Desert sands stretched to the horizon in every direction, with the occasional dune here and there. Apple Bloom scrambled up one to get a good view, but her own hoofprints were as interesting a sight as any she could now see. The sand was not uniformly colored: far off to the north were whiter sands under what used to be Canterlot, the dune she stood on so perfectly matched her cream-yellow coat that she could not tell just by looking where her leg stopped and the sand started, and much closer in to the west was a brown patch she knew in her heart had just been Sweet Apple Acres. She wondered if, even now, there might still be a trace of apples over there.
The magnitude of what she had just done sank in. Sobbing laughs came from deep within her and she sank to her knees, soon rolling in grief and exhilaration. She wondered if the effect covered the entire world or just all of Equestria, but it did not matter. She would wander around, starve, and die, and that would be the end of ponykind. Maybe if it was just Equestria, some griffons or dragons would come by investigating what could have annihilated the land, find her bleached bones, and clone her to restart the race. Twilight had once told her that every modern pony contained genetic material from all three races, given the interbreeding over the centuries since Equestria was founded.
At least there was no more suffering. Granny Smith would no longer complain about her hip. All those little dears Fluttershy worried about were now at peace. True, there was no more friendship, no more happy moments, but there was nopony to miss them, except her.
Laughter now subsided, Apple Bloom rolled onto her back and flicked her hooves at the sky. Not that there were any clouds, either. All that was up there now was the sun, at an angle that gave her a good shadow, especially up on top of a dune. She lolled her head to the side to regard her shadow, and the orange-lit eyes and mouth therein. Its expression still struck her as cruel and mean, but she knew it only wanted to help and serve her, in its own way.
"Is this to your satisfaction?" her shadow asked, echoing slightly in that way she knew flagged it as telepathy.
She wondered if her shadow actually heard her, or just sensed the words in her mind as she gave them voice. Regardless, she spoke normally to it. "Yeah, it sucks just as much as I thought it would. Take me back. Take that wish away."
"As you command."
And the desolation went away.
"...known as the Two Sisters era," Cherilee continued, then paused suddenly, looking around.
Another day in the classroom. Slowly Apple Bloom remembered what had sparked her shadow's suggestion: the end of pony history. Vaguely she noticed every pony around her looking slightly freaked out at nothing in particular. She just sank into her chair until she noticed Sweetie Belle's hoof waving in front of her face. Brushing it away, she looked at her friend and inquired, "Hmm?"
"I said, are you okay?" Sweetie Belle looked as concerned as the rest of her classmates. "Did you feel that just now?"
"Feel what?" Apple Bloom blinked. The sun no longer streamed in through the window behind Sweetie Belle, which meant no more shadow for a while.
"You felt it too?" Scootaloo asked from behind them. Every time desks were rearranged, they made sure to get a trio of adjoining desks; right now, theirs were in an L shape with Apple Bloom's in the middle. "It felt like...nothing!"
Sweetie Belle shivered. "Exactly!"
Apple Bloom shrugged, tuning her ears to her friends to drown out the general din of muted conversation that had descended upon the classroom. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Cherilee knocked on the chalkboard at the front of the classroom. When that did not get everypony's attention, she took out a nail and held it near the chalkboard; those few ponies still talking immediately shut up. She smiled and put the nail back. "I'm sure you all just felt the same thing. Whatever it was, I'm sure Twilight knows of it by now and we'll hear all about whatever just happened once it is resolved. For now, let's get back to classwork. Who's ready for the history test?" She pulled out a stack of papers and started distributing them.
Apple Bloom gulped and muttered, "That's today?!? I forgot to study for it!"
Sweetie Belle sighed. "We tried to find you before class to go over notes, but you were off in your own head. It looked like you were talking to somepony, but we couldn't see anypony else around, just you and your shadow."
Apple Bloom blinked. "That's it! Quick, light your horn!"
Sweetie Belle cocked her head. "Excuse me? You know Cherilee doesn't like magical cheating. Or any kind of cheating."
"Just do it! Trust me!"
"Alright..." Sweetie Belle shrugged and concentrated slightly. Her horn began to glow.
Apple Bloom looked away. Sure enough, her shadow began to fade in.
Cherilee cleared her throat. "Sweetie Belle! What have I told you about-"
Before she could finish, Apple Bloom whispered, "Pleasemakethehistorytestgoaway!"
"As you wish," her shadow's echoing voice spoke loud and clear.
A sudden wind whipped through the classroom. When it had passed, Cherilee – sans papers – looked embarrassed. "So since the copier didn't deliver the tests, I guess, recess until after lunch?"
A loud cheer arose from the class and most ponies made for the door. Apple Bloom stood up to join her classmates, only to feel a sudden heavy hoof on her shoulder. Turning to look, she saw Sweetie Belle staring and gaping at her.
"What...was...?"
Apple Bloom blinked. "You saw it?!?"
Sweetie Belle nodded.
Scootaloo grabbed their hooves and gently pulled. "C'mon, you two, recess! What're you waiting on?"
"Nothing," they echoed, but they hesitated a bit longer still.
Three minutes later, in the shade of the schoolhouse where nopony else was close by, Sweetie Belle kept her horn glowing and was trying to see the shadow it cast from Apple Bloom. Unfortunately, her eyes and horn being close enough together meant she could only see scraps of it.
Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo. "...and you don't see eyes and mouth right there?" She pointed at her shadow.
Scootaloo examined the shadow closely. "Nope. Nothing of the sort. You said it makes things go away?"
"Uh-huh. Like the history test just now."
"What history test?" Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom. "I know it was planned for today, but you heard Cherilee: it wasn't delivered, so we get this morning off."
Sweetie Belle shook her head, which caused the shadow to shift from side to side. "She was giving it out when Apple Bloom asked her shadow to make it go away. Then the wind came, and the test...I didn't quite see, but it didn't even have time to blow out the door. It was just gone." She suddenly frowned at Apple Bloom and let her horn's glow wink out. "Like it was nothing."
Apple Bloom put one hoof behind her head and shrank under Sweetie Belle's gaze. "Err...aheh..."
Scootaloo blinked, as her vision adjusted back to normal lighting. "Nothing? Oh, like that nothing we felt just...before..." Her eyes widened. "No way! Apple Bloom, was that YOU?!?"
Apple Bloom grinned sheepishly. "I maaay have kinda hinted that I wondered what it'd be like if everypony and everything was gone. Something something end of history?"
"Apple Bloom, how COULD you?" Sweetie Belle huffed. "We've had lectures. Twilight's gone over this specifically. 'Don't cause the end of all you know and love.'"
Scootaloo walked around Apple Bloom to see if Sweetie Belle looked as mad as she sounded, and found that was the case. "She did? I must've missed that lecture."
"Well, she would have if she ever thought of it!" Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and sighed. "Just...look. How much, and for how long?"
Apple Bloom exhaled in relief once out of Sweetie Belle's gaze. She wondered if Sweetie Belle had been receiving training from Fluttershy too. "At least all of Equestria, I think, but only for a few minutes! I put everything back! I undid the undoing itself!"
One of Sweetie Belle's closed eyes twitched. "All. Equestria."
Scootaloo grinned. "So does this mean you're going to fight Twilight now? Make bigger holes in the mountains than Tirek? Ooh, or maybe-" Her grin faltered when she noticed both of her friends looking at her. "What?"
"She still misses the tree," Apple Bloom offered.
"But you're right, this is a matter for Twilight." Sweetie Belle turned, then turned again. "Castle, not library. C'mon, let's go see if she's home."
Before Scootaloo and Apple Bloom could take one step to follow, Silver Spoon's mocking voice announced her presence behind them. "Aww, the three of you tired of nerding it up here so you're going to nerd it up there? Don't you think she has more important things to do now that she's a princess?"
As one, the trio turned to face her. "What are YOU doing here?" Apple Bloom demanded.
The gray, bespectacled filly sauntered up to the edge of the schoolhouse's shadow, smiling as if she owned the world. "I couldn't help but overhearing." She flicked her braided mane. "Well, I saw you being weirder than normal when we were dismissed so I followed you on a hunch that you'd rolled in some new magic, and I was right! I suppose thanks are in order for sparing us from that dreadful history test. So in exchange, maybe I'll tell you what you've been too dim to figure out yourselves."
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Huh. Like we care what you have to say. Why don't you go play with Diamond Tiara? Where is she, anyway? I haven't seen her today."
Silver Spoon cringed briefly. "That...that's none of your concern! Anyway, behold!" She pulled out a silver hoofmirror, poked it just beyond the shadow's edge into the sunlight, and angled it to reflect the sun onto Apple Bloom. "Only you and whoever's casting your shadow can see the spirit. Comely little thing, isn't it? Like a cheap Nightmare Night mask."
"I could make your perception of ugliness go away, if my master desires," the shadow retorted. "Would it please you to find everything beautiful?"
Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. "Ha. And be made a fool? No thank you!"
Scootaloo looked around. "Who are you talking to?"
"The shadow, of cour-oh, ohoho." Silver Spoon smiled. "So not only are Apple Bloom and I the only ones who can see it, but the only ones who can hear it, too. And from your comments earlier, I'll bet if I made a wish, she and I would be the only ones who remember anything changed. And it sounds like the wish has to be in the form of destruction, of taking something away. Hmm, that will make this slightly tricky..."
Apple Bloom jumped to the side, out of the reflected spotlight. "SHE'S GONNA MAKE A WISH! STOP HER!"
"H'whaaat?" Silver Spoon tried angling the mirror back toward Apple Bloom, but dove to the side when Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle charged her. "Hey! Yes I want to change something; what's the problem?"
"Your wishes are evil." Scootaloo, slightly more agile than Sweetie Belle, pivoted to intercept Silver Spoon's sidestep and grabbed for the mirror.
"I assure you, hey, I have nothing, ow, but good intentions, grrr, BACK OFF AND LET ME HELP HER YOU IDIOTS!" Silver Spoon proved less physically adept than Scootaloo, and soon found herself pinned under the pegasus.
Scootaloo tried not to smirk too much from atop the two-pony pile, using only her rear hooves to hold all four of Silver Spoon's behind her back in a joint lock, while giving the mirror to Sweetie Belle. "You? Helping Apple Bloom?"
Silver Spoon smouldered, immobile and indignant. "Of course not. Diamond Tiara. Filthy Rich was injured in an accident. She's with him at the hospital right now. I was going to wish that accident away. Unless you'd RATHER my best friend maybe lose her father?"
Scootaloo blinked. "Wait, what? That's..."
"...uncharitably kind of her but we should let her?" Sweetie Belle finished. "That's what I think."
Apple Bloom walked up to the scene, still in the schoolhouse's shadow. "I think I agree. Scootaloo, let her up."
"Aww." Scootaloo let Silver Spoon's legs go and hopped off.
Sweetie Belle held the mirror toward Silver Spoon. "Here you go."
"THANK you." Silver Spoon stood up, dusted herself off, and grabbed the mirror, only to find Sweetie Belle holding on to it. "Let go."
Sweetie Belle smiled, looking Silver Spoon in the eyes. "I ALSO think, just for safety, we should all be casting the shadow. Just so we know EXACTLY what you're doing. Scootaloo, grab on?"
"Grrr," was all Silver Spoon could articulate before Scootaloo's hoof was on the mirror too. "Fine! But I'm going to have to get this mirror cleaned now that you've had your grubby hooves on it." She angled it toward Apple Bloom. "Right, then. Oh spirit, please remove the cause of Filthy Rich's injury."
Nothing happened.
Apple Bloom looked at the now-familiar orange-on-black face behind her. "Uh?"
"I am your shadow, not hers," it replied. "Do you wish me to carry out her command?"
Apple Bloom nodded. "Sure. Just that one."
"It is done."
"There." Silver Spoon yanked the mirror free of the other two hooves holding it. "Now if you will excuse me, I am going to talk to my friend who is no longer worried out of her mind that she's about to be an orphan." She slowly backed away, then turned and trotted off.
"Huh." Apple Bloom watched her go. "She's got a drop of good in her after all. Who knew?"
"C'mon," Sweetie Belle urged, "we still have to go see Twilight."
Apple Bloom was still getting used to the latest addition to Ponyville's skyline. She knew "castle" was the proper word for it, but to her, it looked more like a stylized crystal tree. Bluish-purple crystal ran everywhere. Things that looked like proper walls did not start until higher than almost any other structure in Ponyville (except Rainbow Dash's house, but that did not count since it was a cloud that could be at any height), the smallest of Ponyville's houses could fit entirely on the largest of the castle's balconies, and then there was that giant misshapen copy of the central feature of Twilight's cutie mark atop it all. Twilight had assured Apple Bloom that Twilight had had no say in or clue about the castle's design, and kept commenting that it seemed designed for some other pony entirely. She always seemed to say this in sad tones.
Apple Bloom understood. Twilight liked libraries. They were to her what the farm was to Apple Bloom. Applejack once told Apple Bloom about trying to make a living in Manehattan; so much rock and metal and glass everywhere, with not a speck of dirt to be seen, sounded like a scary place. Apple Bloom once tried to tell Twilight a scary story about a world without books, but cut it off when she saw Twilight was getting scared in the not-fun way.
In any case, this presented a problem. The castle was a huge structure, and Twilight could be anywhere within. Apple Bloom was just starting to realize this when Twilight came running out the front door, slightly frayed mane suggesting she had been working on a particularly difficult problem. "Sorry, no time to talk. Something briefly destroyed Equestria and Discord thinks it came from somewhere in Ponyville."
"I'm sorry," Apple Bloom nearly mumbled just as Twilight passed the trio.
It was a credit to how fast Twilight's mind worked that she only took eight more steps before she planted one hoof, letting her momentum wheel her around 180 degrees, and slid backward to a stop staring at Apple Bloom. "That was YOU?!?"
Apple Bloom nodded, eyes on the ground, trying to sound as apologetic as she could. "I...well...I don't think I should have this, and I was hoping you could help me get rid of it."
Sweetie Belle hugged Apple Bloom while Scootaloo made big, moist eyes at Twilight. "Pleeease, Twilight? Cherilee gave us until after lunch."
Twilight boggled for a moment, then forced herself to relax. "Why don't you three come inside and tell me all about it?"
So they did, gathering in the front hall. Apple Bloom explained how the spirit had appeared in her dreams, how Luna had helped her realize it was just her shadow and she had been worried about getting a bad cutie mark, how upon waking she discovered the spirit was still in her shadow, and how she had tested the power by getting rid of a few things she did not like. Twilight pressed for a complete, exact list; fortunately, there was only one truly objectionable item, and Equestria had been put back right soon enough, with a brief and vague sense of existential doubt as most ponies' only clue that anything had been wrong.
"I'll talk with Luna about how this sort of thing crossed from dream to reality." Twilight jotted a task in the margins of the notes she had been taking. "That's supposed to be impossible, but it might have 'borrowed' Luna's magic if she wasn't careful. But first I should talk to that-"
"MURDERER!!!" There was the sound of pony tackling pony.
"...nooo, spirit." Twilight looked up. None of her guests were in line of sight, but from a nearby room came sounds of a struggle and a repeated "ting", as if of metal striking crystal.
Homing in on it lead her to Apple Bloom on her back, underneath a furious Silver Spoon wielding a knife in both forehooves, haunches pinning Apple Bloom's limbs. Silver Spoon repeatedly tried to stab her victim only for Apple Bloom to roll her head away just in time, letting the knife make impressive divots in the floor. Sweetie Belle stood in concentration while her horn glowed, trying to slip a playing-card-like translucent shield into place over Apple Bloom's neck but out of sync with both ponies' motions, as Scootaloo circled the pair. Twilight noted that, despite this room being so close to the front, this was yet another room she had never entered before. This one looked like a waiting lounge, with a few chairs scattered around a pair of tables and more chairs along the walls. Some time when her friends were not in mortal danger, she was going to have to ask Celestia where these furnishings had come from.
Mind snapping back to said mortal danger, Twilight concentrated her telekinesis on the knife to attempt to wrench it out of Silver Spoon's hooves. "Oookay," she declared, "that's enough of-"
Without looking, Silver Spoon reached into her mane, pulled out another knife, and flung it at Twilight, who barely had time to release her magic and duck.
Silver Spoon panted, raising her now-free knife high. "So why'd you do it? WHY?!? D-Diamond Tiara...was my only friend...a-and instead of helping her...YOU TOOK HER AWAY!"
Apple Bloom struggled to free herself, but found herself well and truly stuck. "What are you talking about? I ain't done nothing to her!"
Silver Spoon stared daggers into Apple Bloom's eyes. "I asked your shadow to remove the source of her father's injury. He got hurt catching her when a balcony collapsed. Now he didn't catch her, and she's DEAD."
Apple Bloom looked back. "Ohhh! Yeah, wishes are tricky like that. You should hear how some of mine turned out..."
"No! No more wishes! No more trickery! You murdered my friend and for that you will OOF-" Silver Spoon's tirade was cut short by a tackle from Scootaloo. "Hey, let me go, ow, she needs to, grrr, OH COME ON NOT AGAIN!" Which soon lead to her being pinned in the same position she had been in less than an hour ago.
Twilight took in the display as she stood up. "Wow. Umm. Scootaloo, that looked..."
Scootaloo smiled as she tossed Silver Spoon's knife away. "Amazing? Awesome? Acerrific? Something in the As?"
Twilight caught the knife in her telekinesis and placed it gently on a chair. "Actually, I think Pinkie would call it 'stock footage'. I didn't know you practiced on her."
Apple Bloom got up. "So, your wish went bad. Twilight taught me that if I'm playing with dangerous magic, always make it safe."
Twilight blinked. "I what? When did...no, no. I said, 'DON'T play with dangerous magic, always play with safe!'"
"So," Apple Bloom continued, "I made sure I could always just undo a wish. That's taking something away too. Twilight, could you light your horn for a moment?"
"Huh?" Twilight complied, increasing the illumination in the room a few shades. "Sure, but what-"
"PleaseundoSilverSpoon'swish."
"Hey!" Twilight snapped her light off as soon as she heard Apple Bloom speak fast. "Stop that!"
Apple Bloom smiled like a cat as a gentle breeze somehow blew through the room with only one door. "Too late. So, Silver Spoon, what exactly were you doing here, besides interrupting us?"
Silver Spoon growled. "Besides getting rudely tackled by your friend? I..." She blinked. "I, uh..."
"You came here to ask Twilight's blessing for Filthy Rich's fast recovery?" Apple Bloom suggested.
"That..." Silver Spoon blinked again. "That sounds right. Umm. But why is your friend holding me down?"
Apple Bloom sighed. "Scootaloo, she's apologized."
Silver Spoon blinked thrice. "I have?"
"She has?" Twilight echoed.
Apple Bloom nodded. "For interrupting us. You can let her go now."
"Alright." Scootaloo hopped off, looking much like a cat who was finished playing with a toy.
Silver Spoon got to her feet a bit unsteadily, then staggered out the door, shooting back a look of confused anger.
Twilight watched her go, made sure the front door was shut, then turned back to her three remaining guests and frowned. "That wasn't just 'taking away'."
Apple Bloom shrugged. "Sometimes I have to fill in the details. But you just saw how I know it's dark, dangerous, POWERFUL magic: it can even make Silver Spoon think she's apologized!"
"Uh huh." Twilight opened the front door again but just a crack, letting in a sliver of sunlight, then pointed to it. "Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, get Apple Bloom there and hold her there."
"Hey!" Apple Bloom protested as her friends picked her up and carried her into the light. "What's the big idea?"
Twilight smirked as she walked up to Apple Bloom. "You're smart. Smart enough to be my student. If you really want this thing gone you know what you have to do." She looked the filly in the eyes, the promise of imminent mischief tugging the corners of her own eyes up. "But maybe you need a push. Or..." She flicked her eyes to her wings, which she spread as if stretching, then slowly lowered one toward Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom's eyes grew wide. "No. No, please, I swear I'll be good!"
With the inevitability of a taxpony, Twilight began gently applying the tip of one wing just below Apple Bloom's shoulder.
Apple Bloom squirmed and struggled, but her friends held her legs in place. "N, n, nhhhahaha, no no ha ha p-p-plEEEasehaha, I, I, heh heh..."
"C'mon," Twilight coaxed as she continued to tickle, "I know you know what to say. And your shadow's right there." She looked beyond Apple Bloom and confirmed the orange face was indeed present where Apple Bloom's body blocked out the sunlight.
"Alrighighigh..." Apple Bloom spasmed in temporarily voiceless laughter, then drew in a deep breath. "Spirit, p-p-please remove yourself, gimme just an ordinary shadow again!"
Twilight relented as soon as Apple Bloom began the wish, not wanting to disrupt it, but remained in contact with Apple Bloom. As such, she saw the face swirl, melt, and vanish, as she heard its voice echo, "Goodbye." Once it was completely gone, she nodded to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, but they looked at each other then shook their heads in unison toward Twilight.
"If she really destroyed all of Equestria..." Scootaloo began, trying to look innocent.
"...doesn't she need a little more punishment?" Sweetie Belle concluded, mirroring Scootaloo's expression.
Twilight looked at them, then at Apple Bloom. "Hmm. They have a point."
As the tactile sensation resumed, soon blotting out her entire awareness save for being vaguely aware of tears spilling from her eyes, Apple Bloom wondered briefly if this sort of desire for revenge was anything like what Silver Spoon had felt.
