A Scientific Breakthrough

by Eruedraieth

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe, Human, Main 6, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 92768

Earth is dying. A scientist finds a solution allowing world travel, in search for a new habitable planet. He ends up in a world that is strangely familiar...

A scientist is tasked with finding a way off of a dying Earth. Pollution took its toll on our planet, and now we have to face it's consequences. He finds a solution, rumoured to be capable of world-travel. He ends up in an unknown world, but one that is somehow strangely familiar...

:EDIT: This story, previously named The Riftwalker, is now this. The 'new' Riftwalker will be the story that continues from chapter 14 onwards, as to reduce confusion. This story will be marked as complete, and the chapters from 13 onwards will be moved to the new Riftwalker.

Published 2015-08-22 23:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-12-25 10:22:06 UTC

Chapter 1 - Revelation

Hello, my name is Joshua, and I am a molecular scientist by trade. I study molecules in order to design new molecules or improve upon existing ones by altering their structure, adding other atoms etc. The molecules can then be used in practical applications like armour, clothing, apparatus, or anything you can think of.

Lately, after watching the news for a couple of days, I noticed a headline popping up several times: "World is at an end, scientists and physicists alike are giving their all to discover methods of leaving Earth in order to find new habitable planets." This annoyed me deeply, because during my college I put a lot of research into green, sustainable energies in order to improve our current world. And those skills would all be pointless now..

The lab I worked in was far from standard. My employer gave me my very own lab to manage, after seeing how well I did when I worked at the companies' main lab. This was a rather fast transition, as I had only worked at the main lab for about 3 to 4 years. Now, at the age of 27, I managed a lab containing state of the art machines and technology to provide me with possibilities for research and development.

I have owned my own lab for over a year now, and during that year I hired a few assistants in order to help me with more advanced methods and general tasks.

Eventually, one of my assistants heard rumours of a solution called "Liquid Rainbow". She passed this on to me, ofcourse, knowing that we tried to put as much focus into discovering methods for world-travel like all the other scientists were. After studying these rumours, they were indeed true. The liquid solution was made out of 4 elements, which were relatively hard to get to a liquid state and after that combine into a singular solution. This did not bother me, however, because the technology in this lab is too advanced to let simple problems like transforming gaseous substances into liquids be a nuisance.

Supposedly, the solution would allow travel to a land called Equestria. Having seen the tv-series, I know what would be in Equestria: Talking ponies capable of casting magic spells. However, I did not believe this could be possible. It was worth a try, anyway.

My assistants Cheryl and Michelle, who were my assistants for today, helped me create the setup for transforming the 4 elements and combine them afterwards. "I sure hope this will work, I am interested to find out how a new world would look like. Who knows what we'll find?" Cheryl exclaimed.

"Don't get your hopes up yet, we don't even know for sure if this will work properly. Keep a journal open and write down every step we do, this might be the breakthrough of the century." Michelle grabbed a journal from one of the nearby tables and opened it, writing down the requirements for this particular experiment. "If something happens don't, and I repeat, don"t attempt to help me in any way. The effects could be contagious."

They both nodded, and I proceeded to melt the phosporus and make a liquid out of it. Once this was done, I continued with condensing the oxygen for the second liquid. Next up, the condensation of nitrogen, which went flawlessly. And the last to-be-liquid, Yttrium, which had to be melted down under very high temperature. This had to be done carefully, because the molten metal alone was enough to burn through everything.

After melting the yttrium, Cheryl handed me a heat-resistant test tube, and allowed me to pour the liquids in order of phosporus, oxygen, nitrogen and yttrium into the tube. After combining the liquids, the resulting solution was looking very odd, to say the least. It had every colour of the rainbow in it, hence the name "Liquid rainbow".

The tube started shaking, and all of us ducked behind cover in wait for an explosion of some sorts. After a few minutes of non-stop shaking, the solution stopped.

"Would you look at that, it worked! Or atleast, I hope it did!" I said.

"We nearly blew up the lab, but the solution seems stable now. Shall we take a closer look?" said Michelle.

I cautiously approached the solution in case it decided to start shaking again, and grabbed the tube. I looked intensely at the liquid, and suddenly the entire solution became a yellow colour. We saw words beginning to form in red: "Drink me..."

I was unsure what to do, we had combined 4 slightly dangerous elements together and now the solution itself wanted one of us to take a sip. Another word began to form:" I am not", and after that, "Dangerous".

"Well, I think the liquid is trying to encourage us to drink it. I will do the honours, you two stay here and document everything that happened and what is about to happen." I offered.

"But what if you get hurt?? I can't just stand by and not help you when you start choking on your own fluids!" Michelle exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. The solution said it was not dangerous, right? So what is the worst that could happen to me apart from actually travelling to a different world? Not that it was proven to work." I took the tube. "In the name of science!" I said as I took a sip.

What happened afterwards, was unexplainable. I started seeing all the colours of the rainbow, and when looking at my assistants, found them to be changing colours constantly. It looked like a really bad acid trip, having studied drug effects on humans for a small time.

After a few seconds, however, my vision went black, and from what I thought had happened, I had collapsed to the floor.

The people in the room witnessed my body dissapearing into thin air. Or did they?

Chapter 2 - A new world...

I laid on the ground, having trouble opening my eyes. I was in pain due to a massive splitting headache, but atleast I heard myself moaning in pain. After what had seemed like a century of nothing I was finally able to hear and smell again, but my sight didn't want to cooperate. While listening closely, I heard footsteps approaching me, or what seemed like footsteps. I was not sure what kind of steps it were, but they were approaching my body. I heard a scream, and after that more rushed steps towards me. I heard a female voice call "Are you okay?", but all I was able to do was slightly nod my head.

I attempted not to move my head too much in order to keep the pain to a minimum, but my helper did not seem to acknowledge this and tried to move my head. I grumbled in pain. "Please, do not move my head too much, I have a splitting headache and I can't seem to get my eyes opened to look at you." I had a slight feeling I knew who my saviour was...

I heard a slight twinkling noise, and I felt my headache disappearing slightly, allowing me to move my head. "Thanks, whatever you did to me. I still can't seem to open my eyes, however. They feel as if they are glued shut." I felt a large surface touching my eyes, after which I was able to finally open my eyes.

My saviour was Twilight sparkle, a pony from My little pony: Friendship is magic. I have watched the tv show and read a few fanfiction stories of it, so I was known with the concept. "You seem to be okay now, can you stand on your own?"

"I should be fine, give me a second." I proceeded to use my hands to support me while I pulled my body off the ground.

After nearly falling over, I quickly regained my bearings and was able to stand on my own. Twilight eyed me suspiciously. In an attempt to become friendly with me, she says: "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, what is yours?"

"I know who you are, and my name is Joshua, master scientist and pioneer in discovering world-travel."

Twilight got very excited, and shouts:"You have travelled across worlds!? How?"

"It's quite a long story, one which I'd rather not explain out here." I responded.

I looked at my surroundings, and found out I was located on top of a hill, near what seemed to be a large town with a bell tower. "May I ask where I'm currently at?"

"You sure may, you are on top of a hill close to Ponyville, my place of residence. I just happened to walk this way to collect some ingredients for a stew which only happen to be here, when I came across your seemingly lifeless body. I am glad this is not the case, however." I just nodded, and continued looking at my surroundings, when I noticed I was still wearing my labcoat and safety glasses. I took off my glasses and labcoat, and folded the labcoat for easier carrying. "My, you are slim. I am sorry if this offends you in any way, but I cant help but notice how slim you are."

"Well, you do not offend me with calling me slim, because I have been slim my entire life. Somehow my digestive system refuses to allow me to put on weight, much to the annoyance of members of my family." When I mentioned my family, I felt a pang of guilt wash over me.

Twilight noticed this and proceeded to ask: "What's wrong?"

"Well, I kind of left my family without saying the necessary goodbyes in case I couldn't return. I didn't expect the formula to work, so I kind of left without saying anything. I hope I can return at some point to tell them of my discovery." After saying that, I noticed Twilight got a saddened look. "Oh I'm so sorry, I wasn't intending on leaving forever. This is a new world after all, and I wish to fully explore it before I report anything."

Twilight now had more of a frightened look. "Please don't report anything to your other humans, I don't want Equestria to be overrun by humans, it would upset the balance of this world."

"How did you know I am a human? I doubt you've seen more of my kind around here." I asked questioningly

"Well, we did actually see one more creature like you appear here before. I don't know where she is now, but she appeared on the exact same spot as you did, about a day ago. Somehow, I felt that calling you two humans was a fitting description, for some reason." she explained.

"I assume you were the one to save her too, right?" I asked

Twilight sighed. "If only. If it was me who was her first impression of this world, I don't think she would've ran away scared. I was very antisocial before coming to Ponyville, but after meeting the friends I have now I have become very social and accepting of strangers".

I was confused by this. "So you were not the one to help her... What happened to her to have caused her to run away like that?"

"I honestly do not know, all I know is that i heard someone screaming and when I came over to this hill I saw her running away from.. nothing, it seemed. I think she saw some sort of ghost or something, because what scared her wasn't there when I saw her running" Twilight explained.

"Hm, that is very strange. No matter, I will try and find her later. First things first, I'm starving!" I remarked

Twilight grinned at my sudden notion of hunger, and beckoned me to follow her. We walked into Ponyville, where I got a lot of confused and scared looks thrown my way. "I really don't like the fact that all of these ponies are scared of me. I mean, i'm walking along with the Element of Magic and they have yet to see me cause any harm to you."

"Well, the ponies around here are easily frightened, just don't pay too much attention to it and they will warm up to you staying here just fine." That eased my mind a bit, but I was still annoyed at the scared faces of the ponies we crossed paths with.

Eventually we reached the Golden Oak Library, Twilight's place of residence. I was glad to finally be inside and not have ponies staring at me wherever I go. I placed my labcoat and glasses onto a nearby table and proceeded to look at my surroundings. There were books... Lots of books... I didn't mind seeing so many books because I've been in libraries before, but the amount of knowledge stored here was incredible, to say the least. "I assume you have nearly everything about your world situated inside this library, am I correct?" I asked cautiously.

"You would be nearly correct in that assumption. Aside from a few minor books, I have everything here. Some even say my library rivals the one located in Canterlot!"

"Ah, Canterlot. I would like to visit that some time. And the princesses too, ofcourse. They will probably be quite curious as to why the Element of Magic decided to give shelter to a human, if you don't mind, that is."

"I can arrange that meeting in a short time, I just need to call Spike first to send a letter. Spike! I need you to write a letter, and meet someone!" Twilight shouted. "And you are welcome to stay here as long as you like." she added.

I heard steps coming from downstairs, and a few seconds later a small dragon was eyeing me cautiously. "Um, Twilight? Why is there a bipedal creature in our library and why are you not scared?"

"Oh silly Spike, he won't harm us. Atleast, not from what I currently know from him" she asked, looking over at me with a suspicious gaze.

"Harming my hosts is the last thing on my mind." I said.

"What happened to Twilight? She doesn't usually act this way towards complete strangers she just met." Spike asked.

"I have not done anything other than placing my labcoat and safety glasses onto the table over there - I pointed at the table which had my coat and glasses - and standing here talking to Twilight and you".

My stomach decided this was a good moment to let itself be heard, which caused Twilight to shoot up. "Spike, could you prepare some food for us? Our guest is hungry it seems, and I could do with some food too".

"Do I really have to make food for a stranger?". He seemed rather upset about it.

"Yes Spike, he is not a stranger to me, and he's been friendly to me since I rescued him".

"Wait, you rescued him? From what?" Twilight proceeded to explain the story of how she met me in minor detail, which clarified a lot of things for Spike, by the way he reacted to it. Spike then headed to the kitchen to prepare us some food, while I took a seat in a nearby chair. The chair wasn't comfortable in the least for me, but I wouldn't dare blame my host. After all, they probably never had to deal with anyone larger than Big Macintosh, and I doubted that he ever visited the library enough to cause Twilight to get special seating for him.

Twilight used this moment to try and figure out where I came from and how I got here, which I explained in short detail. She was amazed by the amount of advanced machines I had in my lab which I used during creation of the formula, and I noticed she was thinking of something. "What are you thinking of?"

She replied with"If what you say is true, and I'm guessing it is, then we could probably recreate the formula and get you home so your family knows where you went, if it works in that way. I would like it if you came back to us, though. This world needs some spice to it, and you are just the answer to that".

A moment later, Spike arrived carrying two plates with sandwiches on them. I was too hungry to care about what was on the sandwich, and proceeded to ravenously eat my meal, much to the dismay of the pony and dragon in the room. "Do you really have to eat that savagely?" Twilight remarked.

"Well, when you feel like you have not eaten in days, hunger can do this to you. I have no idea how long I was out for, or how long it took me to travel from Earth to Terra. I do know that I was hungry just a moment ago, and that hunger seems to be sated. Thank you, Spike, for making such a lovely meal". The dragon happily accepted my praise, and proceeded to walk down the stairs to where I assumed his room was.

"So, I'm guessing you are either tired right now or wish to find out more about this world, am I correct?" Twilight stated.

"The latter would be correct. I know that the Elements of Harmony, you included ofcourse, are quite desirable ponies to be around, and I would like to meet them if possible."

"Well, Rarity is off on a trip to Canterlot to promote her clothing line, and Applejack is probably extremely busy with applebucking, so that leaves Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy. Who do you want to visit first?"

"I've always liked to meet Rainbow Dash in person, and knowing that her schedule with the weatherteam can be annoying at times, I think we should go visit her first. I do hope I won't get stared at too much though, I'd like to stay above ground if possible".

She laughed at this. "Don't be silly, the ponies here are not going to hurt you. They just stare at you because you are something they have never seen, which frightens them. They will stop eventually if they see you around often enough". She then got out of the chair and walked towards the door. "You coming?".

"I can just leave my labcoat and glasses over there, right? Nothing will happen to them while we are gone?" I asked worriedly.

"I'll mark the library as closed for now, so it should be fine".

I stepped outside, while Twilight hung a sign on the door saying "CLOSED". What I didn't know, however, was that my labcoat and glasses would have been changed dramatically when I returned...

We walked towards Rainbow Dash's cloud home, while recieving numerous frightened stares yet again. "I am going to make sure that everyone in this town is going to like me, one way or another".

"Everypony, is the correct term you should use there. If you want to proceed with that 'liking thing' of yours, that is" Twilight snapped back.

"Oh yeah, right. We are in Equestria, and everyone should be everypony, ofcourse. Got it!".

We arrived near a hill close to Rainbow Dash's home. I decided to just stand around and wait awkwardly while Twilight called for Rainbow Dash. A moment later, I saw a raimbow-hued mane belonging to a cyan pegasus peek over the edge of the cloud. "Heya Twilight, who's accompanying you?"

She proceeded to float down towards us, making sure to keep me in her view at all times. "This is Joshua. He is a human from a world called Earth who just happened to arrive on our planet in a mildly odd fashion, as in appearing out of thin air. I helped him and offered him shelter for the time being."

"Is that so? She eyed me suspiciously. "Well, if you are friends with Twilight already, that stamps you as a friend in my books. Name's Rainbow Dash, pleased to meet you".

"Im glad that not everypony is frightened around me. Would've been a lot harder to survive on this planet if everyone was so damn afraid of me all the time. I guess these don't help the situation either" I pointed at my canines, showing the sharp teeth to the two mares.

"There's more to this planet than just ponies" Twilight stated.

"What brings you to the fastest and most awesomest flier in all of Equestria today?". Rainbow patted her shoulder in praise.

"Surely you are the fastest and awesomest flier in all of Terra, right?" Rainbow dash blushed at this comment.

"Don't make her head any bigger than it already is, it might explode soon" Twilight grinned.

"Oh, I don't mean to brag, but I did get first place in The Best Young flyer Competition after all. Which means I deserve the praise!"

"Okay, enough already miss Wonderbolt. We were just here to allow you to meet Joshua here, and he seemed excited to meet you too".

"Well it's been nice meeting you, but I have to go to a weatherteam meeting in Cloudesdale now, so I guess I'll see you around?" Rainbow asked cheerfully.

"Oh don't worry, you will definitely see me around, Dash". This caused the mare to blush. "Wow, I've managed to make you blush in a single visit. Go to the meeting quickly before you change your mind and decide to stay here with me". She nodded, and quickly flew away.

"Wow, I didn't even know it was possible to make Dash blush like that, but you managed to do it on your first visit. Good job! You will most definitely feel at home here."

Home. Again, a pang of guilt slapped my face as I thought of my family. "I made you think about your family again didn't I..." she responded sadly.

"Well, it's not like it is going to change very soon, so I guess I will have to deal with it for now". Without saying another word, we headed back to the library, as it was nearly evening already.

When Twilight opened the door, she jumped up in shock. "You placed your labcoat and glasses on that table there, right? You might want to see what happened to them". Hearing this, I quickly shot inside to look at my coat and glasses. What I found, was rather unsettling.

My glasses had vanished completely, and from what it seemed my coat had turned into a black leather outfit complete with hood and belt. What was most unsettling, however, was the fact that the belt had a pouch on it, containing what seemed to be something made out of metal. I opened the pouch to find a very polished and shining steel dagger. I placed the dagger on the table and examined the belt further, finding another pouch containing a second dagger.

"Hm, it seems that who or whatever happened to my coat decided that I should be some kind of assassin. I don't see why, though. Equestria is mostly a peaceful place, right?"

Twilight, still shocked from seeing the daggers, stuttered: "T-There are some ponies and members of other races in T-Terra which do not take a liking to just living in h-harmony..."

"Please, don't be afraid. I'm not ever going to use these daggers on you or any of your friends. I doubt i'm even going to use them at all, honestly. I still don't see how a peaceful place like this has any enemies." I exclaimed.

"Surely there must be a reason as to why your coat and glasses transformed into an assassins outfit, though? I think we should contact Celestia to see what she knows about this.. Darn, I just remembered I completely forgot to send a letter earlier explaining you. Spike! Please send a letter  to Celestia asking her for a meeting, and leave out the details please."

Spike proceeded to take out a quill and a piece of paper, and started writing what Twilight cited. When Twilight was done speaking, Spike rolled up the parchment and torched it, sending magical dust out of the window, towards Canterlot and the princess. Just a moment later Spike burped up a letter with a royal sign. Twilight levitated the letter towards her, opened it and started reading it. "She says she can come right now.

She asked us to meet her at the hill I rescued you on, as to avoid any attention." "Ha, that's funny. She decided to meet us at the place where I appeared in this world, without knowing that happened."

I quickly grabbed the new assassin outfit and daggers, and followed Twilight out of the library, towards the hill. When we arrived, there was nopony to be seen. I looked at Twilight, slightly confused. Not a moment later, however, Celestia appeared in a bright flash in front of us. "Why hello Twilight, what-" This was when she saw me.

She tensed immediatly, but Twilight quickly jumped in and said: "Don't worry, he won't harm us. He is actually the reason I called for you."

"Is that so? Well, I've yet to see one of your kind. I guess I have now. What seems to be the problem?"

Twilight explained the story of how she rescued me, the visit to Rainbow Dash, and the return to find out that my labcoat and glasses had turned into an assassins outfit, complete with daggers and hood.

"Hmm, that is rather weird indeed. I didn't catch your name, by the way?"

"My name is Joshua, pleased to meet you Princess Celestia".

"Please, just call me Celestia. Seeing you this close to Twilight and after hearing her story, you are a friend in my eyes. Now, for the matter at hand, though. It seems that Terra herself has responded to your being here, and decided to subtly give you a new role in this world."

What happened next was the weirdest thing in the world. Lightning started to arc between my hands. Frightened, i dropped the outfit and stared at the lightning bouncing between my hands, frantically trying to put a stop to it. "Stop! Calm down! You are only making it worse by being scared at this situation!" Celestia shouted. I calmed down after hearing her shout like that, and indeed, the lightning stopped.

"Well well well, not only has Terra given you a new role, your body seems to have adapted to allow the use of magic aswell. Primal magic, even, which hasn't been seen around in ages" Celestia commented.

"I am unsure as to why Terra decided it would be a good idea to make me an assassin or a magic user, seeing as I am a complete stranger to this world" I pointed out.

"After what you've done so far, Terra seemed to know that your intentions are pure, and you would only put these to a good cause. I don't see any reason to argue with that reasoning, nor does there have to be one, am I right?"

"Well, from the numerous computer games I've played, I always opted for a stealthy approach. And whenever I had to decide between a violent decision and a peaceful one, I would always opt for the peaceful method. This is also true in real life, where I prefer to handle things peacefully instead of resorting to violence." I explained.

This seemed to cause a sudden jolt of clarity on Celestia's side, because she took a same tone as Twilight when she discovered I was from another planet. "You must be the long-forgotten Element of the Assassin! I've heard rumours of this Element existing, but it was never confirmed to be true.. I guess your role has been defined then. Come see me tomorrow at Canterlot along with Twilight, I would like to discuss this matter further with you, if you don't mind".

I nodded in approval, and Celestia dissapeared in a bright flash. "Well, I guess i'm not going to be going home soon anytime, so I guess I will call this world home, for now. Untill the need arrives for me to return to Earth, that is. Shall we return to the library, and get some rest? I am mighty tired after all that happened this day".

Twilight was still seemingly amazed by all that happened, but managed to compose herself and stammered out a simple "Sure" before turning around and heading towards the library.

There was nopony around at this time of day, which I was thankful for. I silently thanked Princess Luna for her night, which Twilight seemed to have heard. "You do know she can't hear you, right?"

"Well, she might have, considering that I'm able to use magic and all. Maybe I magically transferred my message to-"

I was cut off mid-sentence by a strange voice in my head, asking: "Who is this, and what is thy meaning and methods of contacting me? I tried using the same method I used before to talk to the voice in my head.

"Well, I am new to this world. My name is Joshua, molecular scientist, and friend of Twilight Sparkle. I just wanted to thank you for the night, but I didn't realize that my magic would actually transfer my message to you. My apologies for that. Your sister, Celestia, has more information on me. Ask her about it, and you will certainly know more". After that, the voice stayed silent, to which I assumed Luna was heading to Celestia to talk to her right now.

"You know, you looked kinda weird with whatever you were doing back there".

"I guess I made a lot of weird and funny faces or something?"

"No, not at all actually. You just stood there with a look of deep thought on your face. I was afraid something bad happened to you or something. What actually happened, anyway?"

"Luna seemed to have recieved my silent message, and replied rather angrily. Don't ask me how" I cut Twilight off before she tried asking it. "Let's just head back to the library now and get some well earned rest, and figure out what to do tomorrow." She nodded, and we arrived at the library not a moment later.

Spike was nowhere to be seen, which I was rather happy with. I didn't want to have to deal with someone else asking what happened and why right now, so I just asked Twilight where the bedrooms were. "I don't usually have visitors, so I don't have a guest room or something. You can sleep in my room though!"

"But where will you sleep, then?" I asked quizzically.

"In the same room, ofcourse" she explained.

"Umm, I don't know how that is settled here in Equestria, but usually sleeping in the same room as someone else usually involves a romantic gesture, especially when that someone else is female".

She giggled, and explained it: "Don't worry. Unless I specifically asked for you to have a romantic gesture, as you called it, sleeping with someone else doesn't mean anything here."

"Alright, it's okay then I guess?" I said, noticing a spare bed in the corner.

I wished Twilight good night, and went off to the land of dreams.

Chapter 3 - Identity Crisis

I woke up, feeling more rested than ever. "Ah, what a good night's rest. Wouldn't you agree, Twilight?"

Twilight, on the other hand, seemed like a zombie just came to life. "I could really use some coffee" she remarked.

"Don't you worry, just stay in bed for now and I will take care of bringing you a cup of coffee" I stated.

I proceeded to walk down the stairs and into the kitchen, to try and find the necessary equipment to make some coffee. Luckily, a coffee machine in Equestria seemed equally easy to use in comparison to one on Earth, so in just a few moments I found out where everything was and made a cup of coffee for Twilight. "Twilight, do you want something like sugar or milk in your coffee?" I shouted up the stairs.

My response was 1 sugar cube. I placed a sugar cube in her coffee, and took a spoon from a nearby drawer to stir the coffee. I then searched for the fridge, in an attempt to find something for myself. I quickly found what I was looking for, and noticed a bottle with something that looked like orange juice. I poured myself a glass of it and returned upstairs, only to find the bed in a complete state of chaos. "What have you done with your bed in that small time I was downstairs?!"

"Well, I tend to move around quite a bit when I sleep, or when trying to. I'm used to having a book or something in bed, as company"

I carefully gave the coffee to her and sat down next to her on the bed, taking a sip of the orange juice. "Mmm, this coffee is good. You should make me some more often" she said.

"Don't get any ideas, i'm not going to be your servant or anything. You got Spike for that".

"He's not my servant!" she tried explaining, but failed and instead placed a look of defeat on her face. "I guess I have treated him as such, however." Her mood turned sour, so in an attempt to comfort her I moved closer to her and placed an arm around her.

"Aww, I just can't help but feel a little bad for you, to have to put up with me and my problems. If it's any comfort, I could stay with you for now. Maybe when the time comes for me to pay a visit to Earth, you can join me!"

Twilight looked up at me with a sudden smile of statisfaction. "I would love that! It would give me so much knowledge about your world, and while there I could study EVERYTHING!" She nearly jumped out of bed, but luckily my arm prevented her from doing so.

The coffee, however, wasn't stopped from jumping out of the bed. I saw the incident happening in front of my eyes, and before I knew it, I instinctually cast a spell to prevent the hot liquid and cup from falling on the bed. The liquid and cup floated in mid air, and without knowing what to do with it now, decided to gently place it beside the bed, liquid in cup.

"Wow, how did you do that!? Twilight asked curiously.

"I don't know, it just came naturally to me. I guess in an attempt to save you my magic reacted quick enough and prevented you from being soaked in hot coffee. Which wouldn't have been nice, I can tell you that much." I looked at my hands, in an attempt to find a suitable answer there. I found some kind of answer when my hands started glowing.

I saw a small globule of water appearing in my right hand, and in experimenting with it, found that I could move it where I wanted it to be. I made a small show of it, letting the drop of water fly around in the air like crazy before returning it to my hand, after which it vanished into thin air. "I am totally diggin' these powers".

Twilight just sat there with the most confused expression I have ever seen. "You know.." she started. "I've read about these kinds of powers. What Celestia said about primal magic. The user would be able to effortlessly cast spells which belonged in the spectrum of the four primal elements, Air, Water, Earth and Fire. What you just did with the coffee wouldve belonged to air, as you manipulated the air around the coffee in order to prevent it from going anywhere. And the whole act with the water was obviously related to the aspect of Water. Which means, that I have yet to see you do anything with Earth and Fire. Do refrain from using Fire inside of the library though, I don't think the tree would like that."

After hearing her explanation, it all made sense to me. "Cool! So I have become the Avatar!" I shouted gleefully.

"The Avatar??" Twilight asked in confusion.

"Yes, the Avatar. It's a cartoon back on my planet about a young boy able to control these elements. Just like you and this world are a cartoon on my planet. A very popular one, might I add".

"So what you are saying is, Equestria is a cartoon made up on Earth? That doesn't make any sense! We exist as much as you do, but yet you have never met us. How is it that there is a cartoon of us?"

"I couldn't tell you. But all I know is that it's true, and that it's popular. There's a whole community called Bronies, who are people completely obsessed with you and the others. It's almost scary sometimes how far that obsession goes at times."

She got a look of deep thought on her face. After a few moments, she seemed in a state of clarity. "I guess I shouldn't blame you or your kin for coming up with something like us. And the fact that it's popular is also pretty cool. Come, let's go and freshen up before we visit Celestia."

We both cleaned ourselves, and continued to the living room. Spike was already there, awake and with an extreme look of confusion on his face. "What happened to you to have caused you to shout so much?" He asked Twilight, with a genuine look of concern plastered on his face.

"Well, we just found out that Joshua here is an Element-bender." Twilight explained the story of what happened, leaving out the details of us laying in bed together.

"So, not only does his arsenal include deadly daggers, he can also use elemental forms of magic?? I dunno about you, but this guy seems really dangerous". He eyed me suspiciously while saying that.

"How many times do I have to tell you i'm not going to hurt you or any of your friends. I have a clear sense of justice, y'know!" I retorted.

Spike nodded silently, but still seemed cautious around me. I guess he somewhat accepts me now, but he's still unsure if I could be trusted or not. I should try and prove it to him and all the others some day... I just don't know how..

Apparantly I had a look of deep thought on my face, because Twilight commented: "Joshua, you do realize there are others in this room? You don't have to keep all of it to yourself you know."

"I guess I can tell you what was in my thoughts just then. I'm just so sad that nobody seems to completely trust me around here, save for you. I just want to prove it to all of you that I can be, but I have no idea how I will do that."

"Oh silly you, you don't have to prove anything to me!"

"Not to you no" I retorted "But to the others. I mean, Spike here seems awfully cautious around me" I looked at him to see him wiggle his fingers in an attempt to get away from my stare.

"Oh, I see. Well, maybe Celestia will have a way for you to prove yourself. Spike, could you quickly make some breakfast for us so we can go and visit Celestia in a moment?"

"I gotta tell Celestia I want a different name, though. Hearing my name spoken by ponies who have extraordinary names just seems bland." I said.

Spike just wanted to nod in approval, when he burped up a royal looking letter. Twilight used her magic to take the letter to her and open it, reading it aloud:

Dear Twilight,

As you know, I requested for you and your newfound friend to visit me today. I would like you to bring not just yourself and Joshua, but the other Elements of Harmony as well. I think it would be good for all of you to find out about what Joshua is capable of, and I think it would improve relations between all of you.

I hope to see you soon.

Princess Celestia

"Well, I think we have some more ponies to round up than just the two of us. Spike, could you go to Rarity's place and ask her to meet us here? Spike instantly nodded, and with a look of affection plastered on his face, headed out the front door, towards Rarity's boutique. "I guess breakfast can wait a little bit"

My stomach instantly wronged that statement. "I guess I'll quickly make something for myself so I don't have to continue hearing this" I grinned.

I quickly made a sandwich with what seemed like flower petals, but I didn't care and just ate the sandwich. It tasted a bit like chicken, oddly enough. I realized that my magic must've adapted my body to be able to consume produce like this. I quickly shoved the thought away and followed Twilight out of the library, towards Rainbow Dash's home.

"Rainbow Dash! Could you come down?" she shouted upwards. A moment later a familiar cyan pegasus appeared, and when she saw the two of us, instantly floated down to our level.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Princess Celestia asked me to bring all of you to visit her today. It's quite important. Could you come with and round up the rest so we can go to Celestia in a moment's notice? Dash nodded in approval, and flew ahead of us towards Fluttershy's home.

We hurriedly followed her, seeing as she was much faster than we were, and arrived at Fluttershy's not a moment later. "Darn, I just realized Fluttershy doesn't even know you yet. I guess we will have to explain to her along the way. Twilight knocked on the door, and whe heard hoofsteps walking towards the door.

When Fluttershy opened the door, Rainbow dash nearly couldn't prevent her from running back inside again. "Calm down 'Shy, he won't hurt you. Princess Celestia has asked Twilight to meet all of us today, including our friend here. She said it was important."

Fluttershy seemed okay with this, but cautiously asked:" M-May I ask w-who this is?" she pointed at me.

"My name is Joshua. I appeared on Terra yesterday after performing an experiment back where I came from. Twilight found me and took me to her home".

"Oh. Okay. If Twilight and Rainbow don't have any p-problems with you, then I s-shouldn't have any either." She still seemed a little hesistant, but I just blamed that on the fact that there was a reason she was called FlutterSHY.

"Come on, let's go to AJ's farm already. We can't keep Princess Celestia waiting now can we?" Rainbow said.

We all nodded in approval and headed towards Applejack's farmstead, Sweet Apple Acres. We arrived not too long after, being in quite a hurry. Rainbow Dash spotted Applejack bucking a tree nearby, and shouted "HEY AJ, COME HERE A SEC! "

"Rainbow Dash! What's the matter with y'all-" She caught sight of me, and instantly got a look of confusion on her face. I was silently glad she wasn't afraid of me the moment she saw me. I guess this had to to with all of her friends being around me as it stands. "Now who's this fella' 'ere?" she asked.

I quickly explained the situation and who I was, and she nodded in approval. "A'rite then, Le's get movin' before Princess Celestia gets all angry with us"

Last on the list was to pass by Sugarcube corner, to grab Pinkie Pie. As always, the pink mare was bouncing around greeting everyone, when she saw us. "Oh hello girls, who is this? I know everyone in this town but this guy is new. What is he? What's his name?"

The torrent of questions nearly overwhelmed us, but Twilight calmly explained the situation to her. Pinkie just couldn't help but bounce around shouting "FUN, FUN" over and over again. I noticed Twilight got a bit frustrated with this, but managed to keep her cool and coax Pinkie into coming along.

We quickly headed to the library to find Spike and Rarity waiting. Rarity got the same kind of shock as the rest did when they first saw me, but cleared up when she heard my explanation. "We shouldn't keep Princess Celestia waiting now. Any idea how all of us could get to Canterlot quickly?"

She just finished her sentence when a royal carriage appeared near us. One of the guards pulling the carriage, asked: "Are you all the Elements of Harmony?" All of the girls instantly replied "Yes" in chorus. "Good, we were tasked to bring all of you and your friend here to Canterlot. Hop aboard."

We all got into the carriage, and flew off to Canterlot, leaving Spike to tend to the library while we were gone. I noticed he was a bit saddened about him not being able to come along, but Twilight explained that she needed someone to take care of the library while she was gone. Spike seemed content with this and waved us goodbye.

After what felt like an hour of flying, we finally arrived to see the white marble of Canterlot appear in our view. "I guess my wish came true then after all, and on such short notice too." I got a few confused looks thrown at me, and explained what I had said to Twilight about wanting to visit Canterlot.

"Atleast there is someone other than me who has an eye for detail and beauty. Nobody seems to like Canterlot all that much, but I just LOVE going there and showing off all of my clothing lines! Not to mention taking in all of the scenery!" Rarity commented.

"Well, I wouldn't say I had an eye for detail and beauty as much as you have, but I appreciate the praise." I said.

A moment later we arrived at the landing zone for carriages in Canterlot. Princess Celestia was already waiting for us, and smiled warmly. "Hello girls, it's been such a long time since we've last met. I am sure you are all curious as to why I called all of you here. Aside from Twilight and Joshua, that is. Come, let us go to my quarters, where Princess Luna awaits us".

We followed her to her quarters, and found a dark blue alicorn awaiting our arrival. "My greetings, Princess Luna. It is an honour to meet you in person after what happend last day."

"Well well, such manners I have not seen in a long time. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Joshua."

"I really do feel that my name seems a bit out of context here, if I will be staying here for a longer amount of time. I already thought of a name for myself, but I await your approval, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

"Approval is granted. What would you wish to be called?" Celestia asked. "Also, you can just call me Celestia, there is no need for formality with friends."

"Primal Dagger. I feel that in my current situation, it fits quite nicely. Primal referring to my use of the elements, obviously. And even more obviously, the dagger part." I revealed the outfit from yesterday, which I had subtly carried with me without anyone noticing it. I pulled out the dagger, showing it to all present. "Please, I can't stress this enough. Do not be afraid, I will never even think of using these daggers and my magic on any of you." That comment seemed to calm down my company, and I put the dagger back into its sheath, which had been located on the belt next to the pouch it was previously in. I wondered how the pouch managed to contain a sharp dagger like that, but dismissed the thought and looked at Celestia and Luna.

"Alright. It shall be known that from now on your name will be 'Primal Dagger' ". After saying this, a bright flash indicated something had happened on my right arm. I was wearing a sleeveless shirt because of clothing being unnecessary when wearing a labcoat, and I had nothing else to wear right now anyway. When the flash abaded, I looked at my right arm in shock. There was a tattoo of a dagger on it, surrounded by four pictures of what looked like the four elements Air, Water, Earth and Fire: A gust of wind, a drop of water, a piece of stone with a small patch of moss on it, and a small flickering fire. What was most surprising is the fact that these pictures seemed to move a bit. Air was moving slowly, as wind would be, Water was dripping, the Fire was flickering brightly (It even gave off a small light!) and the stone was trembling slightly, as if in a permanent earthquake.

"Oh. My. God." was all I could voice.

After another few seconds of being amazed at what looked like my new cutie mark, Pinkie shouted: "He got his cutie mark!"

I moved my hand carefully over my new tattoo, and noticed that the four pictures, while not only moving, also made physical interaction possible. When I moved my hand over Air, I could feel a small gush of wind touch my fingers, and I smiled at the feeling of it.

Afterwards, when I moved my hand over water, I actually felt my hand get hydrated, as it would have when placing my hand under a tap. I then moved over to the stone, feeling the rigid feeling of an actual stone on the texture of my fingers. It felt reassuring, in a way. And lastly, I cautiously moved my hand over to Fire, to find it the spot was indeed warmer than usual, but not unbearable to touch.

A final thought came up to me, and I decided to also carefully move my hand over the dagger. The dagger also had the same kind of interaction as the rest of them had. It felt as if my fingers were slowly trailing over an actual blade, and I made sure not to cut myself in the process. After what felt like an eternity of touching myself (NO, NOT IN THAT WAY you filthy animal!) I looked up at the rest of my company, and noticed they were just as shocked as I was.

"So not only did you get a cutie mark, but it depicts your name perfectly AND has physical interactions? You must be very special to this planet to have it do THAT to you". Twilight commented on the situation. We then noticed the four elements started moving in circles around the dagger, and the Element of Air seemed to apply itself to the dagger. We then heard a gust of wind appear from somewhere, but I already knew what had happenned. I proceeded to grab a dagger out of my outfit, and help it up. The blade was covered in a temporal current, and it was as light as the air itself.

"Wow." was all I could mouth this time. I then focused on removing air from the dagger on my cutie mark, and we saw the current dissapearing from the blade. I then focused on fire to combine with the dagger, causing the blade to light up in flames and radiate heat and light. "Again, I am impressed. I'm guessing the rest of the elements will do something similar to the blade when I focus on it." I grabbed the second dagger in my other hand, and attempted to focus on giving one of the blades the Element of Water, and the other the Element of Earth. Both of the marks moved onto my dagger and combined themselves, creating a dripping rock-blade depicted on my arm.

The other 2 elements were circling around the dagger still, and I looked up from my mark to see one of the daggers being made of what seemed like diamonds (toughest stone on the planet, it makes sense) and the other blade to be dripping in water. I couldn't help but frown at what the practical use of imbueing my daggers with water was, untill it made itself clear. The water dripping off the blade seemed to sizzle on the ground, and when I carefully touched one of the drops, found that it was some kind of acid. The drop hurt immensely, ofcourse, but I didn't let that be shown. I tried focusing my magic to use the healing properties of water to soothe the pain, and found a small torrent of water appear on the burned mark, instantly removing the mark and the pain with it.

"Well, it seems that from just visiting here you found out more about yourself than we ever could have. I applaud you for this". Celestia proceeded to clop her hooves together in a clapping fashion, and the rest joined in, as if i've just performed a good show for them.

"Please, i'm just trying to figure out the extent of what my magic is capable of. No need to applaud me as if i've performed some kind of show for you. Unless, ofcourse, you want me to do so?"

Rainbow asked in curiousity: "I think, all of us would be quite interested to see you perform a show for us. You don't mind, d'you?"

"Ofcourse not, Dash." I proceeded to put the daggers away, and focused my magic to create the four pictures on my mark, in the air. I moved them around in a circular fashion, and then I flared up Fire and Water to hold a little battle with each other, while Wind and Earth combined to create music, Wind flowing over Earth after I had made the stone into a fitting leaf-made set of panpipes. The music reminded me of a certain song from The Legend of Zelda. When there didn't seem to be any victory in the Fire versus Water battle, I stopped the battle and made the elements create hands to shake the hand of the other. I then pulled back the elements to the dormant plane, and bowed in front of my audience.

"Bravo, bravo!" Rarity commented while clopping her hooves.

"SO MUCH FUN! Do it again! Do it again!" Pinkie shouted.

"That was AWESOME! You should perform more like this, but not just to us, to a bigger crowd, maybe in Ponyville! The ponies are sure going to like such a display!" Dash said excitedly.

"Now that was one hay of a show there, ma friend." Applejack praised.

"I agree with them, that was a good show. Rainbow Dash's idea was a good one, and should help you remove those doubts from the ponies about you aswell! Win-win situation, I say!" Twilight said happily.

"I was afraid of what the fire was going to do, but after seeing all of that happen, you have reassured me! That music was incredibly soothing, by the way. Did you create that yourself?" Fluttershy asked. "If you don't mind me asking, ofcourse" she followed up in the usual Fluttershy way.

"I didn't create the melody itself, that is from a game I used to play. I did create the panpipes, however, so the sound of the music was all me." I said dryly, not wanting to overdo myself.

"After what happened yesterday, I apologize for being so rude. I just suddenly heard a voice in my head I was not familliar with, so I responded in my usual way" Luna said.

"Apologies accepted. I don't blame you one single bit. I wouldve been frightened too if I suddenly heard a voice in my head, unknown to me. I don't think I would lash out the same way you did, however. I do understand the reason, though."

Celestia was the last pony to not have said something about the show. It seemed she was in deep thought, so I asked: " Is everything alright, Celestia?"

"Well, I was thinking of a way we could utilize your particular set of skills. You are obviously chosen as an assassin, but right now I cannot for the life of me think of anyone who needs assassinating. You could stand guard as the silent protector of Equestria, though. That might be an option."

I pondered about the request. "Sure, I will happily pledge myself to guard Equestria from those who wish to do it harm, and I will do everything in my power to make it so." I bowed.

"Then rise, Primal Dagger. Henceforth you shalt not only be known as Primal dagger, but as Silent Guardian of Equestria, dealing judgement to whomever deserves it."

I smiled warmly at the 'promotion' I just recieved. "To allow you to live your own life, I will be paying you myself for services rendered. I will provide a small amount of bits in advance to get you started on your new life as Guardian." She grabbed a small bag, with what sounded like metal coins, and handed them to me.

"Forgive me for asking, but I dont really know how currency works in Equestria. Care to elaborate?" I asked.

"I have just handed you a bag containing 50 bits. A golden bit is worth one, and a silver bit counts as two bits. There is even a rare bronzen bit which counts for five, but those are not made often." Celestia elaborated.

"Why is that, though? If something costs a lot of bits, isn't it more practical to just give say 5 bronzen bits instead of 25 golden bits?"

"I never thought of it that way. Thank you for opening my eyes to this issue. I will convey this to the council and will make sure to mark it as approved to create more bronzen bits for easier trading."

"Everything I can do in my power to serve the Princessess of Equestria."

"Have you thought about how you are going to find out if someone is in need of the 'Silent Guardian of Equestria'?" Twilight said.

I was just about to say something, when I felt a stab of pain in my head. I heard a voice crying "Help us! Oh please somepony help us!"

"Well, I think I just got my answer." I said while getting a concerned look from those around me, seeing me instantly grab my head when I felt the pain. "Someone is in danger, it seems. I think I can make my magic create a portal to whomever cried for help. Stand back everyone, this may or may not get ugly, depending on how well my imagination works."

Everyone proceeded to inch backwards, while I channeled my magic into creating a portal out of the floor around me.

"I will be back here in a moment, please don't follow me lest something bad happens to you" I said, showing my concern for everypony around me while I donned my outfit and unsheathed my daggers, imbuing them with Fire and Earth. I looked into the portal, to see that it actually mirrored what was on the other side of the portal. "Awesome" I commented before jumping through the portal, to wherever my destination may be.

I felt the same sensation as I did when drinking the Liquid Rainbow back on earth, but this time less intense and I was able to hear, see and smell, although I saw, heard and smelled nothing but the void. Just a moment later I saw light again, and I appeared before what seemed like an inn. I saw a young ladypony being robbed by a shifty looking stallion, and I called: "You might want to turn around and face me, be it not your doom." The robber turned around to see me, elemental daggers in hand, inching closer to him by the second.

"Who are you?" The robber asked.

"I am the Guardian of Equestria, here to deal righteous justice if you are not to return whatever you stole from the young lady over here" I pointed at the mare. I saw fear in the robber's eyes, but he wasn't going to give up his prize just yet it seemed. "You do not wish to concede? Very well then, you shall taste the power of my imbued daggers!" I cast a spell on my daggers to make them cause more pain than damage, and lunged at the robber, daggers poised. I struck him on his neck, the fiery dagger searing a cut through his skin and fur, cauterizing the wound instantly and causing a flare of pain in my target. He immediatly dropped to the ground, and cried:"I yield! I yield!" before giving back what he stole to the young mare.

"Heh, pathetic, as I thought. Now get lost before I change my mind and decide to actually harm you. And don't you dare try this again, I know where to find you." I said in a mysterious tone. The robber quickly scrambled his hooves and ran away as fast he could. I then turned to the young mare, who was eyeing me with joy.

"Thank you so much, Silent Guardian! If not for you, i would've lost this priceless family heirloom today." She help up a piece of jewellery, shining brightly in Celestia's sun.

"It was no problem, my lady. Anything to serve the good-willed and punish the bad in Equestria." I commented. "I must take my leave. May your travels be safe, and be sure to cry for help should anything like that happen again" I pointed in the way the robber ran, and turned around to the portal I created to come here. "Farewell" I said before stepping through the portal.

This time, the travel seemed to take much less time than it did before, and I appeared in the Canterlot Castle again, only to see all of the mares present to look at me. I had sheathed my daggers after dealing with the robber, and the two daggers were shining brightly in the light. I proceeded to undo my mantle, but left my toolbelt on, just because it looked awesome.

"I take it you defeated whatever was on the other side of that portal?" Celestia asked while we noticed the portal fading and returning to the floor, re-creating it.

"The robber I faced was as pathetic as he could be. I only had to convince him once with an imbued dagger to cause him to give up what he stole and run. Don't worry, I enchanted my dagger before hitting him so it caused more pain than damage. That should learn him that from today onwards, no evildoer is safe in Equestria." I smiled proudly.

"Well, since you've handled that matter with such grace and skill, it is my honour to present you yet another bag of coins as payment for your services here. I hope that your continued protection will make Equestria safer as a whole, and to make thieves think twice before attempting anything" Celestia said, holding up another bag of what seemed like a small amount of bits, but when I opened the bag, was surprised to see 10 bronze bits. Celestia smiled, and said:"While you were gone, I immediatly asked my council to accept the request, and found that we had an entire stash of bronzen bits lying around already, so I figured we could put those to good use immediatly."

I smiled at the Princess's efficiency, and thanked her. "I think it is high time for all of us to go home now." looking outside to see the sun almost setting. "I thank you princesses for recieving us today, and making this day entertaining, to say the least." I proceeded to create another portal which lead to the front of Twilight's tree home, and turned to ask the Elements to join me. "Untill we meet again, princesses!"

Both of them smiled while me and my company walked through the portal.

I noticed I became increasingly more adept at using these portals, as this time it only took 10 to 20 seconds to arrive where I wanted us to be. When the last pony exited the portal, I closed it and returned the earth to its former position, mentally adjusting the location of the portal in Canterlot aswell. I turned to see 6 mares smiling a broad smile in my general direction, and I asked: " What? Is there something on my face or something?" I looked down to see what they were smiling at, but didn't find anything other than the outfit.

I magically enchanted the outfit to be able to be called upon when necessary, and it faded from sight, showing my new cutie mark. It lit up brightly, and visible streaks of energy were coursing through it and the rest of my body. I flexed my arm, allowing the energy to pass faster with the increased blood circulation I caused by flexing.

Now, aside from a broad smile, they also had a slightly dreamy expression on their faces. I snapped my fingers a few times. "Wake up all of you, you can dream when you all are in your beds."

Rainbow Dash was the first to 'awake' from her dream. "Sorry Primal, it's just that I can't help but admire all the things you've done today. You were really awesome, worthy of being as awesome as me, I'd say."

After realizing what she just said, I smiled the biggest smile known to man. "I am extremely honoured to be called as awesome as the awesomest flier in all of Terra."

I proceeded to create a mark in mid-air, forming what seemed like the Destruction constellation from Skyrim in the air. I then looked at Dash. "May I?" I asked while looking at the rune and then to her.

I noticed she was unsure what this meant, but I reassured her by saying it was cool. She hesitatingly agreed, and I moved the mark to Rainbow Dash's side, fusing her skin with the mark and implanting it upon her body, just below her neck and above her forehooves. The mark then appeared on the spot, each finger on the hand holding a different colour in the order blue, green, yellow, orange and red, following the same colour pattern as her tail.

"Um, I don't see what this is supposed to do. What is it?" Dash asked curiously.

"That is a sign from another game I used to play, called Skyrim. This mark in particular allows the user to cast destructive spells in order to harm foes. It is my gift to such a loyal and protective friend such as you, and I am sure you will use this to cause harm upon any who intend to harm you or any of your friends." After my statement, all 6 seemed amazed by just how much my magic was able to do, and they marveled at the mark upon Rainbow's side.

"Could you create something like this for the rest of us too? Not to be jealous, or something. It looks like a lot of fun!" Pinkie asked carefully.

"Ofcourse, all of you are very good friends, and to neglect one of you is to neglect all of you, since all of you share such a strong bond." I proceeded to create 5 more marks in the sky: For Fluttershy, I created Skyrim's constellation for Restoration in pink, which I promptly fused on the same spot as I had Rainbow Dash's. I felt this symbolized Fluttershy perfectly, as she tended to the wounded, and it looks like a phoenix, which resembled her affinity with animals.

Next up, I created the Alteration constellation, again from Skyrim, for Twilight. Twilight uses her magic to help those around her, but doesn't think of helping herself when she protects others from harm. This mark would allow her to create a magic armor, protecting herself from danger while she protected others with her powerful magics. The mark also allowed her to use it to stun and paralyze foes, leaving them unharmed but unable to react.

Following the fusing of Twilights violet mark, I created the Conjuration sign from yet again, Skyrim (So much inspiration!) as I thought this would symbolize Rarity quite well. She 'conjures' beautful garments out of nothing, and her imagination is only stopped by material needs. With this mark, she would be able to create everything from nothing, assuming she put her mind to it. What she didn't know, is that when I say everything, I mean literally everything. This included summoning creatures from other dimensions to help her. I placed a small damper on the mark to prevent her from overusing it.

After fusing Rarity's purple mark, I proceeded to create the illusion constellation from Skyrim, for Applejack. With this, she should be able to create and break illusions very easily, which I found matched her quite nicely. Her true honesty and inquisitive nature are able to pry any secrets from others, and with this mark she can easily create her own illusions so she could hide if she needed to without her honesty playing up.

And lastly, Pinkie Pie. I thought long to find a corresponding mark to her nature, but found that the constellation of Enchanting was a sure fit, with a blue sword and yellow trails to match her cutie mark. She seemed to 'enchant' others whenever she laughed, causing the others to laugh along with her. This mark allowed her to infuse enchantments upon objects to make them do all sorts, only limited by her own imagination. Again I planted a damper on the sign to prevent overusage, and to prevent enchantments that could cause harm to herself or her friends.

After the last fusing of the mark, I looked at all of them, each admiring their new mark. I explained to each of them my thought process on why I selected that particular mark for them, and what they were able to do with it, just like I had with Rainbow Dash. They all smiled with approval, and hugged me all at the same time. "I'm going to lose my breath in a moment, with being hugged this thighly" I grinned, looking at the 6 mares who released me promptly

"Sorry" Fluttershy said in her usual shy voice.

"Don't you say sorry. I really liked being hugged, but a bit of breathing room while being hugged would be appreciated." After this comment, they all hugged me again, this time leaving a little room for me to breathe. "Thank all of you for being such good friends. I hope I have proven myself to you that I can be one of the best friends you girls can have, along with silently guarding you from harm." I looked at all of them, before adding: "I think it is time for all of you to return to your respective homes" I looked up at the sky, seeing the moon high up already."It is quite late, and I do not want you all to feel exhausted because of me."

All of the girls agreed with that, and each of them proceeded to head to their homes. I followed Twilight to her home, since I was staying with her for the time being. I couldn't help but notice Twilight smiling, before asking: "Why the broad smile?"

"Not to feel proud or anything, but I am glad that you are staying with me." She looked at me with an unsettling expression.

"Haha, I see. You want me all for yourself, don't you now?" I responded.

This comment caused Twilight to blush. "Come, let's go to bed before we get any more ideas. You need some rest after all that happened today."

Both of us stepped into our beds, drifting off once again to the land of dreams.

Chapter 4 - Discoveries and Realization

After such wonderful events the previous day, I couldn't help but feel something was off... As if something was overlooked, forgotten. I decided to push the thought away for now. I opened my eyes slightly, and saw Twilight squirming in her bed again. I decided today would be an off day, and just closed my eyes again, not caring about what the world expected of me right now.

Unfortunately fate didn't think of the same idea.

I woke up again, after seemingly having fallen asleep again. I looked at Twilight's bed, but she was nowhere to be found. This scared me slightly, but I figured she could be downstairs making breakfast. I stepped out of bed, and used my magic to clean up my clothes so I could wear them in a decent fashion. I should really ask Rarity to create some new sets of clothing for me, i'm sure she wouldn't mind. I thought to myself. I entered the bathroom, and inspected myself as usual.

I noticed a few short hairs on my chin, and realized I had no way to shave myself. I guess i'm gonna have to get a bit creative in this world. I used my mastery with Earth to create a sharp blade, made out of what I was able to fashion (As of now I was only able to create diamonds...) so I decided to shave myself with a sharpened diamond blade. I should really learn how to create something other than diamonds with these spells. I could seriously hurt myself with this I grinned. I then proceeded to carefully cut the short hairs off of my chin, doing my best as to not destroy my face in the process.

I didn't expect a diamond blade to cut so smoothly, and I was done shaving in just a few minutes. I cut myself slightly once trying to remove a hair located on the bottom of my chin, but the cut was far from deep and should heal in time. Besides, I had the healing power of Water at my side, so a few cuts would not take me down this easily.

After shaving and generally cleaning myself up, I silently stepped down the stairs, in an attempt to surprise Twilight should she be in the living room. She was, and she was reading what looked like some sort of newspaper. I enchanted my feet with the power of Air to be lighter than the floor itself, as to not create any sound while walking. I stepped over to Twilight, appearing behind her. I then assaulted her with a flurry of tickles, causing the mare to bounce up and giggle. "AH! Stop! Stop! I yield! I yield!" Twilight shouted playfully. I continued my assault for a few seconds longer before giving her reprieve, and she turned around to face me. "How did I not hear you coming?" she asked questioningly.

"I used an enchantment on my feet with the power of Air so I wouldn't create any sound. It's a bit cheaty, but it worked!" I explained.

"Hm, from what i've seen so far you are able to conjure just about anything you can think of. You sure you're not secretly an alicorn in disguise?" she asked me.

I focused on removing any disguises if I had any, but forgot I actually enchanted my cloak, belt and tunic to be ethereal unless called upon. By attempting to remove the disguises I removed the enchantments along with them, causing my outfit to become visible again.

"Oops! I didn't mean to remove the enchantments on these. Let me re-enchant them to be ethereal!"

I quickly cast the enchantment from memory, and the cloak, belt and tunic faded from sight. "You know, I should really ask Rarity to create a set of matching boots and leggings to match this tunic, cloak and the utility belt. I'll pass by her boutique today to get that sorted out, along with some more sets of clothing to wear. These are starting to get a little overworn." I said, looking down at my sleeveless shirt and my blue jeans.

"They don't look that overworn, but I guess you used magic to clean them up?" I nodded. "A few more sets of clothing couldn't hurt, ofcourse. I still want to find out a bit more about you however, so if you have the time" she started.

"Sure. Let me just get something to eat and I'll fly by Rarity's, order the clothes and head straight back here."

Twilight looked worried for a moment, before I realized what I said. "Don't worry, i'm not actually going to fly there, yet. I'll leave the flying to Dash for now, she seems to be handling that just fine now."

"Are you sure you are able to conjure such a spell in the future, though? Oh wait I forgot, you are the Avatar" I chuckled at her remark. "I guess you can pretty much do anything you like with that. If you come across any spells I could learn, I would gladly accept your guidance, however."

I realized I could actually try to teach her some of these spells. "I'll try and teach you a few spells I thought up after i'm back. It will perfectly mix with you getting to know me more, so I say it's a win-win situation! Most of these just require focus, though. They shouldn't be that hard to cast, especially not for someone as gifted as you" I praised, causing Twilight to produce a small blush.

"Aww, you think i'm gifted?" she said.

I decided I wanted to hurry up a bit, and quickly made myself a sandwich and poured myself a glass of milk. I was quite excited at the prospect of teaching Twilight some new spells, so I didn't want to make her wait. I finished my breakfast just a few moments later, giving Twilight a quick kiss on the cheek and heading to the door. "Don't take too long now, I got a lot of questions to go through!" she said before I left the library.

I tried to remember what way I had to go in order to find Rarity's boutique, but luckily there were a few ponies around I could ask for directions. I approached a mint mare with cyan mane and tail, with a white streak in her tail, and the cute mark of what looked like a harp.

"Excuse me, may I ask what direction I have to head in order to find Rarity's boutique?"

The mare I questioned turned around to face me, and shot up in surprise. "W-what are you? You are not going to hurt me, right? I hope?"

I took a reassuring stance, and said: "Don't worry, I'm friends with Twilight sparkle and Princess Celestia, so I doubt i'm going to hurt you. As for what I am, I am what is called a human. I come from a different planet, and Twilight just happened to come across me and rescue me". This seemed to calm the mint mare, and she let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, you asked which way you had to go to visit Rarity?" I nodded, and she explained which way I had to go to find the boutique. I thanked her for her time, and continued my path with confident strides. A few ponies noticed my conversation with the mint mare, and instead of the stares I had recieved earlier, I got looks of approval. This made me quite happy, as ponies seemed to finally accept the fact that I wasn't going to hurt anyone, so they just let me pass. Not a few moments later I arrived at the boutique, and rang the bell. I heard a few hoofsteps coming towars the door, and waited to greet Rarity. The door opened just a second later, and I saw what looked like an utterly exhausted Rarity, with a ravaged mane.

"What happened to you? Didn't you get a good night's rest from yesterday?" I asked with concern for Rarity's wellbeing.

"Oh it's fine dear, I just had some orders I needed to complete before today. I am finally done now, though, just as you rang the bell. What was it you needed from me?" she said.

"I noticed this morning that my clothes started to become a little... overused. I was wondering if you could come up with a few sets of clothing so I had some more things to wear. Maybe 2 or so casual sets, some formal attire and something for travelling. I can use my magic to keep my clothes a bit clean, but I dont wish to have to do that every single day." I explained to Rarity, who had a look of thought on her face.

"Sure. Step inside so I can take a few measurements." I followed her inside, and looked around at the inside of the boutique. There were so, so many sets of clothing I couldn't even count them all.

"You made all of these on your own??" She nodded, and proceeded to grab something which looked like measuring tape. "But how though? Surely the efforts of one single pony can't create this many outfits?"

"You'll be surprised as to what I could fashion up. All of these outfits just cost me about 1 to 24 hours, depending on how complex the details are. Most of them displayed here are 2 hour works."

I had a look of amazement on my face as Rarity proceeded to take my measurements. I just idly did what she asked me to, but continued to stare at the sight of all of the apparel.

"Please, all of these are not that amazing. I barely took any time creating these, and you have not even seen my masterworks" she said dismissingly.

"Oh come on, this is amazing! Just look at all of it! THERE ARE SO MANY DRESSES!" I shouted in amazement.

"Please, dear, it is nothing. Just let me take one more measurement and you are done. Any preferences as to how you want your outfits to look?"

"As I said earlier, I wanted two sets of casual clothing, a set of formal attire, which ofcourse has to be black, and a set of travelling gear or something which I can wear when I have to save everyone. Something light and subtle for the travelling gear. I have to be a silent guardian in some way. As for the casual attire, just fancy something up, as long as it's fancy. And not pink."

Rarity laughed, and then asked: "Any favourite colours I should be aware of?" I responded with saying lime green, black, white and dark red. "Hm, those are quite the interesting set of colours. Any colours you do not wish me to use? Aside from pink, that is." I shook my head. "Alright then, I should be able to create something for you. As you are such a good friend and have given me a gift aswell, I will provide the casual attire for free. The formal attire and travelling outfit will come at a cost, however, as the material I intend to use does not come cheap. Do 35 bits for both sets sound okay to you?"

Just when she finished talking, a bundle appeared in front of me with a bright flash of light. I picked up the bundle, and heard something akin to bits. I opened the bundle, and noticed a letter and a bag of bits. I opened the bag slightly to find a whole lot of bronze bits inside, and closed it before reading the letter:

Dear Primal Dagger,

As payment for your services, as well as a job I want you to take, I have included 200 bits. This includes your weekly payment as of now, and a pre-payment for the job.

I would like you to visit Canterlot Castle tomorrow at 9:00, and I wish for you to arrive in silence at the palace gardens. I will meet you there personally for further instructions on the job.

With respect,

Princess Celestia

"I'll give you 50 bits for the clothing sets." I shook the heavy bag lightly, causing the bits inside to jangle.

"Alright then, if you insist. 50 bits it is." I handed her 10 bronze bits, and said goodbye before leaving the boutique, leaving Rarity to her work. "Your apparel should be done by the end of the week!" she shouted after me.

I materialized my belt, to place the bag of coins on it. But when I saw my daggers, I realized I had to find a way to make them less 'intimidating' to normal ponies. I then decided to materialize a belt buckle, in the form of a shield with two curved daggers in front. I thought this buckle would be fitting for "The silent guardian of Equestria" and I hoped the ponies would agree with me on that one. Ofcourse they didn't know I was the silent guardian, but I guess they'd learn sooner or later anyway. It's not like I can easily hide my identity, being one of only two humans on Terra.

The other human.

I completely forgot about her. After all that happened yesterday, not a single though crossed my mind to try and look for her. Unfortunately, I already made plans for today and tomorrow, so that had to wait a little. I just hope she isn't dead or corrupted by the time I find her....

WWWWW

I found my legs unconciously taking me to Twilight's library, and was glad they have. I had been so deep in thought that I didn't even look around to see what the ponies thought of me. I guess that would be a matter for another time. For now though..

I opened the door, and saw a snoring Twilight with her head on an open book. The book looked extensive, judging by its size and from what I could see, the size of the print.

I stepped closer to her, and gently nudged her awake. "Wh-wha happened. I just had the best of dreams.."

"Rise and shine, Twi. You got some questions to ask, and some spells to learn." I said. "What were you reading there before you dozed off?"

"Oh, nothing important. Just some book about existential fears and nightmares. After I saw that human girl running away from what seemed like nothing, I wanted to put a bit of research into what could possibly bring her to do so. I made no progress, however" she said with guilt.

"Don't fret it. Celestia asked to meet me for a job I had to do tomorrow, but the day after that I am presumably free. We could try tracking her down then and find out ourselves what got her so scared."

"Sure. Now though, prepare for your examination" she said in a very evil way.

Her pronounciation of examination was quite frightening, to say the least. I knew for a fact that she wouldn't do any harm to me though, so that relaxed me a bit. Still, the prospect of her being evil like Princess Luna once was....

"You look like you stared death in the face, and lived. Was I that frightening to you?" she asked.

"Well you did make quite a show of it. Suffice to say it got me riled up. Please don't ever do that again, I beg you" I pleaded.

At that moment, Dash decided to make a shattering entrance, literally. She crashed through the window, and landed on the ground with glass shards all around her. I used my magic to collect all of the glass shards and placed them back in the window frame, and then I used the power of Fire to melt the glass slightly and create a perfectly new window. I then focused my attention on Dash.

She didn't look hurt, but I asked anyway: "Are you hurt Dash? That sure looked like quite the entrance you made there." I used a bit of my healing magic to fix her bruises and cuts up, and she slowly stood up.

"I'm fine now, thanks to you." She said, and proceeded to ask: "What were you guys doing anyway?"

"I just wanted to start Primal's examination" Twilight said in the same evil tone as before.

"Now that isn't scary at all, Twi. You gotta put a lil' more force behind it to make that sound scary" Dash said fearlessly.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you are not just a little bit scared there Dash. I was scared to death the first time she said that". I waved a bit in the air, trying to point at what Twilight just said. Strangely enough, the words she said in that evil tone started appearing in the air, and we heard Twilight's evil voice again.

"You just don't stop amazing us, do you?" Twilight said.

"I can't help it. There's only one other pony in this room deemed awesome, so I gotta compete somehow" I said.

The subtly mentioned mare looked up, and pointed at herself. "Me?

"Yes, you." I contracted my arm in a slight muscle spasm I tended to have from time to time, showing my blood vessels and the tiny amount of muscles I had. Even though I didn't look the part, being a scientist and all, I did pack some punch. I usually underestimated my physical strength in times of need. Now that I saw that I actually acquired some muscle, it proved that point.

"Wow. So not only is he a scientist, an 'Avatar' and an assassin, he's also a muscled. That's the last thing I would've expected." Twilight said in slight confusion.

"I usually underestimate my strength, though. I once pulled a window out of its place because I tried to close it. It was honestly a really weird window to close and I had no idea how the system worked, so I kind of broke the system unintentionally. Apparantly these muscles show just that" I explained. "What is next on the list of things for me to be?"

"For now, I want you to be you so I can get some honest answers out of you". Twilight said in her semi-excited study voice.

"Alright alright teacher, i'll keep down the identities" I said playfully.

"I guess i'll leave you guys to do whatever you want then". Dash proceeded to walk to the door, but turned around with a sudden expression or remembrance. "I almost forgot to ask. Did you have the latest edition of Daring Do yet, Twi?"

"I think I recieved it a few days ago. Let me check for you." She then walked out of the room towards the storage.

"You, reading books? I guess I'm not the only one who can do unexpected things then" I commented.

"Just because I fly around all day and am awesome everywhere I go and everything I do, doesn't mean I can't sit down and read a good book." Dash retorted.

"Relax on the pride there, Dash. Just a bit more and your head might explode or something" I remarked.

"Yeah, I need to try and fix that a bit. I tend to get a little.. over the top on these things sometimes." Dash said.

Before I could say anything else, Twilight walked back into the room levitating a book. "Here you go Dash, the first edition of Daring Do's latest adventure. Enjoy!"

Dash floated towards the door, opened it and left, seemingly entranced with the thought of reading the new book. "Wait hold on a second, you knew she read books? Who was that and where is the real Dash?" Twilight just wanted to say something, but I cut her off. "Wait, I know already. That was actually the real Dash, just because of the way she replied to me before you came in."

"Well anyway, where were we?" Twiligt said, attempting to get back to the examination at hand.

"Don't you dare" I said before she could attempt to use here evil voice again.

She giggled for a moment, but then got a serious look on her face. "Do you mind if I take a few blood and skin samples? You can use your healing to replenish yourself."

"Sure". I just wanted to sit down in a nearby chair, before Twilight stopped me.

"Not here, silly. I don't want to make a mess of the library. Follow me into the basement."

I complied, and following her down in the basement, I noticed the severe lack of space in the actual basement. "Surely there's not enough room here to do any experimenta-" I was cut off by Twilight pressing a hidden button, revealing a secret door. "Oh" was all I could word. I followed her through the secret door, which revealed a set of stairs leading down to what looked like a doorway. We walked through the doorway into a massive room, with loads of technological equipment some of which the likes i've never seen before.

"And you hide this under that tree of yours? Well done mad scientist, well done" I said while slowly clapping.

"Studying is what I do. I can't study without all of the necessary equipment, can I now?" Twilight said. "Spike, could you come down here and help me set this equipment up?" she shouted upstairs, beckoning for the little purple and green dragon.

I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and saw Spike standing there not a moment later. He looked at me, and then at Twilight, before walking towards a piece of equipment and started setting it up for use.

"I wish my assistants back at Earth were so understanding of me. Spike doesn't even question why you want it done, he just does it. No strings attached or anything. Now that's one hay of a good assistant. With mine I need to explain why I want something in detail otherwise they won't do it." I said.

"Now where was that thing that created that weird noise when I used it..." Twilight muttered.

Hearing the word noise instantly reminded me of a song I heard back on Earth. I played the melody in my head and unknowingly started banging to the beat of the tune.

"You alright there? It almost looked like you were going to have a seizure, with your banging becoming so intense." Twilight asked worriedly

"Yeah I'm fine. The word noise you said reminded me of a song I heard on Earth. Think it was called Pure noise, by eh... Gyro, I think it was? I can't remember, it's been so long since i've listened to any music. Gee, I could really use some good music" I pondered.

"Maybe you should go and see DJ PON-3, A.K.A. Vinyl scratch then. She knows how to play some sweet tunes, and i'm sure you and her will get along just fine, seeing as you were banging your head so intensively back there" Twilight said.

"Heh, I really should, yeah. A bit of relaxation would sure be nice". Twilight looked at me with her head turned sideways. "What? Even though they are banging tunes I can still find them relaxing!" I remaked.

"The equipment is ready now. Can you stay still a second while I take a blood sample?" Twilight asked.

I froze my self on the spot, quite literally. Twilight wasn't able to see this, but I purposely froze my muscles so I wasn't able to move. I should use that on my targets I thought to myself. Twilight approached me with a needle, and took a sample of my blood, which she deposited in a test tube for further examination, and cleaned the needle. "Atleast I know you clean the needles. So many bad things can happen when you use uncleaned needles, and so little people realize this" I said.

WWWWW

Change of character - Primal Dagger to Twilight Sparkle -

I looked at Primal, and noticed the clear concern on his face. "Thanks, I guess. It's standard practice for me really, I don't honestly know why. I know of some doctors who don't, which is unsettling to say the least."

I proceeded to grab what looked like some kind of knife to other eyes, but I knew this was the tool I needed to take skin samples off of Primal. His skin seemed soft, but you never know from just looking at it. I made the calculations beforehand for if I didn't use this sharpened skin scraper, Primal could be hurt badly. I took into consideration the density of his skin, ofcourse, and the few hairs he had on the patch I was about to extract. Those would come in useful too, for finding out more about human physiology I thought to myself, and proceeded to walk towards Primal.

"That thing looks dangerous, you sure that's the right tool for removing a bit of my skin?" Primal asked worriedly.

"Yes. I ran the calculations in my head for what could happen if I didn't, so you should be fine." I looked at his eyes with a serious look. "If you stay still, that is" I added.

I carefully extracted a small patch of skin with a few hairs on it, and mentioned to Primal to heal himself. The patch closed itself promptly after being washed with the healing water. I was still amazed at how he managed to cure those kinds of injuries, but I set that thought aside for now. I'll study his magic later, that should be fun I thought to myself. I carefully placed the patch of skin in a tray, and sealed the tray off using a magical lid. I then grabbed the vial of Primal's blood, and placed it inside the machine Spike set up for me. When I looked around, Spike was already nowhere to be seen. "He comes and goes, doesn't he. He's a bit like you in a way" I casually said to Primal. Primal didn't respond, and I looked back to him to see him deep in thought. I'll just leave him to whatever he's thinking of.

I turned on the machine, and it slowly started working its way up its progress bar. When it reached 100% however, the results shocked me. His blood seemed to be able to carry a lot of molecules. When I zoomed in on a cluster of fluid and cells, I noticed something. The cells themselves were for transporting oxygen by the looks of it, much like pony blood did. His cells, however, seemed to be able to do this so efficiently it almost scared me. Where pony blood didn't even bind to oxygen half of the time, all of Primal's cells were all bound to oxygen. Imagine the possibilities! I thought. His fluid, or more plasma, from what it looked like, was even more interesting. It seemed to contain all sorts of molecules, including what looked like carbon dioxide. I wonder what Primal needs that for. I should ask him about it.

"Hey Primal, can you explain something to me?"

WWWWW

Change of Character - Twilight Sparkle to Primal Dagger -

"Hey Primal, can you explain something to me?"

I heard Twilight calling my name and asking me something, but I was really deep in my thoughts. I thought of all the fun times I had back on Earth, and wondered if I was ever going to go back to that place.

"Hello, Primal? You there?" Twilight asked again.

"Huh?" I looked around in bewilderment. "Oh, right. Sorry. Was a bit lost in my thoughts there for a sec."

"What were you thinking about that you had such trouble stepping out of those thoughts?" Twilight asked carefully. "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Do you really want to know?" Twilight nodded. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you if you get all sad because of it." I waited for her to sit down, as she obviously knew this was going to be big.

"What if I can never return to Earth? What will happen then?" I said questioningly. "I'm just so afraid of giving up on the life I had there. I mean, it was just beginning for me. I got a new lab I was able to call my own, I had 4 assistants able to help me, 2 on active duty and 2 on passive duty. What if I never saw them again? What if I never saw my family again?" I was on the verge of crying, and Twilight noticed this. She walked over to me and put a comforting hoof around me.

"Don't worry. I'm usually the worrywart around here and I probably will always be. But I know for a fact that I will do everything I can to help you visit your Earth again. And maybe some other worlds, while we are at it. Imagine all of the possibilities of world travel! Unknown materials, unknown creatures, just name it. We could be the pioneers of every world out there concerning dimensional travel, that is if noone else got this idea, ofcourse. Which I doubt, because we would've seen a sign of it by now."

Her confidence seemed to seep over to me, and her stance reassured me. I got up, albeit shakily, wiping off any would-be tears from my eyes. "Thanks, Twi. I needed that confidence boost."

"No problem, i'm here for you whenever you need me." She then looked at the blood vial, which was still in the machine. "I don't think this is a right time to ask you about it, so i'll ask you later. Now though, you need a shot of happines. I'll accompany you to Vinyl, I think you will like her" Twilight said reassuringly

We walked back up the stairs, and Twilight closed off the secret door.. We walked up yet another set of stairs, and found Spike sitting in the living room, reading something. "Hey Spike. Me and Primal here are going to visit Vinyl, you okay with tending to the library while we're gone?" Spike nodded dismissively, and waved us away. He seemed really drawn to whatever he was reading, but I didn't question it. We walked out the front door, towards Vinyl Scratch's place.

I just followed Twilight idly, playing with Water and Fire in my hand. I made them clash against each other, causing both to weaken but still active. Then, I conjured Wind to help Fire gain strength, waking up its power and disabling Water entirely. I then made Wind and Fire shake hands, and made both elements vanish. I then decided I wanted to be known as a guardian, not an arsonist, and materialized my belt. The buckle on it was quite the sight, and my daggers were concealed to the point where you couldn't discern them from my clothing. I then noticed the bag with bits was still on the belt. "Hey Twilight, I recieved another bag with bits from Celestia, as form of advance payment for the job I gotta do tomorrow. We could do a lot of fun things with this amount of money" I said, letting the idea flow there and shaking the big bag of coins.

"How much did you get?" Twilight asked.

"I think it was about 200 bits or something. It should be around 150 bits now because i've given some to Rarity as payment for the outfits shes making for me" I said.

"Wow, that is a lot of bits! Yeah we could totally do a lot of fun things with that!" she said with a hint of excitement.

"Don't get too excited now, i'm not going to spend all of it in one day" I said.

"I never said you had to?" Twilight said.

"Nevermind. Let's just get to Vinyl's place now."

A few moments later we arrived at Vinyl's place. It looked quite grand, but I summised it had to be due to the massive amount of revenue a DJ would get. Twilight knocked on the door, and it opened not a moment later, revealing a not quite white pony with an electric dual toned blue and cyan mane and tail and purple shades. "Sup! What can I do ya for?" she asked. I wondered if she actually saw me, so I coughed a bit, hoping to draw her attention. Vinyl looked at me, and asked:"Yo need some cough medicine there?" I shook my head, and took on a slightly confused look.

"You do not seem surprised to see someone, or should I say, something like me. Why is that?" I asked curiously

"When you work in the DJ business, nothing surprises you anymore. Not even Pinkie can get me surprised now" Vinyl said. I noticed the way she referred to Pinkie Pie, and decided they must be friends or something. "Are you two just gonna keep standing here or am I gonna have to kick you inside?"

Noticing she wasn't standing close to the door opening at all, in a silent gesture as to come in, we walked inside. Vinyl closed the door behind us, and walked to what seemed like a kitchen. "You two want something to drink?" she asked us.

"What do you have?" I asked Vinyl, not knowing what kind of beverages they had on Terra. Vinyl responded by mentioning a few unknown beverages, and something which sounded like soda. "I take it that that Kalo you mentioned is some sort of soda, right?" Vinyl nodded. "Alright, give me a glass of that, then."

Twilight settled on something which I was unsure of if it was alcoholic or not. When Vinyl placed down the glasses on the table, she motioned for us to sit down, as we had still been standing. I bent over, and took a slight sniff of Twilight's drink, and noticed there was actually alcohol in it. "Primal, why did you just sniff my drink? Do you think Vinyl put poison in it or something?" Twilight asked.

"No, I was just curious if that beverage was alcoholic or not. By the smell of it I can conclude there is alcohol in it. Don't drink yourself drunk, I don't want to have to deal with a drunk Twilight" I stated. I then proceeded to grab my glass, and took a sip. It tasted a lot like Coca-Cola or Pepsi, but it was sweeter and had less of the fizzynes in it.

"Anyway, after you concluded that Twilight's beverage is indeed alcoholic, what brings you here?" Vinyl asked.

Twilight took the word before I could respond. "Primal here wanted to meet you. Said he'd like to hear some of your headbangin' tunes."

"Is that so? Well dude, I got just the thing for ya then. Follow me to my DJ-booth, if you will" Vinyl said.

Twilight and I followed Vinyl towards her DJ-Booth. Vinyl set up her equipment to presumably pump out some sick beats, and me and Twilight waited for Vinyl to be ready.

"Whenever you feel ready to experience amazing music, tell me" Vinyl said.

"We were waiting for you to set up your equipment, so by all means, HIT IT!" I said in excitement.

The moment I said 'HIT IT', Vinyl instantly tuned into a sick drop, with an equally sick beat after it. I swung to the music, and I couldn't help but notice Twilight enjoy it aswell. Vinyl was busy with DJ-ing the music ( I had no idea what that implied) to notice us swinging, but I couldn't help but catch a twinkling glint in her eye. Somehow, she did know we were enjoying the music.

When the music stopped, I was shaking with tension and excitement. "That was some sick tune. What was the genre?" I asked.

Vinyl seemed to think for a moment, untill she answered: "I actually made this tune myself, I improvised, but I guess this could fall under some kind of house?"

"Wait, you made that tune yourself? That's gotta be the first DJ i've seen and heard to make her own music in such a way, to a stranger no less. And live, too!" I praised.

"Don't try and flatter me. I'm way too professional to be blushing anytime soon" she said, ironically blushing a bit.

"The blush on your face says otherwise, though" Twilight stated.

"Darn. I guess I failed in trying to be professional then." Vinyl said with a slightly sad expression.

"Nonsense Vinyl, you are still professional. Anyone can be prone to blushing, just look at Twilight here. Bookworm extraordinaire and anti-socialist before she came to Ponyville. Now, she has lots of friends! Also, I got Rainbow Dash to blush, on my first visit no less. I don't think that makes you any less professional" I said.

This got Twilight to shuffle her hooves shyly, and Vinyl to look at me with shock and surprise. "You really do seem to have your way with mares, don't you?" Vinyl said.

"Truth be told, I didn't expect to be. I used to be a bit the same as Twilight back where I came from. Now look at me. I seem to be the ladies' man now, from all the reactions i'm getting." I said.

"You're staying with me, so no ladies for you!" Twilight commented.

Vinyl had yet another shocked look on her face. "You sure that is the real Twilight and not some weirdo disguised as Twilight? I don't remember Twilight this way, with her being so possessive of you." Vinyl said.

"I guess everypony can change. As Primal said, I was really anti-social before coming to Ponyville. Now with him here I'm changing to be even more open." Twilight explained.

I looked around to find something which resembled a clock, but realized there was nothing around to show the time. I attempted to connect my magic to the stance of the sun to find out if it was near-sunset or not. I felt a slight tug, and found that it was indeed near-sunset. After that I heard a voice in my mind: "Did you just connect with my sun?" which I assumed could only be Celestia

"Um, yeah? I wanted to find out what time it was since there are no clocks around here, so I figured I'd find out where the sun was on the horizon" I answered in my head.

"You just don't stop amazing us, don't you? It's almost like you have some sort of incentive to do so." Celestia said with a tone of slight worry.

"I can assure you that there is no ulterior motive as to my amazing skills, which just so happen to be boundless" I answered again.

"You recieved my letter, right?" I responded with a quick 'yes'. "Good. I will see you tomorrow morning then". I said goodbye, and returned my focus to the world around me, to find two mares looking at me expectingly.

"What? I gotta answer Celestia when she asks why I attempted to connect with her sun, don't I?" I said.

This seemed to answer Twilight's expectation, but Vinyl still seemed shocked. "You can talk with Celestia in your head AND connect with her sun? Who are you?!"

"I am Primal Dagger. As my name states-" I proceeded to show my mark on my arm. "And as you can see from my mark, I can command the elements. As for the dagger-" I materialized my outfit, complete with daggers, cloak and tunic. "I'm an assassin, and I work for Celestia to provide unseen protection for the well-willed citizens of Equestria" I explained. I made my outfit vanish again, and looked at Vinyl.

"O-kay..? Atleast i'm glad to hear you work for Celestia and not some evil guy intent on destroying the world" Vinyl said.

I laughed shortly at this comment, and wanted to impress Vinyl a bit, so I conjured Earth in the air, in the form of a somewhat large stone. I then conjured Air to shape the rock into Viny's cutie mark, and added Fire to the finished project, and enchanted said Fire so it wouldn't burn down anything. "Passive fire, as i'd like to call it" I mentioned to the flames coming off of the cutie mark slowly. It wont burn down your house, it's just there to provide some flair to what I made for you." I then used an enchantment of Air to make the stone a bit lighter so it could be carried easily, and then let it float to the ground. Vinyl seemed hesistant to touch it due to the flames, but I just placed my hand in the flames, only to remove it out of them, unscathed.

"Wow. And this is for me?" Vinyl asked. I nodded. Vinyl then picked up the stone, and asked: "But where am I going to put this?"

I looked around the room, and found a suitable place for the stone. I created a pillar in the same material as the house was made of (Marble, I presumed.) and motioned for her to place it on there. Vinyl took the statue and placed it on top of the pillar, causing the pillar to create a statis field, levitating the stone in the air. Vinyl couldn't help but stare at the magic happening in front of her eyes, and I heard Twilight grinning from beside me.

"I am utterly amazed. Thank you for this, it really fits my style" Vinyl said, but I heard just a very slight tone of dissapointment. I then realized Vinyl had nothing to do with fire, so I turned to the stone, shaping it into a lightning bolt, and changed the fiery effect something a bit more fitting for Vinyl's personality and style. Lightning.

Now Vinyl was excited, Pinkie Pie-style excited. She bounced around, and then turned to me to tackle me in a hug, all the while shouting: "Thank you! Thank you!"

After she calmed down, she asked me a question I expected to come:"How did you know I had more with lightning, though?"

I nodded to her mane and tail, which answered her question.

"I also heard the slight dissapointment in your voice when you thanked me before." I looked at the statue, levitating and now arcing with lightning instead of fire. The bolt still looked a bit dull, so I changed its material to the one used in her home.

"It couldn't be any more perfect now. Thank you again for this wondrous gift" she answered, this time completely genuine.

"Anything for who I deem to be a good friend of mine" I answered. Vinyl hugged me again, and I noticed Twilight standing a bit away. I beckoned for her to join us in our hug, and she gladly complied.

"I think it's time for us to get going though. Tomorrow is a big day for me" I stated. Vinyl nodded, and led us to the door. "Thanks for showing us your music, and enjoy your gift. If you ever need it, the mark may have some unique features only you can activate" I said in a mysterious tone.

We left Vinyl's place, and headed to Twilight's home.

"You have any idea what your job is going to be tomorrow?" Twilight asked me.

"I honestly don't know. It could be anything as far as I could tell" I answered her.

We proceeded to walk up the stairs, and found Spike already in bed, holding a gem he got from Celestia knows where and snoring soundly. We cleaned ourselves a bit, before heading to bed.

"I do hate having to wake up early, though. Why did Celestia have to meet me at 9 'o clock in the morning again?" I asked, irritated.

"That's something only Celestia can answer for you" Twilight said, smirking from her bed. "Good night, Primal"

"Good night!" I said, and closed my eyes.

Chapter 5 - A Task fit for a Guardian

"Damn, I must have overslept!"

Twilight simply grinned. "Go, before you don't arrive at all."

I quickly cleaned myself, hastily made a sandwich and then created a portal in the corner of the room, towards Canterlot Palace Gardens.

I arrived not a moment later in the gardens, still taking bites of my sandwich with lettuce and daisies. I still couldn't figure out how I came to liking eating flowers, but I shoved the thought aside. Just as I neared finishing my sandwich, Celestia walked out of the doors of the palace, towards me. "You might want to close that portal, this will take a while" Celestia explained.

I quickly closed the portal, and seated myself on a nearby bench and waited for Celestia to do the same. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the way she sat herself down. "What is wrong, is it the way I am sitting?" I nodded.

"It just looks so careless. I'm glad to see you can be casual around friends" I stated.

"I am glad you pointed this out to me. Now I atleast know I can still be 'casual' "Celestia said. "Now, as for the job.."

From what I understood about the job, my mission was to assassinate a high-priority target in a cult known as Lunar Prophecy. This cult intends to re-invoke Nightmare Moon into the world, thus creating eternal night, and have been reported to cause violence and spread terror among the populace. My target was a high-ranking leader of said cult, location unknown but rumoured to be in an underground mountain base.

"I think you might want to use these" Celestia said, handing me something what looked like a metal stick with intricate carved runes on it. "This is a Rift-bomb. It will suck anything nearby into it when it detonates, causing it to literally disappear from this dimension. I hope you do not have to use this, but just as a safety measure I will give it to you. I will deem your use of this bomb will only be for good reason. I would rather not sow widespread terror of superweapons throughout the land, so try not to use it."

I studied the bomb carefully, notcing the runes and tracing them with my fingers. I then traced the runes in the air, causing all 4 runes to appear in each of the different elements. I used Earth to create what looked like a metal container, and placed the bomb inside of it and closed the lid. I then inscribed the runes on the surface of the container, effectively sealing it off if the correct combination of runes and elements wasn't used. I then compressed the container to a much smaller size, and placed it into a pouch located on my belt.

"There, that should keep it safe for now. Should I need it, or should something happen to me and it gets taken off of me, it will not be able to be opened without usage of elemental magic and the inscribed runes." I looked at my belt for a second, before adding: "And as far as I know, I am currently the only known elemental magic user in Terra."

Celestia nodded, and cast me a reassuring glance. "I trust you will take care of this matter discreetly. Prevent innocent casualties and keep violence to a minimum. If possible, attempt to capture the target and bring him to me. I would like to ask him a few questions.."

The last sentence she spoke sounded very ominous, but I disregarded it and trusted that Celestia knew what she was doing.

"I will take my leave. I have some recon to do." I opened a portal behind me, following a rumour of where my target could be. "Untill further notice, Princess Celestia." I waved goodbye, and stepped through the portal.

WWWWW

I reappeared in a different place, in what looked like a back alley. I quickly closed the portal, and cast the same enchantment on my feet as when I snuck up on Twilight, and sneaked out of the alleyway. I didn't exactly know what my target looked like, but I thought I could easily find that out by scouring a few minds here and there. I used my power over Earth to connect with the minds of a few ponies I saw in the distance, and heard their thoughts and words: "I sure hope nopony knows what we are doing. Bringing about eternal night is not a thing to be taken lightly by the Princesses" a black stallion said to his comrade.

I used my connection with the mind to acces the eyes of the stallion, and saw what looked like an ominous ritual. These two must be part of the cult, let's try to interrogate them.

I simulated a voice in their heads, one similar to what one would hear from an evil boss in games, the dark, low and evil tone. "You have been caught wanting, and you shall comply, unless you wish harm to be cast upon you" I simulated.

The two ponies looked around frightened, but found nothing.

"You will write the location and name of the leader of your so called 'Lunar Prophecy', and leave said paper on the ritual stone in front of you. After that, you will disable the ritual and walk away from this place. If you do not follow these orders, I will make darkness itself consume you untill you plead for mercy." The ponies seemed hesistant, but complied anyway in fear of their lives. I saw the pony scribble down a name and a location on the paper, and saw him placing it on the ritual stone. They then disabled what looked like a few core parts of the ritual being cast, causing the crystal hovering above the ritual stone to lose its humming power and fall to the ground. "Go now, and do not attempt any such ritual again, or the Silent Guardian will find you."

The ponies started running, terrified. I grinned, and slowly walked up to the ritual site. The paper contained a location unknown to me, and a name even more unknown, so I decided to go back to Celestia to ask her for any more info. I quickly took down the rest of the ritual, using my power of Air to turn the pieces into dust and scatter them upon the winds. After that, I created a portal which headed directly to where Celestia was located right now, and stepped through.

I reappeared in what looked like private chambers, and saw Celestia lounging in a nearby chair. "I am sorry to interrupt, my princess, but I have come across a name and a location of what should be their leader. Those ponies were frightened for their dear lives" I chuckled.

Celestia looked up from what she was reading, and took the paper I held out. She nodded. "I know this pony, and the location of where he's at is even more concerning. It is in fact located here, in Canterlot" she looked down for a moment, before adding: "And I know the pony personally."

"Who is this pony, then? I doubt he would be in your good books if he would fall to something such as this" I queried.

"Quite the opposite, in fact. He is, was, a member of the Royal guard.." Celestia said.

I took a moment to let this sink in, before asking: "Anything I should know about him? Does he have any way of working around a paralysis spell?"

"He is a unicorn, so he might have devised some plan to escape such spells. I suggest you take caution when approaching him" Celestia said.

"Don't worry, I know just what to do". She looked at me expectantly, while I conjured a rune on the ground. I stepped on top of the rune, and drew a circle around it. The circle burst up in flames, and I transformed into an ethereal being, unseen, but unable to take action in the mortal plane. I used my mind-connection to say to Celestia:" I am still standing in front of you.  I am currenly an ethereal being, moving inbetween planes. Which should explain why you can't see me. I will return shortly. I have myself a target to capture" I said to her before merging with the ground and travelling to the location I was supplied with.

I had a feeling Celestia tried to talk back to me, but was unable to because of my inexistance in the mortal plane at the moment.

Not a moment later, I appeared at the location. I saw my target sitting on a chair, surrounded by a few other ponies. He was discussing plans, from what I saw. I stood beside them and looked at the maps and schematics located on the table. It read:

Lunar Assimilation Device (LAD)

It had a few complex drawings on it, and the ponies seemed to be discussing the device currently.

I connected with the mind of the leader, and used the same voice I had used previously.

"Do not move or speak. If you tell anyone about my conversation with you, I will tear a hole in spacetime and fling you into it, making sure the dimension itself will tear you apart untill the end of time. You do not wish to feel that pain, I can assure you. Now follow my commands closely. You will tell your comrades that you have to leave them for an important meeting with someone, and if asked, will say it is confidential. You will then proceed to walk away from the table and head towards the this alleyway" I used my power to create a picture in my victims head, before proceeding. "You will then wait there for further instructions."

The pony started his chain of commands, saying that he had an important confidential meeting he forgot about, and proceeded to walk to the alleyway I directed him to. I contacted Celestia whilst he was walking, asking:" Hey, Celestia. Can you quickly provide some sort of magic negation in your nearby vicinity? I have someone you would like to meet here." I couldnt hear any response ofcourse, but I felt a slight tug of an attempted connection. When the pony I was following was in the alleyway I instructed him to, I created a portal in front of him, ordering him to step through. He did so, and I quickly followed him through.

We were in the chambers Celestia was in previously, and I saw Celestia casting a spell that seemed to negate any magic in it's vicinity. Luckily, my magic was primal and unaffected by the spell, and I created another rune on the ground. Both of the ponies saw the rune appearing out of thin air, and then saw a circle being made around it. Out came a column of flames, and I re-appeared in the mortal plane again. "Hello again. Miss me?"

"Excellent job, Guardian. I will take this traitor to the dungeons, and interrogate him later. You will recieve your payment tomorrow morning in the same way you recieved your last payment" Celestia said.

I bowed, and turned around to create a portal back to Twilights library, stepping through.

I reappeared next to Twilight, who was used to my portals but still got a semi-scared look on her face. I disabled the portal, and gave Twilight a quick reassuring glance.

"You are already back from the job you had to do?" Twilight asked.

"Honestly, it was quite easy. Just needed a bit of mind-manipulation and an extremely scare voice threatening them pain for the rest of their lives if they didn't do what they were  told" I explained simply.

"Okay? And this scary voice works and sounds like?" she asked.

"I'll show you." I connected to her mind, and using the same voice I used on the target and the ponies performing the ritual, I said: "Make a sandwich for Primal Dagger, or face the consequences of eternal torment in null and void".

Twilight quickly got up and made a sandwich for me, placing the plate on the table and sat down again.

"Wow, you weren't kidding. I guess I see why they complied so easily now, I would be terrified to the bone if this suddenly happened to me" she said in a slightly shivering voice.

I noticed I was still wearing my gear, and inspected it closely. I saw a white mark appearing on the lower-left part of my tunic, and noticed it was a tally mark. "I guess an upgrade of outfit is required" I said sternly. Right now I had just a belt, tunic and cloak. I created a hood connected to the cloak which distorted light and effectively made my face unseen, and then created what looked like black tactical combat trousers and black work boots. I then stepped over to the mirror, looking at my upgraded outfit. "I look totally badass now, but I feel I could up it a bit more." I used the hood's light distortion to create what looked like smoking red eyes, and created an overal smokey aura coming off of the various pieces of clothing, distorting vision and making my clothes look like they emanated smoke themselves, causing me to be engulfed in smoke and shadows. Through the smoke, I saw red eyes staring back at me. "Awesome" I said, complimenting my own work.

I then looked back at Twilight with my piercing red eyes. "Do no harm, or the Shadow will find you" I said in an ominous voice.

Twilight seemed genuinely frightened, and tried to talk, but failed and just opened and closed her mouth a few times. I dissipated my gear, returning to my normal self. Twilight sighed with relief, seeing me again. "I suggest you dont use that look in public, unless you want to instill fear into everypony's hearts" she said with a quivering voice.

"I wasn't planning on doing so. Only my enemies need to be taught fear and fright for the unseen blade" I said quickly. I grabbed the sandwich Twilight made for me, and took a quick bite. "Delicious" I grinned.

"Don't start abusing that power now, Primal. A hundred sandwiches will not account for the permanent damage you could inflict to someone's psyche" Twilight said.

"Anyway, the Lunar Prophecy cult should be taken care of, with their leader in custody their ranks will surely shatter. And if not, I will simply find their next leader and instill so much fear that he would never want to see the nightlight again" I said.

There was a knock on the door, and I walked over to open the door to see Rarity standing there, with a couple of outfits. "I finished your outfits earlier than I thought I would, so I took the luxury and came by to give them to you". She handed me the outfits she was levitating, and I sprawled them on the table, admiring them. The formal attire was, ofcourse, looking very formal, complete with red tie and black shoes. I then picked up the travelling gear, feeling how light the material was. It felt as if I had placed an enchantment on them already, which I was sure I hadn't done. It had a few utility pockets here and there, and matching travelling boots.

"I must say, the formal attire and travelling gear look marvelous, and completely suited to the situation." I then looked over to the casual outfits. One of them had blue pants, and a lime green shirt with long sleeves which could be rolled up, and a print on the back of the shirt depicting two daggers in front of a shield, in a coat-of-arms like fasion. The other set had black pants with a plain red shirt.

"The two sets can be mixed and matched if necessary, I made sure of that" Rarity said.

"Thank you so much for your hard work, Rarity" I said, looking at the four sets again. "Could I ask you something, by the way?"

"Sure, what is it?" Rarity responded.

"Could you try and use your mark to create something for me? Anything, doesn't matter what. I just want to see if you can actually get it to work" I inquired.

Rarity nodded, and focused. I saw a puff of smoke appear in the air, and when the smoke cleared, there was a red ribbon tie hovering in the air.

"Nicely done, Rarity! Now I atleast know you are capable of conjuring, so I can count on you if something were to happen to you or anypony else." I looked over at Twilight. "Twi, could you attempt the same? I would like for you to transmute this stone" I created a stone and hovered it in front of her. "Into something else. Again, doesn't matter what. Just try to let your mark flow, instead of your own magic. Doing so will not result in fatigue, as your mark draws upon the power of the stars".

I noticed Twilight's Alteration mark glowing, and saw the same dark purple glow surrounding the stone. This signified that she was indeed using her mark, as her own magic had a light violet glow to it. Then, we saw a dark purple flash, and the stone had transformed into a wooden stick. "Cool!" Twilight shouted in excitement.

"Very good Twi. I should go to the others to test their mark aswell. I just want all of you to be prepared should the worst happen someday. Do keep practicing with your mark. Over time, this should make it a lot easier to cast the spells related to your mark" I said. "I presume you have more orders to work through, Rarity?"

She shook her head. "I have not recieved any other orders aside from yours, so I could accompany you while you test the others."

"I don't really have anything to do right now either, so I could just tag along as well" Twilight said.

"Alright then, let's get moving. Who shall we go to first?" I asked.

"I know Rainbow Dash is doing some weather-related stuff right now, and I think Pinkie is going through some orders for cupcakes, or something. So that leaves Applejack or Fluttershy." Twilight said.

"I guess we go visit Applejack then, and visit Fluttershy after?" I suggested.

The mares nodded in approval, and we headed on our way to Applejack's farmstead.

After a long walk we arrived at AJ's farm. We saw the mare bucking an apple tree not too far away from us, and we all called for her in sync. The mare looked around her and found us waving at her. "Jus' a moment guys! Ah'll be right there!"

We watched her complete the bucking of the tree, and carried the basket of apples over to the farmhouse. We also walked over to the farmhouse, but I couldn't help but notice that Applejack was worrying about something. "Good ta see ya guys. Wha' brings all o ya to mah humble farm?"

"Applejack, cut the act. I can clearly see something worries you. Spit it out" I said in a stern voice.

"Was it really that obvious? Ah guess ah can't hide anythin' from mah best friends" she started. "Well, ya see, ah was thinking about you, Primal"

I looked up in surprise. "What were you thinking of me for?" I noticed she got a slightly saddened expression on her posture.

"Ah just can't help but feel that it's all some kinda dream, you arriving 'ere on our world. Ah can't help but feel that it wont last, that you will leave us eventually..." Her face showed signs of sadness.

"Look Applejack, one might think that. It's okay to have doubts. But don't put yourself up with them. You can just talk to me and ask me if i'm staying or leaving. As for that matter, i'm not leaving all of you. I made too much of a good connection with you guys to just give that up, and besides, apart from managing my own lab, life on Earth wasn't really all that interesting. I mean look at me" I flared up my hands in Fire, and then extinguished said Fire with Water before lifting a rock off the ground and modifying it with Air, creating a perfect triangle. I then created another triangle and made both connect in a six-legged star, molding it into one. I used Fire to heat up the stone, causing it to brighten up and gain a smooth, shiny flat surface with no blemishes, and held the star over to Twilight.

"After seeing you perform so much magic I couldn't say im still incredibly surprised by what you are able to do" Twilight said. She held the star in her magic, inspecting it.

"I am absolutely loving this planet to bits. Compared to all the feats of magic I can perform here, the best I can do on Earth would be card tricks which are actually fake" I explained.

"Ah didn't know yer homeworld was that bad" Applejack said.

"It wasn't that bad.. It's just that nothing relates. I actually have a role to play here too, instead of being one in a billion on Earth, with no special features whatsoever".

"Yea, tha silent guardian of Equestria, was it?" Applejack asked.

"I'm thinking of getting that title renamed to something a bit more befitting of what I am now, considering recent changes." I donned my gear, causing the smoke to emanate from me again while two red eyes pierced the veil. "I think 'The Shadow of Equestria' would be more befitting now." I had altered my voice since last time, causing it to echo softly, and making it slightly deeper than usual. "Even though it sounds a bit more ominous. My work is ominous and stealthy, anyway, so it shouldn't make much of a difference though."

Applejack and Rarity, not having seen this form before, were utterly shocked. Rarity, ofcourse, had to have her fashionista senses tingling again, as she said something only Rarity could: "Oh, but that black and those red eyes look absolutely stunning together. Did you fashion that up yourself?" I nodded. "Maybe with this new mark of mine I should start creating auras like yours on my dresses and suits. It would make my dresses absolutely breath-taking!"

"Don't go absolutely crazy with them, though. They should be rare, not a common sight, Rarity" I said. "Also, don't copy this smoke effect. I think it would be a bit confusing if ponies saw my smoke effect on something other than me" I added.

I vanished my armor, leaving my normal look. I then noticed I didn't even bother wearing the new outfits Rarity made for me. I guess I can wear them tomorrow I thought to myself.

"Anyway, back to the reason we were here for in the first place aside from having a lovely conversation" I said, looking at Applejack. "I came to ask you, accompanied by these two here" I motioned to Twilight and Rarity "Could you try to use your mark I gave you to create a simple illusion? Just to test if you are actually able to use it."

She looked up at me, confused. "How am I going to cast anything if I've never used magic before?" Applejack stated.

Twilight interjected before I could respond. "It comes from within. The only thing you have to do is focus on your magic, in your case your mark, and just let it flow. Then focus on what you want to cast. The more you practice it, the better you will be able to use it".

Applejack nodded, and adopted a focused look while closing her eyes. I noticed a blur appearing where Applejack stood, and suddenly there were two Applejacks standing there. They both looked at each other, and shouted in unison "Whoah! Who are you?! Who ahm ah?"

"Well it seemed to have worked. Can the real Applejack focus her magic to let the other one vanish?" I saw both of them focusing hard, and one of the two disappeared in a blur not a moment after. "Wow, your magic seems so advanced that even your illusion does what's asked of you. Well done, well done indeed. Like Twi said, just keep practicing and you will become better at it. Your element should help you determine which one is the real one, if you ever doubt that for some reason" I said.

"Whooey, tha was craizey weird" Applejack exclaimed. "Alraht, ah'll keep your advice to mind, and will practice a bit more with this"

"We got somepony else to go to now, so you just continue on your work. Sorry for interrupting that, by the way." I said.

"Ah it's fine, Primal. Mah friends can always interrupt mah work if they need me" Applejack said. "Now you guys hurry 'long now. Don't wanna keep that somepony waiting now".

We said our goodbyes to Applejack and headed towards Fluttershy's cottage, which was quite the distance away. "Ugh, this is gonna take forever. What say I enchant all of us to hover through the air? Should be quite fun, right?"

Twilight looked excited at the prospect of flying, but Rarity was hesistant. "Don't you worry Rarity. My spells are 100% safe. You will not fall down to Earth, you got my promise". This reassured Rarity, and I beckoned them to stand beside me. I traced a rune in the air in front of me, and drove my hands apart to create multiple of the runes. I then fused the runes on the ground, and asked for both mares to stand in one. I took my place inside the middle one, and I cast the activation spell. A small gust of wind appeared around us, and we could feel ourselves becoming lighter than air.

"Oh this is so COOL!" Twilight shouted in pure excitement.

Rarity still seemed a bit nervous, but slowly seemed to accept the fact that she was flying now. I turned my attention to Fluttershy's cottage, and beckoned for the two mares to follow me there. Twilight easily got to grips with flying (How, I wasn't completely sure) but Rarity seemed to have a bit of problems. "Just focus on where you want to go Rarity. Just like you focused on your mark when conjuring that ribbon. The spell should do the rest" I explained simply. After my explanation, she seemed to have a lot less problems flying, and followed us to Fluttershy.

We arrived at Fluttershy's less than half of the time we would have taken if we had walked there. When all of us had solid ground under out feet and hooves again, I dispelled the flight spell. "You should teach me how to cast that some time, Primal. I think we forgot to do that yesterday." Twilight said before walking over to the door of the cottage and knocking.

Fluttershy opened the door, and greeted us before letting us in. She motioned for us to take a seat while preparing some of her well-known herbal tea. She got back to us not too long after, holding a teapot and a few cups on a plate. She placed all of them down on the table and poured all of us some tea.

"Enjoy the tea. What brought you three to my abode?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, aside from obviously having to enjoy your tea, I wanted to ask you to use your mark. Just to test if you are able to use it correctly, y'know" I said.

"How would I do that, though? If you dont mind me asking, that it" Fluttershy said in her usual shy voice.

"Well..." I materialized my belt, and unsheathed one of my daggers. "I should really let these be upgraded any time soon.. That's a matter for another time though." I moved the dagger to my left arm, and made a small cut on it. Which, ofcourse, drew out a massive gasp from all the mares present. "Heal this cut for me" I plied to Fluttershy. "Focus on your mark, let it flow, and then focus on what you are trying to achieve" I said in a lecturing tone. Fluttershy complied, and focused just like the rest had done. Her mark began to glow pink, and I could see the pink glow moving over to where the cut was located. She opened her eyes again, and focused on the cut this time. The glow surrounded the cut, and after a few seconds, the cut began sealing itself. After the cut was sealed, the pink glow stopped.

"See. Nothing to gasp for. I knew Fluttershy would be able to do this, just like the rest of you have done" I said simply. "Again, like the rest of you, keep practicing and the flow of your magic should come quicker and easier for you. In your case it might be a bit odd to do, so just visit me whenever you feel like practicing, or try it on wounded animals. It's up to you."

Fluttershy nodded, and motioned to the empty cups of tea. "Want another cup?"

"No thanks, we're good. I think we should get going, Rainbow Dash and/or Pinkie Pie should be done by now" Twilight said.

I nodded in agreement, and said our goodbyes to Fluttershy, leaving her and her tea to do whatever. "Which of the two do you think should be done by now?" I asked, before practically recieving my answer in the form of a loud BOOM! When we looked up at the sky, we saw a rainbow trail in the air.

"Well, I guess we visit Rainbow Dash next, then. Onwards!" I said, pointing my arm out in a commanding motion.

We just walked towards Dash's home, as we did not want to frighten her by suddenly floating up to her house and appearing on the doorstep unannounced. When we arrived on the hill located below the massive cloud home, Twilight took the lead, and called for Rainbow Dash.

We saw the familiar rainbow-maned cyan pegasus sticking her head over the edge of her cloud home, again.

"It's almost like deja-vu or something. I'm sure i've seen her do the same thing sometime ago" I remarked.

" 'Sup guys, what brings you to the fastest and awesomest flier in all of Equestria today?"

"Yep, definitely deja-vu" Twilight agreed with me. "Could you come down here already?"

Dash came floating down to us. "I wanted to ask you, like I have with almost all of the others now, if you could cast me something related to your mark" I pointed at the mark above Dash's front leg.

"Sure, I guess. What was it my mark did again?" she asked, having already forgotten what her mark did.

"Your mark was the sign of Destruction, if I recall correctly" Twilight stated. "Which probably means that it has to do something with fire, lightning or anything of the sort. Destruction, basically. But used for good reasons!"

"That is correct, Twi. Now Rainbow, I want you to cast a simple fireball, lightning bolt or frostbolt towards the target I will place over there" I quickly made a target out of stone on the place I mentioned. "Whichever of the three elements you find most awesome, or suitable for the situation. Your call, but I suggest using it for the latter."

Ofcourse, being Rainbow Dash, she completely ignored me and was already attempting to cast something. "Stop. You can't just cast magic on a whim without any experience. You gotta focus first, let the magic of your mark flow through you. And then, for the fiftieth time i've explained today, you focus on whatever you wish to achieve."

She nodded, this time being more focused about it. I felt the magical hum in the air, and noticed fire flaring up in front of her. "Good. Now launch the fireball at the target" I motioned. The fireball recieved its trigger, and launched itself at the target, exploding in flames.

"Cool! Could you create another target so I could try a different one?" Rainbow said excitedly.

"Sure, why not." I then created another target next to the smouldering remains of the previous target. "Alright, focus on the magic, then the spell."

We watched her as we felt yet another magical hum in the air, and this time saw lightning gathering in front of her. Before I could tell her to launch the spell, she launched it dead-straight at the target, leaving nothing but an electrocuted mess on the ground.

"Perfect, Dash. You seem to be learning this rather quickly. I didn't quite expect that" I said. "I assume you want another target for the frostbolt?" She nodded, and I created yet another target, this time on the other side of the target she used a fireball on.

We watched Dash focus again, and this time saw her actually shaking with power. The frost flurry which appeared in front of her grew and grew, untill it got launched at the last target. The target, and the area around it, instantly froze and left a small localized flurry of snow in the area. I looked back at Rainbow Dash, who was still shaking from the power she put into the spell.

"Very well done, Rainbow. I am sure that you can easily manage to cast extremely powerful spells within just a few days." She beamed at the compliment, and mentioned a quick thank you before flying off, presumably to further test her new powers.

"Well, that's Dash in a nutshell, right there, showing off like that." Twilight said. "Let's head to Pinkie Pie last and wrap up this day afterwards." She looked at the sky, before adding "It's getting late."

I couldn't be bothered with walking anymore, so I simply created a portal and beckoned for the mares to step through. We appeared in front of the bakery she worked and lived at, in Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie decided to just appear out of nowhere the exact moment we stepped out of the portal, and shouted "Hey guys! What brings all of you here? Ooh, I still have to plan a party for you Primal!" she said in a very high-pitched voice.

"Calm down Pinkie, no parties right now. I wanted to ask you about something. Remember that mark I gave you?" I waved in the general direction of Pinkie's Enchanting mark. She nodded vigorously. "I want you to use the power of your mark to enchant one of my daggers." I procured one of my daggers from my belt, and held it out in front of me. "Cast a simple unbreaking enchantment on it" I explained the whole focus on your magic, then focus on the spell thing for hopefully the last time this day. I used my magic to levitate the dagger in the air in front of me, and waited for Pinkie to do her magic. We saw her concentrating, and noticed her blue and yellow mark started glowing in a combined hue of blue and yellow. Then, the blue and yellow aura moved over to the dagger, and combined with my own shadowy black aura. I saw the blade of the dagger flash up brightly, and a rune appeared on it.

"Alright, let's test if it works, shall we?" I took the dagger, and slammed it into the ground. What we saw then, was miraculous. The dagger was completely unscathed, but the ground had a deep cut in it. "Excellent work, Pinkie. Now that enchantment was pretty simple. I want you to now enchant it again with some of yourself. I want the dagger to cause uncontrolled laughing whenever somepony gets hit with it" I looked at Pinkie, before adding "It would be quite funny to see people laughing after being stabbed with a knife. I could remove the enchantment myself if need be."

I levitated the dagger in front of us, and we saw Pinkie concentrate again. A rare sight, coming from a bubbly, bouncy mare who never stops talking. She managed to do it last time though, so I was sure she would manage to do it again.

We saw the familliar blue-yellow glow encompass the dagger again, and this time we saw a pink flash, and a pink rune appear on the blade. When the glow left the dagger, I took it and looked at Twilight. "May I?" I looked at the dagger and then at her. "I will take utmost care not to harm you, but it will sting" I said.

Twilight, reassured by my words, held out her hoof, and allowed me to make a small cut in it. When the dagger connected with her flesh, she indeed starting laughing uncontrollably. I silently removed the enchantment, as it was just for testing purposes and not of much practical use when being stealthy, and just looked at Twilight rolling on the floor laughing. I let her laugh there for a little bit before I cast a dispell on Twilight, causing her to act normal again. I used Water to heal the cut on her hoof, and Twilight thanked me.

"That must've been the oddest feeling ever. I just couldn't help but laugh when you cut me with that dagger. It was really weird" Twilight explained.

"Atleast we know it worked. I removed the enchantment again, because when being stealthy you don't want people laughing when you cut them with a dagger. That's quite the opposite of what I would try to instill, so it would be a bit counteractive. But nice work anyway. Keep practicing with enchantments, and try to come up with as many things as you can. If you ever need a specific kind of enchanting material, just ask me" I said.

"It has been quite fun seeing all of these marks at work, but I should get home. Sweetie Belle is probably wondering where her big sister is" Rarity said, waving goodbye and heading off to her boutique.

"I still have a few cupcakes to bake, so I will see you around!" Pinkie said in a bubbly tone. She turned around and walked inside of the bakery.

"That leaves us to return to our tree" I said to Twilight. "Haha, get it. Leaves."

Twilight chuckled at my silly pun, and started walking towards the tree home. I followed her easily, and we arrived at the library not a moment later.

She opened the door, and found Spike sitting on a chair, looking like he was waiting for us. "A letter came in for you today, Twilight" he said.

Twilight took the letter, opened and read it. From her facial expression, I deemed that whatever was on the letter wasn't good. She looked over to me with a grave expression. "Remember the human who ran away frightened? Celestia found her... And it isn't good news."

Chapter 6 - Corruption

A week passed since we recieved the letter notifying that Celestia found the runaway human. I had a few jobs and tasks here and there from Celestia. One of those jobs included capturing what looked to me like a random commonner. Celestia was positive that this random commonner had something to do with a rebellion rising up in one of the nearby small towns. I didn't question it, and just captured the poor fellow and took him to Celestia. He stood no chance against the Shadow, ofcourse. When I decided last week that my name needed to be a bit more befitting, I told Celestia about it, and she agreed completely.

I tried prying some information out of Celestia concerning the human, but she kept her mouth firmly shut. I wondered why in the beginning, but eventually I just stopped trying and made myself believe that Celestia would tell me herself in due time. Twilight was worried too, ofcourse. The letter had left a huge impact on her, and I often had to comfort her when she thaught she heard 'things' at night. The other elements were all quite busy with their jobs, and Fluttershy had a lot of animals to look after. I barely saw them at all during the week.

Today, though, was going to be different.

We woke up in the morning, and I just relished in Twilight's embrace. Spike, however, decided to barge into the room at that moment, holding a royal letter. "Guys, a letter arrived today! I think you might want to take a look at it!"

I sat up in the bed and took the letter from him, breaking the seal and opening the letter. It read:

Dear Twilight and Primal,

I have no doubt this last week was confusing for the both of you. After the letter I sent you earlier, I had made no attempt to give any further information about the human. I had my reasons.

However, we found out where the human is located at. She's residing in a cave in a mountain relatively close to Ponyville, called Whitewash Mountain.

I want for you two and the rest of the elements to inspect the cave. I don't know what we could expect from someone living in solitary for that long. I advise you to take utmost care in approaching her, and if possible, attempt to integrate her into pony society. Put her down only when there are no other options.

Your Princess,

Celestia

Twilight had read the letter along with me, as she was quite curious as to its contents. After finishing with reading, we looked at each other, silently wishing for the other to have a plan.

"I say we take heed to Celestia's advice, bring the Elements of harmony along with us and check what the hay is going on with her" I suggested.

We quickly got dressed. I put on my travelling gear Rarity had made for me, ad Twilight settled on just her saddlebags, as she didn't really need any clothing other than on fancy occassions.

"By the way, I still wanted to ask you about that blood sample I took from you. I know it's a long time ago, but I found out then that your blood is able to transport carbon dioxide. Any explanation as to why that is so?" Twilight asked, whilst eating the breakfast I made for her.

"To put it simply, carbon dioxide is a waste product for humans. We breathe in oxygen, and we breathe out carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide in turn gets consumed by plants, which 'breathe' out oxygen. Essentially we live in harmony with plants, the plants providing us with oxygen and us providing carbon dioxide for plants. That's the basic gist of it" I explained.

"Hm, interesting. I never really studied plants in-depth. Maybe I should do that some time. First though, we have the issue of the runaway human" she said.

"I take it you guys are going on another adventure then?" Spike asked. "Can I come along with you guys for once, i'm getting really bored with just tending to the library all the time".

Twilight looked hesistant, as to which Spike pleaded her to take him with us. "Oh all right, I have been quite neglecting your need for adventure I guess".

We finished our breakfast, and headed out of the library, to fetch the rest of the Elements of Harmony.

We stopped by Rainbow Dash's home, as she would be able to round up the rest faster than we could. "Rainbow Dash! We need you down here STAT!" Twilight shouted upwards at the cloud home.

It took a little while, but eventually a groggy cyan mare peeked out over the side of the cloud home. "I'll be right there, gimme a sec!" she shouted back at us.

I admired the scenery while we waited for Rainbow, and not too much time later she came charging down to us. She wasn't able to stop herself in time, and barrelled into me. I fell over, with Rainbow Dash located on top of me in quite the awkward position. "Would you get off me already? We got an important matter to tend to."

Rainbow smiled awkwardly, and quickly muttered an apology before floating off of me using her strong wings. I stood up, brushing the dust and grass off of my clothes and looked at Dash. "Could you do us a favour and fetch Fluttershy? Take her to Applejack's farm, and we will meet you there with the rest shortly." Dash nodded, and flew off towards Fluttershy's cottage.

"Let's get moving, we've got no time to waste" I said quickly.

We headed over to Rarity's abode next, as I expected the mare would take some time to prepare for a journey. I explained the situation to her, and she quickly cobbled together a few sets of clothing and propped them in her saddlebags before returning to us. "We have no time to waste! Let us go  to Pinkie pie!" she said.

We headed over to Pinkie and arrived at the bakery not a moment later. Pinkie, ofcourse, was over the moon with excitement and quickly bounded upstairs again to pack her saddlebags with whatever she was going to be packing them with. Twilight knew what she would be packing, and explained it to me and told me not to worry about it. "It's Pinkie Pie, go figure. Or actually, don't go figure. You will probably go insane in trying to".

Pinkie got back to us in utmost excitement, and already started bounding over to Applejack's farm. We followed her quickly, barely able to keep up with her long bounding strides, and arrived at the farm in quick succession.

"What the hay's goin' on guys? Why're we all 'ere?" Applejack asked in confusion. I explained to her what I said to Rarity and Pinkie, which caused her confusion to clear up, along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's slight confusion at the situation.

I quickly pulled out a map from one of my utility pockets, and folded it out as I held it in my hands.

"We have to head to Whitewash Mountain" I pointed at the map, to where the mountain was located. "The mountain is right next to Smokey mountain, to the right of this railroad track. Celestia told us the runaway human we wanted to try and find should be located there, and told us to go and inspect the situation" I said.

Spike seemed excited at the thought of adventure, and couldn't help but bounce around Pinkie-style. "Finally! I'm going on an adventure!" he shouted.

Twilight just chuckled at Spike's theatrics, and asked me which way we had to go. "If we head northwest from here, we should arrive at the Whitewash mountain. We should take care to head to the right mountain, though, as Smokey mountain is right next to Whitewash Mountain" I said.

"I know what Smokey Mountain looks like, I had to go there once to find a rare gem only found on that mountain" Rarity said. I noticed Spike looking at Rarity what looked like an extreme amount of love and affection, which was not returned.

"Good, atleast we will find the mountain with relative ease, then. Only problem now is that we have to head through a forest to reach the base of the mountain" I said.

"The animals inside that forest shouldn't be a problem. Just let me deal with them" Fluttershy said with confidence, which was quite a rare thing to see.

"Les' git goin' then! No point in makin' that human wait fer us!" Applejack said in mock excitement.

All of us quickly checked to see if we had forgotten anything, and headed on our way to the Whitewash Mountain. Ofcourse, I could've just teleported us there in an instant, but I had no idea what we would expect there. That and the fact that a journey like this helped lift spirits and increased the general feeling of friendship.

We followed the railroad track for a bit, checking the map every so often to see if we headed in the right direction. I enchanted the map to add a marker for where we were, which pointed us in the right direction.

We just chatted about all sorts of things during our journey, and Rainbow Dash flew ahead of us to scout for any possible dangers. Spike sat on Twilight's back, as the young dragon didn't have the stamina to take such long walking journeys yet. Applejack held a conversation with Rarity about Celestia knows what, and Fluttershy was in the back of our group, admiring the forest in curiousity. Pinkie was at the front of the pack, bounding along in excitement while shouting "FUN!" from time to time. I walked next to Twilight, trying to come up with a plan of how we would deal with the human. I looked at all of the mares' constellation marks, and thought of a way to use those effectively. Twilight noticed me thinking, and asked me what I was thinking of.

"To put it simply, I have literally no idea on how to deal with her once we get there. I was thinking of using the marks I gave you, but I don't know how much of an effect they will provide".

I materialized my belt, sensing danger and drew my daggers, and saw Pinkie twitching on the spot. She took the lead in warning us: ''Guys, my Pinkie sense is tingling. I don't know what this combination is but I don't like it." She looked at me to find my daggers already drawn in wait, and relaxed a bit. "We got Primal to protect us if something does come for us, and im sure our new marks can prove of some use!" she said in a slightly happier tone.

Pinkie's sense and mine were right, as not long after a pack of four wolves jumped out of the cover of the forest. Rainbow Dash immediatly tensed up, and I noticed her channel a spell in preparation, but Fluttershy stopped her: "STOP! Let me try and reason with these wolves, i'm sure they can look elsewhere instead of us."

Fluttershy approached the wolves cautiously, and I motioned for Rainbow to keep her spell channeled in case something happened. From what I saw she had a frost spell ready, having noticed its power in preventing harm to her friends while not causing any to the victims, other than maybe hypothermia. Twilight was tense, aswell, and I saw her mark glowing softly, which indicated to me that she was going to cast either some sort of armor or a paralysis spell. Looking over at Applejack, I saw her mark glowing aswell, ready to cast an illusion if needed.

I was tense aswell, readying a spell I wanted to test out for some time now. It causes me to disappear from sight and reappear behind my target, essentially opening up an option for an instant backstab. I called it Shadowstep, as I vanished into the shadows to 'step' begind my target not a moment later.

I looked over to Fluttershy to see her attempt to converse with the wolves, who just seemed bored and waiting to pounce on her at any moment. I saw one of the wolves getting ready to jump, and I shouted: "FLUTTERSHY! GET BACK! THE REST GO!"

I cast my shadowstep, and appeared behind the wolf that wanted to jump on Fluttershy, and stabbed him, instantly wounding him to the point of surrender. I had become quite efficient at disabling targets, striking important nerves and muscles to stop the target dead in their tracks. Wolves, in that respect, were not a lot different from ponies, as they were just slightly bigger quadrilateral creatures. I knew exactly where to strike, disabling my target.

Rainbow's frost spell had hit the other three wolves, who were now frozen in place. Twilight and Applejack let their channels drop, seeing as it was no longer needed, and headed over to Fluttershy to comfort her.

"Don't you worry 'Shy, I froze the wolves and Primal disabled the wolf who wanted to jump at you. They'll be fine eventually. Right Primal?" Dash said.

I nodded, and Rarity commented something about "those poor wolves", while Fluttershy just sat in silence shivering.

I motioned for Twilight to cast a paralysis spell on the wolf I disabled, and I healed his wound to allow for faster recovery.

"Come, let's continue before those wolves become active again." The party agreed, and after nudging Fluttershy to get moving, we continued on our way to the mountain.

"I sure do hope we do not encounter more of those wolves. I would hate to see what disabling those would cause for damage on Fluttershy's psyche" Rarity said.

"You keep Fluttershy in check, we will deal with those wolves if they appear" I motioned to Rainbow, who nodded an approval.

We neared the edge of the forest we had to breach in order to reach the mountain. "The cave should be located near the base of the mountain, accessible to some degree by climbing some rocks, Celestia had said" I said to the party

We carefully entered the forest, Dash rushing ahead to scout it out. When she came back to us to tell us that it was clear and we had a straight path towards the mountain, Twilight fell awfully silent.

"Something does not feel right about this" she said.

I felt it too. A strange, and ominous feeling of what was to come.

We cautiously waded our way through the forest, relieved that nothing else stopped us, but distressed by it too.

"It's quiet. Too quiet. Almost as if something tore through this forest and taking all the sound with it" I said with a low voice.

We neared the other edge of the forest, and saw the cavern before us.

"Is it me, or does it look like there's an aura of darkness emanating from the inside of that cave?" Twilight said.

"Ah can see it too. Ah can't say ah'm mighty afraid of whatever's in that cave" Applejack added.

Rainbow flew up to see if she could spot anything, but the inside of the cave was too dark for her to see anything. She shook her head towards us in vain, and waited for us to climb the rocks.

Pinkie bounded up the rocks with relative ease. It was quite easy for me too since my height compared to the ponies gave me a significant advantage. Rarity, however, had a bit of a problem with climbing. Spike rushed over to give her an aiding claw, and together they managed to reach the entrance of the cave.

I tried to peer into the cave, with no succes. "Twilight, we could use some of your light I feel. Use your mark for it as to not exhaust your personal magic supply".

She created a small orb of light which sprang forth from her mark, and it flew ahead of us into the cave, illuminating a long and winding passage headed downwards.

"I'll take the lead. She would probably be scared the least by seeing another human first. Let me do the talking, if that is possible" I said.

I ventured forth into the cave, the light-orb illuminating our path ahead.

WWWWW

We walked for what seemed like an eternity, the cave unending and bathed in darkness save for our light-orb guiding us.

Eventually, we reached a point where the tunnels took a sharp right. Rainbow being the bold-headed one, took a quick peek around the corner.

"Can't see anything but darkness, so I guess that's a good thing?" Rainbow said in a wavering voice indicating she was a little scared.

We carefully took the corner, arriving in yet more darkness.

Suddenly, our light-orb fell to the ground and died out of nowhere, bathing us in complete darkness. "Okay, I'm quite scared now. Twilight could you get the light back, please? Quickly?" Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight tried using her mark to create the orb again, but nothing happened. She then tried using her own magic, but aside from the dimmed light emanating from her horn, there was no light.

"So something extinguished our light and made us unable to create any..." Twilight said, shivering.

I drew one of my daggers, and tried enchanting it with a light-rune. The rune managed to attach for a second, but vanished shortly after. "Even my enchantments are useless. Let me try Fire" I said.

I created a small fire in my hand, and launched it into the dark path ahead of us. What seemed like another eternal tunnel ended up being something completely different. The flame died off halfway through travelling to what seemed like an enormous chamber.

"So there is what looks like a chamber ahead of us. Follow me" I beckoned.

The party followed me hesitantly. We arrived at the entrance of the giant chamber, and I tried lighting another fire. Nothing happened, though.

"Great, not even my fire works now" I stated.

We heard a soft sounding grumble from somewhere in the chamber. It didn't sound like a monster, but it didn't sound completely human or pony either.

"Hello? Is anybody or pony there?" my voice echoed through the room.

"Who are you?" I heard a voice say. I tried pinpointing where the sound came from, but there was way too much echoing.

"My name in this world is Primal Dagger, the Shadow of Equestria. My human name is Joshua, though" I answered the voice.

"A human?" The voice asked. "Wait, you said Joshua?"

"Yes, what about it?" I had a feeling I knew the voice from somewhere, but I couldn't quite place it.

"It's me, Michelle! You remember me right?" The voice asked, in a slightly happier tone.

"Michelle??" I queried, with a look of deep confusion plastered on my face nobody was able to discern. "What are you doing in this extremely dark cave, out of all places?"

"I was scared. I saw you black out back on Earth, and I couldn't help but try and help you" she said, with a slight tone of regret. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I have someone here who stated she saw you running away from what seemed like nothing. Care to explain?" I said.

"From NOTHING?! I ran from what looked like an enormous monster with massive pincer-claws and one fiery eye!" I heard her voice change tone mid-sentence, to something a bit more ominous.

"I ran for days. Eventually I found this cave, and I just kept running forever. I found this chamber, and decided to hide here."

Unseen to the eyes however, was the state Michelle was in. The darkness around her was a sentient being, molding her into something horrible, something corrupted. The same darkness that tried to protect Michelle from prying eyes had extinguished our sources of light. It seemed the darkness itself came to life and obeyed Michelle's wish to hide.

"Surely you can come with us now, then? We don't mean you any harm, as you couldve noticed" I said, hoping she would say yes and leave this frightening cave.

"I don't want to." The hope shatters. "I heard a voice, saying it would be all right to me all this time. That same voice is telling me not to trust you and your intents" she said in a dark voice.

"Ugh. Do I have to drag you out of this cave myself? Celestia knows I would do it" I said, slightly annoyed.

"You are not dragging me anywhere" she said, with a noticeably inhuman growl coming from her voice.

"Okay. I guess you asked for it, then." During our conversation, I managed to pinpoint the source of the voice, and cast a paralysis spell that way.

The chamber suddenly flooded with light, causing our eyes to burn. After the burning subsided, we could not believe our eyes.

In front of us, was a human. Was. The "voice" she said she'd heard, molded her into something terrifying. Something corrupted. Something evil.

"Girls, cast your best spells! NOW!" I shouted to my company.

All 6 marks brightened, each for their own spell. Rainbow Dash prepared to cast a massive lightning bolt. Rarity conjured a shield and sword to protect and fight the corrupted human.

Applejack duplicated herself 6 times, and all 7 of her were casting a powerful spell which would strenghten the other's resolve.

Pinkie worked together with Rarity to enchant her sword to set fire to the target, and enchanted the shield to prevent even the strongest of blows.

Fluttershy stood by and channeled a spell which would instantly heal any of our wounds. I stood ready with my Fire- and Wind-imbued daggers and a powerful rune inscribed into the air in front of me, an ancient sign for eternal torment.

Spike inhaled, and was ready to cast his fire unto the corrupted human. Lastly, Twilight was casting a dual-spell from both her mark and her horn. Her horn was sparking with energy as she channeled a massive magical bolt, and her mark was channeling a powerful protection spell for herself as she took a few steps closer to the corrupted human.

We all unleashed our combined might unto the corrupted human.

After the smoke and dust had settled, the sight was horrifying, to say the least. She was staggered by the force of our blast, but was still standing.

"Is that all you have?" Her voice not natural any longer. "Pathetic. Here I thought someone would be able to challenge the creature I transformed. Too bad all of you are too weak".

I stood in disbelief. I then remembered that aside from the marks, the girls had something powerful aswell.

"Girls! Call upon your Elements!" I shouted. They all looked at me with confusion.

"We don't have our elements here!" Twilight shouted.

"You don't need those physical objects! They are merely a focus for your power! Channel your element on her, NOOOW!" I said, panicked.

While I was urging them to use their elements, the corrupted one had been channeling what seemed like something which could completely wipe us from the face of the earth.

All of the girls focused, channeling their respective elements. Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Laughter and Magic. From what I had seen of the show, this was the moment they would start floating and create a circle in mid-air. I was right about my assumption, as they indeed started floating and creating a circle.

I saw a gigantic ball of energy appearing in front of the six, and a second later, a beam shot out to the human, just in time to stop the death-beam the corrupted had been channeling.

It was like every single clutch-movie and game ever, where the good and bad guy channeled an extremely powerful beam at each other. Should one falter, that one would be wiped out completely. It all depended on this.

I watched the clash of the beams, and noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A small glint, which came from a black gem on top of a pedestal. I quickly shadowstepped over to it, and took the gem out of its pedestal.

The corrupted one turned its fleshy eyes at me. "Do not touch that gem!"

"Oh, but I will. Definitely now that you asked me not to touch it. In fact, i'm going to throw it into the beams" I said, mocking the corrupted one.

I enchanted my arm, to provide for extreme stability and precision, and prepared to throw the gem at the beams.

"NO, DO NOT DO THAT!" the monster shouted, apparantly panicked.

I threw the gem.

A massive explosion ensued, and after that, darkness.

Chapter 7 - Salvation, or Suffering?

It felt like an eternity. Maybe even more than an eternity.

I managed to open my eyes, and I see light again. Dimmed light, but it was better than nothing.

We were still in the cave. I see the Mane Six and Spike lying on the ground, seemingly unconcious. I then look over to where the corrupted one had been. In its place is the form of a human, however.

I managed to somehow get myself standing, with my nerves sending me pain jolts with every movement. I drag myself over to Michelle, and crouch down to inspect her. She's still unconcious, but breathing slowly. I absentmindly stroked her auburn hair, attempting to comfort her. I knew she had brown eyes, but those were closed, and faint smile was plastered on her face.

I whispered to myself, and hopefully her aswell:"It will be all right. I will make you healthy and sane again. That darkness will not be able to consume you again."

I contact Celestia. "My Princess, I have the human here. She is okay now, but you do not want to know what we encountered in the first place. I will explain more later".

I got a response instantly. "My god, Primal, where are you? Its been two whole days!"

I froze in shock. Two days? It's not an eternity, I guess, but TWO DAYS?

"It's been two days?! Have we been out for that long? I am the first to awaken, but the rest of them are still unconcious. We are still in the cave where we had to meet the human" I answered Celestia.

"I will send for a transport right away. I wish to hear about your encounter immediatly." Celestia said

"Send a squad of guards to come pick us up, too. The tunnel we had to travel through is massive and extremely dark, and it will probably take some time for them to reach us. I am physically too weak to attempt to take all of them anywhere right now, so I shall wait for them to wake up" I said back.

"Will do. Sit tight, my guards will be there shortly" is the last response I got.

What I didn't know, is that Princess Luna herself would be accompanying the squad of guards. Darkness was her element, after all, so she would be able to find us quickly and take us out just as quick.

Eventually I fell asleep, my head placed precariously on Michelle's shoulder, and dreams haunting my rest. Outsiders would've thought of me and Michelle as a couple, but in reality she was my assistant. With a focus on was.

Now I'm on a strange planet, with strange creatures. Over time they became familiar to me, but the same couldn't be said about Michelle. Her first experience was one of fright instead of comfort, causing her to doubt the nature of this world and its inhabitants.

It would be a long time untill she would come to accept this place as (presumably) her new home. I didn't know if she felt the same way about Earth as I did, but if she did, she would feel at home here.

She would, ofcourse, need a place to stay, though. Twilight's library couldn't fit a lot more people in it. After all the hospitality she gave me though, I think a house upgrade would be in order. More, bigger rooms, a dedicated lab, a study, larger library, larger shower, more bedrooms. Once we get back I should talk to Twilight about it. I'm sure she will like the prospect for it. I also have a slight surprise for her when we eventually start the construction of the new rooms...

I noticed from the moment she recieved her constellation mark from me, she seemed absolutely fascinated with it. At first I just passed it off as genuine interest in its function, but now that she knows what it's capable of I think there's more to it. I think she has a bit of a thing for stars and constellations, so the only fitting gift would be an observatory in her own home. How we would be able to keep the structural integrity of the tree intact and at the same time house an observatory was a question for a later date, though.

What seemed like an hour flew past within mere seconds, and eventually I heard voices approaching our still unconcious party.

I dragged myself up, waiting for the batallion to arrive.

"I hope they are allright. From what Celestia told me they had a bit of a fight with the human. I don't know how bad it is" I heard Princess Luna say from the tunnels, her voice echoing through the chamber.

"Princess Luna, we are here!" I shouted in the direction of the tunnels.

After my shouting, I heard the galloping of hooves and a moment later Luna and her guards were standing in the chamber.

"What happened? And who is she?" Luna says, pointing at Michelle.

"That's Michelle. An assistant of mine back on Earth who ended up travelling here along with me. I told her not to try and help me if something happened to me after drinking the solution, but she just refused to listen. Now look at her." I looked down at Michelle, unconcious and a troubled expression on her face. "When she arrived here some sort of nightmare demon attacked her, and she ended up hiding in this cave. The darkness in this cave was, however, a sentient being. It whispered to her, molding her into something horrifying. We were unable to simply incapacitate her with normal spells, so the Elements of Harmony were used" I pointed at the Mane Six, also out cold."But even those were nearly not enough. If not for me finding a black gem on a pedestal in the corner over there and throwing it into the firefight, we all would've died here. When I woke up, I noticed Fluttershy's sign I gave her was still glowing, her channel of restorative powers had apparantly continued to work while we were out, mending us and watching over us."

"That is quite the story there, Primal. I am sure Celestia would want to hear of this immediatly. Guards, help carry the unconcious ponies and dragon, would you?" She then turned to me "Could you take Michelle with you? Your physical strength is a bit more suited to carrying humans, I would believe" Luna said.

I nodded, and carefully picked Michelle's body up from the ground. She's still unconcious, but apparantly knew she's being carried by someone, and laid her head on my arm.

We made the trek back out of the caverns in silence, and headed towards the royal carriage Luna and her guards had used to get here. I sat down in the carriage, taking care to keep Michelle's body in a comfortable position.

We arrived at Canterlot Castle some time later, having idle conversations along the way. Twilight had woken up during the trip. She nearly fell unconcious again when she saw she was in the air all of a sudden, but she managed to hold on. She had looked at Michelle, seeing her unconcious as well as the rest of the Mane Six, and had asked me what happened during the fight. I explained it in detail, and Twilight remained silent after that, obviously thinking.

Celestia was waiting for us on the landing platform. Twilight was carrying Spike now, and the guards were carrying the others while I held Michelle in my arms. Celestia took a quick glance at the Mane six and Spike to check if they were okay before resting her eyes on me and Michelle. "So this is the human we had to find. I take it she should be fine now after your battle?"

"Yeah. I think the darkness had a strong grip on her, so it should take some time before she wakes up" I said. "Is there anywhere I can lay her down to rest in the meantime? My arms are getting a bit tired from carrying her around."

"She can stay in the guest quarters up at Canterlot Palace. The rest of you can too, untill all of you have awakened.Could you bring the still unconcious ponies, human and dragon to the guest quarters and meet me at my private quarters afterwards for a talk? We have a lot to discuss" Celestia said.

I carried Michelle to the guest quarters, together with Twilight carrying Spike and a few guards carrying the rest. We placed all of them unto the beds in the quarters, and the guards left us afterwards.

"What a day. Won't you agree, Twilight?" I said with an exhausted tone.

"It sure was. Im glad everyone is OK, though. Now we just have to wait untill they all wake up" she said.

"Considering you have already woken up, I don't think the rest of the Mane Six or Spike will take much longer. Michelle, on the other hand..." I say with a hint of doubt. "By the way, I have a little gift planned for you. It involves your house and more rooms."

"Oh really? You would do that for me?" Twilight said with a tinge of excitement.

"Ofcourse Twilight. After all of the hospitality you have given to me, it's the least I could do to return the favor. Aside from more rooms though, there are a few rooms in particular which you will most certainly like... It will be a surprise as to what kind of rooms for now, though" I said teasingly.

"Aww, you're no fun. Just tell me what the rooms will be!" she pleaded.

"Nah. More fun to see you begging for it than to actually spoil the surprise. Now let's go see Celestia. I'm sure she would want some answers" I said.

I chanted a rune in the air with mild boredom, letting fate decide what the rune would do. Fate chose for a rune which sparked with flames and followed me around, much to the worry, and enjoyment of Twilight.

"You sure that thing won't set the castle on fire? Why did you cast it, anyway?" Twilight questioned.

"Well I got a bit bored, so I chanted a random rune in the air and let fate decide what it would be. This rune in particular won't set the entire castle on fire, maybe cause a bit of commotion at best. It's practically harmless. I don't really get why this is a rune in the first place" I said.

"Maybe it's some kind of sparking rune to kick-start other runes? If you could turn off the constant sparking and combine it with another rune which caused some kind of flammable substance, you could create a deadly trap. Rune traps!" Twilight said with excitement.

"Too much effort which could easily be combined into one rune which erupts into a collumn of fire. Much easier, and leaves less to be found" I said.

"I guess you are right. Some things are just there to be useless for some reason or the other" Twilight said with a defeated tone.

We arrived at Celestia's quarters, and Twilight knocked on the door. A short "Come in!" sounded and I opened the door for us.

We saw Celestia languishing on a couch in the corner of the room, reading a book called "Creatures of the Dark and Evil". She put down the book when she saw us, and beckoned for us to take a seat in the room. I took a seat in a chair in the far corner of the room, and Twilight sat beside Celestia on the couch. I didn't completely use the chair for what it was supposed to be used for, as I used it as an uncomfortable bed. "You comfortable there Primal? You seem very relaxed in that chair" Celestia smirked.

"This is how I sit in a chair when i'm exhausted. Which was basically my entire schoolperiod. And a few times in my lab, when I just couldn't be bothered."

"Alright, if it makes you comfortable I am not the one to judge. Moving on, I would like to hear how you defeated the corruption inside uhm... Michelle... was it?" Celestia said in an inquisitive tone.

"To put it in a simple, short, and not-boring way, we found Michelle, used a lot of powerful spells which didn't work, used the Elements of Harmony which nearly didn't work and then I found a black gem in the corner which I threw into the Elements of Harmony and the corrupted one's beam, which caused one hay of a massive explosion and taking us all out in the process along with purging the darkness from Michelle" I explained. "I don't want to take credit for saving us, though. If not for the power of the Elements, the gem could not have been shattered in the first place. Not to mention Fluttershy's healing keeping us alive after it."

Twilight blushed slightly at this praise, and Celestia looked at me with an expression of fullfillment. "I suppose a reward is in order. For all of you. I heard Primal had something planned for you, so I will leave that gift to him. I am sure he will make your gift incredible" she said, looking at Twilight.

"He didn't even tell me what he was going to do apart from telling me something with my house and new rooms" Twilight said with an annoyed look on her face, which to me looked really cute. It was fun to see Twilight not knowing everything for a time. "You done staring there, Primal? Or do you intend to terrorize me further?

"Huh, what?" I looked up with my cheeks turning red in embarrassment. "Sorry, I must've faded out thinking about you" I grinned.

Now it was Twilights turn to have red cheeks. In contrast to her purple fur this looked quite funny.

"Could you leave your teasing for somewhere other than my private chambers? It is making me feel quite uncomfortable knowing that you two are being so open." Celestia said with a smug smile.

"Sorry, Princess" Twilight and me said in unison.

"It is quite alright, you two. I am glad to see my student has finally started being socially acceptable." Celestia commented..

This drew a blush out of the both of Twilight. Saying something about 'tending to her books', she left the room in a hurry.

Before I could follow her out of the room, Celestia said: "Your payment will arrive as you are used to, tomorrow morning. Enjoy the rest of your day." I nodded, and quickly followed Twilight out of the room, who was headed towards the guest quarters where the rest of our friends were.

We entered the quarters, to find Luna close to Michelle, inspecting her. Spike, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were awake now, but Applejack and Pinkie Pie were still out.

"I am glad the pink one is still out cold. A bit of peace and quiet is comforting sometimes" I said with a chuckle. "I'm also glad the rest of you are awake now. Twilight and I have been awake for a little while now, although i'm not quite sure why we woke up before the rest of you did.

"I woke up when we just got placed into this room. I saw the guards laying the rest down on the cushions and bed, and saw you carrying the human. Did you see that beam, though? It was AWESOME!" Dash said, with a hint of her former self returning.

"The specacular light show was quite something. Shame it was pointed at us." Rarity agreed with Dash.

"I-I'm just glad everyone is okay" Fluttershy said.

Spike ran towards Twilight, giving her a bone-crushing hug the sort of which were usually seen by Pinkie. "You must be incredibly happy to see Twilight again, are you?" I asked Spike.

"Happy does not even describe how glad I am to see my sister being okay" I scrunched my face a bit at the thought of Spike and Twilight being brother and sister, but left it at the face and thought.

While Spike hugged Twilight, Applejack woke up. "Wha happened guys.... Where ah'm ah."

"You were knocked unconcious caused by the sheer force of the black gem exploding. As we all were. The rest of us just woke up earlier than you did, with no real explanation" I said comfortingly.

Applejack nodded, and proceeded to stand up, before asking how the human was doing. "She seems fine. Twilight and I checked her vitals, and found nothing in particular" I said.

Applejack squinted her eye at me slightly, knowing something was up between me and Twilight. "Are you two.. by any chance...?" she asked carefully.

"No, not really."  I responded. " Let's just leave it at that.

All the time, Luna was silent, inspecting Michelle for any signs of the corruption. Then, she spoke: "I fear we might have a slight problem"

The cheer in the room was quickly extinguished, and I had a worried look on my face. "She is alright, yes?" I asked.

"Physically she is fine. Mentally, however..." She looked at Michelle before continuing "The corruption seems to have taken such a huge hold on her that even now she is afflicted by it, after you purged her from most of it. I am not sure if this residual corruption is permanent, or temporary. I hope for all of you that it will be the latter, but only time will tell."

I looked over at Twilight. She looked like she was thinking, hard. "I think there might be a book somewhere about this corruption. I think i've read it before, but i'm not sure what the name of the book was..."

"You mean this book?" Celestia said, suddenly entering the room while levitating a book. The book she was reading in her private quarters.

"Yes, that's the one! You were reading that before we came into your quarters... Is there anything useful in there?" Twilight asked with hope in her eyes.

"There is something in there which could purge it... It is quite dangerous, though. Are you sure you are up for that task?" Celestia asked, but without a hint of doubt.

"Ofcourse, Princess!" Twilight said, confidence radiating outwards from her.

"I had no doubt. Now, for the ritual you will need to gather a few extremely rare materials. I suggest you bring someone along with you, but do not take everyone. A small group travels faster than a big one." Twilight immediatly looked at me. "I thought you would choose him to go with you. Now, for the materials.."

Celestia wrote down a list of materials on a piece of paper which appeared out of nowhere, and handed it to Twilight afterwards. She looked up from reading it, and said: "A Deathlotus? That doesn't sound ominous."

"As I mentioned, the ritual is a dangerous one.It will attempt to fuse the corruption inside of Michelle into an object embalmed with a deathlotus salve, which can be disposed of using a special kind of bonfire. Hence the lunar wood. The Deathlotus can be found in the swamps to the east The object is a mystical flammable rock, which has not been seen around for ages. After the rock is used, burned in most cases, it will re-appear somewhere on Terra sometime later. I have heard rumours of it having re-appeared already, but the location of it is yet unknown. I will share with the both of you what knowledge and rumours I have of it." Celestia said, her horn glowing. She touched Twilights forehead, and then mine.

I saw images flashing past, and heard a couple of voices talk about "The Rock of the Phoenix", it's name derived from a phoenix's ability to resurrect from its ashes. The voices told of a place called "The Badlands", where the rock was rumoured to be at.

"To make the lunar wood catch fire to burn the rock, you will need a special igniter. Legends talk about an everburning torch with green flames. I heard of the torch being located in a mountain, but I am unsure as to which specific mountain. I only know the mountain is located in the San Palomino Desert" Celestia said.

"For the ritual itself, you will need a crystal focus, one which has the ability to hold the forces of Life and Death. There is only one such focus known in Terra, the "Crystal of Conflict", its location also unkown. Rumours say it was last seen in the Crystal Kingdoms up north. Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire might be able to help you further with it" Celestia said. "Lastly, you will need a siphoning stick, the "All-Consuming Branch". It is said this branch to be located deep within the Galloping Gorge, guarded by something sinister. I will hand you a map with the locations of the materials. Once you have collected all of them, return to me and we will perform the ritual."

(If the image is unclear, have a direct link: Link to the map)

We took the map, quickly remembered the locations, and placed the map in a pouch on my belt

"We should head back to Ponyville first. Prepare for the trips and all that" I suggested.

"Trips? I thought we were going to get all of them in one go?" Twilight asked in confused tone.

"Nonsense. Look at how far apart all of these things are. Not to mention that we don't even know where the crystal focus is yet. No, we will pack for seperate trips to all four directions, and will get the Deathlotus and Rock of the Phoenix in one go. My energy alone is not good enough to teleport the distance to and from those places, so I suggest we travel normally towards where an item is located, and travel back using our combined magic. Besides, we could find out more about where the item is during the trip" I said.

Twilight agreed with my plan, and turned  to face the other ponies.

"Where is Pinkie?" she asked, wondering where the pink earth pony had been.

Pinkie was, however, sneaking up on Twilight from behind at that moment. I saw her from the corner of my eye, but decided to say nothing to allow her to surprise Twilight.

"SURPRISE!" Pinkie shouted near Twilights ear. This caused Twilight to shoot up in the air for atleast 5 meters. I managed to catch her to stop her from falling on the ground.

"My hero!" Twilight said in a damsell-in-distress voice.

"Pff, I could've just dropped you if I wanted to. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for you, I care too much to be able to do that" I said, mildly amused.

"Don't let your care take over your rationale. Could you please put me down, now? I mean I don't mind staying in your arms but I think this is getting a bit heavy for you" Twilight said.

" I doubt it, but fine."  I said, lowering Twilight to the ground slowly. "We should get going now. Could you take care of Michelle while we are gone?" I mentioned to Celestia and Luna.

"We will make sure she's safe here. If she wakes up, I will contact you or Twilight. Have a great journey" Celestia said, Luna nodding in approval.

We left Princess Celestia and Princess Luna with Michelle, and headed to the train station to get back to Ponyville. "Can't you just teleport us back there?" Dash said, annoyed.

We stepped into the train, before I answered: "I can't be bothered. It takes a lot of energy out of me, even though it may not look like it. Besides, I have quite a long journey ahead of me so I'd rather save that energy" I looked at Dash "Besides, nothing more relaxing than a train trip. Come now, I'm sure you out of all ponies needs it the most."

Dash tried to think of a witty remark which probably had something to do with boasting about herself, but didn't manage. Instead, she was just opening and closing her mouth, making her look like a fish. This drew the necessary laughter out of us, ofcourse.

"Oh c'mon! Why me?" Dash said, annoyed.

"The moment you start not having an ego and acting normally when put under pressure is the moment I will stop laughing about you" I said with a grin.

"I can do that!" Dash said, but with pride in her voice,

"Nah, you can't. Not yet, anyway. I can see you are faking it right now" I said, mocking her.

Dash looked at me, defeated. She flew down towards a nearby chair and sat in it, silent. "Good. Now keep that up and you will lose that massive ego of yours in no time. You can be proud of your achievements and skills, but there's something such as overdoing it" I said, having won the battle. She looked at me, guilt in her eyes, but remained silent.

"WHO WANTS A CUPCAKE!!!?!?!" Pinkie shouted, causing everyone to jump up in shock.

"Pinkie! Stop scaring everypony like that!" Twilight demanded, still slightly angry at her earlier shock.

"It's Pinkie. I don't think you can make her stop doing stuff like that" I said absentmindly.

Applejack noticed something was wrong, and queried : "What's wrong Primal? Ya thinkin' of somethin'?"

"Kind of. Trying to figure out what me and Twilight would need to pack for our journey. By the way, Twilight" I looked at Twilight, drawing her attention. "Where do we go first?"

"I think it might be a good idea to get the focus first, since we don't really know where it is. The rest should be easier afterwards. Besides, I think the crystal might need a bit of tuning before it's usable anyway" she answered me. "I'm going to miss the rest of you guys while we are gone. I doubt we will take very long, and since we are going to teleport back anyway, we will see you between trips.

I finally made up my mind about what to pack, and notified Twilight: "For this one we should pack a few supplies to last us the way to the Crystal kingdom. From there we can buy more if need before we head to wherever the crystal is. We can go by train, but I prefer having our own food and drink with us"

"You sure you guys can handle all of it with just the two of you?" Fluttershy asked. "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"I'm sure of it. Both of us are adept with magic, and should anything happen to that we still have Primal's daggers" Twilight assured.

"Darn. Speaking of daggers, I wanted to ask Celestia to maybe have a new, improved set created for me. From what I can tell these are just simple iron daggers. I'll contact Celestia by mind to ask her about it" I said. I scried for a connection with Celestia's mind, and found it shortly after. "Celestia, I have something I need to ask you for. I could use a set of improved daggers instead of these iron ones. These serve me well, but better tools means better work after all. Could you maybe fix me a new set of some fancy material?" I asked her.

"Hello Primal. Yes, I could get the royal blacksmith to forge some good daggers for you. They will be created from a very rare material, called Elemental steel. This special material has been found centuries ago, but there was no real known use for it untill now. Due to the magical nature of the material, whenever you cast a spell it will overcharge, granting it extra power. It also allows for the siphoning of someone's magic. Whenever the material touches something or someone other than the user, it will drain the magic out of it and bestow it upon the user. These blades will be very powerful, so I suggest you enchant or let them be enchanted in such a way that only you can use them. I will have them ready for when you return from your first trip" Celestia answered.

"Amazing, Celestia. Thanks in advance, and I will return with haste with the item required for the ritual." I closed the connection between our minds, and returned to the physical world. Whenever I would speak to someone in this kind of way, I slightly fade from existence and can't act untill I close the connection. Which is a real worry if it should happen when in a battle.

"You were looking a bit transparant there Primal. You okay dear?" Rarity asked.

"I'm fine, it's just a little side effect caused by connecting with someone's mind, I think." I explained.

"That sounds really strange, but okay. If you say you are fine, then I am statisfied" Rarity answered.

"It means he can talk to someone with just his thoughts. Unicorns are able to use the spell too, but to a less powerful extent, from what I saw. Primal's version seems to cause himself to slightly fade. And I have no doubt he can use it at even longer distances than I could ever do, because of his connection with Earth." Twilight elaborated.

"I don't think we needed the smatypants explanation, but thanks anyway" Dash scoffed.

"Oi, manners Dash. You seem to be rather insulted by me showing your overextensive pride and boasting" I remarked. "Wait a second..." I looked closely at Dash, who in turn lightly backed away from my stare. "I see. You are jealous!"

"No i'm not! Who said I was jealous?" she countered.

"Come on, admit it. You are jealous. And if I'm not mistaken, the jealousy is caused by me meeting Twilight first, and not you. Which is a rather stupid way of being jealous, in my honest opinion."

" Why would I be jealous of you meeting Twilight first?" Rainbow asked.

" Because if I wouldn't have, you could've boasted about meeting an alien and being the first to become friends." I said.

" I guess...." She said nervously.

The train was nearing Ponyville by now, so we silently sat and waited untill the train arrived at the station. We paid the train fare, and left the station.

"So, I guess you two are gonna prepare for your trip to the Crystal Kingdom now, then?" Dash asked.

"Yeah. We got a lot of materials to collect, so we'd best get started right away" I answered. "Group hug!"

All of them gathered for a group hug. While hugging, I noticed Spike standing away from the group in the corner of my eye. "Spike, when I say "Group hug!" that means we hug, as a group. Which includes you. So get over here and join the hugging." I saw hesitation in his eyes, but the love for his friends got the best of him and he joined in.

"We will see you all very soon, I promise. And with a crystal to boot." I turned to Twilight. "Let's get packin', shall we?"

Each of the mares headed to their respective homes, but Dash decided to accompany us untill the treehouse. I saw that she wanted to ask something, but was refraining from doing so.

"What troubles you, Dash?" I asked.

" I... just wanted to say thank you for pointing those things of mine out to me. You will stay in Equestria, right..?"

"Not this again. Look, i'm not leaving you anytime. Not soon, not later, not ever. This is my home now as much as it is yours. Sure, I will visit my old world again some day, but I definitely do not want to stay there. This place has something... Harmony unequaled in its grace. When you look at Earth, you see only war, pain, grief, greed and death. Sure there are upsides but most of the world is either full of greed and corrupt or at war with some other country. I don't want to live in a world where you have this constant fear that someday your home might cease to exist, just because of a feud between nations. It's pathetic, really. In comparison to Earth, Terra is paradise. And you wonder if i'm going to leave you guys."

"I... I didn't know it was that bad on your old world...." Dash said.

"You didn't, and you couldn't have. I suppose you have never wondered why you had such an easy life untill now?" I said.

"Honestly, I haven't. Seeing someone coming from somewhere as bad as you said it is, it's made me realize that my life is pretty dull and boring in comparison" Dash said, on the verge of crying.

"Hey, come now, your life isn't boring or dull. You fought and defeated both Discord AND Nightmare Moon! I don't dare call that boring or dull. That's more action than a commonner will ever see on Earth. Only the soldiers get to fight on Earth, and they usually kill or get killed with ease. Humans have no magic, so they rely on weapons called guns. They propel a projectile forth at high speeds, usually resulting in instant death to anything it touches, unless wearing bulletproof armour."

"Your world sounds really savage, Primal. I'm glad for all of us and you that you managed to get to this world" Twilight said.

"Enough about me. We've been standing in front of the library for quite some time, we should get going now or risk Celestia's eternal wrath" I chuckled.

Dash flew off, and we headed inside to prepare for our upcoming trip.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger -> Princess Celestia

I was pacing about my room, waiting for news from Luna about the human. She had still been unconcious since Primal dagger and the rest left. I was wondering if the ritual would be needed to wake her up in the first place, but I had read no such thing about that in the book. Then, the door opened to reveal a midnight blue pony. My sister.

"Is she awake? Please tell me she is awake." I said, hoping that it would be true.

"Yes Tia, she is awake. You should come with me and speak to her. You have much more of an influence in calming ponies than I do" my sister said.

"Let us make haste then, Luna. The human should probably be confused by now as to why you left the room."

We quickly headed over to the guest quarters. The human was sitting on the bed she had been unconcious on. Untill now, I had not managed to get a good look at her. She was wearing a plain white shirt with a red blouse on top, with tight blue jeans and black casual shoes, and had her auburn hair tied up in a knot.

"Hello, Michelle. Primal Dagger, or Joshua as you call him, has told me a bit about you. I would like to know a bit more about you, though" I said.

"Where is he? Where did the rest of them go?" Michelle asked.

"They have left to Ponyville, and Twilight and Primal Dagger are on an errand to collect a few materials for a ritual we need to perform on you. You had been corrupted by the darkness residing in the cave you hid in, and after the gem explosion, it was nearly purged off of you. There is a bit of residual corruption however, which has to be dealt with before it manages to infest you again like it did" I explained.

"I didn't hurt them, did I? I didn't mean to hurt any of them, but I just couldn't control myself for some reason. That darkness, as you said, had taken full control over my body I think" Michelle said.

"As far as I know, nopony, human or dragon has been hurt by you. All of them looked pretty healthy, but unconcious like you when me and my guards arrived" Luna said, taking over.

"How long have I been out for?" She asked curiously.

I looked outside to see my sun setting and Luna's moon slowly rising. "Almost three days now. You should be starved, I presume. Let me get you something to eat and something to drink" I offered, leaving Luna with her to fetch some water and a sandwich from the kitchen.

I trotted as fast as I could towards the royal kitchens, the chefs confused as to why their Princess appeared in their kitchen at this time of day.

"Bring me a glass of water and a cheese sandwich, please. And hurry up a bit" I demanded.

The chefs scrambled to fetch what I ordered, and within moments they held out a plate with what I asked for. "Thank you, my loyal subjects." I levitated the dinner plate in my magic, and trotted back to the guest quarters.

I opened the door, and saw Luna and Michelle having an idle conversation about who knew what. I placed the tray in front of Michelle, who gladly accepted the food and drink, consuming it within seconds.

Both of us just waited untill she had finished her meal, before continuing to question her. "May I ask what happened to you to arrive at this planet, and what happened when you arrived on it?" I asked, masking a slight hint of excitement.

"Well, when Joshua.. I mean Primal Dagger drank the liquid rainbow, he kind of fell over. I didn't want him to hit his head on the floor, so I catched him before he could. I don't really know what happened after that. The world just went black, and then I appeared on some hill in this verdant world of yours. When I woke up, I saw nothing around me. But when I just decided that there was nothing, a shadow appeared behind me. It said something, but I can't really remember what. I think it was something like: "Beware, the darkness will consume you". Looking back at it, I shouldn't have been so scared about what he said. His appearance however frightened me, and I ran as fast as my legs could carry. I thought it was chasing me, so I ran towards a cave I saw from on top of the hill. I don't think it was actually chasing me, it was just warning me of the darkness I was going to cast upon myself. I thought I was safe in the cave, but I was proven wrong. I think you might have heard the rest from Primal himself. Nothing else really happened other than the constant whispers consuming me in the darkness" Michelle said.

"You say you ran away from a shadow? Any clue as to what it looked like?" Luna asked her.

"I don't know really. I think it had green eyes, and a mist-like figure of something that looked like a ghost" Michelle said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I thought it mightve been Primal in some weird way, but the shadow you said had green eyes, not red. This also makes Twilight's description wrong aswell, as she said it had a singular fiery eye." Michelle looked at me, confused. "Primal is the Element of the Assassin. He has an outfit which he has modified to make him look like a shadow, with piercing red eyes under a veiled, smoking hood."

"He is the Element of the what now? This doesn't make any sense." Michelle said.

"Basically, the world you are on now is a sentient being. It has decided that Primal should be someone of importance, a protector of sorts. It might have done the same for you, but I am not sure if it has. Maybe after we have done the ritual we can attempt to explore the possibilities" I explained.

"Why then? Why not now?" she said, and I noticed a strange aura seeping from her.

"Calm down, please. It is for this exact reason that we have to wait untill the corruption has been lifted" I said in a soothing voice. This calmed her down, luckily, and she looked like she was accepting it.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I guess that was due to the corruption. I hope Primal and Twilight find those things quickly, I don't like this feeling..."

WWWWW

Change of Character - Princess Celestia -> Primal Dagger

We had nearly arrived at the Crystal Kingdom, when Celestia contacted me. I quickly asked Twilight to look out for me, and I listened to what Celestia had to say.

"Primal, Michelle has woken up. She looks to be fine now, but the corruption is still affecting her. Please hurry and collect all of the materials as soon as you can. I do not think we have too long untill she snaps again." Celestia said.

I mentally nodded, and closed the connection.

"We should make haste and get all of the materials as quickly as possible. I think we might have to instruct the others to help find the other parts while we head for the rock and the death lotus. I don't want to mentally strain myself too much right now, as I need to save my energy for when we need to teleport back. It will take a lot out of me, I'm sure of that. When we get back, you might have to go on alone if I don't have enough power to conti-"

"No" Twilight stated. "I am not going to go alone to fetch the rock and the lotus. I will use up my own power to make sure both of us make it back. After all, we have to combine our magic in order to teleport back, so if we balance that out we should be equally magically exhausted. By the time we reach Dodge City by train and walk towards the Badlands, our fatigue should be lifted."

"Alright, I'm counting on you. We should prepare to leave the train and head straight to Princess Cadance. I hope she can point us in the right direction..." I said, fear in my heart.

We arrived at the Crystal Empire Palace not too long after exiting the train. I asked a guard for directions to Princess Cadance, but he simply stated the Princess was not accepting visitors right now as she was in a meeting. I tried telling him it was urgent, but he would not budge.

"I am a personal friend of Princess Cadance and student to Princess Celestia herself. I demand that you lead us to the Princess" Twilight said, emitting an aura of authority.

"Hold on, you are Twilight Sparkle?? My apologies, I did not recognize you. Follow me, I will lead you to the Princess myself."

We followed the guard through a maze of halls, and were brought in front of a closed door. "I will open the door and request a meeting with the Princess. Stay close behind me" The guard said.

I donned my armour, but left out the smoke effect and piercing red eyes. I left my hood on however, which caused my face to be darkness. Nopony would be able to see my face untill I removed my hood.

"You sure that's the right thing to wear here?" Twilight asked me tentatively.

"It radiates a slight aura of authority. Otherwise the other ponies in there will just think I'm some sort of commoner while I'm really the Shadow of Equestria. The title requires it" I said.

"If you say so" she said, before following the guard into the room.

I assumed that the guard we had followed had a pretty high-ranking, as normal guards would'nt be able to just barge into a meeting like that. "Permission to speak, Princess Cadance" the guard asked.

"Permission granted. Speak, Crystal General Clavius" A pink alicorn with multi-hued purple and pink mane and tail answered.

A general? We managed to get the attention of a general..?

"These two here requested an audience with you. I assume it is important considering the circumstances" the crystal guard said, motioning towards us.

"That is correct." I spoke with my altered voice. I turned my head towards Princess Cadance. "You must be Princess Cadance. 'Tis a pleasure to meet you in person. I am sure you know of Twilight Sparkle already."

I saw Twilight brimming with happiness in the corner of my eye. I knew a little bit about the relation between her and Cadance, but to what extent was unknown to me.

Princess Cadance addressed the other ponies present: "This meeting will be moved to a later date. I must ask you to leave the room."

The ponies addressed to slowly got up, grabbed their things and left the room, leaving me, Twilight, the guard and the Princess.

When everyone left, it looked like Twilight couldn't hold it anymore. She charged straight at Cadance, embracing her in a tight hug. They then did what looked like their signature meeting: "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" They both shouted in unison, giggling.

Princess Cadance then looked at the confused guard. "You may leave, Clavius."

The guard bowed, and turned and left the room.

I removed my hood, showing my face, and looked at the two giggling mares.

"Oh, sorry. And you are?" Cadance asked.

"Primal Dagger, Shadow of Equestria. Pleased to make your acquaintaince" I bowed shortly.

"Oh, so you are the one I've been hearing about from all the travellers that arrive in the Crystal Empire. They spoke of a shadowy figure that saved them from criminals and burglars. You don't look shadowy or imposing to me, though" Cadance said.

I grinned. "That is because this isn't my full outfit." I donned my hood again, and activated the smoke aura, piercing red eyes and echoing voice. "This is...is...is...." my voice echoed.

"I retract my statement. You do look imposing. Nice smoke effects, by the way" Cadance complimented.

"Thank you....you....you..." I removed my effects and hood again.

"I assume you came here for something other than meeting me?" Cadance asked us.

"Yes! We came here to ask you if you've heard anything about the "Crystal of Conflict"? Twilight asked, taking the lead.

"Why yes, ofcourse I have. It resides in our treasury room. Why, do you need it for something?" Cadance said.

"Um, yes. We need it to perform a ritual to cleanse the corruption inside another human we found" When Twilight said the word human, she pointed at me.

"Ah, okay. Well I can give it to you, but it is one of my most prized artifacts in the treasury. I would like you to do something for me in exchange, something suited to your skills" she said, looking at me. "There is a problem here in the Crystal Empire that involves a certain high-ranking nobleman. He has been going around stealing money from others, and hiring henchmen to deal with the ones who rebelled against him. He is quite the troublemaker, and I would like you to, scene his death. You need to make it appear in such a way that one of the rebelling ponies killed him. I hate having to use violence like this, but he simply refuses to listen to any demands."

"Now that is the easiest job I've ever taken. I can simply poison his drink with a potent poison which the rebellious ponies could get around to making in these parts. Nobody would know, and he would be easily dealt with. While I'm gone, you two can catch up" I motioned to Twilight and her.

"Thanks Primal Dagger, and be safe." Cadance said.

I donned my signature armour, and left the room, causing quite the shock from the guard who escorted us here. "Don't mind me, just passing through on official business....business....business....."

He threw a confused look at me, but left it at that. Cadance had told me where the nobles area would be, and told me how my target looked like. This made my job a lot easier, and I quickly found where he lived. Ofcourse, I drew the necessary confused and startled looks, but nothing too serious. My target was sitting at a table, obviously waiting for something. Perfect, he's waiting for his food or drink. I quickly walked into an alley and turned myself invisible using the power of Air to guide my steps. I fashioned the poison I was going to use, which unfortunately had to be placed in a drink as it was a liquid. My mastery of Water allowed me to perfectly re-create the poison, and I headed inside the building he was languishing in front of, eyes closed and enjoying his soon-to-be last day.

Inside, I saw a yellowish crystal pony with a cup of boiling coffee as cutie mark, who was obviously the waitress. She was just about to walk outside with a tray containing food and drink, obviously directed for my target as he was the only one sitting outside right now. The place was devoid of ponies, other than him. I quickly froze the waitress on the spot, and poured the contents of the poison vial into the drink. After watching it mix and return to its original colour, I unfroze the waitress, who looked around, confused, but seeing nopony or human in my case. She then proceeded to grab the tray and walked outside.

I quickly connected my mind with Cadance's, slightly interrupting a conversation she was having with Twilight. "Princess, the target should be dealt with any moment now. If any accusations are to be made against a yellow crystal pony with a boiling coffee cup cutie mark, make sure these charges are dismissed."

I disconnected again, not waiting for a response, and walked outside at the same moment the waitress walked outside. I looked around and saw nopony in the streets around. Perfect as well. Nopony to witness his death other than the waitress.

The waitress placed the tray on the table, and walked inside again. Just for amusements sake, I sat on the chair next to him, still invisible, waiting for him to take a drink.

He then finally took a sip of his drink. The poison would take a little moment to start working, but just a tiny sip like that was enough.

He started coughing wildly, and his eyes turned a bloodshot red. Then, his body started turning pale, and he choked on the spot. Easy. The symptoms of the poison were quite unnerving, but being versed in death and deceit, it didn't bother me as much.

I quickly burned his body and scattered his ashes, never to be seen again. I then made myself visible again, without effects as to not scare the pony inside the building. I evaporated the drink before I grabbed the tray and walked inside.

"Miss, there was this random dinner tray outside. I thought I'd bring it inside as there was nopony around to be seen" I said.

"That's strange. There was this nobleman there just a moment ago.." she said.

"I think I saw him walking away. I guess he didn't even bother to pay for his meal, and from what he left of it he left in quite a hurry. The bastard" I said.

"You can say that again. The nerve of that nobleman. I would be glad if he was to simply vanish from this place. He's quite the troublemaker and thief, stealing money whenever he has the chance" the waitress said.

I grinned subtly. If only you knew...

"Well, thanks for bringing the plate inside, Mister..?"

I had to quickly think of something on the spot, as revealing my real name would be a disaster and could link me to the crime.

"My name is of no concern " I said, hiding my real name.

"Alright. Thanks again."

I turned around and left the building, content with the completed task. I quickly headed back to the palace.

WWWWW

"And then he said: "I do know that. Twilight knows, too", and winked at me!" I heard Twilight saying.

"The job is done." I said, entering the room.

"Ah, Primal Dagger. Thank you for your efforts. Guards!" she shouted.

A guard walked inside the room, waiting for an order from his Princess.

"Could you be so kind as to escort these two to the treasury room. I have allowed them to take the "Crystal of Conflict" with them for an important ritual" Cadance said.

The guard looked at her, confused, but followed her orders. "Follow me, please."

It was a different guard than the first one. He led us through the many halls of the palace, and we stopped in front of an opened ornate golden door. "This is the treasury. The crystal should be somewhere in the middle of the room" the guard explained, leaving us.

"I'm glad we didn't have to make some kind of world-trip through the frozen wastes outside the empire" Twilight said, relieved.

"Me too. Let's grab the crystal and teleport back home after saying our goodbyes to Cadance".

The crystal was indeed in the middle of the room. I carefully took the crystal from its pedestal, and placed it inside Twilight's saddlebag. We then walked back towards the throne room, memorizing the path.

Twilight knocked on the door, hearing a short "Come in" voiced from inside.

We walked inside. Twilight quickly trotted to Cadance, hugging her again. "Thank you Cadance. I will make sure to visit you sometime after all this is over. Or maybe you could visit us in Ponyville?" Twilight asked.

"I would be glad to visit you and your friends in Ponyville again" Cadance answered.

"Princess, could you assist us with teleporting home? We need to gather a few other materials as well, and we are in a bit of a hurry for it" I asked Cadance, who returned a confused look. " I will make a channeling stone into which you can channel your magics. This stone in turn will create the portal back to Ponyville.

I created an ordinary stone, and enchanted it with a special rune before placing it on the ground in front of us. The unicorn and alicorn looked at the stone, and then knew what to do. I saw both of them channeling their magic, and they touched the stone with their horns. I placed my hands on the stone, too, adding my own power to the mix. The stone started glowing brightly, and then it floated up. It started turning quickly in the air, creating a portal.

"I am sure I will see you around again sometime, Princess" I said to Cadance, and stepped through the portal. Twilight hugged her one last time before also stepping through the portal.

WWWWW

We appeared inside the library, much to the shock and dismay of Spike.

"You guys are back already? That didn't take near as long as I thought it would" he said.

"Cadance had the crystal in her treasury room. The only thing Primal needed to do was eliminate a troublesome nobleman, which he did quickly and efficiently." she looked at me, praising me for my work.

I blushed slightly. "Thanks, Twilight. It means a lot to me, hearing that from you."

Twilight then turned to Spike, with a slightly exhausted expression on her face. "Spike, could you be so kind as to gather my friends here? I need to ask them, and you, something important"

Spike looked at Twilight, hoping she would say what that was, but Twilight remained silent. "Okay, where do I tell them to go?"

"Just send them to the library. Me and Primal will rest a bit while you gather them" Twilight said, noticeably exhausted now.

Spike ran out of the library, gathering the rest of the Mane six. Twilight had unpacked the crystal in the meanwhile, when a package appeared on the table in a bright flash. It was signed with my name on it.

"I think I know what this is. These will come in quite useful for our next trip" I said, ripping open the package.

As I expected, my new daggers were inside the box, neatly placed against each other. The blade was a cool blue, with an intricate pattern on it, infused with magic. The blade itself curved upwards at the edge, ending in a razorsharp point. I quickly enchanted the blades with the required runes for lightweight, pain-infliction and unbreaking. I then turned to Twilight. "Twilight, I might need your magic for this enchantment. It's to bind these daggers to me and to me alone."

"What do I need to do?" Twilight asked.

"I need you to place your hoof on my left hand, channeling your magic through it, to me. I will place the enchantment on the blade with my right hand. We will have to do this for both of the blades."

She nodded, and I placed the dagger on the table, my right hand on top. Twilight placed her hoof on my left hand as she was told to, and I saw her channeling her magic. I felt it flow through my left arm, chest, and then to my right arm. I added my own magic along with hers and placed the enchantment on the blade. We did the same for the other dagger, the magical exhaustion catching up to Twilight.

"Here, let me fix you. I am not as magically exhausted as you are, so I can spare a bit." I placed my finger just below her horn, and channeled my magic through. This reinvigorated Twilight, who looked a lot better with more magic in her.

"Thanks Primal. I feel better already" she thanked me.

"Let's rest a bit on the couch while we wait for the rest to arrive" I suggested.

I plopped myself down on the couch, having placed the new daggers on my toolbelt, and placed the older ones on the table.

I didn't notice it catch up to me, but I quickly fell asleep.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger -> Spike

I walked over to Rainbow Dash's cloud home. I tried to figure out what was so important that Twilight needed me to gather the rest of the Elements of Harmony, but couldn't come up with an explanation.

"Rainbow Dash! I need you to go to the library, Twilight asked for you!" I shouted upwards, a slight puff of smoke escaping my nostrils.

The cyan mare peeked over the cloud to see me standing there, waiting. "I will go there in just a sec. Need to finish grooming myself" she answered.

"Alright, but don't take too long. I'm going now to get the rest of the girls, see you in a few!" I shouted back.

I walked over to Fluttershy's cottage next. I knew the canary yellow pegasus would be tending to her animals right now, so scaring her would be inconsiderate. I approached the cottage, and waited for the pegasus to finish feeding her animals. She finally noticed me standing there.

"Oh hey Spike, were you waiting for me?" Fluttershy asked.

"I was. I had to ask you to visit Twilight at the library. It was quite urgent" I answered.

"Any details as to why it is urgent? It doesn't seem very... Twilight, to call us like this" she contemplated.

"Not really. All she said was that it's important that you meet her right now" I said.

"Okay. I'll go to her place right now. I assume you are going to get the rest too?" Fluttershy answered.

"Yeah, I should get going. See you there" I said quickly, moving on to sweet apple acres.

The walk there was uneventful, and long. I finally got to the farm, however, and found Applejack working in the fields.

"Hey Applejack, could you come over for a second?" I shouted over at her.

The orange mare paused her work, and trotted over to me. "What's up Spike?"

"Twilight asked me to gather all of you at the library. She said it was urgent" I answered. Applejack tried to scour for any hint of deceit, but found none.

"Alright, Ah'll go over there right away. Ah'll see ya in a bit" she answered. I left her to go to Twilight''s treehouse, and i continued towards Sugarcube corner to fetch Pinkie Pie.

I arrived at the bakery not a moment later. I told her to go to Twilight's home, and ofcourse she was bouncing around. I quickly headed over to the last pony I had to round up.. Rarity.

I hesitatingly knocked on the door of the boutique. The mare I liked opened the door. I thought I had a dreamy look on my face, and Rarity confirmed that.

"I assume you are not here to just gawk at my appearance all day?" she said.

"I...Uh...no? Not really... I..I mean... Twilight asked me to ask you to go to the library" I stammered.

"I can see that there is something you are uncomfortable with. And I can make a guess that it has to do with me" Rarity concluded.

"Yes. Now can we please just go back to the library." I said.

We headed back to the library. I snuck a few glances at Rarity while walking, she didn't seem to notice...

WWWWW

Change of Character - Spike -> Twilight Sparkle

One by one they all arrived at my home. Last to arrive were Rarity and Spike himself. Strange, he seemed a bit nervous...

"Hello girls, you must be wondering why I called you here. We have a slight problem which involves Michelle and slowly losing control and getting the materials we need quickly. I have copied our map of the materials for each of you, and I want you to head to the other locations while me and Primal go for the Rock of the phoenix and the deathlotus. I suggest that Rainbow and Fluttershy head to the Galloping gorge to get the All-Consuming Branch, Applejack and Pinkie Pie head to the San Palomino Desert to find the Everburning torch, and Spike and Rarity head to the Hollow Shades to get the lunar wood. I trust all of you greatly, and I am sure you will succeed. Once you have your item, return to Princess Celestia and bring her the material at once" I explained to each of them.

"Alright, if y'all say so. Come Pinkie, let's quickly prepare for the journey and get a head start" Applejack said to Pinkie.

"I will head to my boutique to pack. Spike, will you join me?" Rarity asked.

"I-I will, Rarity. Give me a second to get some stuff for the journey and I'll come over right away" Spike answered.

"I'm pretty sure we will be the first to get back to Princess Celestia. Isn't that right, 'Shy? Rainbow boasted. Primal shot an evil glare to Rainbow, who immediatly apologised. "Sorry Primal. We'll get the branch and head to the Princess as quickly as possible" Rainbow said in a defeated tone.

When all of them left the library, I turned to Primal. "Well that leaves just us, then. Let's pack our stuff and catch the train to Dodge City. I think we should get the Rock first, and gather the Deathlotus afterwards. The plants might die if we keep them around in those Badlands for too long" I suggested, and Primal nodded.

We quickly proceeded to packing bags. Atleast, I was. Primal was packing lightly by the looks of it, carrying only what was necessary in his pockets.

"You sure you don't need a bit more supplies than that?" I asked him.

"Other than food and drink, which by the looks of it is already provided for, I don't need anything else. If it's a material I can just shape it when necessary. Connection with the Earth and whatnot, remember?" he explained.

He was right. Anything that wouldn't be food or drink he could practically conjure up himself. And with me being the worrywart and triple-checking everything, he was pretty self-assured.

"You are not forgetting anything there, right?" He asked as I checked for the third time now if I grabbed everything I needed. "Maybe you wanna check it just one last time?" he chuckled.

"I have already checked my entire supply three times while you were sitting around, thank you very much" I retorted.

He got a surprised look on his face, and this time I was the one to chuckle. "Didn't expect that, did you?"

"I... That's incredible. You are really efficient, y'know? I like that" he said, praising my skills.

"Thank you! Enough complimenting now, we got some materials to gather" I said walking towards the door, Primal Dagger in my wake.

We arrived at the train station in Dodge City in just a few hours. We were fortunate to catch the train from Ponyville just as it was about to leave. I grabbed the map to check which direction we had to go.

"According to the map we should west untill we find a road which heads south. That should lead us straight into the Badlands. How we are going to find the Rock is a riddle to me" I said.

"Maybe one of the locals here heard about it" he said, walking over to a pony nearby. "Excuse me sir, would you know of "The Rock of the Phoenix?" he asked the pony.

"As a matter of fact, I have. I heard the sheriff in town here knows it's location. Aside from that I just know it's in the badlands. He never told any of us" the stallion said with a sad expression.

"Thanks. I need it to save a life dear to me, and to possibly save Equestria from being plunged into the void" Primal said dryly.

The stallion looked at him with shock, but Primal left him alone and headed straight to the sherrif's office. "I assume you heard me. We got a world to save" he remarked.

I quickly followed him, thinking about what he said. Was Michelle his girlfriend before he came here..? I should ask him about it... just to make sure.

We entered the sheriff's office after explaining the situation to a pony-on-duty. The sheriff himself was sitting behind the desk, twirling his mighty mustache.

"Greetings, sheriff of Dodge City. Me and my friend Twilight Sparkle are on a journey to recover The Rock of the Phoenix. We need it to perform a ritual" Primal told the sheriff.

"I can send my deputy along with you. I'll tell him of the location of the rock, and he can escort ya to it since he probably knows this 'ere area better then you townsfolk do" the sheriff said.

"I guess that'll do. Who's your deputy?" I ask.

A stallion trotted in just as I said that. He's a fiery red, with the same kind of amazing mustache as the sheriff. His cutie mark depicted a deputy's star.

"Howdy. Name's Deputy Star. You're the folk I have to escort?" Star said.

"Yep. Now let's hurry and get that rock, we have something else to gather afterwards" I said.

We quickly headed out of town, to the road I pointed out earlier.

End of part 1

Chapter 9 - Time for Parties!

I attempted to stretch my back. My body seemed stuck in some way however, because I couldn't move a muscle. I opened my eyes only to close them immediately because of the insane amount of light burning my eyeballs.

I also attempted to talk, but all I heard was a rasping sound. Once I got control over my tongue muscles again I managed to say "Water " in the most driest voice ever. The Sahara was nothing compared to the way my mouth felt.

I heard scurrying footsteps, and a glass of water was placed at my lips. I gladly swallowed the life-giving fluid, and my mouth and throat felt less like sandpaper.

" Thanks, whoever you are. I dare not open my eyes, the light blinds me so I can't look at you. " I said, coughing.

" Do you really need to see me to know who watched over you all this time? " I heard a very familiar voice say.

"Twilight! Could you maybe turn off the light or something, I hate not being able to see anything. " I asked.

Twilight walked over to what was presumably a light switch, and I heard it click and felt the strain on my eyelids diminish. I opened my eyes, and looked over at where Twilight would be  in the dark. My eyes adjusted quickly, and I saw the purple unicorn standing there.

"That magical feedback struck you good, although I wonder how you woke up so quickly in the battle. You have broken a lot of bones, and had a few internal wounds aswell. Those had fixed themselves up however, so all the doctors had to do was coax your bones into mending the same way. " Twilight said as she walked closer to my bed.

"How long have I been out for? And how did you get me to this hospital? " I asked.

" Celestia and Nightmare Moon used their magic to teleport us here after they checked on you in the guest quarters. You have been out for a day since then. " she said.

" So I've turned into Wolverine now then. " I muttered.

" Who now?" Twilight asked in confusion.

" Wolverine. He's a 'superhero' from a film back at my world. He has regenerating claws made out of an alien material and has unnatural healing abilities. If something would be to cut him, that cut would heal within seconds. " I explained.

" Okay. Well you didn't heal that quickly but it was still remarkable. My guess is that your attunement with the element of Water gave you passively increased regenerative abilities. I also guess the magical feedback you took in with your daggers when you hit Luna overcharged that ability. Essentially making you this 'Wolverine' character for a moment. "

Twilight moved closer and gave me a hug carefully, and a kiss afterwards. I didn't expect the kiss at all, especially not from Twilight.

"Twilight, why did you ki-"

A strange glow from my chest broke our kiss, and we both looked at it.

" What's happening to me? " I asked, slightly panicked.

I couldn't see it, but Twilight definitely saw. " Your bones...  They are mending themselves!  Amazing! " She quickly took out a notebook and scribbled something down. " This should help me figure you out more than you think. It seems your magic is powered by a need to protect the ones close to you by any means necessary. Our kiss must have activated your magic to heal your injuries! "

"Great. So now my enemies could have a weakness to exploit. Guess I'm going to have to kick it up a notch and make sure you will be able to defend yourself in any situation. I wanted to do this earlier but getting that ritual done had a higher priority at that moment. I tested all of you briefly before, but I want to plan a full set of training sessionsso you can hone your mark prowess and your normal abilities. " I said.

" I nearly wanted to shout at you for that cold comment. But I guess you are right. I doubt you would forgive yourself if something happened to us. " Twilight agreed. " By the way, Pinkie wants to hold a plethora of parties mixed into one. She called it the 'Welcome to Ponyville, Thank you for saving Michelle and Thank you for saving the world' party. I doubt I have to explain the details. "

"Oh but I would love to hear the details. " I said slyly.

" You monster you. Anyway, can you move? " she asked.

I moved several parts of my body,  mainly my arms and legs , and they all did what I wanted to, albeit a little stiffly. " It's still a bit sore, but I can move everything. Catch me if I fall trying to get out of this bed " I said, ripping off several bandages and placing my feet on the ground to brace myself. I lifted myself off the bed with surprising ease. " That was easy. " I said, stretching my back properly this time.

" I'll go get a doctor to dismiss you. " Twilight offered, and walked out of the room.

I slowly walked over to the window,  and looked outside. It was nearly breaking dawn, and I saw the sun rising from its place in the sky. " Beautiful, Celestia. Thanks for this spectacle. " I said under my breath.

" My pleasure, Primal. Once you get out of the hospital, you should come see me, Luna, Nightmare Moon and your pet, I assume. The black panther had been standing beside your bed all the time after Nightmare teleported you to the guest quarters. How she found out where you were or how she opened the door is a mystery still. " Celestia responded in my head.

" I'll get dismissed in a moment, so I'll come by in a few minutes. Twilight would probably like to see you too. " I answered.

A mental nod was returned to me, and the waking world returned to me. I found myself leaning on the windowsill and looking outside with a faded expression. I felt tugging at my hospital clothes, and I turned to see a doctor and Twilight looking at me.

" You look fine to me. I'll sign the papers and get your clothes. " the doctor said.

He walked out of the room, and returned in a few moments signing a paper and carrying my travelling gear I had worn all that time. "Thanks Doctor. I'll put this on and head off . Celestia asked to see me, and you too Twilight. " I said.

The doctor looked surprised to find out that a princess asked to see such a strange creature like me.

"Name's  Primal Dagger. I suppose you haven't heard of me. " I introduced myself.

I quickly put on my gear, and motioned for Twilight to follow me out. We headed straight to the palace. It was early so there were little to no ponies around. I quickly used a weak locating spell to findout where Celestia, Luna, Nightmare and Sabrina were.

I opened the door to the palace dining hall, and saw the princesses eating breakfast and Sabrina munching on a fish.

" Is that.... Fish on your sandwiches?  I thought you ponies detested eating meat. " I said curiously.

Celestia responded after she swallowed the bite she took. " Yes, well spotted. Twilight told us of her eating it on your adventure, and we thought we would try it too. It tastes amazing."

"I like the taste as well. Adds some variety to the usual 'daisy sandwich and hay' combination" Luna followed up.

Nightmare remained silent, and over that silence I could hear Sabrina purr in agreement to how good her meal was.

"You're quite special aren't you Sabrina? I'm glad you came to me when you did. I couldn't have asked for a better companion." I said, praising my pet panther. The panther purred in delight, and walked over to me to  rub my leg softly to show her affection.

" Such an inspiring bond between you two. I am sure you and Sabrina will go through a lot together." Celestia said.

" Usually a creature of the night won't show any affection towards other beings, but I suppose Sabrina is an exception to that. " Nightmare Moon said mockingly, causing Sabrina to softly growl at her.

" Easy there Sabrina. Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon for centuries at end, so her social skills are a bit lacking. That and being described as 'evil '." I said, calming the panther. " Please do refrain from insulting others if you intend to stay and get better. Folks don't like being insulted. " I said directed at Nightmare Moon.

" I apologise, that was a bit brash. My social etiquette needs to be updated. And I do intend on staying, and I hope I will gain the respect of our subjects back sometime. " Nightmare said.

" That will take a while, but with me and my sister by your side and a few good deeds from your end and you will earn that back in no time. Just don't go out alone yet." Luna said.

" I won't place a hoof outside this palace without you. I greatly respect you for putting up with me for so long, but I am glad our differences have been settled. " Night responded

"Anyway " I cut in whilst stroking Sabrina. " I suppose you would want to ask what happened for me to heal so quickly. Twilight, care to tell them?" I asked.

Twilight told them of how she quickly hugged and kissed me, which activated my attunement with the element of Water, which healed my injuries. She also explained how I got back up so quickly in the battle, with the whole 'protection of close ones '  story and how that was linked to my magic.

" I am going to train the Mane Six as a result so they will be able to protect themselves when I am not around. Also, Luna or Nightmare Moon, I wanted to ask either of you to train me in the use of sentient clones. I can't seem to get the hang of it, and with both of you being proficient with those kinds of magic, I could not think of anyone else. In return I could maybe teach you a few tricks, providing you don't know them already. " I said.

" I can do that. If you don't have anything else to do we could do a session after this breakfast. Speaking of, I doubt you have eaten anything since I teleported you to the guest quarters. Come sit with us, and you too Twilight. " Nightmare Moon said.

We gladly accepted their offer, and we sat down at the table. A plate with delicious looking food was levitated to the both of us, and we quickly dug in.

WWWWW

I finished my breakfast, and thanked my hosts for the meal. Twilight said she wanted to go back to Ponyville to her friends, so we said goodbye to her. Celestia and Luna had royal duties to attend to, so they left us too.

" Let's go to the guest quarters. Your human friend is still there. We took care of her while you were in the hospital, and she has recovered considerably. " Night said.

I followed her to the mentioned place. When I entered the room I saw Michelle reading a book on Equestrian lore.

" Enjoying the book?" I said, grinning.

Once she took notice of me, she quickly dropped her book and launched herself at me in a hug attack.

" Alright I get it, you are glad I'm back. "I said.

" Sorry, got a bit overexcited there." She got off of me. " When I heard from Night what happened to you and that you were taken to the hospital, I got worried. Just like before when you drank that potion. Speaking of, I might know a way of recreating that formula. I was reading this book for a reason y'know." Michelle said.

" Oh?  Tell me more! " I demanded.

Just as Michelle wanted to explain what she found out, something quite familiar happened to her. A small current of lightning jumped between her arms and travelled the length of her body.

"Oh my. Looks like I'm not the only one here with rune magic anymore. " I said as the lightning created a  rune in the air in front of her, and it slammed into her chest with non-existent force. " Looks like I'm going to have to train you aswell and see what you are good at. I doubt you will be the same as me. "

"Rune magic? So I can cast spells like you do now? " she asked.

" Seems so. My talent lies with the shadows, but your talent will probably be something different. Of course you can still cast the same kind of stuff I can, but things dealing with Air I will probably be better at. I'm taking a guess that your talent will either be Earth, or Water. Most likely Water. "I said.

" I guess Water would suit me. Since I seem to worry about your wellbeing constantly, it would be the most logical. With the healing and all. " Michelle responded.

" I'll take you to the training with the Mane Six once we get to that. The formula can also be discussed later. For now, you can watch Night train me I guess. Maybe you will pick up a thing or two to use yourself. " I said, turning my attention to Night who had been watching us in silence. "Shall we began? "

Night explained the basics of cloning yourself, and demonstrated it. A second Night appeared who walked out of the room, and came back shortly after with tea while the Night in front of me explained how you had to transfer part of your essence into the clone.

I accepted the tea with surprise, took a sip and placed it down on a nearby table to try the spell myself. " Should I transfer the essence before, during or after I cloned myself? " I asked.

" Either during or after. If you transfer during casting you will need more essence as some will be lost in the process. If you transfer after the spellcast it will be more stable and cost less, but it will take more time obviously. I suggest trying to transfer after the cast whenever you can, but in a battle you might need a clone quicker. I will help you with both methods. " she said.

" Could I try, too? I might aswell try using my magic now. " Michelle asked.

" You can, but be careful. You had part of your essence severed during that ritual, so trying too much might injure you. " I said.

" I'll be careful. As for the spell, I just need to think of what I want and channel my magic for it, right?" She asked,  and I nodded.

I watched her focus, and surely enough a clone appeared next to her after about 20 seconds. She then focused again to transfer her essence, and we saw a small wispy trail coming from her going into the clone. The clone sprung to life, and walked around the room.

"Well done. Now you, Primal Dagger. " Night said.

I went through the same process of creating the clone, but sped up significantly. The clone stood beside me within a few seconds, and I transferred my essence into it. The same wispy line was seen, and the clone and myself equipped my signature spectral armour and blinked around the room,creating a cross pattern of smoke.

" See, it is not that hard now is it. How did you manage to teleport so quickly, though? " Night asked.

" That's one of my signature spells. I call it Shadowstep. I heard, read and saw that you ponies have to channel the teleport and think about where you want to be. I bypass all that and simply blink to where I am looking at. Try it, don't think about it and just look at where you want to be and will that to happen. " I explained.

Both Michelle and Night looked at a point in the room. Michelle was the first to reappear where she wanted to be, and Night followed not too long after.

" This is quite useful indeed. How do you use this to, let us say, teleport behind a wall?" Night asked.

" That's a bit trickier, and will require you to cast another spell before casting Shadowstep quickly after. I got quite effective at doing that quickly, but I suggest you two take it slowly."I walked over to the wall, and continued talking. " You have to literally envision the area behind the wall. If it's just one wall I tend to use a sort of x-ray vision to look through the wall and simply cast Shadowstep. With multiple walls that gets harder. For that, I use a combination of a scrying spell, a normal teleport and my Shadowstep. I scry the part behind the wall and think of where I want to go, while looking at the same spot. This speeds up the process of getting myself there. I'll demonstrate. "

I cast the x-ray spell and the Shadowstep  in quick succession. I appeared on the other side of the wall and re-entered the room. "I used the x-ray for that. Come here and I'll share my understanding of it, it's a bit hard to explain in words. "

They stepped closer to me, and I placed my palms of my hands on both their foreheads. I transferred my knowledge of the spell, and they both looked enlightened. " Go ahead and try it. " I said.

Both of them walked towards the wall, and focused to cast the spell. Both of them disappeared at the same time, and the door opened a second later revealing two smiling faces. " Alright, now let's aim for Celestia's room. Use the thinking part aswell as the x-ray and looking at the target. I'll go first, and meet you there. Don't rush it, you don't want to end up in a wall. " I said, and teleported to Celestia's room.

" Oh hi Celestia, sorry to pop in unannounced. I'm teaching Night and Michelle how to use Shadowstep  for faster teleportation." I said to the shocked alicorn who had just came back from a boring meeting.

" Shadowstep? Is that one of your spells? " she asked.

I just wanted to answer her when Night appeared next to me. " I did it!  That is hard to master, I will make sure to practice it often. "

"As I wanted to say,  Shadowstep is my way of quickly traversing the area. It requires you to see the actual area, but in doing so drastically reduces time and energy costs. " I said.

"Hm, I have heard of similar spells, but none of those were able to go through solid objects. How did you do that then?" Celestia asked.

I explained the combination of spells and the x-ray vision needed to accomplish it. " Would you care to learn? " I asked.

" No thank you Primal, I do not have much use for such spells. If I require it I will be sure to ask you. " she answered.

" Suit yourself. " With that said, Michelle appeared on the other side of me, but fell over. " Ow! I should try to teleport myself upright next time. This is seriously hard though, I greatly respect your abilities, and thank you for teaching them to us. "

"My pleasure. I could always use a bit more practice myself. " I turned to Celestia. " Me and Michelle should get to Ponyville now. Thanks for all of your help, and for yours too Night. Give my thanks to Luna aswell, and I'll hopefully see you around. "

I called Sabrina, and she came through the door. I still wondered how she was able to open doors, but I guessed due to her size and intellect that it wouldn't be that hard. I said goodbye to Celestia and Night, and Michelle followed me as we left towards the train station. We got lucky as a train to Ponyville was just about to leave, and we boarded that train quickly and headed home.

WWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Twilight Sparkle

I had left Primal and Nightmare Moon to train, and I took the earliest train to Ponyville.  I was excited at the idea of seeing my friends again, even if just a day had passed. I knew Pinkie had something big planned for Primal, and I wanted to ask her for the details once I arrived.

I spent the rest of the train ride looking out of the window, admiring the Equestrian scenery. I stepped out of the train carriage, unsuspecting of those waiting for me.

I got tackled to the ground by a cyan blur, followed up by orange, white, yellow and pink.

" We missed you even though it was just a day! " Pinkie shouted.

" I missed all of you too. I can't stand being separated from my best friends!" I shouted back happily.

They all let go of me and allowed me some breathing space. "So Pinkie, want to share your plans for Primal's all-in-one party? " I asked.

" Nope! Strictly Pinkie-fidential!" Pinkie responded. I looked at the rest to see if they knew anything, but all of them shook their heads.

" Oh well, guess we have to wait and see. Anyway, Primal wanted to plan a training session with all of us when he returns. " I said.

" A training session?  For wha-" Dash's confusion cleared when she realised. " Oh yeah of course, the marks. Why do we need more training though? "

" He wants us to be prepared for anything, so he will train us in using our marks aswell as the abilities we already had. Physical strength, magical strength and all that. " I said.

" I don't w-want him to t-train me in flying! " Fluttershy said.

" I doubt he will let you pass that. You have wings, so you should be able to use them properly. Not Rainbow - properly, but at least well enough to get away from danger quickly. " I lectured.

" I hope he will take it slowly. I'm not so good with my wings." Fluttershy said.

" It will be fine, 'Shy. I will help you too, and you will be able to fly fast in no time!" Rainbow encouraged.

Fluttershy muttered something inaudible, and remained silent. " Anyway, how's Primal doin'?" Applejack asked.

" He's healed completely thanks to a little help from me. He went to train with Nightmare Moon when I left them, so he will probably be here later this day. Something about clones and controlling them properly. " I responded.

" Clones? Why, he could've asked me! Ah can create dem clones just fine!" Applejack retorted.

" Proper properly. As in them being abe to cast spells too. I doubt you have tried making a clone duplicate itself or make it cast a different spell. " I said.

Applejack focused, and created a clone of herself. I could see both the clone and her casting a different spell, presumably invisibility. Only the real Applejack went invisible however.

" See? It's harder than you thought isn't it. I'd say try pouring your essence into it. Certain unicorn magics work the same way. " I instructed.

Applejack appeared again, dismissed her previous clone and created another clone. When the clone stood beside her, she channelled something different. A small wispy trail travelled from the real Applejack to the clone. Again, she casted the invisibility spell. This time, both of them went invisible.

" Awesome! Thanks Twi fer teaching that there knowledge!  Ah can show that to Primal when he goes training with us!  " Applejacks voice called from somewhere.

" Could you make yourself visible again darling? I do not like talking to someone who is not here. " Rarity said.

Applejack appeared again, behind Rainbow Dash. " Come on girls, let's go get something to eat together. " I suggested.

" Why don't we visit that new place that opened up near the bakery recently? I heard they have pretty good salads and haysteaks." Rarity added.

" The Silver spur? Why not? " Rainbow agreed.

" It sounds like a lovely place. " Fluttershy added.

" Ah also heard they served the best nachos in all of Ponyville! " Applejack said. " Ah certainly wanna try those! "

"Nachos? NACHOS!" Pinkie shouted.

" Nachos it is then! Onwards! " I rallied.

Our party walked towards where The Silver spur is located, catching up on the latest stories each of us had experienced. I told them about the kiss me and Primal shared, and of course Rarity wanted to know all the details of the experience. Rainbow told us about her boring visit to Cloudesdale for a scheduled weather team meeting, and Fluttershy told us about an encounter with a strange animal.

"Now however, it's time for NACHOS! " I shouted.

We all went inside, and found a table for six near the window and sat down. "Where is Spike, by the way? He wasn't with you at the station. " I asked.

" I think he said something about getting groceries or something like that. Maybe he has planned a mini-party just for you! " Pinkie said.

" Spike? No way he will do that. But who knows, maybe he'll surprise me. " I said.

Each of us ordered something from the menu, most being nachos, and we continued our idle conversations.

Then, Rarity scraped her throat. " Girls, I need to tell you something. Spike sort of opened up to me, and I could tell he had a crush on me. I have, for a while now, but by the looks of it he isn't going to get over it. So, I told him to wait untill he's more grown up before I would attempt any kind of dating. " Rarity said.

"And you leave Spike hanging like that?" I asked.

"He didn't seem too unhappy about it when I told him." Rarity responded.

"Maybe he didn't show it? Now I'll have to deal with a lovestricken baby dragon..." I said, sighing.

" NACHOS!" Pinkie shouted, before anyone else could respond. I turned around and saw the waiter arriving with our meals, five of those being nachos and one a haysteak.

I thanked the waiter for the quick service and quickly started devouring my nachos in brutish fashion. My stomach cried for sustenance, and I couldn't hold back any longer.

" So savage. Have you not learned any table manners Twilight? " Rarity asked, neatly cutting her haysteak with knife and fork.

I swallowed the bite, and answered. "Not when I'm this hungry. It feels like I didn't eat in days! I apologise if it bothered you though. "

We finished the rest of our meal without much talking, and Spike entered the establishment when we were just finishing.

" I'm sorry I missed your return Twilight. " he said with regret. " I had to re-stock our food supplies and get some new quills for you. "

" It's okay. I didn't exactly say when I would be returning. I'm still surprised you girls were waiting for me at the station. " I said to the rest of the group.

"Pinkie-sense warned us. Don't ask how, but we went over here as quickly as possible. " Rainbow said.

" Let's go to the library. I'll pay the bill-" I wanted to say.

" Nonsense. It is your surprise, so it is only fitting if we pay. I will take the bill " Rarity said.

Rarity paid, and we headed over to the library.

WWWWW

Changeof Character - Twilight sparkle - > Primal Dagger

Sabrina and Michelle followed me towards the library once the train had arrived at Ponyville station. My companions received a mixture of scared, curious and shocked expressions, but I paid them no heed. Sabrina was not bothered either, but Michelle brought it up. "Why are they looking at us like that? Surely they must realise we mean no harm by now. "

"The ponies here get frightened easily. Two strange bipedal creatures and a black panther following them isn't the most friendliest of sights. They kind of know me by now which is why they aren't running away screaming. " I responded.

Michelle sighed, and kept quiet untill we reached the library.

I heard voices coming from inside, so I motioned for both to come closer. I shrouded us in a veil of shadows as I opened the door. To them, it looked like the door randomly opened on its own accord.

" I know it's you Primal. I had a hunch you would try something like this. "Twilight said.

I signed for Michelle to keep silent as my magic closed the door without a trace. I walked upstairs, and told them to remain up here while I would still attempt to scare the girls downstairs.

" Come out Primal, we know already. " Twilight said, but I could hear a slight waver in her voice.

I created an effigy of pure darkness in the corner of the room,they didn't notice as it came to life slowly. I made sure the effigy looked as evil as possible by making it look like Death itself.

"Your time has come, Bearers of the Elements. Death arrives to claim your souls. " I made the effigy say, it's voice dark and resounding.

" What about me though? " Spike asked.

" Your time has not yet arrived, dragon. You are to witness this world fall into madness. " the effigy said. Even I got slightly scared by my own creation. The effigy swung its scythe at the frightened ponies and dragon, but I dispersed it before it landed and made myself visible.

" I still got you!  You should have seen the looks on your faces! Pure gold! " I laughed.

" I w-wasn't afraid!  Rainbow said, obviously still shaken from the experience.

"Sure. Even now you're shaking! " I said, still laughing. " Serious now though. My training has got to get that kind of fright out of all of you. Not even Death will scare you when I'm done with you. Spike, you will join the training too. As will Michelle. " I called upstairs to Sabrina and Michelle, who came down shortly after.

" I heard that from upstairs, and even there it frightened me. " Michelle said.

" Show them what you found out Michelle. " I asked.

She looked at me for a second with a quizzical expression, but that quickly transformed to understanding. She created a rune in the air, and I created one aswell. Mine was a symbol of Air, and hers one of Water.

My rune shot a lightning bolt towards Michelle's rune. It accepted the bolt and shot back a stream of water in response.

"So both of you have rune magic then? And I'm guessing the symbols are your attunements. But you can cast more than Air-related stuff right? " Twilight asked.

" Correct. We can cast spells from every element but our attuned element is significantly more powerful. I could cast certain spells Michelle couldn't even dream of, and same goes the other way. She could manipulate entire oceans if she so desired. And could, because right now she can't cast a lot. A bit of magical training from you and me should help her on her way, Twilight. " I said.

" Enough magical stuff. Let's go to Applejack's barn! " Pinkie said.

" You knew?!" Twilight asked Applejack.

" You don't wanna know how hard it was to keep it from you. But yes, of course Ah knew. Pinkie and me traveled together, remember? She can't keep quiet long enough." Applejack said.

" Did I miss something? " I asked, but nobody responded.

" Come on everyone!  Let's go to the barn! Something EXCITING is waiting for us! " Pinkie said impatiently.

I followed a bouncing Pinkie Pie towards Applejacks farmstead. Rarity had to leave us to finish an order for the next day, so we all said goodbye to her before we headed to the barn.

" From the outside it's still the same farm. " Twilight stated.

" Because the excitement Pinkie Pie was talking about is probably inside. " I added.

" You have to wear a blindfold Primal! It's part of the surprise! " Pinkie said.

" If you insist. " I said plainly.

A blindfold was placed over my eyes to obstruct my view. Little did they know, my mastery with Air allowed for 'blind-sight' so I could see nearly as well as without a blindfold. We entered the shed, and I pretended to have trouble walking.

" This way Primal! " Pinkie said. I saw she was leading me to a chair with a fart-cushion on it. " There's a chair in front of you.Sit down!" She said, almost failing to hold in a laugh. I turned myself around but used my hands to quickly swipe the toy off as I sat down. " Did you really think I'd fall for that? A party pony, and a chair she wants me to sit down on. It couldn't be more obvious. " I grinned.

" How..? Oh no matter, the next part is coming up! " Pinkie said.

I saw a table with a pie a few other foods being moved towards me. " There is a table in front of you now. One of the things on the table is an ordinary lemon pie. The rest are failed baking experiments which probably taste horrible! " Pinkie said.

I hovered my hands over the table, but I already knew where the real pie was. It was the only piece which didn't look disgusting. I held my hands above the wrong pie for a moment before shifting to the real one. "I think the good one is here somewhere" I said, pointing to the pie underneath my hands.

My blindfold was removed, and I could see my result for real now. The other pies looked even more disgusting this way. " I picked the right one! " I shouted in fake glee.

" Enjoy the pie! DJ! Turn up the music! Let's get this party STARTED!" Pinkie shouted.

I took a bite of the pie as house music was pumped through the speakers by the only great dj in Equestria : DJ-P0N3 a.k.a. Vinyl Scratch. I was instinctively swinging to the music as Twilight walked over to me. " You knew, didn't you? " she said, her voice barely topping the music.

" I did my best to play along, but those pies looked disgusting. I just couldn't do that. " I nearly shouted.

" You mean you were able to see all that time? " Twilight questioned.

" Yep. Attunement with Air gives those kinds of passive benefits, I found. Earth has something similar I think. " I responded.

" How could you know? " Twilight asked.

" Celestia had a book about rune magic and the subtle benefits with each Element. I read it some time ago when she gave it to me. " I responded again. " Enough about my magic now, let's party!"

I stood up in fast motion and took Twilight with me to the dance floor. She quickly surprised me by pulling out some moves I'd never imagine her doing.

We danced through the night and even I had a few drinks after being encouraged by Rainbow and Applejack. I found I was quite resistant to the effects of alcohol, as all it did was slightly brighten my mood. Applejack challenged me to a drinking challenge, and boasted about being the champion drinker. That title was quickly forfeited however as I was still standing when Applejackfell over. The alcohol was taking its toll slowly now however, as the room swayed slightly.

" I think itsh time for me to go home. "I said. The music had died down slightly over the course of the night as Vinyl mingled with the small crowd of me, Sabrina, Michelle, the Mane Six minus Rarity, Spike, part of the Apple family and a few locals who joined the party late.

" You are right Cap'n Primal. We should head for shafe harbours. " Twilight said in a bad pirate accent.

We said goodbye to the still partying ponies and headed back to the library together. Some of the alcohol in my system had left, and the world swayed no longer. When we arrived at the library, I told Twilight I wanted to get some rest, but she had other plans for us.

" I am not going to do anything like that with a drunk mare. Especially when said mare is a friend of mine. " I said.

" I'm not drunk! Look!  I can walk normally! " she said while slightly stumbling towards the stairs.

" Sure. Tell that to the floor in a second. I walked upstairs behind her, making sure she wouldn't fall down the stairs and hurt herself. We entered the bedroom after cleaning up a bit, and I took off the casual clothes I had put on magically. " Don't get any ideas Twilight. " I said resolutely. " I don't wanna be seen as the guy who took advantage of a drunk mare. "

I slipped into my  bed, and pulled the blanket over my head. I heard Twilight take her place in her own bed before sleep took me.

Chapter 10 - The Road to Tomorrow

Chapter 10 - The Road to Tomorrow

The sun's rays were the culprit today. My head felt like a blacksmiths anvil being used, the constant hammering nearly driving me insane. My eyes stung due to the amount of light entering them, so to prevent blindness I shielded my eyes.

I looked over to Twilight's bed and saw her sleeping on the wrong side of the bed, her head near the foot end of the bed. I eased over to her bed and poked her softly, causing Twilight to groan. " Ow, my head. " she said, opening her eyes and holding a hoof to her head.

" We let ourselves go a bit too far didn't we? Remind me next time to never accept a drinking challenge, ugh" I said, groaning.

Spike walked into the room, looking elated. " Good morning!  Did you two rest well?" he asked.

" Not nearly as well as I hoped, but thanks for asking anyway. My head hurts like hell." I said.

" Hell? What's that?" Twilight asked.

" A place borne of fire and brimstone, where religious people believe that bad people who have sinned are sent to. It's opposite is heaven, to which they believe all the good people think they go to. Honestly, if that keeps people happy, who am I to stop them from believing such nonsense. " I said.

" What do you believe in, then?" Spike asked.

" Science. And science can't explain what comes after death, so to me it's just the empty void. " I answered.

" I'd have to agree on that. Science indeed can't explain that, so nobody can be sure what comes after. It doesn't matter either, what's important is what is happening in the here and now. " Twilight contemplated.

" Well said Twilight." I said. "Hmm. Spike, could you maybe make some breakfast for us? Neither me nor Twilight is in a state to do anything right now. " I added.

" Sure! Anything for the two of you. Any preferences? " He asked.

" I really don't mind. What about you Twilight?" I said.

" I would like an omelet and a sandwich with daisies. If we still have those, of course. " Twilight answered.

" Alright, mystery meal for the man and an omelet and daisy sandwich for the lady, coming up." He said as if he was a waiter at a posh restaurant.

" Don't forget to make something for yourself! " Twilight shouted to him as he walked down the stairs.

" Don't forget to ask Michelle too! She's in the guest room right?" I shouted. I heard footsteps heading back up the stairs and to the guest room. I heard Spike ask what Michelle wanted, and she responded with something I couldn't quite make out. " Where is Sabrina, by the way? " I asked Twilight.

" Try calling her. She'll be around I suppose. " she answered.

I called my pet, and sat still for a moment. A door unlocking downstairs and footsteps heading up the stairs answered my call. Two golden eyes looked at me a moment later, confused. "  Sorry for calling you, I just wanted to know if you were around. " She licked my hand with a rough tongue, telling me she understood. She then plopped down in the corner of the room, head resting on her paws.

" It's still astonishing how good of a bond you two have. If I was woken up like that I certainly wouldn't be that friendly. " Twilight said bewildered.

" Add me to that statement. I am happy she's so statisfied with being with me. I might take her out with me when I get a contract. She could be extremely useful. Although I'd have to try and augment her slightly, I'm worried I could hurt her trying that. I've never tried enchanting living beings. " I said.

" With experiments like those, try something which isn't as valuable to you or someone else. Maybe Fluttershy could allow you to test on an animal. " she said.

" I should ask her that indeed, thanks for the suggestion. " I said.

A moment later, Spike appeared holding two plates with food. He made two sandwiches with what looked like jam on them for me. He handed us the plates, and some cutlery for Twilight.

" Thanks Spike, this looks good. " I said.

" Wait until you taste it before thanking me! " This drew confused looks from both me and Twilight.

I took a bite from the sandwich, and noticed just now that the jam was shifting colours. The intense explosion of flavour in my mouth drew a wide smile from me. " This is Zap Apple Jam isn't it?" I asked.

" Sure is. Applejack gave me some when I left the party yesterday. " he said.

" Give me a taste! " Twilight commanded.

I held one of the sandwiches in front of her, and she took a bite. " This tastes amazing! I'll be sure to thank Applejack for this. " she said after swallowing the bite she took.

" I'll leave you to enjoy your meals. I'll head downstairs and read a book. " Spike said, and left the room.

We ate the rest of our breakfast, me enjoying the rich taste of the zap jam bite after bite.

" Darn, that was the best breakfast I've had in a very long time. " I said. The food calmed down our hangovers, and I stood up from the bed. " I'm going to take a shower. " I said to Twilight.

After I finished showering, I magically put on some clothes, and left the bathroom, deciding to pay Michelle a visit.

"Morning. " I said to Michelle who just finished her breakfast.

"Hey Joshua. You sure did a number on that orange mare with that drinking contest. I didn't know you were such a party animal! " she said.

Michelle still called me by my real name when we were alone. " I didn't know either. I guess I just let myself go that night. Luckily I prevented an awkward scenario with Twilight when we got back. You should've seen how drunk she was!" I said.

" I take it that meant 'the business' ?" she asked.

" Jeez, why do you even need to ask that. " I said.

" Scientific purposes of course. " She joked.

" Wait a minute, you can heal yourself easily right? " I asked.

" I suppose I can. I haven't really tried yet, but I guess it will come easily to me. Why?" she answered.

" Well I want to augment Sabrina so I can take her along with me on missions. But I'd rather not test on her, as I've never tried augmenting living beings. " I explained.

" So you want me to be your test subject then. " she concluded.

" You don't have to if you don't want to. I could just ask Fluttershy for one of her animals. " I said.

" No it's okay. I know you, and I know you don't want to do me harm. Besides, what's augmenting me going to do to hurt me that much?" she said.

" I don't know. You could suddenly explode or something. " I said.

" I doubt that. Not even the stuff in the lab was dangerous enough to do me harm. "

" Alright, so if you could come after you have cleaned up we could try immediately then. "I said

"Sure. I'll go take a shower to wash off yesterday's party. I'll see you after. " she said as I left the room.

I headed downstairs. Twilight was reading a newspaper and Spike was reading a book, as he said. I just sat opposite of Twilight at the table, and stared in front of me for no reason. Luckily , Michelle's shower had been quick as she already walked down the stairs, and a lavender scent wafted down with her.

" You smell good. You want to impress someone? " I said.

" No, I just really like the scent of lavender. " she responded.

" Alright then. Let's go outside. " I suggested.

"What for? " Twilight asked, looking up from her newspaper.

" Michelle agreed to be my 'test subject ' for something I wanted to try out. Nothing dangerous, at least it shouldn't be. I'll be back soon. "I said.

Twilight looked slightly worried,  but nodded anyway. Michelle followed me outside and we went to an open grass field nearby.

" Alright, should something happen anyway, the townsfolk will be safe. Just in case. " I said.

" I doubt it's necessary, but ok. What do I need to do? " she asked.

" Hold out an arm without sleeve. I will create a magic resistance rune and infuse it into your arm. Once that works I'll cast a simple spell at it. Heal yourself quickly if necessary. "I explained.

Michelle did as was told, and I created the resistance rune. The sign floated in the air for a moment before I willed it onto her stretched out arm. I then carefully burned the sign into place and infused it with magic. A shockwave of magic burst through her body coming from the sign, and the power returned to it.

" Let's see if this works!" I said, hoping for the best.

I cast a small fireball right at her. The fireball simply vanished, and at the point of impact another shockwave of energy appeared which travelled to the sign.

" Awesome! Now let's see how much it can absorb before breaking!" I said before casting a much larger fireball.

The sign absorbed this one aswell, but I saw a slight crack appear in the markings of the rune.

" Alright, so it has quite a lot of power. You can keep that rune as a gift, but I want to try somethingreally experimental now. I doubt it will work, but maybe with a bit of modifications after testing...."  I said and cast a completely different rune. This rune was moving on its own accord, and it floated directly at the resistance rune, and combined with it.

The markings of both fused into one, and the cracks seen previously started to mend. Within a few seconds the sign was as completely restored.

" I honestly didn't expect that to work. The rune I made basically draws ambient magic out of the air and stores it, handing it out if required. I think your version would draw magic from water, and probably be a lot stronger since there's less of that tham air. " I said.

" So I have a regenerating shield for magic now? " Michelle asked.

" I can add a physical blocking effect too. It would take a bit of your magic to complete however, since that one lightly draws from physical strength I think. It should amplify your blocking, which explains why it needs your strength. It would not have anything to amplify otherwise. " I said.

I created the base rune in the air and burned it on top of the already existing marks. " Channel your power into it now. "

The mark glowed, fused itself with her skin and combined with the other two runes to create a single rune.

I looked around for a sharp object, and found a rock on the ground with a pointy edge. " Time to test it. "

I cut a large gap across her arm with the rock. The mark singed, and started repairing itself and the skin around it.

" Looks like it works! Thanks for your help with this. I hope Sabrina can understand the physical rune so I can apply that on her too. " I said, excited that my experiments worked out.

" No problem! I got a sweet self regenerating shield for both physical and magical attacks, so really I should be thanking you. " she said.

" Oh it's all for the greater good." I said. " I will go back to Twilight and tell her the news, and go to Sabrina after. "

"I'll go visit Rarity at her boutique. I think she could help me with some new clothes. " she said before leaving for the boutique.

I walked back to the library, and opened the door to it a moment later.

"Ah, you have returned in one piece I see. Did it work? " Twilight asked.

" It did, and more. I'll go to Sabrina now to augment her immediately so she can adjust to it. " I said and walked up the stairs, back to the bedroom Sabrina was in.

"Sabrina, come here a second. " The panther stood up slightly agitated, but walked towards me. " I want you to sit still here okay. I'm going to imprint some runes on you so I can make sure you survive against even the strongest of attacks. " The panther complied, and I created the three runes.

" I'll do a physical blocking rune first, which wil require a bit of your strength. When I tell you, I want you to pour your essence into the rune okay? " The panther shook her head in understanding. I singed the mark onto her right shoulder. " Now " I said.

The mark glowed just like before. " Great. Now I'll place two others onto it. Just sit tight for a moment. " I said.

I burned both the magical resistance and magical regeneration rune onto the physical resistance rune. All of them fused together, and my panther looked amazing now.

" Alright, amazing. Now to double the effect and make it symmetrical I'll do it for the other side too.

I repeated the entire process, and now Sabrina had two marks on her. " What's a creature of the night without a veil though? Hold on, let me do something so you can communicate with me easier.

I cast yet another experimental spell, but this one was documented and proven to work. I gave Sabrina the ability to talk like we did.

"Try speaking now. " I said.

" Hello? " a soft feline voice said. " Oh, this is quite weird. At least I don't have to use sign language and behaviour to tell you what's up now. Thank you! "

"You are an intelligent creature. It's only fitting that you are able to talk really. Now for that veil I talked about..... " I said.

I explained what she needed to do and created another rune which I latched on her back. She used the method I explained and the panther vanished from sight.

" Truly a unique and worthy being now. I'll call you my spirit companion now. Pet sounds so..... disrespectful. "

" You call me intelligent, but look at you. I have never seen such manners among my own kin. I was right in leaving my pack to find my own destiny. I knew the moment I saw you and that pony that I just had to be with you. " Sabrina said, still uneasy with her new voice.

" Let's go downstairs. Twilight is in for quite the shock when she sees and hears you. " I said.

She followed me downstairs, and Twilight was writing something down now, having finished the newspaper.

" Twilight, someone has something to say to you. " I sidestepped and let Sabrina pass me, who headed to where Twilight was sitting.

" Hello, pony called Twilight Sparkle." Sabrina said.

Twilight had the most confused look I've ever seen on her face. " You can talk? " after which she looked at me with asking eyes.

" I might have given her the ability to communicate like we do. It's fitting really. " I said.

" I heard you were what's called a marefriend to my spirit master. I trust you will not defile that situation. Otherwise, you will have to deal with me. " Sabrina said menacingly.

" Hey, no need for threats. Twilight will never do me harm. " I said.

" I apologise, I should not have been so rude and protective. My real name is Ch'en , which is a mayan name for Goddess of the moon. I left my pack a long time ago to forge my own path, and I have finally found my calling alongside the avatar of Shadow. " Sabrina said, properly introducing herself.

" So not only is my companion a moon goddess, I'm also the avatar of Shadow. Who figured. " I said. " Anyway, I got some stuff to take care of for the renovation of your house. I'll see you guys later."

With that, I left the tree house to find Applejack, Sabrina following me. Applejack would be able to help with the plans....

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Nightmare Moon

Today had proved to be boring. My stay in the Canterlot Castle had to end at some point, and I was furiously searching for a solitary place to call my home.

"Hello Night. Is something troubling you? " Celestia asked as she entered my room, breaking my train of thought.

"As a matter of fact, something is. I would rather not stay in this castle forever, but I cannot find any good, solitary place nearby which I could settle in. " I said, not really wanting to share my troubles with the sun princess.

" I might have just the place for you. I figured you would not want to stay here, so I took the liberty of assigning some of my workers to refurbish the old ruins in the Everfree Forest. They should be about done by now, so you can live there. " Celestia suggested.

"The ruins? That place was a mess after our battle! How did you manage to fix that so quickly? " I asked.

" A lot of hard workers can fix that in a day. It should nearly be as good as new. You would need to add your own touch to it, however. It is really empty right now. " she answered.

" I.... I do not know what to say. A thank you should be in order I feel, but for a service that big after I nearly caused eternal darkness.... How can I ever repay you? " I stuttered.

" What is in the past, stays in the past. All I ask of you is to not cause any trouble. I will attempt to arrange a re-introduction of the proper Avatar of Darkness. " she said.

" Could you accompany me on my visit to the ruins? " I asked.

" I do not have any business to attend to right now, so why not. " she answered.

We walked to the landing platform for carriages, and took off towards the ruins flying side by side. The forest, and the location of the ruins appeared in our view quickly, and we landed next to a sparkling new castle. There were a few workers walking around, and when they noticed me instantly cowered in fear. When they saw their solar princess next to me, they eased up slightly. All of them bowed in respect to their princess.

" Princess, may I ask you why you are not banishing that evil queen back to the moon? She tried to plunge our lands into eternal darkness right? " a worker asked.

" Fear not my subjects. Nightmare Moon no longer means any harm. She has proven herself to be a respectful and benevolent pony to me, Princess Luna, the Elements of Harmony and the Shadow of Equestria. I will re-introduce her to the Equestrian kingdom once the time is right. Her actions in the past were ones made in a state of panic, confusion and most of all, dismissal. She felt looked down upon her and her night, and acted like a cornered cat by lashing out. " Celestia explained.

The workers looked at me, still with slight fear, but also with respect. " Who is this, "Shadow of Equestria " you speak of? I heard about the Elements of Harmony, but I never heard that. " another worker asked.

" That is correct. The Shadow is an assassin in my employ. He makes sure peace is kept in these lands by assassinating evildoers and infiltrating cults and organisations intent on disrupting Harmony. " Celestia said.

" He sounds like a force to be reckoned with. " Another worker mentioned.

The others agreed with him. " He is definitely a force to be reckoned with. He has eyes and ears everywhere, so do not attempt any bad things or he will come for you. My verdict determines his amount of mercy shown. " Celestia said.

" I have trained him in the art of duplication, so there may even be more than one of him coming for you. " I felt like mentioning.

" You trained the Shadow? " one of the workers asked, to which I nodded.

"I am well-versed in his area of expertise, so both of us can learn from the other. He teached me one of his signature techniques, and I teached him to properly use clones. "

" Aside from the whole ' casting the world into eternal darkness' thing, you do not seem to be that much of a bad pony, Miss Nightmare Moon. " a worker said.

" Please, call me Night. Nightmare Moon sounds too evil for my liking. After that eternity on the moon I came to realise being nice is better than attempting to force my will unto all of you." I said.

" Princess Luna! " a worker shouted, and he bowed after. The rest followed suit.

Luna landed next to me. " Rise, my ponies. I heard I could find you two here. Why are you out here?" Luna asked me and Celestia.

" Celestia refurbished the castle for me to stay in, and I asked her to accompany me. " I explained.

" So we did this work for you? I thought this would be a vacation resort for Princess Luna and you, your Highness." The first worker said. " I hopeit will be to your liking, Miss Night. "

" I heard it was still a bit empty inside, so I would need to add some personal touch. The foundation will be well suited however, and I thank all of you for your hard work. " I said gratefully.

The workers bowed one by one, and took their leave to allow us to check out the castle.

I walked inside, excitement in every step. A younger me would have scoffed me for openly showing such excitement, but the me now did not care. The inside of the castle was very spacious, and there were large stained glass windows on either side and on the far wall, behind the thrones. The throne room connected to the library and the dining hall, which was connected to the kitchen, via long and winding hallways. The dining hall and library were the two most important rooms, since the rest conected to the hallways were all empty rooms.

" This should be perfect for what I had in mind. Thank you again Celestia, and I promise to lay low untill you arrange the introduction. " I said and turned around to start decorating the place.

" We will leave you to your decorating. You can always come by the castle, I'll notify my guards to not attack you on sight. " Celestia said, as she and Luna left.

"This place still need a whole lot of work. " I mumbled to myself. " Nothing the Avatar of Darkness cannot handle however, and this place will look worthy of housing one in no time! "

WWWWW

Change of Character - Nightmare Moon -> Twilight Sparkle

Primal told me to take a day off so he, Applejack and her family could work on my house. I decided to visit Rainbow to ask her for anything good to do. Primal had sent Sabrina with me since the cat decided it was of no use in construction work.

" RAINBOW! " I shouted at the cloud the cyan mare called her home.

As always, her head poked off the edge of the cloud to see who called her. When she saw me, she immediately flew down to the ground and landed next to me.

" Sup Twi? " Rainbow asked.

" Primal basically kicked me out of my house so he and Applejack could renovate it today. I came by your place to ask if you could hang out with me today. " I said.

" Sure Twi!  Anything you had in mind or did you expect me to come up with something?" she asked.

" I didn't really, no. " I said.

" Oh I know something we could do! We could visit the old ruins in the Everfree Forest! " Rainbow suggested.

"Why not. If something bad happens we have our wits, skills and marks to save our hides. And a black panther. " I said.

"Don't be such a worry wart. There's nothin' the most awesome flier in Equestria and the most gifted and talented unicorn in the land can't deal with, right? "

"Ha, you bet." I said. " Let's go before the ruins decide to move elsewhere out of boredom. "

Rainbow flew above and ahead of me as we entered the forest, and Sabrina walked beside me. We had been to the old ruins so many times now since first we went there, that the way there was just a stroll in the park.

We approached the site of the ruins in no time, but Rainbow quickly flew back to me with a worried and confused look on her face. I asked her what was wrong.

" Well, the 'ruins' as we knew them, are no longer ruins. Come and see!"  She said.

I followed her, and in the place where the ruins were was a tall, dark and ominous castle. " What happened to this place?  Did it come alive after all? And why would it restore itself like this?  I don't remember any books saying the ruins looked like this previously! " I said.

" That is because no books have documented this particular restoration. " a familiar voice said.

" Nightmare Moon? " Rainbow and me asked in unison.

" Please, call me Night. " she said as she appeared next to us in a cloud of black and blue smoke. " I do not wish to be called Nightmare Moon any longer, since the name brings forth a past shrouded in evil intentions. And I see you brought Primal Dagger's pet along with you. " Night said.

Sabrina, who had kept silent all this time, spoke up. Much to the confusion of both Rainbow and Night.

"I am not his 'pet'. It sounds really disrespectful, for an intelligent creature as he called me. Instead, I am his spirit companion now. My real name is Ch'en, mayan goddess of the moon. " Sabrina said.

"The mayans? I heard of that long-thought dead civilization of ponies. How is it you can suddenly talk now anyway? " Night said.

" Primal cast a spell on her after augmenting her with some combat runes, allowing her the ability to speak as we do. " I explained.

" Wait, you knew she could talk? Why didn't she speak earlier? " Rainbow asked.

" I did not feel the need to speak to you since you did not address or notice me once during our trip here, even when Twilight Sparkle told you. And yes, she knew first because Primal augmented me at her home before he left to plan the reconstruction with the orange pony named Applejack. " Sabrina said.

"Oh... Hehe, sorry..... I should have at least acknowledged your company, I guess. " Rainbow apologised

" No harm done. Anyway, I expect you and me to become good friends, Miss Night. " Sabrina said.

" I expect so aswell, with you being a goddess of the moon and me being the Avatar of Darkness. " Night said.

" Well, I used to be a goddess or at least seen as one before I left my pack centuries ago to find my own destiny. I do not have any actual powers as far as I know. " Sabrina said, producing a sly smile on her feline face.

" And then you found the Avatar of Shadow after all that time. Hardly coincidence. " Night said. " Enough chatter outside, come in and see the new Everfree Castle! "

She didn't have to ask a second time, as it was quite chilly outside in this time of the year. Mid-November tends to usually be colder after a long period of varying temperatures.

The inside of the castle was the complete opposite of how it looked like from the outside. In some way this reflected Night perfectly. From the outside, she's seen as evil, but inside, she was kind and gentle, if a bit rash at certain times.

" Wow, this place looks stunning! Did you do all of this yourself? " I asked.

" I merely decorated the place. Celestia sent a squad of workers for the actual restoration of the castle. "

" I have to agree with the unicorn, even though I am not well-versed in architecture. This place is gorgeous. " Sabrina added.

" I'm not usually somepony to call stuff beautiful, but this? I'm afraid I have to break that common look and say it: This place is beautiful. " Rainbow exclaimed. " Don't tell anypony I said that. "

" Thank you all. But this really is nothing compared to what Celestia did for me with this castle. " Night said. " I take it you came here with a reason though? "

" Actually, we just wanted someplace to hang out, and decided here would be good. It's even better now! " I said. " What's there to do around here? "

"I have not gotten to exploring the surrounding area just yet, so I suppose you could join me? " Night suggested. "There should be a river nearby, we could head there first?

" I could catch some fish to eat while we are there, so it is fine to me. " Sabrina said.

" I don't like water, but I don't mind coming along. Not coming is even more boring!" Rainbow said.

" I guess it's settled then!" I concluded.

There was indeed a river close by, and we spent the rest of the day enjoying ourselves near the waterside. Seeing Night being so playful with Rainbow really showed a different side to the otherwise mysterious pony. Sabrina managed to catch and eat a few fish, and even caught spare to take back with us.

When evening dawned, I decided it was time to head back. We said goodbye to Night as she left for her castle, and the rest of us headed back to the library to see the changes made.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Twilight sparkle - > Primal Dagger

"There! That should be about everything! Thank you so much Apple family, amd you too Michelle, for assisting me with this. I wouldn't have been able to do this alone, and Twilight is going to love it to pieces! Well, I hope it will stay in one piece, that is." I said, happy that our work was finally done.

The idea for the observatory was a bit too much of a far fetch, so instead we opted for a balcony with a clear view of the stars, and a telescope to watch them with.

For the other rooms I made sure to keep the same style as the original. The bathroom is now bigger, an extra bedroom has been made in leftover space, Spike had his room extended downwards to include a small cave, and the hidden lab was now much bigger and an actual part of the home instead of a secret.

The main room had been closed off from other rooms to conserve both privacy and the function of a public library. This room had also been extended, and repurposed to library by moving tables and chairs to a separate dining room connected to the kitchen.

" It's nothing, Primal. Ah've seen how good you were for Twilight, and she deserves this more than anythin' . " Applejack said humbly. " Ah! Hear she comes right now! Go greet her! "

As Applejack said, Twilight was indeed approaching the library. Rainbow and Sabrina were with her, and all of them looked elated. I opened the door for them.

"Welcome back to your improved home Twilight!  And hello Rainbow and Sabrina, always good to see you. Come inside! " I said.

I guided them through the door, and we stood in the now large library. Applejack and her family and Michelle  welcomed Twilight aswell, and waited for her response.

"This is the library now? My, I'm impressed! This room is enormous now!  Think of all the books I could provide to the public!  This place is going to rival Canterlot's collection pretty soon. " Twilight said.

" You haven't even seen the rest of the house yet! Notice how this room is separated from the rest now?" I said.

"I have!  This is amazing!"

" Let's show ye the biggest stuff now. Follow me! " Applejack said.

She walked to the door separating the rest of the house and the library, Twilight following closely behind her and me, Rainbow, Sabrina and Michelle making up the rear. Applejack's family had left the library to return home after seeing Twilight's reaction.

" This is the dining room now, with the kitchen right over there. We kept this pretty much the same to not waste that authentic feeling of a tree house, but we added a few things here and there to make your life easier. Michelle helped me to shape part of the tree into a table here aswell. " I said.

" That table looks fantastic! As if the tree itself made a table for us!" Twilight said.

" Yeah, that was exactly what we aimed for. Spike's room is over there, and he got a small cave as a part of it. The basement is down here, with a new and improved non-secret lab. Upstairs are a few additions aswell. Where do you want to go first? " I asked.

" Let's go to Spike's room first, then to the lab and then upstairs. I have a feeling the biggest thing is upstairs. " she answered.

We walked into Spike's room, and Spike himself was lying on his bed. " Hey Twilight! How do you like your home so far? I can say I'm pretty happy with the cave addition! " Spike said.

"It's more than I could have ever wished for. And I'll take your word for the cave, it's yours after all. " Twilight said.

" Sure you don't wanna see it? " he asked, to which Twilight shook her head. " Alright then!"

" Lab is next right? I'm interested to see how that looks like now. " Twilight asked.

" Sure is!  This a' way" Applejack said, leading us to the basement and the lab.

" Wow " I heard Twilight exclaim.

The entrance to the lab had been completely opened up, with big stairs heading down to the dug-out level the lab was in. Digging this out had taken the least amount of time since no real caution was required after moving all of the equipment out.

The basement functioned as extra storage for anything now, but Twilight was more interested in the lab. I took the liberty of adding a few Earthly touches to it, causing it to look futuristic and slick.

" Now you can science your way out of anything, egghead! " Rainbow grinned.

" Is this how a laboratory on Earth looks like? " Twilight asked.

" Mostly, yes. Me and Michelle worked in one looking similar to this. Minus the equipment of course, we had a few different things than what you have. " I said, and Michelle nodded in agreement.

"Maybe you and Michelle could add some stuff to my collection then some time! " Twilight said, smiling. " Alright, the big thing next!  I'm ready! "

We moved towards the upper levels. Applejack toured us trough the additions, and we eventually ended up at the balcony.

" Is this...... Is this what I think it is? " Twilight asked in excitement.

" If I think I know what you think it is,then yes. If not, go ahead and prove me wrong. " I said.

She ran up the stairs and out of the double stained glass doors. The balcony was suspended slightly above tree level, the platform itself made in the same way as the table downstairs, forming half of an elliptical circle. The state-of-the-art telescope with added zooming was standing proudly on it.

" I...... I....." Twilight tried saying, but instead was left speechless. " How did you know....? "

" I had some idea, but I can't explain how. Trade secret, dear. " I said.

" Nopony ever knew this....." She said, a single tear rolling down her face. "....Thank you...."

I noticed she was on the verge of crying, so I stepped closer and gave her a hug. It felt like the best approach to the situation, to which I was correct.

She sobbed silently for a minute before recollecting herself. She thanked everyone again for their support.

"We should get going, AJ. Busy day tomorrow I expect. Good night, all of you. " Rainbow said, and Applejack followed her out.

" I'm going to bed aswell. Good night! " Michelle said, and headed to her room.

" I'll leave you both in the solemn company of the moon and the stars. Sweet dreams. " Sabrina said, heading downstairs.

" That leaves us then. Want to spend the night up here? " I asked.

" I would love that more than anything now. " she answered.

I conjured two simple beds for both of us, and we both took to sleep quickly in them, basked in the moonlight glow.

Chapter 11 - Tomorrow is Today

Darkness.

" Why is it so damn dark? I'm certain I opened my eyes! " I shouted in annoyance to noone in particular.

A faint shuffling was heard, and a faintly glowing light lit up. The light made a cloaked pony visible, a unicorn from what I could see and predict.

" Do you even know who you kidnapped here? You could be more than dead in just a blink of an eye, so start talking! " I said impatiently.

" I know who you are, and I know of your abilities, Shadow of Equestria. In fact, I am in need of your talents.... " the unicorn said.

" I do not kill unless commanded to by Princess Celestia, and none else. " I stated firmly.

" I'm certain you out of all ponies could find a way to make someone.... dissappear, without killing them. " the unicorn assured me.

" I'm listening. "

" Alright. There is a certain.... rich pony, who has been going around stealing money from others using devious and indirect methods. Myself, and a group of other ponies, want this richpony removed from power. His name is Mortimer Moneybags. "

" You simply want him removed from power, ey? Couldn't you just find some evidence of his stealing and report it to Celestia? " I asked.

" That's the problem. He doesn't leave any, aside from sad ponies who lost all of their hard earned money to a scumbag like him. But to prove him guilty we would need bigger evidence." the unicorn said.

" Are you certain that this 'Moneybags' pony steals from others? " I asked.

" I have run a background check on him, and found out he was accused of this before, but was pleaded innocent due to lack of evidence. "

" Hmph. Fine, I'll take the job. You better pay well, this won't be easy to pull off I can tell you that much. Somepony with such amounts of money is surely going to be able to buy himself out of any situation. I can't be persuaded, but others that work for him could eventually find out. " I said.

" Don't worry. One of his employees has already been bribed to cover all of it up, under the motto 'left to find a better life than with these lowly ponies. "

"Good. I think I might have an idea of where I could put him. Nobody will ever find him if he is left somewhere without any recollection of memories. I'll think up a new identity for him to assume after his mind is wiped. " I said.

" You can find me or one of our associates in the Rusty Horseshoe, room 25. It's a bar and hotel located in lower Canterlot. I'll send you back now. "

A red glow surrounded me, and a moment later I was on the stargazing balcony again.

WWWWW

"Primal? What's wrong? Why are you standing there? " Twilight asked, who had just woken up.

"I thought I heard something suspicious. Guess it was just the wind whispering to me. " I said plainly. " I'll go make some breakfast for us. "

With that, I headed downstairs to the kitchen.

" Morning, Joshua!" Michelle called.

" Good morning to you too! Why are you up this early? " I asked.

" I could ask you the same thing. " Michelle said.

" I'm up because I thought I heard something suspicious, but I guess I'm just not used to sleeping outside. "I explained. " You? "

" I don't know really. I thought I heard something too about half an hour ago, and I couldn't fall back to sleep after. " she said. " I just figured I'd go and read up on Equestrian lore. "

"Good idea. Hey, do you know where I can find a toaster of some kind around here?" I asked her.

"A toaster? I can't say I've seen one of those around... Why?" Michelle asked.

"I want to make some sandwiches with molten cheese. Guess I just have to use my magic to sear the bread then." I said, sighing in defeat.

"I doubt it will be that bad, not having a toaster? You're pretty skilled with your magic, so searing slices of bread with cheese on them doesn't sound that hard." she said.

"I know, I know.... It's just that I seem to use my magic for nearly everything now. What if I lose my magic somehow? What will I do then?" I said.

"Don't worry. You will figure something out, thats just like you to do so." Michelle said comfortingly.

"Thanks.. I'd better get to making the sandwiches, don't want the others coming down to not find breakfast ready!"

I pulled out some slices of bread, cheese and a fish for Sabrina from the fridge, which I was still oblivious to as to how it worked. From what I've seen, the ponies dont have electricity. Maybe I could 'invent' electricity for them?

I placed a slice of cheese between two slices of bread. and repeated the process several times. I seared each combination untill the cheese was definitely molten, and grabbed a few plates to put them on.

Just in time, as Twilight and Sabrina appeared from upstairs, and Spike came from his room.

"Smells good! What did you make?" Twilight asked.

"Croque Monsieur, if you will. But without the slice of ham. I would've probably added that to mine and Michelle's, but you don't have ham here ofcourse." I explained.

"Croque Monsieur..?" Spike asked, confusion showing.

"Two slices of bread with molten ham and cheese between them. This variant is without ham, which is meat." I told him.

"You know, I think it might not be that bad to sample meat. The only problem is where we would get it from...."Twilight said.

"I doubt there is a humane way of slaughtering animals for their meat. I guess you could kill them swiftly to not cause them pain?" I said, trying to find a solution. "Y'know, leave it for this world. You will get to sample meat when we go to Earth, and maybe we can take some with us somehow."

"Sounds like a good idea. Now though, these sandwiches... mmm, they smell good...." Twilight said.

We silently ate our meals. I didn't actually eat, I ravished and completely devoured my meal in savage fashion, much to the dismay of the others at the table.

"Do you have to eat that ferociously? You looked like a wild animal there, the frenzy you were in." Michelle said.

"My stomach does not like waiting!" I apologised.

Both girls chuckled and Spike grinned. He was spotted doing the same thing a time ago so he knew how much Twilight disliked that display of eating.

" Well, now that we have full tummies, I suggest we slowly round up the rest of the girls and start our training session!  Twilight, I'd like a word with you alone before we go. " I said.

By now it was around 12 o' clock, and I waited for the others to leave before addressing Twilight.

" Twilight, there was something up this morning. I didn't really want to bother you with it at that moment but I thought it out and I might actually need your help. "I began.

" What did you do?  What happened? " Twilight started asking.

" Nothing threatening, I assure you. A unicorn "kidnapped" me and asked me for a service. He tasked me with dealing with a certain pony named Mortimer Moneybags. He has been funnelling money from others into his own bank account. I thought, since you lived in Canterlot for a while, that you might know this pony or even claim these accusations true or false. "  I said.

" As a matter of fact, I have. And I can safely say he has indeed stolen money from others. Including me. He's quite devious in how he does it, too. " Twilight said. " He should live in Canterlot's upper residential area, near a shop called 'The Lucky Coin' , which he owns too. "

"Thanks, Twilight. I promise you I'm not going to liquidate him, merely make sure he forgets what he's done and make him start a new life. " I said.

" O.....kay. I don't know how you are going to do that,but I'm not the one to question your skills. Now let's go before they start wondering where we are. " Twilight said.

I followed Twilight outside, and when I turned around to close the door, I found a note.

Primal and Twilight,

We went ahead and started gathering the girls. We will meet near a secluded grass field south of Sweet Apple Acres.

-Michelle

" They are gathering the others to meet at a grass field south of Applejacks farm. Let's go to Applejack's farm now to tell her and wait for the rest to arrive. "I suggested.

WWWWW

"Hey Twi' , Hey Primal! What's goin' on? " Applejack asked.

" Primal wanted to do the training session now. Spike, Sabrina and Michelle are gathering the others to meet at a field south of here. " Twilight explained.

" Sure!  Lemme jus' finish this 'ere task an' Ah'll come over rightaway. " Applejack said in her usual western accent.

She continued what she was doing, and Twilight decided to ask me more questions.

" Hey Primal, how exactlyare you going to deal with Moneybags? Your explanation earlier was rather.... obscure. "

" To put it simply, I'm going to wipe his memories, place him somewhere far away from here, tell him his name and that he was a rich and generous guy who lost his work due to unforeseen circumstances and has to start over. My associates will deal with his departure, I simply have to get rid of him. " I said.

" Surely he's going to have some form of protection against assassins and the like? " Twilight asked, concerned.

" He will, but no amount of money will buy you protection against the Shadow of Equestria. " I said boldly.

" I guess you got a point. I've seen what you can do, and I'll do anything not to stand at the recieving end of that!" she said, pointing at the arm my mark was on.

I rolled up the sleeve of my shirt and revealed the mark. The dagger with its elements circling around it was still standing proudly.

" You sure got an interestin' mark there Primal. " Applejack said as she walked over to us.

" I should really show it more often. What's the point of having a mark depicting your talent when nobody can see it? " I said. " I wonder how I will make that work with my clothing, though..... Wait a second...."

I rolled the sleeve back down again and held my hand over the place where my mark was.

It started glowing through the fabric of my shirt, and then it imprinted itself slightly above the surface of my shirt.

" There! Now it should be a worthy Cutie mark!" I said proudly.

" I think someone else stated this before,   but I'll do it again. You just can't stop amazing us, can't you? " Twilight said.

" You want me to be boring and completely normal? No way, I kinda like being unique in this way. What's the point of having power beyond comprehension, and not using it? " I stated.

"Alraht mister Show-off, let's jus' see what you can do during the training session!" Applejack said.

" Deal. I'll show you what I can do, and you show me what you can do. " I said, accepting  the challenge.

WWWWW

When everyone finally arrived at the appointed area, I spoke up.

" Hello everyone, and welcome to the training session. Today, I will test just how strong or sturdy you are, depending on your area of expertise. I will test all your strengths, and point out any weaknesses I find so you may learn and overcome. I will not hold back today, and some of my words will be harsh, but this is all in your better interests. " I said.

" Any questions before we begin? " I asked.

" I have one! " Rainbow said, holding up her hoof. " What exactly do you mean by 'strengths and weaknesses'? "

"You are good at flying, right? " I asked, to which she  nodded. " Exactly. I will test just how well you can fly, and try to exploit any weaknesses you may show during that. How, I'll explain to you alone later. "

"Alright, I'm going to pull out everything I have at my disposal today, so no holding back. I will take turns in testing each of you, so I advise the rest of you to practice while you wait. Now, who wants to go first? " I asked.

" I'll go first! " Rainbow said.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Rainbow Dash

"Already, a weakness I could potentially exploit. Preparation is the goal to succes, but on the other hand, an unpredictability which could help in your favor. An unknowing enemy is a weak enemy. " Primal said.

He took me a bit away from the rest of the group, andexplained what he was going to do. " I'm going to test you on two fronts : your flying, and your mark. I will do these seperately first, and then combine the two into one final test. Should you pass that first try, you will have proven you are capable of defending yourself. "

"First, the flying test. I want you to stay airborne for five minutes while I launch a variety of spells at you. A word of caution, I'm not going to hold back once I notice you can do this easily. " he said.

" Bring it on! " I said as I shot into the air, already starting evasive maneuvers.

Primal launched a fireball, frostbolt and lightning bolt at me in quick succession, but I skilfully dodged all of them.

" Is that all you got? " I shouted.

" Another mistake. Don't taunt your enemy when you haven't seen their full potential yet!" he said as he vanished from sight.

A fireball just missed me, leaving me a few singed feathers. I knew where he wasstanding now, so I got as far from him as I could without leaving the field.

A lightning bolt zapped centimeters away from my face, coming from a completely different spot now. How can he move so quickly...?.

I picked up the pace and flew faster, going in circles heading upwards. A bolt of frost flew right in front of me, missing me by a long shot. I then used my speed to blur out my position, making it even harder to hit me.

This time, a barrage of fireballs flew straight at me. I nearly didn't dodge one, leaving even more singed feathers.

" Alright, time's up!" Primal shouted, becoming visible. I flew down to meet him.

" You did well Rainbow! To be honest I still held back a bit. I could've simply pulled you out of the air with a single spell you couldn't dodge, but that wouldn't be fair. " he said.

" You are bluffing, right? Did you see how fast I went there? " I boasted.

" I'm not. Wanna test it? " he asked.

" Try it!" I said as I shot up into the air again with breakneck speeds.

I felt a tug on my body, and before I knew it I was dragged back down to the ground just as fast as I had gotten away from it.

" Alright okay, you got me. " I conceded.

" Next, your mark. Throw everything you have at my barrier in an attempt to break it. " he said, creating a crystalline barrier which looked like it was made from ice. I shot a quick fireball at it, melting it instantly.

" Nicely done, spotted the weakness and responded quickly. Let's see if you can figure this one out! "

Another barrier formed, but this one was made out of a shadowy material. I decided to go wild and combine all three elements into one massive blast. The barrier shattered instantly again.

" Alright, good. Now for the final test!" he said.

Just before he got to explain, a displacement of wind was felt. Night had landed nearby.

" Oh hello there, I was told you would be around here somewhere!" she said. " Did I miss anything? "

" You missed my flying test and my skill test. We just wanted to do the last test when you landed " I said, slightly annoyed at the interruption.

" Please do not let me hold you up then. I will speak to the others and watch the two of you. " Night said, leaving us.

" Now, where were we." Primal said, unfazed. " Ah yes, the final test. I want you to defeat me while attempting to dodge everything I throw at you. "

He immediately launched a frostbolt at me, but I dodged it by flying up from the ground, and responded with a bolt of my own. I missed him by a long shot.

" Try focusing your mental aim instead of visual. I'm not moving. " He suggested.

I aligned another shot in my mind directed at where he was standing, whilst dodging bolts of lightning. This time, I hit him right in his face. He flinched slightly, but continued flinging spells at me.

" Don't hold back! I can heal myself. " he shouted.

I cast another multi bolt at him, but my cast got interrupted when a lightning bolt hit my chest. I lost momentum, and started falling to the ground.

" Straighten yourself! " Primal shouted.

I quickly got hold of myself and directed my fall into a nosedive, veering away from the ground. I had started casting my bolt again while falling, and he hadn't noticed. It struck him face first as I flew past him, knocking him to the ground.

" Ow, my head. I didn't see that coming. " he said as I landed next to him to help him up. "I say you passed with flying colours! No pun intended. Don't stop practicing though, and try out new spells from time to time. You've lifted a weight off my chest now that I know you can handle yourself. "

I pumped my hoof excitedly, happy to have passed the test. " Get Twilight here for me, will you? " he asked me.

I flew over to the others, a victorious grin on my face. " You are next, Twi! " I said to the purple unicorn.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Rainbow Dash -> Twilight Sparkle

I slightly shivered as I walked over to Primal after Rainbow called me. I knew what Primal could do if he really wanted to, and it scared me.

" You look scared, Twilight . What for? You know I would never hurt you intentionally. " he said.

Darn, there's just nothing he doesn't notice is there....

" I know... I don't really know why I'm scared either. I know you would never harm me, but at the same time, the power you wield is.... immense, and terrifying. " I said shakily.

" Let's just start your training, maybe that will take your mind off this. I'll do the same test setup as with Rainbow : for you, Magic, Mark and combination. As a side test, i want you to figure out a way to use your mark to restore your magic from nullification. Your magic should be your offense, while your mark provides your defense. " he instructed.

" How will I do that, though? I don't know what the boundaries for this mark are! " I said, annoyed.

" Find out yourself! " he said as he cast a spell on me. I felt the magic from my horn dissipating.

I tried to come up with a way to use my mark, but I couldn't think of anything which would help me.

" Remember, Alteration involves the manipulation of the physical world and it's natural properties. Your magic is one such natural property for your species. " he hinted.

Ofcourse! I can simply will the magic to return to me with my mark, since my magic is natural and the blocking effect is not!

I channeled my mark to do just that, and as I predicted, my magic flowed back into my horn.

" Well done! Now when someone blocks your magic with a spell you can undo the effect. But what about a magical inhibitor around your horn? " he said as he created a ring around my horn, causing my magic to ebb away again.

" That's easy! I just use my mark to transmute the ring into something which won't fit around my horn, like a liquid or something! " I said as I did just that, creating a pool of harmless water under me.

" Side test flawlessly completed!  Now for the real thing! First, I'll test your own magic. Use everything you have to get me down to my knees. Don't worry, I can take it. " he said.

" Rainbow's spells might have slapped you in the face, but mine will blow you away! " I said as I cast a bolt of pure violet at him. The force launched him several feet into the air and smacked him down into a bush.

" Oh my Primal, are you okay? " I asked.

" As I said, I'm fine. You think something like that is going to hurt me? You gotta try harder than that! "

Enraged at his comment, I gathered violet energy in my horn and underneath him, and used a spell I wanted to test for a while, which would draw power from my mark to enhance my spell. The violet energy shot out from both sides, and he launched up to cloud level and far away, in the direction of the farm.

" That'll teach him to underestimate my skill! " I said triumphantly.

I heard a hiss behind me, and Primal appeared in a cloud of smoke.

" Impressive! The sheer power of that spell got me flying, but I had more than enough time to teleport back here before I touched the ground. But okay, I'm quite resilient. Others would've been knocked unconscious by the force, methinks. "

A victorious smile appeared on my face. " Hold up there, no time for celebration! That was just 1 out of 3 tests!" he said, ruining the mood.

I took a quick break to regain my stamina, as the power drain from my mark took from my physical state.

" Done resting? "He asked, and I nodded. " Good. Now I want you to use your mark to defend yourself while I barrage you with a variety of spells, including ones that affect the mind. So be prepared! " he said.

I waited for him to try something like that, as I had just practiced a magical feedback spell just for those. I raised an armor of magic around me from my mark, and prepared the backlash spell.

He launched a few elemental spells at me, and they all bounced off harmlessly.

" Try something else, elements won't break this armour! " I shouted.

He casted a mind altering spell now, but he quickly got surprised as it struck back at him!

" AAAH! Darn! I should've seen that coming! That messed me up!" Primal said, grabbing his head in agony. " Let me just.... take a moment here...."

He sat down and rubbed his eyes. I walked over to him and placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

" Well, you passed the test with flying colours, again. I honestly should've seen that coming. " he said.

" It's okay. Everyone can make mistakes, right? Better you make them now against me so you can prepare yourself against it next time! " I said comfortingly.

" True. I'll heal myself and then we take the final test. " he said, as healing waters engulfed his body and soul.

The water-cocoon floated in the air for a moment. It broke after, revealing a renewed Primal.

" Ah, much better! Like a refreshing Zen bath with aromatic oils and the like, only way more efficient. " he said. " Now, the final test. Combine your offense and defense; take me down while sustaining yourself. "

I raised my armours and backlash spells again, and charged my own mind spell at him. The spell struck him, but he remained unaffected while he threw his own spells at me in an attempt to break my armour.

Night had quickly teached me Primal's Shadowstep while I waited for Rainbow to finish, and I quickly got to grips with the basics of it. I channeled a multi-tiered spell containing a Shadowstep behind him,followed up by a quick paralysing spell and a forceful blast.

I cast the combination, and dodged a potentially lethal combination of fire and lightning. His body froze up from the paralysing spell, and got knocked into a nearby tree afterwards.

" Score! I did it again! " I cheered.

" Or did you? " a sinister voice called behind me as I got knocked into the tree this time.

" Never expect your enemy to be defeated unless you know for certain he's either dead or completely disabled. Good show though, and did you just use my Shadowstep? " he shouted in my general direction.

I used his Shadowstep to blink beside him, saving me from the tree's grasp. " That I did, yes. Night teached it while we waited for Rainbow to finish. Rarity can pull it off, too. " I said.

"Wonderful. Consider yourself passed, but don't forget what I told you about the defeated enemy. " Primal said. " Fetch Rarity for me, please. "

"Will do! " I said as I walked back to the others.

"Rarity!  Your turn! "

WWWWW

Change of Character - Twilight Sparkle - > Rarity

"I knew I would be next! " I said as I walked over to where Primal was waiting.

I stepped up next to him in elegant fashion. " You can leave the elegance for Spike. I just wanna see what you're capable of. Just like Twilight,I'll test your magic and your mark. Yours will be slightlydifferent since I will disable your magic during the mark test. " he explained.

" Why is that? " I asked.

" Well for one, I don't want you cheating. And two,your mark doesn't allow the removal of magical inhibition. You can summon creatures to do battle for you. Again, like the rest, don't hold back. I can deal with whatever you throw at me. " he said.

" Like this dagger? " I said as I conjured a dagger and threw it at him.

He catched it in mid-air.

" Like that dagger, yes. " he dropped the weapon on the ground, and I saw a few drops of blood on the blade. He healed the cut the dagger had created. " I wanted to start with your magical ability however. "

"I do not really know any good offensive spells, I am afraid. " I said.

" Let's change that, then. " he vanished from sight.

" Primal? "

He appeared a moment later, Twilight next to him. " I brought Twilight here to teach you some. She knows more about unicorn magic than I do. "

"So you don't know any good offensive spells you say? I'll teach you the basic force bolt, the same I used against Primal during my test. Stay still and I'll transfer my knowledge of it to you. " Twilight said.

I felt knowledge of the spell flow into me, and I understood how it worked now.

" This is an odd feeling, I must say. " I said.

" Try casting the spell at either one of us. " Primal said.

I charged up the spell, feeling the power surge inside of me. What if I use the magic from my mark aswell? . I channeled my mark to add power to the spell I was already casting, The spell got overcharged, and I launched it at Primal.

" Not again! " he said before the bolt hit him, launching him into the forest again.

" I'm sure he's okay, just wait a moment for him to get back here. " Twilight said assured.

And indeed, he approached us a moment later. " I really do feel like a target dummy. " he said, annoyed.

" I am dreadfully sorry darling. " I apologised.

" It's okay. I'm used to being launched into the air now. "  he responded.

We all chuckled at his comment. "Let's get serious again though, it's already about 3 o ' clock by now, and I'm only about halfway with you guys. Your mark now , Rarity. Conjure something to attack me. "

I had to think for a moment. Finding a creature worthy of battling was a hard task, but I settled on summoning a frost elemental. My mark glowed, and an icy bolt shot out and hit the ground. It started reshaping into an actual creature, and when finished it looked at me with a faceless expression, waiting for an order.

"Attack him!" I commanded while pointing at Primal. Twilight had moved out of the way and was spectating from a distance.

The elemental obeyed my command and charged at Primal, fists shaping into glacial spikes. It struck him on his arm when he tried to dodge it's attack.

" Ow, this thing is nasty! Watch this though!" he said as he vanished from sight, leaving the elemental confused.

He reappeared on the creature's back and struck both his daggers into it, but the elemental looked unfazed and threw him off its back, and he landed on the nearby ground with a thud.

" You okay? " Twilight shouted at him.

" I'm fine Twilight! This thing won't break physically though! " he said as I saw him cast the elemental's biggest weakness :fire.

The spell hit the elemental in its face, and steam hissed off of its now partially melted face. I saw Primal had the winning hand now, but I wasn't about to give up. I conjured another creature, an earthen elemental this time.

" Help your friend!" I commanded the elemental. It rushed over to its frosty ally and shielded it from further fireballs.

The frost elemental took this moment of respite to channel an icy spell.

" Aw c'mon, not another one! " Primal shouted.

I grinned. " This is better than being launched into the air again though? " I asked him.

" Definitely! Let me try and beat these two. Call them back if things get hairy for me." he said as he blinked out of the way of an icicle.

He faded into the shadows again, but the earthen elemental was prepared for this and slammed his fist unto the ground.

A huge tremor shook the earth, and Primal appeared again, fallen over from the shock.

" Boy, these are tough! You definitely passed this test, and I doubt you will need that force bolt! " he shouted as he dodged a hail of frozen stones.

He blinked behind the frost elemental and struck it in the chest with two blazing daggers, melting a swath through the creature. The elemental fell to the ground, defeated, and shattered into a thousand pieces.

" One down, one to go!" he cheered.

I watched him skillfully dodge a rock launched from an enraged earth elemental. The rock elemental launched another boulder at him however, and he had no time to recover. It slammed straight into his chest, knocking him down.

" Oof! "

The elemental charged at him, seeing its enemy weakened. When it slammed into the ground Primal was at however, he was nowhere to be seen.

" Tricked you." Primal said as he blinked on top of the elemental, this time with force-charged hands. The elemental exploded from the impact, leaving loose rocks in a frosty field.

Primal jumped off of the elemental before it exploded, performing a back flip and landing next to me, sheathing the daggers.

" Pff... That was tiresome! I need a quick break before I call in the next one. " he said as he sat down against a rock.

Twilight walked up to us. " How did you trick the earth elemental there? I'm pretty sure you got hit by a boulder there!" she asked.

" That wasn't me. " he said simply.

" Wait, it hit a clone? How quickly did you do that? You dodged that boulder and got hit by the other afterwards! "

" I didn't dodge the boulder either. In fact, I'm not even sitting here. Look behind you. " He said, and both of us looked behind Twilight.

From a tree, Primal was waving at us. When we looked back at the sitting Primal, he was gone. The Primal in the tree jumped down, and walked up to us.

" Impressive, isn't it? I'm not called 'The Shadow of Equestria ' for nothing! " he boasted.

" How the...." I said,  but he silenced me before I could speak further.

"Don't question it, it will give you a headache if you are not careful. All I say is that the moment that tremor hit, I wasn't battling anymore. " he said. " I do still want to take a break though, so let's head over to the others! "

I couldn't argue with that, and me and Twilight followed Primal back to where the others were practicing.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Rarity -> Primal Dagger

I sat down next to Night, who had been talking with Sabrina and Applejack.

" Impressive display there, Primal Dagger. You took down both those things single-handedly. " Night complimented.

" Well, I can't say I did that alone. It just looked like it was only me!" I said.

" Really? So where were ya then? " Applejack asked.

" I was there, yet I was not. You can do the same as I can, so it shouldn't take long for you to figure out where I was. " I hinted.

" Darn, Ah didn't even see ya create them clones! Yer mighty quick there, you were! " Applejack said.

" Yep. And I want you capable of causing the same kind of confusion. You'll be the next for testing your mark, and I want you to confuse me so I can't find out which or where the real you is. And you better make sure of that, as I'll be casting fireballs at hopefully just your clones! " I said.

" Try me! " she said, but not from in front of me.

" Clever!  See, you're as good as I am. Nice decoy, too. Asking where I was and all that. I know that still isn't the real you, though. " I stated, and shot a fireball at the clone, causing it to explode.

" But what if the real me was still beside you? " a voice called from beside me. I turned to see Night standing there.

" No way, you already mastered disguises, cloning AND invisibility? Damn!" I exclaimed.

"Ah sure did!  The real Night is over there, talking to Rainbow." Applejack said as she turned back into her normal self.

" Well, you already passed the test before we even started. Why don't I test your physical strength now with an earthen pillar. " I said as I rose one up from the ground beside her. " Try breaking that. "

The pillar had a small and subtle crack on the bottom, which I placed there intentionally.

" How on earth Ah'm Ah gonna do that?!" she called out.

" You'll figure it out, I'm sure. " I said as I took a sip from a water bottle I carried on my utility belt.

I couldn't help but hold in a chuckle as I watched Applejack pointlessly kick the pillar. " Applejack, did you ever consider looking for a weakness first? "

She shot an angry look at me as she realized what I had done. She scanned the pillar, and found the crack. A swift kick brought the pillar tumbling.

" Remember that lesson: look for weaknesses before you bluntly charge at an enemy. Utilising those effectively is half the work done. " I said in a lecturing tone.

" Thanks, Primal. Really. Ya didn't have to go through all this trouble for us, but you did anyway. "She said.

" Anything for my best friends. " I said humbly. " Your test is done for now, but like the rest : don't forget to practice and get better!"

I called the others over to me so I could tell something, and waited for them to gather around me expectingly.

" I say we take a small lunch break and resume training afterwards. Do we visit a place or does someone fancy making something? " I asked.

" Ah can make summin' fancy for y'all at mah farm. How say we head over there? " Applejack suggested.

" Sounds like a great idea! Anyone not in favour?" Pinkie asked.

Everyone shook their heads. " Don't stay standing here then! My stomach is rumbling, and it's not fire! " Spike said.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Applejack

Ah lead the ponies, dragon and humanoid to my farmstead. Ah had the idea to bake some Apple family pies for everyone. Night had seemed hesistant to travel openly with us, but after a few comforting words from Twilight, Primal and Rarity, she agreed to come with.

" Well here we are then, Sweet Apple Acres! I'm gonna start bakin' some pies for y'all. Could ya help me out Pinkie? " Ah asked.

" Sure thing Applejack! We are goingto bake some pies and it's going to be AMAZING! And delicious! " Pinkie shouted.

Ah took Pinkie to the kitchen, and Ah let her prepare the dough while Ah gathered the ingredients for the pie filling: apples. And only the best apples!

When everything was set up, we made the pies. 10 in total! One for Twilight, one for Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Primal, Michelle, Spike, Night, Pinkie and myself.

The panther had left our group on the way here to catch some food of her own since she can't live on what we eat normally. Not that we ate these pies daily, but a day of hard work and training deserves a tasty treat!

When all of the pies were ready to be cooked, I called Twilight and Primal over.

"Hey guys, could ya maybe heat these pies somehow so we could eat earlier ? Otherwise we would need to wait an hour for them to get ready! " I asked.

" Sure, I can think of something. My magic isn't all that powerful in the fire aspect but I can create a heat conductor for the pies to stand on while Twilight blasts them!" Primal said.

" You sure that'll work Prime? I don't want to blow these pies up!" Twilight wondered.

" Trust me " he said as he created a shiny stone plate. " Aluminium, if you were wondering. Great for conducting heat and electricity. Its a little rare on Earth which is why it's not the only material used for conduction." (Factually correct! Check the wikipedia for Aluminium!)

"Alright , so I just blast that plate with magic? " Twilight asked.

" No silly. You have to alter the way you send your magic into it for this, in this case heat. Use your mark to cast it, and supply with further power from your horn. " Primal explained. " Stand back just in case " he said to me and Pinkie.

Twilight's mark glowed violet, and her horn channelled energy into her mark. A thermal beam shot towards the aluminium plate with a pie on it. Primal used his magic to guide the heated air around it to further heat the pie. After a few seconds, the pie was done.

" Send it out! Hot pies are the best pies!" Primal said.

" Will do! " Pinkie said as the pie was placed on a plate she magicked from somewhere. " Hoowie this is hot! " she said as her own mark glowed and enchanted the plate with heat resistance.

" Careful you don't burn yourself! " I called to her.

Primal and Twilight heated up every pie, and Primal had to carry Twilight back to the living room since she was exhausted. He didn't look that good himself either, but Ah paid it no heed.

After the last pie made its way to the living room, I followed Pinkie back and sat myself down at an empty chair. "Apple family pie filling with dough made by Pinkie and heated up by Primal and Twilight! " I said cheerfully. " Dig in!"

Nobody seemed to wait to be told that again, and immediately struck their pies with fierce munching blows. Me included! Boy this pie is delicious!

WWWWW

Change of Character - Applejack->Primal Dagger

I couldn't wait to ask Pinkie a question I wanted answered, so the moment I gulped down the last bite of my pie, I asked: " Pinkie, what else can you enchant? I saw you enchant those plates with what I assumed was heat resistance. I'm wondering what the hay I could train you in. "

"I enchanted a few things during mine and Applejack's trip for that ritual item, like-" And so came an extensive list of things she may or may not have done and a few things completely off-topic aswell.

" Most o' that were probably your own adventures, but ya did enchant that carriage ta have self-driving wheels. " Applejack said, cutting Pinkie off.

"Oh? Doesn't sound like you need my help on that front, but what I do want you to think about is a way to defend yourself or escape if you are completely alone and caught unaware. " I said.

" How about something like what you can do? All the smoke and stuff? Or maybe -" Another rant with a myriad of ideas.

" Umm, let's just keep it simple, okay? " Twilight chimed in. " All Primal wants is for you to be safe if he's not around to help you. Which is the main reason for this training. "

" Seriously? We spent this entire day just so you can feel happy knowing you don't have to do anything to help us? " Rainbow said angrily.

" Whoa hold up there, I never said that. I only want all of you to be safe when I'm not around so I don't have to come back to see dead friends. Is that too much to ask for? You showed me you are able to, so what's the problem? " I returned.

" I.... Sorry Primal, and everyone else. I.... kinda got carried away thinking about that and not realizing the meaning behind it. Guess my up-front way of thinking needs to change a bit. " Rainbow apologised.

" No big deal Rainbow Dash. Just take your time with it, you will stay our friend one way or another. " Rarity said.

" Like Rarity said. You shouldn't think that you need to change right now in order to stay friends. " Fluttershy added.

" Such sentimental words.... Such burning friendship and loyalty between you. I think I have a lot to catch up on. " Night said.

" I have a few things to learn about friendship aswell, so you are not alone, Avatar of Darkness. " Sabrina shared.

" Good to see you two acknowledge it. All of us will help you! " Twilight said.

" I second that. " I added.

" And I third that! " Pinkie said.

" Pinkie...." I laughed.

" What? You said second, I say third! "

" Seconding something means that I support Twilight's statement of helping out Sabrina and Night learn more about friendship. It's not a count!" I explained.

" Oooooooooooooooooh " Pinkie said with a drawn-out breath.

Everyone laughed, enjoying the pink mare's innocent and cheerful nature.

" Anyway, do try and find a way to get out of a bad situation . " I said, getting back to business. "As for training, I still need to take Fluttershy, Michelle and Spike out for a spin. "

" I don't mind watchin' you guys battle! " Applejack said.

" Me too! " Twilight said.

" I have a feeling Fluttershy could use my help if your test will be what I think it is. " Rainbow said.

" I still have a few orders to take care of, so if all of you do not mind, I will take my leave. "Rarity said.

" I agree with Applejack! " Pinkie shouted.

" Primal, do you mind if we spar aswell after you test the others? I'm interested to see who is the strongest of us. " Night asked.

" Not at all, but are you sure you want to face me?" I asked.

" I am certain! " she responded.

" Well let's go then! Or do all of you want to stay up untill midnight? " I said. I had ulterior motives to finish earlier, but only Twilight could know of those.

We said goodbye to Rarity, and left for the field again to resume the training.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger-> Fluttershy

I was scared. Okay I'm normally scared of everything, but the thought of flying terrified me. The pegasi at flight school had all bullied me for my bad flying skills, and it had certainly left bad thoughts on me.

At least now nopony would bully me for my terrible flying. I was surrounded by the best friends I could've ever had, yet I was still frightened of flying faster than a snail's pace.

" Come on Fluttershy, I know you're afraid of flying but do try to keep up ok?" Rainbow insisted.

" I -I'll try " I said shakily. What am I so scared of?

I tried flying a little faster to keep up with Rainbow's pace, and I could feel a small boost to confidence rising within me as I slowly lessened the distance between me and her.

" Hey good going there Fluttershy!  Keep it up! " Primal cheered as he watched me fly by.

Me and Rainbow arrived at the field first of everyone, as the rest had taken to leisurely strolling over while I attempted to keep up with Rainbow who was silently racing me to the field.

" You kept up with me! I'm impressed! I think everyone will be delighted to hear that! " Rainbow said.

" No! I mean... no. I don't want you to tell them." I said.

" Well they already saw you flying past them! It's not like it's news or something." she said, frowning. " I know!  Why don't you tell them yourself? Tell them you were right behind me all the way here. "

"I... I...." I mumbled.

" Oh come on Fluttershy!  All of us just want you to get better! How are you going to get better at flying if nobody knows you did? " Rainbow said.

" I....." I sighed. " You're right.... I should stop thinking so lowly of myself. I was right behind you... was I? " I said.

" You were! No lies! " Rainbow said.

" Alright then. I... I'll tell them myself. "

"Good on you. And don't be afraid, they just want what is best for you. " she said as the others approached.

" H-Hey guys! I managed to keep up with Rainbow! She said I was just behind her the entire time! " I said in my attempt to speak proudly.

" That's right! I looked behind me a few times and she was just a little bit behind me! " Rainbow said.

Primal had a faux-happy look on his face. I knew he was trying to hide that he knew Rainbow lied slightly, but the others didn't notice. "Wonderful! Say, why don't you and Rainbow practice flying for a bit while I train with Spike? I'll leave the coaching to you Rainbow. "

" Awesome! I get to coach Fluttershy! " Rainbow said in excitement. " Don't you worry 'Shy, you will be one of the best fliers in no time!"

"R-Really? "I asked.

" Ofcourse! All I want is to soar through the skies with my best friend! " she said. " Come with me, and we'll start practice right away! "

I hesitantly followed her, but her inspiring words and that she wanted to fly with her best friend was all I needed to keep going. We were in the same class at flight school, and we became very good friends. When I eventually left the school due to peer pressure, Rainbow left with me. I told her not to, and to chase her dreams of joining the Wonderbolts, but she would have none of it.

"Alright, I want you to start with 10 wing-ups and do 10 airborne somersaults afterwards. Pronto!" Rainbow commanded.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Fluttershy -> Primal Dagger

I watched as Fluttershy and Rainbow took off to practice together, and I took Spike with me to test him.

"Well, I'm afraid that just won't cut it." I said after being on the recieving end of a few weak fire breaths.

"What do you mean?" Spike asked.

"Well, you barely did anything to me. What will you do against someone who will actually want to do harm to you?" I responded

"I don't know, run?" Spike said confused.

"They are probably going to be faster than you. Hmm, what to do..." I pondered. "Ah! I got an idea!"

I created a runestone and held it out to Spike.

"What do I do with this?" he asked.

"Do you have a secret location you go to when you want to be completely alone?" I asked, and he responded with a nod. "Think of that location and breathe fire onto the rune, it will save the location onto it."

He did as he was told. "And now what?"

"Give it to me, and I'll inscribe this rune on your arm and make it invisible" I said.

I copied the rune onto Spike's arm, and made it invisible just as I told him. "Now, if you want to return to that location, you have to just will it to happen and the rune will do the rest." I explained.

I saw him focus for a second, and then he vanished. "Hm, maybe not the best idea to let him try that right now, he'll have to walk all the way back here!" I chuckled. "Oh well, atleast it works!" I walked back to Night and Michelle.

"How did it go? Wait, where is Spike?" Michelle asked.

"He teleported to somewhere I don't know. A secret location he retires to when he wants to be alone. Safety measure to help him survive!" I explained.

"O...kay. Right! So now I guess you will want to practice with me?" Michelle asked.

"That's 100% correct! Let's head over yonder so we don't destroy the place." I suggested.

"Show him what for Michelle!" Twilight cheered.

"Yeah! Show 'im he's not tha only one with powerful magics!" Applejack added.

"As if she will stand a chance agaisnt me" I muttered under my breath. Boy did I wish I hadn't said those words.

Once we were far enough away, I said: "Show me what you got!"

What she got was way more than I expected. She vanished into thin air just like I usually do, leaving me to find out where she would be.

She appeared behind me, and touched my neck with a single finger. A chill crept up from that spot, and travelled through my entire body.

When I tried to move, I noticed that I was frozen in place! "Wow, okay! But you gotta have more than just freezing me on the spot to beat me!" I said as I melted the ice that kept me in place and turned invisible.

Now it was Michelle's turn to look around her to find me. I did the same as she did, but instead of freezing her, I cast a cyclone on her keeping her in place with furious winds.

"Oh really now." she said as she literally froze the winds, causing them to die down. She immediately cast a frost bolt at my general direction afterwards, which struck me on my shoulder.

" 'Tis that I don't actually want to fatally wound you, otherwise I would've used my daggers long ago. Guess it's practice for me too to find other ways to disable my opponent!" I said mockingly, clamping my hand on the stricken spot.

"You bet! But can you do this?" she said as orbs of water started flowing around her.

"Do what? All I see is you and a few orbs of water around you." I said as I started trying to do the same thing, but with orbs of whirling air.

Her orbs grew in size, and started absorbing nearby plant matter to become even larger. After a short moment, all I could see were 5 gigantic orbs of water. Then, the orbs started charging at me one by one.

I dodged the orb by Shadowstepping out of the way of it, but my own orbs were not so lucky. They got caught in the orb, making it even bigger than it already was. The orb hit a tree and exploded, bursting water everywhere, re-nourishing the lands around it with increased plant growth.

"I see. So you want to overwhelm me with force, is that how it is?" I said.

"Kind of. Expect that you forgot that water is a liquid!" she said, as the water that burst out of the orb previously started to flow around my legs.

"What the-" I managed to say before the waters consumed me whole. I was now swimming in mid-air, water surrounding me.

"Had enough yet? Or do you want to get to the point of drowning before you surrender?" Michelle said.

I couldn't speak because I was submerged in water, but I made a smile cross my face as the real me appeared behind Michelle.

"Surprise! You forgot that I was the master of subtlety!" I said as the winds swept her upwards whilst lightning bolts struck the orbs of water she had created, electrifying them and making them burst.

"Oh you sneaky little devil" she said as she was caugh in a current of air high above the ground. "Alright alright, put me down!"

I commanded the winds to put her down on the ground safely, and we shook hands.

"Still, well done though! If that would've been the real me, I would've stood no chance!" I said.

"I still don't understand how you manage to create clones like that without me noticing." Michelle wondered.

"Do you remember when I turned invisible? I created an invisible me at that moment, and he was the one to attack you while the real me waited over there" I pointed at the location I had waited at.

"No wonder you are training us to overcome any situation. Sounds like you could get out of anything just by using those clones!" Michelle said in praise.

"Kind of. I got a huge problem if I face an enemy who can see invisible things though. I would have to be crafty with how I create my clones to create confusion." I said.

"Hm, that gave me an idea for something I'd like to try. Could you turn invisible?" Michelle asked, and I did.

Water surged around her, and exploded outwards in a circle. It struck me without causing any harm, but the waters clinged to me.

"There we go, now you being invisible doesn't matter anymore!" Michelle said proudly.

"We'll just see about that!" I said as I attempted to dispell the water around me. No reaction.

"Oh come on! Now I have to learn how to create clones of myself with effects like these on them!" I said, defeated.

"Ha ha! I win!" Michelle boasted.

I duplicated myself, and used the second me to try and dispell the water using lightning. This worked, and I helped my clone remove the water aswell.

"Yeah, you win. That took way too long for me to get rid of, and you would've bested me if you actually done something to me during that time." I admitted.

Michelle fist-pumped the air in victory. "Hey now don't start boasting about it. You don't want to turn out to be like Rainbow is now!"I said.

"I can be happy with my victory, can I not? Hey, how about I test Fluttershy's mark while you spar with Night? She seems eager to duel you." Michelle offered.

"Sure! Let's see if I can beat her!" I said, moods rising.

Michelle walked over to Fluttershy and Rainbow, while I made my way towards Night.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Michelle

I walked over to the girls training. " Hey girls, how's the training going? " I asked.

"It's going great, actually. Fluttershy has seen a big increase in confidence and skill during this day! Isn't that so ' Shy? " Rainbow asked.

The way she asked Fluttershy for her opinion was a bit suspect, but I let it slide.

" It's true! I don't want to let you down, and certainly not Primal! " Fluttershy said, genuinely cheerful.

" That's great news! Anyway, Primal sent me instead of himself to test your mark. I recall Primal saying that Restoration had to do with healing, creating barriers and expelling undead. " I said.

" Expel undead? What is that good for? " Rainbow asked.

" I don't know, maybe dead ponies start rising from the grave, and the only one who can stop them completely is Fluttershy here?" I said jokingly. " I doubt that is what Primal gave you this mark for though. "

" It might come in useful someday... right?" Fluttershy said.

" Who knows. For now, let's test your barriers. I want you to defend yourself from my assault for two minutes. Starting....Now!"I said as I started my assault on Fluttershy.

She instinctively raised a barrier without knowing it, but when she stopped cowering and noticed she was protected, she focused on the barrier to hold.

" 58...59....60! That's two minutes! " Rainbow counted as both of us stopped channelling spells.

"Well done! But how will you last against a single, powerful spell? " I said as I started gathering energy for a devastating spell.

Fluttershy raised her barrier again, and I didn't notice it had a slightlydifferent colour this time.

The torrent of magical energy was drawing more and more magical energy, but I failed to realize where from as someone collapsed in the distance.

I felt the spell reaching its apex, and I launched it at the barrier. No explosion happened however, as the spell fused with the barrier.

" W-What happened? Where did the spell go? " I asked.

" The barrier absorbed it instead of deflecting it!" Fluttershy said proudly.

" Wow, okay. So all that power-gathering was for naught... " I said. " Well, let's call it a day , shall we? Let's see what Primal and Night are up to!" I suggested.

"Good idea!" Rainbow agreed.

We walked over to the other end of the field, towards Primal and Night...

WWWWW

Change of Character - Michelle - > Nightmare Moon

I had a small conversation with Primal before we started sparring, when both of us noticed an immense amount of light from where Fluttershy, Michelle and Rainbow were practicing.

" Is that Michelle casting that? Where does she get all that power from? " I asked.

" I....think....I.....know....." Primal said before he collapsed on the ground.

" Primal? What happened to you? " I quickly scanned his body using magic , and found that he was extremely weak. " Oh my... Twilight, get over here NOW!" I shouted.

Twilight, who had been standing at the path leading up to the field, charged over to us.

"Whats wr-" Twilight said, before she noticed Primal lying on the ground. " What happened? " she asked, worried.

" I think the spell Michelle cast sapped his magic. He is really weak right now, we have to get him to the hospital! " I said, Twilight making no attempt to argue and teleported herself and Primal to the hospital.

I ran in the direction of Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who had been left confused as Twilight had charged off and teleported away.

"You have to get to the hospital! Primal's magic has been drained! " I explained.

The two mares immediately ran off, and I went back to send the others to the hospital aswell.

" Quickly! Your spell sapped Primal's magic, he is really weak right now! We have to get to the hospital! "

Michelle, worried, immediately ran off. Rainbow and Fluttershy flew off to the hospital, and I teleported myself over there....

Chapter 12 - Earth is far away...

"That doesn't look like a particularly comfortable position to sleep in, Night. " I heard a familiar voice say, waking me up from what was indeed an uncomfortable position.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? " I responded.

" My rest was far from comfortable as well, so you're not alone on that front. I wonder how he's doing.... " Twilight said.

I walked over to the side of the hospital bed Primal was in. " He looks peaceful, and he's still breathing. "

" I'm so glad he didn't sustain any serious injuries. I don't know how I would've coped without him around." Twilight said. " When will he-"

" He should be waking up any minute now, if the tests are correct. " A nurse said as she walked into the room to check up on Primal.

We all waited patiently until he showed signs of returning to the world of the living. And as promised, he showed a sign in the form of a groan.

" Ugh, I feel like I've been out for days at an end." Primal groaned. " Did Michelle really drain my energy for that spell? "

" You have been out for a day. It's nearly 4 pm now. " The nurse said. " I'll leave you alone, and check in a little while later to sign him off."

"Michelle did drain your magic, but not intentionally. She didn't even know it was draining magic from elsewhere. " I said.

" Where is she now? I really don't want her to feel guilty for hurting me like this. " Primal asked.

" She should be back at the library. She was pretty stricken when Night told her that her spell had siphoned your magic. " Twilight said.

"Did you two stay with me all the time I was out, by the way? " Primal asked.

" I checked in on my castle this morning and made some breakfast for me and Twilight, which I took back here. Celestia also came by to tell me the re-introduction is tomorrow. "  I said. " Twilight has been by your side all this time. "

"I don't remember if I left the room for anything, so I suppose that is true. " Twilight confirmed.

"You really are devoted, then. It feels so good to have friends like you..... " Primal said, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

" It's alright, Primal. Know that we'll never leave you, no matter what happens. " Twilight said comfortingly.

" Thanks.... I really appreciate it... " Primal said, sniffing.

" You still have your parents though? " I asked, curious.

" I do, but parental love isn't exactly the same as this now is it? Parents will love their child no matter what happens. " he said.

" I suppose that much is true. I do not have any parents as far as I know, since I am simply an embodiment of Darkness. " I said.

" That's kinda sad... " Primal said with a sentimental gesture.

" It is not. I do not have anything to be sad for. " I said. " It is simply who I am, and I have no problems with accepting it. "

"Alright, you win. I sure can't wait to get out of this damn hospital, though. " Primal said.

" I'm sure the nurse will be back soon. Otherwise I could go get her. " Twilight offered.

" I would be forever in your debt if you did. I'm quite sick of this bed, and my feet are itching for a walk!" Primal said.

" I will stay here untill she returns. " I said.

" Thanks, both of you. " Primal said.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Nightmare Moon -> Twilight Sparkle

I left Night with Primal to search for a nurse to dismiss him. I sure like him.... Maybe even more than that...

I shook away my thoughts as I had to walk down the stairs to find a nurse, and I asked her if she could sign Primal out of the hospital.

"Sure, I'll be there in a moment." the nurse responded.

I waited for the nurse to finish what she was doing, and followed her upstairs back to Primal's room.

'Hello there, Primal Dagger. Sounds like you are ready to leave the hospital, so I'll sign this form here and dismiss you." The nurse said to Primal.

"Wonderful!" Primal said as he stepped out of the bed.

"I have your clothes over here, Primal." I said, handing him his clothes.

"Thank you, I'll go put them on in a different dimension real quick." Primal said, as he vanished with his clothes.

"What did he just say? A different dimension?" The nurse asked, confused.

"He can walk between dimensions, just don't question it too much or you'll get a headache. He's the Shadow of Equestria for a reason." I explained.

"The Shadow of Equestria? THE Shadow of Equestria?" The nurse asked, seemingly bewildered.

"Yep. The one and only." Primal said as he reappeared in front of us.

"Oh my, my fellow colleagues are not going to believe that I nursed the Shadow back to health. Word's been going around that you saved a lot of people from robbers, thieves and the like. Not to mention beating that corruption with the Mane Six and the princesses." The nurse said, excited.

"You know about that? Where did you know this from?" I asked.

"Word travels quickly, Twilight." the nurse responded.

"O-kay... Alright. Have a nice day, nurse." I said, bidding farewell and hinting at the others to leave.

"Don't get into more trouble now!" The nurse called to us as we left the hospital.

"Ah, fresh air. I'm going to head over to the library to make it up with Michelle. Where did Night go, anyway?" He asked.

I looked around, but found no sign of Night anywhere. "She probably teleported back to her castle. I noticed her hiding away when the nurse came in, which was probably a good idea. She hasn't been properly re-introduced yet, remember?"

"Yeah, threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness isn't much of an introduction to who Nightmare Moon is." Primal added. "Anyway, will you join me in heading to the library, or do you have other things to do?"

"Actually, Fluttershy asked for my help, so I'll go to her place now. Tell me how it went, okay?" I said to Primal.

"I will. See you later!" Primal said, leaving for the library.

I hope they will fix things between them. I thought, as I trotted towards Fluttershy's cottage.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Twilight Sparkle -> Primal Dagger

I opened the door to the library, and opened the second door to the living room. Michelle and Spike were sitting at the table, having a conversation when I walked in.

"Oh hello, did I interrupt something?" I asked.

" No, not at all! Come in,and shut the door behind you will you? " Michelle said. I could hear a serious tone in her voice, so I did as she asked and took a seat at the table.

" I'll leave you two alone to talk. Don't blow up the house okay? " Spike joked.

Michelle waited until Spike was out of the room before she started talking. " I know you came here to tell me it's okay, it wasn't my fault. But it really was. I got so caught up in casting that spell to test Fluttershy's barrier that I didn't even stop to think where all that power was coming from. I brought you unnecessary harm...."

"Hey, it's really okay. Don't start blaming yourself for getting me in harm's way. You showed you cared for me when you prevented my head from colliding with the floor, against my orders. Besides,  did you ever see what you casted back there? That was so much power that even I thought it was impossible! "  I said, noticeably comforting her.

" Heh, I guess you're right. Tell me when I want to try something like that again though, I don't want it to happen again! " Michelle agreed. " You still have a sparring session with Night though, and a contract from what I heard from Twilight! "

"Twilight told you then? I guess it wouldn't hurt if I'd ask you to accompany me on that mission then. " I suggested.

" I'd love to! I could learn a thing or two, and who knows maybe I could help out! " she answered. " Will Sabrina join us too? "

" Ofcourse, she's my spirit companion! Speaking of, where is she right now? "

"I think she went out to catch some fish, she should be back any minute- " Michelle said as the door to the library opened. " Well, there she is! Right on time! "

Sabrina threw a confused look at us, but smiled when she fully noticed me and purred in delight as she nuzzled my leg. " You are healthy again then,  yes?  She asked.

" Yep. Fully healthy, just dismissed from the hospital and already having to do a mission. This'll be the first mission where it isn't just me, so I'll have to adapt slightly. You will be joining me right? " I said.

" Ofcourse. Where are we headed? " the black cat asked.

" Canterlot. A certain pony named Mortimer Moneybags needs to be dealt with for stealing property. All the bases are covered, and all we have to do is get to him, get him somewhere far away and erase his memories to replace them with new ones. " I said.

" Erase his memories? How? " Michelle asked.

" You are as adept as I am with rune magic, so you tell me. " I said plainly.

" Really? Okay, well.... Maybe we could 'liquefy' the memories while he's incapacitated, and pull them out that way? I could mend his brain tissue after to fill in any essential gaps should it go wrong. " Michelle suggested.

" Not really how I would've done it, but it does sound like a better idea than what I had in mind. You're the master of Water magic, after all. Shame we don't have anyone with mastery over Earth, it would've been a lot easier otherwise. " I said. 'Although I have a slight suspicion someone does...'

" I will stand guard while you two do whatever you intend to do to this 'Moneybags' ." Sabrina said.

" Well it's set then, let's head out!  I'll mentally notify Twilight we are leaving. " I said.

I told Twilight we are leaving, my mind-speech still a bit wobbly from not using it for a while.

" She wishes us good luck, and for us to return before supper. I could hear the worry in her voice though. " I said. " She's a born worrier. Don't ask how I know that. "

" How'll we travel to Canterlot? Taking the train would  take ages-"

" I took the liberty of creating a stable portal to the palace beforehand. It's inactive right now, but a bit of power should spark it up right away. This way, ladies. " I said. I led them to a shack by the lake located some distance away from the library, to prevent ponies finding out about the portal.

" Why is this place so far away? Wouldn't it be easier to make a new room in the library for a portal? " Michelle asked.

" Do you know how long it would've taken if we made anther room? Other than Spike's cave and the foyer upstairs we only adjusted the existing ones. Besides, this place was already here and not in use, so why not?  " I explained.

" Okay. So how do we start this portal? She asked.  .

" Place your hands on this stone here. " I pointed at a stone in front of the portal. " The stone will convert your magic into liquid form and run into tubes running beside the portal. The magic will power up the silver orbs on top, which radiate the energy and create a portal in the frame.  "

(Le very crudely drawn portal. A for effort?)

She placed her hands on the stone, and the stone lit up with a hue similar to her magical colour,Light blue.

Soon enough, a trickle of light blue liquid was seen filling up the portal tanks. The portal lit up with a purple hue.

" Step through! " I beckoned.

WWWWW

The portal in Canterlot was located in an abandoned room in the castle which Celestia allowed me to use. It wasn't far away from the main hall, but enough to not draw attention.

I opened the door to the room and walked into the hallway connected to the main one. Sabrina and Michelle followed me, and I decided to pay a quick visit to the royal area to check if Celestia or Luna were around.

I found neither of them, and figured they would be out on official business or something, so I led my companions to the area where Moneybags was supposed to live.

" We do a little reconnaissance mission first to gather some information. It would be excellent if you scouted the place while invisible, Sabrina. "

" Will do. I shall be your eyes and ears. " she answered.

" Michelle, I want you to stay near me. We'll check if the ponies around are dangerous or not, he might have hired some secret agents or something. Better to be prepared than to dive in unknowingly." I said.

" Got it! "

We approached 'The Lucky Coin ', as the establishment was called. Sabrina was already invisible and quietly pawed her way around the shop's back area while we went to talk with the store clerk.

" Hello, and welcome to The Lucky Coin! How can I assist the two of you? " the clerk said.

" You seem rather unfazed for seeing creatures you've never seen before. " I said calmly.

" A customer is a customer, no matter what he or she looks like. Now that I mention looks, you are looking quite fine there m'lady. " he flirted.

" I don't have any interest in dating, so quit the flirting. " Michelle responded.

The clerk was taken aback by her answer, but recovered his composure quickly. "Anyway, how can I help? "

" I just wanted to look around for a bit. " I responded as I carefully examined the store's wares. There was a variety of items, ranging from adventure wear and gear to household accessories.

" I do have a question. Do you have a brush or something around here? " Michelle asked.

" Why certainly! We have a whole range of brushes, ranging from simple to fully automatic brushes. They are right over here. " he said, walking over to the brush section.

"Ugh, girls and their obsession for appearances... " I mumbled to myself. I took the moment to look at what Sabrina had found so far, and she told me there was a large supply of bits in the cellar, along with various paraphernalia for unknown uses.

I wonder how this guy managed to hide all of that in almost plain sight. " Ahum, Clerk? Do you maybe have something around here like-" I called as I described a piece of equipment I saw in the cellar through Sabrina's eyes.

" Hm, no I can't say I remember having something like that around. I could ask Mortimer about it if you really want to? " the clerk answered.

" Nah, it's okay. I didn't really need it anyway. " I responded. I could tell he wasn't lying, he clearly had no clue about his boss's stealing practices. " Did you find what you needed, Michelle? "

" I have, and even more than that! " she said as she walked over to the counter with a simple brush and a rather odd  looking mirror.

" That will be 35 bits then." the clerk said.

I pulled out the bag of coins I carried on my ethereal belt which I took the liberty of rematerializing before heading over to the counter, and pulled out the required amount of bits.

" Thank you, and have a nice day! " the clerk said, still in a somewhat challenging voice to attempt to woo Michelle over.

I quickly left the store and took Michelle with me. " That guy was trying so hard to get me. " Michelle said.

" Hah, you bet. Now why did you buy that mirror? " I asked.

" I read about this thing in a book! Without its counterpart it's useless, but I'm sure we can find that somewhere! It has the ability to send items through this mirror and out of the other one. " Michelle said. " Do you know how useful that could be here? Or even anywhere really? "

" Yeah, it's useful. You better be glad I get paid a lot, otherwise you wouldn't have that thing right now. " I said.

" You almost sound like Moneybags. " she retorted.

" I worked hard for that money, okay? I worked so hard I put my life on the line for it actually. Even though what I fought was still quite pathetic. " I said.

" All you did was arrest a few criminals, no big deal. Right? " Michelle said.

" I wrapped up an entire cult dedicated to cursing the world with eternal night. Doesn't sound like 'a few criminals' to me."

" Wait, you did? I guess that voice in my head back then must've left out a few details. " she answered. Just as she finished talking, Sabrina appeared next to her.

"Find anything else? " I asked.

" A note with what looks like a code or something? Other than that, not really. " Sabrina answered, and gave me the note she held in her jaw.

" Oh that isn't a code, it's an address! And I think it's not far from this place. " I said as I stepped out of the way from some ponies who passed me. " Let's head over there, I'm getting sick of this busy place. "

We headed over to the address scribbled on the note, and arrived in front of a very fancy looking building. I knocked on the door, and a male voice shouted : " Could you get the door, housemaid? I'm busy!"

Hoofsteps were heard a moment later, heading down what sounded like stairs. The door opened, and a pony in traditional housemaid attire stood in the opening of the door. "Yes? My master is busy right now. "

"Who is your master? " I asked.

" Who wants to know? " she answered.

" Someone with a business proposal. " I retorted, hiding my true identity.

" I don't deal in my master's affairs, but I suppose I could tell you his name : Mortimer Moneybags. " she said.

Perfect. " Could you tell him to try and make time for us? " I beckoned to myself and Michelle. Sabrina was invisible to prevent any chaos.

" I'll see what I can do. " The maid said as she closed the door and headed back up the stairs. Sabrina sneaked inside while the door was still open, and provided me with some eyes of the interior.

" Now we wait for either Sabrina to get into trouble, or the poor fellow makes time for us. " I said to Michelle.

" This seems almost too easy. You sure he isn't hiding something powerful? " Michelle said.

" Dunno. Once we get in and get the guy to be on his own, cast the spell on him. Make it subtle so he has no time to react. " I said.

" I'll cast the spell by placing my hand on his head when he isn't looking, so I'll pretend I'm looking at the room while you talk with him. " Michelle said.

" I hear hoofsteps. "

The door opened again, and the same maid was there. " Mortimer has time to speak with you now. Come in. "

We followed her inside and up the stairs. " He's inside this room. " she beckoned to a room beside her.

" Ah hello. My maid told me you wanted to talk business. " Mortimer said. He looked as dastardly as his practices were. " Do sit down. "

I sat down on the chair in front of him, but Michelle started inspecting the room, much to the confusion of Mortimer.

" She's an interior decorator. Whenever we visit homes like these she takes great interest in the decor, don't mind her. " I lied.

" Okay. So, what kind of offers do you have? "

" I visited the shop just around the corner. I found out you owned the establishment, and I might have a rare artifact you could display in your shop. I'm sure it will fetch a high price. " I said as I grabbed the mirror we bought and explain what it was capable of.

He stopped moving as soon as Michelle cast the spell on him. A pink liquid flowed out of his ears, and evaporated as soon as it came into contact with the air.

"He's all yours. "

I put up a suggestive tone, and told Mortimer he had a very important train to catch towards Manehattan. I relayed some information about an address I was supplied with, and told him he would stay there for the rest of his life to build up a new imperium to promote charity and goodwill.

Once I was done, Mortimer left the room and told his maid he had to leave. I walked out of the room with Michelle, and the maid threw a curious look at us.

" Don't ask me. He suddenly remembered something and rushed out of the room without telling anything." I said.

The maid shrugged, and continued her work.

When we exited the building, Sabrina reappeared next to me. " Poor maid. She is working for noone now. " she said.

" I'm sure my employer has ways to cure that. He's at the Rusty Horseshoe, room 25. " I said.

We found the bar and hotel after asking a few locals for directions, Sabrina being invisible with every encounter ofcourse. We entered the bar, and I asked the caretaker about room 25.

" Room 25..? If you insist... It's down the hallway, to the right. "

I thanked him, and beckoned for Michelle and Sabrina to follow me.

Room 25 was found easily, thanks to logical numbering, and the door to the room was opened by quick hands.

" I take it Mortimer is dealt with then?" a voice asked from the from the shadows in the dimmed room.

" He has been sent to Manehattan to start a new business, promoting charity and goodwill. " I responded.

" Excellent.... And who are these two you brought with you? A panther and another creature like you? " he said.

Sabrina had still been invisible, but dropped the act once she noticed she had been spotted.

" The 'creatures' we are, are called Humans, thank you very much. As for my name, I'm called Michelle. " she said.

" Any particular abilities I should know of? " the mysterious stallion asked.

" I'm versed with the same kind of magic Primal here uses, but my mastery lies with spells dealing with the element of Water instead of Wind. So I doubt I'll be of much use to your scheming. "

" Hey, I probably couldn't have done that memory wipe so easily without you!" I snapped back at her.

" I suppose that's true, but I'm not much of the stealthy type. " she stated.

" Too bad, another could've been useful.... " the shadowy pony murmured.

"I'm not doing any more jobs for you. I just want my payment and I'll leave you to do whatever. " I said.

" Okay , here " he handed me a medium bag with rattling coins. " Too bad we couldn't be partners for longer, it could've been quite profitable..... "

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Goodbye. " I said impatiently. I was quite done with this guy. He was a bit too shifty for my liking.

I led Michelle and Sabrina back to the portal we came here with.

" After you. " I bowed slightly, allowing them to go first.

WWWWW

The portal near Ponyville spewed out a party of three, and they headed towards a library which also served as a home to a purple unicorn mare and her baby dragon assistant.

" Twilight, we're back! " I called.

The mentioned mare opened the door and nearly bowled over me in glee. " I have to say, I was really worried you wouldn't return. "

" Not return to you after such a simple mission? Preposterous! " I said.

" Was it that easy? " Twilight asked.

" Yeah. Easy money if you ask me, but I really didn't like the guy who gave me the mission. Too suspicious, eager to jump at opportunities.... "

"Leaves you more time to spend with me! " Twilight cheered.

" Do I want to spend more time with you, though? And what's for dinner?"

" Soup! And not just any soup, but I won't tell you what! " she said, ignoring my comment. " You have to figure out yourself. "

" It does smell really good... Reminds me of a family member who was great at making soup." Michelle said. " Too bad I'll never get to see her again... "

"Yea, about that.... I might also be able to create a portal back to Earth.... " I said, slowly.

" What, Really? You're kidding, right? "

" He isn't. He spoke with me about visiting Earth, and I thought it was a great idea. I wanted to come too! We will have to inform princess Celestia, though. "  Twilight said. " Spike, could you send a letter for that while I prepare the table for dinner? "

Spike nodded, and ran off to get a quill and paper.

Just when Spike was gone, Nightmare Moon landed outside of the library and got inside quickly, much to the surprise of the others in the room.

" Uh, hello Night? " I greeted.

" Nopony saw me enter, right? " She asked.

" I don't know. There's usually nopony around at this time, but why? " Twilight asked.

" Let me just say that the re-introduction did not go as planned." she said, shifting eyes across the room.    "Could I stay here for the night? I would not like a horde of angry ponies after me. "

"Sure, but what happened? " Twilight asked.

" A cult appeared at the introduction, claiming their princess had returned to them to continue their quest for eternal darkness. " she explained.

" Not that cult... I thought I dealt with those guys! " I said. I heard Michelle snickering.

Twilight looked confused at me and Night now. " Cult? "

" A time ago I got a task from Celestia to dismantle a cult dedicated to cursing the world with eternal night. She made me target their leaders, and once I had dealt with those, Celestia would order the rest mopped up. Which means either my intel was incorrect about the 'leader'  or there were still members around afterwards who reformed it.  " I said. " I don't want to deal with them now though, I can't stand the thought of not seeing my family and friends for much longer. "

" Are you going somewhere? " Night asked.

" Me, Primal and Twilight were going to visit Earth."

" Could I come too? It would probably be best if I did not show up anywhere around here for a while. " She asked.

" Sure! It shouldn't be much of a problem. " I said. " I still owe you a sparring session though."

" I know what you are capable of, so it is not necessary." Night said.

"Okay. Now about the portal... We need a lot of magical energy to keep it up, and I might have an idea on how to do that, but I'll need your help to see if it is possible Twilight." I said.

"Can't you just supply it with your own magic?" Twilight asked.

"And be exhausted all the time? No thanks, I'll pass." I responded. "I was thinking we would need something along the line of solar panels, wind and water mills, and maybe some special flowers capable of generating magic."

"I've heard of magical flowers like that, but what are these other things you mentioned?" Twilight asked.

"Solar panels are what we use back on Earth to create electricity from sunlight. Once we get there I'll see if I can show you some. As for wind and water mills, they use the wind and water to generate electricity by transforming movement. Both work in the same way, the wind or water pushing windmill blades or a turbine, which moves and sends that movement to a dynamo which creates electricity. I'm not a physicist, so my explanation could be completely wrong, but this is what I know." I said.

"Sounds interesting, I think we could create something like that." Twilight said.

Spike, who was still waiting for Twilight to sum up her letter to Celestia, softly coughed.

"Oh Spike! I'm sorry, I completely forgot I asked you to write a letter!" Twilight apologised.

"It's okay, I'll wait as long as you need. Now, the letter?" Spike said.

"Yes, ofcourse." Twilight proceeded to tell Spike what he needed to write down regarding the visit to Earth, the portals and the magic generation.

When he was done, he lit the letter on fire, causing it to transform into dust and fly out of the window, towards Canterlot.

"I'll go find the book for those flowers you mentioned." Twilight said.

" I'm going outside to catch some fresh air. Mind joining me, Michelle?" I asked.

"Not at all!" She responded as she followed me outside.

Once outside, I opened my mouth to speak, but before I was able to, I saw a 2 meter high wave approaching Michelle, which struck her directly, soaking her completely.

"What the..." Michelle exclaimed.

Before Michelle could talk further, a lightning bolt struck me, even though the sky was completely clear. The static ran through my body, not harming me but draining my energy.... and then revitalizing it to new heights. But my power felt... lacking.

"What happened? And why do I feel stronger after being hit by a friggin' lightning bolt?" I said.

"I'm not sure, but I feel the same way. Stronger.... but something is missing?" Michelle told me. "Oh, it can't be..."

"What?" I asked her, confused.

"Try casting a fireball." She said.

I prepared myself to shoot a fireball at the ground in front of me... but nothing happened. No fire, no spark, nothing.

"Why...." I said before Michelle cut me off.

"I think the wave that struck me and the lightning bolt that struck you removed our attunements to the other elements, but increased our attunements with our primary elements. Which explains why we are feeling stonger!" She said.

"Okay, so that would mean.." I said before I held my hands in front of me to cast a lightning bolt.

A blinding light, followed by a thundering noise which shook the very ground I was standing on, was the result of the lightning bolt. The ground it had struck was completely charred.

"Wow. What power! I don't really mind losing the other attunements if this is the result!" I said, shocked. (Excuse me for the pun!)

The door opened behind us, and a scared and worried Twilight Sparkle walked outside, looking up.

"There are no clouds!?! Why did I hear thunder then?" Twilight said, confused.

"That might have been my doing." I said, holding my hands up.

"We know you are powerful, but did you really need to shake the entire house with that?" She said, looking at the scorch marks the bolt had left on the ground. "Not to mention the damage you caused to the ground there."

"I'm more powerful, yet I am weaker than I was before." I said, mysteriously.

"What in Celestia's name are you talking about?" Twilight said, annoyed at my vague explanation.

"Well, me and Michelle walked outside when both of us got hit. She was hit by a huge wave of water, and I was struck by a lightning bolt. It didn't hurt, merely drained our power... but recharged us to new heights after. The power we had felt lacking though.. I can't use the other elements now, just Wind. Same goes for Michelle.. She can only use spells affiliated with Water." I explained, this time more clearly.

"Oh my... I'm glad you two are not hurt. That sounds like it could've been serious." Twilight said, worry in her voice.

"We're fine, don't worry. Even though that is hard for you." I said, smirking. "By the way, I have a slight suspicion... Could I try something on you?"

Nightmare moon, who was standing behind Twilight in the opening of the door, moved aside to give room to us.

I walked over to Twilight, and touched the base of her horn with two fingers. A small static shot through my fingers and back to my hand.

" My suspicions seem correct.." I said, stroking my chin.

"What do you mean? And what did you do?" Twilight said, confused again.

"Well Michelle, remember I told you we had noone with mastery over Earth?" I said, turning to Michelle.

"I do... But what does it have to do with-" She said as her face turned to one of realization and shock. "Are you serious?!"

"I am. Twilight, you are a Runecaster... attuned with the primal energies of Earth." I said.

The mentioned mare looked at me with shock and disbelief. "Me, a Runecaster? But that is impossible, I would've found that out long ago!"

"I doubt that. You see, the spells you are able to cast are all really easy for you to do, correct?" I said.

"Yes, but-"

"That is your rune magic helping you out without you knowing it. While your unicorn magic is still capable of casting other spells, the ones related to Earth draw from your rune energies." I said. "Now, you only need to realize you have such potential, and make it happen."

She closed her eyes in concentration, and the ground started trembling under our feet. A stone spire shot up from behind me.

"See? Already you know what to do, and you have known all along." I said.

"All this time, and I didn't even notice I was capable of this..." Twilight said, sighing. "My life would've been so much easier if I found out about this earlier."

" I realize now that my powers are partially gone, how badly I abused my magic. " I confessed. "You shouldn't, either. Even if it's granted, does not mean you can abuse it to your heart's extent. "

" I suppose that is true... I could have realised and reached my potential power earlier, though. " Twilight said.  " Anyway, I got the book about the mana flowers! "

She levitated the book over to me, and I opened the book. " Plants of Equestria, what a dull title. Descriptive, but dull. " I commented after reading the book's title.

" I recall that book being written a very long time ago, maybe even before I was banished. " Night said.

" So I'm holding a piece of history. Huh. " I said.

We heard a familiar burping sound from inside, and Spike came running outside holding a royal letter. Twilight took it and started reading it.

" It's almost as if they have nothing to do, with them responding so quickly. " I remarked.

" Only Luna is having night court now. And since both are alicorns, they do not need much sleep. " Night explained.

" Lucky them. Meanwhile, Twilight has probably read the letter twice now. What does it say? "I asked.

"Celestia says she agrees with us leaving for Earth. However, she has requested for Luna to tag along too..."

"Why not. The more the merrier, right?" I said.

" Luna will teleport over here in about 30 minutes, after Night Court is finished. We can go prepare the portal in the meantime. " Twilight added.

" Alright. Also, it says here the flowers we're looking for could potentially be in the Everfree. Who's up for a quick adventure into the deep, dark woods?" I asked, pointing at a paragraph in the book.

" It's near Spike's bedtime, so I'll go tuck him in and we can go. " Twilight said.

" Hey that's not fair! I want to come too! " Spike said angrily.

" And fall asleep in a dangerous forest? I think it's best for you to stay home, Spike. " Michelle said.

" Aw man, why must I stay home while you get to do all the fun stuff. " Spike sighed.

" You're a baby dragon, Spike. You need a lot of sleep. " Twilight said.

" Aww alright, I'll go to bed. "

"You have the tree for yourself, we will be on Earth. " Twilight said, walking into the house.

I gently zapped Night with a bolt of lightning while she didn't notice.

" YEOW!!" Night shouted. " What struck us? "

I couldn't contain my laughter, and started laughing uncontrollably. Night couldn't help but grin, too. "You are playing pranks now, Shadow?" Night said.

" You gotta admit, that reaction was priceless. The shocked look on your face!" I said, while laughing.

" Only you can get so much fun out of something like that. " Michelle said, grinning.

" Heh. Guess I'm just silly. Ah, there's Twilight again. Let's go to the forest!" I said, and started heading to the forest.

Our party of brave heroes reached the edge of the forest not much later.

" You do know what the flowers look like, yes? " Twilight asked.

Before I could respond, Night did. " If he does not, I do. It should not be far away from here, I think I saw some growing nearby when I explored the forest. "

And like Night said, we found a small clearing with a few flowers growing there. The flowers were a pure yellow, similar to sunflowers but without a dark spot. They were also emanating faint golden sparks.

" These are it! Now all we have to do is get them to the 'portal shack'. Any ideas? " I asked.

" I could try my Runecaster powers? Might aswell try using those, since I'm attuned with the Earth, as you said. " Twilight offered. " I could levitate the plants and the ground it's roots are in over to the portals. "

" Won't that rapidly drain your power though, levitating that many flowers? " Michelle asked.

" It might. I am not sure if my powers account for it. " Twilight said, now nervous.

" I can provide you with a static power link. It might sting a bit. " I said as I cast the necessary power funnel.

The static ran through Twilight's body, who started brimming with power.

" Looks like it works, go ahead. "

Twilight's horn lit up and surrounded the various flowers.

" Climb on my back, you two. We can fly over there. You do not mind walking back, Michelle? "

" I should be fine. I think I can sense water flowing nearby, so I can use that to get back quickly. "

I climbed on  Night's back, behind Twilight who was levitating several plants with attached ground in the air, and we soared off in the direction of the shack.

Night landed gracefully, and both of us stepped off her back.

"Where do I plant these? " Twilight asked.

" Just anywhere is fine. If we really need to we can move them again later. " I said.

She planted the flowers in the ground, digging small holes for each of them. I felt a lot of power being drained off to Twilight, however.

When the last flower was planted, I severed the link and bended the air around the flowers containing their residual magic. I siphoned that magic back into me.

" Might aswell use it right away, it looked like they were at maximum capacity. " I said.

Twilight huffed, but did not attempt to start an argument. " Where was Luna going to meet us? Here?" I asked.

" She didn't really say that, but I'm guessing it's going to be at the library. " Twilight said.

" Let's go over there and wait for her inside your home. This shack isn't as comfortable to stay in as your tree home. " I suggested.

We leisurely walked back to the library, and found Michelle already sitting on the couch in the living room. She looked like she had taken a shower with her clothes still on.

"Looks like you will...

...throw cold water on that idea"

Somewhere, someone shouted after putting on a pair of sunglasses.

" What did that even mean....?" Michelle asked. " Ah nevermind, it's probably one of your silly jokes again. "

Twilight facehooved herself, and Night had a confused expression.

" So, jokes aside... What will we do until Luna arrives? If I'm correct, she won't be here for yet another 15 minutes..." I asked.

" I'd like to try and figure out what I can do with this Runecaster magic. " Twilight said.

" Sure. We might want to go outside though. " I said.

We walked back outside again, and Night walked away from us to make some space and took a good viewing position.

" Alright then, try something. "

Twilight focused, and part of the ground started floating upwards. It wasn't surrounded by her usual violet aura, which indicated she was using her rune magic, not her unicorn magic which was violet, or her mark which had a deep purple colour. Instead, it simply had no colour at all.

Michelle followed up with a spell of her own, engulfing the piece of dirt with water.

I created a gentle breeze on the water's surface, and Twilight shaped the dirt around to create tiny landmasses in the surface of the water surrounding it. My breeze shaped itself into clouds, and created tidal currents in the waters. Michelle let the water flow through the landmasses to create rivers, and Twilight added the final touches in the form of mountains.

" Ha, we created Earth! " I said cheerfully.

" This is what Earth looks like...?" Twilight asked, curious.

" Well, it sort of looks like it. We're missing a few volcanoes though. And the landmasses don't completely add up in this way. It's still pretty awesome though, combining our powers like that. "

"You can say that again. " a voice behind Twilight said.

I just wanted to open my mouth to repeat what I said, before Luna cut me off. " Not literally. I am quite interested in how Twilight acquired her magic, though. "

Night, who had watched from a small distance, came closer to us to hear what would be said.

" She had them all this time. It took us to realize it. " I said, pointing at myself and Michelle.

" I still don't fully understand how I didn't find it out earlier. " Twilight said, sighing.

" Some things can't be discovered that easily. Took me years and a watchful assistant to figure out that world travel using potions was possible. " I said. " Speaking of potions, I really want to go to Earth now. Can't wait to see everyone's faces when we appear there. "

"No time to waste then!" Twilight said, sharing my excitement.

We travelled back to the portal shack,and the flowers we had planted were already sparkling again.

" They recharged this quickly? If we can recreate those plants we won't need anything else! " I said, surprised. " Wiring those up with a suitable magic network can come later, though. We can use our magic for the time being. "

I quickly walked inside to re-wire the portal we had used to travel to Canterlot, and set it for Earth. Where we would end up, I had no clue to.

The others followed me inside shortly after, both alicorns and Michelle bending their heads to prevent their horns and head from touching the door frame. Both alicorns were nearly the same size as me, but their horns reached over my head. Michelle was the tallest out of all of us, but considering human length she was still small by comparison.

" Alright, do you all see this stone here?" I said, to which all of them nodded. "I hope it still works since I don't have any mastery over Earth now. "

"Place your horns or hands on the surface of it, and channel your magic into it. " I explained.

Everyone did as I said, and I added my own magic into the mix of colours swirling inside of the stone : Deep dark blue, Violet, midnight blue, cyan and now dark yellow, from Nightmare Moon, Twilight, Luna, Michelle and my own in order.

The magic pooled up and siphoned into the connected tubes, flowing underground and back up next to the frame. Both orbs on top lit up and energy sparked into the frame , creating a sky blue portal.

" Who goes first? "

Chapter 13 - ...But close enough to touch

The portal closed after everyone arrived on Earth.

"Hm, I guess we will have to find a way to re-create a portal then..." I said, wondering why the portal closed itself.

The others were still fazed from travelling through the portal, so I took the time to check my surroundings. We were in a very familliar place...

"Hold on... Are we in the lab?" Michelle asked.

"I think so, but not in the main part.... We're in the closed off area..."

"Don't tell me we are inside of that area you simply refused to talk about because it was too dangerous to know what was behind it..." Michelle said.

"That's the one.. Luckily, it looks like the 'dangerous' part either does not exist anymore, or it's hiding somewhere." I responded.

"What was so dangerous you had to close off an entire area for it?" Twilight asked, curious to why I would do that.

"Let's just say I had to cover up an experiment gone wrong in this part of the lab. I don't want to find out what happened to that thing, nor do I wish to stay here. Help me with this door, will you?"

Michelle helped me break open the door using a piece of metal she found on the ground, and we quickly barred off the door once we got through.

"We should be safe now. Did the three of you look at yourselves by the way?" I asked Twilight, Night and Luna.

"No, why-" Twilight gasped when she saw what I meant. All of them had human bodies now, with clothes matching their hair styles.

"How did we manage to walk over here? Surely us being humans now should interfere with our walking skills?" Night asked.

"I think your bodies automatically adjusted to this world. Which included things like walking and such. Looks like you kept your flamboyant colours though, Twilight!" I said, commenting Twilight's purple hair and pink streak.

"Flamboyant? I'm not sure if I should be offended or not." She responded.

"Well, you don't usually see that style of hair here on Earth. Earth's a pretty dull place all things considered, compared to your colourful world."I said. "Oh well, guess we'll just figure out an excuse for it. Let's go the the actual lab, maybe one of my assistants will be around there."

We traversed the long corridor towards the main lab, and Cheryl was sat on a bench, her head in her hands. The sound of sobbing was heard.

"Cheryl, why are you crying?" Michelle asked.

Cheryl perked up at the familiar voice calling her name. "Michelle! And Joshua! What happened to you guys?! I had to endure 6 hours of not knowing what to do without you!"

"Did you just say 6 hours?" I asked.

"What else would I have said? Don't you know how long you've been gone for?" Cheryl responded.

"Umm, we were gone for atleast 6 weeks..." Michelle said.

Now it was Cheryl's turn to be surprised. "So you travelled to God knows where for 6 weeks, and came back here 6 hours later? How does that work? And who are all these other people you brought with you?"

"My name is p-" Luna wanted to say, but I cut her off.

"This here is Lilian, the one with the purple hair is Tracey, and the one with dark blue eyes and hair is Nicole." I introduced.

"You three have... interesting hair styles." Cheryl said, unsure what to say.

Luna, Night and Twilight looked at me as if I've shot a dear friend of theirs, but didn't speak.

"They came from that world we travelled to with the solution. They simply wanted to see what Earth was like." I said.

"Did you.. come from the closed off area of the lab, by the way?" Cheryl asked.

"Yeah, we did. Joshua said that whatever was back there is gone now, though. We barred up the door again just in case." Michelle answered.

"Joshua...?" Night asked, slightly confused.

"Oh I apologise, I never told you my name from Earth." I said.

"Why didn't you....?" Cheryl asked, but I cut her off.

"Doesn't matter. All that matters now is that I won't be staying here for long. Well, atleast untill we figure out a way to recreate the portal." I said.

"I think I'll go back with you too, Joshua. I much prefer that world over this one." Michelle said.

"Alright, well that means I will promote you to head of this lab, Cheryl. You can now call this lab your own, take good care of it. Oh and keep that closed off area closed off, for now. I think that might be an ideal place to create a permanent portal from here to the other world. I'll still hold a share in the lab, but it will be mostly yours." I said.

"Wow, really..? I..." Cheryl stammered.

"If I'll be staying here, I can't maintain this lab. And I have seen your dedication to this lab. Since Michelle is going back with me, this leaves just you to uphold the state of this lab. We will be coming back from time to time though, don't worry." I explained.

"Okay, thanks! Where will you go now?" Cheryl asked.

"I think I'll go pay my mother a visit. I haven't seen her for a while, and I could explain what happened here today. I'm sure she wouldn't mind a few others staying, either. What will you do, Michelle? Will you come with me or visit your own parents?" I said.

"I think I'll visit my parents. If I'm going to stay in Eque- I mean the other world, my parents might want to know." Michelle answered.

Luckily, Cheryl was paying attention to Twilight inspecting the lab to not hear Michelle's answer. "Careful with that, that's highly volatile stuff."

Twilight placed the test tube she lifted back down. "What's in it?" She asked, her curiousity sparked by all the strange substances in the rack.

"Substances which are very unstable, and need some time to properly mix together to create a stable product. You might not want to linger around those too long." I said, acknowledging Cheryl's concern.

"Okay. And what's this for?" She said, pointing at a centrifuge.

"That machine is used to seperate two substances from each other. We don't use it much, but when we work with microorganisms we use it to retrieve the organism from a produced sample.

" Interesting.... Mind if I take some notes? " she asked.

" By all means, go ahead. Maybe Cheryl can tour you around? " I suggested.

" Sure. Follow me, Tracey. " Cheryl said, beckoning the human-turned mare to follow her.

When they left to explore the rest of the lab, I took the others to the lounge room and made some coffee.

" Anyone fancy a cup of coffee?" I asked.

" Pour me one. " Michelle said.

" I could do with some aswell, after that Night Court. " Luna said.

" What is that, coffee?" Night asked.

Luna looked at her as if she just killed someone. " You were part of me, and you do not know what coffee is...?"

"That does not mean I shared everything with you. We are still two separate entities. " Night said.

" I suppose that much is true. Anyway, coffee is a warm beverage containing caffeine. It is great for those moments where you just do not have any energy left. " Luna explained.

" I would like a cup then." Night said.

" I don't drink coffee myself, but I figured you would've. I got my own stash of drinks here... " I said as I pulled the fridge open and took a bottle of ice-tea out of it. I poured coffee for the three of them, and handed over their cups.

" You and your ice-tea.... Some things just never change. " Michelle remarked.

" Speaking of change.... Could we still use our magic here? I doubt your magic will work, but Runecaster magic might work. " I wondered.

" Try it. " Luna said.

I baled my hand up, and tried to generate an electric current. I heard a faint crackle, and opened my hand to see streaks of lightning bounce between my fingers.

" I can feel it's weaker here.... but it works. " I said, looking at Michelle expectantly.

Michelle took the hint, and used the coffee in her cup to test her own magic. And indeed, it started floating, albeit rather slowly.

" That means Twilight can use her magic here too. " I said.

" She's most likely made even Cheryl bored by now. I mean, I like science and learning about new things, but there's such a thing as overdoing it. " I said. " And Twilight is pretty good at it. "

"Both at overdoing it and learning, you mean. " Michelle commented.

" Definitely. I never indicated  what she was good at "

" So, you said we were going to visit your mother? " Luna asked.

" That I did, yes. You don't mind, do you?  Not like the names I made up for you back there. I'd rather keep where you came from a secret for now. " I said.

" We do not mind the names or the visit to your mother. But why do you want to keep our world a secret? " Luna said.

" If the people here knew what kind of resources you have back there, Equestria would be overrun in no time. Not to mention me and my assistants being interrogated. The less people know, the better. They will probably find out eventually, but I hopeI could amass some kind of defensive force if it comes to it. " I said.

" You would fight for Equestria, and against your own kin..?" Night asked.

" You out of all people should know when a cause you believe in is worth fighting for. For you, it was an unfortunate decision,but for me... I've seen the peace in your lands. I know what would happen if greedy and power hungry humans arrived there. Utter chaos would ensue, with Discord enjoying himself aswell. "

"I have seen such wisdom only once before in my life, when Celestia banished me and Nightmare Moon to the moon. She knew she had to, even if that meant sacrificing those dear to her. " Luna said.

"Thanks, I guess, but I'm just doing what I feel is right." I replied, as I looked over to one of the tables.

"Hey, that's my phone! I wondered where this was!" I said cheerfully, and walked over to collect my phone from the table.

"Your... what?" Luna and Night said in unison.

"Yeah, what is that?" Twilight asked as her and Cheryl walked into the lounge room.

"You mean you've never heard of a phone before?" Cheryl said, surprised.

"Their world isn't technologically advanced as here, rather... in other areas." I explained. "Anyway, a phone is a device used to make calls to other phones. This model is a "smart" phone, able to connect to something known as the Internet. You could see the internet as a massive digital library. It is more than just a library though, there's lots of other things you can do with it."

I unlocked my phone to find a message waiting for me from a friend of mine.

From: Robin

Hey Joshua,

I haven't seen you for a while now. Maybe we could go catch a movie or something sometime? By the way, check this picture, it's hilarious. (image)

I chuckled when I looked at the image he sent me, and replied with saying that I was rather busy and had no time for a movie, but asked him to visit me the next day, and that I wanted to show him something.

"I assume you have seen something funny on this device of yours. It looks rather odd seeing you smile to what appears to be an inanimate object." Night said.

"Well, as I said, you can call others, but also text them. I've recieved a text, containing a funny image I doubt you will understand the meaning of. Also, in that same text, a friend of mine asked if he could see me sometime soon, so I replied that he could come by my appartment tomorrow. I'm not planning on staying at my mother's home very long, maybe untill after dinner."

"Could I see your 'phone'? I'm interested to see what it's able to do." Twilight said, her curiousity overtaking her.

"Sure, I'll just show it to all of you." I said as I walked back over to the table where Night and Luna were sitting, and Twilight sat next to us aswell.

I opened various apps, ranging from Google Chrome to my music player, a game I usually play on my phone, and my Gmail app. Obviously, I had to explain what each app was capable of, and to minor detail the kind of music I listened to, what the game I showed was about, and what kind of things were possible with Chrome.

By the time I was done explaining, half an hour had passed. Looking at the time on my phone, it said it was 17:28. I quickly sent a message to my mother telling her I would come over, including a few friends.

"Well, time to go to my mother. By the time we get there it will probably be around 18:30, a good time for dinner in my honest opinion." I said. "Since you own the lab now, you can decide what to do, Cheryl. I'll probably come back tomorrow to see if we can generate enough power to get a portal back up and running again."

We said goodbye to Cheryl, and parted ways with Michelle who went to her own mother. I took Twilight, Luna and Night to my car, a midnight silver metallic Tesla Model S 85D, with four-wheel drive and panoramic roof. I recieved quite the big payments for my discoveries in the field of science, and since I was pro-environmentally friendly, I decided to just opt for a top-tier electric car. I always charged it when at home or at the lab, so it was ready to roll as is.

"Man, I still love the look of this car"

"Step inside, ladies." I told the three.

"What, in that thing?" Twilight said.

"Hey now, this is not just a 'thing'. It's a beauty, and very environmentally friendly at that." I said, slightly offended by her comment.

"Okay, okay, I get you like it. But what is it? You realize we've never seen something like this before?" Twilight said.

"Oh yes, ofcourse. This, is a car. It's sort of similar to your pony-pulled chariots, yet this beauty 'pulls' itself using an electrical engine. Goes really fast too, probably twice as fast as your chariots. Unfortunately, such speeds are not allowed, heh." I explained.

I opened the door to the driver's seat, and the others stepped inside too, Twilight in front.

"Put your seatbelts on, located to the side of your seat. It's a belt installed as safety measure." I said, pointing to the seatbelt next to Twilight.

Once all of them had their seatbelts on, I started the engine, and revved it slightly for dramatic effect. The engine roared, and all three jumped up in surprise.

"That, is the sound of power." I said, enjoying their responses.

I knew the way to my mother's house as well as I knew the road to my own. The trip was interesting, to say the least. All three kept pointing outside at things they've never seen before. I had to pay attention to the road, so I held off with explaining things untill we arrived at my mother's house.

WWWWW

I parked the car, and walked up to the door of the home and rang the door. My mother opened the door a few seconds later.

"Hello Joshua, good of you to come visit me again after such a long time. How are you? And who are your friends?" She asked, looking at Twilight, Luna and Night.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. As for my friends, this is Tracey, she's Nicole and she's Lilian." I said, pointing to each of them in order.

"Three girls... I never figured you as the ladies' type." my mother commented.

"Just because they are girls does not mean anything. They are good friends of mine." I said. I noticed Twilight was slightly shuffling from side to side, as if she was nervous about something. I ignored it for the time being, but decided to talk to her about it later.

"Well come inside, I was just preparing dinner." Mom said, inviting us into the house.

We all took a spot in the living room, and chatted about what we saw during the trip while my mother cooked dinner.

"By the way, just eat whatever is on your plate in a moment" I said silently. "Don't think about where it came from, otherwise you might insult my mother's cooking skills or something. You don't want to see my mother angry."

They all nodded in acknowledgement, and we took to the dinner table once my mom called us that it was ready.

We ate in relative silence, with only the occasional question asked here or there.

Once we were finished eating, my mother decided it would be a good time to ask the question I was dreading.

"So.. Where are you three from?"

I looked at the others with a defeated look, and motioned for them to tell her about their true origins. It wouldn't be of much use keeping secrets from my mother, she would pry it out eventually.

"We come from a land called Equestria, on a world called Terra. Joshua appeared on our land when he was conducting an experiment concerning world travel, with which he succeeded. " Luna explained.

My mother had a stunned expression I've never seen before. she recollected herself, and asked: "You said 'our' land. Does that mean you are some kind of ruler?"

"I am, together with my sister. Nicole is my advisor, and Tracey is a student of my sister's." Luna said.

"A student?" she said, turning her attention to Twilight. "What do you study?"

"Well, I'm more of a historian than a student. I collect literatural works, and organize them appropriately. I also teach others from time to time." Twilight said, skillfully dodging the real truth to the question: magic. And more specifically, the magic of friendship.

"Okay, interesting." She turned her attention back to me. "You succeeded in travelling worlds then?"

"Yeah, I have. I had to keep it quiet untill I knew for certain that it would work. It's safe to say that it works now. Oh, one thing, could you keep this quiet. I don't want others to find out what I've discovered just yet. Scientific reasons and all." I said.

"Ofcourse. Now, about...." My mother trailed off with a plethora of other questions.

Once the barrage of questions had subsided, I told her we were going to leave to my apartment for the night. I said goodbye to her, and the others said goodbye aswell.

We stepped inside of the car again, and drove off to my apartment.

Again, the ride was filled with questions, less than last time. I told them again that answers would have to wait untill we arrived.

WWWWW

I lead them to my home, and opened the door to let them in first. My apartment was more standard than my car, with just the necessary things to call it a home.

They sat down on the couch in front of the tv, and immediately started asking questions about the various things I had around my house. Namely, the TV.

"It's for entertainment purposes mostly. Here, I'll show you." I said as I turned the tv on. I put it on a channel I usually watched, which was now broadcasting a movie.

"This is a movie, what you are seeing now. A long, mixed up bunch of frames put together in some order to create what's essentially a book you can watch." I explained.

They all stared in silence at what was happening on the screen. A man got shot in the chest by someone else, in an act of betrayal.

"None of this is real, mind you. It's all digitally made with a technique called CGI, or computer-generated imagery." I said.

" I am glad you say this is not real, otherwise I would have prosecuted that man for killing another being." Luna said.

" So, it's still kinda early, about 21:00 something. What say you to playing a video game? " I asked.

" Sure!  I'd love to play something! " Twilight said cheerfully.

" I do not think either of us minds. You will have to explain how it works, though. " Night said.

" We'll do a practice match first so you can test out everything. " I said as I began hooking up my gaming pc to the 21 inch tv in the living room, and connected 4 controllers I kept for occasions like these.

" The game we will be playing is called Awesomenauts. You can choose and control a character with two special abilities, a basic attack and a jump. The aim of the game is to destroy the opponent's solar drill. You get a steady income of solar, and get solar from killing enemy players and creeps. It's used to buy upgrades at the shop. " I said, explaining the mechanics of the game.

I gave everyone a controller and booted up the game, and created a custom game.

"Two in one team, the other two in the other team. After this practice match I'll add an AI on both sides. Who teams with who? "

" What's an AI, by the way? " Twilight asked.

" An AI is an artificial intelligence. Essentially, a mechanised, thinking piece of program."I said.

" You can go with Twilight. Me and Night will beat you!" Luna said, challenging us.

Everyone joined their respective teams, and I started the match. I picked Skree, since he was my favorite, and Twilight picked Coco. Night picked Ted McPain, and Luna picked Voltar.

The game started, and I explained what everyone's abilities did, the map setup, the shop, and some basic tips.

Once I noticed everyone got to grips with how it worked, I restarted the match and added a bot to either side.

The game picked up speed after that, and Luna and Night were on the winning hand. Until Night overextended and got caught out. Twilight and me took 2 of their towers for it, and I bought a powerful upgrade. The game quickly turned around, and we won a little bit later.

" Good game! All of you played well! Much better than the usual idiots I play with online. Want to do another game? "

" Sure! I do want a different character, though. " Night said.

The others agreed, and we played another game.

WWWWW

It was 23:12 by now, and everyone was feeling slightly tired.

" I'll go and prepare your beds. Help yourself to any food or drink in my kitchen." I said, and walked to the bedroom.

Change of Character - Primal Dagger-> Twilight Sparkle

" I'll go and prepare your beds. Help yourself to any food or drink in my kitchen." Primal said, and walked to the bedroom.

I was feeling quite thirsty, so I stood up and walked over to where his kitchen was. After searching a little bit, I found the fridge and a glass. I poured myself some juice, and called to the others to ask if they wanted something. I got them what they wanted, and placed Primal's glass on the corner for him to grab later as I took my seat on the couch again.

I thought about all the things I've seen today. "His world sure is rich in technology. "

"Twilight, what do you think of the day we had? " Luna asked me.

" I feel it was quite the learning experience. I'd definitely want to go back here in the future, there's just so much we could learn from these humans. That phone Primal had was the best example of something Equestria could use. Think of the possibilities! " I said.

" I am thinking about it, and I am liking the idea. Maybe you could pioneer in inventing the stuff from here back in Equestria, in our own way? " Luna said.

" Sounds like a fantastic idea! Once we're back I'll get started right away! " I said.

" Alright ladies, let's go to bed. I told my friend to visit at about 12 o ' clock, so we can wake at 10 and eat breakfast. Tomorrow's another big day. " Primal said after he walked back into the living room.

He lead us to the bedroom with connecting bathroom, and he said where everyone could sleep.

" I separated the main bed slightly, but it will still be close together. I'm taking the left bed, you can decide who takes the right and who takes the other two. " Primal said as he undressed and stepped into his own bed.

" I'll take the right bed. " I said.

" Alright. Good Night, everyone. Sweet dreams, I will watch over you. " Luna said.

I undressed the clothes that had come with the world travelling, and stepped into the bed next to Primal.

" Good night, Primal. Good night, Luna and Night. " I said, and dozed off to dreamland.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Twilight Sparkle -> Primal Dagger

I stretched my back as I woke up in my own bed. My hand collided with something mid-stretch, so I opened my eyes to find out what. Twilight had twisted and spun her way over to half of my bed.

" Ow! "

"Sorry, I didn't know you were in my bed now. " I said.

Twilight quickly shot up with a blush, and retreated back to her own bed. " Sorry. " she stammered.

" It's okay, I didn't really mind. "I said.

I heard Luna yawn, and stretch herself too, bumping her hand into Night's face.

" Hey, watch it! Unlike Twilight, I stuck to my own bed! " Night said, annoyed.

Luna giggled in a cutesy way. " You never could take a prank. " she said while still giggling.

Twilight and I laughed at the skirmish that took place after Luna said Night couldn't take pranks. Cushions were flying to and from, and eventually they stopped battling.

" You will clean up the mess you made, right? I'm going to take a shower and prepare breakfast after. " I said, and walked over to the bathroom after collecting some new clothes for today. "I'll take some of these back to Equestria, I think "

I took the shower, and came back to the ladies having a conversation about yesterday's events, again.

" Don't let me interrupt you. " I said as they looked at me when I left the bathroom, clothed. " I'll go make breakfast. Feel free to use the shower. "

Twilight shot out of her bed and charged into the bathroom when I said that. I just shrugged at her odd behaviour, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. I didn't have much in the way of supplies, but I still had some eggs left and a few slices of bread and some strawberry jam, along with the usual cheese and sorts. I prepared the table and waited for them to finish cleaning up.

WWWWW

"Finally, you're all done. Took a while. " I said.

" You can't tell me how long it will take to wash long hair. Can you? " Twilight responded.

" Ahhhhhhmmm, no, I can't say I know . " I said.

" Do that times 3, and you got a vague idea of how long it would take." Luna said.

" It's amazing how those colours you three have are completely natural. Normally you would need various dyes to get it like that. " I said, amazed.

" You mean people here all have the same kind of hair? " Twilight asked.

"Theres blond, brown, black, red and grey. That's the most common. Colours like yours do exist, don't get me wrong, but it's a lot harder to pull off, and mostly maintain. " I said. " I'm not a fashionista so don't quote me. Anyway, come eat breakfast. "

All of them sat down at the table.

" There's strawberry jam, eggs, and the usual cheese and such. There's ham too, for the ones that want to try. " I said, pointing to the various foodstuffs.

" I assume this ham is from killed animals? " Luna said.

" Yes, it is. The poor creatures are bred for just that specific purpose, so it's not like they lose much by dying. " I said.

" Still does not make it right, killing other creatures. "

" What can I say, it's part of the food chain. Humans just happen to be on top of that. " I said.

" I suppose predators do the same thing. "

" Alright, let's eat. I'm starving. " I said, creating a ham sandwich with an omelet.

We all ate in silence, and by the time we were done and all the plates and glasses were in the dishwasher it was 11:45.

" My friend should be arriving any moment now, go ahead and watch some tv while I try to figure out a plan for creating a portal. " I said.

" I'll help you! " Twilight said.

I turned the tv on for Luna and Night, and gave them the remote control along with a brief explanation of how it worked. I took Twilight to my study afterwards, and produced a few sheets of paper and a pen.

I drew a crude setup of the portal, with transformers and generators. It worked much the same way as in Equestria, but it used electricity instead.

" But those generators will surely take some time to set up. " Twilight said.

" That's why I'll instruct Cheryl to set things up this side while we attempt to kickstart the portal using my lightning-based magic. I suppose telling Cheryl about magic shouldn't be the end of the world, now that I think of it. She's been faithful to me ever since I hired her, just like Michelle. The other two not so much, but they were backup duty for a reason. "

" All that trouble creating those awful names for us in the moment back then and they weren't even needed. " Twilight commented.

" Ha, exa-" I said as the doorbell cut off my sentence. " Hold on, doorbell. " I explained as Twilight had looked up in surprise.

I opened the door, and Robin stood there, not having changed much in terms of style other than losing some weight. Beside him was Shervin, another friend of mine from high school.

" Hey guys, right on time. Couldn't be more perfect. Come inside, please. " I said as I stepped away to allow them passage.

They took their coats off, and headed for the living room.

"You didn't mind if I brought Shervin along, right? " Robin said.

" Ofcourse not. You are both good friends, so you're welcome any time.  " I said.

They both froze on the spot once they noticed I wasn't home alone.

"Since when did you keep others here for company?" Robin asked.

" Since yesterday. It is quite a long story, actually. " Luna said.

" Wait a moment, I recognise you from somewhere.... " Robin said, holding his hand to his bearded chin in thought.

"That's completely possible yes, and I'll just tell you now since you'll find out when you see the third person. Twilight, come over here please!" I shouted.

Twilight walked into the living room, and Robin gasped, while Shervin simply stood there in silence.

" No, it can't be. How? How's that possible? "

" Science, my friend. I did an experiment which resulted in me being transported to their world, along with Michelle who thought she had to save me. That's obviously Twilight, she's Luna and she's Nightmare Moon, or Night for short. "

The girls said hello respectively.

" Okay. Well, my name is Robin, and he's Shervin. We've been friends since high school. Shervin doesn't speak much since he's a bit shy. "

" Ey, that ain't true! I ain't shy! I just don't talk much. " Shervin said, slightly offended.

" Ha, and why do you think you don't talk a lot, Hm?" I said to Shervin.

He looked at me with a gaze that could burn water, but didn't respond.

"Ah, I'm just joking man, I know you don't speak often." I said, laughing.

" By how you responded, I assume you know something about us already, right? " Night asked.

" Not much, but your name sounds evil. How come you're not? " Robin asked.

" I am part of Luna's soul. I realised that when she dies, I would too, and when her life was threatened by a manifestation of corruption, I acted accordingly and called in the help of Primal, Celestia and the Mane Six."

" Who is-" Shervin wanted to say, but I stopped him before he could finish his sentence.

" That would be me. To properly act to my title in Equestria, I needed a more fitting name. Thus, Primal Dagger, the Shadow of Equestria was made. " I said.

" O-kay. So ya be famous there then? " Shervin said.

" I'm not that well known. Besides, most only know my title. " I responded. " Anyway, I think we should get going to the lab and fix that portal. I doubt Equestria would like knowing one of their princesses is missing. "

" Wait, Princess? Am I missin' summin'? " Shervin asked.

" Oh ofcourse, I forgot you don't know anything about Equestria. I suppose Robin knows a little bit? " I said.

" As I said, not much. Actually, nothing at all, come to think of it. " he said.

" Ah. Well.... Luna here is Princess Luna, one of two rulers of Equestria and a lunar princess. Her sister, Celestia, is the other ruler and she's the solar princess. They both move their respective moon and sun when necessary. Also, they are supposed to be ponies. "

" Wait, ponies? That's crazy! Ponies can't possibly create an entire nation, let alone move an entire celestial body! " Shervin said, shaking his hands in the air to add to the disbelief.

" Ahum."

" Oh, excuse me Princess Luna. It just sounds so unrealistic and unreasonable! "

" Why do you not travel back with us to see for yourselves? I am sure we can prove you wrong. " Luna said.

" In fact, we already are. The three of us are here, right? " Twilight said.

" What if you're all a bunch a fakes or summin' ? I don't see no proof that you actually came from somewhere with talkin' ponies and two beings capable of moving planets. " he said.

" How could you explain their odd hairstyles, though? " Robin said.

" I 'unno, maybe they dyed it? " Shervin said.

" Ugh, just come with us to the lab and you can see for yourself. We still have to get it back up and running remember? " I said. " You can follow us in your car. "

We left the building, after I collected a few things to take back to Equestria. Some clothes, a few gadgets, a charger for my phone that I probably had to rebuild, and a proper razor. I couldn't possibly create a diamond blade again for shaving myself, so I would have to make do with this.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger-> Princess Luna

" Primal, how come you have such a 'car' like this? It looks quite expensive. "I said.

" I made some big discoveries in the field of science in the past years. My employer knows of them,but he prefers to tell the world himself and reward me discreetly. Which is why I won't say what. " he said, ever mysterious.

" Say.... You do not like being famous all that much, right? " Night said, voicing my thoughts.

" I prefer not to be in the spotlights, no. Which is why I'm perfectly happy with what I have to do for Celestia. Low profile work. " he said, keeping a close eye on the traffic in front of him.

" How many humans are there, on Earth? " I asked.

" About 7 billion. "

" 7....7.... billion....?" Twilight said, shivering.

" Yes, 7 billion. Why, that so much to you? Obviously they're not all here in the Netherlands, there's only about 17 million of us in this country. " he said.

" 17 million is still quite a lot. That is definitely already more than the entire population of Equestria. " I said.

" I don't know any exact numbers, but the pony population count is definitely lower than 17 million, of that I'm sure. 7 billion of your kind though.... I get why you would want to keep it secret. " Twilight said.

" Only the people I trust completely - Shervin and Robin, my mother, and Cheryl being some of them - I told it to. And those are the only people that need to know. " he said.

" My thanks, and those of the Equestrian ponies, for being so considerate. Were it not you to appear, I do not know what we would have done. " I said.

" Well, I did sorta bring Michelle along by accident who ran into a corrupted cave and went mad. " he said.

" Don't be silly, Primal. You've done more good for us than you could imagine. Plus, being a great friend helps too. " Twilight said.

" Thanks, I suppose. We're here. " he said as he pulled up the car into the parking lot.

We stepped out of the car, and walked into the laboratory compound.

Cheryl, Primal's assistant, was working on something delicate by the looks. Another person was a few meters away from her, a man by the looks.

" Hello Cheryl, hello Cole, how are both of you doing? " Primal asked.

" Shhh, just a moment. Let me finish this- Ah! Got it! " she said, and held up a bottle with a purple liquid in it.

" Good. Hey, could I speak with you, in private? " he asked.

" Sure, I'll put this away somewhere. "

"You ladies just stay here,  I'll be right back. " he said as he took Cheryl outside, just as Shervin and Robin wanted to come in.

" Actually, Tracey, come with me. You two too. " he said, looking at Robin and Shervin.

I had a slight feeling about what their conversation could be about. I did not want to pry, however, so I decided to take Night and talk with the man called Cole. He had an intriguing appearance, and he obviously was not one of the staff, yet Primal still addressed him in a friendly manner.

" Hello? You must be Cole, correct? " I asked.

Cole turned around, with a surprised look on his face under the peculiar hat he was wearing. " You can see me too? "

" Why yes, should we not be able to? " Night asked.

" Only Joshua is able to see me. He told me I could stick around if I wanted to, after I told him I didn't really have a home. I can sense you don't call him by the same name, though. " he said.

" Yes, how -"

And then he was gone.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Princess Luna -> Primal Dagger

I took Twilight, Cheryl, Robin and Shervin outside, and turned around to face them after checking if there was nobody else around.

" Cheryl, I kind of lied to you. I sort of forgot you've been a very loyal assistant and a good friend, and in the panic of the moment I thought up fake names for her and the other two. Her real name is Twilight Sparkle, and the others are Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon. " I said.

Cheryl stood there, stunned and unable to speak.

" I didn't believe it either. I still don't " Shervin said.

" Panic can do odd things to you, but I'm certain Joshua wouldn't have lied to you if he didn't think it was necessary then. " Robin said. " Right? "

"Exactly. I had to quickly come up with something to hide where they really come from, but after thinking clearly, I shouldn't have. I need your help, and Twilight's here to restart the portal back to their world." I said.

" Right. I suppose you need electricity, then? " Cheryl said.

" Yes and no. I want you to simply set up the frame in the abandoned part with Twilight to help you, and to provide a spot where a lot of power can be given to it. " I said.

" Ok, sure. Come with me, Twilight " Cheryl said. I could sense she still wasn't happy about it.

After they walked off, Shervin and Robin turned to me with curious looks.

" You'll see. " I simply said, and followed the two women inside.

WWWWW

" It's all set up and ready to go, Joshua. " Cheryl said.

Michelle came in just when Cheryl said that.

" Ah, right on time. " I said. " Where's the power supply? "

" Over here. "

I walked over to the supply, and everyone looked at me in anticipation. I felt my hand charging up with electricity, and let it build up for a moment, the sparks flying between my fingers.

" What..?!"

" How??!"

" It is still amazing to see. "

I shot the lightning in a bolt through the power supply. It nearly couldn't handle the amount of volts.

The energy sparked over to the two pylons next to the frame, and they discharged into the portal.

" There's the portal again. Cheryl, you'll stay here and guard the lab, right? " I asked.

" Will do, you mad scientist. Go on, go to that world. "

I waited for the others to jump through before I jumpedin after them.

Chapter 8 - Salvation, or Suffering? Part 2

Change of Character - Twilight sparkle -> Primal Dagger

The journey to the badlands was short, but tiresome. We had to deal with quite a bumpy road, but we managed to get to the beginning of the Badlands with energy to spare. I noticed a dark sky in the area ahead of us.

"Is that standard weather for this area?" I asked Deputy Star.

"Don't look like it to me. It ain't a natural storm either. And, it's coming this way" Star said. "Let's head over to that cave in the mountain there for shelter untill the storm passes by."

We headed towards the cave, and the deputy made a small fire inside. Twilight huddled close to the fire, shivering in the harsh cold weather that had dawned upon us. It was getting dark outside, so we decided to sleep the night inside the cave.

"I'll take first watch. You guys get some rest" I told my companions.

They nodded, and placed down their makeshift beds and went to sleep. I was standing near the entrance of the cave, admiring the stormy weather which was passing us now. I always liked lightning, no matter how frightening it could be sometimes. I decided to use the moment to practice a few spells I'd been working on. One of which included using the earth itself as a weapon.

I looked at a nearby cactus, and set my sights on it as a target for my spell. The spell required a lot of energy to channel, as I would be moving the earth itself to strike at the cactus. The sheer power being gathered in my hands was coming to a breaking point, and I released the energy. It shot straight down into the ground and travelled over to the cactus within a blink of an eye. Then, a massive earthen pillar shot out from underneath the cactus, destroying it whole. Unfortunately, I was not able to shape the created pillar yet. My idea was to make the pillar be an earthen blade shooting out from the ground, effectively cutting anything above into shreds. Fatigue crept up on me, and I nearly fell asleep. If I didn't think of my duty towards the two ponies inside, I would've surely fallen asleep.

I decided to try a different spell, seeing as my previous one was a semi-succes. It wasn't completely what I intended for the spell to do, but it was effective nonetheless.

I channeled my magic again, this time focusing inward. When the energy gathered was close to breaking again, I let it go. It shot into me, travelled my entire body within a second, and shot out again. My body started slowly appearing in front of me, duplicating me. After a few seconds, a completely identical me stood in front of me. I felt that it didn't require any magic to keep active, which was quite a relief. This could come in useful. I tried connecting my mind with the doppelganger, and managed to start talking to myself. I instructed it to run a lap around a nearby cactus, and it followed the order without hesitation.

"I'm glad you are me. We could do some serious stuff with this, am I right?" I said to my doppelganger.

"Im glad too. And yes, we could totally wreak havoc upon our enemies with this magic" the doppelganger said.

"Can you cast magic like I can?" I asked him.

"Let me try" He proceeded to move his hands together, then tried to channel a spell. The only thing that was channeled were a bit of sparks coming from his hand. "Doesn't look like it, yet. I think if you pool more energy into creating me, I could actually cast spells like you could, albeit with less effectivity as I would probably be drawing from your power."

"I don't think it draws upon my power. I don't feel any magical energy being transferred from me to you. I do feel the link, and by what it feels like I can sever the link if needed. Could you touch that spiky cactus over there to test something for me?" I asked.

He walked over to the cactus, and touched one of the spikes. I felt the sharp sting in my finger aswell, but with less severity. "Interesting" was all I said.

The clone walked back towards me, and held his hand up. I knew what he wanted, as he was me, and I slammed my hand into his. "De-summon me, and try to create me again with more magic. Let's see if I can cast a spell" my doppelganger said.

I recalled him, and felt the magic flow back into me. It seemed that whenever I create him and then de-create him, I would re-collect the magic I used to summon him in the first place.

I then started casting the spell again, this time causing even more energy to flow into it than before. The same copying happened, and my clone stood in front of me again.

"Let's try it now" he said, holding his hands together again. Again, I saw him trying to channel, but all he managed to do was create sparks again.

"Aww. Maybe later I can figure out if I could make you cast spells. Princess Luna could help me with it maybe, I heard she's quite proficient at manipulation and deceit" I said. "For now, stand guard with me. Two people watching is more eyes than one, and since I can feel what you feel, we both will know if something happens".

We focused our gaze upon the empty wasteland ahead of us. The rain had passed a little while ago, leaving only the occasional lightning strike. My clone saw a cactus being struck by lightning, and we both grinned. "I should try and harness that power sometime. Just look at the damage that strike did" I said to my clone.

We looked at the place where the lightning bolt had struck. The cactus that had been there had evaporated into dust, leaving a burn mark on the ground and a small fire which extinguished quickly.

I looked at my clone. He looked practically the same as me, armour included, and his hood on the back. There was no need to wear the hood right now, so both of us decided not to. "We look badass. I think we could be even more badass, though."

I focused my magic into enchanting my armour, causing occasional lightning to strike between the several parts of the chestplate and arms. I looked at my clone and saw the same happened to him. "So it automatically updates my current status to you. So if I were to do this..." I put my hood on, and caused the smoke aura and piercing red eyes to show themselves. My clone also put his hood on, the same aura and eyes showing themselves on him, too.

"Nice. So I could clone myself, and don my hood afterwards to cause a massive panic reaction" I looked directly at my clone, and chanted: "We are the army of the shadows, striking from the unseen with daggers poised. Magic courses through our veins, shattering the weak of mind and tearing down on those with strong will."

We both sat down afterwards, gently enjoying the scenery and waiting for the deputy to take over his watch in a few minutes.

I heard hoofsteps approaching us, and looked behind me to see the deputy making his way over to us. "Hold on a sec, there's two of you?"

We both grinned. The real me took the word: "I managed to duplicate myself. I can't figure out how to make him cast spells yet, but I intend to have a little practice session with Princess Luna to see if I can get it to work."

"Okay. Well, get sum rest. You and the purple unicorn mare need to be fit for tomorrow, as the trek will be long. I've travelled these parts a lot, and I know they ain't pretty. The rock should be located in a cave in the ridge of the Macintosh Hills to our west. It is said the cave holds many deadly traps, and it's guardians are not so friendly either" he said.

"Alright, thanks for the heads-up. I'll go take a nap" I said, walking back into the cave and setting up my bed next to Twilight. She was snoring peacefully, freed from worry. "You look so cute, snoring like that" I whispered. I got into my bed, and a few moments later I dozed off into dreamland.

I woke up with a smile on my face. Twilight had moved slightly closer to me and had tried to place a hoof on my head, but seemingly decided against it.. "Wake up sleepyhead, we got some travelling to do" I said to her softly, causing her to open her eyes.

"Ah, what a good night's rest" she said, stretching her back.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger -> Twilight Sparkle

I looked over to where Deputy Star had set his bed up. He was not in his bed, though.

"Primal, where's the deputy?" I asked him.

"He was keeping watch when I went to bed. I'll go look for him" he said, getting out of his bed and walking towards the cave entrance.

I heard him shout: "Hey Star, Twilight was worried something happened to you so I came over to check on you"

I heard the deputy's voice afterwards. "I'm fine. You guys should pack your things and get moving, though. We have a long trek ahead."

I started packing up the various things that were on the floor, and rolled up all of the beds. I placed mine and Primal's into my saddlebags, magically compressing them to make more room, carried the deputy's bed in my magic in front of me.

I walked over to the entance of the cave, and saw Primal just about to turn around to grab his stuff. "Already done. I got your bed too, Star" I floated the bed towards him, which he grabbed and placed into his saddlebag.

"Thanks Sparkle. Let's git goin' now. We gotta head to a cave in the Macintosh Hills. The rock is said to be inside there, guarded by various traps and creatures.

"Traps and creatures? And here I was, thinking it would be easy" I said, sighing.

"There is no such thing as easy. Not when the existence of this world hangs in the balance" Primal said.

I followed the deputy, and Primal followed me, making up the rear in case something happened. The trek towards the cave the deputy had mentioned was long, boring and uneventful. We'd taken a break once during the trip to eat some food, in silence. I saw Primal, deep in thought. I wanted to ask him what was wrong but I didn't feel the need to break the silence. I will find out eventually.

We finally reached the entrance to the cave, the path ahead of us looking dark and ominous.

"This almost reminds me of the cave we fought the corruption in. Only less ominous" Primal remarked.

"We were in that cave for two whole days. I would rather not be reminded of that, if you don't mind" I retorted.

"You're right. Let's head into the cave, the rock won't retrieve itself" Primal said.

The deputy led the way, holding a torch which illuminated the darkness surrounding us. After a long walk, we reached what looked like underground ruins or a dungeon.

"This is the entrance to the ruins holding the Rock of the Phoenix. Be very careful around here, there are traps everywhere and we can get ambushed my the guardians of this place at any moment" Deputy Star warned us.

Primal equipped part of his outfit, leaving the hood off. He conjured myself a set of gloves which for some reason were not part of the set yet, and inscribed them with illumination runes. He also placed a scrying rune on the palms of the gloves, revealing hidden magics and secrets.

"There, that should help with the lighting. The scrying rune I placed on the palms will help locate any hidden magical traps too. Twilight, could you use your magic to scan the surroundings too every once in a while? Your magic should be a bit more efficient in those kinds of things" he said.

"Sure, I can do that" I said, lightning up my horn with a spell. The purple light traced itself across the walls and floor, revealing a few hidden spike traps here and there. "There we go. Now don't touch those or you will probably get stabbed" I said grimly.

We carefully made our way across the trap-riddled hallway. We ended up inside a very large chamber, with a massive locked door blocking one of the pathways, and two other paths leading left and right. The massive door had a lock on it, and a few runes inscribed on its surface. Primal walked over to the door, and inspected the runes.

"These are runes of warding... I'm guessing the rock is behind this door. I can't dispell these runes, they are specifically made to negate any magic. The door itself is enchanted in such a way that the runes can't be removed physically either, so we have to find the key for this door. Which probably is somewhere in either of these pathways. Let's split up, I'll take the right path and you two take the left one" Primal said.

"But what if something happens to you?" I asked worriedly.

"Nothing will harm me, Twilight. And even if something did, I can heal myself quite effectively. Honestly I'm more worried about you two" he said, returning the worry.

"Ah'll make sure nothing happens to your friend, even if that means laying my life on the line fer it. You guys are on a quest to save the world, and Ah'll do whatever it takes to help you in it" Deputy Star said bravely.

"I won't let it come to that, deputy. You will see the light of day again" I said.

"Let's hurry along now, the corruption won't wait for us" Primal said. "I'll see you back in a few, be careful" he added.

I followed Star into the pathway to the left. He held up his torch in front of him, and we turned around the corner. I looked back at the other pathway one more time, and saw Primal pass the corner. I hope he will be alright... and so will we.

I scanned our surroundings again for traps, but found none. The hallway we walked in was devoid of anything and everything, leaving the bare carved stones to decorate our path. After a few twists and turns we ended up in a small chamber. I scanned the area again using my locating spell, and found a small source of magic emanating from a stone in the wall.

"Deputy, I think there's something behind that rock in the wall. Could you help me pull it out? I'll drag the stone out slightly and you can drag it out further" I said.

I called upon my magic to surround the stone and willed it to pull itself out of the wall. The stone was really heavy, and I nearly failed to maintain control of it. I managed to pull it out enough for the deputy to take over, and he did. Once we got the rock out completely, it fell to the ground with a loud thump. Behind the rock was a small, intricate safe with a combination lock.

"I'm guessing the key for that massive door back there is inside of this safe. Are you any good at cracking safes? I asked the deputy.

"Not really, but ah can try it" he responded. He stepped closer to the safe, and studied it closely. "This is a class tl-15 combination safe, and can resist being opened for a small time unless you have the right code. I'll try cracking it, while you look for any clues to what the code could be. Deal?"

I didn't hesitate to start looking for the code, and used my magic to scan the surroundings again. I found nothing, however.

"I'll check back the way we came, there's nothing here" I said.

The deputy nodded, and continued cracking the safe. I trotted back to the hallway , and used an enhanced scrying spell to re-check the hallway. The spell found a source of magic located in the ceiling. "I wonder how I missed that the first time" I said to noone in particular. I tugged the rock in front of the source of magic,and the rock fell down like a stalactite. I quickly dodged out of the way of the falling rock, and looked at where the rock had been. It revealed a small paper, and I levitated the paper down to eye level. The page had a four-digit code written on it: 9725. I ran back to the deputy as fast as possible.

"Deputy, I think there's something you want to know. This code, for example. " I levitated the paper over to him, and he used the code to unlock the safe.

The contents of the safe were a few gold bits, and a rusty metallic key the size of the lock on the massive door back in the antechamber. " We finally found it! Let's go back and see if Primal is back yet."I shouted in glee.

The deputy followed me back to the antechamber. Primal hadn't arrived yet, so we decided to wait for him.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Twilight sparkle -> Primal Dagger

I walked down the right path, hoping that I didn't have to face too many adversaries along my path. My glowing gloves illuminated the darkness surrounding me, which I was glad for. I then felt a nearby presence, and drew my daggers. "Who goes there? Show yourself!" I said

From the shadows, a figure appeared. It looked like a pony, but when it came close I noticed it was a zebra. This species doesn't show around these parts often, wonder what brings it here?

"Friend, or foe?" I asked. The zebra looked feminine, and her voice confirmed that.

"I hope, a friend. Harm you not, I wish. I came here to find a certain plant, growing only in these ruins. Help me, could you traveller?" the zebra asked.

"Wait a minute, is your name Zecora, by any chance?" I asked her, lowering my

She nodded. "How do you know my name, traveller?"

"Let's just say that I know a lot about this world. I will help you find your plant, but we need to hurry up. I'm here to find the key for the massive door back there. Behind the door should be what I came here for, the Rock of the Phoenix" I explained.

I followed the zebra further down the hall. The hallway ended in a cave-like chamber, with moss growing in the various cracks in the walls. A strange looking plant grew from one of the cracks, and the zebra walked towards it.

"This plant is what I looked for, it's properties needed for a ritual. "  She plucked the plant, and placed it inside of her bag. "Thank you, strange traveller. My aid, do you need it?"

"I don't think the key is this way, considering that this chamber is overgrown. Come back with me to the antechamber" I said.

The zebra looked at me for a moment, but nodded and followed me back.

WWWWW

I saw Twilight sparkle and Deputy Star waiting for me and my companion. " Zecora? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

I responded before the zebra could : "She's here to find a certain plant which only grows in these ruins. Which I helped her find. She offered me her aid in exchange. "

"Okay. Well, we found the key to the door. You can do the honours."  Twilight said.

I took the key from her , and walked to the door. The key fitted the lock perfectly, and the massive door swung open, revealing even more darkness.

" I'll take the lead, since I have these gloves." I waved my gloved hands around.

This part of the cave looked more detailed, with ancient carvings lined on the walls. One such carving depicted a pony wearing what looked like golden armour, causing light to bend and break around it. Then, the light seemed to point at another carving further along the other side of the tunnel. We walked towards the other carving, this time depicting a pony wearing armour as black as the night. Again, the light bended, pointing to a spot in the chamber ahead. I held my gloved hands forward, illuminating the chamber.

What we found went beyond our wildest dreams. The  chamber was filled to the brim with golden objects, varying from coins to chalices to entire dining sets. In the middle of the room was a pedestal holding a strange object. The object didn't look like a rock,which was mildly unsettling. I picked up the object, which looked like a pony statue. This triggered a mechanism in the room, revealing a hidden compartment.

"Look! The rock is inside of that compartment!" Twilight shouted.

I quickly bounded over to it, and snatched the rock out. This caused yet another mechanism to spring to life. This time, a statue in the corner came to life, and immediately started approaching us.

"A statue, ey? Let's see how it likes getting frozen solid!" I said.

I cast a freezing spell at it, and it stopped dead in its tracks. It wasn't deactivated yet, though. " Twilight! Shoot a shattering spell at it!" The purple unicorn mare instantly started casting a spell after I asked her. The spell hit its target dead-on, and the statue shattered into a thousand pieces. "Teamwork! High-five Twi!" I held my hand up, and the mare slammed my hand with her hoof.

Zecora was eyeing the broken statue, expecting it to come back to life. The statue stayed broken, however, and Zecora relaxed a bit.

"Great, we have the rock. Let's head back to Dodge City for supplies and get to the swamp afterwards. Thank you for escorting us, deputy, and thank you for joining us Zecora." I said.

The zebra and Deputy nodded, and we headed back the way we came.

WWWWW

The trek back to Dodge City passed quickly, and Twilight and I found ourselves heading out to the swamp in no time. We had thanked Zecora and Deputy Star a second time before buying some supplies in a nearby store.

We reached the edge of the swamp on the same day, but it was fast approaching nighttime. "Let's set up camp near that tree there for the night. I will take watch until I am certain we won't be ambushed." I suggested.

Twilight nodded, and lit up a small fire and set up her sleeping bag next to it. "Sweet dreams, Twilight" I said. She fell asleep not too long after, and I sat down against a tree.

I had nearly fell asleep when I heard a low growl coming from the trees behind me. I tensed up immediately, and drew my daggers in waiting. I amplified my hearing using a channelled spell, and heard near-silent footsteps approaching. I waited for the footsteps to get closer until Iwas able to see the shape belonging to the footsteps. It was a panther, as black as the night. It didn't seem hostile to me though, just curious. I lowered my daggers to show that I didn't mean any harm. The panther got closer to me, and was now standing beside me. Then, it did something I didn't expect. It sat down and nuzzled my feet softly.

"Would you look at that. A friendly panther!" I petted the panther softly, and I could swear that I heard it purr. "Are you coming along with me, then?" I asked the panther, not expecting a verbal response. Instead, the panther looked up at me with acknowledging eyes. "Alright, I guess you need a name then. How about. .... Sabrina?" The panther purred softly at hearing her new name. "Wait here, I'll wake up Twilight."

I silently stepped over to where Twilight was sleeping, and lightly shook her awake. "What's wrong Primal? Are we under attack?" I shook my head. " Then why did you wake me up?"

"I want you to meet someone." I called Sabrina, and the panther walked over to us and took her place beside me.

Twilight looked scared at first to see a panther approaching us, but quickly relaxed and instead got a confused look. "You know that panther?" She asked.

I nodded. " Twilight, meet Sabrina, my newly acquired pet panther. Sabrina, this is Twilight Sparkle, my friend."

"You introduce us as if she could understand us. How is-" Twilight started saying, but was cut off by Sabrina walking over to the mare and nuzzling her mane.

"Some things should not be questioned" I simply stated.

The unicorn returned the gesture to the panther, and it sat down in between us, head resting on her paws.

"Can you keep watch for us, Sabrina? I could use some rest." I asked. The panther seemed to nod, and took a watchful stance. "Thanks "

I placed down my sleeping bag next to Twilight's and fell asleep shortly after

WWWWW

The morning came, and I woke up feeling rested. I looked over at Twilight's bag, but found that it was empty. Sabrina was also nowhere near, and I just sat up in my bed. The fire Twilight had lit yesterday was still flickering faintly, and I cast a rune on it to give it some strength. The fire shot back to its former glory, and was now giving off a much needed warmth. Even though the bed was kind of warm, it didn't stop me from shivering.

A moment later, a familiar purple figure appeared. Following her was my pet panther. Twilight was carrying a basket in her mouth. " What's inside of the basket?" I asked.

"Berries, and some fish I managed to capture from one of the ponds in the swamp. I also found the flower on my way, so we can leave after we've ate something." Twilight said. "You re-lit the fire I see. I  can cook up these fish for you if you can make some kind of pot to place the fish in"

I  used my mastery over the Earth around me to conjure a pot-shaped rock. Twilight took the pot from me and placed it over the fire, the fish inside of it. She had left some fish raw to give to Sabrina, and fed her said fish. After a little while, the fish were done cooking, and I created what looked like a stone dish to place the cooked fish on. I then carefully started removing the fish's skeleton. After removing the skeleton, I complacently ate the fish, tasting meat again after a very long time .

Twilight ate a few berries whilst staring at me eating. Being a herbivore, she had never eaten meat, but was eyeing my food with curiosity. " Could I have a piece? " she asked. I looked at her with a look of surprise, but handed her a piece of the boneless fish. She took the piece, and inspected it before taking a bite. "This tastes good!" she said before eating the entire piece. " I should try to get some fish-based meals back at Ponyville. "

We ate the rest of our meal in silence. After that, I suggested to Twilight to conjure the portal back to home. I created the necessary pieces of the portal, and we both poured magic into it. The portal formed, and I motioned for Sabrina to step through the portal. We followed her into the portal, arriving back at the library of Ponyville.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger- > Rainbow Dash

After receiving our tasks, me and Fluttershy headed over to the Galloping Gorge by flight. We both had wings, even though 'Shy was not particularly a fast flier. We had to retrieve the All-consuming Branch or whatever it was. It sounded pretty lame in my opinion, but I didn't name the thing, and something even more lame like that name was having to come up with one.

It was said that the Galloping Gorge was a dangerous place,but it would probably be nothing I couldn't handle. 'Shy, on the other hand...

"Hey 'Shy, stay close to me in that Gorge okay? I don't want anything to happen to you." I told her.

"D-Don't worry Dash. I -I might be slightly a-afraid, but I promise I won't do anything stupid." She said to me in her usual  Fluttershy way.

We didn't take too long to reach the Galloping Gorge, and we both landed on the edge of the chasm.

" Looks like it's safe to fly down there. Where do you think the Branch will be?" I asked.

"I think it might be in that alcove down there. Do you see it?" 'Shy said, pointing at a spot in the distance. I could vaguely see the alcove, and I nodded.

" Let's hurry up and get over there. Mustn't keep Primal and Twi waiting now, eh?" I said, spurring to action. Our marks were a great combination for this mission. I could keep throwing bolts of fire, lightning and frost at any who would oppose us,and 'Shy could keep healing herself and me while I provided the necessary cover for her aswell. A match made in heaven, so to speak.

I flew over to the place Fluttershy pointed out earlier, 'Shy herself in my wake. The alcove harbored an entrance to a very dark cave, illuminated only by a faint light in the far end of the cave. " I'll create a small fire which circles around me to provide us with light. Stay ready with a healing spell incase something happens." I said.

We carefully stepped towards the end of the cave after I created the circling fire. The light seemed to come from an object in the wall. Upon closer inspection we found that this was in fact the All-consuming Branch. " Score! Let's take this thing home! " I didn't notice how a shadow crept up on me while I tried prying the branch from the wall, but Fluttershy noticed.

"Umm, Dash? There is something creeping up on you."

A simple "What?" was all I managed to say before the shadow silenced me for a second.

"Do not speak if you wish to leave this place alive. You would do good in not touching that branch." The voice said.

"I'm not going to leave this place without it, so you can stop your threats and face me, or let me take the branch and leave you alive." I said confidently

"Oh no, Rainbow Dash is threatening me. Should I be afraid now? What are you going to do, kick me?" The voice said, gaining a figure as a grey-maned unicorn stallion appeared.

"Sounds like someone didn't see me recently." I said, and cast a quick lightning bolt at the unicorn, paralysing him and making his magic useless.

The unicorn had a shocked look on his face, literally and figuratively. " But... But how?  You are not a unicorn! "

"I'm not,  but let's just say that I have a friend who gave me some powers of my own. You gonna let me take that branch now? " I said.

The unicorn returned a look which could kill somepony, but he was in no state to object. I took the branch in my teeth, and motioned for Fluttershy to follow me. "Let's leave this pathetic fool and return to Ponyville with the All-consuming Branch. Our task is done here."

We flew back to Ponyville, and arrived at the library. We were the first to return, so we decided to wait for the rest to arrive.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Rainbow Dash -> Applejack

Ta be honest, and Ah'm the Element of Honesty so Ah had to be, Ah couldn't figure out why Primal sent me with Pinkie to retrieve the Everburning torch. Don't get me wrong, I liked the goofy earth pony, but she could be mildly frustrating sometimes. Maybe Ah was wrong.

"Come along now Pinks, let's catch the train to Apple loosa and walk or find sum other way to travel to the San Palomino Desert. Mustn't keep the girls waitin' now. "

The pink mare happily bounced along after me. We'd already packed our bags before heading to the library, so we could head out right away. We had to wait a bitfor the train to arrive, and we had to wait even longer to reach Apple Loosa,but we got there eventually. " 'Jackie, I think I see a carriage over there. Let's ask the driver if he can take us to the desert, and ask him about the location of the torch. " she said sternly, an unfamiliar tone coming from the usually bubbly mare.

Already, the pink mare proved me wrong. I thought I would have to be the one to be resourceful, but Pinkie surprised me. I responded simply with an "Ok" before following her to the carriage driver.

" Excuse me mister, but could you tell us about the Everburning torch? " I asked.

"Why yes, of course!  Everypony here in Apple Loosa knows about that thing. Nopony managed to retrieve it and come back alive, though. Why, do you want to go there? "  the stallion said.

" Umm, yes. Could you take us there and back? " I asked.

"For a few bits I can take you there, but it will cost extra to get me to wait for your return, as to compensate for lost time. I'm sure you understand. Name's Swift Distance, since I doubt you will turn down the offer. "

The blue-and-red maned grey earth pony with a directional arrow with a few gusts of air behind it looked sincere, and as he expected, we took his offer. I handed over the required amount of money, and we took a seat in the carriage.

"Ooh, I have an idea! I think everypony will like it." Pinkie said, staring intently at the wheels of the carriage. "Sit down next to us Swift Distance, I can solve the problem of you walking us over there. "

The stallion looked confused, but sat down next to usanyway. Pinkie's mark glowed, and so did the wheels. Then, the wheels started moving on their own accord. They picked up speed quickly, and we were quick on our way to where the torch was. Swift had told us before we stepped in the vehicle.

" I didn't expect this. I suppose you want some bits back? " Swift said.

"No, keep the money. You've earned it. " Pinkie said.

The pink mare didn't stop surprising me. We arrived at our destination not a long time afterwards.

"Well, least I can do is brave the dungeon with you girls. I am confident  you'll be the ones to return with the torch. I never catched your names, by the way. "

"Name's Applejack, nice to meet ya."I said.

"And me! I'm Pinkie Pie! But you can just call me Pinkie! " she shouted in the tone everypony was used to.

"Well it's good I came across you two. Business has been a bit absent lately"

We ventured forth, into the dungeon. The inside was dark, as always. Luckily, Swift had a torch with him, so we at least had some light. Pinkie enchanted the torch using her mark so it would stay lit for longer, but it would run out eventually.

We reached an intersection, splitting the path in three separate ones. "Ah think Ah can do somethin' with this. Watch this 'ere now." Ah said, preparing my mark to use a spell Ah wanted to try out for a long time now. I duplicated myself into three separate Applejacks, each looking at each other and the company. "Ah will send a fake me into one path alone, and the real me will go with Pinkie. "

Swift went for the left path with one of the clones, and I sent another clone to the right path while Pinkie and I took the middle. It was really odd, as I could feel, hear and see everything my clones could whenever I wanted to.

WWWWW

Left path

Swift and I took the left path. We had to turn for a corner instantly and the rest of the party faded from sight.

Before us was a long, lit hallway, with torch sconces hanging near the ceiling on both walls. The hallway ended in a small chamber filled with various pieces of machinery. The path stopped here, but there was a gnawing feeling that there was more to this room.

"Let's check out the room Swift, Ah feel like we missin' somethin'." I said.

We both went through the room, inspecting every nook and cranny. I was just about to stop looking when Swift yeled me over. I stepped towards himand looked at what he was pointing at.

The thing he was pointing at was a rectangular-shaped coffin, no larger than maybe one or two ponies. "What'd be inside it, you think?" I asked him.

"Dunno, but I doubt it be anythin' good. " Swift responded. "Open it and see for ourselves?"

I nodded, and he stepped over to remove the lid from the coffin. A bat flew out quickly, scaring both of us. Other than the bat, there was a small iron lever inside. We had committed to opening the coffin already so Swift decided to flick the lever the other way.

We heard the sound of gears turning, and behind me a hidden passage opened. I took the lead and stepped inside.

The passage stopped with another small room. This one was filled with various torturing devices,however. A mangled body lay rotting on a table, causing a stench I rather wouldn't have been in. "Disgusting. Let's get out of here and get to Pinkie and the real me. I doubt there is-"

"There's a journal here, and a very fancy looking knife. Let's take both of those with us, who knows maybe we'll solve a murder with this." Swift cut me off with.

"Alright, take 'em with ya and let's get the hay outta here. This stench is making me sick." I said.

Swift placed the items in one of his bags,and we hurried back to the intersection tocatch up with Pinkie and the real me.

WWWWW

Right path

I walked down the right path alone into a lit room, much to my relief. The room was not lit by torches though. Instead, it was lit by a small green flame floating above a pile of books. One of the books seemed to fuel the fire, smoldering a bit as it didn't touch the actual flame.

"Hmm, odd." I said to myself.

Then, the flame looked as if it was writing words in the air. It spelt: "Free me in the middle path"

Instructions could not be much clearer than that, but I wondered if I should take the flame with me, and how. The decision and its details were shown quickly , as the flame started floating above my hat. " Don't burn my hat now, lil' flame. I like this hat."

I headed off to the real me, green flame floating above me.

WWWWW

Middle path

I saw that my left clone and Swift found a hidden torture room, and they had a knife and a journal with them. My left clone found a sentient green flame which wanted to be freed in the path we were walking. I told Pinkie of both their findings whilst we walked a seemingly endless path. They would catch up with us eventually as they were all running to catch up with us, and we were simply walking.

My assumption was correct, as both my clones and Swift reached us in the still ongoing tunnel. I dissipated my clones, and the little green flame flew over to my head.

"Finally, I found you two. I got these -"

" We know about the journal already. My conscience was linked with that clone so I could see everything it did." I said, not allowing Swift to finish his sentence.

He was about to reply with what probably would've been a witty remark,but decided against it and kept his mouth shut.

Finally, after even more walking and complaints about sore hooves, we reached a large double door. The right door was opened slightly, and it looked like there was a small trail of some sort of liquid leaving the room. It didn't look like blood, but nopony was able to place it.

Pinkie entered the room, but shot back instantly with a loud gasp.

"What's inside of the room Pinkie?" I asked.

"Something really horrifying and weird. See for yourself. " she said and opened the door completely.

The room contained what looked like an effigy, soaked with the same liquid as on the floor. In the corner of the room hung a green torch, the same colour as the small flame above me. The flame floated to the other far corner, and connected with another torch, lighting it and consuming the flame. Then, both torches flew out of their holders and touched the effigy, lighting it ablaze before flying over to us as we bounded backwards by the intense amount of heat. We quickly turned around and left the blazing room, torches in hooves. The torches flew up in the air again before writing 2 words: " Thank you "

"Well ain't that summin' now. We got the torches AND we're still alive. I guess the other adventurers met the previous occupant of this 'ere place. Let's git out of here before that guy returns. " I said.

Swift and Pinkie couldn't agree more, and we headed back to the carriage. Swift offered us a ride all the way back to Ponyville, saying something about meeting relatives after we told him where we would be going now. We chatted up about our little adventure on our way back, and arrived at the library in half a day.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Applejack -> Rarity

I simply had to pack a few more clothes for this trip. I dragged poor Spike along to my boutique and asked him to wait for me. I packed a few matching clothes and accessories and some travelling attire.

" Spike?  Could you be so kind as to take one of these bags for me? I simply cannot take all of these bags alone and I am sure that your very capable claws can handle a task like that. " I asked, putting on my best pouty face.

"Do you really need all of this stuff? I don't mind carrying it but surely this isn't necessary? "  Spike contemplated

"Nonsense, I was just testing to see if you would do a menial task such as carrying bags for me. I know now that there is more to you than what meets the eye..... " I said mysteriously.

" What's that supposed to mean... Oh nevermind let's just get going. We got to take the train to Hollow Shades in a few minutes. " Spike said.

We quickly headed over to the train station and boarded the train. We sat down in a somewhat empty wagon, just us and two other ponies in the corner.

"So, Spike. Want to tell me why you are so determined to prove yourself to me? " I inquired.

" I, uhh...... I..." he stuttered, and started blushing profusely. Just from that reaction and how he acted before when we were packing, I knew what was happening. And now I had a blush covering my face.

"You know, don't you..." he said with a tinge of embarrassment.

" Yes, I know. And I don't mind. But I don't think it could work" I said.

"Why not?" Spike asked, curious and slightly saddened.

"You won't stay like this forever, and I know that inside, you have a pure heart. You are still too young right now, though, so if you could wait a bit, I am certain this could work. " I said, reassuring him.

"Oh... Okay." Spike said, sighing.

"Don't worry Spike, I'll wait, as long as you can wait."

The train arrived at the secluded station in the Hollow Shades. We left the train station and decided to ask around town a bit to hear if anyone heard of lunar wood.

After an hour of questioning locals, we were none the wiser. Spike suggested we headed to the inn to get some food and drink, and a place to stay the night. The inn looked a bit worn down but was still in working shape. We entered through the double doors, drawing a few non-interested looks. I walked straight over to the bar to order some fruity cocktail, and Spike ordered some soda.

"Shame that the locals don't know anything about the lunar wood. Now we have to find it ourselves. " Spike said, and I agreed with him . Just as he said that, the bartender placed our drinks down.

"Nopony knows about lunar wood, ey? That might be because they are afraid. " the bartender said.

" Afraid of what, exactly? " I asked him.

" The curse that taints the forest the wood is located at. It's said that the ones who venture into that forest have never been seen again. "  the bartender said in a grim voice.

" No curse like that is going to stop me from getting the wood to prevent an even bigger curse that could taint the entire kingdom." I said bravely. The bartender looked at me, confused. I explained in short detail what would happen to Michelle if we didn't get the lunar wood, and how that would affect Equestria.

" Hmm, when you put it like that.... I'll see if I can get the local trader to offer some supplies. I suppose you need somewhere to stay the night? "  I nodded.  " You can rent one of my rooms at a discounted price. Don't let my trust in you be misplaced. " the bartender said.

" By my word as one of the Elements of Harmony, I shall not let your trust be in vain. "

"An Element? My, you humble me with your presence my lady. " the bartender said.

" Do not let my title as Element of Generosity deceive you, I am still an ordinary pony. " I said.

Spike hadn't said a word during our conversation, but decided to speak up now : " I am tired. Can we get the room and go to bed? " he asked me.

"Sure, Spike. " I handed over the required amount of money to the bartender, who handed me a key in return. The key had "206" engraved on it. I took Spike to our room, and told him I would go back downstairs to eat. Spike, being so tired as to not care about food, ignored me and leapt straight into his bed. "Good night, Spike. " I doubt he heard that, as he was already snoring.

I headed back downstairs, wondering what we were going to do when we arrived at the cursed forest the next day....

WWWWW

I woke up, feeling rested. Spike was still snoring peacefully in his bed. I stepped out of bed, and coaxed Spike to get out of his, too. This took a while as the dragon didn't want to get out of bed.

"Spike, we got to get that lunar wood today. Our friends are probably waiting for us already!" I said.

Finally, he got out of his bed, still yawning and stretching. We cleaned ourselves and headed downstairs for breakfast. The bartender from last night was serving it, and he greeted us with a warm smile.

"You feelin' rested? You two got a big day today" he said.

"I have never felt so rested before in my life, and I am ready for today" I said with a triumphant smile.

"Good, because you're going to need everything. I have full faith in that you two will be the first to return from that cursed forest, and maybe reveal its secrets while you're at it"

We ate our breakfast in relative silence, the occasional conversation being picked up and dropped down within a few minutes. I thanked the bartender for his hospitality and trust, and he told us to visit the Hollow Shades trader to retrieve some supplies for our venture. All we had to say was "Cursed forest", and the trader would know what to do.

Most of the townspeople were not awake yet, so the streets were silent. The trader was open at very early times of day, so we didn't have to worry about that. The building stood out from the rest, being the only one-story building in the town, and having a big sign in front saying : "Hollow Shades Trader".

Once we entered the building, the trader greeted us warmly. "Hello customers, what can I do for you?"

"Cursed Forest" I said. The trader immediately shot up from behind his counter and went to the back of the shop. He returned a few moments later with an axe (for chopping the lunar tree), a rope just in case we needed it, some rations, water, and a weird looking object.

"What is that object there?" I pointed at the strange metallic device on the table.

"This, is a flashlight. Only unicorns are able to use it, but when magic is channelled into this, it will give off light. Kind of like a torch, only inexhaustible." The trader explained.

"I suppose we are desperately going to need that thing, then. The Cursed forest does not sound like a lovely place." I remarked.

"This is a huge investment I put into you. The bartender told me last night about you two, and told me that whoever said the words : "Cursed forest" would be the ones he mentioned. If all goes right, and you cleanse that forest, we should be able to use that land to expand our little town and exploit it for its rich minerals. Now, there's a thing you should know about the forest. From what we've heard from rumours, there is a ruined building somewhere in that forest, which holds the tree you are looking for and quite possibly the source of the curse. Be careful, as nopony knows what the curse is able to do."

I thanked the trader for his help, and gave some of the rations and water to Spike for storage. I kept the flashlight with me, as I would be the one to use it, and we went out of town towards the forest. It wasn't very far from the town, which is why it would make an ideal expansion site for the town, as the trader said. And since it was untouched for centuries, there would be a lot of minerals to take.

We reached the edge of the thickened cursed forest line, making a clear seperation between the usual, open forest to a dark, dimly lit forest where the low trees blocked out any form of sunlight.

"You ready, Spike? Who knows what we are going to find in this place, and I intend to return to our friends in one piece" I said.

Spike nodded hesitantly, visibly afraid but courageous nonetheless. "We have to do this. Otherwise the entirety of Equestria will be engulfed in the corruption within that human girl. I'd rather just have this cursed forest to deal with than an entire nation."

"Let's go. The forest will not wait for us." I said.

We stepped intothe forest. The flashlight was already proving useful, lighting up the darkness. With what light we had I could vaguely see the castle ruins in the distance. I notified Spike, and we walked over into the direction of the castle.

We arrived at the entrance to the castle, dirty and bruised after tripping several times. "You go first, there is no telling what is inside. " I said.

Spike treaded into the ruin, and I followed suit. I couldn't help but gasp at the room ahead of us. The walls were decorated with torn tapestries and a few torches in ornate holders lit the area up. There were two hallways, going left and right. In the center of the room was a blooming dark purple tree. In front of the tree was a strange looking creature however. It was a huge dog with multiple heads, and it was seeping with a blackened fog,which thankfully looked like it was sleeping. This thing was obviously the source of corruption in this forest.

" That is a big problem. Maybe one of the hallways holds an answer to defeating this thing? " I suggested.

We walked carefully towards the left hallway, which lead into a library. " Twilight would've loved to be in here. Look at all these books! " Spike said.

My eye catched the look of a particular book, and I levitated the book over to myself and opened it.

" This is it! This book holds the answer to defeating the creature back there! " Spike walked over to me and inspected the book. " It says here, to defeat the monster we have to make it look at itself long enough for it to see itself as a threat. Then,we have to use this book to absorb the spell he casts and reflect it back at it. We have to create a room full of mirrors where you can lead it to while I stand ready to teleport you out and the book in. Sounds like a good plan to you? " I asked.

He gulped. " I have to guide that huge monster to a room full of mirrors?  S-Sure, I can d-do that. " He looked afraid, but I saw a glint of courage in his eyes when he looked at me.

"Let us go back to the other hallway and see if the room there is more suitable. " I suggested.

We walked over to the other hall, making sure not to wake the sleeping monster up. Lucky for us, that room was perfect for trapping the monster in. It had a hidden balcony somewhat higher up, where I could wait for Spike. I created the mirrors required for the trap and mounted them on the walls.

"Are you ready Spike?  All you have to do is wake the monster and make it go into this room. " I said.

He nodded, and was now visibly less afraid. I teleported to the balcony and saw himwalking out of the room. The balcony had vision over a small part of the tree-room as well as the mirror room, so I could see Spike inching closer to the monster. I heard him shout : " Hey evil monster!  Look,  I am in your castle! " This woke the creature, and it was looking around to see what disturbed it. It roared when it saw Spike, and quickly stood up to chase him whilst shooting fireballs haphazardly at him.

Spike and the monster got into the room, but Spike tripped over a loose stone and he fell. The monster quickly took advantage of this and shot a fireball at Spike, hitting him in his back. Luckily, dragons were fire resistant, but I could tell that the impact hurt. I quickly teleported him out, and the book in on the ground.

The monster looked around in confusion and saw only itself.

It quickly got angry and started casting a massive spell which would've undoubtedly wiped out both of us. Before the monster managed to launch the spell, I levitated the book upwards, and it intercepted the massive inferno of fire. The book soaked up all of the flames, and the room was quiet for a moment. The book then burst up into flames and launched itself at the monster,hitting it in its face.

The monster got knocked out instantly, and I teleported down and conjured a sword to deliver the killing blow by stabbing it in its main eye. The monster cried out in pain one last time before falling onto the ground defeated. It exploded in a fiery nova, which hit everything but didn't burn anything.

" Rarity! Come look outside! " Spike said.

I teleported back up to him, and stood beside him as he looked out of the window. The forest was bathed in sunlight as the shroud which covered the tops of the trees was lifted. I could see a mass of ponies gathering near the edge of the forest. "We should get over there when we got the tree. I want you to axe it a question.  " I grinned. I teleported us back to the room with the tree and gave Spike the axe.

He took the axe, and hit the trunk of the purple tree with it. When he did so though, the tree looked like it expanded upwards. The tree shot out of the ground and we heard a deep voice : " Don't cut me down! I can give you a piece of myself. "

Spike looked at it, confused, but lowered his axe. The tree grabbed one of its branches and pulled it out. "I know about your quest. I saw how you dealt with the Cerberus and I am certain you can use this part of me well. I will plant my roots in this forest and spread my seeds, to remake the lost and forgotten Lunar Forest. In time, this forest will be returned to its former glory. "

The tree gave the branch to Spike, and left the ruins. We followed it outside and saw it root itself in the ground. " Good luck on your quest " were the last words it said.

" A talking tree and a multiple headed dog. This trip was weird to say the least. " I said.

" Weird , but good. Let's head back to the town. " Spike said.

We headed back to the town, and were swarmed with happy, cheering ponies. " There is one thing you all should know however. This forest was once the Lunar Forest, before it got corrupted. The last lunar tree has planted its roots in the forest and will reform the forest in due time. Give it some space, and I am sure it will pay you townsfolk back for it. "  I said.

The townsfolk cheered again, and the bartender and the trader walked up to us. " I knew I could trust you. Too bad we can't use the land completely, but I am sure we could be the main exporters of the rare Lunar wood in no time. " The trader said. "I'm sure you need a ride back to wherever you came from? " I nodded.

" I have a carriage stowed away which you could use. It's powered by magic, albeit a bit unstable. "

We thanked them for their help and rode  the carriage back home, back to our friends who were waiting for us.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Rarity -> Primal Dagger

We arrived at the library, to find that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had already returned.  "  You two are back early. I hope you didn't rush it just to be first? " I asked.

" Nope. Since both of us can fly, traversing the Gorge was no problem. We found the branch quickly, and all that stood in our way was some crazy unicorn stallion who didn't expect a lightning bolt from me." Dash explained. Then,a look of fright crossed her face. " Guys, t-there's a panther behind y-you. "

I never heard her this scared before. I slowly turned around to look behind me and saw Sabrina sitting behind me. I laughed and stroked the panther softly, causing her to purr softly.

" Primal has a new pet. She approached our camp near the edge of the swamp at night, but it had no harmful intentions. Instead, Primal quickly befriended her. " Twilight explained.

" Meet Sabrina, my pet panther. Sabrina, these are Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. " I pointed at said mares in turn.

" She can understand you? How? I thought I was the only one around here with the ability to communicate with animals. " Fluttershy asked in amazement.

" I'm not sure, but I don't question it. I'm glad I have a pet of my own, and one very fitting to what I am, too. Maybe it was destined to be? I don't believe in fate, though. The only thing I know about fate is that it nearly always screws me over " I said.

" That sounds awfully negative . " Twilight remarked.

" I know, but I am usually right when it comes to fate. I just know when I have an extremely unlucky day just by observing the events that happen, and plan the rest of the day to avoid anything that has to do with taking risks. " I said plainly.

" At least you know what to do against it. " Rainbow exclaimed.

" I guess I do. " Just as I wanted to say something else, the door opened to reveal Applejack and Pinkie Pie. " Ah, that makes 3 out of 4. Now we just have to wait for Rarity and Spike. "

"Y'know, Ah still don't get why you sent me with Pinkie. Surely Pinkie would've been better with Rarity so she could enchant what Rarity conjured? " Applejack asked.

" I sort of knew you didn't like being put up with Pinkie, and I knew Spike would want to say something to Rarity in private. Win-win situation if you ask me. Pinkie surprised you didn't she? " I said.

" How..... Ah it don't matter none. I guess you are right, she did surprise me. Ah thought all Pinkie was capable of was bouncing around and being all around happy. " She turned to Pinkie.  " Ah'm sorry Pinkie, Ah shouldn't have thoughtabout you that way. " I saw a small tear form in Applejacks eye.

" it's okay Applejack , I thought that was all I could do aswell. "I surprised myself too, but it just came to me and it felt natural. " Pinkie said in a comforting voice. She stepped over and grabbed the orange mare for a bone - crushing Pinkie style hug.

" Isn't that cute. "  Spike said as he stood in the opening of the door, Rarity behind him.

" Spike! " Twilight shouted, and ran over to him to give him the same kind of hug,Twilight style.

I grinned. "Isn't that cute? "

Spike managed to snort under Twilight's hooves. " Air!"

Twilight let go of him, but couldn't help to hug him again, less tight this time.

"Alright alright I get it, you missed me a lot. " Spike said.

"You will always be my number one assistant, Spike. And don't you forget that. "

I noticed Rarity was channeling a spell, and saw a branch floating behind her. " Let me take that branch, Rarity. " I walked over to her and took the branch inside, with her following me and closing the door behind her. I placed the branch down on the floor.

"Place all of the items for the ritual on the table here, please. " Twilight , Rainbow and Applejack all placed their items on the table. " It's a rather unusual combination of items, isn't It?

The branch of purple lunar wood , the Rock of the Phoenix, a preserved Deathlotus, a crystal focus, and a green everburning torch were all on the table. " I wonder how the ritual will have to be done. " Twilight said.

" I suppose I could tell you the details. " a warm voice said, belonging to a pearl white alicorn.

" Princess Celestia!" Twilight said, bowing.

" Come now Twilight, no need for formalities. " Celestia said, turning to me.

" My lady. " I said.

" I see you have collected all of the items necessary for the ritual. Well done, asking your friends to speed up the process. Once again friendship proves invaluable. Now, for the ritual...." She turned to the table, and started explaining. " The lunar wood will be set ablaze with the torch to cause the magical properties of the woodto activate. Michelle will have to stand on top of the branch as it gets lit,causing her corruption to burn up. But to prevent it from going into the air, the focus will be used to gather and direct the burned essence into the rock. The rock will then carry the corruption, and Luna will take the rock to the moon so it will never be released again. "

"The magical flame won't hurt Michelle, right?  " I asked worriedly.

" It will only tickle her. Part of her essence will be burned however, so she would have to rest afterwards. " she said.

" Good. At least I know the pain and suffering I caused her is minimal, aside from the obvious 'being corrupted and going insane' part" I said, sighing in relief.

" You liked her a lot, didn't you? " Twilight asked.

" I care for her, but no, I didn't like her in that way." I responded. "Anyway, did I tell all of you that you are part of a TV -show back where I came from? Quite a popular one too. " I said.

Everypony in the room got surprised looks on their faces. " So, we are famous? " Rainbow asked.

" Sort of, yes. The show was made for little girls to teach them about important life lessons, but it ended up having a much bigger fanbase than just girls. Let's just say I watched it too. And more people my age have.  Lots more. Its part of the reason why I know a lot about you all, and why it didn't frighten me as it could have. I still landed on an unknown planet, with ponies that could talk after all. " I said.

" So you say you watched a show meant for children? " Spike asked.

" Yes, technically I have. But the show is so well made, and those life lessons don't just apply to the young ones. Older people could also learn a thing or two in friendship. Our world could use a bit more happiness between all of the seriousness and sorrow and stress. " I said.

" All the more reason I should go with you to go to your world and see it for myself. " Twilight stated.

"If you truly want to, who am I to stop you? But that's for later though, we have an 'end of the world' scenario to prevent." I pointed out.

"That is correct. I arrived here on a carriage as soon as I knew one of you got back. Let us take that same carriage back to Canterlot with haste. " Celestia said.

All of us followed Celestia outside, and Twilight locked the door behind her.Each of us carried a part of the ritual with us, I took the branch, as I was physically a bit taller to allow for carrying larger objects.  We walked towards the carriage in the distance, and once we gotthere, we got in quickly. There were a lot of us but the carriage was roomy enough. To grant us a bit more space to sit down in, Rainbow flew next to the carriage, easily keeping up with it.

" Celestia, could the corruption seep out of the rock once it's in it? " I asked her.

" There is a possibility, yes. But I am counting on Luna to get the rock to the moon quickly enough for that not to happen. " Celestia said.

" I have calculated that she has about 10 seconds of risk-free time before the rock could seep corruption, but it would need to be extremely powerful after those 10 seconds for it to seep out. So I estimate that she has about a minute to get the rock to the moon and get out. " Twilight said with her smart tone.

WWWWW

We arrived at Canterlot Castle, and I immediately heard screaming. " Quick! We have to set up the ritual! " I shouted. I motioned for Twilight to follow me and take the rest of the materials while I took the torch and the branch with me, and for the rest to get Michelle and Luna and head to the palace gardens.

I quickly made my way over to the gardens to drop the wood in an open spot, and held the torch as Twilight covered the rock with a Deathlotus balm and placed that and the focus in their required positions. The rest got to the gardens not too shortly after.

"Michelle, quickly step on this branch here. Luna, stand ready to take the rock to the moon. " I commanded.

They both followed my orders, but Michelle looked at me with worry. " You won't get hurt. The flames will only tickle you physically, but spiritually a part of you will be burned away. You must make sure to rest after this is done. " I explained.

I used the torch to light the branch she was standing on. Pinkie had removed her enchantment on the way here already, so the branch quickly catched fire. The flames started roaring around Michelle, and I instinctively stepped back. The amount of power from just that single branch is astounding. I thought to myself.

Celestia cast her spell to lead the burning essence into the focus, and Twilight and Rarity both poured their magic in aswell. The focus burned the essence onto the Rock, which started getting darker and darker. Eventually the flame abruptly stopped, which was Luna's que. She quickly teleported away with the rock.

"Now we have to wait. I don't usually mind waiting, but I really don't like it now. " I said impatiently

"I am sure Luna can take care of herself. " Celestia said, but her voice said otherwise.

A few seconds later, a black flash blinded us. Before me stood Nightmare Moon, the dreaded evil avatar of the night. I immediately donned my armour and drew my daggers in the blink of an eye, and lunged at the avatar. I was stopped mid-air by a dark glow, however.

" Not fast enough, and definitely not subtle. Alas, I am not here to do harm. Instead, Luna sent me to get you all. She's in grave danger. The corruption you brought to my moon was stronger than you thought, and it took Luna over. I will need all of you to distract her long enough for me to cast a purifying spell together with Celestia. " Nightmare Moon said. " Stand around me quickly, there is no further time to explain.

I saw everyone hesitate, but I heard the truth in her voice and took the lead. I stepped beside her, and motioned for the rest. They all made up their minds and quickly stood beside the avatar aswell. Sabrina had been standing beside me all that time, and now was no different. Nightmare Moon started charging her teleportation, which engulfed all of us as we crossed the distance.

We all appeared on the moon, somehow managing to breathe normally. I saw Luna some distance away from us, and saw tendrils of dark magic surround her. " Come with me quickly Celestia, and help me with this spell!  The rest of you, keep her off of us!" Nightmare Moon shouted.

I shadowstepped behind Luna, and stabbed her with my draining daggers. Once my daggers hit however, i got flung backwards against a wall due to the extreme magical feedback, and very hard too. I thought I heard the cracking of bone, and the last thing I saw was a dark tendril coming for me before unconsciousness took me.....

WWWWW

Change of Character - Primal Dagger - > Twilight Sparkle

I saw Primal flying towards a wall with extreme speed.

" Primal, No!" I saw a dark tendril coming for him, and I quickly conjured a shield before and on him using a combination of the magic from my mark and my horn. The tendril evaporated as it touched the shield, but another took its place.

"Applejack! Create some illusions to distract her! I can't hold an extended assault off for long! " I shouted to the orange mare.

" On it, Twilight! Rainbow, shoot her with your magic bolts! " Applejack shouted to Rainbow Dash.

" Will do!  Fluttershy, support us! Rarity and Pinkie, conjure and enchant some magical weapons to attack her and defend us too!" Rainbow shouted in turn.

Rarity conjured a large sword and shield, and Pinkie enchanted both with mana supplies which boosted their effectiveness at the cost of her own energy. Fluttershy closed her eyes and chanted a magical healing song, instantly closing any injury her friends would take. Rainbow charged a bolt of fiery lightning, combining two of her elements into one dangerous spell. Applejack duplicated herself five times, and each of the clones started drawing Luna's attention towards it with taunts. Spike and Sabrina teamed up and swiped, clawed and seared their way through any stray tendrils.

Once Luna's attention was diverted, I uncharged my spell and used my magic to teleport Primal's body to a safer place. After I got him out, I looked at Celestia and Nightmare Moon and saw them combining their horns, causing sparks to fly and creating more and more magical energy. I nearly didn't notice as a tendril slipped towards them, and I quickly cut it off with a blade of magical energy. Another one again took its place however, and I called out for help. But everypony was already battling with Luna and didn't hear me. I heard movement from behind me, and as I turned to look, all that was left was a cloud of smoke. I looked back at the tendril to see Primal cutting it off, causing the magic inside to flow into him.

" Primal!  You're awake again! How-"

I got slammed in my stomach as a tendril hit me. The force flung my body away for several meters. I saw a tendril approach me, but a glint of blue steel ended its approach on me. I saw Primal bending over me before I passed out....

WWWWW

Change of Character - Twilight sparkle - > Fluttershy

I had my eyes closed to chant the healing song, but I heard panicked shouting over my chanting. I opened my eyes again and looked around, and saw Primal jumping up and down, screaming and standing next to an obviously hurt Twilight. I quickly ran over to him.

" She got hit by one of those tendrils!  She's bleeding heavily, do something! " He shouted.  He was obviously in great panic as he could've stopped the bleeding himself. I calmed him down, and cast my healing magic on her, recreating broken ribs and mending wounds. She was still blacked out, but she had less staggered breathing now.

" She should be fine for now. You should go back to protect Celestia and Nightmare Moon. " I said, as I turned around to resume my healing song for the rest of my friends.

"Thank you, Fluttershy. I should hurry back to the princesses. " he said.

I turned my gaze to Rainbow Dash, who had a large cut on her stomach. I focused my magic on her and saw the wound closing, renewing Dash's fighter spirit.

WWWWW

Change of Character - Fluttershy -> Primal Dagger

I quickly blinked over to the princesses just as a tendril was about to strike. I cut it off in its path, and saw the ambient magic flowing into me from my blades. The magic was not contaminated since the blades only absorbed pure magic. The extra magic renewed my reserves and I could feel my previous injuries mending. The spell the princesses were casting was nearly at its apex, but the tendrils seemed to notice this. Four of them flew at them all at once with lightning speed. I managed to cut down three, but the last one hit Nightmare Moon in her face, disrupting her part of the channeling.

The spell nearly failed, but Celestia managed to capture the stray magic and keep it in a small vortex. It was quickly taking its toll on her however, so I had to decide quickly. And then, time seemed to stop.

I could walk around normally, but everything else was frozen in place. I looked over at the battle and saw all of my friends had fallen one by one. Thanks to Fluttershy they were in stable conditions, but time was running out quickly for them. I then spotted a small crack in the dark armour around Luna, and i knew what I had to do.

Time resumed itself, and I blinked inside of the magical vortex the princesses had created. I could feel the raw magic whipping across my body, but I remained unharmed. I then started gathering the energy inside of me, and aimed at the crack in the armour.

An enormous beam of prismatic light shot towards Luna, and a massive explosion of power followed. I collapsed on the ground and the world turned black again.

WWWWW

I woke up feeling drained and completely exhausted, but alive at least. Every muscle and fiber in my body hurted, and with extreme pain I managed to sit upright as I opened my eyes.  Everypony was standing around me, and even Spike and Sabrina stood near me. " Oww my head and everything hurts.. Wha happened? "

" You defeated the evil again. Just a few more times and you should be promoted to superhero. " Twilight said mockingly.

I noticed we were still on the moon, and Luna was on the ground, resting. The Rock was next to her, but it hummed and shone with pure white, grey and black energy instead of darkness and corruption. " What happened to the corruption?  And why is the rock glowing like that? " I asked.

" You somehow managed to channel our magic and your own into a single beam of pure energy which hit Luna. It severed her connection with that corruption permanently, and it seems it has been erased entirely by the amount of power. The excess amount had nowhere to go though, so it stored itself inside the rock. " Nightmare Moon explained.

" What about you?  What made you good all of a sudden? " I asked.

" Simply said, I am part of Luna's essence. When the corruption threatened that, Luna called upon me to aid her in both Our benefit. You see, if she dies, I will die aswell. And if I die, Luna will too. If our essence gets damaged, We could have died as a result.  " she said. " This made Us realise that We are more mortal than We thought We were.  My attempt at world domination was simply due to a misunderstanding between the citizens and Us. It was foolish and We should have listened to Our subjects instead. We do not expect to be forgiven, but do not let My foolish actions stop you from living your life. "

"I .... Wow. And all this time I thought I banished just you to the moon for an eternity. But instead I sent both of you away forever, and when Luna came back, she was not the same without you. I apologise. I should have known that back then. " Celestia tuned in.

" You could not have known. Sending us away was the best decision back then, as my blind rage would have swallowed your sister and your land whole." Nightmare Moon said. " Come, I will send all of us back. You have all deserved your rest. "

We gathered around her and Luna, and the magic engulfed us again. One flash later and we were all in the castle gardens.

I collapsed back on the ground, exhaustion overtaking me again. Nightmare Moon's magic surrounded me and teleported me into a bed inside of the guest quarters. Michelle appeared in another bed a moment later, fast asleep. I closed my eyes, letting sleep overtake me, my dreams freed from reality.