"This is Ponyville station, Ponyville. Will all passengers for this destination please disembark. Thank you and have a nice day."

I awake, blinking sleep from my eyes. I lift a hoof and rub my eyes while loudly yawning. Two hours after midnight. My biological clock tells me, once my eyes clear I look around the room. It is the same as before, though now lit with sunlight streaming in through the window.

Sunlight? It can't be two hours after midnight. I frown as I realize that my biological clock is forever gone.

"Awake are you?" A gruff voice asks from above me. I am lifted and turned to face Wrath. Dark bags hang from his eyes and his dour countenance makes him seem very, very old. After a brief look in my eyes, he closes his and tilts his head back, releasing me from his grip. I flutter softly to the ground, using my new wings to slow my decent.

"It is as I feared." He mutters quietly to himself. The large man then sighs tiredly before staggering to his feet.

"What is?" I ask, feeling very small in comparison.

"Don't worry about it." He says, before slowly making his way to the door. He ducks through it and I follow close behind him. He leads me back to the other car where the 'Elements' had been sleeping. As we enter the room I eye the pink and yellow ones. Their visit last night was strange.

Wrath walks by most of them until he reaches Twilight, whom he stands in front of impatiently as she wakes up. I shadow him as he goes, avoiding the gazes of the 'Elements' as best I can. I fail however, as Rainbow Dash snatches me up and holds me.

Her eyes and hooves thoroughly examine my wings.

"This doesn't make any sense." She mutters to herself, turning me this way and that gently tugging on my wings. I see Wrath glance over to me as he begins to talk quietly with Twilight.

I flex my ear and try to listen in, but to no avail.

"Whatcha doing Dash?" Pinkie excitedly asks from behind me.

"Looking at her wings."

"Why?" Pinkie chirps.

"Because they are like, 20% bigger than they should be."

"Is that bad?" I ask.

"Oh no no no, not at all, just weird." Rainbow Dash responds, now holding me upside down. After a moment more of examining, she gently sets me down.

"Do ya know how to fly yet?" She asks me bluntly.

"No, but I haven't tried." I reply honestly. She 'hmmms' at that.

"I could teach you, I am the best after all." I click my tongue. Why would she train me? Shouldn't she hate me?

I open my mouth to respond but snap it shut when I see Wrath striding over to me, an eager looking Twilight behind him.

"You can discuss that later. We must be going." Wrath remarks before snatching me up and folding his arms. He turns and makes his way toward the exit, the only ones left in the room behind us being Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

The morning sun is harsh, and I weakly block it out with a hoof. My body gently jostles as Wrath carries me.

"This is so fascinating! I knew I could get you to open up about your magic!" Twilight remarks with glee.

"Think of all we can learn! Nopony has studied anything like this since StarSwirl himself!" Wrath just walks on, not responding to her exclaims of scientific joy.

As we walk, the Library from the night before last comes into view.

"You're sure you have the proper tools?" Wrath asks. Twilight fervently nods.

"Judging by what you told me, I think I have the perfect machine for the job!" Twilight teleports to the door, opening it in a dim flash of magic. Wrath is not far behind her, and we step into the Library a moment later.

"Twilight, that you!?" A voice shouts from upstairs.

"Yes Spike, it is!" Twilight shouts back, the door to the basement already open and one of her hooves already on the steps.

"Is Wrath here too?!" His voice asks.

"Yes!" The man holding me shouts, his booming voice making me wince.

No further response comes from above, so Twilight disappears down the stairs, we are quick to follow. The room we come into is unlike anything I have seen before in my, albeit short, life. Strange metal creations dot the walls and floor, no two alike. A large metal table takes up the most space in the room.

"What are we doing exactly?" I ask. Twilight just hums to herself and plucks a far-away machine off the wall in her magic. She brings the metal thing toward herself and after a brief examination lets out a 'squee'. The thing looks like a hat, but covered in different colored lights.

"Science!" She declares. I feel the cool thrum of magic around me and click my tongue as Twilight levitates me over to the flat metal table, right in front of her. She turns the thing she plucked off the wall and gently sets it on my head. She straps it to me and I find myself staring at Wrath, who is watching from the other side of the room. His face looks grim.

I hear Twilight let out an 'Aha!' from behind me and suddenly the hat whirs to life. I feel it vibrating gently on my head and see the room light up as the hat's flashing lights turn on.

"Alright, the machine is ready." Twilight says from behind me. The hat must be somehow connected to the table, because I realize I can not turn my head.

"So, now are you going to explain whats going on here?" I ask hopefully. Wrath brings a hand to his face and sighs deeply. He then slowly walks to where Twilight is behind me, glancing at me with an expression I do not recognize as he passes.

"Yes, I suppose it's time for some answers." Wrath begins behind me. I hear the sound of a quill scratching on paper.

"The elements of harmony have changed not only Shendu's body, but her very soul." My soul? I hear Wrath take a deep breath.

"What this means is... complicated. The fundamental makeup of her soul has changed, as well as its shape. What we are looking for is exactly how much the makeup of it has changed, as in, which of the primordial magics comprise her soul and how much of each." Twilight's quill stops.

"The primordial magics?" She asks.

"Do you not know of them?"

"I have never heard of them." I hear the sound of flesh smacking flesh, presumably Wrath striking his hand to his face. I click my tongue.

"Then this just got more complicated, what DO you know of the soul Twilight?" Wrath asks, exasperated.

"Well, I know from my books that each species has a slightly different soul, and I know from Celestia that the Elements of Harmony correspond to one's soul, but.... that's it."

Wrath pauses a long while.

"At least what you do know is not wrong, the reason species have different souls is their shape. All members of a given species have the same shape of soul, however all creatures soul's are built from the same basic magics. These magics upon which all souls are built are the primordial magics I speak of." The 'scritching' of quill on paper is getting louder and more intense as Wrath goes on.

"How do these 'primordial' magics relate to the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asks.

"The Elements of Harmony are largely unknown to me. The way they can manipulate the soul should be impossible, by all rites the Elements of Harmony should not exist!" Wrath pound a fist against the table, and I feel the shock wave vibrate through it. I begin to rub my hooves together.

"...but from what I have seen, I know that of the six elements all but one directly refer to the five light primordial magics, the sixth is an anomaly, but from what I have seen it acts as a power source for the other five." The 'scritching' of Twilight's quill stops again.

"The elements are honesty, loyalty, laughter, kindness, generosity, and magic; I'm guessing magic is the power source?"

"I would think so, yes."

"Fascinating." The 'scritching' returns full force. Wrath comes around the side of the table and bends over until we are at eye level. He stares me in the eye for several moments while I look at him owlishly. He then rights himself and walks behind me again.

"We should get started, just what information will this machine give us?" Wrath asks. Yes! Get on with it already.

"It tells us the concentration of magic in different parts of the body, as well as if there is any dark magic present."

"Dark magic?" I ask.

"Volatile, toxic magic that should be avoided at all costs." Twilight says quite resolutely.

"I know of the dark primordial magics, but not just 'dark magic'." Twilight turns on the machine and it activates in earnest. I can feel magic thrum through my skull.

I can no longer hear the conversation presumably taking place behind me. Why do I get the feeling I am going to be here awhile?

The machine softly 'wir's as it begins to collect data, and a nearby machine begins to magically mark a strip of paper with what is being collected. In total the process should take about twenty minutes.

I turn from the machine and look at Wrath, who is perched over Shendu with a haunted expression.

"So what are these 'primordial' magics? You have said they make up the soul, but what do they actually do?" My attention flicks to my paper and quill, I summon then to my side and ready them both. This is so exciting!

Wrath pulls over an old machine, a sturdy one I used to weigh large quantities of books, and he sits on it.

"The ten of them make up your soul... they, can be used almost as a... a judge of character." He brings a hand to his face and strokes his beard. "It is hard to explain to someone who has never seen it."

Seen it? He has seen souls? I squee quietly, and involuntarily. StarSwirl and Clover would kill to be here right now!

"Tell me all that you can!" I demand. He queerly looks at me before nodding slowly.

"It was explained to me as a child that one's personality is almost a....reflection of one's soul. The thoughts one has, and the actions one takes, are products of three things: which primordial magics are present in one's soul, the shape of one's soul, and one's memories. Two souls can be vastly different but extremely similar."

"Like snowflakes?" I ask without thinking. He fixes me with a deadpan stare. Then the corners of his mouth turn up, just a little.

"Yes, like snowflakes. You are a special snowflake." I frown at him as he chuckles. Oh haha, very funny big guy. He chuckles a little bit more before his dour expression returns.

"What of the machine's answers then?" He asks. I grin.

"Lets find out!" I declare before trotting over to the magic terminal for the scanner. I lift the paper in my magic and begin to study.

Magic is concentrated mostly in the wings, a little in the head and almost none in the heart. Completely abnormal for a pony.

In addition, a great deal of dark magic is centered in the wings, and is slowly...pulsing?

If the data is correct, the magic is flaring up every few seconds. Both the dark and normal magic becoming active, then going dormant.

Another difference, a normal pony's magic is constantly active, though not as active as the aforementioned flares.

I see Wrath hovering over my shoulder, he points to the page.

"This, what is this?"

"That is where magic is concentrated, according to the machine anyway." I respond. He moves his finger slightly.

"And this?"

"That is dark magic." He returns to the book scale and sits. He leans forward and puts his hands together, his face twisted in thought.

"I think I understand. The concentration of magic is like a combination between a Maiden and Pony, though there is far less Malevolence than there should be."

"Malevolence?" I ask, my ears splaying backward.

"It is one of the primordial magics, the 9th, Ultio. Or Malevolence in your tongue." My quill writes and I think. Shendu has malevolence at her core? that it..disturbing. But she should have more of it?

Oh!

It's because of her transformation, her soul is changing what magics make it up because of the spell. But if what Wrath said is true... Horror dawns on my face. The Maiden is dead, what is left is something different, something new.

Wrath must notice my change in demeanor. As he splays his hands out, palms up, toward me, his face one of horror.

"Do you understand now, what has happened to Shendu?! Do you understand the implications?!" He shouts, standing. I flick an ear in response, my own horror rising in turn. Celestia, she... she couldn't have known. Or could she? Is this really still a mercy?

Wrath gestures violently to the filly with the flashing hat on the table.

"What Celestia has had done to Shendu is....is....." He trails off, his fervor dying, and sits back down. Burying his face in his hands.

"She has been altered on such a fundamental level that she can hardly be called the same creature." I say in a monotone voice. This is so... I don't know what to think.

We sit, the sound of the machine whirring being the only sound to break the silence. I look to Wrath and see his face is still in his hands. Shendu was a Maiden, a monster, but now she is a pony. She can't hurt anypony anymore. So this is a good thing right? But doing that to somepony seems, wrong. I look over to her, she is still patiently sitting in the same position, her head strapped into the scanner and the scanner strapped to the table.

But the Maiden killed hundreds of ponies! Where is their justice? Is this really a fit punishment? I frown as I stare at Shendu's back, my eyes owlish and unblinking.

Then I remember who dealt the punishment. Celestia, my mentor. Celestia has always known what was best, even when I didn't see it. Making friends was something I didn't want to do, but she encouraged it. And just look at what happened! I steel my resolve and look at Shendu. I walk to her and balance on my back hooves, and give her a hug. She jumps from the contact, but after a moment settles into it, even going so far as to lean into the hug. Celestia has changed her into a pony. She is not a monster anymore, but a pony. Everything Wrath has said essentially means that she is not a Maiden anymore at all. The only thing that is still the same is her memory. So if she is a pony, then she deserves what all ponies deserve. Friendship.

I hear Wrath rise behind me and walk over.

"You accept her then?" he asks. I look over to him and see his face a swirl of emotion. Once he sees me looking, it hardens into a stoic mask.

"Yes, she is a pony now, and always will be." He closes his eyes and shakes his head.

"You don't, I take it?" I ask.

"It will take time."

He walks toward the stairs.

"She is not a threat, and I don't need to guard her. I'm going to venture about for a while. I will be back before night falls, is this fair?" I can not see him, but I can hear the resignation in his voice.

"Of course, I'll get Shendu situated and explain what we found out to my friends." He sighs and leaves. I can hear the front door shut behind him, and immediately after, the thunking of dragon feet comes down the stairs.

"Hey Twilight I was wondering if......whoa who is that, and why are you hugging her?" I release my hug and fall to the floor, prompting an adorable whine from the filly, just audible over the machine's whirring.

"This is Shendu, I'll explain why she is here later, when the girls are here."

"When is that?" The young drake asks.

"Later today at approximately three O' clock." He nods.

"Cool, I was going to make some nachos and was wondering if you wanted some." I hmm then look over to Shendu and smile.

"Make enough for three."

Author's Note

Alright guys, this is the next chapter.

I'm not sure how its going to be received so please, let me know what you think!

And as always, thanks for reading!