taken his eyes off of the show long enough to witness Dusk running past him, turns to me and asks a simple question of, “Huh?”

“Go after him!” I plead, as the horde threatens to suck me back into it. “Hurry! He…”

I stop to catch my breath, and to reorganize my thoughts.

Boast Busters is officially screwed royally, a-and I don’t know what to do! A bear isn't going to fix this! If I hadn't been trying to pretend I was Spike for so long m-maybe I could have... But I-I trusted Trixste- No, Dusk did this to himsel- No! It wasn't his faul- AAAAAAAHHHHHH!! There’s only one thing left I can think to do anymore to salvage this day and that's...

... believe.

Believe in the power that's greater than the River and the Stone.

Believe in the force more reliable than my show knowledge.

And believe in the might vaster than even death itself.

I... have to believe.

I have to believe in the Magic of Friendship.

“He... needs a friend, Butters,” I beg to Butterscotch, praying he gets the message. Please... he must have noticed him crying, please! "He... needs his friend..."

"..."

... My heart feels lighter a moment later as, with a single shake of his head to confirm that he heard me; Butters stretches his wings out and launches himself into the air. The shockwave alone knocks me and a few nearby ponies back to the ground, but it’s a minor inconvenience all things considered. Returning to my feet once again, I pant for a moment as I turn back towards the stage, trying to make it out one final time.

On it I find Trixster, hoof aimed squarely at his assistant, as he happily presents him to me, and everypony else, by his full name of;

“Stardust Glimmer!”

The soft pink-purple unicorn stallion, with the overlapping white and purple falling star cutie mark, roles his arm dramatically once more and grants us all a low bow. His flat mane style, made up of a mixture of aquamarine and purple hairs, stays perfectly in place as he removes his top hat and sets it to the side. Bits are being thrown in from the audience, but this detail seems to matter not to the pony as he continues to cheekily spy on Dusk's retreat.

It doesn’t matter to me either, nor does his stupid self-satisfied smirk. What matters is solving the mess his... and my... interference created. As I turn away to chase after the distant form of Butterscotch, hoping that he’s following my instructions... my foot remains frozen in place as a thought crosses my mind.

“... Wait…”

I give the stage, and Stardust Glimmer, a last glance as my memories replay everything that had just transpired.

“... When…”

...

“... When did we ever mention that Dusk was from Canterlot?”

…

… I quickly resume my chase.

_______________________________

… BOOM!!

The very ground beneath me finds itself rocking for the third time today, as Butterscotch makes a rough landing a little ways away from where I'm at. Having thankfully been following his aerial pursuit on foot, I’m instantly able to tell which alleyway he had just dive bombed thanks to the billowing dust cloud he kicked up in his wake.

Turning the corner, sure enough, there’s Butters... and there's Dusk.

My charge had galloped face first into Butter’s hairy beard and chest, but it looks like the latter's sheer girth had softened the impact for both parties. Rather then let his friend slide off him comically and onto the dirt; the Element of Kindness instead willingly lowers himself to the ground, and allows the unicorn to continue to treat him as a pillow. The two of them remain still and unmoving as I stand by and quietly watch.

“... Dusk?” Butters eventually works up the courage to speak to the pony he had been chasing. “Are you… okay?”

“... N-no,” Dusk whimpers into Butter’s chest, keeping his face exactly where their collision had left it.

“...”

“... Do you want to talk about it?”

“... I…”

SLAM!

Startled by the sudden sound, Butters and I turn our heads together and discover that a door had just banged open. It seems that we have somehow found ourselves in front of Sugarcube Corner’s back entrance.

It would also seem that we have just incurred Bubble Berry’s ‘wrath’ with our loud entrance.

“Okay, who's the wise pony who just ruined my soufflé?!” BB growls angrily, head darting every which way. “Why I oughta- Huh? Butters? Barb?”

He then discovers Dusk’s prone form.

“... Dusk?” the party pony relents, his voice instantly switching from an upset tone to one full of concern. “W-what’s going on?”

Poor Butters looks a little overwhelmed, having his attention split between his two friends, so I decide to be the one to properly explain things to our latest arrival.

“We just got back from the magic show that's going on in front of town hall, BB.”

“There... T-there was a magic show?!” BB shrieks lightly, returning to being upset. “Why didn't anypony get me?! I want to see a magic show too!”

... Oh...

I... guess I hadn't thought about bringing Berry along. Pinkie Pie wasn't apart of the original Boast Busters, so I must have mentally written BB off as a non-entity for today. I had done the same with Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll as well...

...

... Never again.

“I'm sorry, BB," I apologize honestly, vowing to rethink how I view my role in this series going forward. "It was nothing personal, I swear! I-I guess we just assumed you had heard about it already.”

“... Girl... do you have any idea how hard making a soufflé is??” the pink pony scoffs at this, acting like I had just slapped him across the face. “I haven’t seen sunlight in over seventy two hours! How the flapjack was I supposed to know what was going on out here?!”

“Um… what?" I blink, now more confused than concerned. "Berry... I don’t think those things usually take that long. Maybe the batter, but-”

“Hey,” BB cuts me off. “I never said I was good at them! Yeesh! Get off my back!"

"... What? But... You were just on mine fo-"

"Anyways," he cuts me off again, though this time seeming more like his usual cheerful self. "How did the show go?”

Deciding that I wasn’t in the mood to decipher the many wonders of Bubble Berry today, I wave a claw over Dusk’s form and answer the question with a simple statement of, “See for yourself.”

“Dusk was humiliated,” Butters answers as well. The large pony then places a single wing gently over his hurt friend, covering him completely. “He’s crying.”

“... You didn’t have to tell BB that part, Butters...”

“Everypony here can tell, Dusk,” Butters coos kindly. “It’s okay. I do it all the time.”

“...”

Reluctantly, and with a bit of willpower, Dusk shifts himself in his yellow embrace and faces BB and I directly. His face is an absolute, puffy eyed, snot-filled, mess. Poor guy...

... both him and Butters. Hope he's got plenty of soap back at his cottage. That's not going to be easy to scrub out of pink hair.

“It’s so... stupid," Dusk complains, sniffing back mucus. “T-there were sooo many better spells I could have cast, but I ended up using the one he was better at! Gah!”

...

... Um... what?

Okay… that wasn’t quite the response I was expecting to hear from him.

“Wait,” I make to point this out, gaining his attention. “Soooo, you’re saying that you wanted to show them up?”

“N-no,” is the unicorn’s weak reply, as he turns away from my staring. “I didn't... I-I’m just mad that I didn’t show something better. The thing you told me about the cape threw off my concentration…”

...

… Yeeeeaaaahhh I’m gonna have to call horseapples on this call, coach.

“Dusk, you didn’t want to go up on that stage at all!” I shoot back, stomping a foot. “But now you’re saying you’re upset because you got showed up by them...?

“... You know what that makes you now, Dusk, right?”

“... Don’t you dare say it, Barb.”

“It makes you…”

“D-don’t you say it!”

“... A hypocrite.”

"..."

Dusk groans.

“Why oh why did I teach you that stupid word again?” he mutters angrily to himself, shaking his head.

“You lost the coin flip,” I reply with a shrug, though I’m sure he wasn’t actually seeking an answer. “Come on now, spill it. What are you really upset over?”

“Yeah, Dusk,” BB chimes in, stepping closer. “I don’t want to see you all mopey! Turn that frowny upside downy!”

“We’re here for you,” Butters hums warmly, granting me a meaningful glance before directing his eyes back to the stallion in his hold.

“...”

"..."

Our combined efforts seem to work after a time as, with a single sigh to himself, Dusk Shine finally relents.

“... I think showing off your talents is wrong,” he begins to explain for us. We remain quiet as he does, and encourage him to continue on. “I didn’t want anypony to think that I’m better than them just because I know a lot of magic…

“... but I also didn’t want those two making me look like a foal like they did.”

“I think you did that to yourself, Dusk.”

“Barb!”

“I’m just saying it like it is.”

“...”

Dusk now sighs for a second time.

“No… n-no you’re right," he admits for me. "I’m the only one to blame for how I reacted, but I don’t know what I could have done better…”

“Why didn’t you show everypony some of your crazy cool magic spells?” BB interjects, looking at Dusk thoughtfully.

“Because I didn’t think it was right!” Dusk snaps back. “Weren’t you listening?”

“Yuppers,” Berry bounces gaily in place. “Every word... Buuuuutt it totally sounds like you didn’t even try to show everypony the kinds of stuff you’ve shown us!”

“That’s because I’m not okay with what I've shown, okay?!” Dusk discloses in a defeated huff. “I’ve never been fine with you guys seeing it! My magic is only for a last resort!

"If... i-if you two knew the kinds of things I'm capable of doing… that I have the magical talent to pull off... you... y-you’d hate me foreve-”

“Horsefeathers.”

The three of us, in shock, turn towards our apparently sailor-mouthed fourth.

To his credit, Butterscotch at least looks embarrassed by his choice of words.

“Sorry,” he mutters lowly, shying away from our gazes. “B-but I don’t think you have anything to be afraid of when it comes to using your magic around us, Dusk. Trust me; I know more than most about being afraid.”

“... Butters,” Dusk makes to counter his impromptu pony pillow, looking up around a pink beard. “You don’t understand. The stuff I can do is really scary. Solaris taught me how to defend myself, which means I... I-I know how to h-hurt ponies...”

"..."

Butters... takes a breath...

... and then counters this claim harder.

“Can you accidentally crush a creature to death underhoof without even noticing, Dusk?” Butters asks plainly without hesitation, widening both mine and my charge's eyes. “Can the beating of your wings alone tear the feathers off of smaller animals...?

“Is your sight capable of making others do your bidding against their will?”

“I… I-I…”

“Whoa whoa whoa, Butters!” BB jumps in, taking the now frightened Dusk Shine away from his once comfy hug. “Easy there! I-I thought Rainbow Dash was teaching you not to think those spooky little thoughts of yours anymore!”

“He is,” Butters confirms, before rising to tower over us all. With eyes still trained on Dusk, the pegasus continues. “But I have to think them, so that I remember not to carelessly injure somepony.”

“I-I don’t understand.”

With a small, sad smile for his unicorn friend's confusion; Butterscotch uses a wing tip to lift up his pink mane, flashing cyan hued peepers.

“I... was born with something I call ‘The Stare’, Dusk,” he explains, leaning over slightly to allow Dusk to get a better look. “When I focus real hard, creatures listen to me no matter what.”

“That sounds like a innate Talent Spell,” my scholar muses, his mind temporarily going from troubled to curious before swiftly returning to the former. “Is that why your bangs are so long?”

“It is,” Butters confirms, not denying it. "Sometimes the Stare turns on without me meaning to use it."

Dusk shutters at the thought.

“O-oh…” he pauses, trying to sort out his feelings on this. “T-that’s…”

He takes a deep breath.

“I’m... I'm not afraid of you, Butters,” Dusk finally stammers in reply, drumming up some resolve for his sensitive companion's sake. “I know you. You’re my friend, and not the type of pony to use something so frightening-”

“I’ve used the Stare twice in the last three hours, Dusk, and ten times in total throughout this week alone.”

This shuts Dusk right the heck up.

This also disturbs me quite a bit if I do say so myself. You think you know a guy...

“I’m too big to help smaller animals,” Butters laments, turning his head away from us. “But... helping animals is what makes me the happiest! I don’t want to hurt anycreature, so sometimes I have to gently poke mice and squirrels in different directions so I don’t step on them.

“I’ve never purposely used it on ponies before... b-but I know that there might be a day where I’ll have to.”

“Where you’ll… have to?” Dusk parrots.

The tone of his voice suggests that something is starting to click.

“Oh yes,” the grayish gold pony answers in a relaxed manner, as if we weren’t talking about flipping mind control. “I have to use The Stare on animals when I have no other choice, and ponies too scared of my size to listen wouldn’t be much different. If I don’t, then I might hurt others simply by bumping into them. I-I couldn’t live with myself if I ever did that!”

“It’s all about using your talents smartly, Dusk!” BB giggles to himself, stealing the ending to Butter’s speech. Butterscotch thankfully doesn’t seem to mind all that much, as I think he was about to hit the limit of his comfort zone. “A super smartypants like you should have already known that, hehe!”

“... Using it… smartly...”

Dusk… blushes.

“I-I guess I did already know that, somewhat,” he admits, shrinking away. “T-that must have been why the magic show was bothering me so much. Ponies shouldn’t be throwing powerful magic around like that just to show off-”

“Eh eh!” Berry halts Dusk's words, all while making an X shape with his two front legs. “Wrong oh mundo, my amigo!”

“Huh?” Dusk asks BB, deeply bewildered. “W-what do you mean?”

“Hehe, silly Dusk," BB snorts back, ruffling Dusk's mane. "There’s nothing wrong with showing off a bit!”

“... What?" my charge objects, passively fixing his mane. "Yes there is! I don’t want ponies to think I’m some kind of blowhard!”

Suppressing another giggle, BB proceeds to make an overly dramatic display of acting all offended. “Oh goodness gracious!” he taunts between breaths, pretending to be serious. “Solaris forbid we think you some kind of show-off, Dusk! Why, if you were, we might mistake you with, say... Rainbow Dash! You know…

“... the pony whose special talent is literally showing off?” he finishes by deadpanning. His expression looks amused and unamused all at the same time; thus was Berry's power.

"..."

... Dusk is now blushing even harder than he was before.

“I… ahem… I-I guess I forgot about that part too…” he admits, all while burying his head further into the ground. “There's never been anything wrong with him showing off what he worked hard on, so why did I think...?

"... What have I been doing this whole time?”

"... Dusk! Hey, Dusk, where are you?! Ugh! Where did that dude gallop off to- !! Hey! He’s over here, everypony!”

Surprised by the distant shouting, I turn away from the boys and discover that Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Elusive are now making their way over to our little comforting huddle.

“Dusk!” the three of them call as one, as they draw in closer.

“Please, please don’t hate me, you guys,” Dusk answers back sheepishly, as he stands back up and takes a step away from them all.

“... Why... whatever do you mean, good sir?” Elusive asks first for the group, his eyebrow thoroughly raised at his fellow unicorn’s odd request.

Dusk steels himself for his next words.

“I... I-I was such a stick in the mud about using my magic at Trixster’s show,” he starts, mentally working through his feelings. “I know how much you all hated his constant one-uping, and how much you wanted me to stick up for you, b-but I thought in doing so that I was going to have to sink down to his ‘level’...

“... Butters and BB helped me realize, however, that there wasn’t really a ‘level’ for me to sink to! There was nothing wrong with what him and his assistant were doing... but I could have at least stuck up for you guys. You were all relying on my magic, and I was so far up my own flank that I let you down, a-and… I’m sorry.”

“Whoa! Hey easy there now, haystack,” Applejack steps forward, neighborly ribbing Dusk in the side. “Magic’s got nothin’ to do with any of this! Sure that no good Trixster may have given us a run for our bits, and it would have been real swell of you to knock him down a peg, but it’s your magic and yours alone. We shouldn’t have been pushin’ you to use it like we were... Ah apologize.”

“I concur,” Elusive adds in.

“Um… same,” I tack on as well, taken aback by this apology train Applejack, of all ponies, had started.

I’ll continue to hold my tongue on my true feelings until I see how this plays out.

“Your magic is a part of who you are, dude,” Rainbow keeps the apologies coming. “You use it how you want to. It’s awesome to have a powerful and talented unicorn as a friend and all, but having a smart one is even better!”

“You know it, sister!” BB chimes in, hoofbumping RD while Butters hums a silent little “Mm-hmm,” in the background.

“... You guys,” Dusk gasps quietly, his voice filled with gratitude. “Thank you all, really…

"... So, just to confirm; you really don’t mind my crazy magic skills?”

We all answer back with a hearty nod of ‘no’.

“Okay... Okay... Well then, that’s good to hear… because...”

Standing up straight and full of purpose, with a fire now burning behind his determined look, Dusk casts a hoof back towards town square as he declares that;

“The Great and Powerful Dusk Shine thinks that it’s time to kick The Trixster’s flank into next week!”

BB, despite not knowing the pony Dusk is referring to, cheers a loud and bloodthirsty warcry of “Yeaaaa-”

“The show's already over though, dude,” Rainbow divulges quickly.

“-aaahhh… Poo,” BB winds down, pouting over the news.

“Oh… really?” Dusk asks, disappointed; upset that he had missed his opportunity to properly redeem himself.

“Heh. ‘Fraid so, sparky,” Applejack guffaws, before heading his way back towards his farm. “There’s always next time.”

“I’m certain that when your paths cross again, the follow-up battle will be splendid~” Elusive chimes in, choosing now to depart as well.

“Sure hope I’m there to see it when it happens,” Rainbow titters in good cheer, spreading his wings and preparing to take off. "Two cool dudes magic dueling sounds like a wickedly awesome time!"

Flapflapflap

With his departure, all that remains in the alleyway now is myself, Dusk...

... and the two wonderful stallions that had comforted him in his time of need.

“... Welp!” BB shouts, drawing our attention. “I better get back to making that soufflé! I refuse to let it beat me… Come by later to try some, you guys! Maybe grab a cup of my big bro's rock-solid brew too while you're at it; got a fresh shipment this morning for us to share! Bye Butters, Dusk, Barb!”

SLAM!

Exiting in the same manner he had entered, Bubble Berry leaves the scene via a slamming door.

And then there were three.

“... Say… Butters?” Dusk asks the last pony present. “You know a lot about animals, right? Do you know anything about Ursa Minors? Something Trixster’s assistant said made me curious to learn more about them.”

“Yes!” the giant, sometimes stoic, stallion squees adorably at the question. “I know a ton about them! They’re actually very gentle creatures most of the time, oh but how they do love to wrestle~”

“Fascinating...” Dusk replies back, scratching his chin. “... Do you want to hang out? I’d love to talk.”

“Sure!”

“All right!” Dusk replies, before turning to me. “Want to tag along, Barb?” a much happier, and calmer, pony asks me directly; granting me a bit of personal relief that he was well and truly over what had happened.

A bit of personal relief… but not complete relief, I'm sad to report.

“No thanks,” I answer back, waving his offer off. “You guys can go and have fun without me. I’ve got some… errands left to run.”

“Oh… Okay,” is Dusk’s only response, not sparing my words a second thought. "Guess I'll see you later then." He then focuses back to his other friend, as the two of them start to depart. “So, to begin; what do Ursa Minors actually wrestle with out there in the woods?”

“Well me, mostly," Butters wing shrugs. "but sometimes they play with downed trees when I'm not around.”

“Hahaha… Wow Butters! I didn’t take you for a kidder! That was hilarious!”

“...”

“... Oh sweet Solaris you were being serious.”

Tuning the rest of the conversation out, focusing on the task at claw, I ponder on my next course of action. The episode must be halfway done by now… but I’m not sure whether this changed conversation helped Dusk to learn the lesson properly or not… Not only that, the whole timeline is completely out of whack now on top of it all…

...

… but…

... maybe there’s one area where it’s still on track.

_______________________________

Okay… it took me about an hour to find them… but there they are.

Sugar and Spice; this world’s Snips and Snails. Those two colts were the ones originally responsible for bringing an Ursa Minor into Ponyville for Trixie to ‘vanquish’. Their female counterparts look like they have enough brain cells between them to pull off a similar feat, so that's good...

... They don’t seem to be doing much of anything right now though... They’re just standing around and talking, as young girls do...

... Well I’m a young girl too, so let’s turn this into a gossip party, shall we?

“What are you two doing?” I make myself known, approaching the pair with arms crossed. Jumping a bit at my surprise entrance, the pair of fillies turn away from whatever it was they were fawning over and make to address me.

“Oh! Hi… um… Barbie?”

“It’s Barb,” I correct for Sugar without further comment.

“Right! Barb! Hi Barb!”

“Hi,” I wave back dryly, noticing that their attention seems to be on me and me alone now.

They’re not mentioning Trixster at all...

“... What are you girls up to?” I switch gears, trying to appear friendly. I was coming in aggro because I vaguely remember that being what Spike did. He was responsible in part for Snips and Snails' poor actions, and I had thought that I was going to have to begrudgingly play a similar role in today's events… But if they're not talking about Trixster, then I don't think that's going to be the case anymore.

Good, I guess. Strange but good; Trixster's wagon gets to remain whole, and I don't have to preemptively feel guilty about indirectly smashing it. The destruction of Trixie's own was a facet of the original episode that I hadn't been actively thinking about, due to the mare's non-reaction towards its loss. Why that was the case I'm unsure; if she was a main character I'm certain her feelings about the event would have been explored, but since she wasn't...

“We’re seeing whose autograph is better,” Spice details for me, knocking me out of my thoughts; using her weak unicorn magic to lift up a single piece of paper.

I discover it to be a signed poster of The Great and Powerful Trixster.

“Yeah!” Sugar copies, lifting up her own poster… though her's was of Stardust Glimmer instead. “I think Stardust is cooler, but Trixster has better hornwriting.”

“Hehe, yeah,” Spice snickers with her friend. “I guess that’s why he’s just an assistant!”

“He seemed pretty powerful too though!”

“Nu-hu!

“Yeah-huh!”

“Ladies,” I try delicately to interject myself between them. “They gave you two their autographs?”

“They gave everypony autographs before they left Ponyville!”

“What?!” I gasp out, not having been made aware of this part of the story until now. “They’re gone already?!” I knew their show was over, but the two of them skipped town on top of that?! Before the actual show was over?! What the hell?!

“Yeah... Heh, guess you missed your chance to get one yourself, huh?” Sugar pries, laughing at my perceived misfortune.

“Which one did you want, Barb?” Spice asks me innocently.

“... Stardust,” I murmur crossly, though not in reply.

Stardust Glimmer has easily become the greatest abnormality I’ve experienced thus far in this world, and he's made himself scarce. I should have been seeking him out first instead of these girls, but I held onto the fear that the Ursa still needed to happen...

... Who the heck is this guy, and where did he come from?! Why did he target Dusk?! How can he manipulate cutie marks with a flipping Talent Spell?! When did he become Trixster's friend... and... What does he want?

My fist tightens at my side as questions upon questions pile up inside my head, weighing heavily against my thoughts.

“Oh! Good choice!” Sugar praises me, unaware of my inner conflict. “Stardust is soooo dreamy~”

“And smart too!” Spice adds in, sighing alongside her friend. “It was super tough for me to choose between the two of them!”

“Haha, yeah... I choose Stardust because of that thing told us about Ursas!”

... Huh?

My ears perk up at this last comment. “Ursas?” I ask Sugar, probing her further. “What did Stardust say about them?”

“He said that little fillies like us shouldn’t be messing around with them.”

"And that they're dangerous...“

"... And that we shouldn't even be thinking about them at all!”

?!?!

“Ooooohhh yeah,” Spice drags on, giggling at the very thought. “I forgot about that! We were all like ‘I want to see Trixster vanquish an Ursa!’, and he was all, ‘Don’t even think about it, little ladies,’ before we even said anything! It was totally like… like…

“... like he could read our minds!" Sugar finishes, squealing, "EEEeee! So cool!!”

“...”

… I start... to walk away.

“See you around, Barb!” Sugar cries out, waving happily as I depart.

I find myself unable to wave back, as my mind slowly becomes enveloped in a million different flavors of a single, overpowering emotion:

Worry.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Later that night, Dusk returned home to the library and drafted up his latest friendship report for the Prince.

The contents wasn't what I was hoping to see.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Dear Prince Solaris,

I have learned a very valuable lesson about friendship:

I learned how power influences the way others perceive you.

Some are born with it, some grow into it, and others learn how to harness it. No matter the method, however, those with power are in charge of how it's used. They can show it off, bury it, even use it for their good or evil causes; but the wielder must understand that their power will define them in the eyes of others. I was frightened of using my own power beyond what was necessary, under fear of being seen as a show-off, but I've come to realize that the only pony's opinion I should care about are my friends'. They're not afraid of what I'm capable of, so I'll no longer be either as I continue to become stronger. I will now train my magic twice as hard so I can harness it wisely, and so I can use it to defend the ones I love.

Your Faithful Student,
-Dusk Shine

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

The wordage was vastly different from what little I could still recall from Twilight’s letter, with a moral only similar on a surface level. It was certainly better than the alternative of Dusk learning nothing from today, but there's a feeling of unease now gripping at my chest. If I hadn’t called out to Butterscotch when I did, where would the path we narrowly dodged had led us?

What would have been the result if Dusk hadn't learned a lesson? Would a cowardly stallion, afraid of using his magic, survive a Changeling invasion? Could he still stand firm in the face of whatever villain will be rising along with the Crystal Empire in the north? I’ve made it so my charge will never have to face Eris, the Lord of Chaos, but I know that I can’t protect him forever. I’m not a real Seer; I don’t know what the future truly holds...

... However...

... I think I met somepony today who is one.

Stardust Glimmer must be a Seer. If it weren’t for Sugar and Spice’s tiny interaction with him I would have still been just as in the dark as I was before, but thanks to the Ursa warning I now know that he has future information to some degree. It’s the only explanation that makes sense; my own Sight has allowed me to slightly change events, so other Seers must have that kind of ability too.

His power seems to be stronger than mine though, as it has apparently allowed him to transform Trixster into a completely different pony from the one he was destined to become. For what ends I’m unsure; for what benefit I’m equally as stumped. I don’t even know if his visions are like the Prince’s where he can see the changes, or if they’re like mine where it’s set in stone.

Perhaps... he’s even more like me than even that...

Perhaps he’s seen My Little Pony the same as I have.

The lack of information is tearing me up inside. I made so many sacrifices to maintain history the best I could, yet Stardust gets to waltz right on in and smash the River's Stone?! Why?! Him skipping town is the icing on the cake; I feel compelled to do something about all this, but there's little I can do! Do I wait for him to return? Do I make the attempt to track him down myself? Will he be affecting other key points in Dusk’s life if I leave him alone? Was he even focusing on Dusk in the first place, or was my charge just an unlucky bystander?!

As per usual I have more questions than answers. I hate how easily he was able to rip my sense of peace away from me, but there’s literally nothing I can do to stop-

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

My quill halts mid-word, as I still my written rant.

“... No,” I admit to myself, in the nightly calm of the library. The light of my candle flickers as I stare down at my diary. “No, that's... That’s not completely true…"

There's one thing else I can do right now, to try to return everything back to the way it was… but… should I? Do I want to take that kind of risk again? I lost so many of my secrets last time... Will the further death of my peace of mind be worth it..?

…

... Setting The Poisoned Barb back into my purse, I now lift from the satchel two very important items:

A single piece of blank parchment...

... and a letter sending seal.

Combining the tools together with my re-inked quill; I steady my claw, and summon all of my drive, in order to write the all important words.

...

"... For Dusk," I whisper, mind set.

Quill and parchment meet.

Dear Prince Solaris,

My Sight has swerved, and I believe another Seer is to blame.

We need to talk.

Your Faithful Squire,
-Barbara The Dragoness

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

“Ahhhh,” contently sighed the Great and Powerful Trixster, as he rested his weary hooves upon his wagon's soft hammock. “Another day, another successful show,” he hummed to himself, beyond pleased with how Ponyville had turned out.

It had only been a hooffull of years since the young adult and his foalhood friend had left their hometown in search of fame and glory, and in that time their shows together had garnered quite the hefty following. Using a combination of skill, talent studying, and good old fashioned stage magic; The Trixster's dream of performing for the very Princes of Equestria was quickly becoming more than a pipe dream.

The showstallion could feel it in his very bones; him and Stardust were on their way to the big[ times.

As the tired pony nestled into his simple bed, fantasizing of his future successes, his eyes wandered for a time before settling upon a strange sight; that of a lone picture frame nestled neatly in a crutch between the wall and nightstand.

"Oh... It must have gotten misplaced during the show," The Trixster mused, as he used his magic to lift the treasured photograph back to where it belonged. The unicorn lingered on the picture for a moment before setting it down, and allowing himself the minute necessary to fully appreciate its contents.

Within the photograph lied the image of a young blue colt, with both mother and father happily by his side.

“Getting nostalgic there, Trix?” called out a voice from the wagon’s entrance.

Snorting at the accusation, The Trixster set the frame aside.

“Perhaps,” the laying stallion admitted, allowing himself to become more casual in the presence of his first friend. “One must look back every now and then in order to appreciate how far they’ve come, Stardust.”

Now it was Stardust’s turn to snort.

“If you say so,” the standing unicorn waved the other off, disregarding his words...

~Twinkletwinkletwi- thwink~!

... before chucking a glass container at his head.

"Catch," Stardust ordered, not granting his partner the time to react.

~Twinkle~

But, with practiced ease, Trixster caught the orb easily with his magic. "Ahhhh... Hello again, beautiful," he spoke sweetly to the object now cradled in his hooves, acting as though he would receive an answer from it. "Long time no see."

The cutie mark in the bottle did not reply.

This was to be expected.

"Always hate to see you go" he continued to singsong as he removed the bottle's cork, allowing the blue wand and crescent moon symbol to more easily return to him. "But always glad to have you home. Come to papa!“

An equal sign flashed briefly upon Trixster's flank then, it's draining affects momentarily reawakening... but this event quickly became an afterthought as the original cutie mark soon took its place. While this was going on a serene smile began to grace Stardust's lips, as the sight of his one and only friend's silly behavior brought a pleasant sense of amusement to his heart.

No matter how many times he had removed the cutie mark, in order to allow the temporary ones to 'speak' more readily to their new host, and no matter how difficult it was to magically suppress the negative aspects of the Talent Spell; Stardust never tired of Trixster's joyful reactions to having his true talent restored.

"... Speakingof coming and going," Stardust then raised his voice, regaining the other unicorn's attention from his magical revitalization. "I’ve got our next route planned out!”

Taken aback by this claim, Trixster sat up in his hammock.

“Really?!” he asked his assistant excitedly, not unlike a foal ready to receive a new toy. “Amazing as always, Stardust! Where will we be heading next, hmm? Manehatten? Los Pegasus...? Oh oh!! Is it time for us to go to Canterlot yet?! The Grand Galloping Gala's coming up you know!”

“Heh," the pink unicorn snickered behind a hoof, thoroughly loving Trixster's enthusiasm. "Easy there, Trix. Easy.” With his magic, he next brought forth a giant map from the ether; one with many pins dotted along it's massive surface.

The scroll left hardly any walking room on the floor, but this was of little concern to one such as Stardust who could easily self-levitate. Trixster, without another's cutie mark upon his flank to respecialize his magic, was not as fortunate; but he made due by remaining in the hammock that hung above it.

“We’ll get to Canterlot..." Stardust resumed explaining. "... eventually. I promise it'll be our next destination someday…

"... buuuttt we’re going to have to go on a little bit of a... detour first before then.”

Confused by his friend's words, Trixster leaned over his bedding's edge and gazed at the unfurled chart that lay below.

“... Stardust,” he then spoke up, concern highly present in his tone. “... This path of yours…”

“Yeeesss?” the other young adult pried cheekily, hovering casually into his foalhood friend's side. “What is it?”

Trixster offered Stardust a sidelong glance from within their pseudo hug. The Great and Powerful Trixster, for the third time today...

... was not amused.

“This path of yours will take us out of Equestria completely!” he sulked, frantically shaking a hoof at the graph. “This can’t possibly be the best route for us... can it?”

“Hehe, oh Trix,” Stardust teased his friend softly,

Smoooch~

easing his concerns with a loving peck upon his cheek.

“You’re going to have to trust your lovely assistant on this one,” the sultry unicorn continued to tease, floating away; allowing his tail to brush up against Trixster's chin as he did.

Enjoying the touch, but still confused, Trixster pressed again. “But-”

“Trust, me,” the Great and Powerful Assistant insisted, placing a second kiss right next to the first to seal the deal. Now whispering suggestively into his ‘friend’s’ ear, Stardust finished his pitch with a simple statement of, “We’re not going to want to stay in central Equestria for a bit.”

"..."

When it became apparent that no further information was forthcoming, The Trixster remained unsure…

… but, with a reluctant sigh, he allowed the argument to go.

Just as he had countless times before.

“Hmph... Fine... but let me guess,” Trixster huffed, right as Stardust began to warp away his map. “This is the result of another one of your little predictions, isn’t it?”

The flat maned stallion halted in place for a moment... before resuming his cleaning as if he hadn't.

“Maybe,” he relented briefly, offering another disarming chuckle. “... Maybe not~! A magician never reveals his tricks, Trix... You're the pony who taught me that, remember?”

“... Are you saying that The Trixster only has himself to blame for your secrets, Stardust...?”

“Hmmmm… Yup!”

“... Hehe… Fair enough,” Trixster relaxed, easing off his probing. “Guess I shouldn't complain; you were spot on with your talent guesses today as usual...

"...More so than usual, now that I think about it!" he admitted, the shock evident in his voice. "To be honest, I thought you signed me up for those beginner rodeo, design, and aerodynamics classes as a joke!”

“Nope!” the assistant nodded his head happily, chortling at Trixster's amazement. “I've said it once and I'll say it as many times as it'll take for you to start believing; I’ve got everything figured out for us, Trix! Just trust in me and I’ll lead you to all the fame and glory you could ever want…

“... Well, goodnight!” Stardust then declared, stepping towards the exit. “I’m going to go hit the hay. You can find me at that cute little inn we spotted on the way into town.”

“Duly noted,” Trixster confirmed, snuggling into his hammock; preparing to retire for the night. “But, you know Stardust... you don’t haveto rent a room every time we roll into a new town! You’re always free to stay here with me in the wagon and…”

Trixster wiggled his brow.

“... Cuddle~”

“...”

Stardust sighed dreamily.

“As much as I like that idea, Trix,” he conceded, stealthily snuffing out the wagon's lamps to hide his blush. “I’m sure you remember how disastrous our first roadtrip went when we tried that...”

“... Hmmm… good point,” Trixster cringed, shivering in the dark at the referenced memory. "May we never fight over haycakes again."

“Agreed...

"... So then," Stardust made to leave again. "If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a bed calling my name!”

“Hehe. Alrighty, Stardust," Trixster giggled quietly, suppressing a yawn. "Have a good night.”

“You too,” his partner replied back, before turning to depart in earnest. The open fields of the Unicorn Range awaited the sleepy stallion as he set his front hoof down upon the grassy knoll, and prepared to gall-

“Before you go,” Trixster interrupted suddenly, forcing Stardust to halt in place at the entrance...

... an unseen bead of sweat, hidden by the dusk, dripped nervously down his face; as he waited for the question he knew his friend was about to ask. He had hoped to avoid this confrontation, and for Trixster to ignore what had transpired earlier...

“Care to explain to me why you called out that one unicorn like you did, Stardust?”

... but, sure enough; the laying stallion went on to inquire about the very thing Stardust had so wished to had gone on forgotten.

"..."

"... Stardust... Please answer me."

"..."

“... Not particularly, no,” Stardust eventually squeaked back in reply, pointedly not facing the other as he did.

“Stardust," Trixster left the hammock, concern filling his voice. "Please... It’s been on my mind.”

“... O-oh don’t get your cape in a knot over it!” Stardust snapped defensively, still deflecting as he turned to address his darkness shrouded partner. “I just wanted to have a little fun of my own, that’s all!”

“We don’t call audience members out like that though,” Trixster pushed harder, not allowing this point to be brushed aside as easily as others had in the past. “That's not how my mama ran her shows, and it's not how I'm going to run mine either... Was he somepony important?”

“Hah!” the assistant huffed, holding back an indignant howl. "Don't make me laug-"

CLOP

A hoof slammed down on the floor, silencing Stardust completely.

"Was, he, important?" Trixster repeated, his hardened eyes flashing with reflected moonlight.

Stardust gulped.

“N... N-not even close, Trix!" the nervous pony proceeded to backpedal, now realizing how close he was to crossing an unspoken line. "Not even close... He wasn’t anypony special at all...”

“... If he wasn't special," Trixster eased off his anger, delicately taking a step closer. "Then... why did you call him out like you did?”

"..."

A haunting silence fell upon the room shortly thereafter, the question lingering in the air like a thick miasma. The moon became hidden during this time, having done so thanks to drifting pegasus clouds. Darkness consumed the scene, obscuring features, leaving only silhouettes to populate the wagon's interior. In the resulting calm such a thing wrought, as crickets chirped, embers died, and a lonely wind blew faintly against the windows; Trixster's foalhood companion remained mute…

"... Heh..."

… before his wolfish grin shined out in the dark.

“He reminded me of a mare I used to know,” Stardust Glimmer shared with mocking bark; spitting hatred far hotter than his friend thought him capable of,

and far older than his youthful form would suggest

Entry 8, Part 1 (Dragonapped)

~Dear Diary~

My anxiety is through the flipping roof.

It's been three days since I sent Solaris my letter concerning Trixster's assistant, and in those three days I've seen no sign of the pair returning. They haven't made any headlines either, so I haven't the foggiest ~~idea~~ where they they could have wandered off to. Was Ponyville just a pitstop in their journey? Was Dusk not their main target?

The threat Stardust Glimmer poses to the timeline has kept me perpetually jumpy ever since he first appeared. He's an unknown wild card capable of altering events and even friendship lessons; he can't be allowed to do as he pleases. I lack the means to track him though, or a means to determine whether he's a Seer or something more.

My only hope is to work with Solaris on another villain countermeasure plan, like the one we made up for Eris... Unfortunately, I don't think the Prince understands the gravity of the situation yet. If he did he wouldn't have answered me in the way he did; I had expected his reply to my emergency message to be swift and full of purpose.

I hadn't expected it to be leisurely and full of nothingness.

No "understood", no "that is most troubling"; the Prince's only response to my plea for help was to send a short reminder that our monthly talk was coming up in a few days, and to then tack on an even smaller P.S. detailing how I'll be reimbursed for the travel expenses within five business days.

It was curt.

It was soulless.

It completely ignored my worries ~~and it reminded me way too much of how he~~ used ~~to treat me back when I was a toddler~~

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

The sound of tearing paper rings out in the empty bedroom.

"No no," I grumble, crumpling the torn sheet and tossing it into the trash bin beside me. "Don't embellish, don't get emotional. Just... state the facts."

Quill meets paper once again.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Dear Diary~

It's been three days since I last wrote in you, and in those three days Solaris has been incredibly lax in helping me.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

I rip this page out as well.

"That doesn't paint the whole picture."

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Dear Diary~

I don't trust-

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Another one bites the dust.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Dear Diary~

I should have never sent that lett-

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Rip and tear.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Dear Diary~

Prince Solaris is the biggest meanie pants in the whole wide wor-

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

With a roar of pure unfiltered rage, I shred this final page into confetti and scatter it to the winds.

"Stupid infant brain!" I snarl, beyond pissed with myself. "Just let me think straight for once in this bucking life!"

"Barbara!"

"Eep!"

Startled by the sudden voice, I whip nervous eyes towards the loft's entrance and, consequently, a highly disappointed looking Dusk Shine.

Oops.

"S-sorry," I apologize, becoming self-conscious of my immature behavior...

... and very self-conscious of my discarded pile of English written pages.

Double oops.

In an effort to prevent my charge from taking in this detail, I leap from my chair and dash into his line of sight. "Didn't think you'd be back so soon," I greet him innocently, aiming to divert his attention.

"That's no excuse for using that word like that," Dusk scolds with shaking head, taking the bait. "You have to be more careful. You don't want to mistakenly teach Sweepy Belle or Scooteroll that kind of language and get them in trouble, do you?"

...

... With ears drooping, I whimper out a weak and pathetic, "No," as a powerful feeling of shame begins to seep into me.

Why did he have to drag my friends into this?! My misdirection may have been a smashing success, b-but what if Dusk thinks I'm a bad influence and doesn't let me see them anymore?!

I can't lose those two colts.

I-I can't.

"I'm sorry," I repeat myself, shying away from Dusk's gaze. "I-I just got a little mad while writing in my diary, that's all."

"... Oh," he notes plainly, his voice taking on a more understanding tone. His expression is slowly losing all trace of his earlier disapproval as well, I notice. "I see... Writer's block?"

"Yeah..." I whisper, all while rubbing my arm in an effort to calm myself. Writing is usually my go to hobby for de-stressing, but my thoughts have been so all over the flipping place lately that it's become next to impossible to get the ball rolling. Every sentence I've jotted down, every word... it just feels wrong somehow.

Everything feels wrong right now, if I'm being honest; not just this situation but the entire world. Why did things have to start getting so out of hand so fast? Why...

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Barb."

At least Dusk is sympathetic of my plight, even if he doesn't know the full story.

"Those are never fun," he goes on, concern clear. "... Hey! Why don't I grab Writer's Essentials 101 for us to read? It might just do the trick if we tackle it together!"

"..."

... A small smile grows on my lips.

"Heh... No thanks," I allow myself to snicker, and allow myself to lower my guard. "Finding answers from a book is more your thing, not mine." Dusk has always had such a wonderful gift for being just the right pony I need at just the right time.

Guess I shouldn't have expected anything less from the colt who convinced this Lost Soul that life was still worth living.

"Aww, are you sure?" Dusk insists, taking a step closer inside and, more discerningly, a step closer towards the desk. "I think it might really help you out!"

Not wanting him to see one solitary letter of the English language, I side step in order to remain his primary focus. "Yeah, I am," I let him down gently. "It's just a diary, Dusk. I'm not writing the next Dashing Dare or anything here."

"That doesn't mean it's not important," the young stallion lectures passionately. "If writing makes you happy, and you can't do that because of a writer's block, then you owe it to yourself to work through it. Writing is the soul given form."

I blink blankly in reply.

"..."

"... What?" Dusk finally works up the nerve to ask why I'm staring.

... Look... I love this pony...

... but this love ain't gonna stop me from telling him how,

"That was the second cheesiest thing you have ever said."

'Writing is the soul given form'?

Ha!

I may like to wax poetics every now and then within The Poisoned Barb, but even I'm not that sappy...

... Don't you dare try to say otherwise.

"H-hey!" Dusk stutters out in embarrassment, causing my grin to grow. "I was just quoting Writer's Essentials 101... And what do you mean second?!"

A snort escapes me, as well as my tension.

I needed this.

I really needed this break.

"Oh?" I continue to tease, acting coy. "Mister Dusk 'I'm a scholar and a fighter' Shine wants to know what his cheesiest line was?"

The blush now upon 'Mr.' Shine's cheeks indicates that I need not say more.

"T-that was just a spur of the moment thing," he tries to defend his past self, though we both know he doesn't have a leg to stand on. "Really!"

"Heh, yeah," I keep going, not letting up. "If you say so."

What kind of assistant would I be if I didn't push my charge's buttons every now and then?

A boring one, that's what.

With a disgruntled huff, Dusk thankfully starts backing off from my desk. "Well I thought it sounded cool," he groans under his breath, unaware that I can still hear him.

Letting up on my hazing, content with having chased him away from my diary, I soak deeply in the calm for a moment... before a new question arises to the forefront of my mind.

"Wait, are you heading to bed already?" I ask, after realizing where he's heading. "But it's not even noon yet!"

"..."

With equal confusion now etched across his own face, the unicorn turns towards the bedroom's sole windowsill and glances outside.

"It... isn't?" he asks back, taking in the darkened skies above. "Huh. Guess that's why I'm not tired. The clouds must have thrown my internal clock off."

"..."

... Crossing my arms, standing up a little straighter, it becomes apparent that it's now my turn to do some scolding.

"Did you lose track of time while reading again, young man?"

Thanks to the tactical usage of motherly terminology, Dusk's cheeks return to their reddened hue.

"S-sorry," he stammers, apologizing to me in a not too dissimilar manner to my own from earlier.

Huh, déjà vu...

... Some days I have to wonder whether Dusk is slowly becoming more like me or if I'm becoming more like him...

... No comments.

"You better still have that hourglass Gleaming got you," I resume, refusing to get distracted and not allowing this lapse in judgment to slide so easily. "She gave you it because she knew how into books you get! Please set it next time you want to read for a bit."

"Bu-"

"Please," I plead, setting aside my inner turmoil to be the assistant I need to be. "I don't want to be worrying about you accidentally starving yourself to death when I'm in Canterlot this weekend!"

Don't pretend like he wouldn't, folks; the siren song of 'just one more page' has been Dusk's kryptonite for as long as I've known him. Before I reentered his life, and started acting as his aid, the dumb teen used to pass out in the library all the gosh darn time! I swear if it wasn't for the head librarian, Smudged Leaflets, watching out for him he would have legitimately been dead long before we reunited.

"Snrk."

Dusk's snort returns me from my thoughts, and disregards my plea, all at the same time.

"What?" he chuckles at my concern, undoing his prior efforts to cheer me up. Turning away, apparently more interested in browsing a nearby bookshelf, he goes on. "I'm not going to starve myself to death! I'll have you know that I'm a very responsible pony!"

His gaze then wanders back my way.

"You don't have to worry about a thing, Barb-"

Channeling the memory of my daughter, I cut off the rant with puppy dog eyes.

Ashley... please give your late mama the strength to do what you did best.

Please give me the strength to guilt trip like there's no tomorrow.

"..."

"... I'll... I-I'll use the hourglass," Dusk at last relents, granting me my peace of mind. "I promise."

"Thank you," I respond gratefully, offering these words for both him and... her. "I feel much better now."

A small hum is Dusk's final contribution to this second conversation; meaning it, just like with the first, was now officially over. In the quiet aftermath, I find myself returning to my desk with the singular goal of packing up my diary. The task was quick and easy, only taking up half of a minute...

... but I wish it had taken longer.

With both tasks and discussions completed, and with nothing else to distract me; my mind only had the dark place left for it to wander.

The same dark place it had been trapped in prior to Dusk's arrival.

Momentary levity followed by soul crushing despair... Story of my life in a nutshell, I suppose.

"Hmmm... Oh, yeah!" my charge suddenly cries out from upstairs, causing me to flinch...

... Please don't ask that question again... please don't ask that question again... plea-

"That reminds me..."

Please please please pleas-

"You never told me what Prince Solaris wants to see you about, Barb."

...

... With back still turned, my response to Dusk's casual inquiry comes out quickly and devoid of emotion.

"Royal business."

Please accept it this time... please accept it this time... plea-

"Oh. Okay," he continues to hum, curiosity still clear in his voice. "And... what does 'royal business' mean exactly?"

"It means... royal business," I repeat with a shrug...

... wishing I was brave enough to tell him more.

Dusk's guess is as good as mine; 'royal business' is just the excuse the Prince told me to use in the off chance anypony ever asked me about our meetings.

I'm grateful that I was allowed to make Dusk aware of these conferences of ours, don't get me wrong. Even if I was forbidden from also disclosing how they'll be centered around his future, my charge's prior knowledge of the arrangement meant that I didn't have to make up an excuse for wanting to go to Canterlot out of the blue. As selfish as this is to admit, being able to give him the (semi) truth for once feels pleasantly refreshing. I've fed that poor pony too many lies as is.

I still fail to see why he thinks said arrangement is the bees knees though.

"I'm jealous that you're going to get to speak to the Prince privately," Dusk laments, sighing dreamily over my 'windfall'. I can practically hear the stars in his eyes sparkling from all the way down here. "Do you know how much of an honor that is?"

"Not really," I shrug again in reply, unsure how to respond.

The student's faith in his teacher has discouraged him from asking too many questions, thank goodness, but I suppose it's impossible to ever truly silence an inquisitive mind such as his.

That's what I love and hate the most about him.

"When we lived in Canterlot I had to talk to him weekly about your research projects," I turn to remind Dusk, downplaying the importance of this coming meeting. "Don't you remember?"

"Yes but that was Canterlot," he points out, gasping at my lack of excitement. "It's easier for Prince Solaris to do that in the capital! Being summoned from so far away is a waaayyy bigger deal... Are you sure you don't know what 'royal business' means?"

"Maybe it's something boring like living expenses," I suggest, deflecting once again; getting tired of his probing. "Or maybe he wants me for some... dragon thing or something."

"Dragon thing?"

Grasping at straws, I shrug even harder. "I don't know, Dusk! It's the best guess I have! I mean, I know about as much about dragons as you do so it's not all that far-fetched, right?"

"..."

"... Dusk?"

"Hm?" Dusk responds, mind returning from whatever it was he was just thinking about. "Oh... Y-yeah. Right. You're... probably right... Promise me you'll tell me all about it when you get back though, okay?"

"..."

... Balling my claw up into a fist behind my back, I lie straight to my best friend's face.

"Promise."

So much for the nice change of pace.

Happy with my answer, unaware of the sickening misuse of his trust, Dusk Shine drops the subject all together. He grants me one last warm smile before trotting his way over to his bed and out of my line of sight. Pages turn in the ensuing silence, not surprising me in the slightest.

Look at him; not a care in the world.

How I envy...

...

... Wanting a distraction from my once again toxic thoughts, I don my purse and pick up the full trash can beside the writing desk. Exiting the bedroom, I stomp down the stairs and towards the front door.

"Stupid Solaris," I growl once I'm out of Dusk's earshot. "Stupid Stardust."

Now outside the library, I make my way to our backyard and over to where we keep our garbage...

...

... Fwoosh!

"... Stupid secrets," I finish with a tired, sulfur scented sigh.

As a crackling noise fills the air, I watch as my emerald dragonfire transforms the bundle of rejected diary entries into an indistinguishable pile of smoldering embers. Can never be too careful; what if Dusk decided to take out the trash and stumbled on one of my English written pages?

He must never learn the truth about me, and neither can Solaris.

Regrettably though, I think my letter may have been the first of many tilted dominoes leading towards that revelation.

There's no evidence that hints at such, I'll admit, but that hasn't stopped this wait from feeling uncomfortably like the calm before the storm. All the elements are there; at a glance everything seems okay. I'm going to get to talk to the Prince about Stardust Glimmer, and discuss his possible status as a Seer, so mission accomplished... right?

If that's true, then why don't I feel any better?

Why is there instead a weight in my chest, and a gnawing at my mind?

Anxiety, fear, tiredness, worry; a cocktail of negative emotions is welling up inside me and threatening to come to the surface. To describe it as unpleasant would be to undersell it, and to liken it to a panic attack would be to overhype it... Certainly a sickening state of being, is it not? It's no wonder I've been unable to find any relief in my usual craft of choice today.

Want to know the worst part?

The worst part is that I should have been expecting as much when I sent that letter in the first place.

I should have expected this overwhelming sense of distress, just as I should have been expecting Solaris' silence. I'm certain he's taking my warning seriously despite his lack of correspondence... but I'm also certain that he's using this time to scheme as well. It's the only logical reason I can think of for why he hasn't taken the time to write me a more meaningful message yet. He must be busy getting things ready for another one of our 'pleasant' little tea parties.

You know...?

The ones where he unabashedly interrogates me?

Calm before the storm indeed...

... Sigh... If there's any upside to all this stressful waiting it's that I've been granted time to prep for whatever Solaris is about to throw at me, as well as time to meditate on what it is that makes Stardust so dangerous. He has some kind of beef with Dusk, that much is certain. Seeing as how my little introverted pony never left the capital before Nightterror Nebula's return I'm left to speculate on what said beef could possibly be.

Stardust Glimmer being a Seer is the answer I'm running with right now, and I don't think such a guess is too far off the mark. It checks the most boxes out of any of my theories, which is why it only made sense to mention it in my SOS. Hopefully Prince Solaris will agree with me once I finally get to talk to him. I'm going to trust him with the final decision, so him being on the same page as me would be such a nice bonu-

Hey... Why are you making that face...?

... Oh. I get it.

I'm sure from an outsider's perspective the trust I have in Prince Solaris might seem misplaced. He's the pony who once tried to turn me into Dusk's maid, after all, and the one whose silence is causing me to lose sleep at night. 'Trust' seems tad too strong a word, doesn't it?

Funnily enough I feel the opposite.

Despite all the pain and heartache the Prince's selfish actions has put me through, I still greatly appreciate the guidance and aid he's offered Dusk and I over the years. From my charge's tuition that pays for our room and board, to my title of Squire which rewards me far more power than a child my age should have (such as the right to travel by myself); we both owe that old alicorn a debt for the kindness he's shown us.

Solaris is also the only pony in this life who I accept as my elder. Seeing as how he knows vastly more about Equus than anypony alive it only makes sense. Looking up to him for answers is not illogical, and in fact is not too dissimilar to how I operated the first time I was seven years old. His experience is what I'm banking on to guide me with this Stardust problem, so giving him the benefit of the doubt only seems fair...

... But don't go mixing up my hopefulness with naïvety.

I'm well aware that Solaris' aid doesn't come free, just as I'm well aware that knowledge is the toll I'll have to pay to change the future.

And thus we've come to the true root of this unease.

Info is what I paid when I wanted Solaris to keep Eris away from Dusk, so it's undoubtedly the price I'll have to pay again if I want him to gain similar protection from Stardust. Revealing more about my past has been the only way I've been able to prod that know-it-all Prince into action, so I'm not expecting anything different going forward. This unspoken transaction is the main source of my anxiety right now, because I know better then anyone else how limited a resource knowledge is.

Quick refresher, for both of our benefits; so far the Prince has been able to wrangle out of me the fact that I've seen the future, that my 'visions' take place in an Equestria ruled over by Princess Celestia, and that I'm hiding a larger secret... but he hasn't figured out what yet. He knows it's something that attracts phoenixes towards me, but that's seemingly it.

...

... I...

... I-I can't allow him to gain anymore ground than that.

I just... can't.

I may have grown tremendously in these past few weeks, but my fear of somepony discovering my secret refuses to vanish. Red Gala, Sweepy, Scooter, Rainbow Dash; my new friends have only served to sharpen this terror of mine, not lessen. If they ever learned how I've been lying to them all this time... I don't want to ever take off this mask of mine. I don't want to ever reveal the dark underneath. I can't picture how anypony would react to such a thing, especially Dusk.

Every time I try to visualize him discovering the truth my mind only draws nightmares...

... and said nightmares only multiply when Solaris gets added into the mix.

The Prince is, for lack of a better word, too elusive in his mentality for one to accurately predict; whether he'd be supportive of my existence or a hindrance is a complete mystery. He could begrudgingly accept me in order to preserve his Future Sight, or he could toss me aside in the hope of his vision changing. He willingly gave me the choice to be adopted instead of becoming Dusk's assistant, so him not needing me isn't outside the realm of possibility.

His guilt for sending me to the Bluebelle's estate, his shame for pushing Sunset Blaze too hard, the surprise he displayed in discovering that his brother was not yet beyond redemption; I still believe that these were all unscripted peeks into who he really is, as well as genuine cracks in his royal persona... Having gone from seeing him weekly to monthly, however, has done wonders on my perspective. I can now confidently state that the relationship I share with the Prince isn't true friendship.

Speaking frankly, I don't know what it is!

All I know is that it's one I have to maintain if I want to protect Dusk from this world's more aggressive villains. I don't have any other choice...

...

"... Just... J-just focus on sharing only Stardust Glimmer, and breathing, and everything will be okay Barbara," I speak softly to myself, clasping claws together in a silent prayer. "Breathe in... Breathe out... You've survived worse, girl. You'll survive this too. Everything is going to be okay, so don't let Solaris rile you up like this before you even get the chance to see him! Inhale... exhale..."

... I... am calm... I... am not angry... I am not nervous either...

...

... Still...

"... That dolt-colt should at least send me a flipping followup message already and relieve this stupid tension! GAH!"

Gah indeed, self.

You know what? Forget breathing! Solaris is an unbelievable jerk and deserves ALL of my hate! Why, when I get my claws on him, so help me Sola-, er, god I'm gonna... Bleh!

Oh how I wish Prince Solaris was the gentlecolt he pretends to be. Real ones freaking know how to treat ladies properly, and they don't have the habit of wrapping them up in unknowable machinations! I don't think Equestria knows how to make those kinds of ponies anymore though! Solaris certainly isn't one, that's for sure... and, while I'm at it, Elusive definitely isn't one either!"

Shoot, let's just keep going down the whole gosh darn line, shall we?! Bubble Berry, being the youngest of the mane six, doesn't seem to care about chivalry and I kinda get that same vibe from both Applejack and Butterscotch as well; them being too into Apples and Animals respectively to give a hoot. And... as for Dusk?

Snrk

Dusk would probably puke if a pretty mare ever talked to him! Hah!

Thinking about it now, Rainbow Dash and Sweepy Belle are about the only gentlecolts I've met so far in this life, claws down... but the former prefers to be a lady himself while the latter is flipping eight... Ugggaaahhh!! So frustrating!

This whole world is just, so, gosh darn frustrating! Gah!

Hey... You wanna know what I think would fix all of my problems, and decrease my stress levels considerably? I'm not talking about emotional growth, long overdue mind sorting, or inner meditation; those are all for chumps!

No... what would really solve aaalllll of my problems, no joke, is... Texting.

God how I miss texting! As admittedly cool as sending things through magic fire is, it certainly leaves something to be desired when it comes to speed. There's so many stupid steps; first you have the draft up the letter, secondly you have to buy a magical seal, thirdly you either have to replicate the fire with a spell or get a real dragon to do it for you, and then lastly you have to wait around until the dragon on the other side gets a little tickle in either their throat or nose to… t-to…

“Achoo!”

… to do that.

Huh.

Guess whining actually paid off for once.

Materializing itself from the ether, thanks to the aid of dragonfire, a royal scroll hovers in mid-air briefly before I take it within my claws with practiced ease. "About time," I snap at the rolled up letter. "This better have been worth all the nonexistent hair I pulled out."

Unable to wait a moment longer, I begin yanking it ope-

Clink Clink Clink

"Huh?"

Surprised by a sudden metallic sound of something dropping into the grass, I take my eyes off the letter just long enough to see an unused sending seal laying abandoned where it fell.

That’s… strange. Scroll seals usually get used up after a sending. I can even see the one that was used to deliver this letter hanging uselessly off of its edge. The one on the ground must have been tucked inside before the scroll was sent…

… Double strange. Gleaming Shield once told me that the reason Prince Solaris doesn’t attach return seals is because of the security risks they could pose if they fell into the wrong hooves. Said risks are more benign annoyances than true threats, such as prank messaging, but that doesn’t change the fact that I've never received one before. What’s so different this time?

Hopefully this letter will provide me with all the answers I’m seeking. In growing anticipation I shove the extra seal into my purse, steel my nerves, and begin reading.

…

… Wha?

Taking my eyes off of the message once more, I turn towards the clouds above.

The sight of black ash blanketing the morning sky dominates my vision, and drums up old human memories as a result.

“... Oh,” I spit, disappointment leaking through my tone.

This letter... Sigh...

... This letter isn’t for me.

“Figures... Dusk!” I cry out, re-entering the library and making my way towards the loft. “You got a letter from Prince Solaris!”

Ugh. Looks like it’s time for Dragonshy.

Yay, I guess.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Journal Entry 0047~

The young Seer has accepted the forgery.

We now need not but wait.

Entry 8, Part 2 (Dragonapped)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Entry 8, Part 3 (Dragonapped)

Dear Diary,

I don’t know what’s going on.

It feels like what happened in the library took place a lifetime ago. I’m no stranger to recalling long forgotten memories, but the ones I have about the ambush feel centuries outside my grasp. All I can remember is feeling fear, the sapping of my strength, and a dark figure looming with horn ablaze with magic... but that's it.

I also recall having reached some sort of epiphany about his identity, but that seems to have been wiped clean from my mind along with everything that preceded the discovery. I don’t know who that pony was, I don’t know how I escaped his grasp, and I don’t even remember when I decided to start writing.

Writing soothes my nerves, writing keep my thoughts together, and writing will be my gateway to figuring all this out.

Okay, let’s start by focusing on the facts.

Fact number one: after the boys left to chase away the dragon I made my way inside of the library. Fact number two: once I was in the comfort of my home somepony cut out the lights and used their magic on me. Fact number three: said pony asked me to do… something... Great, there’s the progress I needed. This “something” must be the key.

Now, what could they have possibly wanted me to do...?

No, wait. Better question, what could anypony gain in attacking me?! I don’t have any enemies in this world save for maybe Madame Red and Stardust, but I’m pretty sure neither of them care about my existence. The zebra I met in Canterlot that one time didn’t seem to like me a whole lot for some reason, but I don't think this was her work; my latest assailant had a horn.

I feel confident in stating that I’ve done nothing heinous enough in my young life yet to warrant such an assault. If I follow that train of logic, and accept that the act wasn't done out of spite, by process of elimination I must have something that this stranger wants... Or maybe I was an obstacle in their way to possessing it?

Hell, knowing my luck, maybe they were just a common burglar and I'm waaay overthinking things as usual... That answer doesn’t feel right to me though. There must be a detail I’m overlooking.

If him being a burglar doesn’t match up with what my clues are suggesting, then maybe I should look at this from a different angle. Let’s say that he was here just for me, what do I have that's worth taking? Listing everything mentally; to my name I own a diary, a small gem hoard, a purse, a couple of skirts and bows for special occasions, and...

... knowledge of the future.

Could the fact that I’m a Seer be the answer? I can easily see Future Sight information being a pretty hot commodity for those seeking to change their destiny... The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I can’t remember what happened after the stranger’s horn was placed on my forehead, and my mind still feels foggy, so maybe that jerk did something with his magic to extract my memories!

That’s a terrifying thought if it’s true… but I’m not convinced that’s the complete answer.

There's no way a mind reading spell would be public knowledge; it would have to be some kind of super advanced spell, or maybe even forbidden. It's the only reason I can think of for why a socially awkward bookworm like Dusk doesn't know it... Not only that, but how could this mystery spellcaster have possibly learned about this deep secret of mine in the first place?! Last I checked only Prince Solaris knows that I’m a Seer, so how could this stranger hav-

Wait... no... That statement wasn't correct.

Solaris isn’t the only pony who knows about my show knowledge.

There’s one other who does...

… and his name is Prince Artemis.

Yeah... I remember now. He eavesdropped on the private meeting I had with his brother last month, and in doing so learned quite a bit about me. Far more than I was comfortable with him knowing, if I'm being honest, but Solaris promised me that he was going to talk to Artemis about his spying. The elder Prince may have a poor habit of lying to me at times, but I thought I could trust him on this at the very least.

Guess I should have known better… but I suppose I can understand his thought process.

It's now well documented how Nightterror Nebula was the product of Artemis' feelings of isolation and loneliness, so it only makes sense for Solaris' to want to keep him from-

“Don’t mention Nebula.”

...

I…

... I shouldn’t focus on Nebula.

No I… I-I should be focusing on…

“Head’s up Barb!”

“Huh?” I ask, as I find a red rubber ball now speeding my way. Wait, wasn’t I just writing in my diary?

My... diary...

...

... No, my diary is still in the bushes where I left it.

Why would I be worried about it now...?

... Eh. Whatever. Not granting the thought further attention, I catch the toy in mid air and toss it over to Sweepy Belle. A laugh escapes his lips as he kicks it over to Scooter, and soon I’m giggling as well. I’m glad the two colts invited me over to play! In Canterlot I never had the desire to act my age, as parents would often tell their foals to steer clear of me, but after what happened earlier today at the Carousel Boutique...

Let’s just say that I really needed this long overdue break from ‘adult’ Barbara.

Heck, I don't even care that I just got splashed by a muddy puddle! I’m having the time of my life right now! “Thanks for asking me to join, Sweepy!” I let out a shrill squee as the game devolves into unorganized childish chaos. “I’ve never done anything like this before!”

“You're welcome!” the unicorn foal yells back, purposely staining his coat with another dirty splash. “Hey, is it weird if I said that I’m kinda glad we got zapped into that weird dream thing now?”

“The one from last week?" Scooter chimes in, before performing a cannonball into the puddle. "Totally weird, dude... but I get what you mean though! We probably would have never met if it weren’t for that.”

“Hehe, yeah,” I snort, thoroughly enjoying just being here with them. “I guess when you look at it that way, the three of us really owe a lot to that mean old Nightterror Nebu-”

“We asked thou not to dwell on that, Seer. Please focus on thy visions instead.”

...

... I… shouldn’t focus on Nebula.

No I… I-I should be focusing on…

“What are ya’ll playin’?”

Blinking, I lift my head up over the dungeon master screen and glance at the Apple Family’s staircase. As I do I find Apple Buck leaning over the banister, and focusing his eyes on all the figurines and game pieces his sister and I have littered the living room table with.

“Ogres and Oubliettes,” Red Gala answers her little brother plainly, not providing further information.

Unsatisfied with such a bare bones reply, the earth pony colt bounds his way downstairs and makes to get a better look.

I take it upon myself to offer him with a clearer explanation. “It’s an imaginary game, Buck.”

Tilting his head, Apple Buck spares the board another look.

“But... it’s right there,” he states plainly, pointing a hoof at our setup.

This gets a chuckle out of me.

“Heh. No no,” I try to explain again. “I mean it’s a game that uses your imagination.” I then lift up the Monster Manual and flip it open to some of the tome’s cooler looking creatures. “Using the monsters from this book, I try to picture a story and make it come to life!”

Setting the book aside, I next allow the bow tie clad pony to lift it up himself and scan its many pages.

“There’s a lot of numbers in this,” he comments drolly.

“Eeyup,” Red Gala nods sagely.

“... This looks like homework.”

“Hehe… Eeyup.”

Raising a claw to my lips, I attempt to smother a second chuckle.

I fail spectacularly, and my ‘reward’ is a well earned pouty glare from AB.

“It really is fun though!” I try one last time to prove to him that the game was worth checking out. Apple Buck is about the same age as my other friends, so if I can convince him I can convince them all!

Hmmm... Oh! Maybe showing him the paper mache I made for this second session will encourage him to stick around!

Mind set on my decision, I reach into the box I had brought with me and lift up the replica of Nightterror Nebula’s Helmet. I had spent all night working on i-

“Why in Equus are thy recollections still transfixed by that monster's visage... And why are thou drifting further away from th- Wait… Oh for the love of; vision! We said vision, Seer! Not envision!

"Grrrr… At this rate she will awaken before we get what we need! This would be soooo much easier if our powers were fully recovered... Okay... Let's try this again.

"Ahem... Remember the vision, Barbara; the one that did not come to pass.”

...

... I… I shouldn’t be here.

No I… I-I should be… be…

… Here…

…

… There’s… carpet beneath my feet… I can’t feel it… That doesn't matter though... I know it’s there…

… The hairs poke through my old crocs, brushing up against my toes...

… There’s… a buzzing... in the air…

… It’s coming from the living room…

… My gait is massive… my bones ache with age…

… I can’t see myself…

… The TV is on…

… A person, obscured by a diagonal distortion of whites and grays, sits on the couch…

… She’s… a little girl…

She’s… my… little girl…

“C-me -n m-ma!” the… child… excitedly calls to… me. “I-’s s-art-ng!”

A stuffed animal… dark blue… is cradled in her arms…

… My black fingers fiddle with the remote... and the TV crackles.

“M- li-tle po-y~ -y -it-le p-n-~”

The room fades away into static.

“...

“... That…

“... Was complete and utter nonsense...

"... Grrr! How can a mere child’s subconscious be so fortified?! Our usual methods of persuasion aren't working! Either we're rustier at this then we assumed, or she's utilizing some manner of devious Seer trick to dissuade invaders... Hmmm... No that answer doesn't feel right! We've encountered many a foal with the Seer curse before...

"... Maybe Sol has taken to training them better in our absence...?

"... No... N-no that answer doesn't feel right either! There’s something more going on here. Being out of practice can't be all there is to this.

“Well... talking to ourself isn't going to yield any solutions, so let's lay out the facts.

"So far she has written in a language we could barely translate through the dreamily haze, splashed in mud, conducted some ritual involving quill and parchment, and did something with a noise producing box… Perhaps she’s distracting herself with games to guard her mind from our prodding...

“... If that’s the case, then let’s see where her thoughts will wander once she puts everything back into the proverbial toy chest.

“Ahem... Playtime is over, Barbara. Don’t focus on Nebula, and put away all hindrances.”

… I… shouldn’t focus on belongings. I… shouldn’t focus on Nebula.

I… should be elsewhere.

I should be...

“... Um… What… W-what are we supposed to be feeding her, dear?”

“I... don’t really know… Hay?”

“... Maybe?” Dusk Lyons pony shrugs, pointedly not looking my way. “When she was a baby she was usually brought to us with a premade lunch and dinner.”

“Do you remember what those were made of?” Eve Sparkle asks quickly, now opening kitchen cabinets and searching.

“Ummm… Gems, if I’m remembering right.”

Eve halts in place.

“... I don’t think we have any of those lying around.”

Meanwhile, in an abandoned corner of the house, I find myself staring numbly at the wall I once scribbled on out of spite.

The same wall I hadn't seen in over two years.

Everything feels so… surreal right now.

Here I am, barely five years old, and finally free from the Bluebelle’s estate. I’m also free of Misses Red’s stupid baby dresses, thank god. In fact, the first thing I did upon being granted my freedom was to burn the whole darn box of them down into ash…

… But now things have stupidly become complicated again.

Dusk is still living in the dorms as of this time, and he isn’t going to be heading home until summer vacation. Since I no longer have a place at the Bluebelle’s, and seeing as how my old nursery in the castle has long since been converted into a janitor’s closet; there was really only one place left where Prince Solaris could have me wait around for my newly appointed charge.

Unfortunately said place, House Shine, was clearly not ready to care for a toddler again on such short notice.

“Umm… Barbara?” Dusk's mother suddenly asks me quietly, having approached once it became clear that they were gemless. “Are you okay with eating hay for now?”

“Wes,” I mutter back, nodding. I'm too tired from my confrontation with Prince Solaris to remember how to speak Ponish properly, so hopefully she gets my gist.

Apparently defending your right to be a person and not a thing really drains a gal. Who knew?

“O… o-okay,” Eve Sparkle chuckles weakly, unsure whether to interpret my lisp as cute or troublesome. “I’ll make some hayburgers then… Honey!” she then calls out to her husband. “Can you start getting the spare bed ready? You’re going to need to dig out the foal safety bars from storage…”

The mare then turns back and scans me over.

“... and the rubber sheets too,” she finishes yelling.

My cheeks are now crimson.

“Don't meed,” I try to defend what little dignity I have left.

“Just for one night,” the blue unicorn gently pats my head in reply. “Just until you prove you don’t need them.”

Eve then, without sparing me a second thought more, makes her way over to the kitchen and starts working on dinner.

“... Prove enough,” I sniffle, frustrated beyond description. “Prove enough…”

Hasn’t this damn planet humiliated me enough already? Can’t I go one, flipping, day without being reminded of all that I’ve lost? Dark thoughts begin to swell as I grip my knees and bury my face into them. I… just want some reason to keep going.

I just want my Dusk Shine back.

Knock knock knock

…?

Surprised by a sudden knocking on the door, I lift my head up just in time to see Eve Sparkle returning to the living room.

“Now who could that be?” she ponders loudly, approaching the entrance.

“Maybe Prince Solaris forgot to give us something for Barbara?” Dusk's father suggests, now with a safety rail firmly gripped in his magic.

Not wanting to keep the mystery stewing, Eve opens the door…

… and gasps.

“Oh! Hi Gleaming!” Eve chimes, very happy to see her daughter. “What a pleasant surprise!”

An armored white unicorn then enters the building, and grants her mother a loving squeeze.

“Good to see you too, mom,” Gleaming Shield replies back, hugging deeply.

Whoa… That’s Gleaming?! I remember when she was half that tall! She’s really grown fast since the last time I saw her and-

Wait, she’s wearing golden armor. Did she get hired into the royal guards while I was gone?

No, wait… seeing her like this is reminding me of something… important…

…

… !

Oh! I remember now! She was the guard who barged in when I told Solaris that I wasn’t a slave! I helped her avoid face planting into broken shards! Wow... How did I not put together that that Gleaming Shield and Dusk’s Gleaming Shield were the same pony?!

Was I really that out of it today?

“What brings you around to your old stomping ground, kiddo?” Dusk Lyons asks jovially, stepping closer. “Guard Barracks not feeding you right?”

“No they are, dad,” Gleaming reports with a salute, and a light giggle. Stepping away from her mother, she begins to use magic to remove her armor. “I just had a weird day, so I wanted to swing by and say hi.”

“... Huh?" the sole male in the room's questions. "But... if you're only here to say hi... why are you taking off your gear then?”

Struggling slightly with the last strap, the guardmare grips it with her teeth and tugs.

“Because I heard through the grapevine that you might be getting a little visitor tonight," is her reply...

... Or I think that's what she said.

Thanks to the fabric in her mouth the words had come out a bit more muffled and a lot less... coherent.

Now working on her helmet, not seeing the need to repeat herself, the mare keeps going as she levitates this final piece aside. “If it’s who I think it is, then I wanted to see if-”

Fwump!

A word to the wise; if you ever find yourself reincarnated as a unicorn, please please please look where you're slinging your magic around.

You don't want to accidentally use some poor baby dragon as a hat rack, do you?

Having realized that her helm's resting place sounded a whole lot more scaly then she had expected, Gleaming's explanation halts as she turns to investigate the oddity.

I stare back at her the best I can through my ill-fitting head gear.

"..."

"... Snrk..."

With a repressed chuckle to herself, the pony removes her helmet from my head and locks her eyes on my own.

“... Like I was saying," she resumes the conversation with her parents... though she does so while still looking my way. "I wanted to see if it was okay if I stayed for dinner.”

With grin growing, she approaches closer.

“Long time no see, Barb," she greets, now putting all of her focus on me. "How’s my favorite dragon doing?”

Unprepared to be addressed so soon again after Eve, I open my mouth and try to think of something to say.

Ggggrrrr

My empty stomach beats me to the punch.

R-reallyregretting not eating Solaris’ offered gemstone now. I blush as everypony’s ears perk up at the sound of my starvation.

“...”

… Twinkletwinkletwinkle

As I turn away, trying to hide my embarrassment, the sound of magic sparking fills the room. I try to ignore my curiosity and remain aloof, just so I could maintain a tiny smidgen of my pride, but I quickly find myself unable to keep up the act.

The sight of a delicious looking sapphire floating tantalizingly across my vision is a hard one to ignore.

Knocked off guard by the strangeness, I turn back towards the gathered ponies and discover Gleaming’s horn glowing brightly, and her smile turning soft.

“Thanks for the save earlier at the castle,” she speaks kindly, voice brimming with gratitude. “Scars look better on a stallion’s face, not a mare’s. I owe you.”

She then cuts off her magic, allowing the gem to plop into my claws.

“Hope they’re your favorite,” she beams, radiating a wonderful warmth I haven’t felt in far too long. “I’ve brought plenty.”

“...”

… I look at the gem for a brief moment...

Munchmunchmunch!!

… before digging into it greedily and noisily. Oh god how I’ve missed gems! Misses Red only gave me freaking tiger stones to eat!

Those aren’t even gems, people! They’re crystals!

That’s like feeding a starving woman with breadcrumbs instead of bread!

“Hehe… Now don’t go giving her too many treats before dinner, Gleam,” Eve Sparkle playfully chides her daughter, laughing at our interaction. Before heading back into the kitchen, she adds, “And, yes, you’re free to join us. I’m making hayburgers~!” With that she departs the room and Dusk Lyons, wanting to finish making the guest bed, soon follows suit.

Now left alone with me, Gleaming Shield's smile droops as she stares at the door to the kitchen with an... unreadable expression...

... Huh?

“Treats?” she asks herself, mulling over her mother's words. “But… gems aren't treats. Dusty says they're super important to dragon diets…”

The blue maned mare then turns back to me.

“Prince Solaris brought some gems for you to eat while you're staying with my parents... right?” she questions, concern evident in her tone.

“... No,” I mumble back, not wanting to think about it. Splitting my attention between her and my pre-meal meal, I offer the best answer I can give with my minimal Ponish vocab. “No gems. Just self.”

“Just self?” Gleaming parrots, flabbergasted. “You don’t have any bags?”

I shake my head no, and continue munching.

“No bags…? Really?"

"Nothing to bring," I shrug upon swallowing.

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

Before I could get too self-conscious of what my tired mind was admitting, Gleaming fishes out another sapphire from her bag and hooves it over.

As I accept it and start eating, it barely registers with me that the unicorn's face is beyond stunned.

"Barb..." she stammers, acting as if she's trotting on eggshells. "Do you..."

She gulps.

"D-do you... own anything to your name?" she at last asks. I don't catch her expression as I keep on munching away. "Toys? Books? Clothes?”

“Dresses,” I work up the will to answer, though I don't meet her gaze as I add, “Burned them all,” to the end of my report.

“...”

… Gleaming Shield then stops asking questions, and instead chooses to lay down beside me as I ate in silence.

Eventually dinner started, and eventually it was finished in equal silence. Gleaming’s parents asked her a bunch of questions about how her new job was going, and she answered them in good spirit, but she always went quiet when her eyes wandered towards me.

I'm unsure whether Eve or Dusk Lyons noticed this, but I certainly did.

A few hours pass in a flash, and soon I find myself being carried off to my temporary bed. Gleaming was kind enough to be the one to tuck me in, and wish me goodnight, but before she left the room…

“Stay,” I plead to her, causing her to halt. “Please stay. D-don’t want to be alone.”

"..."

... Gleaming approaches my bedside without another word.

“Of course, Barb,” she whispers, running a hoof through my spines. “I’m right here… Do you want me to read you a bedtime story?”

The adult in me indignantly grunts no.

The scared child that is me says, “Yes.”

With a nod of her head, the mare reaches down into her saddle bags and fishes around for something. A moment later she pulls out a hefty tome…

… and blushes.

“Oops,” she stutters, displeased with what she had grabbed. “Must have left my comic books in my other bag… Eh. Guess this will have to do.”

Sitting up in my bed, I scoot over as she cracks open the book and presents its contents fully for me to digest.

“This creature is called a Squizard,” the huge dork explains, taking on what I can only assume to be an ‘epic’ sounding voice. “A multiarmed spellcaster who wishes for nothing else but to sink kingdoms into the briny depths...”

Using her magic, she takes out a tiny figurine of a minotaur and poses it 'menacingly' in front of the cartoon image.

“... However, brave adventurers always put a stop to her evil ways!” she finishes, making adorable slashing noises as she tilts the figure back and forth in imaginary combat.

It’s equal parts absurd and genuine.

I love it.

I show my appreciation by granting her a girly laugh, even as a yawn threatens to overtake it.

Turning the page, Gleaming goes on. “Mighty Cerberus can’t stand before a hero’s might either!”

Another wiggle of the game piece and yet another monster meets its end.

Flip

“Nor can a tatzelwurm!”

Flip

“Or a landwyrm!”

Flip

“And especially not-”

The last page reveals itself to be a two page spread.

Said spread is of Nightterror Nebula.

“OH COME ON!”

There’s a... ripple in the air.

It’s powerful enough to stir me from my position.

“What the?” I ask myself, only to instantly realize that my Ponish is much better now. I’m no longer lisping, and I don’t feel nearly as tiny.

Sure enough, looking down at myself, I can see that I’m my usual age again, not five. I’m still in the Shine Household’s spare bedroom though, and Gleaming is still how I remember her from those few years ago. She’s frozen in place, however... and in fact it feels like the entire world is equally as stuck in time.

“What... W-what’s going on?” I question, feeling my tiredness slowly fading. “Why am I back here with-

“Er… D-don’t think about that.”

!!!

That voice! I… I-I’ve been hearing that voice this entire time! It’s been influencing my thoughts, and directing me on where to go! How long have we been at it..?

... The tone he's using indicates that I've not been all that compliant to its demands, so at least that's good. I don't know how much he's learned already though... Hopefully not enough to grant him any leverage over me.

I'd hate for him to stop what I'm about to do next.

“Don’t think about what?, Mr. Voice?” I snap at the unseen force. Jumping off of the bed, I choose to explore the small room I find myself in.

The voice is faint, but it doesn’t feel all that far off when I stop to listen.

“I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Voice," I poke again, looking all around. "You should be more specific with your requests! Didn't your mother ever teach you to speak clearly?”

"Hey don’t back sass us thou little-, Grrrrr… Return to the story time, child. Aren’t thou curious as to who the lovely Gleaming Shield will 'slay' next in her tale?”

“Not really,” I reply, now placing my claws on the walls and feeling around. “I already know who's next in that book anyways. It’s the bite-acuda, followed by the bufogren, followed by a slingtail... The Ogres and Oubliettes Monster Manual doesn’t believe in silly little things like ‘creature order', Mr. Voice, but that doesn’t matter because I practically memorized it thanks to that kind nerdy mare's bedtime stories. Those were some real good memories I made…

“... but I’m wondering why I’m reliving them all of a sudden.”

"N… n-no reason,” the voice responds, his nervousness becoming palpable as well as louder. "Just a happy coincidence.”

“... Really?” I deadpan, moving away from the walls.

Nothing there… but it still feels like I'm getting closer.

“It’s just a coincidence that I’ve been bouncing between my memories at random with no rhyme or reason?”

“... Yes.”

I grant the ceiling a stink eye.

“...”

"... Thou art mistaken in assuming that there is a rhyme or reason for this happenstance!" the voice huffs angrily, getting defensive. "Retire to yon bed, and take a well earned sleep.”

“Have you slept on rubber sheets before, dude?” I shoot back with arms crossed, stepping closer to where I think this not-so-mystery culprit is hiding. “They’re hot as sin, and the very definition of uncomfortable. Give me a basket any day of the week instead.”

"... We can bring a basket if that would make things more comfortable...”

“No,” I decline, stealthily approaching the closet door.

"P-please go to bed.”

“No,” I repeat, making sure my clawed toes weren’t clicking on the bedroom floor. “There’s too much strangeness going on here to just be a coincidence.”

"B-but it is just that!”

“Nope,” I counter, mentally retracting my steps; noticing how the voice is getting even louder as I take actual steps forward. “First I was writing in my diary, then I was playing with Sweepy and Scooter, after that Red Gala… then someone precious... and finally Gleaming Shield… Do you know what all these memories had in common, Mr. Voice?”

"... They… t-they all involved spending time doing what thou loves doing!" they suggest, proving that they think I have the intelligence of an actual child. "Huzzah! Mystery solved! Perhaps the opportunity to experience more will present itself upon laying down in bed?”

“Mmmmm, yeeeaaahhh… Nice try, Mr. Voice," I call him out, backing him into a corner verbally while my body works on the physical part. "But your guess is way off.”

One of my claws is now resting on the door handle to the closet.

“I distinctly recall somepony mentioning something about a vision,” I disclose, the memory becoming sharper as the fog lifts from my mind. “And I remember this same pony becoming quite upset when I mistook it for envision and sent myself into the memory of one of my O&O sessions.”

Maybe I’m imagining it...

... but I think I just heard a gulp.

Sensing that I now have the initiative, I push harder. “There was also a pretty easy to spot trend where the scene would change after a certain something happened… Were you able to pick up on what this something was, Mr. Voice?”

"W-well we-”

“Did, you, pick, up, on, it?” I snarl, tightening my grip on the door handle.

The voice goes silent.

Content with my victory, I perform the coup de grâce.

"There was one pony present in all of these memories in one form or another… and I think you know who it was.

“You know because you are them, Mr. Nightterror Nebul-”

“WE ARE NOT THE NIGHTTERROR, CHILD! WE ARE THE VERY PRINCE OF THE-”

Before he could yell fully at my jab, I throw open the closet door and glare at the pony inside.

Prince Artemis, halting mid-rant, simply stares back like a deer in the headlights.

“...”

“... We... can explain, Barbara.”

…

...

... I take a nice deep breath to calm my nerves...

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Journal Entry 0049~

Barbara The Dragoness taught us much about herself today, and in doing so we learned a fair bit about ourself as well.

We are grateful, in a way, but if we were forced into taking not but one minuscule piece of this treasure trove home it would most assuredly be this: A dragon whose hoard is built of secrets possesses power that can rival even a Prince's...

... as well as a mean right hook.

Ow.

Entry 8, Part 4 (Dragonapped)

Author's Note

In loving memory to the woman who taught me the joy of reading and writing.

Rest in peace, Nana.

Entry 8, Part 4 (Dragonapped)

~Dear Diary~

I don’t consider myself to be a violent person.

I get mad the same as any creature else, and there are days where I wish it was more socially acceptable to light ponies on fire, but I know well how such thoughts are ~~usually~~ fleeting.

Rage, fear, anger, sorrow; these emotions are both powerful and intoxicating to a youthful mind such as mine. Tantrums were common when I was first getting used to my second bout of infancy, as too were random spikes of aggression. I scratched, bit, and charbroiled a fair share of ponies before I could even crawl. It was not uncommon for foalsitters, such as little Moonhoofer, to approach me in full suits of armor when it came time to clip my claws, or even bathe me.

Despite this sordid past of mine, I still don’t consider myself to be a violent person.

I look back on these childish episodes not in reverence but in disappointment for my blatant lack of self-control. Adults should always strive to be levelheaded when presented with change, no matter how emotionally charged it may be. I should've known better how acting on such instincts, such juvenile tendencies, would lead me not but to ruin yet act on them I did.

I’m grateful that I eventually saw the error of my ways, and have since sworn off violence as an acceptable solution to my ever growing problems...

… That having been said though, I’m not so above it all that I’d outright lie about enjoying the sensation of my fist colliding with a pony’s face.

There's just something so unnaturally serene about striking those big muzzles of theirs. The crunching noise, the bending of bones, the dilation of pupils; there’s just something about the whole process that tickles the joy center of my draconic brain. Like a blast of serotonin, I can’t help but feel good when I think back on how I rose above my trepidation and, for lack of a better descriptor, “defended my hoard.” Anger and rage had boiled over in that hectic instant, giving rise to a side of myself I was unaware even existed.

It’s strange. While I still regret the actions I took back during my hatchling-hood, and use them as motivators to strive to do better... I can’t bring myself to condemn my choice to lash out as I had. It just felt right and rightly just, if that makes any sense.

Again I feel it necessary to reiterate that I, despite my momentary bout of bloodlust, don’t consider myself to be a violent person.

What I do consider myself to be, however, is a dragon.

Never before has this fact been made more apparent to me than it has right now, as I find myself faced with an opponent unlike any other.

As I find myself faced with the one and only Prince Artemis.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“Now that’s a proper start to an entry!”

A smile graces my lips as I raise my head and quill out from the diary’s many pages.

"In your face, writer’s block!" I mock my metaphysical foe. "Hah! I should have even more to work with once we’re actually done here too…”

Casting eyes across the room, I grant my guest a quick glance.

“... You’re not going to keep a lady waiting too much longer, right Artemis?” I casually ask the sitting pony in his chair.

The young Prince does not reply.

I expected as much.

“Hmph,” I snort, placing The Poisoned Barb back into my purse. “Come on, dude. This is starting to get pathetic.”

Artemis remains silent.

“You’re supposed to be a flipping alicorn, Archie,” I bark curtly, approaching closer. “The very embodiment of the three tribes? Master of the moon?”

Silence still reigns.

“...”

… Stomp

My foot slaps against the ground, echoing against the wooden walls.

“You’re not supposed to be such a pushover!” I shout, raising my voice. “You’re not supposed to be such a wimp...”

Still Artemis remains motionless.

“...”

With a last huff of smoke, I march myself right on over to the blue alicorn’s side, and scream directly into his ear a demanding cry of;

“So flipping wake up already!!”

Artemis responds…

… by slumping over in his seat.

He was, unfortunately, still very much an unconscious stallion.

"For the love of Solaris you are such a weenie, Archie,” I groan, returning to my adjacent sitting stool. "Maybe I should get another cold bucket of water... Hmph. Gentlecolts shouldn’t be sleeping away while mares are at play...”

… Flip flip~

I open The Poisoned Barb back up again.

“Note to self,” I murmur as I write. “ponies are way more fragile than dragons…”

Flip~

“Note to self #2,” I continue. “interrogate bad guys first before knocking them into next week. Bleh.”

Phooey…

…

… You’re probably confuzzled.

Le sigh.

Reeeaaally wish I could just use the old chestnut line of ‘guess I don’t know my own strength’ to neatly describe what the ever flying feather I did to Artemis for you, folks, but that wouldn’t do what actually happened any justice.

Okay, so shortly after I broke free of the Prince’s Dream Realm spell, and discovered where the jerk was hiding, you may recall that I readied myself to grant the sneak some well earned retribution…

~Earlier That Day, In Another Realm~

“... We... can explain, Barbara.”

... I take a nice deep breath to calm my nerves...

AND THEN I SWING MY FIST WITH THE MIGHT OF AN ANGRY GODDESS

“SWEET STARS ABOVE NOT THE FAC-”

BOOOOOOMMMM!!

~Back To The Now, In the Waking Realm~

… Said retribution was supposed to be a simple haymaker, but it certainly didn’t end like a ‘simple’ haymaker.

No, in reality what should have been a vanilla black eye/headache combination had transformed itself through the power of dream logic, draconic fury, and good old homegrown animosity into a freaking one-hit, galaxy-busting, Flawless K.O. VICTORY.

Again, ‘guess I don’t know my own strength’ doesn't even begin to properly describe just how powerful this strike of mine was; one that, as unbelievable as this sounds, held within it enough destructive force to not only banish away the Dream Realm completely, but also fling its two inhabitants back into the waking world with all the elegance of an elephant rollerblading through a Dairy Queen.

Tomes and animals had scattered upon our duel impact into the nearby bookshelves, burying alicorn and dragon alike in a literal literacy blizzard of pages and hardbacks. It was only thanks to my scales that I was able to open my eyes again so quickly and exit my papercut prison unscathed, but Artemis…

Well Artemis wasn’t so lucky, as you can plainly see.

So, in summation; I punched an alicorn so hard that it swiftly relocated him from the Dream Realm into Lala Land.

If I wasn’t so desperate for answers I’d be impressed by the feat.

Since I am seeking answers though, his unconscious state has only served to agitate me more and more with each passing minute! I want to know why he put me to sleep! I want to know why he invaded my dreams! I’ve been mulling over every tiny detail I could recall from our short time together and, while I do have some theories, what I don’t have is solid leads! There’s so much I want to ask him, and so little time left to do so in! Dusk and his friends could be back any minute now for all I know! I can’t have Artemis still here and unconscious when they return; being grounded would be the least of my worries at that point!

Uggghh… Understatement of the century here, but Prince Artemis’ surprise Dragonshy cameo has thrown me a curveball unlike any other.

Out of all of MLP’s colorful cast, Princess Luna’s male counterpart was the absolute last one I was expecting to interact with so early on into season flipping one! In what miniscule amount of the cartoon I can still recall, the mare in question only re-appeared, like, three times in total beyond the series premier; once in a dedicated season two episode, another at the tailend of The Canterlot Wedding, and lastly at the beginning of season three’s premier. If she appeared after that I couldn’t say; that premiere is when Ashley and I stopped watching the show altogether.

Despite her lack of screen time, I think I still have a decent enough grasp on who exactly Luna was as a pony. She was old fashioned royalty, and a tiny bit stuck up, but she was also a mare out of time. Willing to learn new things, yet still holding on to the old ways, I don’t think she was the type to casually invade another’s dream and try to steal precious secrets like a common thief. Such a thing feels beneath her character.

That, sadly, doesn’t seem to be the case with Artemis...

... Hmmm… In hindsight... I probably shouldn’t have expected anything less from Prince Solaris’ younger brother.

Again I say ugh.

Moving on; in the intermittent wait between knocking out a Prince and the present, I’ve done everything in my power to ensure that I’ll be safe once mister former Nightterror stirs from his impromptu ‘nap.’ I’ve made contingency plans upon contingency plans to compensate for his alicorn magic, his pegasus wings, and even any earth pony strength he may be packin’ in those spindly legs of his. Dream logic isn’t going to protect my tail in the real world, so this may very well be my only chance to strike up an honest to goodness conversation with the nut.

Once the two of us get to actually talking with one another, that's when the true battle of wits will begin.

I’ll have to have faith in myself that I’m strong enough to dominate the discussion, steer it exactly where I need it to go, and lay Artemis’ intentions low. Whether he’s working with Solaris or on his own, whether he’s suspicious of me or already in the know; I refuse to let him invade my privacy like this ever again. No matter what his reasoning is going to turn out to be, there’s no way I’ll accept it as justifiable!

I must be both precise and direct with my words when I tell him to leave and never come back. Thank goodness I’ve been granted so much time to prepare for what will undoubtedly be my fiercest fight to date…

...

… Heh… Ironically... I now realize that, in many ways, what Artemis and I are about to have is a good old-fashioned Prince and Squire ‘tea party’, just like the one I had been planning to take part in this weekend with his brother.

Unlike with Solaris, however, I’m not the captive audience here.

This time that honor will belong to My Not-So-Little Home Invad-

“Ugh…”

A tiny moan, and a wisp of a whimper, halts my ramblings and yanks my attention away from them completely.

"... Speak of the devil,” I mumble, as my visitor begins to stir from his slumber. Rising from my bar stool, I quickly stow away The Poisoned Barb again into my purse before griping its strap for strength.

This successfully hides my shaking claws.

"Am I ready for this?” I ask, distracting myself from the anxious thoughts that were threatening to grow louder. "Prep took up most of the wait, b-but did I spend enough time thinking of what to say? Will my script work? What if he doesn’t buy the bluffs, o-or sees what I have hidden in the dark? What if he is working with Solaris? What if I’m in the wrong? What… w-what if...”

From the surrounding shadows behind me, I hear a soft rustle of movement…

…

… It grants me courage.

“... Ready or not,” I speak lowly, not needing to hear a response.

It’s showtime.

…

“... Mornin’, Mr. Voice.”

"... Oooowww... sire of a wretched wench,” babbles the still groggy stallion, his closed eyes twitching as he tries to open them. “Did anypony get the name of the earth pony stallion that trampled us so thoroughly…?”

“Easy,” I command, swallowing my fear. “You’ve been out for a bit.”

“How… ow… how long exa-?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“But… owie…”

“Easy,” I repeat. “You might feel a bit out of it.” Even in the dim lighting, I can still make out a fresh blackeye healing slowly against the pony’s light blue coat.

The sight of it had initially made me worried that we were still inside the Dream Realm, but a few painful pinches of my unscaled belly fat reassured me that I was truly among the wakeful and, more importantly, on my home turf instead of his.

“Ow,” the Prince winces again, struggling with the shiner. “T-thou art correct,” he concurs, clearly unaware who he’s speaking with. “It feels as though we are suffering the after effects of one of brother’s more risqué escapades... Heh… We would feel more nostalgic if we weren’t well aware how those yesteryears are long behind us both.”

“Uh huh,” I nod, not really caring for his half-delirious attempt at small talk. Maybe he thinks I’m a castle nurse or something, one that's delicately taking care of the poor pony with a smile and a tender touch.

Sorry to disappoint, your highness, but my bedside manners are atrocious. Just ask the Bluebelles!

As the Prince of the Night continues to stir, I take a moment to scan his appearance one more time before our ‘battle’ begins in earnest.

In comparison to what little I still remember of Princess Luna, Artemis might as well be a completely different pony. For one thing his coat is a much more grayish blue versus Luna’s dark, and for another his short mane is light azure in hue in contrast to the Princess’ much more sapphire-like blue. It’s also not flowing on a cosmic wind, though that detail isn’t all that surprising when you consider how Solaris’ autumn red mane doesn’t do that either. I never found it to be all that unusual before so I won’t here, as it might be a female-only alicorn trait or something. Artemis’ lack of facial hair isn’t all that earth shattering either when you recall the now massive age difference between the two brothers that arose thanks to former's little thousand year timeout.

Outside of his status as an alicorn, Artemis isn't all that much different from a normal pony. My best guess is that he’s probably not fully recovered yet from his unfortunate stint as Nightterror Nebula.

“W… w-what in blazes?!”

This little detail thankfully made my preparations significantly easier to accomplish.

Tying a pony’s hooves and wings to a chair is easy enough when you don’t have to hunt for Solaris’ sized ropes and chains to do it with, after all.

“They’re just a precaution, your highness,” I spoke loudly as I strut out of the darkness and into the light. “You’ll have to forgive me for not wanting to take any chances.”

With eyes now fully open and mind equally awake, Artemis’ flings his head to the side and gasps.

“B-Barbara?!” he stutters. “W-what is the meaning of this?!”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” I fire back with crossed arms and straightened back, appearing to all present as a solid unwavering stone of righteous indignation.

So startled by my response was Artemis that he again became speechless.

“...”

“... We casted no such spell to plunder words from thy lips, child.”

“...”

… I fight a sudden, powerful urge to facepalm.

"It’s… just a figure of speech,” is my deadpanned reply, only now realizing that there might be a tiny thousand year linguistic gap between the two of us that I hadn’t accounted for. "The best laid plans never survive first contact,” I grunt to myself.

"When did brother impose a figurehead for the conjuration of the spoken word?”

Oh good lord I’m going to have to throw out half my prep material.

I sigh a defeated "Guess I’ll just wing it,” before straightening up again. Raising my voice, and my claw, I return my sight to the chairbound stallion. “That doesn’t matter, Archie…”

Snap!

With the simple motion of my talons, the room’s lights brighten ever so slightly. Shadows remained in the far off corners of the space, concealing them, but what wasn’t concealed any longer were certain metallic instruments I had laid out beforehand.

Scary looking instruments, I might add, especially to one unfamiliar with modern day science.

“... What matters is that it’s now your turn to be my prisoner,” I finish with a toothy grin, one that only grew larger as the color began to drain from Artemis’ now terrified expression. “Welcome to Dusk’s laboratory,” I reveal, dramatically waving my claws over the assortment of tubes and gadgets and sharp looking tools that dotted the room. “Sorry for the dust. Dusk hasn’t had much chance to use this basement yet since we moved here.” I offer a shrug. “Too busy with his Friendship studies, I guess. And he was so happy when all this junk arrived from Canterlot last week... Such a shame, right?”

Lifting up a needle from the table, I bring the tip dangerously closer for Artemis to see.

“Look,” I sing-song with guilty glee, radiating all the creepy little girl energy I have stored within me. “Still as sharp as the day he bought it!”

Oh Archie did not like that in the slightest.

“S-stay back,” the grown stallion demands, pushing himself against the chair's bindings the best he can. Almost to the point of tipping the whole thing over, if the seat wasn't bolted so firmly to the ground. “T-thou mustn’t harm thy prince, whelp! ‘Tis the law of the land!”

Ignoring the warning, I offer an innocent sounding giggle as I step ever nearer, needle still in claw.

“We… w-we will only repeat ourself once more!” Artemis switches to a panic screech, growing more frightened with every step I take.

Twinkle twinkle

Suddenly, a soft scratching sensation began to dance across the surface of my scales, signifying the start of spellcasting.

As predictable, the cornered pony has ignited his horn in a desperate bid to defend himself...

… This was the part I had prepared for the most, heh.

"Uh uh uh~” I tease loudly, interrupting whatever magic my guest was about to perform. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you…” Hopping back towards the table beside us, I put the needle away and instead replace it with a single, black, ring.

The same type of ring that has struck fear in the hearts of unicorns since their inception eons ago.

“... I hear funneling magic through an inhibitor ring is reeeaaalllly painful~!” I finish my threat with the largest dung-eating grin I could muster.

The glow from Artemis’ horn dies completely thanks to this, as his eyes widen in horror and his jaw drops in pure shock. Directing his sight upwards towards his forehead, the stallion’s shrinking irises are the only indication I receive that he can spot the ring’s twin now firmly attached to the tip of his long ivory appendage.

“H-h-how in Equis did thou procure…?!” he attempts to ask, too stunned by the revelation to complete the question.

“Dusk loves magic stuff,” is my plain answer, intentionally keeping it as vague (yet believable) as possible. “He collects a lot of weird trinkets,” I tack on, using the Prince’s distraction to slide the ‘ring’ in claw to a still darkened part of the table. I can't let him get a closer look at it.

My whole plan hinges on him not being able to tell how not inhibitor ring-y my rings truly are.

Le sigh the second.

Really, really wish I had real inhibitor rings to work with instead of chocolate covered donuts, but if this second life of mine has taught me anything it’s that you gotta make the hand you're dealt with work for you and not vice versa...

… even if the hand in question is full of jokers and an uno card.

You see, despite all the extra time I was granted while the Prince was sleeping, inhibitor rings were simply (and rightfully) not possible for a child my age to get a hold of on such short notice. Even an adult would have a hard time picking up a pair unless they were specifically an agent of the Crown, or a black-market visiting bandit. Their use is highly regulated by the government to the point where it’s rare to see them used at all in even the largest of Equestrian cities. Temporary binding spells are seen as more humane than the former (or ponane, if you’re hung up on Equine terminology), hence why they're more widely used across Equestria for things like sporting events or court hearings.

Bluffing about owning a pair is honestly the only non-violent option I have to discourage Artemis’ from using his magic on me again. I don’t stand a chance on my own otherwise, even with my magic resisting scales...

… Please buy it please buy it please buy it...

"Thou art a fiend, Barbara The Dragoness,” angrily spits Artemis, becoming enraged at the discovery. "To stricken a pony of his gifts is a crime most foul!”

Inwardly I breathe a deep, deep sigh of relief.

"Can’t believe he bought it,” I muse, becoming more confident now that I had metaphorically clipped his wings. "The longer I can avoid plan B, the better.”

Plan B, in case you’re curious-, eh, nevermind. I’ll tell you later.

I have to focus on the now now and the possible then then.

“It’s funny of you to mention crimes, your majesty,” I return my attention fully towards Artemis, making a big show of not being afraid of him any longer. “Last I checked, breaking and entering is also a crime.”

“Bu-”

“Casting a sleep spell without consent is also a crime too,” I cut him off, pushing forward. “A class four felony if I’m not mistaken.”

“Bu-”

"Kidnapping is also pretty high up on the totem pole as well, Prince,” I emphasize this point with a booping of his snout, causing him to wince. “As is unsanctioned interrogation… Which, to be fair, is something I’m totally doing right now to you, but since you entered my democidal uninvited, and since I’m a minor, my own actions will be viewed as self defense in the eyes of the law.

"Yours however… Heh... Well I hope you can afford a good lawyer, Princy!”

Artemis blinks blankly.

“...”

“... But… we are royalty...?” the stallion tilts his head, clearly confused at my claims.

“And I’m an Equestrian citizen with powers that protect me from tyrannical royalty,” I roll my eyes in response, not surprised with how out of date Archie’s knowledge of modern day law is. "I might legally be considered ‘property’, dude, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have rights.”

Shock of all shocks; the dragon who got screwed over by the law has read up on the law so that the law can't be easily used to hurt her again.

Please hold your gasps until the end of the show.

"You can’t come and go as you please, Archie,” I resume, circling the chair like a shark. "And, this will probably be a wild guess, but I’m going to assume a defense of ‘the Dream Realm isn’t on Equestrian soil’ isn’t going to fly in a courtroom full of ponies who may or may not still be upset over that whole Eternal Night thing of yours from last month.” Biting down a second wave of the giggles, I watch in silence as Artemis begins to sweat profusely.

On the inside, however, I'm laughing like the mad woman I am.

“S-s-surely the citizens can’t harm royalty w-without repercussions!” the whiplashed alicorn fires back, desperately grasping at straws; slipping further and further away from his comfort zone with every barb I fling. Methinks the Prince hadn’t thought up any backup plans before putting this hairbrained scheme into action. “Brother has changed most assuredly in our absence,” he offers hastily. “b-but his baser habits have surely invoked somepony else's ire beyond our own, yes?!”

“Oh a hundred times yes,” is my quick response, not even entertaining the idea of arguing. “And you’re also right about there being repercuss-... repercos… hmph, stupid baby tongue.” I start over. “And you’re also right about there being bad things that happen to ponies who mess with royalty. They’re not banishment level stuff or anything, but they’re still pretty nasty.”

A wicked sneer suddenly etches itself across Artemis’ muzzle as he happily takes the bait.

"Then a punishment most severe will befall thee if thou does not release us posthaste!” he demands with raised muzzle, and an air of unearned authority. “We will lessen thy sentence considerably if thou simply cooperates.”

Well, gee.

Ain’t that a kind proposition.

Just sit back, relax, and have a stranger pick around in my brain until my entire second life is ruined, just for the opportunity to spend one decade in jail instead of two!

How can I refuse?

“Sure.”

“Please reconsider before thou attempts to fight bac- Wait what?”

“I said sure,” I repeat, surprising Archie (and probably you too, my imaginary friends) even further. “I’ll comply.”

Artemis stares dumbly back in his chair, waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.

When it becomes clear that I’m being serious, his confused expression morphs into a victorious one. “G-... G-good! Yes! Thou art wise beyond thy years!”

Pony you have no flipping idea.

“Remove thy bindings, child,” the alicorn demands, raising his muzzle again upwards in a show of superiority. “We shall return thee to the Realm of Dreams and finish our work without further interference.”

“Sure,” I reply, nodding my head instead of moving my feet.

“We shall erase our existence to better complete our task,” he continues, not noticing that I’m staying put. “Thy thoughts will not be laced with worry as we shall disappear from yon memories.”

“Neat,” I comment drolly, mentally noting that ‘Memory Wipe’ was very much a part of Artemis’ magical arsenal.

“We shall lull Sir Butterscotch’s animal companions to a peaceful rest as well,” he sweetens the pot, radiating an unbearably smug energy. “to ensure thy assigned task, the one we overheard, will be manageable upon awakening.”

I grant him a plain thumbs up. “Awesome.”

“...”

… It’s at this point that he finally notices that I haven’t moved an inch from my spot.

“... Well?” he asks me impatiently, gesturing to his ropes with his eyes.

“Oh I’ll get to that in a minute,” I answer back, suppressing a snicker as I again make no effort to approach closer.

“...”

“... What art thou waiting for?!” Artemis finally snaps, fuming at my stubbornness. “An invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala?!”

"No,” I casually shrug, not allowing him to rile me. "Already have one of those anyways."

“Then wha-?!”

“I’m just waiting to see your search warrant,” I cut him off, at last allowing my smile to grow fully.

This smile only became larger as bewilderment dominates Artemis’ features once again.

“Search… warrant?” he tilts his head with a lack of understanding as clear as a sunny day.

“Yeah, you know… a search warrant,” I go on, leaning the back of my head against cupped claws. “The thing you need to legally enter a home without the occupants’ permission?”

Artemis stares blankly back at me.

“The form that gets signed by the Royal Court after convincing enough of them that abruptly entering a dwelling is justifiable?”

Artemis blinks slowly.

“... The thing you need to convince me that letting you go is worth my time~?” I finish with the largest sneer I can muster, and snarkiest laugh I can chortle. “And the thing you obviously don’t have which means that I’m in the right here~?”

“N-no!” the Prince retaliates, face glowing red. “We… w-w-we certainly do have the documentation thou art requesting! It… I-it is simply in an extradimensional pocket space of our own making! Yes! That is most certainly the truth!”

Ah the old ‘I left it in a pocket dimension’ excuse.

A classic.

“Remove this inhibitor ring and we will procure it for thee, fair maiden,” Artemis switches to sweet talking. He complete the act by smiling warmly, and fluttering the eyelashes of his one good (admittedly still a pretty shade of cyan) eye towards me.

Sir I am seven.

“Not necessary,” I wave the pleasantries aside, leaning harder into this admittedly silly scheme of mine. One more push and he'll be exactly where I want him to be. “Just give me the filing number and I’ll run over to town hall real quick to make sure it’s registered there.”

“We, um, p-procured it in Canterlot though!” he lies through his teeth, probably subconsciously aware of what I’m trying to get him to admit but lacking the skill to avoid it.

“Yeah,” I play along, continuing the bit. “but it would have had to have been shown to Mayor Mustang first before being made legal within Ponyville’s borders.”

“Thou art making that up, child!”

“I may be a kid, but I don’t kid about the legal process,” I state boldly, puffing out my chest as I do. “And it sounds to me like you’re saying that you didn’t complete this highly important filing step, your majesty.”

“W-... W-we did,” Artemis again fibs, sweating bullets. He fails to meet my judging glare as I drill into him harder. “We… we simply don’t remember this ‘filing number’ of which thou speaks!”

“Well that’s unfortunate,” I sigh mockingly, pushing Archie further into the corner of his chair. “Guess we don’t have a deal then.”

“Thou will still be punished greatly for keeping us here!” he spits in my direction, apparently having at last rediscovered his spine. “Brother will be most upset at thee for thy actions against his kin!”

“...”

“... Jackpot," I chuckle beneath my breath.

We’re at last where I wanted us to be all along.

“Hmmm… I guess you’re right, Archie,” I concede, willingly granting the pony the advantage once more.

“Please stop calling us ‘Archie’, Barbara.”

“No,” I answer offhandedly before continuing. “And I guess you’re right. Prince Solaris would be pretty angry at me if he found out I was messing with an official investigation.”

“Er… Y… y-yes!” Archie replies quickly, frantically latching onto my intentional use of the word ‘official’. “He would most assuredly be crossed with thy criminal behavior!”

“And,” I go on, attempting to further steer him in the right direction. “if you did go through the proper channels to get a search warrant, then you must have consulted him already!”

“Er… um… Y-yes again!” the alicorn stutters, verbally tripping over himself in an attempt to grab my metaphorical life preserver. “Thou art interfering in matters thou can not possibly understand!”

“Oh no,” I fake gasp. “I don’t want everypony mad at me!”

“But that will most assuredly be the case if thou continues down this path!” Artemis pushes, head swelling with joyful thoughts of regained control and authority. “Repent now and all will be forgiven!”

His tone was commanding and full of self-righteous pride…

“I better write to Solaris then.”

“Yes thou should…”

“...”

“...?!”

… But pride goeth before the fall.

"W-w-what?!” Artemis screeches, eyes growing wide as he spots me pulling out a blank scroll from my purse. “T-that is most unnecessary, child!” he begs, growing more disheveled as I begin to ink up my quill. "There is no need to disturb him at this time!”

“But he can confirm your search warrant request,” I offer cutely, now focusing on my writing. “I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble for not filing it right with Mayor Mustang, Prince Artemis! Don’t you want ponies to treat you nicer? As Dusk always says, ‘A misfiled form is the quickest way to lose a friend’...” I raise my eyes over the scroll momentarily as I feel the need to tack on, “He’s still new to friendship; give him a break.”

With that I return to my writing.

“Please don’t bother my brother, Barbara,” the blue stallion whimpers, his Royal We finally subsiding. “He… h-he is most preoccupied with the Day Court at this time! An unannounced scroll may cause him undue stress!”

“I’ll apologize to him later,” I fire back, though my gaze is still focused on the letter. “Let’s see… I’ll just add ‘Sincerely, Barbara The Dragoness’ aaaannnnddd done.”

I set the quill aside.

“Barbara...” croaks Artemis.

I roll up the finished scroll.

“Please…”

I attach a ribbon to it.

“Please don’t…”

I take a deep breath.

“CEASE THIS INSTANT!!” Artemis wails at the top of his lungs, shaking the very room and nearly knocking me off my feet.

In the face of the mini-earthquake I stand my ground, lock eyes with the Prince’s own…

FWOOSH!!

… and then I set the scroll ablaze.

“NOOO!!” cries Artemis, his fury clear for all to see… as too his sorrow. “Noo nooo... noooo...”

Defeated, he lowers his head and braces himself for the inevitable.

…

… Fzzzzzz…

The sound and smell of burning stirs Archie from his slumping, returning his gaze my way.

Once his attention was regained, I hold the still burning letter up closer for the shaking pony to better take in. Upon closer inspection, my captive’s face turns pure white as the lack of a Sending Seal becomes crystal clear.

I had just made a full grown adult cry out in anguish over a burning scrap of non-enchanted paper.

“Solaris doesn’t know you’re here,” I state the revealed truth plainly, having successfully captured the rat in my trap.

Said rat jumps in his seat as I whip my tail forward and shove the still burning paper against it, using my scales to smother the flame into harmless embers.

My eye contact never slackens from the Prince’s own as I proceed to lay down the now undeniable facts. “You came here all on your lonesome without your brother being any the wiser...

“... all because you’re not allowed to be here at all, as was his private decree to you...”

“... Am I right, or am I right, your highness?”

“...”

… Artemis’ face is still and unmoving.

But... that was okay.

Artemis didn't need to say anything more on this matter,

as his eyes told me the whole gosh darn story in his stead.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Journal Entry 0049 Page 2~

Beyond gaining a valuable life lesson concerning the consequences of stealing from a baby dragon, our dive into Barbara's psyche also yielded with it fascinating insight concerning why brother has taken such a keen interest in her growth. We regrettably have not spent long enough in this modern age to properly articulate the nuanced differences between the emotional maturity of foals and adults, yet we still feel confident enough in stating that Barbara is no mere foal by any stretch of the imagination.

She is cunning and conniving in ways uncommon to a child her age, and the brief lucidity she gained within the Dream Realm suggests she possesses an aptitude for creativity that far outstrips her peers. Natural born skill of such caliber is unheard of, even in the current year; talent such as hers can only be honed through great dedication to the craft, and to say nothing of experience would be a folly.

Not since Starswirl The Longmaned have we encountered an individual so unique in both mind and quirks.

The two of them even share the same language, if the contents of The Poisoned Barb are to be believed.

Entry 8, Part 5 (Dragonapped)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Entry 8, Part 6 (Dragonapped)

~Earlier that day~

Knock knock knock

“Oh!” rang out a youthful voice, hidden behind the great oak door. “Come in!”

Graciously accepting the invitation, Red Gala placed her hoof upon the portal and gently applied pressure. Soon she breached the entrance of The Golden Oaks Library…

… only to bare witness to the battlefield lurking within.

Books laid scattered along her path towards the inner lounge, as too did a horde of woodland creatures large and small. Fur and feathers adorned bookcases aplenty, and more then one scratch mark could be seen decorating the wooden walls. Rabbits, birds, squirrels, and even a cat blitzed by Red’s vision, surprising her greatly. Inside what normally would be a sanctum of peace and order, their appearance made little sense to the seasoned Ponyvillian.

And, shaking lightly in the center of the chaos, stood none other then...

“Red!” happily cheered Barbara The Dragoness, her relief palpable in her cry. “Thank goodness you came!”

“Eeyup?” replied the sole pony in the room, as she took in her shocking surroundings.

“Huh? Oh... Hehe... These are Butterscotch’s critter friends,” Barb explained for Red, having sensed the question on the farmgirl's mind. “I’m taking care of them while the boys are out of town.”

“Hm,” Red Gala commented dryly, keeping her opinions on the little filly's efforts to herself. “Dame,” the earth pony corrected her inner thoughts. “Filly dragons are called dames.” she again reminded herself. “Gotta get better at rememberin' stuff like that.”

“Did you get my message?” the dragon then asked the mare, knocking her out of her musings.

“Er… nnope.”

Barbara blinked.

“Nope?” she parroted the other's words, confusion clear. “You didn’t get it?”

Red shook her head, insinuating that the answer wasn’t simple enough for a ‘Eeyup’ or a ‘Nnope’ to properly convey. Fishing behind her yoke, she then used the tip of her hoof to drag out a slip of paper, grip it with her teeth, and present it to her scaly companion.

Said companion cringed at the scrap’s torn, and slightly smoking, appearance.

“Oh,” Barb spoke sheepishly. “Oops. Sorry about that," she then apologized, blush noticeable upon her face. "Sending stuff without a scroll seal is really tough to pull off... I'll be more careful next time, I promise."

“Eeyup,” Red acknowledged the vow with a light snicker, and a smile hidden behind the ruined scroll.

“Did it damage anything when it showed up?”

“... Nnope,” Red then blatantly lied, choosing not to divulge the whole truth.

Explaining how the accidental fireball had set Grandpa Smith’s beard ablaze, and hurtling down a flight of stairs, suddenly felt unnecessary in the grand scheme of things; especially now that the culprit’s disheveled appearance had been revealed.

To put it bluntly, Red Gala thought that Barbara looked like straight manure.

There was a haunted look in her eyes, hidden behind her casual mannerisms. Both her claws were gripped tightly around her purse’s strap, a habit Red had long since noted to be one of Barb’s many nervous ticks. The grin adorned below her tiny snout was quite strained as well, and it seemed personal hygiene had fallen by the wayside if the disorganized state of her scales were any indication.

Right away Red knew that something was wrong.

"Well I guess the letter didn’t matter all that much anyways,” Barb giggled, masking her stress. “All it needed to do was to bring you here, and it did! Yay! I didn’t even need to bribe Butter’s friends either! Double yay!" she went on, snorting. "Using woodland creatures to send messages only really works for Disney princesses anyways.”

Another forced chuckle then left Barbara’s lips, as she laughed at a joke that was only funny in her own head.

“... Eeyup,” Red nodded briefly, and cocked an eyebrow. She didn't really understand all of the dragon’s words, but she understood enough to know that she could now safely discard the burnt letter still clenched in her jaw.

Silence fell over the library shortly thereafter, as neither creature knew how to continue.

"..."

... Eventually, once she had drummed up her courage, Barbara decided to end the sudden calm.

“So I have a bit of a pest problem...” is how she began. “It’s a big one too, a-and one that I didn't want to leave, er, unattended...”

"..."

… When it became apparent that Barb’s next words weren’t coming out as smoothly as she’d like, Red Gala decided to help her along by addressing the elephant in the room. “Eeyup.”

“Huh? Oh… No. No, not them,” Barb shook her head, assuming her friend had been referring to the animal filled library. “I have this mostly under control…” She then shot one of the critters a dirty look. “Mostly…”

Glancing over, Red caught sight of a white bunny blowing Barb a raspberry from within a bowl of carrots.

“Anyways,” the dame continued, regaining the mare’s attention. “I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about… Something else…”

Red's eyebrow rose higher.

“It’s… It’s in the b-basement,” Barbara revealed in a hush, turning now to point towards the stairwell. “That’s where I’ve cornered... it.”

“Eeyup?” asked Red, still uncertain. “Is it some kind of spider, or a rat?” she thought to herself. “Pegged Barb being made of sterner stuff than that though,” she pondered further.

Deciding that it’d be in her best interest to see what the hubbub was for herself, the earth pony began to approach the stairs…

… but a dragon stood in her way.

“Before you go,” Barb again spoke softly, choosing not to look her friend in the eyes. “Please know that I, I-I won’t blame you at all if you want nothing to do with what you see down there.”

That gave Red pause.

“Just please don’t scream either.”

That gave Red a mini heart attack.

The pony whipped her head downwards towards the young assistant, attempting to read her expression, but the dame simply turned further away; still unwilling to meet her gaze.

“...”

… Clip clop clip clop

With curiosity peaked, and caution heightened, Red Gala entered the basement. Silence once again returned to the library, save for the pitter patter of small critters dashing every which way.

Barbara tuned them all out, and instead listened only to the stairwell.

Clip clop clip clop...

…

… Clipclopclipclopclipclop

When Red Gala at last emerged from the basement, she did so with eyes the size of saucers.

“B-barb,” the large mare stuttered, still trying to process what she had just witnessed. “Was that P-prince Artemis?”

“Yup,” Barbara answered bluntly.

“A-and was he unconscious?”

“Yup.”

“A-a-and was he tied up to a chair like a bundle of hay, with a-a-a…”

Red quickly trotted back down the steps, only to reappear moments later.

“A-a-a gosh darn bagel speared through his gosh darn horn?!”

“Actually it’s a donut, but... Eeyup, hehe,” Barbara giggled weakly, attempting to lighten the mood.

“...”

… Having clearly failed, the dragon’s ears wilted as her desire to shrink away into nothingness became overwhelming.

“Barb,” Red Gala mumbled, taken aback by, well, everything. “What… W-what in the great wide land of Equestria have ya don-”

“He jumped me when the boys left town!” Barbara abruptly shouted, halting the mare’s words. “H-he turned off the lights, a-a-and used his sleep spell on me again like he did at the Summer Solstice!”

…

“... He did what?” Red Gala spoke calmly, surprising her friend greatly.

“Y-yeah… he did,” Barb repeated slowly, trying to calm herself. “He sent me to the Dream Realm like before, but I think my mind sensed I was in danger this time and, like, made it difficult for him to move around or something.”

“Hm,” Red rumbled with eyes now hardened, and locked fully on the stairs leading downwards towards the basement.

“My brain was all like ‘Ah! Nightterror is here!’ And Artemis was all like ‘Don’t think about him, think about something else instead’.”

“Hm.”

“And then I was falling back in time, and remembering stuff from when I was really small.”

“Hm.”

“And then I did this… and then I did that… and then blah blah blah blah.”

“Hm.”

... Unbeknownst to Barbara, Red was no longer listening to her explanation for how she escaped, or how she incapacitated an alicorn...

“Blah blah blah blah!”

“Hm.

… In truth, Red didn’t particularly care about the details, or the impossibility of it all.

“B-blah, blah.”

“Hm.”

No... instead of paying attention, or thinking of running away; Red Gala’s mind had decided to preoccupy itself by doing something else entirely:

“Big sis… Ah can’t sleep.”

Replaying a memory.

“A-ah keep seein' that scary place when ah close mah eyes.”

The memory of Nightterror Nebula stealing her baby brother from her.

“Ah… sniff… A-ah don’t wanna disappear again, Red...”

And being powerless to stop it.

“...”

“... So I dragged him down to the basement, and sent you that letter,” Barbara finished her recap, unaware that she had mostly been ignored. “I want-, no… I need to know why he did what he did… B-but I don’t stand a chance against him on my own.”

“Eeyup,” Red agreed, her expression still hard and unyielding.

“Ouch,” Barb winced. “Brutal honesty runs in the family, huh?”

“Eeyup,” Red agreed again, only for her features to immediately soften. “How can ah help?”

“W-what, Red? You...Y-you’ll actually stay?!”

Whomp!

“Eeyup,” the farmer answered resolutely with a mighty stomp of her hoof. “Wasn’t just blowin’ smoke when ah said ah had yer back, sugarcube. Apple’s ain’t liars.”

The declaration, and the rare usage of her friend's words, at last turned the dragon’s smile genuine… though it wasn’t long before it again drooped, as the dark task before them resurfaced to the forefront of her mind.

“Are you really sure, Red?” Barbara asked meekly, uncertain how long the sincerity would last. “There’s no way to sugarcoat this, what we’re about to do is interrogate honest to goodness royalty! Royalty! We could both end up in big trouble if anything goes wrong!”

“Eeyup," Red Gala concurred, excepting the risks. "Wouldn’t be the first time we were willin’ to tussle with royalty though, Barb,'' she then reminded, continuing to speak; pushing herself out of her comfort zone for the sake of the scared child. “Remember when ya advertised yerself as a walkin’, talkin’ flamethrower?”

“Oh… right,” Barb blinked, surprised by the memory. “Guess I forgot about that day.”

“Hehe, eeyup.” Red laughed deeply, filling Barbara with renewed hope.

“... But,” Barb added, her doubts not yet fully banished. “I might have to twist the truth a little to get him to admit anything… Are you okay with me being a liar, Red?”

“Hmmm… Nnope,” the mare answered truthfully, only to curse herself as Barb's mood soured once again. “But there’s a big old difference between ‘lyin’ lyin’’ and ‘white lyin’,” she amended swiftly. “Sometimes we have to get a little muddy to get the job done. Reckon ah understand that better than most ponies out there…

“… Just don’t go tellin' mah brothers ah said that,” Red’s cheeks glowed an extra shade of crimson, as she realized what she had just admitted. “Ah’d never hear the end of it if ya did.”

“Don’t tell Dusk or anypony else about this and you have yourself a deal, Red,” Barbara chuckled back in better spirits, feeling a wonderful warmth growing in her chest.

Red, however, halted.

“... Eeyup?” she asked, concerned about the sudden ultimatum the dragon had imposed.

Able to effortlessly translate the question, Barbara steeled herself for her reply.

"W-well, we want to avoid leaking this to the authorities, right?" she pointed out, providing sound logic first. "Breaking and entering might be super illegal, but last I checked the Canterlot Court System is set up to favor royals in cases involving commoners and dragons.

"Eeyup," Red grunted, sharing her social political alignment in scathing detail.

"Besides that," Barb went on. "the reason I don't want anypony else to know about this, especially Dusk or Solaris, is because... because..."

... only for her words to abruptly cease. A new thought had entered her mind at that moment; something she had overlooked was coming back to her, and it was now giving her mixed feelings.

“Eeyup?” asked Red, confused by the sudden pause.

"..."

Barbara sighed.

“Red,” she spoke glacially, deciding her next words carefully. “I… I might have an idea why Artemis wanted to see my dreams, and what secrets he was looking for... And... a-and if I’m right…”

"..."

“... Red,” the child then turned to face the adult.

Her voice was quiet, borderline silent, as she asked a seemingly simple question:

“Do you trust me?”

“...”

… Red Gala contemplated those four little words for a good long while after they were uttered.

Just four little words, yet she knew they held deeper meaning to Barb then they ever did for her.

Four little words, ones that could make or break her friend right before her very eyes.

Four little words...

…

… that were ultimately answered with only one.

~Back to the Present~

“...”

“... I should just write to Solaris at this point.”

“Eeyup.”

“I really should.”

“Eeyup.”

“If Artemis is going to keep acting like a big foal I should just tattle on him and be done with it.”

“Eeyup.”

“He can’t be reasoned with.”

“Hmmm… Eeyup.”

“...”

“... Buuuut maybe I shouldn’t...?”

“Nnope?” Red Gala tilts her head to ask me, clearly concerned.

Gripping my purse strap harder, I try to justify myself.

“It’s just that I haven’t gotten my answer yet!” I argue, perhaps more for my sake than hers. “I still don’t know why he came after me like he did!” Pointing the tip of my tail towards the unconscious stallion, I push forward. “If we hoof him over to his brother now, I might never learn the truth!”

“Eeyup?”

“I know how Solaris thinks,” I begin to explain, only for the words to backfire and bring me back to Artemis’ earlier reveal; the one I was desperately trying to ignore. “I know how he thinks… He’ll say something like ‘Let me handle this affair’ and then sweep the whole thing under the rug! It’s what he did last time… a-and it’s something I’d probably do too if I was in his horseshoes…”

Fump

For the second time today, I find a great furry weight laying itself gently over my shoulder.

“Nnope,” Red Gala tells me plainly, not even humoring the thought. “That ain’t who ya are.”

“Bu-”

“Nnope,” she repeats, moving to ruffle my head fins. “Solaris is Solaris and you’re Barb; simple as that.”

“... Red,” I mutter lowly, appreciating the gesture but not embracing it. “I wish it was…”

“Eeyu-”

“Uhhhhh…”

Startled by the sound of groaning, Red and I separate just in time to see Artemis stirring from his forced slumber.

On one claw I’m glad he wasn’t out of it nearly as long as he was the first time but, on the other claw, I wasn't granted enough time to prep a Plan C! Plan A, Attack, and Plan B, Boot-to-the-head, will just have to do it for now... Hope they’ll wor- No... I’ll make them work; I have the skills to do so! They may not be the ones I wanted, or even asked to have, but at the end of the day I’m still Solaris’ Squire.

What that means is up to me to decide, and nopony else.

“Ready for round two?” I ask my partner calmly, trying to appear confident for both our sakes.

With a cocky whinny, one which essentially translates into a ‘You really have to ask?’, Red Gala grants me the stage as she stealthily returns to the shadows.

Well, here goes nothing… Again.

Doubt I’m going to get a round three, so let’s make this one count.

…

“… We really need to stop meeting like this, dude.”

“Bleh,” Artemis grumbles to himself, still a little groggy. Fluttering his eyelashes quickly, it takes a good few seconds for the alicorn’s brain to register that he had just taken another unintentional nap. “W-what happened?”

“You tried to use magic on an inhibitor ring,” I fib casually, wagging a talon at the naughty pony as I do. “It wasn’t there for show, Princy. Little thing zapped you something fierce before it kicked the bucket.”

“N… N-no,” the Prince visibly sags in his seat, only sparing a passing glance at the spare ‘inhibitor ring’ Red Gala had placed on his horn. “We were certain that was the correct harmonic matrix! Has modern day runecrafting advanced so far as to be beyond us now?!”

“No clue,” I reply honestly, not wanting him to wise up to my scheme.

If his reaction is anything to go by, bucking Artemis' head in like a ripe apple tree has seemingly erased my little distraction attempt, the one where I hinted at having a partner-in-crime, from his short-term memory banks... Either that or he’s holding that knowledge close to chest, and is just waiting for the right chance to use it against me...

Whomp!

“But that doesn’t matter,” I loudly stomp a foot on the ground, finishing both my inner thoughts and spoken words. “Feel free to melt that ring again all you want. I don’t really care if it works the second time, or if you knock yourself out again trying.”

“...Verily...?” is the stallion’s slow reply, as his mind races to comprehend what I’m suggesting.

“Oh yeah,” I confirm, nodding my head. “Go right ahead and waste as much time as you want…”

WHOMP!

“... Speaking of time,” I stomp again, resulting in the Prince jumping in his seat. “Do you know what time it is, Artemis?”

“Er… n-no,” he answers truthfully, wincing.

In response, I smile toothily.

“Well, neither do I!” I reveal with a boastful chortle. “There’s no clock down here, so I lost track a longtime ago! It could be the afternoon... or the evening…

“... or night.”

With my last remark, Artemis’ moderate cyan irises transform fully into moderate cyan pinpricks.

Might be reaching in the dark a bit, but I think he just realized what I’m hinting at~

“No,” the Prince gasps, the weight of my words sinking in. “No no no. It… i-it surely can’t be that late in the day!”

“Oh, it just might be,” I cross my arms, glaring up at him from the floor. “It just might… And, saaaay,” I hiss, jabbing the chained stallion in the chest with the tip of my talon. “Aren’t you the pony that starts the night these days? Would be pretty strangeif there wasn’t a moon rising all of a sudden... wouldn’t it?”

Artemis gulps.

“Solaris might have to do it for you instead.”

Artemis sweats.

“That would probably make him pretty curious as to what you’ve been up to today... right?”

Artemis hyperventilates.

“So, really… I don’t have to do anything else!” I again lie, knowing full well that I still need Artemis to spill his secrets. “I don’t have to wait for the boys, or write to Solaris… We can just sit here, relax... and watch the fireworks explod-”

“Haha!” Artemis fiercely laughs over me, panicking quite audiably. “H-hah!

“Hahah!

“Ha… h-h-haha...

“...

“... ArethoustillwillingtoparticipateinthoseofferedpeacetalksfairBarbara?!” he eventually sputters out, verbally tripping over himself. “Ahem… We mean... A-are thou still willing to participate in those offered peace talks, fair Barbara?”

With voice cracking, and looking to be on the verge of tears, Artemis grins crookedly as his tail literally tucks itself between his legs; completing the pathetic look.

...

… I…

… Wow.

Just… wow.

The pony who almost gave me a mental breakdown, fillies and gentlecolts.

God I'm happy nopony can see my embarrassed blushing through all this darkness.

“... After the stunt you just tried to pull on me, your highness?” my voice rises in anger. “I think that will all depend on how STUPID your reason for being here is going to turn out to be!”

“W-what if it turns out to be brilliant?” Artemis fumbles back, grasping at straws.

“I highly doubt it at this point,” I retort humorlessly.

“Ow," the guilty stallion winces. "Thy words wound us deeply, Barbara.”

“Good.”

“Thou truly art growing to become much like brothe-”

“Finish that sentence and you’re going to be leaving this basement extra crispy.”

“Ah… Duly noted… C-could we perhaps convince thee to-”

“QUIT STALLING OR I’LL GO GRAB SOLARIS MYSELF!!”

“Okay okay!” Artemis surrenders at long last, acknowledging the severity of the situation. “Okay… W-we will cooperate with thee-,er, you. Yes… You... You have our word that we will cooperate with you truly from this point forward, Barbara.”

Resisting the urge to say ‘your word is as good as mud’, I bite my tongue and accept the easing off of the Royal We as the small victory that it is. Less theatrics means less flowery bull to wade through on my way towards grasping the truth, as well as less of it to write in my diary. Yay. Between you and me, I’m dreading jotting all this nonsense down for my record keeping later. I can feel my claw aching already... Dragonshy is going to end up being my longest entry to date, mark my words... Bleh...

… Sigh…

… Speaking of dreading:

It’s time for answers.

“Why did you look at my dreams?” I finally ask, ready to get to the bottom of all this.

Artemis left plenty of hints for me, so I have a fairly good guess as to what he’s about to admit. As I stated earlier in the dream copy of The Poisoned Barb, there’s really only one thing of value I own to my name beyond my friends and my diary. I have multiple secrets, sure, but as far as I know only a small amount of them hold any significance to anyone other than myself and possibly Elusive. Hearing the reasoning directly from the horse’s mouth is really the only way I can shelf all of my paranoid guessing, and focus on a new battle plan for protecting myself! It’s the only option I have left...

… But having it spoken out loud will result in more than just my ears catching the truth, you see; hence my trepidation in-

“Oh you already know the answer to that question, Seer.”

Ah.

There it is.

We are now officially too far to turn back.

“I knew the risks,” I whisper, reminding myself of what I had gambled with, before raising my voice and taking my opponent head on. “Yeah, you’re right… I’m a Seer.”

Beyond the two of us, the room is deathly quiet.

Trying not to think about the implications of that statement, I push forward. “What of it? Prince Solaris is one too, so why don’t you go and pick around in his brain instead of mine?!”

“Brother has… forbid it,” Artemis gloomily reveals, looking away. “He does not wish for us-... sigh... me. He does not wish for me to be involved in Equestria’s future at this time…”

“How are my visions any different than?” I spit, crossing my arms in deep thought. “If Solaris told you not to bother me, I imagine that means my Future Sight is off limits too.”

“H-hey!” the alicorn barks indignantly. “We do not recall fully admitting that we weren't allowed here! That was just thy assumption!”

I shoot him a judging stink-eye for this.

“... O-okay, yeah… Sol did say to leave you alone,” he admits with drooping ears, and dwindling confidence. “He told me thusly right after my attempt at spying was foiled.”

“Figured as much,” I grunt, feeling a victory high energizing me again. “Solaris is more of the outsmart type of pony, not the smash-and-grab kind.”

“… What are you implying about me with that statement?”

“What do you think?”

“... Fair enough.”

“Darn tootin’,” I nod, glad that we’re finally on agreeable terms. “So despite being told not to mess with me, you still went ahead and messed with me…”

Drumroll for the million bit question:

“Why?”

The solution to this whole little conundrum lies in this next reply.

Either it’ll be something earth shattering that will call for extreme measures, or it’ll be so complicated that it’ll require surgical precision to disarm; there's no middle ground.

After all the trouble it took to get to this point, I doubt it’ll be anything less impactful than tha-

“I wished to see where your last vision deviated… That was all.”

…

… I stand corrected.

“You… just wanted to see my vision about Trixie?” I ask, taken aback by the absurdity. “That’s all?”

“If this ‘Trixie’ pony lies at the center of the vision, then yes.”

“...”

“... That’s really it?” I ask again, feeling like I’m missing something. “You just wanted to see that vision and only that vision?”

“Yes… Though I suppose any would have done the job, just not as well.”

“...”

“... Why?!” I yell, dragging my palms against my face. “Why did you freaking sneak into my brain to see something I was already going to tell Solaris about?!”

“Well I-”

“Ignoring the fact that you somehow read my private letter to your brother,” I cut him off harshly, fuming. “All you wanted to do was to get a sneak peek?! Really?!”

“Well... yes… But-”

Whoomp!

Foot meets ground as I stomp it harshly in growing frustration. “You waited until the boys were sent away to break into my house, put me to sleep, and torture me with past memories just to see Boast Busters of all episodes?!”

“... What the hay is a ‘Boast Buste-”

“QUIET TIME, MISTER,” I snap, reverting to mother-mode; not believing how monumentally stupid this actually turned out to be. “Sit there and think about what you’ve done!”

“But… I already am though...?” Artemis blinks, more confused than upset.

“Here I thought you wanted to know the future,” I huff loudly, fighting hard to keep my fire down. “Or maybe you wanted to, I don't know, inception an idea into my brain or something!”

“That’s not how Dream Walking works, you tiny philistine.”

“But no,” I start to wind down, as my righteous fury begins to leave me. “No… You just wanted to see one, stinking, vision.”

“... Yes,” Artemis confirms, once he felt it safe to speak up again. “Only one for now. I wished to see how it varied.”

“I was already going to tell Solaris all about it,” I groan, not really caring anymore about any of this. What a waste of time, stress, and brain cells. “Invading my mind was super unnecessary.”

“On the contrary,” the alicorn fires back, surprising me out of my funk. “It was super necessary! If I hadn’t, then how else would I've been able to point out the contradictions?”

“You wouldn’t need to,” I snort fumes, finding myself only getting frustrated again instead of enlightened. Really thought Artemis was going somewhere there for a second. “I just said that I was already going to tell Solaris everythin-”

“I’m not talking about the vision’s contradiction with reality, dear Barbara,” Artemis silences me, regaining my full attention.

Before I could ask what he meant, before I was even gifted the opportune; the Prince of the Night at last cuts to the chase.

“I was referring to the contradiction between the vision…

“... and your testimony.”

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

If I learned anything from my encounter with Prince Artemis today it’s that those who possess knowledge of the future have vastly varying opinions on how that sort of information should be used.

Solaris practices, and has instilled within me, an understanding of the River and the Stone; the concept that time is both fixed and fluid. Our actions and inactions are what ultimately shape the future, and lead us to what we already know will come to pass. Such a reactionary mindset has served the elder Prince well throughout his rule, resulting in an Equestria that may see the occasional villain, but is still peaceful so long as you're a pony.

The River and the Stone Creed isn’t perfect though, as I’ve seen time and time again.

Accidentally killing Sunset Blaze’s destiny as the Element of Magic, neglectfully raising me to be Dusk’s maid, losing his eye to his scorned brother; Solaris’ visions tend to blind him to the reality around him. His unyielding pursuit to ensure that the River flows to its intended destination has resulted in him carelessly hurting others without really meaning to. Even when he makes the conscious effort to do better the next time, as he did when he first formed the creed, it seems his destiny is to repeat his mistakes until the end of days.

My take, meanwhile, has grown to become slightly different.

While I personally still incorporate a fair bit of that philosophy when it comes to using my future knowledge, as of late I've been attempting to craft a path all my own. Instead of as a plain old script, I’ve been seeking to use what I know as a sort of warning system for what to expect, and for what to prepare for. I convinced Prince Solaris to move Eris’ statue, for example, but I didn’t push Rainbow Dash away from wanting to become a lady. I’m also still set on reviewing the Stardust Glimmer incident with the Prince, but I’m likely not going to mention how Dusk’s “I learned how power influences the way others perceive you” lesson differed from Twilight’s “My friends helped me realize that it's okay to be proud of your talents” one.

In my mind, following Spike’s example just as closely as Solaris follows the River and the Stone would be, without question, suicidal.

Doing so as I had before would have forced me into a scenario where I indirectly smashed Trixster’s wagon, and later into one where I get jealous over an owl, and another where I turn into a rampaging birthday monster. Embracing the inherent change present in this gender-flipped world, however, grants me a small sense of freedom; freedom to use the lessons from the prime dimension to help this one through rough patches, and freedom to craft the overall story to be a lot less villain-y.

Prince Solaris’ method, in comparison, is to accept the good with the bad while only stepping in when the future is uncertain…

… a sentiment Prince Artemis doesn’t share.

His own philosophy, in fact, is something else entirely.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... My testimony?” I ask, still trying to digest the strange accusation. “Mine? What, do you think I lie about what I see or something?”

“Wouldn’t be the first Seer who did,” Artemis spits back, having apparently rediscovered his spine. “And faaaarrr from the last, I’m certain.”

“... That’s ridiculous,” I reply in turn, scratching my head. “What makes you think I’m a liar?”

“You’re Solaris’ Squire,” the Prince deadpans, and provides me with a flat looking ‘Really, girl?’ expression.

“... Okay, fair point,” I concede, realizing that I don’t really have a leg to stand on.

Element of Honesty I am not.

“But, come on!” I next argue, not allowing him to win so easily. “Solaris only figured out I was a Seer, like, a month ago! So far all I’ve told him about was your return from being Nightterror Nebula, which was true I might add, and about Eris’ upcoming one…”

Again the room is silent.

This reminds me briefly that, despite this conversation being mainly between Artemis and I, we’re not the only ones down here. I can’t see Red Gala in this darkness, but a part of my mind is screaming at me not to say anything more... If I don’t though, Artemis might get suspicious...

… I wonder what Red thinks of me now…

…

… Friendship... is Magic...

“...What have I done that makes you think I lie to your brother, Artemis?” I finish my sentence, choosing not to let my fear consume me. “I’ve given him as much as he needs to know.”

“But not everything,” Artemis accuses immediately, shooting me a glare. “You have certainly not told him everything, correct?”

“Yeah… So?” I fire right back, getting in his face; letting him smell the sulfur on my breath. “Pretty sure Solaris hasn’t told me everything either…"

A thought then crosses my mind.

“... and neither has he with you,” I tack on, taking a wild guess. “Bet he’s just as ‘mysterious’ and ‘unknowable’ as he is with everypony else, right?”

“Brother tells us everything, child!” the alicorn fumes in his seat, regressing back to his earlier speech pattern. “Brother… B-brother indeed tells us everyth-”

“And you called me the liar.”

Thanks to my jab, Artemis’ pupils turn to draconic slits as he shoots me the dirtiest snare he can muster.

I respond by not responding at all, instead only staring neutrally back with my own unique peepers and nothing more.

“...”

“... He… h-he used to tell me everything,” Artemis whispers quietly, not wanting to hear the words. His nebulous irises return to their pony appearance as his head tilts downwards, and as he echoes the sad truth. “He used to tell me everything…”

Drip

With a silent sniffle, the Prince uses his mane to try to hide his misting eyes.

Hair can’t erase teardrops though...

… Damn it… I made my opponent cry.

I really am turning into Solaris 2.0.

“The Elements of Harmony purified us,” Artemis speaks with himself, having forgotten me completely. “We are a new stallion, free of our evil thoughts… Why won’t he speak to me anymore…?”

"..."

... The spiteful side of myself wants to say something sinister.

It wants to say “Because you slashed his eye out.”

It wants to say the words covertly, under a veil of childlike innocence; as well as cruelly, under a flag of self righteousness.

To cement my victory, to completely destroy Artemis in both mind and soul... It’s what would easily put a cap on this whole case, and forever scar him from wanting to mess with me ever again...

...

“... Redemption isn't a rainbow laser blast applied directly to the forehead, Artemis.”

The stallion raises his head.

“Redemption is something you have to actually work towards," I finish, having chosen to take the highroad instead of the cruel one.

Even I’m surprised, honestly.

“... B-bah! What do you know, child?” Artemis spits in the face of my advice, upsetting me. Turning away, he continues to pout. “I have lived twice your lifetimes, and have thus experienced far more than you.”

“... Only twice?” I squint my eyes, confuzzled by that last addition. "Artemis, how old do you think I am?"

"You're ten years of age... correct?"

"..."

"... Or maybe... Nine?"

"..."

"... Eight... Eight is my final guess."

"... Oh dear lord he's not even an adult," I rasp under my breath, having done the math and realized that this alicorn is only four years older than Dusk. "He went from being Solaris’ equal to his super baby brother… My god that explains a lot... I know that growing up means accepting our mistakes, dude,” I raise my voice, dramatically changing my tactics. “It’s only when we stop ignoring our problems that the way forward becomes clear...” Looking beyond Artemis’ chair, I gift the shadows a warm smile. “... That’s what a good friend of mine has been trying to teach me, at least.”

Perhaps it’s just my imagination, but I think I just heard a tiny, appreciative “Eeyup” echo my sentiments.

“Plunging Equestria into an eternal night does not qualify as a simple 'mistake', Barbara,” Artemis retaliates fiercely, drawing my attention back. “Only through drastic measures will I regain my rightful place!”

“And that means looking at my vision?” I question, upset that we looped back around to this topic. “Sorry, but I’m not putting two and two together here.”

“It is not your place to understand, Seer,” Artemis roars angrily. “It is your place to give of yourself everything that you know for the good of Equestria! That is the way!”

“No,” I fight back, standing my ground. “Solaris said that it was my choice!”

“And I believe that to be foolish,” Artemis argues louder, as if that makes him more right. “Leaving you unattended does this kingdom a great injustice!”

“Says you!”

“Says history!”

“History?”

“Yes!!” the alicorn wails, pushing himself against his chains and ropes the furthest he can move. “Clover the Clever foresaw the end of the Crystal Empire but did nothing!

"General Lightning predicted Lady Tirek’s rise to power, but instead allowed Scorpina to deliver the news long after our neighbors’ magic was stolen!

"And Grogan, the mother of monsters… Well the less said about her and her legends the better.

“Seers are the most selfish, egotistically motivated horrors in all the land, Barbara! Do not think yourself better than your forbearers, less the curse rob you of your senses as it did for the countless others before you!!”

Panting from his blustering, having worn himself out, I back away from the stallion as he attempts to catch his breath.

This... is giving me some serious déjà vu.

Pretty sure we were just here not too long ago, except I was the speaker and Artemis was the unwilling audience...

… the end result isn’t the same though.

Instead of stunning me into losing my composure, Artemis' passionate shouting has only resulted in making everything click inside my head. From his words to his actions and even to his insistences; I can now see clearly that his declaration that all Seer’s are bad, and that I’m destined to use my knowledge selfishly, for what it is: A harmless smokescreen. Nothing more.

Maybe it’s partially true, and maybe there are a few bad apples in the bushel, but the reason I’m not standing in awe of this ‘massive’ discovery is quite simple:

“You don’t actually think I’m a liar,” I calmly share my thoughts, now certain of the reasoning behind all this. “This was never about protecting Equestria from what I might be hiding, or even about what my visions really show, was it?”

“...”

“... I… W-we do not know what thou art talking about,” Artemis lies with a scrunched face, wandering eyes, and restored Royal We. “Thou art as delusional in thy assumptions as ever, Barbara The Dragoness.”

“No, I totally know the truth now,” I state clearly, still undaunted. “That little rant, right there, was the final piece of the puzzle... You’ve now shown me your entire hand.”

“We are not playing some foalish game of cards, whelp-”

“Metaphorical hand, idiot,” I roll my eyes, and smirk over having nailed the pronunciation of that word on the first try. “You said a few things you probably shouldn’t have. That’s all I was saying.”

“Enticing thy mind with thoughts of visions was unavoidable, Seer!” the Prince barks back, thinking I’m referring to the dream stuff again. “Do not think thyself superior simply becaus-”

“We're not talking about the Dream Realm anymore,” I interrupt, regaining the spotlight. “Yeah it's true I once thought that what you had said in there might hold the key to figuring all this out... but your never ending attempts to dodge the question and escape scot-free did a much better job than words ever could!

"I know now with certainty that this was never about you thinking I’m a liar, Prince Artemis…

"... It was about you needing me to be a liar.”

Entry 8, Part 8 (Dragonapped)

Oh good lord what have we done?!

Oh good lord what have we done?!

Giving Artemis a headache would have been enough... Giving Artemis a concussion would have been enough… Giving Artemis a charbroiling would have been enough…

Giving him an amputation, however, was too flipping much!

Time slows to a crawl as I watch the bloodless mutilation take place before me, and as Red Gala’s face warps in horror as she realizes her mistake. With momentum still carrying her through the terrible act, making stopping impossible, my friend slides helplessly over the stallion's head before floping unceremoniously on the floor beside him.

BOOOOOOOM!!!

She didn’t stay there long though, as not even a second later an ENORMOUS burst of arcanic energy erupts forth from the alicorn's now hornless form; resulting in an explosive backfiring that ripped the stallion clean from his bindings, and me clean off my feet. My purse strap snaps in the issuing chaos, scattering its contents throughout the room along with the contents of what I can only assume was once Artemis’ aforementioned dimensional pocket. Bits, scrolls, tomes, a sheathed blade, and various other doodads twirled in the very air around us, bludgeoning pony and dragon alike in a typhoon of uncontrolled mana and hyper-unstable ether.

… Fhump

Eventually, after several grueling minutes, the magic supporting the storm died out, allowing all three of us to collapse to the floor in a largely disorganized heap. Objects then fell to the ground soon after, resulting in glass smashing, pages scattering, and Butter’s animal’s making various scared noises from upstairs... Beyond that though, there was only silence.

None of us dared move.

…

...

… After a time, I rediscovered my voice.

“Red... Did… D-did you seriously just kick the godhood out of Artemis?!”

From a far off corner of the ruined laboratory, I hear a muffled “Eeyup” buried deep below the debris.

“...”

“... Red… I love you… but what the actual buck?”

I think I then heard a small “Didn’t mean to” come from the pile, or maybe it was a small “Language” warning... either way, I wasn’t granted the opportunity to hear more.

Before I could, Artemis popped up out of his own pile, and proceeded to slap his forehead like a pony possessed.

“N-no no no no!” he screams madly, feeling around for an appendage that simply wasn’t there anymore. “What did thou do what did thou do what did thou do?!”

“You know, I was just asking myself the same thing,” I answer back from my junk cocoon. Lacking the energy to pull myself out, nor the willpower to acknowledge how badly Red and I had just messed up, I gaze upwards towards the ceiling in a pathetic bid to not start screaming...

... We dehorned Artemis.

We dehorned Artemis...

…

… I really hope they serve gemstones and apples in Tartarus.

Gulp

Removing himself from his hill of garbage, Artemis starts panickily searching the darkened basement for… well take a wild guess.

Click

Having been the second of us to rise out of our funk, Red Gala uses the light switch by the entrance to illuminate the room, making Artemis’ hunt vastly easier to accomplish. Standing up shortly after from my own mini-prison, I skedaddle to Red’s side as we together watch the stallion continue his frenzied search.

After a while, he at last found what he was looking for:

His horn.

Cradling the ivory spike like a newborn foal, the stallion makes a sad attempt to reattach the thing to his temple… only for the cracks not to match its now smooth surface. Unbeknownst to him, there was no scar where the horn had once stood proudly.

In fact, to the uninformed observer; Artemis was now, by all accounts, just a normal looking pegasus pony.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Unicorn, and by extension alicorn, horns are quite unique when compared to the ones possessed by other horn bearing races such as oxen, dragons, and minotaurs.

To these three examples losing a horn can be annoying, but ultimately not life changing. Even other magically inclined races, such as the rare deer folk, fear not having their appendages stricken from them. In fact, losing and growing new horns is a natural part of the life cycles of several unique species scattered throughout this vast world.

This is not the case with ponies though.

Losing a horn to them means losing it for life.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“...”

“... Soooo… Ummmm… M-my bad?”

Artemis whips furious eyes towards me, and angrily stomps his way over.

“My big bad,” I eep, backing up against a wall. “My super duper big bad!”

A girlish scream escapes my lips as the livid pony approaches ever closer...

Clipclopclipclop

... but Red Gala quickly stands in his way.

“Nnope,” she tells the former alicorn resolutely, matching the pony’s death glare point for point. “Nnope.”

“She just ruined us, girl,” Artemis hisses at Red, meeting her eye level only halfway.

“Nnope; ah did, yer majesty,” Red fires back, undaunted. “Only mistake Barb made was in hoofin' out more second chances than you rightfully deserved.”

Artemis wings rise in an attempt to be intimidating…

… though his pouty face made it difficult for either of us to take him seriously.

“When brother hears of this,” he starts to threaten.

“He’ll laugh in your face and ask what you were doing in Ponyville,” I interject from behind Red’s hindleg, reminding the stallion of what he had clearly forgotten. “I was trying to be nice by not getting him involved, but I guess we can’t avoid it now.”

“What are thee...” Artemis cocks his head towards me, absorbing my words, only to then gasp upon realizing what I’m implying. “The moon! Brother will have to raise it for us now!”

“Yeah,” I nod, feeling a pinch sorry for the dude… but only a pinch. “Let the record show that I tried to warn you, multiple times.”

Again I’m granted a dirty look for my comment, and again Red steps in between the two of us.

“... N-no no no no,” Artemis repeats his madness mantra, pacing in circles. “No no no no, this can’t be happening!”

“You’re telling me,” I reply back, knowing full well that he wasn’t talking to me directly anymore. “Pretty sure you still had your horn in the episod-, er, visions that haven’t come to pass yet.”

Artemis pauses thanks to this.

“... Visions…?” he asks himself, mulling the word over. “Visions… images… reflections... dreams…”

Suddenly his expression morphs from spiteful to contemplative.

I think he just had an idea.

Before either Red or myself could ask what was on his mind, the stallion abruptly hugged his horn tightly to his chest and closed his eyes in deep thought. Unsure how to respond, we watch quietly as Artemis does… whatever it is he’s doing.

…

… T-twinkle twinkle twink-...

Red and I share a gasp as both the disembodied horn, and Artemis' cutie mark, gives off a dim blue glow; one that lasted all of two seconds.

The pony himself re-opened his eyes shortly thereafter.

“We can connect to the moon through the Dream Realm,” he reveals with a pleasant looking smile, only for it to droop almost immediately. "Or, at least faintly we can. Should be able to bring in the night this eve with relative ease... lowering it tomorrow though might prove difficult… hmmm...”

Still thinking deeply, the alico-, er, pegasus chooses not to elaborate further.

“Is this, umm... p-permanent?” I at last build up the nerve to ask, dreading the answer.

Princess Luna may not have been in many of the episodes I watched during my time as a human, but I doubt she ended up being a non-entity. Losing her magic… I can’t even imagine how badly such a thing would mess up the future!

Instead of replying right away, Artemis places a hoof on his chest and shuts his eyes. Once more, after a brief pause, he exits what I can only assume was the Dream Realm and provides me his thoughts.

“The ability to Dream Walk hasn’t left us, but the rest of our magic seems to have restructured itself to match that of a common pegasus,” he attempts to explain, and I attempt to follow along the best I can; Prince Solaris once told me that even earth ponies can Dream Walk, so that first reveal doesn't surprise me all that much. “The weakened state the Elements reduced us to is what allowed us to be… changed, as such," Artemis coughs, now conspicuously avoiding eye contact with Red. "Perhaps completing our healing will restore us in a manner reminiscent of our first ascension… b-but we’re uncertain...

"... All we are certain of is that Ponyville lacks the means to accommodate our restoration, thus we will depart it posthaste.”

Wait what?

“J... J-just like that?!” I can’t help but ask, unnerved by the very suggestion. “Now you want to leave peacefully?!”

Artemis snorts tiredly in reply.

“Would thee rather have us stay here, and facilitate the need to explain our new condition to both Sir Dusk Shine and brother?” he questions back, clearly just as done with this whole day as I am.

“... Point taken,” I willingly fold, accepting the small mercy for what it is. “Guess it's okay for you to go now anyways," I continue, running scenarios in my head one final time as I do. "You've made it painfully clear that you don't want to disappoint Solaris in any fashion, and it's not like you can actually hurt me anymore without your magic... right?”

“Not unless thy sadistic partner will allow us to hug thee long enough to drag thy consciousness into the Dream Realm.”

“Nnope,” responds Red Gala pretty much instantly.

“Then we have thusly been fully defanged,” Artemis declares with a loud groan, at last accepting the loss. “Huzzah…”

“...”

“... Er… Does... D-does either of thee have spare currency for a train ticket?” the former alicorn then asks sheepishly. “We had originally teleported most of the way here...”

Clank clank

Not giving me the opportunity to respond, Red throws a small collection of bits on the floor.

“Take and git,” the farmer orders the Prince, pointing to the offered money on the ground. “Don’t come back now, ya hear?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Artemis scoffs as he accepts the coinage. “With our luck we’d probably lose a wing the next time our path crosses with young Barbara’s.”

Staring silently soon after, Red and I make no movements, and offer no comments, as Prince Artemis struggles for a time with picking up the bits with his teeth. Once he was able to slide them into his tail for safe keeping, he then took a moment to scavenge the collection of junk around us for his things and shove them into a makeshift hobo satchel along with his horn.

Scanning the room one final time to make sure he had grabbed everything, Artemis grants the two of us a passing glance before flying up the stairs and leaving the laboratory outright.

“...”

“... Well,” I start to say.

My words are cut off by the sudden reappearance of Artemis.

“Where did thee leave our cloak?” he yells from upstairs.

“It’s on the coat rack next to the front door!” I yell back.

“Ahh… Many thanks.”

Again he leaves.

“...”

“... Well-”

Again he reappears.

“Our travel satchel tore open,” he reports gloomily. “Would Sir Dusk Shine perhaps have an old saddle bag that he no longer requires?”

“Second floor, first closet!”

“Ah… The many thanks have been doubled.”

He leaves for the third time.

“...”

“... I swear to Solaris… Well-”

Aaaannnnddd there’s Artemis.

Again.

“Which way is the train station-”

“LITERALLY ACROSS THE STREET!!”

“Oh… Oooohhhh right… Many thanks for the third-”

“LEAVE!!” screams Red, beating me to the punch.

“Eep!”

With a slamming of the front door, Artemis at last does just that.

For the first time all day long, it’s finally only Red Gala and myself in this basement.

Only Red… and myself…

…

… Sigh…

… Which means it’s confession time.

“Well… thank you for all your help, Red,” is how I begin this little talk of ours, as a new feeling of dread begins to set in. “Couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Eeyup.”

“Hah,” I laugh at her good natured ribbing. “You can say that again.”

“Eeyup.”

“Snrk, you jerk,” I hold my sides, and allow her attempt to ease my worries to work. “You’re the best.”

Briefly we hoof/fistbump, before returning to the matter at claw.

“Not sure what Artemis is going to do about his whole… thing,” I attempt to breach the subject delicately. “But I doubt he’ll go crying to his brother about any of this.”

“Eeyup.”

“He’ll probably take the memory of getting beaten up by a couple of girls to his grave.”

“Eeyup.”

“I guess this was about the best outcome either of us could have hoped for…”

“...”

“... Red… Do… D-do you think it was wrong of me to give him so many second chances…?”

“Eeyup.”

I can feel my ear-fins wilting on the side of my head.

“Oh,” I mumble, accepting the criticism. “Yeah… That was real stupid of me, huh…”

“Nnope.”

Turning to meet Red’s eyes, I raise an eyebrow; expressing my fresh confusion.

Red laughs in response.

“May not have been the right move,” she elaborates. “But extendin’ a hoof-, er, claw, to somepony who clearly needs it ain’t stupid.”

“Y-you think so?”

“Ah know so, Barb.”

“... Heh… Thanks, Red.”

“Eeyup.”

“...”

… Clenching my fists, and tightening my resolve, I brace myself for the final confrontation of the day. “Red,” I begin again, as I turn my head away. “About what Artemis and I were discussing…”

“... Eeyup?”

“You… y-you probably have, like, a bajillion questions for me now!”

“Nnope.”

“You’re entitled to the full truth, Red Gala," I at last manage to spit out. "You see, it... i-it all started back in Canterlot when Dusk first hatc-”

Wait wait wait wait wait wait... wait.

Pump the breaks.

Throw it into reverse…

...

… W-what did she just say?

“N-...Nope?” I repeat, turning back to face Red… only to find her cleaning the mess Artemis’ explosion had caused.

She wasn’t even paying attention to me anymore.

“Hm,” she grunts in a passive reply, her mouth too preoccupied with debris to elaborate further.

Standing dazed, I wait for her to put down her work and take me seriously. When she doesn’t, I begin absentmindedly putting things back together as well. “Nope?” I ask again in between placing beakers back where they belong.

“Nnope,” the earth pony speaks around one of my sending seals.

Gently taking the offered object out of her teeth, I place it into my damaged purse and continue to stare.

“...”

“... Y-you don’t have to be nice to me on this.”

Red puts the book she was carrying down, and turns back my way.

“It’s okay to be curious,” I force myself to say. “It’s okay to want to know the truth. Red… Artemis wasn’t lying… I am a Seer…”

“... Eeyup.”

“...”

“... Go on… Say something!” I beg, feeling my very heart split in two. “I’m not normal! I’m different! It’s okay to be weirded out! It’s okay to be furious! It’s… i-it’s okay to not to want to be around me anymore... I know so much about what’s to come, and what already came to pass... It’s... it’s okay to be afraid of me-”

“Nnope.”

“Stop trying to be nice!” I snap, disgusted by her insincerity. “It’s okay to think of me as a freak-”

“No it ain’t,” Red snaps back louder, startling me. “Yer makin’ a mountain out of a molehill, Barb.”

“B-but-”

Fump

I once again find her hoof on my shoulder.

“Barbara,” is how Red starts, making damn sure that I’m looking her in the eyes this time. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but ah never saw ya as a normal foal.”

“... Not really sure what other way I’m supposed to take a comment like that, Red.”

“Yer supposed to take it in the way that reminds ya that yer a gosh darn dragon, sugarcube,” Red deadpans, causing me to blush over the misunderstanding. “Ah knew you were different from day one, and nothin’ ah heard here has changed mah opinion of that whatsoever.”

“But-”

“Bein’ Solaris’ little smarty of a Squire, or bein’ a future knowin' Seer whatchamacallit; neither one really means a hill of beans to me."

"But-"

"Yer still mah friend, Barb."

"But-"

"That’s the honest truth.”

“But-”

“You really need to stop being so stupidly hard on yerself over silly little things like this thoug-”

“It’s not silly!” I fight back, pushing away from the embrace. “What I know, what I’ve done, what I didn’t do… Anypony in their right mind should fear me! Y-you can’t just go around and say ‘everything’s gonna be okay’ when it clearly won’t! How… h-how can you stand to be around me?!

“... How can anypony stand to be around such a messed up know-it-all like me…”

"...”

"..."

“... How does He’s Dedicated to Roses 2 end?”

Lifting my head, I blink blankly at Red.

“... What?”

“How does He’s Dedicated to Roses 2 end?” Red repeats herself, like everything I said hadn’t happened.

Um… what?

“Did… Did you finish reading it already?” I ask back, uncertain why she changed the subject.

“Nnope.”

“But… it’s been out for weeks… You still haven’t gotten around to reading it yet?”

“Ah’m halfway through, just haven’t had the time to finish.”

"... Do you plan on finishing it?"

"Eeyup."

“... And you still want me to spoil the ending...?”

“Eeyup.”

“...”

“... W-why would I do that?!” I gasp, miffed by the very request. “It would totally ruin the whole book for you!”

“Eeyup.”

“There’d be no more surprises, or suspense!”

“Eeyup.”

“It would leave you empty, a-and unsatisfied!”

“Eeyup.”

“No!” I stomp a foot, drawing the line. “I won’t spoil it!”

Fump

Once more I find Red’s hoof placed firmly atop my head.

“Good,” she nods simply, and smiles softly. “If ya ain’t willin’ to spill a tiny little thing like that, then ah guess ah don’t have to worry about ya spoilin’ Apple Buck’s cutie mark neither, or who mah special somepony will be.”

"…"

… That…

… leaves me speechless.

With another pat on the head, Red Gala turns away and resumes cleaning. “Yer a good kid, Barb; ain’t got nothin’ to worry about from ya… Now come on,” she orders from over her shoulder, gesturing to the junk piles still around us. “Boys could be back any minute.”

Rooted in place, unable to move, I watch as Red continues to clean the basement.

“...”

… When it became clear that she truly had nothing else to say on this matter, I too start picking things back up…

…

… I…

…

… I won.

I actually won.

I survived Artemis’ surprise attack, and faced him head on in a counter offensive. I powered through his cruel barbs, and came out on top. I interrogated him thoroughly, and showed him the error of his ways. I punished him properly too, and convinced him never to try something like this again. I even kept Red as an ally, didn’t lose too many of my secrets, held on to the biggest one of them all and, as soon as I put the library back together, I will have gotten away with it completely and utterly with both the boys and Solaris being none the wiser.

I... did it.

I actually won.

I… actually won.

I... won…

…

… But… b-but if that’s true…

Sniff

T-then where are these tears coming from?

I… I-I won! I shouldn’t be sad! I-I, sniff, shouldn’t be crying!

It’s not like this was the closest I’ve come to losing it all or something!

It’s not like I was terrified the whole gosh darn time, a-and hiding it all behind a mask of confidence!

I-it’s not…

Sniff

… It’s not like I’m a little lost girl in a big scary world...

…

“... R… R-red?” I sniffle weakly, as all my suppressed fear and worries come crashing down at once. “Thank you, sniff, for being my friend-”

Glomp

Before I could even finish my stuttering, Red Gala was already tenderly hugging my shaking form and gently rocking it back and forth.

The next half hour or so consisted of me weeping loudly into her chest, and nothing more.

_______________________________

“...”

“... Sniff… I… I think I’m good now.”

“Eeyup?”

“Y-... Yup.”

Red Gala at last lets go, and allows my feet to once more touch the ground. A pleasantly awkward silence then followed between the two of us as we resumed the cleaning.

Sometime later, we both found ourselves in a much more organized laboratory...

… Hopefully Dusk won’t notice all the broken beakers, or the slightly used rope and chains.

“I think this is the best we’re going to get with this room,” I state our mutual thought aloud.

“Eeyup.”

“At least Dusk rarely comes down here... I can probably pass off any damage he finds as the work of Butter’s animals.”

“Eeyup.”

“Let’s see the state of the upstairs now,” I suggest to my best friend. “I might be able to clean that up on my own, though it’ll depend on how big of a mess Angelica left for me to take care of.”

“Eeyup?”

“Yeah, you don’t have to stick around here for that part,” I answer for Red as I walk away, heading towards where I had left my purse. “If the pegasi start clearing the clouds, that means the boys finished their quest and are heading back to Ponyville. You weren’t in my vision for how this day ends, so you should probably skedaddle back home before Applejack beats you to the punch.”

“... Hm,” Red shakes her head lightly, and grins cheekily. “Eeyup?”

Using my O&O voice, I answer back just as cheekily with, “Do not question the Seer, noble knight. They know things you do not.”

“Nnope.”

“Hah! Got me there,” I chortle back. “Clearly I don’t know everything, and I never will.”

“Eeyup.”

“For instance, I don’t know if we’re still on for O&O night next week…?” I ask hopefully.

“Eeyup,” Red confirms in good spirits, before feeling the need to tack on, “Though ah might consider cancelin’ on any poker nights you offer from here on out.”

“... Fair enough, Red. Fair enough.”

“...”

“... Snrk”

Soon we’re both ensnared with a bout of the giggles.

“Okay, enough horsing around,” I joke, returning to business. Quickly tying the loose ends of my purse straps together into a knot, I slip the bundle back over my shoulder. “We’re running out of time before…”

“... Eeyup?” Red turns to ask me, uncertain why I had stopped talking.

Blinking, I move my bag around a bit more in place. Something feels…

… off.

Opening up the flap, I take a quick inventory check.

Let’s see… scrolls? Check. Sealed inkwell? Check. Quill? Check. Backup quill? Check. Scroll seals? Double check; I even have that extra one from Solaris. Tissues? Check. Hoof/claw sanitizer? Check. Gems? Check. Non-gem based snacks? Check. Breath freshening mints? Check. Emergency water bottle for fire-related accidents? Check. Bit purse? Check. Bits in bit purse? Check. Dusk’s spare checklists? Check. Photo of the mane six? Check. Various pictures of Elusive? Check. Day calendar featuring griffon super models? C-check. Solaris’ letter from this morning? Check. Power Pony doll I’m holding on to for Sweepy Belle? Check. Bandages for Scooteroll? Check. Lavender lipstick Rainbow Dash secretly snuck me? Check. Ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala? Check. Roundtrip train ticket to Canterlot for this weekend? Check. Diary? Check…

… Wait, not check… It looks… different.

Reaching into my satchel, I pull out the book.

It’s a lot more… blue then I remember… and a heck of a lot lighter.

Cracking it open, I take a look inside.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Journal Entry 0021~

Today we learned that there exists a dessert that was made in honor of our celestial body. It is known as a moonpie.

We fail to see the appeal.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

I flip to another page.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Journal Entry 0032~

Apparently there is a holiday dedicated to our fall from grace.

We must remember to ask you-know-who about it posthaste… as soon as he’ll grant us an audience, that is.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

With claws shaking, I turn to the first entry.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Journal Entry 0001~

Brother has gifted this journal to us under the pretense that it may aid in our healing… But we know this to be a lie.

Sol’s true objective in doing so was obviously to distract us from what we learned today concerning his Squire, Barbara The Dragoness.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

I slam the book shut.

Scanning the basement, I find no more tomes laying about.

The room starts spinning as I start hyperventilating... No.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no-

“Barb?” Red asks me straightly, shocked by my shaking.

“T-this is Artemis’!” I manage to squeak out, as my mind flashes memories of the pile of junk the stallion had long since left with. “He must have had it in his dimensional pocket thingy!”

“Eeyup?”

“That… t-that must means…” I gulp loudly, as the weight of my words flips the world upside down. “That must mean that Artemis has my diary!”

Artemis has The Poisoned Barb!!

Entry 8, Part 9 (Dragonapped)

Clipclopclipclopclipclopclipclopclipclop

Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!

How could I’ve been so flipping stupid?!

There was no point in bringing my purse with me to the interrogation! There was no point in putting my diary in that kind of danger! Was I worried about Butter’s animals ripping it up? Was I worried about leaving it unguarded…? Ugh! I don’t even remember what my stupid reasoning was anymore!

Regardless, I have to stop Artemis from opening The Poisoned Barb before it’s too late!

From atop Red Gala’s back, wind whips past me as I hold onto her yoke for dear life. Galloping towards the train station results in powerful clouds of dust getting kicked up in her wake, scaring away the odd pony or two who had not been content with simply staying indoors. The fact that the sky above is still covered in the dragon’s smoke neither deters these few equine, nor grants me any comfort; the forecast may say that this episode isn’t over yet, but that won’t mean squat if Artemis discovers the truth about me!

Toot toot!

“No!” I wail out from my steed, as the Friendship Express departs Ponyville station. Uncaring for my struggles, the engine rapidly gains steam. “Stop, please!”

Doubling her efforts, Red puts the metaphorical pedal to the metal as she quickens her pace...

Clipclipcllopclopclipclipclopclipclipclipclopclop

… but it was all for naught, as not even her mighty stride could keep up with the speeding locomotive. I whimper a defeated “No no no,” as my last chance to retrieve my diary evades me, and the dark reality settles in to stay. “It’s… all over…”

Artemis has The Poisoned Barb.

Artemis is heading towards Canterlot.

Artemis has access to the Canterlot Archive, the smartest unicorns in all the land, and his all-knowing brother...

… Thus Artemis likely has all the tools he needs to decipher my book.

It’s… over.

It’s all over, isn’t it?

Ever on my side, even as she carries me, Red lets out a defiant, “Nnope!” as she pushes herself to the limit.

CLIPCLOPCLIPCLOPCLIP

Still the caboose remains ever out of reach.

“D-don’t hurt yourself, Red,” I speak to her kindly; appreciative of all her efforts, even as my life hurtles towards its inevitable end. “It wouldn’t be worth it if you did.”

The earth pony shoots me a brief side glance for this…

… the train another…

… and then she asks me a rather random question:

“How hard are yer scales?”

“Huh?" This catches me off guard. "Um, like, quartz level, last I checked… but why are you asking me that all of a sudde-”

Before I could finish, Red lowered her head; causing me to unintentionally flip forward onto her snout.

“W-what are yo-”

Before I could even finish that, Red jerks her neck forward and tosses me into the air like a freaking volleyball. Using her momentum to then pivot a complete one eighty, she springs back her hind legs-

Annnnnd I already don’t like where this is going.

“TUCK AND ROLL SUGARCUBE!!”

“RED WAIT-”

WHOMP!!

Ah.

So that’s what the trunk of an apple tree feels like.

How very educational.

Thump!

Fump!

Tumble tumble

…

… Somehow, some way... I found myself laying on the floor of the elusive caboose…

...

… Don’t know why, but I suddenly have a powerful urge to stay where I’m at, and simply watch these pretty birdies twirling in my vision.

Getting up and doing anything else feels like a whole heaping helping of more trouble than it’s worth.

“Barb!” cried Red Gala’s voice, coming from outside the train car. “Are ya okay?!”

“Oh, I am die,” I woozily call back. “Thank you forever.”

“What?!”

“Uggghh,” I eventually groan out, once I found my footing again. Shaking off my daze, I rush to the guardrail to shout, “I’m okay!”

“Eeyup?!”

“Yup!” I confirm, waving my arms above my head. “I’ll figure out a way back to Ponyville as soon as I get my diary!!”

“Eeyup… Be… careful...”

... With that she vanished into the distance, as the train left Ponyville’s border and sped off towards what I can only assume to be Canterlot...

Gulp

Looks like I’m really on my own now.

No backup versus no alicorn magic; will that be enough to even the odds, or am I just as out of my league here as I was at the start...?

“... Gotta get my diary back,” I remind myself of my mission, swallowing my fear; gripping my purse strap for strength. “Gotta get it fast.”

Slapping my face, hyping myself up, I barrel forward into the passenger cars.

“If I were a disgraced Prince,” I whisper, scanning my eyes over every pony I come across. “I’d probably want to keep a low profile, and not make a scene. I’d want to avoid wandering eyes too, and any possible paparazzi.”

Exiting the first car, I make my way through the second.

“Did Red give him enough bits for a private booth?” I ask myself aloud, rewarding me with a few strange looks from bystanders. “Hmmm… Probably not, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a few open ones. They only really charge for those when they think they'll be all booked up…” I halt in place, and take stock of my surroundings. “... This isn’t nearly as packed for something like that,” I note, resuming my dashing. “He must be in a sleeper car then.”

Satisfied with my deduction, I bob and weave through a sea of legs in my pursuit to find my cloaked pony. Narrowly dodging a ticket master, and sidestepping an old mare who swore I was somepony’s dog, I shortly arrive at the more private seats; i.e., the ones with insulated walls separating them. Inside each of these lies a bed or two, a small end table, and, if I’m lucky enough, my thief.

Let’s see what’s behind door number one.

Slide

Behind door number one is a whole lot of nothing… This only feeds my theory that Artemis is in one of these even more.

Okay, let’s see door number two.

Slide

“Eek!”

Shut

… Door number two was hiding a couple on their honeymoon.

That’s about the extent of what I’m willing to share on that one, so let's move on.

“L-looks like number three it is then,” I stutter under my breath, having reached the final door. Gripping the handle with a claw, I brace myself for whatever it is I’m about to find. “Please don’t be too late… Please don’t be too late…”

…

Slide

I open the door…

… find The Poisoned Barb propped up against a pillow…

… and Artemis’ snout buried deep within it.

“Spit-to-wee!”

An emerald-hued fireball crashing against the wall quickly puts an end to that nonsense. Startled by the surprise fire hazard, Artemis sits up straight in his bed only to immediately fall right out of it.

Taking advantage of the chaos I had conjured, I nimbly jump over the pegasus’ catatonic form and successfully reclaim my diary. “Yes!”

“B-barbara?!” Artemis shouts, skittering madly back to his hooves. “How in Equestria did thee-”

“Spit-to-wee!”

Another fireball, this time aimed an inch from his head, shuts the guilty stallion right the hell up.

“How, much, did, you, read?” I snarl from the pony’s bed, using it to tower above him. “How… much?”

“W-we only just opened it!” the cloaked Prince shrinks away, now a lot more compliant to my demands then when I first met him. “Not even a full minute ago! Barely even skimmed the blasted thing!”

“Skimmed?” I question with a hiss, my anger all encompassing. “You… skimmed it?”

Fearing another display of my dragon fire, Artemis shakes his head ‘yes’ rapidly.

“...”

… Drawing my attention to The Poisoned Barb, I take a second to ‘skim’ the pages myself.

You know what I found when I did?

I found several hundred pages of English written script.

“...”

… Whomp!

Slamming the book shut, making Artemis jump; I flip the closed tome over, display the title forward, and ask the Prince a single burning question. “What does this say?”

“...”

… The pony doesn’t answer back right away.

Instead the pony sweats.

Fizzle

Smoke leaves my clenched jaw as I repeat my question. “What, does, this, say, Artemis??”

“H-how should we know?” he tries to fight back, refusing to meet my gaze. “It’s complete nonsense to our eyes… Dea Suecdahat Mynt, or some such gibberish…”

“...”

… I reach into my purse, and pull out Artemis’ journal.

Opening my mouth, fire dances in the back of my throat as I dangle the book dangerously close to the open flames.

That got the stallion’s attention real quick.

“No no, stop!” he wails, tripping over himself to reclaim what's his. “That was a gift from my brother!” he pleads, dropping his Royal We once more in a show of surrender.

Stepping further back from the bed’s edge, becoming out of reach, I push the tome ever closer towards the blaze.

“Barbara, please!”

I take a deep breath, agitating my fiery throat.

“Please!”

“Spit… to…”

“No!”

“... Wee-”

“THE POISONED BARB!!!”

Sucking in my flames, my scowl drills holes into the now weeping pony's pathetic form.

“It r-reads Dra Buecuhat Pynp,” he repeats with foreign tongue, and misting eyes. “In ponish it means; 'The Poisoned Barb'.”

Seeing no more need for it, I toss the blue-ink journal back over to its author. Gripping it tightly like a precious teddy bear, Artemis hunches over the small gift and shields it further with his wings.

Trees rush by the window to the small room as the Friendship Express continues on its journey, heedless of the scene taking place within. Outside of the clicking and clacking of the tracks below us, the world is still. If I wasn’t on such a time crunch I’d relish the opportunity to take a nice little breather here on this comfy bed, and simply do nothing else but listen to all this relaxing ambience...

… Since I am on a time crunch, however…

“You know English?” I bluntly ask the catatonic pony, knocking him from his funk.

“Not... really,” is his eventual reply, one that was mumbled softly from behind blue wingtips. “J-just bits and pieces, in all honesty...”

“How?”

“We learned it from a… a-a dear old teacher of ours… May she rest in peace...”

… May she rest in…?

… Uggghhhh!

Damn it!

Of course he learned it from someone long dead!

Just my rotten luck… Though I suppose him saying 'Solaris' would have made things uncomfortably worse… So yay, I guess.

"Your teacher?” is how I choose to continue this line of questioning. My desire to gain some sort of consolation prize from all this nonsense is overwhelming, so I might as well get all the details while I can.

“Y-yes,” Artemis reveals gloomily, his head no doubt swarming with memories of years long since passed. “The same one we shared with brother Sol so very long ago:

“Starswirl The Longmaned.”

…

… Well.

I can safely say that I wasn’t expecting to hear a bombshell like that when I woke up this morning.

“S-... S-starswirl?” I stumble backwards, not believing what I had just learned. “Starswirl, the Starswirl, knew English?!”

It’s been so many years since I’ve last seen My Little Pony that I don’t remember if this particular pony was ever mentioned in it. Her stallion half certainly never appeared on screen, I recall that much still, but maybe there was a reference to the archive wing named after him in Canterlot… Though, now that I think about it, Twilight Sparkle might have dressed up as him for the Nightterror Night episod-, er, oops; sorry. I meant the Nightmare Night episode.

Well, while I may not have too many human memories to draw information from on this, being Dusk’s assistant and Solaris’ Squire means I’ve heard the name tossed around more than once. True I never had much interest in learning about Starswirl until just now, but I’m pretty sure I still would have remembered it if somepony had mentioned her knowing a unique language!

Nodding simply, Artemis resituates himself off the floor and onto the adjacent bed. “Y-yes,” he again confirms, tightening the hold on his tome. “She could be very strict as a teacher, and so very reserved as a mare, but she was without question one of the brightest unicorns of her era. English was but one of the many languages she learned over the course of her long life.”

“But where did she learn it from?” I push back, wading through the padding.

“We… do not know.”

I angrily scrunch my face.

“S-sorry,” Artemis apologizes, shying away from me. “She traveled to many different lands before she became mine and brother’s teacher... Perhaps she learned it beyond Equestria?”

“Hmph,” I grunt, not liking that answer at all.

Since the tender age of three I’ve searched high and low for any traces of the English language in this world but, four years of nothing later, I had all but abandoned the idea that it had existed here at all. Starswirl having learned it from some far off, unknown land might still be a possibility… but I doubt it.

I doubt it because Elusive knows it too.

Thanks to Sweepy Belle I know that Elusive has lived in Ponyville all his life, and has rarely left it except for trips to neighboring towns to browse their bazaars. He's not the sort of stallion to, say, travel outside of Equestria on a whim; even without confirming this with his brother, it's pretty easy for anyone to see that he doesn't get out nearly as much as he should. Foundation only covers crow’s feet so much, as too does hair gel with split ends. He's nowhere near as bad as, say, Dusk, but much like… Sigh… Jason… Elusive too has a bad habit of working on his muse to the point of exhaustion.

That's not the sort of lifestyle that supports the casual study and mastering of an unknown, and undocumented, language. Elusive's knowledge of it must have been obtained supernaturally then, meaning that it's more likely than not that Starswirl's was also obtained in a similar fashion:

Through Reincarnation.

Starswirl; the mare who crafted many revolutionary spells far beyond her time, who accomplished many notable feats once thought impossible, who mysteriously charmed Ignatius The Phoenix the same way I have, and who personally taught Artemis and Solaris herself MUST be a-

Hey... Wait...

… She taught Artemis… and Solaris…

…

“... You said she was your teacher, right?” I probe Artemis, locking my eyes with his own.

“That’s correct,” he answers, again nodding compliantly.

“And Solaris’?” I follow up the question with another.

“Indeed,” the pony answers this as well, no longer giving me any resistance.

So Starswirl taught both Solaris and Artemis, huh…

... Please please please don't tell me that means what I think that means!

“So I guess Solaris knows English too then,” I state what I think to be the truth, praying that my assumption is wrong.

...

… But, instead of providing me with the dreaded ‘yes’ I was expecting, Artemis instead does something else entirely.

He stares at me blankly.

“...”

“... Artemis?” I call his name, getting a bit freaked out by his strange reaction.

“... No, he doesn’t,” he at last states plainly, though his staring continued on uninterrupted. “Or, at least he didn’t back when Starswirl disappeared all those many moons ago…” Artemis then shook his head. “We assume he still doesn't know English to this day, Barbara.”

“Why do you think that?” I fire back, wanting to know why he’s so certain; leaving nothing here to chance.

“Because it’s typically difficult for one to learn a new language that lacks other speakers to practice it with,” the pony confidently points out, “Nor tomes written in its characters to compare and contrast with thy own tongue.”

“But… you know it,” I point out in turn, zeroing in on the most interesting detail out of this little reveal.

“Hmph, barely,” Artemis admits, dragging a hoof idly over the bedspread. “Just what we gleaned from teacher’s long gone diary and nothing more.”

From her… diary...?

... What?

“I thought you said she taught it to you?” my head tilts, reflecting my desperation for clarity.

“...”

“... Artemis?”

… Prince Artemis’ cheeks then turned crimson red.

“W-well, um, y-yes!” he manages to sputter out, now no longer looking me in the eyes. “S-she did teach us the language… in a roundabout fashion, so to say…”

I raise an eyebrow.

“... Indirectly…”

My eyebrow raises higher.

“... W-without her consent.”

“...”

“... You peeked at a mare’s diary?” I ask, dumbstricken; having finally put two and two together. “Like, you broke into her room and read it?”

“W-we were but thirteen at the time!” Artemis squeaks, the rest of his face now equally bright red. “A mere thrall of ignorant youth! We couldn’t help ourself, okay?! B-but we feel we have grown much since those yesteryears, trul-”

“Dude, you just tried to do the same thing not even ten minutes ago,” I deadpan, pointing at The Poisoned Barb in my purse. “I’m a girl too, or did you forget?”

“...”

… Unable to properly counter or defend himself, the pegasus buries his tomato head behind shaky wingtips.

Getting really tired of talking with this dirtbag, if I’m being honest.

“Moving past the fact that you’ve always been a dirty little sneak,” I shiver before continuing. “If your only knowledge of English comes from peeks at Starswirl’s diary, how did you even learn to read it in the first place?”

More than grateful for the change of subject, Artemis willingly elaborates with, “We learned it through the use of the Dream Realm.”

“From the... Dream Realm?” I parrot, leaning back on my bed; consider the words more deeply. “Dream Realm…?”

Suddenly a memory crosses my mind.

“Oh yeah!” I sit up straight, having remembered something important. “You were reading over my shoulder when I wrote that dream diary entry!”

“We’d hardly call what we do in the Dream Realm as ‘reading’, Barbara.”

“... Can I get that reply with, like, a lot less snootiness, Princy?”

With a rolling of his eyes, Artemis complies.

“Words do not function in the Dream Realm as they do in reality, Seer,” he starts over, and talks noticeably slower. “When thou picks up a book within a dream and ‘reads’ it, what thou art truly doing is absorbing the concepts and ideas directly into thy mind; nothing more.”

“Um, what?” I blink, trying to process the image he’s painting. “I remember writing words though…”

“Yes, but what thou was doing in actuality was expressing thy thoughts upon an empty container,” the pony elaborates, tapping the cover of his own tome to illustrate. “Language barriers simply do not exist within the collective unconscious, thus translation of unknown script is not only possible, but also possible with little effort.”

“But you just read the cover of my book in the real world!” I reply back quickly, taking Artemis aback.

“C… C-correct,” he confirms, his surprise evident. Maybe he thought I was too young to understand what he was talking about or something. “We did in fact translate the title without the assistance of Dream Walking.”

“So then how did you learn what little you know?”

“By copying the words down upon a blank piece of parchment and taking it with us through Dream Walking,” Prince Artemis finally answers fully, taking pride in his ‘brilliant’ work around. “Practicing words as such is actually how we learned the art of reading in the first place!” He snorts. “Never could wrap our head around those blasted squiggles until we fell into the Dream Realm for the first time.”

“Neat,” I comment neutrally.

Not really sure how to incorporate ‘Male Luna grew up with a reading impairment’ into my everyday life, but I guess that’s a thing on the table now.

“If we had been granted even a minute more with thy diary, in fact,” Artemis goes on, making me nervous. “We are certain we could have easily conquered the first few pages before thou arrived!”

“C-coulda woulda shoulda,” I sputter, sweating bullets.

Really, really grateful Red launched me aboard now.

“There is ONE odd curio, however, neither the Dream Realm nor our English knowledge will be sufficient enough to solve for us, Barbara…”

Turning my head back towards Artemis across the tiny room, I find him again staring at me expectantly…

… Oh boy.

“And… what’s that?” I ask cautiously, no doubt about to trigger yet another one of his dirty traps.

“...”

… Artemis then took a nice a deep breath, before asking me straight up:

“How did thee learn this language, Seer, if clearly not through brother?”

Again the room is assaulted with the sound of clicking and clacking tracks, and not much else.

“...”

“... I’m not telling you how I learned English, Artemis,” I state resolutely, leaving no room for compromise. “I’m not going to tell you anything at all, or even give you a hint.”

“...”

“... Okay.”

Oh... wow.

Didn’t think the biggest shock of the day would come in the form of a single word sentence…

… Yes I remember Red Gala’s “nnope”; I’m just being dramatic.

“Okay?” I repeat, making sure I heard that right.

“We lost our horn the last time we faced thee, Barbara,” Artemis snorts back indignantly. “For all we know, thy burly companion is waiting on the rooftop above us, ready to strike at a moment's notice!”

“That’s ridiculou-” I start to say, but then I immediately think better of it. “Sure, yeah, whatever… As a quick side note, she’s usually not that brutal.”

Artemis grunts angrily, and roles his eyes, but ultimately chooses to say nothing.

“No, really, she’s not,” I stick up for my friend, wanting to set the score straight before this train stops at the next station. “She’s usually a lot more in control of her strength. I honestly don’t know what came over her when she knocked your horn off like she did.”

“... Does she perhaps have a younger sibling?” the Prince questions back somewhat relaxed, though his side glancing suggests that he’s more interested then he's letting on. “Maybe even one around thy age?”

“I’m not answering that question either,” I again reply thusly, unwilling to provide this pony ammo in any form.

“We were simply curious,” he huffs in turn, casting his eyes back towards the window. “If one of the foals we had dragged into the Dream Realm during the night of our return were to be related to her by chance… Well that would go a long way towards explaining her animosity, wouldn’t it?”

“Maybe,” I shrug, granting his train of thought some merit. “You didn’t really endear yourself to anypony that day though, Princy; least of all the families of said foals."

“Hm… Indeed,” Artemis admits, shrugging with his wings. “Resetting their internal clocks to be more conforming to the eternal night seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, though perhaps we should have waited until after our victory was assured before resorting to suc-”

“Hey, dude? Remember that thing I told you about redemption?” I interrupt, having decided that I’d rather not hear anymore of this villain talk. “Taking notes on where your plan went wrong instead of your actions does not a redeemed pony make.”

“...”

“... Well it’s the truth,” I pout, not for the first time wishing my baby body didn’t make it so gosh darn hard for others to take me seriously. “If you want ponies to love you as much as they do Solaris, you gotta stop being so rash and controlling.”

“But that’s how brother has operated since even our time,” Artemis points out the obvious.

“Yeah, but he’s not as blatant about it as you are,” I argue back, waving a claw. “He does stuff behind the scenes when nopony else is looking, and when he does get his hooves dirty he’s experienced enough to play it off like it was somepony else’s idea the whole time… Cough cough cou-having Dusk make friends-gh.”

“Thou should really get that cough looked at by a doctor, Barbara. It does not sound pleasant.”

“... God you’d be cute if you weren’t so stupidly thick in the head.”

“Pardon?”

“We’re getting off topic,” I brush off his question with ease, reasserting control. “I want to know more about Starswirl, and I want to know before this train hits the last station before Canterlot.”

“But-”

Click! Click!

“No buts,” I snap my claws, hurting the pegasus’ ears with the sound. “I was already planning on taking this route this weekend, so I know we only have, like, five more minutes before we hit that stop.”

“But-”

“Unless you want me to ask Solaris instead, and mention how you told me about her... I’d start talking, Princy.”

"... We could always simply drag thee into the Dream Realm, and end this back and forth on our terms..." he threatens.

"And I can do the same thing by lighting you on fire," I threaten back without missing a beat.

“... Ugh… Very well,” Artemis groans out for his continual defeat. “For the sake of keeping brother in the dark about this most horrid of days, and our flesh uncharred, we’ll tell thee what we can still recall about teacher... though do not expect it to be some thrilling tale or the like.”

“I can live with that,” I agreeably shake my head. “I won’t even fall asleep like I do when Dusk starts lecturing! Promise!”

“We hardly care either way,” the Prince mutters gruffly, before asking, “What specifically does thou wish to learn about Starswirl?”

“Well... what did she write in her diary, to start,” I try to ask offhandedly, and pretend that I’m not one hundred percent invested in the reply.

“Private affairs, mostly,” Artemis stretches his wings tiredly, unaware how thirsty I was for this information. “Though it was also where she kept her innermost thoughts concerning subjects such as the cycle of life and death, the existence of worlds that stand beside our own…

“... and of creatures beyond our wildest imagination.”

Whump whump whump

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot my tail wagging joyfully out of my control.

Discreetly burying it below a pillow, I resume listening.

“She would often write her greatest discoveries in ponish, and share them with the masses, but her more interesting theories were kept in this special tome. The nature of souls, the concept of eternity... Oh how we wish the book hadn’t vanished along with its author,” the stallion sighs wistfully. “We can only dare to imagine the multitudes of other fascinating concepts and ideals she pondered on, and kept so very close to her chest …”

Artemis’ eyes then begin to wander back over my way.

Back towards my purse…

… I grip its strap instinctively.

The cloaked pony snickers wryly at my reaction.

“We doubt the contents of The Poisoned Barb could hold a candle to Starswirl’s writing, Barbara,” he keeps chuckling, as if he hadn’t just talked smack about my hard work. “Thou and her may inexplicably share the same language, and apparently the same taste in overly extravagant titles, but thy tale is still so fresh and raw! Perhaps in time it will be an odyssey worth reading… For now though… Heh… For now we won’t even bother with a second glance.”

“You have such a way with words,” I growl, masking my growing annoyance. “Don’t make yourself a target,” I’m forced to remind myself. “Don’t make yourself a target.”

Artemis responds equal part cheerily and obliviously with, “Many thanks to thee! Was there anything else thou wished to learn?”

Not answering back right away, as I really wanted to do, I instead chose to take a moment to debate on whether there really is anything else worth asking about here.

Let’s see… So far I've learned that Starswirl knew English just like me… that she was likely a reincarnated person just like me… had the same idea of hiding her thoughts in an English written diary just like me… unintentionally had Artemis sneak a peek at said diary just like he did with mine... and then she disappeared off the face of the planet, taking her diary with her; not just like me…

… Guess ‘Where did Starswirl go?’ would logically be my next question.

If she lived around the time period where she could teach a young Prince Solaris and Artemis, the mare of the hour most likely died sometime after vanishing. That’s quite unfortunate, as a human with a unicorn’s intimate connection to magic would no doubt have much to say concerning our strange condition.

Her diary might still be kicking around though, if the state of her ponish written works are any indication. Whatever magic she used on them that keeps them undamaged and clean has lasted well over a thousand years, as well as a thousand re-reads by Dusk Shine, so perhaps there’s still a chance for me to learn something new from the dusty old mare if I find this elusive diary...

… But my five minutes are sadly up.

The train will be stopping too soon for me to even ask.

“Not today, Artemis,” I report diplomatically, as I jump down from the bed and back onto the floor. “You gave me a very important clue though, so thanks, I guess.”

“Thy gratitude does not return to us our magic, Barbara,” Artemis retorts with a heated huff. “It doesn’t undo what has transpired.”

“Yeah, I know,” I offer back, somewhat sympathetic. “I wish it did…

“... But I also wish your stupid answers made me feel safe in my own home again!” I fire back just as heatedly, unable to help myself. “You lost your horn, and I lost my sense of security… I think that makes us even here, Princy.”

“Bah!” Artemis turns away angrily, sulking on his bed. “There was no equivalent exchange this day, Seer! We will have to lay low, and avoid brother’s gaze for stars know how long, while thou, on the other hoof, shall return home as if nothing happened at all!"

“Like nothing happened?!” I stomp in retaliation. “I’ll be sleeping with a flipping nightlight for years after what you pulled on me today!”

“Oh do not pretend thou doesn’t do such already,” Artemis whips his head my way, pushing his bare temple against my own. “We would expect nothing less from a foul-mouthed infant such as thyself!”

“Infant?!” I snarl, pushing back against his headbutt. “That’s rich coming from a freaking manchild like you!”

“Manchild?!”

“Ooooh~ My apologies, your highness! Was that too much for your old-school brain to handle? Would you prefer to be called a stallion-foal instead~?”

“We’d much prefer to be known as thy Prince of the Night, insolent dragon!”

“The only kingdom you rule over is the one made up of envious glory hounds and big brother worshipers, you empty-headed pegasus!”

“Ah! But, what-, How dare thee-, why we’d outa… grrrr… Infant!”

“Manchild!”

“Whelp!”

“Jealous jerk!”

“Clawsucker!”

“Foalnapper!”

“...”

“... I hate you, Artemis.”

“... Well we hate thee more.”

“I hate you more than Princess Bluebelle.”

“We hate thee more than the full backing of our once mighty magical wellspring.”

“I’ll hate you forever.”

“Well we’ll hate thee…er... five-evers!”

“That’s not a real thing!”

“Tis so!”

“Is not!”

“Tis so!”

“Is not not not!”

“Tis so so so so!”

“...”

And then, all of a sudden...

“S-snrk"

“Snort"

… a dam broke wide open...

"..."

“... H-hah, hahahah!”

“Heh, hehehehe!”

… resulting in good-natured, hearty laughter flowing forth like a river.

“Hahahaha!!”

The reason for this was simple, him and I had come to a realization at the exact same moment; one that didn't need to be shared with mere words.

“Heheheheh!!”

Our daylong battle of wits, full of twists, turns, mind games, deception, lies, manipulation, and even brutality... had devolved into little more than a schoolyard shouting match between children.

“Hahahahah!”

Considering Artemis is a thousand and twenty year old stallion with the emotional maturity of a foal, and I'm a woman of forty seven going on zero eight...

… well...

“Heheheheh!”

"Hah... hahah... hah!"

... how else could this have ended for a couple of stupid kids like us?

"Heheh, o-oh our sides... hehehe!!"

“Hahaha… snrk… Hahaha…”

“Heh… hehe… heh… snort…”

“...”

"..."

"... Haha... This was a dumb day,” I at last declare out loud, expressing our shared thought through a barely suppressed snicker.

“V-verily,” Artemis agrees wholeheartedly, snorting wryly.

“Just so… hah... So unbelievably dumb!” I repeat, unable to hold back my splitting ribs any longer.

“Hehe, indeed!" the pony snorts, failing just as hard as I am at stopping the giggles. "Truly, hehe… t-truly moronic! Heh!”

“I mean, at one point you made me think I was, haha, five again, dude!" I gasp for air, recalling my adorable lisping. "Wes I would wike hayburgers...Hah! How messed up, snrk, was that?!”

“But thou retaliated by punching, snort, p-punching royalty in the face!" Artemis throws out in turn, pointing at his snout. "Royalty! Hard! Hehe! Most amusing!”

“Yeah but then you riled me up over my title!" I titter uncontrollably, gasping for air. "My title! The thing I've had for years! Hah! How did I not see that coming?!”

“Do not fail to recall that thou tricked us brilliantly from the start with a mere pastry!" Artemis stomps his bed in equine applause. "Well done well done!”

“Hahahah!”

“Hehehe!”

“Hahah... I-I got punted like a freaking hoofball onto a moving train! Hahaha!”

“Heheh... And... a-and one kick from a peasant stole from us our immorality! Hehe... heheh!”

"Oh, and Dusk? Snrk… Dusk is going to, haha, kill me when he sees how badly those animals messed up the library! Hah!"

"And brother will certainly... certainly... snort, Oh it's too terrible to even describe for thee!"

"Well I thought about burning you alive more than once," I disclose casually, no longer seeing it as all that big a deal. "In comparison to that, will his wrath be better or worse?"

"Oh certainly worse," Artemis waves a hoof back and forth. "Much, much, worse... especially if he learns how we almost transformed back into Nightterror Nebula this day.”

"Whoa, wait, what? Hold up... When did that happen?!"

"It almost occurred in the brief moment when our eyes changed to match thy own."

"...Oh... Oh yeeeaaahhh... I remember that now... You almost lost your cool there?"

"Indeed..."

"..."

"... We were quite livid with thee at the time..."

"..."

“... Hahahah!”

“Hehehe!”

“... Haha… hahaha… hah…”

“Heheh… hehehe… heeehhh… huuuuuhhhh...”

“...”

“... Tit for tat, Barbara?”

“... Umm... Eh, sure. What the hay? Tit for tat, Princy.”

“Why did thou title thy diary; ‘The Poisoned Barb’?”

“...”

“Er… W-was that perhaps too bold of us to ask?”

“No… No I… I guess it’s not... Sigh... No real point in hiding it anyways..."

"... Thou doesn't have to answe-"

"Nah... Nah... it's fine..."

"..."

"... Sometimes I don’t like knowing what I know.”

“Verily?”

“Yeah… Yeah...”

“But why ever not?”

“Because… Because..."

"..."

"... B-because there are days where it feels like I was only born to mess everything up…”

“..."

“... If I didn’t know anything... if I was just the clueless little kid I’m supposed to be… maybe I’d be something new and unique, instead of old and borrowed…”

“...”

“... Does thou imagine thee would still be Dusk Shine’s assistant, or that earth pony mare's friend, if thy path had gone differently?”

“... No…”

“And thou still loves them both dearly, correct?”

“Without question...”

“Then we implore thee to envision this curse as thy cutie mark instead.”

“... Huh?” I ask the pony, as I turn back to meet his now kinder gaze.

“Thy destiny is to shape destiny, Barbara The Dragoness,” Prince Artemis proclaims softly, placing a hoof upon his heart. “It has become clear to us that this is the potential brother sees in thee, and has been working so very hard to cultivate. Perhaps thy skill will even eclipse his own in time, if thou simply learns how to hone thy 'messes' instead of fearing them.”

“But… I’m not special,” I argue back, shifting my sight downwards. “I’m just a regular old... Seer.”

A light blue hoof suddenly finds its way below my chin, and lifts it up until my green eyes meet cyan.

“Thou art anything but a regular old Seer,” the pony tells me clearly, without hesitation. “Of this we art most certain.”

“...”

“... I still hate you, Artemis.”

“And we still hate thee just as immensely,” the former alicorn smiles in turn...

… and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t doing much of the same as well.

Huh.

Can’t seem to scowl anymore… Weird… Not bad, just… Weird.

Deciding not to dwell on it, I chuckle lightly as I push myself away from Artemis. “That was perhaps the first bit of princely ‘wisdom’ you’ve given someone in, what, an eon?” I ask cheekily, becoming more relaxed around the jerk. “What gives?”

“Well don’t act too surprised,” the Prince jokes pleasantly in return. “Despite our poor showing this day, dispensing wisdom is still an essential part of a royal’s duty to their subjects... though the irony of us only offering such after losing our claim to the throne is undeniable.”

I wince thanks to this last bit.

“Oomph,” I comment. “Losing your horn really screwed a lot of things up, huh?”

“In ways thou can not possibly imagine.”

“But you're going someplace where you can fix yourself up, right?” I ask honestly, at last becoming genuinely concerned. “Canterlot has loads of unicorns! I bet there has to be a spell or something that’ll put your horn back on your head… right?”

“Hmmm, perhaps,” Artemis replies contemplatively. “The possibility did cross our mind at a point… The risk of bumping into brother was too great though, hence why this train isn’t heading towards Canterlot.”

“Oh,” I nod in understanding. “I see. That makes sense...”

…

… WAIT WHAT?!

“We’re not heading towards Canterlot?!” I scream, only now realizing that the train hasn’t slowed down like I thought it would. “W-where are we going then?!”

Dashing to the window, gazing outside, I spot Cloudsdale in the distance… only to recall that the city is currently scheduled to be traveling waaaaaaayyy south in preparation for the upcoming mini-winter!

Crap crap crap!

“Not Canterlot, that’s for certain,” Artemis reports calmly, watching my panic grow. “We tried to offer a warning earlier, but thou insisted on us answering thy questions concerning Starswirl and nothing more.”

“B-but I need to get back to Ponyville before the boys do!” I whimper, as my world comes crashing down yet again. “When is this train supposed to stop next?!”

“Early tomorrow morning.”

“AHHHHHHHH-”

Plump

Artemis’ hoof this time finds its way over my lips instead of my chin.

Rude.

“None of that now,” he scolds, shaking his head. “We believe the couple next door is attempting to sleep or the like.”

Using my claws, I rip the hoof away.

“Where, are, we, going?” I snarl, lighting up my mouth with flames once more.

“Towards Mount Aris,” the pony answers, unfaced by my fiery threat.

“... Where the hell is that?”

“... What the hay is a ‘hell’?”

“My question first; tit for tat.”

“Tit for tat,” echoes Artemis solemnly. “It is part of the land King Novo resides over...”

I blink blankly.

“... He is the King of the hippogriffs…”

I blink again.

“... His ancestors owe the Equestrian royal family a great debt, hence why we are seeking him out…”

Still... just... blinking...

“... This ‘hell’ must be quite the guarded secret if we have yet to provide sufficient tradeoff.”

“Hell is a place worse than Tartarus,” I sputter weakly. “And exactly how I would describe the state of my life right now.”

“Oh… That is most unfortunate.”

“Verily,” I steal his word, as I powerful desire to sit down washes over me. “I… don’t understand… Are you leaving Equestria?”

“That is correct,” Artemis grins, and chuckles mirthfully. “We take it thou never foresaw such an outcome within thy visions?”

I can only shake my head ‘yes’.

“Hah!” he then shouts loudly, disregarding his own command to speak quietly. “It would seem we’re still quite skilled at contradicting Seer predictions! Huzzah!”

“That’s not a good thing though,” I try to dissuade him, as my mind works on a way to fix my latest mess. “You’re supposed to have fun with everypony next Nightterror Night in Ponyville! Horn and all! Isn’t that a future you’d like to have for yourself?”

“... Hmmm… Yes, we suppose,” Artemis relents, taking a second to actually consider my words. “Though such a fate is not impossibly out of our reach yet, so long as the legends concerning Mount Aris are true.”

“Legends?”

“Tit for ta-”

“I just told you your future, dude!” I snap at him. “That’s worth, like, three tats at least!”

“... We shall accept thy juvenile logic.”

"Well, gee; thanks, I guess."

“Legends foretold of a mighty artifact hidden within the mountainside, Barbara,” Artemis explains excitedly, as trees continue to rush by the window beside us. “A relic so enchanted with transformative spellwork as to be capable of transfiguring even a lowly mouse into a imposing elephant!”

“And you think you can become an alicorn again if you use it,” I finish for him, having quickly put together his train of thought. “Changing back before your brother ever discovers what happened.”

“Yes!” he squees, still ecstatic over the possibility. “Exactly! Thou truly has a gift for reading our mind.”

“Reeeeaaaalllly wish I didn’t though,” I groan out, placing a claw over my face.

“Oh? How come?”

“Because I can see how stupid this plan of yours is,” I monotone in reply, my gaze piercing. “While, at the same time, knowing full well that there’s nothing I can say to convince you not to go through with it.”

“Ah… We see…” Artemis acknowledges my words, yet remaining unfaced by their implication. “... Thou may try though, Barbara. We’ll grant thee that much at least.”

“... Really?”

“Truly.”

“... Okay... You asked for it.”

I take a nice deep breath…

… and switch into emergency mother-mode.

“You don’t have enough bits for a ride home, nor enough for food, nor enough for an inn!”

“Well… yes… thou is correct... but-”

“You also didn’t have enough for a train ticket there in the first place!” I push forward, cutting him off. “I may not know where the hay Mount Aris is, but what I do know is that cross-continental trips cost a whole lot more than what my friend loaned you!”

“... Okay, yes; thou art correct in that respect as well…”

“What,” I stomp powerfully, trying to weaken my opponent's resolve. “Were you planning to fly the rest of the way there or something?!”

“... Per-... P-perhaps…”

“Stupid,” I spit crossly, throwing my claws up. “So, flipping, stupid... Literally winging it, good lord… Do you even have a passport to officially cross Equestria's border with?!”

“... What is this 'pass' of 'ports' of which thou speaks?”

Placing my fist into my mouth, I suppress a second scream.

“... We take it that it’s something important to our travels then…”

“You are going to die, Prince Artemis,” I state clearly, removing my gag to do so. “No backup plan, no bits, no clue about the modern world, no clue if this artifact thing is even real, and no immortality… You are going to legit die out there, dude! Don’t need to be a Seer to see that!”

“... The possibility does exist…” Artemis at last admits, becoming meditative.

This fills me with hope.

“... But we feel we must still risk the journey.”

This fills me with dread.

“Are you so flipping afraid of what your brother will do to you that you’re willing to freaking die to avoid it?!” I wail, completely flabbergasted.

“We art not afraid of him, Barbara.”

“It sure looks like it though, Princy!”

“We assure thee, we art not.”

“Are too.”

“Art not.”

“Are too!”

“Art not!”

“Are to-”

“SILENCE!!” Artemis unleashes the Canterlot Voice, shaking the small cabin. “Would thou please allow us to explain ourself first before simply assuming we are an imbecile?! Bah!" he then spat. "We swear thou has the patience of a child sometimes...”

“...”

“... Did... Did you seriously just forget-”

“Yes we forgot that thou art literally a child,” Artemis muffles behind his double facehoofing.

“Eh, happens to everypony.”

“Bleg… Despite thy assumption that we are foalishly attempting to avoid brother’s ire and nothing more,” the Prince goes on, speaking patiently. “There is a method present in our so-called madness.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it!”

“Gladly,” Artemis smirks, eagerly rising to my challenge. “Mount Aris is located upon the waters of a vast ocean, one whose waves will strengthen our connection to the moon the closer we draw towards them. Though this train will not take us all the way to the foot of the kingdom, we can follow the tracks leading towards the southern desert in order to avoid getting lost. For food and shelter we will live off the land; our youth was spent exploring what is now known as the Everfree Forest, and nature has not changed all that dramatically in the last thousand years, thus we feel our foraging skills will still be up to the task.

"Lastly, the most important detail of all…

“... we were bested by a child this day.”

“That’s not a positive, Princy,” I swiftly point out, after taking all that in. “That’s just a statement of fact.”

“On the contrary, it is another important detail, Barbara,” Artemis defends himself, his tone still resolute. “Thou beat us so thoroughly that it can be argued that we left Ponyville an entirely different stallion than when we arrived!”

"Well no duh, you left about five pounds lighter."

"..."

“… Too soon?"

"Verily."

"S-sorry."

“Apology accepted," he waves me off. "As we were saying, we feel as thou we are not the same stallion who ventured forth from Canterlot this morn'… and we do not yet know whether that is a favorable sign or not,” the pony looks away briefly, before turning back to face me. “The way we see it though, there is but only two options left to us for moving past this most dreadful of days:

"We can either hold ourself up in our room until we hopefully heal, and stew over where we went so wrong while waiting…

“... or we can journey forth into this vast land and capitalize on this strange twist of fate!”

“...” I tilt my head, completely lost. "... Huh?"

Displaying his wings fully, Artemis explains that, “We are but a simple pegasus now. Without our horn, we appear no different than any other Equestrian citizen; save for thyself.”

“Which means… what, exactly?”

Artemis’ lips twist cockily upwards, basking in my confusion.

“It means we can explore Equestria and beyond as a vagabond instead of a prince!” he reports energetically, as if his whole life hadn’t been upheaved for the second time. “We can use this chance to observe how different the ponies of this modern era are up close and personal! Their hopes, their wants, their dreams, especially their dreams, actually, will be the building blocks towards us becoming just as beloved a prince as brother himself!”

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Prince Artemis then went on to describe many more opportunities that were apparently now available to him thanks to his mutilation. From being able to see plays and art galleries and museums, to experiencing simpler things like fishing and sports and even magic shows; my knee jerk reaction was that princehood shackled ponies far more aggressively than I ever imagined... but that was far from the truth.

In actuality, I've come to realize that Artemis' excitement towards being able to experience so much stemmed from an honest and pure desire to grow past his faults, and to become the stallion he always wanted others to see him as.

I can’t believe how something as benign as me staying awake during the season premier had such a devastating butterfly effect on Equestria's future! There’s nothing wrong with a pony wanting to better himself, of course, but I find it hard to imagine that the Princess Luna of season two experienced anything near as life changing as what Prince Artemis just went through.

Stubborn, Headstrong, and a bit Oblivious when it came to modern social etiquette... these are just some of the words I would use to describe what I can still recall from Luna’s four appearances on the show. These are mostly the same words I would use to describe Prince Artemis as well, along with Conniving, Selfish, and Jealously motivated; traits Princess Luna never displayed anywhere near as blatantly...

… “World-weary” isn't a word I would use to describe her with though.

World-weary might be reserved only for Artemis if he survives his insane journey of self-discovery.

The reason I believe this will be the case for him is because my imagination can string together hundreds of different scenarios where the Luna of season one grows into the Luna of season two. I can imagine her having done so through meditation, or therapy, or even through the help of her big sister; traveling across Equestria though… I can’t picture that.

I can’t picture a somewhat awkward mare such as her staying awkward after going through such an ordeal.

Sure a similarly awkward mare such as, say, Fluttershy, remained mostly the same throughout what I still remember of the cartoon, but when she left the confines of Ponyville she always did so alongside her friends. They helped her to gradually come out of her shell, and become more confident, but their presence also made it easy for her to fall back on her old habits when times grew hard.

Artemis won't have that same luxury though.

Artemis will be traveling alone.

It'll be difficult, it'll be challenging, and it'll no doubt leave him unrecognizable from the pony I met today...

… and, despite my best efforts, there wasn't a single thing I could do to stop him.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... What about bandits?”

“Save for our journal, our severed horn is the only thing of value that can be stolen from us; with enough lumber though, we can easily disguise it as an unassuming staff or the like.”

“... Well what if you get into a fight?”

Sling

Without missing a beat, Artemis draws the flipping warblade he used as Nightterror Nebula out from Dusk’s borrowed saddle bag.

“Fati-Torquent has been loyally by our side ever since we won her in a fateful game of chance,” the cloaked pony speaks reverently about the, if the tingling on my scales is right, lightly-enchanted hunk of tempered metal. “We are certain simply brandishing her will deter any potential foes from wanting to take us on.”

“What is it with colts and their silly obsession with swords?” I can’t help but ponder. “… But what are you going to do about bad weather?” I next ask.

“We can rise above the clouds with our wings whenever the need arises.”

“... Dragons?”

“We will not be traveling anywhere near the Badlands, and the Great Dragon Migration is still quite a ways away if we recall correctly.”

“... Timberwolves?”

“Again we shall remind thee of our wings.”

“... Rodents of unusual size?”

“We don’t think they exist.”

“Snrk”

“Huh?”

“N-nothing,” I cough. “Well it looks like you put a lot of thought into this, smart guy... But what are you going to do about your big brother?” I whip my talon forward, judgingly. “The moment he realizes you’re gone is the moment he’s going to launch a full scale ponyhunt for your flank!”

“Why just our flank?”

“Ugh!” I groan, wiping a claw across my face. “See, see?! That, right there, is enough to convince me that you won’t last a day outside in the real world!”

“Because we do not understand the importance of our own flank?”

“Because you’re helpless!” I plead with the stallion, begging for him to see reason. “You got tricked by a kindergartener more than once, lost your horn half a day after leaving Canterlot, folded immediately after being threatened by two little fireballs, and you couldn’t even leave the flipping library without asking for help first!

"You, are, helpless, Artemis! Completely and utterly helples-”

“Thou art showing an awful lot of concern for somepony who isn’t thy friend,” the cloaked Prince cuts me off, pointing out the obvious. “Or… at least, sompony who assumed they weren’t thy friend.”

“...”

… Against my control, my cheeks blush profusely.

“I-I’m just doing my job as a Seer,” I croak, as I decide to turn away from Artemis for no particular reason whatsoever. “Someone has to make sure you ponies don’t do anything stupid, like get yourselves killed, so it might as well be me!”

“Thou shoulders quite the heavy burden then, little Seer,” Artemis teases back, and I can practically hear his smirk in his tone. “We shall wish thee luck in thy endeavor, but only if thou returns the favor by granting our journey a similar blessing.”

“Your brother is still going to-”

“We possess brother’s blessing already, Barbara.”

I didn’t even know my neck could turn so quickly.

“When the hell did you get that?!” I interrogate immediately, violating the pegasus’ personal space.

“Again with this hell nonsense,” he murmurs to himself, before addressing me literally head on. “We pitched the idea of us traveling to brother shortly after our return from banishment, but it was vetoed thoroughly at the time...”

"..."

“... T-that’s the complete opposite of a blessing, dude!”

“Hehe, indeed!” Artemis grins toothily, clearly out of his little horse mind.

“Quit smiling!” I resist the urge to slap him… but only barely. “Solaris saying no means he’s going to hunt you down even worse than he would have in Canterlot!”

“Brother never said ‘no’ though, Barbara,” the pony pushes me gently away. “He simply said that it was a bad idea; nothing more.”

“... How does that change anything?!”

“It changes the context considerably!” he raises a hoof up, reminiscent of how Dusk does when he gets into lecturing mode. “He never outright forbid our departure from Canterlot, meaning the moment we disappear is the moment he realizes that we have taken our destiny into our own hooves! So, in a roundabout fashion… we have his blessing.”

...

… That…

… I don’t even know where to begin describing how ludicrous that sounds!

It’s asinine! It’s ridiculous! It’s… It’s…

… Oh my god it’s moon logic.

He’s using freaking moon logic against me.

How did I not see this coming...?

…

… Okay.

That’s it.

We’re done here.

“I fold, Artemis,” I report sullenly, making my way now to the windowsill. “You win.”

“Verily?”

I start feeling up the bottom of the window, searchingly. “Yeah,” I confirm again for the pony, no longer granting him my full attention. “Clearly you know better than little not-so-old me, so I’m not going to argue anymore.”

“... Oh,” Artemis notes in surprise, perhaps thinking I was going to provide him with more of a fight. “Well… huzzah, then.”

“Huzzah indeed,” I parrot, too focused on my new task to offer anything more.

“So thou will keep the reasoning behind our travels a secret from brother?”

“Yeah,” I grunt. “Make sure to write to him though so he doesn’t get worried.”

“We agree to these terms,” the former alicorn happily chimes. “... Oh! That would give us the opportunity to experience the wonders of the postal service too! How exciting!”

“Uh huh,” I add with a shrug, not really listening.

“But, wait a moment… Postage costs bits, does it not? T-that may prove to be quite the obstacle for us-”

Clink clink clink

I toss some bits from my purse over my shoulder before resuming my hunt.

“Huzzah!” Artemis cheers joyfully. “We are most grateful for thy donation towards our journey!”

“Uh huh,” I repeat, still working on the window.

“Is there anything we can offer in exchange for thy generosity?” the former alicorn nudges me, regaining my attention.

“Help me find the latch on this stupid thing,” I order, pointing to the window; saying nothing more.

“Ah! Certainly,” the pony smiles brightly. “Tis indeed a bit stuffy in here.”

Stepping aside, the pegasus uses his wingtips to locate the elusive latch, and to slide the window completely open. Wind dashes into our small cabin soon after, granting us some much needed air.

“Ahhhh… Lovely,” Artemis sighs dreamily in the now noise polluted room.

“Yup,” I nod in agreement. “This is lovely. It's just the right size for me to throw myself out of.”

“Verily,” Artemis offers contently.

…

“... Wait what?!” he then yelped, only now realizing that I had moved myself to sit on the now open windowsill. “W-what ever art thou doing?!”

“LEAVING!” I yell loudly, speaking over the rushing wind and clicking tracks. “I can’t wait for this train to stop tomorrow! I have to get back to Ponyville today! The future depends on it!”

“B-but that’s lunacy!” he roars wildly back, using his hooves in an attempt to pull me free. Dragon strength trumps pegasus strength though, so his efforts are all for not. “Thou will surely perish from the drop alone!”

“My scales are thick, and I’m running out of time!” I roar just as passionately. “If I’m not in the library by the time Dusk returns, he’s going to wonder where I went! And when Dusk gets curious about something…”

“He stops at nothing to get to the bottom of the mystery,” Artemis finishes for me, having realized the credible threat to secrecy my charge poses. “That was exactly how he bested us when we were Nightterror Nebula…”

“And it’s how he’ll best both of us unless I give him nothing to worry about!” I, in turn, finish for Artemis; tit for tat. “Don't fight me on this, you won't win!"

"But-"

"LOOK!" I bark, shutting him up. "Look... You have your path, and I have mine. Neither of us wants the other to walk down it…”

“But we both feel it necessary...” the stallion ends the back and forth sorrowfully, at last acknowledging the truth of our dilemma. “... Safe journey, little Seer.”

Cranking my head towards the train car, I meet Artemis' determined eyes with my own.

“Safe journey, Princy.”

Turning back to the rushing scene before me, I wait for the tree line to thin out enough for me to jump- Oh dear lord am I really about to do this...?

... O-oh dear lord I think I’m really about to do this.

“...Um... Does thou require any… assistance?” the stallion in the train asks me meekly, still greatly skeeved out by this whole affair.

“Well, if you're offering, you could fly me down safely with those wings of yours…” I suggest expectantly.

“... Is there any assistance we can offer that doesn’t involve us losing our precious spot on this locomotive?”

“... And thus Equestria’s gentlecolt population remained pathetically low,” I proclaimed under my breath, disappointed. “J-just kick me or something so I can soar past the train tracks!”

“Surely there must be a better option!”

“Don’t call me Shirley,” I jokingly snark, momentarily distracting myself from the bone chilling terror. “The longer I wait here the further I’ll have to walk; there’s nothing else either of us can do!”

“But-”

“Just get your horn back back on your head, become a better stallion, and come to Ponyville in time for Nightterror Night!” I command, hardening my nerves. “Make zero eye contact with me on that day, and I’ll call us even!”

“But-”

“We’re almost out of trees, Artemis!” I hurriedly report, as both my grip and resolve start to shake loose. “It’s now or never!”

“B-b-but-”

"Beginning count down in; Three… Two…”

…

… Inhale… exhale...

... Tuck and roll, sugarcube.

“... ONE- Heeeey wait don’t trains usually have an emergency break or something for stuff like thi-”

“Ahhhhh!”

WHOOMP!!

“OH GOD MISTAKES WERE MAAAADE!!!”

Thump!

Fump!

Tumble tumble… tumble

…

… Suddenly I don’t completely hate being a dragon anymore.

Scales freaking rule…

…

… G-gravity still hurts though… ow...

Wobbling out of the thorn bush that had mercifully broken my fall, I cast my eyes out over the train tracks…

… spot the Friendship Express speeding off towards the horizon…

… and proceed to scream at the top of my lungs a loud and truthful declaration of:

“YOU KICK LIKE A LITTLE FILLY!!!”

“Thou art literally the woooorrrrssssttt...”

With that last shout of defiance, Prince Artemis was finally, and truly, gone.

The day… was saved.

Now all I have to do to end this living nightmare once and for all is to head back to Ponyville!

Back… to Ponyville…

… Miles and miles and miles away Ponyville…

…

Sticking out my thumb, I begin what will undoubtedly be a very, very long walk.

“I wonder if ponies even know what this gesture means,” I ask myself aloud, homeward bound. “I bet they do... I mean, hitchhiking is totally a universal concept, right...?"

...

“... R-right?”

Entry 8, End (Dragonapped)

Long story short; no. Ponies do not understand the universal signal for “Going my way?”

What they do understand, however, is the telltale signs of a lost little filly.

It took me several grueling hours of walking before I came across ponies kind enough to offer me a ride home, and another hour after that before I returned to Ponyville proper, so I think it's safe to say that I’ve had enough time to digest this weird day, as well as form an opinion of it. From the rare highs to the never-ending lows, and all the awkward in-betweens; my encounter with Artemis will no doubt go down as one of the strangest, if not the strangest, series of events this diary will ever see.

I'm knocking on wood while writing this, just to be safe.

After everything that went down between Artemis and I though, from starting off as enemies to ending up as reluctant ~~friends~~ acquaintances, I’m left wondering how much weirder my life can possibly get past this point before my episode knowledge either runs out or becomes unusable. Whether the choices I made were ultimately the right ones is another topic plaguing my mind too, but that’s nothing new. Obviously not everything went off without a hitch and, par the course, I was left with a whole lot more questions than answers, but I recognize that things could have gotten a lot worse if I hadn’t fought back, or if I had been too forgiving.

I have to hone my messes, not fear them.

Can’t believe it was Artemis of all ponies who taught me that.

He also said I should think of my curse as my cutie mark instead, now that I think about it… ~~Note to self: work on drawing skills so I can gift The Poisoned Barb with an emblem of some kind. Possible ideas: Fireball, Quill, Phoenix… D, all of the above?~~

Speaking of Artemis, him traveling past Southern Equestria as a pegasus pony is still something I’m trying to wrap my head around. It’s a development that doesn’t fit the show nearly as neatly as, say, Artemis staying locked in his room until Nightterror Night does; but, as I’ve written many times before, this world is alive and constantly on the move. Ponies don’t simply disappear when the camera isn’t on them. They have lives, and even adventures all their own. Never has this been made more apparent than it does right now, as the Prince of the Night journeys forth to become the stallion he wants to be.

I’m still uncertain how this change will affect Equestria’s future though, or even how Prince Solaris will react to his baby brother’s sudden disappearance...

… If those were the only questions left hanging after all of this I’d call it a night right here and now, and work next on getting some much needed shut eye… But, of course, they weren't.

They weren't by a long shot.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Clipclopclipclopclopclipclopclopclipclop

Leaning over the side of the carriage, Golden Oaks speeds rapidly into my view as the fancy wagon I’m riding in hurtles down one of Ponyville’s many bumpy roads. Wind batters my eyes as I gaze upwards towards the sky above, and watch as the clouds slowly dissipate thanks to the efforts of the local Weather Team.

Oh my gosh! If they’re only now working on clearing that up, t-that must mean the boys completed their quest, and are almost home!

I’m cutting it uncomfortably close here… but at least I’m cutting it at all!

SSSsssccccccccceeeeeerrrrr

… Fump

Clip clop clip

With a slight jerk the large stallions pulling the carriage suddenly halt, allowing my ride to come to a complete and safe stop. With my purse securely strapped over my shoulder, and diary in tow, I exit the vehicle in style with a leap out the window. Landing on my feet outside my home, I about-face just in time to respectfully address my savior.

“Thanks again for picking me up, Miss Pish Posh!” I call out to the carriage’s owner, still hidden within. “You really saved me!”

The phthalo, bluish gray mare sticks her hoof out from the windowsill, and waves pleasantly back to me.

Thinking that would be the extent of my interaction with her, I take a step towards the library, only to be surprised when she calls back to me with, “Think nothing of it, dearie!”

The refined earth pony then laughed all haughty-like, though the last hour I spent with her has taught me to recognize it as the genuine showing of respect that it is, instead of anything spiteful.

“We were circling back to Canterlot anyways for some missing luggage, so it was no trouble to us at all," she reassured me, not for the first time. "Right boys?”

The stallions whinny loudly in reply, confirming that they felt the same way as their boss on this.

“Still though,” I insist, not wanting the kindness to go unrewarded. “I really owe you a lot, ma’am!”

“Oh think nothing of it!” the pony with the fan cutie mark insists back, sticking her sunglasses adorned face out of the carriage this time to bid me a proper farewell. “Your creatively torn purse was quite the sight to behold, as too those gorgeous scales of yours!” again she laughs pompously. “They really invigorated my passion for critiquing… Honestly I feel that I’m the one who still owes you!”

“O-oh,” I blush as I reply, not really used to being called gorgeous anymore. “Well, in that case… Can I maybe get your a… a-autograph? N-not for me though!” I quickly tack on, waving my claws back and forth in embarrassment. “That would be too selfish! But… maybe I can get one for that friend I told you about? The one who liked your costume choices in-”

Flit flit

Before I could finish, a single scrap of paper descends from the cart’s window and floats its way slowly into my open talons. Upon catching it, I’m pleased to discover that it reads “To Gleaming Shield, from The Pish Posh; Stay Uniquely You.”

“Don’t be a stranger now, Little Miss Dragon!”

Clipclopclipclopclopclipclopclopclipclop

Yanking my eyes away from the signed letter, I catch the sight of the pony's light grey mane disappearing back into her carriage shortly before the stallions pulling it sped their way off to Canterlot.

“... Wow,” I whisper in awe, starstruck. “Gleam is going to be soooo jealous…”

…

… Oh right the episode!

Stowing my prize into my ‘creatively’ torn purse, I dash to the library’s door and quickly head inside.

“Barb!” cried out Red Gala, her appearance surprising me greatly. “Yer okay!”

“Yup!” I cried back from the doorway... and almost cried literally, if I’m being honest. “Got my diary back too!”

“Eeyup?”

“Yup!” I cheer, before taking in my surroundings...

… Oh I’m half tempted to kiss this beautiful mare! She cleaned up the library while I was gone… Weeeellll not completely; there’s still a lot of books out of place, and a lot of fur all over everything… but damn it all if it’s not the thought that counts!

“The boys will be back any minute!” I shout hurriedly, resulting in my friend now galloping towards the door. “Take the back roads and they’ll probably not spot you!” Saying nothing in reply, Red almost makes it outside completely before I stop her with a cry of “Wait!”

Turning back towards me, I’m able to catch the big red mare just in time to hug her leg tightly.

“You’re the best,” I speak truthfully, squeezing her as tenderly as my miniscule arms can manage. “Literally best pony, without a doubt.”

“Hehe… Eeyup,” she agrees softly, and nuzzles my cheek lovingly, before heading on her way.

Now alone in the library, I take a nice deep breath, and mentally prepare myself for Dusk’s return.

Let me think… Twilight returned to Ponyville at the same time as her friends after Fluttershy convinced the dragon to leave. That was pretty much the entire end of the episode, outside of some last second joke at Rainbow Dash’s expense if I’m remembering that right...

… Hope I haven’t forgotten anything important…

…

...

… Squeak.

Startled by a light noise, I look downwards towards the source…

… and quickly spot Angelica The Bunny...

… Ooooooh she does not look happy to see me.

“...”

“... H… H-hey there, dear,” I try to talk calmly, hiding my newfound fear. “Now, I know I haven’t watched you as closely as I promised I would, b-but you can still stay nice and behaved for me for, like, ten more minutes… Right?”

“...”

“... Please?”

“...”

“... I’ll buy you carrots for a week…”

“...”

“... A month?”

“...”

“... A-a year?”

“...”

… Angelica then put a furry paw up to her lips…

Fffffffff

… and produced a shrill whistle.

…

...

… Rumblerumblerumblerumble

This sent the rest of the animals into a mad frenzy.

Rumblerumblerumblerumble

One that was aimed squarely my way.

Rumblerumblerumblerumble

“OH YOU DEMENTED SPAWN OF SATA-”

Rumblerumblerumblerumble!!!!

“Ahhhh!!!”

~Ten Minutes Later~

“Hhhhuuuuhh… huuuhhhh… huuuuuhhh... I-I said come back here!” I tiredly rage at the snow colored ringleader. Running forward, I make a jumping leap towards her.

Angelica retaliates to my charge by simply hopping over me.

Whomp!

“OOh!”

This results in me crashing headfirst into yet another bookshelf...

… Unlike the five other times she managed to pull this trick on me though, this time I came prepared! Reaching upwards at the last second, I at last manage to capture the damnable trouble maker. “How does Butterscotch put up with you furry little things?!” I ask honestly, as my prize tries to escape my grasp.

Seriously though, how does he?! Sure his other animals are mostly well behaved, but one little push by this tiny piece of trash and they suddenly go berserk?! What the hell?! Why does Butters tolerate such a worthless, and annoying, little bitc-

“Barb, take a letter.”

Whipping my head downwards from the loft, I’m greeted with the most wondrous sight I’ve seen all day long:

The sight of Dusk home, safe and sound.

Sighing loudly, releasing Angelica in the process, I pull a quill and scroll out of my purse as I exhaustedly reply; “With pleasure.”

Wasting no time, his excitement evident, my favorite purple unicorn begins to dictate his message to his mentor. “Dear Prince Solaris.” Ohhhhhh music to my ears. “I am happy to report that the dragon has departed our fair country, and that it was my good friend, Butterscotch, who convinced her to go.” Yes yes yes! It’s the same letter this time! No weird changes! No new lesson! No canon violations!

I’m so happy I could cry~

“This adventure has taught me to never lose faith in your friends,” Dusk reports dreamily, recalling his own journey far more fondly than I ever will with mine. “They can be an amazing source of strength, and can help you overcome even your greatest fears.”

My writing ceases momentarily as my thoughts drift elsewhere...

… Red Gala…

Never lose faith in your friends, huh…?

… Snrk

Looks like I learned that lesson today too!

“Always your faithful student; Dusk Shine,” my first pony friend finishes his letter strongly, encouraging me to pick up my pace on the transcribing.

“Dusk!” suddenly cried out Applejack’s voice, the source of which coming from outside. “Yah gotta come see this!”

His letter forgotten, Dusk gallops his way over to the windowsill and sticks his head out through it. From my seat on the steps leading up to the loft, I chuckle quietly at my charge’s enthusiasm as I finish drafting up his latest friendship letter.

A quick scan over it with my eyes produces no noticeable spelling errors, thank goodness, so all I have to do is slap a scroll seal on this baby and the episode will officially be over! Awesome! Fishing around in my purse, I look for one of Solaris’ seals…

… only to stumble on the special one from this morning.

“Oh, right,” I giggle to myself. “Totally forgot all about this extra one.”

Right right; Solaris usually doesn’t send return seals with his messages, but he did this time with the letter from this morning…

… The… letter from this morning…

… The one that started Dragonshy…

… The one that convinced the boys to leave Ponyville for most of the day…

… The one that gave Artemis the opportunity to invade my dreams…

… The one to blame for all of this insanity…

…

… Hurriedly I yank the letter in question, the one from ‘Solaris’, out of my bag and look at it more closely than I ever did this morning.

“Thy village,” I read out loud what’s on the page. “Posthaste… We implore yon…”

This…

… T-this is Artemis’ horn writing! I recognize it from his journal! It’s beyond flowery, and covered in so much Royal We that it’s ridiculous!

How did I not realize this until now?! It was literally staring me in the face from the very beginning!

“That must mean,” I think loudly, my head now buzzing too much to concentrate. “that this scroll seal…”

The seal in my claw, the one that came from this very letter; instead of Solaris, it must go straight to Artemis! Yeah… Yeah I can picture it now! It was probably some kind of failsafe to prevent his brother from learning that he sent the Elements away on a quest! If Dusk had written ‘as you commanded of us’, or something similar, it would have blown a gigantic hole in Princy's master plan!

Ugh! I’m so stupid…

… but at least it looks like Artemis can come up with a long term plan when he actually puts his mind to it, and that thought grants me a little comfort concerning his journey. Also, as a bonus, I have a way to contact him directly with this scroll seal if ever the need arises!

Having an emergency line to a prince who isn’t Solaris might prove to be useful someday… when he gets his horn back, at least. Doesn’t help me much if he can receive but not send...

…

… But… wait a second…

… Artemis sending Dusk this letter... means that Solaris didn’t send one.

All day long, while smoke covered the blue sky, Solaris did… nothing.

He didn’t send the boys to take care of the dragon, he didn’t send his army or Wonderbolts to take care of the issue, he didn’t even send a letter addressing the dragon at all!

Solaris did… nothing.

Solaris… didn’t start Dragonshy.

Artemis did…

…

… My letter about Stardust wasn’t the catalyst, the snoring dragon was.

Artemis… started Dragonshy… to get to me…

...

… Artemis… started Dragonshy.

Artemis… started Dragonshy.

Solaris never sent a letter.

Solaris didn’t start Dragonshy.

Artemis… started Dragonshy…

… Solaris never sent a letter...

… which means Celestia never sent a letter either…

… which means that Luna was the one who started Dragonshy instead…

...

Luna… started Dragonshy…

Princess Luna started Dragonshy…

...

… N-... N-no.

That… T-that doesn’t make any sense!

Luna sent a letter to Twilight?!

Luna tricked the girls into leaving Ponyville?!

Luna… Luna broke into the library for… for…

… Spike?

...

… B-but why w-would she do that?? He’s… h-he’s just a kid!

He’s… just a kid…

… Just a kid…

…

… Like… L-like I’m ‘just’ a kid…

…

“... Barb? Did you send my letter?”

“Yes!” I screech a tad too loudly directly into Dusk’s face. “Y-yes! Totally did!”

This startles Dusk greatly…

… but, with a pony shrug, he drops the subject all together as he starts to make his way downstairs. “Take a nap, Barb,” he commands, departing. “It looks like you could really use one.”

...

“... R… R-right,” I stutter back, long after he’s gone. “R-right.” Making my way over to my oh so comfy basket, I grip my head in a bid to suppress the fresh migraine that was threatening to tear my head in two. “Just… J-just need to sleep for a bit, and then everything will be okay...”

Look.

In case you haven’t noticed… I’ve had a bit of a day.

Instead of dwelling on what Spike may or may not be, or what happened in prime Equestria, or even whether Artemis is going to be okay; let’s just… take a little nap, shall we?

Just a little nap to clear the old head.

Just a little nap to rest the weary soul.

Just a little nap to relax the writing claw.

Just a little nap…

… before I prepare more readily for the upcoming weekend.

It looks like Stardust isn’t the only Seer Solaris and I are going to have to have a little chat about.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Journal Entry 0049 Final Page~

We are saddened to report that we have run out of our favorite blue ink, and will be forced to use our spare black one for much of the foreseeable future.

Our mouth writing is to blame for this unfortunate turn of events. Usually we are able to keep our thoughts within the confines of only one or two pages, but the loss of our horn has had the unfortunate side effect of taking from us our ability to keep our words together as neat and orderly as we are accustomed.

Though… now after transposing such… we suppose we shall be experiencing much in the coming weeks that will prove to be equally beyond that which we have grown accustomed.

We do not know what to expect once this train ride comes to an end, nor do we know if our quest will even grant us that which we are seeking in the first place. Mount Aris is quite a ways away, after all, and we are severely under prepared for this adventure… Nonetheless, we shall strive to hold our head up high as we venture forth into the great unknown. If we are to succeed we must recall often, and always keep close to our heart, the reasoning behind this grand undertaking of ours; the reasoning behind it all.

Thus we shall transpose our goals here for our future self’s benefit, so that we may never forget the ideals we now wish to live by:

We journey forth to become a better Prince, as beloved as brother.

We journey forth to become a better stallion, as gentlecoltly as is expected of us.

We journey forth to become a better pony, as worthy of friendship as any other.

And we journey forth to become a better Artemis, as clever as necessary…

... so that we may one day decipher the mystery of Barbara D. Burns.

Brother’s Squire is not who she says she is, that much is certain. We grossly fibbed about only skimming her diary, when in reality we managed to read a few pages. She writes of the same subjects as Starswirl, and possesses similar views concerning life and death. We art convinced now that us reading The Poisoned Barb was preordained by brother, whose invisible hoof gently guided us as such. To what ends we are still uncertain… but that is as far as we’ll allow him to go. We will not steal from Barbara a second time, now that we are aware of how much she has lost already.

In fact, when next our paths cross, we pray that we will have grown enough to become the ally her old soul so desperately needs.

It’s humorous, when we stop to think about it. We sought out the young Seer this day so that a path forward might become clear, only for us to get exactly what we wished for in a manner we could have never imagined. Fate truly is an unpredictable thing, despite what many a Seer have claimed.

But that is enough meandering for one eve. We must depart now to bed, less our sleep cycle not adjust itself accordingly. Tomorrow will most assuredly prove to be quite arduous as our journey begins in earnest, thus we must prepare ourself wherever we can...

… One final thought, before we retire this day:

We have never felt the need to do such until now, but since this entry marks a great turning point in our recovery… Oh, what the hell?

Good night, dear journal.

May the stars forever guide our path.

Sincerely,
- ~~Prince~~ Artemis of Equestria

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

“... So then I, um, gripped her muzzle in my hooves… and flipped her right out of her cave.”

Angelica rolled her eyes at this, continuing to munch on her gifted carrot with a bored expression and not much else.

Butterscotch’s ears droop lowly thanks to this.

“W-well I thought it was impressive,” the large stallion mumbled under his breath, disappointed that his bunny friend was not as enamored by his story as he thought she would be. “Fully grown dragons are heavy.”

Still Angelica chewed uncaringly.

“... Okay,” the yellow pegasus shrank away. “She wasn’t that heavy, b-but I didn’t want to tell the guys that…”

Swallowing, Angelica finished her carrot. Tapping a foot against the ground, she demanded another. Complying, Butters made his way over to his cottage’s kitchen to fetch just that.

“... Oh!” he suddenly gasped halfway through delivering the orange vegetable. “Speaking of dragons, how did Barb treat you all today?”

Various squeaks, tweets, and parakeets cried out in reply, as every animal fought one another to share their many different takes first.

“O-one at a time,” Butters asked softly, only rewarding him with louder cries. “I… I-I can’t hear any of you when you get like this!”

Stomp stomp

Ever the ringleader, Angelica’s pounding foot quickly ceased all the racket.

“T-thanks,” whimpered the pink maned stallion. “Angelica, can you please summarize what everycreature is trying to say... please?”

Though she felt the need to roll her eyes once again, Angelica complied. Butterscotch listened carefully to his little friend's squeaks and gestures, as he tried to understand what she was attempting to say.

Eventually, a detail came to light that startled the pegasus greatly.

“Big… red… mare?” the pony in the home tilted his head, trying to picture the scene. “There was a big red mare at the library…?”

Suddenly, a light bulb goes off in his head

“Oh! That must have been Applejack’s sister, Red Gala!” Butters deduced easily, proud of himself for having put two and two together. “She’s a good friend of Barb’s,” he feels the need to explain for Angelica. “She’s very big, and strong… and… a-and pretty…”

This time Angelica didn’t resist the urge to roll her eyes.

“... Ahem… Barb must have asked for help when things got too much for her to handle,” the stallion went on, heedless of his bunny friend’s lack of caring. “That was a very adult decision she made!”

In the blink of an eye, Butter’s surprise quickly turned to disappointment, as a thought then crossed his mind.

“A-and I said she wasn’t up to the task,” the now sadden pony lowered his head, crestfallen. “That was a really mean thing for me to say… M-maybe I should ask Dusk what her favorite gems are, and surprise her with some.”

Angelica tapped Butter’s leg.

“I-I bet Elusive could help me find them!”

Angelica pulled on Butter’s tail.

“Then I can tell her how sorry I am for doubting her!”

Angelica yanked on Butter’s beard.

“That’s perfect!” Butters cheered, lowering his raised wings. “I better make plans to meet with Elusive tomorrow then-”

Whomp whomp whomp

“... Ow,” Butters muttered quietly, having just been struck in the face by an angry bunny. “Angelica, that wasn’t very nice.”

Uncaring, the small furry animal began to wave her arms up and down, and squeak out another important detail...

… one that the pony couldn’t easily envision.

“...”

“... A… a blue coated stallion... with a light bluemane... was there too...?”

Angelica nodded enthusiastically, before jumping upwards and yanking the carrot still grasped in her friend’s hoof away. Allowing his bunny to do what she wants, as was the norm, Butterscotch stared off blankly into space as his mind raced to picture what he had just been told.

“Blue coat… and blue mane... A blue stallion… Blue stallion...

“... Why does that sound…

“.... familiar…?”

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

~In Another Time, In Another Place~

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Cobalt blue light bathed the subterranean laboratory, casting strange shadows against the walls. Reflected off of many a science beaker, the alicorn’s magic buzzed ominously as it’s caster debated on how best to shape it. To escape and be branded a coward, or to fight back and ALSO be branded a coward…

… in Princess Luna’s mind, her options were slim.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Tied to a chair, thoroughly outsmarted, pastry lanced through her very horn; the mare had certainly seen better days.

And it was all thanks to one, poor, decision.

A decision she needed to rectify.

A decision she needed erased.

Twinkle twinkle twink-

Luna made up her mind.

Peace was never an option.

Soon her magic ran up her opponent’s arm, engulfing it fully in her aura. Dragging the victim ever closer towards her bindings, victory would soon be assured…

… Yet Luna knew well that her battle was not of one front, but two.

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

Specifically the front and the back of her forced sitting position.

“Ahhh, there art thou,” the Princess threatened the hidden pony behind her, his hindleg now similarly captured in powerful magic. Shooting the earth pony stallion with a menacing side glance, Luna then taunted her assailant simply out of spite. “Striking a lady is most unbecoming of a gentlecolt, dear.”

“Let him go!”

Whipping her eyes back towards the youngest in the room, the first victim, the alicorn’s spell increased in strength as she began to lift the child up into the air. One little enchantment would be all it would take to leave him dazed, and susceptible to her memory erasing spell. Though she truthfully felt bad for things having gone oh so very poorly, the temptation of simply starting over was too great for her to deny. In her mind, the ends would justify the means if it meant her latest blunder could be completely covered up.

The child’s ally, however, being an Apple born of an honest line and an honest soul, was not the sort of friend to take such an injustice lying down.

“Nnope,” he spoke softly, gritting his teeth. Using his massive well of strength, both physical and inner, the red pony then grunted silently as he willed his magically ensnared leg to support his entire weight. Flipping skywards, the stallion craned his neck to better spot his new target. With momentum carrying him through a controlled barrel rotation, he then stuck out his one free leg…

Twinkletw-

Whomp

… and gently tapped Luna right on the horn with it, ceasing her magic.

The Princess hardly had a second to register the halting of her spell before the stallion was on her, gripping her tightly in what she passingly recalled to be a sleeper hold.

Before her senses were robbed from her, before she reawakened shortly thereafter with only a minor hornache, and before she even realized she was on a train heading straight to Canterlot Luna observed one small detail about her shadowy assailant; a detail that stunned her greatly, and haunted her long after.

The stallion's eyes had contained no malice.

Only pity.

Entry 9, Part 1 (Look Before You Seer)

“Huf damm... so cbaleym... kenm; fryd... oui fyhhy... frah... knuf...?”

“Dryd’c... daddy! ... fyhhy pa y...!”

“Rurur, zisbeh’... aht, Barbie? Huf frana’c... dryd?”

I awake with a start.

Panting hoarsely, my body drenched in sweat; it takes a good few minutes for my breathing to steady, and for my heart to stop pounding in my ears...

Ugh.

"Another one?" I moan out tiredly, wishing desperately for this week of nonsense to just end already. "Seriously? Three times in a row...? Good grief."

With talons pressed firmly against my temple, I attempt to remember the dream’s fading details...

...

... Yup.

Nothing.

How typical.

"What the hell did you do to my head, Princy?” I ask the empty bedroom, as if it held my answer. "It was all nice and somewhat organized before you showed up, but now... Sigh... What the hell, dude? What the hell..."

What could I have possibly done in my past life to deserve all this ridiculou-

Er, on second thought, don't answer that question.

I probably wouldn't like the answer.

My innumerable sins aside, that whole thing that just happened right now? With the English and the belly-aching and the sweating of the bed? In case I didn't make it painfully obvious; that's not normal.

It's super not normal.

Heck, dreams IN GENERAL aren't normal for me! Daydreams? Yes. Fantasies? Yes. Ice cream overdose hallucinations? Unfortunately yes… But dream dreams? Nuh-uh. Call it a quirk of being a dragon, or maybe a sign of early brain damage; whatever the case may be, the answer is still the same: Dreaming simply isn’t a thing this body of mine does!

Dreams are so incredibly rare to me, in fact, that I can count all the ones I've had in the past seven years on a single claw! I remember the one I had when I was an infant, for example, where I relived the fateful car crash that ended my life as a human. I recall the one I had when I was a fresh Ponyvillian too, where I temporarily saw through the eyes of a dragoness named, er, Bogmill, I think. Not sure if that one's canon though; I was pretty tired when I wrote the entry about it... Last but certainly not least who could forget the one I had earlier this week, where Prince Artemis forced me to tumble through my memories against my will?

Since the former on this shortlist happened way more recently than the latters, my current working theory is that Mister Ex-Nightterror Nebula is the culprit behind my sudden noisy nights. His meddling in the Dream Realm must have jiggled loose the mental blocks that were preventing me from dreaming in the first place!

It's the most logical explanation I can think of... or at least the most thematically appropriate... so it's probably the correct one.

Artemis' overall level of guiltiness aside, I’m not sure how I feel about this new development. Sure dreams are supposed to be good for processing emotions, of which I have A LOT, but for all I know those blocks were put in place to stop adult-level nightmares from liquifying my baby brain into a thick paste of past regrets, homesickness, and existential dread! Them being gone now means that I’ll… I’ll...

… probably still drive myself crazy over past regrets, homesickness, and existential dread.

...

… Hey I never claimed the blocks were doing their job well.

Knock knock knock

Ah.

Speaking of jobs, it looks like it's time for me to do mine.

My 'alarm' is ringing.

"Barb?" calls out Dusk Shine from behind the closed loft door. "You should probably start getting up. It's almost an hour before noon."

"Thank you!" I call back as I rise out of my tiny bed. "Let me just get dressed and I'll be right down."

"Get dressed?" my charge grunts quizzingly in reply. "What, you mean put on your purse?"

"Never ask a lady what 'getting dressed' means, Dusk," I scold in-between realigning my scales, straightening my bedfin, and curling my eyelashes. "That path leads naught but to ruin."

"Ah. Duly noted... Do you want me to reheat some waffles for your breakfast then, 'madam'?"

"I shall humbly accept this tribute so that your sins may be abolished, puny mortal."

"She's hanging out with those colts way too much," Dusk chuckles to himself, thinking I can't hear him. "One order of leftover waffles coming right up, Barb! Going to throw in some hay bacon strips too for good measure, to make sure your stomach isn't all growly for your royal business! Think what Prince Solaris would say if it was, haha!"

Clip clop clipclop...

With that, he was gone...

...

... Sigh

Right... right...

Today is... the day.

Prince Solaris awaits.

…

… Inhale… exhale… Tuck and roll, sugarcube.

Tuck and roll.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Dear Diary~

Today I danced with the sun.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... Thirty eight... Thirty nine... Forty bits. Perfect... Alright, Dusk!” I cry out from the foyer. With my purse fully packed, and with sixteen hours of baby dragon rest under my nonexistent belt, I'm feeling a tad more ready to tackle this day now than I was fifteen minutes ago. “I’m heading out! I’ll be back from Canterlot tomorrow!”

“Okay, Barb!” I hear Dusk calling back from his desk. “Be safe!”

“Will do," I nod, pausing only briefly to lick some syrup off my cheek. "Oh!" I then gasp, almost biting my tongue in the process. "And please remember what we talked about the other da-”

“I promise you I won’t overdo it with my reading,” Dusk interrupts me bluntly. Lifting his muzzle out of his book and glancing my way, he demonstrates his sincerity. "No need to worry about me."

“Good,” I grin from the doorway. “And if you stay a good pony while I’m gone, I might even bring back a box of Mary Joe’s designer donuts for us to share!”

“How would you even know if I’m behaving or not from all the way in Canter- '' Upon realizing that he’s receiving a stink eye from me, Dusk abruptly ends his overanalyzing. “O... O-okay. I’ll be good.”

“Thank you,” I beam happily, now truly ready to go. Hoisting my still damaged bag over my shoulder, I grip the Golden Oak’s door handle tightly and begin to depart.

Before I could exit fully, however…

“Wait a moment, Barb!” the sole pony in the library suddenly shouts, regaining my attention. “I almost forgot to give you something!” Standing where I’m at, unmoving, I next watch as he gallops off upstairs and out of my line of sight.

“I’m kinda on a time crunch here, Dusk!” I call back, as my eyes wander towards the clock on the wall. “I have to get to the train station before noon!”

“Won’t take more than a second!” he yells from the loft, his words muffled by the ceiling separating us. “Now where did I leave that darn… Aha! Found it!”

Clip clop clip clop

With a loud rumbling of hooves Dusk dashes back to the lobby, and across the room, in order to present me with a single item.

A letter.

“Can you deliver this for me please?” the teenaged stallion asks me with hopeful eyes, and glowing horn.

Blinking in surprise, I delicately take the envelope out of his magical grip and give it a once over. “But there’s no sending seal,” I point out, flipping it around to check. “And no stamp either.”

“That’s because it needs to go to Canterlot with you, Barb.”

Fluttering my eyelashes once more, I consider Dusk’s riddle for a moment longer…

… before turning the letter to the front again, and quickly solving the mystery.

“Whoa,” I exclaim, re-reading the address line; making sure my eyes weren’t mistaken. “You want me to deliver this to-”

“Yes,” Dusk bounces enthusiastically, pleased that I had put two and two together. “Yes I do.”

Holy moly!

Didn’t see this coming!

“You actually remembered what I told you last month about him?” I ask, genuinely shocked.

Twinkle twinkle pop

Ignoring my question, Dusk instead chooses to make a second request of me. “Please give him this too while you’re up there.”

Using my free claw, I grab the scroll seal that had materialized out of the unicorn's dimensional pocket and place it next to the letter.

“A message and a scroll seal?” I let out a low whistle, impressed by his forethought. “Are you sure about this? What about your friendship studies, or even your regular studies for that matter? This could end up being pretty distracting… Think you’ll be up to the task?”

“Well I suppose that’ll all depend on if my number one assistant is up to the task too,” my charge throws my question right back at me, his smirk never weaning as he waits for my now obvious reply.

Heh.

Guess I walked right into that one.

Resisting the urge to snark "I’m your only assistant, doofus,” I instead answer back with a hearty salute, and a prideful decree of; "You can count on me!”

“Oh you’re the best, Barb!” the nerdy stallion whinnies joyfully, tittering on all four of his hooves.

“I know,” I puff cheekily. “But I’m humbly modest about it~”

“Snrk,” Dusk snickers in reply, failing to hide his bemusement. Returning now to his desk, and subsequently his studies, my favorite purple unicorn grants me one final command before I head out. "Have fun with your royal business!”

“And you with your guys slumber party,” I think to myself, not daring to say the words aloud. “Will do!” is what I actually say, as I stow the two delivery items away into my purse and finally leave the library.

Slam!

One shut door later, I find myself on the streets of Ponyville in the midst of another beau-ti-ful day.

Reeeeaaaallly wish I could stay here instead of going to lame, dragon-disliking Canterlot...

… but unfortunately the future isn’t going to save itself.

I'm really going to have my work cut out for me today; so much has happened since I moved to Ponyville that it’s honestly daunting to look back on. Prince Artemis left Equestria for one thing, a pony named Stardust Glimmer purposefully derailed an episode for another, and there's strange nonsense afoot concerning Spike and Luna of which I can only surmise! Even looking past the Seer junk yields no sense of calm, as within the span of a single month Dusk and I have made new friends, had minor squabbles with said friends, saved the town from both a snoring dragon and Applejack, taught Rainbow Dash how to be a lady, and... and...

Aaaannnnddd I’m rambling.

Sorry.

There’s no need for a recap this early on in my tale, especially when what I should be focusing on right now is the fast approaching royal business.

As you might recall, ‘Royal Business’ is just a code phrase Prince Solaris and I made up to blanketly describe our monthly gatherings with. Under the guise of benign finance management and assignment critiquing, these get-togethers are in actuality a secret Dusk Shine performance review. During them I’ll be expected to share my own take on the past month’s worth of friendship lessons, as well as point out any noteworthy events that happened in-between one letter and the next. All visions will be on the table too, meaning I’ll be allowed to discuss them in the off chance outside action is required to help them along.

Solaris, being the head Seer honcho that he is, wants the future to stay mostly unchanged, while I just want it to go smoothly. Having the show progress normally would logically satisfy BOTH of our desires, so it’s in our shared interest to keep things shipshape wherever we see fit. Chaos is the antithesis of everything we hold dear, which is about the only thing the two of us a hundred percent agree on when it comes to raising Dusk...

… Or at least I thought that was something Solaris and I a hundred percent agreed on.

While admittedly such a scenario was never outright discussed, I had always assumed the Prince would want to be in the know if things ever careened off course. His unreceptiveness towards the possibility of a rogue Seer contradicts that image though, as too his lack of correspondence about the dragon from Dragonshy... Oh and don’t even get me started on the moving of Eris’ statue!

Anyone here remember that one?

The super important canon change Solaris agreed was necessary, but never saw fit to update me about?!

Huff

I’m still a teeny, tiny bit salty over that one, in case you couldn't tell. Humph.

In all seriousness though, what the actual hay is going on with that stallion lately?! It can’t be that he’s just been too busy running the kingdom to bother with me, can it? There were times where it felt like he was breathing down mine and Dusk's necks when we lived in Canterlot, but now... nothing.

Well, regardless of what his excuse is going to turn out to be, our meeting will no doubt be an intense one as I pirouette around what I know, don’t know, and what I assume I know all for the sake of building a better tomorrow. How many of my secrets will I lose this time, I wonder; how much more of my hoard will I be forced to surrender in exchange for knowledge…?

Ugh.

I hate not knowing what to expect.

The only thing I do know with certainty is that Prince Artemis was just a warm up; the real battle of wits starts now.

In my heart I must repeat a single, unquestionable mantra if I dare hope to succeed. No matter how daunting my opponent may be, or how scared I feel, I, Barbara The Dragoness, must not allow anyone to stand in my way towards victory; not even myself! My mind must be tranquil, my spirit must be still, and my concentration must be razor sharp if I am to rise above this day, and dominate the mental battlefield.

Nothing must surprise me, nothing must distract me, and nothing mus-

“Bow storm!”

“Bow storm?”

Whoosh!

Before I could react, a chromatic whirlwind of color suddenly envelops my vision and roots me in place. A sensation akin to thousands of hooves lightly tapping me at once soon follows, t-tickling me from head to toe.

Whoosh!

Just as soon as it had appeared the controlled mini-tornado ceases to be. In its wake flutters not but a single pegasus mare.

A mare who wasn’t really a mare, but in actuality a stallion. “Bow storm,” Rainbow Dash repeats himself with a mischievous smile. “Looking good there, Barb! I think the one on your tail suits you the best!”

“Wha?” I start to question, still dazed by the pony’s sudden appearance. While regaining my footing, my claw shifts absentmindedly across my purse strap.

Fump

This results in it bumping up against something that hadn’t been there a second ago:

A frilly pink ribbon.

“What the?” I shift the bag around, trying to get a better look. More colorful bows are scattered all across it, covering the rips and tears left behind by the magical explosion from a few days ago. That wasn’t the only thing covered in accessories either; one cursory glance past my satchel reveals to me the fact that the rest of my body is now similarly covered in various ties and laces.

They're the same ones currently dotting Rainbow Dash’s body too, I quickly note.

An absolute spectrum of ribbons can be seen threaded throughout every inch of the stallion’s tail, their hues ranging from aquamarine to sapphire to ruby. A necklace of them hangs loosely from his neck as well, almost dragging across the ground even as he hovers. Lastly, to complete the look, Dash has braided his mane into twin, multicolored pigtails just so the two largest bows of the whole set could be displayed proudly in all their youthful splendor…

… or maybe he did it up that way just to make himself feel pretty.

It’s honestly hard to tell sometimes with him.

“Aggressively cute,” is my first thought, while my second is, “Wait, the one on my tail?” as I recall the thing RD had said to me prior. Turning my head makes me aware of two, similarly oversized bows that had been affixed to the sides of my head during the quote unquote bow storm, as well as to the detail that my tail had not been spared the ‘carnage’. There’s a bright emerald ribbon now attached to the very tip of it, only a smidgen below the magenta spike.

Considering that the spines running down my back are a similar shade of green, and that this accessory's position prevents it from getting in my way as I go about my business…

…

“... Eeeeeee!” I let out a very ‘adult’ and ‘mature’ squee; I assure you. “Oh my gosh you’re right! It suits me perfectly!”

“Heh, thought you'd say that,” my honorary gal pal boasts excitedly, satisfied with his work.

“Can I keep it?”

“Of course you can, girl.”

Okay I’ll admit that this second squee won't be of the grown-up variety.

Please don’t judge me too harshly; I don’t get gifts all that often.

“Eeee! Thank you thank you thank you Dash!”

“Hey don’t go thanking me,” the fabulous speedster laughs at my reaction. “Elusive is the pony who actually made them.”

“Eeeee-...”

This kills my excitement somewhat… but only somewhat.

“Oh, that figures,” I state pragmatically, dialing things back a bit. Taking off the bows attached to my ear-fins, I look more closely at them and discover Elusive’s name and address written on a tiny paper card hidden within. “Is this some kind of new marketing strat?”

“Eh, kinda," Dash goes on to explain while still in midair. “Apparently some dude placed a humongous order for them last week, but then he freaking canceled on Elu at the last possible second! Demanded a refund too!”

“What?!” I gasp at this, disgusted that somepony could be so intentionally cruel to an artist. “No way!”

“I know, right?!” RD throws his hooves up in equal revulsion, shaking loose a few ribbons in the process. “After our buddy made a whole crate worth too! How messed up is that?! Customer confidentiality is the only thing keeping me from hunting the guy down and knocking their block off…” With a small snort, Rainbow then cups his front hoofs over his heart as he switches to a far more refined tone of voice. “But a lady doesn’t get mad when a gentlecolt gets ugly.”

“We get even instead,” I complete the quote, the one I had taught him, just as haughtily. “You were trained well, dear.”

"I had a darling teacher,” Dash teases back with another snort. "Figured the best way to show the jerkwad up would be to spread Elu’s hard work all around Ponyville, and get ponies to want to check out his store. BB is helping out too… in his own way.”

A shiver visibly runs down RD's spine.

"He’s more bow now than pony,” he reports solemnly.

“Tragic,” I comment dryly. “Smart plan though!”

“Eh, I can’t take credit for that either,” Rainbow shrugs with his wings, momentarily causing a drop in altitude. “Elu was the one who thought it up. All I did was agree to help out while he went off to do some volunteer work; something to take his mind off the ugliness, you know?”

“… Oh,” I remark, offering nothing more.

Jason was always good at coming up with smart solutions to problems. One time, he had this massive order of fancy scarfs where he did something similar an-

…

“... Elusive is good at coming up with smart solutions,” I tack on rather monotonically, wanting nothing more now than to change the subject.

Actually, I know exactly how to change it!

“Well I better be going, Dash,” I start departing, waving goodbye to the floating stallion as I do. "I’ll be sure to spread some of these advertisement bows around in Canterlot while I’m up there.”

Flap flap flap flap

To my somewhat annoyance, Rainbow Dash starts trailing lazily behind me.

“Canterlot?” he inquires casually. “You’re heading to Canterlot?”

Content with him having at least dropped the Elusive topic, I reply in better spirits with, “Yup! Got some royal business to take care of with Prince Solaris today.”

“Cool!” Dash responds pleasantly, surprisingly interested in what I have to say. "Like another super sweet mission?”

“Umm, kinda!” I answer back just as pleasantly. Guess when you think about it, this meeting is sort of like a royal mission. "He summons me pretty regularly to talk about Dusk’s studies.”

“He does?”

“Yup,” I confirm with a thumbs up.

Huh... Thought this conversation would have ended right there and then after mentioning ‘studies’ to him, but Rainbow still seems weirdly invested. Wonder why that is...? Though, now that I’ve just finished pointing this detail out, the pegasus immediately invalidates my internal narration by casting his eyes away from me.

Rude.

“But where’s Dusk at?” Rainbow Dash then questions, causing my eyebrow to rise.

“Studying at the library,” I answer back, not thinking much of it. Making sure to leave my new tail-bow right where it’s at, I start taking my excess accessories off and shoving them into my purse.

“I thought you said you were going to Canterlot though?” Rainbow points out in turn…

... making me at last realize what's been really on his mind:

I’m heading to Canterlot.

Dusk is nowhere to be seen.

Ergo, I’m a child traveling without a chaperone...

... In the words of any sane person; what the actual hell?

“Umm, y-yeah, I still am, Dash” I attempt to broach this subject delicately, now fully aware of Rainbow’s concern. “I’m going by train... and by myself.”

“By... B-by yourself?!” RD gasps loudly, his volume causing me to wince.

“Perk of being Solaris’ Squire,” I try to play it off as something commendable, instead of worrying. “I’m allowed to travel to and from Canterlot without adult supervision.”

“Why?!” Rainbow’s scream halts me in place.

It is quickly becoming apparent that this isn’t a topic he's going to let slide so easily.

“Honestly thought I'd be having this conversation with somepony like Red Gala first before Rainbow Dash... Oh well. I’m doing my duty as Dusk’s assistant, Dash,” I raise my voice, and turn to meet the worried pony’s gaze. “Sometimes that means running errands in Ponyville, and sometimes that means running them in Canterlot instead. It’s just my job.”

“Why does a little kid like you need a job in the first flipping plac-” Rainbow starts shouting, only to cut himself off. “Ugh! Sorry, sorry. Nevermind… But don't you think riding the train by yourself is, I don’t know, scary?”

Seeing an opening to derail and end this awkward talk for good, I smirk brightly as I retort with, “I don’t know, RD. Is riding the train by yourself ‘scary’ to you?”

Taking the bait, Dash grants me an indignant whiny for my accusation.

“Hey I am the toughest pony you know!” the pigtail rocking stallion declares defensively, accidentally dislodging a few more bows out of his girly braided tail in the process.

Sure you are, Dashie.

Sure you are.

The strong in the real way pony continues on. "All I’m saying is that if I was your age, and somepony asked me to leave Cloudsdale without one of my folks or a flight instructor with me... I-I don’t know if I would be brave enough to do it. There are some really weird ponies out there in Equestria, and it’s really easy to get lost in a place when you can’t see over crowds… Are you sure you’ll be okay, Barbara?”

“... Rainbow Dash,” I speak softly, having been completely blindsided by his honest concern.

Where on Equus is this coming from?

“Thank you for caring about me...” I first share my appreciation, before presenting my counterargument. “... but I’m a dragon! Most ponies are scared of going near my kind, and Dusk would have said no if he thought I was in any real danger! Remember, Canterlot was my home before Ponyville. I know my way around the capital super well, so please don't worry. Okay?”

“... Okay…” my loyal friend mutters back, accepting the loss. “If you’re really sure.”

“I’m ‘really sure’ that I don’t want to keep Solaris waiting,” I joke, hoping to banish away his new gloomy disposition. “I’m more afraid of upsetting him than I am of running into strangers, haha.”

Optimistically thinking that we’re done here, I resume walking towards the train station.

“…”

“... Hey, Barb… You said you were going to talk to Prince Solaris, right?”

“Yup,” I shout back over my shoulder, having put some distance between us at long last. “Seeya later, Rainbow Dash.”

“…”

… Flap flap flap flap flap

Thud!

With a small eep of surprise, I fall backwards on my tail as Rainbow Dash lands forcefully in the middle of my path. With a wingtip offered forward to help me back to my feet with, he then asks my downed self a single, unexpected question:

“Can I tag along?”

Entry 9, Part 2 (Look Before You Seer)

Spike sure was a strange kid, huh?

Revelation of the century, I know, but please stick around for a moment longer. Unlike ~~all~~ ~~some~~ most of my ham-fisted ~~segways~~ segues, this one does actually have a point.

Spike The Dragon was, without question, Twilight's loving assistant. Rarity held the young drake's heart too, and would infrequently return his affection in the form of a kiss or a gift. Beyond his loyal companionship with those two ponies, however, he was rather an enigma when compared with the rest of the main cast. Early on the ponies were able to bounce off of each other fairly naturally due to their past history together, or due to their largely compatible personalities, but I can't recall a time where the little dragon was allowed to really shine with, say, Applejack, or Rainbow Dash.

Now by his eighth birthday it was clear that everyone had grown to care about each other very much, but I can only hazard a guess as to what their initial thoughts were of him, and his in turn, during the first half of season one; the nebulous time period where the characters were only starting to get to know one another. Did he dislike one mare over another? Did he think highly of somepony besides the two he frequently hung out with? Which girl was the one who got around to talking to him last, or who was the one to strike up the first non-dragon related conversation with him? Did he ever humorously butcher one of their names, or get called something like "Spork" by mistake?

The reason I’m bringing up these admittedly silly questions is because I’m having a real hard time imagining Spike's friendship with his world's girls matching one for one with my friendship with this world's boys. ~~See? Told you there was a point~~.

A good example of this split comes from my relationship with Rainbow Dash. Of the male mane six, excluding Dusk, I feel as though I’ve grown closest to him most of all during my relatively short stay in Ponyville. Bubble Berry is still a bit too wild for my tastes, Butterscotch is friendly but imposing, Applejack is a hothead so full of himself that it gets grating at times, and Elusive is elusive... but Rainbow Dash?

Rainbow Dash is a stallion who I feel gets me.

Sometimes he’s girlier than I enjoy seeing, and often he’s way too intense to keep up with, but he more than makes up for these minor negatives by possessing the most important trait I look for in a friend above all else:

When I’m around him, I feel welcomed.

I feel like a person to consider, and not a load to be ignored, when he takes the time to say hello to me, or offers me a wing when I fall down. Gleaming Shield, Red Gala, Sweepy Belle, and Scooteroll all displayed this quality too when our paths first crossed, and it was from this tiny spark that our friendship grew to where it is today. Dusk displayed this ember as well when I first met him; when he welcomed me to his world with open hooves, and cradled me when I thought my life was truly over. Our meeting is still the one I hold dearest in my heart, and the sole reason why I sacrificed so much to remain his assistant all those years ago.

Now truthfully this fire wasn't in Rainbow Dash when I first met him. He was kind, and paid more attention to me than canon Dash did with Spike, but the stallion’s blaze only began to burn when I agreed to turn him into a lady. The intense training session that followed, involving fiery threats and just as hot outfits, was what allowed me to see the pony in his element, and for him to see me as an equal. That connection is where our friendship truly began, and where my mind at last accepted this Dash, the one that enjoys being femininely loyal to himself and others, as my Dash; quirks and all...

… Him wanting to tag along for my trip to Canterlot was still a rather strange request though, not gonna lie.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Rainbow Dash is waiting expectantly for my reply.

I’m staring at him dumbly, waiting for him to pull my other leg.

The streets of Ponyville remain busy as we rudely stand in the middle of traffic.

“...”

Eventually my mind restarts.

“You... want to go to Canterlot?” I tilt my head, greatly confuzzled.

“I want to talk to Solaris too,” Dash thankfully elaborates in more detail... yet somehow only making things more confusing. “Got a question on my mind that I want to pick his brain about.”

“Question?”

“P… P-personal stuff,” the stallion deflects with the waving of his hoof. “It’ll be better if I ask him myself,” he adds, cutting off my chance to learn more.

… Huh…

… Rainbow Dash… wants to talk... to Prince Solaris...?

… What?

… Looks like it’s Seer-Think-Mode time, folks.

Let’s review what we know:

To start, I’m fairly certain the episode that mentioned Spike leaving for royal business was called Look Before You... Leap? No! Wait! Sleep! Look Before You Sleep… I think. If memory serves, that specific story contained no Spike in it, and instead opted for just Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rarity. Together they had a sleepover, with the reasoning behind it being because of… um... of... something…

… Phooey.

I don’t remember this one at all! Spike wasn’t in it, and it mostly featured sleepover clichés that don’t carry over that well to a male centered cast, so I must have deleted it from my memory banks at some point without even realizing! All I do remember is that Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity were the stars. I don’t recall any appearances from Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, or, most importantly, Rainbow Dash.

If RD doesn’t have a role in today’s events, and if he wants to go with me to Canterlot to chat with Solaris for some reason…

… and… and if more’s the merrier…

…

… W-would it be selfish of me if I…

…

… Screw it.

I wanna play with my friend.

“I’d love for you to come,” I smile, unable to hide my growing elation. “Prince Solaris might not have time to fit you in for a meeting though, and the one I’ll be having with him is kinda just between the two of us… Knowing that, do you still want to go?”

“Hay yeah, girl!” Rainbow cheers, hyping me up even more. “Been meaning to try that donut shop you and Dusk won’t shut up about anyways. Chatting with Solaris would be pretty awesome... buuuut if I don't get that chance it'll still be a win win for me.”

“Awesome!” I steal his word with a immature squeak, earning me stares from passersby. “I-I mean… ahem… awesome.”

Speaking candidly, traveling alone is still a rather risky undertaking for someone my age to go through. Though my mind hasn’t completely regressed to that of a child’s I still am one, and thus am just as likely to get foalnapped or lead astray as any filly else. My opinion on such has only grown louder in the last few days as my walk back to Ponyville painfully reminded me of just how vulnerable I am on my own.

Beyond there being safety in numbers, I actually do enjoy spending time with Rainbow Dash, so him being willing to travel with me is a boon if ever I saw one. It's highly unlikely that Solaris, who knows full well how guarded I am of my secrets, will allow a wildcard like him to spy on our meeting, so there's not a whole lot for me to be worried about for once. Plus, as a bonus, RD will stick up for me if any Canterlot snob decides to be their usual xenophobic self!

I’m only seeing positives here, and no negatives.

All aboard the Friendship Express, choo choo!

“We can talk about He’s Dedicated to Roses 2 on the train ride up!” I resumed walking, spring now in my step. “That ending was crazy, right?!”

“Where Meadow Shire turned out to be Snowflame the whole time?!” he whispers back loudly, attempting to keep bystanders from overhearing spoilers and failing spectacularly. "I literally flipped when I read that part!”

“And they finally addressed the dice roll from book one!” I add, equally finding it hard to lower my volume. “That was driving me nuts!”

“Oh same, for real,” Dash agrees with a wave of his cutely laced hoof. “Totally called it being six though.”

“My money was on one,” I shrug, more than happy to have this little mental breather from my still looming ‘battle’.

“...?!”

Something I had said, however, seems to have reminded Rainbow Dash of something important.

“Money!” he yelps out, now hurriedly patting himself down. “Shoot shoot! I-I didn’t bring any bits for a train ticket!”

“That’s okay, I can spot you some,” I offer, opening up my purse and reaching inside.

“Nah girl, I can’t do that!” Dash insists, waving his forelegs denyingly. "I still haven't paid you back for the prank with the storm cloud!"

"The prank with th-" I start to ask, but then I recall the event he's referencing. "Oh, you mean the one with the scrolls from a couple weeks back? I forgave you and Berry on that already, Dash, and so did Solaris. Don't you remember the message he sent us about it?"

Yeah, get a load of this; the big guy didn't see fit to update me on Eris' statue, or on his thoughts concerning my warning about Stardust, but he DID take the time to write up the magic letter equivalent of a 'L.O.L.' in response to getting buried in a tidal wave of unused scroll seals.

That dude seriously needs to reevaluate his priorities.

"Yeah I remember," Rainbow admits, knocking me out of my princely critiquing. "But I also remember you telling me that Dusk took away your allowance because of it!" Next lifting himself up into the air, shedding more ribbons in the process, he cries back to me with, "I owe you lunch or something, Barb, so let me just fly home and grab some bits real quick for us both! Won’t even take ten seconds, promise.”

“Hmmm, ‘kay,” I relent, putting my bit purse back into my purse purse. Guess I can't argue with a free(ish) lunch. "I’ll meet you at the train station then.”

“Sounds good,” he readies himself to leave. “See you at the train stati-”

“Aren't yah supposed to be bringin’ in the rain today, Mister Rainbow Dash?”

Airbreaking and tripping, a sudden new voice startles the two of us into halting.

It’s a real young voice too, I might add. Whipping our heads towards the source, Rainbow Dash and I quickly discover it to be none other than Apple Buck.

Riding in from the east atop his sister’s, Red Gala’s, head, the colt casts worried eyes RD’s way. "Ah thought there was gonna be a big storm tonight,” the school aged foal speaks innocently, concern evident in his words. "Sweet Apple Acres' crops really need the water.”

“Eeyup,” Red supports this claim. Shooting Rainbow Dash a deceptively flat look for good measure, it doesn’t take much for either of us to figure out that this mare was not amused by this turn of events.

Now sweating, my pegasus friend gulps nervously as my farmgirl friend's expression continues to drill holes into him. “O-oh,” he stutters out, conspicuously avoiding eye contact with both Apple ponies. “Was that storm scheduled for today? Shoot… Must have forgotten all about it, h-hehe”

"Eeyup,” Red bobs her head curtly…

Fump

… unintentionally flinging Apple Buck off of it in the process.

Stepping over to his side while the big ponies talk over us, I help the youth back to his hooves. "You okay there, bow buddy?”

Upon shaking off his daze, the yellow coated colt grants me a funny look. "Bow buddy?”

Bringing my tail forward, I lightly tap my new green accessory against AB’s pinkish bowtie. Now catching my joke, the two of us share a little giggle.

“... Okay you make a really, really good point,” Rainbow Dash finishes his intense conversation with Red Gala, regaining my attention. “Ponyville’s team is still a bit green in the gills to be handling seasonal storms on their own.”

“Eeyup,” Red concurs diplomatically, clearly grateful for Dash sticking to his commitments.

“Sigh… Sorry, Barb,” RD moans as he turns back my way. "Guess I can’t go to Canterlot with you after all. Got some scheduled bad weather to oversee here in Ponyville that's going to take all day and night to complete. Bleh..."

While I nod in understanding, Red Gala's eyebrow suddenly skyrockets in concern.

"... Eeyup?" she next asks me, casting her gaze in my direction. Her eyes are silently sending me a message, one that roughly translates to; “Canterlot? Everythin’ okay, Barb?”

Gratefully mouthing the words "Yeah, everything's fine. Thanks,” back to her, I turn to RD and tell him, "That’s fine, Dash. It’s the thought that counts… Oh!” I then exclaim, as the makings of a new plan forms in my head. “Maybe you can come along next time! I do these meetings once a month, so I can totally ask Solaris to add you to his schedule by then!”

“Really?!” Dash flutters his wings agreeably, accepting these terms. “Awesome! As long as he doesn’t put it on the day of the Best Young Flyer competition or something you can consider it a date, Barb!”

This remark results in Red Gala shooting RD another harsh, judging glare.

In retaliation, Rainbow simply rolls his eyes.

"Playdate, Red,” the stallion groans, shaking his head. "We're talking about a playdate here. Get your mind out of the gutter, girl; stallions are supposed to be the dirty ones, not mares.”

“...”

Thanks to her being one of my best friends, and thanks to her being his older sister; Apple Buck and I snicker to ourselves as we end up being the only ones here able to tell that Red is now blushing profusely.

Toot toot

“All aboard!”

Jumping in place, my sight zooms towards Ponyville Station as the Friendship Express' smoke stack begins to steam. "My train!” I shriek, realizing that I’m about to be late. Crud crud crud! Dashing off, I shout back to all my gathered friends, “Gotta go, everypony! Stay safe with today’s storm!”

“Bye Barb!” Apple Buck waves politely in return. “Be safe too!” Awww, look at what a little sweetheart he is~

“What he said!” Rainbow piggybacks off of the colt’s cry. “And bring back some donuts while you’re at it!” Hey I’m not made out of bits here, dude.

“Eeyup,” adds Red... whether for the ‘stay safe’ part, or the donuts, I’m unsure.

Well, either way, I warmly grant the ponies a fond farewell as I round the steps leading up to the train station, show the conductor my ticket, and make my way to a comfy open seat just in the nick of time. I've gotta stop these close calls from becoming a habit!

Toot toot

With train moving, I lean over to the windowsill and open it ajar in order to stick my upper torso (and just my upper torso this time thank-you-very-much) out of it. This allows me to wave goodbye one final time before the Friendship Express departs Ponyville entirely.

Rainbow Dash being unable to come along sure was a bummer, but the thought that he wanted to spend time with me is reassuring in and of itself. So far only my young friends and my gal pals have expressed that desire unconditionally, so to see one of the boys genuinely wanting to make sure I’m safe… Well it certainly goes a long way towards making ‘Barbara The Dragoness’ and ‘Spike The Dragon’ feel like two completely different characters.

The jury is still out on whether we truly are though, sadly.

Spike possessed something that Luna wanted in the same way I possessed something that Artemis wanted; that’s not a detail that should be overlooked. It can mean one of many, many different things of various levels of severity. From as minor him knowing a cooking recipe the Princess desperately needed at all costs, to as major as him being my double; the reincarnated father of two...

... Same old same old for little old me; I have plenty of guesses, but zero answers. Will Solaris be able to shine some light on my darkness? Will I ever know the truth in its entirety? Let's be honest, the answer to both these questions is probably no. There's nothing I loath more than an unsolved mystery, so it's likely my fate is to endure plenty more of them until the end of my days!

At least I can always count on my friends to grant me steady ground when the world starts spinning a tad too fast for my liking.

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

The great locomotive speeds off into the countryside, whisking away the young dragoness.

The small gathering of ponies remain behind, slowly weaning off their waving as the engine disappears into the distance.

The deafening silence lingers on as the three equines debate on what next to do with themselves.

Jobs still needed to be done...

… thus Red Gala departed first.

With baby brother galloping energetically in front, helpfully ‘leading’ her back towards their home, Red hiked up her saddlebags full of unsold merchandise and readied herself to gallop.

But before she could leave... Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Saaaay,” is how he halted the mare's retreat. “Red. You’re good friends with Barb, right?”

“... Eeyup,” Red replied apprehensively, unsure where the sudden line of questioning was heading.

“And she, like, TELLS you things too, right?” the pigtailed pony continued on, head still turned away; gaze still locked on the horizon. "Not like girl talk, but the real deep stuff… right?”

Red’s brow narrowed.

“Eeyup,” she spoke simply, as she cautiously eyed her guest for his suspicious inquiries.

“...”

… Rainbow Dash then drew his sight back towards Red Gala…

… and offered her an expression she was all too familiar with.

The expression of a concerned friend.

"Got a question on my mind that I want to pick your brain about.”

Entry 9, Part 3 (Look Before You Seer)

The trip up the mountainside was dull and uneventful.

Wish I could add more to that statement, and delay the transposing of the far more complicated Canterlot visit until later, but there’s really not much else for me to say.

I mean the ponies aboard were perfectly content with letting resting dragons lie, my seat was perfectly comfy with a nice scenic view, and my snacks were perfectly edible so I don't know how else to make the train ride sound interesting! A pair of curious foals did try to strike up a conversation with me at one point, but their parents quickly pulled them away before they could even say hello. “It might bite you,” is what I overheard one of the adults whispering which was, in all fairness, a valid concern. If I was in that mother’s horseshoes, and I saw MY children approaching a sharp-toothed creature without my say, I likely would have made the same call... though I would have done so with significantly more tact.

Must have been Canterlotians or something.

At least the privacy they granted me was nice, even if the agonizing boredom was not. My usual go-to strategy for passing the time is to write in my diary, but that’s not something I can easily do in a public space. One or two ponies are usually fine, as I've done such around Red Gala, Solaris, and Princess Bluebelle before with only minor difficulties; but any more than that and my concentration tends to get shot. Reading, my backup strat, also fell by the wayside once I realized the only book I had on me was The Poisoned Barb ~~because I’m a vain author who hates looking at her old work~~. I did manage to get my claws on an issue of the Ponyville Times before I left the library, but the newspaper only served to remind me that I no longer have the patience to read dry business articles or sports headlines anymore. ~~Or maybe I never did in the first place?~~

With every tool in my arsenal seemingly exhausted, time slowed to an unbearable crawl.

This sadly gave me plenty of time to think.

“What if Solaris already knows about Artemis thanks to his foresight?” I pondered to myself. “What if he already knows what I am thanks to his phoenix?” I theorized in the silence. “What if he’s going to gaslight me about Stardust, or not take me seriously?!” I started to fear, as the worries compounded with each passing minute.

What if what if what if; my mind kept spinning "what-ifs” into existence until I legitimately became sick to my stomach. Every click and clack of the tracks, and every field of trees we sped past only multiplied this pain tenfold as we drew ever closer towards Canterlot, and ever closer towards Solaris. True I had plans set up for how to approach the Prince, and true I had backups to the backups to the backups, but in the end it was all for naught. Left to my thoughts, my thoughts betrayed me at every turn.

At some point I came to the conclusion that the doubts needed to be silenced, the words needed to halt, and that the second-guessing needed to cease and desist, lest I drive myself mad before I even reached Canterlot. I knew in that moment that shutting off my brain was the only hope I had left for escaping the flaming hell that was my mind...

… thus I did just that with the aid of a borrowed doll.

No, really.

In my desperation for something mindless to distract myself with, I ended up digging heatedly through my purse until I stumbled upon Sweepy Belle’s much beloved Power Pony toy. Hoping to avoid his parents confiscating it as punishment for reasons I was not made privy to, the young unicorn had entrusted it to me sometime before the Boast Busters incident had made me forget all about it. Though I’m probably committing some sort of faux pas by referring to the item as anything other than an "Action Figure," with it’s interchangeable clothes and wide range of movement I’m finding it hard to describe the object as anything other than a doll made for colts.

Now I’d like to clarify that I didn’t resort to playing with the toy right out of the gate. Upon spotting it in my satchel, I had initially pushed it aside as I went about looking for something a little more grown-up to do. It was only after I had literally turned the bag inside out did my eyes wander back towards the plaything and consider it a second time. My past and current self began a shouting match shortly thereafter; as part of me wanted to preserve my dignity, while the other wanted me to embrace my juvenile instincts.

I’m embarrassed to admit how easily the latter won the debate, or how the simple trinket managed to hold my attention for multiple hours. The childish acts of posing it, dressing it up in pretty ribbons, and placing it next to the windowsill to pretend it was flying all managed to engross me for reasons I’m currently struggling to articulate. Maybe it was because the colors were pleasing to the eyes, or maybe because holding the pseudo-plastic in my claws somehow felt natural? Heck, maybe it was simply the novelty of possessing a toy at all that did the trick! My seven years of dragon life had been quite devoid of such up to that point, after all; as the first three were spent being a toddler who hated being a toddler, while the remainder was used up becoming Dusk’s number one assistant.

The last time I recall playing with a toy in earnest was way back on Earth, when my father gifted little eight year old me a dark skinned Barbie shortly before his passing. It wasn’t some generic one either, if I remember correctly; he had altered it slightly to make it look like me by adding braids, and by painting its eyes forest green... Now that I think about it, I wonder whatever happened to Lil' Barb? I know I used to display her proudly on the hutch overlooking the kitchen, the one that stood beside the TV room. Maybe Ashley took it as a memento of me after my passing? She always wanted to play with it when she was a child herself, but every time she asked to have it either Jason or myself would lightly tease her back by saying, "You don't want your grandpappy to curse you from beyond the grave, do ya'?!" Her little pouts never failed to make me smile, though one time she did try to steal the precious thing while we weren't looking an-

I just wasted four whole pages of this diary writing about dolls.

God I’m pathetic.

Long story short, I spent the train ride unironically playing with a toy until I arrived in Canterlot. Acting my age without using Scooteroll or Sweepy Belle as my excuse felt nice for a change.

And that’s as far as I wish to go on this topic ~~for now~~.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Ahhhh Canterlot…

“Out of my way, dragon.”

“Begone from my sight, horrid little thing.”

“Where are your papers, dame?”

… The capital of jerks and jerkettes.

Boy it's 'great' to be 'home'.

“Eve Sparkle and Dusk Lyons of House Shine have my papers, buddy,” I shoot the last pony, an obviously new guardstallion, a dirty look for his demand. Random checks on the flipping streets? That’s new... Flashing him a royal sending seal, an item very few others possess, I continue heading down the sidewalk and towards my destination; Canterlot Castle.

“That’s insufficient proof, girl,” the pony matches my pace, cutting me off.

Uggggh. I don’t have time for this.

Pushing his muzzle away from me, I give the rookie an earful. “Go to page thirty five in the little cheat book I know you have stuffed in that training tinfoil you call armor and you’ll see my ‘smiling’ face next to the words ‘Solaris’ Squire; do not disturb’.”

Taking another step forward, I start to walk a tad bit faster as I try to-

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

“Are you being real with me right now?!” I sharply whip my head back towards the armored unicorn, the one who had just lifted me off the ground with his magic. “I have a four-o-clock appointment with your soon to be ex-boss to get to!”

“I don’t appreciate your tone,” the flankhole with the muted colors snarls in my face.

“And I don’t appreciate your existence!” I snarl back harder.

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

“Why you stupid little lizar-”

“Good sir, are you seriously thick enough in the head to lay harm upon House Shine’s property?”

That voice…

… No.

Please… no.

Anypony but her.

The newbie guard’s magic remains tight around my form as he turns his gaze in the speaker’s direction. Though I can’t turn my own head far enough to see who it is, I can unfortunately hazard a pretty accurate guess thanks to her deceptively dulcet tones.

“Lady, move along,” the gruff stallion grunts bitterly, trying to be intimidating. “There’s nothing to see he-”

Clip clop

“It's common knowledge that your superior officer, Captain Gleaming Shield, abandoned her household's seat in order to focus on her career many moons ago," the ‘lady’ interrupts with a sharp tongue, and horseshoes clicking upon the paved street. “House Shine’s current inheritor is now her younger brother, Dusk Shine, good sir,” Clip clop "And Dusk Shine, as I certainly do not have to remind you, is Prince Solaris’ personal protégé, and current wielder of the recently rediscovered Element of Magic.”

“Hmph,” my not so little pain in the scales snorts back cockily. “So?”

Clip clop

“So, good sir,” the accented mare counters, approaching closer. “House Shine is destined to become quite powerful in the coming years, so I'd highly recommend not damaging their things in the meantime. Doing so can be likened to social suicide in this town, but any pony worth their cutie mark knows that fact already... or, at least the ones that want to keep their minimum wage jobs; correct?”

“...”

...Twinkletwinkle twinkle… twinkle… Twink-

All at once the magic holding me aloft ceases, causing me to belly flop onto the pavement.

Ow.

“This city is going to Tarturus,” the dude with clear anger issues mutters crossly to himself. Without sparing another word towards either of us, he then retreats down an alleyway long before I have the chance to memorize his highly reportable armor number.

With the crazy pony well and truly gone, I now find myself alone on the open streets with just me, myself… and…

Bleh

My ‘savior’.

“...”

I huff under my breath…

… right before thoroughly swallowing my pride.

“Thank you kindly for your assistance,” I curtsy stiffly, my head held low in a show of respect.

Every fiber of my being is screaming at me not to do this, to not grant this monster any kindness. After what she did to me, after what she took from me all those years ago; she doesn’t deserve any respect whatsoever!

She’s horrible!

She’s demonic!

She’s… she’s…

… Red.

Not Red Gala. Not the kind Red. Not the Red who’s my friend, who I can lean against for strength.

No… she’s…

“Madame Rum ‘Red’ Gibed,” I manage to spit out, completing my declaration of gratitude towards my former taskmaster.

Ugh! Even if she did just save me a headache, I shouldn’t be doing this! I shouldn’t be treating her like a person! She sure as heck never saw ME as one back when she was instructing on how to be a proper lady, or forcing me to become a slavish assistant...

“How are you this fine day?”

... so why in the infinite multiverse am I freaking being polite to her?!

I want to growl. I want to shout. I want to singe her, even just a little bit.

Yet… I can’t.

I’m…

…

… I-I’m too afraid of her to even try.

“Still woefully unemployed thanks to you,” the mare tsks in reply, her face a mask of cold indifference. "The current head of House Bluebelle can hold a grudge that would make even a lowly griffon envious. Finding work in this town has been… difficult, as a result.”

“My deepest apologies, Madam,” my cadence remains cruelly locked in ‘perfect-little-lady’ mode. “I wish for good fortune to bless you-”

Before I could finish, the slender scarlet pony trots on by me without a second thought.

“... soon,” I complete my sentence, as I rise out of my bowing. “Ikmo pedlr,” I spit angrily in English once she’s gone.

What an unpleasant reunion... and the worst part is that I feel like I owe her now for the save!

Bleh bleh bleh! It's four years too late for her to have suddenly pulled a conscience out of her plot! I bet she only stepped in because she thought my charge was somewhere nearby, and figured that she could make herself look good enough to hire by playing the hero.

I wouldn't put it past that manipulative, two-faced harpy to try something so underhoofed.

“Someday I’ll tell her to back off,” I reassure myself, resuming my walk towards Canterlot Castle. “Someday I’ll be brave enough to say it to her face.”

Goodness I hope so.

I really, really hope so.

“One fight at a time though, Barb,” I remind myself, keeping the internal dialogue going; trying my best not to dwell on the ugliness that had just occurred. “Solaris first, Madam Red second… the world third.”

Er, getting a little ambitious there aren’t we, Self?

“Hey, after the fight I had with Princy? I feel like I can take on anypony.”

Even Madam Red, or Prince Solaris?

“W-well… Anypony but them…”

Right.

“Right,” I agree, totally not looking like a crazy person. “I’m Solaris’ Squire, and he’s been training me to be the social brains to Dusk’s brain brains, so I bet I can outsmart a bunch of other ponies if I just tried.”

To what ends?

“Eh… Fun ones, mostly, I guess.”

Neat.

“Maybe I’ll try to become a lawyer in the future." I suggest, mulling the idea over. "I am pretty well versed in laws and legality already.”

Hmmmm… Nah.

“Yeah. You’re probably right.”

Would be pretty tight though.

“Oh without question. I can see it now; Defense Attorney Barbara, the Dragon of Justice!”

In your dreams.

“Maybe, actually! I do seem to get those now for some reason.”

Well that’s only because Artemis almost committed treason.

“Snrk,” I snort at my own ponderings, winding down this weird self-conversation. “Hey that kinda rhy-yyyyyyhhhnnnoooo!!”

… Rhyno?

“N-not rhyno, a rhino!” I amend my thoughts in a hush, as I take a step back from the very, very strange creature that had just appeared in my path.

Between me and the castle gates stands a horned beast the likes of which my eyes have never seen in the flesh. Standing about as large as Butterscotch, the thick skinned mammal stares resolutely out over the horizon, acting like a sort of sentry.

Actually… On second look, they might actually be one.

Largely undersized standard issue armor can be seen wrapped tightly around their barrel, almost choking the poor thing. There’s a golden helmet lanced through their horn too, looking quite ridiculous with its uselessness. Even the enchantments on the metalwork seem to be failing, as only a small portion of the creature’s body looks to be changing to match the white coat colors of Solaris' Royal Guard. The rest is a sort of orangish yellow, with their horn being a striking cornflower blue.

Even with all the weirdness surrounding them, the rhino still cuts an imposing figur-

“Halt! State your name and business here.”

EEP

Almost tripping backwards, I flash the rhino a suspicious look…

… before my head tilts to the side, and I come to realize that the normal looking guardmare next them was the actual one talking.

“State your name and business here,” the pegasus mare sighs as she repeats herself. Clearly I’m not the only one whose had a similar reaction today.

“O-oh, right,” I shake my head, returning to the present. “Barbara The Dragoness; Property of House Shine, Assistant to Apprentice Dusk Shine, Squire to Prince Solaris... I’m here on royal business.”

“Ah, the four-o-clock. Gotcha,” the sole pony in the gathering nods pleasantly. “Didn’t know you were the one on the docket today, Barb. Aren’t you and Dusk down south in… whatwasitcalled… Townsville these days or something?”

“No, you're thinking of Ponyville,” I correct, as I rack my brain trying to remember this mare’s name. Those stupid armor enchantments make everypony look the same. “The city of Townsville is to the west.”

“Oh wow, you two moved to Ponyville?” the guard laughs conversationally, ignoring the flipping rhino beside her. “That wacko’s nest? How did you two ever get Gleaming Shield's blessing on that?”

“Wasn't that hard,” I shrug. "We just had Prince Solaris himself royally decree it to be so.”

“Hah! A little decree never stopped the captain before!”

“Maybe,” I smile politely, though I am growing a little impatient. “But… speaking of Prince Solaris…”

The guardmare looks at me funnily for a couple seconds before at last realizing the time.

“Right right, your royal business! Sorry,” she quickly apologizes. "Let me get the door for ya’.” Shooting her non-pony partner a confirmatory gesture with her wings, the pegasus proceeds to knock the large double door behind her with two solid kicks.

Whomp whomp!

The rhino does the same…

WHOMP WHOMP!!

FUMP!

… with mixed results.

“Ugh! Darn it, Twinkle Scout, not again!” the guardmare flaps into the air, avoiding the debris from the now collapsing stone portal. “I told you to be more careful!”

The rhino, who apparently goes by a very girly pegasus name, squeaks softly as they shy away from their partner’s judging glare.

“Sigh… Head on in, Barb,” the actual pegasus here suddenly commands, knocking me out of my observing. “Be sure to watch your step too.”

“R-right,” I stutter, regaining my focus. “Right. Keep up the good work, um,” glancing at the larger of the two, I take a wild guess at their pronoun. “Ladies?”

Twinkle Scout’s lips twist upward into a tiny smile thanks to this.

Nailed it.

Jumping slightly up onto the downed doorway, I leave the two guards behind as I make my way inside.

"First an aggro guard, then a rhino guard?” I ask aloud, unable to keep all these sudden musings in my head. "What’s going on?”

Canterlot may be a trash city, but Gleam’s mares and stallions are usually well behaved and organized. They’re also usually only ponies; last I heard the old law preventing non-equines from enlisting still hasn’t been repealed, so how did Miss Rhino, or ‘Twinkle Scout’, come to be?

I’m all for more inclusion, especially in Equestria’s capital, but I don’t think that’s what’s going o-

Trip~

Aaannnndd here comes the ground.

Again.

Right after I was told to watch my step too... At least I’ll be landing on carpet this time instead of pavement.

Whoomp!

“U-universe?" I groggily groan out from my faceplant. “We need to have a serious talk about all your physical comedy lately. Just cause I have scales doesn’t mean I get to be a punching bag.”

The universe, being the base coward that it is, ignores me.

“Owie.”

The object that I had just tripped over, however, does not; revealing that it wasn’t an object at all, but instead a pony. Rising to my knees, shaking away my daze, I turn towards who I had unintentionally bumped into…

… only to have my heart plummet into the very pits of my stomach.

It's a foal.

I had just hurt a little foal.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry!” I scramble to my feet; my body shaking as tears start leaking not from the baby's eyes, but from my own. “I-I didn’t see you there! Are you okay?!”

A light grey colt stares blankly back at me with squinting, orangish-brown peepers. Tiny infant glasses can be seen lying next him, most likely knocked off in the collision. What's a defenseless foal doing in a castle unaccompanied?!

Before I can ask anything more, the toddler with the dark brownish mane begins to open his mouth.

My nerves go from shaken to shot as I brace for well deserved, terrible twos level wailing.

“Is that you, Barbara?”

But a deep, masculine cry is what I receive instead...

...

…

... Sure.

Why not?

I wasn't using those now fried brain cells anyways.

“Can you hoof, er, claw me my glasses please, dear?”

“...”

Operating on autopilot, I reach over and present the foal with the inkpot cutie mark his spectacles.

“Here you go, um... Mister Crow Inkwell?” I politely address the pony who I think I now recognize, and who I’m about ninety nine point ninety nine percent certain was a full grown adult the last time I saw him.

The left over point zero one percent is only there because I'm starting to wonder if the pretzels I ate on the train ride up were expired.

“Ah. Thank you,” the unicorn child with the voice of a stallion replies, as he utilizes his fat baby hooves to place the specs back on his face. “And thank you for being on time for the meeting too! Prince Solaris is waiting for you in the throne room, little one.”

“Cool,” I slowly nod, as I continue to look down at Prince Solaris' seasoned Event Planner.

I make no attempt to hide my intense staring.

“...”

“... Sorry, Mister Inkwell, but I have to ask. Did you do something with your mane? You look a little different today...”

A long, annoyed sounding sigh is my only reward for my icebreaker.

“Miss Barbara, I regret to inform you that you're the seventh person to try that line on me since the incident," Crow deadpans, turning my face red with embarrassment. So much for being original. "While slightly more amusing than 'did you lose weight?', or 'is this why they put warning labels on youth cream?', I'd rather prefer for you to keep in mind that I am still your senior, and thus am just as deserving of respect as I did when my age was in the double digits.”

“S-sorry, sir," I apologize with wilting ears. "It was rude of me to joke about... whatever this is you're going through."

“Ah, do not fret, child" he casually waves me off. "I’ve grown used to the indignity inherit in this most unfortunate predicamen-”

“There you are!”

“Eep!” Crow then jumps, as a new voice suddenly startles us both. “Oh no! Gotta go!”

Before I could even ask what the hell, the technical toddler gallops off as fast as his stubby legs can carry him... just in time for a castle nursemaid to skid round the corner and continue her pursuit.

“Crow you naughty jaybird!” the mare shouts furiously as she rushes past me, fresh nappy clenched in her teeth. “We talked about this!”

“Put me in another one of those blasted things woman and I’ll personally end your career!” the youthened pony yells back at his irate caregiver.

“Bigger brats than you have tried and failed, little man!" she retaliates, her words growing faint as she speeds off to parts unknown. "Get back here this instant or I'll shove your flank into a filly onesie and hoof you over to your parents!”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Already have your outfit picked out for you, sweetie~ Pink frills, see-through skirt, and it says Princess Puddlepants on the plooooot!!!”

With that final, traumatizing, exchange, the odd pair finally disappears out of sight.

What also left along with them was any semblance of normalcy that remained in my bizarre life.

Ooooooh boy.

Think I’m starting to maybe see why Solaris has been too busy to write to me lately. Aggressive guards, rhinos, and now shrunken stallions?! What the actual hell is going on around here?!

T-this is crazy! This is insane! This... this is…

Chaos.

…

… Oh sheet.

Entry 9, Part 4 (Look Before You Seer)

Click click click click

Mister Crow was reduced to an infant.

Click click click click

Twinkle Scout The Rhino was wearing ill-fitting pony armor.

Click click click click

The rookie guard who yelled at me was rocking a highly muted color palette.

Click click click click

Age alteration, species changing, personality tampering… Chaos.

Chaos has come to Canterlot.

Click click click cli-

No.

No no no.

This can’t be happening.

It just... can’t!

We’re not in season two! We’re nowhere near season two! Eris can’t have broken free already, can she?! How would that even be possible; the group who woke up Discord originally, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, hasn’t even formed yet in this world!

If the foals destined to release her are nowhere to be seen, and if her stone prison was set to be moved out of the public's eye, then how in the fresh hell did she manage to… to… Ugh!

As if my plate wasn't full enough as is!

Clickclickclickclickclick

My sharp toes tap loudly against the marble floor as I resume my mad dash towards the throne room. Gotta see Solaris.

Gotta see him now.

Clickclickclickclick

Clickclickcli-

Ah.

Here we go.

With no guards around to stop me, and no time left to lose, I push up against the double doors with all my dragon strength until they fly open with a satisfying bang.

"Prince Solar-” I start to cry out...

FUMP

FLING

… which results in me getting launched into the air for my insolence.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

It’s only at the last possible second, right before I’m sent hurtling out of a stained glass window, that my assailant sees fit to re-grip me with his golden aura and yank me back towards his side.

Prince Solaris furrows his brow crossly.

I, in turn, quiver before him.

M-maybe I should have knocked first.

Gulp

“...”

And then, just like that…

“Barbara!”

… the Prince's mood switches from angry to jovial.

“My dear, dear little friend!” my ‘companion’ beams brightly, as if he hadn’t almost tossed me off the mountainside. "You are truly a sight for sore eyes! Or, in my case, sore eye, hah!”

“H-haha,” I laugh weakly at what I can only assume/pray was supposed to be a joke.

Glomp~

For his next trick, Solaris completely disregards my personal space by hugging me tightly; cutting off my oxygen in the process.

“Oh, I can’t begin to express how overjoyed I am to see you again!” he chortles on, unaware of my slow suffocation. Curse my permanently purple face. “I haven’t been granted nearly enough time to write to you as I would have liked! How has Ponyville been treating you and my student so far? Have the ponies been polite? Do you feel welcomed there, has Dusk done anything embarrassing and or amusing yet, have you experienced any new visions, have the visions you’ve already experienced come to pass, any major deviations beyond what you mentioned in your letter, what made Dusk decide to tackle the dragon issue without consulting me first, does Bubble Berry know any interesting cake recipes, how are Applejack’s apples compared to the ones that grow up here on the mountain, does Butterscotch lift? He looks like he lifts… Oh! Was Elusive the one who made that lovely looking tail-bow you’re wearing?”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

"Hoho, silly me,” the Prince mercifully eases up on the crushing embrace, laughing maniacally all the while. "This is clearly not the best place for such talks.”

His organic, non-fake eye then darts back and forth, as if searching for something.

"The walls might have ears," he whispers ominously to my levitated form. "Literally.”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

“It’s not safe to speak here,” the disheveled redhead reports between random chuckles, and disconcerting twitches. Lifting me off the ground and plopping me onto his back, he continues to prattle on and on. "Besides, it’s too gorgeous of a day this, er, day, for us to be cooped up inside! Hahah!”

“U-ummm… Sir?” I try to speak up.

Clipclopclipclopclipclop

Fump

With the extending of his large wings, however, and the pounding of his hooves, Prince Solaris of Equestria carries me off towards an open balcony before I can finish my question.

“Come, Barbara! Let’s fly away from the castle!”

“W-wait!” I scream…

Clipclopclipclo-

Fling~!

… far too late for it to make a difference.

The profanity of my tongue never reaches my lips as Canterlot’s skyline rapidly overtakes my vision. Castle towers, looping walls, ant-sized ponies; high above it all, I’m reminded of my stint as a giant from way back during my hatching... Whether I’m recalling this memory due to the similarity of the sight, or simply because my life is flashing before my eyes, is up to debate.

Fump

Flap flap flap flap

Thankfully Solaris’ wings catch us both just in the nick of time.

"Hold on tight!” he cries back loooong after the fact. "Wouldn't want you to fall off, haha!”

"R-right,” I stutter, now far more traumatized than I already was.

Didn’t think such a thing was even possible at this point, but there it is.

From the snowy northern planes, to storm soaked Ponyville below; much like my first time in the sky, rising up above Canterlot is once again granting me the opportunity to see Equestria in all its beautiful entirety...

... The breathtaking expanse fails to calm me though as the rushing air, tinted ever so slightly with the chill of the coming mini-winter, begins to freeze me solid.

With teeth chattering wildly in my mouth, and flames unable to burn in my chest, I hug my steed in a desperate bid to syphon some of his warmth. “D-dragon’s aren’t m-meant for this k-kind of weather, jerk.”

"Hmm?” Solaris tilts his ears back my way. "Did you say something, dear?”

"C-c-cold,” I whimper through chapping lips. “T-t-too c-c-cold…”

Vision blurring, grip loosening, thoughts dimming.

Death by hypothermia.

How anticlimactic.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Suddenly the chill leaves my body.

At first I thought I had a crafted spell to thank for the delaying of my inevitable re-demise, but the lack of tingling on my scales ruled that possibility out pretty quickly. To be this close to the magic slinger and not feel anything, it could have only been the work of a low mana Talent Spell...

… A Talent Spell…

… from the Day Prince…

…

… I crane my neck upwards.

The very sun itself bares down to greet me.

“Is that better, dear?”

I turn to my ride and proceed to stare at him in abject horror.

“Yes, no?”

"..."

Slowly I shake my head ‘yes’.

"Lovely!” the clearly mad stallion cheers back in high spirits, not granting my reaction even a passing mention. Turning away from me now in order to scan the area, Solaris then hums himself as he searches for lord knows what. "With setting determined, and temperature settled, all that remains now is… Aha! Seating! Perfect!”

Not granting me the opportunity to do, well, anything, his highness starts to position himself into a tight nosedive.

At this point I have no more breath to scream with.

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

Fump

Landing face first upon a fluffy white cloud, it takes a good minute for me to realize that not only have I just been flung off of my steed's back, but that the act had been done mere nanoseconds after he coated my body in what I can only assume to be a Cloud Walking spell.

The novelty of laying on pure cumulus is lost on my terrified self as I rise onto unsteady legs, and as I gaze fearfully upon Prince Solaris’ visage.

The big guy is starting to look unsettlingly similar to how Twilight Sparkle did in that one particular episode of the show; the one involving deadlines that made me question its age rating. His one good peeper is crazed and twitching, the makeup hiding his scar is running, both his mane and beard are full of split ends, and his smile is large and undeniably creepy… In short, he looks like an absolute wreck.

Considering the state of his castle’s faculty, this revelation is only semi-shocking to me.

"My apologies that there won’t be any tea served this time, dear Barbara,” the Prince laughs brashly, teetering on the edge of sanity and… well, you know. “I seem to have misplaced my favorite kettle somewhere in the chao- CASTLE!” He squawks hurriedly, correcting himself with shifty eyes. "I-I mean I've misplaced it somewhere in the castle, h-heh."

"..."

... This dude just tossed me into the air, lowered the sun in my face, and trapped me up here in the clouds all within the span of a single minute.

Considering that he's Prince Flipping Solaris, I’m willing to bet that every motion was a deliberate, calculated affair.

"T-that’s okay, you’re highness,” I reply bravely, swallowing my fear; denying my adversary his prize.

Me being afraid is exactly what he wants.

I'm sure of it.

He wants me to be a nervous mess for this meeting, he wants me to be easily molded. I’ve seen him turn entire conversations around simply by manipulating his opponent's emotions; by calling out or invoking their fears, only to then offer a wing to lean on out of 'support'. It's a powerful strat, and one I've fallen for more than once.

It's strange that he's resorting to intimidation tactics to get the ball rolling though. Acting anxious, pretending to be unhinged; by jumping into his power plays so early, he's skipping almost half of his usual routine. Jolly banter, followed by false calm, followed by a devious swerve, followed by net profits... Why skip the tried and true formula? I don't understand what he could be thinking.

The situation in Canterlot must be more dire than I thought...

…

… Inhale… Exhale...

"... Honestly, sir, I’m more of a coffee girl these days anyways.”

But there’s no time left to be scared.

There’s no time left to back down either! If Solaris wants my secrets, then he’s going to have to work for them just as hard as I work to hide them!

As Prince Artemis will attest, I'm not so easily broken.

“Oh you wound me so!” the Prince reels dramatically at my defiance, as if I had slapped him across the face. "I never had much of a taste for the dirt personally, but if that is your preference then I will gladly supply you a cup at the next opportune, haha!”

“You’re too kind, Prince Solaris,” I bow mockingly with a rolling of my wrist, and the lowering of my head. Tit for tat; fake pleasantry for fake pleasantry.

'Dear little friend'?

Hah!

Yeah right.

What we share isn't friendship, and it never has been. Just like Artemis said, I'm nothing more than Solaris' unwitting student and pawn. My tactics, my decisions, even my very thoughts have been compromised thanks to this ancient flankhole. He trained me without my say, and now I couldn't be further removed from the woman I once was if I tried… Though, admittedly, I'm no saint either.

If I was, I would have already confessed to mutilating his baby brother.

Solaris and I are both in the wrong here in our own special way; whether it be due to lies of omission, or lies in general, doesn't really matter. That does beg the question though, are we both in the dark as well? Are we both lacking key information that only the other can provide? Are we both playing this game of ours with an even hand of cards?

Are we both, at long last, on equal footing...?

Guess there's only one way to find out.

Let the battle of Seers commence.

“Please, Barbara, I thought we were far past such formalities at this point,” Solaris chuckles over my flashy display, but I can tell that his tone is now more strained compared to how it was earlier.

It seems I’ve wounded him for real with my impersonal mannerisms...

… Good.

Now for the counterattack:

"Well I thought we were too, Prince Solaris," I pause for emphasis, highlighting my usage of his full title. "but your lack of letters lately kinda painted me a different picture. Friends keep friends in the loop, after all.”

Though he remains smiling, Solaris winces ever so slightly thanks to my second verbal slapping.

"A-as I stated earlier,” he backs down, ears half-wilted. “I’ve not been granted nearly as much time to write to you as I would have liked. The… er… P… P-preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala have dominated much of my free time, you see!”

"The Grand Galloping Gala?” I deadpan, not buying his BS.

"Indeed,” he nods back with grinning lips, and a sweaty forehead.

Hmm.

It seems he’s trying to hide Eris' chaos from me... But… why? What does he stand to gain by keeping that info to himself…?

"...”

"..."

Ugh, I recognize this intentional, awkward silence; it's a trick I utilize often in my day to day. He's baiting me into continuing the conversation on my lonesome, meaning he's already two steps ahead.

This won’t do at all. If I call the Prince out on hiding information from me, I can easily see him throwing the accusation right back in my face. 'I’m hiding something? No, little girl, you’re hiding something from me.’ Bleh. Asking him why he brought me up into the sky is probably a loaded question too. ‘Oh? Is there something unnerving about this setting, dear? Does it make you anxious?’ Going straight into my report about Dusk doesn’t work either, as Solaris will instantly realize that I’m sidestepping around his rough treatment if I do. ‘Hmm? No comment on this lovely arrangement? You’re being awfully guarded with me today, child!’ I can't let him know that I know that he's trying to bully me for a favorable interrogation. Even mentioning his brother, a seemingly neutral topic, is straight suicide until I can get a read on just how much of that particular car crash he's already aware of. 'I was wondering when you were going to bring up Archie! I'm curious as to where he is, and why he felt the need to leave all of a sudden.'

Using chess terms, I guess you could say that I’m currently in Check here...

… I’d like to take this moment to remind you that I don't actually know how to play chess in the slightest.

“I got harassed by a guard on my way into Canterlot today, sir.”

“You got what?!”

What I do know how to play is my audience.

"H-he asked me for my papers before lifting me off my feet with his magic,” I sniffle lightly, deliberately allowing a little bit of my inner fear to show. "It was p-pretty scary.”

My skills in manipulation may be raw and unhoned when compared to Solaris' own, but I’m not going to get anywhere if I continue to play this game on his terms. I have to take the risk in switching topics, lest he trap me again like he just did. Control the flow of the conversation and you'll control the flow of the information; that's Tea Parties 101, folks.

That's what it means to be a Prince's Squire.

"My word!” the alicorn's hoof rises to his lips to smother a gasp. A sense of real concern is entering his voice as a result of my words. "Did you by chance happen to catch their armor number? I assure you this troublemaker will not go unpunished!”

"Sorry, I-I didn’t,” I bow my head, crafting my appearance to match that of a scared child. "B-but I don’t think he deserves to be punished for what he did.”

My cloud buddy's response doesn't come right away.

"... What?” he eventually asks me flatly, his confusion becoming genuine. "Surely you’re not suggesting that such poor behavior is acceptable?!”

"Oh goodness no,” I wave him off, not humoring the thought. "It totally isn’t for somepony in his position. But... I don’t know; something about the way he acted just made me think that he wasn’t quite himself today… In fact, if I had to describe him, sir, I’d say that he was more or less…"

I look the horse directly in the eyes.

"... the complete opposite of who he really is,” I finish, my gaze piercing.

And again Solaris winces.

Bullseye.

Looks like my assumption was right. Mister Guard did get Discorded... or, in this case, Eriscorded. This at least explains how Gleam hasn't gotten around to firing him yet; that mare has dropped ponies from the position for less before, even those who came from prestigious guarding households like the Amicitia family.

Her remaining tight-lipped makes zero sense under scrutiny unless there were other forces at work here; I.E., Eris...

… Still doesn’t explain why Solaris is being tight-lipped though.

"Any thoughts on that, your majesty?” I inquire sweetly with judging eyes.

"W-well, um,” the Prince struggles to respond to my accusation. "He… H... H-hehe!” he then spouts another disarming snicker, concealing his nervousness. "If I had to wager a guess, Barbara, I’d say that the upcoming seasonal shift is to blame! A decent number of the castle’s faculty has been reported as being a bit moody lately by visitors, so perhaps more paid time off is in order.”

More lies, more secrets.

But not for much longer.

"That’s a really good idea,” I agree to his suggestion with a tiny bob of my head. Have to push my initiative before he has the chance to counter me. "Everypony deserves a break from time to time.”

"I’m glad you think so!” the big pony unwittingly triggers my trap. "Like I always say, a healthy work-life balance is the key to a healthy workforce.”

"Liar" I groan in my head, swallowing a sudden spike of frustration. "I've never heard him utter those words before in my life."

Ignoring the stallion's hypocrisy, I instead offer up to him a suggestion of my own:

"You should totally give that nice Twinkle Scout lady by the front gate some extra vacation time while you're at it. She’s earned it.”

"I couldn’t agree more,” his highness grins cluelessly.

… Three… Two...

"... Wait Twinkle Scout is stationed by the front gate?!”

One.

Another direct hit.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” I drill my gaze harder into the guilty, oversized colt; pushing him further against the metaphorical wall. "Thought you of all ponies would have.”

"And I thought I had asked for her to be placed inside the castle until further notice,” Solaris spits heatedly to himself, thinking I can’t hear him. "Should have given the order directly to Gleaming Shield instead… T-thank you for bringing this to my attention, child,” he then turns back to me, smirk haggard. "With a staff as large as Canterlot Castle’s, little details like guard placement tend to slip through the cracks from time to time, you see. H-haha…”

“I don’t think that qualifies as a little slip up though, Solaris,” I push forward, ready to strike. "I think that’s just been one of many.” Almost got him right where I want him.

My reward for my efforts is the sight of an alicorn wincing for the third time today.

"That… T-that is quite the bold claim!” the Prince's wings rise fully in shock, taken aback. "Whatever is making you assume something so baseless?”

“It’s not baseless,” I argue, defending myself. “It’s not by a long shot!"

Raising three talons and presenting them forward, I ready myself to fire off my ammunition; my truth bullets.

Time to get to the bottom of this.

"You’ve got guards harassing citizens in the streets," I list, lowering one 'finger'. "You’ve got an honest to goodness rhino guarding the gates like it’s her job," another one drops, leaving behind my ace in the hole. "And, no offense, but I have a sinking suspicion that not everpony on your payroll is currently potty trained!”

“CROW IS TRYING HIS BEST!! ” Prince Solaris startles me greatly with the sudden, furious usage of the Royal Canterlot voice. "THREE RAINY CLOUD STICKERS VERSES YESTERDAY’S TEN IS A CLEAR SIGN OF IMPROVEMENT, YOUNG LADY!! NEED I REMIND YOU THAT YOUR SCORECARD WAS WORSE AT THAT AGE?!”

Frozen in place, unable to respond in any meaningful way beyond blinking blankly, I watch quietly as the grown stallion then goes from panting…

… to whimpering laughter…

… and then, finally, to depressed silence.

The buzzing of everyday Canterlot below us, and the sizzling sun above, is the only sound present as we stand adjacent from one another in the awkward fallout.

Neither of us dared move.

“...”

“... My schedule for today was written up in crayon,” a defeated Solaris shares sorrowfully, his head held low; his misting eyes hidden. "Mister Inkwell was too young to be trusted with his namesake... He actually had to hoofpaint his first draft... Hah... HAHA… Hahaha… Hah… h-hah… sniff… h-h-h-heee… I-I’m so sorry, Crow… I failed you... I-I failed everypony...”

…

… I...

…

… I think I might have overestimated my opponent just a tad.

Openly weeping in front of one's opposition, and curling up into a tiny shame-ball, doesn't really scream 'Epic Chess Master Maneuver' to me; nor does begging phantoms for forgiveness... Granting me the chance to start the meeting on my own terms instead of his also seems more gentlecolty than maleficent in hindsight, now that I think about it.

Outside of bringing me up into the sky without my permission, which was likely done to discreetly get me out of the chaos' range, Prince Solaris has been nothing but a polite host so far. He complimented my bow, offered me coffee, called me his 'dear little friend'...

…

… Kiiinnnddaaa feeling like a big draconic flankhole, if I'm being honest.

Becoming self-conscious of my status as the only (somewhat) stable person left up here in the clouds, I switch gears from accusatory to supportive as I take a cautious step closer.

"What happened to Crow Inkwell, Solaris?,” I quietly ask the distraught Prince, gently placing a claw on one of his bent knees as I do. "What happened to Twinkle Scout? Was… w-was it, gulp, Eri-”

"Don’t utter that monster’s fake name,” Solaris angrily snaps at me, though his head remains lowered. "Don’t play his cruel game by honoring it.”

“But this is all her-, er, his fault though, right?” I push forward, halting only briefly to mentally cross off Eris’ name so I can replace it with his true one: Discord.

I completely forgot that Discord isn’t gender flipped here like most everyone else in this dimension is! He’s only remembered as Eris throughout Solaris’ Equestria because he mockingly changed his appearance shortly before getting turned to stone. Transgender he is not; if anything, he’s probably the most nonbinary/gender fluid creature I’ll ever meet in my lifetime... if I actually meet him, that is. Crossing my talons here hoping that this will never be the case, because if it turns out I’m using the wrong pronouns they’ll likely be chaotic hell to pay...

… But I guess that will all depend on what the answer to this next question is:

“Is he... free?”

Please say no please say no please say no please say-

"No!” Solaris quickly replies, disturbing the clouds around us as he flinches away from my touch. "Thank the stars no… But… Sigh… you are correct. Everything that has been happening here recently, and everything you've observed so far today has, indeed, been his doing all along.”

Okay… Okay that’s…

… That’s slightly better.

Discord isn’t free.

He isn’t free.

Only his magic is… But… how...?

"Did moving the statue do this?" I throw my guess out there, it being what makes the most sense with what little information I have.

"Hmph. I wouldn't have taken the risk if I thought that were possible," my suddenly more talkative host huffs back, as if I had insulted him.

"Hey it was a fair enough question, jerk," I bite my tongue, complaining only in my head. "The pony who keeps me in the dark all the gosh darn time has no right to get huffy."

"No, Barbara," Solaris resumes, regaining my attention. "The truth is that Discord’s seal simply weakened a few days ago, completely out of the blue!” he finally explains fully, and at last looks me in the eyes. "It wasn’t dispelled entirely, thank goodness, but I lack the means to reinforce it now that my brother and I are no longer connected to the Elements.”

…

… A…

… A few days ago?

Only a few days...?

That’s…

… confusing.

For a moment there I was thinking this might have been the explanation behind why Solaris never wrote to me while I was in Ponyville, but that doesn’t mesh well with what I now know. This might, however, justify his lack of letters during Dragonshy, and Celestia’s too… if this happened in canon Equestria, that is. There's not a whole lot of evidence to support that hypothesis though.

A few days ago… A few days ago… What the heck could have happened a few days ago that could have led to… to...

…

… Artemis.

Artemis happened a few days ago.

…

… How was canon Discord sealed away again?

It was through the combined efforts of Princess Celestia and Luna, right? They used the Elements of Harmony to petrify him, and the only reason the CMC accidentally broke the seal was because the sisters were no longer connected to the Elements; the mane six were. By that train of logic, the mana holding the whole thing together was already starting to fade shortly after Nightmare Moon’s defeat. Celestia and Luna were the sole ponies keeping him at bay then, meaning it’s the same case here with Solaris and Artemis.

I’m no magic expert like Dusk is, but if I were to hazard a guess I’d say that the brothers’ and sisters’ harmonic strike must have been a passive spell of some sort. Powerful enough to last throughout Nightterror's and Nightmare's banishment, yet uneeding of refueling; that would go a long way towards explaining Princess Celestia’s surprise when Discord DID manage to break free in the cartoon. Maybe the seal even works like a pocket dimension spell in that it can endure even if the caster is incapacitated or cut off from their magic...

… But Artemis is a pegasus pony now.

He doesn’t have access to magic.

He can’t cast spells.

He can’t fuel spells.

And he certainly can’t maintain spells if the violent destruction of his pocket dimension was any indication. That must mean that all of his controlled magic vanished the moment he lost his horn...

Including his half of Discord’s seal.

…

… Oh god.

This is my fault.

I did this.

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

Rainbow Dash was miffed.

Rainbow Dash was frustrated.

Rainbow Dash was…

… conflicted.

Red Gala's generous account had provided plenty for the pigtailed pegasus to digest, to contemplate... yet it wasn’t enough to satisfy him, nor enough to quell his worried thoughts.

"Property…"

If anything, it had only served to multiply them exponentially.

"Dusk... owns… Barb?"

Even hours later, Rainbow Dash was still struggling to comprehend what he had learned. Just as a storm raged in the physical realm so too did one in the mental, as the stallion was forced to split his attention evenly between flying, storm crafting, and the reevaluation of his once clear loyalties.

"Can a pony really do that?” he continued to ponder. “Can you really own sompony?” Though his hooves preoccupied themselves with the moving of grey thunderclouds, his mind was somewhere else entirely. "You can own stuff like a book, or a trophy, or a dress… but a person? Nopony would want to do that...

“... Right?"

Kaboom~!

Lightning flashed, and rain fell, but the weatherpony cared not. What mattered to him now more than anything was the deciphering of this disconcerting riddle.

It needed to be solved so he could understand it.

It needed to be solved so he could do the right thing.

"Applejack doesn’t own the cows on his farm, Solaris doesn’t own the subjects in his kingdom, and Goldy Digger doesn’t own the employees working at Barnyard Bargains… though she probably would if she could… What does it really mean to own somepony?”

And then there was the matter of... the word.

The word Dash had never heard uttered before.

The word Red Gala had used to describe Barbara's situation with...

… The word that started with an ‘S’.

...

… Despite his best efforts, Rainbow Dash remained conflicted.

"Dusk is my friend,” the saddened pony had to remind himself, as his thoughts continued to spiral. "He’s dorky, awesome, and too smart to do something so... super villain-y like this...

"... B-but Barb is my friend too!” he again stated what little was obvious, confounding himself further. "She’s nice, and helpful, and wouldn’t lie about something as serious as this to Red…

“... Right?”

Kaboom~!

Again the overcast skies offered Rainbow Dash nothing in reply but faint rumbling, and distant crackling.

“...”

Seeing that no answer was forthcoming, the speedster sighed.

"All I wanted was to know why Barb’s lady training was so intense,” he spoke quietly to the staticky air, as if it could respond. Still fighting to make sense of the shocking reveal, speaking with himself was the only tool he had left in his arsenal. "If I hadn’t asked anything, I probably would have never learned that she’s hated in Canterlot for not being a pony, or that she spent her whole foalhood learning how to be an assistant instead of a kid, or that she isn’t even considered a person by the entitled flankholes up the mountainside.

“Now that I do know though... w-why hasn’t Dusk said anything about this? Why hasn’t Barb said anything either…?”

"Ah don’t rightfully know what she gets out of the whole arrangement, Dash,” Red Gala’s last, carefully chosen words echoed loudly in Rainbow’s mind. "Barb loves Dusk like family, and Dusk cares about Barb like a friend; that’s about the extent ah understand of it, eeyup. If ah was forced to explain the why… well ah have mah theories, but that’s about it... Whichever way it be though, ah don’t particularly think either party is completely free of sin. It’s negligence, plain and simple.”

"On whose part though?” Dash asked the fading memory. "On whose part…?

"... Whose side am I supposed to be on?”

Kaboom~!

Whoosh~

This time, the storm provided an answer.

A small gust of breeze, generated by a distant pegasus’ wings, had moved the cloud covering slightly to the side; revealing Ponyville below.

Specifically, Golden Oaks Library.

Candle lights brightened the structure from within, allowing it to shine out in the darkness like a holy beacon. Though wind battered the treehouse fiercely, its branches remained tightly attached through means either mundane or magical; Dash cared not for the explanation.

What he did care about was the silhouettes of ponies entering the domicile.

"... Studying at the library, huh?” RD stole Barbara’s words, recalling what he had been told prior. "Looks more like a party from up here…”

… Flap flap flap

The pegasus readied himself to dive.

"Guess this makes me Rainbow ‘Party-Crasher’ Dash then,” he grinned mirthlessly, psyching himself for what needed to be done. "Nopony hurts my friends, even if they are my friends…

“... Please have a good excuse, Dusk. Please please please…”

…

… The pegasus dived forwa-

Flapflapflapflap

A sudden shadow upon the clouds halted him in place.

"What the?” Dash asked aloud, as he turned back towards the growing storm. To anypony else, the shadow would have remained nothing more than a featureless blob.

To Rainbow’s keen eyes, however...

"Was that… a bird?"

… the image was crystal clear.

“What the hay kind of bird flies in wind this strong?” he further inquired, as he scanned every which way through the rain and the lightning for the elusive avian. When it did not reappear to him, even after a minute was spent searching above and below the clouds, Rainbow offered the oddity nothing more than a defeated shrug. "Trivia question for Butters, I guess.”

Rainbow Dash aimed his sight back towards Golden Oa-

Kazap~!

"Whoa!” he dodged the lightning bolt at the last possible second, resulting in his tail only getting lightly singed instead of completely. "Oh for the love of- Hey watch it up there, Derpy!”

“Sorry, Rainbow Dash,” a pegasus mare cried back from the edge of a cloud. "I just don’t know what wen-”

“Yeah yeah I’ve heard it before,” Dash grunted in an frustrated reply. "Just be more careful! You don’t want to hit somepony’s home, or knock down a tree or something, do ya’?!”

“That can happen?!”

"Solaris give me strength… Yes, Derpy. That can happen. Not everypony in Ponyville has a magic lightning rod like the ponies in Cloudsdale and Canterlot do.”

“Why not?”

“Does nopony read the flipping fliers before volunteering for these storm-” Dash stopped himself with a facehoof before he could get any angrier.

Casting his eyes over towards Golden Oaks one final time, he debated for a moment…

… before reluctantly choosing to stick with his commitments.

Again.

"Later,” Rainbow Dash reassured himself. "I’ll talk to Dusk later… Hang tight for a second there, Derps. Let me show you how to properly move one of these darn things.”

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” bubbly cheered Derpy Hooves. “I like your pigtails, by the way! You should totally keep them!”

"Hah!” Rainbow laughed good-naturedly, no longer upset. "You’re only saying that because I’m not ‘copying’ your doo anymore when I wear my mane this way."

"..."

The grey mare blushed red.

"I-I’m that easy to read, huh?”

“Like an open book, Derps; like an open book.”

High above Ponyville, a pair of pegasi giggled lightly amongst themselves.

Down below, a beaked creature stared out indecipherably.

“...”

… Flapflapflapflap

Powerful wings struck the air, launching the bird towards the Everfree Forest with reckless abandon.

Luminescent feathers trailed behind in her wake, glowing faintly in the darkness of the raging storm… before fading out of existence completely.

Entry 9, Part 5 (Look Before You Seer)

It was me.

It was me all along.

I’m the one who damaged Discord’s seal.

I’m the one who unleashed chaos upon Canterlot.

I’m the one who hurt all those ponies.

Blaming Red Gala for knocking off Artemis’ horn, or pointing a claw at Princy’s poor decisions, would be nothing more than semantics at this point. Everything those two did was either done on my behalf or in response to my actions, so it’s impossible to deny the role I played. Not that I would; as I already wrote, I'm to blame for everything.

The fear I felt when Prince Solaris lost his eye led me to revealing my knowledge about Discord to him, resulting in a meeting for his younger brother to overhear and grow jealous of. The fear I felt when I discovered somepony sneaking around in my head forced me into summoning my big red friend for protection, resulting in a standoff for Artemis to lash out and lose his horn in. The fear I felt when I realized how close he had come to stumbling on my secrets convinced me to avoid getting his older brother involved, resulting in a disaster I have no hope of undoing.

This is the reality I can't contest:

My cowardice damaged the world.

High above Canterlot, as I stared agape at the chaos I had wrought, I came to realize that confessing was the only mature option I had left. Telling Solaris every detail of what went down, like any sensible adult would, was the obvious choice; as I possessed the desire to do the right thing, yet lacked the means to do so.

"Artemis attacked me for my visions, so I tore off his horn in self-defense"... that's all I would have had to say. One simple sentence, made up of fifteen words in total; that's all it would have taken to doom Princy and I to an unknowable fate. Punishment would be likely for us both, perhaps even banishment, but if that's what it took to restore harmony... well then so be it.

In my heart I was ready to surrender...

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

"Moving the statue was perhaps the worst call the two of us could have ever made,” Prince Solaris sputters tiredly, as he lowers himself to my eye level. "The damage might have been mitigated if we had simply kept him in the garden… Do you recall how I mentioned how even shards of him were charged with his magic, and how bizarre effects could occur upon contact?”

"I'm guessing personality flips, species changes, and shrinking all count as "bizarre effects’, huh...” I answer weakly, my voice losing strength.

Now faced with my greatest mistake of all, my rightous edge is fading.

"It doesn't normally!” the completely done stallion confides in me, throwing his hooves up dramatically. "Normally the worst that can happen is a bought of reverse speak, or a rash where the shard breaks skin... Here though, simply touching the blasted things seems to be enough to change a pony beyond recognition!"

"And that's only possible because the seal weakened...?"

"Yes, exactly," answers Solaris with a pathetic whimper, making me feel cold all over again.

This time the chill is on the inside instead of out.

"The team designated to move the statue was made up of twenty archmages, ten earth ponies hazard team members, and five Wonderbolts, yet Discord still managed to shed all over the carpet!” my host groans loudly into the empty skies, upsetting Canterlot's peace. "Bubble shield spells! Anti-magic runes! And even expert atmosphere manipulation all failed to keep his pieces together! Oh-oh, and even better; we all thought the task had been completed perfectly! We were all led to believe that for weeks... until Princess Bluebelle literally turned blue!! I-I thought it was a fluke, so I tricked her into thinking it was an allergic reaction to hay! But nooooo!!" the alicorn wails, his mane splitting further into an even more unorganized bird's nest. "It couldn’t have been that easy, stars forbid! My team just had to keep stumbling on more, and more, and more shards until twenty percent of them were infected!! It’s an honest to goodness miracle that this hasn’t leaked out to the press yet, but if my overworked ponies keep making mistakes like leaving the rhino out where every flipping pony can see her then I might as well declare the truth to Equestria right here and now!! CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT; WE, BUCKED, UP, ROYALL-”

Sniff

Guilt, black and pure, devours me whole.

Solaris rant ends as my tears start flowing.

“I-I didn’t mean for anypony to get hurt!” I manage to spit out through my clenching throat, and aching heart. "I j-just didn’t want Discord to get to Dusk! I didn’t want what happened to your eye to happen to him, or for things t-to go get so out of control… I’m sorry… I-I’m so, so sorry…”

The will to stand leaves me as I collapse on my tail, and bury my head in my claws.

I...

… I can’t take this back.

I can’t undo this.

I dehorned Artemis.

I hurt Twinkle Scout and Mister Inkwell.

I broke Prince Solaris.

Equestria’s going to suffer an early reign of chaos all because I selfishly wanted to protect Dusk from his destiny, and because I wanted to selfishly protect my stupid secrets.

My misting eyes are genuine…

…

… My words, however...

Glomp

With goal of ending my weeping in mind, Prince Solaris dashes across a sea of clouds in order to hug my shaking form.

For a time, all is still.

…

… Inhale… Exhale…

All according to plan.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

… in my head, however, I wasn't quite ready to call it quits.

I've spent all of my new life so far hoarding truths; the extent of my intelligence, the depth of my experience, the age of my soul, my innumerable sins, ~~my three measurements~~, etc etc. I feel that most of these secrets are easy to justify when one considers that my end goal has always been to live a normal life with the ponies I've grown to love.

Hiding what happened to Artemis though... even now I'm struggling to explain what my thought process was on this.

I guess it ultimately came down to one reason and one reason alone:

I knew how to get away with it.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

"I’m… sniff… sorry…” I whisper in Solaris' embrace, as I experience a sizable disconnect between my actions and my feelings.

I am a guilt-ridden mess.

I am truly sorry for all that I’ve done…

… But this, right here, is nothing more than a smokescreen; and, spoiler alert, everything I'm about to say is probably going to be a boldfaced lie as well.

Only got one shot here... This is either going to go down as my greatest gambit to date, or my greatest blunder of all.

There is no in-between.

Let's begin.

"And I'm sorry too, Barbara,” my former adversary speaks kindly, tightening his hold on me ever so slightly. "I'm sorry too. That crass display was most unbecoming of me.”

"I don't blame you for being upset,” I allow him to cradle me, to sooth me. "Y-you were stressed out, I get it. Anypony would be in your position... It can't be easy being a Prince with a broken Squire.”

"Barbar-”

"You don’t have to protect me anymore,” I insist, closing my eyes to hold back the rain. "I-I get it now. You didn’t want to tell me about any of this because you knew how’d I react...”

Controlling my breathing, I listen carefully for the reply I'm looking for; the reply I need to hear above all others.

"... Yes,” Solaris reluctantly agrees, rocking me slowly as he does. "Yes, exactly that... I didn't need clairvoyance to foresee this most undesirable of outcomes."

And with that simple 'yes', I've won.

I've won it all.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Prince Solaris is a creature of pride.

He takes pride in his schemes coming to fruition. He takes pride in his little ponies growing into their own. He takes pride in his visions being accurate.

He takes pride in being right.

Being wrong is what destroys him.

When his plan hits a snag it shakes him, when his goal escapes his grasp it frustrates him, when his plots go completely off the rails it saddens him, When things don’t go his way… well then he becomes a bigger baby than even myself. Unicorns are well known for their heightened emotions, and alicorns are no different. It was through understanding this that my path forward became clear:

I had to put words in his mouth.

The true reason behind why his highness had tried to hide Discord from me only came to light long after the meeting had subsided, when I was granted time to digest the encounter in its entirety. It became clear then that his dodginess wasn't for the reasons he stated, wherein he was worried about me placing the guilt solely on my shoulders. Instead, my earlier assumptions were the correct ones; he was trying to goat me for answers. The ease in which he dropped his act made it obvious.

He knew I had something to do with Discord's seal.

He knew I was hiding something larger than usual from him.

He knew from the very start... but he just lacked the means to prove it.

Asking me directly wasn't in the cards for him, as he's too prideful for such a blunt approach. Doing so would have weakened his image as the always right, always knowing Prince to me; forever cutting himself off from the true skeletons hidden in my closet.

Yes he has cried around me before, and dropped his mask more than once, but never has he acted as flustered as he had during this meeting. This made it clear that he wasn’t concealing the truth to avoid making me worry, or because he thought I would blame myself. The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became that his intentions weren’t anywhere near that noble.

Pumping my own emotions into that cover story made it real though.

Suddenly everything was going wrong again, and suddenly his majesty had another miscalculation to correct. In lieu of remaining the victim, deserving of answers, I had forced him to once again take up his mantle of the caring ruler. Lest I fall further into "despair," the Prince had no choice but to play my childish game of pretend...

…

… Looking back on it, I don’t remember if my decision to spin the conversation in that direction was a conscious one or not.

Considering how I was feeling at the time, and the frantic thoughts I was experiencing, I think the choice may have been more instinctual than intentional. My desire to hide the truth was overwhelming, almost… beastly… but it was based on rational thinking to a certain extent.

Discord’s seal weakened and released some of his magic; I knew that spilling the beans on my true involvement, and tattling on Artemis’ own, wasn’t going to undo what had happened. Exposing the Night Prince’s journey to restore himself was similarly pointless in my eyes, as doing so would deny him the opportunity to become the pony he wanted to be.

In the end, I guess abandoning Artemis felt like the greater sin here. That's likely why I chose not to forsake him. Going as far as to lie to Solaris, potentially setting myself up for a major backfiring in the future, seemed justifiable when I thought about it in these terms; when I imagined it more as a choosing of sides, rather than the outright betrayal of trust that it was. I'm still unsure what the actual catalyst for the decision was though... Maybe I emphasized more with Princy's lonely plight than his big brother's unownable machinations? Or maybe it was because I was more worried about one pony’s wrath over another’s?

Well, whatever the case may be, at the time of this writing I do not regret my choice.

What I do regret, however, is…

… Eh. I'm getting ahead of myself.

Here's what happened next.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

"... If I possessed the power to leave Canterlot for a day I would have gladly gone to Ponyville for our meeting, so that the truth may remain with me alone," Solaris continues to reassure me, speaking softly. "But I need to be here for my little ponies right now. I must be here so that their woes can be mine instead.”

"I’m sorry,” I again repeat, further solidifying my façade. My face is deeply buried in the pony's white coat at this point as I attempt to hide my ugly crying. "I’m sorry.”

"I know, Barbara,” the Prince runs a wing along my back. "I know.”

"I-I’m so sorry… This wa-”

"Wasn’t your fault,” he bluntly interrupts, his tone now sounding a bit more like his usual self. "This wasn’t all your fault, dear child.”

"Bu-”

"Your memory fails you,” he silences me with a gentle nuzzling. His unkept beard tickles my scales ever so lightly, momentarily throwing off my concentration. "You may have brought your vision of Discord’s return to my attention, but you were not the one who decided to put him in a dusty old storage room. That sin is mine and mine alone.”

"B-but you wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t told you anything!” I push away from his grasp, standing once more of my own accord. "If I had just kept my mouth shut none of this would have happened! Things would have probably gone normally, a-and everypony would have been okay!”

“Ah, but that is the open flame that all Seer’s play with eventually, Barbara.”

… I blink blankly up at Solaris.

Like a light switch being flipped, his appearance has suddenly gone from disheveled to regal. My scales vibrate lightly at the sight, making me keenly aware that he had just cast a transformation spell while I wasn’t looking...

... Hmph

Guess if you’re going to play at being a little girl’s ‘savior’ you might as well look the part.

"Since the dawn of time Seers have struggled to grasp the purpose behind their gifts,” the alicorn answers my half-confession with steady words; ones no longer laced with his exhausted undertones. "Leaving a vision be seems like such a waste, but acting upon it usually results in it not happening at all! Some days it can be simply maddening to be able to see so much yet be paralyzed with indecision, wouldn’t you agree?”

"Y… Y-yeah,” I ease up on my lying, admitting my weakness. "It really is.”

It's important to own up to your negative points, folks, and Seerdom is definitely mine. Considering how much I've screwed up the timeline just by being myself, I have got to be, like, the worse clairvoyant in the multiverse or something... Or at least in the top five.

"Never be afraid to admit that a call was not the right one, but don’t allow the mistake to dominate you either, dear,” Solaris resumes his lecture, willingly offering me knowledge. "I shouldn’t have burdened Sunset's life with studies and expectations, and I shouldn’t have decided that yours was to be Dusk’s assistant… But what’s done is done. All I can do now is repent and strive to do better...

"... and I seem to recall stating that we would bear this burden together, as a team.”

"Solaris…” I mumble, unable to form a reply to his clearly heartfelt degree.

Part of me realizes that I’m being a two-faced witch by egging him on like this; by convincing him that my only fault here is in the moving of the statue and nothing else...

… the other part though is just relieved that I’m no longer dealing with crazy Let-Me-Move-The-Flipping-Sun-A-Little-Closer Solaris anymore.

He will not be missed.

"You have a vision you don't like, we'll change the future together; I believe those were my exact words to you last time, Barbara,” my fellow Seer stomps a hoof against the cloud, producing a tiny fump noise. "Well I’m a stallion of my word. I do not blame you for what has transpired, and it’s clear that you are not harboring any resentment towards me either, so let us own up to our shared mistake and grow beyond it. Agreed?”

N-not harboring any resentment?! Um, hello?! Barbara The Dragoness, ages three through five, would like to have a word with you, flankhol-

Inhale... Exhale...

"... How do we fix this?” I reply to the Prince’s offer with determined eyes.

Mustn't look a gift horse in the mouth; I have a golden opportunity here to hide the full extent of my screw-up while simultaneously solving it! This is exactly what I was working towards... and not a moment too soon.

Any longer and I would have folded.

There’s a pressure growing in the back of my skull. My guilt is building, ready to burst at a moment's notice. I’m ignoring the pain to the best of my abilities, and focusing on the present, but I know me better than anyone else. This dam is going to break loose when I don’t want it to, and turn me into a real crying child once it does. With no one to talk to about it, and with my writing outlet off limits until after this meeting, I have no choice but to play my role as an atoner until the bitter end... Not like I wasn’t going to offer a claw or anything, but my crafted personas and my real one are starting to blur together into a confusing ball of string inside my head.

Someday I hope I can come to one of these meetings as just myself and no one else...

… Returning my breathing to a normal pace, allowing my inner fire to burn once more, I start over with renewed vigor. "How do we fix this?! Should we put Discord’s statue back where it was?”

"I won’t risk that,” Solaris immediately vetoes my proposal. "I will not put my little ponies into any more danger than we already have. Discord will stay in his room and that’s final.”

“Okay, so how do we return everypony to normal then?” I push forward, not allowing things to end there. "Counter spells? Potions? I really don’t want Mister Inkwell to have to go back to Magic Kindergarten... Or regular kindergarten, for that matter.”

“And neither do I, I assure you,” my partner in crime replies with a small chuckle, and I notice that it sounds a hell of a lot more sincere than his earlier ones. "Thankfully that part is already well underway:

“The Shards of Discord, as I have taken to calling them, only hold a finite amount of chaotic energy within them. Practically all of the affected ponies have been returning to normal ever since their initial contact; many of the emotionally altered are already looking like their old selves, the physically transformed seem to be regaining their equine anatomy with each passing hour, and even dear Crow has been mercifully springing up like a weed. Why just yesterday he was a hoof sucking newborn, but now look at him! Back to work as if nothing had happened at all… Though, at his current pace, the poor pony will be a hormonal teenager by this time next week… Oh how I do not envy him."

"Wish I could grow up again that fast,” I think to myself in a moment of mental levity. "Although if adult dragoness bodies are anything like human woman bodies... m-maybe I’m okay with being a baby dragon for a few more years or so.”

Not going to lie, waking up most mornings with energy and back devoid of kinks freaking rules.

"All that truly remains to be done,” Solaris continues his exposition, knocking me out of my thoughts. "is the collection and safe disenchanting of all of Discord's remaining shards.”

“How’s that been going?”

“It's been a slow endeavor,” he replies with a wing shrug. "Prone to accidents and media leaks, but it’s a necessary task. I've been lending a hoof wherever I can, but the draconequus’ female form has a long flowing mane that’s a tad too perfect for shedding chunks of himself off of."

"Which means... what, exactly?"

"It means there’s no way for us to be sure that every piece will be accounted for in the end,” the Prince bows his head mournfully, his disappointment clear. "I imagine ponies will still be stumbling upon Shards of Discord years from now, and I’m half tempted to cancel the Gala simply for that fact.”

"Half tempted?" I tilt my head, confused by that last bit. "Why not full tempted? If a noble accidentally stepped on a shard and turned into a crying foal, wouldn't that be bad for your reputation?"

"Truthfully speaking, Barbara; if that happened I doubt anypony would notice the difference."

"Solaris!"

"I'm joking!" the stallion snickers brashly in the face of my judging glare. "I'm only joking, dear. I wouldn't wish such a cruel fate on even my worse enemies!"

"Said the pony who turned Discord to stone, banished his brother to the moon for a thousand years, and transformed a Queen into living shadows, I tighten my lips, keeping my critique in my head where it belongs. "You haven't answered my question yet," I change subjects, making sure all our bases are being covered. "Do you think hosting the Gala in the castle is still a wise move, sir?"

"W-well, I'll admit; it's certainly not ideal," Solaris confesses with drooping ears. "Changing venues simply isn't possible when we're this close to the event though."

"Close?" my head tilts once more. "Isn't it a couple of months away still?"

"Yes, Barbara, it is," he nods in confirmation. "But a couple of months might as well be a couple of days when one considers the sheer amount of ponies and businesses that would need to be contacted first, and how quickly we could accomplish such a feat on such short notice. The rumors that would spring up during this time would likely run rampant as well, and grow beyond even my control."

"So, in summation, it would be more trouble than it's worth," I wilt, having realized what he's trying to tell me.

"Yes, dear. Exactly that."

"Phooey... Do you think all this will lead up to his return?” I throw my next question out there, definitely not liking what I’ve heard so far. "I mean, with all the chaos that’s going on in the castle right now and his weakening seal… M-maybe we should have the boys use the Elements on him?”

"Oh I wouldn’t worry about that," his highness reassures me with a small smile, and a much sunnier disposition. "Discord's magic may be spread out, but his actual body has been securely stored in a wing of the castle that nopony travels to anymore. It’ll be hard for him to drum up enough chaos energy to escape when his only companions are now dust bunnies, outdated books, and a broken mirror... Besides, harmony magic can not override harmony magic. It can only enhance what has already been cast.”

"... Prince Solaris... I thank you for thinking so highly of my intelligence... but please remember that I'm only seven years old,” I sigh, granting my host an unamused straight-face for his slip-up. "Everything I know about magic begins and ends with what little I overhear from Dusk when he talks to himself about it.”

"Ah, apologies,” said host shyly eats humble pie for his inappropriate usage of magibabble. "It's so easy to forget that detail sometimes... Harmony magic, Barbara, is not the same as the magic unicorns and alicorns utilize on a daily basis. Instead, harmony magic is primal, and thus has very specific rules that must be honored if one wishes to wield it.”

“Rules?”

“It's in the name, dear" the Prince lightly teases me which, considering how this meeting started, is more reassuring than frustrating. "Harmony means order, peace, things working in tandem for the benefit of all and, most importantly, rules that must be followed so that chaos can not bloom."

"So using the Elements on Discord again..."

"Won’t be possible until the current spell fades away,” my teacher answers fully, allowing me to see the big picture. "The old magic must cease to be first before new mana can take root."

"Oh..."

"Yes."

"..."

"... W... W-well... If that's the case, maybe we should, ahem...b... b-break it on purpose then?"

"Hmm? What was that, Barbara?"

"M-maybe we should, um, b-break it on purpose then?" I stammer my question out again, it sounding even dumber to my ears on the second attempt than it did on the first. "I-I mean, the sooner he's out the sooner the boys can stone him... right?"

"..."

"... S-sorry. That was a stupid question."

"No no, I understand what you're suggesting," Solaris reassures me, making me feel a little bit better. "I was just startled that you came up with that plan while I was still in the process of mulling over the exact same scenario."

"What? Really?"

"Indeed. It's not a bad plan, all things considered."

This fills me with hope.

"Really?" I parrot myself, getting hyped. "Awesome! Let's figure out a date when we can get everypony together than an-"

"Hold your fire there, Barbara," the Prince suddenly interrupts me with a waving of his hoof. "Hold your fire; I require time to meditate on this approach first before putting any sort of plan into action. Purposefully breaking the seal early may look good on parchment, but I'm unsure whether such a bold act would benefit Discord or not... Hmm... Perhaps it's not a good idea at all... "

"Bu-"

"There's no need to be hasty," I'm again cut-off. "I don't believe we're in a time crunch yet. Even at its reduced strength, the seal should hold true for a number of years still; plenty of time to plot, and plenty of time for my faithful student to grow more accustomed to the Element of Magic. It might even be possible to forge an even greater seal if we play our cards right, and proceed cautiously.”

"... Oh... " I relent, dropping the suggestion. "Um... Okay." Glad I could get the ball somewhat rolling here, at least.

Not sure if I’m completely sold on Solaris' ‘number of years’ estimate yet, but from what I’ve gathered, Eris, she- Ugh! I did it again! So Discord, I mean; he’s still not breaking out of his prison anytime soon. Moving the statue did buy us time, thank goodness. Crow Inkwell, Twinkle Scout, and everypony else he hurt are returning to normal as well, meaning I don't have to beat myself up too harshly for the part I played in their chaotic transformations.

Canterlot Castle might be kinda sorta cursed now, or whatever, but it seems like the big guy isn’t all that worried about that at the moment...

… Soooo, what’s left?

"Is there anything I can do to help, Prince Solaris?” I offer up, unsure what else there really is for me to do to make things right. "Maybe I can lend Crow a claw with something, or help Miss Twinkle Scout take off her ruined armor?"

"Barbara you’ve already done more than enough.”

Ouch.

Can't say that I didn't deserve that tongue lashing, but still... Ouch.

"Oh… ” I slump, as a fresh wave of guilt washes over me. "R-right…"

"Huh...? Oh! Oh no no no no no! I didn’t mean it that way!” the Prince hurriedly rushes to correct himself, having realized his poor choice of words. "We’re not talking about that damnable statue anymore! All I meant to say, dear, is that you’ve already done more than enough to help the situation; that’s all!”

… Wha?

I repeat my inner dialogue aloud. "Wha?"

My confusion is rewarded with a gentle looking smile, and even gentler eyes.

“My dear friend," Solaris begins, his voice growing wistful. "you are perhaps the only person alive in this era who I feel I can speak honestly with."

...

… Again I say... Wha?

"You’ve always had that sort of air about you, even when you were small," the pony goes on, relaxing further into his comfy cloud seat. "Simply talking to you about this crisis has opened my eyes to options I hadn't even considered!

"My worries were truly all consuming, and the future bleak... but laying down all that has transpired for you has done wonders to put everything into perspective.

"I'm no longer worried about what may happen next, now that the blinding dark clouds have been lifted from my mind...

"... With all that having been said; thank you, Barbara The Dragoness.

"Thank you for being such a wonderful listener for this silly old fool.”

"…”

… How is it that we’ve talked so far about chaos magic, Benjamin Button Ponies, and a crossdressing draconequus… yet this is the craziest darn thing I’ve heard all day?!

“I’m the only person you can talk honestly with?” I ask with a snort, massively suspicious of his claim. “Really?”

"Indeed,” Prince Solaris confirms with a little bounce of his head, his smile still looking real. "For better or worse that is the truth. Again I must apologize for my earlier outburst; it was my desire not to worry you, yet I cruelly managed to do the complete opposite! Friends shouldn’t yell at friends…

"... Oh that’s a good lesson,” he then switches to talking with himself, placing a hoof upon his chin to complete the contemplative look. "I should try to impart that to Dusk somehow... Maybe a contest? A duel? Hmm... Decisions decisions...”

…

… Is…

… Is this a trap?

This feels like a trap.

This is probably a trap.

This is one hundred percent a trap…

… Sigh…

And it’s one I have no choice but to trigger.

“What about your brother?”

Once more unto the breach I go.

Entry 9, Part 6 (Look Before You Seer)

"... Dusk, it was awfully kind of ya’ to offer Elu and ah shelter during this here storm and all…”

"... I’m sensing you’re about to add a 'but’ to your sentence, Applejack.”

"Eeyup, ah am… Can ya’ guess why?”

"... Is it because of the boo-”

"Yes it’s because of the book, Dusk" Applejack growling lowly. "It's absolutely, one hundred percent because of that goshdarn book.”

"...”

Dusk Shine sighed.

"Yeah,” the lavender unicorn rubbed his foreleg shyly, looking away; unable to meet his larger friend's judging eyes. "You’re right. Breaking out Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask seemed like a good idea at the time… B-but I’m starting to suspect that we aren't its target demographic.”

"Speak for yourself, darling~” Elusive chimed musically from behind his pore cleansing mud mask. Levitating the tome up with his magic, the unicorn proceeded to flip excitedly through the many remaining pages. "I don’t know about you two gents, but I’m especially looking forward to the makeover chapte-”

Whoomph

Smash!

With one fell swoop Applejack apple bucked Slumber 101 straight out a window, scattering shards of glass in the process.

"Applejack!” Dusk gasped, as he stared agape at the ill-mannered cowboy's destruction.

"Oh don’t go actin' like ya’ don’t have a fix-broken-glass spell tucked away in that big old noggin of yours, hayseed.”

"...”

… Twinkle twinkle pop

"Still rude,” Solaris' faithful student pouted grumpily, his horn cooling from his minor spellwork.

"I concur,” Elusive sided with Dusk, removing his mud mask as he did. Already annoyed with his earth pony companion due to recent events, the fashion stallion's brow began to furrow. "You shouldn’t destroy other ponies' property, Applejack.”

"Elu, come on,” the farmer shrugged, now paying more attention towards a nearby bookshelf than his friends' heated glares. "You know as well as ah do that if Dusk had kept the darn thing around he was gonna keep readin' from it, and makin' us do all kinds of foalish nonsense! If ah had to put up with that silly filly manure for one more minute… Honestly, y'all should be thankin' me for getting rid of it!”

"... S… S-silly?” the youngest member of the trio wilted, his disappointment palpable. "Foalish? Oh... Y-yeah… Guess sleepovers are pretty silly and foalish, huh… I’m sorry for suggesting it...”

"Dusk,” Elusive lamented, his heart going out to the saddened bookworm.

Reaffirming his beliefs that Applejack was responsible for the quote unquote 'ruining of everything’, he turned now to face him head on.

"Now listen here, you ruffian! That was most uncalled fo-”

Plop!

Before the white stallion could enact his vengeance, a tome was suddenly dropped roughly, and loudly, upon the old wooden floor; cutting off his rant.

"Here,” AJ grunted, having been the book's tosser. "Title looks a bit more practical on this one. Ah'm bettin’ it’ll give us all a grand old time…” He then turned towards Dusk Shine, startling the purple pony out of his funk. "Have ya' read this book yet, buddy?”

Blinking, the studious unicorn looked at the cover, and squinted at it closely. "Um, let me see… Guys Nights: A Primer…”

…Twinkle twinkle twinkle

"No, I haven’t read this one at all,” Dusk elaborated, offering nothing more until the book was hovered over to him and its pages opened. "Looks pretty similar though. Indoor sports, snack suggestions, a list of fun looking games... Ooooh~! There’s even diagrams!”

"Well there we go then,” Applejack smirked, proud in himself for having 'saved the day'. "Now we can party real proper like, boy howdy!”

"Maybe we should allow Dusk to read a bit more first before we dive straight in, AJ,” cautiously warned Elusive, as his eyes lingered on the name of the tome's author. "Not that I don't trust the literary talent of mister... bleh... Lady Killa... but I have an inkling that this is not the sort of manual we will want to follow blindly. ”

"Pffff, quit sweating the small stuff,” the goatee adorned workhorse whinnied, disregarding the warning entirely. "Best way to figure this junk out is to live it.”

“Bu-”

"No more buts,” he then spat, before turning back to Dusk Shine. "So what’s first on this evenin's a-gend-a?”

"Ummm," Dusk complied to his friend's heavily accented command. "Looks like cider drinking… Followed by more cider drinking… Followed by something called ‘chick-measuring’.”

"..."

"... Shoot, ah’m down."

Elusive sighed.

"Is it too late to go back to the makeovers?”

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

"What about your brother?"

“Hmph… What about him?”

… Well.

Wasn't expecting to hear an answer like that today.

Sensing some hostility here...

"Are you two still not talking?" I, in a bid to safeguard my alibi, ask a question I already know the answer to; well aware of the landmines I’m stepping over by doing so.

"Sigh… Yes, Barbara,” the tired elder brother admits sorrowfully, looking away; once again too ashamed to address me directly. "I'm afraid to admit that we're still in the exact same position that we were in last month."

That's...

… Huh.

I guess that lines up pretty well with Artemis’ testimony from a few days ago... but Princy was pretty adamant that his big bro was the one dishing out cold shoulders, not him!

Hmm... Curiouser and curiouser.

"When was the last time you tried speaking with him?” I again probe conversationally, as I verbally tiptoe further into the lion's den.

"Last night...” the Prince reveals with a passive wave of his hoof, and a grunt of frustration on his lips.

My mask remains solid as I internally scream a big, fat, WTF.

"... but he wouldn’t unlock the door for me," he finishes fully, granting me instant relief. "Since I wasn’t about to forfeit the scant amount of trust I've earned from him by forcing my way in, I opted to instead speak with him through the wood. He never replied to my words, but I'd like to think that we still made a fair amount of progress in the end!”

"T-that couldn't be further from 'progress' if you tried, dude!" I mentally berate the dumb, dumb stallion.

Yeah Solaris being clueless about Artemis' absence may work in my favor... but that's not going to stop me from calling out a half-assed attempt where I see it!

"I swear, men are so flipping clueless when it comes to being sensitive and tactf-."

"I’ve since come to the conclusion that Archie requires space more than anything else right now," the alicorn interrupts my inner tangent, regaining my attention. "He has gone to great lengths to hint at such, so I felt it was only right to grant it to him.”

Twinkle twinkle Pop

"I mean, look at this!” he suddenly orders, as he waves around a freshly summoned envelop. "He even sent me a postcard from Hope Hollow in the, pun intended, hope of convincing me that he left Canterlot underneath my nose!”

Again my body tenses up.

Ohhhh yeah; I did say something to Princy along the lines of 'you should really write to your brother', didn't I...?

Gulp

I really gotta learn to stop sticking my nose into everypony's business.

"...”

… Twinkle twinkle Pop

"... Obviously it’s fake though,” Solaris then snorts, dismissing the letter. "It's a well done forgery for sure, but nonetheless fake.”

U... U-ugh!

Stop… playing… with my… emotions… horse.

"What makes you think he’s not actually there?” I question through gritted teeth.

I'm rapidly losing my patience for stupid twists here, folks... Though I guess it's impressive that I have any patience left at all after everything I've been through!

Mothers should qualify for sainthood, damn it.

"Well the message wasn’t hornwritten for one thing,” his highness shrugs, and at this point I have to wonder if he’s trolling me here or not. "Centuries may have passed since I saw it last, but I think I would recognize my own kin’s writing if it was presented to me; of which this is not.”

"Are… A-are you seriously suggesting that a stranger wrote it then?!” I snap, momentarily losing my cool.

An inquisitive raised eyebrow is my reward for my outburst.

Crap.

"I-I mean, how do you know it’s not real?” I stammer, trying to calm myself back down. I don’t want to suggest to Solaris that his brother has left Canterlot for real or anything... but… come on. "What makes more sense? Him being there and sending you a postcard, or him sending a bribe to somepony else to do it for him?”

"The latter,” my fellow cloud sitter deadpans, causing my eye to twitch. "Knowing Archie like I do, the latter is clearly the truth.”

"Bu-”

"Your critical thinking skills have improved impressively since I last saw you, dear Barbara,” Solaris chuckles mirthfully, cutting off my words. “You’re becoming quite the smart young lady! Ponyville is treating you well indeed, it seems.”

"Don’t change the subject,” I bark before he can disregard my question. "How does the latter make any more sense than the former?!”

Yes I realize that I’m fighting to spill Artemis’ secret.

Yes I realize that this is counterproductive towards my end goal.

Yes I realize that the big guy is going to get super suspicious if I keep hounding this point to him…

… but darn it all if his statement makes no him-damned sense whatsoever!

How can he think something so asinine?! How can he think something so nonsensical?!

How can he thin-

"Because I saw Archie roaming the halls just yesterday, Barbara.”

…

… Oh.

That’s how.

"Ah,” I concede, pretending that makes a lick of sense. “I... see.”

"Hope Hollow is too far away for somepony to travel to in a day, even with alicorn magic,” Solaris continues to explain, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "The letter itself also contained contradictory statements about the sender having started their ‘journey’ the evening prior; a fact I know to be false.”

"Because you saw Artemis walking around then too,” I stiffly finish that train of thought, concealing my surprise.

"Exactly!” the elder brother happily nods, pleased that I'm finally seeing the whole picture. "My dear Archie may be trotting about in the shadows, and in a bedsheet of all things, but I’d recognize those eyes of his anywhere. Cyan hued irises are fairly uncommon in Canterlot, you see.”

…

… Huh.

That’s… Huh.

… Did Artemis seriously get cold hooves?

But... that doesn’t sound right... He told me he was heading to that Mount Aris place so he wouldn’t bump into Solaris! He told me he didn't want his brother finding out what he had tried to pull in Ponyville! Yeah he's apparently walking around in a bedsheet, i.e. his cloak, in order to hide his noticeable lack of horn… but… I don’t know… That still just sounds… wrong to me.

Princy was passionate when he spoke about wanting to see modern Equestria. He was determined when he said he wanted to become a better stallion too. He was also excited about being given the opportunity to speak to others not as a prince, but as a normal pony.

He was… well... honest.

He was the complete opposite of his big brother...

… That’s why I don’t want to call him a quitter just yet.

I want to continue to put my faith in him because I want to see him succeed, and because I want everything I’ve done so far to protect him to not have been in vain! For the sake of my conscience, and maybe even my sanity, I have to believe that Princy’s still out there searching for a magical means to restore his horn.

And if he isn’t…

… Well then I want my darn bits back.

"If he wants me to believe that he’s off galivanting across Equestria, taking in the sights, when in actuality he just wants to be left alone… well… Who am I to judge?” my host chortles loudly, clearly seeing his brother’s antics as cute instead of worrying. "As long as he continues to lower and raise the moon, and heeds my warnings about the Shards of Discord, I will gladly grant him as much space as he needs.”

"Brothers are complicated,” I comment somewhat absentmindedly, putting on a show that I’m totally still paying attention and not, say, thinking about a billion different things like I normally do.

"That they are, Barbara,” Solaris bows his head solemnly. "That they are…

"... But you didn’t travel all this way to talk about my dear, wayward brother,” he goes on, now sitting up a little straighter on his comfy cloud. “And you certainly didn’t come here to worry about nasty old draconequui either.”

"R… R-right,” I confirm, shaking my head. "Right, our royal business. Almost forgot all about that!”

"Well I certainly haven’t,” my sole audience member grins, enjoying the sight of my shoulders slackening. "Hopefully this will prove to be a much more pleasant affair for us both.”

“Yeah,” I second that sentiment, as I allow a little bit of my anxiety to ebb out of me.

A little bit, but not all.

I’m not completely out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot. If Prince Artemis is kicking around these parts, that could pose a serious problem to my alibi... but I doubt he’s planning to rat me out. He would have done so already if he was, and Solaris would have likely come at me full throttle if he had. I doubt even the big guy himself could hold onto a trump card that strong for long.

Figuring out whether Mister Former Nightterror Nebula is back in town or not has still become a secondary objective though, as too has assessing the amount of damage Discord’s chaos magic has wrought. I also want to help the transfigured ponies somehow. My options may be pretty barren in that particular department, but that shouldn't stop me from at least trying. Even if it's something as simple as sending out get well soon cards, I'm sure it'll go a long way towards making somepony feel better...

… Beyond those three problems, however, there's also the matter of Stardust Glimmer and his vendetta with Dusk…

… which, in comparison to literally everything else that happened this week, is a deviation from canon that has become shockingly quaint.

Don't get be wrong, that stallion's whole deal is still worrisome... it's just not as much anymore. Compared to Discord's semi-return, or Artemis' mutilation Stardust is more of a minor annoyance than a 'omg-the-future-is-doomed-assume-the-fetal-position' issue; something to maybe be on the look out for, but not something to pull my non-existent hair over.

I think I can afford to ease up a little bit on my fretting for now…

...

… Does knocking on cloud work in place of wood? I hope it does, cuz that’s all I’ve got on me besides my scales, my purse, and my memories.

Speaking of my memories:

"Where would you like me to start first, Solaris?” I openly ask, as I settle in comfortably into my own cloud seat. It's uncannily similar to a beanbag chair, now that I'm really feeling it. "The gala tickets? The baked bad incident? Or do you want me to jump ahead to the stuff from my letter?”

"Please, Barbara,” the Prince smiles with his eyes. "Start from the very beginning. I’d hate to miss out on any important details.”

"... You just don’t want me to skip over the part where Dusk was forced into wearing makeup, do you?”

"Hah!" the stallion laughs, admitting defeat. "Guilty as charged, my dear. Guilty as charged… Can you really blame me though? You're the one who snuck that amusing photo into the friendship letter, after all... Whiiiich reminds me; did you by chance happen to bring any more of-”

"Yes I brought plenty of photos for you, Gleam, and their parents to laugh over, sir.”

Solaris tents his wingtips together sinisterly.

"Excellent.”

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

The actual meeting that followed was a lot more like the one I had prepared for, and a lot less like the one I was fearing. It was simple, informative, and only somewhat dodgy. During it I went over everything I observed in Ponyville from the boys’ fight over the gala tickets, to Rainbow’s debut as a lady of class, to even what little of Dragonshy I was apart of, hug included.

The Prince hung onto every word I shared, ever eager to hear what Dusk’s reactions were to things, and the sort of lessons he was learning. Reading about them from friendship letters was one thing, but hearing it from the non-horse’s mouth was apparently something else entirely. Seldom was my opinion of events asked for, of which I was grateful. My budding friendships with Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll, Red Gala's uncomfortable interest in my upbringing, the fact that I wasn’t actually watching Butterscotch’s animals when I said I was; these were just some of the details I didn't particularly care to go over with Solaris. That was information he could easily use against me, so I'm glad I was able to keep it to myself. His lack of interest in my personal life made the concealing of my encounter with Artemis super easy, barely an inconvenience.

What wasn’t easy was Boast Busters.

Explaining what happened during this specific episode proved far trickier than I had envisioned. I had to go over the fact that I had prior knowledge about the event first, which meant I had to explain that it was one of the many “visions” that had come to me during my birth. This caused a bit of friction between the Prince and I as I attempted to sidestep around listing just how many of such events I was already privy to, and what I was hiding. My usual excuses of “spoilers” or “River and the Stone” only went so far at first, but thankfully Solaris relented once I threw the question right back in his face. He laughed for a bit in his usual way, making excuses about his old age confusing him and the like, before dropping the subject and allowing me to continue on uninterrupted.

Once the episode’s background was established the actual retelling went a lot smoother. Pointing out Stardust Glimmer’s very presence was enough to prove that something was truly amiss, and that I wasn’t simply making excuses for Dusk’s defeat. The altered friendship lesson also earned a gasp, and the Prince got especially quiet when I mentioned how it seemed like the light pink stallion was targeting my charge specifically with his aggressive jabs and accusations. I capped off the retelling by pointing out how the ursa minor from my vision never arrived, and how Stardust had instructed the little fillies Sugar and Spice not to enter the Everfree at all; thus explaining why I thought he was potentially a Seer.

Speaking of Seers, while I didn’t go into any details concerning Artemis’ visit to Ponyville, I did manage to sneak in a question about it for clarity's sake...

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

"Hey, so... Solaris?"

Crunch munch munch

"Hmm?” his highness replies 'elegantly' around a bite of an apple.

At some point during our discussion, I can’t remember when, my stomach had growled in a desperate cry for food. Not wanting me to starve, my gracious host teleported back to his castle briefly in order to pick up a well stocked picnic basket.

He even remembered to bring coffee.

Slurp~

Bless.

"Gulp. Ahhh... What is it, Barbara?"

Chewing on a dark roast dunked ruby gemstone, I pause for a moment to gather my thoughts. How to word this how to word this... Okay, got it.

"You asked me earlier why Dusk decided to take on Ponyville's dragon issue without talking to you first, right?" I spit out the first half of my question, confident that it'll lead me to part two.

"Oh yes!" Solaris exclaims back happily, pleased that I had reminded him. Taking a quick sip of his own steaming cup of Joe, his face contorts into a dissatisfied pucker before he continues. "Bleh. Blasted dirt... I had almost forgotten all about that question! I'm still rather curious what the reasoning behind his proactive decision was."

"He saw the smoke in the sky and knew he had to act," I fib, purposefully leaving out Artemis' role. "His friends encouraged him to listen to his gut, and that's probably why he decided to go through with it..."

"Hmm. I see."

"... That's not how it went down in my vision though," I reveal, twisting the story slightly for my own benefit.

The Prince's eyebrow rises, his interest successfully piqued.

"Yup," I confirm with a nod, ready to tackle this issue head on. "It went a little differently from what I can still recall."

In the cartoon, Twilight said she received a letter from Princess Celestia requesting for the girls to handle the snoring dragon. In this reality, Artemis sent that letter instead. He did so in a bid to get closer to me without the boys interfering, which begs the question; did Princess Celestia actually send a letter, or was it instead Princess Luna?

Only one way to find out:

"Twilight Sparkle, Dusk's counterpart, received a letter from Princess Celestia, your counterpart, that asked for her to take care of the dragon," I spit out all the relevant information Solaris needs to hear. He's the Princess' double; he has to have some insight on this oddity. It be stranger if he didn't!

Leaning forward, I wait expectantly for the response.

"..."

… Eventually, after a bit of humming, the Prince provides me my answer.

It's unfortunately the one I was dreading.

"Given the circumstances, I doubt I would have made a similar call."

Oomph.

And there it is; confirmation that Luna did, in fact, write the letter.

I was afraid of this... Prince Solaris admitting that the thought of writing to Dusk hadn't crossed his mind means that it didn't cross Celestia's either. Taking both sun alicorns out of the equation leaves behind only Artemis, Luna, myself...

… and Spike.

Princess Luna wrote the letter to the girls, meaning she did so in a bid to get closer to him... But what the hell does that make him though...?

"I wonder which Seer chose to act in that realm versus our own... Hmmm..."

… Wha?

"Wha?" I intelligently repeat myself, my mind too stuck on the Spike puzzle to comprehend what Solaris had just said. "What was that about Seers?"

"Hmm? Oh... I was just wondering whether it was Celestia, or your counterpart, that made the decision to deviate from the River's stream," the alicorn casually wing shrugs, as if he wasn't suggesting what I think he's suggesting. "I doubt it was mine. This Princess likely has the same amount of trust in her student as I do in mine... Not that I don't trust Dusk, perish the thought! It's just, well, Equestria has Wonderbolts specifically for situations like thi-"

“Wait, back up a bit,” I cut him off, before he can keep going on this tangent. "You think that Spike... is a Seer?!”

"Why wouldn’t he be?”

"Because that’s… that’s...” I start to argue…

… only to realize that I don’t have a leg to stand on.

"In a world where Barbara The Dragoness is a Seer, why wouldn’t there be one where Spike The Dragon is one too?” Solaris repeats what I had just come to realize. "Does he not also occasionally attend to ‘royal business’ in Canterlot?”

"Well… No, he does... bu-”

"Does he not also keep to the background, and rarely gets involved in major events?”

"W… W-well, no. He also does that too… but that’s only becaus-”

"Does he not also seem more knowledgeable than a child his age should be?”

"H-he’s just… smart,” I deflect with a turning of my head, and a shy rubbing of my arm. "He’s just… really smart for his age… That’s all...”

“Hmm,” Solaris hums to himself, choosing not to press the topic further. Instead he turns his attention towards adding an unholy amount of sugar into his coffee and nothing else.

Chewing on my gemstone, purposefully keeping my mouth too full to talk, I take a much needed moment to digest this strange revelation. Spike’s a Seer… Spike’s a Seer... My first guess was that he was me. My second was that he was at least human. A Seer though...

… That's just... ridiculous... for multiple reasons!

If Spike was a Seer it would be more obvious, right? If Spike’s a Seer he’d be a little more on the ball about things… right? I mean, I sorta get where Solaris is coming from. I’m a Seer, so obviously Spike’s a Seer too… but my powers are artificial! The 'visions’ I have came from my past life as a human; they came from television.

I just can’t picture the Spike from my memories possessing the same level of foresight that I have! He was the comic relief side-character, not some secret mentor! And even if he did somehow obtain the same forewarning as me, I can’t imagine the show he watched was the same one I watched with my daughter! There are just too many differences! I stayed awake longer during Nightterror Nebula’s return! Solaris gave the mane six three gala tickets instead of two! Rainbow Dash knows how to coordinate his skirt with his blouse! Mares are stallions and stallions are mares!!

Our worlds aren't compatible in the slightest!

The only way him knowing the future makes any sort of sense is if… if…

…

… Is if Spike’s visions are of this Equestria instead of the canon one:

‘Staying awake caused a bunch of foals to get sent to the Dream Realm? Well I guess I have to stop drinking so much coffee!’

‘Moving Discord’s statue causes him to shed all over the carpet? Hah! Guess we better leave him in the garden then!’

‘Oh? Talking to Celestia at all sets into motion a series of events where her sister grows super jealous and lashes out at me? I better say nothing at all to avoid all that… Ah, but then who will tell my charge to go take care of the dragon...? Hmmmm… Oh! I know! I’ll just write to Celestia and tell her she needs to write a letter to Twilight! The big lady already knows I’m a Seer, so as long as I tell her the future depends on it she’ll do whatever I sa-’

Stop.

Stop stop stop… stop.

This is utterly insane.

I watched Spike, who watched me watching Spike, who watched Spike watching me watching Spike??

I-it feels like my brain is melting out of my ears here...

"Are you struggling to envision it, Barbara?" Solaris asks me suddenly, causing me to freeze up. "Spike possessing knowledge of this Equestria is a pretty complicated subject to grasp, I'll freely admit."

"Holy guacamole!" I shriek, almost spilling my cup of Joe all over myself. "D-did you just read my mind?! You have to tell me if you can read my mind! It's, like, the law or something!"

"Hah! Settle down, child. Settle down," the Prince laughs at my overreaction, making me feel quite silly. "I can't read minds, thank goodness. I've simply seen that concerned look of yours plastered on many, many a past Seer's face before; particularly on the ones who were gifted foresight into their own alternative timelines like you were."

"... Oh," I blink, absorbing those words. "I... see..."

…

"... Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking," I lower my guard, willingly accepting some guidance. "I don't get it though. If Spike and I are supposed to be the same person, or whatever, and we both have similar-ish ideas of what the future holds, then why does he act so... differently than me?"

"In what way?"

"If he knows this Equestria, and I know his," I struggle to articulate, the picture not coming in all that clearly in my head. "How come I've never seen him doing anything with that info? Like during Dragonshy, he didn-... Oh, sorry. 'Dragonshy' is the, um, nickname I gave to the vision involving the pony named Fluttershy and the big dragon, sir."

"That's adorable."

"T-thanks... Anyways," I resume. "If Spike has about the same level of future know-how in his head that I do, I don't get why it only became obvious during Dragonshy! My visions don't always follow him, but you'd think the two of us would have made similar calls at some point, right?"

With question at last spat out, I wait patiently for Solaris to provide me his take.

"Hmmm... A pair of Seer twins once told me that it's all a matter of perspective, Barbara," the Prince complies to my request for clarity, though he does so in his usual cryptic manner. "From this side of things, Spike is acting upon his visions in a manner that seems strange and foreign to us. Meanwhile, you're acting upon your visions in a manner you think is best for Dusk...

"... On the other side of the coin, however, Spike is acting upon his visions in a manner he thinks is best for his charge, while you're the oddball out.

"Now tell me, dear; is Spike the one whose the stranger here, or is it in fact you?"

My body seizes up for a second… but then my mind puts together what he's trying to say.

"It's a matter of perspective," I answer, parroting his words; understanding things a little better now.

Munch munch crunch

"Exactly," my host speaks with a full mouth. "Gulp... Heh, I'm willing to bet that Celestia and Spike would give the two of us an earful for our usage of our gifts, despite all four of us utilizing it in exactly the same way!"

Slurp~

"So the only difference between us is the actual visions themselves," I take a victory sip of coffee, my head feeling a lot clearer now... at least on this subject.

Whether Spike is my male double who watched the iteration of My Little Pony that featured me, or a normal kid with legitimate Seer powers, is still up to debate; but that doesn't really matter to me anymore, nor does the differences between our visions. Outside of discovering a way to jump dimensions that doesn't involve dying and being reborn, there's no safe path for me that'll lead me towards the truth, so I might as well drop it for now.

In the end, all that really matters is that Spike is a dragon who loves Twilight just like I'm a dragon who loves Dusk. Our knowledge of the future may be similar, but we're both doing what we feel is best for our charges.

If one of us is doing their job better than the other...

… well I guess that's just a matter of perspective.

"Those twins sound super smart," I offer praise, as I begin to finish off the rest of my gemstone.

"I'm glad you agree," Solaris chimes in, as he takes an experimental sip of his cup of sugar with trace amounts of coffee. "I hope you'll get the opportunity to meet them someday, Barbara. I'm sure the Luteces would have much to say concerning your unique, gender-bending perspective of the future."

"Hmmm," I chew, unable to think of anything else to add to the conversation. "I wonder if other Seers would be able to see through my fake clairvoyant act... Eh, problem for another day."

Gulp

With the swallowing of my tasty before-dinner dinner, I drop the subject altogether as I instead resurrect an earlier one. "What are we going to do about Stardust Glimmer?”

Gulp

Finishing off his own meal, the Prince dabs his lips gently with a napkin before answering with, "What do you think we should do, my little Squire?”

Bleh.

Thought we were past the mind games at this point... Hmmm... How to answer this, how to answer this… Okay, I got it.

"I don’t want him to make Dusk cry ever again,” I offer innocently enough, playing my ‘sweet caring child' card. "We still don’t know why he attacked him though!”

“Indeed,” Solaris responds agreeably. "The fact that he singled my student out so readily, and seemingly knew so much about him is, of course, concerning to me.”

"But we don’t know enough yet,” I finish that though tiredly, having realized what my host's next line is going to be. "We need to do research first before we do anything drastic.”

"Snrk”

Now it’s my eyebrow’s turn to rise.

"What’s so funny?” I ask the giggling stallion.

"Snrk,” Solaris again snorts. “I-I’m, heh, sorry, Barbara. It’s just… snrk… That was a very Duskish thing of you to say.”

"Duskish? When did we turn my charge into a noun?" I briefly ponder, before replying with, "I’ll take that as a compliment. Nothing wrong with being well informed!”

"Oh I wholeheartedly agree,” the Prince eases up on his teasing, wiping away a tear as he does. "It just amuses me to no end how similar you two are growing to mirror one another.”

"But Dusk isn’t anything like me...” I counter, not really seeing what the big guy’s suggesting. "He’s still as socially awkward and nerdy as ever… Not that I don’t have my own moments, but still…”

"His sarcastic sense of humor is new,” Solaris counters back. “He rarely displays it around me, but I’ve certainly seen it in action from afar. The snarkiness, the wit; he certainly didn’t have that sort of fire in him back when I first started teaching him. It only seems to have cropped up in the last couple of years or so…

"... Now remind me, my dear; when were you two reunited again? A couple years ago or so, was it~?”

"Okay okay I get it,” I jokingly surrender, taking the hint. "I poisoned your student with the gift of comedy. My bad.”

"Rather you than Bubble Berry, I suppose,” he returns fire in equal good cheer. "No offense to the stallion himself, I’m sure he’s a lovely fellow, but I once foresaw a reality where he replaced me as Dusk’s teacher and it was horrifying.”

I blink back blankly.

"... Was that from that one altered vision you told me about? The one where Dusk ended up being the Element of Laughter instead of Magic?”

"Indeed.”

"... How was it horrifying?”

"It’s a reality where Princess Bluebelle wields the Element of Kindness.”

My whole body shivers.

"Never before have I been so glad to be born in this Equestria, sir.”

"I couldn’t agree more, Barbara. Couldn’t agree more…”

Twinkle twinkle Pop

With a wave of his horn, Solaris teleports our picnic gear away into the ether.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Another spark of magic later and I find myself being levitated off of my comfy cloud seat, and placed once again onto the alicorn's back.

"I know just the place where we can begin our research on this Stardust character, dear,” he reveals to me in-between wing and back stretches. "Are you ready for another jolly jaunt into the evening sky?”

"Sure,” I answer cautiously, making my apprehension known. "Please take it slowly this time though. I just ate.”

"That seems fair enough,” the stallion reports back with a determined nod. Ready to go, he next leans over the cloud’s edge and prepares to dive.

"Ahem,” I clear my throat, causing my steed to halt. “Aren’t we forgetting something here?”

Craning his head, the pony looks at me queerly with his one good eye.

Instead of offering a reply, I instead point my index talon skywards…

… towards the still dangerously lowered sun.

"You might want to scooch that back a bit, hun.”

"...”

"..."

"... Was... W-was that lowered this whole time?"

"Yes."

"Really? Goodness me..."

"... Prince Solaris... Please tell me you remember lowering it earlier… Please tell me you didn't use your magic without thinking..."

"..."

"... Sir?"

“... Hehe... heh... hehe... h-hehe... ~Squeak ~"

Entry 9, Part 7 (Look Before You Seer)

“... You know, when you told me that you knew a place where we could learn more about Stardust Glimmer, I was picturing somewhere a bit more… interesting.”

“Oh? Really? What, were you imagining the royal archives, or the library?”

“Um, yeah, actually. I was.”

“Hah! You truly are Dusk’s assistant.”

“I-I’m not saying that I was hoping for a library or something!” I feebly try to defend myself from atop the Prince's back. “It’s just, well, the place we’re heading to is kinda, sorta…”

“Old, drab, and not the most exciting building for a foal to be in; I know,” Solaris puts words in my mouth, spouting what he thinks is on my mind. “But I assure you, Canterlot Town Hall contains exactly what we’re looking for.”

“It’s not a question of whether it has what we need or not,” I mutter under my breath, my comment becoming inaudible thanks to the rushing wind. “It’s a matter of… Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

Background info time:

Smackdab in the middle of Equestria’s capital lies a structure not quite as impressive as Canterlot Castle, but is nonetheless just as important to the common Canterlotian; Canterlot Town Hall. From weather schedules to taxes, it’s from here where this city is truly run. The currently elected mayor, whose name escapes me at the moment, is the stallion who oversees daily operations in Solaris' sted. He also handles the civilian issues too minor for the Prince to bother with, such as zoning violations or protest registration, so I guess you could say that he's the real head honcho around these parts.

Town Hall is also where birth certificates and other legal forms are stored, like the original copy of my Title of Ownership, so I have a pretty good guess as to why we’re suddenly visiting it. ‘If Stardust Glimmer knows Dusk, then he must have lived in Canterlot at some point’ is probably what Solaris is thinking, and I'd be lying if I said that the thought hadn't crossed my mind. Considering Dusk's lack of a social life, it's highly likely that this Mister Glimmer is a former Canterlotian... or at least a stallion who studied at the same school as my charge.

Locking this pony's origin story to Canterlot would greatly narrow down the search to only a clawful of possible motives and trigger events. Us finding nothing would also serve a purpose, as doing so would grant my original hypotheses, that Stardust is a Seer, some much need credence.

Either outcome is acceptable to me, so long as something gets done about it at all. I doubt even Prince Solaris will want to remain impassive with such a large, unknown variable running around… Though, that having been said, the big guy's no stranger to subverting my expectations. He may be cooperating with me at the moment, but that could easily change in the blink of an eye. His decision to drag me to Town Hall is a good example of this dualistic nature of his:

If he was truly on my side we wouldn’t be heading there at all.

“This is likely your first time visiting Central Canterlot, isn’t it?” my steed asks me casually mid-flight. His gaze is aimed downwards as he searches for a safe spot to land. “I can’t imagine your charge would have had much need to traverse this far inwards except for perhaps a field trip or the like, correct?”

“Yeah this is my first time here,” I report impassively, keeping my tone in check; not wanting my apprehension to become apparent.

Logically Town Hall should do the job.

Logically Solaris should be able to find what we need there without difficulty.

Logically everything should be fine…

… The dragon-sneeze trees are making me nervous though.

Ponies don’t normally plant those things around structures where every creature is welcomed.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Quick Equestrian fauna rundown for the uninformed; the leaves of dragon-sneeze trees are nature’s repellent for, you guessed it, dragons. One whiff of the junk can give a baby like me a serious case of the sniffles, while two will agitate my flame sack to the point of discharge. Three is where the "fun" begins as bile gets thrown into the mix, and as I get violently sick to my stomach. Lastly there's four, the unluckiest number of all.

Four is the number of death.

Now obviously slaying a dragon isn't as easy as shoving a branch of the crap in our face. If that were true I'd be dead three times over instead of the one. Extended exposure is necessary to achieve lethality, but that hasn’t stopped older Canterlotians from keeping leaves on them out of protection. A pair of inventive business mares even found a way to liquefy the effects, essentially creating easy-to-use dragon mace.

That tool in particular was Madame Red's favorite during my training days.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Clip clop

Either unaware of this detail or simply uncaring, Prince Solaris lowers our altitude until we land smoothly upon the pavement...

... just outside the foliage's range.

Phew

"Whoa, did you hear how loud the hoof steps were on that last one? A really chubby pegasus must have touched down somewhere around her- OMS it’s Prince Solaris!”

Surprised gasps and joyful shrieks soon followed our arrival, as the nearby ponies abruptly became aware of their Sun Prince’s presence.

“Haha, please go about your business, my little ponies,” Solaris waves politely back to the gathering masses. “No need to halt your entire day on our behalf.”

“We love you, Prince Solaris!”

“Oh I’m well aware!” the Prince laughs heartily to the now decent-sized crowd of equines, earning himself a roaring round of hoofed applause.

My eyes, meanwhile, are rolling in their sockets.

Clip clop clip clop

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Wrrrreee…

… Slam

With a quick trot up the stairs, a TK spell upon the door, and the shutting of said door; the two of us entered Canterlot Town Hall before we could get further hounded by the crazed groupies.

“Must be tough being popular,” I snark as soon as the noise dies down.

“You’ll have your turn soon enough,” Solaris snarks right back. “An entire Empire’s worth of admiration, in fact.”

“Heh,” I snort at the thought. “Good one.”

“...”

“... Wait was that a joke or a spoiler?”

“...”

… In reply... the alicorn simply winks.

“Good things come to those who wait~” he continues to tease, unphased by my pouting.

“Now who could be stopping by this late in the da- Oh goodness me; Prince Solaris!”

Startled out of our conversation, my ride and I turn our heads towards the new speaker. A short, portly stallion is galloping up to us with an excited expression upon his face, and a twinkle in his eyes…

… one that fades when he glances in my direction, but it returns once his attention switches back to Solaris.

Uh oh.

I’ve seen that look before.

That's the 'I'm not okay with you being here' look.

“I was unaware that you were paying my humble halls a visit today, your majesty,” the aging unicorn bows low, his horn almost scraping against the polished floor. “If I had, I would have made sure my team was here to greet you properly.”

“There would have been no need for that, Mayor Queen Bee,” my steed bows kindly back, almost causing me to slide right off of him. “My decision to stop by was quite sporadic, after all.”

“Understood, sir,” the emerald green, honeybee cutie marked pony rises fully from his kneeling. “If I’d be so bold to ask, what brings you here this lovely day?”

“My Squire and I require the Index,” Solaris cuts to the chase; pointing a hoof to his back, and thus me, for illustration. "Hopefully there isn't too long of a line."

Mayor Queen Bee’s eyes again dart in my direction.

Again they harden.

Gulp

“I… see,” Queen Bee replies carefully after a noticeable pause. “The Index room is currently empty, your highness. You are more than welcome to it."

Solaris' grin grows large.

“Excellent!” he chortles happily, pleased by the news. Trotting on past the Mayor, he then carries me along with him as we venture further inwards. “It’s still the furthest door on the left, correct? We won’t hog it for lon-”

“The dragon stays outside.”

The Prince halts in place.

The Mayor's demand lingers in the air.

The lobby turns deathly quiet as a sudden chill enters it from parts unknown...

… Sigh.

Called it.

“...”

With glacial speed, and expression frozen, Prince Solaris ominously turns his head back towards Mayor Queen Bee.

“I… beg your pardon?” he asks the unicorn somewhat quietly, as if not trusting himself to speak louder. “Good sir, I believe I mentioned that we both need to see the Index, not just myself.”

“You did,” the Mayor answers back neutrally, his voice equally reserved. “But I can not allow it. Such a thing would be against the long-established rules of these sacred halls.”

“The rul-”

“Solaris,” I whisper into my steed’s ear, halting his response. “Look,” Following where my talon is pointing, he quickly spies what I had just spotted a moment ago:

A sign.

A sign with a roaring dragon on it.

A sign with a red X.

“I can not allow a fire-breather anywhere nearthe Index, Prince Solaris,” Queen Bee holds his ground, earning back the Prince’s gaze. “I can not allow a fire-breather anywhere near our paperwork, period! One rogue dust particle tickling its nose could be enough to destroy generations of recorded text! You… Y-you have to understand, sir…”

The room grows colder.

“...”

“... She is allowed in the public library,” Solaris points out calmly, voice still unraised. “I fail to see what the problem is here.”

“Books are insured, documents are not,” the other stallion huffs back indignantly. “They’re replaceable too, unlike the contents of the Index."

“Barbara is also allowed in the royal archives though,” my ride counters, not backing down. “You’ll not find scripture more ancient or irreplaceable than the ones located in there… Again I fail to see your concern.”

Clip

“Your castle, your rules,” Queen Bee stomps a hoof against the ground. “My castle, my rules… I-I’m truly sorry, your highness, but the answer is still no. I will not yield, even for you.”

“Bu-”

Okay, I’ve had enough of this.

“Please stop,” I grip Solaris’ ear, forcing him to give me back his attention. “Just… stop. I don’t think you really need me here for this anyways. You’ve already heard everything I know about Stardust, so there’s no point in making the Mayor uncomfortable for my sake...”

“...”

Solaris remains silent.

…

… Clip... clop... clip... clop...

Solaris slowly trots back towards the entrance.

Solaris begins to lower his neck to the ground.

I ready myself to dismount from him…

… only to find that he’s not lowering the rest of his body.

In fact, it seems he has no intention of bending the knee at all.

“Mayor Queen Bee,” the Prince, in one smooth motion, aims his head back towards the aging stallion; angeling himself into a proper bow. “I humbly request that you alter the rules once again on my behalf.”

“A… A-again?!”

Looking up to Queen, I’m not surprised to find his face rapidly turning a furious shade of red.

“You are slandering my good name, Prince Solaris!” the grey maned unicorn shouts angrily, his voice echoing in the empty lobby. “I have never altered the rules once in my entire career! Not for friends, not for family, and certainly not for royalty! That’s why the fair citizens voted for me in the first place; for my dedication to them and their well-being above those who would do them harm! How dare you suggest otherwise?!”

“But… you have bent them, Queen Bee,” the Prince answers coldly, head still lowered out of ‘respect’. “You’ve bent them every single time you’ve allowed me entry, so why would this be any different?”

“W-what?!” Solaris’ opponent shutters loudly, losing his cool. “I have most certainly not! The sign clearly reads, and has always read, tha-”

“That no fire-breathers are allowed within this building,” his highness finishes, cutting off Mister Queen. “I can read it just fine from here. Though it bears the likeness of a dragon on it, the sign specifically lists fire-breathers so that it may exclude the likes of griffons and the fabled kirin as well…”

Solaris’ head rises.

Solaris’ eyes lock with the Mayor’s own.

Fzzzzzz

Solaris’ mouth begins to leak sparks and pitch-black smok-

Wait what?

“... Yet you’ve allowed the likes of me in since day one of your employment,” the Sun’s chosen wielder finishes matter-of-factly, as if flames weren't dancing across his lips. My scales remain unmoving as he speaks, informing me that this isn’t an illusion spell. “All I’m asking is for you to extend that same blessing to my Squire as well… I don’t believe that’s too much to ask, do you?”

“I er, ah,” Queen Bee stammers wildly, struggling to regain his composure. “B-b-but the rules clearly state tha-”

Clip

“My,”

Clop

“Little,”

Clip

“Pony,” the alicorn smiles sweetly, dripping glowing embers upon the marble floor. “Compared to the solar forces I channel through my body on the regular, Barbara’s dragonfire is nothing more than a tiny, wet, matchbox.

"Now, in understanding this, I will make my request one final time; if you and your forebearers have looked the other way for decades on an arguably greater risk to this facilities’ hard work, i.e. myself, surely you can look the other way for thirt-, no, twenty more minutes at the very least... Yes?”

“...”

… At a loss for words, unable to find the strength necessary to rise from the floor, Mayor Queen Bee simply nods his head yes.

All at once, the room’s chill vanishes.

The inferno in Solaris’ mouth disappears as well, leaving behind the calm, good-natured Prince that had entered the building earlier.

“Excellent!” said Prince cheers for a second time, acting as if that whole conversation hadn’t happened. “It’s still the furthest door on the left, correct?”

Again the Mayor nods yes.

“We’ll be in and out before you know it~” my steed singsongs his way past the catatonic stallion, carrying me along for the ride. “Is your favorite beverage still Honey Red Jade Tea, Mayor Queen Bee? I’ll be sure to gift you some for your birthday next week~!”

Rounding a corner, the victorious pony ventures forth with a noticeable spring in his step.

I, meanwhile, am too stunned to speak.

It turned out ‘furthest door on the left’ in actuality stood for ‘the furthest door on the left… of an entire other wing’. Canterlot’s Town Hall is quite a bit larger than Ponyville’s equivalent building, which meant Solaris and I (well mostly Solaris but boy is my scaly butt starting to get sore from all this horseback riding) had a fair bit of windowless catacombs to navigate first before arriving at our destination.

Throughout our travels, neither of us spared so much as a word to one another.

The tension was, and still is, unnerving.

“...”

“... My special talent allows me to ignite my inner mana into usable flame-”

“You know darn well that I don’t care about the ‘how’,” I, having rediscovered my voice, cut off Solaris’ explanation. “The only thing I need to hear right now is the ‘why’.”

“... The ‘why’?” the stallion tilts his head quizzingly, though his eyes remain locked on the path ahead. “Why, whatever do you mean, dea-”

“Don’t act cute with me,” I have to stop myself from snarling. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I start over. “I mean, I-I don’t think the Mayor was in the wrong for wanting to keep fire-breathers out of this building. It does look pretty old and flammable…”

“And it most certainly is old, Barbara ” Solaris agrees, his eyes still aimed away from me. “But it is nowhere near as combustible as Queen Bee would have you believe, otherwise unicorns would be on that exclusion list as well.”

“... I still don’t think you should have bullied him like that though, sir...”

“...”

“... Have you been barred entry anywhere else lately, dear?”

“... Not since Dusk and I left Canterlot, sir.”

“Hmmm… So Ponyville allows you to roam freely then, like a normal foal?”

“Yes.”

“...”

“... Which town do you prefer mor-”

“Ponyville,” I answer without missing a beat. “Ponyville, full stop.”

“That will certainly make things difficult for you in the future, Barabara,” Prince Solaris replies grimly, expression unknown. “Do keep in mind that you may be forced into returning to Canterlot someday… Well, if you wish to remain by Dusk's side, that is."

This gives me pause.

"... Dusk is going to leave Ponyville?" I croak, having realized what he's implying. "But… B-but why? He's so much happier there! His friends are there! M… m-my friends are there… Why would he want to come back to Canterlot?!"

"Relax, little Seer," my steed laughs in the face of my fretting. "Relax. I've not foreseen such a future as of yet. All I'm suggesting is a hypothetical situation, nothing more."

“... Hypothetical...?”

“Indeed.”

"... Thank you for using the word 'hypothetical', and not feeling the need to sub it with something simpler because I'm a kid, sir."

"But of course... My question remains though,” Solaris, at last, turns his head; aiming his good eye in my direction. “If you were forced between staying in Ponyville or joining Dusk in Canterlot, which path would you feel most compelled into choosing?"

"..."

"... I'm honestly curious."

"I know,” I reassure the pony that I’m listening, even if I’m shying my own eyes away from his one. “I know. I just… I-I just don't like it."

"The question?"

"The idea of leaving Ponyville!" I grant the Prince the truth, as his dark suggestion begins to take root in my mind. "Dusk needs me, b-but I don't want to say goodbye to anypony yet…"

"But you would leave it behind for his sake?"

"Y...Y-yeah... I-I wouldn't like it though..."

"Well, that goes without saying… Perhaps you could make new friends here, to lessen the loneliness?"

"Canterlot hates me," I state the facts plainly, without hesitation. "Nopony here likes dragons, you saw it yourself."

"Gleaming Shield would beg to differ," Solaris fires back, his head turning away from me. "As would her parents, the nursemaids that once assisted you, the owner of that lovely donut shop off of Manestreet… and, of course, myself. Slowly but surely Canterlot is learning to be more open-minded, even if it doesn’t seem like it on the surface.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I snap, my distaste clear in my tone. A clawful of ponies doesn’t make up for years of being treated as an ‘other’. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“That is perfectly fair,” the Prince’s head lowers slightly, though his voice remains at its usual tempo. “Healthy skepticism is the sign of a healthy mind, though am I correct in assuming that a major shake-up of the status quo would be necessary to grant you peace of mind? To have you remain ever vigilant beside my faithful student, and happy at the same time?”

“...”

“... You’ve been dodging my question.”

“Pardon?”

“Why did you harass Mayor Queen Bee?” I push forward, dragging this exchange kicking and screaming back to where it started. “That’s definitely going to bite you in the flank later, and for what? So I wouldn’t have to wait outside with the dragon-sneeze trees? So I could see this Index thing in person? Neither of those are good enough causes to justify a political incident over, sir.”

“The realm of politics is no place for a baby dragon,” my ride chuckles lightly, ignoring the elephant. “Perhaps one day it will be, but for now I implore you not to dwell on such things. I’m a big stallion, I can handle myself.”

“... You’re still not answering the question, big guy.”

“Ah. Apologies… What was your question again, Barbara?”

“Oh for the love of; why did you harass-”

“And here we are,” his highness silences my cry, as he halts in place before an unassuming door. “The Index.”

"Bu-"

Creeek

Placing a hoof upon the portal, the stallion then pushes the aging plank wood aside with hardly a screech of the hinges.

"You still haven't explaine-"

Clip clop clip clop

“... You’re not going to answer me, are you...?”

...

... Once the two of us entered inside, and it became abundantly clear that I wasn’t going to get an answer, I drop the subject altogether in favor of checking out at this so-called Index.

The first thing my eyes are drawn to is a filing cabinet…

… and then another filing cabinet…

… and then a dozen or so other filing cabinets…

… and then finally a circular formation of filing cabinets, stacked on top of each other, reaching all the way up to the comically high ceiling.

“Seems they installed a skylight since last I was here,” Solaris comments drolly, his neck craned upwards towards the intimidating mountain of metal containers before us.

“I'll take your word for it,” I remark in an equally dry manner. Can't even seewhat the hell he’s talking about; from my minuscule point of view, all that exists in this round room is filing cabinets, more filing cabinets, and a checkerboard style floor... "Please tell me that there’s an index for this Index.”

“I’m afraid not, my dear,” the sole pony present chuckles weakly, and begins to stretch out his wings in preparation for cramped hovering. “The creation of one was vetoed at the last meeting due to, in the opposition’s own words; ‘unicorn tradition’.”

“Of flipping course it was.”

“Language,” the Prince scolds me lightly, hardly granting me a glance. “I should still be able to navigate this monstrosity with little difficulty though.”

Flap flap flap

“Hold tight.”

Doing as I’m told, I grip white fur as the alicorn begins to rise.

“What does this place even have in it?” I can’t help but ask, and can't help but rubberneck. “Kinda seems like overkill for birth certificates.”

“Birth certificates are kept in an entirely different, not as impressive wing, Barbara,” my personal hover platform explains in a refreshingly straightforward fashion. “Those are only retained for a set number of years before being properly disposed of, or condensed into a smaller format. The documents in here, however, are retained forever.”

“Forever?” my eyebrow rises, as well as my interest. “What’s important enough to keep around forever?”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

In place of answering me directly, Solaris instead uses his magic to reach into a passing filing cabinet and grab from it a grey folder. Floating it over to me, I tighten my leg’s hold on my steed's back to free up my claws for grabbing.

The first thing I notice on the file is a name:

Dusk Shine.

Surprised, I delicately open the flap and peer inside…

… which results in me cooing rather loudly, much to Solaris’ discomfort.

Hey if I see something cute I’m going to react appropriately, dude.

I will not apologize for being who I am.

“Aww~” I keep purring, genuinely sedated. “I forgot how adorable Dusk was as a little colt!”

A photograph of a smiling, much younger version of my charge is greeting from within the file’s flap. Along with it is a side profile shot, and a separate picture of his cutie mark. ‘Dusk Shine, Age Nine,’ is what the attached paperwork has written on it, though that's not all. ‘Birthplace: Canterlot. Testimonial Talent: Magic Copying. Observed Talent: Multiple Magical Affinity. Cutie Mark Awakened on…’

“The ‘Index’ is short for The Generational Equestrian Cutie Mark Index,” Prince Solaris explains fully, ending my reading. “When a colt, filly, or what have you discovers their special talent it gets recorded and stored here in Canterlot for anypony to access and view. Employers, historians, guard recruiters, and even royals such as myself frequently visit this room to get a better idea of who, exactly, we’re working with.”

“Historians?” I prod, having zeroed in on the odd duck out of his listing. “So you have info on ponies who are super long dead stuffed away in here too?”

“Very astute, my dear Squire!” my teacher praises me, making me lightly blush. “Yes, cutie mark information does not get destroyed. It gets held here indefinitely for anypony, such as researchers and descendants, to dissect and analyze to their heart's content.”

“... Huh,” I nod, somewhat interested in this discovery, but not really. “That’s neat, I guess… How does this help us with Stardust though?”

“Take another look at Dusk’s file,” Solaris suddenly commands, encouraging me to do just that. “Notice how it lists his talent twice?”

“Are you talking about the ‘testimonial’ and ‘observed’ sections?” I tilt my head, trying to piece together this puzzle. “I always thought Dusk's talent was just straight-up magic.”

“And it may very well be,” my steed agrees with my statement, confusing me further. “It’s not as though cutie marks come with an instruction manual or the like, as convenient as that would be. They are often subject to interpretation, hence why they’re described in the Index from both the pony’s own point of view, as well as the recorder’s.”

“So…” I mentally run back his words, doing my best to put together what he’s trying to explain. “Are the two definitions supposed to give us a better idea of what their talent actually is then?”

“Exactly!” the Prince again cheers me on, and I’m embarrassed to admit how rewarding somepony complimenting my intelligence for once feels. “The two viewpoints allow a reader to get a better understanding of what the pony’s true skill set will be like…”

A wickedly cocky grin suddenly appears on his lips.

“... It also gives one a better picture of how the pony thinks.”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Before I can ask for further elaboration, the alicorn’s horn glows brightly with the light of magic. Several filing cabinets then lit up at the same time, as each opened and had something levitated out from them; sometimes two. Soon five folders in total were floating around my head, holding themselves aloft in golden auras of the Prince’s making. They followed alongside us as we ascended, remaining perfectly paced with my ride’s gentle wing flaps.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Another pulse of light later and the folders flip right open, exposing five veryfamiliar, if significantly younger, faces.

I’m fighting really hard to not let the cuteness overload consume me.

Inhale… Exhale… Okay. Let’s see, let’s see. Where to start… I think the least surprising colt out of this lineup is Elusive. At age ten he looks a lot like a slightly older version of Sweepy Belle, just with a more distinct mane style. It’s still somewhat looped like his current day doo, but not as much due to the lack of hair to utilize. He’s also smiling pretty goofily too, much like Dusk was in his. I guess these were taken shortly after they got their marks or something.

Next up we have tiny Applejack who again looks like a slightly older version of somepony else, this time being Apple Buck. He’s a bit bucked-toothed in his picture, which is pretty puny when you think about it, and he’s wearing what’s probably the same stetson he wears nowadays size be damned… but, beyond that, there’s nothing really interesting here.

Moving on we have Bubble Berry who… er… looks completely sloshed.

Considering he’s well below the legal age limit for drinking in this photo, that’s more than a little concerning.

Thankfully his mane is still disorganized and poofy like Pinkie Pie’s was in that one flashback episode of the series, so at least it seems like his origin story wasn't too radically altered. I was honestly starting to worry.

Speaking of similarity, here comes little Rainbow Dash looking near-identical to his filly counterpart in every conceivable way...

… This shall go on to be the least surprising thing I’ll see all day; mark my words...

... In fact, the only interesting thing of note here is that Dash's birth name of Rainbow Blitz isn’t recorded anywhere on his file. Ponies tend to change their names after getting their cutie marks, true, but you'd think past aliases would be an important thing to keep track of. Equestria must take deadnaming pretty seriously if it's that easy to erase an old one...

... Last and certainly not least there’s Butterscotch.

Much like filly Fluttershy, Butters’ younger form is a tad more mature looking than his peers. He’s already rocking the mane-blinds over his eyes in his picture, and he actually looks a heck of a lot older than what his bio would suggest. If I didn’t know any better I’d say that he was already a teenager in this shot.

“Do you understand what I mean now, dear?” Solaris’ words knock me out of my observations.

Oh, right. I was in the middle of learning something here, h-hehe.

Getting back on track, I take a moment to read aloud the talents to prove that I’ve been paying attention. “Um… Elusive marked his talent down as a gift for fashion, but the observed section says its gem affinity. Rainbow Dash said that his talent is rapid acceleration, but the observed states competitive tendencies. Butterscotch’s says critter heart-to-heart communication, observed just states body-language translation. Applejack wrote… apples… observed states apples too… And Bubble Berry has party party party written down, but his observed is… redacted?”

“Your guess is as good as mine on that last one,” Solaris replies bluntly, shrugging with a raised foreleg. “Can’t seem to get anypony to give me a straight answer on it, so I stopped requesting an observer long ago.”

“Eh, that’s BB for ya’,” I shrug in turn, as my mind briefly wanders to Feeling Pinkie Keen. “It’s best not to ask.”

“Indeed,” my ride nods, before turning back towards me again. “Still though, do you see what I'm trying to say?”

“That nopony understands cutie marks in the slightest?”

“Well… yes, I-I suppose that too,” the Prince concedes to me. “But I was more referring to how you can get a good read on how a pony thinks simply by asking what their special talent means to them.”

Hmmm…

… That…

… Okay, yeah. I see what he means now.

Elusive uses his talent for his fashion pursuits, Rainbow likes going fast and showing off, Applejack’s life revolves around apples, etc etc. The testimonials, combined with the observations, paint a pretty clear picture of their mindsets even if I didn’t already know these stallions personally.

“So this is how we’ll figure out what Stardust’s deal is then?” I inquire simply, at last understanding why we’re here.

“If not that, it’ll at least start us out on the right path,” Prince Solaris confirms for me, as he starts to slow down his ascension. “It's already getting rather late in the day, meaning our meeting is drawing to a close, dear Barbara.”

These words grant me a weird combination of relief and dread.

“Let us finish off with a game plan for how to proceed, shall we?”

“Let’s,” I nod determinately.

This is what this whole week was leading up to.

Before Discord’s magic started leaking out, before Artemis lost his horn, and before my mind was violated by a Dream Walker there was Stardust Glimmer; Trixster’s faithful assistant, and Dusk hater extraordinaire. With the formers I at least know their canon universe equivalents, thus I know when their actions are lining up with what’s expected of them and when it isn't... but with Stardust, I’m completely clueless! Is he a Seer? Does he have a long-standing grudge against my charge? Or does he just dislike purple unicorns…?

Time to find out.

Twinkle twinkle pop… Twinkle twinkle twinkle

High above the base of the towering room, Prince Solaris casts a series of complicated spells so that he could perform the following:

Number one, teleport all the files away to their proper spot.

Number two, shift through all the surrounding cabinets for something.

And, number three…

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

… Bring a file to my waiting claws.

It’s noticeably larger and heavier than the last sets, but a glance reveals to me why this is the case. The earlier grey folders were for an individual, while this green one is for a city.

Sire’s Hollow, to be precise…

… hundreds of years worth of Sire’s Hallow’s ponies, to be even more precise.

Oomph!

Even my dragon strength can’t hold up this much weight! M-my grip is slipping.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Solaris hastily coats the folder with his golden magic, lessening my burden.

“It goes by years first, then alphabetically from there,” the Prince explains curtly, strain present in his voice. “Believe it or not this is significantly harder to hold in place than the very sun itself, so please please please find the pair’s documents quickly, dear.”

“The pair’s?” I blink, startled by his request. “You want both Stardust’s and Trixste-”

“Less talking, more grabbing, Barb,” he grunts hastily, struggling to maintain both his magic and his hovering. “Do please hurry. I'm not quite the young stallion I used to be, h-haha...”

Taking the hint, I dive into the massive file.

“Year and alphabet, year and alphabet,” I repeat to myself, rapidly flipping through the folders. “How the hay am I supposed to know the yea-”

My ride dips suddenly in altitude.

My claws move faster.

“Year alphabet year alphabet year alphabet year alphab- Found Trixster’s!”

“A-and Stardust's?”

“Ummm… year alphabet year alphabet… If they were foalhood friends, then maybe…”

Solaris again abruptly dips.

A shriek escapes me.

“M-maybe the same year as Trixster's!” I settle, hurrying further back in time. “Must have skipped it over, but if I look at the exact year maybe I ca- Found Stardust’s!”

Twinkle twinkle pop

All at once the folder disappears, leaving behind the two I had grabbed in my haste.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

“Excellent,” Solaris nods nonchalantly, his voice returning to normal.

Too dumbfounded to even, I offer no resistance as the Prince’s golden magic snatches the folders out of my claws and hovers them over to his face...

…

… I’m… not even going to ask.

Ignoring what just went down, I lean over to the side just enough to look past the alicorn’s head and read over his shoulder.

To my surprise, he’s going through Trixster’s file first.

“Hmmm… Born in Shire’s Hollow, stage magic is the testimonial magic, general entertainment is the observed… Oh?”

“Oh?” I parrot, leaning over a little further to get a better look. “Oh what?”

Solaris hmm’s a little longer, unresponsive to my poking.

“Oh what?” I repeat myself, and bounce a little in my seat. “Don’t keep a girl waiting here!”

“...”

With a laugh meant more for himself than me, the Prince finally relents.

“I know Trixster’s mother,” he reveals, as he brings the file closer for me to read. “Misses Jackpot was a rather famous stage magician back in the day, known throughout all of Equestria. She was even successful enough to perform at the Gala a few times, long before your hatching.”

“Noticing you’re using past tenses there, big guy.”

“Oh she’s still very much alive,” he corrects himself, clearing up the confusion. “If somepony as Great and Powerful as her perished it would certainly make headlines. No… the only thing thatpassed beyond the mortal coil in this story was her career.”

“Huh?”

“Jackpot retired from the stage about sixteen years ago, if I’m not mistaken,” he goes on, speaking wistfully. “I was present at her final show, where the mare could barely fit into her leotard. The poor dear must have been about four to six months pregnant with little Trixster at the time, but I guess she wanted to go out with a bang. She had a stallion for an assistant at the time, and there were plenty of rumors floating around about them being an item... but the pair disappeared altogether after the performance. Nopony really knew what happened to them...”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

“... Until now,” the Prince finishes, bringing Trixster’s file forward. “Seems they married, settled down together in Jackpot's hometown of Shire’s Hollow, spent the last sixteen years raising a healthy foal-”

“And they all lived happily ever after,” I attempt to wrap up the reminiscing. Unnecessary Trixster backstory is unnecessarily unnecessary. “Good for them… What about Stardust though?”

“Ah, apologies,” Solaris blushes, realizing he had dragged us off-topic. “Got lost in my own head there for a bit.”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

With a spark of magic, Stardust Glimmer’s file is finally laid bare.

Entry 9, Part 8 (Look Before You Seer)

A thick miasma of smoke had engulfed the library.

All-encompassing, all-consuming; the fog concealed everything in sight.

To the outer viewer, nothing else remained inside of the Golden Oaks Library save for the mist…

… to the inner viewer, however, a sole roundtable stood resolute.

Three stallions sat before the wooden structure; their hooves full of playing cards, and their mugs brimming with fruity elixir.

An intense game of wit and strategy was already well underway.

“...”

Shifting around the long, slim object that lay slack upon his lips, Applejack murmured something dark under his breath as he continued to scan through his hand.

Across the way, Elusive's eyes started fiercely back from atop the rim of his thoroughly chilled wine glass.

“...”

“... Got any two-”

“Go fish.”

“CONSARN IT!” AJ angrily spat out his toothpick. “Yer cheatin’, aren’t ya?!”

“Applejack there were literally only two options left,” Elusive paused to take a long swig of his iced apple juice. “I can’t help it if you have rotten luck.”

“Actually, considering the remaining deck size and the moves that have already been taken, Applejack in reality had a one in five chance of selecting the correct number,” Dusk Shine explained offhandedly, though his snout remained buried within the pages of Guys Nights: A Primer. “An estimate of two was both logical and mathematically sound in this current arrangement.”

“Now don’t go throwin’ math into this, hayseed," Applejack continued to fume, uncaring for how immature he looked. “This here’s supposed to be a game of readin’ ponies, and spottin' tells, and- cough cough, an- cough cough… an- COUGH COUG- Can sompony please turn off those goshdarn smoke machines already?!”

“But the diagram clearly depicts a card table being enveloped in a thick fog of-”

“Dusk ah'm about to 'clearly' hack up a lung if you don't turn those damn contraptions off this instant!”

“...”

… Twinkletwinkle

Click!

With a small spark of magic from his horn, Dusk Shine swiftly silenced the smoke machines.

“S-sorry,” he then winced, his shame evident by his now reddening face.

“Don’t be,” Elusive shrugged, reassuring his friend; unphased by AJ’s shouting. “I felt that the mist added a bold, masculine aura to this humble soirée of ours.”

“Ain’t nothin’ manly about chokin' to death, ya frickin’ nutcase,” Applejack growled heatedly, with glare aimed squarely in Elu’s direction.

The fashion stallion retaliated in kind with a dirty look of his own. “...”

“...”

"..."

“... Sooo… Is it my turn yet?”

Knocked off guard by Dusk’s sudden question, AJ nervously turned back towards the gracious host.

“Umm, m-maybe we should be thinkin' about switchin' games here, hayse-”

“Go right ahead, Dusk~” Elusive bluntly cut off Applejack’s retreat. He shot a mischievous smirk the earth pony’s way as well, to ensure that his less-than-noble intentions were made crystal clear. “Take your turn~”

Ecstatic, Dusk Shine quickly readied his hand of cards…

… and his abacus…

… and his chalkboard, his dictionary-length notebook, and his fifty-two individual notecards; just as he had for all his turns prior. Soon he became busy as he ran probability scenarios, card counting calculations, historical Go Fish tournament plays, common tell matrixes-

“Annnnd there goes another hour of mah life down the drain,” AJ whinnied morosely, as his studious friend once again entered ‘the Egghead zone’. “This colt's more of a killjoy than a porcupine in a ball pit.”

“Could be worse,” Elusive shrugged, indifferent to this turn of events. “We could be playing poker like the book suggested. Can you imagine it, Applejack? Turns that take literal days to complete?”

“D-don’t even joke about that, Elu!”

“I’m just saying,” the unicorn shook his head, speaking casually; less inclined to watch his words now that Dusk had gone off into his own little world. “If we had followed that blasted book to the letter things could have been much worse.”

“Or better,” the goateed cowboy argued back, stomping a hoof against the table to express his frustration. “If we had real cider around here, ah bet we’d be havin’ a heck of a lot more fun than we are right now!”

“Hah!" Elusive rolled his eyes. “I highly doubt that. You would have probably gone overboard, Dusk would have likely been a lightweight, and I, without question, would have been the sole pony sober enough to foalsit the two of you in the aftermath.”

“Oooooh?! Are mah ears trickin’ me here, Elu, or is somepony claimin’ that they can outdrink an Apple?!”

“No, I’m not claiming anything of the sort, good sir… I’m simply stating the facts.”

"..."

“... Snrk… Why you cheeky priss,” Applejack chortled fiercely, now thoroughly entertained. “Ah didn’t think you had a bite like that in ya!”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, cdibet runca.”

“Hey none of that fancy talk now,” AJ attempted to be civil. “Ah’m tryin’ to give you a compliment here, haystack.”

“Well you’re failing spectacularly.”

“Hmph… Ever since ah met ya, ah’ve been tryin’ to peg what kinda stallion you are, Elu,” the stetson-adorned pony continued, choosing to ignore the insult. “You're a real pompous type, just like a certain pegasus we both know, but I’ve seen you willin’ to throw down with the best of us too.”

“Yes I can get my hooves dirty when the situation demands it,” the well-groomed colt admitted, now eyeing his opponent more carefully. “So what of it?”

Applejack’s lips twisted upwards into a wicked grin.

“Sooo,” said grin grew larger, as the farmer attached to them leaned in closer. “This here’s supposed to be a guys night, right?”

“... Yes… And…?”

“...”

“... Lightning Rod, or Caramel?”

“... I beg your pardon?”

“Lightning Rod, or Caramel?” AJ repeated himself, confusing Elusive further. “Ah know you’ve seen them both around town before. Shoot, ah'm pretty sure they're even customers of yers too…

"... So which one of those two fine mares is yer type?"

“M… M-my type?” Elu gasped, becoming flustered; much to the other stallion’s twisted amusement. “I-I do not have a type!”

“Oh don’t go foolin’ yerself, haystack; ah know yer full of it. Every stallion’s got a type.”

“T-that’s a preposterous suggestion,” the white unicorn huffed, turning away; unable to face his hackler’s judging eyes. “Such a thing is beneath a gentlecolt such as myself… A-and why do you suddenly care about my preferences anyway?!”

“Just tryin’ to be friendly,'' AJ’s smile turned wolfish as the so-called 'gentlecolt' squirmed in his seat. “Like Dusk’s book said; talkin’ about girls is the best way for guys to bond.”

“I thought we already established the bunk nature of that trashy book.”

“Yeah, but this guy's still readin’ it," the mischievous colt continued to taunt the haughty pony, though now he was nudging Dusk with his elbow as he did so. “And we wouldn’t want to ruin his first guys night, do we?”

“Huh?” the bookworm fluttered his eyes, re-entering the conversation. Having just been knocked out of his intense Go Fish metagaming, his brain needed a moment to reboot. “Are we doing something else now?”

“Ah just asked Elusive what his type of mare is, hayseed,” Applejack brought his purple friend up to speed, stealing sneers at Elu all the while. “That book of yers said it was a good icebreaker, right?”

Oblivious to the animosity his two companions had for one another, Dusk innocently bobbed his head in confirmation.

“Oh! Yes, it did,” he bounced in his seat as well, now thinking more deeply. “Ummm… Well, I never put much thought into it, but if I had to pick a mare I find aesthetically pleasing I’d say that the common historical depiction of Starswirl the Longmaned has always managed to capture my imaginati-”

“Older chicks, got it,” Applejack, despite not knowing who Starswirl was, accurately called Dusk out; turning the unicorn’s face apple red. “You do you, hayseed. You do you.”

“I-I just really like her mane…”

“As fer me, ah’m the kind of pony who leans more towards hearty mares like Lightning Rod.” AJ went on, relishing in how uncomfortable Elusive looked with the entire exchange. “Her golden eyes and dark grey coat are real purdy to look at too, same for her feathers. She’ll probably become a Wonderbolt one of these days if she keeps workin’ on those strong wings of hers, and not to mention that flank, hah! Now that’s a flank that just won’t quit ah tell you what, though ah guess Caramel has her beat in that category. Earth ponies usually do... Shame about her coat though. Ah hate the idea of bein’ with a pony who has a similar coat color as one of mah kin. Don’t want to be thinkin’ about Apple Buck when I’m cuddlin’ with somepony… If she dyed her furthough… Hmmm...”

“Blah. Glad to see you consider such ‘sensible’ things when it comes to finding a special somepony, Applejack,” Elusive spat irefully, his tone oozing with pure disgust. “Solaris forbid you prioritize personality or interests when you’re on the prowl.”

“Mares are too complicated for us guys to figure out, Elu, so why even bother?” AJ fired back, sticking to his guns. “Best we can do is narrow down our choices and go from there.”

“And you narrowed yours down to Lightning Rod and Caramel…?” Dusk asked inquisitively, ever eager to learn.

“In Ponyville at least, yeah,” Applejack nodded, pleased that at least one pony was listening to him. “Those two are the mare-ist of mares I’ve ever met in this here town, so ah’m certain that one of them would be the perfect fillyfriend fer me!”

“Relatively certain that Lightning Rod only has eyes for other mares, and that Caramel would rather become a stallion than be with one, but sure. Why not?” Elusive grumbled to himself, fed up with the whole deplorable discussion…

… But then an idea began to take root:

A bad idea.

A stupid idea.

A devious idea…

...

… Feeling generously spiteful, Elusive put his terrible plan into action.

“Aren’t we forgetting somepony on that little list of yours, AJ~?”

“Huh?” Applejack whipped his head towards Elu, surprised to see that he no longer looked flustered. “Ah ain’t forgettin’ nopony. Those two are the only mares in this here town hot enough to interest me.”

“Oh, I’m not arguing that,” the seamster smiled sweetly, flashing his teeth. “If those two are the only mares then they are the only mares…

“… All I’m saying is that it’s rather unbecoming of the Element of Honesty to lie like you just did.”

“L… L-lie?!” the blond stallion howled, his anger growing sharply. “Ah ain’t a lier you no good son of a-”

“But you are,” the indigo-maned unicorn interrupted, silencing the now furious stallion. “You most certainly are. After all, coat colors and flanks aren’t the only features that 'do it’ for you; you also care about attitudes and aesthetics.”

“No ah don’t!” Applejack yelled, becoming red in the face. “Quit puttin’ words in mah mouth!”

“I am doing nothing of the sort,” Elusive defended himself with a raised snout, before turning his attention back towards Dusk Shine. “You know who I’m referring to, don’t you?”

At first, Dusk didn’t…

… but then, after a moment of thought, a light bulb turned on.

“Ooohhh! You’re talking about… Yeah, I can see it.”

“See what?!” AJ demanded, now raring on Dusk. “See what?!”

“Your tastes are a bit broader than you realize, Applejack,” Elusive teased, regaining the earth pony’s glare. “Not only do they include feminine mares with generous flanks, but also strong ponies with a strong sense of honesty in both themselves and their words. Your preferences also lean towards those with aerodynamic designs…

“... and who may or may not have rather colorful mane-”

Whoomp!

Before the inevitable could be uttered, a roar of primal rage left Applejack's throat as he leaped across the table and tackled his ‘friend’ to the ground.

With cards scattering, and with glasses either being spilled or shattered, Dusk watched impassively as the two stallions began to violently duke it out.

“...”

… Flip flip flip

“... Um, guys? The book says that roughhousing is supposed to take place after another round of drinks. You’re skipping ahead two whole chapters…

“...

“... G-guys?”

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

Stardust Glimmer, age eight. Birthplace: Shire’s Hollow. Testimonial Talent: Illusion Magic. Observed Talent: Illusion Magic. Cutie Mark Awakened approximately seven years ago. Born to a Miss Firelight of Shire’s Hollow...

...

… I…

… I had expected more.

I had expected something earth shattering… I had expected something concrete.

This though…

… This tells me so little.

He was born in Shire’s Hollow, he’s a year younger than Dusk, his talent is apparently in illusion magic… What else is there to learn here? I doubt what it says about his cutie mark is true, considering how his Talent Spell works, but the official observation lists illusion magic too! That vetoes my own take pretty harshly...

… Ugh.

This file was supposed to grant me insight on how Stardust thinks, and clarity on what his possible connection to Dusk could be... but all it’s done is make me even more confused than I already was! He wasn’t born in Canterlot, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of him having moved there to go to school. He’s not the same age as my charge, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of him skipping grades due to a clear gift in magic. His special talent isn’t in cutie mark swapping, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of his Talent Spell evolving to be able to pull that off...

… Double ugh!

Looks like the Cutie Mark Index ended up being a bust. Now what am I going to do? I'm running out of time before I have to bid the Prince farewell until next month...

…

...

… Although... that having been said... I suddenly find my gaze being drawn away from the file altogether, and instead towards the attached profile picture.

Something about it just feels… off to me...

… Can’t for the life of me figure out what though, as the photo itself isn't all that special from a glance. All it depicts is an eight-year-old with much of the same features as his modern-day counterpart. Same pink-ish coat color, same persian blue eyes, same falling star cutie mark; the only real difference here is in the age and the singular ponytail.

In comparison to all the other youthened photos I’ve described so far today, there's nothing especially unusual about this one in particula-

Wait, hold on…

...

… No.

What I just said was a lie.

There is something different here, and it's something so small that I almost overlooked it:

His expression.

Dusk Shine, Elusive Belle, Butterscotch, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Bubble Berry, and even Trixster; all their photos contained ecstatic foals full of energy. Each ponies’ smile was either large or goofy in their mugshots, as too their body language. All seven of them were overjoyed to have finally found their purpose in life, and to have finally found their long-awaited cutie marks.

Not Stardust though.

Stardust looks angry.

He’s not pouting, and he doesn’t look upset per se. The more I look at him, the more I’m convinced that he’s not angry in the same way a child would be. It's easy to imagine that not every photo in the Index contains a grinning foal just as it's easy to imagine that not everypony receives the cutie mark they want, but little Glimmer’s photo doesn’t really paint me the picture of a colt who didn’t get their desired butt stamp.

If anything, it paints me the picture of a pony who just lost something he can't get back.

It’s his eyes that are giving me this impression. There’s something hollow about them; something that’s screaming out a message of ‘this is unfair’ to me. For some reason Stardust is unhappy with his position as a foal who just got his mark… but why? Does he hate cutie marks? Is there something about them that a non-pony like me could never understand...?

... Hmmm… no… No, I think my earlier assessment is still the correct one; Stardust lost something that he can never get back. What the something is I can only guess, but I’m certain that I’m on the right track. I can feel it in my gut, and see it in his eyes…

… His hauntingly familiar eyes…

...

… Where have I seen eyes like his before…?

They're full of hate, that much is certain; hate for the world around them, and hate for the indignity of it all. They’re also full of longing; a desire to return to the past, or to maybe return to a former state of being? They contain a hint of loneliness in them as well; the frustration of being by oneself, and the pain of suffering through something alone.

I’ve seen these eyes before.

I know I have.

I saw them real recently too… But where…?

…

...

… Maybe it was... Crow Inkwell…?

… I… guess that could be it. He did seem reasonably irate over his shrunken predicament... Were his eyes full of hate, longing, and loneliness though? I’m not so sure about that... They were still super similar to what I’m seeing now, however, but how does that correlate with Stardust's own? Similar, but not familiar. Similar, but not familiar… There has to be a commonality here, but what could those two possibly have in, well, common…?

The answer must lie in their eyes.

It must.

With Mister Inkwell’s face now in the forefront of my memory, I give little Glimmer’s photo one final look over:

Let’s see here... To me, it feels like Crow and him both have the eyes of a pony who is going through the motions, and who is hating every degrading moment of it. They both seem to have the eyes of a pony filled with accepted inevitability as well, like they understand that their situation is too unfathomable for them to do anything about. They also both have the eyes of a pony filled with directionless rage on top of it all, it being barely hidden underneath their seemingly calm façades.

Hate, longing, loneliness, disgust, inevitability, hidden rage…

...

… Why are their eyes giving me such stupidly detailed descriptions?!

Reading one or two emotions from a picture isn't all that impressive, but it feels like my mind is practically writing their flipping autobiographies here! Why is that, I wonder? What is it about those two that's making my imagination run wild with crazy guesses and even more insane assumptions...?

…

...

… !!!

Wait.

Wait wait wait wait.

The reason why Stardust’s expression is captivating me into connecting dots that don’t exist, and the reason why my instincts are linking Mister Inkwell into all this as well… Is it because, deep down, I know exactly where I’ve seen their eyes before...?

… Is it because I know exactly what they’re both going through...?

...

… No.

No no no.

That’s…

… T-there’s no way… There’s just no way…

...

… Is… Is Stardust Glimmer…

…

… Is he the same as me?

“Any detail sticking out to you so far, dear Barbara?”

Eep!

Oh flaming dragon dung. I completely forgot that Prince Solaris is still in the room with me, and reading over my shoulder!

We’re on the ground right now, thank goodness, having landed shortly after opening Glimmer's file. This made it easier for the big guy and me to look through the paperwork together.

This, however, also made it easier for him to read my own expressions.

Even now he’s staring at me, and waiting patiently for my reply…

“... N… N-not really,” I unapologetically lie to his face. “Sorry.”

I know exactly where I’ve seen Stardust's eyes now.

I saw them during my infant years.

Back when I was first forced to accept the reality of my second life and the death of my first, I often saw those eyes of his reflected through my nursery’s mirror. Trapped in youthful flesh, unable to turn back the hands of time; my hate was all-consuming in those days, as too my longing, my loneliness, and my disgust… Everything that I can clearly see being echoed here in Glimmer’s photograph.

An unwanted second childhood; that’s what his expression reminds me of.

Thank you, Mister Baby Inkwell, for reminding me what such a thing looks like...

… This is, of course, still all conjecture.

For all I know the little colt was just upset over a friend moving away, or something equally benign, but I can’t shake the feeling that I might be on the right track here. Thanks to Artemis' reveal about Starswirl, I now know that my bizarre situation isn't limited to me, myself, and I; a pony as script unabiding as Stardust is probably sitting in a similar boat.

Too bad I can’t share this hypothesis with Prince Solaris... ever.

I’m still uncertain what the consequences of coming out as human to him are yet, let alone reincarnated! It wouldn’t be wise of me to get others involved until I have a better grasp on what, exactly, we even are; as of now the only details I know with a degree of certainty is that Starswirl was likely part of our ranks, that Elusive might be a member too, and that we all apparently share a love of hoarding secrets... Beyond that though, I’m completely clueless.

The smart move would be to keep this revelation to mysel-

Pat pat

Solaris’ sudden head-patting abruptly ends my internal plotting.

“Chalk that up to a lack of experience, not skill, my dear little Squire,” he chuckles as I attempt to correct my now tarnished findo. Jerk. “There is much to glean from this report if you simply know where to look.”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Using his magic, my host next hovers the file over so that we’re once again looking at it together.

“Take for example Stardust's history,” he continues to lecture, pointing his hoof now at the mentioned section. “Him being a year younger than Dusk is a minor clue that can lead us towards a plethora of possible motives. Jealousy, inferiority complex, grandiose delusions; the list goes on and on.”

The alicorn’s hoof then shifts elsewhere.

“Him having only one parent listed is also quite peculiar,” he further explains, making me grow equally curious. “The lack of a father on this report suggests to me that one was never a part of his life in the first place. As you no doubt noticed on dear Applejack’s profile, even deceased parents are listed on these forms. This is certainly a detail worth considering.”

With one final motion of his foreleg, Solaris’ hoof lands on yet another section of the file.

“Lastly, and most importantly of all, there’s the matter of... this.”

“... The cutie mark descriptions?” I ask, having realized what he's pointing at. “Well, yeah, that’s the first thing I looked at. I don’t really see anything super important about it though... I mean besides it being wrong.”

My accusation causes my teacher’s lips to turn upwards into a smile.

“Wrong?” he questions me cheekily, eager to hear my response. “Wrong in what way, my dear?”

“I saw him using his Talent Spell in Ponyville,” I repeat what I had said earlier, recognizing this pop quiz for what it is. “I was in the bushes when he put Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark on Trixster’s flank, so I know him flying all over the place afterward wasn’t some kind of trick! I was completely out of Stardust’s line of sight when his partner was up in the air too, so the odds of it being an illusion spell are slim to none... not to mention there were way too many ponies in the crowd for illusion magic to work at all! Talent Spell or no Talent Spell, using magic on more than one pony at once would have spread the mana too thin for it to solidify properly… And even if he is some kind of badflank magician skilled enough to pull something like that off, his spell crafting would have made my scales shake at least a little bi-”

Clop clop clop

“Well done!” the Prince grants me honest applause, making me blush red. “Well done! And here you claimed you weren’t well-versed in spells, hah! I doubt even my fifth year students would have been able to break down the fallacies of the illusion school of magic that thoroughly!”

“Um, t-thanks,” my cheeks continue to burn. I'm not really used to receiving compliments like this… which is kinda sad, now that I think about it.

“I trust your observation on this fact, Barbara,” Solaris resumes, regaining my attention. “With it in mind, I’m now able to see the deception on this page for what it is; a misdirect.”

“A misdirect?” I parrot, pushing my brain into overdrive. “A misdirect from what?”

“The truth,” the stallion nods, and I force myself not to react to the T-word.

‘Truth’ is a very touchy subject for me right now.

“It would seem that Stardust did not wish for his special talent to become public knowledge,” Solaris goes on, tapping the file for illustration. “This is not an uncommon practice, dear; foals are sometimes influenced into concealing their mark's meaning for one reason or another. Whether it be due to shame, or rivalry, or pressure from their families is irrelevant. It’s for this reason that the outside observer section exists at all, so that the truth may shine out through the lies…”

“But Stardust’s observed section lists illusion magic as well!” I finish the alicorn’s thought for him, my eyes growing wide as the contradiction comes to light.

“But Stardust’s observed section lists illusion magic as well,” my host parrots me this time, and again he beams at my progress. “Exactly! That is most unusual. Observers are generally employed for their impartial nature, as well as their dedication to the job, so it’s unlikely that this is the result of a lazy observer. Revealing themselves to their targets completely voids their work too, not to mention their paychecks, so it’s equally unlikely that an unethical observer is the culprit for this intentional duplication...”

“I see,” I murmur, deep in thought; still trying to make sense of it all.

“... Accepting bribes for favorable reporting is also a capital offense worth ten years of imprisonment for everypony involved, so I believe we can safely rule out that possibility as well while we're at it.”

“Agreed,” I rub my chin, my mind still elsewher-

Wait what was that last part?

“T… T-ten?!” I gasp. “T-that’s a bit much, isn’t it?!”

“A necessary evil,” the Prince shrugs back, unphased by my shocked reaction. “It’s worked wondrously in discouraging ponies from attempting such for the last hundred years or so, and I have no reason to believe that it won’t be equally effective for the next hundred years as well, so I've seen no need to revise it."

“... Still though… Ten? That’s super harsh…”

“If it makes you feel any better, dear, I can count the number of times I’ve actually imprisoned a pony using this method on a single hoof.”

“Considering that your hoof is flat, big guy... No; it doesn’t make me feel any better,” I keep my commentary to myself, where it belongs. “Guess that means you don’t believe Stardust bribed somepony to do that for him then, right?” I switch the subject back to the original one.

“I doubt an eight-year-old possesses the funds necessary to pull that sort of black market exchange off, Barbara,” Solaris laughs at my suggestion, having found the mental image it conjured to be humorous. “It’s more a question of whether his mother does… Since I do not recognize her name, however, it’s unlikely she’s a member of Equestria’s wealthy upper crust. Only a pony from that exclusive circle could afford to attempt something so heinous…”

“...”

… My arms cross as I wait for the stallion to complete his thought.

I recognize the face he’s making.

That’s his annoying ‘I’m about to blow your mind’ face.

It's the very same one he used on me right before revealing his Seerdom, and Eris’ true nature as Discord. It’s a face I’m also quickly learning to loathe for both its vagueness and its association with everything I've grown to hate about the big guy’s manipulative mind games. My friend one moment, my enemy the next, and possessor of a millennia's worth of conversational knowledge and experience… How can anyone hope to stand against him in a battle of wits?

The answer is you don’t.

You’re just supposed to grin and bear it.

“... The fact that both Stardust’s observed and testimonial sections list the same magical talent, however, points to something else entirely,” Solaris at last finishes in his usual, overly dramatic fashion.

“And what’s that?” I have no choice but to play along.

Slam!

Twinkle twinkle pop

With a loud shutting and magical dismissing of Stardust’s file, the Prince turns in place to face me head-on.

“I’ve seen this sort of tactic used before,” he starts slowly, making damn sure I’m following along. “Stating that their talent is the same as what others can easily observe; it’s a maneuver often utilized by rookie members of a certain group of individuals. It's meant to conceal their presence to others, in a bid to appear normal, but their inexperience blinds them to the fact that doing such paints a larger target on their back than the truth would have. They often still take the risk though, history be darned, though I suppose running away from their gifts was always the end goal... I pity them, in a way.”

“Who?” I bite, fully aware that he’s stringing me along towards his own ends. “Who are you even talking about? What group?”

In response to my desperate plea for clarity, my host's grin grows toothy.

“Why, isn’t it obvious?” he teases me, as if I should already know the answer. “A group who often runs away from their destiny first before embracing it? One made up of individuals who want nothing more than to operate in solitude? Now... doesn’t that all sound awfully familiar to you, my dear Barbara? Does it truly fail to ring any bells?”

“...”

… Suddenly …

... it clicks.

“You’re… talking about Seers,” the dots finally connect. “Seers run from their destiny.”

“Just as you and Clover the Clever once did, yes,” Prince Solaris nods cheerily, his smile pleasant. “I’m pleased to see that you remembered our talk from so very long ago!"

“Just because I was royally pissed off at you at the time doesn’t mean I wasn’t listening,” I muse internally, equally pleased that I had somehow managed to recall such a minor throwaway line from such a super long time ago an-

Hey, wait, back that up a sec.

If trying to hide your specialness by lying about your talent is a sure sign of Seerdom in a pony, then that must mean...

“So Stardust is a Seer then!” I yelp, surprised to see that one of my earlier guesses was actually on point.

“Or at least somepony with knowledge of the future,” Solaris fully confirms, giving me pause. “Forewarning is the only way a pony can successfully conceal a magic-based special talent from the Index, so I believe we have now zeroed in on the very real possibility that he is, indeed, hiding something.”

“...”

“... Or at least somepony with knowledge of the future?” I stop to think, only narrowly avoiding asking the obvious follow-up question of, "How's that any different from a Seer?" aloud.

It's a good thing I did too, because on further digestion I stumbled on the answer on my own:

Someone with knowledge of the future, who isn’t a real Seer... that sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it?

That sounds an awful lot like me.

The image of Stardust’s youth-less expression resurfaces in my mind's eye…

…

“... We should try to talk to him,” I, at last, make up my mind; resolute in my choice. “If he’s a Seer like us then he needs to learn that using his gift selfishly is wrong.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” the royal alicorn sides with my request, believing our goals to be aligned.

Oh how wrong he is...

… But regardless of my true intent, the die has still been cast.

You better watch your flank, Stardust; your days of messing around with destiny are numbered!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

“... Brrr… Hey, Trix?”

“Hmm? What’s up, my faithful assistant?”

“Umm… Well… N-nah, never mind. It’s silly.”

“... If something’s bothering you, Stardust, you’re more than welcome to share it with the Great and Powerful Trixster. Need I remind you that I’m a Great and Powerful listener as well~?”

“... Heh… Thanks, man.”

“Anytime… So what’s up?”

“I… don’t actually know… It's like the most sinister chill just ran down my spine, and now I have this sinking suspicion that a bunch of ponies I’ve never met before are saying weird things about me behind my back, and plotting stuff…”

“...”

“... Is that weird?”

“...”

“... I-it’s weird, isn’t it?”

“... Hehe. Nah.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Stardust, we're performers! It’d be weirder if there weren’t ponies whispering jealously over our Great and Powerful exploits!”

“You think so?”

“The Trixster knows so, my faithful assistant.”

“... Heh… Thanks, Trix. Guess I can always count on you to hear me out when it comes to stuff like this.”

“Hah! Was there ever any dou-”

“Excuse us, fine gents!” a thoroughly dirty, as well as cloaked, stallion suddenly stumbled his way out of the treeline and onto the sunset-lit road. “We are in dire need of direction! Would either of thee be willing to offer onto us some assistance?”

“... Oh wow, rude much?” The Great and Powerful Trixster raised his snout skywards, greatly unamused by the stranger’s abrupt appearance. “Can’t you see that The Trixster was in the middle of a very important conversation?!”

“Ah, a-apologies,” the dark blue pegasus winced, becoming self-conscious of his muddy attire. “It was not our intention to be rude! We simply have a powerful need to locate shelter before the local inns cease their operations for the day. We made the mistake once before of lingering too long under the light of our-, er, the precious moon the other eve, for it was both large and gorgeous, only to then discover that most establishments this far south do not continue their services during the nighttime... Hmph... ‘Tis quite the shame that even now ponies will do whatever it takes to avoid the darkness of the unknown an-”

“Oh sweet Solaris he’s still talking... Why is he still talking?!”

“Hay if I know, Trix... M-maybe if we keep trotting he’ll get the hint and fly off?”

“... But of course, the simple fact that light can not exist without the dark is lost on most common ponies. It is a delicate equilibrium, one that is mirrored in many aspects of not only Equestrian life but the rest of the world as well! There is also the matter o-”

“... Stardust… He’s still following us…”

“I can see that, Trix.”

“The Trixster finds the stranger's unusual manner of speech to be annoying…”

“... No comment…”

“... Buuuuttt-”

“Trix, no.”

“But Stardus-”

“Don’t you dare.”

“The Trixster feels…”

“Don’t you dar-!”

“... that we should probably help him out.”

“Why?!” Stardust Glimmer shouted angrily, halting in place. Trixster’s wagon soon followed suit once its primary puller, the Great and Powerful Trixster, chose to stop as well. “Trix, it's almost nighttime, and I’m flipping tired! Let the dude sort his own crud out.”

“The Trixster doesn’t believe he’s capable of doing so,” Trixster reported matter-of-factly, pointing a hoof at the still monologuing pony. “The poor stallion looks a little out of it.”

“... And we tried to be cordial in Hope’s Hollow, but apparently it’s now ‘illegal’ to Dreamwalk without written consent! Hmph! The nerve! Who's the philistine who passed that legislation?! Why, when we find them, oooohhh there will be a reckoning! Of this, we swear upon the crest of the roya-”

“Even more reason why we should ditch him,” Stardust snarled, pushing his way forward. “Come on, we’re losing sunlight here.”

“Bu-”

“For the love of all that is pony, Trix!” Stardust at last snapped. “Why in Celestia’s name are you so insistent on wasting our precious time with some random, smelly, hobo?!”

“... Um... W-we are still very much present here,” said hobo interjected with an indigent huff… before proceeding to shyly give himself a sniff. “Bleh. Perhaps we should have invested Barbara’s bits into a bar of soap instead of postage… Also, who is this ‘Celestia’ of which thou speaks? We’re certain we’ve heard that name uttered once before, but can't recall where.”

“You must be hearing things, stranger,” The Trixster explained offhoofedly, before turning back towards his assistant. “And come on, Star; we’re all heading the same way, so why shouldn’t we help the poor guy out?”

“Because it’s almost the dead of night and he’s a stranger and what is so hard about this, Trix?!” Stardust Glimmer’s forehead met Trixster’s own.

“What’s so hard about lending somepony a helping hoof, Star?!” Trixster retaliated in turn, crossing his blue horn with his assistant’s pink. “It’s the gentlecoltly thing to do!”

“But what if he tries to mug us?!”

“Look how scrawny he is! The Trixster can easily take him on by himself!”

“We feel the need to remind thee that we are still standing, right, here.”

“W-well what if he leads us into an ambush?! He might not be alone!”

“Oh, thou art ignoring us.”

“Star… Look at him… Is that the face of a pony who has lots of friends?”

“...”

Uncoupling his horn with Trixster’s, Stardust leaned to the side and gave the strange stallion another searching look over.

“... I… I-I guess not,” the unicorn with the purple mane finally admitted, conceding this point to his partner.

“... We are starting to have second thoughts about requesting thy assistance…”

“Come on, Stardust,” Trixster attempted one final time to get through to his oldest friend. “Let’s help him out.”

“B-but, b-but,” Stardust stammered, still fearing for his friend’s, and by extension his, safety. “W-w-what if he tries to stab us?!”

“Hah! With what?” his foalhood companion chortled boastfully back, amused by the very suggestion. “His cutting wit? The Great and Powerful Trixster assures you that his is sharper than all the rest...” The Trixster then quickly turned back towards the pegasus. “... You don’t actually have anything sharp on you, right?”

“...”

“... W-well… In the spirit of Honesty…”

… Sling

“SWEET TAP DANCING SOLARIS IS THAT A SWORD?!”

“It’s a short warblade, actually. It’s enchanted with over twenty different utility spells an-”

“BANISH HIM TO TARTARUS, STARDUST! BANISH HIM BEFORE HE CAN CUT MY GREAT AND POWERFUL FACE!!”

“... You’re lucky you’re cute, Trix,” Trixster’s non-cowering assistant signed to himself, before turning to address the stranger…

… the one he was slowly starting to realize was too dumb to mean them any harm.

“Look, buddy?" he began. "Despite what my pal is currently screaming, I know he probably still wants to help you out. The city of Sonnambulo is supposed to be an hour away on hoof from here, and that’s where the two of us are heading now.”

“Sonnambulo!” the cloaked stallion whinnied, his excitement evident in his tone. “Excellent! That is exactly where we’re heading too! It’s the northernmost entrance to the Great Southern Dessert, you see, and the starting point towards our true destination o-”

“Yeah yeah, don’t care,” Stardust deadpanned. “Keep your life story to yourself.”

“Ah… A-apologies,” the stranger blushed red. “We’re not normally this talkative, it’s just we've recently come to the realized that keeping things bottled up, and not sharing, was what ultimately caused our current predicament and…”

Stardust raised an eyebrow threateningly.

“... A-and we’ll attempt to not be such a mouth motor starting now,” finished the pegasus, before nervously looking away. “Or was the expression ‘motormouth’...? What even is a motor anyways?”

“... Riiiiggghhht,” the pinkish unicorn shook his head, starting over. “Anyways, like I was trying to say; as long as you’re willing to hoof over that oversized letter opener until we make it to our destination, you’re welcome to follow behind our wagon trail.”

“Preferably far, far behind,” The Great and Cowering Trixster peeked out cautiously from around his Great and Powerful Assistant/ponyshield.

Hearing this, the stranger’s smile turned jovial.

“Huzzah!” he cheered loudly, and dramatically sheathed his blade. “We shall gladly accept these terms! Please take good care of Fati-Torquent in the meantime.”

“Gesundheit,” the faithful assistant muttered habitually, as he stretched his forelegs outwards in anticipation of receiving the sword…

… but then his eyes wandered towards the saddlebags the pegasus had kept hidden beneath his muddy cloak.

His cape had risen slightly via the usage of a blue feathered wing, with the intent being to easily remove the blade’s sheath out of the bag. Though the action itself had lasted no longer than a second, said second was long enough for Stardust to recognize the cutie mark emblazed upon the bag’s fake leather:

A large magenta star surrounded by a second white one...

… This was not the stranger’s cutie mark.

Stardust knew with certainty that it couldn't have been, for only one pony had that mark; the pony he hated above all others.

The pony he had sworn vengeance upon so very long ago.

A memory of lavender wings, outstretched and regal, replayed itself within his mind; devouring all other thought.

“...”

“... Shall the three of us depart now?” the stranger inquired innocently, completely unaware of the dark things that now swam at the forefront of the unicorn’s being. “The night grows closer.”

“...”

… Stardust Glimmer smiled sweetly back.

“Sure thing, mister…” he fished for a name.

The stranger inhaled…

… paused…

… and then replied somewhat reluctantly with:

“Archie.”

“...”

“... The Trixster thinks your name is stupid.”

“Yeah… Sigh… We do as well, Mister The Trixster. We do as well…”

Entry 9, Part 10 (Look Before You Seer)

Nighttime in Canterlot is anything but dark.

From the enchanted lamp posts that dot the cobblestone streets, to the starry sky above that stretches out over the horizon; the darkness has no hold over Equestria’s central capital. Even the odd pocket of shadows stands little chance in the face of all this illumination, for if given enough time the light of a passing unicorn’s horn will surely banish it either intentionally or by accident. It's for this reason that thick, light-blocking curtains are all the rage up here in the mountains.

Yet, despite the overabundance of brightness, most Canterlotians would rather retire to their beds early instead of interacting with the night.

Most... but not all.

Ponies of the older generations tend to be the ones with the early bedtime; the nobles, the purebloods, the lawmakers. They’re the ones who frequently call it quits as soon as the sun sets, while it's the complete opposite with the younger crowd. This demographic tends to stay up noticeably later, to the point wherein recent years Canterlot has begun to develop a bit of a night scene. Loud music, raves, an assortment of clubs; you name it, Canterlot has it...

… But I wouldn’t know anything about that.

I’m simultaneously too young and too old for such things.

There is, however, one thing I can enjoy about Canterlot’s nightlife, regardless of my age; it tends to leave public places, like the park, completely vacant. Normally it’s full of nobility and other snooty types, but at night it practically becomes a ghost town. No ponies, no sightseers, no guards, no eavesdroppers, and, most importantly, no princes.

With no one around to give me a hard time for simply being here, and with Canterlot Castle far in the rearview mirror, Canterlot Park has become the bastion of peace and tranquility that I so desperately need. It’s here where I’m at last allowed to sort my thoughts out.

My dark, and nebulous, thoughts...

…

… Understatement of the century incoming in three, two-

Today sucked.

There. I said it.

Today, flipping, sucked.

Everything that happened since I stepped off the train has only managed to annoy me, shock me, or increase my anxiety tenfold. Running into Madame Red again, discovering how Discord’s magic broke loose, fighting Solaris…

… losing to Solaris…

…

… The Poisoned Barb sits wide open beside me on the empty park bench.

‘Dear Diary, Today I danced with the sun,’ are the only words I’ve managed to write so far. The rest of the entry isn’t coming to me, despite already having a clear outline in mind.

I know what I want to write, and I know what I have to write, but my claw refuses to budge. I just can’t bring myself to put the thoughts to paper...

… I’m not sure I know what said thoughts even look like anymore. So much happened… Too much happened… and yet, at the same time, not much happened at all!

I wasn’t accused of doing something to Artemis:

That’s a win.

Princy’s secret journey is still under wraps:

That’s another win.

I protected Red Gala from the repercussions of assaulting royalty:

That’s the third win.

Discord’s pieces are being picked up and disposed of as we speak:

That’s win number four.

Stardust Glimmer will be interrogated:

Win number five.

I’m going to be kept in the loop on future shenanigans:

Win six...

… And Dusk will remain none the wiser… Lucky win number seven… Win, win, win, win, win, win… win. Everything’s coming up Barbara…

...

… Except… it’s not.

Today I unquestionably lost.

“A form I’m familiar with,” I repeat Solaris’ final riddle, praying that it doesn't mean what I think it means. “Bipedal… darkened skin… c-curly hai-”

Sniff

Unable to hold it in any longer, my stress shifts from a solid to a liquid.

“D-damn it,” I choke back a sob, as I try in vain to keep it together. “Damn it... damn it… Grrrrr…

"... Damn it!”

With this cry of anguish, the dam breaks wide open.

"That, damn, horse!" I shout, I scream. "That damn, damn, horse!"

This is the truth I can’t look away from:

Prince Solaris just described my original body.

“A nostalgic affair?!” I bark mocking, allowing the rage to flow. “Nostalgic?!”

The alicorn’s parting words hint at a future, one foreseen with his Seer powers, where a Shard of Discord inexplicably turns me back into a human...

… The addition of the word nostalgic, however, implies something more sinister; something I’ve long suspected, but was always too afraid to confirm.

The Prince knows exactly what I am, and what I've been going through.

He knew all along.

…

… Fzzzzz

“If he knew the truth this whole time,” I start to growl, releasing the hot embers that had formed in my throat. “then why, why why why, didn’t he say anything?!

“Why keep me guessing?!

“Why keep me in the dark?!

“Why?!

“Why?!?!

“Why do I have to suffer like this you god, damn,”

Hate-laced flames leave me as I turn my head skywards, and below a mighty cry of

“Hoooooorrrrrssseee!!!”

Emerald light blankets Canterlot Park, slaying its shadows, as well as the night's chill...

…

… Cough cough… Sniff... Sigh…

Just as quickly as it had appeared, my pillar of dragonfire vanishes back into the ether. My fury dissipates as well, as melancholy retakes its rightful place.

“... Why didn’t he say anything?” I weep in the resulting calm. “W-why does he have to string me along like this?

“Why does he have to hurt me?

“Why do I have to grieve alone…?

“... I don’t want to be alone…”

…

“Caw!”

“... Huh?” my head jerks upwards, towards the distant sound. “I… i-is somepony there?”

“Caw! Caw!”

“...”

Jumping off the park bench, I scan my stinging eyes out over my surroundings.

Thought I was by myself out here, but it sounds like I’m not...

… That sorta sounded like a bird, now that I stop to listen. An owl, maybe? I don’t think those are native to Canterlot though… Doesn’t sound like an owl either… Maybe it’s not a bird at all?

If not that, then what thou-

Glomp~

… Ah.

It would appear that bird was, indeed, the word.

Phoenix, to be precise.

“Mice mo mee mou moo, muddy,” came my muffled response from behind Ignatius’ impromptu face hug.

Using my claws, I gently remove Solaris’ prized pet from myself and try again.

“Nice to see you too, buddy.”

“Caw!” was the avian’s simple reply. His crimson feathers are glowing faintly in the darkness of the night, allowing me to see his happy beaked smile in all its splendor. “Caw caw!”

“What are you doing this far away from the castle?” I can’t help but ask him.

“Caw!”

“... You saw my pyrotechnics from your cage, and decided to say hello?”

“Caw!”

“Huh,” I note, as Ignatius begins to lovingly nuzzle the side of my cheek. “Heh, well what do you know; a temper tantrum actually paid off for once.”

“Caw?”

“Yeah I missed you too, little guy,” I snicker at the bird’s questioning tone. “Ponyville is severely lacking in friendly avian companions, let me tell ya.”

“Caw!”

“Hmm,” I nod in agreement.

With phoenix now perched carefully upon an outstretched arm, I make our way back to the park bench and return to sitting.

Things turned pleasant quiet after that, as the two of us didn’t feel the need to say much of anything. Simply relaxing and watching the stars; reminds me of the rare nights I shared with Dusk back when we used to live in this awful city.

That feels so long ago now… Like another lifetime…

...

… Another… lifetime...

…

… Solaris' word’s about Ignatius, the ones from well over a month ago, suddenly replay in my head:

“To this day I still don’t know which ponies and creatures he prefers to show his true self to,” the Prince confides in me after a time, though I remember him having told me this years ago as well. “I’ve yet to find a single thing that connects ponies and creatures like you to the likes of Starswirl and the others who accomplished such a feat.”

…

...

“... Hey… Ignatius?”

At the calling of his name, the crimson phoenix turns his head quickly in my direction. “Caw?”

Pausing, I take a moment to gather my thoughts.

“You… know what I am, don’t you?”

“Caw!” is Ignatius’ casual reply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

… Heh.

I think that’s the closest I’m ever going to get to confirming my ‘phoenixes recognize reincarnated people’ theory, folks.

Ignatius has long been a friendly companion of mine ever since I was small… er… well smaller. Unlike most others, I didn’t need to prove myself to him when our paths first crossed. Usually he likes to play pranks, and make ponies work for his affection, but the moment he laid eyes on me he was smitten; like he recognized one of his kin.

Birds of a feather flock together, as they say.

“How did you figure it out?” I attempt to cross-examine the avian.

“Caw!”

“Ah. I see.”

“...”

“... Caw!”

“... I have no idea what you’re saying,” I sigh, though I find myself still smiling all the same. “At least you’re willing to share what you know, unlike your lousy owner.”

“Caw?”

“No offense, but Prince Solaris is a big, fat, jerk,” I confide in the bird, feeling it safe to do so. “He knows so much, probably everything, but he never shows me much more than a smidgen of the big picture! Why does he do that?”

“Caw…”

My body sinks further into the bench, as my despair reaches critical levels.

“He leaves me to figure things out on my own,” I try to sort out my feelings. “And gives me moments of triumph… only to pull the rug out from under me at the very last second… W-why can’t he be straightforward?”

“... Caw…”

“... What does he even want from me in the first place…?”

“...”

“... Caw!”

“Hehe… Thanks, Iggy,” I scratch Ignatius’ chin, much to his enjoyment. “You’re a good listener.”

“Caw!”

“Wish I could take you to Ponyville with me,” I lament for that which cannot be. “I bet Sweepy Belle and Scooter would think you're just the coolest, but you’re too pretty for such a dangerous place.”

“Caw,” Iggy caws boastfully, clearly enjoying the flattery.

“... You should probably stay with your owner though,” my ears wilt slightly, as I came to realize something else. “He may a monster, but he's a monster who's going to need you by his side once he realizes that his brother has…”

“Caw?” the phoenix tilts his head slightly, unsure as to what I’m trying to say.

“... Heh… Spoilers,” I wink playfully, offering nothing more.

It might be my imagination, but I think Iggy just pouted.

This only made me giggle louder.

“Oh you silly bird,” I resume scratching the underside of his neck. “You better fly on home before it gets any darker.”

“Caw?”

“Nah, I’m not heading back to the castle,” I put words in his beak, feeling the need to explain myself. “I’m supposed to be meeting somepony here soon.”

“Caw?”

“Yeah, we figured this was as good a spot as any.”

“Caw?”

“It just worked better with her schedule,” I shrug. “Also gave me plenty of alone time to… process my encounter with Solaris.”

“Caw?”

“... Can you do me a favor and poop in that big red beard of his the next chance you get?”

“Caw!”

“Knew I could count on ya!”

With one final nuzzle on the cheek, I bid farewell to my little friend as he stretches his wings outwards and soars off into the night sky. His tiny form glows brightly in the darkness before eventually vanishing far into the distance…

...

… Well… that was a nice distraction.

Now back to our regularly scheduled mopping...

…

...

… Actually… Nah… I think I’m too tired to even care anymore.

So Solaris knows things that I don’t... Is that really any different from how these talks of ours usually end? He also already knows a good chunk of my secrets… Again I ask, what’s so shocking here?

I have to accept that, no matter how well I prepare myself for our meetings, I’m always going to be one step behind the big guy. He’s got thousands of years of experience on my pitiful decades; the fact that I sorta stood toe to toe with him at all should be commendable…

… Still though… it sucks.

It sucks that all my victories ended up getting stolen.

It sucks that all my progress didn’t amount to much either.

My ‘wins’ were hoofed to me, and it feels like my losses were scripted; the meeting ended exactly how Solaris wanted it to, I’m certain of it. Even me managing to keep my knowledge about Artemis to myself... that was probably preordained as well… The Prince even hurt me this time; a fact I'm not sure how to process. My arm isn't numb anymore, thank goodness, but now I know that he has a real-life lie detector on standby!

When next we meet, I might have no choice but to introduce myself as Barbara D. Burns...

...

… Did I manage to accomplish anything on my own today? Anything at all? Or was I just a pawn from beginning to end…?

…

...

… Clipclopclipclop

The sound of horseshoes trotting over gravel fills the air.

It seems my ride has finally arrived.

Clipclopclipclop

Clipclopcli-

The noise ceases a little ways behind my park bench.

I make no effort to turn towards it.

“...”

“... Permission to come aboard, ma’am?”

“... Heh… At ease, soldier,” I snark right back to the hidden mare. Packing up The Poisoned Barb, and scootching over to the side, I grant my guest ample space to join me on the bench. “Permission granted.”

Gleaming Shield happily obliges.

“How’s my favorite dragoness doing these days?” is the first thing the unicorn asks me as she settles herself in. With a flare of magic, she takes off her saddlebags and sets them off to the side, where they make a distinct clank sound against the ground. Must be filled with her armor; that would explain her rather relaxed appearance. "Love the tail-bow, by the way. It looks super cute on you."

"Thanks," I passively bat my tail. “And... Eh, as good as I can be, I guess” I answer her question somewhat dodgily.

I don't want to burden her with today’s… ugliness.

“Uh oh~” the white mare cheekily knocks the doom and gloom right out of me. “I recognize that look! That’s the ‘Solaris just played me like a fiddle, and now I’m questioning my entire life,’ look."

“I-I don’t have a look like that,” I argue before turning away, too embarrassed to admit how right she is. “I’m just… frustrated with him, that’s all.”

“A feeling I'm all too familiar with, Barb.” the captain of the royal guard speaks her mind freely, surprising me greatly. “A week doesn’t go by for me without at least one argument with the big guy.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah,” Gleam quickly bobs her head. “In fact, I just had an intense discussion with him the other day about the importance of tightening security around the castle while certain… er… toxic material is being disposed of.”

“Toxic material?” I blink, not fully understanding what she’s referring to… But after a moment the answer became clear. “You mean the Shards of Discord?”

My gal pal cringes.

“So the Prince told you about that, huh?” she groans, looking visibly uncomfortable by the topic.

“Yes, but only after I pressured him on it,” I attempt to explain what happened. “It’s kinda hard to keep things under wraps when you’ve got a rhino guarding your front gates, and a toddler keeping your schedule.”

“... Ah… Yeah, that’ll do,” Gleaming sighs tiredly. “I guess Twinkle Scout’s and Crow’s transformations are pretty difficult to cover up, huh… Funny how you bumped into the two that got changed the most though. All the other ones were pretty minor in comparison.”

“Guess I’m just 'lucky',” I spit crossly to myself.

“Guess so,” the unicorn shrugs back, the distaste in my tone thankfully not coming across for her. “Wish I had a bit of that luck myself, honestly. Maybe I wouldn’t have stepped on a shard if I did.”

My head violently whips up to Gleam’s thanks to this.

“You stepped on a shard?!” I gasp, as the guilty pit in my stomach grows larger. “Oh no oh no oh no! W-what happened to you?!”

“Relax, Barb,” she immediately tries to ease my fresh panic. “Relax! All it did was give me a weird day, that’s all.”

“Weird how?”

“Well I switched bodies with a maid’s for one thing,” she again shrugs casually, making my jaw drop. “Some poor mare stepped on one at the same time, so we ended up trading places. Only lasted about twelve hours; no biggie.”

“N-no biggie?!” I shriek, shocked at what I’m hearing. “Why are you acting so blasé about this?! That sounds horrible!”

“Blasé…? Heh! Reading that thesaurus Dusty gave you, I see,” Gleaming Shield jokes briefly, before returning to the subject at hoof. “And, I’ll admit, it wasn’t ideal. I lost my horn and dignity for a bit in the trade, after all; but I recognize that it could have been much worse.”

“How?!”

“She could have been a butler.”

“... Okay that’s fair.”

“Right?” the guard captain nods, before draping her forelegs over the back of our bench. “In the end, all that stupid shard managed to do was give a maid a paid day off, the guards a good laugh at my expense, and me the opportunity to cross ‘wear-a-prench-maid-outfit-in-public’ off the old bucket list.”

“... Why is that on your bucket list?”

“Why not? What, is it not on yours?”

“No, not really," I shake my head. "I had my fill of the uniform back when I used to work for the Bluebelles."

“... Oh… R-right," Gleam winces for her slip up. "Sorry, Barb. I forgot you went through something like that."

“Wish I could do the same,” I mutter under my breath. “It's okay," I choose to forgive her. "Cute outfits aside, I’m still sorry to hear that happened to you.”

“Don’t be,” Gleaming reassures me with a wave of her hoof. “It’s not like it was your fault or anything.”

Now it’s my turn to wince.

“... Barb… it wasn’t,” my friend takes on a more serious tone. “Prince Solaris is being tight-lipped about the real cause, but pretty much everypony working in the castle knows that it had something to do with Eris’ statue. It was moved from the garden about a week before the shards started popping up; they have to be connected somehow.”

“W-what if I had something to do with that though?” I suggest shyly, unwilling to fib to her. “Remember, Solaris and I meet up sometimes for secret Royal Business stuff...”

“Well, yeah, but I highly doubt your exact words were ‘let’s mess with a bunch of ponies’, girl,” Gleam disregards my whole confession. “If you had something to do with the statue, fine; but I’m going to call bull if you start blaming yourself for what a draconequus did.”

“Bu-”

Pat pat

For the second time today, I find a hoof messing with my findo.

“Barb,” is how Gleaming Shield begins, her cerulean eyes now staring directly into my own. “Making mistakes is part of the growing-up experience. Being a kid means that you’re going to be making a ton of them as you try to figure things out. Sometimes you’ll do things you don’t mean to, and that’s okay; so long as you recognize what you had control over, and what you didn’t.

“If you feel that moving the statue was a wrong call that’s fine, but you have to understand that we’re the ones who stepped on the shards, and it was Eris’ magic that did the rest. You had nothing to do with that part, understood?”

“I… I… B-bu-”

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, SOLDIER?!”

“Ma'am, yes ma’am!” I instinctively stand at attention and salute.

Whoomp

With a playful punch to the stomach, Gleaming shoots me a toothy grin as the wind exits my body.

“Glad to hear,” she continues to tense my now prone form.

“J-jerk,” I whimper dramatically, though the relief in my voice betrays me.

I really, really needed to hear that.

Recognize what you had control over, and what you didn’t, huh…

… As good of words to live by as any, I suppose.

“Thank you,” I express my gratitude to the kindhearted pony.

“No problem, Barb,” she smiles back. “Been meaning to return the favor from last time anyways.”

“From last time?”

“Yeah... Thanks again for encouraging me to go with Prince Mi Amore Bolero, by the way,” she explains herself fully, successfully refreshing my memory. Oh, right! Last time I saw Gleam she had left on an airship with Bolo!

“How did Los Pegasus go, by the way?” I ask her as soon as the thought crosses my mind. “You didn’t write anything about it in our planning letters for today.”

“...”

“... Gleam?”

“...”

… Gleaming Shield’s face abruptly turns pure red.

“U-um, w-w-well,” she stammers wildly, now unable to form a cohesive sentence. “Hehe… Y-you… Y-y-you see… um…”

“We’ll tell you when you’re older.”

“Ahh!” a stranger’s voice, whispering in my ear, frightens me right out of my seat.

Looking up from my new position on the ground, I quickly spot none other than Prince Bolero snickering at my downed self...

… Ah jeez.

And here I thought I was only going to have to deal with one annoying alicorn for today.

“P-Prince Bolero!” Gleaming gasps, standing now at attention.

“Where did you come from?!” I interject, jumping back to my feet.

“Well, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very muc-”

“Bolo no!”

“Bolo yes,” the pinkish stallion laughs at Gleam’s horrified expression, much to my frustration. “Granted I don’t know how the mechanics work for dragons, but I’m sure the principle is still the same.”

“Gonna hard pass on this topic,” I fight for attention. “Why are you here?”

“Last I checked it’s a free country, Borb.”

“My name’s Barb!”

“That’s what I said, Borb.”

“Prince Bolero, shouldn’t you be in the castle?” Gleaming Shield rediscovers her spine, though I notice that her knees are still a bit wobbly. Bleh. “It’s rather late in the eve…”

“I can see that just fine, Captain Shield,” the Prince of Love snorts in a very unprincely manner. “Returning to the castle is the last thing I want to do right now though.”

“Why?”

“Um, because it’s cursed, my dude?” Bolo rolls his eyes at my friend. “I’m not interested in switching bodies, becoming moody, or getting turned into a rubbery ducky today thank-you-very-much. I’d rather spend the night elsewhere.”

“Why are you here though?” I push forward, regaining the alicorn's attention. “The inns are on the opposite side of the city!”

“... Me? Stay at an inn?” Prince Bolero dramatically gasps in faux revulsion. “Dooming myself to a fate of subpar beds and cheap cider... like a peasant? Hah! No prince would be caught dead having to rough it like that!”

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

“Huzzah! The inn! Oh, how we have longed for its shelter and warmth! Come, friends! Let us order affordable cider and be merry for our good fortune!”

“... The Trixster is starting to warm up to this weirdo.”

Stardust facehoofed.

~Back to the Then, and Now~

“No,” Bolo continues. “An inn simply isn’t going to cut it for somepony of my stature…

“... I’m afraid only Gleaming Shield’s couch will suffice.”

“Well, I’m sure we can arrange something for you Bole- wait what?” Gleam blinks, her mind having just registered that last bit. “M-my couch?! Prince Bolero, you have to be joking!”

“I’m afraid not, Captain,” the multi-colored maned stallion reports solemnly, as if it was of grave importance. “I must commandeer your couch for the foreseeable future; at least until the castle is uncurseafied.”

“... I don’t think that’s a word.”

“Well it is now,” the Prince snaps at me, before turning back to my friend. “So what do you say, Gleaming Shield?”

“I-I say this is crazy!” Gleaming argues back. “Bolo, you can’t be serious!”

“In what way?”

“You can’t seriously be expecting me to have you to sleep on my couch!” she yells, growing frustrated. “At least take my bed or something!”

Bolo gasps.

“My! How forward of you, offering to share your bed with me! I will gladly accept, Captain~”

Gleaming starts to say something…

… but then her own words catch up with the rest of her brain, and she came to realize the terrible mistake she had just made.

“N-no! I-I-I meant to have, n-not share!” she shrieks, her whole body turning red with embarrassment. “I-I’ll sleep with the couc- ON!! I’ll sleep on the couch, not wit- WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP LAUGHING?!”

Bolo, flat on his back and coughing up a storm, fails to hear Gleam’s request.

I, meanwhile, stuck in the middle and unable to help, gently pat my gal pal’s back in a show of silent understanding.

It took a good few minutes for Prince Bolo to stop chortling, and to finally leave us alone…

… Well, I say he left, but in reality all he did was give the two of us enough space to continue our girl talk. He’s still very much in the park, and he’s still very much going to head back to Gleam’s place with us, but for now he’s granting us privacy and for that I am grateful.

So much for our girls-only slumber party though. At least Gleam has a spare basket for me to sleep in tonight. If I had to share the couch with Bolo… Argh!

“That guy’s unbelievable!” I fume, still upset over everything that had just happened.

“Yeah,” Gleaming nods her head in agreement. “He is pretty unbelievable...”

I shoot her a look.

“... U-unbelievably rude, I mean!” she quickly corrects herself, having noticed my judging glare.

Though I roll my eyes, I choose to say nothing.

“A-anyways,” the blue-haired unicorn attempts to change the subject. “Enough about him. I’m more curious how things have been going in Ponyville."

Accepting this new topic, I sit back down on the lampost-lit park bench to gather my thoughts.

“Things have been going fine,” I start slowly, allowing the report I had rehearsed for Solaris to come out naturally. “Dusk and his friends have been getting along well enough. There were a couple of instances where they got on each other’s nerves, and there was an incident with some Gala tickets where they all were fighting, but everypony made up afterward and there weren't any hurt feelings. Some visitors came to town that gave Rainbow Dash and Dusk a hard time as well, but thanks to their friendships they got over it pretty quickly. There was also this thing that happened to Applejack a little while back where he was forced to-”

“Hold it hold it hold it,” Gleaming Shield suddenly interrupts, halting my retelling.

Turning to her, I’m surprised to see that she looks… kinda disappointed in me.

Huh?

“That’s all well and good, Barb," she explains. "but when I asked how things were going in Ponyville... I meant with you; not Dusk.”

“What?” I ask in turn, taken aback. “Don’t you want to hear how your brother’s been doing?”

At this, the mare’s features soften.

“Of course I do,” she admits honestly, almost motherly. “I want to hear about that too…

“... But I can get that story from the pony himself,” she finishes, now looking at me more directly. “I can also hear it through Prince Solaris, or even read it through those friendship letter things he's been receiving.”

Plop

Gleam's hoof then finds its way to my shoulder and lays itself gently upon it.

“I can’t do the same with you though, Barb,” my friend smiles at me sweetly. “There aren't any letters for me to read, or princes to ask. The only way I’m going to find out how you’re doing is by… well… getting the answer from the dragon’s mouth…

“... So come on, girl, don’t keep me and the others in suspense,” she pleads to me with hopeful eyes. “What have you learned about friendship so far?”

“Others?” I ask, unable to think of anything else to say.

I'm honestly at a loss for words here.

“Well the folks back home will want to know how you’re doing,” Gleaming starts listing. “They’ve been trying to find a way to ship gems to you through the post office, by the way, but they keep getting flagged for ‘possible terrorist funding’, or something equally as stupid... Then there’s Pony Mary Joe. She’s been wondering where her favorite pair of customers have wandered off to. Maybe visit her to let her know you're okay; you might even get a complimentary box out of it… Oh and don’t get me started on my girls!”

“Your girls?”

“In the squad,” she elaborates. “You’d be surprised how many maids go on to become guards in this city, and some of them were even your nursemaids once! They’ve got stories from back when you were a rugrat that you’ve probably long forgotten! Hah!”

“... Wow,” I mutter quietly, overwhelmed by this rush of information. “They still remember me?”

“Remember and remember well,” Gleam reaffirms. “Petal Blossom was the one who cheered you on when you were first learning how to walk, Sky Shimmer helped you with your first fire breathing exercises, and Wingson still has the pictures of your first birthday!

“They still think about you, Barb, and I know they want to hear some good news just as much as I do.”

“...”

… The clearing goes quiet for a moment as I take the time I need to digest this.

I…

…

… I’m a selfish dragon, aren’t I?

Prince Solaris told me straight to my face that there were ponies in Canterlot that cared about me, yet I chose to brush him aside. I was so certain that he was just saying nonsense to manipulate me with, but hearing it again from Gleam… How can it possibly be wrong?

There are ponies in Canterlot that care about me just like there are ponies that care about me back in Ponyville…

… meanwhile, while I’ve been busy woe-is-me-ing, they’ve been worried... and hoping that I’m doing well...

… And I almost brushed them all aside.

…

… Let’s start fixing that, shall we?

“I… I-I’ve been getting along with Dusk’s friends,” I start small on my completely unrehearsed, and completely honest take. My friend leans in expectantly as my words begin to pick up speed. “I don’t know how I feel about some of them yet, like Elusive and Applejack, but Bubble Berry’s been nice. He even got the ponies who run the local bakery to add gems to their menu, just for me!”

“Well that was cool of him,” Gleaming grins wide, enjoying my change in tone. “How about that big guy from that photo you showed me? What was his name… Butterscotch?”

“He likes to be called Butters,” I bounce in my seat, becoming excited to share… or maybe it’s just all the coffee I drank earlier finally kicking in. “He has this cute little cottage near the forest where he takes care of a bunch of different animals! They’re all his friends and, although he’s afraid of dragons, he likes me! Truthfully he can be a little intimidating with his large size and flat expressions, but I know he has a heart that’s just as big as he is.”

“Sounds like a swell guy,” my sole audience member chuckles at my enthusiasm.

“Oh-oh, and then there’s Rainbow Dash!”

“Hmmm… Rainbow Dash... That’s the pretty one, right?”

My head rapidly nods yes.

“Yup! The super pretty one!” I happily confirm. “I got to spend a lot of time with him so far, even more than the others! One day he even came to me and, get this, asked if I could help turn him into a lady!”

“Hah! What? No way.”

“Yes way,” I snicker back, enjoying the look of surprise on her face. “He wanted to talk like one, and trot like one, and especially dress like one; so I gave him a crash course! It was soooo much fun, and he looked soooo darling in the end!”

“Wow…” Gleaming sits back in shock. “Dusk sure knows how to pick em’… I hope you didn’t push that poor stallion too hard, girl!”

“Um… W-well maybe I did go a little overboard during the training,” I scratch the back of my head out of fresh self-consciousness. “But we're still friends, so I don’t think he minded all the much... In fact…”

“...”

My gal pal’s eyebrow raises in response to my pause.

I’m debating whether I want to share this next part with her or not…

… Eh, she’s not Solaris; I don’t have to be so guarded around her.

“In fact,” I restart where I had stopped. “He told me that he was worried about me coming to Canterlot by myself, and even offered to tag along. His work kept him from coming, but still…”

“... Sounds to me like he’s a very special friend, Barb.”

“Yeah… He is, Gleam,” a warm and fuzzy feeling begins to grow in my chest. “I hope he can come with me next time. I’d love for you to meet him.”

“Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, girl.”

With that, the fuzzy feeling grows.

Hehehe~

Let’s see, who else should I tell her about… Oh! Got it!

“I also made some friends that are my age!” I report eagerly, hoping she'll be pleased to hear this.

Sure enough, just as I had predicted, Gleam's face lights up like a Hearth’s Warming Tree thanks to this news.

“Really? That’s awesome!” she cheers just as enthusiastically. There’s a hint of relief in her voice too, I notice; like this was the information she was waiting to hear the most. “What are they like?”

“Well the two I hang out with the most are named Sweepy Belle and Scooteroll, and they’r-”

“Ooooohhh~! Were those two colt names I just overheard, Borb~?”

“S-shut up, Bolo!” I scream back towards the distant stallion, him clearly not being far away enough. “That’s none of your business!”

“Which one of them do you have the crush on~?”

“... Which one do I… Bleh! THAT’S GROSS, BOLO!” I gag at the very suggestion.

The age difference alone is just… Brrrrr

“Boys won't have cooties forever, little lady~"

“Don’t pay him any mind,” Gleaming quickly comes to my aid, as she gently directs me back into a sitting position with a hoof. “Bolo wasn’t born with a horn, so who knows what growing one did to his brain.”

“... You know I can still hear you, right?”

Gleam then went on to shoot the stallion a look, one that screamed "Do you want a place to stay tonight or not?"

“... Annnnd I think I can also hear paparazzi too,” Bolero quickly backpedals, journeying further into the park and mercifully away from us. “Better make myself scarce, and junk…”

As soon as he disappears, my dear friend turns back to me and patiently waits for me to continue.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

The next several minutes were spent sharing all the misadventures Sweepy, Scooter, and I had gotten into over the past month. The games of pretend, the sports, the tree sap; everything. I also took the time to talk about Apple Buck, a foal who, while isn’t quite part of our group yet due to destiny tempting timing issues, is still a pony I enjoy interacting with. I briefly mentioned Sugar and Spice as well, two fillies who I wouldn’t claim are friends of mine, but who I’ve talked with a little bit about the sort of topics we adolescent girls enjoy discussing. Boybands, fashion fads, where to chuck a body, etc., etc.

Once I ran out of the ponies one can easily find on a playground, I switched my targeting reticule to a few of the Ponyvillians I’ve had some minor interactions with since moving in. This shortlist included the likes of Mayor Mustang, the stallion who willingly offered me help during Nightterror’s return. Talking about him made me realize how much I respect him in comparison to, say, the dragon hating Mayor Queen Bee. It’s thanks to Mustang’s policies and openness towards the strange and unusual that I'm allowed to roam Ponyville at all. ~~Maybe I should do something nice for him the next chance I get.~~

The delivery mare Derpy Hooves also came up during my listing, despite her having only been a one-off ~~character~~ interaction. Something about her made her memorable though... or maybe I was just craving one of her gem-encrusted muffins at the time. Whatever the reason was, I told Gleam all about her antics, and even about the weird thing she said about being a “fixed point”; something that only managed to trigger my gal pal's nerd-mode. She spent quite a bit of time ranting and raving about some long-running comic series from Trottingham which I’m afraid to admit I tuned out.

Once I was given the floor again, I mentioned a short encounter I had with Harpsy; a teal-hued unicorn Dusk and I knew from Canterlot. He had moved to Ponyville at some point to be with his “super best friend” Toffee, a local candy maker. Dusk didn’t remember him a whole lot, which was disappointing to see, but Harpsy didn’t seem to mind all that much. He played some music for me on his harp, I let him sketch my talons; overall, it was a pleasant exchange.

As the night began to deepen, and as the cold started to settle in, Gleaming Shield and I felt it was about time for us to start heading out. Before we left, however, there was one last pony I just had to tell her about.

Saving the best for last only seemed appropriate.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... Oh, oh! Before we go, there’s one last pony I’ve got to tell you about!”

“Hehe, okay Barb,” Gleaming attempts to calm me down. “One more for the road.”

“She’s,” I start confidently, making sure to paint as big of a picture that this particular mare deserves. “Well, she’s… really special… And one of the first ponies I met in Ponyville. She’s big and kind, and… heh… Don’t get too jealous when I say this, Gleam, but she might be one of my new best friends.”

“You’re allowed to have more than one best friend, girl,” the unicorn laughs at my perceived childishness… which might be legitimate at this point. “I promise I won’t get jealous though.”

“Thanks,” I giggle, feeling giddy. “Anyways; she’s super nice, and considerate, and she’s even Applejack’s big sister!

“Her name is Red-

~In Another Time, In Another Place~

“-Mac!”

Shining Armor waited patiently as the young drake turned quiet, becoming deep in thought. He didn’t feel the need to push his little buddy along, for he knew he would spit the whole story out once he was good and ready.

And, after a time, Spike was just that.

“He’s always looking out for me,” is how he chose to begin, as he focused on everything that made Big Macintosh special to him. “Making sure I’m comfortable in Ponyville, making sure Twilight doesn’t push me too hard… Not that she ever does, obviously, but he always asks.”

“Well that doesn’t surprise me one bit,” Shining stated offhoofedly, brushing the oddness aside. “What you and Twily share is pretty unique, Spike. In a little town like Ponyville, it would be more shocking if there weren’t ponies wondering what your whole deal is.”

“Yeah, but the girls never ask,” the dragon pointed out, a hint of disappointment present in his voice. “I wish at least Rarity would… Maybe they’re just trying to be nice or something? I-I don’t know how mares think.”

“Hey don’t look at me,” the stallion beside him shrugged off his searching gaze. “I’m just as clueless in that department as you.”

“Don’t I know it,” a passing by Princess Cadance giggled quietly from her hiding spot.

“I like it when Big Mac asks though,” Spike continued. “It makes me feel… I don’t know… like I’m part of something important to him. Sometimes I feel the same way when Twilight thanks me for helping her, but it’s different when I’m with Mac. It’s like I don’t have to do anything with him to get the same thing... if that makes any sense to you. It doesn’t really for me...”

“The little guy’s looking for the word ‘family’,” Shining Armor thought to himself, the realization granting him mixed feelings.

On the one hoof, he was pleased to see that the dragon had somepony in Ponville looking out for him, and who desired to see him live the normal life he deserved.

On the other hoof, Spike’s inability to recognize unconditional affection was discerning, and failed to paint Twilight Sparkle in a flattering light.

“Twily, why do you have to be the smartest, and the dumbest, pony I know at the same time?” Shiny tsked crossly in his head. “If Celestia hadn’t commanded me to keep my distance, you’d be getting an earful right now, missy.”

“... Big Mac helped me out of a lot of jams too,” Spike resumed, regaining Shining’s attention. “Like when the girls went to take down Nightmare Moon, and recently too when Princess Lun-, er,” the drake stopped himself before he let slip too much. “I-I mean when, um, w-when a Princess in an Ogres and Oubliettes game we were playing was in trouble! Yeah, that’s it.”

“Oh, he plays O&O too?”

“Taught him myself,” Spike boasted proudly, bounding his chest as he did.

“What’s his class?”

“Black Knight.”

“Hah! Noob.”

“Be nice,” Spike commanded with a snicker. “He’s having fun, and that’s all that matters… It’d be cool if you could join us for one of our guys nights though!” he suddenly suggested, as he bounced excitedly with all his youthful energy. “O&O is way better with three players than two!”

“I’d be down...” Shining simply smiled, enjoying the sight of the boy’s enthusiasm. “... Just as soon as I can get time off of work. It’s been crazy busy in Canterlot lately, what with Princess Luna’s return and all. I’ll try to find a day where I can sneak away for a bit to visit Ponyville though; I promise.”

“Really?!”

“Oh yeah,” the unicorn tried to sound as sincere as possible, even though he knew that his schedule was already booked solid for the rest of the year. “If this Big Mac guy has become one of your best friends then I’d like to meet him. I’d like to introduce myself to all of Twily’s new friends too. Knowing her she probably never mentioned me…”

“What? That’s ridiculous, Shining Armor! Of course your sister mentioned yo-”

Upon discovering that he was receiving a stink eye for his blatant lies, Spike changed his tune.

“N-not even a passing remark,” he shyly amended his claim. “Sorry, man… In Twilight’s defense, she’s still trying to figure out what normal ponies talk about. Just yesterday she tried to strike up a conversation with Pinkie Pie about long division.”

“That poor mare,” Shining nodded somberly.

“Which one?”

After a laugh was shared at Twilight Sparkle’s expense, Shining Armor felt the need to move things along. “It sounds like you’ve made some really good friends, Spike. I’m proud of ya’, little guy.”

“Heh… t-thanks, man,” the drake’s cheeks turned red, though he was unsure why. If pressured, he wouldn’t admit that it was due to feeling warm and fuzzy inside, no siree.

Such an unmanly reaction was beneath a gentledragon such as himself, after all.

“Sounds like you met quite a few interesting ponies too,” Shining continued to tease the blushing dragon. “Though I guess that’s an inevitability when you move to Ponyville, right?”

“...!”

Suddenly, Spike remembered something important.

“Actually… heh, speaking of interesting ponies,” he started slowly, wanting to build suspense for the eventual reveal. “I bumped into one who wasn’t from Ponyville!”

“Oh?” Spike’s sole audience member tilted his head, becoming intrigued. “And who might that be?”

With a big grin etched on his face, the dragon reached a claw behind his back.

Hidden between the base of his tail and the start of his back was a beat-up, magenta-hued fanny pack. Ever on his person, intentionally blending in with his scales, the satchel was where the drake often kept his most precious tools and treats.

“I met him when I got stranded north of town the other day,” he continued to explain, as his claw kept itself busy searching through the modest-sized pack.

“How’d you end up north?”

“Got stuck on the Canterlot-bond train when I took too long writing a threatening letter to an unconscious princess,” Spike elaborated fully through his split attention… before quickly realizing his mistake. “I-I mean, um… Through completely normal Ponyville shinanigans?”

“... Ah,” Shining nodded simply, accepting the perfectly plausible explanation. “That makes sense.”

“It’s a very silly town,” the dragon laughed to cover his slip-up “A-anyways, how I ended up north isn’t important... What is important is that I got a ride home from a super interesting pony, and one who just so happened to be traveling south right when I was!”

“Well don’t keep me in suspense here, Spike,” Shining played along with the child’s hyping. “Who’d you meet?”

With his smile cheekily growing larger, Spike’s claw divided further into his bag as he redoubled his efforts. Within the sack, his talons brushed up against scrolls, scroll seals, inkwells, quills, a collection of half-eaten gems, a sack of bits, and a rather hefty tome… before at last settling on his quarry:

A signed autograph.

Taking a page out of Celestia’s playbook, the drake decided that showing was better than telling as he gripped the slip out of the bag and presented it to its intended recipient.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Igniting his horn with light rose magic, Shining Armor delicately levitated the piece of paper out of Spike’s grip and brought it closer to his eyes. Under the light of his aura, and the light post above him, the stallion proceeded to read the words on the page…

… and gasped.

“No way,” he uttered, blown away. “Is this...?”

“Yup,” Spike nodded cheekily.

“No way,” Shining repeated himself, rereading the autograph. “No way…”

Turning to face the child, making sure there was no deceit in his eyes, Shining Armor was forced to accept that the letter was, indeed real and, that what it represented was also indeed fact.

“... Spike… I can’t believe this… You met Hoity-

~Back to the Then, and Now~

“-Posh?!” Gleaming Shield finished, her shock evident in her tone.

I can’t help but snicker.

“I thought you of all ponies would recognize her signature, Gleam,” I keep on teasing my friend. “Aren’t you a super fan of her’s or something?”

“C-closet fan, yes,” she admits, after briefly checking to make sure that Bolo wasn’t listening. “She had the final say on the costume choices for the Power Pony Live Show, you know.”

“Hehe, yes I remember you mentioning that to me once or twice… or twenty,” I snicker as the grown mare devolves into an excited little filly.

“If it weren’t for Pish Posh’s campaign for authenticity in the theater genre, regardless of the source material, the studio hosting the show would have gone with a more advertisement-friendly reimagining!” Gleam continues to fangirl for me, unaware of how adorably Dusk-like this made her look. “I’ve been following her work ever since! Eeeeeeee!! Oh, thank you thank you thank you!”

And then, completely unprompted, the unicorn leans over to give me a big old hug...

… Heh.

What is it about my body that makes adult mares just want to smother me like a teddy bear? I imagine my scales aren’t all that comfortable against their skin… Maybe I’m just at the perfect hugging temperature? Alas, I’m doomed to never know the answer.

Truly this is the most harrowing aspect of my second life.

“You’re the best, Barb.”

“I know, but I’m humbly modest about it~”

“Snrk,” Gleaming Shield snorts at my recycled joke, the same one that got her little brother earlier today.

Letting go of me, she gives the autograph one last read before stowing it away into her saddlebags, and proceeding to place said saddlebags back upon her back.

“We should probably start heading out,” she notes to me as she leaps off the park bench. “There’s this new ice cream shop off Manestreet I want to take you to before we get to my place. Figured you could use some well-earned comfort food after dealing with Prince Solaris an-”

“Is the place called Tooty Fruity’s Frozen Emporium?” I bluntly interrupt, upsetting the mood.

Gleam blinks blankly back.

“... Oh,” she tilts her head. “Have you been there already?”

“Yeah,” I sigh, growing uncomfortable. “It opened the day before Dusk and I left Canterlot…”

I don’t want to bring this up to her, especially after we just had such a nice bonding moment… but since she made the place a part of our slumber party plans, I guess I have no choice.

“... They’ve got a no dragon policy,” I finish the icky explanation. Now finding it hard to look the mare in the eyes, I lay down the facts. “They don’t want one accidentally breathing fire around their products... W-which I totally get, of course,” I quickly tack on. “Safety concerns and whatnot. It makes perfect sense to me…”

“...”

“... Buck em’.”

“B… B-Bolo?” I turn towards the latest speaker, the one who just rejoined our group.

“Language,” Gleaming threatens the stallion, though she goes mostly ignored.

“No, buck em’,” Prince Bolero proceeds to repeat himself. “You’re not missing a thing, Borb. The crud they sell in there must have come out of the wrong end of the cow or something because it tastes like straight diarrhea to me.”

Gleaming Shield’s face properly turns green thanks to this.

“What?” Bolo defends his crassness. “I’m just saying what we’re both thinking! That third-rate parlor gives ‘cow patties’ a whole other meaning!”

...

… Okay... I’ll admit…

... the potty language got a chuckle out of me.

Maybe it’s because it came from the mouth of a prince, maybe it’s because there's something inherently funny about those specific words, or maybe it’s because I’m a literal child; whatever the case may be, Bolo had successfully made me smile again.

I don’t know whether this fact makes me happy or angry, in all honesty.

“Now enough prattling, ladies,” the sole stallion present commands. “We’re burning nightlight here! Let’s go pick up some real food somewhere and get to the nail painting, or pillow fighting, or whatever the hay it is you girls do at slumber parties.”

“We mostly eat copious amounts of junk food and play Ogres and Oubliettes, Prince Bolero,” Gleaming explains our plan to the alicorn. “If that sounds like fun to you, you’re more than welcome to join us.”

“But-” I start to argue.

Bolo may have just made an effort to cheer me up, b-but I don't want him butting in on our campaign! I've been waiting all month to continue it!

“Didn’t you just say that three players are better than two, Barb?” Gleam asks me simply, making me realize my slip up.

Eep.

Foot meet mouth, volume two.

“... The absolute vision of feminine grace and charm, this one,” Bolo mumbles something under his breath. “Why did I have to fall for a nerd? Never played the game, but I’m a quick study.”

“Glad to hear!” my gal pal cheers a tad more loudly than necessary. “I-I mean, ahem… I’m happy you’ll be joining us.”

Choosing not to give her a hard time for her taste in stallions, I jump off the bench and sling my purse strap over my shoulder.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

The sound of magic buzzes in my ears as I find myself lifted off the ground and placed upon a pony’s back.

To my great surprise, and mild annoyance, it turns out to be Bolero’s.

I guess even he can be a gentlecolt when he feels like it... Oh dragon dung, I'm going to end up leaving on good terms with this jerk, aren't I?

Oh cruel fate, why have you forsaken me so?

With Bolo's redemption arc imminent, as well as dinner, a relaxing calm soon followed as the three of us departed the park, and made our way towards Gleaming Shield’s humble abode. Thoughts of this past day still dangle in my mind, cropping up occasionally to remind me of their existence, but I feel more inclined to address them now that I’ve been given a pleasant distraction.

Talking about my friends, and making Gleam happy, has done a marvelous job of reminding me of the facts that are most important:

There are ponies in my life that love me for who I am.

There are ponies in my life who want to see me happy.

There are ponies in my life that appreciate my presence here.

I may be a poisoned barb upon the timeline, and perhaps even the planet itself, but as long as I remember that I’ve had a positive impact on those around me the darkness will never truly take hold. Solaris may try to bully me into talking, and one day he might even succeed, but if I continue to build these fledgling connections then maybe, just maybe, I'll be okay with spilling the beans.

I am Barbara The Dragoness, and I am not alo-

Wait… the Canterlot Library is still open this late at night…?

… Huh… That's weird…

...

… S-sorry. I got distracted by my surroundings for a second there, hehe. Now... where was I? I was waxing poetic about not being alone or something, right?

…

… ?!

“Stop!” I suddenly bark, halting my ride’s trot.

“I-I’m right flipping here, Borb,” Bolo winces, his ears flattening across his skull thanks to my shouting.

“What’s up, Barb?” Gleaming inquires, while simultaneously emphasizing my name for Bolo’s sake.

“I almost forgot something!” I explain quickly, as I jump off Bolero’s back and onto the pavement. Thank you, reinforced dragon knees. “I’ll be back in a sec!”

“Where are you going?”

In mid-dash, with no intention of stopping, I make it halfway up the Library’s many stone steps before I turn towards the lovebirds and shout back an explanatory cry of:

“I’ve got a letter to deliver!”

Entry 9, End (Look Before You Seer)

Dear Prince Solaris,

It's hard to believe that two ponies who seem to have so little in common could ever get along. But I found out that if you embrace each other's differences, you just might be surprised to discover a way to be friends after all.

Always Your Faithful Student,
-Dusk Shine

P.S. It turns out that the Magic of Male Bonding is just as elusive and mysterious to me as the Magic of Friendship. I’ll be sure to keep it in mind as I continue my educational research here in Ponyville.

Knock knock knock

“Huh?” Dusk’s head rose quickly from out of his friendship letter’s rough draft. “Who could that be? It’s the middle of the night!”

Stepping away from his desk, the studious stallion made his way towards the stairwell.

“I’m going to get the door,” he called back to his friends before descending to the first floor.

Knock knock knock

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” he then yelled from halfway across the foyer. “Goodness, you’d think the world was ending or something… Again.”

Clip clop clip clop

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

With a flare of magic from his horn, Dusk Shine opened the door…

… and gasped.

“Rainbow Dash?” he asked with stunned surprise. “And you’re using the front door for once? What’s the occasion?”

“Yeah nice to see you too, jerk,” Rainbow Dash smiled in turn, returning the playful jab with one of his own. “Didn’t want to interrupt whatever you, Elusive, and Applejack were doing, but I’ve got a couple of things I need to ask you.”

“Elusive and Applejack?” Dusk blinked back in confusion. “How did you know that they’re her-” he started to ask, but then the answer became clear. “Oh, you must have spotted them coming in while you were setting up the storm. Those eyes of yours are crazy impressive, Dash.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, dude,” giggled the girly stallion. “How are they treating each other, by the way? Like oil and water, or is it more like cats and dogs?”

“It’s…”

“Hey hayseed, everythin’ okay down there?”

“We were hoping to move on to the next activity alread- Oh. Hello, Rainbow Dash. Still enjoying my lovely bows, I see.”

Turning his gaze away from Dusk, Rainbow looked beyond the bookworm... and saw a sight that made his jaw drop.

From the stairwell, Applejack and Elusive stood shoulder to shoulder; one of them sporting a black eye, and the other a missing tooth. Both had ruffled coats, covered in bruises, and both...

… were smiling quite goofily.

Rainbow Dash found this detail to be the most disturbing of all.

“What brings ya around these here parts?” Applejack asked conversationally. “Lookin’ for a seamster to touch up one of yer dresses? Heh.”

“Oh behave, Applejack,” Elu laughed cheekily. “We all know how much you adore Rainbow’s little outfits.”

Whomp!

Elusive received a hoof to the face for his remark, the blow managing to dislodge another tooth from his already swollen mouth.

… Crack!

Taking it in stride, the fashion pony headbutted AJ in retaliation.

The room grew quiet for a moment after this exchange… but the silence didn’t last long. Soon the two stallions were laughing heartily with one another like the good friends that they were.

From the entrance, Rainbow Dash could only stare awestruck.

“More like cats and dogs, I’d say,” Dusk answered RD’s question nonchalantly, paying the odd happenstance no mind. “Believe it or not this is a remarkable improvement from how they were behaving earlier.”

“I-is it now?” Rainbow shook his head in disbelieve. “Huh...”

“Rainbow, dear, I believe Applejack asked you a question,” a greatly injured Elu interjected. “What drew you here today?”

Though slightly off-put by the unicorn's bloody mouth, Dash quickly recovered enough to provide an answer.

“I was doing a final fly-by of the area when I noticed that the tree next to the library was completely gone!” the pegasus explained quickly, using his hoof to point out a window for illustration. “Does anypony know what happened to it? The weather team has to write up a report on any damage one of their storms causes.”

Once the question was finally asked, Elusive and Applejack glanced at each other…

… before proceeding to laugh even harder.

“... I feel like I got left out of something,” Rainbow Dash grumbled heatedly. Rising into the air, the ponytailed pony raised his voice as he took on a more authoritative tone. “Okay, spill it! What the hay happened?!”

“Applejack tried to drop a tree on me,” Elu revealed drolly.

“Only because you tried to smother me with a pillow!” AJ fired back.

“I wouldn’t have resorted to that if you had stayed down when I zapped you.”

“Oh like yer little mosquito kisses could hurt me!”

“Don’t pretend like you weren’t wailing like a little foal!”

“Was not!”

“Were too!”

“Ah’ll show you wailing you no good son of a-”

“Applejack accidentally lassoed the tree and dragged it inside,” Dusk explained the situation fully for Rainbow. “It broke a window and made a mess of the top floor, but he worked with Elusive to set things right.”

“I… see,” Dash replied steadily, his sight now split between his calm friend and his two bickering ones.

“... I don’t think I quite understand guys nights yet, Rainbow Dash,” the purple unicorn disclosed quietly with his dear pegasus friend. “I think their fighting is supposed to be... good? They seem to be getting along better than they did before, at least.”

“This is definitely the closest I’ve ever seen those two be, I’ll give you that,” Rainbow deadpanned, referring more to the pair’s hooficuffs than anything metaphorical.

“I’m glad you see it too,” Dusk failed to catch the double meaning “Still, I learned a lot about friendship today, and I even managed to get a friendship letter out of it! Now all I have to do is remember to have Barb send it once she gets back and…”

“...”

Dusk abruptly grew quiet, becoming deep in thought.

With AJ and Elu preoccupied with trying to knock each other out, and with his target becoming introspective, Rainbow Dash saw this as the perfect opportunity to strike.

“About Barb,” is how he started, though he was still unsure how to properly word his inquiry. “She’s… um… Well why is she… er… I… I-I want to ask…”

… but, despite his best efforts, RD’s words refused to form.

His mental fretting had turned the hornet’s nest into something too large, and too intimidating, for him to kick.

“She’s in Canterlot,” Dusk surprised Dash by being the first to speak. “Away on Royal Business. I think she was going to stay the night at my big sister's place too if I'm remembering correctly.”

“You have a sister?”

“At first I was worried about having her go by herself,” the unicorn kept going, leaving Rainbow’s question unanswered; conversing more with himself than his audience. “She’s still just a baby dragon, after all…”

"..."

Rainbow Dash landed softly upon the floor, and waited patiently for his friend’s next few words.

“... But she’s also been… better at social stuff than me,” Dusk Shine finally admitted, his feelings becoming clear to both himself and the other gathered stallions. “Honestly she does way better on her own than I do somedays. I know she’s probably fine, and that it’s silly of me to worry… but… w-well…”

“You still do,” Applejack stepped in, having put his bought with Elusive aside to be supportive. “Shoot, ah felt the same darn way the first time ah had to drop Apple Buck off for kindergarten, hayseed!”

“And I had similar reservations when it was Sweepy’s turn to experience his first taste of independence,” Elu chimed in as well, joining what had now become an impromptu support group. “With my parents having already gone through the same ordeal back when I was a foal, it fell to me to be the designated worry-wort.”

“R… R-really?” Dusk asked quietly, turning now towards the two beat-up ponies. “So I’m not being weird by worrying?”

“Oh you definitely are, buddy,” AJ chortled loudly. “Pretty sure that little dragon of yer’s has been takin' care of herself well enough without any hiccups, so why would this be any different?”

“I concur,” Elu concurred. “Barbara is… special… and far more dependable than I think you’re giving her credit for. I implore you to have a little faith in her, good sir.”

“... You guys… Heh… Thank you,” the worried unicorn smiled genuinely, his heart feeling noticeably lighter than it had before. “And thank you for going along with this silly sleepover plan of mine. It was a great distraction from… Well, you know.”

“Anytime, partner,” Applejack slapped Dusk’s back with a hoof, much to the latter’s discomfort. “This was actually pretty fun! We should do this again someday.”

“If we do, please allow moi to supply the games,” Elusive suggested eagerly. “I know one in particular that relies less on numbers, and more on a sense of humor, called Appl-... On second thought, it would probably be for the best if I kept the name under wraps for now, hohoho.”

“Sounds good to me,” the sole earth pony present stomped a hoof in celebration. “You bring the fun, and ah’ll bring the cider!”

“Cider?!” Rainbow Dash shouted a little louder than necessary, accidentally reinserting himself back into the conversation. “I-I mean… ahem… If you guys serve cider at these things then I might be down for joining the next one.”

“Did you want to join this one?” innocently offered Dusk Shine. “I think we all have a little energy left in us before our beds start calling our names.”

“... Um… Well you see…”

“...”

… Rainbow Dash wanted to say yes.

Rainbow Dash wanted to join his friends in what appeared to be a good time...

… but something inside him screamed ‘no’.

Red Gala’s honest words, and Barbara’s distasteful situation, still weighed heavily on his mind.

“... Ummmm...”

Dusk was still Rainbow's friend, and Dusk cared for the little dragoness, but there were too many unknowns for the pretty pegasus' liking.

He wanted things to be simplified.

He wanted his questions to be answered...

… When he looked into Dusk’s hopeful eyes, however…

“...”

“... Nah,” was Rainbow Dash’s eventual reply. “I, um, s-still got a lot of work to do tonight.”

“Now isn’t the right time,” the speedster thought to himself. “Not while he’s doing his friendship learning thing…

“... Will there ever be a good time though...?

“... Gotta watch the storm and make sure it doesn’t cause any more damage,” RD finished elaborating his excuse, hoping that it was believable. “Swinging by was more of a lunch break thing.”

“I thought you said you stopped by because of the missing tree?” Dusk pointed out the accidental contradiction in Dash’s testimony, making the pegasus freeze up. “Now that I think about it, considering the forecast, shouldn’t you be on the west side of Ponyville right now? You know... where the eye of the storm should be forming approximately five minutes from now?”

Rainbow gulped.

“Don’t those require senior weather staff, such as yourself, to monitor closely...?”

Rainbow sweated.

“... You’re cutting it pretty close to that deadline, Dash,” Dusk continued to grill the stallion, though he wasn’t doing so out of malice. He was just genuinely curious. “You must have planned out this ‘lunch break’ of yours around it pretty tightly…

“... Hey, wait… Didn’t you say that you had a couple of questions for me; as in, more than one?”

“...”

“... Well I better get flying!” Rainbow bluntly shouted, turning to leave. “My lunch break is almost up.”

“Rainbow Dash?”

“See you later, Dusk,” RD turned his head briefly to relay. “You enjoy the rest of your guys night, okay?”

“Bu-”

Woosh~

Without another word, Rainbow extended his wings fully and launched his body up into the stormy night’s sky. Golden Oaks soon disappeared beneath the cloud cover as he rocketed towards his next destination.

Guilt would remain his ever-vigilant copilot for the rest of the wet, and miserable, evening.

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

“... Excuse me, ma’am?”

At the sudden sound of my voice, the light orange unicorn I had just approached jerks her head out from her book, and blinks blankly into space. A strand of her somewhat messy, vermillion-hued mane falls flatly against her face as she rapidly shifts her gaze around in an attempt to figure out who was talking to her.

“Sorry,” I apologize profusely for interrupting the mare’s reading time. “Didn’t mean to scare you. I was just wondering if you could help me find somepony? The head librarian told me that you and one other were the only ponies still left here tonight…”

At last figuring out where I am based on the direction of my voice, the sitting pony aims her sight downwards towards the floor.

“Oh… Oh wow,” she mumbles in awe, shocked by my appearance. A white-tinted hoof peeks itself out from underneath her blue, star-adorned cape as she uses it to adjust her glasses. “A baby dragon? Goodness! Never imagined I'd bump into one in a place like this… O-oh, you just asked me a question, didn't you? S-sorry about that. What can I help you with, little one?”

“I’m looking for a unicorn stallion with a light, yellowish-grey coat,” I describe my target quickly, for time was of the essence. “He’s got a two-toned mane, sorta red and purple, and his cutie mark is of a crescent moon with a few stars around it… Have you seen anypony like that today?”

The mare pauses for a moment as she searches her memory.

“Hmmm… Why, yes, actually,” she provides me with good news. “Recently too. I think he might still be over by the speculative magic section on the third floor.”

“Really?!” my voice rises for a sec before I remember that I’m in a library. “Thank you so much, Miss…” I fish for a name.

“Sunshine.”

“Thank you, Miss Sunshine!” I thank the helpful pony properly. Before I start to make my way over to the mentioned section, I add a friendly, “I like your cape, by the way!” to my quick goodbye.

“O-oh, why thank you as well! I based it off of Starswirl the Longmaned’s original design aannnnd you’re gone.”

A bit rude of me to ask and dash like that, I know, but like I said earlier time is of the essence. Since I'll be leaving Canterlot first thing in the morning, this is going to be my only chance to make good on my promise to Dusk. I’m not going to be able to catch another train until the day after tomorrow so this, right here, is my best shot for delivering his letter to-

Ah.

And there he is:

Moonhoofer.

The dude appears to have gone through a bit of a, shall we say, facelift since last I saw him. Where before he looked exactly like Dusk, now it seems he’s found a style all his own.

Said style consists of a sweater shirt to hide his unkempt coat, a braid to manage his uncut mane, and a line of tape to mend his broken, unsalvageable glasses…

… In short, he looks like a wreck.

Considering the upset state I left him in I’m not surprised.

As you may or may not recall, the last time I saw this stallion was around when I returned to Canterlot after Nightterror Nebula’s defeat. We bumped into each other at Pony Mary Joe’s, and it was there where I broke the news of Dusk’s reassignment to Ponyville. Moony didn’t take it well, which was understandable considering that my charge had unintentionally ditched his party in favor of saving the world. The poor unicorn stormed off with tears in his eyes, and if it weren’t for the untimely arrival of a scroll I might have chased after him.

Since it did arrive, however, I guess I'll never know whether I would have or not. It's not like I'm all that close with the pony; more acquaintance than a friend, sadly.

Well, either way, I'm still glad I found him. “Moonhoofer!” I call out as loudly as is appropriate for a library; i.e., barely above a whisper. “Hey, Moonhoofer!”

The stallion's eyes remain glued to his book, the one titled ‘The Fisher Kingdom Effect’.

“Moonhoofer!” I try again, this time closer. “Equestria to Moonhoofer!”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Once again he ignores me as he uses his grey-hued magic to turn his book's page.

“... Moonhoofer… I know you can hear me… Look, I’m not even calling you Lunardanseur anymore; just like you asked!”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Another page turns.

“Moonhoofer…”

Flip

“... Moonhoofer…”

Flip

“... There’s no way you’re reading that quickly.”

Flip

“Super impressive if you are though.”

Flip

“That's gotta be, like, a world record or something… Or maybe just a magical academy one?”

Flip

“I like your sweater. It looks comfy.”

Flip

“And your mane is really pretty. Wish I could do something similar with my fins.”

Flip!

“You should be more careful with those pages.”

Flip!

“You might accidentally rip one out.”

Flip!

“I hear the fees in this place are cra-zy.”

Flip!!

“Like student loan crazy.”

Flip!!

“They should abolish those.”

Flip!!!

“Total scam, in my opinion.”

Flip!!!

“What’s the point in learning stuff if you’re going to spend the rest of your life paying it back, am I right?”

FLIP!!!

“... You just ran out of pages there, Moonhoof-”

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” Moonhoofer finally snaps, dropping his book long enough to glare at me. His outburst earns him a few “Shhhh!”-es from all of the, like, two ponies still left in the building. “Can’t you see I’m trying to be alone here, Bar-”

Smack!

Before he can finish, I noisily slap a letter on the table with all the force I can muster. This results in the stallion having no choice but to look at it.

Once he does, his rant dies on his lips.

“Special delivery from Ponyville,” I smile toothily at the now stunned pony. “Straight from the desk of Dusk Shine to your awaiting hooves. Tips are appreciated, but not necessary~”

“From… Dusk?” Moonhoofer asks me hushedly, unbelieving of my words. "He actually... wrote to me?”

Cling clank

“Considering that he wanted me to give you one of these as well," I point to the second delivery item, the one I had just tossed onto the table. "I think he plans to keep writing to you, Moonhoofer.”

“A… A-a scroll seal?!”

“Yup,” I nod, confirming his suspicions. “One that goes straight to me. I’m pretty confident that a smart pony like you can figure out how to copy it, so feel free to make yourself a whole bunch. I won’t mind, just so long as you don’t send stuff past my nine-o-clock bedtime,” a giggle escapes me. “I’m too old to be accidentally flaming the bed, thank-you-very-much.”

“...”

Moonhoofer, still in a daze, looks searchingly back and forth between the scroll seal and the letter.

“I... don’t understand,” he utters quietly, still trying to make heads or tails of what I’m saying.

My eyes roll thanks to this.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I can’t help but laugh. “Come on, dude. I’m a kid and even I can see what’s going on here.”

Jumping up onto an open chair, and then onto the table itself, I grasp the letter and seal in my claws and present them once again to the bewildered stallion.

“Dusk wants to be your pen pal,” I kindly spell it out, widening the purple eyes hidden behind the pony’s glasses. “I told him how you reacted to the news about us moving away, and he must have felt super guilty or something because the next thing I know I've got a secret letter to deliver."

“Secret?”

“Hey, you know Dusk; that pony makes mewrite everything for him,” I snort. “Him writing this one up by himself must mean that it's something special, and for your eyes only.”

“Only mine?” Moonhoofer parrots, as the big picture slowly becomes clearer for him. “How do you know what it says then?”

“I don’t,” I shrug, again surprising him. “Dusk could be hounding you for some bits you owe him for all I know... but I’ve got a feeling that’s not the case here.”

"W-why do you think that?”

“Because my charge now knows that Friendship is Magic,” I grin a dung-eating grin, maximizing the cheesiness as far as I can push it. “And I think we both know how much magic means to him.”

“...”

… After a hard-fought fight…

… Moonhoofer finally produces a smile.

Mission accomplished.

“Yeah,” he finally admits. “Yeah, I know. It’s what I admire the most about him.”

“Same,” I agree with him wholeheartedly. “And I’m sure that’s something he admires about you too, Moonhoofer.”

“R-really?”

Plop

“Only one way to find that out,” I reply cooly with a leap off the table, and a slow walk away. “Read his letter, the one likely filled with apologies and vows to do better, then send one back. See where it goes from there. Can't promise it'll make up for us missing your party, but if you're willing to meet Dusk halfway… Well, you might be surprised how quickly friends can bounce back from the brink.

"Friendship is work, Moony, and it’s work that both parties need to do, not just one...”

Before I reach the stairs leading downwards, I shoot the pony one last glance from over the shoulder.

“... It’s work worth doing though. Promise.”

“...”

Feeling that my meddling quota for the day has been successfully hit, I start to make my way back towards where I had left Gleaming and Prince Bolo.

“... Goodnight, Barb...” Moonhoofer calls back distantly. “... And… thank you.”

Waving a claw behind my back in goodbye, I redouble my efforts towards leaving.

…

...

… Whelp…

… That was a thing.

I hope Moonhoofer reads that letter, and that it does contain what I think it does. I highly doubt Dusk would have asked me to deliver a scroll seal to the dude if not with the plan of becoming pen pals, but I don't live inside his head. Even if that wasn’t his end goal, my advice should hopefully push Moonhoofer down that path...

…

… Truth talk?

My advice to him wasn’t completely benevolent.

A bit of it was selfish, in a way; an attempt to ease my conscience for the mistake I made when last I saw him.

As explained earlier, the night I bumped into Moonhoofer he galloped away after being told that Dusk wasn’t coming back. I felt terrible at the time… but not enough to do something about it. With my mind preoccupied with Solaris-talk thoughts, I felt that piling my already full plate with further drama would have been a tactical error. In coming to this conclusion, I ended up inadvertently shutting my heart off to somepony who was hurting, and who was crying out for help.

I also ended up doing something I deeply regret, and something I've seldomly relied on since:

I flipped a coin.

Lady Luck made the ultimate call on whether I was to make a note of the stallion’s distress, or to keep my nose out of it entirely. So overwhelmed with plans and schemes was I that I honestly believed it to be a fair decision. Solaris’ later teachings on Seerdom, the ones he ironically taught me during the very meeting I had brushed the unicorn off for, have since taught me a better philosophy; the River and the Stone.

Though I've since modified the mentality to better fit my limited foresight, the baseline ideal still applies here; just because I don’t know a pony’s involvement in how the show plays out, that doesn’t permit me to overlook them as I did with Moonhoofer.

I'm time's guardian, not its lord.

If Dusk rekindling an old friendship drastically alters the future it won't be my job to fix it. It won't be anyone's job to fix it. The River will continue to flow unhindered, and the Stone will remain where it fell.

In the end, I’m grateful that the coin landed on heads that fateful night.

If it had fallen on tails I might have forgotten all about poor Moonhoofer.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
In the dead of night, Prince Solaris sat alone within his private bedchamber.

Exhausted from the day’s many arduous tasks, the alicorn felt that he had earned a moment’s respite.

Upon his favorite cushion, and sipping his favorite tea from his favorite, relocated cup; Equestria’s crown Prince couldn’t imagine a more relaxing arrangement…

… Yet, despite his best efforts, he could not rest peacefully.

His mind was too ablaze with thoughts and worries.

Stardust Glimmer’s Index photo sat before Prince Solaris upon a small desk, where it had been thoroughly analyzed. Two books lied beside it, recently touched; both oddly blank in places, and both stained with red and blue ink respectively…

… But the tomes were not Solaris' main point of interest this evening; the photograph was.

The colt’s eyes had managed to intrigue the alicorn just as much as they had intrigued his seemingly young Squire.

“Same year,” Solaris noted silently in his head, for he was not the type of pony to speak openly with one’s self. “Wrong month though… This Stardust Glimmer character isn't connected to the Sonic Rainboom then…

“... He is nonetheless still a Stowaway, just like dear Barbara…”

The Prince took a long sip of his tea, as he continued to process what little he knew.

“He's not her entangled dance partner, that much is certain,” he hummed quietly, his eyes busy with reexamining the aged photo. “That is quite discerning… It would mean that their ranks rose to four whilst I wasn’t looking…

“... What an unprecedentedly unlucky number…

“...

“... Though I suppose there’s a sort of… poetry to be found in this unpleasantness:

“Perhaps my Final Squire shall be the one to set my First fre-”

Knock knock knock

Shaken from his musings, Solaris’ head darted towards his bedchamber’s doorway.

Twinkle twinkle pop, pop, pop

With an even quicker wave of his horn, he went on to discreetly dismiss the contents of his desk back into his pocket dimension.

“You may enter,” the Prince commanded as soon as he was ready.

Captain Gleaming Shield, ever the loyal guard, swiftly obeyed.

“You summoned me, your highne-” she began to lower herself into a bow before her sworn charge...

... only to halt midway once she got a better look at him.

"..."

"... Sigh...Yes, Gleam, I indeed shaved my beard," Solaris morosely explained himself, and pointed a hoof at his now clean chin. "There was a bit of an... incident with it," he then hissed, as he gave the birdcage in the room a rather nasty glare.

Fast asleep in his bed, Ignatius simply snored an innocent "Caw" in reply.

"I... see," Gleaming blinked, pretending to understand. Recovering from her surprise, she then resumed her formal introduction. "You summoned me, your highness?"

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Shutting the doors behind the mare with his magic, granting himself and his guest privacy, the Prince replied with, “Indeed I have, Captain. I thank you for coming on such short notice."

“I live to serve, Prince Solaris," Gleam continued to bow.

“Hah!" Solaris snorted. "There's no need for such theatrics! It's only the two of us in here, after all."

"Understood," Gleaming didn't rise. "Do I have permission to speak freely then, your highness?”

"You know you always have it, my dear Gleamin-”

“Apologize to Barb,” the unicorn bluntly cut off the alicorn, ending the pleasantries with all the grace of a sledgehammer against glass.

“...”

… Though he was well over a millennium old, and though he had faced foes far more powerful than Gleaming Shield…

… Prince Solaris still shrank in his seat all the same.

“I… um...” he winced, feeling less like a mighty avatar of the sun and more like a little scolded colt. “W-what did I do wrong?”

“Don’t pretend like you don't know," Gleaming Shield reared on the far larger pony, causing him to shrink further into his cushion. “I set very clear rules and expectations for how to treat Barb when I agreed to be the Captain of your guard; rules that you just trampled right over!"

Prince Solaris gulped.

"We had an agreement, big guy," the mare's horn ignited threateningly, as she stepped ever closer. "You aren't allowed to hurt her, you aren't allowed to make her cry, and, most importantly of all; the rule you just broke…"

Solaris braced himself for the inevitable.

"... No, scrolls, after, nine!"

… Solaris blinked.

"It is way past baby dragon bedtime, mister," Gleaming reprimanded harshly, and flicked her target's nose with her magic. "Poor girl was fast asleep when she sneezed out your scroll! Woke her right up! Did you have to send the message through dragonfire, you big jerk?!"

“O-oh,” Solaris’ ears wilted, though internally he was relieved.

It seemed that, just as she had been trained to do, Barbara had kept the contents of their meeting a secret.

"Her Karma remains balanced," the alicorn mentally noted. "Excellent."

“You better make it up to her,” the unicorn intimidated once again with a lit horn, knocking Solaris from his thoughts. “Or else.”

“Y-yes, of course,” the guilty stallion stammered, and leaned further back from the glowing appendage. “I will make sure she is properly compensated with gems, ma’am. Were emeralds her f-favorite, or was it rubies?”

“It’s sapphires,” Gleaming growled.

“Sapphires it is then! Purest I can find, promise!”

“...”

“... Gulp…”

“...”

… Gleaming Shield’s horn ceased its glow.

“Good,” she nodded. “Then all is forgiven.”

Solaris breathed a sigh of relief.

“... Now I know you didn’t summon me past midnight just to get chewed out,” Gleaming resumed the earlier exchange, acting as if she hadn’t just casually terrorized the most powerful pony in the land. “I am at your command, your highness.”

“R-right,” the whiplashed stallion stuttered before recomposing himself. “I have something important to discuss with you, Captain Shield.”

“I’m listening.”

Solaris paused to gather his thoughts.

“... My meeting with young Barbara has yielded some… interesting insight as to how things are progressing in Ponyville,” he started slowly, building up to what he truly wanted to discuss.

“Is my brother okay?”

“Yes, and from the sound of things he’s flourishing in Ponyville just as we knew he would.”

Now it was Gleam’s turn to breathe a sigh of relief.

“There were, however, some complications,” Solaris went on to explain, causing the overprotective sister to become ridged where she stood. “One incident in particular has turned me quite introspective.”

“What happened?”

“Something that was no match for your brother’s dear friends,” the alicorn reassured the worried mare. “Still though, while the details are of no importance, the end result has forced me to reconsider something…”

Well used to Solaris’ habits, and perfectly capable of reading his tells; Gleaming Shield waited patiently for the Prince to proudly drop his bombshell.

“... Specifically, I’m reconsidering your earlier proposal, Captain Shield; the one from last month.”

Upon hearing this glorious turn of events, the unicorn had to fight hard to prevent her tail from wagging.

“You mean…?!” she failed to keep the excitement out of her voice.

“Yes, Gleam,” Solaris replied somewhat exhaustedly, as if he had just lost a bet. “I shall honor your request for more eyes in Ponyville…”

“I will do as you command, your highne-”

“... on one condition,” he then added loudly, knowing that he would need to temper the overeager pony’s ambitions. “Neither Dusk nor Barbara are to know of this! I demand that whatever form this increased guard presence takes be discreet, and stealthy. I will refuse to sign off on any deployment that involves a legion of wings, hooves, or armor.”

Gleaming winced at the stipulations.

“You’re not giving me a whole lot to work with, big guy,” she made her displeasure known.

“Yes, I’m aware,” Solaris sighed in turn. “But I feel the roadblocks are necessary, and I feel that I speak for us both when I say that I want nothing more than for Dusk to live a normal life… At least until… well…”

“Until he earns his wings,” Gleam finished the alicorn’s thought for him, though it pained her to do so. “Yeah. I… agree... Okay, your highness; how should I go about this then?” she swiftly changed topics, unwilling to grant her brother’s future princehood any further thought. “If Dusty can't know about this, I’m going to have to work with very limited deployment numbers.”

“Yes, that would make sense.”

“Everypony will have to be somewhat competent too, at least enough to report back anything suspicious.”

“Yes, now you’re on the right track!”

“The squad will have to be made up of ponies neither Dusk nor Barb recognizes either. If they realize that somepony working for the Crown just so happened to relocate to Ponyville, it could compromise the whole mission!”

“Yes and yes!”

“With all that in mind, the answer is clear to me, your highness!”

“Yes?”

“We should reactivate S.M.I.L.E.!”

“Nnope!” Solaris unintentionally taped into his inner Red Gala, and hastilyvetoed Gleam’s suggestion, all at the same time. “Nnope nope nope! The royal coffers still haven't recovered from the last time we were forced to reactivate The-Division-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named!"

The Prince then shivered.

"The property damage alone was, brrrr, nightmarish...”

“Bu-”

“Captain Shield," the stallion pleaded with the mare. "Do you really, really I ask you, want to put your little brother and little dragon friend’s lives in the hooves of those… those… renegades?!”

“... No…”

“Then I suggest you look elsewhere for your stealthy soldiers,” Solaris stomped his hoof in finality.

“... Fine,” Gleam pouted in a manner the alicorn might have labeled as ‘adorable’ if he wasn’t deathly afraid of upsetting her. “You’re still leaving me with very little options, big guy.”

“I know,” Prince Solaris sighed once again. “I know… But surely there must be somepony under your command that fits the bill? Somepony fresh enough to not be recognized by their targets, and competent enough to follow their orders to the letter?”

“Hmmm… I would have to consider the rookies then,” Gleaming explained with her hoof under her chin. “The ones that enlisted in the last month, at least. Anything older and we run the risk of either Dusty or Barb having bumped into them… Month-old guards make for terrible lookouts though, your highness. They lack the skills to remain covert, and the knowledge of what to look out for; not to mention most of the fresh ones are currently… indisposed.”

“Beg pardon?”

“The Shards of Discord basically wiped them all out, sir,” Gleam reported grimly. “I can’t think of a single recruit who didn’t touch one of those Tarturus condemned things! Most got scared off after spending a day or two as a potted plant, or a giraffe, or as a tree...

“... What you’re asking for is impossible, Solaris,” Gleaming Shield finished her report, upsetting the Prince. “Just plain impossible. I would need to train somepony up from scratch, but with rumors flying all over about the castle being haunted… Well, let’s just say that recruitment’s been at an all-time low.”

“Come now, Captain Shield,” Prince Solaris insisted, not accepting the impossibility of his request. “Surely there must be somepony new who wasn’t deterred from a minor bout of chaos magic!”

“I’m afraid no-” the mare started to repeat herself…

… but then a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

What followed after the thought was a face.

And after a face… a name.

“Twinkle Scout,” Captain Shield whispered to herself, mulling over the details in her head. “Yeah… Yeah! Twinkle Scout! She might be just who we need!”

“Twinkle Scout?” Solaris blinked, his mind busy putting a face to a name. “You mean the dear who got turned into a rhino?”

“The very same,” Gleam nodded. “Out of the fresh recruits, she’s the only one who stayed on after encountering a shard.”

“Isn’t she currently… well… a rhino?”

“The doctors believe that she’ll make a full recovery in a couple of weeks, your highness,” the unicorn went on to explain. “After that, it should only take another week or so for her to recoup and receive the proper training.”

“Three to four weeks…” Solaris murmured to himself. “I suppose it can’t be helped… Are you certain she’s skilled enough for such an unusual task?”

“I believe Cadet Twinkle Scout’s work speaks for itself,” Gleaming hyped up her rookie to the best of her abilities. “Her resuming active duty after abruptly losing her ponyhood is proof enough that she’s capable of handling any oddness Ponyville throws at her. She also passed her Sentry exams practically in a Flash, so I’m confident she can get this job done and, more importantly, done discreetly.”

“... Well… If you’re certain, Captain, I will go ahead and authorize her reassignment,” Solaris relented, though inside he was still skeptical. “I’ll also go ahead and suggest that we aim to deploy her right around the tail end of Ponyville’s scheduled Winter Wrap Up.”

“Hmmm… That’s cutting it pretty close,” Gleaming thought aloud. “But I see your rationale. With her coming in just in time to help out with the demi-seasonal shift, she can pretend to be a volunteer from Cloudsdale who decided to stick around after the fact.”

“Hah!” the Prince laughed. “It seems you and Barbara share a talent for reading my mind, Gleaming Shield!”

“More like a survival instinct,” the mare muttered something dark under her breath. “I’ll prepare a training regimen for Twinkle right away, your highness,” she then raised her voice, continuing the discussion. “Was that all you required of me this evening?”

“Not quite,” Solaris revealed, managing to surprise the seasoned guard captain. “That was just the assignment that required the most hashing out, hence why I started with it. In comparison, the second task I called you for should prove significantly easier to accomplish.”

“And what’s that?”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle pop, pop

Showing rather than telling, the alicorn waved his horn and summoned both Stardust Glimmer's and Trixster’s Index photos from within his pocket dimension.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle… Pop!

Another burst of golden spellwork later and the photos spontaneously duplicated themselves into aged-up mugshots of their respective ponies.

“I’m requesting a ponyhunt for these two unicorns,” Solaris explained fully, as the two new photographs transferred from his magical aura to Gleaming’s own. “Send out as many pegasus scouts as you can muster to the far corners of Equestria. I want them brought to Canterlot.”

“What are their charges?” Gleaming assumed a more business-like tone.

Ponyhunts were not her favorite task, but it was a necessary evil for the royal guard; one she took no pleasure in carrying ou-

“They made your brother cry.”

“...”

Gleam’s modest smile suddenly twisted itself into something large and grotesque, stunning the alicorn greatly.

“Do you want me to bring them in warm, or cold, your highness~?” she asked sweetly with a tilted head, and a voice oozing with killing intent.

“W-warm!” the Prince shrieked. “Preferably warm, for pony’s sake!"

"Are you suuuurrre~? Body bags are far easier to transport, sir~"

"Mother of Starswirl," the Prince whimpered, thoroughly scared. "I-it was just a joke, Gleam! Just a joke...”

"..."

... With her point having been made, Gleaming Shield immediately dropped her act.

“Ponyhunts are never a laughing matter, Solaris,” she chided the grown pony in her normal tone. “And neither is ‘making somepony cry’ a punishable offense, even if it was Dusty... Do you have a real reason to drag these two stallions to Canterlot, or is this just another pet project of yours?”

Still rebounding from his well-earned verbal lashing, Prince Solaris cleared his throat before resuming.

“I-I assure you there is an actual need, Captain,” he started over. “I have reason to suspect that one of them may hold ill tidings towards my student, if not Equestria itself.”

“Suspicion alone isn’t enough,” the guardmare had to remind the royal stallion. “And if you’re only suspecting one of them, you don’t need both.”

“I’m well aware of the law, Gleaming Shield,” the alicorn attempted to reassure the concerned unicorn. “In fact, I believe ponyhunt might be the wrong word I'm looking for. In reality, I don’t have a desire to force the two of them into coming to Canterlot…

“... what I actually want is to invite them.”

“... Huh?” Gleaming Shield raised an eyebrow, her confusion clear. “You want me to gather my guards, and have them hunt down two ponies, just so we can… what… give them an invitation…?”

“That is exactly it, yes.”

“...”

“... You're asking my girls to be glorified delivery ponies for you?!” Gleam, at last, finally lost it. “Ask them to dust off their old maid outfits too why don’t ya?! Complete the look!”

“You're the pony with the final say on uniform changes, Captain, not me.”

“Don’t change the subject!” the mare snapped. “There better be a good flipping reason why I should disgrace my hard-working team with something so demeani-”

Leaning forward with his long neck, Solaris whispered something vital into Gleam’s ear.

“...”

“... Sooooo what are we delivering?” Gleaming Shield shamelessly flipped flopped from irate to cooperative.

Pleased with his little pony’s change in tune, Prince Solaris grinned wide.

“Your guards are to hunt down these two unicorns and grant them a single message, Captain Shield.”

“What’s the message?

At the question, the alicorn's smile turned predatorial.

“Stardust Glimmer and Trixster Lulamoon of Equestria; you are hereby cordially invited to attend-”

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

“... The Grand Galloping Gala?” a lone guardmare asked her partner in the silence of an empty hallway. “Really? You got stuck with that shift?”

The other guardmare bowed her head lowly, her disappointment clear in her body language.

“... Oh, sis; I’m so, sooo sorry for you,” the first guardmare tapped her helmet lovingly against her kin’s own. “That’s a really lousy short straw to pull.”

“Not just lousy, the worst!” the other guardmare, the only one present besides the first, whinnied loudly. “Ugh! I can picture it now; ‘Miss get me a drink, Miss clean up my puke, Miss turn around so I can look at your plot’! Ugggghhhh!! T-they’re going to treat me like I’m a flipping waitress, sis!”

“Well… Look on the bright side…”

“What bright side?!”

“... At least these uniforms don’t come with skirts to look up?” the first guardmare suggested shyly, fully aware that such a thing wasn’t going to make her sister any happier.

In response, the second guardsmare proceeded to slam her face directly into a nearby wall.

“H-hey knock it off!” the first pony yelped, checking her six to make sure they were still alone in the castle’s hallway. “You’re going to get in trouble!”

“Maybe mhats mor mhe mest, mis,” the second pony’s words were muffled against the marble surface. Lifting her head away from the zone of impact, she tried again to speak. “Maybe that’s for the best, sis; I can’t work the Grand Galloping Gala shift if I’ve been banished to the dungeons!”

“Come on, Petal; be real now,” the first used the second’s real name, emphasizing the importance of what she was about to say. “You know you can’t gallop away from your problems like that.”

“I can at least try, Sky!” the second too used the first’s true name to express her seriousness. “I’ve got no more vacation days and no more sick time! Getting in trouble is my only hope for survival!”

“Don’t be such a drama pony,” Sky Shimmer rolled her eyes. “Working one lousy shift isn’t going to destroy yo-”

“Do you think they’ll give me extra sick time if I step on a Shard of Discord?” Petal Blossom suddenly interrupted.

An idea had formed in her head.

An unquestionably bad idea, but an idea nonetheless.

“Don’t even joke about that!” Sky cautiously warned her sister. “You saw how badly it messed up Crow and that Twinkle Scout newbie, right?!”

“Well… yeah,” the younger mare reluctantly admitted. “... But not all the changes are that bad! Sometimes the shard just turns you moody!”

“Petal…”

“Maybe the opposite personality version of myself would enjoy working the Gala too!” Petal kept ranting. “You ever thought of that, Sky? Huh?!"

"Petal, no."

"But sis-"

“For the love of Solaris, Petal!” Sky Shimmer abruptly shouted, her concern for her sister clear in her voice. “Are you seriously so much of a foal that you’re willing to risk getting turned into an actual one, just to get out of work?!”

“Sky-

“I change enough real babies back home as-is, sis!” the older sibling pushed her hornless forehead against Petal’s own. “If you end up getting added to the nursery, I will personally make sure you get a nappy rash that lasts just as long as the shard does; understood?!”

“I-”

“UNDERSTOOD?!”

“Okay okay!” the younger sister wilted before her superior officer. “Okay! I promise I won’t look for one of those stupid shards, gosh!”

“Thank you, Petal,” Sky nodded happily for the return of Petal Blossom's senses. “And, hey, I’ll make sure to hook you up with something nice for after that horrible shift of yours is done. Give you something to look forward to, you know?”

“Hah!” the scolded mare shook her head. “Even if you searched every day of the two and half months in between now and then, I seriously doubt you’ll be able to find something nice enough to make the, brrr, Grand Galloping Gala somewhat bearable for me, sis.”

“What if I said it'll be less of a something,” the older sister teased the younger, as she started to trot noticeably faster down the long hallway. “And more of a some… pony~?”

“... No way,” Petal Blossom gasped, connecting the dots. “Did you score those Count Coloratura tickets I asked for?! I-I thought they were all sold out!”

“Guess you’ll have to ‘survive’ the Gala to find out, sis~”

“Sky? Sky, get back here!”

With one last shout to get her sister’s attention, Petal quickly picked up her pace and gave chase after her now distant sibling…

…

… From the shadows, cyan eyes opened wide.

From the shadows, a cloak unicorn stepped forth into the moonlight-lit hallways.

From the shadows, the stranger stared outwards towards the now gone mares.

“...”

… And back into the shadows he wen-

“Fzzz… c-crackle crackle… fzzz… G… G…?”

Static, foreign to the land of Equestria, suddenly rang out loudly from within the unicorn’s ear.

His partner was trying to contact him.

“Fffffzzzz… cracklecracklcrack- G-... G-Glare? Can you read me? Please…. Ffzzz… -tupid hunk of scrap… Glare? Can you hear me now? Please report in.”

“... Bleh.”

With a tired sigh, Sunset Blaze lifted his hoof towards the earpiece hidden underneath his cloak, and gently tapped the button.

“What do you want, Dus-”

“Use the codenames, Glare.”

Solaris’ fallen student growled into the mechanical contraption’s receiver.

“For the last time, Four-Eyes,” the light amber-coated stallion, thoroughly exhausted from his day of sneaking around, uttered his partner’s codename out of spite. “Equestria doesn’t have a way to wiretap these calls, and even if it did only my name would mean anything to anypony.”

“Snrk,” Sunset’s distant partner in crime snorted into the microphone, much to the recipent’s discomfort. “Anypony… That gets dumber every time I hear it.”

“Yeah yeah, keep making fun of my culture,” the now irate unicorn fumed. “The next time you want to eat a burger, I’ll be sure to remind you where it came from.”

“From a cow,” Four-Eyes mocked the pony from a safe distance. “A tasty tasty cow who had no family, and no friends… What’s your point, Glare?”

“... Did you just call to mock me, nerd, or do you have an actual point?”

“Oh, right,” the figure on the other side of the line abruptly cleaned up his act; becoming serious. “Your time window is almost up. Did you or did you not locate the target yet?”

“I located it just fine, Four-Eyes,” Sunset reported cockily. “My old teacher stored the Elements in the southernmost tower. He’s got a trick for how to open it up, but given time I’m sure I can replicate it.”

“Have you also mapped out an infiltration route?”

“Yup,” the stallion replied, before rolling his eyes. “And stop acting like this is some time-sensitive issue, dude. The portal between worlds isn’t going to suddenly shut off on me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Oh, I don't know, maybe because it’s been open twenty-four-seven for the past month?” Sunset again rolled his eyes, uncaring that there wasn’t anypon-, er, one around to see him do so. “I checked the mirror thoroughly with my magic, Four-Eyes. I'm not sure what’s fueling it, but I can tell that it isn’t stopping anytime soon.”

“... Is it so wrong to be cautious, Glare?”

“It is when it gets on my nerves,” the young teen spat to himself. Now trotting at a hastened pace, he began to head towards his original entry point. “I’m still going to head back though; not because you told me to, but because I’ve gotten all I need for today.”

“Riiiiggghhht,” Four-Eyes rolled his own, completely unconvinced. “What’s our next step then?”

“I’m going to have to cross over several more times before we’re ready for the heist,” he explained authoritatively to his partner. “Gotta make sure the guard rotation is consistent, and that I've got the unlocking spell memorized. Also need to verify whether the Elements get moved around or not; could prove troublesome if they do.”

“What should I do in the meantime?”

“Heh. Oh you’ll love this, nerd; I’ve got some homework for you.”

“Homework?” Four-Eyes attempted, and failed, to hide the joy from entering his voice. “I-I mean, ahem… What sort of homework, Glare?”

“I’m giving you two and a half months to either make, buy, or steal a 3D printer,” Sunset Blaze commanded through the earbuds. “It’s going to need to be big enough to fabricate an alicorn horn. My next few dives will be spent trying to get the measurements we’ll need to copy the darn thing.”

“... I’m… going to pretend that makes some semblance of sense… What’s with the arbitrary time limit though? What happens in twelve weeks?”

At this question, as he entered inside the old storage room that housed his ticket back to the land of technology and thumbs, the stallion simply smirked.

“Why, the Gala, little Dusk Shine,” were Sunset’s final cryptic words before he disappeared once again off the face of the planet. “The highly anticipated, highly distracting, and highly crashable Grand, Galloping, Gala."

Light poured out from underneath the storage room’s doorway as its sole, unpetrified inhabitant vanished without a trace.

“... Tsk.”

An unfathomable distance away, a lanky teenager groaned angrily from behind his bright computer screen.

“Why does no one appreciate a good codename anymore?” he asked the darkness of his laboratory.

The darkness offered nothing in return but the faint sound of fans dispersing heat, of summer bugs croaking loudly…

… and of a small puppy snoring softly in her bed.

Author's Note

Into the Gala~ Into the Gala~

Thank you dearly for sticking with me for over 300k words thus far! I'll look forward to seeing you all again next time for Entry 10, Unbridled Havok!

-Derply

~In Another Time, In Another Place~ (Makaht uv Zecora)

Standing before the precipice of the rest of her life, a young mare found herself... frozen.

A fueled ship, a paid sea captain, a loaded pair of saddlebags; these were the tools she needed to begin her quest for magic.

These were the tools she had long since acquired…

...

… But a beloved hometown, a lifetime’s worth of friendships, a secure and stable existence… these were the sacrifices that fueled her dream.

These were the luxuries she couldn't afford to keep.

"..."

Upon a rickety pier under the cover of night, faced with a decision unlike any other; Zecora remained despondently conflicted.

“Lady, move along,” a sea stallion commanded tactlessly from aboard his ship; the SS Antonia Graza. Uncaring for the destiny-changing decision that plagued his sole patron of the eve, he continued on just as bluntly. “If ya drag yar hooves any longer we’re gonna miss the tailwind towards Equestria... Hmph... The waters will be far too dangerous to navigate beyond that point.”

“A-apologies for the delay, my good bloke,” Zecora stammered, returning her troubled mind to the present. “Deliberation was needed, lest I choke.”

"Bah," the older zebra of the pair grumbled in reply. "What’s there to even think about, lassy? Ya paid up for the trip, ya got saddlebags all nice and packed… Looks to me like yer ready to go."

"And go I will, that is not up for discuss; b-but this isn't something that can be so easily rushed."

"... Oh sweet Abraxas she's rhyming on purpose. Thought it was a fluke… Yar not getting yer bits back if ya get cold hooves, girly,” the sea captain snarled at the younger mare. “This ain’t a pleasure cruise! I’m risking mah neck here sailing across the ocean blue in a fishing vessel, the least ya can do is see this through to the end! No refunds!”

“...”

… Zecora grew quiet thanks to this.

The bits were of no issue to her, for she did not need them to be happy... but she knew that gaining the sea captain’s ire would likely prove troublesome in the long run.

Not many were brave enough to sail across the ocean in the current year, and the ones that were rarely made a business of it. Since the Kingdom of Farasi had cut ties with Equestria during the Moon Scarring Incident of many generations past, opportunities for one to cross over into its plentiful lands had become practically nonexistent. Whether through legality or social stigma, it simply wasn't proper for one to cross the sea without at least a royal blessing; a blessing that hadn't been bestowed in over half a century.

It was for this reason that Zecora knew that angering one of the few willing to make the (highly illegal) journey would undoubtedly nix any further attempts she made in the foreseeable future, if not forever…

… yet her mind remained plagued with doubts.

The village in the distance, Zebrat, had been the young mare’s home her whole life, while magic had been her dream for what felt like longer. Equestria certainly contained everything she needed to further hone her craft, but she was aware that it would undoubtedly be a lonely existence; perhaps even a dangerous one if the rumors of ponykind's intolerance were to be believed.

Zecora’s mind told her to stay.

Zecora’s heart told her to go.

“... Hmmm...”

… Suddenly, an idea took root.

“Captain of this vessel, please humor me,” she began, shaping the idea into an actual plan. “To this conundrum, I believe I have found the key.”

“Whatever it is I’m giving you five seconds to spit it out before I leave ya on this dock,” the stallion snorted rudely, growing impatient. “I’ve got customers across the sea waiting on me, girly. Time is money.”

“And money is what I wish to discuss!” Zecora insisted, speaking quickly. “I promise I will not make any further fuss!”

“I promise I will not make any further fuss~” the sea captain echoed the mare's words mockingly. "Bah! I already told ya a thousand times that there are NO, REFUNDS!”

“I don’t want a stinking refund!” the lass angrily snapped, slipping from her rhyming cadence. “I just need to borrow one bit for flipping, that’s all!”

“For flipping?”

“Yes!” she again barked, before taking a deep breath to calm herself. “I-I mean, ahem… Though I possess plenty of drive, motivation, and spunk; for this final leap, I wish to consult Lady Luck.”

“... Huh?”

“Heads and I’ll go, forever bidding farewell to my home,” she explained carefully, justifying the decision to both her host and herself. “Tails and I’ll flee, leaving the bits to thee.”

“...”

“... Bleh… Look, lady,” the captain began slowly, growing exasperated. “The ‘no refund’ bit is just for show. Truth is, despite how much I want to, I can’t just take yer bits and scram; I have to give you something of equal value in return. If I don’t then I’ll have to explain to my tax accountant where the extra cash came from, and then my wife, and putting the idea that I'm hoarding unrecorded income into her head would just… bleh… Long story short; cheating them from ya is more trouble than it’s worth,” he finished, stomping a hoof against his ship’s railing…

Clink clink

… before tossing a single bit into Zecora’s unprepared hooves.

“If it comes up tails, I’m going to use the rest of yer stash to give the next creature I meet a free ride,” the stallion growled, making an effort to be civil. “Does that sound agreeable to ya, girly?”

Rather than reply, the young mare simply nodded her head a determined ‘yes.’

“Well then… flip it already!”

Realizing that the captain’s patience was now razor-thin, Zecora turned her attention to the single coin in her grasp.

Though the Kingdoms of Farasi and Equestria were no longer on speaking terms, the bit still held similar value on the eastern side of the Great Sea as it did on the west. Bearing Princess Celestia’s likeness on its face and her cutie mark on its back the golden sliver of metal possessed an equal disbursement of weight on both sides of its surface, meaning it could be utilized as a decider quite readily. One motion was all it would take to end this discussion once and for all.

One motion was all it would take to seal Zecora’s fate forever.

…

“... Inhale… Exhale…”

Fling~

Rattle rattle

Rattle…

… Flop

“...”

“... It… would appear that it is time for us to depart,” Zecora signed tiredly, though part of her was relieved. “The answer is heads; the one I always knew in my heart.”

“Great, wonderful, whooho,” the sea captain hissed humorlessly. “Now get yer flank up here lady and please, please stop rhyming.”

“I can not make that promise, good sir,” the now resolute mare answered back snarkily, as a great emotional weight was off of her haunches. “but if it’ll help I will gladly speak only in whisper~”

“... I should have charged more bits,” the stallion whined grumpily to himself. “Sweet Prince Abraxas on high I should have charged more bits.”

A few minutes later, with anchor weighed and headwind avoided, Zecora’s vessel departed from Port Casabronco and headed westwards towards the Kingdom of Equestria.

The young zebra didn’t know what she was bound to learn in the enchanted country of equines, but she was resolute in finding out.

It was from this day forth that the Legend of Zecora truly began!

Upon a lone pier at the edge of Horseshoe Bay, a roughened fishing vessel anchored itself tightly into place.

...Clipclopclipclop

Having miraculously survived the voyage from the Princess ruled Farasi to the Prince led Equestria, the ship's captain was the first to jump shoreside and the first to inspect the damages.

“... Bleh,” the old zebra mare growled to herself, upset with what she saw. “Great, the protective coating wore off. This is going to cost a flipping fortune to fix. If I hadn’t stuck around while that damn stallion was busy flipping coins maybe we could have avoided the heavier waves and… and... Bleh! I'm so stupid! Should have just taken the bits and ran!”

Clip clop clip clop

Unconcerned with the sea equine's woes, another zebra pony stepped forth from the ruined boat's remains. Halting only briefly to stretch and to stash an elaborate travel staff underneath their cloak, they began to head purposefully towards the distant buildings of Balitmare.

“Oh yer welcome, by the way!” the salty mare yelled heatedly towards the departing ex-passenger. “Ya could, oh I don’t know, thank me for the free ride or something! Or offer me a helping hoof?! But no, leave, that’s fine; not like I need assitance with this or anything! Not like my husband is going to kill me for damaging our boat or anything!”

Still unconcerned, the former patron continued to trot away towards the airship dock that lied in the sleepy town's center.

“... Bleh!” the ignored zebra returned to inspecting her ship, and continued to groan aloud. “Stupid haiku spouting freak!

“I hope I never see her again!"

Author's Note

A little taste of what's to come...

... See you next year ^_^

Entry 1, Part 1 (Heart) {RE-EDITED}

“... Grrrr…”

In the hustle and bustle of a typical Canterlot day, a young stallion grumbled loudly to himself as he huffily stomped his hooves against the hard cobblestone road. This unicorn with the bright purple coat is uncaring of those around him as he roughly wades his way through the busy crowd of equines, trying to get to his destination. Another growl emanates from his throat, through his clenched teeth, as he continues to fume.

“Hehe,” cheekily giggled his equally bright (in more ways than one) purple scaled dragon assistant in response. The same one that kept pace beside him, and who offered apologetic smiles to the unfortunate ponies her taller friend bumped into along the way.

This dragon, who would rather like for you to use the term dragoness to describe her, is affectionately referred to by me, your narrator for the evening, as… well…

… me!

Hello!

Silliness and third-person antics aside, as the two of us walk together down the sunny roads of Canterlot, unintentionally basking in the beautiful weather around us, another bout of chuckles escapes my lips as I watch my friend once again growl over the supposed ‘injustice’ of it all.

“You’re going to ruin your voice if you keep doing that, Dusk,” I had to remind the colt for a third time, though I do so in just as much good cheer. My smile never leaves my face, nor does the spring abandon my step. They have no reason to, for today is going to be a good day for sure. I just knew it!

“I’ll pout if I want to,” my not-so-little unicorn rumbles grumpily to himself as we draw closer to the Sky Carriage loading docks, ready to take ours to Ponyville just in time for the holiday known as the Summer Sun Celebration. Finally arriving on the wooden platform, the song on my lips and the laugh in my heart never wavers as I continue to stand by the grouch better known as my best friend and wait patiently for our ride to arrive.

For those of you unaware, my starburst cutie mark adorned partner here’s name is Dusk Shine; apprentice to Prince Solaris himself. He’s the smartest and most powerful unicorn you’ll ever come across, guaranteed...

... Granted this might depend on whether or not your own section of the multiverse even has unicorns in the first place... but I digress.

Dusk, though smart as a whip, and capable of crazy powerful magic, is not quite a mature young adult yet, unfortunately. Instead, he’s just a teenager; one who, as per the norm with such an age group, thinks he knows better than everypony else.

… Er… Well, truthfully speaking, this is actually often correct... but not always! For instance; because this pony has lived here in his hometown of Canterlot his whole life, never leaving its borders until today, and because of his dangerous addiction to the drug known as literature, Dusk has no friends. Zero, none, nada… well except for me, his loyal assistant, of course (though he never says it), and his big sister as well. Beyond that, however, I think that the only other ponies this kid ever talks to regularly are his parents, his mentor, and his breakfast donut provider.

Sad.

Back on topic; it’s this loner status of Dusk’s that's now acting as the source of his anger today, as it's one of the many reasons why he's currently throwing a big old hissy fit as we speak. I suppose I shouldn’t be all high and mighty about it though, speaking honestly. I do fully understand his frustrations when it comes with dealing with that particular pony and his tricks.

Said pony is, of course, the ancient Prince Solaris of Equestria.

Backing up now for explanation's sake; Solaris is Dusk’s aforementioned mentor, and as his mentor he plays the important role of educating Dusk in the art of magic. Now then, Dusk is an exceptionally good student, one who prides himself in being able to think outside the box and to get to the root of a problem quickly. He loves to not only finish the tasks given to him to the letter, but also show his mentor that he can accomplish things on his own. It’s because of these qualities of his that this young pony was indescribably excited to share with his teacher today his discovery that the legendary Nightterror might be returning tonight; tonight, on the one-thousandth anniversary of the Summer Sun Celebration! Gasp! No question about it, that’s a really big deal!

… Thusly then, in understanding this, you can probably now imagine Dusk’s confusion and frustration when he, after having me write out in length his hypothesis to the Prince directly, received a message from Solaris which basically amounted to him laughing him off, claiming that he reads too many books, and then proceeding to tell him that he needs to get out more and make some friends!

Absolutely hilarious! Doubly so when you consider that the Nighterror is actually Solaris’ long lost brother that nopony knows about! Ha! And another fun thing, secretly Solaris and I both know that Dusk is actually one hundred percent correct in his paranoid delusions today! The Nightterror is going to return tonight! Eternal darkness, Elements of Harmony; the whole shebang! Ha!

Don’t spoil the surprise by telling it to Dusk yet though! Please! He needs to experience it all naturally if he is to receive his destiny.

… That and, though I’m embarrassed in admitting it...

… it’s actually really, really funny watching Dusk squirm! Hehe! Maybe Prince Solaris is on to something with all the games he likes to play with people and ponies’ heads…

...

… Oh! Where are my manners? You must be wondering who in the world I am, and especially so now after I’ve just gone ahead and revealed all those juicy little future secrets for you! Sorry about that, dears.

Allow me to introduce myself properly.

Ahem...Hello! My name is Barbara The Dragoness; property of House Shine, Squire to Prince Solaris, and Assistant to Apprentice Dusk Shine over there. I’m seven and a half years old today, and I’m a cute little purple and green baby dragoness! I like emeralds, romance novels, occasionally dressing pretty, and writing; I can speak and write in two completely different languages! I can also cook, organize, and clean a library like it’s nopony’s business! With these skills at my disposal, I have happily been assisting Dusk Shine in his studies and life for the last two years of my own short life thus far! Two whole years...

… oh, and I used to be human.

In more detail; I used to be Barbara D. Burns, a forty-year-old housewife and the loving mother of two beautiful children.

That’s kinda a big detail.

‘Used to be’ are sadly the keywords on that particular subject though. A car accident about eight years ago ended those carefree days of mine quite prematurely, and resulted in me inhabiting the body I’m in right now. How you may ask? Well notice how I said that the accident happened about eight years ago, yet I’m only seven? I’m afraid that is the magic of reincarnation, my friends; the ultimate destination of a departed soul. No Heavens, no Hells, not even a Purgatory; what lies beyond the veil of life is only more life, it would seem. Specifically new life, in a new form, in a new land. In my case, it wasn’t just any old land either. The day I hatched into my second life was the day I found myself becoming a part of the realm we’re in right now. Equestria, the land of magical ponies; located on the planet Equus and ruled over by the sun god himself Prince Solaris… Though that title belonged to another pony back on my original homeworld of Earth.

It belonged to a fictional mare known as Princess Celestia.

You might be even more confused now. Let me explain; Equestria was actually part of an old cartoon series that I used to watch alongside my daughter back when I was still an adult woman and a mother. The series, called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, took place here in this land and revolved around the lives of ten uniquely interesting characters; interesting because two of them were Dusk and me!

The Dusk and Barbara featured on that show though aren’t the same two people you’re currently listening to me explain about right now, however... We don’t even share the same chromosomes!

Dusk’s counterpart on the cartoon I will never allow him to be aware of was an equally brilliant pony named Twilight Sparkle, a mare, and mine was a drake named Spike. Obviously I didn’t know I would one day be taking over his life when I watched that show with my little Ashley ages ago, but I’m glad that I still remember the cartoon at all after all this time! Things tend to fade away after almost twenty years of not thinking about it, but in at least remembering how events took place and knowing exactly where they head, I should be fine in simply surviving through this life. I’ve done much more than that though; thus far I've been successfully able to steer Dusk right on towards the path that will take him to his happy little destiny today.

... I’ve also been able to, during my short time here, take control of this new life of mine as well, and find my own source of happiness within it, all while constantly fighting against the personal sorrows and regrets that come from being forced to remember an entire other life. It hasn’t always been easy...

But that’s another story entirely.

“... Grrr… They’re late,” Dusk suddenly moans again, knocking me out of my thoughts.

I roll my eyes at this, returning to the present. “I think the guardmares have better things to do than to cart your flank around, Dusk,” I chastise him in my admittedly high-pitched and girly voice. It’s not really a befitting one for a woman such as my old self to have, but I’ve since grown used to it just as I have with the rest of this childish body of mine. When it’s all you have to work with you tend to be more accepting of such things. “Be nicer!” I add for good measure.

The pony continues to sulk. "Good grief," I contemplate as I absentmindedly adjust my frilly purse over a shoulder. The scrolls and tome within it shift as I do, though I pay them no mind. "Dusk can be such a big foal sometimes."

He reminds me a bit of my and my husband's son in that regard. Nathaniel was always so clever and smart, but would often get grumpy like this when things didn’t go his way. Our daughter Ashley, on the other han-

“Attttttention!!”

At the surprise voice’s command, I hurriedly draw myself up straight in a snap and hold myself firm in the face of it. I remain as still as a statue as I listen carefully to the familiar sound of hooves clipping and clopping noisily against the ground; as the source drew closer to us.

“Soldier!” the voice cries out to me, pacing back and forth where I could not see. “Am I to believe that your prime Charge is about to leave Canterlot today?”

“Ma’am yes ma’am!” I bark immediately, raising a claw to my forehead and saluting the pony who I can't see but knew was watching.

“And are you following him out as well on this grand expedition?”

“Ma’am yes ma’am!” I repeat, holding myself up firmer.

“And I have your word that you will watch over him and do your all to protect him from harm, soldier?!"

"Ma’am yes ma’am!” I declare one final time with passion, puffing my tiny bare chest out. The mare from behind me then circles to my front, bends down low to glare me in the eyes…

… and then Gleaming Shield proceeds to gently noogie the top of my head with a white-coated hoof.

“Good girl,” Dusk’s older sister compliments me kindly, smiling brightly. I relax soon after as well, and allow a smile of my own to grace my lips as I passively straighten out my noogied spines. Meet Gleaming Shield. Captain of the Royal Guard, Dusk’s BSBFF (Big Sister Best Friend Forever, for those of you who don’t know. Even I forget at times), and one of the two and a half friends I’ve made here in this world thus far.

The half belongs to Prince Solaris but that, like my struggles, is again another story entirely.

“Hey Dusty,” the shield cutie mark baring unicorn mare calls out her little brother’s nickname affectionately. “Why the long face, pony?”

Putting his angst on hold, Dusk finally turns around and acknowledges his sister’s existence. He did so with a sigh and a small flip of his purple and pink striped mane. “Oh. Hey, BSBFF,” he mournfully replies.

“I really wish you’d call me something else,” Gleaming was quick to state with a good-natured laugh. Whipping her own twin blue mane side to side with a shake of her head, the mare shoots her brother a cheeky smirk. “The BS part was cute and all when you were a little colt, Dusty, but now… Not so much!”

I soon snicker slightly under my breath as well, joining her, but Dusk still refuses to add into our merriment. In seeing this, Gleaming’s expression grows concerned. She takes a step away from me and approaches the young stallion with a sympathetic look.

“Bit for your thoughts, little bro?”

Though he glances at his sister momentarily, the younger unicorn simply turns away and resumes staring at the ground.

“Oh nothing,” he attempts to joke, a fake “ha” being uttered as well under his breath. “We’re all just about to freeze to death due to an extremely extended night cycle but that’s no reason to be concerned! Nope, not at fluffing all apparently!”

Gleaming blinks at this.

She then looks back at me.

“Prince Solaris didn’t listen to him about Nightterror Nebula possibly returning tonight,” I translate Dusk’s rant for her and shrug.

The mare’s lips form into an O shape as she mulls this over, only to then turn back to her brother. “Dusk,” she attempts to soothe. “I may not know a whole lot about ancient history or prophecy stuff like you’re fond of, but I do know that the Nightterror is just an old ponies’ tale; one designed by parents to lower the amount of Nightterror Night candy their foals eat…” Pausing, the mare then turns to me. “... I didn’t just ruin the mystique of that for you, did I?”

“My foalhood is now in shambles,” I reply with a straight face.

“Hmm," she contemplates, rubbing her chin. "I see… Would a sapphire possibly undo the damage?”

I shrug again.

“We can only hope.”

Twinkletwinkle

Igniting her horn in a pink glow, and sticking her tongue out in concentration, Gleaming rummages around for a moment in her off-duty saddlebags before finding a single sapphire and depositing it into my outstretched claws. “Consider this my donation for the ‘relief’ effort then, Barb.”

“Your patriotism is most appreciated, soldier,” I snark right back before digging into the gemstone with gusto. Don’t judge me. I’m a growing baby dragoness here, remember? Over my jaw’s noisy crunches, I continue to listen in on the sibling’s conversation.

“Is Prince Solaris the reason why you’re heading to Ponyville then, Dusk?” the loving sister asks casually.

“Sigh… Yeah, Gleam,” reluctantly admits the unhappy brother. “He frustratingly gave Barb and I the day off from his lessons, so he could focus on the festivities... and now he also wants us to personally check on the preparations down there too! He... h-he also wants me to… to…”

I swiftly swallow my snack.

“Make some friends!” I chirp happily with a big, fang (and probably gem dust) filled grin plastered to my face.

Gleaming couldn’t help but snort at this.

“Oh the horror!”

A second wave of snickers then consumes the two of us, and again the sole stallion of our group refuses to cooperate. Instead, he shoots us both a dirty look.

“This is serious you two!” he shouts, making me feel a little guilty for my behavior. He is acting a bit like a child throwing a tantrum right now, in typical Canterlot snob fashion, but I still feel that it's appropriate to stop laughing... at least for now. In sensing her brother’s frustration herself, the elder unicorn with us slowly stops her own giggles. Gleaming remains smiling, but she decides to no longer provoke the poor stubborn colt.

“Relax, Dusty,” she says, stepping forward and rubbing her hoof gently across the back of Dusk's head. “A little R&R will do you some real good. Trust a soldier like me; it’s not healthy to constantly be on duty! You gotta take a step back every now and then; take time off, recharge, be reminded about what’s really important in the end, maybe date a hot pink hunk of an alicorn stallion on the side, eat properly…”

“Gleam, I know all that already bu- wait what was that last one?”

“Eat properly?”

“No the one befo-”

“Be reminded what’s really important in the end?”

“...”

“There’s more to life than just books, little bro,” Gleaming speaks softly. “So much more. You just have to open up your eyes and see.”

As if being summoned by her speech; a golden chariot, being towed by two large and powerful pegasus mares, suddenly pulls up behind us on the large wooden loading dock. Seeing as how the two siblings are still in the midst of their conversation, I'm the only one to notice. Excusing myself from their personal family talk, I make my way over to the two armored guardmares. I greet them both and then proceed to take my seat within the chariot, reserving it from other would-be privileged Canterlot travelers. I look over the cart’s edge back towards the two as they start to wrap up their talk.

“... Just give it a try for me. Please?” the Royal Guard Captain makes one last plea, placing a hoof upon Dusk’s withers. “If not for me, then try to go along for Barb’s sake. Poor kid’s probably never been outside the capital before in her entire life, let alone seen a Summer Sun Celebration!”

Dusk didn’t say anything in reply, instead opting to turn and spare me a glance. I say nothing as well, instead allowing my warm smile to do the talking for me.

“... But!” the younger unicorn snaps right back to his sister, obviously having considered me long enough to determine that my own feelings are irrelevant in the face of a possible catastrophe. Harsh, but I keep smiling on regardless. I knew Gleaming’s bid wouldn’t yield any results, this is Dusk we’re talking about here, but it's the thought that counts. “We can’t just ignor-”

“Your health?” Gleaming interrupts with a raised eyebrow.

“But-”

“Your wellbeing?”

“Bu-”

“Your stability…?"

“W-what?!” Dusk gasps, taken aback. “I-I’m stable! It’s just... I, it, the Prince, Nightterror Nebula, I… I-I… Grrr… GRRRR!!”

With one last roar at the cost of what I can only imagine were the remains of his vocal cords at this point…

“... Fine…”

… Dusk finally and thankfully relents. Phew. That’s a relief. As fun as it is to watch him turn into a little bratty kid at times, as it greatly reminds me of Nathaniel when he does; it’s not proper or healthy for him to stay in that mode. His mane catches on fire when he fumes for too long.

...

… No, seriously. That is a thing that can and has happened in the past.

Needless to say, it is a terrifying sight to behold.

Gleaming Shield couldn’t help but smile larger though for this sudden change of heart. “You’ll thank us later, Dusty,” she confides honestly, stepping forward to nuzzle the side of the colt’s face. “Promise.”

With cheeks turning bright red due to the sisterly contact (giving me brief painful flashbacks of Ashley and Nathaniel), Dusk’s eyes quickly scan around, confirm that nopony else is watching, and then reluctantly return the embrace before taking a step back and breaking it off with a cough. Man/stallion pride at its finest, ladies and gentlemen; powerful enough to make a loner forget that he is one for the sake of keeping up appearances. Cute.

“W-we’ll see,” Dusk stammers out, trying to sound mature and confident and failing spectacularly. “We’ll see.”

As Dusk turns away, Gleaming glances in my direction. Upon confirming that I was watching, she rolls her eyes for me. We tone down our giggles as my Charge takes his place beside me on the Chariot. “Safe travels, you two,” the kind older sister asks of us one final time…

... before sharply turning her head to the guards attached to our vehicle and putting on her scary ‘business’ face.

“That goes double for you two rookies!” she spat out to them, stomping her hoof down with a sickening crack. “I don’t want to hear about any slacking off now, you hear me?!”

“Ma’am yes ma’am!” the two large pegasus guardmares roar back in confirmation, similarly to how I had earlier. Unlike with me, however, it was quite obvious that the both of them are being completely serious in their declarations. That’s reassuring, actually. As comfortable as I’ve gotten to the freaky anti-gravity magic that pegasi possess, thanks to my and Dusk's constant use of sky taxis to get around Canterlot, there’s still an old part of me that will speak up at times and ask WHY IN THE BLUE HELL IS THERE NO BACK TO THIS GODFORSAKEN PIECE OF-

Eh, you get the idea. Despite the impossibility of such a thing, sky chariots are completely safe…

… but reassurance is always nice.

As I felt an itch on my scales, which signified that our winged guardians were now hard at work smothering our ride in a thick layer of their race’s magic, Dusk and I give Gleaming one last meaningful look. The slender and beautiful, though unquestionably strong unicorn remains standing where she is, watching quietly, as we begin to pull away into the sky. The two of us raise a hoof and claw respectively in a small wave of goodbye to her, to which the seasoned soldier raises a hoof herself and returns it with one of her own.

Soon we're too high up to see each other anymore.

We've truly left Canterlot.

In realizing this, Dusk immediately hangs himself over the edge of the chariot and resumes his sulking. Oy this colt… Oh well. I decide to leave him for now and to instead take stock of my personal inventory. Nothing better to do, I suppose. Ponyville, despite being close to the edge of the mountain Canterlot is stationed on, is still about a half-hour journey via air. Yes, seriously. It’s really that far away. Via train, it can take anywhere from hours to days to make the trip! Days are obviously rare though. It really depends on the availability of tracks; a few lines can become completely unusable depending on which creatures are currently using the tunnels as homes.

… At least, that’s what I read in a book once. Gleam was right; I’ve never been outside Canterlot before in this life.

It was because of this that I fought over my gut fear of looking over the edge of the chariot to do just that at this time.

The entirety of Equestria lay before me, as far as the eyes could see. The Gala Mountains, The Unicorn Range, The Badlands and Marshes, and even Ghastly Gorge; my wide, draconic irises took in the sight of it all, causing me to silently stand there in awe. Only the Unicorn Range could really be seen from the city of Canterlot's edge, along with the Everfree Forest. From up here in the sky though, above even the mountain’s peak, nothing was obscured or hidden. Nothing was left forgotten; squinting hard allowed me to see locations such as the famous Cloudsdale, that tiny little hamlet of Rainbow Falls I had read about once, and, completely and utterly inconspicuous in the grand scheme of things... Ponyville.

Upon spotting it way off in the distance, I sat back down and sighed deeply. I was left humbled by the whole experience, and feeling even smaller than I already was. I really am just a tiny fish in an enormous ocean, aren’t I? I’m so unique and different from everypony else; not only because I’m a dragoness, but because of the memories of my past life as well...

… But, at the end of the day, I’m just another microscopic spec just like the rest of them; just a little girl, shipwrecked in the middle of the never-ending sea known as existent…

‘... That could make a good chapter,’ I mentally told myself after a time, referring to the secret journal of my experiences that I keep close to my person.

… Oh! Speaking of which; I was about to take an inventory inspection, wasn’t I? I got distracted by sightseeing and must have forgotten all about it… Oh well. ‘Let’s see what I have here…’

A moment later, upon opening my purse, I receive my answer.

A clawful of blank pieces of paper, quills and pencils, one sealed inkwell, and a couple of enchanted royal sending seals were always constant presences in my bag, thus they didn’t surprise me now. It always helps to come prepared, you never know when the need will arise to send an emergency message to the Prince, after all! Their inclusion didn’t surprise me in the slightest... and the new items didn’t either.

The obvious new addition to my purse was, of course, my journal. The, fittingly titled, Poisoned Barb. This notebook contains a collection of my innermost thoughts and feelings (hidden behind the English language for safety) detailing my memories and trials for both future or presently reincarnated individuals to educate themselves with. I started writing it the other night and I hope that, in the future, it will serve as a guiding light for other affected creatures to follow… as unlikely as that admittedly is.

Can’t blame me for trying though, right?

Besides the all-important book, two rolled-up scrolls lied in my bag as well now. One contained the message Prince Solaris sent to Dusk earlier today, and the other had been sent to us a moment later. They were both here for separate reasons; the first one because I was keeping it on hand/claw in the case I needed it to encourage Dusk to actually follow through on the Prince’s orders. Beyond that, it held no other purpose… The second one, however, definitely needed to be in our possession no matter what.

It was certainly one of the rarest of gems, a checklist Dusk hadn’t written up himself beforehand!

It was the Summer Sun Celebration Official Overseer's Checklist. Provided by the Prince himself, it held a list of ponies and locations that his majesty wanted us to visit and check in with today. It was presented to Dusk as just a chore list that needed to be accomplished; one that insured that the celebration was being taken care of properly… But I knew better.

I knew much better.

I knew that this scroll, seemingly benign as it was, possessed the names or locations of every one of Dusk’s future friends; as impossible as that sounds.

You see, unbeknownst to most of his subjects, Prince Solaris is special.

… Well more special than he already is, that is; then just being a pure alicorn, a Prince, an immortal, a literal god incarnate… you get the idea. He’s special because he possesses a unique gift that has served him relatively well in the past...

The power of clairvoyance.

Prince Solaris... is a Seer. He can see into the future.

Scary, I know.

It’s not perfect though, not in the slightest. It happens randomly and infrequently, as he’s explained to me before, and it can even happen while he’s asleep! He doesn’t see everything but, despite these hurdles, Solaris has been mostly successful in predicting Dusk’s immediate future. Not completely successful, but successful enough thanks to the additional little help he’s received from… me, a fellow ‘Seer’, in steering him in the right direction. Having watched the first two seasons of the cartoon series marks me as one, apparently, though I’m just following the script and nothing more here! It’s how Solaris rationalizes my ‘power’ though, and keeps him from digging too deep into my secret, so I’m not complaining.

It is because of this ‘power’ of mine that I know that this scroll will lead Dusk into meeting his friends today. Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack; soon all the main characters of My Little Pony will meet, and soon the adventures can begin in earnest.

In the meantime though, I’m left to wonder how different each of these ponies is going to be once we actually meet them.

Just as Twilight, Celestia, and Shining Armor turned into Dusk, Solaris, and Gleaming Shield in this strange alternate dimension, it would stand to reason that a similar change has happened for all these other mares as well. As stallions… I wonder what they’re like? What are their names now, and what do they look like? All I’ve been able to do these past seven years is speculate. It hasn’t kept me up at night or anything; just idle curiosity. It wasn’t like I was a fan of the show or anything. In all honesty, ‘My Little Pony Time’ was really nothing more than ‘Mother-Daughter Bonding Time’ for me and Ash; I enjoyed spending time with my daughter more than I did actually watching the show. And Ashley used to love the show when she was a little child herself; she would watch it religiously every day until she eventually grew out of it. I was simply along for the ride…

… I still remember each character vividly though, thankfully.

Let’s see. First, there was Twilight Sparkle; Ash’s favorite pony, and my current charge, Dusk Shine. I’ve already gone at length about him so moving on. Next, there’s Rarity; a fashionista unicorn who liked to make dresses. Ashley and I used to share this little joke about her; one that, even as she grew out of the show completely, we would often still laugh about it from time to time.

The joke went like this. Jason, my wonderful husband, wa-... is a tailor in the same way Rarity is a seamstress. He grew up in his family’s textile shop so it was sort of an inevitable career path for him. Both him and that cartoon unicorn mare made their livings off of commissioned work; Jason would do anything from patching an old wedding dress to designing a movie’s entire costume closet… to fixing up the neighbor’s daughter’s teddy bear, free of charge. That was just the sort of generous man I fell in love with, even with his quirks.

I think I fell in love with him especially for his quirks.

Sometimes serious business, other times a literal drama queen, and he can even be a tad self-absorbed somedays; but he always bounces back. Always.

Rarity was much the same way, from what I can recall, to the point where I remember little seven-year-old Ashley’s question concerning her more than I do her actual character. Said question… snort, w, w-was...

“Mommy? Why is Daddy a pretty unicorn?”

And on that day a long-running joke was born.

"What are you talking about, Ashley? That’s how your father always looks! Don’t tell me you’ve never noticed his beautiful white coat before? Oh oh! Look, baby girl; your father is being fabulous again!’’

S-snort! Good times. Heh-...

…

… Sigh… Great. Now I made myself feel sad…

…

… Ahem. Er… Let’s… Let’s just get back to the ponies, shall we?

Where was I… oh! Right. Rarity. Well after Rarity there was… Pinkie Pie! Yes, I remember her. Silly pink pony, hard to forget. I liked her singing voice… and that’s all I can really remember anymore.

Then there’s Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I remember liking Applejack; hard not to like a hard-working gal who has her head on straight… if I’m even remembering that right. It’s been so long… Don’t think I’ll ever forget Rainbow Dash though. Her scratchy voice has forever been drilled into my brain thanks to one of the many talking toys we bought for little Ash all those years ago. I can’t recall the damn words for the life of me, but it’s still a sound that will stay with me until I die… and beyond!

Outside of the voice though, I remember her being tomboyish and sporty. I actually thought for a while that she was Ash’s favorite instead of Twilight, due to her personality, but the forty Twilight figurines and toys against Rainbow’s ten told me otherwise. How that kid ever saved up enough of her allowance to afford so many of those things I’ll never know…

… One, two, three, four, five… That just leaves one final pony then; Fluttershy. Though I claimed before that I wasn’t really a fan of the show, and though I’ll repeat that message here, I can still state without shame that Fluttershy was my ‘favorite’ pony. Take that with a grain of salt if you were a fan of the show; I liked her solely because she’s… well… cute. Really cute… that’s it. It has nothing to do with her character or struggles or even her growth; I just thought she was cute. Not much else to really say beyond that, except maybe point out how easy it is for anyone to see a little bit of that poor shy girl in themselves… but I’m going off-topic.

Said topic, for reference, was ‘I wonder what they're like as stallions’.

"Well," I thought, feeling the cool wind blow against my face as I silently watch the completely unaware Dusk Shine fume in his corner.

"... I guess we’re about to find out."

The Poisoned Barb’s Tale
A Story by ManlyDerp
The first sequel to The Poisoned Barb which is, one final time, recommended prior reading.
I do not own MLP, nor the gender-bent versions of the characters created by the fandom.

Entry 3, Part 3 (Friendship is Magic Part 1 &...)

Under the light of Prince Artemis’ moon, I flipped a coin to decide the fate of an Equestrian bystander. I'm ashamed to admit that having the decision taken out of my claws was a liberating feeling at the time, as well as a childish one. Hindsight allows me now to see the truth that had escaped my grasp all those nights ago; the truth that I was not acting like a good friend by leaving Moonhoofer's fate up to chance. Jumping back and forth between following the script and forging my own future... the deviated events of the Summer Sun Celebration had completely shaken the confidence I once had in my decision making skills. I thought I could straddle the line between the two paths, but thus far I had only ended up falling flat on my face. Was it any surprise then, as I wallowed in my failure and second guessed myself, that I opted to go with the simpler option of letting a trinket decide the solution for me?

Again I will fully admit that it was a childish choice, but I've decided to stick with its outcome regardless. Only time will tell if this call was ultimately the right one.

Speaking of received answers; upon being granted one through my stolen Bit that night, I next turned my attention towards the scroll that had only moments prior arrived through my flame breath. It provided answers for me as well, specifically about when I could have my important meeting with Prince Solaris. Said talks were quite enlightening, and they certainly helped me sort myself out for the future, but I'm again getting ahead of myself.

A scheduled rendezvous had been set for the following afternoon, which was much closer than I had anticipated. Just as I had earlier assumed; Solaris was too busy to attend to me any further on the same day as his and his brother’s grand return. The fact that he even stepped aside in Ponyville, to confide in me privately, speaks volumes of the kind of trust he must have in me. I’m not entirely sure what I’ve done exactly to earn such an honor, but I hope to never lose it.

I was pretty content with having the meeting be so close to my actual arrival in Canterlot. It meant that I would not have to linger in the capital for too long, or that I would need to spend two nights away from Dusk. Only one night was necessary, but that discovery brought forth an interesting question; where was I to sleep? There was the option to sleep in my own bed back in the Spire, but without Dusk there I feared that the familiar place might have felt alien and lonely to me. A silly reason, I know, but I wanted a guaranteed good night's sleep so I took the time to explore my options. Another solution involved the castle. At times Dusk and I would borrow a room there, if a wayward project required more space than what his home could accommodate, but I decided against interrupting the Prince any further that day. I reckoned that it would have been rude to keep bugging him while he was trying to catch up with Artemis.

Other choices I had were to rent a room out at The Stable; one of Canterlot’s nicer Inns. Thanks to having a joint bank account with Dusk, I could easily afford it, ~~because his family is actually loaded and because I get a small stipend for my assistance to the crown~~ but I didn’t want to spend the bits on shelter so extravagant. Other hotels in the capital city were similarly expensive, so this same excuse applied to them as well. It was also highly likely that they were all booked that night as well, though I never really checked. The next option I thought of was to seek out Dusk's other old study mates and ask to crash on their couches, like a common college student. This plan didn't sit right with me at the time, however, so out the window the idea went. Asking them for help, after having just mentally filed them away as 'acquaintances at best', left me feeling rightfully guilty. Sure they treated me more like Dusk's dog than his assistant, but they were never mean to me either. Perhaps one day Dusk and I will make the effort to upgrade our relationships with the rest of the group to an honest friendship, but I'm just rambling at this point. Continuing; the last option available to me at the time was to break into Gleaming Shield's townhouse here in Canterlot.

It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise you.

Gleaming showed me long ago where she keeps her spare key to the place, and she has also assured me multiple times that I'm free to swing by whenever Dusk accidentally locks me out of the Spire. I'm sorry to report that such a scenario has happened multiple times in the past, thus facilitating such an offer. These days I have my own key to our old home, in order to prevent such nonsense from occurring again, ~~Note to self; get a spare key for the Treehouse asap~~ but I digress.

That night, the same as any other, Gleam's home was open to me; but it was a similar situation as to why I wasn't going home to the Spire. Simply put, I feared that the familiar home would feel foreign and alien to me without its resident nerd there to keep me company. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a child who needs somepony by her side in order to get a good night's sleep; but, after spending the first half of this life being unloved and alone in the Bluebelle's Estate, I'll now take all opportunities to not be by myself when I can. The loneliness can really get to you after awhile, and I fear that it has greatly influenced how I've redeveloped myself into the person I am today. I mean, I didn't play D&D any back on Earth, or spent nearly as much time in my own head as I do these days, but look at me now; I regularly play dungeon master with Gleam when she asks me too, and I'm writing a literal novel full of my innermost thoughts and feelings right now! I wonder if Gleam, or anypony else, would have ever become friends with my old self? With who I used to be?

Speaking of Gleam; it was through thinking about her home, and the pony herself, that the solution to my sleeping arrangement dilemma finally became crystal clear. There was a promise the captain had told Dusk she would do but, thanks to Prince Bolero’s forced vacation, she was now unable to follow through on. For the sake of completing the task, and for the sake of finding a comfortable place to rest, I vowed to finish my friend's ‘mission’ for her that night.

It was the least I could do for her. After all, what kind of assistant would I be if I didn’t help the ponies I care about pick up the slack every now and then?

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Knock knock knock

“I’m coming!” chimed a feminine voice from the other side of the home's door. The sound of clipping and clopping against wooden floorboards fills my fin-ears as one of the two owners to the modest-sized estate approaches the entrance.

A light blue unicorn, with a solid dark azure mane, soon appears before me.

“Who could be stopping by at this hou- Oh hello, Barbara!” greets Dusk and Gleam’s mother, Eve Sparkle. The crescent moon cutie marked mare steps aside and grants me access to her abode. “Come in, come in!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Shine,” I bow my head politely, accepting the pony’s offer. Side note; House Shine received their name from Dusk’s Great (times four) Grandmother Shining Beacon. Eve Sparkle inherited the name through marriage, but chose to keep her cutie mark name instead.

… Pony naming conventions are weird, people. There’s no better way of describing it.

Once I cross the threshold and enter the house’s spacious entranceway, Eve calls out, “Honey! We have guests!”

From the next room over enters papa Dusk, aka Dusk Lyons. The burly stallion, similarly to Moonhoofer, is almost a complete clone of his son. Though a writer like myself, his physique is a bit better toned then mine ever was. The life of a thrill seeker will do that to a pony, I suppose. This helps set Dusk-prime apart from my Dusk quite well, as does his light grey coat and his light grey plus purple mane. The five-o'clock shadow is another great divider, and the main reason why I force Dusk to shave his stubble every, single, morning.

… I’m not controlling, really! It’s just specifically stated in my job description that I'm to make sure Dusk doesn’t do anything stupid…

…

… Stop judging me!

“Ah! Good evening, Barbara!” welcomes Mr. Shine in good cheer, chortling loudly. “What a pleasant surprise! Hope you and my son weren’t too scared by that whole 'eternal' night nonsense!”

Eve nods her head in agreement, commenting, “Oh yes! That was quite frightening! Gleaming told us that you two went to Ponyville, is that right? We haven’t heard from her since she told us that though…”

“... Dear?” Dusk Lyons abruptly asks his wife. “Didn’t you say we had guests? I only see one…”

A look of realization dawns on Eve's face.

“You’re right!” she answers, now sticking her head outside the door and looking around. “I had just assumed… Are you all by yourself, Barbara?”

“Yeah, Barbara,” Mr. Shine adds in, before asking the question on both his and his partner’s minds. “Where’s your ‘shadow’? I hardly ever see you without my boy by your side!”

Upon receiving this question, I nervously rub the back of my leg with a clawed foot. I was ready for this; Gleaming had told Dusk that she was going to tell their folks about what had happened during the Summer Sun Celebration, back when we were in Ponyville. It’s clear she forgot all about that promise once her crush entered the picture, so I’ve chosen to take on the herculean undertaking of filling them in myself.

“T-that’s actually a funny story,” I begin to retell the tale.

I’m sure these two will be able to handle the news of Dusk’s world saving exploits like the couple of mature, levelheaded adults that they are.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Upon reflection, talking to Dusk’s parents was not my best idea of that day.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“I’m going to kill him.”

“Dear, no.”

“I’m going to run my horn through his heart.”

“Dear, that kills ponies.”

“That’s just what I’m going to do though.”

“Dear...”

“Then I’ll bury the body in the backyard.”

“Dear...”

“And then Gleaming will join him for keeping this from us!”

“She was busy with work, dear.”

“Too busy to write? No… I’m just going to have to kill them both!”

“Dear, that’s illegal.”

“WELL THEY’RE TOO OLD TO GROUND, SO WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, HONEYBUN?!”

“Breathe in, breathe out, Eve,” soothes Eve’s husband. Dusk Lyons runs a hoof calmly across his wife’s withers as she begins to hyperventilate.

I take a single step backwards towards the exit.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Once everypony had settled down, Eve apologized for her theatrics and the rest of the night’s conversations went pretty smoothly. I gave the parents the majority of my remaining photos too, and we bonded a little over my descriptions of Dusk’s new friends.

Mr. and Mrs. Shine aren’t really that close with me, and I’m certainly not considered apart of the family, but that night I felt that we grew a little bit closer thanks to our mutual love of Dusk Shine. It was because of this closeness that I was invited to have dinner with them, and I was allowed to break out the spare sleeping basket for the night. I’m certain that my actions were not the deciding factor, and that they would have let me sleep there regardless, but having them actually offer it to me was certainly a pleasant surprise. I slept peacefully that night, having been worn quite thoroughly out over the course of the hectic day.

The following morning started out, simple enough, with pancakes. Dusk Lyons' pancakes, to be precise; which comes with the thickest hay-bacon strips imaginable and a side of scrambled eggs to round it all up. Once my cholesterol was nicely spiked into the stratosphere, I decided to blow the hours I would have spent waiting around until the start of my meeting to instead help Mr. and Mrs. Shine out with a few chores around the house. I also aided in providing an extra set of claws for Eve’s grocery shopping run. Being Dusk’s parents, those two were the true holders to the Title of Ownership that binds me to their family, but this fact didn’t influence my decision to assist them that day. I figured that it was the least I could do for the room and food they gave me, that’s all. What can I say? I like to return kindness with kindness. Dusk once said that this quirk of mine might be due to a kind of honor code ponies hypothesize dragons have, called ‘The Dragon Code’, but I know that the real reason is that it’s just a part of my soul’s nature. It’s comforting to know that this important aspect of my original self still burns brightly after all these years.

Getting off topic here; ~~nothing really exciting happened during the first part of my day~~ only one thing of interest happened to me during the first half of my day, and it was when I crossed paths with one of the few ponies on this planet that I actually truly hate.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“... I’m telling you that this has to be a trick; a farce orchestrated by the griffons, or the yaks!” yells out Princess Bluebelle upon her literal soapbox. She’s standing high above the common folk, as she often loves to do, as she screams nonsense to anypony willing to listen. “They have forced the Prince, my uncle, into relinquishing his powers to them! The blue alicorn is a hoax, fillies and gentlecolts! A hoax made to trick us into thinking that the power of the alicorns can be shared! Well it can not, my fellow ponies! I know this to be true; I asked Uncle Solaris myself! He was only able to ascend Prince Mi Amore Bolero under special circumstances! The lack of wings upon his nieces' back, my back, is proof enough that the task is impossible!”

“Yeah, cause that’s the only reason imaginable,” I mutter under my breath as I watch this in the distance. I’m standing off to the side, with my draconic strength being used to carry a mountain of grocery bags, while Eve Sparkle takes a small break to double check her long list. It saddens me greatly that a small gathering of ponies is hanging on to every little word this blowhard is spouting, and it angers me that they are nodding their heads as well, but I’m pretty confident in stating that nopony will actually care about this non-alicorn Princess' words for more than an hour. Why am I so confident in this assessment, you may ask? Well Bluebelle's special talent is represented by a rose compass, you see. She points ponies in the ‘right’ direction; she doesn’t lead them.

While I was growing up again on her estate, I saw this distinction made clear time and time again.

“Hmmm… aha!” cheers Eve, knocking me out of my thoughts. “I need blueberries next! We can get those at the marketplace down the road... Come along, Barbara.”

“Coming,” I respond, tightening the grip on my cargo as I follow close behind. Right before we pass by Bluebelle, a wickedly evil idea enters my mind.

She’s not the only girl who can fearmonger, after all~

Thusly with plan in mind, and upon singling out a single distracted onlooker with my eyes; I pass between the rude speaker and the entranced listener and quietly comment in a disguised voice, “She’s just jealous of her uncle spending more time with her other uncle than her.”

Without looking back, I can tell that my planted seed is taking root. Soon, after a brief pause on her part, the Princess swiftly demands to know which pony had just made such a baseless claim, while the other party asks loudly, “Wait, you do have another uncle?!”

The discussion then devolves from there into a screaming contest between the noble pony and the commoners.

I, meanwhile, devolve into a laughing mess.

This confuses Eve greatly.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Helping Dusk’s mother proved to be an excellent time waster, because before I knew it the time for my meeting had arrived.

I gave Mr. and Mrs. Shine farewell before departing, and I assured them both that I would keep them posted on their son’s progress in friendship making on a regular basis. The promise was easy for me to make, since I possess dragonfire sending seals for them and, in turn, they’re able to send scrolls to me as well thanks to the seals Solaris provided for them long ago. Speaking with them in person will also be an option as well, as I will be returning to Canterlot on a monthly basis going forward. I will be doing this in order to give the Prince detailed observation reports on Dusk’s growth as well. ~~This was decided towards the end of~~

I’m getting ahead of myself. The meeting I had with Prince Solaris went over quite a few different subjects and scenarios, so it would be better if I just shared, word for word, how it all went down. The first important detail comes from the actual locations where our talks took place, as we didn’t limit ourselves to just one spot. Sure we convened at a specified landmark, but we also traveled while we talked. There was a reason why we did such a thing, but first allow me to start from the beginning.

It all started when I found myself standing mere inches away from a special statue.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“...”

“... Heh, you blinked.”

“...”

… That was a lie.

The statue hadn’t blinked. I did.

Bad dragon girl. Don’t lie.

...

… Sorry, but I’m bored.

Real bored.

Solaris is late. I’ve doubled checked the sundial a little ways away, and I’ve doubled checked the location specified on the scroll he sent me yesterday; I have the right time, and I have the right place.

Said time was ten minutes ago.

Said place is right in front of the dragonequus statue in the castle’s garden.

Seems like the perfect place to talk about a chaos demon, wouldn’t you agree?

The female version of Discord is just as mismatched and funny looking as the original ever was; at least from what I can still remember. The different assortment of random animal parts and colors is still present, as is the original frozen stance (closed eyes, arm and mouth raised towards the sky). About the only differences I can spot is that her muzzle is quite a bit shorter and her mane is certainly a bit longer. Maybe her body is more slender too, but I can’t tell for certain with my foggy memories.

Her statue stands alone in the garden, having been separated from all the rest by several paved walkways and strategically placed flower patches. The hedge maze is her only companion, but on the plus side she is within viewing distance from Prince Solaris’ personal bedchambers. That must have been planned; this set up would allow the alicorn to keep a close eye on this stoned creature without the aid of his telescope. A quick glance would be all that be needed to assure that she’s still here. Visitors to these gardens are also able to spot this unique monster from any given point too, as she stands so much taller then everything else here. Travelers through the hedge maze can even use her as a visual clue to reorient themselves from within, at least towards the southern side.

Travelers through the garden, meanwhile, are able to learn more about her by simply approaching the base of the statue. There is a plaque here, which states exactly who she used to be and what she once horrifically did to ponykind. Since I had nothing better to do while I was waiting, I took the time to read this information and internalize who Discord is in this version of Equestria. To start, her name here is actually E-

“My apologies for my tardiness, Barb.”

SWEET NAMA JAMA

Jumping in place, having been taken completely by surprise, I fall roughly on my tail with a squeak. Embarrassed, my cheeks burn hot as I lift myself back up and turn to greet the pony I had been waiting on. There hadn't been any trotting noises, no sound of magical teleportation, and not a trace of wings beating at all... How in the blue blazes is a pony Solaris’ size so freaky stealthy?!

Unable to help himself, the Prince of the Sun raises a hoof to his lips and tries to hide the cheeky grin now adorning it. He chuckles before addressing me, the jerk.

“A-again my apologies,” Solaris snorts, clearly not sorry. “It was not my intention to frighten you so,” speaks the liar. “And it was not my intention to be so late. An argument came up between my brother and I and… Well, it’s a long story.”

“It’s fine,” I lie too, trying not to pout. “I wasn’t waiting long at all.”

“Well that is quite a relief,” he responds cheerfully, closing his eyes and smiling even wider. As he lowers his hoof back towards the ground, my sight lingers on the stallion's face for a time.

Specifically on his right eye.

I consider it for a moment before turning away.

“How… How are you feeling, Prince Solaris?” I ask the pony; the wilting fins on the side of my head unwillingly reflecting my inner emotions.

“Better,” the Prince answers for me softly. He then lowers himself onto his knees, so that we are forced to look one another eye to eye; as equals. “Much better. You needn't worry about an old stallion like me, my friend. Though I do greatly appreciate your concern.”

This perks me up a little bit, and helps to ease my fears.

“... Isn’t that illusion spell still draining you though?” I next inquire, noticing that I once again can’t tell any difference between his working eye and his damaged one. For the second time, Solaris laughs lightly; probably finding humor in how a creature as small as me is dotting over somepony as large as him.

“That will no longer be a problem,” he explains happily, again beaming in a pleasant manner. He then lightly taps the right side of his head…

… which causes his right eye to spin slightly in place.

“The types of illusions one can produce through simple stage makeup, and a little glass ball, ca be even grander than the kinds created through spells,” the Prince shares with me, before using his magic to gently push the fake eye back into its proper place. It moves in tandem with his working one, perhaps through an enchantment? “That is a lesson worth learning, Barb, for terrifying deceptions can be created just as easily through the use of even simpler materials… such as words.”

“I’ll… try to keep that in mind,” I respond, not entirely sure what he’s referring too.

“That would please me,” Solaris nods. Rising, the Prince directs his attention towards the statue before us, though his words are clearly still meant for me. “Now then... I do believe that the two of us have matters most dire to discuss today.”

Standing beside the larger pony, with my body reaching up barely past the top of his golden horseshoe’s guard, I nod my head in turn and draw my own attention towards the petrified being as well. “Right,” I confirm. “We need to talk about this one here. Er-”

Before I can complete the fiend's title, Solaris cuts me off with the utterance of a single name.

A name I never dreamed that I would hear uttered here one day.

“Discord, The Lord of Chaos.”

...

… Huh?

Twisting my head skywards towards my big friend, I raise an eyebrow over his sudden, and confusing, declaration. When I see no response forthcoming from him for his words, I turn my head instead back towards the statue and reread the name printed for my own benefit.

It states, plainly and clearly; ‘Eris, The Dame of Disorder’.

...

… Again... huh??

“Wha?” I ask out loud, as my mind slowly turns to mush. I lift my head back up towards Solaris'.

This time, he shoots a smile back my way.

“... Let’s continue this conversation inside the maze, dear,” the alicorn suggests, now placing my braindead-self on his back with the aid of golden magic. He continues speaking as he carries me inside the hedges. “It’s much more private this way, and there’s a special spot I like to relax in within its center.”

“O-okay,” I stammer out numbly, as I spare the statue of Eris(?) one last glance before we depart. The smell of smoke fills my nostrils as my brain pushes itself into overdrive, in order to complete the simple task of deciphering whatever the hell is going on right now!

Before I'm given the opportunity to decipher this riddle any further, Solaris again interrupts me by setting me back down. He has already masterfully navigated the maze in my distracted state, and we are now sitting inside a rather nicely hidden gazebo. There’s no chance of anypony randomly walking in on us in here, and no chance that a wayward pegasus could spot us either; the roof of the structure is partially buried into the hedge itself, so we’re perfectly camouflaged. There are no chairs or tables inside this thing either, to note. Instead there's a pile of nice looking pillows… This is the extent of my observation though, for I was soon shaken from my daze by the appearance of a magical floating teacup.

Can’t have a good, dramatic conversation with Solaris without a cup of tea, I guess.

“I’m afraid I only have basic earl grey today,” explains my princely friend, as I take the floating cup within my claws and hold it still enough to be filled. Once this small task is complete, an even smaller burst of magic from Solaris causes the steaming tea kettle to disappear completely. “It’s all I have left to offer at the moment. I may have… ahem… gotten a tiny bit carried away with sharing my collection with Artemis last night. So many new flavors had been created in his absence, you see, s-so I wanted him to experience as much of them as he could…” The Prince then blushes, and looks away. “A bit foolish, I know, but I want to spend time with him however I can; to make up for the time that has been irreversibly lost to us already...”

“It’s… fine,” I reply honestly. I don’t think I have the mental capacity at the moment to even form an opinion on this; my brain is still too full of buck. Upon metaphorically kicking the hamster in my head into running on his wheel again, I’m finally able to push two brain cells together long enough to form an intelligent question.

“Sir, did... d-did you say Discord? But… b-but the statue's sign say-”

“The statue lies, Barbara.”

I’m taken aback, and at a loss for words.

Solaris smoothly takes a sip of his drink before continuing.

“The statue’s plaque was created by the ponies he tortured,” the Prince reveals for me, spitefully emphasizing the male pronoun he uses to describe Discord with. “They only knew him by the destruction he brought forth, and by the mental scars he left on us all.

“... But you know the secret behind the statue, don’t you, Barb? I assume your Sight revealed it for you?”

Unable to speak, too focused on his words, I nod my head ‘yes’ without hesitation.

“And you know that it is not only a warning for future generations, and a reminder of our history, but also a prison, yes?”

Again I nod ‘yes’. I don't want a repeat of the Summer Sun Celebration; I don't want to give this world even the slightest chance to play around with Discord's introduction like it did with Nightterror Nebula's. So, if I want to do anything proactive about this oversized lawn ornament, I need to be as honest as I can be right now; with secrets kept to a minimum.

“Then you know that the Elements of Harmony froze him thousands of years ago,” Solaris resumes, confirming for himself that we’re currently on the same page. “Wielded by my brother and I, we blasted the creature when he was distracted and doomed him to the form you see now.”

Doomed him to the form...

... Okay… as impossible as this is going to sound… I’m now even more confused than when we started!!

“You turned him into a she?!” I ask hysterically, too flabbergasted to say or think anything else.

Solaris shakes his head ‘no’.

Oh thank goodness.

“That is incorrect, Barb," he sets me straight. "We did not transform him into the form of ‘Eris’ you see now.

"No... Instead, he in fact did the deed to himself... willingly.”

“... Wha?” is my highly educated, thought provoking retort.

In a move not in line with how he usually acts, Solaris refrains from laughing at my clear further confusion. “It’s true,” the pony nods, taking another swig from his cup. “When Artemis and I first met the fiendish draconequus, he was a ‘he’ originally. He went by the name of Discord, and he despised the harmony ponykind had gained since the founding of Equestria. You must understand, disharmony is what he craves above all else! So, his reaction to having two Princes be his opponents was to, well, be… different.”

At first this sounded like nothing but gibberish to me…

… but then it clicks for me in perfect clarity.

“He created chaos... by being your complete opposite?!” I state, finishing the Prince’s insane thoughts for him.

“Exactly,” he confirms, clearly happy that I came to the conclusion myself. “He hated the idea of us being on any sort of equal level, so he snapped his fingers and became the form that he is today. ‘Eris’ was the name he took on afterwards, and proceeded to try to strike fear into the hearts of ponies with it... But I refuse to acknowledge his horrid display to this day,” Solaris sneers, giving his tea cup a nasty look. “To so callously warp one’s form on a whim, heedless of the meaning or consequences behind such a change... the act spits in the face of those who suffered greatly just to achieve the same.”

I... I...

...

“... Wow,” I utter lowly, completely caught off guard by this revelation. Discord started as a guy here? Well… that...

... that kinda makes sense, in a sick sort of way. If this world is ‘harmoniously’ a flipped version of the show’s world, then it would stand to reason that a creature of pure disharmony would stay the same out of principle… Or maybe he actually started as Eris in the show and did a similar transformation to annoy Celestia and Luna?

Now that is an interesting development to ponder on later.

... Right now, though, I’m more concerned about Solaris’ interesting response to this reveal.

“It sounds like it hurt you… personally, Solaris,” I point out, not sure what to think; wanting to learn more.

With a sigh, the pony in question turns away from his tea.

“In a way… yes, and no,” he answers cryptically, as is his normal M.O. “I... have lived a long, long time, Barb. Throughout the course of this unnaturally long life, I have had the great pleasure of meeting creatures from all walks and trots of life... And I have seen pain take on many different forms in that time. Pain of the heart, pain of the mind, pain of the flesh and even pain of the soul. Pain is felt differently for each of us, little one, and there are times where it can become unbearable.

"Although pain defines us, and helps us grow stronger; there are times when I wish I could simply just light up my horn, craft a spell, and make my subject's pain go far, far away... But I’m sadly no miracle worker. Never in my long rule have I made such a false claim.

"This pain though, the kind one feels when they are unable to shine out as well as they know they can; where they feel as though they are trapped in a mismatched cage of their meat and bones…”

As his words reach their zenith in speed and intensity, Solaris releases his sudden worked up energy by sighing deeply and loudly.

“... I can only dare to imagine what such a pain must feel like, Barb.”

...

“... Yeah...” I utter lowly after a time, only to then look down at my claws in silent contemplation.

The ghostly image of human fingers flashes briefly across their features in my mind’s eye.

"... I can only dare to imagine,” I repeat wistfully.

“I pride myself on being empathetic towards my subjects, dear,” the Prince resumes, regaining my attention. “And though I feel that I have failed in this goal time and time again, I still at least make the effort to understand. That is why I refuse to refer to that beast as anything less than the selfish monster he is; Discord, the Lord of Chaos...

“... This brings about an interesting question though, Barbara. One that I would much like to direct towards you, if I may.”

Huh?

“Um… sure?” I offer, surprised by this request. I take a sip of my earl grey before giving the Prince the okay. “G-go ahead.”

Prince Solaris pauses, to gather his thoughts.

I take a second sip of my tea, and ready myself.

“Barbara,” he starts as I drink. “I was under the impression that you already knew about Discord’s true nature from your Sight. My visions have shown that his return will consist of him retaining his female form, so I must ask...

“...why did you refer to him as his proper title of ‘Lord’ back in Ponyville?”

YOU KNOW WHAT, I JUST DISCOVERED THAT THIS TEA IS INCREDIBLY HOT

I ALSO DISCOVERED THAT IT LOOKS REALLY GOOD ON SOLARIS’ FACE

“I am so, soooo sorry!” I cry out, as I hastily grab a handkerchief from my purse and try to wipe down the results of my spit-take from the Prince’s muzzle. “That was a complete accident, I swear!”

“T-think nothing of it,” my drenched friend retorts, laughing as he uses a casual spell to easily clean himself off. “It seems to happen surprisingly often during tea parties I hold! Haha!”

Gee, I can’t imagine why that is; you manipulative jerk...

Vile internal thoughts aside, the Prince continues on as he locks his serious gaze back on me. “My question still stands, Barbara. How did you know that Eris is truly a Lord, and not a Dame as she is commonly depicted?”

With newfound panicked focus, I think back to my words from yesterday…

… and realize that yes; I did refer to him as the ‘Lord of Chaos’ that day! Crap crap crap! I-I was so caught up in the moment at the time, and had so little knowledge about Eris, that I completely forgot to genderflip my words! Rookie slip-up, you dingus! What to do what to do what to do… “A-any chance that you’ll take ‘it was a mistake’ as an answer, s-sir?”

“Hehe. Perhaps before the tea assault, Barb, but certainly not now.”

Rats.

“Barbara,” the Prince chimes once more, drawing my shaking gaze towards him. “Please don’t interpret my prying as a way to undermine you in any form. I simply wish to understand you and your gift a little better, that’s all! The power of a Seer manifests in many different ways, you see.”

“I-it does?” I ask, now trying to buy enough time to think of away out of this mess.

Solaris complies, and elaborates. “Yes, it does. My own Sight is sporadic, and it bounces between images of the far off future, and images from elsewhere in the present. I lack control over it, but that seems to be a constant between all Seers I’ve met... And I have met many other Seers over the course of my life, my friend, so believe me when I say that the form your abilities have taken will not surprise me in the slightest!

“I’ve met stallions able to peer into the past through the eyes of others’ ancestors, griffons able to the see the future in flashes of twenty seconds every hour, on the hour, and mares who saw chunks of what's to come, in segments of twenty minutes or more!”

My eyes widen at this, though I say nothing.

That sounds very familiar. Maybe I can make this work...

“There was even this sweet young pony,” the Prince goes on, speaking nostalgically, “named Brilliant Padparadscha, who was gifted with the power of immediate hindsight instead of future vision. Such a thing would drive a lesser pony like me insane, I fear. How that dear stayed so peppy and hopeful is anyponies’ guess…”

“... Have,” I start to question, taking advantage of the slight pause I was granted. “H-have you ever met a Seer who looked at… parallel universes, your majesty?”

Now it’s Solaris’ turn to raise an eyebrow.

Sweat drips from my forehead, but I feel that this might be the best chance I have to not tell him the full story. My biggest fear right now is that this snowballs out of control and I end up having to tell him about the reincarnation thing. I still don’t want to tell him, or anyone else, about that yet. My relationship with Solaris may have changed greatly over the course of this week, but I’m not ready to share a secret so personal with him. I don’t want my friends to think I’ve been lying to them for so long, and I don’t want them to treat me differently as well. Call it paranoia, but I’m fine with just being plain, old, ‘future seeing’ Barbara for now… Maybe my future conversation with Elusive, about his true nature, will convince me otherwise... but one thing at a time for now. Lets focus on the present.

And presently, I think it’s time to begrudgingly show a little bit more of my secret hand.

“Parallel universes?” Solaris tries to clarify, successfully returning me to the conversation. “Why… yes, in fact. An older Seer I once knew could gaze into a world where my coat is pink! Hah! Could you imagine such a silly thing?”

“M-more than you think,” I share, still sweating. How do I go about this with a semblance of tact? Do I share a tiny bit, or the whole thing? What to do what to do what to do… Do I still have that coin? I could flip that real quick...

Thankfully the Prince saves me before I'm forced to childishly resort to lady luck's grace yet again. “Perhaps you would like to first hear my own take on the events yet to come?” he offers kindly, having obviously sensed my distress. "Please just allow me a second to gather my thoughts. It was a number of years since I last saw it, after all..."

The stallion then proceeds to close his eyes, and meditate.

I watch quietly and closely, and my lips remain sealed as he re-opens his eyes and begins to speak once again.

“I… saw chaos, child; within an old moment of Sight.

“I saw roads of soap, and buildings made of chocolate.

“I saw ponies twisted and turned grey, made parodies of themselves.

“I saw dancing pane glass windows, and six determined stallions standing before it…

“... That is all I’ve seen of the events that will transpire... Does any of that sound familiar, my friend?”

It certainly does.

If I ever needed proof that this guy isn’t just blowing smoke about the whole ‘future vision’ thing, I guess this would be it. It’s certainly a lot less than I thought it would be, though maybe that’s for the best? I’m already being driven crazy over what little I personally know about the future! Simply playing along with the show has been exhausting, and now I’m unsure if that's even the right path for me to follow! Dusk almost got hurt, and he almost got hurt in a way that wasn’t in the show. And… Solaris did get hurt…

I don’t want anypony else to get hurt.

...

… Barbara, I'm again going to call you a dingus.

That’s the whole reason you’re even here, dummy!

You told yourself… whoops. Accidental third person. I mean I told myself a minute ago that honesty was going to be the key to changing the future, yet I'm still hesitating. Keeping the reincarnation stuff to myself is fine, but the time to start really making a difference is now!

And there’s only one way to accomplish that effectively; by telling the truth.

“It sure does, Solaris,” I parrot my earlier thoughts, reassuring my friend that our ‘visions’ do in fact match up. “I saw the same exact thing… But I also saw so, much, more.”

"..."

... The left side of the Solaris' lips curl upwards thanks to this, producing a unprincelike cocky grin.

“Really?" the alicorn practically purrs. "Are you willing to share your vision with me now, by dear little friend?”

I allow his moment of pure satisfaction to pass by uninterrupted as, with a single shake of my head, I give Solaris my resounding answer of, “Yes, I am... Just a heads up though, my Prince; remember when I asked about parallel universes?”

“Indeed… Why?”

Guess it’s now or never.

I titter nervously. “W-well… I did see Discord’s return, and I did see ponies standing up to him… but it wasn’t Dusk who stood up to them in my ‘Sight’.”

The Prince blinks blankly thanks to this.

“No? But then, wh-”

“I also did see him too, at the same time,” I cut him off, taking a little bit of sick joy in stealing the role of ‘trickster’ away from the King of the loaded conversation.

Clearly not used to the tables being turned on him, the pony plainly states, “I-I don’t follow, Barb.”

I giggle at this. “I don’t imagine you would, sir. In order to understand my visions, you gotta understand that they do not follow the adventures of Dusk Shine; personal protege of Prince Solaris.

“Instead... they follow Twilight Sparkle, personal protege of Princess Celestia!”

Silence now reins between the two of us as the second, and most certainly not the last, bomb of this meeting drops.

“... But… There isn’t a princess by that name, Barbara,” Solaris eventually answers, clearly very confused.

“Yep,” I reply, taking a sip of my now cooling tea.

“And… there isn’t a pony I know by the name of Twilight Sparkle. At least, not in Canterlot or Ponyville.”

“Yep.”

“Yet... you’re saying that they play a major role in combating Discord? Not… Eris?”

“Eeyup,” I chortle, channeling my inner Red Gala.

“... I imagine that only Element users could stand up to his powers,” the gears in the alicorn’s mind churn, slowly bringing him to the answer. “With all the current Element’s taken, it wouldn’t make sense that there would be another… And you mentioned parallel universes… But also Twilight Sparkle is clearly a mare’s nam-”

The ponies’ pupil of his one working eye suddenly shrinks into the tiniest little needlepoint ever.

An equally tiny gasp of “Oh,” escapes his lips soon after.

A toothy smile from me is Solaris' only reward…

… Well, that... and the shattered remains of his mind! Hah! The score is now One to One, my cryptic friend!

“Yep,” I repeat one last time, relishing every second of this beautiful moment.

“You’re… y-your vision is quite… unique, Barb,” Solaris stutters out, after having taken a second to recompose himself. “I can only imagine how disorienting such a Sight could be…”

“For reference; my name is ‘Spike’ over there, sir,” I laugh loudly. “Disorienting doesn’t even begin to describe how messy things have been to keep straight in my head!”

“Indeed!” my pony companion laughs too in response, joining in the ‘joke’ that is my life. “A whole world where the sexes have flipped? Incredible… though, from the sound of it, Discord remains a constant... Or perhaps he was truly a she over there… Maybe the monster’s mere presence tips the balance of sexes from one side to the other… There is a lot to take in from this revelation,” the stallion admits, as he rubs his beard intensely. “Take heart that I will be morethan happy to help you in the task of sorting things out.

“That said… I must now ask you a vital question on this subject, Barb.”

My heart drops at this.

So much for my moment on top.

“Y-yes?” I respond, bracing myself for the coming attack.

“Barbara,” Prince Solaris says boomingly, drawing his wings out and raising them as high as this gazebo will allow him to do so. “In this other realm, where things are so similar but also different; allow me to ask this simply and clearly...”

I hold my breath.

“... Is Princess Celestia my mare double?”

“Y… y-yes?” I answer fearfully, unsure of the point of the question.

“Hm. I see,” Solaris nods his head in understanding. “... Then I have one final question for you. Answer this with all the truthfulness and honesty your heart possesses, dragon… In this parallel Equestria...

“... am I a pretty girl?”

For the second time today, silence reigns supreme.

Under its rule, I can only stare mutely.

“... Yes, Solaris,” I deadpan, as all the tension disappears from my body. “You are the prettiest princess in all the land. You have a flowing rainbow mane and everything.”

Solaris lowers his wings at this. Though his features conveys a sense of dead seriousness, the red tint now adorning his cheeks shatters this poker face completely.

“G-good,” the Prince utters with an awkward cough. “Then I feel that all is right in the universe...”

Entry Derp, Part Derp (April Derp... Er, Fools)

Author's Note

*Whistles innocently*

EDIT: Now that the April Fool's dust has settled I will happily let you know that this, while optional reading, is still canon. Please enjoy it while you wait for the next set of chapters that will be releasing later this month! Check my blog for more info and updates!

Entry Derp, Part Derp (April Derp... Er, Fools)

~In Another Time... But, Like, Canonically After Griffon The Brush Off... And Before Boast Busted... And Does Anyone Actually Pay Attention to These Blurbs? They're, Like, Super Important, Man. They Hold Clues To Most Of The Major Mysteries... Except For Elusive's. THAT Hot Mess Ain't Gonna Be Answered Until Cduns Uv Dra-

Wait... @#$%! Was This Still On?! Son Of A Bitc-~

Running errands in Equestria flipping sucks.

They take me twice as long to do here then they did back on Earth, and this fact never fails to bum me out. I fondly remember used to being able to hop into the family van, swing by a couple of stores, and be back home with hours still left on my clock. Most Earth businesses had you in and out at a reasonable click; decide what you want, pick up or ask for said want, and then pay for it with the wave of your smartphone. Small lines, small waits, very small interaction with teenagers who didn't know how to bathe themselves properly... 'Magical' is how I'd describe such a process to someone not native to my birth planet, because looking back it honestly was.

As you probably already guessed, this isn't how it works in Equestria.

Despite this world's access to actual magic that could replicate such conveniences with ease, I know better than to hope for something that will never be; such enviable levels of automation are well beyond Equus' current grasp. Ponies prefer to linger, after all. Ponies prefer to talk as well. Ponies prefer to have their needs taken care of by a fleshy expert, ponies prefer to see familiar faces.

And ponies, unfortunately, prefer to be slow as sloths.

The novel concept of 'quickly picking something up from the store' doesn't exist in Equestria. Every transaction is a potential barter opportunity, meaning prices can always be talked down if you put in the effort. This increases the wait time between customers significantly, as you can imagine, and spending hours waiting is not unheard of nor considered unusual. Think 'extreme couponing' and you'll instantly get what I'm talking about. It's frustrating in every sense of the word...

... but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't gaming the system the same as everypony else.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Barbara.

P-please don't judge me too harshly for my sins, folks! When all you need to do to get a few bits taken off your bill is to point out how you're an adorable baby dragoness, and say 'pwease', it's hard not to join in the 'fun'... But, hey, at least I'm considerate of the other ponies waiting in line when I play it! I'm not like those people who don't give a flying feather whether they're wasting everyone's time or not! Get this, I once saw a stallion argue for a solid hour straight just to get a single bit taken off a Hay Burger meal.

Not a day goes by where I haven't thought about setting him, and others like him, on fire for their crimes against my patience.

Sadly burning my problems away is seldom the answer; sometimes all I can do is complain about the stupidity and move on. There's nothing I can do to change how ponies operate... but I still wish Equestria would get with the times already! Money was invented to replace barter systems, not complement them! Oh how I long to return to my carefree days of swinging by McDonald's for a bite, or hopping onto Amazon for an essential! Those were happier times indeed...

... Sigh... More so than the slowness, I think this overwhelming sense of homesickness might be the true culprit behind why I feel running errands in Equestria sucks so much. Mentally I know that there's nothing wrong with missing my old life, but emotionally I'm still stuck in the past.

If this idiotic heart of mine would just shut up for, like, five minutes maybe I could start recovering already! I can't start living my new life until minor crap like this stops bugging me, but I can't do that until said minor crap stops cropping up!

Being held down by such heavy baggage gets so tiring after awhile, you guys...

...

... Speaking of baggage; before I wrap up this discussion/rant I feel the need to point out how there's one business in all of Equestria that has failed to give me this same sense of longing. If anything... its made me feel pleasantly nostalgic instead!

The reason behind this is of no mystery to me; I fully understand why I feel this way when I visit this specific store. It's not because of the sights, it's not because of the sounds, and it's certainly not because of the smells.

No...

... The post office is equally as slow in Equus as it was back on Earth; that's why it feels so nostalgic to me.

What's the point in pining for something when it's basically the gosh darn same? I bet if ponies had a DMV it would be equally as archaic, with a line just as intimidating as the one I've been trapped in for most of this afternoon. The ticking clock on the wall has been a constant reminder of just how long I've been here. I could have been starting my next O&O session with Red Gala today, or I could have been playing pretend Power Ponies with Sweepy and Scooter but noooo; I just had to sacrifice my day off to stand around and wait.

Bleh. Well... whatever. Thankfully I'm almost next. I have my receipt in claw, the one indicating that a package was delivered while Dusk and I weren't home, so hopefully it won't take too much longer for me to get the goods and make off like a bandit.

"Next!"

Ah! Right on cue!

As the pony in front of me grumbles, stomping away from the counter, I pay him little mind as I pad my way forward. Getting on my tippy toes so I can reach, I'm at last able to see that this office hired a new mail carrier since my last visit.

Not only that, but said carrier is somepony I recognize from My Little Pony!

... Like... completely recognize... Huh.

"Oh! Cool!" the familiar grey pegasus chimed pleasantly. "You're that dragon from Rainbow Dash's party!"

Surprised to have been recognized too (especially considering how I didn't do all that much mingling during the aforementioned party), I blush as I realize that this pony remembers me but I don't them. "Um... Yeah. Hi. I'm Barb."

"Hi!" the blond mare waved back enthusiastically, uncaring that the chitchat was slowing down the line. "I'm Derpy! Wow, I've never met a dragon before!"

And, yes, you heard that right; I said mare.

Though I mentioned that I don't remember this pony all that well, I meant it in real world context. Of course I 'know' Derpy Hooves from the show; she appeared in the season two episode that involved Applejack and the blue ribbons. Her speaking role in her one scene was incredibly minor, and I hardly remember what she said, but her appearance still left a lasting impression on me regardless. Why it did I'm unsure, but I can hazard a guess that the ungodly loud squee my daughter produced at the time might be part of the reason.

Ashley once tried to explain to me how My Little Pony had something called 'background ponies', characters with their own names and adventures that happened behind the scenes of the regular show. I never payed attention to this aspect of the series, and I can't for the life of me recall any of the ponies she told me about, but it appears that I somehow still remember Derpy after all these years. Despite that pony's origin as a pallet-swapped Rainbow Dash, her lazy eye and bold name must have marked her as something special in my mind; a mare worth remembering the same as any main character.

I'm extremely surprised to see that she's still a pallet-swapped version of this world's more feminine Rainbow Dash though, and that she's clearly a she. Her voice gives it away, as it's much more high pitched in tone than her show counterpart's was...

... But... Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe this is the stallion version of that bubbly pony? Or maybe the show's was a boy this whole time? I did think their voice sounded a bit too masculine for a mare... Again I'm presented with another strange swerve to canon, but this time it doesn't feel nearly as earth shattering as some of the others I've experienced so far.

This time it's just... odd.

"How can I help you today?" Derpy asks, returning my mind to the present.

Oh, right. I'm here for Dusk's latest care package from Canterlot. I tell the mare just that. "I'm here to pick up a package for the library." I them present my receipt.

Gripping it with her wings, one of Derpy's eyes scan the message while the other stays stationary in place.

"Hmmm... Oh! I know which one! Brb!" With that she tosses the slip of paper aside and digs deep underneath her desk.

"Thank you," I polity comment as she goes to work.

"Just doin' my job, little lady!" she cheers as she continues to dig. The top half of her head is poking out while she searches, allowing me to see how one of her eyes is bouncing up and down in rhythm to her happy bobbing.

The sight of it is... mesmerizing.

"..."

"... You're staring."

With cheeks suddenly burning bright red, a great feeling of shame washes over me.

"I'm sorry," I apologize, looking away. And here I was trying so hard not to stare too. "I-I didn't mean to..."

A sniffle escapes my nose.

I'm fighting to hold back tears.

Stupid child body, s-stop influencing me. I remember being an adult, damn it; I'm supposed to be tactful and in control of my emotions. I'm not supposed to be such a blubbering, inconsiderate baby...

Halting her work, the postmare leans over the counter and lays a calming hoof on my shoulder.

"Hey there," she coos, her tone nothing but motherly. "Don't cry! I get it all the time!"

"T-that doesn't make it right," I mutter back, eyes still glued to the ground.

"Hehe, nope," Derpy laughs in agreement. "But it's nothing to be ashamed about either!" she then insists, and my melancholy doesn't stand a chance in the face of her chipperness.

Placing a wingtip underneath my chin, she next lifts my head up until we're once again eye to eye... or at least as eye to eye as we can get.

"I actually prefer when ponies ask me about it, Barb," Derpy reassures me with a soft smile. "Ignoring it doesn't make it go away, and it's a big part of who I am, so I'm always willing to help ponies to better understand me!"

"..."

... This...

... This is making my heart feel a heck of a lot lighter.

There's this feeling of kinship now growing within my chest; Derpy's words are striking a deep chord with me. 'It's a big part of who I am'... If only I had the same courage as her when it came to sharing my true nature with my friends. Maybe restarting my life wouldn't feel as daunting as it does if those around me understood what I'm going through...

"Really?" I proceed to ask Derpy, willingly showing my interest to know more. Perhaps I can learn a thing or two from her through the story behind her unique ey-

"Yup!" the pegasus answers back, cutting off my train of thought. Pounding her chest proudly, she follows this up by stating quite clearly that, "I'm always willing to tell ponies how I was born a mare!"

...

... Wha?

"Wha?" I repeat, feeling like I had just made a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

"I'm all mare, little lady," Derpy declares, jumping up onto her desk and pointing a hoof into the air; striking a pose...

... much to the dismay of everypony behind me realizing that I had just delayed them all.

Oops. My bad.

"Ponies keep thinking I'm a dude like Rainbow Dash just cuz I like to wear my mane the same way he does!" the postal postmare reveals, practically snarling at the fact. "Isn't that just the most messed thing you've ever heard, Barb?!"

I invoke the rule of three by again asking, "Wha?"

"I know, right?!" she continues to rant, getting in my face. "He doesn't have a monopoly on casual chic, girl! He doesn't!!"

I have made a grave mistake.

"Even the ponies who haven't met him think I'm a dude!" Derpy huffs, now dramatically flopping upon the counter; defeated. "Oh cruel fate, why am I forsaken so?!"

"... Can... C-can I get my package now please, ma'a-"

"I don't look like a dude or something," her head snaps back to me. "Right?!"

"N-no!" I quickly answer, waving my claws up in a show of surrender. "Not at all! You're very pretty, Derpy! I hope I get to be half as pretty as you when I grow up!"

"... Aww you're a little charmer, hehe," the mood-swinging pony chuckles, rubbing my head playfully.

She then shoves a warm muffin into my claws.

"On the house!" she declares, not offering further context.

Ummm... This... isn't a bakery... H-how is this thing still oven fresh?

...

... Munchmunchmunch...

Whoa... this muffin's got gems in it.

Ballin'.

While I work on my surprise treat, Derpy let's low a small sigh before resuming. "I wish I knew why everypony thinks I'm a dude," she laments, and as she does her eye begins to droop along with her ears. "Makeup, dresses, purses; nothing seems to work! What am I doing wrong? I just don't know..."

"You're doing nothing wrong," I answer back around a full mouth. "Ponies don't know what they're talking about! You don't look like a stallion at all, Derpy. Honest."

These kind words of mine earn me a second muffin.

Best post office in the multiverse. Ten out of ten, would wait in line again.

Derpy Hooves grants me a genuine smile for my understanding, and her eyes straighten for a fleeting moment as her frustration begins to subside. "Thanks, Barb. You're a good foal... Let me get back to finding your package."

"Thank you," I nod as she dives under the counter. "And I really do mean it," I add in before starting my second muffin. "I didn't think you were a dude at all. I've got no clue why anypony would think otherwise."

The mare snorts.

"My gal pal, Doc, thinks it might be because ponies are subconsciously sensing and repressing the eldritch knowledge that I'm an essential fixed pillar in the multiversal expanse that needs to remain constant under fear of catastrophic dimensional collapse the likes of which unseen since the dark primordial affront that originally birthed our perceived reality."

I stop chewing.

"... Umm..." I astutely note upon swallowing. "Those... were... certainly... words... I think?"

Derpy giggle-snorts at my confused reaction.

"That's what I said! Doc can be such a silly filly sometim- Oh! Found it!"

Plop

With an unceremonious drop onto the counter, I finally receive my package at long last.

Holding out a clipboard with her wing, Derpy presents me with a quill and asks me to, "Sign here, here, initial here, hoof-, er... clawprint here please, aaannnddd there you go! Have a nice day!"

"You too!" I reply back, taking the box with both my claws and carrying it out of the office. I give the building one last glance as I leave.

That was certainly... weird... Not a bad weird, by any means. Just... a weird weird.

Derpy's gal pal's undecipherable explanation aside, I'm still confused as to what the show's version of her was if not a mare. I'm wracking my brain trying to remember any lines that would have hinted at them being a him, but I can't seem to recall any. I don't really remember any suggesting that they were a mare either, just the character model. Their voice was certainly masculine, buuutt I vaguely recall Ashley once saying something about how this being changed in a re-airing of the episode. Everypony in this Equestria is a mirror of their show counterpart, so logically there has to be a male one somewhere, but...

...

... You know what? It doesn't matter. This is just another little quirk meant to keep me on my toes. It doesn't affect anything major, and it doesn't hurt anypony, so I suppose it's not really something I should be stressing over.

Besides... when I get right down to it, and drum up all of my creative juices...

... I can't really picture a ManlyDerp, can you?

Entry 8, Part 7 (Dragonapped)

“T-that’s a preposterous fantasy!” Artemis growls defiantly, not enjoying what I had just implied.

“Nah, that’s the truth,” I shrug him off, sticking to my guns.

“Then prove it, whelp!”

“Gladly,” I smile in turn, as a weight lifts itself off my worried mind. “If you wanted to see my vision, then why didn’t you just ask me at the start?”

“Because thou would have said no!”

“If I share them willingly with Solaris, why wouldn’t I with you?”

Artemis attempts to shout something back… only for the words not to come.

He doesn’t have an answer to that question.

“The thought never crossed your mind, did it?” I finish for him, revealing what I’ve learned so far. “Me being willing to work with you was never considered in your ‘master plan’.”

“W-well... of course not!” the alicorn asserts, trying to save face. “Brother forbid us from speaking with thee, so why would we ever consider striking such a deal?!”

“But you were already planning to disobey your brother anyways,” I point out the contradiction. “And you said earlier that you have a memory erase spell! Wouldn’t you have at least attempted to speak with me first before doing anything rash, and simply erased my memories if I said no?”

“... Er… I-I… W-whose to say we didn’t already attempt such and failed?!”

Without missing a beat, I stick out my thumb and point it towards my chest.

"Me," I state boldly, keeping my momentum. "I say. If you had talked to me first, I know I would have shown you that vision in its entirety.”

“Thou lies!”

“We speaketh the truth,” I mock Artemis’ Canterlot Voice slip up. “I have no reason to hide it, which is why I offered to share it with you earlier, stupid!"

As if hit by an invisible baseball, Artemis flinches.

"Like I said," I continue forth, unwavering. "I’m already planning to share what I saw with Solaris this weekend! Whether you got an early peek now, or tried to overhear it again like last time, it wouldn’t have mattered to me! That’s why I’m so certain that you never even bothered to ask, Prince Artemis!”

The alicorn winces yet again.

“You just went straight into my dreams,” I go on, and allow myself to pace like Solaris once again. “Straight into theft, just so you could see one vision…

“... Or," I turn on the spot, and aim my talon true. "to quote yourself; 'One… for now'.”

Artemis’ eyes cross as he stares at my pointing talon… before his face turns white thanks to having realized his slip up.

“I'll say it again; you showed me your hand, Princy,” I repeat my words, now ready to reveal their meaning. “I might have been upset at the time, but I was still listening! Care to explain that little addition of yours?”

“T-there was no such meaning behind it!” my opponent insists, becoming red in the face. “Thou art simply playing pretend at this point, child!”

“Guilty as charged,” I snark back, not fearing him any longer. “Pretend Detectives is one of my favorite games to play with Sweepy and Scooter. Not to brag, but I’m the reigning champ.”

“We have already had to remind thee that this is no mere foal’s game!” the alicorn rages at my boast.

“Game or no game I’m still in it to win it, dude.”

“Cease thy prattling, and thy usage of the word 'dude', at once, See-"

“You still haven’t answered my question, Artemis,” I cut him off, and jab him again in the chest. “You’re still ignoring it.”

“B-because there is nothing to say concerning i-”

“We both know that’s a lie,” I interrupt, pushing myself away from him. “If you don’t want to be a big pony and admit what you’ve done then, by all means, please allow me to say it instead.”

Before Artemis could respond, before I granted him another opening to argue in; I raised my voice and began reciting the whole gosh darn picture.

Get some popcorn, folks. This is going to be a doozy:

“Prince Solaris was glad to have you back, Artemis, and pleased that the Elements freed you from your dark magic... but the two of you felt that a rift had grown between you thanks to your banishment, and thanks to your violent actions. Solaris willingly lent you an ear, and took the time to catch you up on current events, but beyond that he's colder and more distant then you remember him being. You felt that the years and years and YEARS had changed him greatly into somepony you hardly recognize...

“... But then one day, as you were exploring the castle, you came across your big brother talking with a small baby dragon; myself.

“Solaris laughed with the dragon.

“Solaris shared his thoughts with the dragon.

“Solaris even traded secrets with the dragon...

“... But that only served to be a cold reminder of the relationship he no longer had with you...

“... Jealousy began to cloud your mind thanks to this.

“You wanted that.

“You wanted to return to that.

“You wanted Solaris to talk to you again like he did with that dragon, so you spied on the meeting and learned things you weren't supposed to know.

"After being discovered your brother scolded you greatly, and ordered you not to approach the dragon, the Seer, again...

“... You, however, only grew more jealous.

“You thought things like ‘Solaris cares more about this Seer then he does me,’ and ‘He trusts this child more with his ponderings then his own kin’.

"Those thoughts began to eat you up inside, just like they did a thousand years ago.

“You tried to ignore them, to not fall a second time, but your memories of past Seers and their ‘betrayals’ only grew louder in your head until, finally… a plan began to hatch.

“'All Seers hide something.'

“'All Seers hide something.'

“Your mind spun around that one little idea like a carousel, until eventually you came to a conclusion:

“'Barbara must be hiding something too.'

“'She must be.’

“So, with that understanding carved into your heart, you started sneaking peeks at the letters your brother receives from Ponyville. Waiting for an opportunity to present itself, weeks flew by until, one day, it finally does. A vision had swerved, meaning that the Seer was about to share it with your brother.

“If what the Seer said ended up being different than what she actually saw; if it was altered even slightly from the truth… what would that mean...?

“... I’ll tell you what it would mean, Artemis.

“It would mean that Solaris placed his faith in the wrong person, and that you would just so happen to have the evidence to prove it!”

Ending my breakdown, I look the Prince right in the eyes… and confirm that I’ve practically read his mind.

Jackpot.

“Sorcery,” Artemis speaks in a hush, now rightfully fearing me. “Pure sorcery! Art thou the most powerful clairvoyant in Equestria’s history, or art thou a practitioner of the dark arts?”

“No magic here, Princy,” I shrug, and offer a tired sigh. “Not even a Seer trick, I swear. I’m just good at reading ponies, and spotting clues… Heh... Occupational hazard of being Dusk’s assistant, I guess,” I share my honest take, and squee silently over conquering another difficult word. “He’s the book pony, I’m the social dragon; we complete each other.”

“To see through me so thoroughly though,” Artemis continues, so in awe of what I had managed to put together that the Royal We vanishes. “H-how is such a thing possible?”

“Your history of jealous outbursts is now public knowledge, you wear your desire to not upset your brother on your haunches, and not only did you admit to thinking less of Seers, but you also did to the fact that you want to see more than one of my visions,” I lay the facts bare on the table, allowing them to speak for themselves. “Put that all together and what do you get?”

“Er… Utter nonsense?”

“Eh,” I produce a wrong answer noise, and cross my arms into an X. “Nope, sorry. The answer was ‘A hairbrained scheme to make yourself look good and me bad’... Thanks for playing though.”

“W-what?! We have insinuated no such thing, whelp!” the alicorn fires back, not allowing things to end there. “Thou can not conjure such bile from the ether and expect it to be truth!”

“Then why didn’t you ask to see my vision?”

“... W-well I-”

“Because you needed to see more than one, and couldn't think of a way to ask for it,” I finish for the tongue-tied stallion, clamming him up. “Seeing lies in one of my visions wouldn’t have been enough to build a case against me, you realized. You would have needed to see a bunch of them, and raised the chances of me saying something compromising. I’m betting you were planning to make more than one visit to Ponyville too, at least until you got everything you needed out of me... That’s why you were so willing to say that you ‘only’ needed to see one vision; to get me to lower my guard, and to give yourself another shot of doing this again without my permission...”

At long last, after remaining mostly stone-faced and barely emotive since Artemis’ Seer rant; I grant the Prince an angry glare.

“... Throwing me under the flipping carriage is about the most despicable way for you to get back into your brother’s good graces, Artemis! How could you?!”

“LIES!!” the Prince retaliates, pushing against his restraints; booming the Canterlot Voice. “Lies and slander, Barbara The Dragoness!”

“Only person lying here is you, dude, and the only one whose buying it is yourself!”

“Thou knows nothing!” he screams, and even jumps in place.

The chair he’s attached to moves slightly thanks to this, causing me to step backwards in shock...

Fump

… but Red Gala’s hoof, still shrouded in shadows, places itself firmly upon my back and halts my retreat.

The gesture was simple, as too the message behind it. “Don’t back down now, Barb. Ya got him on the ropes.”

Damn right I do, Red.

Damn right I do.

“Willing to do anything to stay by somepony’s side, Artemis?” I shout back, rising to the Prince’s challenge. “I understand that completely!”

“Lies!” he again wails.

“It’s the truth!” I plead from the depths of my soul. “I swear on my scales that I'm telling you the truth! I understand what you wanted!”

“Thou art a child!” Artemis argues back, voice still raised; goal to escape forgotten. “Thou can’t possibly know such pain and sorro-”

“I could have been adopted, but I chose to stay Dusk’s assistant instead!”

Artemis’ rant ends.

Red Gala’s hoof moves off my back.

My breathing remains steady.

“I could have been adopted,” I repeat, cupping my claws together for strength. “I could have been somepony’s daughter, and gone to school, and had all the same opportunities as a normal filly… But I loved Dusk too much to leave him, even after I hadn't seen him in a very long time.

“Being willing to do anything to be there for a loved one, even giving up happiness… I can understand that, Artemis…

“... Being willing to stomp on someone else to do it though, and make them give up their happiness?! That's something I don’t understand! That sounds more like something Nightterror Nebula would do, not Prince Artemis of Equestria, don't you think?

"Or were they one in the same this whole time...?"

“...”

“... You are no child, Barbara...”

My heart skips a beat.

“... You are a storm I foolishly entered unprepared.”

I release the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“You saw through my machinations thoroughly,” Artemis lowers his head, and offers a ghost of a smile. “Even the ones I myself was unaware of.”

Um... Huh?

Unable to think of anything more intelligent to say, I repeat my thoughts aloud. “Um… Huh?”

“You were wrong about my initial intentions," the Prince elaborates, at last willingly answering my questions. “At first I only wished to see your visions to gain insight into their nature... Hah... Though I'd be branded a liar if I claimed I wasn’t a tad curious about what the me in your envisioned Equestria is like, and how his-,er, her decisions closely matched my own... But I suppose a seed of jealousy did in fact manifest within my psyche, and a plot to return to brother’s good graces through your destruction did materialize somewhat.”

Somewhat?” I scoff. “I think it did completely, dude.”

“T-that is… sigh… That is correct,” the alicorn finally admits. “My mind wanted only to steal away a peek, and gain clarity on my own situation... but it would seem my black heart desired a quick return to that which is long gone; a quick return to brother’s side, and to be l… l-l...lo-...”

"Be loved,” I complete Artemis’ sentence for him, realizing the word he was struggling with. “Again, I get it. He’s the only family you have left in this world, so the thought of him not speaking to you anymore..."

Elusive's visage briefly flashes in my mind's eye.

"... was like a bitter poison," I finish, as my thoughts momentarily drift elsewhere.

“Yes,” the young Prince whispers to himself, and hangs his head in defeat. “Yes… That was truly the answer from the very beginning, wasn’t it… Haha… Oh how blind I was… and how foalish...”

“Can’t say I can really argue with that take,” I speak neutrally, not meaning anything either positive or negative with the remark. “You made a bad call, happens to us all.”

“If only we were more cautious,” he muses to himself, making me question whether he heard me or not. “If only we weren't so eager to cut corners… Hmph… It would seem our unicorn upbringing still holds us back even to this day… Most humorous.”

“... Unicorn upbringing?” I blink, confused by that last bit. “You were raised by unicorns?”

“Solaris and I both were born as unicorns, Barbara.”

“PONIES CAN GROW WINGS?!”

Rolling his eyes at my sudden outburst, and muttering something under his breath along the lines of “Can’t believe this kid beat me,” Artemis straightens his posture as he asks perhaps the most important question of all. “Where do we go from here?”

Shaking off my surprise over an aspect of pony anatomy the Bluebelles' training hadn't covered, I realize what it is the Prince is now curious about:

What the hell am I going to do about him...?

I’m still debating that answer, actually.

I’ve caught Artemis dead-to-rights. He selfishly invaded my dreams in the hope of digging up dirt, just so he could convince his brother to trust him again instead of me...

… Super flawed logic when you stop to think about it for more than two minutes but, hey, this is Mister Eternal Night we’re talking about here; long term planning is clearly not his forté.

Regardless, I can’t have him leave here thinking that doing something like this is acceptable by any stretch of the imagination. He needs to be punished, and he needs to be punished so thoroughly that the mere suggestion of a repeat performance will only result in him soiling his non-existent pants.

I bet Prince Solaris would be more than capable of dishing out such a disciplining...

…

… But…

… I don’t want him to…

...

… Damn it damn it damn it; I don’t want him to!

Solaris was so incredibly happy when I told him Artemis could be saved! I vividly remember him crying tears of joy, and dropping his mask for the first time in what was probably a thousand years! Having to punish his brother again so soon after his return, maybe even going so far as to banish him, would no doubt DESTROY the big guy… and probably Dusk too… followed shortly by all of Equestria! Need I remind you that slavery only became a thing in this world a clawful of years after he banished Artemis the first time?!

My episode knowledge won’t help me in a land ruled by a depressed Solaris; that much is certain.

Even if that sort of outcome is admittedly unlikely, my gut is still yelling at me to not get Solaris involved in this. This world is so weirdly unstable sometimes that it's hard to tell what would and wouldn't completely derail the canon; obviously Princess Luna never tried to interrogate Spike, and neither did he her, so logically that means chastising this pony falls on my shoulders and my shoulders alone. It's my responsibility to set right that which my birth set wrong... but what can I do to dissuade Artemis from trying this stunt again? Simply saying I'll tell his brother won't work if he's bold enough to use his memory erase spell on the second attempt, or even after I let him go! He may seem to be remorseful for now, but he hasn't done a thing to earn back my trust yet...

… Grrr... Come on, brain! We used to be a mother for Pete’s sake! This isn’t the first time we had to dish out a scolding, and discourage repeat offenses! What did we used to do with little Ashley or Nathanial when they did something naughty...?

Hmm… I remember using timeouts, taking away allowances, locking up toys and games, and…

!!!

I got it.

"Your inhibitor ring is actually a chocolate donut,” I at last spill the beans, no doubt putting Red Gala on high alert. "Look more closely at it,” I add, pointing a talon up towards the pastry.

Stunned into silence, Artemis quickly obeys, only for his jaw to drop as he spots the accidental bite mark left in the ring from when my gal pal had replaced it... A mark I hadn’t realized was there until just now…

... Phew

Real glad neither of us spotted that earlier, h-heheh.

“T-the ring isn’t…” Artemis slowly realizes, more visibly shocked than I am. “We had access to our magic this whole time?!”

“Yeah,” I nod my head, unfazed by his shouting at this point. “You did.”

“...”

… The alicorn’s horn begins to light up.

“Remember you still got knocked out though,” I hurriedly report, causing the light to die down. “That’s kind of an important detail to forget, so don’t; kay?”

“That’s… right,” Artemis squints, mentally retracing his steps. “We did… Was the first ring fake as well?”

Putting my claws behind my head, I answer with “Eeyup, it was.”

This stealthily signals my partner to get into position.

“... But,” the Prince cocks his head, unaware of the movement going on behind his seat. “Then how did-”

Suddenly a look of realization dawns on his face.

“The light switches,” the stallion speaks quietly, regaining the memory of my earlier riddle. “We aren’t alone down here!”

“Maybe,” I again shrug, and act aloof. “Maybe not. Who's to say whether we’re alone in this laboratory or not?”

“Thou does!”

“Hmmm… true,” I giggle, continuing to push his buttons. “I could answer that question for you real easily, but I want to ask you something first, your highness. Now that you know you have your magic... what are you going to do with it?

“Are you going to enter my head again like a thief, to make me forget about you even being here?

“Are you going to fight back like a villain, covering your bases?

“Will you simply run away, like a scared little colt…?

“... Or will you be the honorable Prince you say you are?

“Your answer to this question will determine what punishment you’ll be receiving from me, so please choose wisely for both our sakes.... You have one minute starting...

"... now."

Tap... tap... tap... tap...

Save for the tapping of my foot against the floor, acting as a pseudo-timer of a sorts, the room turns deathly quiet.

This, right here, is the climax.

Red is where she needs to be to knock Artemis out again if he tries anything funny with his magic. If he goes down that thief route, having clearly learned nothing, his punishment will be to wake up on the first train to Canterlot with a sternly written letter duct taped to his chest. Something along the lines of, "I have pictures of you being in the library and will send them to your brother if either myself or my friends sees you again," should be enough to nip this whole thing in the bud... but the invisible terror of Red's mighty kick will be what ultimately seals the deal.

Experiencing tangible consequences will make my warning more credible, and more effective, then just letting him go with it in mind ever will... If he turns out to be too quick on the draw for my gal pal to stop, however, and ends up fighting both of us as the villain he is… Well that would be most unfortunate.

It would be unfortunate because it would prove that he's utterly irredeemable, and more than deserving of punishment number two:

Third degree burns.

Thanks to Solaris’ missing eye, I have the dark knowledge that permanently scarring alicorns is not only possible, but also that it can be done without altering the show too noticeably. The chest, the flank, the back; all are acceptable targets in a world that has makeup and illusion spells. Tangible proof that he was scummy enough to attack a child would be sufficient blackmail material for me to dangle over Artemis for the rest of his days as, even if he erases mine and Red's memories afterwards, he'll still be forever marked by his poor decision. There isn't that many dragons around these parts, and I've earned Solaris' trust over him, so it wouldn't take much for his brother to put two and two together and realize what had happened...

… I pray it doesn't come to that though.

Like I wrote earlier in The Poisoned Barb, I don’t consider myself to be a violent person! Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t even dare to burn somepony with my flames, let alone in self defense!

These aren't normal circumstances though.

These are circumstances where I'm not the only one in danger of getting hurt.

Red Gala can take care of herself, sure, but she's still putting her neck on the line here to lend me a helping hoof. I owe it to her to watch her back just as closely as she's been watching mine. Even... e-even if that means using my fire breath against a pony, I'll do whatever it takes to protect her.

Brrrr... Dark, nuclear option, realities aside; it would be in Artemis’ best interest, as well as my own, if he either ran away or surrendered. Teleporting out of his bindings and fleeing would allow Red to remain anonymous which, just like in option one, would help greatly in discouraging the Prince from sneaking around these parts ever again.

Surrendering, meanwhile, would be the absolutely most desired outcome of all.

Surrendering would mean that Artemis has at long last come to realize how much of a dunderhead he’s been today, and that he understands how far he still has to grow as both a stallion and a Prince... But even in a cartoon like My Little Pony that would be a pretty far-fetched resolution to all this...

... I still want to give him the benefit of the doubt though.

I still want to believe that him and Princess Luna aren't two completely different ponies.

This tiny spark of hope is the whole reason why I told him the truth about the inhibitor ring ploy, and why I laid out his options for moving forward; because, in my eyes, it’s one thing for a disobedient child to say they understand that what they did was wrong, but it’s another thing entirely to see them actively trying to do better!

Secret Tests of Character: Kid tested, Mother approved... or, in this case, Mother tested, Kid approved.

Now let’s see which path Artemis will choose for himself.

Tap... tap... tap... tap...

“...”

Tap... tap... tap... tap...

“...”

Tap... tap... tap... tap...

“...”

Tap... tap... ta-

… Twinkle twinkle twinkle

The alicorn's horn begins to glow softly, illuminating the room.

Crouching down, I ready myself for anything.

Magic swirls aimlessly in place above the Prince as he debates on what to do with it.

Lying in wait behind him, Red Gala remains out of Artemis' line of sight as she prepares to KO him for the second time.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Twinkle twinkle twinkl-

My scales tingle as the stallion's magic finds its way up my arm.

Despite all the outs I’ve given him; despite everything I’ve said and done and how much of my heart I shared with him... it looks like the Prince of the Night has decided to go with option one...

…

… I’m not mad.

I’m just disappointed.

Springing into action, Red Gala’s back leg flies forward like a bullet as it heads straight for the back of the alicorn’s noggin.

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

But, to the surprise of us both, Artemis’ magic catches the hoof at the last second and holds it in place.

“Ahhh, there art thou,” he threatens my friend, shooting her a menacing side glance. “Striking a Prince is most unbecoming of a lady, dear.”

Horseapples.

Darkest timeline it is then.

“Let her go!” I threaten right on back, my mouth engulfed in flames.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Shooting his eyes back towards me, I find the magical hold on my arm increase in strength, a-and lift me off the ground!

Crap crap crap!

Fear begins to grip me as my gambit ends in failure, and my hopes for a peaceful solution are dashed right before my ey-

“NNOPE!!”

WHOMP!

… Crinkle crick crack

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

Outside of being two Lost Souls, in a sense, ripped from their "worlds" and forced to restart from zero; another interesting similarity Artemis and I share is in the fact that we both have a bad habit of underestimating the tenacity of earth ponies.

Before today I had it in my head this false understanding of just how strong magic manipulation was in comparison to the other tribes’ passive usage of mana. Earth ponies move the ground, pegasi move the heavens, and unicorns move the stars; that translates into the power difference between the three of them, right?

Well, actually, no.

When push comes to shove, earth ponies are more than capable of moving gods just as well as soil.

Prince Artemis found this out the hard way when Red Gala used the magical hold on her raised leg against him…

… Specifically she used it as leverage to lift herself into the air at just the right angle to buck her assailant's horn clean off.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

~Journal Entry 0049 Page 4~

Before we go more into detail concerning our final thoughts on this most dreadful interesting of days, we feel the need to leave a note to our future self concerning something we have only come to realize in this exact moment; as muscles we have not used in stars know how long scream out in agony, and the taste of our dirty quill lingers sourly on our refined tongue.

Writing with one’s own mouth again after years of neglecting the skill is a torture most pure.

Entry 9, Part 9 (Look Before You Seer)

Regardless of whether Stardust is a reborn individual, or in possession of future knowledge, I recognize that these assumptions of mine are just that; assumptions. At the end of the day I don't know a thing about the stallion, and I likely never will until I can hash things out with him more directly.

Sadly the only way that's going to be possible is with Prince Solaris’ “help.”

Joy.

I’ll have to work with the big guy closely if I want my next encounter with Stardust to be in a controlled environment. Randomly bumping into the unicorn on the streets isn’t going to cut it so long as I’m tied to Dusk’s hip, or him to Trixster’s; if he’s anything like me he’s not going to want to spill his secrets while his foalhood friend is within earshot. This means that discretion will have to be of the utmost importance.

Solaris’s job will be to set something up where it’s just the three of us in the same room together and nopony else. That’s the only way we’re going to get him talking… Whether the Prince will allow me to speak with Stardust privately is another matter entirely though.

An issue for another day, I suppose.

There’ll be plenty of time to hash out the details while I’m patiently waiting around for next month’s meeting.

Until then… well… To Be Continued...

...

… is what I’d like to write, but sadly that’s not where this day ended.

I had managed to keep Artemis’ disappearance a secret, developed a battle strategy for silencing Discord, and planted the seeds for a future confrontation with Stardust Glimmer; but there was still one final obstacle that stood in my way towards achieving a perfect victory. An obstacle that I, deep down, knew I never stood a chance against:

Prince Solaris himself.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“Hmmm… I’ll need time alone to meditate on this discovery before proceeding, Barbara,” Solaris explains to me after a time, and I quickly note how this is the same response he gave me earlier in regards to my Discord plan. “At the very least I’ll be sure to arrange an audience of sorts with this unicorn, but how exactly I’ll go about it… Well, I already have some ideas in mind, but they’ll requir-”

“Let me guess,” I snort. “Meditation?”

“You know me so well,” the big guy snickers in reply. “Still, I'm truly sorry that I can't offer you a more solid answer at this time beyond ‘I’ll think about it’."

“That's okay,” I reassure the Prince, as I allow a bit of the tension in my shoulders to ebb out of me. "Needing to think first is totally fair… But, hey; if it's going to take a while, do you think you could maybe, oh I don't know…”

I shoot him a look.

“... update me this time?” my expression hardens. “The complete lack of them last month almost drove me batty!”

Solaris winces.

“Ah. Certainly… A-apologies on that, by the way,” he blushes in response. “It wasn’t my intention to keep you in the dark as I did.”

“But that's exactly what you did!”

“B-but that's exactly what I did,” he echos me morosely. “Again I apologize. I’ll be sure to grant you daily updates going forward.”

“Daily?” I blink, now putting more thought into this. “ Um… Actually, a bunch of daily updates about Discord still being in the closet, or that his shards are still being cleaned up, sounds super borin-, er, I-I mean unnecessary… Updates on Stardust, and whether we’re going to use the Elements of Harmony early, would be greatly appreciated though."

“Duly noted,'' Solaris bows his head slightly towards me. “We'll have to brainstorm a new delivery method for these messages, however. Perhaps I can occasionally swing by Ponyville to drop them off for you… but I suppose that by itself might seem even more suspicious to an outsider observer… Hmmm… Decisions decisions.”

“Huh?” my own head tilts to the side, completely lost. “What’s wrong with sending a letter through my dragonfire like normal?”

“Er... n-nothing, per se,” my host reluctantly admits, though it feels like he’s now choosing his words very carefully. “It’s just… Well… Ahem... Please allow me to quickly run a scenario by you.”

“Okay, go right ahead.”

“You’re in a room with just yourself and Dusk.”

“Yeah?”

“I send you an update letter concerning Stardust Glimmer.”

“Understood.”

“It arrives via your dragonfire, and it is clearly written for you and you alone...”

“Okay.”

“... Now tell me, dear; how likely would it be that Dusk would either A,) grab the letter out of your grip, thinking it’s for him, or B,) grow curious as to why I sent you a letter and not him, and start asking uncomfortable questions?”

“...”

“... Dragonfire isn’t going to work.”

“My thoughts exactly,” my partner in crime sighs tiredly. “That dolt colt of ours has so much Canterlotian in him that it isn’t remotely funny. I pray that living in Ponyville will help him to realize that the world doesn’t, in fact, revolve around him.”

“Same,” I admit, not even attempting to defend my charge on this. "He’ll get better though, I promise.”

“... Heh… Was that an optimistic estimation, or a spoiler, my dear little Seer?”

“Good things come to those who wait~” I quote the big guy himself, completing our new in-joke.

“Hah! That they do, my friend. That they do…”

Ding dong ding dong, ding dong ding dong~

“... Speaking of time,” Solaris then notes somberly, as Town Hall’s clock tower chimes loudly overhead. “I do believe it’s almost time for me to give the sun its final push over the horizon…

“... which means, Barbara, that our own time is now officially up.”

“... Oh,” is my simple response, my brain unable to think of anything else to say…

...

… Well, actually, no; that was another lie.

There’s still a ton I want to say, it’s just I’m at a loss as to which topic I should focus on! Should I try to prod Solaris on what he meant by his ‘or at least somepony possessing future knowledge’ comment? Should I instead try to bring up the thing with the Mayor again? Should I instead risk the big talk by asking him about his parting words from two meetings back; the ones he used when he asked me if I was ready to disclose my ‘other’ secret yet?

To again quote the big guy himself; decisions decisions…

...

… Buuuut, honestly speaking, I think I’ve had my fill of long explanations for today.

There’s only so much this growing brain of mine can handle.

“Was there anything else you wish to share with me at this time, dear?”

“Nah I’m good,” I answer the Prince's sudden inquiry just as abruptly, keeping my true thoughts under wraps. “Nothing comes to mind.”

“... Ah… I... see,” is how he replies, and I’d be lying if I said that he didn’t sound just a tiny bit disheartened.

Lord knows what that could mean.

“Very well,” he resumes, now better masking his disappointment. “Thank you as always for coming to see me. I’ll look forward to our next meeting.”

In lieu of saying something stupid like “same”, I instead take the far safer (and more ladylike) path of curtsying before taking my leave.

And please do allow me to be the first to say… Phew!

I should not have survivedthat! Jeez Louise! For a minute there I thought I was going to snap like a twig under all that pony's probing questions and judging looks, but it looks like I'm going to be okay. No more watching everything I say, and no more awkward tiptoeing around touchy subjects… At least until next month.

I did forget to schedule a meeting for Rainbow Dash too, I now realize, but I can easily send that request through a letter once I’m finally miles and miles away from this dragon-hating hellhole.

I suppose there’s also the matter of whether Artemis chickened out on his quest or not, but I can’t think of a good way to verify this without journeying back to the Castle first. Considering how late it is, I’m not confident that I’ll be able to check the whole compound in the clawful of hours I’ve got left before this baby body of mine decides that it’s beddy-bye time and promptly shuts off. Coffee only does so much to delay the inevitable.

Guess my next stop is Canterlot Park then.

I have to get there by nightfall so I can meet up with my next host for the evening; Gl-

“Actually...”

My foot freezes in mid-step, as too my heart in mid-beat, thanks to Solaris’ sudden voice...

… Sigh

Of flipping course it wasn’t going to be that easy.

"I know this is going to sound rather selfish, dear Barbara, but could you please grant me one final moment of your time this evening?"

“...”

… Inhaling and exhaling under my breath, I turn back towards the Prince and provide him with the fakest, most clueless look I can muster.

“C-certainly, sir. What’s up?”

“I’d like for you to see something before you go,” the redheaded stallion explains himself fully, having thankfully been unphased by my stuttering. “There is information that could prove useful for you to have as you continue to utilize the River and the Stone.”

Unsure whether I should be relieved or concerned by his choice of topic, I grant this pony a now more honest expression of confusion.

“Something useful?” I parrot his words, and stare blankly back at his giant visage. “And what’s that?”

“It’s back at the castle,” the alicorn elaborates even further. Passively shuffling his wings as he speaks, he continues. “I know I’ve carried you a fair bit today upon my back, but for our final relocation I’d like for us to utilize my magic instead of my wings. I do not wish to take up any more of your generously donated time than I already have, so please allow me to ask you this; what are your thoughts on teleportation?”

“U-um,” I stammer, my mind flashing back to Dusk’s many, many failed teleportation exercises; all of which involved me. “Well I-I don’t particularly like teleporting, sir...”

“I’m well aware of this, Barbara, hence why I’m asking for your permission first."

“Oh… T-thanks, I guess…”

Pausing, I give the suggestion some actual thought.

“... Okay,” I relent, willingly accepting the magical assistance. Upon realizing that being flown to the castle would grant the big guy ample opportunity to drum up more traps and power plays the choice became obvious... Flying would have also majorly messed up my schedule.

Like I said earlier, there's somewhere I have to be by nightfall.

“Thank you, my dear,” Solaris once again nods his head in gratitude. “I promise you won’t feel a thing.”

“Heh, I’ll believe it when I see-”

Twinkle twinkle pop

“... it,” I finish, astonished to see that our location has already shifted to someplace else entirely.

Foot meet mouth.

“Whoa… You are way better at that than Dusk,” I grant the bearded stallion his well-earned praise. “My scales didn't even tingle!”

“Practice makes perfect,” he chimes cheekily in return, before trotting away. “A thousand years worth makes even more so.”

Following shortly behind on my even shorter legs, I cast my eyes about to take in our new surroundings. Instead of Town Hall, it seems we're now someplace I’m infinitely more familiar with; Canterlot Castl-

Wait, no… Actually, I don’t recognize this place at all!

At first I thought this was the throne room, but there are significantly more stained glass windows in here than there were in that particular hall. Some of this glass seems freshly installed as well; no dust, no smudges... nothing! The one I’m looking at right now even reaches all the way up to the ceiling, and depicts six balls of light, six stallions, and Nightterror Nebul-

Double wait…

… Actually, I do recognize this place, just not from this world!

“Is this…?” I start to ask, as I turn my gaze back towards the now distant stallion.

“Hehe, does it look familiar, dear?” he answers my half question with a full one. “I hope it does. I purposefully arranged it to match your visions, you see.”

“Canterlot Tower,” I speak in awe, granting our surroundings a now closer look.

Sure enough, this place is nearly identical to the long room that was featured in the season two premiere; the episode where Discord broke free, and the first episode I shared openly with Solaris. I had described it as vividly as I could to prove the validity of my vision, and to ensure that no small detail was being overlooked. Now in realizing where we are, I think I can hazard a pretty good guess as to what, exactly, the big guy intends to show me.

There’s only one thing of value in Canterlot Tower, after all… Or should I say six things?

Clip clop clip clop cli-

With no more floor to tread, Prince Solaris halts before a massive door; one that depicts the sun, and possesses a rather large horn slot right smack dab in the middle of its imposing surface. “What do you think?” he inquires sweetly, fishing for compliments. “Was I able to replicate the seal sufficiently?”

“Lawsuit worthy, Solaris,” I can't help but joke. “Princess Celestia now has grounds to sue you for copyright infringement.”

“And I would gladly accept her challenge!” he laughs cheerily back. “But do keep in mind that it was likely Spike who originally planted the idea into her imagination, and that he in turn only did so after witnessing you do much of the same into mine.”

“... I don’t think it’s physically possible for anyone to keep that in mind, sir.”

In response to this, Solars simply chortles louder.

“... Please tell me you didn’t teleport me over here just to mess with my head,” I groan, now fearing that this might very well be the answer.

“Snrk...N-no no, Barbara. I assure you I did not.”

“Then why?”

Clip clop clip clop

Trotting away from me, deciding to show rather than tell, my host next approaches the locked doorway and proceeds to stick his spiraling horn directly into the slot.

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

A burst of magic soon followed, almost blinding me with its radiance. I raise my claws to my face to shield my eyes... only to lower them a moment later as the door completely disintegrates, revealing its contents.

A lone room, and a single jeweled chest...

… Three guesses as to what’s in it, and the first two don’t count.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Turning on the spot, facing me once again, Prince Solaris then floats the chest out of the tiny space and places it gently in-between the two of us.

The Elements of Harmony’s casket remains motionless as the magical aura slowly ebbs itself off of it.

The tower falls silent.

“...”

… Unsure how to proceed, I slowly move my claws towards the latch.

Solaris' white hoof immediately settles itself upon the lid, preventing me from opening it.

“Before you take a look inside,” he speaks to me softly, his voice dripping with gravitas. “I have a question that I must ask first… How did the Elements of Harmony originally appear in your visions?”

“How did they appear?” I echo the inquiry, completely sideswiped by, well, everything that’s going on right now. “You mean what did they look like?”

“Indeed,” he confirms with a tap of his hoof against the lid. “You never described them to me when we discussed the Lord of Chaos' return last month, and I don’t believe you’ve seen this world’s iteration yet either, so please grant me an untainted description while you still have the chance.”

“Untainted?” I again repeat his words, unable to discern the meaning behind the request. Unable to discern a possible trap either, I cautiously pause to gather my thoughts.

The Elements of Harmony weren’t displayed all that frequently on the show, were they? In fact, I think I forgot all about them by the end of season one! Season two’s premiere is where most of my memories of the Elements stem from and, seeing as the boys never felt the need to describe them in their retellings, I guess that's what I'll have to rely on for a proper description.

“Well…” I begin slowly, my mind piecing details from well over twenty years ago together. “There were six gems in total… each of them shaped like the user’s cutie mark… each had a different color…Loyalty was red, Honesty was orange, Laughter light blue, Kindness pink, Generosity dark purple, Magic magenta… Five of them were attached to big, golden necklaces… and the one for Magic was attached to a golden tiara…

"... That’s about all I can remember, sir.”

“Hmm,” Solaris hums, using his free hoof to stroke his beard. “Interesting. Five golden necklaces and a single, golden tiara… I assume those would all be rather appropriate accessories for mares to wear, yes?”

“I guess,” I shrug, still completely lost on why this is important.

“Do you suppose they would look rather silly on stallions?”

“Maybe,” I again shrug. “On Dusk it would for sure, but on Rainbow Dash or Elusive it might look nice… and maybe Bubble Berry too, now that I think about it.”

“I see,” the Prince strokes his beard further, still in deep thought. “That must be why they looked rather different in my own visions.”

“Different?”

“Indeed,” he reveals, before placing both his front hooves again atop the decorated box. “In all the visions I’ve experienced that featured an Element of Harmony, said Element was cast in silver, with thin silver chains for all but the Element of Magic which was instead attached to a silver circlet.”

"... Huh," I note blandly. Feels like I’m just drifting through this conversation at this point and not actually contributing. "Neat-"

Wait.

I think I just spotted something useful.

“You're using past tenses again, big guy," I point out, hoping that I'm on the right track. "Why do I have the sudden impression that you're about to drop a bombshell on me?"

In response, Solaris smirks deviously…

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

… before at last opening the box.

Sure enough, it contains the Elements of Harmony.

Sure enough, they're beyond my wildest imagination… though not in the way I was expecting.

I was anticipating them to not be attached to golden necklaces or a tiara based on Solaris' comments, and based on his choice of tenses I was anticipating them to not be on silver chains or a circlet either.

This though…

… I don't have any words for… this...

…

… Well... except for maybe:

"Eggs?"

"Eggs."

"... Eggs?"

"Eggs."

"..."

"... Eggs?!"

"Silver, golden chained, spheres," the Prince assures me that I'm not, in fact, going crazy. "So, yes… Eggs."

"Eggs…"

"Eggs."

"..."

"... Eggs?!"

"Eggs~"

"E-eggs...?"

"Uh-huh, eggs."

"..."

"... E-"

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Before my mental breakdown could reach its apex, Solaris reaches into the casket and tosses me one of the so-called 'eggs'. “Here," he commands nonchalantly. "Take a closer look."

Lacking the means to do much of anything else, I put my existential crisis on the back burner in favor of examining the now infamous egg-like object.

And 'egg' is really about the best way I describe this darn thing; it's too round to be anything but. I can't even tell which Element of Harmony I'm holding thanks to its unassuming shape. My best guess is that it’s Magic simply based on it having been the centermost trinket before being removed from the box, but I'm still unsure. Rotating it in my claws reveals to me that it's sort of flatter on one side than the other, while also being primarily gold in hue with a matching gold chain… The front still gives off the impression of a flat silver egg though.

All I can do is stare dumbly at this dumb thing's, for lack of a better word, egginess as my talons work on feeling out the rest of i-

Hey wait a second, what's this?

There's a… switch of some sort near the top, hidden towards the back. It's neither silver nor gold, instead being a solid magenta in hue. It feels like a button when I put some pressure on it…

…

… Against my better judgment, I push the button all the way in.

Click

As soon as I do, the 'egg' reveals unto me its true nature.

It's not an egg at all.

It's a pocket watch.

Specifically a pocket watch with the Element of Magic acting as its face. The relic shines out brightly in my grasp, as if grateful for having been released from its silver prison. Its power radiates down my arm as well, and grants my scales a feeling akin to goosebumps.

“Whoa,” I utter in awe, mesmerized by the surreal sight and sensation.

“Just as beautiful as I remember,” Solaris chips in, as he stares just as intently at the Element from over my shoulder.

“Why is it shaped like this?”

“And therein lies the golden question; why indeed, my dear. Why indeed…”

“...”

“... You’re just as clueless as I am, aren’t you?”

“... Welllll I wouldn’t say that I’m clueless,” the called out Prince looks away sheepishly. “I just lack a concrete answer, that’s all.”

“That sounds like something a clueless pony would say.”

“Hah!” he then snorts loudly. “Guilty as charged!”

For his next trick, Solaris extends his hoof towards me and cups it somewhat upwards. Catching the hint, I gently place the still open Element back into his grasp.

Snap!

The moment it leaves my possession, the watch violently slams itself shut.

Startled by the sound, I take a nervous step away from it. “What the?” I start to ask.

Once again choosing to show rather than tell, Prince Solaris goes on to place a hoof upon the relic’s button, and delicately press it inwards; just as I had done…

… but the Element refuses to budge.

Before I could express my bewilderment, I find Magic once again being offered to me. Taking it into my talons, I press the button experimentally.

Click

Just like before, the lid opens wide in my grasp.

“The Elements have become rather picky, Barbara.”

Raising my gaze, I find my host staring at me intensely.

“They can't be opened by anyone other than their proper user,” he explains clearly, and right away I spot a contradiction in his statement.

“But Magic opens for me,” I address the oddity, uncertain as to what it could mean.

“Well that's actually quite unsurprising, dear,” the pony nods pleasantly with himself, before doning a lecturing voice. “Dusk is Magic’s current bearer, and it was through Dusk’s magic that you were given life; hence his mana must still run deeply through your veins.”

“Would that really be enough to trick an Element though?” I raise an eyebrow, not completely convinced. "I don't exactly breathe pink fire, big guy; I've got magic all my own inside of me!"

“True, but you're still very much a foal developmentally,” he wing-shrugs, and bluntly reminds me of the sad truth. “My student's more mature mana must be overpowering your still growing source whenever you touch the Element; no other explanation would suffice.”

“... Okay,” I relent, reluctantly accepting the hard facts.

Rest in peace, Magical Girl Barbara; the daydream that lasted all of sixty seconds.

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

Snap!

With a small wisp of his magic, Solaris knocks me out of my musings by lifting the pocket watch out of my grip and placing it back within the chest.

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

To my great surprise, he then grabs another Element out of the box and holds it aloft before me.

“Their picky nature is not their only quirk, dear Barbara,” he speaks to me ominously, and there’s something about his tone that’s making me hesitant. “The Elements have also grown to be quite… Well, it’ll be for the best if you experience it yourself.”

Twinkletwink-

"Apologies in advance."

With hardly any warning, Solaris abruptly silences his spell; thus sending the Element plummeting towards the floor.

Instinctively I reach out to grab it before it could hit the ground, and in doing so I find my talons accidentally pressing its swit-

Click

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

A...

... A...

... A... A-a scream, bloodcurdling and primal, erupts from the ether.

As a thousand needles ran down the length of my arm, and as lightning danced in the forefront of my blurring vision, I sluggishly came to the realization that the wail was coming from me.

Pain.

There’s nothing but pain...

... M-make it stop.

Make it stop.

… Make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it STOP!!

Dropping to my knees, unable to think straight, my free claw finds its way to my clenched one and frantically tries to pry the damn paperweight out of its vice-like grip.

And still I screamed.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz… zz...

… Clink clink

After what felt like an agonizing eternity of feverish work, I at last manage to let go of the Element.

My throat is raw, and my mouth is full of ash...

… P-phew…

…

… Sniff…

...

… W…

… W-what the hell was that about?!

It feels like I just gripped a flipping electric fence or something… Even now my arm is still numb and useless… I-I can't feel it... Sniff… W-why did it do that to me?!

Rising back to my feet, in a state of shock, I shoot the trinket a searching look…

… only for my blood to run cold as I spot the Element’s colored release button, and realize which one it is.

“Hm. That one reacts similarly when I press it as well.”

With eyes wide, and heart racing, I slowly turn my now terrified gaze back in the speaker's direction.

Prince Solaris stares down at me with an unreadable expression.

Gone is his humor, as too his warmth.

His eyes reflect onto me not the image of a kind ruler with silly quirks, but a disappointed father with an iron rule. His stance has changed as well, having gone from slack and casual to straight and commanding. Towering above me like a vengeful spirit, the monsterious height difference between us has never felt more profound.

All the while, the Element of Honesty remains abandoned where it fell.

“...”

“... W… W-why are you showing me this?” I manage to croak out my question, as raw fear burns hot in my chest.

“...”

“... S-sir?”

“... The Elements know something we Seers do not,” he at last replies. His gaze never leaves my own as he starts to approach closer. “They are guarding themselves against imposters, and actively lashing out at those who lack their values.”

I take a hasty step back.

“B-but they didn’t do that in the sho-, I-I mean my vision!” my tongue almost slips, my mind still reeling from what just happened. “Even Spike wore one once, b-but all it did was refuse to work!”

“And in mine, you wore Loyalty against Discord, and it too did not work,” the alicorn unabashedly reveals my future, leaving me at a loss for words. “That particular vision has already shifted thanks in part to our efforts in moving the statue… yet the chained design from my original prediction remained the same…”

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

SLAM

“Eep!” I shriek as Solaris quickly shoves the fallen Element back into the chest, and shuts its lid tight.

“The Elements know something we Seers do not,” his highness repeats himself, frightening me further. “They have foreseen a future where such defensive measures are necessary, and one even I can’t predict…

“... So please, dear Barbara… Please allow me to ask you one, final, time…

“... Was there anythingelse you wish to share with me at this time?”

The room grows chilly.

“...”

“... No,” I whisper, using all of my remaining willpower to do so. “No I do not, y-your highness.”

“...”

“... Very well…”

Like a light switch being flipped, and very much akin to how it happened with the Mayor; Prince Solaris’ mood switches back from deathly serious to his usual ‘friendly’ self.

“Thank you once again for your time, dear,” he smiles artificially to me, with closed eyes and with what I now know to be fake cheer. “Please allow me to do the gentlecoltly thing of teleporting you to the front gates. I’d hate for you to accidentally step on a Shard of Discord, haha!”

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

I should have bobbed my head.

I should have simply said “yes please” and left it at that.

I should have let that whole exchange slide. I should have swallowed my words altogether and gone along my way.

I should have done literally anything else than what I actually did.

I was scared. I was terrified. I was half-convinced that I was about to faint on my feet, or break down into a blubbering mess before his hooves. When people get into that sort of mindset, their brains tend to default to baser instincts to protect themselves. What that sort of reaction looks like is different for everyone; some will resort to shouting, while others will attempt to bargain.

For me, it’s different.

When I’m backed into a corner, and given nowhere else to run, I tend to fall back on my tried and true coping mechanism of comedy.

I’m sure I’ve illustrated this habit well enough for you, dear reader; a wisecrack here, a snappy comeback there? Never would I call myself a comedian, but I feel that it’s still a perfectly normal part of the human, and dragon, condition for us to make light of our trauma.

And that’s exactly what I attempted to do when the Prince offered me a teleportation spell; I made light of the situation.

How foolish of me.

I should have known better.

Only Solaris is allowed the last laugh.

◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠◠

“Y… Y-yeah,” I finally respond, after taking a much-needed moment to recover from that sudden whiplash. “It’d be best if you teleport me… H… H-heh… Knowing my luck, I-I’d probably end up getting turned into something hideous like a beetle, or a tatzelwurm, or…”

Attempting to mask my fear, and wanting to steer this meeting towards a less one-sided conclusion, I don a forced snarky smirk as I look my less-than-gracious host straight in the eyes and say:

“... a pony!”

“Actually I’ve foreseen that it would be a form you're already quite familiar with,” he deflects me easily with detached precision. “A bipedal creature of darkened skin and curly hair… A nostalgic affair, one might say.”

“...”

“... W-... W-What?”

“...”

… Prince Solaris' grin turns hollow.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

“Until next time, my dear little Squire.”

Pop

With that, Canterlot Tower, and its sole inhabitant, disappear completely from my sight.

What also disappeared along with them was any semblance of victory that I had garnered from this horrible day.

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

Solaris’ face remained stony as his horn cooled from his teleportation spell, and as tension began to leave his body.

Left alone in the tower, he was allowed to finally gather his thoughts.

Once he did...

“... Snrk…”

… he couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“She’ll get the hint eventually,” he snickered to himself, as the look on his Squire’s face burned itself deeply into his memory.

…

… Twinkletwinklepop

“... She’ll have no choice but to,” he finished soberingly, his laughter slowly fading away into nothing.

Stardust Glimmer’s photograph, freshly plucked from the Index, flitted beside the ancient pony as he went about resetting the Elements’ resting place. While his magic managed the heavy lifting, his full attention lied instead with analyzing the youth-less mugshot…

… Clip… clop...

… His attention was so divided, in fact, that he failed to notice that he wasn’t truly alone.

Cyan eyes pierced through shadows of the ivory tower, and laid themselves squarely upon the Elements’ casket. There they lingered for a time before their owner beat a silent retreat.

With his target finally located, and infiltration route fully secured, the cloaked unicorn couldn't help but grin at his wondrously good fortune.