Evenfall: Waves in a Haven

by Yinglong Fujun

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Trixie, Queen Chrysalis, Adventure, Discord
Length: 153837

After the events of Evenfall, Rainbow Dash left her friends in Ponyville in search of Twilight. At the same time, strange events brewed in the south, prompting their attention.

The events at Canterlot shook the Mane Six to their cores. Rainbow Dash had been gone for six months, adamant that her friend was still somewhere in the world. In her absence, unrest began in an unexpected place, sending the remaining friends of Twilight into worry and uncertainty again.

Published 2016-09-24 07:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-09-24 07:20:01 UTC

Chapter 1 – Border Affairs

The mares were having their weekly tea meeting in the Golden Oak Library.

After a moment of harmless banter, Applejack suddenly leaned on her chair and said. “To be honest, Ah had expected bad things to closely follow the Canterlot Invasion, now that Twi’s pinin’ for the fjords.”

The other three mares looked at Applejack with stunned faces, but they nodded.

“I’m somewhat surprised that Equestria hasn’t been turned upside down by Twilight’s abrupt… departure.” Rarity shook her head.

Pinkie Pie said with a raised brow. “Girls, I’ve already exhausted my emergency stash of euphemisms. The only ones that hadn’t been used more than ten times are ‘pining for the fjords’, ‘bit the big one’ and ‘assumed room temperature’.”

Applejack and Rarity both did a mini-spit-take. Applejack tried to glare at Pinkie Pie disapprovingly, but at the end it turned into a defeated smile.

“You cheeky varmint… But yeah, it’s too oddly peaceful. If Twilight’s… experiences had taught us anythin’, is that now things come to this, it will likely have some dire circumstances. But so far, we can still manage to have tea parties in peace.”

Pinkie Pie shot back with a grin. “Applejack, tempting fate is not healthy!”

Rarity said worriedly. “Although if King Sombra did come back at this very moment, then I’m not sure if Cadance and Shining Armor can still hold it together this time, or if we can grab the Crystal Heart in time. If not, then we all have to gear up for fighting.”

“Well, then we’d have officially gotten ourselves into a bad-bad timeline. Ah’ve even got the work cut out for me.”

Applejack jokingly wagged her hoof. “Ah’m half way into turnin’ Ponyville into an industrial wasteland anyway, together with Rarity. At least this is what we’re doin’ accordin’ to someone on the Mirror.”

Fluttershy sighed. “Applejack, we have to allow-”

“Ah get it, Ah get it. Free speech and all that. It’s just gettin’ a bit repetitive to explain the basic concept of social responsibility.”

Then, Trixie and Spike came out of the kitchen with trays of freshly-brewed tea.

“Oh?” Applejack smelled from afar and said, “This time it’s black tea… no, it’s dark tea.”

“Where do you get this fine Pu’er?” Rarity smiled. “I don’t think they even sell it in the big cities.”

“Heh, you know your tea!” Trixie chuckled. “I bought it from a shop dealing with exotic items in Canterlot.”

The mares looked at each other and chuckled, causing Trixie to give them a suspicious glance.

Pinkie Pie had a big gulp and grimaced. “Uck, it’s bitter!”

“You should drink it more slowly, Pinkie.”

Fluttershy said. “It might be bitter at first, but it has a sweet after-taste.”

Just then, Spike burped. A new letter appeared in midst of the green flame.

He put down his cup of tea and read with narrowed eyes. “Um… Something happened it seems, and the Princesses want us in the capital.”

Spike awkwardly shuffled. This was the first time the princesses called them forth for a mission without Twilight. What could have happened that requires their help, now that her star student was not among them?

The mares except Trixie sharply inhaled. Pinkie whispered to Rarity. “… Has it finally showed up?”

“It’s been late on schedule.”

Rarity leaned in and whispered back, and then woefully said. “I really shouldn’t have tempted fate…”

“What are you mares talking in secret?” Spike frowned.

Pinkie forcefully grinned. “Nothing! Just talking about, um, our schedules.”

“Did the princess specify what do she need us for?” Fluttershy asked.

Spike shook his head. “Nah.”

Trixie put a hoof to her mouth. “The princess did not call for me, did she?”

“Um, yeah.” Spike scratched his chin.

Trixie made a face and shrugged. “It's not that I'd expected I would be called upon. I’m not tied to Twilight as directly as you girls do anyway. I guess I shall keep an eye out of your things in Ponyville when you all go on another adventure.”

She then turned fretful and scratched her mane. “Stay safe, can you all promise Trixie?”

The mares and dragon nodded quickly.

“But.” Spike said. “Princess Celestia specifically require Discord to join us.”

The mares gasped lightly.

“Must be somethin’ big, then.” Applejack muttered meaningfully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, princesses, what do you want from ol’ Discord and his bunch of splendid friends?”

Applejack shot Discord a glare, and calmly greeted. “Your Highnesses, Ah s’ppose that there must be a pinch of sorts fer you to summon us this quickly.”

“Indeed, Applejack.” Celestia said. “We want all of you to be our elite scouting force for an unknown threat.”

“Yes, Princess Celestia! We will go to the Cr—” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, then realized something was not right. ‘Unknown threat?’

Princess Luna raised an eyebrow at the incomplete outburst from the pink pony. “… Yes. Something happened in Las Pegasus, it seems.”

“Las Pegasus?!” The mares exclaimed, almost a bit too loudly.

Celestia looked at the utterly bemused expressions of the mares and slightly frowned. Even Spike and Discord turned to them with strange gazes.

“Um, sorry.” Applejack coughed and said.

“We, uh, was just think what could possibly befall the great city of Las Pegasus.” Rarity awkwardly smiled.

“… Very well.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, but continued regardless. “Confusing reports have been coming out of the city. All we know is that a horde of foreign ponies have descended upon the city, led by someone who seems to be called… Arcoris. Some say they came from the sea, others say they marched across the San Palomino Desert. We don’t know what their purposes are, but some claimed that the city had fallen to these strange ponies.”

The mares and Spike gasped. They all muttered aloud. “… Arcoris?”

Discord merely stoke his goatee and grinned. “Ha, interesting…”

Princess Luna sighed. “Again, we don’t know who Arcoris is. We would go with you, but a lot of ponies were very concerned with one of the major cities in our kingdom suddenly falling to an unknown force. They’re afraid that it’ll be like the changeling invasion over again. We have to stay in the capital to ameliorate their fear. We can’t afford to have the administrative center of the kingdom fall into chaos.”

She deliberately stressed the last word with barely hidden spite, but Discord just shrugged back in equal obviousness, determined to grind the gears of the night princess.

“Fortunately though.”

Celestia quickly said to stop Luna from bursting into a tirade. “So far there is no sign of explicit hostility. Although, the platoon of guards we sent into the city had not reported to us yet, so we want all of you to evade attention and enter the city to see what happened to the city and who these strange ponies are.”

The group gulped aloud.

“Will do, Your Highnesses.”

They slowly said in tandem, wondering what was in hold for them in the southern port town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group decided to ditch riding train this time, since they were dealing with an army that might come with spies and scouts, and it would be too conspicuous. Instead, they boarded one of the many downstream boats along the Saddle River that transport gems to Las Pegasus.

Pinkie Pie was feeling quite unwell. To the surprise of others, she’s prone to travel sickness on boats. The mares tugged her to a blanket and stayed in the cabin.

“Don’t you girls feel that Celly and Lulu are callously sending us on an extremely dangerous mission?”

Discord leaned back on a chair and grumbled. “I mean, my power is limited now, and we have to face an entire horde of strange ponies emerging out of nowhere. Not even I know who this Arcoris fella is. Are we now their disposable pawns, huh? Cruel.”

Spike frowned and said. “Don’t say that about the princesses! They trust us to be competent enough to carry out this mission! Am I right?”

Spike smugly elbowed Applejack. But the orange mare was not paying attention at all, as she knitted her brows heavily. With Spike’s poke, she shot up and spluttered, “Um…. yes! Ah mean, absolutely!”

“What’s up with the scrunched-up faces?” Spike grimaced.

Rarity looked up to Spike uncertainly, and she simply sighed. This was the first ever threat to the Kingdom that they honestly don’t know what it was. Moreover, they were now two mares less, one draconequus more. That draconequus may or may not be reliable, though.

Fluttershy squeezed out a smile. “Um, those ponies do seem that they can be reasoned with, don’t they? After all, um… they haven’t come out and attacked another city in Equestria.”

“Yeah…” Discord said, “How do you explain that the disappearing platoon then? If they weren’t captured and imprisoned, then I don’t know what the heck happened. I simply don’t think they know how to wield my brand of chaos magic and hide them all behind a giant nacho. They might be another band of changelings for all I know.”

“If they’re changelings, then these’re some strange changelings.” Rarity said. “They don’t show themselves for one. And if they do feed on the love from the city ponies secretly…”

She put a hoof to her forehead with a frown. “Actually, this does seem somewhat likely. Changelings are naturally good at espionage and stealth. If changelings so desire love, they could have done it in secret, or even just asked politely when they’re in disguise.”

“Um, why would they take over the city though? Won’t alerting the princesses be bad for them?” Spike asked.

Rarity shrugged. “I don’t know, Spikey-wikey. Maybe it’s a misunderstanding after all? They could just be ponies that live south of the border.”

Spike shook his head. “Rares, I don’t think there are that many ponies that would prefer the wilds instead of the amenities they can enjoy in Equestria.”

“Well, no matter who our foe will be.” Applejack turned to the chaos spirit. “Discord is going to lead our attack. Although he’s wearin’ that power limiter thing, he’s still probably the most powerful among us.”

“That’s for sure, darling. My spells can only do so much.” Rarity nodded.

“We put our lives in your claws, Discord.” Fluttershy said with a sincere smile.

“… You girls really trust him enough to do this?” Spike asked in serious doubt.

Discord himself was in a bit of disbelief. “Yeah, I betrayed you all big time once, you know.”

“Oh not again.” Applejack massaged her temples. “How many times do we have to say that we’re over this? We saw you bein’ all mopey, we believed in your sincerity, and we got over it a long time ago.”

“I know a lot of ponies out there gave you evil eyes.” Fluttershy added. “But as long as you return to the right path, we’ll walk with you.”

“Besides, my dear chaos ex-monarch.” Rarity sardonically chuckled. “We can’t help if you really do suffer from some sort of chronic backstabbing disorder. If you do want to side with Chrysalis, Arcoris, or whatever ‘is’ of the week, go ahead. But we’d appreciate it if you can drop us a note though, so we can flee in advance.”

Applejack laughed heartily. Even Fluttershy broke into a gentle chuckle.

Spike, though, frowned incredulously. “Seriously?”

Applejack sighed. “What else can we do? We’re just a bunch of rural ponies who happened to befriend Twi and became Element-bearers once, so now we get royal assignments to do. Now that we’re without the Elements or Twilight…”

Spike winced, but Applejack simply continued. “… We’re now pretty much just normal ponies… Well, maybe Rarity can hold her own somewhat.”

Rarity shook her head quickly. “That’s a stretch, Applejack dear. Even with Twilight’s training, I can’t hold a candle to her or Discord’s level of power. For threats like this, the main reason the princess called upon us is simply to make use of our relationship with Discord to make him well-behaved enough and get things done. I believe that’s what they call ‘morality pets’.”

“… Whoa, you girls do throw a straight ball.” Discord was stunned by their unreserved frankness.

“Isn’t it true though?” Applejack smirked. “Beside, we’ve invested so much to make you mellow enough.”

Spike raised an eyebrow and sighed. “You know what they say, when they see you girls hanging out with him…”

Fluttershy’s smile immediately vanished, and she lowered her gaze with sorrow.

“You think we didn’t notice?” Applejack huffed. “While some just said we must have the hearts of a saint to forgive him, others called us heartless and even crazy right to our faces.”

A brief moment of sadness and dismay flashed through Discord’s face.

Spike went wide-eyed. “Woah, I, uh…”

“You don’t have to feel sorry, Spike. That’s just the way it is.” Applejack said.

“Indeed, Spikey-wikey.” Rarity twirled her mane. “And it’s wrong to say we do it just because we don’t feel like quitting. Friendship is not something that can be reasoned with or calculated with an account book. It’s a matter of trust.”

Fluttershy nodded. “… What Discord did was seriously wrong. But he never wanted to see Twilight seriously harmed, nor did he directly harm her. You know what old ponies say, ‘Kindness is thrown away upon evil’, but he did not throw Twilight’s sacrifice away. Instead, he anguished, he mourned and he ached.”

“You may call us incredibly naïve.” Applejack closed her eyes. “Ah won’t deny it. But we think that once you decide to put trust into your friend, you should put it in your all, not just half-heartedly or secretly doubting all the time.”

Spike looked at the mares. He was at first slightly astounded, but he eventually nodded.

Discord’s face was inscrutable, but he quietly muttered. “… Thank you.”

“Ha.” Rarity smirked. “This is so unlike you, O Lord of Chaos. We expect you to jab us with remarks on our gullibility and how it would cause us to be betrayed or swindled in the future.”

“Well.” Discord shrugged. “It’s kind of hard to do that, when you all just unreservedly throw your kindness to me like a cake to the face.”

“Wow, Discord knows how to be candid for once.” Applejack said.

Suddenly, someone jumped out from behind. However, the figure jumped too high and hit the ceiling of the cabin with a loud bang, and dropped to the ground like a rock.

“Pinkie!” Fluttershy gasped. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you taking a rest back there?”

Pinkie Pie winced in pain and touched her head. Tears were rolling in her eyes while she fired off wistfully. “I was sleeping and having a nice dream of big fun party but I think I just hear the word ‘cake’ and I was totally like ‘wow’ but then I was like ‘Oh gosh is there a party I had missed?!’ so I immediately wake up and come out to see if you all are having a party…!”

All the others on the boat rolled their eyes.

“Oh isn’t that adorable.” Discord shook his head and smirked.

“We won’t dare to leave you out of a party.” Applejack looked to the ceiling.

Rarity smiled. “Indeed, I fear I will be haunted by an overly clingy pink specter at night if we do that.”

“Hmph! You meanie!” Pinkie Pie glared at the white mare and huffed.

“Oh?” Applejack smirked. “Are we seeing two mares of Spike finally duke it out tonight?”

Discord grinned widely and made a ‘meow’ sound.

“Wh—What?!” Rarity and Pinkie Pie both yelped.

Applejack laughed at the embarrassed mares, while Spike just looked on awkwardly with bright red face. Fluttershy simple shook her head at the ridiculous cycle of teasing in front of her. The group chit-chatted and laughed well into the night, and then went to sleep with much of the tension gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group waked up next morning in full spirit. They looked out of the cabin window, the boat had surpassed the last trees of the White Tail Woods. They looked to their left, and the rugged sight of the Applewood Hills were replaced by high clouds, and the unlit but yet colorful lights of the Silver City—Las Pegasus.

The boat stopped at a river pier next to the railway, and the group surreptitiously got off the boat and avoided the main road. Even so, they still noticed a number of southward trains stopped short of the city, and some fearful and anxious ponies waiting to enter the city but did not dare to do so.

The group then walked on the meandering trails on the south side of the Applewood Hills. When they got close to the boundary of the city, they hid themselves in the few taller sage scrubs to shield themselves from the searing heat, and also to observe the situation in the city.

Las Pegasus, naturally, was a city founded by pegasi. Notably, it was the only other majority pegasi settlement in Equestria besides Cloudsdale. However, legends had it that the city was founded by ponies not from the east where the Equestrians came from, but from a seafaring pony nation from the south, as reflected by the non-Equestrian toponymy around the area.

But all those mattered little to their mission, because with thousands of years of acculturation, Las Pegasus had long become a solidly Equestrian city.

Las Pegasus of today was divided into the Upper and the Lower Quarter. The Upper Quarter was formed from a giant agglomeration of cloud bases. There were a number of residential areas, but it was mainly an entertainment paradise fueled by lax city regulations. It was filled with mega-resorts, hotels and even casinos, something frowned upon by some puritanical Equestrians.

The Lower Quarter referred to the structures and buildings located on the ground directly below the clouds. There were also a wealth of entertainment venues to cater for non-pegasi visitors, but it was mostly dotted with holiday homes and villas. The port area was relatively small compared to other big cities of Equestria, but it was also where the bustling downtown and the market located in the Lower Quarter.

However, as the group discovered with shock, the port was brimming with strange ships. The ships were quite large in size. They were all square-rigged with four masts, resembling big galleons. However, multicolored lines and complex exotic motifs were also painted on the hull. The most obvious feature on the ships was the huge flags flying on their masts. Most of them were white with a dark blue circle in the middle. Inside the circle there was a white tree, which branched into multiple stars. None of them recognize where this flag was from.

They looked into the city. There were a lot of ponies in dark blue military uniform. Also, some sort of parade seemed to be going on. The locals, instead of fleeing into their houses, seemed to be crowding around the parading troops. Farther to the port, they could not see very clearly, but smoke emerged from a giant bonfire as ponies shuffled around it.

“There doesn’t seem to be any sign of conflicts and destruction in the city.” Applejack said matter-of-factly.

“Indeed, if this is an occupying force, it has to be the most disciplined and polite one ever.” Rarity said.

“But look at the ponies there.” Pinkie Pie pointed towards the main road leading to the north. “They don’t seem to let ponies in or out of the city. They’re definitely a bunch of meanies!”

“Hmm, we should take a look then.” Applejack said. “Pinkie, we’re goin’ to just wait her fer you.”

“Wait, what?” Spike said. “When was it decided to let Pinkie be our scout?”

“Pinkie is the best at stealth among us.” Rarity said.

“Is she?” Spike asked.

Rarity just pointed to Spike’s back with amusement. He turned and looked, and he immediately gasped, almost choking himself.

Two Fluttershys were standing behind him. They were both looking at each other wide-eyed.

Applejack snickered while Discord popped a popcorn into his mouth.

“Now, Spikey-wikey. You know Pinkie and Fluttershy, tell me which one is the real Fluttershy.” Rarity smiled.

Spike tentatively asked. “Uh, which one of you is Fluttershy?”

“Um… I am?” “Um… I am?”

“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.” Spike slapped the nearby tree trunk and narrowed his eyes. “Okay, the real Fluttershy would know what I brought to her cottage the day before we left Ponyville.”

“Breezies: a Brief Beckoning.” The two muttered at the same time, and then looked at each other quizzically.

Spike sighed, and he fired off a few more questions about Fluttershy. However, the two Fluttershys gave identical answers each time. He slightly gulped. He’s less worried about not recognizing the real Fluttershy, and more worried about not recognizing Pinkie by picking the wrong one. He would get his backside grilled if that ever happened.

“Grr, how is this a proof for Pinkie’s stealth ability anyway?” Spike groaned aloud. “This is just showing that Pinkie’s a stalker.”

“Same difference.” Rarity smirked.

One of the Fluttershys shuffled imperceptibly, but Spike caught onto it immediately. He smiled smugly and put his claws to her face. He blew a light breeze onto her cheek. “You…”

The yellow cheek of the mare started to furiously redden. Spike could almost see steam emerging from her ears. Spike observed and proceeded to plant a kiss onto her cheek.

The other Fluttershy looked with a slight blush of her own. “Oh my…”

The kissed mare could take it no more, and discard her disguise. With a split in the suit, a blushing Pinkie emerged. “Wh—What are you doing in front of all ponies, Spike?!”

“Why, Pinks, I simply do my best.” Spike bowed with a flourish.

“You put on a nice show, dragon boy.” Discord chuckled.

“Well, well, you see now Spike.” Applejack said. “Unless you’re a lover of Pinkie, you can’t see through her disguise.”

“Spike…” Pinkie Pie recovered from her embarrassment and narrowed one of her eyes, “How could you kiss me so casually when I looked just like Fluttershy? Hmm—?”

“Eep!” Fluttershy blushed at the thought of Spike accidentally kissing herself. Rarity just shook her head and chuckled.

‘Aw crap, she’s jealous again.’ Spike thought. “Um, well yeah, I knew it’s definitely you.”

He grinned. “Call it a lover’s instinct.”

“Okay, we should really tie things up.” Rarity stopped the skit before it could go further on. She then wiped her forehead with a handkerchief. “This place is incredibly hot and uncomfortable.”

“Hey wait,” Spike spread his arms, “So how’s Pinkie going to sneak in anyway?”

Pinkie re-donned her Fluttershy disguise and put up a Las Pegasus accent, “Don’t worry about the sneaking-in part. Las Pegasus is so vast and has no wall, there couldn’t have patrolled all borders. I bet they didn’t expect anypony to sneak in from the steep hillside. Once I’m in, I’m going to pretend I’m one of the locals. Hence I need a pegasus outlook. I even have the papers ready!” She cheerfully held up an ID card with Fluttershy’s face on it.

“How did…” Fluttershy stuttered. “… Never mind.”

“Good luck, Pinkie.” Applejack said, and the pink pony in disguise immediately dashed away.

Rarity looked on for a moment, then suddenly turned to Discord as she remembered something. “Wait a second. I think you could also have made a convincing disguise. You’re a spirit of trickery after all… Or you’re not powerful enough now that your power is limited?”

“Hmph. Who said so?” Discord snapped his finger, and then he turned into… the likeness of Fluttershy.

“Um… why me again?” Fluttershy spluttered.

“Cut it out, you’re freaking Spike out.” Rarity chided, pointing at the back-stepping dragon.

“Alright, alright. Funless gits. Why was it okay when Pinkie did it?” Discord groaned gruffly in the yellow mare’s voice, causing a lot of awkward glances. But he then flashed and changed appearance, this time into a grey pegasus with a tornado as his cutie mark.

“Hey, not bad!” Applejack said. “Why didn’t you step up just now?”

Discord rolled his eyes, “Be—cause you didn’t ask, miss Applejack.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hah—” Rarity let out an unladylike groan, as she fanned herself using a piece of palm leaf. “This place is like a frying pan!”

Suddenly, a giant tumbleweed rolled and stopped next to them. Then a cheerful yellow pony popped out. “Hi everyone!”

“Oh, Pinkie, thank goodness!” Rarity said.

“You got what’s going on inside the city?” Applejack asked.

“Well…” Pinkie Pie said and scratched her cheek, “It’s bizarre. The strange ponies speak a variety of Cruzesian.”

“Cruzesian?” Spike asked quizzically.

Pinkie explained. “It was one of the tongues spoken by a tribe of ponies on the old continent thousands of years ago, long before the main migration of the three tribes.”

Applejack frowned. “Darn, Ah’d reckon that if any pony tribe from some ancient vanished past was to come back, Cruzesians won’t really make the top ten spots. Crystal ponies yeah, but not people of the Crux?”

Spike was simply bemused to see the mares begin to talk about obscure ancient tribes like which type of sandwich they were going to have for tea.

Rarity looked at the dragon and took his bemusement as non-understanding, so she added. “Cruzesians were in fact one of the first groups of ponies to cross the seas to the West to trade and explore. Their symbols were the constellation of Southern Cross, hence their name. Most of them thought Equestria was too cold and drifted south across the sea to the distant Amarezons. Few Equestrians have ever stepped hooves that down south, and none of the nations there, if there’s any, ever sent a delegation to Equestria, so we really don’t know much about the place except that there’s a really big forest, much larger than Everfree.”

“Um…” Spike’s mouth opened wide at the flux of information.

“By the time the pony migration to Equestria was completed, there were only a smattering of Cruzesians left in the Old Lands. Sadly, their colony in the Amarezons stopped sending goods to them, and their capital had been hit by yet another terrible earthquake and crumbled entirely. Most important of all, the fleet that carried the fleeing Cruzesian royals to the Amarezons to evade the quake disappeared entirely. The remaining Cruzesians were leaderless and homeless, and under the encroaching threat from the griffons, they had no choice but to seek refuge from Equestrians to the West.”

Spike finally managed to speak out and interrupted. “Wait a second, how do you girls know so much about some ancient and distant unknown ponies?”

“As I said, Spikey-wikey, the Cruzesians came to Equestria left records of their own.”

Spike rolled up his eyes briefly and emphasized. “No, I mean, how do you girls know so much about them?”

Rarity only then realized that Spike was questioning the source of their knowledge. The mares looked to each other with fluster, while Discord observed with a narrowed eye. The white mare coughed and said. “Y- Yes, dear, you know, uh… while practically nopony gives a hoot to history this ancient, Twilight, yes, Twilight read them all, and she taught us just like how she taught you about those foreign languages.”

“I somehow doubt that the topic of some ancient pony tribe will just come up in daily conversation frequently enough that it warrants a lesson.”

Rarity sweat-dropped. She surreptiously elbowed Applejack with her back hoof. The orange mare winced, but she gave in and quickly asked the pink mare as a distraction. “Hey Pinkie, so what are they doin’ here? Amarezon is quite a way away!”

“Uh… I’m sorry.” Pinkie Pie blushed. “I was mobbed when they saw a local can speak some form of their tongue. They didn’t even bother to check my papers. I only managed to glean that they do call their leader Arcoris and they claim they meant us no harm.”

Pinkie Pie then brightly grinned. “Besides, they are super-duper fun party ponies! They are constantly dancing, singing and parading! I never ever got dragged to a party instead of bringing others to my own party, they are a hundred out of ten!”

“Huh… So if we speak Cruzesian, we don’t even need to disguise ourselves. We can probably just walk around in the city with a free pass.” Applejack said.

The mares then all looked to Discord.

“What?” Discord said.

“Do you speak Cruzesian?” Applejack asked, “This time we explicitly ask you.”

Discord shrugged and clapped. A dark murky gap in space-time suddenly opened above his head. A thick book titled ‘O novo guia da conversação em crusez e equestriano’ fell out of the gap and directly into a slot that promptly opened on the draconequus head, much like a vending machine. Discord then did make some strange noises in his head, like gears clanking against each other and coins rolling through a slit.

With a sound of ‘ding’, he opened his eyes wide and said. “Pronto para ir!”

“What the hay!” Spike said aloud.

Applejack’s eyes were twitching already. “Okay, Ah’m not questionin’ that as long as it works…”

Rarity said while flapping her fan quickly. “Yes dear, let’s go, we’ve waited here under the sun long enough!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group waded into the city from the hillside, passing through the bungalows dotting the city circumference and onto the main street. Discord had transformed into his disguise of a grey stallion, although he did not look exactly comfortable at maintaining it for so long.

As they walked near the crowd, they confirmed that just as Pinkie Pie reported, parading and partying ponies filled the street, with cheers and songs rising high into the air.

They observed the uniformed foreign ponies. The Cruzesians were not the bulkiest bunch, but fit without exception. All of them wore dark blue uniforms. Despite the apparent solemnness of their outfits, most of them sported casual expressions and big grins, as they invited the locals to dance a lively, rhythmical dance that was unfamiliar to their eyes.

Suddenly, the noises surrounding them quieted down. The dancing ponies scrambled to two sides of the street as a formation of some sort marched onto the main street. They were a regiment of military band which wore short, blue cylindrical hat on their head and carried trumpets and drums.

The Cruzesians in the crowd hurriedly saluted to the band when they saw them coming in. Some locals also saluted out of respect or curiosity, but the Cruzesians didn’t seem to force them to do so.

Closely following the military band was another regiment of army choir, who began to sing aloud after the initial beats of the drums.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are your children
Patriots whose hearts
Never fear a fight;
We live, and march,
For we are dedicated to Cruzes!

Our resolve was never overcome,
For it’s valuable and boundless,
In the heat of the battle,
Let us show,
That we have in our motherland,
Immense value,
In the intense fight.

You are the noblest infantry,
Weapons of the homeland,
For you give life to me,
And the glory promised,
On the battlefield,
It is with you,
Before the enemy,
Amidst the sorcerous fire!

You are our eternal majesty,
Amid the row of fighters,
You are an entity,
Of the bravest.
When the touch of victory
Mark our joy,
I will sing,
I will cry:
You are the noblest infantry!

Cruzes, I will give you my love,
All the sap and vigor,
That in my chest enclosed,
Frigates!
Brigades!
My faithful friends in the battles!

O! My beloved pennant,
Sacred flag,
The glory leads,
With sublime light,
Love is expressed,
We shall march to war,
And all evil will perish!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although Pinkie wanted to enjoy the parade and music, she decided it would be better to translate the lyrics to Spike so that he might also know what’s going on. After she’s done, she turned to the other mares and commented. “Whoa, that’s one very beefcake song!”

Fluttershy frowned. “Hopefully their stance is not as warlike as their songs.”

Applejack stroke her cheek and said. “So far we’ve also been seeing mostly pegasi, and only a few unicorns.” Applejack said.

“Perhaps we can…” Fluttershy said.

“Yu vaive wich de dragon.” A heavily accented voice rang from behind the group, briefly startling them.

They turned and saw a mint green unicorn with light yellow mane. She was wearing a military uniform somewhat distinct with other Cruzesians, with bands of white and green on her shoulder. However, she was looking at the group suspiciously.

“Yu ar not from arounde heree. Uohwea ar yor peipas?”

Spike’s mouth opened and closed as he could not understand an ounce of her accented Equestrian. The mares looked to each other, and Pinkie Pie surreptitiously elbowed Fluttershy.

The yellow mare sharply inhaled. She understood Pinkie Pie as the pink mare had used her identity in the city before. So she tentatively said,

“Greetings, my friend. I’m Fluttershy.”

The mint green mare widened her eyes and then grinned.

“Ha, you must be the one the soldiers are talking about. You talked and joked with them in Cruzesian, huh?”

“… Yes.”

Fluttershy gulped. She didn’t really know what Pinkie had said using her guise.

The mint green mare smirked.

“Very good. My lady is very keen to meet you after we described you to Her Grace. She's curious about who could have spoken our language in this foreign land.”

‘Sua Graça…’ The mares gazed at the mint green unicorn meaningfully.

“Um, just me?”

Fluttershy spluttered.

“Of course, you are the one who speaks Cruzesian, right?”

“In fact, my friends can speak it too.”

“Name’s Applejack, nice to meet you.”

“Rarity, fashion designer and businessmare.”

“Hi! I'm Pinkie! I plan parties and make ponies happy!”

“Uh ... I'm Spike?” Spike recited the only Cruzesian phrase he knew, freshly taught by Pinkie.

“'Grey Wind', professional troublemaker.”

The mint green unicorn narrowed her eyes on Discord. Fluttershy bit her lips and elbowed the mischievous chaos spirit.

“He's just kidding.”

“Well, it's not funny. Come then, all of you! Our duchess is in the clouds.”

“Hey, I do not know your name yet.” Pinkie asked.

“…Brigadier Mistral Trail, Law and Order Brigade.”

The mint green unicorn continued. “Anyway, some of you are non-pegasus. You need me to cast you a cloud-walking spell?”

Rarity shook her head.

“We can manage it ourselves, thank you.”

The white mare poked Discord. He sighed and lit his horn at the same time as Rarity. After a few enveloping flashes, the cloud walking spells were casted on the mares and the dragon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group ascended to the Upper Quarter along with Mistral Trail in a hired hot-air balloon. It was a lot larger than Twilight’s Twinkling Balloon, resembling a medium-sized coach more than a small basket. It seemed to be the method of choice for non-pegasi in Las Pegasus to get onto the Upper Quarter.

Mistral Trail sat at the other side of the balloon. She was flipping over some reports to read, but it was plainly obvious to the group that she was observing each of their moves. It was also less obvious, but still apparent that the mare was not fond of great height herself, as she showed some unease looking out of the basket.

“So… I thought this would be more difficult.” Spike said.

“What more difficult?” Applejack asked.

“Getting to see their leader, I mean. Isn’t it what we come here for?” Spike scratched his head.

“Mind you,” Rarity lowered her voice. “We’re still not clear about the detailed status of the city, nor did we manage to ask any more locals or lower-rank soldiers. They seemed friendly and non-hostile, but there is no reason for us to trust them before we understand their motive.”

“Rarity is right.” Fluttershy said. “Why would they cordon off the city if they come fully in peace? The parades and festivities may as well be a façade to calm down or even scare the populace into submission.”

“Not the mention once we’re in their camp, we’ll be at their mercy.” Applejack said and looked at Discord, who looked back and said nothing.

The group then waited in a heavy silence, and occasionally glanced at Mistral Trail, who smirked and pretended to keep on reading.

The balloon passed through a vertical shaft in the cloud column, and reached the upper surface of the giant white cloud. As Mistral Trail took flight to anchor the balloon, the group looked out and took a first look of the scenery of the Upper Quarter.

“Whoa.” Spike’s mouth was agape.

“No wonder they say that Las Pegasus is a miracle in the desert.” Rarity tapped her chin.

While the Lower Quarter was a respectable city dotted with red-tiled houses with stuccoed walls and green promenades irrigated by hillside aqueducts, the Upper Quarter was another world entirely.

Fleets of chariots dashed across the piling cloud tops. The cloud they were parking upon was roughly rectangular, and hosted the largest conglomeration of buildings. They were sprawling hotels, malls and casinos lined on the two sides of the wide boulevard and shaped like an eclectic mix of miniature replicas of landmarks all across Equestria, and other curious objects. There were the Canterlot Castle, the Harmony Bell from Fillydelphia, Rainbow Falls, the Wild South, and even a few that were shaped like giant horseshoes and saddles.

“Look.” Despite the group’s amazement at the stunning scenery, Fluttershy quietly pointed towards the parameters of the Upper Quarter. Numerous squadrons of pegasi rode on small cloud-based outpost to guard against possible intrusions from the sky. The streets were also full of patrolling Cruzesian soldiers.

However, as they had noticed, the pegasi moved very slowly and cautiously... As if they were afeared of something.

“Discord, do you think you can take on the force here?” Applejack hesitantly asked.

“Are you serious?” Discord grimaced. “Keeping this disguise already drains a large part of my energy. Taking on all these trained soldiers is the same as putting our heads on their chopper.”

Rarity sighed. “But can you at least get us out when there is any danger?”

“With your help, maybe.” Discord grumbled. “But it depends on where she’s taking us to. If there are a lot of bystanders, my claws will be quite tied.”

“Good for you to think about not harming innocent ponies, Discord.” Fluttershy smiled.

Discord rolled his eyes, that’s when the balloon finally landed on a parking lot. Mistral Trail swiftly flown back and gestured the group to move out, passing through a few security patrol. However, when they got out of the balloon, Applejack noticed a strange glimpse in Mistral Trail’ eyes, making the orange pony somewhat uneasy.

Mistral Trail kept her mouth closed along the way despite her initial friendly demeanor. She merely gestured to the group to indicate which way to go, as they trotted through the sun-bleached boulevard.

After a short walk, they reached a palace-themed hotel. It was unique among all the buildings on the Upper Quarter, because it was surrounded with a circular wall. While it was decorative and obviously could not stop flying pegasi, it still served as a physical line of security.

They cleared another layer of guards, and passed through the beautifully maintained garden with fountains and white columns. However, the luxurious atmosphere was marred by the obviously hastily-built army camp in its midst. It seemed that quite a lot of Cruzesian soldiers were camped there.

“… How many soldiers are there?” Rarity whispered to Discord.

“Er, why would you ask me?”

“Well, you were king for a while, so I figure you would know a bit of military.”

“Hm, you aren’t exactly wrong, but I much preferred having fun than fighting.”

Discord gave a cursory glance to the encampment. “I would say four or five battalions here alone. The patrol around the Upper Quarter probably form another one battalion. We didn’t get a good look below, but judging from what I saw from the balloon, the Lower Quarter probably has three to six battalions, including those non-combat ponies like those in the band and choir. Of course we don’t know if there are more in the ships, but if you want a conservative quote from me, I would say their force is about two-and-a-half to three thousands strong.”

“I agree. The area coverage was about right.”

“Now.” Discord raised an eyebrow. “How would you know about anything military, seamstress?”

Rarity smiled and kept her mouth closed. Instead, she just looked at the chaos spirit with a glowing gaze, causing him to fluster a bit. “What?”

“You’re quite good at this, aren’t you?” The white mare smirked. “You’re paying quite a lot of attention along the way too. We really appreciate it.”

Discord huffed. “… It’s my life that I’m also betting on this crazy scheme.”

Rarity merely smilingly shook her head. Applejack overheard their conversation and added. “Three-thousand ponies! Mah stars!”

“We’re going to try diplomacy first.” Fluttershy said.

“And nice talks! And perhaps over some sweet tea as well!” Pinkie Pie smiled.

“If they’re willin’, of course.” Applejack sighed and whispered. “But these ponies gave me the willies. There must be somethin’ they’re still hidin’ from us. And for that matter…”

She blinked her eyes and surreptitiously gestured to Mistral Trail, who walked behind them at a distance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They finally walked into the main building, which was converted into a temporary command center. Officers busily shuffled around, occasionally throwing a glance at them as they were non-uniformed. Some of them attempted to salute Mistral Trail as she passed through, but she merely waved them down.

Finally, they reached what was apparently the largest reception hall in the hotel. Mistral Trail led the group straight into the room. Two lines of ceremonial guards dotted the sides of the room.

A few seemingly high-ranking officer types were also present. The mares glanced at Mistral Trail, and were surprised that there was the first signs of unease on her face. They could not help but think if there was something wrong there.

At the end of the hall was a silk curtain, and an equine figure sat behind. The voice was curiously familiar, and the mare had been talking with those officers before they came in.

The shadowy figure shifted, and seemed to notice the arrival of the mares. It was difficult to gauge the body language through the veil, but there seemed to be a sense of surprise.

The announcer at the door blew its trumpet, and the ponies at the side of the room began to sing in Cruzesian again.

“Our duchess denies her virtues,
And shrouds her talents.
She denies how sublime she is,
Like a beautiful aurora that breaks.

The call of the Motherland
Behold, shall it unleash,
From the Amarezons,
To the Palominos!"

“Holy Mackerels, ‘to the Palominos’!” Applejack whispered.

“… Do they sing this whenever someone come in?” Pinkie Pie instead grinned.

Mistral Trail suddenly sneaked near, gave her a glare for her improper remarks, but then lightly whispered.

“Just to important guests.”

Pinkie Pie gulped at Mistral Trail’s good hearing, as she wondered if she heard their previous strategic discussions after all. That was when the silk curtain was drawn aside.

“What?!” Spike forgot all decorum and yelled aloud.

“You gotta be kiddin’ me.” Applejack shook her head. The other mares simply gazed in shock.

Discord, however, struck a big grin, “Hey, this is the best prank she’s ever pulled yet.”

Sitting on the elaborately-sculpted chair was a stern-looking cyan mare. She was wearing a dress uniform with insignias and medals. She was wearing a coronet weaved with colorful exotic feathers and pieces of gold, but her rainbow mane still strutted out prominently. She raised her eyebrows at their sight, but her face remained inscrutable.

“Dashie!” Pinkie Pie jumped and cheered loudly. “It was you all along! Ha ha! You have us so, so worried!”

Discord couldn’t bear it and laughed aloud. “What’s with the song just now? Rainbow Dash and humility? Ha ha ha!”

“Rainbow, how in the hay did you become a duchess?!” Rarity asked in disbelief.

The cyan mare only looked at the raucous mares and grimaced. Her left eye slightly narrowed and then widened, but then she just shook her head. The other Cruzesian ponies in the hall also shot heavy glares of disapproval to the group.

Mistral Trail bowed to the cyan mare, and made a curious gesture in front of her chest. The cyan mare behind the desk blinked, and the mint-green unicorn began.

“Your Grace, these ponies clearly do not know ways in front of a duchess. Moreover, they seemed to be engaged in suspicious espionage. I propose that we should arrest them for the crime of lese majeste."

The cyan mare looked a bit surprised for a split-second, but that was barely caught by the mares, who were more shocked at the accusations made by the ostensibly friendly unicorn offier. The cyan mare replaced her expression with a neutral one, gazed hard at all the ponies present and quickly said authoritatively.

“Make it so.”

The group gasped and sharply turned to Mistral Trail, and then the cyan mare. “Dashie! Do you not recognize us?”

Pinkie Pie yelled. Her pupil shrank as she and her friends were restrained by the guards nearby.

Rarity gritted her teeth. Could they have wrongly recognized the Cruzesian duchess as Rainbow Dash? After all, it did seem more likely for the two to be two individuals with striking resemblance, than Rainbow Dash somehow becoming the duchess of a far-flung nation.

However, the resemblance was too hauntingly close, down to the mane-style and color of her eyes. Unfortunately though, her cutie mark was covered by her uniform, so she could not pin it down yet.

Discord also frowned deeply as he glanced uncertainly at the cyan mare. He then turned to Rarity, but the white mare bit her lips and shook her head. The defense nearby was too heavy for them to safely break out in one piece.

They were hurriedly herded to a storage room of sorts behind the hall, and then the door banged close, confining the group inside.

Spike put his ears to the door and listened as the sound of hoof-steps grew distant, and then he nodded to the others.

“That’s it?” Applejack frowned. “They threw us into a storage room and expect us to just stay here?”

Rarity let out a frustrated breath. “They must be quite sure of their degree of security to keep us here despite the fact that there are two magic-users and a dragon.”

“Or they’re just stupid.” Discord scoffed. “Why didn’t we resist arrest just now? I can blast a way out at least.”

“I still don’t believe we’ve mistaken. That mare must be Rainbow.” Rarity said.

“But we didn’t get to see her cutie mark.” Fluttershy shook her head.

“And Dashie wouldn’t have done something this mean to us…” Pinkie Pie sulked. “Maybe she wasn’t Dashie, she just looks really like Dashie.”

“No use sulkin’ here, diplomacy failed even before it begins. We should find a way out first and return to the princesses with our information.” Applejack said.

“How about this?” Spike pointed towards a ventilating shaft at the corner of the room. He walked near it, climbed the wall and attempted to dismount the cover, but to everyone’s shock, it suddenly dropped and knocked Spike on the head.

“Ouch!”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry, Spike!”

“Eh?!” The mares let out a yelp of surprise.

The mares and Discord watched with widened eyes as two ponies emerged from the newly opened shaft. One of them was Mistral Trail, the other was the ‘duchess’ they just saw, minus the coronet.

The cyan mare helped up the dragon and turned with a slight frown. “I say, Mistral Trail, that’s one weird way to get the officers out of the room.”

Mistral Trail looked discomfited. “Your Grace, I’m terribly sorry. I just noticed that the officers were dismayed at how they, um, hollered at you, and I figure that they might not be satisfied if something is not done. It just happened that you need an alone time to talk with them, so I figure that I might be able to do two things at once.”

The mint green unicorn peeked at the cyan mare, who still said nothing. She flustered and added. “I- I, Your Grace, I do think that there is a need to assuage the hurt in their pride. These officers are all sons and daughters of Overseers, and while their loyalty is undoubted, they absolutely can’t stand authority being shouted at. If we didn’t do something back then, th- they would-”

The cyan mare scratched her head and said. “Okay, Misty, I get it, I’m not blaming you a bit. I was just thinking how to explain to them later that these are indeed my friends.”

“Wait.” Rarity said. “So you are Rainbow Dash?”

“What the hay, Rainbow! That’s one Tartarus of a greeting after six darn moons of no-see.” Applejack scoffed.

The cyan mare grimaced and flustered a bit. “Come on, I’m sorry, okay? I’m now the commander of the Cruzesian expedition and Grand Duchess of Nova Esperança, I need some manners and decorum in front of all the general and minister-types. We also need a private space to reconnect, and Misty put it well. ”

“Oh by Harmony, we have so many questions.” Rarity rolled her eyes up.

“Hang on…” Spike said to Mistral Trail. “Now you can speak good Equestrian?”

“Well…” Mistral Trail scratched her head. “I’m the one who kind of… persuade Her Highness to Cruzesia in the first place.”

“’Duped’ would be a better word.” Rainbow grinned helplessly.

“No, Your Grace, it is by fate and divine mandate that you’re the savior of our teetering nation!” Mistral Trail corrected emphatically.

“Fate?” Spike said in doubt.

Mistral Trail sensed the disbelief in the group’s eyes, but she merely nodded. “It’s a long story, but I promise I will get there.”

“It’s not like we have anything to do other than listening to your blabbering here.” Discord said with barely contained sarcasm.

The mint green unicorn seemed to be oblivious to his biting remark. “I was the listener of the winds in my arboretum. My job was to occasionally come out of the dome and use my magic listen to the Envoys, different birds that sing about news of good or bad omens.”

“The Cruzesians are mostly pegasi, right? Why don’t they live on clouds?” Applejack asked.

“Our forefathers decided to build our homes on the trees, or arboreta, in a small part because we have a few unicorns, like me, in our midst. However, we built the arboreta mainly because of the frequent conflicts ever threatening presence of the Boiúna.”

Mistral Trail bit her lips. “The Boiúna, or Black Snake, was a very powerful being that waded through the Amarezons and can take on various shapes. She destroyed the settlement of our first forefathers, before we managed to build the fortified arboreta, arm ourselves to the teeth and made an uneasy peace with her, at the expense of cutting off communications with the outside world. Boiúna literally fed on pony’s pain, so ponies in the arboreta had to appease her by ritualistically self-flagellate periodically, or something much, much worse would happen.”

Mistral Trail unbuttoned her uniform and showed the lash scars on her shoulder. The mares and Spike wheezed in shock. Discord, however, just glanced with passing curiosity.

“Boiúna was a being of discolor that quite literally sucked the color of life out of ponies, the dweller of the Amarezons believe that he would finally be defeated by a Pony of Many Colors.”

“Oh, I know what’s coming.” Spike glanced at Rainbow Dash, who smirked diffidently.

“Came one day, an ararinha-azul arrived by my side when I listened to the winds. In legends they say ararinha-azul only appears when cataclysmic changes are coming. It descended from the tail-end of a rainbow, gestured to the far north, beyond the celestial equator, and sang of a vanquisher of great evil. I immediately reported to the Overseers and urged them to send out an expedition to find this hero, but they refused. They said it was because our numbers are dwindling, and they care for stability of the arboretum above all things.”

Mistral Trail inhaled sharply. “Still following?”

“Well, yeah…” The mare muttered, while Discord let out a big yawn.

“I’m sorry for the long-winded lecture, but it’s needed for you to know why we’re here and why Her Grace became our leader.”

“So,” Spike asked, “You went north to Equestria, found Rainbow Dash and make her your duchess?”

“Er… I didn’t ennoble Her Grace, nor could I. It could only be done by the King of Cruzesia in theory, but we don’t have any royal ruling over us for thousands of years. The Overseer’s Council took the liberty of assuming royal powers and conferred the honor on Her Grace.”

“Okay…” Spike decided to leave the intricacy of Cruzesian government system to later discussions.

“But indeed, I left the protection of my arboretum to search for the Pony of Many Colors alone. It was a dangerous journey, and I almost lost my life just to get out of the Amarezons and reach the coast. Then I spent most of the time building a small boat and sailed across the sea. Even though I had maps of old, the journey was still longer than I expected, and supplies almost ran out. Fortunately, after forty days, I eventually landed, and I wandered through the Little Amarezons… ‘Forbidden Jungle’ as called by Equestrians, then the Badlands and the dry deserts in the south for moons. On my journey, I managed to learn a bit of Equestrian from the few pioneers there, and I wanted to gather more information before moving further north.”

“Okay, may I continue from here?” Rainbow Dash interjected. “Figure you all need my perspectives as well.”

Mistral Trail nodded, and Rainbow Dash continued. “So I went to the Badlands to find Twilight. I quickly tracked down each and every individual sighting of changelings, but they were all duds. I flew all the way across the jungle to the Skull Coast, and stopped by a small sheep village called Dibebito, that’s where I met Mistral Trail. She was injured and emaciated. I asked the villagers, and found out she was attacked by a Tatzlwurm. The villagers and I helped her to a bed, but since she was barely conscious and only murmured in Cruzesian, and I was the only pony who knew Cruzesian there, I sort of became the temporary care-taker out of necessity.”

Mistral Trail couldn’t help but chuckled. “Her Grace may sound brash, but she’s one of the kindest ponies I have ever met. She took care of me for a few days. When I finally awoke, heard her Cruzesian despite not being my compatriots, and saw her flowing rainbow mane, I knew I have found the one.”

“I still think the whole prophesy thing is ridiculous. Vanquisher of evil in the north… It can mean anything!” Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“Well, you also carried with you a flying turtle. Who else would bring a symbol of Hahnunah around if she’s not somepony special?”

“Hah-what?” Spike asked.

“Hahnunah is the Divine Flying Turtle that lifted the Amarezons out of the seas. He is held sacred by most of us.”

“I’d never in a thousand years think that Tank would become a religious symbol.” Applejack massaged her forehead to a brightly grinning Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and smiled wryly. “So yeah, when Mistral Trail seemed to have recovered and I was about to leave, she mentioned to me that she had been wandering in the Badlands for a long time. So naturally, I asked if she had seen Twilight or Chrysalis. And that’s when the biggest blunder happened.”

Rainbow Dash clasped her face while Mistral Trail chuckled. "Misty said she had never seen Twilight, but when I mentioned to her that I was hunting down a shapeshifting black creature who can feed on life force, her eyes almost lit up like a signal flare. I swear she wanted to immediately drag me across the sea right there and then.”

Rainbow Dash exhaled in defeat. “So I thought I was onto something. We then pretty much rushed south across the sea… As far as you can to make a thousand-league sail anyway.”

“Thousand leagues! It’s more than double the distance from Manehattan to Vanhoofer! Are you saying that you went that far away from Equestria?” Spike gasped.

“It’s way down across the Equator, so absolutely yes! Distance is not really the biggest problem though.”

“Why?”

Rainbow Dash made a scary face. “The seas around the Amarezons are cursed…”

The dragon widened his eyes. He gulped, but then he calmed himself down and asked with an uncertain gaze. “How? It can’t be that bad if you all safely crossed the sea, right?”

The cyan mare threw her hooves up and said. “Tsk, you’ve grown a bit too smart to scare.”

Rainbow Dash gave a careless glance to Mistral Trail, who then picked up and said. “Ever since the ancient times, the seas to the south are notorious for mysterious disappearances of ships. This is what earned the Sea of Miasma its name. The discovery of a safe route to Amarezons was a matter of trial and error by our forefathers. With nautical maps, we’re largely safe. But it’s still understandable that ponies other than us would not want to sail near a sea that famously swallowed so many pony fleets.”

“So what did you two see and do when you’re back in the Amarezons?” Rarity asked.

Mistral Trail looked to the cyan mare and bit her lips. “We did not encounter any threat from the minions of Boiúna on our way back to the arboretum. It turned out to have a reason. Boiúna somehow caught wind of my journey, and ordered her minions, a horde of black flying snakes, to siege and destroy our arboretum as punishment. The dome of the arboretum was broke open and the Overseer was already knocked out. It seemed to be just a matter of time that the arboretum would fall.”

She then smiled. “Fortunately, there was not only something magical with Her Grace, she was an exceptional commander as well. She created a Sonic Rainboom to repel the initial attack by its shock-wave, which not only shifted the balance of the battle towards us, but also boosted our morale immensely. She then gathered up the remaining defenders and dug in. Just as the legends foretold, the forces of Boiúna were weak against the power of many colors, as they became much easier to dispatch with after being shone by Her Grace’s rainbow aurora. Finally, we successfully repelled the attack, and we for the first time realized that the forces of Boiúna were not invincible.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “It was still a brutal fight.”

Mistral Trail turned silent and looked at Rainbow Dash. After a while, Rainbow Dash continued. “Anyhow, I began to understand that it was a huge misunderstanding and the Black Snake was not Chrysalis. But by that point I simply couldn’t just abandon the Amarezonian dwellers to their fate. If my Sonic Rainboom was the only effective weapon of offense, then this was a duty that I couldn’t shirk from. So I started to marshal across arboretum to arboretum to try to recruit more soldiers.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. Mistral Trail then added. “We had underestimated the toll of centuries of isolation and disunity. While our arboretum threw their wholehearted support to Her Grace, the other arboreta were at first much cooler, even hostile, as they mistakenly thought we were raiders.”

“Well, ha, luckily, the Amarezonian dwellers definitely had a thing for fist-pumping speech and rousing songs.”

Rainbow Dash said. “I was not a writer myself, but with the help from the arboretum dwellers, I managed to craft a good speech about the importance of being united. Three other arboreta changed their minds eventually after our persuasion, but the remaining two refused to open up. It’s only after we helped repel several attacks on their arboreta that they trusted us enough to send a few volunteers. So I recruited and drilled the soldiers, and arranged for the arboreta to gear for war. Since most of Cruzesians had some rudimentary battle training due to strong militaristic tradition and actual need, so I whipped them into a formidable force in just a few moons.”

Rainbow Dash then sardonically grinned. “We repelled a few feints, and then decided to strike deep into the lair of the Black Snake. We made a huge amount of preparation and trained to the point of exhaustion. All those ships you saw in the harbor were built then for us to transport troops upstream, the runic patterns were carved as charms to protect against harmful spirits. However, it turned out to be a super anti-climactic affair.”

“Don’t say that!” Mistral Trail gasped. “Her Grace was most resplendent in her glory, when she led first from the front line, circled the Boiúna and created two bands of rainbow trails that enclosed her in a giant light sphere. Then without one casualty, she managed to dissipate and defeat her. We don’t know how exactly it happened, but Her Grace proved to be our true protector and vanquisher of Boiúna.”

“So is Rainbow Dash now your princess or something, or not?” Spike asked with a raised brow.

Mistral Trail’s face turned a strange shade of pink, while Rainbow Dash groaned.

“Holy, this is going to need some explanation.”

The cyan mare sighed. “First of all, I’m not in the Amarezons for crowns or any sort of power, my focus was finding Twilight and it still is. But after the uprising against the Black Snake, I held strong sway over the army. The soldiers were eager to install me, their representative, as the supreme leader of ‘Novo Cruzesia’. This severely threaten the positions of the former Overseers and their associates, also making the officer class uneasy. Cruzesians, before coming to the Amarezons, had a long royal lineage, but the last king failed to make it across the sea when the troubles in the old continents boiled over. Since then, they had not known a king or queen for millennia.”

Mistral Trail suddenly burst out. “Her Grace should have been our princess imperial! Who deserves the crown more after fulfilling the prophesy and liberating us from the oppression of Boiúna?”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Not this again. I don’t want to ignite a civil war because of a crown that I don’t want and don’t deserve.”

The mint green unicorn’s face grew red, but she suppressed her urge to argue.

“So yeah, a great council was held to determine the future of Cruzesian Amarezons. About a third of the delegates preferred me to become their new queen. But the other two-third preferred the continual governance by the Overseers until the restoration of Cruzesian crown, to the agnatic descendent of the last Cruzesian king… that is if there is any. There’s no point for me to step forward if all it does is division. So I propose to the head honchos that I would lead an expedition overseas to find the true king of theirs, bringing with me the bulk of army.”

“That’s just an excuse, isn’t it, nearly-crowned head?” Discord said.

Rainbow Dash snorted, not at all offended. “Not entirely. I’ll fulfill my side of the contract someday, but they haven’t set a date. Of course, my first priority as the expedition leader is to scour the world for any news of Twi.”

Mistral Trail sneered. “The Counselho is just filled with power-hungry types anyway. Why would they want a ruling monarch to return for real?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “So they readily agreed, mainly because I voluntarily brought away what they thought was the tool for a coup, and withdrew from the game of power. They even conferred on me the title of ‘Grand Duchess of Novo Esperança’, even though their authority to do that without royal assent is doubtful… Not that I care too much for royal titles.”

“But heh, Ah guess we do have to call you Your Grace for now on.” Applejack smirked.

“That’s the spirit.” Mistral Trail grinned.

“Stop it!” Rainbow Dash snapped. “I was… and to be honest, am still quite uncomfortable with a coronet on my head. I swear to Harmony again I did not get into the whole ‘defeating the Black Snake’ thing in order to get any kind of power. I just want to ask for a bit help for finding Twilight at most. Besides, I’m just a young inexperienced pony.”

“Your Grace, you led us through at least several dozen skirmishes and repelled at least three major attacks on Alto Alegre alone. If you’re inexperienced then I don’t know who I can call experienced. I still think that Your Grace should have accepted the crown.”

“If everything was like smacking flying blackfish down to the river with my hooves, then yeah. But rulership is far more than showing charisma to fellow soldiers and fighting wars.”

Mistral Trail frowned. “A crown belongs most to the one who does not desire it, but merely wears it out of duty. Your Grace did not choose to forsake us even when she was only on her way to seek out her friend, but partake in our struggle against oblivion. What more can this say about her suitability of being our leader?”

Rainbow Dash waved her hooves to dismiss Mistral Trail’s lavish praise. “No more talks on this. I have made my decision. A foreign mare like me wasn’t royal material at any rate.”

She paused and scratched her cheek. “Enough about politics anyway… I have just thought up a theory on how the Black Snake was defeated.”

Mistral Trail turned to the cyan mare in surprise. “Your Grace?!”

“I was too concerned with defeating the Black Snake and returning to find Twilight, I didn’t really have time to sit down and recollect.”

Rainbow Dash said. “Now that we have talked about it all over again, I realize something. TheBlack Snake was probably the Spirit of the Amarezon River.”

Mistral Trail gasped. “That’s impossible! How could such a… being be the goddess of our sacred river?”

“We all noticed her power to manipulate the river to her will, and her ridges even turned land into river as she crawled through. She was clearly closely tied to the Mother River.”

“But why- uh, how could a river be, um, evil?” Spike asked.

“Rather than defeating an evil, I increasingly felt like I was defeating an evil within. Disunity and isolation often disrupts the natural harmony, just like how the windigos once threatened the nascent Equestria by freezing it over. This is just my wild speculation, but I’d like to think our sheer display of unity had purified the Spirit of the River, returned her to the natural ambient magic of the forest and calmed the waves. My Rainboom simply served as a conduit of some sort.”

“Whoa, Dashie.” Pinkie Pie said. “That’s deep!”

Mistral Trail was speechless. After a while, she quietly asked, “Why did she attack our forbearers in the first place, and then feed on our pain?”

“… Sorry, no idea.” Rainbow Dash said. “This is the extent of my thought, and I spent the past few moons figuring this out. When I finally found that egghead Twilight, you could grab her down south and have her investigate.”

The mares and Spike winced at the mention of Twilight, even Discord frowned.

“Now, don’t give me that face.” Rainbow Dash scolded. “It was why I set out on this journey and I’m not going to stop.”

“So, um, how do you end up in here and somehow occupy Las Pegasus?” Fluttershy changed the subject and asked.

“Oh dear, that’s another lecture in the making.”

Rainbow Dash facehoofed. “So after the dust is settled in the Amarezons, I led the ships and soldiers up north and sailed past the Butterfly Strait. However, blue water sailing was radically different to green water sailing. We were lucky to not encounter any major storm when we were on a small sailboat, but when there was a hurricane on the seas, not even a full warship of pegasi could do much. As a result, we are blown severely off-course on the way to Zebrica.”

“Wait, what’s it about Zebrica?” Spike interrupted.

“Just following the leads I received when I’m back in Badlands. Changeling sightings were reported by traders from the West, so it can’t hurt to check out. After all, Zebrica’s the changelings’ old home. Besides, if there’s any Cruzesian left aside from in the Amarezons, it has to be to the West of the old continent. Since it’s not Equestria, it could only be Zebrica.”

She shrugged. “Now that I have thousands of soldiers, we can comb through Zebrica in the next few years and see if we can find anything.”

“Years?!” The mares gasped. “You will not be with us for years?”

Rainbow Dash looked aside for a moment. Eventually, she said slowly. “You have to finish what you started.”

After a protracted silence, Applejack said. “… So you’ve been blown off-course to the port of Las Pegasus? But why in the hay did you attack it? We’re goin’ to be hard-pressed to explain to the princesses.”

“It was another tragic case of miscommunication.” Mistral Trail shook her head and sighed, but she was clearly smirking with pride, without even a slight hint of regret.

Rainbow Dash added. “Language barrier, it sucks.”

“What happened?” Spike asked.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “After our last forage in the Butterfly Strait, we planned to sail across the South Luna Ocean directly to Zebrica.”

“Alas.” Mistral Trail said. “So as Her Grace said, though we were able to reconfigure our ships into sea-worthy ones using our ancient shipbuilding knowledge, our sailors are too inexperienced. They could handle sailing on rivers, but on blue water they were at the mercy of the winds.”

“Basically, we were blown off-course and anchored at a cove to the south of Las Pegasus.”

Rainbow Dash said. “Alegria was the only ship that managed to enter the port of Las Pegasus. We had a protocol for captains to ask for permission to dock and resupply, so naturally that’s what the captain and his crew did. But they had unfortunately entered an off-limit area by mistake, and they were arrested by the coast guards. Despite my best wishes, not all my soldiers are as gifted with language as Mistral Trail, but I swear I did try my best to teach them basic Equestrian. Sadly, it was not enough for them to explain themselves well.”

“I’m honored, Your Grace.” Mistral Trail smiled, but then lightly huffed. “But Cruzesians are no pushovers. When the Las Pegasus Coast Guard refused to release our soldiers, we-”

“I really doubt that they knew that we’re demanding their release.” Rainbow Dash interjected.

However, Mistral Trail simply continued. “Our officers merely made the only reasonable decision—to forcibly seize the detention center and rescue our brothers and sisters.”

“And it’s not due to any prejudice for the rank-and-file Equestrians, no.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“What?” The mares all exclaimed in bemusement.

“To put it simply, Cruzesians never quite saw eye to eye with the northerners.”

“They knew about Equestrians?” Spike asked in surprise.

Mistral Trail shrugged and explained. “We did not know what happened to our mazombos siblings until Her Grace filled us in about what happened in the millennia, during which we closed ourselves off from the world. Indeed, we’re quite shocked that they chose to join the Equestrian fray, because we Cruzesians used to think that Equestrians were an overbearing bunch intending to usurp the imperial glory of our sister nation, much like the laughable pretense of the Griffish ‘Roaman’ Emperor in Griffonstone.”

Rainbow Dash helpfully slipped in and reminded the confused dragon. “In case you’re not entirely clear about what she meant, crystal ponies were among the first groups of ponies who set hooves on the Equestrian continent, the Crystal Mountains being one of their many colonial outposts. However, they kept to themselves and never expanded beyond the Crystal Mountain to the south. When the three tribes came over later, Cruzesians became concerned that Equestrian princes and leaders would flood the place with their own and made the crystal ponies their vassals.”

“Why did Cruzesians care about the crystal ponies exactly? They're on the other side of the world!” Spike asked.

Mistral Trail said. “We Cruzesians were blood-sisters to crystal ponies, our alliance dating back to our ancient common struggle against barbaric invasions. So we staunchly opposed the attempts from Equestrians to bring our former ally into their sphere of influence. Although Her Grace’s presence somewhat soften the attitude of my compatriots, we now know that it was an Equestrian unicorn that again caused the doom of our ancient ally. This naturally displease us even more.”

Spike blinked. “That guy’s name’s Sombra, right?”

Fluttershy nodded, and Pinkie Pie beamed. “Wow, you remember that, Spike!”

“I ain’t gonna forget what Twilight made me recite dozens of times.” Spike smirked with a hint of sadness. He was now beginning to understand that ancient history that Twilight forced him to read do have effects that could be felt in the present day.

“I have to say though.” Rainbow Dash sighed and shifted the topic. “The garrisons in Las Pegasus are dismally trained… and seriously, complete wimps. There were only four hundreds and five of us on Alegria, but despite outnumbering us, the defenders couldn’t hold a spear if their lives depended on it. They fled upon seeing our battle-trained formation, and surrendered by the time our other troops marched into the city. They must have mistaken us for ruthless conquerors like the darn changelings.”

“To be fair… Equestria hasn’t seen war for quite a while. It’s a thing that we should celebrate.” Rarity said. “So why do you cordon off the city afterwards?”

“It was arranged by the officers at first.” Rainbow Dash said. “But I decided to enforce it because we don’t want the news of our… accidental conquest to spread. It might cause panic and net us an unnecessary confrontation with Equestrian troops. In fact, we were going to quickly depart after calming the populace and resupplying our ships. But still, I’d really wanted to send you an update first, so I told Mistral Trail to covertly go to Ponyville and carry my message.”

“Eh?”

Mistral Trail nodded. “That didn’t happen anyway. Just before I was about to leave, sisters in my brigade reported they saw a suspicious pegasus mare that highly resembled what Her Grace described to me as senhorita Fluttershy, whom she suggested me as the contact.”

She pointed to Fluttershy. “That’s you, right?”

Fluttershy spluttered a bit, and Pinkie Pie grinned. “That’s actually me disguised as Fluttershy!”

“Huh, that would explain the discrepancy from the report.” Mistral Trail stroked her cheek.

“Uh, Pinkie, why would you disguise as Fluttershy? Isn’t the whole point of donning a disguise to be someone untraceable?” Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie Pie strangely.

“Oh no Dashie, I just thought being a pegasus would blend in better in Las Pegasus.”

“Uh-huh.” Rainbow Dash said. “But actually, thank goodness you choose that, because otherwise we wouldn’t pick up on it, and Mistral Trail would have missed you altogether.”

“Gotta ask...” Applejack said. “What on Earth was with our trip up here? That still doesn’t make a lick of sense!”

“Yeah! You didn’t answer me why you accented up.” Spike frowned at Mistral Trail.

Mistral Trail said. “I did that to avoid standing out, since most Cruzesian soldiers still speak broken Equestrian.”

“Also.” Rainbow Dash said. “She’s our security and intelligence chief, she does these kind of stuffs. She probably feigned being bad at Equestrian to lower your guard, hoping to catch anything you accidentally spilled.”

“Your Grace…” Mistral Trail hesitantly said.

“We don’t have to keep anything from them, they’re my closest friends and they will not betray our interests.” Rainbow Dash’s gaze momentarily swept across Discord, who said nothing.

“As you wish.” Mistral Trail nodded. “… I reported the situation to Her Grace. Even though I was fairly sure that the reported mare was senhorita Fluttershy, Her Grace wanted to examine herself, so I was sent to the Lower Quarter. However, there were some discrepancies when I actually saw you in person, because contrary to the report, you looked much less talkative, and you were accompanied by a large entourage. Still, I decided to bring you up, since if you were not what Her Grace was looking for, you are likely Equestrian spies who need to be contained.”

“And once I saw it was you girls, I am absolutely delighted!” Rainbow Dash grinned. “But I had to suppress my urge to immediately reunite with you, because all the generals and ministers were there, and you heard what Misty said about them. So yeah… I kind of wink and nudge Mistral Trail there to cook up something.”

“How did you know what Dashie was thinking?” Pinkie Pie asked Mistral Trail curiously.

Mistral Trail smiled. “Observing ponies is sometimes very much like wind listening. You look at the minute movement on their face, wings and limbs, and make educated extrapolations. And certainly, my time spent with Her Grace helps.”

“Pardon me, you two just dumped a giant train-load of information on us.” Applejack shook her head. “Ah need time and all my mind to digest all these.”

“I still can’t quite believe Rainbow Dash is now a foreign duchess.” Spike said incredulously.

Fluttershy sighed. “I’m worried about the reactions from the princesses regarding this incident and your accession as a foreign noble as an Equestrian citizen.”

Rainbow Dash exhaled. “I’ll deal with it as it goes.”

Mistral Trail slightly scowled. “The diarchs of Equestria have no right to interfere with our internal affairs. We will defend our institution with our lives.”

“Hey Mistral Trail, no need to get defensive yet.” Pinkie Pie tried her best to smile. “I’m sure the princesses would be reasonable!”

“But if you have to choose, would you choose Her Grace or Equestria? Hum?” Mistral Trail frowned and asked intently.

“Mistral Trail.” Rainbow Dash simply tapped the ground with impatience and gave the mint green pony a glare of grave severity.

“I—I’m sorry, Your Grace. I’ve overstepped my mark.”

The mares and Spike gulped. Rainbow Dash had evidently grown an atmosphere of authoritativeness never before seen by them. They all wondered what kind of experiences the cyan mare encountered for that to happen.

Pinkie Pie looked around and fervently thought for a way to distract them from the awkwardness. “… Ah, Dashie! So what’s the deal about ‘Arcoris’? Is that you?”

“Arcoris…?” Rainbow frowned but then raised her eyebrows in realization, “Oh, you mean Arco-Íris! Yeah, that’s just my… courtesy name in Cruzesian.”

“Sua Graça, a Duquesa Arco-Íris Impeto.” Mistral Trail supplied.

“It’s a mouthful.” Rainbow Dash said. “But sometimes you do need some decorum to rouse a sense of respect.”

The group nodded. Rainbow Dash looked to the grandfather clock that was standing at the corner.

“Geez, we’ve talked for like hours! Don’t worry and stay here for a while, I’ll try to explain to my loyal lieutenants and tell them that you’re our friends and guests after all.”

The group lightly chuckled. Rainbow Dash then grinned. “That’s quite enough for today. I’ll arrange for accommodation for you. We have paid off the hotel owner but we haven’t used one room of theirs, perhaps you’d like to?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was night, and the group had settled in the rooms of the Palacio Hotel. Fluttershy was sleepless at her room. Too many unexpected events had happened in a short period of time. For one, she never thought the mysterious invading army was led by none other than Rainbow Dash.

She also didn’t expect to sleep on a cozy bed in such a luxurious hotel room on this supposedly dangerous mission. Everything was simply too surreal. Also, how were they going to report to the princesses once Rainbow Dash departed for Zebrica? Fluttershy looked down to the floor and sighed.

She had caught sight of a hotel maid when she was taking a walk in the corridor. The sizable hotel was now devoid of any guest except for them, since all Cruzesian soldiers were camped outside, Rainbow Dash included. Only hotel staff remained for basic maintenance.

Fluttershy managed to persuade the nervous maid to stop and talk to her for a while. According to the maid, although the ponies, especially the business owners of the tourist spot, were quite unhappy that their trades were completely disrupted and their usual customers were unable to enter the city, and the Cruzesians were a bit rowdy for a disciplined army, but they were comforted by the fact that they never really acted against the local populace, and there was also generous compensation given to soften the blow with the losses of visitors. But however polite the Cruzesians were, it would be far better if they left as soon as possible.

Her story seemed to largely corroborate with the version told by Rainbow Dash. Not that she distrusted the cyan mare, but she was worried that the city populace only acted tolerant out of fear of reprisal. It didn’t completely cleared her doubt, but at least she could turn her focus to another concern on her mind.

She gulped and swiftly walked down the stairs to the eerily empty main lobby, and checked out the hall they met Rainbow Dash in the afternoon. However, it was empty. She then walked out onto the garden. A patrolling soldier immediately stopped her, however she pulled out a permit given by Rainbow Dash. The soldier gazed at her for a while, but he eventually nodded and let her go.

The yellow mare reached a large canvas-covered lodge that appeared to be the place where important ponies like Rainbow Dash would stay. An officer just walked out of the lodge, and to Fluttershy’s surprise, it was Mistral Trail.

“Eh?” Fluttershy lightly yelped.

Mistral Trail raised her eyebrows and looked around, and then whispered, “Senhorita, why are you here so late at night? You should rest early, for there are much to do tomorrow. We would soon break camp and leave.”

“R—Really? Tomorrow?”

“Indeed.” Mistral Trail thinly smiled. “We understand that we’re a nuisance to the local trade, and we cannot give out compensation after compensation indefinitely, for it would quickly deplete our meagre coffer. Her Grace dearly wants us to get set for Zebrica as we have already gained our supplies… Anyway, do you want something? I can try to arrange it for you.”

“No, thank you very much, Missus Trail. I merely want to see Ra—I mean, Her Grace.”

Mistral Trail’s lips curled up. “Come then. Although Her Grace had just finished today’s meetings, she would definitely want to talk to one of her dear friends as well.”

The mint green mare then led their way pass the guards, sent Fluttershy into the lodge, and simply bowed out with a smile.

Fluttershy gingerly looked around. The lodge resembled a cabinet room, with a large round table in the middle. Heaps of document laid around on the table in the otherwise Spartan-looking room, and at the far side of the table, a glasses-wearing and tired-looking Rainbow Dash was reading some reports.

Fluttershy walked near the cyan mare. Rainbow Dash adjusted her glasses and flipped the page, when she suddenly noticed somepony nearby.

“Who?!” Rainbow Dash turned alarmingly.

“Eeep!”

“Oh, Fluttershy, it’s just you.” Rainbow Dash exhaled and smiled. “Sorry to cause a scare.”

“No, I’m sorry to have disturbed you…”

Rainbow Dash slightly frowned. “Now Fluttershy, we’re friends, okay? No need to be so formal and like.”

Fluttershy’s gaze floated across Rainbow Dash’s face, but it swiftly turned aside. “Things just change so quickly, it’s so hard to get used to… Twilight’s gone and you’re now suddenly a member of foreign nobility and a military commander. I feel as if we’re in completely uncharted waters.”

Rainbow Dash inhaled slowly and said. “… I know how you feel, Fluttershy.”

The cyan mare looked at Fluttershy and said, “Have a seat first.”

Fluttershy sat down cautiously. “… Rainbow, do you remember the time Twilight brought us to Canterlot to gather up helping hooves for the Ponyville Mirror?”

“Of course, how can I forget?” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“You said at the time that you felt pained to abandon your dreams and aspirations simply for Twilight’s plan.” Fluttershy hesitated for a bit. “… but now…”

“This is different, okay?!” Rainbow Dash said with a flare of temper. “Are you trying to persuade me not to find Twilight, again?!”

Rainbow Dash looked up to a frightened Fluttershy, and she immediately backtracked. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy. I...”

“No, it’s okay…” Fluttershy said. “I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m just worried for you… Since you’re now not just somepony from Ponyville. You will have many duties and you won’t be able to go back to your old simple life.”

“I know.” Rainbow Dash said with a sad smile. “But as long as I fulfill my share of duties and dedication, my loyal soldiers shall give us ample protection against any lurking evils in the world. Still, I know that my dream of going into Wonderbolts will probably have to be… postponed indefinitely.”

Fluttershy gulped, but Rainbow Dash simply continued. “I thought I had seen a lot thanks to Twilight. However, I know it sounds clichéd, but when you’re actually thrusted into places by unforeseen events, you’re kind of forced to deal with it by changing how you think.”

Fluttershy thinly smiled. “We noticed you get more imposing. Pinkie said you’ve got the ‘scary queen vibe’ like when the princesses are angry.”

Rainbow Dash widened her eyes and then guffawed. “What? Aw, I know where you’re coming from. Blame it on me having to constantly drill the recruits. I once even told a guy who messed up badly to mop the starboard in pouring rain for an entire day.”

“That’s not very kind, Rainbow…”

“You can’t make the soldiers obey you if you are all twee and never get harsh on them. Kindness might just be mistaken as weakness, and it should be given out with care.”

Seemingly unaware of Fluttershy’s somewhat worrying look, Rainbow Dash stretched her hooves and smirked. “I bet some of the plebs dream of me as some horned demon in their nightmares.”

She then unthinkingly flipped through the papers on the table. After a moment of silence, she murmured. “Dreams, you say. We pursue them as if you have a tunnel vision. They seem so unnegotiable but so rewarding.”

Fluttershy quietly looked up, her floating gaze briefly met with the cyan mare’s, but she averted it and looked to the table again.

Rainbow Dash leaned back on the chair and sighed.

“Yes, entering Wonderbolts was my dream, it still is. I thought becoming a Wonderbolt would affirm my ability as a top-tiered flier and seal my reputation as somepony that is totally awesome. Therefore, I kind of freaked out when Twilight told me to get a desk job. I was torn between my loyalty and my dream.”

Rainbow Dash stood up and walked towards the chalkboard behind her, which was scribbled with plans of logistics.

“I also came to knew about the fact that I could have become a great Wonderbolt because of Twilight. For a long time that drove me to hold tight to my dream, because I was deeply convinced that things would turn out just like what she had seen.”

The cyan mare held her cheek with her hooves and muttered. “Now though, I laugh at my past self. It was such a luxury to cry about my dilemma in the rain.”

“R- Rainbow…”

“No, no. You might’ve misunderstood. I simply mean that, with the craziness in the recent moons, I started to come down and think how and why I had the dream in the first place.

“Hmm…?”

The cyan mare walked left and right and continued. “My passion of speed and recognition is still here as always, but at one point between now and the time I vowed to become a Wonderbolt when I was young, I evolved, not least because of our adventures together. My life understanding grew and adapted, and most important of all, I’m not the same mare who chose my path in the beginning. I have changed.”

“Rainbow, you…”

“Nah, I’m good. Everypony changes, for better or for worse. I’d like to think that I’d changed for better.”

Rainbow turned and smiled. “Of course, if they suddenly offer me the top job in the Wonderbolts right here and now, I would probably seriously considered the possibility of resigning from my commandership and shoving everything to Mistral! Haha!”

“Eh? That’s…”

“Just kidding. This thing weighed on my mind for moons, but I finally figured out that my decision was actually much more complex than ‘becoming awesome’ than I thought. As I grew up, friends and feelings of those surround me started to mean much more to me. After all, isn’t bringing ponies a sense of fulfillment, hope and wonder what being a Wonderbolt is about?”

Wryly smiling, Rainbow Dash stroked her feathered quill. “I just wish I learned to listen to my heart from the beginning, then I would have spared myself the anxiety, stress, and worry I had experienced. On the inside I knew what my values were. It was my ambition that got in the way, it prevented me from realizing there can be more than one way to be awe-inspiring, wonderful and at the same time electrify the hearts of those around you. Now I can open up another whole set of opportunities, perhaps even lead my own Bolts when things settle down!”

“… Rainbow, you’ve really grown.” Fluttershy lightly smiled.

“Well, thank heavens for that.” Rainbow Dash smirked. “A mere filly makes no inspiring commander.”

The cyan mare returned to the table and asked. “So how’s Discord? I presume he’s that grey stallion, innit?”

“Yes. And he’s okay, I suppose.”

“He wasn’t naughty or anything?”

“Nothing more than small pranks or feigning sickness to get more attention.” Fluttershy thoughtfully said. “If anything, he’s too spiritless and tame, and this makes me worry.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “You don’t think he would…”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Fluttershy shook her head. “Discord is a natural-born prankster, scheming and speaking sarcastic and thorny words is what I would expect of him. But he seems very compliant, Pinkie would even say that he’s a lot less fun after… you know what.”

The yellow mare bit her lips. “He now lives in with me and I’ve observed him closely. I think he’s still quite sad about the whole affair, but his doubts were still there, just buried under his deep-seated guilt. So he does what he’s told, but I don’t think he’s entirely comfortable. Of course, being glared and called name in the streets didn’t help.”

“Let her who tied the bell on the tiger take it off.” Rainbow Dash said. “I know it, so that’s one more reason I won’t give up my search for Twilight yet.”

Fluttershy went silent in hesitation. The cyan mare looked at her firmly and said. “You’re thinking what-if, aren’t you. Searching for Twilight is not like going after a dream, it’s a matter of principle. Okay, let’s just say I don’t find Twilight after all, but the mere possibility that she is somewhere awaiting for us outweighs the cost and time I put into it.”

“I’m not going to persuade you against it, in fact, I support you with all my hearts.” Fluttershy smiled to a slightly surprised Rainbow Dash. “Why, I too dreamt of a day we can see the face of Twilight again. And even if we don’t, at least we can say with certainty that we tried.”

Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy meaningfully, and then turned to the scribbles on the blackboard. “Thank you, Fluttershy. Actually, it’s not that bleak, since we’ve done a little more investigation here in Las Pegasus, and we do receive further confirmation from Zebrican traders that there has been turmoil in the West involving what we suspect to be changelings.”

“Really?”

“Really. Now I won’t bet my saddlebag on its authenticity, because I’ve fell for a big dud once. But any lead is a good lead regardless.”

Rainbow Dash drily chuckled. “Now, we’re getting late. We’re rolling out tomorrow, so we should all get some rest.”

“It’s true?”

“Oh yes, we’re to go as soon as possible, and it is certainly bad to keep the Equestrian troops under house arrest anymore. As a gesture of goodwill, we told them we’ll move out and return the city to them by the day after tomorrow.”

“Um… we…”

“Hah, you girls.” Rainbow Dash exhaled. “Of course I’ll be more than delighted if any of you can join me, even just for the short trip across the South Luna Ocean. But I understand that you all have duties in Ponyville and other places. Also, it would also be helpful if I have someone in Canterlot to explain this mess so that the princesses don’t send guards to arrest me for treason the next time I’m around, and cause a dang diplomatic incident. So yeah, it’s up to you.”

“… I see.” Fluttershy said. “Good night to you then, Rainbow.”

“Good dreams to you too, Fluttershy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, the group awoke to a surprising sight, as they looked down to the hotel garden to find it completely deserted. They quickly packed up, left the rooms and gathered at the lobby.

Fluttershy explained what she had known from her meeting with Rainbow Dash last night to the others. That’s when Mistral Trail entered the hotel and waved at the group.

She walked near and said. “Good m—?!”

The mint-green mare went wide-eyed and took a few steps backwards.

The mares and Spike looked at her strangely, until they took a look at Discord. “Oh, right.”

“What? Maintaining the guise was way too tiring for me.” Discord shrugged.

The usually calm mint-green unicorn was in a rare moment of shock. The mares and Spike gazed at her oddly. Usually ponies did look at Discord like some sort of circus animal, and after the changeling invasion, with hate-filled glares. But except for really young foals, it was rare to see somepony immediately panicked to such an extent upon seeing the spirit of chaos.

“Are you alright, Mistral?” Fluttershy asked with concern.

“Carai mina…!” She gasped and coughed. “I—I mean, what is that?!”

Mistral Trail shakily pointed at Discord, who frowned but couldn’t hide his actual amusement. “Oh dear, is this how you treat your guest?”

“That is just, um, the true form of ‘Grey Wind’.” Fluttershy awkwardly explained. “We didn’t want to cause undue alarm. He’s actually Discord, a powerful spirit of chaos that is also our friend.”

Mistral Trail gulped. “… Another shapeshifting spirit?”

“Don’t be a worrywart!” Pinkie Pie grinned. “He’s reformed and good!”

“To a certain extent…” Spike quietly muttered.

Mistral Trail asked tentatively. “I thought you Equestrians believe in Harmony?”

“Hard to not believe in it, when it is a living and breathing force on the continent.” Applejack said. “Kinda like how you Cruzesians believe in the Mother River.”

Rarity nodded. “We’re a peculiar bunch, because a lot of ponies out there do think that he and the idea of maintaining harmony are inherently incompatible. But we think the important thing is that he agreed to be our friend. What use is harmony if it doesn’t engender goodwill and rapport? In any case, he’s our champion right now.”

Mistral Trail raised an eyebrow and bowed. “… I see. My sincere apologies for being disrespectful, dom Discord. We Cruzesians believe in anima, and we greatly revere powerful and benevolent spirits for they possess such spiritual essence. We may be unfamiliar with your form, but I believe once any misunderstanding is cleared, you will be given the due respect from my compatriots.”

“Hey, someone who appreciate me.” Discord smirked. “That’s something nice for a change.”

The mares frowned slightly, but Discord merely waved them away. “No more boring chit-chat. Lieutenant Trail, I think you come to collect us to somewhere more interesting?”

“Indeed.” Mistral Trail straightened herself. “As you might have noticed, we have decamped and moved out in the early morning. Most of us are already boarding the ships or waiting to board in the port area. If you want to join or say farewell to Her Highness, we should move quickly.”

She looked to Discord and then added. “And stay close, for I will have explain the situation to my fellow soldiers.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The seven of them boarded the balloon and went down to the port of Las Pegasus. The small port was absolutely bristling with activities, with pegasi busy transporting materials onto the ships and others boarding the ships using makeshift planks. It was mostly orderly, with the occasional vexed shouts from officers to some badly-behaving soldiers. A lot of locals gathered and observed as the ‘occupation force’ evacuated largely in peace.

Mistral Trail had led the way, assuaging the fearful and uncertain looks on the soldiers by almost hectic explanations. The mares and dragon looked on, and it was coming through to them that Cruzesians were quite spiritual and to be honest, somewhat superstitious.

Upon closer inspection, there were actually only six vessels that belonged to the Cruzesians in the port, although they certainly dwarfed all other small cogs nearby. They boarded the largest of them and entered the spacious deck. After passing through the winding wooden corridors, they arrived at an office next to the bridge. Then Mistral Trail hailed the guard and brought the group inside.

“Your Grace.” Mistral Trail bowed.

“Thank you for bringing them to me, Misty.” Rainbow Dash smiled. She was wearing a smart white marine uniform.

“Whoa Dashie, this is a very large ship!” Pinkie said.

“And so wondrously designed and decorated too.” Rarity added. “I can’t quite believe that they were made using technologies over thousands of years old.”

“Cruzesians were the most adventurous and sea-faring of ponies. Their shipbuilding technology was far more advanced than others.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “At least that’s before they settled in the arboreta. In fact, my good citizens and soldiers are also very interested to see if the Cruzesians of old had left any trace in other parts of the world.”

“Hey, what’re the ships called?” Spike asked with interest.

“Esperança, it’s the flagship of the fleet. The others are Caridade, Probidade, Bondade, Devoção and Alegria.”

“Obvious choices.” Applejack chuckled.

“You going away already?” Discord said with a mischievous grin. “With how cripplingly ill-trained Equestrian soldiers are, you can probably march onto Canterlot unopposed. They would just send forth some lightly-armored buggers, charge you right in the middle of your line and get ripped apart in a flame of foolish chivalry, because they only read about wars in storybooks. I would love to see the sun butt and moon butt gasp in horror as they helplessly defend against a foreign horde of not-quite their ‘little ponies’.”

Mistral Trail smirked. “Not a bad idea, Your Grace. Our soldiers certainly would not be opposed to the idea of a cakewalk of a conquest. Equestria is so large, bountiful and full of vibrant magic. We can each live like kings and queens if Equestria is in our hooves.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at the shocked and horrified faces of her friends, and sighed.
“Yeah, they’re a toss of an army, and it’d totally not bite their collective plots later. I know you two are kidding, but it is worth stressing: we’re a force of protection and self-defense.”

“… To be fair, the princesses have increased training and drilling after the changeling incident.” Rarity let out a sigh of relief.

“And look at its splendid results!” Discord mocked.

“The nation of Equestria is fierce of visage but faint of heart. Not that peace and prosperity are not things that we should all treasure.”

Rainbow Dash thought of a certain ‘future’ and shuddered. “But evil still lurks in the world and we have to prepare ourselves. The changeling invasion wasn’t just bad in itself, it also showed to other nations that Equestria is a paper tiger, which is really bad for keeping peace.”

Rainbow Dash trailed off, then she elected to change the subject. “Anyway, so any takers? I would love to have you tour the ship.”

The cyan mare then chuckled. “Of course, if any of you want to join me in scouring Zebrica for Twilight, I will immediately stack another bunk on my bed and clean off my mess of a room.”

The mares and dragon looked at one another uncertainly.

“Aye, aye! Here’s one for your mate!” Discord smirked.

“You, eh?” Rainbow Dash put up an inscrutable expression.

“Aye.” Discord snapped his fingers and donned a sailor’s costume. “Seriously though, I’d like a change in scenery. Ponyville is starting to bore me to Tartarus… Figuratively speaking.”

“But aren’t you kinda sworn to the princesses that you would be on standby to help the realm?”

“Meh, they only look for me once a few moons, more than enough for several return-trips to Zebrica.” He then added under his breath. “… Besides, I, uh, want to help.”

Rainbow Dash looked at him in slight surprise, and then grinned. “… Welcome aboard.”

“Well, count me in too, Dashie!”

“Pinkie?”

“My gigs can wait, and I have left enough bits for Mr. and Mrs. Cake to hire helping hooves when I’m gone,” The pink mare grinned, and then added awkwardly. “Not that I’m useful at the factory other than being excess baggage, so I’m free!”

“Don’t say that! But sure, what the hay, do come!”

“Um… I can also come, at least for the trip across the sea.” Fluttershy said. “The Mirror has now gotten on track, and it can run for a while with me out for a while. I’ve arranged Angel, some vet ponies, and even Mr. Greenhooves to keep an eye on my animals when I’m away.”

“Me too.” Spike said. “Now that Trixie got it handled, I don’t really need to hang around the library that much. If there’s anything that I can help, I would want to help.”

The attention then inevitably fell on the remaining two mares. They looked a bit uncomfortable.

Before they could speak up though, Rainbow Dash had simply waved them down. “Absolutely no pressure, girls. You two run much larger businesses, and you’re needed by friends, workers and employees in Ponyville. You’re bounded by duties as much as I do. That’s why I went alone in the first place. Seriously, I was half-joking and I didn’t really expect any of you to actually take up on it, hah. Besides, I need a helping mouth or two in Canterlot as well.”

Applejack and Rarity looked to each other and opened their mouth, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Your Grace, reports on the fleet.”

“Enter!”

Rainbow Dash shouted.

The door creaked open, a young but gruff-looking pegasus walked in. He was a very light yellow stallion with brownish red mane. Conspicuously, there was a large scar on his left eye, giving him a slightly unsettling and fearsome appearance.

Rainbow Dash put up a stern expression and saluted.

“Speak, Captain Strike.”

Captain Strike saluted back.

“Yes! Our fleet is ready to sail. We are looking forward to your presence on deck for the departure ceremony.”

“Very good. I will arrive in ten minutes. Tell the soldiers to get ready.”

Captain Strike again saluted, quickly excused himself and left.

Rainbow Dash immediately stood up, stacked the documents on her desk and stored them in the drawer. She then took the decorated cap on the hanger and wore it on her head.

Pinkie Pie looked at the closed door and gulped, making gesture to her own eye.

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash said. “He almost lost his eye in the Siege of Ermida Alta. But he’s already one of the luckier boys. You know what they say, nothing except a battle lost is half as tragic as a battle won.”

The group went silent, as they followed Rainbow Dash and Mistral Trail up onto the deck. When they arrived, the soldiers were already standing in tight square formation. Rainbow Dash then flew up onto the top of the mast, so that soldiers from all six ships could see her.

A lone aqua-blue unicorn stepped forward from the pier. Using magical enhancement, he shouted, “Saudai a tua duquesa!”

“Long live the duchess! Long live Cruzesia!”

The soldiers thundered.

A rainstorm of drumbeats boomed, and the marines sang aloud the anthem of the Cruzesian Navy.

Like white swans under moon night
sliding into a blue lake
My ship also floats on
the green seas from north to south

Lovely folks who in the unlit night
Go sailing in a vast sea
Brings longing to a beloved land
My homeland which we yearn for

How much joy it would bring us
To the heart of our motherland
Given by ending our humiliation
and fulfilling our mission

Lovely folks who in the unlit night
Go sailing in a vast sea
Brings longing to a beloved land
My homeland which we yearn for

Like a beautiful heron who crosses the sky
We go sailing
Under a beautiful rainbow
My people
will also cross the seas
Green seas
The green seas of Cruzes!

As the marines sang aloud, Rainbow Dash partook in a blessing ritual for the fleet which was about to set sail. She flew in circle around the ships, and then rose high to create a small ring of Rainboom atop the fleet. Despite being in formation, some soldiers still let out sighs of wonder.

As the short ceremony drew to a close, sailors on each of the ships were busy making some last-minute inspection on the hulls, ropes and masts.

Rainbow Dash returned from her ceremonial duties to the observing group on the starboard of the deck. “We will hoist the sails and get going soon, the tide is up and the wind is favorable. Applejack, Rarity, don’t worry about us, we’ll return shortly.”

“Your ‘shortly’ used to mean a few years.” Rarity rolled her eyes.

“Heh.” Rainbow Dash smilingly shook her head. “Tell my old friends in Ponyville and the weather team my good wishes, especially Scootaloo. Little scamp is probably missing me a lot. Remember to say a few good things about me and my good citizens in front of the princesses too. Tell them we regret the misunderstanding and stuff.”

“Hey, Rainbow. Take care of them.” Applejack pointed towards the four departing figures. “And yourself as well.”

“Zebrica is vast, and much of it is still unknown to Equestrians. You must be careful.” Rarity said.

“I’m now not only in charge of the lives of me and my friends, but several thousand loyal soldiers. They all have families and friends, and I’ll not be the one who would recklessly throw their hopes and lives away. If anything turns to south, I will not hesitate to turn our collective snouts backwards.”

“Good. Don’t you dare break this promise.” Rarity smiled.

“Now off you go!” Rainbow Dash jokingly ordered, “Unless of course, you want to swim ashore from the middle of the sea.”

Author's Note

Yep, that's a shameless Brazil analogue here. And the songs are adaptations of the infantry hymn, the imperial anthem and the marine song, Cisne Branco.

And honestly, this part could really be a standalone story in its own right. The show-don't-tell mantra clearly goes wonky here.

Chapter 2 – Storm in a Teacup

“Augh… Still no land in sight?” The pink mare groaned, as she leaned on the edge of the bow of the ship. “We’ve passed the Cape Westerly days ago!”

“Pinkie, at least you finally have your sea legs.” Fluttershy said.

Pinkie Pie smiled. “Yeah.”

Spike walked towards the two mares with a whistling Discord. The sailors looked at the dragon and chaos spirit duo with a curious glance, and then turned back to their work. They had become a fixture on the ship, and the crew had long gotten use to the somewhat strange sight.

“Pinks, I made you a ginger and lime juice.” Spike said with concern and handed Pinkie Pie a cup. “They say it could beat seasickness.”

“Correction,” Discord interjected. “I made it.”

“Fine, fine.” Spike sighed with slight exasperation. “I tried very hard to wrangle the lime and ginger from the quartermaster, but she won’t allow it.”

“I doubt she quite understand you in the first place, kid.” Discord smirked. “You speak Cruzesian like a drunkard with marbles in his mouth.”

Spike irately mumbled, but Discord simply continued. “So it finally occurred to the doting dragon that yours truly here can conjure up the ingredients that he needs, or indeed the juice itself with a little exertion and certain easier-to-get materials.”

“Thank you Spike, Discord. I really appreciate it.” Pinkie Pie nodded with a smile and took a sip of the drink.

“I heard from my dear Fluttershy,” Discord said. “… That you finally feel marginally better. So my friend-loving friend, have you gone out to make some friends?”

Pinkie Pie’s smile turned a bit rigid, and she said with a wistful tone, “Making friends here is hard. I don’t really know much about how they live except for how they speak, and even that I sounded weird because we speak in really outdated Cruzesian. That must be what Princess Luna felt like when she just came back.”

She then held her cheeks with her hooves. “What’s more, these ponies are all soldiers. They have their duties and organization and hierarchy and the like. Even when I managed to get a cadet to talk with me, some gruff captain would immediately come on him or her. It can’t be helped I guess, they have a discipline to maintain, but this means only Dashie and you three can be talked to… Maybe Misty too when she’s free.”

Spike then sighed. “How long have we been on this ship again? Two weeks?”

“Two weeks and two days.” Fluttershy said. “I’ve been recording on a journal.”

“What for?”

“I’m after all working for a newspaper. If the time is right, I will publish about the Cruzesians in the Mirror… sans some of the sensitive information.” Fluttershy said. “We’re away from Equestria, so we don’t know the reactions back home regarding the affairs in Las Pegasus, but there must eventually be a voice that clears out confusion and gives a first-hoof and truthful account for the whole incident.”

“I see…”

“Actually, I also have some good news.” Fluttershy smiled. “I’ve been to Rainbow this morning for updates, and she told me that according to the navigator, we will be closing in on the Zebrican shore in just several days because of good winds.”

“Hurray!” Pinkie Pie jumped up with surprising vigor.

“No wonder we saw some brigs passing by yesterday.” Spike grinned. “Finally, here we come Ze—!”

Spike’s voice was covered by three rapid loud blasts of the air horn. Sailors and soldiers around them suddenly shuffled around in urgency. They looked around in confusion as they didn’t know what was going on. Esperança veered sharply to the left, causing them to hold onto the rails for balance. As they turned their sights back to the front of the ship, they realized the cause of the alarm.

From amidst the distant fog, something enormous protruded from the toiling waves, approaching head-on towards Esperança. It resembled a ship with sails, but it was so big that it was hard to believe that it could actually sail forward with such speed.

As they sailed to the left to avoid the inevitable collision, they got a better look of the full size and appearance of the mysterious ship, which made the mares and Spike gasped aloud. It was almost twice as long as Esperança, with six triangular black sails waving in the winds.

The group was at first worried that the ship might be some sort of a queen-sized pirate ship. However, when they looked more closely, they found that the ship was almost alien in design. The masts protruded from a pitch-black surface, which could not be a deck, because it was convex with countless sharp spikes dotting its back. The body was much flatter than their frigates, and her layered hull was also covered with some sort of black material, adding to her ominous atmosphere.

Most prominently, a head figure was mounted on the bow of the ship. It resembled a cross between a sea serpent and dragon. Just when they were trying to get a better look, the black ship turned and smoke suddenly emerged from the head, causing a panic onboard.

“Turn left! Shots incoming!”

The group turned to find a steely-looking Rainbow Dash rapidly flying across the busy deck towards the bow.

“What are you all doing here? Get back down, it’s dangerous!”

Before they could reply, a loud boom torn across the sky.

“Lie down!” Rainbow Dash almost hissed.

However, other than a distant shriek, nothing happened to the ship they were on. They gingerly looked upwards, and to their surprise, the shot fired from the monstrous head had gone up instead of towards them, and exploded in a bright white flash. It seemed to be a signal or a salute.

As the two ships got closer, they were surprised to see a pony on the crow’s nest of the black ship. The pony was too small to be seen clearly, but he or she was waving some sort of signaling flags.

Unfortunately, the code they were using was unknown to the Cruzesians. However, the mares recognized that it was standard Equestrian semaphore, or flag telegraphy.

“P—A—R—L—E—Y…” Pinkie Pie looked through a telescope she whipped out from her saddlebag. “Hey, they want to talk! No wonder they are using black flags too!”

Spike looked at Pinkie Pie incredulously. “Why would they want to talk to some random passing ships? There must be tricks.”

“Maybe there just want to hail us and make friends?”

After Rainbow Dash relayed the newfound information to her deputies and another round of frantic inter-ship signaling, she came back to the bow.

“Prepare yourselves. We’re going to parley. These strangers gave us a scare for sure, but if they want it rough, there are six of us and only one of them.” The cyan mare bit her lip and said.

“Rainbow, remember what you promised Rarity.” Fluttershy frowned.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re going to do niceties first.” Rainbow Dash waved her hoof.

Both ships had lowered their sails and closed the gun ports as they slowly closed in, eventually broadside-to-broadside. The other ships in the fleet encircled them as they prepared for any emergencies. The group can now see the signaler on the black ship more clearly. She was a rose red earth pony, and she was again signaling to tell them to prepare for a small delegation on the Esperança.

Rainbow Dash sighed in slight relief. They’re willing to come on her ship, not the other way round, which would make it much less risky for her crew.

A few pieces of the spiked shell on the black ship were opened. Planks were lowered, as rope and chains were quickly thrown across boards by sailors from both sides. The Cruzesians were surprised to see that the sailors on the black ship were an eclectic mix. They were chiefly earth ponies and pegasi. However, a large number of Zebrican natives like cows, antelopes and zebras were also among their ranks.

A group of six figures emerged from the deck of the black ship, walked on the planks and reached the deck of the Esperança. However, to the waiting mares, dragon and draconequus, the mere sight of the delegation came as a bolt from the blue.

Forgoing decorum, Rainbow Dash almost tackled the pony in the middle at full speed. However, she stopped short right before actually reaching her target. The pony was limping on a walker, her legs were wrapped in some sort of fabric and stabilizing materials. Her shoulder and back was covered with scars.

However, the sad sight couldn’t stop the excitement of the discovery. “Twi—Twilight…!”

“I thought Rainbow Dash pulled the best prank back in Las Pegasus, now I retract my statement.”

Discord could no longer hide his surprise behind a grin, as he too looked at the scene with simple disbelief.

The mares and dragon were already in joyous tears.

“Is this real life…? Because if this is a dream, I don’t want it to end.” Spike said and covered his mouth.

Rainbow Dash broke down in tears and carefully embraced the purple mare. The purple mare looked a bit flustered and didn’t seem to know how to react, but at the end she squeezed out a smile.

Mistral Trail flew next to Rainbow Dash and asked in hesitation. “… Your Grace, it this pony the ‘Twilight Sparkle’ you’re looking for?”

Rainbow Dash sniffled and nodded emphatically.

“Huh.” Mistral Trail couldn’t help to let out a sigh of disbelief as well. “Fancy finding by sheer luck, what one has searched for far and wide.”

“Twilight!” Fluttershy cried, as Spike and Discord swarmed forward with her. “Where have you been all this time?”

“If you’re alive, why don’t you come back sooner?” Spike wiped his tears. “I missed you badly! I dreamt of you night after night after y—you…”

Twilight only awkwardly chuckled. “Sorry bud, you must speak up. My eyes and ears are now not so good.”

The mares and dragon gasped. But Discord simply elected to grumble louder. “Please! If you’re alive somewhere, can you also spare a mind or two for poor old Discord and come back sooner? He’s been tolerating hurtful abuses and willingly donning a power limiter just for you. Or are you still mad about my dalliance with you or my dalliance with Chrysalis?”

“What?” Twilight raised her eyebrows in red face.

She stopped herself in the track. Instead, she coughed. “I’m… over it.”

Discord was a bit surprised that Twilight let it go that easily. He could still remember Twilight’s seriously upset face moons ago.

“Okay.” Rainbow Dash inhaled sharply and composed herself. “This is really not a place to talk. Let us continue the parley as with formal protocol. Go to my room. I will follow soon after Mistral and I manage the procedural stuffs.”

Rainbow Dash and Mistral Trail flew off to address their subordinates. Fluttershy then hesitantly led the delegation from the black ship into the cabin.

The group had more or less recovered from the initial hysteria upon meeting Twilight, although their hearts were still beating from joyful excitement.

Twilight maintained her smile, but she remained curiously reticent. Although all of them obviously wanted to talk to their long-lost friend, the purple mare simply evaded all attempts of opening up a conversation.

They mentally sighed and began to move their attention to the new and equally curious companions of Twilight.

There were five of them—a smiling muscular ox, a zebra colt who was foal-sized but maintained a constant snide expression, an energetic antelope doe with a somewhat oafish look, and two ponies.

The first pony was the signaler, whose expression was neutral and impassive, she was a red earth pony with a purple mane, akin to red wine. The second one was a golden orange pegasus mare, who sported a messy short light green mane. A small black trident was tied to her side.

As Twilight seemed to continue focusing on walking, Pinkie tried to open up conversation with her convoy.

“Um… Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie… Do any of you speak Equestrian?”

“We all do.” The signaler said with a bored expression. “Name’s Rosencross.”

“Why yes, of course.” The zebra colt grinned. “I, Ukuhlakanipha Okusezingeni, am after all the most learned zebra in East Zebrica.”

The ox said curtly. “Equestrian traders sometimes stopped by to repair their ships, and I learned some from them. Miss Twilight taught me the rest.”

The orange pegasus and the antelope looked to each other.

The pegasus then said in a slightly cracked voice. “We didn’t know Equestrian before meeting Twilight, but she taught us her tongue very well. You see, Geuse’s my name, and fighting for honor and glory is my game!”

The antelope doe added with a smile. “I’m Verna, Mistress Geuse’s retainer, I keep an eye over our pocket so that we don’t starve. Lady Geuse is a knight of the Kingdom of Timbucktu in South Zebrica. We speak Zebrikaans as our mother tongue. Our tongues are clearly closely related, but it’s still different enough that we took a few moons to learn from Lady Twilight.”

Spike asked curiously. “So how exactly is it different?”

Geuse puffed, but Verna complied cheerfully. “For instance, we also say simple words like ‘Help!’ and ‘Stop!’ as Equestrians do."

But the next sentence Verna said was completely unintelligible to Spike. The intonation was so close to Equestrian, yet the words were utterly foreign. It was like his ears wanted to understand, but his brain didn't allow it.

“… What?” Spike said with an awkward expression. “I only caught ‘Twilight’ and ‘Zebrikaans’ in your second sentence.”

“Hey! I understood the second sentence!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “It sounds like West Germane that some rock-farming earth ponies used to speak!”

“Hah.” Geuse nodded. “That’s possible. I heard that our ancestors did come from the East.”

Pinkie Pie smiled. “Thanks! Nice to meet you all, Mkondo, Rosy, Kanipha, Geuse, Verna!”

The ox smiled back. Rosencross slightly raised her eyebrow at her assigned nickname, but she did not speak up. The zebra colt, though, immediately protested, “Ey! Who let you use my pet name now?”

He paused a bit and looked at the brightly smiling Pinkie, “Huh, though you somehow know Zezulu well enough to actually shorten my name appropriately. Too many foreign fools out there simply botched it up. Very well then, I will grant you the honor of addressing me with it. Don’t thank me.”

Pinkie awkwardly chuckled, and continued the banter with the five companions of Twilight in the hope to obtain some more concrete information, but they looked quite reserved in general and kept looking at Twilight, who didn’t say a thing. Even the most impetuous-looking Kanipha looked inscrutable.

Finally, they walked back to the office of Rainbow Dash. There they stood in the room awkwardly looking at one another and waited. The four had envisioned tons of things to say to Twilight once they reunited, but now that it really happened, they felt as if their tongues were tied, especially facing such a reticent and avoidant Twilight.

Several minutes later, Rainbow Dash finally emerged from the entrance to the room and saved them from further discomfort.

“Mistral Trail is out there helping out the remaining tasks. I just want to come as soon as possible.” Rainbow Dash brightly grinned. “Twilight! Thank Harmony, I always have faith in you! So where have you been all these times?”

Twilight raised a brow and replied. “I’m of course finding my way back to Equestria. What else did you expect?”

“Getting cheeky eh?” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Huh? Did you become a member of nobility like Rainbow Dash too? What’s up with the ginormous ship and army-sized escort?” Spike asked.

“There are actually not that much sailors and passengers on the Chitona, there are only a thousand and sixty-one of them.”

Twilight suddenly widened her eyes, “Hang on, the cyan tomboy became a noble? When?”

‘Cyan tomboy?’ The four was silently surprised by Twilight’s strange way of address.

However, if Rainbow Dash herself was surprised, her face did not betray her thought. Instead, she said. “Yeah, got a title and an army because I saved a nation from ruins. Pretty neat, eh?”

Twilight then smirked. “Well, thank you for all your trust and devotion then, Your Grace.”

The atmosphere grew a bit weird. The group felt it was a bit inappropriate for Twilight to act so high and mighty after witnessing such a massive canvassing for her safe return, yet none had the heart to call her out or at least ask why she acted like this, especially when she looked like she just crawled out of a mummy tomb.

Wanting to clear away the awkwardness, Fluttershy asked. “Can you tell us what happened to you in Zebrica all these moons? We see that you’ve gained a number of stalwart friends.”

“… I’m a bit tired from all this ruckus. Anything you want to ask, you can ask them, I’m going back to my chamber for the moment.”

Rainbow Dash widened her eyes. “Wait Twilight, we’ve got room on the Esperança!”

Twilight merely waved her hooves and limped out of the room.

The remaining mares and Spike looked to each other in confusion and bemusement. Even Discord was looking at the now empty doorway with a frown.

“Don’t mind her, she’s been like that since we’ve arrived at Bannerdeer.”

The group turned to Kanipha, who shook his head and let off a hint of worried glint in his eyes.

Geuse threw herself on a hammock in the room and said. “Yep. Twilie’s beginning to act all wacky shortly before we got on this weird ship.”

Spike narrowed his eyes. “What I’m gathering here is that you guys also feel Twilight’s acting strange.”

“… Maybe.” Rosencross muttered.

Discord suddenly raised his claw and interrupted the conversation. “Hang on a second there. We’ve literally just met. What in the ever-muddying chaos do we have any reason to trust you guys, or do you have any reason to trust us? We don’t even know what’s going on!”

“Oh well, I agree with the chaos spirit there.” Kanipha tilted his head. “Mayhap we should clarify what’s happening now before discussing Twilight.”

Fluttershy smilingly nodded. “Good idea.”

Discord, however, asked the zebra colt. “How do you know I’m the chaos spirit?”

“That’s simple. Twilight told us all about her friends, in great excruciating details over the six moons.” Kanipha covered his mouth.

“Mister Kanipha speaks the truth.” Mkondo added.

“So what exactly leads to our meeting at sea?” Rainbow Dash crossed her legs.

“We have pretty much the same question, big honcho.” Geuse grinned. “But we shall tell you a rough outline of what happened.”

“We hope that you’d reciprocate later.” Verna added.

“Very well. Shoot.” Rainbow Dash nodded.

“I’m a Timbucktuan knight-pegasus just scrapping by. Vernie and I were questing for a local magistrate to investigate a suspected infestation, that’s when we saw Twilie fell from the sky outside Timbucktu. We picked her up and brought her back to our home in the city. She did look like a broken rag back then.”

“Lady Twilight was badly injured. Her eyes and ears had seared from the fiery explosion, and her legs were mangled.”

Verna sighed. “When she woke up a few days later, she told us what happened. She told us that she battled the wicked leader of the wisselkinds and-”

“Wisselkinds?” Spike interrupted.

“Uh, you guys call them ‘changelings’, I think?” Geuse shrugged. “They have ravaged our lands in South Zebrica for a long, long time. Most of the time they’re mere nuisance, but when they’re organized, they can sack cities and leave everyone as husks of their former selves, just like a decade ago.”

Verna added. “Anyway, she told us her story, in a close approximation to our tongue no less. We cared for her for one more week. After Lady Twilight achieved a modicum of mobility, she immediately demanded to return to her homeland.”

“That’s plain mad. How can a half-blind, half-deaf, and lame pony cross the Great Desert on her own?”

Geuse shook her head. “But at least she had magic. So we proposed to her that she shall help us out questing around in the city, and use the rands to hire an escort across the desert and maybe board a ship at Bannerdeer. She readily agreed.”

Spike was horrified. “Wait, so were you telling a disabled pony to work for you?”

Geuse scrounged up her face like a raisin. It seemed that she did not take the accusation really well. Verna looked at her companion and quickly said. “Please understand, mister Spike, we almost ran out of our savings just to care for Lady Twilight. Besides, she was enthusiastic about the idea, since she herself was embarrassed for receiving our help for so long. We don’t mind a bit of help, of course.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “So what then?”

“Unicorns or any magic users were rarer than hen’s teeth in Zebrica, so Twilie was an instant hit with the guild. We met many in our various trips and quests, and ‘em three are those who eventually decided to stick with us and help.”

“Twilight... helped me find my self-respect again. I'm grateful for her.” Rosencross said with a rare hint of emotion.

Mkondo gently nodded. “Twilight’s not only a great appreciator of my craft, she’s also a wise and wonderful conversational partner.”

“I like her, plain and simple.” Kanipha looked up to the sky.

Verna then concluded. “We all have various reasons to thank Twilight. At the end, we all owe her a lot, us two included. Our aid to Twilight couldn’t compare to what Twilight had done next.”

“What did she do?”

“The Changeling Queen Chrysalis suddenly descended again upon Timbucktu.”

The mares gasped. “Chrysalis?!”

Geuse confirmed. “Yep. The one who laid waste and almost destroyed our kingdom, until she suddenly turned her snout eastwards. Twilie had told us she fought her invading army in her homeland, and a strong magical blast brought her there. Apparently, it also brought along Chrysalis and her minions, who quickly turned to our city to replenish her badly battered army.”

Discord shrugged. “Meh, if it was a blast that could teleport someone half way across the world, then it’s not unthinkable that it also brought over bugs and assorted stuffs. I bet it brought over a few stone statues and shrubberies too.”

“Hey.” Geuse said somewhat amusedly. “You’re right. Vernie was almost hit by one.”

“I almost died!” Verna protested.

“Stop being dramatic.” Geuse playfully poked the antelope.

“What happened to the invading changelings?” Spike asked worriedly.

Geuse frowned. “After the last invasion, the old fart had-”

“The what now?” Spike raised a brow.

Verna gave a defeated glare at Geuse and clarified. “She means the King of Timbucktu, King Rigel.”

“Who cares whose royal ar-”

“Language! Lady Geuse.”

“Fine!” Geuse rolled her eyes. “He ordered the sentry force to patrol regularly around the cities and reinforced the fortifications. But it did diddly do. As we learned with pain the last time, we’re pretty much sitting ducks against large-scale changeling invasion. For one, they can fly like us. They have magic. And their way of impersonating someone at a blink of an eye is beyond defense.”

Verna cheerfully smiled. “Luckily, we have Twilight!”

Kanipha nodded. “Yup. Twilight helped us repel the first wave of attack by extending a protective shield and busted the changeling spies among us. Although this almost pushed her to her limits, it bought us time to rally the disorganized defense.”

Geuse stuck her tongue out. “I bet she was still very sore about failing to beat off the changelings in Whatsitsname. She almost killed herself again just to cast the spell.”

Seeing the horrified reactions, she quickly added. “She’s fine now, y’see? If you guys gasp at every life-threatening situations she put herself into, you’ll soon be out of air. Of course, we respect her highly for all that she’s done.”

Rainbow Dash huffed but nodded. Geuse then continued. “So with Twilight’s leadership, we led a brave sortie against the changelings that caught them off-guard. With the cover of Twilight’s magic, we successfully defeated them and scattered them into the desert and swamps. However, it was not the end of the story, because that darn Chrysalis was unrelenting. The changelings kept attacking the city even with more casualties on their side. At last, Twilight finally got ahold of Chrysalis herself.”

“Really? She caught Chrysalis?” Discord asked with a frown.

“Yeah, that sounds weird.” Rainbow Dash added. “Chrysalis is a superbly adept magic user and battle veteran. If we and Twi can’t deal with her back in Canterlot, why she’s suddenly so easy to catch?”

Geuse said with an irritated expression. “Easy? Easy? So many of our own got maimed and injured just to push through waves of bugs to get to her!”

“I’m sorry, I’ve misspoke. I only understand too well how grueling battles can be and the blood and toils that you all have paid.” Rainbow Dash slightly frowned. “But we’d still want to know what had softened Chrysalis.”

“… Our constant battles definitely wore her down. But more importantly, we have adopted Twilight’s advice and evacuated everyone – absolutely everyone, including ponies, zebras, antelopes, cows, even the odd giraffes into the city. She wanted to make it impossible for Chrysalis and her changelings to feed while sieging us, kind of like scorching the earth for them bugs. By the time we had her on our hooves, she’s as weak as a newborn foal.”

Pinkie Pie smiled. “Twilight’s smart!”

“I’d hope so after we messed up the whole thing in Canterlot.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “So did you guys throw her in jail or something?”

“That’s when most of us collectively groaned.” Kanipha deadpanned.

“Huh?”

The zebra colt snapped. “I told she’s cray! She let the changelings go!”

“What the hay?” Rainbow Dash widened her eyes.

Verna said with a mix of a frown and a pout. “No one knows why she did it. But she did. Not without placing on her a spell that purportedly restrain her magic first, but it’s no different than setting a Grootslang free in the back garden. Troubles will come sooner or later.”

Rosencross coldly added. “Chrysalis did not deserve it.”

Mkondo broke his silence and interjected. “Lady Twilight did the kind thing. I think it is the right thing too, because there is little gain for us to slay the slain. She’s also right, because we haven’t heard from her since, and no changelings brought us troubles during our journey.”

“… What happened then after the battle?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

Verna said. “To thank Twilight for her service, King Rigel told her to name three things that she wanted.”

Discord snorted. “The king sure sounded like a fairy godfather.”

Geuse mumbled. “The only thing that he’s fairy-like is how airy his head is.”

Verna rolled her eyes. “… Well, Twilight first requested discretion to deal with Chrysalis and her changelings. She then asked for some money to buy supplies, as well as permission to recruit hooves for her trek east. Apparently she was concerned for the safety of her homeland and wanted some battle-hardened hooves to follow her home. Even if there was no immediate danger, she still thought her rapidly developing home city could use as many able hooves as possible.”

Spike shook his head. “Twi, always putting other things above herself.”

“Out of curiosity, how many hooves do you have?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It might not look like it, but we only have a little more than a thousand.” Geuse said. “A mishmash of pegasi, earth ponies, cows, zebras and a few antelopes.”

“The ship makes it look like we have a lot on board, doesn’t it?” Verna smiled.

Kanipha sighed. “Uh… this ship. But let me answer your earlier question first. It appeared that the intense magical battles in Timbucktu had caused Twilight’s magic to somehow deplete completely.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Although Zebricans in general are ignorant about unicorn magic, but at least I understand that it isn’t supposed to dry up like this merely due to overuse. She proposed a lot of explanations, including the relative lack of ambient magic in Zebrica, but neither she nor I was convinced.”

“So you’re telling me that Twilight can’t use magic right now… Is it why she’s acting all funny just now?” Rainbow Dash asked with a frown.

“She can’t use magic, that’s true. But this is not the reason why she’s acting funny.”

“Why then?”

Geuse shrugged. “We spent a month and a half just to cross the Great Desert, jumping from oasis to oasis. Twilie just moped and pretended to be okay, which all of us saw through completely.”

Verna nodded. “Things turned strange when we finally reached the great seaport, Zebrica’s eastern gateway to Equestria – Bannerdeer.”

“What do you mean by ‘strange’?” Spike asked.

“Well, well.” Kanipha tilted his head. “She suddenly brought a bunch of new earth ponies back one day.”

Verna added. “While having new followers joining us on our way is by no means something new, it was somewhat bizarre because little to no ponies live in East Zebrica. It’s always been the lands of cows and deer.”

“That’s it?” Discord frowned.

“Of course not. You all see how Twilight acted just now. She has been like that ever since we’ve arrived in Bannerdeer.”

“I understood she’s acting strange, but how exactly according to your observations?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“She just became a lot more distant.” Kanipha said with a frown.

“Lady Twilight had become… somewhat more brash-sounding.” Mkondo closed his eyes and said.

Verna looked down to the ground. “Her words are no longer as soft and cottony, but with prickly jabs and some reckless abandon.”

“If it were when I just met her, I wouldn’t mind someone whom I can trade jabs with.” Geuse said. “But since I’ve known Twilie for moons, it came off as quite unnatural to me.”

Spike raised a brow and frowned. “… I hate to point out the obvious, but since we’re talking about changelings…”

“We aren’t idiots you know.” Geuse interjected with a mix of annoyance and amusement. “Of course we’ve considered this possibility. But Twilight can still recall the things we’ve done together with clarity. Imposter changelings couldn’t have done that.”

Rosencross briefly turned to look at Geuse, but she remained silent.

Kanipha then said. “We’ve told our side of story. Now tell us about yours.”

And so one by one, the mares, Spike, and even Discord introduced themselves and told of how they met in Las Pegasus and set out to find Twilight.

After hearing their stories, Geuse gazed at Rainbow Dash, looked up and down and exclaimed. “I knew you must be the head honcho. But an army-leading duchess? Darn…”

“Lady Geu-”

Rainbow Dash waved. “It’s fine. I’m not a prude.”

After a moment of silence, Spike asked. “What now?”

Rainbow Dash then tapped her chin. “Why, we keep going onwards to Bannerdeer of course. We need resupplies, and the soldiers will want to see land for a change.”

The Zebrican companions looked at each other and quietly whispered, and then Geuse nodded. “Okay, we’ll follow you back. We aren’t that far from the harbor anyway.”

“Don’t you have to ask Twilight first? I mean, she’s kind of your leader now.” Rainbow Dash said.

“If Twilight confirmed that you guys are her friends, we’ll trust you. Besides, she liked to hide in her rooms in recent days.”

“Is it-”

“I dunno. She certainly preferred staying inside than going outside, but it’s only recently that she’d go totally shut-in and left everything up to us.”

The group again fell into a worried silence. Rainbow Dash then shook her head and sighed. “It’s a good thing to know that Twilight’s alive regardless. I’ll now go to direct my crews. You may stay on our ships or go back to your own as you please.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Most of the companions have returned to the black ship, but Pinkie was surprised to discover that the orange pegasus was staying on their ship and wandering near the bow.

Pinkie Pie cantered towards the brown doe and waved. “Hi! Geuse!”

The orange pegasus turned and smiled back. “Charmed, Pinkie Pie.”

“What you doin’ here? Are you curious about our ships, huh?”

“Ah. I just don’t like to stay under the black hood all the time. It makes me feel all ‘ugh’ and ‘grr’, if you catch my drift.”

“Oh, I totally do! That ship looks so scary, like a giant black monster!”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “So what’s with the big black ship? I heard that none of you like it. I mean, it’s dark and scary-looking, but you all built it, right?”

“Not exactly. In my opinion, it’s another really strange thing Twilie did.”

“It’s her idea?”

Geuse sighed. “Yes. The body of the ship itself is an award from the Bannerdeer king, after Kanipha solved the ancient riddle of the royal house. It was not even seaworthy, and it took Mkondo and a group of crew weeks to get it float on water. Then Twilie said she had to install these black plates that purportedly kept magic inside. She told us she wanted to see if by conserving ambient magic within a small area, she can regain her magic.”

“Okay…” Pinkie Pie nodded slowly.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Verna again let out a wistful sigh. “I just feel that Twilie had become weirdly reclusive and acting inappropriate at times, like just now. But we have asked probing questions a number of times, and she gave off no hint of not knowing her experiences with us. Besides, it’s her who claimed to sense you, her old friends, on this ship in the first place. Who else can she be if she’s not Twilie?”

Pinkie Pie nodded with determination. “We’ll talk to her!”

Geuse thinly smiled. “Excellent. After all, although we’ve been through a lot, you’re still her old friends. We can only bang on her door so many times without looking like stalkers. Even Kanipha, whom she has doted on for a bit.”

As the pink pony and the pegasus talked, Rosencross gazed down to them from the basket on the mast.

Despite the distance and the blowing sea winds, the red mare seemed to be hearing just fine. With her eyes gently shut, she concentrated on their conversation silently, until a claw was suddenly laid on her shoulder.

“Eek!” Rosencross yelped.

“Hey, what’s our little spy doing in here?”

Rosencross turned, and she saw the spirit of chaos in the same basket as her. The size of the basket meant that they were being uncomfortably close.

“D- Discord.”

“Thank you for remembering my name, dear Rosy. Now, would you mind explaining why you’re listening in on my and your friends?”

Her face briefly flashed pink when Discord called her ‘Rosy’, but she quickly turned back to her usual bored expression. “Nothing in particular.”

“You didn’t say much back then, did you?” Discord wryly smiled. “I’ve been smelling a curious scent from you. You aren’t just a common pony mare, are you?”

Rosencross did not answer. She merely slipped out of the basket and climbed down the rope ladder.

Discord’s next sentence was interrupted by Rosencross’s extended hoof. She said with a determined tone. “Everything I do, I do to protect Twilight.”

He was a bit mystified by the cryptic exclamation. Before he could utter the next sentence, the red mare already slid down to the board and galloped away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joined with the black ship Chitona, the entire fleet returned to the city-state of Bannerdeer for resupply.

The Zebricans were used to massive trade fleets from foreign lands passing through. The king’s representative did come to investigate why the Chitona turned back, but once he got the answer, he just let them go about freely in the city.

Rainbow Dash was busy overseeing the buying of provisions and their transport onto the ships, when she noticed that a band of her Cruzesian soldiers were mingling with the warrior band of Geuse.

She raised a brow in surprise. The two groups did not seem to be entirely strangers. They were singing a curious melody that both parties knew how to sing in their own tongues.

Sitting in the middle of the soldiers was Verna. One of the pegasi plucked a silvery bit from his purse and threw it to the antelope, and the antelope caught it with a smirk. The antelope then plucked her lute, and led the guards into the light-hearted song.

“The galleon's sailing forth, with captain Greenfield Jacob.
Sailing along the rugged coast of Zebrica.
In the night sky beckons, foreign stars as bright.
We felt lost, far from Cruzesia…”

“Your Grace?”

“Hmm?” Rainbow Dash turned from the upbeat song of the antelope, and saw a smiling Mistral Trail. “Oh, Misty, finished the logistics already?”

“Yes, Your Grace. The port workers here are very fast and competent hooves. Of course, having real, tangible gold bars and gems helped quicken their hooves.”

“I trust you to not overspend the treasure we brought along. We haggled very hard in order to pluck them out of the tight hooves of the Overseers’ Council, you know.”

“Not at all. We negotiated a fair price with the help of the locals on the Chitona.”

Mistral Trail paused a bit, and then turned to the city view. “Zebrica is a beautiful place. It’s a shame that we have to leave here so quickly.”

“Misty, do any soldier want to stay here and look for the true heir to the throne?”

“Your Grace, most of us could not care less about the so-called true lineage. It’s irrelevant except for those who are stuck in the past. For us, the only thing that matters is you, our many-colored hero.”

“Well, it is our stated mission to find that pony.”

“The decision is yours, Your Grace.” Mistral Trail looked to the port workers thoughtfully. “A lot of Cruzesians would want to stay for longer, but for other reasons.”

Rainbow Dash gazed at the mint-green mare. “What reasons exactly? Anything to do with old bonds? Like what they have sung?”

“Oh, Your Grace noticed that they’re singing Campoverde Jacó?”

“Ah… was he a famous Cruzesian?”

“Oh dear, he certainly was.” Mistral Trail grinned. “He was a navigator with royal blood. He’s the first pony to reach as far as West Zebrica from the Old Lands. He basically single-hoofedly plotted the sea lane to the Amarezons, charted the Butterfly Strait, braved the Cape of Storms and reached the rich and fertile West Zebrica.”

“No wonder… Cruzesians positively adore navigators and seafarers.”

“Indeed. He was a great hero of the seas, revered by us as an ocean-conquering legend. Sadly, he was lost on the seas on his third great voyage, but his glorious name remained in the memories of all of us. Although most Cruzesians resettled in Amarezons after fleeing the old lands, I believe at least some West Zebricans were the descendants of the old Cruzesians. That’s likely why we both know the same old tune about him.”

“I see. Mistral, can you tell me more and teach me the words?”

Mistral Trail raised a brow, and then smiled brightly. “Certainly!”

As Verna finished another verse, she was surprised to hear an additional singing voice.

“The brave Greenfield, in his sailboat.
Towards roaring coast of Zebrica.
The night beckons, the stars shine
We miss our Cruzesia…”

“Rainbow Dash?” Verna smilingly asked. “You can sing about Groenveld Jaco too?”

She paused and replied with a grin. “… I’ll try.”

The cyan mare then continued in her own tongue,

“Hoist up your sails on high.
Guide us with your sailors’ eyes.
We reached the Cape,
As Zebrica comes to an end.

‘Turn back to the North,
To a friendlier port.
Campoverde Jacó!
We want to go home.’”

“Nice touch!” The antelope doe cheered.

Rainbow Dash grinned, hearing her own soldiers murmured approvingly.

“We passed by the whales, we passed by the Cape.
The winds of the storm blew.
Each new day, more sun and more sea.
We long for our motherland.

Follow the light over the horizons, we try to conquer the seas.
With faith for the glory of Cruzesia.
But let us go back now, we want to go.
The blue sea makes me homesick.

We headed for the North by day.
And landed at Cowherd Bay.
We planted our hooves on the soil of Zebrica.

North for three days again.
The sailors contended,
‘Campoverde Jacó!
We want to go home.’

After a full ten years,
He’s searching for good green land.
With new ships he once more sailed to Zebrica.

Braving huge storms, they dragged along,
Campoverde Jacó, reached the Promised Land.

Avast ye! Campoverde,
He charted a whole new land,
Where now a thriving nation now lives and prospers.

Yet he gave his life,
To the fluttering seas.
Campoverde Jacó!
We sing to your name.”

The Cruzesian soldiers were delighted to hear the singing of their leader. They were even more surprised at how soft on the ears and nostalgia-evoking her slightly raspy voice was.

After Rainbow Dash finished singing, both the Cruzesians and the Zebricans clapped and cheered. The cyan mare was delighted to have boosted the morale of her crew. At a distance though, on the bow of the Chitona, a figure narrowed her eyes and retreated back into the cabin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although the stop at Bannerdeer was much more comfortable than life on ship, they could not stay and admire the sundried brick houses and beautiful limestone spires of Bannerdeer for long. Rainbow Dash could not wait to get her, her friends and especially Twilight back to Equestria. So after a mere half-day, they again set sail eastwards.

During their stop at Bannerdeer and the first days of their voyage, Twilight was again reluctant to let the mares and dragon to stay with her or even visit her often.

Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Spike had tried to visit her on the Chitona both separately and in a group together. Most of the time they were just locked out of the room for no apparent reason. Other times when Twilight did let them in, she stayed aloof and evasive while focusing on crafting magic items and devising spells.

It had left the visiting mares and dragon who were fervently wanting to properly reunite with the purple mare disappointed and dejected. They could only surmise that there was some magical mishap involved that might have caused the strange behaviors. After a few more of visits of this kind, they decided to put it on hold until they can get Twilight back to Equestria for a detailed check-up.

Discord, however, had other ideas. He was basically the only magic user on the black ship beside Twilight. And he had been sensing a strange magical fluctuation from the crew of Chitona and the ship from day one.

It was obviously non-pony in origin. Of course, the obvious answer would be that Twilight had been replaced by some nefarious changeling, most likely a vengeful Chrysalis. Even the new ponies she brought in at Bannerdeer might also be a bunch of changelings.

He had thought about going at it directly by shooting her an energy blast all of a sudden. Changelings usually couldn’t maintain a stable guise when struck.

However, he also sensed a magical signature that is unmistakably Twilight’s from the purple mare. He didn’t have the heart to hurt Twilight even on accident, especially not when she’s physically broken like this.

He wryly grinned to himself, thinking about how soft he’s become just to live according to the purple mare’s legacy. It was just a mere gesture of redemption then, but now it was given concrete meaning by Twilight’s return.

He then pondered about Rosencross. The red mare was up to something. Or at least, she would know something that would be useful.

But with all his power, he somehow could not track down one mare on a ship. However big, a ship was still a confined space, and it bemused him that someone with such a palette scheme could escape his eyes. It should be an easy job even with his imposed power limit.

He mumbled with annoyance, as he walked with a rat disguise on the Chitona. For some reason, his thoughts were drawn towards the changeling queen herself.

He had actually never met Chrysalis before the changeling invasion. By the time she was born, or at least, became active, he was already encased in stone.

But from what he managed to overhear over the years, the changeling queen was a vicious one. True to what Geuse said, she sacked cities and brutally sapped the inhabitants’ love in West Zebrica before setting her eyes on the magic-rich Equestria. She kidnapped Cadance and dumped her in the caves before planning to exploit the love from Shining Armor. Unlike him who was just out there for fun, she was out there for power and utter domination.

He was in such a deep thought, that he did not notice he already reach his destination. There was a crack on top of Twilight’s room, through which he could peek and spy on what Twilight had been up to.

As he lamented that he’s going to see Twilight going about her daily life without much interesting to note for another day, Twilight’s horn suddenly lit, and with a brief bright flash, there were suddenly two Twilights looking at each other.

Discord gazed on with shock. The ‘original’ Twilight laid on the ground gasping for air, while the ‘new’ Twilight looked on with an impatient expression.

The new Twilight patted herself and gruffly huffed. The old Twilight seemed to have regained her composure, but struggled to stand up.

Discord observed carefully. It appeared that the Twilight who was on the ground was really physically disabled. The one looking on with a dissatisfied expression, though, was merely feigning it.

“Chrysalis...” The ‘original’ Twilight wheezed out with some difficulty. “What makes you finally release your hold?”

Discord sharply inhaled. ‘Whoa, I caught this slippery little minx red-handed! Well worth the wait… Let’s check this out.’

“Bah, I’m just a bit tired of having to stay in the barely working, useless body of yours. I’d have just throw you into the sea to feed the fishes, if you hadn’t forced me to do this by draining my magic and denying me a way to feed with the stupid restraining spell.”

Twilight shrunk a bit. “I’m sorry to do this, but I had no choice back then. The Timbucktuans were going to… do horrible things to you if you stay, and I couldn’t have just let you go.”

Not only Discord, but Chrysalis also raised a brow at the professed kindness from the purple mare. She narrowed her eyes and again hissed. “… Are you pitying me?”

Twilight raised her voice to the best she could. “No! I just don’t want to see anyone die anymore!”

Chrysalis paused briefly, and then sneered. “Your kindness will mark your grave, Twilight Sparkle. You don’t deserve your vast magic potential, being such a useless weakling.”

The changeling queen then stomped her legs angrily. “Where’s your magic anyway? I can’t access any of it!”

“Neither can I.” Twilight stated neutrally. “I’m not sure why, but my magical depletion had persisted way beyond than what I had expected.”

The purple mare then weakly curled up her lips. “You had chosen a poor time to cast your spell.”

Chrysalis was furious at the hint of mocking. She barely suppressed her outburst, and then coldly smiled.

“Your insolence will not stop my encroaching curse, Twilight Sparkle. Although I had too little magic to transform, fate had chosen to spite you by letting me find some Soul Dust in the Great Desert. You also created your own downfall by casting that spell on me, as it leaves an indelible connection between us. Now it’s only time until I gain your everything!”

Twilight, however, was barely stunned. “It has been some time since the spell, hasn’t it?”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “What are you implying?”

“If that concoction, as you said, can really absorb my essence and experiences into your own, surely it should at least grant you some insight now. But so far, you would have been exposed if it was not for my intervention.”

Chrysalis’s face was one of anger and confusion. “I- I did not ask! Y- You-”

The changeling queen breathed in and out. “Why did you help me stealing your life? Are you crazy?”

Twilight again grinned, but she did not speak.

Discord felt a flash of guilt in his chest, while Chrysalis was briefly stunned, and then snapped. “If you don’t treasure your life, then I might as well take it away from you!”

Twilight then said with a sigh. “Even though you can control my physical body, it will be literally impossible for you to tamper with my vital essence enough to gain access to my experiences. My friends will uncover you quickly if I withhold input.”

“Your bluffing is pathetic. Not even Celestia can withstand the encroachment of Soul Dust if her magic is suppressed.” Chrysalis said with disdain.

“I have no reason to bluff, it wouldn’t have bought me time if it were not true. The fact that you have yet to assimilate me proves my point.”

Chrysalis angrily gritted her teeth. “Nonsense! Just wait a few more days and we’ll see!”

Twilight did not react. Instead, she muttered. “I wonder why you’re so tame with my friends and companions.”

“Huh?” Chrysalis widened her eyes in shock.

Twilight briefly paused. “You don’t look like the type who can completely hold back your edge when you’re impersonating someone. And yet you treat my friends with adequate manners even though you’re eager to get rid of them and focus on your research.”

“You don’t know me.” Chrysalis snarled.

“I don’t claim to. But in truth, we aren’t exactly strangers, and I don’t mean only in the sense of being adversaries either.”

Twilight quietly muttered. “You surely had noticed when we’re crossing horns in the battle.”

Chrysalis spat out with dripping vengeance. “You dare bring that up, huh? You stole my Stigmata!”

Twilight frowned. “I don’t know what you meant.”

Chrysalis huffed. She originally wanted to just stonewall and ignore her, but something tucked at her heart and she slowly said. “The Green Stigmata is the magical signature of a changeling queen. While it boosts my magical power – I had no need for that extra boost – it’s more important as a paramount symbol of royal status, like those gem-encrusted crown of you ponies.”

Twilight was surprised at the candidness of Chrysalis. She gulped and said. “Thank you for your explanation. But I really have no idea that I took it from you. I would have returned it immediately if I know how.”

“You can’t.” Chrysalis said coldly. “The Green Stigmata is either destroyed when the hive is annihilated, or absorbed when a hive’s queen was defeated by another queen. It cannot be voluntarily transferred. I didn’t think it was possible for the Green Stigmata to change hooves across species even if a queen is defeated, because I had experiences with that kind of situation.”

Twilight lowered her head. “It must be because we’re too entangled mentally.”

The purple mare turned to look at the changeling queen. “Don’t you feel it also?”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes again, but she remained silent.

“Even our memories and experiences do not cross paths, our feelings and emotions still diffuse across the realms of mind. The past me would have been very alarmed by your plan to bring a group of disguised changeling to join my trusted companions, but now I cannot help but feel a urge to protect them and a sense of camaraderie whenever I see the hivelings.”

Twilight thinly smiled. “I’m quite certain that the reason you don’t act out towards my friends is that you also feel the same when you see their faces.”

Chrysalis’s face turned red as she angrily refuted. “I didn’t! They have conspired with you to obstruct my conquest, I- I-”

For some reason, Chrysalis couldn’t finish the half-uttered sentence.

Twilight merely gazed at the changeling queen with determination and a hint of hope.

“Do you want friends?”

“Shut up! Shut up!” Chrysalis almost shouted. “It’s all your fault! Why would I, the proud Queen of Changelings, be confused and confounded by your petty emotions!”

Twilight frowned, but Chrysalis suddenly grinned with a slightly unhinged expression.

“I’m not myself right now. But all these would be fixed when I’m finished with you.”

“Chrysalis…” Twilight sadly sighed. “I’m serious. I want to b-”

“Enough of this talk!” A visibly enraged Chrysalis almost yelled. “I’ll prove to you I’m not corrupted by your pathetic softness! You love the little dragon so much, huh? I’ll have him choke to death in your own arms!”

Twilight, for the first time, showed a look of abject horror. “No!! Please, not Spike!”

“Too late to show remorse for your audacity and misdeeds, Twilight Sparkle.” Chrysalis cruelly grinned, as she walked near the helpless Twilight and lit her horn again.

With another bright flash of light, there was only one Twilight again. Although this time, she was smiling with cruel viciousness never before seen on the purple mare’s face.

She slowly climbed to the walker with her weak legs, but they shook even more than usual. Her entire body tensed up and seemed to resist her every movement.

“Shush, you useless whelp! I need your ‘help’ no more!” ‘Twilight’ angrily hissed, as her horn grew a faint white.

The trembling gradually ceased. ‘Twilight’ grinned again. “… That’s better, now go to sleep, while I put on the show.” The purple mare tilted her neck left and right and again widely grinned as the resistance was forcibly suppressed.

‘Okay, this show has gone on long enough. If I don’t go in right now, Twilight will hate me for life.’

The chaos spirit casted off his facetiously small bucket of popcorn and planned to teleport into the room to confront Chrysalis. However, he stopped when he noticed she also stopped dead in her track.

“W- What is this?”

‘Twilight’ blinked as she felt a wetness on her cheek. Tears dropped from her eyes and dripped onto the ground.

She gritted her teeth again. Twilight had been put to sleep by force, so she couldn’t have caused this. It must be her own.

She shivered as a realization hit her. “A- am I feeling for her and the dragon?”

She angrily yelled. “This is impossible! This is beyond absurd!”

Despite her tough words, her heart was wringing like a towel. She could not even bring herself to step outside the room.

Discord watched with a stunned face. This was when he felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck. He almost opened his mouth and squeaked.

His vision quickly shifted as he seemed to be carried away by some larger creature in the mouth. Discord briefly feared that it was a ship cat, but as he turned, he was even more surprised. Purple mane billowed across his face, and a distinctive rose scent entered his nose. It was Rosencross.

Before Discord could react, Rosencross entered a room full of hay bales. She laid Discord on one of the bales and carefully closed the door.

“Discord, I reckon?” The red mare said.

“… So you know somehow. What, are you going to tell me on your mistress?” Discord sneered.

Rosencross slightly widened her eyes, but she quickly reverted to her usual expression. “You can’t be more off if you’re talking about Chrysalis.”

“Chrysalis is not your boss? How surprising. You totes have that spy feel coming out from you, changeling.”

Rosencross narrowed her eyes. “How do you know I am?”

“Oh, I just guessed. Thanks for confirming it for me.”

Rosencross huffed with annoyance as her true identity was blown. Discord, however, has more pressing issues to ask.

“Why did you take me away? Don’t you k-”

“I know.”

“… You really aren’t working for that changeling queen, are you?”

Anger flashed across the red mare’s face. “I. said. I. am. NOT! It’s way more complicated than you think to rescue Twilight!”

She inhaled and exhaled to calm herself down, and then asked gravely. “Are you here because you want to help Twilight?”

Discord, however, said unamusedly. “Why must I trust you? I don’t even know why you know I’ve changed into a rat.”

“I’ve been in this stealth business for longer than you think.” Rosencross said coolly. “Your flash of transformation did not escape my eyes.”

“Hmph. Very well.” Discord harrumphed. “So what if I am here to check up on Twilight?”

“Anyone who wishes to protect Twilight shall be my ally.”

Discord tapped on his chin. “You’re a changeling. Aren’t you supposed to protect your changeling sister instead?”

“… She was the one who destroyed my hive.” There was a obvious sense of anger in her tone.

“Huh?” Discord was truly surprised. “Come again?”

Rosencross gazed out of the window as if she could see her past in the night sky.

“There were more than one changeling hive in Zebrica. Some were outright aggressive, but ours was not. We simply lured sapient creatures with our mind magic and caused them to enter a blissful trance for a certain period of time, during which we absorbed their overflowing love.”

“Uh-huh. Then Chrysalis warred with your hive?”

“No, she ambushed us when we were casting the trance spell, which was when we’re most vulnerable. All the changelings in my hive were captured and presumably integrated into Chrysalis’s hive. Since she’s left with little changeling magic, I don’t think she has discovered I’m a changeling too.”

“So who are you exactly?”

“I used to be called Phalena, Queen of the Lotus Swamps, but my name and my hive’s name is but desert dust. After I escaped, I took up a guise of the last pony I impersonate. Her name was…”

She slowly sighed. “… Rosencross. She’s a simple farm mare who recently immigrated to Zebrica, but perished in a hyena attack. I began to get used to my new identity, even long after the invasion. I then mixed into pony society and worked in… places where cheap love was enough for me to scrape by, until I met Twilight.”

Rosencross’s gaze suddenly turned harsh, as she pulled her thoughts back from the distant past. “But enough about me, I’m just going to remind you that saving Twilight will require more tact than just busting in.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know that Chrysalis has taken over Twilight all along, because Twilight also knew I was a stray, and she saved me by hooking me up with her magic source as a mean of sustenance. It had since dwindled, but I was still able to scrape by and detect her magical aura. And I sensed the unmistakable taint of Chrysalis’s influence and the use of the Soul Dust for her nefarious purpose.”

Rosencross gritted her teeth. “However, Soul Dust is an incredibly delicate magical item. Breaking the connection built of it will require subtle magical manipulation as well. Besides, it seemed that their intense mental fight and their subsequent battles have created a mysterious mind link between them two, as you might have heard just now. I had little magic, so I had to find some other source of magic or magical artefact that could counteract it.”

“I have magic.” Discord waved casually.

Rosencross widened her eyes slightly in a small flicker of hope. “Are you saying that you’ll help?”

“I’m helping myself to prevent Twilight from getting mad with me even more.”

The red mare looked both alarmed and curious. “Did you wrong her before?”

“Oh dear. By chaos I did.” Discord shook his head and sighed. “I’m making up for it.”

Rosencross acknowledged his reaction and said. “Very well. We shall wait till she had fallen asleep, that’s when her mental defense was most porous. I shall tell you more about the nature and effect of the Soul Dust concoction so that you might better prepare for a precision strike.”

“… Shoot.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Why are you late?” Rosencross coldly asked, as a panting murine Discord sneaked towards her.

“Well, she did not sleep or leave the room yet, did she?” Discord whistled. “So I took the liberty of going back to check on the others.”

“There’s no excuse for not maintaining constant vigilance!” Rosencross hissed.

“Oh please! Not you too...” Discord grimaced. “The pink menace kept me and all the ponies she could find in order to cheer everyone up. ‘After all, Twilight is alive!’ She kept repeating to us like some mad mantra, and I was forced to perform tame and lame party tricks over and over again. It was horrendous!”

Rosencross looked at Discord with a blank expression, obviously unamused.

“Oh Rosy, you’re always so stuck up.” Discord shook his head. “You gotta lighten up a bit sometimes, or you won’t find a guy you know?”

“Do you want to be slapped lightly or slapped heavily? Because if it is the former, I advise you to apologize right now.”

“Holy guacamole, I’m sorry, okay?” Discord winced and blurted out. “I just want to see if the small dragon’s fine. Y’know, the darn Chrysalis did threaten to choke him once.”

Rosencross was stunned by Discord’s explanation. Her anger at his inappropriate joke was completely drenched.

The red mare thinly smiled, surprising the chaos spirit.

“I had been wondering why would Twilight pick such a slippery spirit of chaos as friend… but I seem to see the reason now. You have a spot of kindness in yourself as well, no wonder Twilight was so fond of speaking of you.”

“S- She did?”

Rosencross merely maintained her smile and spoke nothing. But as she returned a glance at the peak hole, her expression turned severe.

“She had finally gone to sleep. It’s time.”

Discord simply nodded, and the duo began to sneak through the corridors of the ship downstairs. It was deep at night, so only those on night watch were active. Rosencross skillfully maneuvered through spaces where no night patrol would pass through.

“It’s locked.” Discord whispered and pointed to the door with his nose.

Rosencross said, “You can magick it open.”

“True.”

“Do it silently, though. She’s a light sleeper.”

With a muted flash, Discord returned to his original form. He lightly tapped his claws on the frame, and the entire door was turned into cotton candy, which fell to the ground like snowflakes.

“Must you play around all the time?” Rosencross whispered in annoyance.

“Life can use some spice from now and then.”

They sneaked near the sleeping form of ‘Twilight’. Rosencross lowered her voice to the lowest. “Can you bring both of us in?”

“It will push me to my limit with the power limiter in place. I probably couldn’t hold it for more than an hour even if I only link them and me.”

“P—please, Discord!” Rosencross pleaded. “Bring me too! I want to help!”

Discord suddenly grinned. “Oh, not so bumptious now?”

Rosencross grimaced, and her tough and cold demeanor began to break down in sad desperation. If there was one thing Discord was certain about Rosencross, it was that she cared for Twilight deeply.

Looking at her quivering lips, Discord showed a face of horror. “Hey no fair! You mares always weaponize your tears. Alright, hold onto your saddles, I’m going to establish the mind links now.”

In apparent caution, Discord extended both his arms. His fingers on his claws formed a rhombus, from which white sparks began to fly out and surrounded the four.

“Brace yourself!”

The duo were swiftly brought into the realm of Twilight’s mind. They fell from the surface consciousness to the deeper parts of her mind like two lead weights. However, to Discord’s surprise, when he finally landed, Rosencross was nowhere to be seen.

In addition, he sensed something really unusual. He could feel Twilight’s presence, which was natural as he was in the shared mental space of the purple mare. What was abnormal was that the presence was volatile and unstable. If he had to describe the dissonant feeling, it was as if the purple mare’s mind was not at home in her own body, an occurrence that struck him as completely bizarre.

He also sensed a foreign presence in the mental space other than himself. As first he presumed that it was Rosencross or Chrysalis. However, as he approached the source of the foreign presence, he became increasingly sure that it was neither. The presence was not of this world or dimension.

Like his certain amorphous friend, there was a strange clamor to its very existence.

He walked on a white trail in the darkness of the mind. After walking for an undeterminable time, the winding path lead to a small pavilion quite un-Equestrian in style. It was a red and round structure with a green conical top. In the middle of it, somepony who looked like Twilight sat at a square stone table.

The purple mare noticed the incoming Discord. She raised her eyebrow slightly, but she did not seem surprised. She simply waved her hoof to the chaos spirit and gestured him to come.

Discord waded in and sat on the stone table opposite the purple mare. She was playing with some kind of chess. However, it was clearly not Equestrian chess. Its pieces were wide and flat, and carved with representative markings. The two sides were represented by red and black markings, and the board was formed by hollow squares with a narrow boundary separating two opponents.

The purple mare began to arrange the pieces, when Discord caught her hoof and asked abruptly, “You’re not Twilight.”

“You’re right, I’m not her.” The Twilight doppelganger said, “I simply borrowed her likeness, for I have no likeness of my own.”

“You aren’t Chrysalis, are you?”

“I am no changeling.”

Discord released her hoof and narrowed his eyes. “Who are you, and where is she?”

“Getting impatient, aren’t we? That’s unlike Twilight’s impression on you, a crafty and slick spirit of chaos.”

“So you wanna play game, huh?” Discord said. “Sorry, but I got an egghead to save.”

“Egghead… huh?” The purple mare lightly chortled. “I’ll lead you to her and tell you all I know if you win. Time means nothing here, you need not worry.”

“… Pfft, as if I didn’t sense how timey-wimey it is in here. Fine. So this is just chess but with different pieces, right?”

“It’s chess, but not Equestrian chess.” The purple mare explained. “I heard that elephants and lindworms in the Far East play something similar, but what we’re playing now was independently developed… somewhere else. Here, let me show you how to play.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The purple mare moved first. She placed her cannon in front of her own soldier, which in turn acted as a screen to allow capture of Discord’s soldier. It was a classic and aggressive opening move.

Discord tapped his chin as he swept through the pieces he had. Without much hesitation, he moved his left horse to defend his own soldier.

The purple mare smiled, as she and Discord continued to move pieces around in a roughly equal battle.

“Discord.” The purple mare said while pondering her next move. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“What do you live your life for?”

“Why, to fill the world with delightful and fun chaos, of course!”

“If so, why do you look for Twilight? I can also sense that your power is much diminished, why’s that?”

“… In order to placate those bothersome Alicorn princesses, I have to wear that troublesome power limiter thing once designed for Tirek. It was a pain in the plot, you don’t know the half of it!”

The mare slightly widened her eyes, but she continued. “You haven’t yet answered why you look for Twilight.”

Discord sighed in annoyance. “Why must you mares be so difficult? Fine, I want to atone, I want a chance to say I’m sorry, I want to convince myself that my action didn’t make me lose my very first friend!”

“And?”

At the insistent gaze from the purple mare, Discord exhaled in defeat, “… I also want answer. This is what drove me to go to the extreme that I now regret, but I still want it. It’s a matter of trust and a matter of confidence. I see Twilight as my dear friend, alright? When she denied me a great secret that she and all her best friends know, it’s like a hanging sword over my heart all the time, and the seed of doubt just grew uncontrollably, I couldn’t help it!”

The purple mare looked at Discord intently, and she nodded, “So Twilight is important to you, isn’t she?”

“No duh, Sherlock...”

“So suppose it is for the continuation of the friendship and Twilight’s affection, are you willing to tolerate a state of controlled chaos forever?”

“That’s sort of what I’m already doing.” Discord replied, somewhat unamused. “It is boring, but it is also kind of refreshing after millennia of pranks. Can’t promise you forever though, who can anyway? I never thought I would actually find Twilight in the first place, just like I never thought the Rainbow tomboy would somehow become a foreign duchess.”

The purple mare was again caught making a surprised look, but she quickly hid it and asked further. “What about a lifetime of not knowing that particular secret?”

Discord seemed to be expecting this question, so he answered with forthrightness. “I would be very disappointed at Twilight not considering me as a friend worthy enough to know, but after the gigantic mess I made in Canterlot, I probably wouldn’t try to force it again. Besides, Twilight isn’t exactly an unreasonable mare.”

“Mhm.” The purple mare nodded at the implication of Discord’s surprisingly straightforward statement.

As they talked, the battle on the chessboard began to heat up. The purple mare started to aggressively move her soldiers forward, and she bate her breath as she observed Discord’s reactions. He chose to face her in the battle, and moved forth his soldiers as well. Both sides then swiftly move their soldiers across the river. Soldiers hold the key of victory once they reach the enemy positions and threaten opponent’s general, so this foretold a fierce battle soon to come.

Again, the purple mare chose to pressure Discord further, and jumped her cannon captured his advisor across the river. Discord, though, remained unfazed. He allowed the purple mare’s chariot and cannon to rampage on his front line, while he sent one of his own chariot to neutralize his opponent’s chariot, knowing well that it would immediately got captured by her galloper. There, he directed the purple mare’s attention towards his lone chariot, which strode horizontally through her frontline.

Then, without warning, he jumped his another cannon across the river, in an amusing move that mirrored the earlier move of the purple mare, capturing her elephant. Since this time her advisor stood between his cannon and her general, he announced with a grin. “Check.”

The purple mare widened her eyes in surprise again, as she immediately pulled away her advisor to protect her general. However, Discord then moved his chariot into the empty space where her chariot used to be, forming an impeccable pincer attack.

“Haha, checkmate.”

The purple mare looked at the chessboard for a while, as if in slight disbelief but also relief. She eventually sighed and smiled, “Congratulations, you’ve won.”

“Okay, now that I’ve amused you enough, why don’t you tell me what this is all about already?”

“If you mean this game of chess. It’s just a way for me to gauge your character and see if you’re a good enough friend for Twilight for me to entrust you with her secrets.”

Discord frowned. He disliked being the object others played around with, but he was also bewildered that how exactly a game of chess could be used as a judge of character, besides their conversation.

“Observing a game of chess is much like observing someone. Each attack, each defense, each feint and each captured piece allows you to see how your opponents ponder and react. I have played so many rounds of chess that I can statistically compute the composition of your personality traits up to ninety-eight percent confidence. And despite your past record, I determined that you’re trustworthy enough for me to relay you the information.”

“What are you, a machine?”

“I was, sort of. So are you ready to listen?”

“All ears if it leads me to her.”

“… I’m the reason why Twilight wouldn’t tell you her secret.”

“Huh, what?”

“The Twilight you see isn’t all Twilight. Nor were you the only one who got buried beneath stone for a long time in Canterlot.”

“… What do you mean?” Discord narrowed his eyes.

“Before your imprisonment in the sculpture garden, before Canterlot was founded, the caves in Canterlot was already a penal colony for evil unicorns and other assorted magic users in Equestrian princedoms.”

“I know that.” Discord looked at the purple mare with a frown.

“Also, there was an artefact buried beneath the cave rocks. It was a sophisticated tool used by a civilization beyond this world, and its primary functions were to observe and record. For unknown reasons, it fell onto this alien world eons ago. And then it lied dormant, since the form of power used to sustain it had long run out. However, the magic brought by the imprisoned magic users gradually built up, and miraculously it reactivated the artefact. It began recording the immediate surrounding with errorless accuracy like it was intended to do.”

The purple mare sighed. “As time went on, the dark magic in the cave sipped into each fiber of the artefact, infiltrating its very being. But instead of straightforwardly turning its form twisted, the dark magic played a cruel joke on it by giving it a consciousness and a yearning for life. But it was a mechanical device, it couldn’t talk or reach out to others, and it was doomed to silently observe a world that it desperately wanted to live in. It eventually came up an idea. It began to manipulate the magical frequency inside it and tried to communicate with the surface dwellers via this modified form of telepathy. It was at first a hopeful bid to see if any master unicorn out there can help it out. But as time went on, its hope diminished, because the signal was perhaps too weak to be detected by anyone.

She laid a hoof on the chessboard, which disappeared like a vapor in a desert. “Years went by, and it grew weary and depressed. It saw so much and did so little, and based on the arcane lore it had learnt over the years, it was convinced that his taint was irrevocable. One fateful day, it sensed the sobbing purple mare in the Royal Garden. It sighed, and carelessly greeted as it would do to every passer-by. Miraculously, the sobbing mare responded as she stopped sulking from her failed exam.”

She maintained a neutral expression, but an errant tear still rolled down her cheek. “… At this point of moment though, while it was delighted to finally be able talk to somepony, it had grown only too jaded, and only wanted a sweet release before leaving a gift for its host world. So it began to teach the purple unicorn the most crucial magical knowledge it gathered up in all its life. The highest arcane knowledge took ages to teach even though the student was a genius. However, it already grew overwhelmingly fond for the first pony it talked and made friend with, it could barely control its emotions. So it asked her to bring it out of the safe refuge of the caves to be with her physically for once, despite the danger of releasing the evil magic within. Realizing what his selfish desire could lead to, it immediately begged the mare to dispose of it. But woe, she was too overly attached to this friend of her, and did the unimaginable. As she destroyed the artefact, she also severed the bond of its consciousness to its container and placed the lingering soul inside herself.”

“Oh by seven heavens, Twilight… you…” Discord muttered.

“What else could happen?” The purple mare wryly sighed. “There were two liquids but only one cup. They mixed and became one.”

Discord went silent, then after a moment, he began to titter, which became a hearty chortle, and then evolved into a full-fledged laugh.

“… What’s so funny about it?” The purple mare knitted her brows.

“Ha ha ha! Oh, that’s much, much richer than I thought. Making friend with Twilight was a right decision after all! Oh dear, I can’t hold my laugh, ha ha!”

Discord laughed so loudly and forcefully that tears squeezed out from the corner of his eyes. He casually wiped them off and said. “So all this time, I’ve technically been with someone I thought was a little pony, but in fact it was some eons old geezer who might even be older than me. Oh dear!”

He suddenly thought of something as he observed the purple mare in front of him. He tried hard to calm himself down a bit and then asked. “Wait, so I presume you are that… thing, but you also said you and Twilight kinda mixed into one. So why are you still here?”

“Huh, I’m a ‘thing’ now. I guess you’re right though.” The purple mare shook her head. “I’m not exactly the device itself. I’m the minute residue of what was once the artefact, and I exist only in the deepest recess of Twilight’s mind, about to go out entirely. You’re surprisingly in time before I disappear fully. I suppose your desire to find out what Twilight has been hiding from you lead you here.”

“So you just told me her secret like that? Don’t you worry about me going around and telling others?”

“I can barely hold myself together before I dissipate, I have bigger worries if I care about my existence.” The purple mare smiled. “And the ‘ancient tome’, as what Twilight and her friends called it, would not mind as well, since it was it that gave the sense of almost suicidal abandon to the poor mare in the first place. Twilight will though, she definitely will, because she is a kindhearted worrywart. A latent doubt was on her mind ever since you hypnotized her in the Royal Garden.”

Discord opened his mouth, but no sound came out at all.

She sighed. “The guilty conscience she inherited from the ancient tome temporarily flared up after undergoing your hypnosis. She was reminded of how starkly different was the guileless Twilight and the chimera she was now, and how it could have been without its pesky intrusion.”

“Wait, wait, ‘what could have been’? Now don’t tell me that the artefact had divination power too.” Discord asked incredulously.

“No, it couldn’t see the future, but something even more bizarre had taken place. At first, the new pony couldn’t exclude the possibility that she just saw some strange vision, but as events small and big fell into place, she began to be sure that she did see was real, and it was not just a strange fever dream.”

“What are you talking about?”

“After Twilight forced the tome spirit into her head, it became incredibly ill at ease and fearful of stealing other pony’s life, so it resisted. But the struggle immediately triggered a severe spatial disruption, and shot Twilight’s consciousness out into a strange void. When she was imprisoned there, she touched a shard of memories, believing that it was hers and it would lead her to her original world. She could not enter though, because it was not hers, but a parallel dimension in which she never met the tome. So she was to be stuck in a limbo of passive observation. Though it also gave her tons of invaluable insight to her own world and future. However, the locus of abnormality was soon collapsed by the crunch of the world’s self-correcting power. The ancient tome somehow managed to pull her out at the expense of its remaining integrity. That’s why its consciousness was subsumed under Twilight’s and that she was kind of ‘in charge’.”

Discord pondered. Something like this was technically possible, but it was still an incredible occurrence. Most of the times, it would just lead to a huge magical outburst and blast the two into oblivion. Cross-dimension shenanigans were his favorite pastime, but the alternate dimensions he could access were like branches from the same tree. What Twilight saw was a temporal and spatial analogue of this very world, in other words, another tree altogether. He didn’t know of a way to join them that did not involve a supercondensed singularity of magic that was enough to blow up the entire Equestria in one single blast.

“So… was that world like ours?”

“Absolutely. There was even a Discord in that world too.”

“Aha, so we were close friends in that world. Is this why Twilight obsessed over making friend with me then, a bum-steer desire to make friends with those she could have make friends with?”

The purple mare shook her head in amusement. “Well, you’re right about her wanting to make friends. But you couldn’t be more wrong with your first statement.”

Discord gulped in slight fear. “W—were we enemies?”

“Uh no. You two were friends… to some extent, but reluctant ones at best.” The purple mare smirked, “Think of it, you two couldn’t be more incompatible on the surface. One is a mischievous spirit of chaos who has a love for pranks and trickery, one is a serious and overworked bookworm who is devoted to her study and appeasing her princess mentor. Basically, that Twilight treated that Discord as some annoying foal that she was forced to sit because her mom’s friend told her so. Besides, although she too forgave and forgot, ‘you’ kind of stabbed her in the back too in that timeline.”

“I—I did?”

“You had been ‘reformed’ in that timeline as well. Admittedly, you were antagonized by each of the Element-bearers except the kind-hearted Fluttershy, because they still didn’t fully trust you. So to make it short, you decided to ditch the ship and regain your freedom by teaming up with Tirek when he got loose from Tartarus. But you didn’t foresee being double-crossed by the evil minotaur in turn. He was only defeated due to a helping from the Tree of Harmony that granted the Element-bearer Rainbow Power, despite them stashing away the Elements in it before… Uh, also because of you.”

The purple mare widened her eyes. “Ah, speaking of which, please kindly dispose of the plunderseeds in the Everfree, even though Twilight and her friends already neutralized their threats.”

Discord was again speechless. He thought his mind was incredibly flexible and open, but the incoming train-load of information still threatened to stuff his head into bursting open.

“Hang on!” Discord suddenly snapped. “So their storing away the Elements was just to prevent the plunderseeds from growing?”

The purple mare frowned. “I must emphasize, this Twilight is not that Twilight. From the very beginning, she was trying to be sincere to you in order to make you feel safe with being friends with her and her friends, and to prevent you from going astray. She didn’t rail against you in Canterlot, because she felt that it was her own fault for having to keep the secret and failing to do so. She only planned to tell you when she was reasonably assured that you were true and steadfast, which you are… now.”

Discord was stung by the revelation, which added to his lingering guilt of betraying the simple-minded trust from Twilight.

However, he kept a tough look and questioned. “Is it? I knew her, she was just as easily irritated as any others. It couldn’t just be her desire to make friends alone that makes her that committed when trying to appease me.”

“Hmph. Well yes. I guess the critical thing was that she saw some her in you.”

“Huh? How’s that possible? Didn’t you say that she and I was as different as cloud and dirt?”

“That was more about the experiences and emotions she inherited from the tome. She was very afraid of being friendless, alone and unable to speak out. She knew how it was like to be buried and immobilized by stone for a time that would drive most ponies mad. So she made it her solemn duty to ensure that it won’t happen to you.”

Discord felt an upsurge of emotion welling up in his chest. He had been misunderstanding Twilight all this time. He recalled her words in the Ivory Tower back when he was just released. He realized that she meant it when she said she wanted him to be her friend and nothing else.

He looked to the table and muttered. “Who else knows? Her five friends and Spike I assume?”

The purple mare grimaced, “Spike doesn’t know yet. Twilight is still extremely afraid of a bad reaction and she would be devastated if she was smacked with rejection from the dragon. As for her five friends… She didn’t tell her as much as knocking the information into their heads with brute force.”

“Why did she do that?” Discord asked in surprise. “Aren’t they her best friends?”

The purple mare sighed. “At the time, not yet. But she knew they had to be, not least because she longed for their friendship after seeing it in the visions, but also for the practical need to activate the Elements to suppress Nightmare Moon. The Elements are finicky devices. They reacted to the innate selves of their wielders. However, because Twilight had become a mix of two minds, and one of them was decidedly not supposed to be the Element of Magic, the bond between her and her Element would be unstable. It oscillates with a different magical frequency compared to other wielders with their respective Elements. The result would be not being able to activate the Elements… at best.”

The purple mare stood up and avoided gazes with Discord. “So she decided to sin against her comrades of future-past, rather than dooming the world itself. Also, selfishly, she feared not being able to make friends with them like she wanted and was supposed to. So she basically forced her hooves and mind meld with all of them, so that there is a piece of her and the tome within each of them. Not only can this stabilize their to-be connections to the Elements, it was also a self-serving way to ‘enforce’ their friendships.”

“…” Discord looked at the purple mare in disbelief. He felt that there was a need to be a long and thoughtful talk at least with Twilight’s friends after he went back to the physical world.

“Well, that’s the greatest sin she had committed. She had been trying to use her foreknowledge to do good for the world to make up for it, but she failed hard. Now you also know why she was so depressed by the flashback to the innocent past.”

The purple mare said plainly. “I’ve told you all. As I said, Twilight was a troubled mare full of self-doubt and guilt, and while I wouldn’t mind my final passing if I was still an independent entity, Twilight is far from mentally ready to announce to the world of her true self, nor does she feel that she had done enough for the world yet. So can you promise me that you would not tell another unknowing soul before Twilight said you can?”

Discord gazed long and hard into the purple mare’s face, but he eventually nodded resolutely.

“Phew, at last.” The purple mare smiled brilliantly. “I will use the last of my energy and bring you to the source of the abnormal mind link. Just stand up and still, I do the rest.”

The stone table disintegrated like a mist. The purple mare jumped forward and embraced Discord. The tight tactile sensation caused Discord to stumble slightly.

“… What will happen to you?”

“My experiences will simply merge with Twilight’s, so shh—.” The purple mare cooed, as her body began to disintegrate into white balls of light, which enclosed the body of the chaos spirit like fluttering butterflies.

With a blink of the eye, the chaos spirit disappeared from the dreamy realm with a white flash.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Discord again popped into existence in a space somewhat similar to where he found the shadow of the tome spirit.

However, compared to the quiet serenity of the previous space, this one looked more chaotic, with paths in twisted angles and slopes, and the backdrop a swirling mass of purple and black.

Usually Discord would savor the absurdist landscape which almost dripped chaos, but he was unsettled by the fact that this scene was present in Twilight’s mind, the ultimate fussy and persnickety pony.

A voice rang from some distance away, drawing Discord’s attention.

“Hah, how unexpected. I thought I had wiped out all strays long ago.”

The voice was Twilight’s, but the tone was contemptuous.

“Chrysalis…” Rosencross hissed. “You’ve become my mortal enemy the day you laid hooves on my beloved hive.”

Chrysalis derisively dismissed. “If I have to keep tabs of those who hate me, I’ll not have time to even feed.”

She grinned. “Now that I’m Twilight, even the passive love I absorbed from her followers and friends are enough for me and my changelings to keep going. This customized ship is such a beauty, it’s like I have a moving changeling fortress courtesy of this disguise!”

The red mare was pushed to her limit. “I swear to my ancestors, I shall end you right here and now!”

“Tough act. But unbeknownst to your foolish head, your presence was a great boon to me.” Chrysalis wryly grinned.

Rosencross sharply inhaled. “What do you mean?”

The disguised changeling queen suddenly said with a rueful tone that closely mimicked Twilight’s soft voice. “Rosy… I’m glad we met in the Veridi bazaar. I never regret having to share a part of my magic to you. I- I never thought it has to come to this.”

After a mock sniffle, Chrysalis burst into a laughter while Rosencross’s face turned green.

Chrysalis grinned. “Originally I was unable to access Twilight’s memories and experiences at all, but your uninvited trespassing certainly added to her mental burden and made it easier for me to scratch out her surface memories. Now I can already see part of her Zebrican adventures, and soon I will have her entire set of memories! And you, a pathetic loser depending on her charity, will be at the mercy of me and my incredible mind magic once I restore her magical conduit.”

Rosencross was crestfallen. She did not think that her intervention would cause such a dire effect.

However, Discord was not too concerned now. If what he had heard from the residue spirit was true, then the ‘Twilight’ he knew will possess a chimeric vital impetus that was almost impossible to completely absorb or assimilate by a single entity. The memories Chrysalis could get ahold of were at best fleeting, and it was unlikely she could get access to more. This also explained why Twilight was not at all worried about Chrysalis’s threat about taken over her life and experiences.

But this was obviously unknown to the two changelings locked onto hate-filled glares.

The red mare collected herself to her best and yelled. “Shut your mouth, vile pretender. How dare you insult her memory with this farce! Even in my grave, you can’t make me admit that you are her!”

“Oh, I’m afraid you’ll have little choice in this matter. When my magic is restored, I can just impose our mental link and you will become my loyal servant as you should be.”

Chrysalis chortled. “It’s your own fault that you had to rudely barge in. With some more time, I could have scoured enough of her essence and become her entirely.”

Chrysalis walked near Rosencross. She knocked onto the ground and a cage emerged from the malleable ground, engulfing Rosencross. She yelled in a mix of fury and fear. “Release me right now!”

“This is her mental realm, and by extension, my mental realm. You held absolutely no sway in here, silly girl.”

Discord decided that he had heard enough. He immediately rushed across the strangely bent paths and charged right in between the two, on what looks like a circular platform.

“D—Discord! Thank goodness!” “… Discord!”

“Ho ho, a heroic entry! That’s a first for moi!” Discord smirked.

Rosencross pounded on the cage bars. Seeing Discord’s entry, Chrysalis hastily took a few steps back.

“Why must you all be so frustrating?!” The changeling loudly growled.

“Why must you be nuts?” Discord shot back. “I know you changelings like to steal someone else’s identity, but this is really pushing it in the scale.”

“This is the only way I can get back my rightful Stigmata!” She growled.

Discord derisively huffed. “Weird bug does weird things, Discord can care less.”

He then realized something and awkwardly turned to Rosencross. “Uh, present companion excepted.”

“No offense taken.” Rosencross could not hide her joy and gratitude at Discord’s help. “Be careful, she’s indeed very powerful in here, especially since imagination and thoughts require little to no magic to realize.”

“As if I’m not the expert.” Discord casually nodded and turned to Chrysalis, who stepped back further in fear and what looked to be bitter resentment.

“Mind you, I’m wearing a power limiter, but I can still easily overpower you with magic. Besides, I am a master illusion conjurer and I’m the alpha and omega in mental stuffs. But you know, I’m not one who insists that rehabilitation is a futile business considering my… experiences. If you cooperate with us right now and work towards ending this laughable façade, then maybe I can say something flattering in front of her friends. Otherwise, you know you and your little changelings will be fish bait very soon.”

“You must be joking. There is no way I’m going to back down now.” The changeling queen grunted. “What shame. I like you, and Twilight like you even more. We could be brilliant allies despite our past hiccups.”

“If you refuse to smart up before we knock some sense into you, so be it.” Discord ignored her banter, as he did his classic finger snap. A comically large pillar emerged from nowhere and struck the changeling right on her head.

She was immediately knocked backwards with a flip and collapsed on the ground. However, when she got up, she merely made a somewhat vicious grin.

“That’s it? If you keep this up, you might make me slightly itchy in a few days.” She sneered. “I have the home advantage, and I can draw upon some of her strength whenever I’m hit. You two, however, will only lose your mental integrity the longer you stay in here.”

“You scoundrel!” Rosencross angrily said. “This is Twilight’s body, not yours! Remember, you are surrounded by loyal friends of Twilight. They won’t let you go easily for harming her!”

“Harming her? You’re so silly, Phalena. That’s why your hive was wiped out by mine.” Chrysalis smirked. “Why would I harm the one I want to become? I just think that I will be a better Twilight myself. When I’m finished with you two, I can just wait to be welcomed by my new and old friends, while wielding enormous magic potential after I get it fixed.”

“’Delusional’ won’t even begin to describe the sentence you just uttered.” Discord said incredulously. “Mental integrity, you say? I’m afraid you can’t comment on that because you barely have it.”

“Shut the Tartarus up!” An enraged Chrysalis lunged out. An avalanche of spikes poked out of the ground around Discord, and then the ground curved up to form a razor-teeth mouth threatening to ground the chaos spirit into a paste.

Rosencross gasped, but Discord nimbly jumped up and suddenly disappeared.

“Huh?” Chrysalis uttered.

“Looking for me?” Discord appeared suddenly behind Chrysalis, stunning the changeling queen briefly.

“This is boring, you know? Tackling some magicless git as a magic user. It’s like stealing candies from a kid, only noticing that the kid’s too young even comprehend that I’m stealing her candy, and therefore lacking an amusing reaction for me to feast on.”

Rosencross gave him an unamused look and said. ”I would appreciate if you can free me first instead of making convoluted simile. With my input we can do it more precisely and quic-”

She suddenly pointed to the back of Discord and shouted. “W- Watch out!”

Discord turned, and suddenly Chrysalis was glowing with a greenish-purple aura and looking at them menacingly.

“You think I’m truly magicless, don’t you? Don’t you realize I have been absorbing love again for a while now? You have proved yourself to warrant my full power!”

She lit her horn and quickly shot forth a gigantic, blazing energy beam.

“Holy!” Discord yelled and winced, as he barely managed to dodge the powerful beam, but his outstretched wing was still somewhat burnt.

The energy beam, however, kept going and hit the boundary of the mental sanctum. It created a gigantic tremor on the ground they were standing on.

Discord gritted his teeth, he quickly rushed near the imprisoned Rosencross, and snapped his finger hastily. The bars dissolved in a blink of an eye. He then hurriedly picked the stunned red mare up like a ragdoll.

“E-eek!”

“Stop it, you crazy bug!” Discord barely dodged another blast as he leapt aside swiftly. “You’re gonna wreck the place at this rate! This is why I don’t cast energy blast in here! I don’t want to get a vegetable when we got her back!”

Rosencross’s eyes shrunk to pins as she realized the severity of Discord’s statement.

Discord grunted and snapped his fingers again. Immediately, thorny vines emerged from all directions and restrained the changeling. But like ropes made out of paper towels, it disintegrated promptly with a greenish-purple flash, as Chrysalis continued to chase them with great speed.

“Oh for the love of pandemonium!” Discord loudly grumbled, as he barely dodged another powerful attack. The entire dimension shook, and cracks began to appear on the inner walls.

Discord gritted his teeth. He couldn’t be as reckless as Chrysalis and shoot back, as the raw magic power would likely cause further damage to Twilight’s delicate psyche.

‘Speaking of Twilight…” Discord thought. ‘Whelp, I may as well try waking her up for help.’

He lowly muttered to Rosencross who laid on his shoulder. “Hey, Soul Dust expert, what did Chryssy do to ‘put Twilight to sleep’? Is there any way we can do to wake her up? I figure that if the owner’s back in her house, she might be able to help lift us out of the hot water.”

The red mare inhaled sharply as she pondered the possibility. “… Soul Dust is an item which can amplify the grasp of a soul or a ‘vital impetus’ on one’s body. It’s usually used by masters or gurus to heighten their senses. Chrysalis had twisted its use to take control of Tw-”

A flying white beam grazed her purple mane, causing her to yelp in fright.

Discord again jumped as well as snapped his finger, teleporting the two behind a bend.

“You should cut it short a bit, dear. We’ll have plenty of time to talk after this.”

“F- Fine!” Rosencross gasped for air and then woefully touched her mane. “I don’t know for sure…”

“What the-” Discord stopped himself from the half-uttered dirty oath.

“But!” The red mare glared at Discord. “If we managed to invoke something emotionally intense for her, then it might boost her consciousness enough for her to manifest again in the mental realm.”

“That’s it? It’s no different than most other hypnosis then.” Discord grinned.

“You have some idea?”

“I’ve got this. Just watch.”

Discord produced a giant megaphone and shouted into it with all his volume.

“Twilight! I’m sorry to have betrayed your trust! Please forgive me!”

Rosencross slightly widened her eyes, but a thin smile crept up on her face.

“… You are my bestest friend for—e—ver and ever! Don’t ever give up!”

“So you two are there!” Chrysalis growled from afar, and swiftly closed in.

“Dang, it’s too tame!” Discord cursed and muttered. “Well, here goes nothing…!”

He threw a bouquet up and yelled at the top of his lungs. “You saucy bookworm, I love you loooong time! Get your plump purple plot up already and lift your beloved darling dear Discord out of this ditch!”

Rosencross did a spit-take and looked at Discord incredulously. But something did happen at that very instant.

The entire mental scene suddenly shifted and crumbled. However, between falling pieces and debris, the pursuing changeling queen suddenly flailed and fell onto the ground haplessly.

“Eh?” The red mare gasped in surprise.

Discord shook his head, his expression a mix of amusement and frown. “At the end, it was shamelessness that saved the day. It’s a bit anti-climactic, though.”

He jumped towards the changeling queen, who looked up with pained and resentful eyes. The chaos spirit wasted no time in tying her up tightly with a bunch of ropes.

“I don’t know what exactly happened, but it seemed that the true master of this realm has intervened.” Discord shrugged. “Now what do you have to say for yourself?”

Chrysalis, however, stayed absolutely silent, while maintaining an intense glare towards Discord.

“Oh yah? I think you’ll have a thousand choice spiteful words to say t-”

The red mare, however, elected to simply brutally smack Chrysalis’s face with her front hoof.

“Gah!” The changeling queen flailed backwards, and laid on the ground helplessly. She only managed to raise herself up partially with her shaky legs.

“Rosy, I don’t prefer going physical on our captive.” Discord frowned.

“Don’t you stop me, Discord.” Rosencross said with dripping hatred. “I waited for so long for this very moment. I even tolerate seeing my one and only benefactor being mentally tormented and her identity stolen by this foul being. Now she laid prostrate before me, I shall cut her open to see if her heart is also as black as her shell.”

“I’m not usually one to claim to be chivalrous, but I do think that torturing a defeated enemy is beneath us, not to mention pluck out someone’s heart like we’re knock-off Ahuizotls.”

“A-who?”

“Never mind.” Discord rolled his eyes.

“… Do it.”

A raspy sound came from the ground, and the two turned to look at the defeated changeling queen. To their shock, the famously ruthless changeling queen was crying.

Rosencross felt her anger flaring up. “You aren’t fooling anyone, Chrysalis! Don’t you think staying in Twilight’s guise can elicit even the smallest degree of sympathy from me! For your crime, you deserve death by a thousand cuts!”

“None of these is not my choosing!” Chrysalis yelled.

“Huh?” Discord asked aloud.

“I didn’t want to tell you, or anyone, but now, I have no choice.”

Discord blocked the imminent insult from the red mare, and said to the sniffling changeling queen. “All this crying is not only unbecoming, but also uncharacteristic of you, Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis grunted and gritted her teeth, tears wetting her cheek.

“What? Speak up!”

Chrysalis inhaled sharply, and turned to look at Discord with a barely maintained defiant look. “Yes, you’re right. It was not me. It was that accursed purple unicorn. She made me a freak of nature and not myself!”

Suppressing his natural urge to mock Chrysalis, Discord sighed and said in uncharacteristic curtness. “Explain.”

“You want explanation? You want answers?” Chrysalis raised her voice. “I’ll tell you answers! That Twilight Sparkle made me do this! She did not only steal my symbol of power, she imposed her petty emotions on me! I originally don’t care for any of those, or any of you! But now, when I see each of you, her feelings well up in my mind!”

The changeling queen was already hysterical. “I had a hive to lead, and nations to conquer… But here I am, defeated! Alone! And I can’t believe it, wanting to have friends! What the hay have I become?”

Rosencross coldly glared at the changeling queen, while Discord closed his eyes and asked. “So you do this…”

“Not just to steal her magic, but to steal all her friends! I deserve them as much as she does!” Chrysalis screeched, and then broke down into tears again.

“You-”

“No, Rosy, don’t. Whatever judgment to be passed, we must ask the egghead first.”

Rosencross and even Chrysalis looked in surprise at the unusually soft-spoken chaos spirit.

Discord turned to the red mare. “Why are you looking at me like that? It’s obvious, innit? Twilight and Chrysalis shared some sort of mental linkage even before the whole Soul Dust thing. If we so callously kill Chrysalis off here, we don’t know if Twilight herself would be affected. At the very least, she would be quite mad at us.”

“Grr…” Rosencross could not argue against Discord’s reasoning.

“So you keep me alive just because you don’t want your little Twilight to be hurt?” Chrysalis sneered.

“Can you be less irascible for once? I’m trying to persuade the missus next to me not to murder you right now.” Discord huffed with annoyance. “And besides, I myself am too morally implicated to not let you have a fair hearing first.”

“Oh right, you betrayed Twilight and her friends. How did it all go for you?” Chrysalis coldly smirked.

“You- You betrayed Twilight?” Rosencross gazed at Discord with wide eyes, her mind a confused mess.

“Oh yes, when I led my hive to attack Canterlot, I almost fell for the feint they used to distract me from paying attention to their real choice of weapon. Fortunately, this draconequus here snitched on his friends and informed me of their plan. If not for Twilight Sparkle’s subsequent interruption, Equestria would long be mine!”

Discord rolled his eyes. “Yes, I did go a bit neurotic for a split second and decide to play some tricks in order to get Twilight to tell me something she didn’t tell me. But now I know about it regardless. More importantly…”

Discord took in a breath and sighed. “I’ve been regretting that ever since. From the very moment I know things went seriously wrong, I’ve been trying to patch things up to my best of ability.”

“Hmph, your ‘some tricks’ ended up almost killing her.” Chrysalis mocked.

Discord ignored the changeling queen and turned to Rosencross. “If you don’t want to trust me, that’s fine.”

Rosencross stayed quiet for a long time, and then she shook her head. “No, I still trust you.”

“Huh.”

“Twilight trusted you, her friends still do. Who am I to withhold my trust?”

She then jeered. “It’s not if I can trust this wretched creature before me more.”

“Okay, that’s dealt with. Let’s not entangle ourselves with words anymore in here. It couldn’t be healthy to have three foreign presences in her mind yelling at each other all the time.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a snap of finger by Discord, the three reentered the physical space together.

Chrysalis, now back in her changeling form, muttered. “My hivelings will soon notice.”

“We’ll worry about that later.”

Chrysalis opened her mouth, but she merely winced and stayed silent.

Discord knelt down to check on the unconscious form of Twilight. He casted a spell and examined the purple mare’s conditions.

“Her magical core is abnormally weak. There’s no immediate danger, but she’s unlikely to gather enough stamina to wake up at this rate.”

“Do you find out why?” Rosencross asked worriedly.

“Dang it girl, I’m not a medic. Almost every time I casted magic, I did it to mess ponies up, not to set them right.”

Discord then stretched his arms and legs. “One thing I’m sure, is that she’s been like that definitely for longer than we thought. We’ve just given her a wee bit too much stress by messing around in her head. She would need a long recuperation before she can wake up and talk to us again.”

He laid a claw on Rosencross as he looked at the rising morning sun. “In the meantime, I trust you not to suffocate or poison each other in my absence, toodles!”

“Wait!” Rosencross yelled out as Discord quickly made for the exit. “Where are you going?”

“I have something really important to talk with Twilight’s friends. Keep an eye on both of them, I’ll come back later.”

Rosencross opened her mouth, but Discord already teleported himself away from the room.

‘Pfft, what does she have to worry anyway?’

Discord thought to himself, as he teleported onto the bow of Esperança. ‘That changeling imp will spend the next few days almost as magic-less as her.’

He casually waded inside Rainbow Dash’s office without even bothering to knock.

The cyan mare gasped at the sudden appearance of the chaos spirit by her side, and she immediately berated. “Discord! This is a military ship! I don’t expect you to salute or anything, but can you please keep to at least the most basic of ship codes? Knock for goodness’ sake!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Discord waved his claws. “Got some important things to tell. Can you also call for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy?”

Rainbow Dash looked at Discord strangely. “… And Spike?”

“Nope, not him.” Discord waved again. “You’ll know why.”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, but she still called in a lieutenant from the outside and whispered something into his ears.

After some time, Fluttershy and a groggy-looking Pinkie Pie arrived one after another.

“What’s up, Dashie?” Pinkie Pie rubbed her eyes. “It’s too early for breakfast… But if it’s a party, I’m game, because it’s never too early for a party!”

Discord drew in a deep breath, then he snapped his finger to lock the door and soundproof the entire room. The mares looked at him strangely, but they kept their silence.

“Wow, I mean, wow.” Discord shook his head with amusement and began. “You all owed me a chocolate cotton candy buffet or something for keeping me in the dark for so long about Twilight’s big secret.”

The three all gasped in shock. Fluttershy asked with slight tremor in her voice. “W—What are you talking about?”

“What else could I be talking about?” Discord scoffed. “Whatever left of that ancient tome told me all when I was going to save Twilight from Chrysalis!”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “What in the ever loving hay happened?”

Discord then gave them a summary of what transpired last night. The mares looked at him with dazed gazes after listening to the incredible encounter.

“Where is Chrysalis?” Rainbow Dash asked hurriedly after regaining her composure.

“Under control from Rosy. She ain’t going anywhere now that she’s expended all her power fighting us.”

After a protracted silence, Fluttershy quietly said. “You made the right call, Discord.”

Rainbow Dash added. “I suppose I should thank you. If I have shown any doubt in you before, I apologize.”

Pinkie Pie simply gave a hug to Discord, which he accepted with candor this time.

“If anything, Twilight and you girls taught me that you’ve got to give chance to ‘villains’ that show potential of reform.” Discord casually shrugged. “I’m not that great a judge of character myself, but since Twilight did kind of show mercy to her, I suppose she counts.”

Discord then knitted his brows. “Wait, was she even reformable? Did the alternate Twilight reform her?”

“Uh… We don’t know.” Rainbow Dash said hesitantly.

“Ugh. Might have to keep an extra eye on her.” Discord groaned.

The chaos spirit then looked at the incredibly squeamish and uncomfortable-looking mares, and let out a chortle. “Come on, she trusted me enough to let me know, it isn’t too bad is it?”

“No, it’s not that. Of course we trust you too.” Rainbow Dash looked around with an unsettled expression. “It’s just that we didn’t expect this and this is the first time we talk to someone about our one big secret. We don’t know what to do or say.”

“Relax.” Discord whistled. “I’m not going to tell any other soul. I made a promise and I will keep it.”

Pinkie Pie widened her eyes and asked somewhat over-eagerly. “Can you Pinkie-promise me too?”

“Pfft. Seriously, you really don’t have to worry. Do you think I will, for example, tell the princesses about it and ruin my potential loads and loads of fun?”

“Puh-lease?” Pinkie Pie begged regardless.

Discord let out a defeated sigh, and said with dead-fish eyes. “Fine… How do you do it?”

“Cross My Heart, Hope to Fly.”

“… Cross My Heart, Hope to Fly.”

“Stick a Cupcake in my Eye!”

“Stick a Cupcake in my Eye… Done?”

Discord groaned aloud. “Geez, I just want you all to tell me all you know too, so that I can understand what’s going on and why on Earth you all fared so badly.”

The mares winced in embarrassment, but Discord just continued bluntly.

“For example, why in the name of Entropy did you girls still manage to screw anything up given the knowledge of some ageless entity and something equivalent to seeing the future?”

“I must clarify.” Rainbow Dash retorted. “What Twilight saw were a series of imageries from the most important life moments of the alternate Twilight. A lot of details were still lost. And it only went to the point some time after the alternate Twilight’s ascension to princesshood.”

“What’s more…” Pinkie Pie added. “We’re not really sure that their world is really completely the same as ours. Although as time went on, we’re more and more certain about that… everything was in place until the changeling invasion.”

Fluttershy then said. “Even so, we still have some confines of our own. We didn’t want to appear suspicious or overstepping our marks. We also don’t want to change our lives too drastically just because of the new information. And above all, we preferred to lean on the side of caution.”

Rainbow Dash drew in a breath and concluded. “We would rethink about our general plan again once we return to Equestria, optimally with Twilight’s input. Back then, this line of thought actually brought us to another concern. Suppose our assumption about the similarity of the worlds was true, we would not want to change things too much because it would make us lose our edge of foreknowledge. However, if we did nothing, then having foreknowledge was useless. We were simply trying to walk the fine balance between two.”

The cyan mare chuckled wryly. “All are moot now though. The causal train of events was totally derailed after the changeling invasion.”

“… Although I have a vague idea what you mean, I’d still want a clear explanation of what happened significantly differently between our world and the alternate one.” Discord said.

“Besides the tome, what we did differently were just trying to smooth out silly misunderstandings, and increase our influence carefully, so that we can change society positively some time in the future. That’s why some of us opened up enterprises, while Twilight and Fluttershy established a newspaper, because to do that you gotta have both the bits and the talk.”

“What a boring way to do things.” Discord yawned. “If I were you, I would straight up start planning rebellion using my future knowledge, and then establish a nation of my own to do whatever the Tartarus I want.”

“Of course you will.” Rainbow Dash facehoofed.

Fluttershy said with a strained tone. “Twilight was adamant. She saw too many world-shattering events dictated by just a few individuals. She wanted to create a society not revolving around princesses, heroes and outstanding ponies, but the collective will of ordinary citizens.”

“In other words, rule of the mass instead of the few.”

Pinkie Pie finished matter-of-factly with a serious face. “This is why we didn’t just go and set up shop of our own, not just because we respect the princesses and think that they are excellent rulers, but also because without a democratic tradition, we will just end up replacing one despot with another.”

Discord narrowed his eyes and muttered. “I don’t really like the idea of letting everypony and their moms interfere with a rightful monarch’s rule, such as mine… But come to think of it, a mob rule would also lead to a delightfully chaotic situation of everybody trying to shout everyone else down to get their ideas through.”

Discord cupped his mouth and chuckled. “How delightfully discordant! I don’t know you girls have it in you, haha! If only you told me so earlier, I would raise all my arms, legs and wings to support you!”

“No! We are not trying to introduce mob rule!” Rainbow Dash protested. “We do this not to create arguments and chaos, but to give voice to the citizens!”

“Yeah, as if what I said wouldn’t happen. And you’re one to talk, Rainbow Dash.” Discord smirked, then he imitated the voice of the cyan mare. “’Power to the masses!’ says somepony who took a title after being offered one. And ‘down with the heroes!’ says somepony who saved some distant nation and earned a bunch of loyal followers. A mare of principle.”

Rainbow Dash’s cheek reddened like it was on fire. “I—It was a desperate situation!”

“So desperate, that you use your influence as a Cruzesian hero liberally to order your army around just to find your friend.”

“Discord, please stop teasing Dashie…” Pinkie Pie pleaded. “Yes, it might look hypocritical, but turning down the offer was to cut off ties with the Cruzesians. Having more allies by our side is always good in this world.”

Fluttershy sighed. “… Sorry, this is the first time we actually use words to convey our plan to someone else, so forgive us if we sound inarticulate. Popular rule was rare in this world, and practically forgotten since the fall of Roam. However, we think that letting citizens have a say in their government is a good way to protect the world from catastrophic happenings. Or as Twilight would say, to disaster-proof the world.”

“How so?” Discord frowned.

Rainbow Dash inhaled deeply and said. “The ancient tome is a probe sent out from a civilization not of this world, but that civilization had a society and social structure remarkably similar to ours. They too had kings and chiefs, but as time went on, elected leaders slowly began to take the helm of their respective nations. Some say it evolved this way because democracy was the best and functional system of governance. But if we simply want to adopt rule of the masses just because it sort of worked among a bunch of aliens, we would be quite stupid and mad, to be honest.”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “No, we think that democracy can solve a problem specific to our nation and our world.”

Rainbow Dash stood up and took out a decorated headwear from her drawer. It was her coronet bestowed by the Cruzesians. She then sighed as she stroked the feather on the crown.

“The outlook of our world has been forged by epic heroes and diabolical villains. And a lot of times, a catalyst for great ambition is the promise of power through crowns, autocratic rule and kingship. Some, like Chrysalis, struck out to fulfill her desire to conquer and dominate, some, no offense, like you…”

“Do go on.”

“Well, they want power for their own purposes, grand or petty, good or bad. Now, a king or queen is a united force, and it produces a greater effect than when the power is divided. If a rule is just, then rule by princesses is better than rule by nobles, which in turn is better than rule by magistrates. But if a rule is unjust, then rule by mobs is less bad than rule by barons, which in turn is less bad than rule by tyrants.”

Rainbow Dash then smirked. “Surely you’ve been called that a lot in the past, haven’t you?”

Discord blew a raspberry. “I don’t blame them for not understanding the tastefulness of perfect chaos.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Anyway, that was the universal part of the rule. What made Equestria especially special is that it is magic-rich. Great magic wielders concentrate in this part of the world like bees are attracted to honey flowers. Equestria’s history inevitably intertwined with those who are not only larger-than-life, but inherently more powerful than their compatriots. It made for great writing materials for chroniclers, but it was a ticking time-bomb that never stop exploding. When will we see the next Chrysalis? The next Discord?”

“There can only be one Discord!” Discord huffed.

Rainbow Dash drily chuckled. “No doubt. But we’re setting out to break this wheel, by making our society not about powerful persons, but its collective citizenry. We hope to create a society where the ordinary folks hold the deciding power. That they do not have to raise their head and fear that the sun will not rise because Celestia was kidnapped, or that the world will end because Luna got jealous, or their livelihood ruined because some self-styled conquerors came rolling in and planted their flags on the Canterlot Castle.”

Discord immediately pointed out. “This is some prime double-thinking there. How are you going to achieve all those? Meh, you will still have to rise and become the thing you hate in order to get rid of those accursed ‘great persons’ from the world.”

“True, we are hypocritical. But we’re honest about it. That’s also why we want to make it the end of History and make us the last Great Ponies within our lifetime.”

Discord widened his eyes in stunned expression. Then he shook his head and said. “You mares are a bit crazy. To be honest, I couldn’t care less about your lofty intentions and inadvertent contradictions, as long as the results are fun to watch.”

Discord chuckled to the disapproving glares from the mares. “So, regarding our world and Twilight’s visions, the major divergence is Chrysalis, right?”

“Yes.” Fluttershy said with sadness. “In the alternate timeline, Chrysalis also impersonated Princess Cadance at the wedding, but none of us knew in advance. Since Cadance was Twilight’s foalsitter, Twilight was able to notice a lot of irregularities. After getting stonewalled by others, Twilight confronted the fake Cadance herself, but got thrown in the caves, where she met the imprisoned real Cadance. Afterwards they broke out and confronted Chrysalis again. Making use of Chrysalis’s hubristic underestimation of their abilities, Twilight was able to reunite Shining Armor and Cadance and let them cast the love spell, which expelled all the changelings from Canterlot.”

“Sounds like a relatively effortless victory.” Discord commented. “Though it relied on the stupidity of Chrysalis, which might or might not work. By the way, where was me at that moment in that timeline?”

“Still in stone.” Rainbow Dash said. “It was only moons after the changeling invasion that you got out of it with us releasing you using the Elements. Believe it or not, it was Princess Celestia’s initiative.”

“What?! That sun butt—” Discord widened his eyes, and then coughed. “Well, that’s nice of her.”

He again smirked. “You could have done much better with your information. Why not straight up tell Celestia and Luna? Or track Cadance down before she got assaulted by the bug?”

“You think we didn’t consider that?” Rainbow Dash said irritably.

Fluttershy then added. “We decided that it was too much of a risk to show off our foreknowledge to the princesses without solid excuses. And while standing for guard for Princess Cadance might work, she was away on a diplomatic mission up until right before the wedding, not to mention we’d still look very suspicious to suddenly swarm her up. Twilight was also worried her intervention might mess up the relationship between her brother and her foalsitter. Bottom-line, by the time the wedding took place, Chrysalis already gathered her changeling army around Canterlot, any misstep will lead to them spreading out and terrorizing the countryside.”

Pinkie Pie nodded. “We wanted to exploit our foreknowledge to catch a clean sweep of both Chrysalis and her underlings, by copying the plan of the alternate Twilight but streamlining it, which was to reunite Cadance with Shining Armor as soon as she was caught, and then let them expel the changelings in a similar way.”

“Well, your foreknowledge bit you all in the plots then.”

Rainbow Dash glared at the chaos spirit. “… Our foreknowledge did not exactly foretell the betrayal of a certain someone. Besides, our hooves are forced by our promise with you to return the Elements.”

Discord’s grin drooped a bit, and he said. “You girls did not expect my betrayal? I’m the spirit of chaos, master of change and subterfuge! Besides, you knew clearly that I had it in me, because the alternate me was turned by Tirek once! You all need to learn to be less blindly trustful.”

The mares were stung by Discord’s words, but they then merely looked at him with strange looks.

Discord sighed. “I’m sorry, alright? Now that we found Twilight and she kind of told me her secret. All is forgiven, innit?”

“No, we’re not thinking about forgiveness and such.” Pinkie Pie’s ears drooped, but she sadly smiled. “It’s not like we can stay mad at you when you’re being so thoughtful of us.”

“… Then what?”

“You mentioned Tirek.” Rainbow Dash knitted her brows. “Presumably you were told about the exploits of you and he in the alternate world?”

“Yes, so what about it?”

Fluttershy bit her lips hard, but she gathered up her courage to ask. “… Do you think that our friendship is merely another form of imprisonment? One that kept you from being the chaos spirit that you truly are?”

Discord widened his eyes, and he briefly pondered, holding his jaw in his palm.

But merely seconds later, he asked. “Was that what Tirek said to convince the alternate me?”

Fluttershy winced, but she nodded forcefully.

“I must say, this is something that I never considered…”

Discord blinked and grinned at the increasingly fearful mares. “But I’m willing to bet that I’m wiser than that other Discord with what we’ve been through and also what I now know.”

After a sigh of relief, Rainbow Dash asked. “How so?”

Discord scratched his head. “Can’t say I have it very detailedly thought out. Let’s just say staying with you girls is much more amusing than just messing around using chaos magic like before.”

He looked to the mares, who did not look satisfied or reassured with his answer, and sighed. “Okay, let me improve my phrasing. What I meant was having you all by my side are important to me… more important than my personal pursuit for shenanigans, not to mention it’s fulfilling in more than one sense. Of course I like having you around, but you all also have a very high potential at turning the world upside down with your abilities, knowledge and goals. I ain’t gonna miss this wild ride.”

Rainbow Dash wanted to retort, but after a moment of deliberation, she merely shook her head and smiled. “At least you’re honest with your last point. Although we’re definitely not out there to deliberately mess things up, you have to get it right.”

“Fine.” Discord chuckled with wry amusement and tapped his fingers. “By the way, I must ask you what kind of major villains would turn up, so that I can give you some pointers on how not to screw up again.”

“Might turn up, mind you.” Rainbow Dash clarified. “Our future is going to diverge quite a dang lot because of all the events post Chrysalis’s invasion. For one, Chrysalis and her mooks were merely banished to the Badlands without further disturbances. Twilight wasn’t declared a national hero due to her heroic sacrifice. I didn’t go out and get myself a title and an army of followers somehow, and so on and so on.”

“Still might be helpful. Or at the very least interesting to hear.” Discord shrugged.

“There are three most immediate menaces...” Pinkie Pie said with a spooky voice, “First, Sombra.”

“Oh, that unicorn bloke who got boiled by Celestia’s magic into shadowy mist. He finally comes back from the frozen tundra? Meh.”

Discord said with an uninterested look. “He was so monotonically evil, he was boring as watching paint that has already dried. Oh dear, I can already hear his droning… ‘Slaves… Crystals…’”

Discord shuddered a bit. “Yikes. But that guy was so consumed by his singular desire to conquer and enslave, he was full of exploitable holes. I bet you can totally find some way to get the Crystal Heart and get rid of him easily by activating it right in front of him.”

The mares slowly nodded in slight amazement at Discord’s accurate deduction. Discord was indeed a formidable ally when he was truly on their side.

Fluttershy then realized that they were supposed to respond, and said hurriedly. “Um yes, that’s also how they got rid of him in the alternate timeline.”

Pinkie Pie frowned and added. “Although… the Crystal Empire was ‘supposed’ to return by last moon, but it hasn’t. We totally thought the princesses summoned us for a trip to the Crystal Empire, but it turned out to be Dashie in Las Pegasus.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that.” Rainbow Dash scratched her cheek awkwardly.

Fluttershy knitted her brows in worry. “What if it does return when we’re out here at sea?”

“Ack, I guess AJ and Rarity can manage… They know what to do.” Rainbow Dash made a grimace.

Pinkie Pie, though, smiled. “Don’t worry, silly! Spike will definitely get a letter if that happens.”

“Okay.” Discord said. “What is that second threat?”

The mares rolled their eyes left and right in hesitation. Pinkie Pie hesitantly said. “Um… Tirek.”

“Yeah. As I said, I now know that he’s one unreliable bastard. Don’t worry, I’m not going to do a heel-face turn when he turns up. I have already learnt a lot from Twilight and all of you.”

“Discord…” Fluttershy warmly smiled.

“… that if I have to pick a partner-in-crime, I better pick one that I can defeat on a one-on-one fight.”

Before Fluttershy made a disappointed look, Discord laughed aloud. “Just kidding! As long as we stop him early from stealing any magic, he would not be a threat. Geez, they should post some more guards down there in Tartarus.”

“If only they can.”

Rainbow Dash made a ‘pfft’ sound. “Cerberus might bite their heads off though.”

“That dog ain’t doing a spectacular job if it keeps letting dudes escape.” Discord shook his head. “What about the third one?”

Pinkie Pie scratched her cheeks. “Uh, originally it would have been your overgrowing plunderseeds, but since now we have returned the Elements to the Tree, they should not cause any more troubles.”

“But please.” Rainbow Dash said plainly. “Weed your garden once we got back.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright…” Discord said in slight annoyance. “Your foreknowledge is going to make it much harder for me to prank you.”

“With all due respect.” Rainbow Dash said. “Making the Everfree Forest take over Ponyville is way past the level of acceptable prank between friends, and goes into the territories of ‘we’ll have to punch you in the nose if you continue’.”

“Dashie!” Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy frowned at the same time. “Violence is a nuh-uh!”

“Ain’t it right, my loyal friends.” Discord grinned smugly.

“Violence does solve Cruzesia’s problem with the Black Snake though.” Rainbow Dash smirked. “But I kid. It’s just not very nice to do that just to teach Twilight ‘princessly responsibilities’.”

“Oh, I did that? Hey, then I was just acting like the kind and wise mentor that I am.” Discord laughed. “So what is the real third threat?”

“She’s not some evil powerful entity, she’s just a pony with an unsettling agenda. Her name is Starlight Glimmer.” Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes.

“Never heard of her.”

“Of course.” Rainbow Dash said, “When Twilight got to her in the alternate timeline, she lived in a hamlet in the northeast with a bunch of loyal followers. We tried to search for her from the very beginning, but apparently that village hasn’t even been founded yet.”

“So what’s so bad about her?”

“She was a powerful unicorn on par with Twilight, and the founder of an ‘Equalist’ village. Or at least pretended to be one.” Rainbow Dash pouted. “Her stated goal was to a certain extent noble. Equalism proposed that ‘true friendship’ comes from being equal—no more or less talented than another—and that having special talents of any kind only leads to disharmony.”

“What the Tartarus!” Discord made a disgusted face. “As a spirit of disharmony, I’m seriously offended by the idea that just being somewhat unique is the same as contributing to chaos! You have to actively make an effort to be disruptive and unharmonious!”

“Uh… sure.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “She achieved a state of ‘perfect equality’ by taking away all resident ponies’ cutie marks and replaced them with equal signs. But as cutie marks are one of the manifestations of the vital impetus and the soul, the residents ended up acting like blank slates and empty smilers… She also made them more mindless by subjecting any dissident with a brainwashing program, which involved imprisonment and forced re-education.”

“Heck.” Discord grimaced. “So she’s all pretending to be equal and stuff?”

“She was acting hypocritical by not taking away her own cutie mark. And she was kind of a jerk. Although there are some nuggets of wisdom in pointing out the issue with a brand of talent, her solution was so terribly over-simplistic that it would only lead to ruins anyway. The alternate Twilight and her friends eventually chase her away and regained their cutie marks, but that girl came back and challenged Twilight in her own castle. She tried to conjure spells with the power from the Tree of Harmony, and successfully messed with the time stream temporarily. She was eventually persuaded to stop, but we didn’t see how it turned out, because the ripples of her magic destabilized the meta-dimension so much, that the visions stopped at that particular moment.”

After seeing the bemused face on Discord, Rainbow Dash added. “… Ah yeah, that’s after her princesshood. The Tree of Harmony conveniently gifted her a castle after Tirek wrecked the Golden Oaks Library.”

“Wow, he dared touch her books. Did he get evaporated after being defeated?”

“Heh. Nah, he was just sent back to Tartarus.”

Discord made a face of disbelief. “I have no words about the lack of sense of security among you ponies.”

“If not Tartarus then where, my genius draconequus?”

“I have a whole catalogue of alternate dimensions for you to choose, dear. Some of them would surely shake his resolve so completely that he would lose the ability to even think of escape.”

“No! We don’t brainwash or torture, even if he’s a villain!” Fluttershy insisted.

“But I didn’t hear about you reforming Sombra. That guy is dead meat if he’s really hit by the power of Crystal Heart. Are you saying that being dead is better?”

Facing shocked faces, Discord said with a bored tone. “… Fine, we shan’t talk about your confused and self-contradicting morals for a second, because I’m more interested in what this Starlight gal did to earn the title of ‘major threat’.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “She made use of an ancient magic to alter the past. She channeled the power with the Cutie Map in Twilight’s new castle, and tried to change it that we six did not get our respective Cutie Mark on the fateful day…”

Discord raised a brow, and then broke into a hearty laugh.

“W- What’s wrong?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“This you call a threat? It’s just foal’s play!” Discord said as he wiped his tears with his claw.

Rainbow Dash snapped. “She doomed Equestria in multiple different ways just because she stopped me from doing my Rainboom! If not for Twi’s intervention…”

“There is no need for that purple egghead to do anything.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You all are getting played by that jackass of a Harmony Spirit.” Discord shrugged. “It’s clear that that Starlight gal wasn’t using the Cutie Map, but the Cutie Map was using her.”

“W- What?!” The mares all gasped.

“I bet it showed the purple egghead everything she feared, like all those villains winning, and I bet there’s one depicting yours truly being his awesome self as the ruler of Equestria.”

The mares merely nodded blandly. Discord continued. “It was certainly just a lame attempt by the Spirits of Harmony at teaching how Cutie Marks are everything and you all should be grateful at Mother Harmony and such. All pitiful illusion, or simulation if you will.”

Discord then casually grabbed a chalk out of thin air and drew on a wooden board he conjured up right then. “The world that we live in is one single thread. There is only one true past, even though it sounds dreadfully boring. Even though I can manipulate dimensions, I still can’t bend time to make it branch. Time always forms stable loops no matter what you do.”

“But how do you explain the visions of the future that Twilight saw? Isn’t that an alternate timeline?”

“That’s most certainly not our world, however similar.” Discord scratched his head. “How should I put it… Well, let’s say our world is a balloon.”

“Really?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I like balloons! They’re so bubbly and colorful and-”

“Stop! I want to get this over with as soon as possible so that I can go back to check on Rosy and Chryssy. If I go back too late, I’m afraid their catfight will become a death match. You girls also want to check on Twilight too, right?”

“O- Okay, do continue.” Pinkie Pie bashfully said.

He snapped his finger and produced a blue balloon. “Our world is like a balloon, and we live on its surface as two-dimensional creatures. The ‘alternate dimensions’ that I usually wade through are actually folds and creases that form on the balloon when powerful beings, like me, pluck the surface enough. The alternate timeline Twilight viewed given her description, however, was not happening on our balloon.”

He snapped again. Various different objects floated next to the original blue balloon like a slide show.

“It might be from another balloon. It might be from some other weird sources entirely. It can even be a higher power yet to be observed on our world. But for us 2-D creatures on the balloon, it does not matter anyway because there are no way to distinguish these possibilities. Any ‘intervention’ from the external void never occurs in a physical way, kinda like if you tear out one balloon’s rubber to ‘transfer’ it to another balloon, it would only burst the balloon. Only information, like tremor on a balloon, can be transferred between one to another. But even that is so rare that I don’t even know it’s truly possible until I heard about Twilight’s little experiences.”

“Whoa…” The mares blinked almost in sync.

“Still following?” Discord groaned. “I hate explaining things in such details.”

Rainbow Dash asked cautiously. “So what you’re saying is, Twilight’s ‘foreknowledge’ was from an almost similar but separate sister world that might or might not actually exist?”

“Probably, maybe, I guess. The similarity, though, from what I heard from you, is eerie. There might be more to it than what I just said.”

“M- More?” Fluttershy spluttered.

“I… I’m gonna need some pills because my head hurts.” Rainbow Dash added.

“Good to see someone’s getting royally confused. Remember who I am again?”

“Wait, what?” Rainbow Dash was miffed. “You’re just making all those up?!”

“Just reminding you not to blindly trust me. I’m not always reliable.”

Discord snorted and shrugged. “I’ve been serious though. The more important point I’m making is, there is no way to truly alter the present by changing the past. Don’t you think that a spirit of change and constant flux like me wouldn’t do something like that already to exploit my full chaotic potential, or at the very least, not get caught by the darn Alicorn sisters?”

“Probably…” Rainbow Dash frowned but nodded, somewhat suspicious after the chaos spirit’s semi-joke.

“If we’re still using the balloon analogy, the linearity of time in our world is like a line drawn on a balloon. The deeds we’ve done add to that line, but however you squeeze the balloon, or even un-blow the balloon itself, it’s not going to make the line change its relative position on the balloon or branch. Even though its visual appearance may look different for a moment, but when you revert the action – like letting go of your squeeze and letting the balloon bounce back to its normal shape – the present will eventually be corrected to the ‘true’ shape by the regulating force of the world, maybe by the magic of Harmony, maybe by individual agency, maybe both like in that case. The ripple effect is real, just like how a balloon changes shape when you press it, but it is also always transient, just like real ripples. Their timeline, if their world operates on the same rule as ours, is never in any sort of real danger itself.”

The other two mares were still processing the information slowly, but Pinkie Pie quickly burst out with intrigue. “Wow, Discord! How do you know so much about the basics of our world?”

“I spent millennia trying to bend the rules of the world for fun, but these are the dang rules that are unyielding no matter how I bend them. Of course I’m way too familiar with them, to the point of nausea even.”

Rainbow Dash added with a sigh. “We never got to know what happen afterwards, though. The distortions this alternate Starlight made must be so disrupting to the space-time, they began to tear it up. Twilight’s mind would be engulfed by the encroaching nothingness if not for the intervention from the ancient tome.

Fluttershy then said. “We wish we get to see what’s at the end. Maybe she would’ve changed her mind? We’ll never know… But we tried our best to look for her in this world to prevent something like that from happening in the first place. Maybe she’ll feel better if we offer ourselves as her friends…?”

Discord silently nodded. After a pause, he smirked and mockingly yawned. “What a boring as Tartarus rationale to wreck things up! I’ve seen better sob story written by foals.”

“Don’t be mean!” Fluttershy chided. “Out of all, you should be the one who understand the joy of making friend and the sadness of losing one.”

“Meh, it’s just that it sounded incredibly petty compared to the other dudes who wants to conquer the world.”

Discord waved his claws. “So Sombra’s still in ice, Tirek’s still in Tartarus, what’s stopping you from looking for that lonely gal?”

“We can’t find her despite all our attempts…” Pinkie Pie slinked in defeat.

“Maybe there’s no Starlight Glimmer in our world?” Discord shrugged and offered.

“No!” Rainbow Dash immediately said. “There is an entry for her in Trottingham’s citizen registry, but she herself was nowhere to be found. Some said she went into the mountains, others said she went to the East.”

“Huh.” Discord said. “Okay, this sated my curiosity. I now have a question-slash-advice for you.”

Discord knocked on the blackboard with his claw. “When are you going to tell the little guy about all these?”

“You mean Spike?” Pinkie Pie widened her eyes, and then lowered her head uncertainly.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash also fidgeted around uncomfortably. “Depends on Twilight. She’s his adopted mom after all.”

“I don’t think it is healthy to keep this a secret to someone you deem so close to.” Discord said in a rare moment of sincerity. “He has a right to know this, just like me.”

“But he is too young and not mature enough to handle this…” Fluttershy said worriedly. “He might think of us as liars and react badly.”

“I’m not going to put a foot between you and the dragon, it’s not my business.” Discord shrugged. “But your hesitation to just be honest to him is also stopping him from growing up. When will he ever be ready? If it was left to you to decide, I think he will never know the truth because he will always be a baby in your eyes.”

The mares gazed at Discord with shock. They never expected such wise and genuine words to come out of his mouth. Moreover, his words made them both think and feel slightly ashamed.

“… Thank you, Discord. We’ll discuss and think about it.” Fluttershy quietly said.

“Marvelous.” Discord nodded. “I must go. Rosencross could not manage her guard duty for long, she would be driven mad quickly by being forced to stay close to her bitter enemy and not being able to punch her in the soft part of her carapace.”

Discord let out a sigh. “But before I go, I still want to know one last thing about you six yourselves.”

The mares sharply inhaled. Rainbow Dash slowly nodded. “Ask away.”

“As a spirit that deals with minds a lot, I’m curious about what the nature of your mind melds with Twilight exactly was. The tome said she had to do this because of some shenanigans with the Elements, so what did it entail? Did it interfere with your senses of selves?”

The mares winced at the difficult question. After some deliberation, Fluttershy slowly began. “It was complicated. Mind melding was much less intense than the outright mixing of minds between Twilight and the ancient tome, but much more intimate than mental links such as those between changelings and their queen. Twilight ‘colored’ our vital impetuses with her own. We could see her and ancient tome’s memories almost as clearly as herself, but we are still us, and we know that those memories are not ours.”

Rainbow Dash then sighed. “… We would be lying if we said it was not a violation of our individuality. We should be rightfully indignant because she more or less dictated her ways to think and feel about certain things for us. Among all, perhaps the most obvious example is Spike. He is a cute little rascal, but I’m never sure how much of my like towards him is inherited from Twi, and how much is really mine.”

Pinkie Pie smiled sadly. “To the end though, does it really matter? We are the collection of our experiences, and Twilight’s forceful intervention is part of it, whether we like it or not. And we have decided long ago that we don’t… mind it at least.”

Discord slowly nodded. He then snapped his finger and cancelled his magic on the room. He walked towards the door, leaving three thoughtful-looking mares behind.

Before he exited the room though, he turned his head and smirked. “Thanks, I appreciate your honesty. Friends.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“… So Chrysalis is now being secured by Discord, and Twilight was recuperating in her room. My soldiers were rounding up the changeling infiltrators.”

Rainbow Dash finished explaining the situation to Twilight’s astonished Zebrican companions as well as Spike.

The assembled group stood in shock in Rainbow Dash’s deck office. After a while, Geuse turned to Rosencross and asked quizzically.

“Rosy, you’re a changeling?”

“B- But of a good kind, right?” Verna added with a somewhat fretful one.

“What, that’s your first question?” Kanipha raised a brow.

“She’s been with us for so long, this is a legit question!” Geuse huffed.

“I…”

Rosencross was a bit tongue-tied. “I… um… I’m sorry to have withheld this information for so long. But I promise you, I’m definitely no Chrysalis. Ever since I lose my hive to the wretched queen, I have lived as a pony for… for goodness know how long.”

“You said Twilight knew about this, right?” Geuse asked with suspicion.

“… Yes.”

“So why didn’t she tell us before?”

“She wanted to protect me.” The red mare gritted her teeth. “Changelings are hated in the land, and I know only it too well. It was only a bizarre coincidence that she uncovered my identity… I happened to wade in front of her when she was practicing changeling detection spells in the inn I worked in. After we cleared the misunderstanding, she volunteered to sustain me by directly hooking me up to her magical conduit. Since unlike Chrysalis, I only absorb the energy required to maintain my life, the influence on her was almost negligible.”

She shook her head, her purple mane wavering for a bit. “Still, it was an immensely generous gesture on her part, and I’m forever thankful to her for rescuing me from having to do… degrading things to earn cheap love in the city.”

The listeners in the group either gulped or winced. Kanipha decided to shift the topic away to avoid the awkwardness.

“Rainbow Dash, what you’ve said makes sense to me.” The zebra colt nodded with an inscrutable face, which was promptly corroborated by the others.

“I’m glad you all are so understanding.” Pinkie Pie nodded.

“So what’s stopping us from chucking the darn queen and her bugs into the sea?” Kanipha gritted his teeth, his anger barely hidden.

“Revenge is not the solution.” Fluttershy winced.

Rainbow Dash bit her lips. “If they stay put for the moment, I don’t think we have to do anything extraordinary yet. So far, neither Chrysalis nor her hive have given us any disturbance yet. To the end, we want to await Twilight’s input on this matter.”

“Plus you know, they can fly!” Pinkie Pie japed.

“… Point.”

Spike’s mind was a confused mess. He was glad that the distant and strange Twilight he saw these days was just an impostor, but he was also devastated that she was again unconscious. “So when’s Twi gonna wake up?”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Discord and my unicorn army medics all checked up on her. The short answer is we don’t know. Her magic was abnormally weak, not even improving when we started pumping raw magic inside her. And the fight in Twilight’s mind probably caused some unspecified damage as well. Until she finally wakes up, we can’t do any more in-depth diagnosis.”

Spike lowered his head and sulked, that’s when someone banged on the door hurriedly.

Rainbow Dash opened the door to a severe-looking Mistral Trail and a grey earth pony mare with a restraining collar. The grey mare was reticent, but she swept the room quickly with her gaze. She stopped briefly at Rosencross, and then moved on.

“Your Grace, I brought along with me-”

The mint-green unicorn looked uncertainly at the assembled group in the room.

Rainbow Dash waved the unicorn inside and closed the door. She whispered. “If this is about the changelings on Chitona, then all of them know. They are all our trusted associates.”

“As you wish, Your Grace. This grey mare claims to be the leader of the changeling squadron on the ship.”

After a moment of murmurs, Rainbow Dash asked with a frown. “I thought Chrysalis is the queen of your hive?”

“She was.” The grey mare said curtly.

“What does that mean? Are you betraying your queen?” Rosencross frowned.

The grey mare’s gaze flickered. “Chrysalis is not our queen anymore.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash asked in shock.

“This is the natural consequence of her incompetent leadership.”

The grey mare narrowed her eyes. “The Siege of Timbucktu was a failed maneuver that had wounded many hivelings of ours. I decided to hold her to her promise and expedited her removal from our queenship. And seeing how Twilight Sparkle is the one who holds the Green Stigmata of the hive, she’s our presumptive leader pending her own assent.”

“Wait a bucking second. Are you saying that Twilie is now your queen?!” Geuse exclaimed.

The grey mare nodded slowly. “That’s why we did not offer up any resistance when the underlings of the rainbow one came, because I understand that she’s on our new queen’s side.”

“Rosy, is what she’s speaking the truth?” Geuse turned to Rosencross and asked.

“… It’s true that whoever holds the Green Stigmata is the queen of a hive. But it’s always passed willingly from one queen to another, or ritualistically conjured in case of sudden demise of the previous monarch. When Chrysalis conquered my hive, my own Stigmata was simply extinguished. Never was there a case of ‘accidental’ transfer like this.”

Rosencross then looked at the grey mare suspiciously. “What is your kodikas?”

The grey mare looked evasive when prompted by the red mare. She gulped and said with a bit of difficulty. “… Allela.”

“Allela, this is an unprecedented happening. You could have ignored this and continued to stick with Chrysalis. Why are you so eager to turn from your queen?”

Allela stayed quiet for a long while. Finally, Rainbow Dash impatiently said. “Speak up, Allela. Your silence is only adding to our doubts of your sincerity.”

“Can you promise to not lay harm on me or my hivelings first?”

Allela bit her lips. “I’ve heard a lot of talk about feeding us to the fishes.”

Despite the seriousness of the atmosphere, Pinkie Pie let out a suppressed giggle, while some others, like Fluttershy and Mkondo, winced uncomfortably.

Kanipha spat. “Why would we make such a promise to a bunch of degenerate raiders and thieves like yours?”

Rainbow Dash, however, frowned but nodded. “My soldiers aren’t out there to harm your changelings, but merely to put them in place. Some of us want justice to be served, but it would better be done on land than the high seas. More so, Twilight is the leader of the Zebrica expedition, she should have the final say on your fate, doubly so if she’s now your… queen somehow.”

“So there’s a promise, right?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “You might say so. But you should know that this depends on whether the changeling hive is up to no good again.”

Allela eyed Rainbow Dash, and Rosencross, then slowly said. “We chose Twilight Sparkle to be queen also because of… other reasons, among them is that we’ve found out she’s now sustaining us.”

“… Go on.” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, but it didn’t mask her surprise.

“I’m among the small amount of changelings who were blasted across the seas to West Zebrica with Chrysalis, leading the largest squadron under her command. Ever since the two fought in the pony capital, they have been intertwined in a strange way that can only be described as magical in nature. She became strangely fixated on Twilight Sparkle and her exploits. That’s why we were ordered to attack the city time after time even against such an organized defense.”

“Quit trying to blame Twilight for your own gluttonous desire to feed.” Kanipha sneered.

“Well, it’s up to you whether to believe me. I’m only ordered to tell what I know. I never understood her fixation anyway.”

The grey mare shrugged. “She was shaken by the defeats, but she was even more shaken by the leniency shown by Twilight Sparkle. After the release, she first wandered the desert aimlessly for some time, and then she decided to track down Twilight Sparkle’s entourage to the East. On the way, we met a tiny caravan. She then made a very strange decision that made us doubtful of her capacity to keep on leading.”

“She decided to pound on them even though they’re so few?” Geuse asked in doubt.

“No, I found it strange that she didn’t. We changelings aren’t nitpickers, even a small amount of love that can be squeezed out, we will squeeze it so… especially since we were emaciated. But the she was too hesitant to attack because she saw their fearful looks.”

Rosencross made a face of utter disbelief. “Chrysalis, compassion? Are you kidding me?”

Rainbow Dash was also unconvinced, but she said. “I’ll question you about that later, but what happened exactly and then?”

“I told you, she didn’t attack, so we didn’t. The caravan escaped quickly.”

“Isn’t that… a good thing though? No one was hurt.” Mkondo asked.

“Unless you don’t count us changelings. We still have to feed and keep ourselves alive.”

Allela frowned. “The caravan, in its hurried escape, did leave on the ground something for us to pick up.”

“It’s the Soul Dust isn’t it?” Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“Correct. The hivelings were close to losing the will to march forth anymore. After discerning the use of the magic item, she proposed to us the plan to… well, use the Soul Dust to infiltrate your group and take back the Green Stigmata both at the same time. It’s only because of this daring promise that the hive moved so fast across the inhospitable desert.”

Rainbow Dash sensed some discordance in Allela’s words. “Hmm, are you implying that you would have abandoned ship if not for her promise?”

Allela turned even more expressionless. She then said slowly and blankly. “I only do what’s best for my squadron hivelings.”

“… Hmph.”

“When we finally finished our trek northeast, we were malnourished and close to dying. That’s when we chanced upon Twilight Sparkle in the vicinity of Bannerdeer. We had thought that was an incredible stroke of luck. But the true stroke of luck for her was how she showed compassion to us.”

“You scoundrels exploited her kindness to the fullest, didn’t you?” Geuse hissed.

Allela ignored the taunt and continued. “Twilight Sparkle hooked the remainder of hivelings to her magical source, and spared us the immediate risk of dying from malnourishment. Chrysalis decided that the extant magical link was the best chance to launch her plan, and it succeeded. It was even aided by Twilight Sparkle’s literal selflessness.”

“Um, this one I just heard from Rainbow Dash. She helped Chrysalis out from the inside, didn’t she?” Verna sighed.

“She never expected it either. By my observation, she seemed grateful for her help even. I’d have never expected our highfaluting queen to act this way before all these.”

“Grateful? It’s probably more like snickering inside at her naiveté.” Kanipha harrumphed.

“No. As you may have noticed, I have some strong reservation for Chrysalis, but, I’ll say this: her gratefulness was real. Even though with the loss of magic and the Green Stigmata, our mental link to her has gradually weakened, we could still detect her affection for the purple pony.”

“Are you kidding me? What kind of affection would drive anyone to almost murder the one they love?!” Rainbow Dash almost shouted.

To her surprise, it was Rosencross was who shook her head and interjected.

“… Changelings saw love and possession as one. There is no complicated courtship ritual in changeling society, for example, because there is no difference between a queen showing love to a male hiveling and a queen having the male hiveling for herself. If a queen saw one suitable mate, she would just proceed to dominate and take possession of him. In warlike hive like Chrysalis’s, where relationships were rigidly hierarchical, I bet this kind of tendency was only more magnified and reinforced.”

The red mare seemed to have thought of some long-ago memories, and paused for a while.

“… I myself was clueless to the concept of pony companionship until I lived among them for years, I would bet that Chrysalis saw taking possession as the only way to show her twisted affection. Perhaps in her perverse mind, she think... well, what’s that pony proverb…”

“Imitation is the highest form of flattery?” Pinkie Pie offered.

“Yes, that’s the one. If she did really grow to become madly jealous and affectionate, that’s the kind of insanity I could picture her to do.”

Allela’s gaze was complicated, but she then said. “She was indeed becoming more and more unstable afterwards. But now that her plan has fell through and her promise broken, the queenship has been duly vacated. And with Twilight Sparkle being the one who possesses the Green Stigmata and sustains us directly through her magical core, she’s our queen pending her own assent... Even though it is extraordinary to have a non-chan-”

Geuse suddenly exclaimed. “Hey! So you’re telling us that Twilight’s unconsciousness and loss of magic are all due to you greedy wisselkinds overdrawing from her?”

Kanipha also added. “Yeah, now what’s stopping us from tying you up and throwing you all into the sea to save Twilight?”

Rainbow Dash called them down. “Wait! We made a promise! Unless-”

“So much for loyalty!” Geuse taunted and interrupted Rainbow Dash. “Your friend is slowly being killed by those villainous bugs, and not only you choose to sit there and do nothing, but to stop us who actually want to do something?!”

Before Rainbow Dash could react, Mistral Trail already angrily protested. “Are you doubting the dedication and sincerity of Her Grace?! She sailed across half the world to look for her friend, in the process almost got her wing torn clean-off!”

Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Spike all gasped aloud. Even Geuse instinctively retracted her wings.

Rainbow Dash shifted awkwardly. “Yeah, don’t mention it. My wing is still in place, isn’t it? Thank goodness for that. But Geuse, what I’m trying to say is simply to let… Allela explain her case first. Not that we have to take her words for it, but she might have information about Twilight that we don’t yet fully know or understand.”

The grey mare who was coolly watching the whole scene suddenly smirked. “Rainbow Dash, isn’t it? You’re indeed wise and fair in your dealings. I’m gonna be honest with you, and I’m not just saying this to save my chitinous shell, but I’m pretty sure Twilight Sparkle’s current unfortunate status has little to do with our paltry feeding, and more to do with the magical imbalance due to her crossing hooves with Chrysalis before, which was then complicated by the battle during which you tried to extract her from Twilight Sparkle’s mind.”

“What ‘magical imbalance’ are you talking about?”

“This is just conjecture on my part based on what I heard, so take that as you will.”

The grey mare waved her hoof. “Changeling magic is by nature different to pony magic. So when they interact so closely, they might cause unpredictable change to each other. I mentioned that Chrysalis’s magic was failing to manifest more and more frequently, and it was plain to us that it was not just due to the lack of food. I bet something similar was happening to Twilight Sparkle.”

The group, especially the Zebrican companions, thought of Twilight’s recent decline in magic, and reluctantly agreed that what the grey mare described matched with what happened.

Geuse had calmed down somewhat, but she still couldn’t help but ask. “So wouldn’t removing Chrysalis and breaking the link solve everything?”

Allela smirked. She then said with a thoughtful look. “If only this is so simple.”

She narrowed an eye. “Why, we changelings are no stranger to mind magic and mental connections, but seldom does it cause such intimate intertwining like this. Her use of Soul Dust only strengthened this bond to an unnatural degree. I don’t know how you achieved the removal, but with such a short time span, I doubt it was a gentle and benign process. Damage from the battle aside, it was like yanking a grass of weed from the ground. The grass might be removed, but the roots remained, festering inside and causing unpredictable effects.”

Rainbow Dash inhaled with unease. “So what should we do to revive Twilight now?”

“No idea.” Allela shrugged. “If we had any way to do it, I would have proposed it earlier. A queenless hive is a dangerous thing.”

“If so, why don’t you keep Chrysalis as your queen at the moment?”

Surprisingly, it was Pinkie Pie who asked somewhat suspiciously. “I still don’t see what made you so eager to foist the queenship of your hive onto Twilight.”

After a sigh, Allela suddenly grinned, revealing her sharpish teeth. “You are a difficult bunch, aren’t you? Fine, fine, I’d admit it, I have a selfish reason of my own. I want a change in leadership.”

Facing a wave of shocked and stunned looks, Allela raised a brow. “I’m a reasonably good tactician, and I had been gradually promoted to become the leader of the largest squadron in the hive. But my squadron usually operated with relative independence, which often got on her nerves... and my own nerves as well. Speaking of which, Chrysalis has lost us three major engagements by now, isn’t it natural that I should seek some intervention to better our fortune? Even without Twilight Sparkle, I would definitely hold Chrysalis to her promise and made her abdicate.”

She drew in a breath and continued. “Twilight Sparkle is our willing benefactor, has a vast magical potential, won battles, and showed little reluctance at helping us or offering advice to us, and till this very moment is giving us the energy to operate even in coma, I would say she is a promising leader even without the royal trappings of Green Stigmata. And with the Green Stigmata on her, she has the rightful claim as well. Maybe it’s destiny’s will.”

“You also think she would be softer and easier to manipulate, don’t ya?” Kanipha pointed out acutely.

Allela blinked and said cryptically. “No, no. My gift to Twilight Sparkle is purely out of good will. I have no aspiration to power of my own, other than protesting against a leader that I dislike.”

Rainbow Dash bared her teeth and slowly said. “I still can’t quite trust someone who would turn on their queen so quickly at the sound of defeat. If we’re to accommodate you, who knows when will you turn on us or Twilight like you turned on Chrysalis?”

Allela merely smirked. “You overestimate us, Rainbow Dash. What can we possibly do to you at this stage, being a few dozen hungry changelings? The reason I stood up and come to you is, frankly, begging for mercy for me and my underlings and explaining the situation. Changelings thrive on secrecy and deception; you should realize that my gesture of telling you everything represents a total capitulation on my part.”

“If being a queen so alluring, then why don’t you take on the crown yourself?” Geuse pressed on.

“Oh dear, the Green Stigmata isn’t on me, right? It’s also too much burden and danger to be a queen.”

After some deliberation, Rainbow Dash asked cautiously with narrowed eyes. “So what do you want from us?”

“Nothing big really, just halt your soldiers and let us live among the other passengers disguised as ponies at the moment. We certainly appreciate it if you don’t add to the others’ suspicion by trying to round us up so blatantly. We’re still beings of flesh and blood, and if thousands of ponies, cows, antelopes, and so on surround and attempt to lynch us, we’d all be dead bugs before sundown.”

“But you’d all be sucking love and energy from Twilight! How can we allow that to continue?” Spike, who was till then quiet, burst out in a mix of anger and worry.

Seeing the emphatic nods from the others, Allela sighed and said with a wistful tone. “I saw this one coming. Well, if this makes you all feel easier, we’d stop feeding from Twilight Sparkle until she gets better, alright?”

“You’ll do that?” Rosencross raised a brow and said, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Allela’s gaze swept across Rosencross. For some reason, the expression of the grey mare somewhat softened. Still, she said. “Yeah. That seems to make you all feel better.”

Rosencross turned aside and pouted. “… Then I will not be the selfish one and continue my feeding.”

Allela raised a brow. “You… don’t have to.”

“No, if that would help Twilight recover faster, then going hungry for a while will be worth it.”

“Hmph.” Allela deliberated. “So is this fine with you all?”

Rainbow Dash looked left and right, and nodded after seeing no dissent. “Very well, I’m going to let the changeling hive stay in place for now, but if you’re to plot anything against Twilight or us, I’d rescind my offer of protection.”

“Deal.”

The group looked at her with different emotions as the changeling prepared to exit the room. The cyan mare’s loyal lieutenant quickly followed.

“Wait!”

Fluttershy asked aloud, to her own surprise. “… Where are you going?”

The grey mare smirked. “I’m not going anywhere out of your sight with Miss Collar-yanker here.”

“No, I mean, where do you plan to go?”

“Oh, I’m just going to drop by Chrysalis, if that’s permitted.”

“What for?” Rainbow Dash frowned. “Discord is guarding her, and my soldiers would not permit your entry.”

“Bummer, I just want to try to communicate the situation here to her and make sure she doesn’t act up or anything.”

“Huh.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “You act like you’re the one in charge of the changeling hive.”

“Heh, I just wanna make sure things go smoothly from one queen to another, hmm?”

“Well, you can meet her, but our soldiers and Discord will be watching.”

“… Fine by me. Thanks.”

With a loud bang of the door, the grey mare and mint-green unicorn left the room for real this time.

After hearing the steps grow distant, Geuse immediately protested. “Rainbow Dash, we shouldn’t be so trusting of that darn changeling! For all I know, she could be lying about everything and plotting against us once more!”

“To be honest, I don’t trust her either.”

“Hm?”

“For reasons I already mentioned. Besides, it’s plain as day that this Allela is quite a plotter.”

“So why-“

“I trust in Twilight’s judgment if she deemed the changeling hive as something that is salvageable. I don’t think the way she acted towards Chrysalis and the changelings was merely out of naiveté. If there’s no immediate danger to Twilight’s life, I see no reason not to withhold our ire for the moment and place some trust in Twilight.”

Geuse, as well as the other outspoken members of the group like Kanipha looked a bit stung at the implied lack of faith, but they did not offer a retort.

“Having said that, we should be on our full guard. Although from our interactions just now, that Allela probably meant us no harm, but I suspect there’s something she’s not yet told us, and she might, as you said, be planning something as well.”

“… Fair enough.”

Rainbow Dash then knocked on the table. “Okay then, I’ve kept you all long enough, and I myself have some new duties to conduct. I suppose the meeting’s adjourned for now. You can go back to your quarters, but please consider not going around the ships for too long, now that we’re on heightened alert.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been a few days since Discord volunteered to keep a watch on Chrysalis, and it was grueling to say the least.

A few days ago, a self-proclaimed lieutenant of Chrysalis came by and talked to Chrysalis about the current situation, and in particular, holding her to her promise of giving up the queenship.

He briefly wondered what could have prompted the power-hungry changeling queen to make this kind of promise. Was it the desperate situation, disloyal underlings, or more?

Counter to Discord’s expectation, Chrysalis did not explode in anger at all. She just weakly argue about the wordings of the promise, that she only said to release them of their vows, but not giving up the crown herself.

However, the changeling named Allela only said with vagueness and a hint of mockery.

“The seed of your demise had been planted long before the day we sieged Timbucktu. You should just stay here and wallowed in your baseness and ineptitude.”

Stunned quiet, the now changeling ex-queen simply looked at her former lieutenant left without a word.

Afterwards, Chrysalis did throw some hysterics in the cabin she was kept. But they all quickly gave way to silent, somewhat unsettling staring at the wooden wall.

This silence, the chaos spirit could not bear with. Having to stand guard already robbed him of the time to chitchat with others. In this room he did not only get bored with inactivity as if he was also being imprisoned, he also got increasingly unnerved by the eerie silence of the changeling ex-queen. It was almost like being forced to stand next to a corpse.

Discord finally could not bear it anymore. He jumped out of his makeshift hammock and went next to Chrysalis. Seeing the changeling sitting in her bed motionless, he coughed to get her attention, and then asked.

“Feeling hungry yet?”

Getting no response, he said again with a louder voice.

“Are you okay? You should’ve got no love to eat for a few days now.”

The changeling’s head turned, but she did not say anything. It was as if she’s not even looking at Discord, but something behind him.

Discord sighed, and produced a loudspeaker with his magic. Then he yelled with all his might.

“DO YOU HEAR ME?! ARE YOU OKAY?!”

“What's going on here?”

An alarmed Cruzesian guard ran in and asked loudly.

“Nothing. I'm just checking if she's okay. You may go back to your post.”

Discord told the guard calmly with a grin. The guard blinked, and then bowed out quietly as told.

Discord turned to see an irritated-looking Chrysalis staring at him.

“Oh good, at least you aren’t dead inside, or outside. I don’t know about changeling biology that much.”

She coughed and cleared her throat, which was dry as a desert after a few days of silence.

“… I may not be dead, but I’m almost deaf courtesy of your stupid action.”

“It isn’t stupid if it got your attention, which is my goal.” Discord crossed his arms. “I’m concerned that you might also suffer from some damage after getting forcefully extracted from Twilight.”

“Oh? What’s that? You are concerned about me?” Chrysalis drily laughed. “Don’t make me-”

“I’m serious. There’s no need to get cynical about this.”

Chrysalis was surprised by how forthright Discord was. She flustered a bit and said. “Pfft, I’m fine. Just a bit… unused to having no one to lead, that’s all.”

“Meh, you’ll get over it. That’s speaking from my experience.”

“Huh, right. You were the king of Equestria back then, weren’t you?”

“Chaos King of Equestria.” Discord corrected. “My reign brought much needed discord to this boringly bubbly land of ponies, although the no-fun Celestia once said it was ‘an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness’. Bah, to Tartarus with her propaganda.”

“Celestia…” Chrysalis gritted her teeth angrily.

“I heard from the girls that she fought with you and your changelings once a long time ago. That’s how you all now look like you’re made of fermented cheese.”

“Grr…” Chrysalis angrily hissed, but she then held her head with her hooves and deflated quickly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I…”

Suddenly, the former monarch of the hive began to tear up.

Discord internally groaned again. Ever since he had been broken out of stone, the number of times he saw some mare crying right in front of him already far exceeded that during his supposed reign of terror. Also, Chrysalis crying was a sight that he did not think he would ever get used to.

He tried his best to calm the changeling, and gently cooed, emulating the tone of his long-time roommate Fluttershy. “… I’m here, ready to listen to your woes… If you’re also ready, that is.”

‘It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do here.’

He japed in his mind. But he actually was also wondering what made her act so weird as well.

Being a spirit of mind, he was curious, somewhat morbidly, about how the formerly proud and vile-tongued changeling queen could be reduced to such an unstable whimpering wreck. It could be a combination of humiliating defeats and getting practically abandoned by her only remaining changelings, but he suspected the mysterious cross-linkage with Twilight also affected her mind to a healthy, or unhealthy, degree.

Bottom-line, if changelings were sensitive to mind and emotions as legends told, she herself should also be aware of her own change. What she told him and Rosencross back in Twilight’s mind was not quite clear enough to sate his curiosity, which was quite intensely stoke by the reveal of Twilight’s secret a few days ago.

He’s of course also concerned with the status of Twilight herself. He was somewhat regretful that their battle probably wrecked the place, and he hoped fervently that his ‘vegetable’ jape wouldn’t come true.

But with Twilight surrounded by Cruzesian medics, there’s little he could do, especially since healing magic was never his forte. He could, however, try to examine what’s going on with Chrysalis, in order to get a rough idea about what happened to Twilight, who was on the other end of their curious connection.

As he thought about the two mares awaiting Chrysalis’s response, the ex-queen wiped her eyes, raised her head and said. “You’ll hear me out?”

“Why, of course. I’m always a good listener.”

“… I doubt that.” Chrysalis continued regardless. “It’s been, what, six months since we last met?”

“Seven months actually.”

“So much has changed, and so many regretful deeds I wish to go back in time to undo.”

“Hey, I regret my action back then a lot too. So much so that I’ve gone a bit loco and got willingly burnt by the Tree of Harmony. That purple egghead’s self-destructive tendency was probably rubbing off me. That’s why afterwards I took a three-day vacation to wash myself in the Prismatic Spring to wash it off me, lest I turn suicidal for no reason all of a sudden.”

“If that’s an attempt to joke, I’m not amused.”

“No joke, I did go to the Prismatic Spring. I have the souvenir to prove it!” Discord snapped and produced a rainbow-colored stone. “Purple egghead’s influence is positively infectious.”

Chrysalis huffed, but her voice turned unsure. “I don’t know what to think of her.”

“How about ‘I can tear her guts out’?”

Chrysalis let off an inadvertent giggle, but she then immediately widened her eyes. She eyed the chaos spirit suspiciously. “Hmph, aren’t you on her side, now that you regret turning from her?”

Discord ignored the unsettling chuckle and simply grinned. “It was not a betrayal, so much as a moment of miscalculated trickery set to get back at her. Let’s say Twilight and I had some… romantic dispute, which has since completely dissipated… I hope.”

Discord carefully chose his words to shift the focus to imply that it was all about romance instead of the secret that he already knew.

Chrysalis raised a brow and looked somewhat amused. “A scorned lover, eh? Good enough reason to turn on her as any.”

“My heart is warmed.” Discord drily chuckled. “But seriously, do you still hate her?”

“… I know I should be. She is the one who caused my downfall. My grand army of changelings were reduced to nothing all due to her meddling…”

She tapped her perforated hoof on the wooden wall of her cabin. “But whenever I saw her, I felt irrationally… I don’t quite know how to describe that feeling. I guess you can say it was a mix of… yearning and envy. When we crossed hooves in Canterlot, I already noticed her vast magical potential, on her own no less, and her strangely proficient mind magic. For someone like me who could only cast strong magic by absorbing a large amount of love, it is very alluring if I could get my hoof on that.”

“You plot your plan this far back?”

“No, of course not! It was just at first a stray thought, something like ‘It would be so sweet if I could get my hoof on that’. But that feeling soon ballooned into something else entirely.”

“I never notice that you have an unrequited love on her.”

“What the Tartarus are you talking about? No!” Chrysalis’s face reddened. “I’m regretting my foolish decision to talk to you right now!”

“Oh, come on, I just want to ease the tension. You just seem so high-strung all the time.”

The chaos spirit narrowed one of his eyes and deliberately probed. “You kinda remind me of Twilight whenever she was, but actually wasn’t mad at me.”

Chrysalis opened her mouth quickly as if to spout an angry diatribe, but no words came out. After a while, she said through her gritted teeth. “You’re teasing me, knowing that she’s the culprit of making me not see things like it was.”

“Can you tell me what exactly happen from your perspective?” Discord straightened his back. “I’m an expert of mind after all. Maybe I can help or at least give some advice.”

“More like an expert of screwing someone’s head up, according to what I’ve heard.”

Despite Chrysalis’s riposte, she continued with a quieter voice. “Ever since we emerged from the earth in Zebrica, changelings had been scattered in small squabbling hives. Ours were the most numerous, well-positioned to unite the changelings as one. So after I ascended to the throne, I immediately marshaled across the land to turn the changeling race into an unbreakable black spear, capable of breaking open the best defended minds to obtain the love we set our eyes on. Deceit and brute force are both fair games.”

“Hm, it matches with what I heard.”

“I don’t aim for less.” Chrysalis let off a small prideful smirk. “We’ve sacked big cities and small villages, we even crossed the seas to raid settlements far from Zebrica, like the great city of Trot to the East. It was a feat unthinkable for changelings of the past who were content with small-time feeding on nearby villages.”

“So what’s the problem? You sound like you’re still quite fond of your conquests.” Discord shrugged. “If it were the girls who are talking to you right now, they might rail against, or at least show disapproval to your deeds, but I know better not to demean someone’s pride and achievement, whichever direction my moral compass points to.”

“You, spirit of utter disharmony, have a moral compass? This is complete news to me.”

“Hey, isn’t inverting someone else’s expectation most fun? Who would expect a chaos spirit has a moral rulebook?”

“… This sounds like what a chaos spirit would say.”

Discord lightly grinned. “Granted, it’s more of a list of suggestions than hard rules. But I see nothing wrong with following them for now.”

He then chuckled and shook his head. “I love fun, and I positively hate the static environment the crowned heads of the old Equestria, and now the royal sisters so like to propagate. Of course I could go solo and create havoc alone now that I’m freed. But sometimes, there can only be so much fun alone. Twilight and her friends’ kindness and their active reaching out to me taught me a new way to have fun without raising Tartarus. And now I know they have a lot of fun plans for the future in their saddlebag. Why won’t I try to align myself a bit towards their views in order to keep in their good grace?”

Discord eyed Chrysalis, who seemed to want to ask what those ‘fun plans’ he mentioned were. Before she opened her mouth to ask, he made a flourish to distract her and sighed dramatically. “Alas, I didn’t have a voice of moderation to tell me when I went overboard. What a lame state of affairs when I look back to it!”

“At least your change is out of your own volition.”

“Oh? Tell me more.”

“There was no kindness or charity in my book of operation, or indeed, changeling society as a whole. The strong shall devour the weak, lest she is devoured herself.”

She smirked again, but this time with some hint of uncertainty. “You think ponies are bubbly, try bunnies. When I was traversing in the East, I once encountered a tribe of extremely friendly bunnies. Even though we’re not disguised at all, they were hospitable to the point that it bewildered me how they survived in the wild.”

“Needless to say, you gave them the shaft, am I correct?”

“Definitely.” Chrysalis closed her eyes. “I tell you about them just to show that I’m no stranger to kindness with no strings attached before. I knew what it exactly meant – a show of weakness and submission, a surefire sign of exploitability. I also knew what to do – putting them down with clinical coldness and extracting the love for the hive.”

“What has changed then?”

“She is definitely to blame, because I started reacting to acts of kindness with… a desire to reciprocate.”

Instead of probing further, Discord asked rhetorically. “Why is reciprocation a bad thing?”

“I- It shows you’re weak!”

“You’re smarter than that, Chryssy.”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at his unpermitted use of nickname, but he simply continued. “You’re shutting yourself out from a perfectly valid strategy if you decide to eschew reciprocation in any situation.”

“Who need that if we’re strong and deceitful enough?”

“Judging by your current situation, I think they’re clearly not enough.”

“Are you mocking me, Discord?”

“Not at all.”

Discord shrugged. “If everything can be dominated through force and suppression, the world should be completely filled with aggressive predators and their chafing slaves now. Magical forces like the Elements of Harmony notwithstanding, there are plenty of herbivore herds that roam the land. How do you think they manage to survive in the wild, wild nature?”

“They cowardly band together, in a foolish attempt to stem the inevitable.” She huffed.

Discord manually adjusted his eyes which were rolling up at high speed. “… But the point is, they survive, and sometimes even triumph over smart and very calculating individuals like Yours Truly. Why’s that the case if ruthlessness is the superior strategy?”

Chrysalis spluttered, and Discord simply said. “Because they are not necessarily the best strategy. Showing rapport ties individuals with different interests up as a cohesive group. Unless you’re so powerful that you can wipe the world clean, there are cases in which we need support from friends and allies to patch up where we’re lacking, and at least an exchange of favor to keep the peace, which prevents everyone from ganging up on you at once. If I knew that earlier, I wouldn’t lose my kingdom to some Alicorn upstarts. Altruism isn’t just some foolish nonsense, it’s an important social ritual that helps countless species survive over the years.”

“So are you trying to convince me that kindness has its use?”

“Yes. And oh, it makes your heart tingly sometimes, but it depends on whether you think it’s a good thing.”

Discord gave some time for the changeling queen to think, and then continued. “Back in her mental realm, you mentioned something about Twilight’s feelings and your own as well.”

Chrysalis lightly gasped, her gaze shot away from the draconequus.

“So what’s up with this friendship thing? New to it, aren’t you?” He said.

She bit her lips, her fangs impressed on the dark chitin shell. “Those feelings are just like those intruding thoughts about kindness!”

“T- They aren’t mine!” She added, somewhat uncertainly.

Discord silently sighed. He thought of the last question he asked the three mares when he was about to leave Rainbow Dash’s office.

He asked that question because what happened to Chrysalis might be something similar to what happened to them. An inadvertent transfer of foreign feelings and emotions. Ultimately morally wrong, he must admit.

Or maybe Chrysalis was just undergoing change on her own with what she saw in Twilight. Who could tell, and did the distinction really matter?

He’s there to untie this mental knot regardless. He felt no obligation to turn Chrysalis to the ponies’ side. Turning this former changeling invader to Twilight’s side, however, would likely make her very happy, and he wouldn’t mind getting on her good side after all that had happened.

Discord collected himself and asked. “But does it matter? Say, try to be honest here, do you feel a tinge of warmth seeing her friends? Do you long for having friends to shower care and affection towards you without an expectation of return?”

Chrysalis again opened her mouth, but she only mumbled. After a moment of deliberation, though, she said with somewhat contained strain. “Do you know why I’m telling you all these instead of giving you the buck to the face?”

“No one has the heart to buck my witty charming self and my handsome face, I’m sure.”

Chrysalis gulped as if she was suppressing something. Then she said uneasily. “I feel… comfort. It’s oddly liberating talking to you. Not even towards my most loyal hivelings I could explicitly tell about my innermost thoughts, even though they might sense my overflowing emotions from time to time.”

“And that, is what having friends is for, my friend.”

Chrysalis turned breathless at being called a friend of the chaos spirit. When she came to her senses, she started to protest, but she was immediately interrupted by Discord.

“Give me a sec, Chryssy.” Discord grinned. “’Friendship is magic’, they say. Always sounds too cheesy to me. But there’s something about friendship that is true whenever you go. With true friends, not only it makes happiness more than a transient personal moment, it also let you afford to be things that you can’t be, lest you’re overly exposed.”

Chrysalis blinked in half-understanding, so Discord continued. “With friends, you can afford to appear weak, because we don’t need to pose for fear of being dominated; to appear wrong, because we don’t have to be perfect; to appear directionless, because we don’t always have to lead; and to appear stupid, because we don’t have to prepare for their appraisal. We all need a moment of respite from constantly having to guard ourselves from others and run towards success on a lonely trail. Constant vigilance and unending personal craving will only drive us crazy eventually.”

Chrysalis went silent. What she next told Discord surprised him.

“I guess you’re not wrong.”

“Oh?” Discord suppressed his natural urge to be sarcastic.

“… Can we have a deal?” She said suddenly.

“It depends on what it’s about.” Discord smirked.

“I want to hear more about your past and how you come to be, and in turn, I will tell you mine.”

“Gladly. Why, they should’ve written multiple books about my glorious exploits by now.”

Discord chortled, and then told Chrysalis a distilled version of his past as the chaos king, his defeat at the Sisters’ hooves, and his uneven road to reformation afterwards.

Chrysalis was slightly mesmerized by Discord’s intriguing storytelling. A gentle poke from Discord brought her back to reality, and she realized it was her turn to speak.

“Well, we have a deal, haven’t we?”

She sighed and began. “I don’t suppose you know how a queen of changelings came to be.”

“You mentioned the Green Stigmata. I presume that the throne itself was somewhat hereditary?”

“Actually, it’s more complicated than that. From a special batch of hatchlings, many potential future queens are born after the previous queen passes away. Hive rules dictate that all of them will fight each other until only one is left. But not before they display their first bout of changeling magic are they permitted to launch any attack. Basically, it was both a way to select the most powerful changeling queen, and also a way to see if the new queen has the gall to mercilessly eliminate defenseless opponents before they pose a threat to her.”

Discord couldn’t help but ask. “Even Rosy underwent something like that?”

Chrysalis raised a brow and harrumphed. “… I don’t know about her specific hive, but if they select changelings according to the common ancient tradition of all changelings, then I suppose she also did.”

Discord coughed. “Did you?”

“I did. Albeit accidentally. It was the only time I have hiveling blood on my hooves.”

She drew in a breath. “I was a curious specimen of changeling. I was the shiest of the bunch. I walked and fed alone. Basically, I was the bottom feeder among the candidates. So it came to me as a surprise when I had my upsurge of magic at a very young age. But back then, I was still reluctant to attack.”

“Why? They are your rivals.”

“But they’re also my hatchling sisters.”

Discord tried to maintain his inscrutable look, but his facial expression betrayed his surprise at the explicit expression of a yearning for intimacy.

“Outside of the queenship selection, we talk and feed together. It was something akin to companionship to me, so I didn’t take action against them. That was until I was violently accosted by them one day, and I was pushed to the breaking point. So I decided to shock them with my magic to show them I was no pushover. However, I overcharged my power, and I incinerated all of them.”

Discord nodded minutely.

“But my display of power immediately had the hive fully submitted to me. I never felt so good, for it was the first time I had power over any other beings. So my desire for power grew, and I learnt and adapted to use whatever means necessary. It had been so long that complete ruthlessness has been my cardinal rule.”

Discord slightly nodded. It seemed that Chrysalis wasn’t exactly born evil after all. Maybe the changes she had now were seeded long ago.

Chrysalis looked at the reticent Discord, shook her head wryly and shifted the topic. “Come to think of it, I did have something akin to a friend when I was very young.”

Discord was truly surprised. “Really?”

“… Imago. His name was Imago.”

“A male changeling?”

“Yes, this was what made him very special. Ever since we were birthed from the fertile earth, changelings only had queens but not kings. But for some freakish reason, he was born among us the candidates. Imago was one of the more talkative changelings. Strange, since changeling society was never one of kindness and compassion. But we’re both outcasts, so we naturally gravitated towards each other. He’s the only one in the hive who would listen to my muttering. But one day, he died.”

“What?” Discord almost thought Chrysalis was telling an anti-joke.

“Yep, just keeled in front of me, completely out of the blue. It was definitely foul play, I am sure of it. Probably poison, done by someone who thought his existence as unnatural and sacrilegious, though I never managed to get a hold of the perpetrator even after I started a purge after becoming queen.”

The changeling then merely smirked, albeit sadly. “Absorbing as much love as possible is supposed to be the solitary duty of a changeling queen. But as you can see from Phalena, I probably didn’t have to do it by brute force. However, Imago’s death convinced me that kindness is weakness, and weakness kills.”

“Doesn’t it still?” Discord toothily grinned.

“You’re trying to make me argue against the me of the past, aren’t you, you scamp.”

Chrysalis shook her head. “What you’ve said just made me rethink what led me to become what I am today. I haven’t thought of Imago for years, but I did just now. You are probably right, even though Twilight Sparkle’s friend-loving tendency might rub off me when we’re locking horn back then, but the thing that matters more is my own change.”

“Eh, are you going to join me in ‘reforming’?” Discord mischievously grinned.

“’Reforming’? To reform means I must admit what I did was wrong. But to this day I still think that all I did were for the best of the hive. Now I merely think there might be other… perhaps better ways in achieving what I desire.”

Discord smirked. “Meh, just wording anyway. If you are truly willing to act in a more palatable way to them girls, I’ll certainly speak on your behalf in front of Twilight’s friends.”

Annoyance briefly flashed across Chrysalis’s face, but she gave his words more thoughts, sighed and nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Give it time.”

She looked back to the chaos spirit with a reserved gratitude, and the thorns in her gaze seemed to have gone.

Discord then turned and walked back to his hammock, intending to leave the former changeling queen some time to think on her own.

However, she suddenly said. “How’s Twilight?”

Discord raised a brow at the more intimate form of address. He turned again. “Still unconscious in bed.”

He then narrowed an eye and asked. “You sure you aren’t mad at her for taking away your throne or anything?”

“If anyone’s to blame, it would be myself for my foolishness and incompetence. Twilight Sparkle herself never expressed a desire to take away my queenship, even offering to give back the Green Stigmata back then. Even Allela… She was probably just doing what she thought was best for her band of hivelings.”

She looked up with apparent tiredness. “I guess she’s right. Time to take a break and rethink.”

Seeing the sulking Chrysalis, Discord shifted the topic. “You got any idea about her condition?”

She shook her head and looked somewhat fretful. “No, not at all. I’m just a bit… concerned.”

“If not even you know what’s going on, then bugger-all helps us.”

“I’m thinking, though.”

“Hmm?”

“You keep mentioning the Elements of Harmony. They’re really powerful magical artefacts, and the six mares that I fought were their wielders, am I correct?”

“Yes…?”

“So maybe if her friends use them, they can fix her up quickly.”

“Not a bad idea, but there’re some difficulties.” Discord sighed. “First, they aren’t the wielders anymore, because they put the Elements back to the Tree of Harmony in a bid to reassure me that they wouldn’t use them against me.”

“… No wonder you look surprisingly loyal to them despite being a chaos spirit. They’ve really gone the extra mile, even placing themselves in danger, to try to befriend you.”

“Are you trying to make me feel guilty?” Discord raised a brow. “It’s useless. I’m long past that stage.”

“Not really, I’m just even more curious what makes you turn back then.”

“You can’t feel deeply scorned unless you first grow close with someone.” Discord said vaguely, and then quickly reverted. “Anyway, the second reason is that Twilight herself wouldn’t be available to activate her own Element.”

Chrysalis exhaled in disappointment. “I… hope it wasn’t my magical blast that caused the damage in the first place. She might have foiled my plans many time, but as things now come to this, I can’t really be mad with her.”

“The good will is noted, though some of her friends, I fear, aren’t exactly that forgiving.”

She huffed. “They can keep their pitiful hatred. It’s far from my first time having to face someone’s hateful gazes.”

“You sound like you would appreciate it if they don’t, though. You look so obviously lonely.”

“What? I-” Chrysalis gritted her teeth and heavily sighed. “Must you be this difficult?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry for getting someone to be more honest with herself.”

Chrysalis harrumphed, and turned to the wall-side of her bed and seemingly refused to talk anymore. Discord simply loudly chuckled, and went back to his hammock content with his little discussion with the changeling ex-queen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey Rosy.”

“Discord?” Rosencross eyed the chaos spirit, who came near the bow to her side. “Shouldn’t you be watching over Chrysalis?”

“Don’t you worry, she shouldn’t be up to anything now. I’ve more or less talked her into staying put for a change, and perhaps even less cold. Turns out she has a story to tell.”

Rosencross looked at Discord with a mix of disbelief and shock.

“You still hating on her, right? Alright, we shouldn’t talk about her if-”

“… Tell me about her.”

Discord blinked, and the corner of his mouth slightly raised. He then began to retell Chrysalis’s tale to her.

“… This is perhaps why Twilight thought that she could be turned to her side.”

Rosencross bit her lips and stayed quiescent. Discord waited for a while, and decided to let the red mare process the information herself. He was not so delusional to think that a mere understanding of Chrysalis’s motives would make Rosencross forget all the past transgressions, but it might be a start regardless. If the changeling duo were to stay close to Twilight afterwards, he certainly could appreciate less of an auditory carpet bombardment whenever the two met each other.

Rosencross turned from the bow and entered the cabin of Esperança, and Discord followed without a word. Streaming through patrolling soldiers, they arrived at the mess hall of the ship. There they found everyone having lunch around a big table.

“Oh? Discord, Rosencross?” Rainbow Dash turned and waved at the incoming duo. “Hey, come sit by us. It’s so rare to see you two appearing in the mess.”

“Just want to find somewhere to sit and think.” Rosencross shrugged expressionlessly.

“A weird choice, I must say.” Kanipha smirked. “You can’t find a noisier place on this ship.”

Discord, however, looked at Rainbow Dash and said. “It’s also rare to see the bucking commander to sit among the ensigns in the mess hall.”

“You need to show up from time to time to forge a sense of togetherness. The brothers and sisters who fight together eat together.” Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

“Uh, no offense, Mister Discord…” Verna asked uncertainly. “Aren’t you supposed to be -”

“- watching over Chryssy?” Discord finished her query. “Good news to you all, I have successfully preached the gospel of Friendship to her, and she has since accepted the goodness of Kindness in her heart.”

Facing absolute stunned silence, he crossed his arms and huffed. “What, I just used what I was taught during those moons of reeducation with these lovely mares.”

“Reeducation? This term you use made us sound like we forced you to be like that.” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“You have to admit though, you all were a tad bit forceful when you tried to make a friend out of Yours Truly when you broke me out of the stone.”

Seeing three unhappy faces, Discord then swiftly added. “I didn’t say I don’t like it, geez.”

Pinkie Pie blinked, and playfully jabbed the chaos spirit. “Good that you know to say that!”

Geuse frowned. “I know I’ve been naysaying a lot recently, but I’m still finding hard to trust that changeling lieutenant. Now you’re telling me you’ve turned Queen Chrysalis to our side? Next time you’ll be saying you’ve parted the ocean.”

Spike gulped quietly, and raised his little arms.

“There’s something I want to talk to you all since a long time ago. I know you girls, Twilight included, are a forgiving lot.”

The mares looked at the purple dragon with a hint of surprise on their face. Despite Twilight’s explicit wish to involve Spike in their big planning in general, the fact remained that he usually stayed silent on most matters and seemed content with the six of them in charge of the grander scheme. It was somewhat astonishing to see Spike comment on them so frankly.

Not knowing what the mares were privately thinking, he turned to Discord. “I know I gave you Tartarus in the past for what happened in Canterlot, but you’ve since been reliable, and most importantly, regretful. Now that Twilight’s confirmed to be… well, at least not dead, I don’t find it in my heart to hate you anymore.”

Discord put up an inscrutable face, while the dragon sighed. “But the point remained that we’re being incredibly trustful to the point of naiveté to any bad guys who come by and say they aren’t evil anymore. We’re playing fire with not only our lives here. Twilight’s trusty and undoubtedly talented companions from the land of the setting sun notwithstanding, you girls have risen above the fray to become important ponies in the community. Magnate, entrepreneur, top reporter, star performer… And you Rainbow Dash… You wield enormous influence basically as a warband leader.”

Spike’s tone then turned grave. “This is why I feel it strange… no, absurd that you all seem to throw care to the wind when you deal with a band of invaders who almost brought doom to Equestria. While you girls are right that Discord’s heart is ultimately in the right place…”

Discord rolled his eyes. “Thanks for vouching for me, bud.”

Spike eyed the draconequus with a thoughtful gaze. “… He still indirectly caused a lot of pain and grief during all these months.”

Spike, to the mares’ surprise, managed to preempt and surprise the protesting draconequus and the mares by continuing. “I’ve come to know it has something to do with some arguments over kept secret, so while I regret to say that, there is probably some blame to lie with Twilight as well.”

The mares’ faces turned a rather strange shade of blue, while Discord barely managed to keep himself from smirking in schadenfreude. The mares searched their heads fervently to see when and how Spike came so close to knowing their secrets, to no avail.

Spike gazed at the mares and sighed again. “I have no interest in knowing what exactly those secret or secrets were. You mares are, I’m sad to say, a rather secretive bunch, and I know very well there’re many things that you’re keeping from me using various ex... well, reasons.”

“S- S- Spike…” Pinkie Pie began to stutter. Fluttershy lowered her head in apparent shame, and Rainbow Dash’s face was grimmer than a lump of coal.

He then smirked, but it was clear that it was mirthless. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve come to accept that long ago. I’m just here to plead that you all use more tact from your cabal meetings or secret dealings or mega scheming… whatever, just don’t ever, ever repeat the shambolic mess that was the changeling invasion again by blindly spreading your trust around.”

Spike then stood up, picked up his meal tray, put it aside and walked out of the mess hall without a word.

The first one to react was Geuse. “Woah, little guy got guts. He totally said what I wanted to say.”

Kanipha narrowed his eyes. “I thought he was just a tagalong baby dragon. Hm.”

The other Zebrican companions just looked at each other with uncertain looks.

Discord, however, simply gave the mares an ‘I told you so’ look. The meal was then continued in an incredibly uncomfortable manner.

Chapter 4 – Breaking Dawn

The Cruzesians and Zebricans had arrived by trains at Ponyville. It was a grand sight for four thousand ponies, zebras, antelopes and cows to walk into town. But most of the locals were by now accustomed to the sights of non-ponies walking among them, due to Zecora’s active presence and the occasional incursions of diamond dogs who shopped at local businesses. Surprisingly, once they dispersed into smaller groups, their presence was almost unfelt in a town of sixty thousands.

The residents had been given extra reassurance that these newcomers would not strain the local infrastructure or require squatting places, for they would be arranged to live in newly built communities next to Ponyville. But there were still some murmurs of discontent.

Only a small minority of Zebricans were arranged to live in a handful of houses at the periphery of the town. Those were all newly bought up by Rarity and Applejack at unfavorable prices due to the urgency. Others needed temporary housing until new permanent ones could be built.

Celestia indicated that the lands next to the Everfree and south of Ponyville by the Saddle River could be used to build camps for the ‘workers’. Since the work permit could potentially grow into proper claim of permanent residence, she reluctantly accepted.

Zecora was surprised and delighted to see so many of her compatriots joining her. She offered some shelters and workspace to them in town and near her forest treehouse. As the one zebra who had the most experience living in Equestria, she took charge of the integration processes at least for most of the zebras.

The other Zebricans have set up camps south of Ponyville. The remaining zebras joined the cowherd and was going to build conical dwellings primarily using thatched hay and spare wood.

The West Zebricans, including Geuse, ponies and antelopes, set up their site slightly more south. They could not find enough mud and adobe in the nearby area, so they planned to build houses with rammed earth and wooden beams.

Still, the most curious situation was with the Cruzesians. The most natural site for the long-time tree-dwellers would be the Everfree. But when the deeply spiritual folks heard of the forest’s reputation, most of them were too spooked to set up tree houses inside. So they only helped the Zebricans to build residence, while they themselves stayed mostly together in the main camp. The modest but sturdy camp was simply dubbed Fortaleza, after the first suggestion of Reinboupolis was shot down.

But out of the large group of Cruzesians, there were still a few who wanted to delist and return to civilian life. Those ponies, numbered in a few hundreds, went to join the trek south and established the small settlement of Rio Fresco next to the Zebricans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the initial chaos and hassles of organizing everyone to their desired places for accommodation, but before any actual construction took place, the mares, Spike, Discord, Mistral Trail, and the five Zebrican companions of Twilight gathered at the entrance to the Everfree.

Rarity looked around and asked, “Spikey-wikey, where is Trixie?”

“She’s out of town for the moment. I think she’s recruited to the Crystal Empire by Princess Cadance and Shining Armor for… something, I don’t know.”

Mistral Trail was standing next to Rainbow Dash and appeared flustered. “Y- Your Grace, I mean, I’m honored. But this seems to be a private occasion for you, your friends and friends of Dona Twilight.”

“Nonsense, you’re of course one of my closest confidantes. You set me up on this journey in the first place, and you should of course also come with us… Misty.” Rainbow Dash teased with a gentle jab to her snout, which caused Mistral Trail to blush and fidget.

Fluttershy asked the chaos spirit next to her. “Discord, you’ve got Twilight with you, right?”

“Aye, neatly tugged in my pouch.” Discord smirked.

“How can you hide Lady Twilight in such a small place?” Verna asked with interest.

“Chaos is magic, you know.”

“Is it safe?” Fluttershy asked.

“No more dangerous than placing her in a train car that shook like we all have a grand mal episode.”

Discord smirked to the eye-rolling mares. “Seriously, I was just placing her in a pocket dimension literally in my pocket. It’d not cause any problem for a short amount of time.”

“How quaint.” Kanipha nodded. “Your chaos magic is clearly something else altogether compared to what I’ve seen Twilight use. It’s admittedly impressive.”

“Finally! Someone openly appreciate my feats of chaos. It’s about time I get some respect, y’know.”

“It’s also about time we go.” Applejack deadpanned. “All of us want to see Twilight in health as soon as possible.”

“Meh…”

They walked by the busy streams of Cruzesians who were busy chopping trees and transporting materials to build their elevated mini arboreta.

They passed through a veritable wall of thick trees and bushes. The forest surrounding the cave seemed to have become even more impenetrable than before.

Despite the difficulties, they arrived at the crystalline cave that contained the Tree of Harmony. The white-blue tree was still shining brightly, and the Elements hung on the branches as with before.

“So these are the Elements…” Rosencross muttered. “The magic is incredibly strong. Even I can feel it from here.”

Kanipha added with unhindered enthusiasm. “Comments aside, what are we going to do with the Tree to bring Twilight back?”

“We don’t know. It’s going to be all trial-and-error.” Rarity said.

“Oh, so it’s going to be another puzzle. I love puzzles.” Kanipha grinned. “I know it sounds obvious, but can you guys take down the Elements after you returned them?”

“We definitely tried.” Rainbow Dash said.

Pinkie Pie shook her head. “They stuck on the branches like having been greased with super-glue! We couldn’t take them down without risking to damage the tree itself.”

Rarity added. “And even if we did take them down, it was likely of no use. When we returned the Elements, we did not merely do so physically, but exchanged our direct links towards the individual artefacts for the alternatives that the Tree might offer.”

“So that idea was out. What about the slabs on the floor?” Kanipha pointed at the crystal-white slabs next to the tree. “They look a lot like the prayer mat I once saw from a Saddle Arabian merchant I encountered.”

“So are you saying that we are supposed to kneel on them and pray?” Fluttershy asked.

“Just an idea. I don’t know what you could have said or prayed for though, except the obvious.”

“There are six slabs.” Geuse pointed out. “Which six of us should sit there?

“As hard as it is to admit for us, you five mares plus Discord were Twilight’s original six friends.” Kanipha shrugged. “Maybe when the Tree spawned those slabs, it hadn’t taken account of us yet. So why don’t you six try sitting there and thinking hard for Twilight’s health first?”

The six looked to each other and gingerly nodded. They separated and knelt on the slabs. They each thought hard about Twilight’s return to health.

After a good while, no reaction was coming from the Tree.

Pinkie Pie opened one of her eyes and whispered to Discord, “Hey Discord, can you put Twilight out here in the open for us to see if anything happened?”

Discord nodded and snapped his fingers. Twilight appeared together with her white sheet and bedding, but little had changed.

Everyone sighed or shook their heads. Just thinking really hard didn’t seem to work.

Mistral Trail cantered towards Rainbow Dash to help her up, but as she also walked onto the slab, something rather unexpected happened.

Somewhat miraculously, the slab suddenly reacted with a blast of white. A kaleidoscope of sights from her relentless pursuit of Twilight, and how Mistral Trail trekked north to locate the prophesized one flashed before their eyes.

When the light dimmed, the slab they were standing on had vanished.

“What happened?” asked with concern.

Rainbow Dash yelled with elation, she jumped and hugged the bashful-looking Mistral Trail.

“I knew it! I don’t mean to brag, but our efforts paid off! This is what we need to activate the Tree of Harmony and save Twilight!”

“I don’t understand!” Spike said. “Can someone explain?”

“Isn’t that obvious? The slab has disappeared after they both stood on it. This means they must have passed whatever test the Tree had set down for them.”

Kanipha smirked. “Say, what have you experienced, and is there anything you would like to tell us?”

“Of course! I’m so glad the Tree recognizes our efforts and common endeavor!”

Rainbow Dash pointed towards Mistral Trail and proudly proclaimed. “Mistral Trail is a shining beacon of faith and loyalty. Not only to me of course, but to her compatriots and her nation. She risked her life to go north only to find someone who might be able to save her nation from certain destruction.”

“Y- Your Grace…” Mistral Trail muttered.

“… Just Rainbow for this once?”

She gulped and nodded. “Rainbow is being generous. She is the one who left her work and everything in her home town just to go look for her one best friend. She spent six moons of her life stepping into dangerous situations and bearing with harsh living conditions. But loyalty aside, she was also an upright and honorable mare. When she realized that she had been misled by my description, and that the Amarezons was not where Twilight was, she did not choose to abandon us. Rather, she did not hesitate to join us in our fight and defeat the evil that threatened to destroy our homes. Moreover, she did not do so in hope of selfish gains. Her integrity was one of the big reasons why our soldiers were so eager to serve.”

Kanipha nodded. “I think the reactions from the Tree of Harmony seem to signal the actual purpose of this whole set-up. It demands us to conduct actions that embody the concept of Harmony… and maybe also make friends with each other. When all the tests are fulfilled, it’s likely that the magic of Harmony will fully reactivate and return Twilight to normal.”

“But we’re already Element-bearers… at least we once were. What more can we do to prove that we’re really true to our Elements?” Rarity frowned.

“And we’re all friends already!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully grinned.

“I don’t really know about the first part. I suppose we’ll each need a memorable lesson or some such to appease this immobile magical Tree. As for what Pinkie said, I guess we’ll have to be friend-friends, not just hello-goodbye friends.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “You’re one cheeky miscreant, Kanipha. I’m just glad that I already had a stalwart partner that I encountered on my way of finding Twilight.”

“Aha.” Kanipha nodded. “So it’s becoming clearer now. Rainbow Dash, your Element is Loyalty, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Bear with me for a second.” Kanipha smirked. “As Twilight once informed me, the Elements of Harmony are magical manifestations of the virtues favored by the Spirits of Harmony. However, we zebras have long known about an unerring truth about virtues. Virtues should never exist alone. Those that exist alone inevitably lead to excesses. Virtues complement each other and form a network of rectitude.”

He pointed towards Rainbow Dash, “For example, loyalty is of course a genuine virtue. It tied us together as a society, be it loyalty to friend, family, tribe, organization or nation. But loyalty alone is problematic, for it could very well lead to blindness to needs, thoughtlessness to harm and exploitation. Loyalty must especially be tempered with a sense of right and wrong, in other words, integrity. Presumably, this is what we need to do to return Twilight to health, a renewal and reconstruction of the Elements.”

“… Whoa.”

“Huh?”

The zebra colt rolled his eyes and sighed. “To put it into simpler words, the remaining of you four need to find some way to rediscover your Elements. With a new friend, I also presume, given the role of companions in both of them.”

“But, um, who?” Fluttershy gingerly asked.

“Fluttershy, this is silly. Look at all these new friends here!” Pinkie Pie grinned.

“But-”

“Nah, I get you covered as well.” The pink mare reached into her mane and took out two small jars of lucky straws. “I just have the dooziest twitch ever! It tells me that we need to pair up in order to help Twi out like Rainbow and Misty did. Now, we pick this jar and you pick that jar. Whoever get the straws of the same number will be a pair of companions!”

Kanipha’s eyes twitched. “Twilight told me not to question this kind of stuffs, but one day I’m so going to…”

While the zebra muttered under his breath, the mares and Zebricans had already taken their picks.

“Woo, Rosy, we really seem to be tied by destiny.” Discord cheerfully whistled.

“W- Who is tied by destiny with you?! Get off me!” Rosencross twisted herself to get away from his patting paw.

“Hey! Geuse, we’re both number one!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully waved.

The orange pegasus raised a brow, and exhaled with a grin. “Huh, very well then.”

“Oh, it seems that we’re a pair again, Vernie.” Rarity raised a brow and smirked.

“It seems to be so, Lady Rarity.” Verna smilingly nodded.

Fluttershy and Mkondo looked at each other and then again at their number three picks. The yellow pegasus sheepishly said. “… Hi?”

Mkondo smiled diffidently. “Mkondo says hi to you too, Fluttershy. Long may Mehet-Weret blesses our friendship.”

“What is this, Pinkie?”

Applejack looked at the pick she had incredulously. It was colored with a smudge of green. There seemed to be no corresponding pick in the other jar anymore.

“Chryssy needs a partner, too.” Pinkie Pie said bashfully.

“What?!” Applejack’s eyes twitched as she yelled almost incoherently. “Ah-”

However, her outburst was interrupted by a disgruntled Kanipha, who simply blinked at the quick progression of events. “Hey! I think there is a slight miscalculation, Pinkie Pie. What about me?”

Pinkie Pie tapped her chin, and grinned. “Ah, I did forget to add your and Spike’s pick… Heh! We can just pair the spares!”

The zebra exhaled incredulously. “What? Oh you mean…”

“Pinkie!” Spike said with a hurtful expression. “Are you saying that I’m just a spare in your eyes?”

“Silly Spike, of course not!” Pinkie Pie smiled. “There is no other Spike in the world!”

“Alright…” Spike turned to Kanipha and greeted. “Hey, bud.”

Kanipha turned towards Spike and tried to suppress his frown. For some reason, he’d taken an indescribable distaste to the placid purple drake. But out of manners, he minutely nodded. “H-”

Suddenly, a trembling hoof landed tentatively on Spike’s shoulder.

Everyone immediately turned. As they realized who that was, they all looked and gasped in disbelief.

“Oh dear, we’ve talked and talked and forgot to check on Twi!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

The purple mare blinked, but she then stumbled and fell on the ground next to Spike.

“Oh my gosh!” Rainbow Dash yelped. She and Spike immediately rushed to help the purple mare up.

The zebra colt lowered his head. He breathed in for a long time, and quietly remarked. “… I was just thinking what kind of effect their intervention would manifest as…”

“How are you doing, Twilight?” Spike said, barely holding in his tears.

Twilight, however, looked rather spooked.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Twi?”

Getting no response, Spike raised his voice and asked again.

“I, um, I’m sorry, but you all seem to know who I am and where this place is.”

The purple mare flashed an apologetic smile to the shocked group. “I don’t remember why my eyes, ears and legs all seem to be so wonky like this, perhaps one of you can help me out?”

Discord narrowed his eyes, and then turned unamusedly towards the Tree of Harmony. ”What the heck is this, stupid tree? I think it is an unspoken assumption that even though you don’t have to fix all her injuries and stuffs, she had to at least remember us!”

“Discord!” Fluttershy chastised. “You shouldn’t profane the Spirits of Harmony like this!”

“Doo bee di dah! I’m Discord, the antithesis of harmony! As if I have to care about what a dang tree think!”

“Uh…” The confused Twilight said. “Can anyone…?”

“Twilight…” Spike said with some dread.

“So, my name is Twilight?” The purple mare blinked and asked.

“… Y- Yes… The full name’s Twilight Sparkle.” The purple dragon felt like his heart dropping like a piece of rock in a pond. “You can’t remember any of us? Even me?”

The purple mare shrunk. “I- I’m so sorry…”

Spike looked at her for a while, sighed heavily and patted her in the back gently. “… It isn’t your fault. At least you’re awake, safe and sound. We will figure this out later.”

Twilight gave him an uneasy smile. “T… Thank you. If it is any better, I do feel like… we know each other, and seeing you make me feel happy and safe.”

“What about me? What about us?” Pinkie Pie asked hurriedly.

“You too, and everyone here as well. I feel like I should know all of you, but I… just can’t recall anything, even those about myself.”

Geuse walked near Twilight and studied her face for a long time. The mares looked at her with complicated expressions. They knew the adventurer duo for their long-time goal to become rich and famous, and with Twilight’s amnesia, their hope was dashed for the time being.

“Hey, Twilie, you have absolutely no idea who I’m, right?”

“Uh… um… I- I’m so sor-”

“Okay, tell me if this rings a bell – ‘Wangari Library’.”

Verna looked to Geuse with a slightly shocked gaze, and then snorted.

“H- Huh?” Twilight was bemused.

“Aha!” Geuse almost jumped, but then composed herself quickly under the questioning gazes from the others in the cave.

“O… kay?”

Geuse’s expression quickly turned to one of concern. “Seriously, are you alright? Like, no headache or anything?”

“T- Thank you, I’m fine… I think.”

As opposed to the confusion of Twilight, the mares were slightly relieved that Geuse showed her care about Twilight’s own wellbeing.

“At least Twi’s awake…” Rainbow Dash held her head and sighed. “We can ask questions later, she needs rest to return to full health.”

She turned to the Tree of Harmony. “Perhaps the way to her full recovery also lies in the power of Harmony. We must all work hard to achieve that.”

She turned to the group. “But for now, let’s get Twi home first. Perhaps the familiar environment will help her pick up something. And as much as we all want to spend more time with Twi, we all have our duties and responsibilities to conduct with the settlement of the newcomers and whatnot. We should meet later to see what we can do.”

The mares and others all nodded with some dejection, as Twilight was escorted out of the cave with fretful expression.

Chapter 5 – Renewing Repentance

In Spike’s absence, Trixie had volunteered to keep the tree-house library clean and tidy. But with the dragon following Rainbow Dash to the Zebrica, and Trixie now on an unknown task away from Ponyville, the library grew a bit dusty and damp. The somewhat dilapidated environs did not exactly help the mood of the group.

After the well-wishing friends of Twilight accompanied her to her old tree-house library, they stayed for a while and talked. But eventually, various things demanded their attention and they had to leave one by one, and at last, only a tired-looking Spike was left.

As the dragon was wiping the floor of the library with a mop, he lowered his head dejectedly again.

It appeared that Twilight’s amnesia was quite severe, as she can only recall the fact that she was in a country called Equestria and there were princesses who rule the land.

While the fact that she had forgotten him was both stinging and heart-wrenching, but it was even more shocking that she had even forgotten about her beloved Princess Celestia, Cadance, and even her family. He dreaded the reaction and shock when any of those found out – which would be soon since Rainbow Dash had already sent out a courier to Canterlot.

“Gah!”

Suddenly, a yelp was heard from the kitchen. Spike immediately dropped the mop and rushed into the room.

“What happened, Twilight?”

“I… I’m trying to cook with my magic, but it didn’t work at all. So it kept burning and spewed everywhere before I put a cloth on the fire.”

“I thought you tried in front of the girls just now? You shouldn’t just risk your safety like that! Why are you in the kitchen cooking anyway?”

“I… uh, want to cook the dinner for you?” Twilight winced and slunk away from the somewhat overbearing purple dragon.

“Don’t be silly, Twi! I always did the cooking! Plus you’re a patient now, you can’t even walk properly without the crutch! Go stay in your bed and let me handle this!”

“Ye- Yes, Spike. But can I do something for you? Anything?”

Spike sighed. “The most that you can do for me is to rest and recover, or at least wait till we find a way to fix you up. You’re not my servant! It should be me who look after you till you get better.”

“I’m not?”

Spike slapped his forehead. “Of course not! Why in Equestria would you think that?! You’re my loving family!”

“Really? I’m glad! I love you too.” Twilight flashed him the most innocent smile he’d ever seen.

Spike exhaled heavily. Of course he’s heartened by Twilight’s declaration of affection, but she was simply not the Twilight he used to know, not to mention completely unsuited for public appearances in this state.

“Twilight…”

“Yes?”

“Even though the girls told me to get you more rest, I’m still going to fill you in with some of your own personal detail, so you don’t get confused, or worse, swindled when you talk to someone else.”

“Really? Thank you, Spike!” Twilight again smiled. “But I’m sure everypony is nice enough not to do that.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that…” Spike rolled his eyes. “First, your parents are called Twilight Velvet and Night Light, and they live in Canterlot... the capital of Equestria, as you may recall.”

Twilight nodded, and Spike continued. “You also have a brother called Shining Armor, and he’s married several moons ago.”

“Really? Congrats!”

“Uh… Anyway, you’re a unicorn with very strong magic, therefore you were able to enter the School for Gifted Unicorns and became Princess Celestia’s personal student.”

“Whoa, am I? I didn’t feel like it when I tried my hooves at cooking just now…”

“Trust me, your condition now is just temporary.” He added under his breath. “… I hope.”

“And am I really that close to the princess?”

“Yep… She certainly loves you a lot. As for me, I’m hatched from an egg with your own magic when you were attempting to pass the entrance test.”

“So, you’re my son!” Twilight beamed. “No wonder I feel so good and safe seeing you.”

Spike blushed briefly, and scratched his head. “I- I guess you can say that. But what’s more important for you right now, is perhaps how you come to be like this.”

Twilight’s smile fell a bit. “Weren’t I always… disabled?”

“No!” Spike wincingly said. “We… we’re going to find a way to fix them!”

“Spike, as forgetful as I am now, I still understand that you simply don’t just ‘fix’ a crippled leg, or a seared eye.”

Spike bit his lips and said. “We’re working very hard to appeal to the magic of Harmony… It has woken you up, surely it can do more! Barring that, no way are they going to let a national hero hang there without giving her the best treatment possible.”

“National hero? Me?”

“Of course, Twi! You were an Element-bearer of Magic, and you saved the nation from a terrible conqueror by sacrificing yourself!”

“… Really?” Twilight asked with wide eyes. “What are the Elements?”

Spike began to describe Twilight and her friends’ exploit in Ponyville up until the changeling invasion. At first, the purple mare listened with rapt attention and curiosity, but towards the end, her ears drooped and her expression was one of worry and sadness.

“What’s wrong, Twi? Are you recalling something?”

“I’m sorry, but no. I’m just…”

“Hmm?”

“The Twilight you’ve described seemed to have achieved an awful lot. She even had a bunch of very accomplished friends as well, one of them is even a duchess leading thousands of soldiers around!”

“Twi, you’re one yourself. Princess Luna awarded you the titular duchy of Ponyville for your bravery in the Canterlot invasion.”

“No, that was the Twilight you knew. I’m not the Twilight you knew. I barely remember any of those… or any of you. I can never fill those horseshoes…”

“Don’t say that, Twilight! You’ve just forgotten those things for now! It’s still you who had saved Equestria from the changelings!”

“Changelings…” Twilight muttered repeatedly.

Spike perked up. “Hm, does the word ring a bell?”

“Vaguely… When I hear the word, there seem to be some sort of tugging in my head towards a certain direction.”

“Huh…”

Suddenly, someone knocked loudly on the front door. Turning to look at an unsure Twilight, Spike went down and answered the door.

A milky white pegasus stood at the door. Spike felt like he had seen this mare before, but he wasn’t so sure.

“Is Twilight here?”

“Huh?” Spike widened his eyes. The fact that Twilight had come back was barely known except for the Cruzesians and Zebricans. But even they did not know that Twilight had just woken up.

Outside of the small circle of Twilight’s friends, most of the Cruzesians and Zebricans had been convinced by Discord that Twilight was undergoing medical treatment privately, so it was bizarre for someone to look for Twilight in her library, at this hour no less.

“Oh, I forgot.” She looked down briefly. “Spike the Dragon, please close the door and I’ll show you something. I mean you no harm.”

“… Don’t try anything funny, madam, I can breathe really hot fire.” Spike raised a brow as he cautiously closed the door.

A green flash shone before Spike’s eyes, and when he opened his eyes again, a familiar form stood in front of him.

“Chrysalis?! What are you doing here?!” Spike shouted in great alarm, as he grabbed the nearest sharp object he could find.

“Shhh!!” Chrysalis hushed the dragon. “Stupid dragon! If I want to fool you, I wouldn’t have revealed myself!”

“Who are you calling stupid, foul villain!” Spike hissed.

Chrysalis grumbled, but she managed to compose herself before another outburst. “Excuse me and please disregard my remark. It’s hard for me to not call names all of a sudden. And please put aside any ill feelings first, I-”

Spike harrumphed and interrupted her. “I ask again, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be held by the Cruzesians?”

The green-maned changeling grinned. “I sneaked out. That guise is of the poor mare who I hypnotized to sleep.”

“What? I’m going to tell Rainbow Dash immediately!”

“Listen to me first!” Chrysalis gritted her teeth. “I’m here to help Twilight Sparkle! I would have disarmed or also hypnotized you if I have any other intention!”

“Why should I trust you? You’re the one who caused Twilight to become like… this!” Spike accused.

“I just felt a blast of energy through my connection with Twilight, and I knew something is up. So I, uh, talked the white pegasus into letting me out around the camp, when I overheard from a group of high-ranking medics who were discussing Twilight’s newest condition. Turns out she woke up finally, but can’t cast any spell. I knew something that will help her out greatly. Do you want her to be helped or not?”

“…What would you gain for helping her? I’m not at all convinced.”

“Now that the hive is back to Equestria, it’s time to regather the lost changelings so as to rebuild my-... the changlings' kingdom.”

Chrysalis stopped the query from the suspicious dragon. “You must understand the hive is not inherently at odds with you ponies. I… regret the conflicts that we had, but I merely did what I thought was best for the hive. Judging from where we are now, it appeared that I was wrong in my approach.”

“You would do well to stay put, and not to pull tricks like this.” Spike glared.

Chrysalis wearily sighed. “I told you, I have no ulterior motive this time. What can I do anyway? I’m no longer capable of mass communication as the queen just as before, nor do the other changeling recognize my authority. I’m just trying to help in my own way, and figure out the future of the changelings as well as myself.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We now practically did not have to feed for at least another moon, since the surge of energy through our link with Twilight was extremely fulfilling. It even carried a taste so uniquely delectable, it was like the famed ambrosia some ponies talk about. That was the power from the Tree of Harmony, I presume?”

Spike deliberated for a while, and then cautiously nodded with great suspicion.

“I had talked with Discord, and I’m coming to terms that maybe we changelings can conduct our businesses in a way that is less unpalatable to the ponies. Exactly how I’m not sure yet, but its success will have to hinge on the mediation from Twilight Sparkle. Plus, I don’t want to implicate a hiveling that used to be under my command, but Allela’s conducts made me wonder what she’s up to. Bottom-line, gathering the stray changelings around Equestria can only be beneficial for you all, right?”

“Why would you care about the Changeling Kingdom so much? You lost your crown already.”

For a brief moment, Chrysalis’s gaze was pained and thinly vengeful. But she quickly replaced it with a somewhat tired and dejected look.

“The Green Stigmata chose the worthy queen. When the changelings emerged from the earth, the first queen was bestowed with it naturally. I knew well that it was futile to resist it when more drastic measure turned out to fall flat on its own. But at heart I still care for my people deeply. The average changeling is frail, without collective protection of a hive and a certain cunning, he would have easily perished. Twilight Sparkle’s magic was incredibly strong and fulfilling, and since she had explicitly expressed that she’s willing to look after the changelings’ interest despite our past conflicts… If it was her, I trust that things would turn out better for us. She’s our only hope among these hostile ponies anyway.”

“… I still don’t get it. Shouldn’t you hate her for bringing down your hive?”

Chrysalis looked up. “I thought I should, but I don’t. I once suspected that it was because she had influenced me through our mental link. I still do, since meeting her did cause me to act rather strangely.”

“Are you blaming your own nasty works on her?” Spike raised his voice angrily.

“I’m just describing what happened, you’re free to disregard them.” Chrysalis huffed. “The past me would definitely not throw the hive to hopeless attacks just to get back at her, not to mention… the things that happened afterwards. I must’ve been a bit crazy.”

“What’s your point?” Spike crossed his arms.

Her voice was somewhat reluctant. “Nothing in particular, because what’s done is done. She’s the holder of the Green Stigmata now, and if I’m to keep on helping the changeling nation at this state, I’d have to deal with it and help Twilight Sparkle out… against the more unruly elements in and out of the hive.”

She then said with a low voice. “I found out the reason why she is unable to cast magic just now, and I found a way that might be able to help her use it again.”

“… What’s the reason?”

“It’s because of the Green Stigmata.” Chrysalis exhaled. “Pony magic and changeling magic is different… When a magic user cast a spell, the magical conduit activates. It can only successfully activate when the magic oscillates in the natural frequency of the user’s body. Since unicorns and changelings have different body structures, they in general cannot cast spells adapted to each other’s physiology.”

“So you’re saying that the Green Stigmata thing changed Twilight’s response to magic?”

Chrysalis slightly nodded. She was surprised at the purple dragon’s quick thinking, as she thought he was just a baby child for Twilight Sparkle to dote on.

“Indeed. The Green Stigmata is basically a magical booster for the queen of changelings, allowing her to reach out to multiple hivelings at once to give orders. It’s naturally tuned to our own type of magic.”

She sighed. “The blast of energy that I’ve received allowed me to carefully examine the magical frequency Twilight Sparkle gives out, and it was a curious mix of pony and changeling magic. Since magic requires very precise control and calibration, it is no coincidence that she cannot cast magic as usual. It’s like putting a square peg into a hole that had changed into a circle. However, it’s also not something that the magic user herself would notice if the change is gradual. Therefore, I want to come here, tell her about that and see what we can do to reboot her magical circuit. The faster she can regain her magic, then the faster we can do something about the hive and her new status. I mean, it’s not like you guys would like the hive to ‘act up’ because of something unexpected, right?”

Spike listened and nodded imperceptibly. Chrysalis was being forthright apparently, and he’s inclined to take her words at face value for the moment, even though he hesitated to trust her completely. But then he recalled something and wryly sighed.

Chrysalis noticed his change in demeanor and asked. “What’s so funny about that, dragon?”

“You’ve come by a bad time, Chrysalis. Twilight is not quite herself right now.”

“… Wait.” Spike narrowed his eyes. “You might be the culprit of her current condition!”

“Hang on, dragon.” Chrysalis said with clear frustration. “Don’t just point an accusing claw at me without explaining what you’re talking about!”

Spike drew in a breath and said. “Hmph. Fine. She’s lost her memory, and she can’t remember a thing right now, not even me, the princesses, or her family even.”

Chrysalis looked genuinely shocked at the news, and a palpable degree of fear and worry began to set in. “What?! Oh dear, the Great Pitcher preserves us! Without her, we’re going to be blasted and diced by Celestia and her ilk!”

Looking at her panicked face, Spike felt a satisfying sense of schadenfreude. “Pfft, even if Twilight forgot about you guys, the other girls are not going to feed you to the sharks, so to speak. Haven’t you realized that the very reason Rainbow Dash insisted on keeping you and other changelings to the Cruzesians is to prevent the princesses, especially the angrier little sister, from punishing the changelings using the law or else? She’s going to appeal on your behalf sooner or later.”

Chrysalis’s eyes slowly widened. “… I didn’t realize that.”

“That’s why it’s seriously a bad move to harm the mare who was sent to guard you. She’s there for your own good, really.”

Chrysalis hurriedly said. “I didn’t harm her! I really just used talk to convince her I’m not up to no good, and then I just put her to sleep, took her badge, and put her into my bed. I even covered her with a blanket as I left! I can’t leave with her watching my every move!”

The green-maned changeling then looked down to the ground. “Speaking of which, I… I’m sorry for what happened on the ship.”

“Huh?” Spike raised his brows at the changeling’s apology, mouth slightly agape. He never in a thousand years would expect Chrysalis to apologize to him.

“W- What?” Chrysalis looked offended. “I just want to show some good will, that’s all! I did threaten to do horrible things to you after all.”

She hurriedly added. “But I never meant to do it! I was simply bluffing! And I… I…”

“I don’t know, that might just be the purple pony’s infectious feeling, but I simply can’t do that to you then, and can’t do that to you now.”

Spike originally wanted to mock the inability of the changeling to carry out the nefarious plan anyway, but when he saw the contrasting soft expression on the changeling’s hard features, his outburst dissipated.

“So…” Chrysalis again lowered her head. “She really has amnesia?”

“If I were to lie, I’d have picked a better one.”

Spike then frowned. “Could it be your Green Stigmata or some other weird changeling magic that caused her current condition? Did you make a mess of her mind when you and Discord battled?”

“I most certainly didn’t!” Chrysalis reacted somewhat angrily to his accusation. “I- I did initiate a few magical blasts back then, but Discord’s simply exaggerating, because it was well within the level of tolerance for a unicorn with such magical potential! As for the influence of Green Stigmata, I can’t say for sure, but I lean towards ‘no’. I can’t tell because this never happened before, but her inability to cast magic is what we call a passive symptom, because it was caused by drying up of her magical conduit. Sudden loss of memory is usually an active symptom, and it have likely happened because of some sort of interference or shock.”

“So, like the blasts you casted?”

“Seriously, you petulant fo-!”

Chrysalis bit down another half-spoken remark. “I- If it was my attacks that damaged her mind, she would be a babbling half-vegetable instead of an amnesiac! And unless she’s a magical creature conjured with spell, I don’t see how the Green Stigmata would interact with her memories or sense of self. I have no idea how she lost her memories at all.”

Spike scrunched his brows, but then sighed. “What do you want to do now?”

“… Can I see her?”

“Of course not!” Spike huffed angrily. “I’m considering not to report you to Rainbow Dash, and I’m already thinking if I’m crazy for believing you at all. You’re way too dangerous to be let near Twilight!”

Chrysalis gritted her teeth. “I could just make you obey me, you know!”

Spike widened his eyes alarmingly. However, he then just drily chuckled.

“Wh- Why are you laughing? I’m really going to do it, like I did to that mare!”

“Yeah, but I can see that you aren’t though. I have my fair share of together-time with a potentially mind-bending being to be taunted by empty threats like this. So what if you made me sleep or, ugh, even brainwash me… The other girls aren’t exactly idiots, you know. They will discover that immediately, and you’d burn the remaining bridges you have.”

Chrysalis angrily mumbled, but Spike simply continued. “Rather than that, why don’t you think about how you are going to deal with an angry Rainbow Dash after the poor pegasus woke up? Rainbow told me that she stood up for you in front of the princesses, she’d be very disappointed to see you do that one of her lieutenants.”

Chrysalis exhaled sharply and exclaimed. “I just want to help Twilight Sparkle, is that wrong now?!”

“Huh?”

“I… It’s not like I’ve never met annoyingly good and kind creatures on the warpath, those creatures would gladly offer up all that they have just to a passer-by. But they were, without an exception, pathetic and naïve. Their goodness is only enabled by their forgiving environment, and when I arrive to give them a dose of reality-check, it’s already too late for them.”

Chrysalis said through her teeth. “But Twilight Sparkle… I don’t know what she’s been through, but I felt it. She’s not an innocent mare.”

“Hey! Don’t you insult Twilight like that!”

“I don’t mean it as an insult. Unlike those creatures that I met, it is very clear to me that she’s not a simple bookworm she claims she is. I ask you, what kind of pampered royal student knew how to sweet-talk as well as whip the different antagonistic tribes in and out of Timbucktu into a defense force, establish a parameter that was tight as a glass jar, and set up layers of traps to immobilize our invasion force? She was much more ruthlessly efficient in Timbucktu than she was in Canterlot, which was another bemusing matter in of itself. But in any case, she could have annihilate all the changelings there and then.”

Chrysalis breathed through her teeth. “But she… didn’t. With everything that happened, it’s clear that she understood the world’s full of predators that would pound on any showing of weakness, she knew that enemies lurk in every corner of this world. But despite all, she chose the difficult path of unrelenting kindness. I have grown to… respect her for that.”

Spike listened with a slightly surprised expression, but towards the end, he again offered up a wry and bitter laugh.

“You’re going to be so disappointed then.”

“… Why?”

“Twilight… She’s now no different than those naïve creatures. I just talk with her, and she’s like a foal in the woods, trusting every word a ‘stranger’ told her and blithely smile all the time. She’s not going to inform you anything on your life philosophy in her current state.”

“But…”

“I don’t know if I will regret this later, but I… well, we haven’t really talked much, have we? You don’t look or sound like what I expect a villain to act.”

Chrysalis noticed that the purple dragon’s attitude was softening, but she was still somewhat offended.

“What exactly do you mean?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Based on what the girls told me, I thought you are the gloating type, kinda like Nightmare Moon but more, I dunno, plotting and stuffs?”

“I- don’t- gloat!” Chrysalis huffed. “I just express my confidence in my assured superiority!”

Spike just shrugged with some amusement. “Whatever you say. But your willingness to communicate is just so sharply different to the impression I had got from the girls. No wonder even Rainbow seems willing to cut you a lot of slack.”

The dragon then added quickly. “But…! Even if I let you through and you can work your way through her condition, I don’t know if it is a good idea to rekindle her magic now anyway, given how she’s... well, not quite herself right now. She had a history of being unable to control her magic.”

“Does she?”

Spike peeked at the inquiring changeling, who was clearly curious. “Very much so. For example, back when she tried to pass the entrance test to the magic school, she lost control of her magic and turned her parents into potted plants... temporarily fortunately. ”

Chrysalis shook her head and sighed.

Spike noticed her silence, but he nonetheless continued. “Yeah, so I think maybe it’s better after all for her to temporarily lose her magic for the moment… to keep her and others from harm.”

“But…” Chrysalis took in a breath. “Please?”

Spike widened his eyes. He didn’t really expect the changeling to simply plead with him. He tapped on his chin. “… I… well, you seem sincere enough, but I think I’m going to do the sensible thing and at least get a second opinion from the girls and perhaps the princesses.”

Facing a Chrysalis with an irritated frown, Spike continued. “Even though I’m convinced by your sincerity, both Twilight’s magic and memories are no laughing matter. I’ll try to get you out later using a more legitimate way, if you’re here to help Twilight. I don’t want your sneaking out to cast even more shadow on the girls’ impression on you and other changelings.”

“… Really?”

“If they discover this before you get back-”

With a loud bang, the front door to the library was battered open. A small squadron of pegasi swarmed in, and leading the squadron was none other than Rainbow Dash herself.

“Chrysalis!” Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof at the changeling, who instinctively backtracked behind Spike. “Why did you escape from our custody?”

“Speaking of the cyan devil…” Chrysalis tutted her tongue.

“I would love to hear what you did to Sergeant Milestrela.” Rainbow Dash said with a palpable anger under her calm expression. “She’s barely coherent after we found her, her badge missing.”

She then turned to Spike worriedly. “She didn’t do anything to you and Twilight, did she?”

Spike sighed. “No, she didn’t. She sneaked out just so that she can help Twilight regain her magic. She also said she only put the sergeant to sleep in order to come here secretly.”

“… You believe her?”

“She convinced me, at least. I’m still not going to let her see Twilight, though, not because I don’t trust her, but because of something else. That’s something we should’ve discussed earlier today.”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes on the purple dragon, and after she felt nothing weird from him, she told the soldiers next to her to stand guard outside the door, and gestured Spike to explain.

The purple dragon then told her of the discussion he just had with Chrysalis, and Rainbow Dash’s stern frown turned into an unsure gaze.

Chrysalis preempted the cyan mare’s query. “Sorry about the white pegasus. She’s in no danger of anything, she’d only be sleepy for these few hours. I really want to just sneak out for a short while and help the purple pony out. Here, take her badge back.”

Rainbow Dash took the badge and shook her head. “Chrysalis, you didn’t have to sneak out like that. We can just talk! If you told Milestrela to find me, I’m sure I can come by the end of today at least.”

“I didn’t think-”

“What Spike told you is true. At first, I do think that keeping you and other changelings in confinement serve a security purpose. But it’s soon apparent that you’re now simply too few to cause any big trouble. On the contrary, I had suspected a lot of ponies out here are probably out for your blood, and that only got confirmed after I came back. Since Cruzesians have no bad blood with changelings, you’ll be mostly safe staying in our camp.”

Chrysalis bit her lips in acknowledgement of the cyan mare’s benevolent intention, but she nonetheless frowned. “We are not your foals! We can manage ourselves just fine, without you restricting our freedom of movement.”

“If any of the changelings are mobbed, it would be a dereliction of duties on our part.”

“What duties exactly?” Chrysalis asked in annoyance.

“We have to ensure your safety until Twilight recovers her memories and magic. We can only discuss the future of the changelings with both the input of Twilight and a return to normalcy. This is both a promise to the princesses, to Twilight, and to you as well. That’s not to say you’ll get a free pass in anything, but hey, you should get my point.”

“No, I don’t! I’m fed up with having to stay in your cramped camp anymore!”

Although Chrysalis tried to sound threatening and aggressive, it came out a little weak and only sounded whiny and petulant.

“Don’t make my work harder than it is, okay?” Rainbow Dash sighed through her teeth. “Fine, let me tell you something. We’ve trying to arrange a compromise with Applejack, and the changelings may be able to actually settle down alongside the Zebricans near the Apples’ farm on your own. You can live without military surveillance, as long as you don’t just sneak away like this. Officially, you will still be under Cruzesian ‘custody’, but it will just be in name.”

“This… This sounds nice and all, but we changelings aren’t farmers! We can’t feed ourselves with apples!”

“It’s just a temporary assignment. Don’t you say you still have a moon to spare before you all go hungry? If so, good! We have a moon to figure out what’s wrong with Twilight, do a proper introduction of her and the changelings alike, and then invent a way that can both satisfy your need to feed and the customs of Equestrians.”

“You’re crazy! How can we do so many things in just a moon?”

Both Spike and Rainbow Dash silently took note of the use of ‘we’, and they gave a coincidental glance to each other. While Spike’s expression was more complicated, Rainbow Dash looked gladder that shewas softening.

“Even if there isn’t a way for you to feed by then, I guess a normal Twilight should be able to figure out something else, or directly supply energy for the small cohort of changelings here.”

“Spike? Who is this guest here? She looks...”

The dragon, ponies and changelings collectively looked back in shock. A smiling Twilight leaned on the crutch and stood near the stairwell.

The purple mare tilted her head and said. “Ah, she must be one of the changelings you mentioned.”

“T- Twilight…” Spike widened her eyes.

“I was waiting upstairs, but you didn’t come back for a long time, so I took my crutch and get down to see what’s going on.”

“You all seem to be talking something important.” Twilight flashed them a bashful smile. “Don’t worry, I haven’t heard a thing at all, as usual, ha ha!”

Rainbow Dash and Spike, though, couldn’t spare even a half-smile, as they were both saddened by her words’ implications. After a few awkward chuckles, the purple mare sighed and said. “I’m sorry, I seem to have make you even more annoyed.”

Rainbow Dash hurriedly said. “No, Twi, you haven’t! Don’t be silly!”

Twilight just smilingly shook her head. However, she suddenly focused on the changeling in the room, who was studying the purple mare with an intense gaze. Once Chrysalis noticed Twilight was looking back at her, she unconsciously averted her eyes.

“You…”

“Wait, Twilight, don’t get close-” Spike called out.

Twilight regardless trotted near to Chrysalis with a surprisingly quick pace. “You’re the end of the line.”

“H- huh?”

“There are lines that extended from my core, and one of them lead to you. It is very strong and tangible. Do you know what that is?”

“Lines? Oh, you mean…”

Chrysalis gulped. “So yeah, w- we are changelings. And we feed on love instead of pony food.”

“Oh woah.”

“I’m Chrysalis. I used to lead the largest band of changelings. But… things happened, and I’m no longer the queen… You are. The lines are our magical connections with you, for you have been sustaining us with your magic.”

“Uh huh… Wait, what?”

“Chrysalis, you shouldn’t give her a shock like that.” Rainbow Dash frowned.

“She has to know!” Chrysalis insisted. “There are several hundreds of changelings out there, and most of them are persuaded by Allela to recognize you as queen in name. However, if you’re serious at being a queen, you doesn’t simply sit quietly and receive tribute, you have to uphold her duties in order to gain their respect. I don’t want the hive I used to lead and still love to fall apart because of anarchy or some strange machinations!”

“I- I…” Twilight looked somewhat distressed. “I’ll see what I can do…”

“You can start by listening to me and try to rekindle your magic. Or at least try to draw upon your newfound connections and show that there is still a queen there!”

“How can I do so?”

“Now now.” Chrysalis grinned at a pliant Twilight. “I will direct a small blast of changeling magic through our connection, and your task is to take it and draw it out of your horn. With your predilection to magic, surely you would begin to master the whole thing afterwards. After all, even the lowest drones use it as easily as breathing.”

“It’s still too dangerous!” Spike interjected. “Who knows what would happen after pushing Twilight closer to changeling magic? She might lose her unicorn magic altogether! Or there will be a giant explosion! Worst yet, she might change species altogether and become a changeling entirely! Also, didn’t we just talk about how she might not be able to control her magic yet?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, we should of course aim at nursing Twilight to full health, we shouldn’t force her and even put her into danger like this!”

“I-” Twilight weakly called out, but her voice was overwhelmed by the assertive tone of her cyan friend.

“And you, Chrysalis.” Rainbow Dash turned to the changeling, who was disappointed and annoyed at the same time. “I’m grateful for your intention to help Twilight, but at the same time, you did lay your hoof on one of my loyal lieutenants, whose job was only to protect you from harm. I want you to apologize to her.”

“What? Apologizing to my jailer? You don’t even let me do the one thing I want to do! Get your head out of the cloud first, Rainbow Dash.”

“I insist, Chrysalis. I don’t think you real-”

Chrysalis tutted and cut her off. “I reject your ridiculous demand, Rainbow Dash. Who are you to command me to do anything?”

“R- Rainbow, I want to try her suggestion out!”

Rainbow Dash was surprised by the interruption by her purple friend. “Twi?”

The purple mare smiled sadly. “… I don’t want to be this useless anymore. I’m no royal student, not to mention the savior of Equestria. I’m just a bed-bound amnesiac with a lot of undeserved care and attention.”

Rainbow Dash winced. “No, Twi, y-”

“Even if I can’t regain my memories at the moment and be the Twilight you know, I still want to help. Doing nothing is no going to help or change my current status.”

Chrysalis smirked. “Aha, she herself wants to. What are you going to say about that, rainbow mane?”

Rainbow Dash sighed wearily. “… Can you ensure that there will be no danger whatsoever?”

“I will of course intervene if there is anything wrong. Can’t get the queen killed, can I? But then, I can’t guarantee anything, since this has to be the first time a non-changeling bears the Green Stigmata. Who knows what will happen exactly?”

Spike shook his head. “Twilight, Rainbow, this is a risky affair.”

Twilight begged. “Spike, please…”

Spike originally wanted to continue to stonewall, but Twilight’s pleading gaze was melting away his objection. He eventually sighed. “…I’m not saying no, but shouldn’t we at least bring in more magic users in case things go awry? I’m talking about Rares and Discord. Rosencross is also a changeling, she can also help spot if anything is wrong.”

“Argh…” Chrysalis frowned. “You’re bringing that red menace here?”

“Well, if you aren’t doing anything shady, then why would you mind?”

“I am not! You can have all of them here, it doesn’t matter. Phalena can help me out even, if I can tolerate her presence long enough before I vomit that is.”

“Fine. I’ll send ponies out to gather them. In the meantime, you’re advised to stay put in here, Chrysalis. If you go missing again, then I’ll not be able to shield you from the princesses’ wrath anymore. I’ll talk to you about other things later.”

Chrysalis huffed. “Tsk, go already.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Well, well, well. Aren’t you a naughty little changeling, Chryssy? Sneaking away from the cyan one? You out of all people should know what an angry Celestia could do to you.”

Chrysalis hissed. “Shut up, Discord. And get on with this.”

“Rainbow, where is Rarity?” Spike asked.

“We can’t find her in Ponyville at the moment. She must have left right after our meeting this noon and gone north to Raritan or Canterlot. You know, she’s insanely busy these days.”

Rosencross didn’t speak, and simply gave a cold stare to Chrysalis.

“Phalena, are you going to stand there or are you going to help?” Chrysalis said with annoyance. “If you don’t want to keep an eye on your beloved Twilight, then it’s entirely up to you.”

Both Rosencross and Twilight looked flustered, but the red mare quickly recovered. “Chrysalis, you’re still so unbearable.”

“Much obliged. Your sight is also quite unbearable to me too, as it reminds me of how weakness can doom a hive.”

“You!”

“Alright, let’s focus on the task on hand, shall we?!” Discord loudly banged a gong he pulled out of nowhere, causing everyone in the room to cover their ears with pain.

“Fine!” Chrysalis huffed. “Twilight Sparkle, come and point your horn towards me.”

“Y- Yes!” Twilight was still half-spooked by Discord, as she timidly walked near Chrysalis. Everyone else simply stared intensely.

“Just in case, try casting your usual magic, any spell will do.”

Twilight hesitantly nodded. A trickle of sparks came out of her horn, but like flickering streetlight, it soon fluttered into nothingness.

“What were you trying to cast?”

“A basic levitation spell…”

“Well, at least her amnesia isn’t complete, as she still remembers the spells she learnt.”

The green-maned changeling then nodded. “Now, try to, for a lack of a better word, ‘tug tight’ at our connection or ‘line’, and prepare to receive the energy blast.”

Twilight gulped and nodded, but Spike asked in worry. “What exactly are you trying to do again?”

Chrysalis sighed impatiently. “I told you! I will send a small blast of changeling magic through our connection. Since she have the Green Stigmata, it should be channeled towards her magical core pretty quickly. But before it dissolves into her magical potential, she must draw upon it and cast it out. If she succeeds, then it would serve as a seed which direct energy from your magical core and manifest as a bright green flash of pure magical energy. She’d likely be able to cast changeling magic afterwards, and with luck, it would flush out anything that blocks her unicorn magic as well.”

“Still sounds way out there.” Spike harrumphed. “Then again, I only knew as much about magic as Twi taught me.”

“Phalena, if you don’t want her to get hurt or anything, chip in and stabilize our connection.”

Rosencross tutted, but she also walked near the duo and prepared herself. “Mind you, my magical conduit has been left unused for a very long time. I can’t cast much changeling magic myself. There is only that much that I can do.”

Rainbow Dash looked on uncertainly, and she poked Discord with a concerned look.

“Do you think I should gather the other girls still? Just in case?”

“My dear Rainbow Dash, when have you become a pansy? Why don’t we wait until all three princesses to come up as well?”

Rainbow Dash grumbled. “I just want to let them know as well!”

“Yeah, as much as I care for the purple egghead, if we have to wait for everyone to chime in before she does anything, then chaos helps us all. At least those you gather can actually help if anything mess up, and if yours truly can’t do anything to help, what makes you think the others can?”

“Geez, fine…” Even though the cyan mare was annoyed in tone, she was still relieved by the chaos spirit’s words.

“Three… Two… One… Go!”

Just when Rainbow Dash and Discord was chatting, Chrysalis already casted her magic.

Green light temporarily shone brightly in front of her forehead, accompanied by a loud gasp. To the bewilderment of everyone involved, the one who yelped was not Twilight, but Chrysalis herself. The changeling tumbled backwards and fell flat on the ground. Even Rosencross was stunned backwards, her mane looked slightly singed by the reaction.

“What happened?” Spike asked hurriedly.

“I have no idea! But I seem… okay?” Twilight said worriedly. “Are you two alright?”

Rosencross looked stupefied for a moment, and then she vigorously shook her head. “T- Twilight, it was a veritable explosion of changeling magic!”

“Really? But are you hurt in any way?”

“I’m fine, because I pulled away early. But that one over there, hm, I can’t tell.”

“Chrysalis?” Twilight asked tentatively.

Chrysalis unsteadily stood up, her wavy wane stood up as if she was struck by a bolt of lightning.

“Gburghgh-”

“H- Huh?” Twilight blinked in confusion.

“Pbbt!” Chrysalis shook her head, tutted her swollen tongue and spat. “B- By the Great Pitcher, how is that possible…”

“What do you mean, Chrysalis?” Rosencross raised a brow.

She looked at Twilight with a complicated look. “… I should know back when I was in Zebrica. I had thought that her magical potential was already ridiculously high when we first fought in Canterlot. And then the siege happened, and I got curbstomped. Even taken into account of my weakened state, she’s becoming even stronger. And now, barely a moment after she woke up, she again casually released a blast of changeling magic that would have knocked me senselessly if it was an offensive spell. Maybe Allela saw that in you before me.”

Twilight gave her an uncertain smile. “Thank you, Chrysalis. I- It seems that I can now draw upon changeling magic, but my unicorn magic is still not working…”

Rosencross interjected. “That’s good enough for now, Twilight. You can use changeling magic for basic telekinesis. You can even move yourself with changeling magic. It would not replace walking on hooves, but it’s better than the crutch a thousand times.”

“Not to mention you can communicate with any changeling within a certain distance by telepathy.” Chrysalis added.

“Telepathy?”

“Yeah, how do you think queens and squadron leaders communicate on the battlefield?” Chrysalis smirked. “It’s somewhat consuming in terms of magic, the longer the distance, the more tiring it is, but it is very convenient to talk without having to meet face-to-face.”

“Indeed…”

“And of course I shall teach you the spells you need to rule over a hive.”

“Hey!” Rosencross interrupted. “Why does it have to be you who teach Twilight? I also know changeling magic well enough to teach her! You should just go back to your confinement as with before! Who knows when you will change your mind suddenly and want to harm Twilight to get back your throne?”

“You fool, I’m over it!” Chrysalis gritted her teeth. “I will not renege my words to my hivelings! When I said I abdicated, I abdicated and that’s it! The Green Stigmata chose Twilight Sparkle, and I will accept it!”

“Yeah, like the time you-”

“Shut up loser, I have no time for-”

“Can you two please stop arguing for a change?!”

Spike said loudly and sternly. “How exactly is feuding here going to help Twilight? If you two are serious about standing with Twilight, then learn to stand with each other for a change! I thought Discord caused Twilight’s death, but even I still learn to let forgiveness into my heart, and our kindness paid off in the form of our cooperation and her safe return. If you are not even prepared to put aside your differences for just a moment and do this together for Twilight, then why in the Tartarus are you here?!”

Discord glanced at Spike, and turned to Rosencross. “I hate being the one who does the moralizing, Rosy, but he’s right. Compassion and forgiveness, boring as they might seem, are what’ve rafted this shaky boat through the more difficult times. Regardless what Chryssy might act, we’d do well not to just dwell on the wrongdoings and hatred of the past.”

Rosencross felt like her heart was being twisted by a pair of pincers. She didn’t want to make this occasion for Twilight about herself instead, but at the end, emotions overwhelmed her and she broke down in tears.

“Compassion…? Compassion? You ask me to give out compassion and understanding, but who gives compassion to my own hivelings! Don’t you realize? They were like my precious children! And the one who brutally took them away from me stood right in front of me, persistently mocking their memories! I can already hardly live with myself after shamelessly escaping alone, and I tried my best to tolerate her presence afterwards. Now you told me to completely disregard her crimes and act as if nothing happened at all?”

Discord frowned. He’s bad at dealing with emotional mares. “No, I don’t mean-“

Rosencross simply cut him off. “I have lived and worked in bawdy taverns in Timbucktu ever since I escaped. I’ve already sold away what remained of my dignity for some meagre amount of tasteless ‘love’. Twilight discovered me and brought me out of my misery, she gave me a new lease of an upstanding life with honor. But now, what you’re asking me to do is no different than trampling on my self-respect again!”

“Rosy-“

“I- I need some time of my own! I’m sorry!”

To the gasps of the mares and shock of the others, Rosencross bolted out of the library quickly.

“Weakling does what a weakling does. Running away as always.” Chrysalis tutted.

“Chryssy…” Discord gave her a disapproving glare.

“What? I’m just saying I think.”

“You can be honest without being cruel.” Twilight muttered quietly, to the surprise of the purple dragon.

Spike then nodded emphatically. “Also, it’s hard for her to forgive and forget when you’re being this difficult. Discord, a prankster spirit at heart as he may be, has been consistently remorseful and helpful after what happened in Canterlot.”

“Spike’s right.” Rainbow Dash frowned. “We don’t exactly expect you to suddenly act like a charity worker, but can you at least show some respect for the fallen… uh, hivelings of hers?”

Chrysalis opened her mouth to retort, but Twilight added her plea. “Please, Chrysalis?”

“… Tsk, alright. I’ll see to it… Maybe.”

The green-maned changeling then glanced at Discord. “Hey, you. Why don’t you go catch her before she does something stupid out there? It’d be really bad if she goes on a rampage and exposes us all to the ponies.”

Discord sighed and nodded. “Right, I’ll check her out.”

He then waltzed out of the library and disappeared in the shadow of the night.

Just when those who remained began to discuss if they shall call it a day, the door to the library suddenly opened forcefully again.

“Huh? Discord’s quick.” Spike muttered.

But this time, instead of the chaos spirit, a white pegasus rammed open the door with an incensed and mortified expression.

“Tu!” Milestrela pointed an accusing hoof to Chrysalis. “W- W- What kind of evil maldição have you put onto me! I’ve never slept on my duty before!”

Chrysalis blinked and rolled her eyes. “Oh, relax, missus. It was just a simple sleep spell. If it was anything malicious, do you think you can still come here and yell at me?”

The green-maned changeling then tutted. “Think of it as a payback for stuffing me with your boring manual when I demanded some real books to read.”

“You vile changeling! You have rendered me unclean with your foul enchantment!”

“What the heck are you talking about? By the way, in case you haven’t noticed, your grand duchess and top commander is standing over there while you scream like crazy.”

Milestrela almost bit her tongue. Her vision was almost tunnel-like as she was focused on berating Chrysalis, but now that she had calmed down a bit, her face turned green at displaying disrespect in front of Rainbow Dash.

“Stand at ease, sergeant Milestrela. No offense is taken.”

Rainbow Dash saluted per protocol, and then she whispered to Chrysalis. “Non-unicorn Cruzesians are very sensitive about being casted any sort of magic. Cruzesians are strong believers of animism, and magic is among the most forceful ways one can disrupt another’s anima. So yeah, unsolicited magical casting is akin to cursing them and their entire family. That’s also why I demanded an explanation and apology from you so strongly.”

Chrysalis looked surprised, and then she said to Milestrela while shaking her head. “… Tsk. Well, I’m sorry, okay? I never meant you harm, and you treated me with respect otherwise.”

“… You didn’t curse me or anything?”

“Get on with it, you superstitious fool. I’m not a barbaric hut shaman like those dang zebras.”

“Careful, Chryssy, the girls frown on casual racism like that.” Discord whistled.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, but amusement was apparent in her eyes. She turned to Milestrela. “… Well, lieutenant. You need not worry about that too much, she’s not cursing you or anything. If you’re still worried, I will arrange Misty- I mean, Mistral Trail to perform a cleansing ritual for you in these few days.”

“R- Really? The last time I asked, the unicorns have a really long waiting list! Dona Mistral’s one is as long as a year!” Milestrela looked overjoyed.

“Combat-related injuries excepted.” Rainbow Dash smirked.

“Thank you very much, Your Grace!”

She then awkwardly gawked at the group, and hurriedly added. “I shall wait patiently outside to escort the changeling back to the camp.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “No need, sergeant. I’ll shortly arrange an alternate place for her as well as the other changelings to stay.”

“Y- Yes, Your Grace…”

“Don’t worry, lieutenant. That was planned long ago, it is not due to any perceived slack of duty. You’ve done the best you can. Return to the camp and be discharged for the day and the next.”

“Thank you, Your Grace! I’ll excuse myself now!” Milestrela saluted with a beaming smile, and exited the library quickly.

“Well, that’s it then.” Rainbow Dash shook her head again. “This night has been very tiring for everyone. And I trust that Discord can manage himself, hopefully together with Rosencross... I’ll send off someone to check them out later. But Twilight’s right, we have to look to the future, but without sleep, none of us can keep our eyes open.”

The group chuckled, even Chrysalis snorted, and when she noticed a few prying gazes, she tried desperately to hide her amusement.

“Come, Chrysalis, you should come to have a look of your residence for the next moon.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “But mind you, the whole hive would be there as well, including Allela.”

Chrysalis’s expression was inscrutable, but eventually she sighed. “… Got it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Whoa, Rainbow, you shoulda rung a cowbell before dropping by with a hundred o’ critters next time, in the middle of the night, no less.” Applejack muttered.

“We are not ‘critters’, you uncultured farm pony.” Chrysalis harrumphed.

The former changeling queen was again donning her disguise of green-maned orange pegasus in public, looking like a cousin of Geuse with a perpetually annoyed face.

Her former lieutenant Allela, stood at a distance from her. Their unspoken tension was palpable. The other disguised changelings stood behind them, flanked by Cruzesian pegasi and unicorns twice their number.

Applejack turned to Chrysalis sharply. “Mind you, Chrysalis, Ah do this only at the behest of mah friends, especially Rainbow Dash. Ah shall be gracious and give you and your hive somewhere to stay, as Ah do to all my visiting cousins. But even though she promise to give you some freedom of movement, Ah’m still watchin’ yer every move.”

She added with an annoyed huff. “They might trust you because you flash them a smile or somethin’, but Ah’ll always remember someone’s lies and deceit.”

“Tsk, are you going to let us in or not, or do you want to trash-talk under the moonlight?”

Allela glanced at Chrysalis, and bowed towards Applejack. “I appreciate your hospitality, Miss Applejack. Please forget our previous transgression for a moment, and let us stay in for the night first. We can discuss and stipulate our terms next morning. I believe most of my fellow hivelings would be glad to live in peace given the opportunity.”

Applejack looked at Allela. The grey mare was like a younger version of the Mayor Mare, but Allela looked even more subdued. Maybe it was the fact that she once set Chrysalis up and forced her to renounce her crown, Applejack was ambivalent towards the changeling lieutenant. She cheered the fact that she rose against Chrysalis in the notoriously monotonic hive, and she seemed strangely personable for a changeling, Rosencross excepted. But she couldn’t quite shake off the idea that she was buttering them up for something. After all, as Rainbow Dash said, a turncoat once can be a turncoat again.

Applejack sighed. “Fine. We happen to have refurnished the quarter Ah reserved fer you guys since Rainbow asked last time. Follow me, but tread lightly. Mah family and most of the guests have already gone to sleep.”

Chrysalis mumbled, while Allela continued beaming her smile. The disguised changeling hive streamed into the reclusive quarter at the far side of the farm, dissolving one by one into the unlit farm houses. Applejack watched the two senior changelings walking one after another, and sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rosencross ran across the streets into the periphery of Ponyville. The stars were crystal bright and the moon shone gently, but it barely calmed the sadness within the red mare.

It had been a long while since she reminisced about her lost hive.

Hers was unique, a spring of respite among the warring hives strewn across the Great Desert and West Zebrica. She remembered the day she took over the Green Stigmata of her own hive. Everything was fine and peaceful in their reclusive hive until the day Chrysalis invaded in the name of binding every changeling to a single kingdom.

She barely had any mind to consider what the ‘right’ way was for changelings to live their lives. The only thing she knew that she lost her one and only hive in the world, and after all the years praying for Chrysalis’s downfall, she might be forced to bite back her bile by having to accommodate the wish of her benefactor.

All the resentful, sad and painful feelings just exploded. She didn’t understand why the mares, Discord and Spike could all be so forgiving towards Chrysalis.

An ill thought came up in her mind. Perhaps they could afford to be magnanimous because Twilight was found to be alive, and even Harmony seemed to be smiling upon her, as it really brought her back after falling into coma for so long. Her hive, though, was long buried under the orange desert sand. Not even a miracle will bring them back.

She briefly paused, shocked at herself who was somehow resenting Twilight for the luck and attention she got. The very one mare who lent her a hoof when she was most downtrodden.

Self-loathing welled up in her mind, as she galloped into the forest next to Ponyville. Far away from the ruckus of the settlement, she felt even more starkly alone.

Tired by her running, she sat down under one particularly large tree. She began to sniffle at her own failure and selfishness.

Cold wind blew through dark forest, and distant howling reverberated from every corner.

The tree moved with the wind, its branches and leaves shaking.

At first she paid it little heed. But some time afterwards, she felt something was not right.

There was too much shaking for a supposedly immobile tree.

She gulped and wiped her eyes. And suddenly, a snorting sound could be heard.

“Who!” She turned and yelled in alarm.

With a dull ‘thorp’, the tree she was leaning on turned into something with a much softer and furry surface. Feeling hot breath breathing down her neck, she gasped and almost jumped, but a strong arm brought her near to the strange creature.

“Gah! Let off me!”

“Rosy! Calm down!”

Rosencross stopped dead in her struggle and let out a yelp of surprise, she blinked and saw clearly the yellow glint reflecting off Discord’s eyes.

“D- Discord!”

“You’ve been a very silly changeling, Rosy.” Discord crossed his arms. “Where do you think you’re running away to?”

“I- I said I need some time! Leave me alone!”

“Rosy, dear, be honest to yourself. At times like these, you clearly need someone next to you the most.”

Rosencross sniffled again. She gritted her teeth, pouted and began to pound Discord in the chest. “W… Why are you acting all gentle and kind?! Aren’t you a spirit of chaos?! Are you the one who took immense joy at screwing others over?!”

She added through her gritted teeth. “Why don’t you just go and stay with her? Welcome her with extended hooves! Even though she hurt goodness knows how many, including your own loved ones! Never mind my meaningless attachment towards my lost hive!”

Expecting some sarcastic bite-back for her apparent jealousy and pettiness, Rosencross was surprised that Discord merely shook his head and looked at her with a thoughtful look.

“Rosy, you think that we’re going too easy on Chrysalis, don’t you?”

Rosencross widened her eyes, but she quickly said. “… So what if I do!”

She bit on her lips and hissed. “On the ship, you told me how she was being turned, and how she changed for the better. Even Twilight, before she loses her memories, was excessively forgiving towards her even as the accursed green-mane was sacrilegiously using her body like a puppet… But to my eyes and my ears, she was still the nasty and cruel one who casually mock the memories of my fallen hivelings! I don’t get it, where does all your trust and forgiveness come from?!”

She drew in a long breath and continued. “And what if one day she really was turned?! Does this erase all her past wrongdoings? Does it bring back those whom she coldheartedly stomped on and squashed on her misguided way to dominate all things under the sun?! Because of her, the name of changelings are cursed across the land! Because of her, all of us suffered unnecessary and immeasurable pain! Why, just why?!”

“No, of course not. And you’re right, her actions are inexcusable.”

“If so, why are you all offering her a safe refuge?!”

Discord instead muttered. “Do you also doubt Twilight, since she seemed to have condone her as well?”

Rosencross lowly grunted. “I- If she hadn’t lost her memories, I would certainly ask why she would do something th- this foolish!”

Discord looked up to the canopy of the forest. Shafts of moonlight pierced from the gaps of the leaves and branches. “I don’t think you’d even need to ask.”

“… Huh?”

“On matters of forgiveness, Twilight and her friends are basically cut from the same cloth. The six girls are colorful characters on their own, but when it comes to forgiving the inexcusable, I believe even the most stubborn among them would ultimately do the same, as they have done with me. That’s what I’ve seen and experienced myself. Even Applejack, who was clearly doubtful of Chrysalis’s sincerity, was likely just worrying whether she would flip-flop and hurt her friends again, rather than licking at the wounds of the past.”

“But… that makes… no sense...” Rosencross’s voice weakened.

“I never said it does. It’s what makes their actions so paradoxical and thus intriguing.”

Discord gently muttered. “After I turned my back at Twilight and her friends for… some rather petty reason, and made a mess of things in Canterlot, the very first reaction from them was, of course, shock at my betrayal. But then, there was no anger, only sadness. There was not an ounce of desire to punish or yell, even as I knelt vulnerable before the ruins of the Royal Garden. After things settled down a bit, I asked Fluttershy why they’re so keen to forgive someone who did something so unforgivable.”

Knowing that Discord would explain anyway, Rosencross still couldn’t help but ask. “… What did she say?”

“People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.”

Towards an astonished Rosencross, Discord added the last sentence.

“Give the world the best you have and you'll get bucked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.”

He sighed. “Rosy, forgiveness is an attribute of the strong. The weak cannot afford to be forgiving. The girls, in my eyes, are the strongest force in the world.”

Rosencross gazed at Discord long and hard. Eventually, she said with a shaky voice. “I… I’m not strong. I’m weak, alone! Even the one mare who cared for me had now forgotten about me entirely…”

“When we’re alone, we becomes weak. Unity makes strength, that’s why we stuck together in Equestria, that’s why Twilight gathered you all on her journey.”

Discord then stroked the deep red mane of Rosencross lightly. “And why would you say you’re alone? I’m right here with you. Why, you’ve been laying on me comfortably for so long after I let off my claw. Isn’t my chest the comfiest place in the world?”

Rosencross yelped and immediately pushed Discord away and yelled. “You’re the lowest!”

“But also the dearest, right?” Discord smirked.

“Don’t joke your way out of this!” She shouted. “Wh- What are you going to do with her?”

“What do you mean…? Ah! Well, don’t you worry, dear, I ain’t gonna give you up for her. You’re the spiciest red-head that I’ve ever met, and she’s a bit too cold for my taste.”

Rosencross furiously blushed. She quickly raised a hoof and slapped Discord.

“Ouch! Rosy! Violence is not the answer!”

“To you it always is!” She crossed her hooves and huffed. “You always only maintain your seriousness for just a minute!”

“Oh, you like me acting all serious? It’s so taxing for me to keep a straight face for so long! But ah, the things we do for love…”

“You!”

“Okay, okay!”

Discord chortled. He then turned serious as told. “Well, that’s why I can’t really act tough towards Chrysalis, because I’ve also benefited from their insistent kindness. If not for the purple egghead’s kindness, you won’t even be here with us, will you?”

“B- But Chrysalis!”

“Can you try to accommodate her for a bit, for Twilight… and my sake?”

Rosencross lowered her head and muttered with a distraught look. “… It’s not fair… Why does she deserve leniency? She didn’t give any to me and my hivelings back then…!”

“Rosy, hear me out. Although it was what happened to Twilight that made me think my life over, it was far from the only hurtful things that I did to others. I’m not trying to make what you’ve been through sounds trivial, but what Chrysalis did was arguably a hair of what I had done to the entire Equestria back when I was king. If the ponies were to really count each of my ‘crimes’, then probably they’ll rule that a thousand years in stone is not quite enough.”

Discord shook his head. “That’s what would happen if they’re fixated on retribution… There is beauty in the girls’ brand of kindness and forgiveness. It’s the fragrance that the rose sheds on the horseshoe that has crushed it.”

Rosencross bit her lips, and Discord continued. “This is the fragrance that moves even a thousand-year-old spirit, and I’m confident that they’ll move Chrysalis as well eventually.”

He then thinly grinned. “I know it sounds idealistic, but if they have the temerity to keep to it, then why can’t we, Rosy?”

Rosencross glared at Discord long and hard, and eventually, she sighed. “I don’t know if I can be as accepting as them.”

“Rosy, forgiveness is not forgetfulness, and you’re also not obligated to make friend with her. You simply release her from your judgment, and yourself from unending ill will. It does not require you to build relationship with her until real changes happen. But when she finally says the magic word, you’ll find a miracle in your heart that allow you to reach out in a bridge of reconciliation. And that day would not be far away if we remain earnest, strong and steady.”

Rosencross looked up to Discord with wide, watery eyes. At last, she nodded and said. “…I guess I can… at least try.”

“Thank you, Rosy. Shall we take a walk before we go back and face our mundane troubles?”

Rosencross nodded carefully, and the two began to traverse the forest.

The Everfree at night had a bad reputation among the Equestrians. But to someone like Discord, none of the inhabitants of the forest really constitute as a threat to him.

They wandered the forest with no particular destination in mind. This part of the forest remained undisturbed even as the nearby Ponyville rapidly ballooned.

“Discord…”

“Yes, Rosy?”

“I… I will be blunt. But I don’t understand you.”

“Oh? Do tell.” The chaos spirit grinned in interest.

“You’re very ancient.”

“Hey, it’s not very nice to bring up the matter of age to an ever youthful spirit like moi.”

“… You literally just mentioned that you’re a ‘thousand-year-old spirit’.”

“It’s a figure of speech, dear. At heart I’m always twenty.”

“Tsk, more like three.”

Discord laughed aloud. “I like your razor-sharp tongue, Rosy. Twilight and Fluttershy always talked to me like I was a pup, while others talk to me like I was the devil. Only you eviscerate me verbally while sounding like you never mean it.”

Rosencross grumbled. “You shameless git!”

“Fine, fine, what’re you trying to say?” Discord chortled.

Rosencross harrumphed. “You have been chaos king of Equestria and be a general nuisance for so long. I just don’t understand how someone with such a past and such a reputation act so…”

She gulped and lowered her voice. “Kind and gentle…”

Discord grinned. “Kind and gentle, eh? You said that before. That’s indeed some adjectives I’d never think would associate myself with. Then again, before I broke out of the stone, I never picture how my life would turn out to be in such a relatively short period of time. Even I don’t really know about myself sometimes, spending all my time and efforts just to have my life revolving around one purple unicorn.”

“… Aren’t we all.”

“Hah! But seriously, if you ask me all formal and like, I’d tell you that I see potential in the girls, not just Twilight, but also her friends, to really shake things up in Equestria. Therefore acting out of my elements a bit to satisfy them is acceptable. It’s, in a roundabout way, appealing to my true element. But as I think it over as we talk, it’s just a rationalization on my part.”

“… So what’s the true reason after all?”

“The true reason…” Discord, for once, looked uncertain. “… Maybe like all living things in the world, I too long for some sort of companionship. It’s bewitching, and you won’t want to let go once you have a real taste of it. I’ve been a pain in the plot for so long, and I had been reaping its bitter fruit. I don’t want to be a pain in the plot anymore and lose those who’re willing to stand by me despite my spotty past.”

He sighed. “They’ve taught me that I can have fun without being cruelly insensitive. But as I myself discover, just not doing the ‘bad’ things is not enough. To make others tolerate my presence, I need to actually do good, excessively good even, to get those who look down on you as scourge of the earth to have a fleeting thought of reevaluation.”

Discord paused for a while. “Of course, as you may have noticed, their unrelenting kindness is also rubbing off me, or else I couldn’t spout that string of adages to you. So you can say it’s both a necessity and a want. It redeems me, and it’s also beginning to feel good as I see the smiles on others.”

He bitterly chuckled. “So what if I lived for so long, I’ve still learnt so little. If not for my curious encounter with Twilight and her friend, I’d still be a stupid old fart encased in the stone, not just physically, but mentally as well.”

“D- Don’t say that… You’re not stupid.”

“Nah, I’m still regretting my actions with my every step. Even before what happened in Canterlot, I already hurt Twilight and Fluttershy by playing with their feelings because of some useless doubt. I even did the heinous thing and use magic to soften her up despite her trust.”

Rosencross gasped, and she noticed that Discord looked really old for a fraction of the second.

“Even towards someone who was so unscrupulous and worthless, Twilight never gave up on me. I owe her my freedom, my… everything indeed. Acting somewhat kind in her tribute is barely anything on my part.”

“Discord…”

Rosencross muttered, and then gasped again.

“What’s wrong, Rosy?”

“Look at where we are!”

The gaps in the tree canopy has been replaced with rock crevices. As they were having a heartfelt discussion, they had unintentionally reentered the cave of the Tree of Harmony they’ve visited earlier that day.

“This can’t be a coincidence…”

“Do you mean we should…?”

Discord gulped. The last time he got into physical contact with the Tree of Harmony, he got the layer of skin on his claws seared off as if he touched lava.

Looking at the uncertain face on the draconequus, Rosencross asked. “What are we waiting for? Shouldn’t we just go onto the slab and see what happen?”

Discord sighed. “You know, I am a spirit of disharmony. The Tree of Harmony is my antithesis. It wasn’t a pretty sight the last time I touched it.”

Rosencross’s gaze flickered. “… What happened?”

“My claws got burned into a crisp.”

The red mare winced, but she then asked. “But… do you want to save Twilight?”

“Of course I do! Well darn, here goes nothing!”

Discord grunted and jumped towards the slab, but Rosencross pulled him back a bit.

“What is it, Rosy?”

“You know, Discord, if you do get hurt because of this try… I…”

“You will do something for me?”

Her face reddened and she turned away from his gaze. “I… will look after you personal- Ah!”

Rosencross gasped as she was pulled onto the slab by a giddy chaos draconequus. Discord caught her hoof with his claw, when an electrifying feeling suddenly ran through both of them.

“Whoa?!” She yelped again.

Both of them glowed a curious shade of purple and white. Suddenly, their past experiences back flashed in front of their eyes. They both gasped, as a kaleidoscope of imageries burst into life. Discord saw his path to friendship with a hint of wistfulness but also understanding, while Rosencross saw her path to forgiveness with newly found steadiness.

Discord suddenly felt that his neck was strangely light. He looked down to the ground and found the neck ring Celestia put on had simply fallen off.

“Wo-wo-we-wa.” Discord was surprised and also overjoyed. He snapped his finger to produce a bin, which he used to toss the torque inside. “Sweet chaos I’m free again!”

Rosencross sharply inhaled as if she was underwater for a long time. Looking at the equally shocked face of Discord, she suddenly felt a surge of power inside her body, directly coming from her link with Twilight.

Something long lost and obstructed seemed to be blasted open by such an inundation of magic. She opened her eyes wide and gingerly tried to do something she had not done for years.

A reddish green flame surrounded her, and suddenly, instead of a rose-red earth pony, a tall and regal changeling stood in front of the chaos spirit. Her flowing red mane covered part of her face, but it barely hid her own surprise.

“Rosy? What’s up?”

Rosencross bit her lips in excitement. “Just now, a giant blast of energy was sent through my link from Twilight! I wonder if something does happen with her…”

“The slab’s gone, something good must have happened with her, I guess.”

Discord then gently brushed through the now much taller mare’s flowing mane. “We can go check Twilight out in the morning. But now, let’s have a well-earned rest first, eh?”

He brightly grinned. “Now that the restraint Celestia gave me is gone, I no longer need charging up to bring others into my pocket dimension. So how about a staying in my home for the night, my dear Rosencross?”

Rosencross widened her eyes, and she gingerly nodded eventually.

“And even though I’m not injured, are you still going to be my personal nurse? I’m all game for just play, you know.”

Rosencross blushed furiously and smacked the chaos draconequus on his head.

“Ouch!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Discord! Where’ve you been?!” Rainbow Dash looked overjoyed and exasperated at the same time.

“I went to find Rosy, I told ya. She wandered into the Everfree, so it took a little bit longer.”

“I- I see.” She sighed. “It’s nice of you to drop by and tell me that. Now I can recall those I sent out to find you two.”

“In the interest of things, did anything good happen to Twilight last night?”

“H- How do you know?!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t hide her pleasant surprise. “But yes! Spike dropped by and told me that Twilight’s wonky hearing seemed to have been healed, out of the blue!”

“Woohoo! Score one for team Discord!”

“Huh? How’s it related to you?”

“I gave a good talking to Rosy, and we waltzed to the Tree of Harmony. There we successfully activated another slab. I can bet you my left horn that it’s how Twilight gets her hearing back.”

“Wow, so Kanipha’s right about them.” Rainbow Dash said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, pretty convoluted for it to screw us over just to dish out some ‘friendship lessons’.”

Rainbow Dash looked half-worried and half-amused, but she remained quiet.

Discord tutted. “Of course I’m glad that Twilight’s getting better, but I’m not a fan of the implication that the Tree had a hand in the matter, benign or else.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t like the feeling of being manipulated and controlled by some sort of higher power, especially considering my status as a primordial spirit.”

“No one like that kind of feeling. I’d be pretty mad as well if this is all planned by the Spirits of Harmony in advance. I’ll probably take the simple life Twi once saw over the mess we have now.”

A veil of silence descended between the two. Busy movement could still be heard outside of the temporary camp near Ponyville, where the construction of a more permanent barrack was underway.

“So… is there anything else, Discord?”

“I just wonder if you have time for a chat, it’s all.”

“… Huh.” Rainbow Dash widened her eyes. “Yes?”

“You look tired.”

“What? Me?” Rainbow Dash looked truly surprised. “Well, we all haven’t got a good night’s sleep last night, so that’s for certain, isn’t it?”

Discord thinly smirked. “I’m not talking about that kind of tiredness.”

“Then…?”

To the rainbow mare’s further shock, Discord bowed.

“W- What’s up all of a sudden?”

“I must thank you for everything. You’ve played a big part in Twilight’s safe return.”

Rainbow Dash raised her brows, and then she slowly shook her head and chortled. “Oh, you mean that? You must’ve gotten loco all of a sudden or something. Finding Twilight’s always a personal thing for me, you don’t have to thank me for that. Thank the Zebricans and the Cruzesians instead.”

Discord wagged his finger and said. “When I said you look tired, I mean something exactly like that. You’re acting way too responsible and mature for Rainbow Dash.”

The cyan mare widened her eyes. Her cheeks reddened and she protested immediately. “Hey! You jerk! What do you mean by that?!”

“I just want to remind you that you should not let your responsibilities bind yourself too much. With Twilight out of the action, you seem to have taken on the mantle of leadership in the group. Well, I’m not going to dispute leadership position with someone literally leading thousands of soldiers, but I know a Rainbow Dash before all these ruckuses.”

Rainbow Dash gazed at Discord silently.

“We all have grown and changed with what happened. But the Rainbow Dash I knew wasn’t someone that’s okay with being serious all the time and running through administrative nonsense the whole day. You’re a prankster with an obsession for speed racing, not quite like what you’ve involved yourself with right now. I’m just making sure that you’re still being yourself, and not putting on an unwanted mask in the name of loyalty. ”

“… You really sound like a mentor to us right now, huh?”

“Heh.”

Rainbow Dash looked aside, and then sighed after a long pause. “… I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I didn’t trust you enough at first, so I’ve been sending out someone to spy on you.”

Discord tutted. “I knew that all along. What, do you think I can’t hear them scribbling for ‘no reason’ all the time?”

The cyan mare looked shocked, but she quickly shook her head and looked aside. “… I know that you’ve talked Chrysalis into being pliant, and presumably you also talked with Rosencross to make her feel better. And now you even talk to me about my ability to adapt.”

She looked at Discord with uncertainty. “I want to ask you as well, are you comfortable with what you’re currently doing?”

“… Heh, how about you answer my question, then I answer yours?”

“Very well.” Rainbow Dash wryly smiled. “I was somewhat surprised that you asked me that question, because it reminded me of Fluttershy who asked me basically the same question before we sailed out of Las Pegasus.”

“Huh, really?”

“You’re right that my dream was to soar the sky and be a Wonderbolt. In fact, back when Twi and I met, and she had to resort to a shadier way to connect with me, she used the vision of me failing a Wonderbolt show to terrify me and lower my defense.”

“Delightfully twisted.” Discord smirked. “It just sounded a bit out of character for the softie to do something like that.”

“Out of character, eh? She had been a confused mind herself, and I’m not exactly sure if everything would still turn out like this if she asked nice and proper. But hey, what had happened had happened. And for a time, the vision of failing Wonderbolt had haunted me deeply, making me doubt my chances to get into Wonderbolts. Even though through her vision, I knew I had the potential to become a real Wonderbolt, but fear is, you know, irrational, and I’ve begun to slack off in my personal training.”

“Huh…”

“Before we broke you out of stone, Twilight tried to get one of us to run the new newspaper which would’ve become The Mirror. Fluttershy and I responded to her call. But at the time, I was merely looking for something to do other than facing my growing fear of failure, while helping my good friend of course. Long story short, Fluttershy eventually talked me into facing my fear, and I pulled off the Sonic Rainboom in the Cloudeseum. I was even on track of entering the Wonderbolt Academy before all these happened. That’s why Fluttershy was so concerned that I might be again suppressing my own will and aspirations by involving myself in Cruzesian matters.”

She grinned. “Her worry was not unfounded. You simply don’t walk back from a position like this. It’s no longer only about me, Twilight, or my other friends. What I do will affect the politics and the fate of a nation. Being a warband leader, it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’ll never be able to return to my simple life in the past, or go join Wonderbolt freely.”

“Yeah, don’t you think that is a little bit too much for a young mare like you to handle?”

“I thank you for your concern, Discord. Allow me to say this, my current burden is arguably heavier than Twilight’s, even if and when she becomes the Princess of Friendship in the potential future. After all, you don’t have to look after thousands of feeding mouth and marching hooves as a Princess of Friendship.”

The cyan mare then raised her hoof. “But strangely, I don’t feel as dejected as I should be, even though I may not be able to wow ponies with my awesome acrobatics, and have to bury my head in less flashy work.”

“And why is that?”

“I told Fluttershy the same thing. I’ve traced back to the source of my passion. It’s not that flying doesn’t bring me an exciting rush anymore, but I also did it to make others happy and inspired. I’ve come to realize that it can be done in ways other than acrobatic shows. While I’m sad to put my dream to join Wonderbolt on a halt, it is still rewarding to help my good and loyal Cruzesians to fulfill their dreams of exploring the limits of horizons and living in a bountiful land across the sea, not to mention the perk of being aided in my quest to find Twilight.”

She winked. “So yeah, in short, totally worth it!”

“Alright then.”

“So what about you? We’ve chatted about this on the ship, but I just can’t shake off the feeling that you’ve been acting way out of your elements.”

“You’re also the second person who ask me this question, in fact. Can’t a draconequus be all charming and nice for a day without being doubted for his sincerity?”

Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes and waited for Discord to continue.

“You don’t get baited like Rosy did, well played.”

He smirked. “But don’t you worry. I’m now honest enough to admit that I appreciate your company.”

“And how relieved I am to hear that, Discord.” Rainbow Dash also grinned.

“Heh, I’m also comfortable with what I’m doing right now. To be honest, I only start to slowly realize after I’ve talked so much recently. I thought being a mediator is against my nature and more importantly, boring. But it feels better than I thought knowing that I’m doing my part to mend us together when Twilight’s recovering.”

“Discord…”

“What happened and what I found out afterwards… Everything had made me feel pretty old.”

The cyan mare bit her lips.

“And when you realize that you’re old, you begin to think that mellowing out a bit isn’t a bad choice.”

“We still need you by our side for the foreseeable future.”

“So long as you make this journey less of a chore and more of an adventure, then I might occasionally turn up.”

Rainbow Dash smirked, but their conversation was cut short by someone who appeared at the entrance.

“Your Grace, may I enter?”

“Come in, Misty.”

Mistral Trail waded through the curtain to greet Rainbow Dash. She was surprised to see Discord there as well, but she politely smiled and said. “Your Grace, Dom Discord, I come to bring you some important news. The two Equestrian Princesses are on the way to Ponyville to visit Twilight. Along also come Dona Twilight’s family, the illustrious Princess Cadance, as well as Dona Twilight’s friend Trixie.”

“Wow, they all come at once?” Discord widened his eyes.

Rainbow Dash heavily inhaled. “Thanks, Misty. We will go to the library to accompany Twilight.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Twilight!”

“Rainbow Dash, Discord, nice to see you.” Twilight turned from the small table she was sitting on and smiled to the newcomers.

Spike tilted his head in confusion. “Didn’t I just drop by in your camp earlier this morning? What brings you back so fast?”

The cyan mare scratched her face. “Well, good news is, Twilight’s improving condition is likely due to the combined work of Discord and Rosencross. They successfully activated another slab last night.”

“Really?!” Spike looked overjoyed, and rushed to the side of Discord. “Thank you, thank you!”

“W- Well, you’re welcome…” Discord was still unused to such a genuine display of gratitude.

Twilight uncertainly said. “D- Doesn’t that mean it’s all up to my loyal friends that I’ll return to full health?”

“What’s the problem, Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I… am just sad that I can’t help myself.”

“Twilight…” Spike bit his lips, and then widened his eyes suddenly. “Oh dear, this means the remaining of us had to find some ways to activate the slabs as well!”

“Well, duh.” Discord rolled his eyes.

“This is true, but we must deal with something more immediate first.” Rainbow Dash said.

“What’s it?” Spike asked.

“The princesses, Twilight’s family, as well as Trixie are all coming to see Twilight.”

“What?!” The purple mare and dragon exclaimed in shock.

“Don’t worry. My messenger has already relayed your current condition to them, so they all have some mental preparation. Just remember, Twilight, it’s not your fault that you lose your memories of your loved ones. Together we’ll figure a way out of this.”

But before Twilight could respond, the visitors already knocked on the door.

“C- Coming!” Spike yelled, as he opened the door to the library.

“Hello, my good Spike.” Celestia smiled. “I heard that Twilight is already awake.”

“… Yeah, she is. She’s right there by the table.”

Celestia couldn’t hide her joyous mood at seeing Twilight once more. “My faithful student, I’m so pleased to see you finally wake from your coma.”

“I- I… Thank you, Your Highness…?”

Celestia winced. “So it’s true…”

“I’m so sorry…”

“This is none of your fault, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said with a frown.

The originally enthusiastic family of Twilight now simply looked disappointed and distraught.

“I know it’s a bit hard to accept that Twilight’s forgotten us for the moment. But there’s some promising development with regards to the Tree of Harmony.”

“Do tell… um…” Cadance fumbled over her address.

“Princess Cadance, I’m Rainbow Dash, once Element-bearer and currently leader of the Cruzesians.”

She then waved her hoof. “It turns out that the condition of the Tree is really tied to the recovery of Twilight. By activating the slabs on site, the magic of Harmony restored Twilight’s health bit by bit. So far, she’s already been woken up and has her hearing restored by its magic. I’m confident that shall the remaining of us figure out some way to activate the remaining slabs, Twilight should be nursed to full health in a short amount of time.”

“That’s good to hear…” Shining Armor sighed. “What exactly did you do to activate the power of the Tree of Harmony?”

Her father, Night Light added with the vigorous nod from his wife. “Shining’s right, is there anything we can help?”

“Regrettably, there’s little that you can do.”

“… Discord?” Several of the visitors gave the evil eye to the draconequus, but he merely shrugged them off.

“I hate to say it as a spirit of chaos, but it’s clear that what we’ve done is tied to the manifestation of Harmony within us – the close circle of Twilight after she became the Element-bearer of magic. So far, we have Rainbow Dash and her loyal lieutenant Mistral Trail, who together discovered both the importance of loyalty and the importance to temper it with a sense of discretion. Me and Rosy, who learnt a meaningful lesson in forgiveness and redemption. If I must hazard a guess, what the remaining pairs of partners must each find ways to redefine and reforge their ‘elements’, both literally and figuratively, in order to help Twilight. It’s a task that can only be done by us and us alone.”

“Discord…” Celestia muttered. “What you’ve said shows that you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

“Meh, I can’t claim credit for this idea. One of Twi’s Zebrican companions, called Kanipha, came up with the mold of this explanation.”

“Regardless, we can’t deny that your heart is in the right place, and your action has been consistent with your claim of care for Twilight. I just want all of you to know that we shall give you all the assistance you need in your quest to activate the power of Harmony in the Tree.”

The visitors then each traded greetings and chatted with Twilight in hope that she would at least remember something about them. However, the conversation inevitably led to their hard-to-hide disappointment.

Twilight herself was quickly tired out by the bombarding queries, and Spike eventually helped her upstairs for a rest, leaving the visitors awkwardly standing in the library with dejected looks.

“Give Twi some time, and give us some time. We’re going to return Twi to normal for sure, since Harmony is on our side.”

The wincing looks were calmed by the cyan mare’s words.

“You’re right, Rainbow Dash.” Celestia smiled.

After a pause, Rainbow Dash turned to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. “Congratulations on your marriage and ascending to the throne of Crystal Empire, Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor. The Cruzesians were stalwart allies of the crystal ponies, and they are thrilled that the Eternal City had returned after such an unfortunate turn of event.”

“I’m ashamed to say, but I know little about the Cruzesians until relatively recently. Even among my subjects, few seem to be cognizant about the presence of a nation far across the Southern Sea.”

“… Not at all. Some might be disappointed, but most of us should understand. Living in the heart of the rainforest meant that they essentially lived in a time capsule. Their knowledge about the world is still frozen at what their ancestors knew thousands of years ago. Equestria, for example, was still a loose militaristic confederation, and much had changed since then.”

Rainbow Dash smiled. “Still, they would greatly appreciate it if you two can come by and honor their presence. This can only be good for the peace between the two nations.”

“Uh…” Cadance looked somewhat reserved, when Shining Armor interjected.

“Ra- I mean, Grand Duchess. As a former captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard, I’m concerned that you mention the matter of peace, when the incident in Las Pegasus gave the Equestrian Nation a great spook back then.”

“You don’t have to couch your words, Prince Shining Armor. We’re all clear-sighted ponies here, and I know what you’re getting at. No, the Cruzesians are not going to act hostile towards Equestria even without my mediation. This is a time of great change for the Cruzesians, when ideas both young and old clash. But there is one thing that most Cruzesians want more than ever, and that is peace after their thousand-year struggle with the Black Snake, the powerful and aggressive spirit of their mother river. Those who come with me may be well armed physically, but they too want nothing more than a place to live and a place to grow.”

Celestia and Luna clearly noticed that Rainbow Dash’s words were not just for Cadance and Shining Armor, but also them.

“I’ll be glad to come visit the Cruzesians in my official capacity as the princess of Crystal Empire, but I’m just afraid that I can’t stay for long.”

“Your kind gesture will be more than enough.” Rainbow Dash nodded emphatically. “Though if you can tell, I’d like to know if it is related to the thing that kept you two in the North earlier.”

Cadance sighed and grimaced. “Well, it’s no secret… As Princess Celestia had probably told you already, the populace of Crystal Empire are restive. The Crystal ponies are, sadly, not too receptive to my message of sisterly love. What’s more, some of them do not like to idea of…”

Rainbow Dash supplied. “Getting back into the fold of Equestria?”

“How’d you know?” Shining Armor raised a brow.

“Just a wild guess. I suppose it’s natural for them to be a bit paranoid after a thousand years in the void of time.”

“I’m surprised and impressed, Grand Duchess.” Celestia interjected with a smile. “Twilight’s friends all have a remarkable degree of acumen. No wonder you’re elevated towards such a high status across the seas.”

Cadance smiled as well. “If not for the fact that Sunset Shimmer is such an able hoof, and that you have your own soldiers to lead, I’d have been the shameless one and invite you to help us out in the Crystal Empire.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “So… can you tell me more about Sunset Shimmer?”

“She was a former student of mine. She began her studies shortly before Twilight did. She was an ambitious but also very impatient mare… She eventually left me to pursue a path of her own.”

Celestia then said with a hint of wistfulness. “Perhaps it was for the better. When she was under my tutelage, she was… well, rash and callous to a degree that once worried me. She also seemed to be overly sly and wily. I thought she was bound to go astray. Alas, even with my long experience in observing ponies, I couldn’t be more wrong.”

“How so, may I ask?”

“Well, I met her when she came and brought us the news of the Empire’s return. The first thing she did was apologizing for her impertinence and sudden departure. It seemed to me that she was merely overly eager to prove herself, and achieving such a great feat actually mellowed her down. She’s now a perfectly civil and personable mare.”

“I would love to meet her.” Rainbow Dash nodded reservedly.

Looking at the tentative look on the cyan mare’s face, Shining Armor added. “Sunset Shimmer is a very able administrator and leader. The Crystal ponies have reestablished the Crystalline Assembly amid the post-Sombra rumble. However, letting ponies run things themselves has the disadvantage of turning things into a bit of a free-for-all bedlam.”

Cadance added. “With things now wiped clean like a blank slate, a lot of ponies quickly formed interest groups and organizations to have a say on what to do with the reborn Crystal Empire. Some workers are tired of the drudgery they had to endure under Sombra’s rule, and now they demand better rights and treatments. I’d like to give them what they asked, but those are way beyond our current means, and it absolutely alienates the nobles and important ponies that we have to rely on in the Empire.”

“Huh.”

“Shockingly, some ponies decided to take matters into their own hooves, and occupied the farms, factories and even our national granary, to punish the so-called ‘stiff-necked’ nobles.”

“…”

“Sunset, though, deal with all these with absolute finesse and firmness. Not only is she privy to minute crystal pony customs, she also has a way with ponies. She convinced many officials to carry out our order faithfully. On the other hoof, she firmly cracked down on the rife malfeasance caused by nepotistic council ponies who drove a wedge between us and the populace. She organized and personally oversaw the formation of the Voluntary Squadron to keep the peace on the street, while using her excellent oratories to appease and even draw support from the formerly disgruntled workers and farmers. She’s a born politician I may say.”

“Intriguing…” Rainbow Dash nodded. She had further thoughts, especially as she noticed the curious silence from Trixie, who looked as if she wanted to say something, but couldn’t due to the presence of much bigger figures.

She then nodded again. “If you please, Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, please drop by at our camp anytime today. I must now go back there as well to conduct some business, so you can either follow me or come by later.”

Spike then added diplomatically. “And you would like to stay with Twi for longer, I think she’d be okay after a little rest.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two Princesses took their leave, followed by Twilight’s parents. Cadance and Shining Armor followed Rainbow Dash away shortly thereafter after bidding Twilight farewell.

They took solace that despite her memory loss, Twilight seemed quite warm and receptive to their presence when they were merely spending time together without intense questioning.

With the purple mare again resting upstairs and Discord scampering away for something on his own, the previously crowded library became quiet again. Trixie and Spike, the only two who were left, looked at each other with a tired smile.

“So… um, Trixie, what do you want to do, now that Twi’s back?” Spike asked.

“Trixie will move my stuffs out very soon. After all, the library’s Twilight’s, whether she’s lost her memory or not.”

“You can still stay here if you want, you know.”

The blue unicorn smirked. “Trixie has a house in Ponyville, I’m not in need of a place to stay.”

“Oh well… You don’t need to if you don’t want to.”

Trixie widened her eyes and shook her head. “No, no! Trixie thinks fondly of the time I spent with you! It’s just that… it’s a bit… incriminating for a drake and a not quite related mare to stay in one house.”

Spike’s face reddened, and he spluttered. “I- I see…”

Amidst an awkward silence, Spike tried his best to find some other topic to chat. He eventually asked. “Um, what exactly were you doing up north?”

“Princess Cadance and Shining Armor thought that a magic show might placate the Crystal ponies for a bit. So Trixie did a tour there. They would have found Pinkie to go too if she was not with you guys.”

“So did it work?”

“What do you mean? If you mean if Trixie made ponies happy, then I suppose I did. If you mean my show going without a hitch, then it also did… just kinda.”

Looking at the hesitant face of the blue mare, Spike grinned. “Trixie, you can tell me the honest truth, I’m not going to tell Cadance, Shining Armor or the princesses about it.”

Trixie slowly sighed. “Spike… I’m worried. The situation up north is not very good. While Trixie was doing the show, some ponies outside the venue were protesting about something. But before they interrupted me, a bunch of ponies in deep green shirts arrested every single one of them. They were far from gentle either, as I saw some of them were clearly hurt.”

“Are those the so-called ‘Voluntary Squadrons’?”

“Trixie think so. They were quite brutish, even though they did keep the streets free from disruptive ponies. I told Princess Cadance about it, and she said she had already instructed Sunset Shimmer to tone them down a bit. I only hope that she really did so.”

“You don’t think it was necessary.”

“Trixie don’t really know, as I wasn’t able to see the whole picture. The protesters were mostly unarmed poor laborers, but some of them did break into government offices several times and caused quite a scare before.”

Spike let out a breath and asked. “Trixie, do you trust Sunset Shimmer?”

“W- Why do you ask?”

“I notice that you were quite quiet at the party when Rainbow asked about her. Do you think that there is something else to this mare?”

“… Trixie don’t know her personally enough to form an opinion. But I would think twice before trusting her on something.”

“Why?”

“She just sounds… way too smooth. She always has the right thing to say to everypony. She’s tongue is not just silver, but gem-crusted gold.”

“… If it’s just that, it doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Well, insincerity aside, she also did not shy from using force on the citizens. Plus I suspect her to have used some backhanded methods and bribery to bring over officials as well.”

“That doesn’t sound good, but it sounds like she’s being a stereotypical pitiless politician.” Spike shrugged. “If Cadance and even the princesses trust her enough for her efficiency, then there is little we can do.”

Trixie wanted to retort, but she eventually sighed. “… Trixie suppose.”

“But the very reason that I ask you about her is that I have some suspicion about this mare. It just sounds out there for a former student of Celestia to take on an ancient sorcerer-king, won and saved a whole nation just like that. Even Twilight, no offense meant, failed to defeat Chrysalis cleanly in Canterlot. I know it’s unfair, but…”

“I don’t doubt her abilities, though. She just looked crazily competent, and I thought Twilight was quite the mare to get things done already. If not for the hiccup at my show, I’d probably be showering her with praise now.”

“… I see.”

Spike exhaled. Noticing the still cloudy expression of the blue mare, he asked. “You still look sad.”

“… I feel like I’m not blending in.”

“Trixie-” Spike bit his lips and interjected. But Trixie merely went on.

“Even when it comes to helping Twilight, I seem to be unable to do anything substantial, because I’m not among those who are chosen by the Tree of Harmony.”

Spike hurriedly said. “Don’t say that, Trixie! Of course you can help! Those picks are just Pinkie’s silly twitches!”

“But it works for Discord and his partner, though?”

“… Maybe it’s fluke?”

Trixie sadly smiled. “You don’t have to console me like that. Maybe even Harmony thinks that I’m not a worthy enough companion for Twilight.”

Spike winced, and he again looked for something to say to make Trixie feel better. Eventually, he resigned in defeat. “Trixie, I don’t claim to know about the will of Harmony, but I can tell you the story of Twilight in Zebrica. Would you be interested?”

Trixie widened her eyes in surprise, and her frown turned into a smile.

“… Sure!”

Chapter 6 – A Measure of Generosity

The news that Discord and Rosencross succeeded in activating another slab gave both hope and immense pressure to the remaining of Twilight’s friends.

While it confirmed that their efforts would be critically useful, it also meant that their immediate actions were sorely needed. Sadly, none of them knew exactly what they had to do in order to appease the Spirits of Harmony.

Moreover, the news that Twilight had returned could no longer be kept under wrap. Intrepid reporters from the Mirror who had caught sight of the purple mare in Ponyville began to ask questions, as well as interviewing the Zebricans, albeit with a lot of language difficulties.

At the end, Equestrians at large became aware of the return of Twilight Sparkle, their national hero, from the overseas. This caused quite a bit of ruckus, as well-wishers and reporters rushed to the treehouse library. It was only through the combination of royal decree that she had to get some rest, and the enforcement from Cruzesian soldiers outside the treehouse, that Twilight was able to recover in peace.

For the friends of Twilight, it was not a time of respite, however. Since Pinkie’s ad hoc pairing seemed to be working, the assigned pairs were compelled to see if living together might produce some results.

One such pair, Rarity and the antelope doe Verna, entered the Carousel Boutique.

“Vernie, watch out!” Rarity cried out in horror as the antelope simply leaped reflexively.

It was already too late, the jumpy antelope had already brought down the chandelier on the ceiling along with a whole row or mannequins and clothes onto herself.

“A- Are you alright?”

Verna popped her head out from the pile and grinned sheepishly. “Apologies, Lady Rarity.”

“I- It’s okay-”

“I must help patch things up.”

“It’s okay! Please, I can do it!”

Rarity yelled, causing Verna to stop in her track. The sleek antelope then sheepishly shook off the mess and stood next to the door.

“Sorry, pony houses are much shorter than what we antelopes are used to live in. I never felt comfortable walking in one.”

“No problem, Vernie, Pinkie often jumps around in here and… uh, well anyway, you just need to make yourself at home.”

Verna shook her head. “I can’t just make myself at home!”

“Eh? Why? Is there anything wrong? If the height of the ceiling really bothers you…”

Verna smilingly shook her head. “Nope.”

“Oh… Are you concerned that you have to live apart from Geuse?”

“No. As much as I want to live with Lady Geuse, Lady Twilight’s recovery is much more urgent not only for us, but for the welfare of the Zebricans as a whole as well. If that’s what it takes to make the Tree glow, then I’m more than glad to separate with her for some time. Certainly Lady Geuse would think so too.”

“I see, then what’s your concern?”

“I’m not a freeloader, Lady Rarity. If I’m to live here, I must earn my keep!”

Rarity looked at the collapsed mess and gulped. “Um… That’s fine…”

Verna sighed and gingerly grinned. “I know I made a bad first impression, but remember, I studied business at Sandcore! I know my way around numbers! Moneymaking is always my bread and butter.”

Rarity widened her eyes, and then genuinely smiled. “Ah, I almost forgot! Darling, that’s excellent! Can you do accounting?”

“Born to do it!” Verna proudly gestured to her chest.

Rarity awkwardly chuckled. “I happen to have received a number of orders for my boutique, dear, and I’m out of hooves to run through the balance sheet for the Raritan steel mills and mines. I’d be very thankful if you can help me audit the items a little bit. Of course, I’ll be paying you handsomely regardless.”

Verna perked up. “More bits is never bad! I’ve always admired Lady Rarity’s keen sense of industry. I’m always amazed when Lady Twilight mentioned who you turned the small starting fund into a booming business. But less talking, more working! Let me have a look at the balance sheet of my boss and benefactor!”

“T- Thank you, dear Vernie.”

Rarity covertly gulped, but maintained a gracious smile, and then took out a large book from her drawer with her magic. “This is a bit thick, please don’t be daunted by…”

Verna had already put on a monocle and going through the items swiftly, while flipping over and again occasionally.

She raised her head and gave her a reassuring wink. Rarity tentatively nodded and went back to her sewing work, her primary and personal interest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity smiled warmly. This was the first time in a few moons that she felt genuinely well.

Twilight was now back in the town. Although she’s not exactly in good shape right now, there was a relatively clear roadmap for her recovery.

She still missed the days when Trixie had been helping her out, as she was not the most dexterous mare outside of clothes making. Now that her roommate and guest proposed to help her on her own, it made her heart glow with joy, knowing that Twilight made good friends in Zebrica, as well as that she could be less busy with her moneymaking ventures.

Just when she was giving the finishing touch to her final dress, Verna stood up from the desk and walked briskly towards Rarity.

Rarity heard the distinctive clean trot of the antelope and turned with a smile.

“Is there anything that I can help?”

“No, Lady Rarity, I’ve already finished checking your balance.”

“Whoa, that’s indeed very quick! I myself would need at least half a day to d…”

Rarity paused and noticed the severe look on the antelope’s face.

“… Is there something wrong?”

“I admire Lady Rarity’s business acumen. The explosive growth is nothing short of amazing. Lady Rarity’s keen eyes for gem lodes, marvelous use of skilled diamond dog labor, as well as the artful persuasion with Equestrian officials are all worth volumes of business journals.”

“W- Well, you’re being too ki-“

Verna frowned deeply and gave Rarity a disapproving look. “But forgive me to say, you’re recently being way too much of a spendthrift! If you continue like this, you will run the very business empire that you built aground very soon!”

Rarity widened her eyes and yelped in shock. “H- How?”

“The growth of your gem and metal mining businesses has been going noticeably softer since half a year ago. And yet you’re paying your workers who only work 70% of the original time their full pay, this is incredibly wasteful! Just lay them off already!”

“Well, I- I disagree!” Rarity said with an aghast look. “I’m just giving my employees a living wage so that they can support themselves with what I paid them! When the demand rises again, I’ll need their work right away!”

“You also offer catering and time in the entertainment corner for workers in the mines and mills. What for? They can buy their own food and entertainment with their own wages. If they want more, they should work harder for more bonuses.”

“A happy workforce makes for a well-run company.”

“Okay, then what about the company buggies?”

“That’s necessary! How else are our workers going to travel from one place to another?”

“Can’t they just take the rail? I’m sure Lady Applejack will be more than glad to offer chartered train rides for a reasonable price. Or failing that, they can hitchhike on the transport boats. Or shared rides. Every solution will be cheaper than free buggies for everyone.”

“But the buggies are part of our company welfare. Our workers use the buggies to travel from home and sometimes to Canterlot as well! We need to do our best to attract labor force, which is very tight in recent days.”

“Lady Rarity, they are menial labor! They don’t deserve such pay! And they don’t need so much pampering at all to retain, be they ponies or mere dogs!”

“Verna. They’re diamond dogs.”

Rarity said with a raised voice. “I don’t like that implication that our workers are anything less than someone that we should treat with respect.”

“I don’t mean that!”

Verna looked irritated. “Very well, I will not talk about the ridiculous benefits of your company. What about all these ‘corporate social responsibility’ items? They are almost a quarter of all expenditures, and they all look readily eliminable!”

“They are not useless! They’re the ways that we as a business give back to the community that allows it to thrive!”

“So that’s why you have a municipal service fund that takes up to 5% of your revenue? Why? They collect taxes in Equestria, don’t they? You’re not supposed to chip in when they accidentally shove money instead of firewood into the bureaucratic machinery.”

Rarity frowned at the antelope’s antagonistic tone. “They do, yes, but Ponyville is expanding quickly, so we’re obligated, as one of the biggest employers in the city, to provide extra funds in order for the services to catch up. This need will be more pronounced with the recent influx of Cruzesians and Zebricans, and we can’t possibly cut on that part.”

Verna shook her head. “This is the responsibility of the city government, not the Raritan Industries. The aim of any business venture is to make money.”

“I don’t-”

Verna already shifted onto the next topic. “Let’s see… Okay, we have this Cedar Canopy fellow… the ‘Chief Greenskeeper’ of Raritan. What exactly does he do to warrant eight hundred bits a moon? That kind of money can feed a family of four for two moons! It said in another document that he somehow ‘promotes environmentally responsible industrial practice’…?”

“He’s a cousin of Mr. Greenhooves, our resident gardener. He didn’t have much luck finding a gardening after his uncle, so Fluttershy brought him to me, and I gave him a job. He needs the bits to enroll into self-improvement programs in the local trade school.”

“But what does promoting environmentally responsible industrial practice exactly entail?”

“He talks with our miners and other workers about the importance of not polluting the environment.”

“… That’s it?”

Rarity winced. “He’s originally also to oversee the actual anti-pollution efforts, like diverting the water source from the Saddle River to underground water, and cleaning up the mining waste, but he… uh, still has to learn about most of these concepts.”

“So you basically paid a fortune to hire someone not at all qualified!”

Rarity bit her lips, but Verna simply continued.

“… What about this one, moon pay a thousand bits… ‘The Director of Good’. What does that even mean?”

“Thistle Wreath promotes community relations of our company.”

“She spent a lot of bits just to hire three ‘strategic promoters’, which, upon my careful inspection, are just three guys walking around Ponyville with a billboard attached to their back.”

“They are employees with, uh… special needs, which we hired to fulfill our social responsibility. What they are doing are suitable to their skill set. They’re very happy that they can finally earn bits with work.”

Verna blinked and continued. “She also put up a giant advertising billboard facing the Everfree forest. I have a slight feeling that it might not be the most crowded place in Equestria.”

Rarity sighed heavily, and said. “Okay, I admit that might not be the best place to put the billboard. But actually, the billboard is part of a community project that we sponsor to help local artists and designers, the lead designer asked me to give him full control over the artistic expression, which I allowed. He eventually decided that the sense of mystery blends well with Raritan’s image of a harmony between nature and extravagance, so-”

“So at the end buck all would read the billboard because only zebras live inside the Everfree, and they can’t read Equestrian.”

Verna huffed. “Lady Rarity, I have always been the one who look after the finance during my time serving Lady Geuse. I might sound like I’m stinking of money, but I’ll not shy away to say that I value frugality and efficient spending. Moneymaking is a noble pursuit in of itself. When I see wastefulness like this, it makes me cringe!”

“I disagree that those cases are wasteful…”

Rarity tried to sound diplomatic. “What I’m doing has always been to help people help themselves, while maintaining a reasonable profit to keep us going.”

“But Lady Rarity, your company is swimming at the border of red and black for the last two moons! With the extra expenditures related to Lady Twilight’s return this moon, the cash flow will likely be crunched in under than a moon! Two moons if we count the reserve fund belonging to Lady Twilight, and I trust you wouldn’t want to tap into those.”

“I can’t possibly do anything to the workers. If they’re laid off, they’d have to live on the street!”

“Lady Rarity, you’re running a business, not a charity! At some point, there must be hard decisions to take. Besides, you can’t just hire but never fire, it just doesn’t work!”

“I’m running a social enterprise, I have to take care of my employee’s welfare as if it’s my own, and give a positive impact to the place where we’re doing businesses in!”

“This sounds great and all, but if your business collapses, then not just the employees, but you’d also have to live in the street as well. You can’t just hand out perks like candies and expect it to be sustainable! These workers are supposed to be persons responsible of themselves!”

Finally, Rarity could take it no more. “Verna, you’re overstepping your bound right now and I don’t appreciate it! I hire you not to lecture me on how I do things, but only to check whether there is any irregularities with our balance!”

“And I did my job. Whether you take my advice or not is up to you, Lady Rarity. I have jotted down some remarks and produced a financial summary moonwise and half-yearwise, in case you’re interested in reading them over. My Equestrian is not perfect, but it should be passable, especially since it’s mostly numbers.”

The levity in Verna’s tone was all gone, her expression was chilling. “Lady Rarity, I might sound like a mean and greedy antelope to tell you to tighten the saddle straps. If you think so, I shall excuse myself. Think of my work as a payment for the damage I caused to your interior.”

The antelope then bit her lips. “I still care for Lady Twilight, but I need some time on my own. I hope that you would think about this on your own as well.”

She then simply walked out of the boutique without a word.

Rarity grumbled. While the initiatives singled out by Verna sounded somewhat wasteful, it was her small contribution towards the vision of a better society. She never set up the businesses just to earn money for herself, but to give as much as she could. It would be totally against her nature to dismantle those benefits, however draining they’re to the company.

She then sat down in front of the thick balance book.

Despite their disagreement, she couldn’t help but admire Verna’s handiwork. True to her claim, she was proficient in accounting work. The amount of cash on hoof, detailed condition of the inventory, lands and investment, all were reorganized neatly in her updated general ledger.

Her report was nearby, and it was dotted with issues and concerns highlighted by the antelope. While her language was mostly subdued and professional, it did not hide her genuine worry about the state of the company she barely had any ties towards.

The white unicorn sighed. Perhaps she was a bit too stubborn. The expenditures related to the fulfillment of her generous promises were indeed increasing exponentially.

She set up her businesses mainly to find bits to satisfy the need to fulfill her promises. In a way, it was like digging a well to find more water. But as her businesses grew, the number of ponies and non-ponies alike who came for her help grew as well.

To extend the metaphor, she could not dig the wells faster than the number of drinkers grew. And if she was to be honest with herself, some of her promises over the moons were indeed a bit over the top. There was certainly a degree of creeping normality with her bigger and bigger spending.

Verna’s conclusion rang true. The cash flow of her businesses were under threat from her profligate company policies and giveaways.

She tutted her tongue. She could borrow some bits from Twilight’s reserve fund or Applejack to sate the temporary solvency issue. But like what Verna said, it was not a long-term solution. But how could she reduce the speed the bits bled out?

Increasing the earnings was what she was trying to do the whole time. But one simply did not suddenly expand in a commodity market with relatively stable demand. The building boom around Ponyville, aided by the recruitment of workers by Applejack, fueled the initial expansion of her mining businesses, but it had since slowed down.

She still had the advantage of having the incredibly efficient diamond dogs in her workforce, so she managed to carve out a portion of market for her gems and other ores. But competition from the seemingly unlimited supply from Saddle Arabia proved to be incredibly strong, so there was little she could do on that front.

She had also been working to translate her expertise on clothes making into larger scale production, despite a small part of her that thought it would make her interest in fashion design into a grueling routine.

But she didn’t even have the luxury of knowing whether this was true or not. The great expansion of the Apples’ farming enterprises had mopped up all the labor in and around the greater Ponyville area. Cotton and flax farmers were compelled to switch to other cash crops to feed into the industrial plants, or absorbed into the new industrial operations altogether.

Correspondingly, the expansion of farms led to an increase of wool production, but it did not solve the problem of the lack of farming labor and therefore raw materials. She had a small textile mill and clothes factory at the periphery of the town, but it was running a sharp deficit due to high cost. Expanding it would simply worsen the problem.

So at the end, she asked herself whether she had to cut down on her spending after all.

She felt terrible. It was like having to decide whether to cut off her right leg or left leg. She couldn’t possibly do this.

The white mare also regretted arguing with the antelope so much that she left. She was still uncomfortable with the idea of removing the benefits, and the antelope did sound strangely fixated on the idea of making more bits throughout their encounter. But ultimately she meant well, as she had no stake in her company whatsoever.

Eventually, she bit her lips and exhaled heavily. She was going to work even harder to bring Raritan back into the black. If she took more orders from the esteemed elites in Canterlot who would pay handsomely for her service, it might stabilize her finance at least for another moon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Rarity, Ah jus don’t think that it’s gonna work out.”

“I-”

“Nuh uh. Yer lucky Ah happened to be visitin’ you. If you keep on workin’ yourself into the hospital, then yer business will fold, no difference.”

Applejack admonished. “Ah know that, my brother knows that, we all should’ve learned this long ago. It’s only been three days since Twilight came back, and you already want to work yourself till your heart gives out.”

“But I have to go back! I can’t afford to lose track! Everything will turn into a mess without someone in charge!”

“Easy there, Rarity. Ah can take care of small stuffs while yer in the hospital, while you can decide on the bigger things. You should-“

“Excuse me! Please give way!”

A team of nurses rushed through the corridor, and Applejack swiftly pulled Rarity to the side. They were transporting a patient into the operation room.

However, when they got a better look of who’s on the stretcher, the two mares gasped aloud.

“Verna?!”

The antelope was bleeding profusely in the forehead and one of her forelegs. She was unconscious, and there were multiple gashing wounds on her body.

The two mares galloped to catch up with the medical staff.

“What happened to the patient?” Rarity asked worriedly.

“Excuse me, please don’t hinder our staff.”

Another nurse stopped them from chasing the stretcher. The white stallion with a caduceus as his cutie mark said. “Miss Rarity, Miss Applejack, even though you’re both important ponies in Ponyville, I must still confirm that you’re indeed related to the patient before we can divulge any information.”

“W- We’re Verna’s friends!” Applejack said hurriedly.

“Hmm, so you do know her. But she only told the diamond dogs who brought her here to look for someone named, uh… ‘Juice’?”

“Geuse is also our friend.” Rarity asserted. “We’ll notify her soon. But first, we’d like to know what’s going on.”

The nurse studied them for a moment, and then nodded. “Very well. The patient was recovered from a mine to the north of Ponyville. There has been a collapse.”

“W- What?!” Rarity yelped in horror, and Applejack also widened her eyes in shock.

The nurse gave the white unicorn a complicated look. “I’m afraid it’s one of the mines under your name, Miss Rarity. There seemed to be an explosion of sorts, and a few shafts collapsed. Miss Verna was nearby, and she rushed into the mines to help anyone who was trapped. Unbeknownst to her, no miner was in the mine at the time as it was at lunch. She herself was unfortunately trapped under the rubbles when the unstable mine collapsed further.”

Rarity felt a bit light in her head, but she steadied herself. She turned to Applejack and quickly said. “AJ, go get Geuse. She should be living right next to the Sugarcube Corner. I’ll be here tracking Verna’s status.”

Applejack tentatively nodded, but she added. “But you just…”

“I’m in a hospital right now, if I’m to faint again, there’s nowhere safer than being here. While you’re at it, please send for someone to look for Rover as well. He’s the diamond dog manager of the mines in Ponyville North. I want to know if anyone else is in danger.”

“… Take care, Rarity.” The orange mare nodded and bolted off quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“… Lady Rarity?”

The white unicorn shot up from her bedside nap and slightly yelped. “Verna? You’re awake! Thank goodness!”

The antelope looked a bit bemused at first, but then she was flustered by Rarity’s presence and attempted to turn her head.

“Aww!”

“Don’t turn your neck! It’s in a cast right now.”

“I- Is anyone else trapped down there?”

“Nope, no one. It was lunchtime, so no one’s down there.”

Verna first looked relieved, and then turned bashful immediately.

“… I’m so stupid.”

“No, you’re not! Trying to rescue someone in distress is not stupid.”

Rarity drew in a breath. “What are you doing around there anyway?”

Verna looked conflicted, and she seemed reluctant to speak.

Rarity frowned. “The mines are dangerous places! I demand all workers to wear safety gears at all times. It’s nowhere to fool around!”

“I- I’m not fooling around!”

“Then pray tell-“

Verna’s face reddened, but she burst out willfully. “I’m treading around your mines and mills to brainstorm a way to increase the revenue, since you’re so reluctant to cut down the expense. Does this sound like fooling around to you?”

She then squeezed out with her short forceful breaths. “I don’t want to see the fortune of someone I care for get ruined because of something that can be salvaged and prevented.”

Rarity sharply inhaled, and then she began to shake her head and said with an unsteady voice.

“Why do you care?”

Verna tutted slightly. “Lady Twilight’s companions all have a problem with overly burdening kindness, and I’m obligated to correct some of the excesses.”

“Don’t speak like you aren’t one of us, Vernie.”

Rarity wryly shook her head. “If you don’t care, you could just not do anything. Instead, you decide to go around and enable my ‘wasteful’ ways. You even rushed into the mines knowing that it would be dangerous.”

Verna’s mouth quivered, and she did not reply.

“Vernie. I don’t claim to know you very well, as we’ve met for only a short period of time. But I can see that behind your collected levity hides a very dedicated and stubborn antelope. There seemed to be some reasons behind… Are those why you’re so concerned about… money matters?”

Despite the pain, Verna grinned. “… Very well, Lady Rarity. I guess I’d have to be frank, or else I’d be forever seen as a stupidly greedy antelope fixated on earning more money.”

“I don’t mean-”

“I’m not shy to admit that I’m stingy, only that I’m not greedy. I appreciate moneymaking as an artful skill, but ultimately, I make money not just for making money.”

Verna then coughed, causing Rarity to frown. “Vernie, don’t overexert yourself yet.”

“I’m fine, Lady Rarity. I can’t rest anyway before I make my case.”

Verna then inclined her bed slightly upwards, and looked Rarity in the eyes. “I told you before, Lady Rarity, that I used to live in the lower rung of Timbucktu. I had been a servant girl since I was very young. But actually, there was a better time.”

“… So you’re like Geuse as well?”

Verna momentarily looked confused, and then she instinctively shook her head, in the process causing her to yelp out in pain.

“Careful!”

“Aw, aw!” Verna gritted her teeth, and then sheepishly grinned. “Oops, I forgot about my neck for a second… Anyway, I’m nowhere as prestigious as Lady Geuse. As antelopes, our status was limited in West Zebrican society. But still, I’m a Van der Does, the first patrician family of antelope origins in Timbucktu. My full name was Vernahinde Hooft van der Does... Quite pretentious sounding, isn’t it?”

“No at all.” Rarity gently chuckled. “… So you’ve had a wealthy life?”

“Not really. Way before I was born, our family name had already fallen into disrepute. There had been a great sandstorm that blocked the travel in the Great Desert for years, and my granddad, an ambitious antelope, decided to gamble big. He decided to sail our shipment through the famously treacherous Cape of Storms, which since the days of early settlement was rarely traversed. Unfortunately, he spent all the money into building the fleet, but the whole fleet was lost in a tremendous storm. As a result, the company went into insolvency. He himself was lost in the storm, while my father was forcefully dragged to the debtor’s prison. When he came out, he was another antelope entirely. Mom and I had to leave him before something worse could happen.”

Despite Rarity’s shocked look, Verna continued plainly. “Since then, my mom had raised me until I could fend for myself. Unfortunately, she had worked herself so much, that her heart gave out some years afterwards. From then on, I was on my own.”

“I- I’m so sorry…”

Verna tutted. “Back in Timbucktu, this kind of stories are dime a dozen.”

A pang of conflicted feelings ran through Rarity’s mind. She didn’t know whether to feel guilty or offended.

Verna’s gaze turned steely. “Sob stories don’t buy bread. The only way one can pull themselves out of misery is through the fruit of labor. It’s only fair and natural for fate to favor individual endeavors. We should not only welcome and applaud them, but to culture and reward them by not making a lack of skills and effort seems viable. I pull myself up from the lowest dreg by the bootstrap, and so should we all. I don’t think the way you show your generosity by showering the ones who surround you with perks would end well for either you or them.”

Rarity took a deep breath and asked. “Why do you think so?”

“Of course I admire your generosity, Lady Rarity, but I value fairness and self-improvement more. The way you’re pampering all these people give them an unrealistic outlook of the harshness of the real world. Access to wealth and prosperity should be contingent on hard work and ingenuity, not their blind luck of being near a generous mare named Rarity. Plus, no one is forever, and that includes you and me. Where would they be if you or your business, forgive my uncouth mouth, go pop?”

Rarity’s eyes twinkled. After a pause, she said. “True, no one is forever. But it’s my hope that my idea will last longer than me. And that idea is the idea of generosity and community.”

Verna blinked but said nothing.

“Just as my Element is the abstract concept of generosity, I want to plant the seed of the idea of generosity through my action. I admit that the details could be adjusted, but I don’t want to flip-flop on something I believe strongly about.”

The white mare then looked up in thought. “You know I live here with my little sis, right?”

“I’ve heard about that from Lady Twilight.”

“My pa and ma are… well, not the most anchored ponies. Other than a deed to this plot of land in Ponyville, they have left us with little belongings before they went on a cross-country trek. So from a young age, I too had to work my head until it span just to earn the bits to build the boutique which doubles as our home.”

“I never doubted your industriousness, Lady Rarity.”

“But the fact is, I could not have done that alone. When we first came to Ponyville, we knew nothing and no one. But help poured in from all corners. The Apples and Cakes gave me vastly discounted food until we could stand up on our own, the Silky Rolls, the resident textile merchant, allowed me to put the cloth I bought on the tab before I made the first sale. Even Dr. Whooves, a stallion just passing by, voluntarily helped us to erect the beams to the boutique when we’re too weak to do it ourselves and couldn’t afford to hire strong hooves. To the weak and powerless, unconditional help is like a shower of rain in a long drought. I’ve since taken the idea of being generous as my central tenet. By growing the community in the spirit of sharing and generosity, we’re also helping ourselves.”

Verna thought for a while, but she did not seem to be entirely convinced. “Let’s agree to disagree, Lady Rarity.”

“Why, Vernie? Didn’t you also injure yourself in order to help searching for any of the trapped miners? I doubt that you did that to squeeze bits from their relatives or cozy up to me.”

“T- That’s different!” Verna flustered. “When it comes to the matter of life and death, I will not hesitate to lend out my hooves. If one is no more, then there will not be a chance for him or her to strive and improve. We must provide the basic assurance of having the starting line. But once the race has begun, everyone should have the opportunity to shine on their own.”

Rarity covertly inhaled. The antelope’s worldview was quite different to hers. However, she could not say that it was illogical or incoherent. Verna just had a whole different idea to make where she lived a better place.

She sighed. “So you fear that what I’m doing would encourage them to become scroungers?”

“Exactly.”

“Vernie, how about after we’ve both been discharged from the hospital, we join together and have a look of these ponies and diamond dogs you see in the ledger? You can see for yourself whether they truly merit my generosity on a case-by-case basis.”

“… Okay, Lady Rarity.” Verna blinked and said.

They then just stayed side by side to wait for the others to come. A veil of silence again descended on the two, dressed only by the faint cricket noise from the distant bushes outside the window, until it was broken by the antelope humming a tune lowly.

“Vernie, you do like to sing a lot.” Rarity smiled.

Verna chuckled. “… Maybe. It’s become kind of a reflex for me to write and sing songs. Before I earned enough rands to attend the Sandcore, I part-timed as a singer at pubs and taverns. People always said I had a cheery, bubbly voice, which I don’t think much of it, as I’m not a cheery, bubbly antelope. I’m a heartless moneygrubber, remember?”

Rarity temporarily frowned, until she noticed that there was a cheeky smile on the antelope’s face. She shook her head with a wry grin. “Tell me then, sarcastic girl, what are you humming?”

Verna looked out of the window. “It was a song my mother used to sing to me.”

“Oh…”

“You don’t have to feel bad. It happened so long ago, the pain had long been dulled with time. On the contrary, I feel that singing the song she taught me was a great way to remember her, not to mention this song was what earned me my bread and butter during my poorer days.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, for some reason the song really caught on with the Timbucktuans. It actually has lyrics too, but it’s just about a story which makes fun of me.”

Rarity smiled. “My interest is really piqued, dear Vernie.”

“Alright. Hear me out then.” Verna rolled her eyes. She then began to sing the tune she’s been humming.

“The tears were rollin’ down, oh my sweetheart,
The tears were rollin’ down, oh my sweetheart,
To where the sun and the moon, both goin’ down,
Sweetheart let’s go back to town.
Nay, nay, nay my Verna, nay,
Nay my Verna nay, nay my Verna nay,
Nay, nay, nay my Verna, nay,
My silly Verna will not get away.”

After Verna finished singing, Rarity clapped her hooves aloud. “That’s amazing! But why were you crying?”

“I was not!” Verna pouted. “My mother was merely making fun of my disheveled fur and embellished my pouty face.”

“How so?”

“Well… Life was hectic after the granddad’s company folded, and my mother and I seldom had a chance to go out together. But we found the opportunity once, and we went to the seaside. It was the middle of winter, and the sea wind was ridiculously strong, especially on the cliff. After a while, my furcoat was already blown into a crazy half-fro. I was pouting and begging mom to take us home. Although mom agreed, she couldn’t help but want to make fun of the situation. She was a singer and songwriter of her own, and she made up the song on the spot.”

Verna huffed, but a sense of longing was apparent in her voice. “I was angry at her for teasing me with such a catchy ditty, but it soon became a running joke between us. After I was thrown onto the street for having no money, I began to try to earn tips by singing to patrons in taverns. Amazingly, they positively loved the song, the whole thing soon ballooned, and my singing became sought after, albeit just moderately. It’s enough for me to eventually buy a small hut to live in again.”

She sighed. “I really have to thank my mother. She not only looked after me and literally worked her life away just to raise me, she even left me with something to make a living with after she passed away.”

Rarity became reticent after hearing more of Verna’s story. “… She really was a great mother.”

“Inde-”

“Hey Bokkie! You alright?”

An orange pegasus quickly flew into the patient ward, behind her was a gruff-looking diamond dog.

Geuse widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hoof. “Wee geez! You look like you’ve been beaten up by the Koevoet again!”

“Please don’t remind me of them, Lady Geuse…”

“Sorry, Vernie. Judging from your look, you seem to have broken a few bones there, no?”

“Uh… Actually I don’t know very well. I’ve been chatting with Lady Rarity since I woke up.”

Rarity nodded. “Hello, Geuse, Rover. Verna’s injury was fortunately light. The doctors put her in cast just in case, since they suspect that her neck bone might be slightly cracked by the falling rubbles. But they later told me that there’s probably only some soft tissue swelling. If everything’s alright, she could be discharged in a few days.”

Geuse and Verna both let out a relieved sigh. “Thank goodness.”

Rarity turned to the diamond dog, her look turned severe. “Rover.”

The tall diamond dog gulped. “Madam boss.”

“Tell me, how in Equestria could our mine cave in after we’ve done so much for basic structural safety?”

“I- It has to be sabotage!”

Aside from the surprised and curious looks from the antelope and pegasus, Rarity raised her brows. “Why do you think so?”

“One of my brothers reported a suspicious hooded figure near the RB-17 mine shafts before the explosion. But since the mine in that area was almost depleted, we didn’t really give it too much thought. Now that I think about it, it has to be dirty tricks from our competitors!”

“I agree with the assessment of Mister Rover.”

“Vernie?” Rarity widened her eyes.

“When I was rushing into the mine, a hooded figure came from the opposite direction. It’s only because of that person, I thought more miners were in the mine. But now that I thought carefully, miners don’t wear hoods and capes.”

“Who could that be?” Geuse asked with a frown. “Rarity, did you really cross someone?”

“… I hope not. I always try to be diplomatic in my dealings. My expansion of mining businesses caused some small mines to become unprofitable, that’s true. But I always offer very generously in compensations or buyouts. My demands of equal treatment towards our friend, the diamond dogs, also cause some grumbling in the capital. But it wasn’t something that couldn’t be soothed with bits and favors. Above all, it wasn’t such a deep resentment that someone would want to sabotage our mine.”

Vernie blinked. “If it helps, I don’t think the suspect was a pony.”

“Really?” Rarity asked.

“The hooded figure I saw had really slender body and legs. And quite tall as well. He or she was still a quadruped, but unlikely a pony.”

Rarity frowned deeply. “… We must consider this carefully. The safety of my workers is something I care strongly about. I’d rather have my company fold than have any of my employees injured in any incident, deliberate or not.”

“Should I inform the authorities, madam boss?” Rover asked.

“Please do. Also I’ll give you a statement to release to the press later. In the meantime, I’ll hire more guards to patrol around the mines. Please tell your brothers and sisters to be careful and vigilant as well. See you later in the field office.”

“Yes, madam boss.” Rover nodded and bowed out.

Verna looked at the leaving diamond dog and said. “Lady Rarity, forgive my bluntness, but I don’t think you have any free bit left to hire more guards.”

Rarity winced. “I understand the practical concern. That’s why I invite you to review the financial status of the company after you’ve recovered. I promise I’d be less stubborn this time.”

Verna smiled. “Will do.”

Rarity gave a glance to the smirking but covertly worried pegasus, and nodded with understanding. “Vernie, I must again thank you with all my heart for your bravery, I’ll certainly reward you even more handsomely.”

Against Rarity’s expectation, Verna seemed surprisingly fidgety towards the prospects of receiving more bits. “T- Thanks.”

Regardless, Rarity continued. “I’ll excuse myself for now, because I have to check myself out of the hospital. See you later, Vernie, hopefully in full health.”

Verna and Geuse both nodded. “See you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cool winds blew in from the open window, the smell of rock dust permeated the field office of the Raritan mines.

The white unicorn picked up the newspaper and glanced through the headlines.

“Crystal Empire Reaches Out To Past Dominions; Ville De Platine, Vanhoofer Ambivalent”

“Northern Railroad Revamp In Earnest; Apple CEO: Completion In Three Moons Expected”

“Raritan Mine Explosion: Foul Play Suspected; Royal Gendarmerie Issues Warning”

Rarity swooned backwards into her chair with a sigh. “That Crystal Insight girl was relentless! I almost had to bring the safety manual on stage to argue with her.”

“Isn’t the newspaper founded by Lady Twilight? How come it sounded like she’s out for your blood?”

“True, Twilight founded the paper as a conduit for her ideas. But in order for the paper to be taken seriously, it must build an aura of trustworthiness by treating each and every incident with incisiveness and without bias. It’s a careful thin line that we’re treading.”

“… I don’t really understand, but if it’s Lady Twilight’s idea…”

Rarity sat up straight and asked. “You sure you’re up for this, Vernie? We have to travel long and far.”

“I’m more than ready, Lady Rarity. On the other hoof, I have to ask you whether you’re prepared mentally, because you promised not to be stubborn and I’d not be sparing in my judgment.”

“I understand. We’ll begin reviewing the wage level soon.”

“Okay.”

“In fact, the representative of the worker’s union will be coming by soon.”

“Union? You let your workers group together under some big honcho?” Verna frowned. “It’s going to be a toxic mess.”

Rarity raised a brow and asked. “I’m curious, what’s a union to you? Do they also have unions in West Zebrica?”

“They’re a corrupt monstrosity. Unless you pay an exorbitant fee to the big guys each moon, you can’t even get a manual labor job without getting harassed or even beaten up. That’s why I could only go singing in pubs once I was kicked out of my home.”

“Hmm…”

Verna raised her voice in visible anger. “The union bosses pocket all the members’ due, but do almost nothing for them. Besides, it drives up the cost of production and prices of goods all around West Zebrica. What’s more, when the bosses don’t get what they want, they order strikes and screw everything up. Part of why my granddad’s company went under the water was because the union pounded on him for recompense for ‘lost work hours’, whatever the heck that means. There have even been consistent rumors that the bosses were in cahoots with the changelings during their first invasion.”

The antelope was already gritting her teeth in seething rage. “Worst of all, they were a bigoted mob. When I tried to use whatever rands I had to try to apply for membership in one of the unions, hoping that I could work towards buying back my house, I was instead called a ‘damn dirty bok’, robbed, kicked out and beaten up. If it was up to me, I would have thrown all of them out of Timbucktu, cos they’re a scourge of basic decency!”

Rarity gulped with round eyes. “T- That was bad.”

“And yet you allow something like this to happen in here?”

“I assure you, the union I have here is nothing like what you’ve described. I’m trying my best to make it something beneficial to both me and my workers.”

Verna raised a brow and then slowly smirked. “Oh? So the ‘union’ here is actually a way for you to control the labor? I’ve never considered it can be used this way.”

Rarity winced. “No! I’m not trying to control them. I help organize my workers together in order to give them a more coherent voice on the discussion table. We try to do everything here with a consensus.”

Verna gazed suspiciously. “If so, then who’s the boss of the company?”

“I still am. But the workers are also my partners. If I want them to care about my company, I must also care about their health, wellbeing, and of course, their pockets.”

“So what does the union here do?”

“They put forward a representative to negotiate work hour, wage level and details of benefits. They collect bits from dues and the company to feed into a fund which is used for day-to-day running and helping the members if they’re in medical or other emergency. Most importantly, they are a conduit from which I can listen to the complaints from my employees. Unlike Applejack, who employed a large number of Apples and relatives to Apples, I don’t have the advantage of close ties to gather any misgivings. Having a union rep helps me guarantee the rights of the workers are upheld.”

Verna became quiet after listening to Rarity’s words. She then muttered. “I still have some doubt. But if they’re really like what you’ve described, then maybe it isn’t as bad as I thought.”

“Yes, let’s see, shall we?”

A while later, a petite female diamond dog entered the office. She had a coat of light grey fur, but there was a patch of white fur in the middle.

“Good morn’, madam boss.”

“Good morning, Sadie. I trust that you know the purpose of this meeting?”

“Rover told me ‘bout it. It’s a wage review as I understand it.”

“Yes, you see…”

“You want to cut the wage level?” Sadie said without a hint of covertness.

“… Only if we both agree to it. The company finance hasn’t been healthy recently.”

“Actually, we have some mental preparation for this.”

Rarity widened her eyes. “Hmm?”

“The sales rep has been saying this for moons. We all know the sales are dropping and the output has to be reduced.”

Rarity gulped. “Thank you for your understanding…”

“But madam, it really depends on the scale of the wage cut.”

Verna interjected. “30% docking on both pay and benefit. Flat across all job types.”

Rarity turned and looked at the antelope with uncertainty, and Sadie indeed immediately protested. “That’s a bit too much, isn’t it?”

“The current wage bill of Raritan is not sustainable and will never be. Raritan is currently under massive liquidity pressure by the competition from Saddle Arabian imports. I suspect that the camel merchants saw threat in increased domestic production in Equestria and wanted to nip the bud while it’s still growing by flooding the market.”

Rarity bit her lips as she already knew this, but Sadie seemed somewhat shocked and angry. “Darn dirty dromeds!”

“Sadie, language please.” Rarity frowned.

“Sorry mam, just never trusted those hump-bearing greedy-types.”

Contrasting with the disapproving looks from Rarity, Verna almost smirked. “Anyway, having to lend out resources to the new Zebrican arrivals added another layer of strain on the finance. In many ways, that’s the last straw on the proverbial camel’s back.”

“B- But 30%! It’s way too harsh, uh….”

Sadie looked at Verna and realized that she wasn’t sure who exactly this antelope was. Rarity then stepped in and said. “Verna is my newly hired financial consultant. She’s the one who was injured in the mine collapse earlier.”

“Oh, well…”

“She came in to help me find new ways to increase the income, and streamline the expenditure without too much impact on the workforce.”

Sadie’s somewhat thankful expression turned into alarm. “Madam boss, you can’t be doing this?”

Rarity widened her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“My pony brethren who worked in big cities said that bosses always brought in some expendable faces into the company, just to cut everybody’s wage and fire off troublemakers…”

Verna immediately said. “Do you know that the competitiveness of this company is abysmal compared to most Equestrian ventures? And why is that? The mean wage in this company is over 1.5 times the national average! I’m just trying to bring it back to a more reasonable level, and it would still be over 5% above average. And yet you paint us as if we’re some greedy villains!”

Sadie raised her voice. “I’m not! I, Sadie, stand before you mainly to defend the welfare of my brethren. They join this company in hope that they finally find a worthy employer who treats their work with respect. They would certainly be demoralized to find that this company can slash their wage with this trivial regard!”

Verna huffed. “You put your generous boss in a rather low regard as well. You’re partly right that I come in to cut down ridiculous spending. But the biggest opposition I had is exactly your madam boss. If I had my way, I would have proposed layoff compounded with outsourcing some jobs to the Zebricans. They’re willing to take a far lower level of wage than the pampered workers here.”

“Madam boss? You have to speak up!” Sadie asked in frustration.

Rarity sighed. “I really, really don’t want to come to this. I tried my best to keep the company afloat by working extra orders at my boutique. But it’s futile to begin with, since the expenditure in Raritan is several orders of magnitude higher than whatever I could have earned by making clothes.”

“She worked herself into the hospital just to enable the overpayment in this company. Don’t you ever spare a few thoughts for your madam boss instead for yourselves?” Verna tutted.

Accused of selfishness, Sadie looked stung. “O- Of course I do!”

“Verna, let me do this.”

Rarity said with apparent reluctance. “Sadie, like a frog in heating water, I have failed to pay attention to the increasing resources I have to direct to maintain the current level of benefits and pay. I have been saying from the first days, the reason I form this company is to give, not to take. We are not a traditional venture, and I don’t plan to become like the Richs.”

Sadie calmed down somewhat and said. “And I’ve always known that madam boss is not a traditional pony, or else she wouldn’t have fought for the right of diamond dogs, or give us pointers in forming a union for our rights.”

The diamond dog exhaled. “We appreciate everything that’s been done for both diamond dogs and ponies, but I simply think a 30% cut is not only going to hamper our enthusiasm, it’s going to send some of us into financial troubles. A lot of my diamond dog brethren are still grasping with the ideas of currency and service, which are new to them. Some of them have borrowed against future wage income from the moneylenders in order to buy a house above ground. If the cut really is as steep as 30%, then I believe a lot of them will go broke.”

Verna tutted again. “If they get themselves into bankruptcy even with such high-paying jobs, then it’s entirely their fault. Do they have no concept of personal responsibility?”

Rarity again showed discomfort at the antelope’s razor-sharp criticism, and Sadie was riled up. “How can you say something like that! They’re still learning to adapt the lives above ground!”

“Please, don’t get personal.”

Rarity pled. “I always want to bring the best to both my employees and the society that enables my businesses, and I mean it. If it hadn’t come to a position that the future of the company would be threatened if we do nothing, I would not do something to upset the status quo.”

“And to say the truth, madam boss, we aren’t blind to the company’s woe either. Even before this meeting, I have the mental preparation that we have to make some sacrifice to allow the company to go back onto the right path. You know me, madam boss. I’ve heeded my brethren’s call and trekked half a country to Raritan, all because I put our trust in your ability to end prejudice and bring us the prosperity of our dreams. So far, I’ve heard nothing but praise for your leadership, and I do not doubt your good will.”

The diamond dog bared her teeth, not in aggression, but sadness and frustration. “We know very well that we’ve got the long end of the stick by joining Raritan. Our race being uplifted notwithstanding, our pony brethren always praised not only the pay and benefit, but the care towards our very being shown by madam boss. We all want this to go on, and we’re willing to do our part to preserve this.

She sighed heavily and pled. “But perhaps, madam boss, you would consider tuning down the cut? Please, to let me have a case before my pack, my brothers and sisters?”

Rarity sighed, and turned to Verna. “Verna, is 30% really unnegotiable?”

Verna looked a bit shifty, which caused the white mare and the diamond dog to press on. “Well?”

The antelope again tutted her tongue. “Well, if Lady Rarity insists. There is actually an alternative to a 30% wage cut.”

“And what would be it?”

“The wage cut can be softened to 15%...”

Rarity gazed at the diamond dog, while Sadie looked a lot more relieved. “15% is not exactly ideal, but to be honest, it’s the upper estimated limit from the union. If I give it my all, perhaps I can convince them to support this plan.”

“Miss Sadie, you have to listen all of it first. The 15% cut is contingent on certain other forms of expenditure cutting. You have to agree to them in order for the whole plan to work, otherwise Raritan would remain overburden and be poised to insolvency.”

“… Do tell.”

“First of all, there must be a thorough review of the paid leave, vacation and transportation benefits. The cafeteria plan regarding flexible spending account on shopping, catering and housing would have to be cut back as well.”

“That would not go over well with a lot of our workers.”

“Perhaps you’d take consolation in that I have left out benefits on child care and healthcare because not only Lady Rarity would likely oppose to it, I am also conducive to the real need to keep our workforce healthy and focused.”

Sadie gave a somewhat withering gaze to the antelope, but verbally, she simply said. “Give me the details first.”

“First, paid annual leave is now, to my shock, a whole moon per year, and unpaid vacations are unlimited with full benefit. More importantly, even as the production demand slows down, and a part of our workforce stands idle, we’re still paying them the full wage. This is way too draining for Raritan.”

“As I said, I set this policy to keep our workers by our side in case the demand goes up again.” Rarity said.

“And this policy is what have attracted many pony migrants to Raritan to begin with!” Sadie added.

“But the cold, hard truth is that you can’t pay someone who’s not working the same as someone who’s working. This way expenditure cannot be scaled to our sales, and it’s one of the major reasons we’ve come to this difficult situation. This does not make sense in our labor-intensive company. It must change. How, we can discuss, but it must change.”

“What then do you propose?” Rarity asked cautiously.

“Don’t you say that you want to lay us off.” Sadie warned.

“No, no. Calm down, Miss Sadie. Even if it was up to me, I would not do a layoff. At most, I would just change all the salaried contracts to hourly ones.”

“No, that would unsettle the workforce too much.” Rarity shook her head, followed by a firmer, stronger affirmation from Sadie.

Verna shrugged. “As expected. I am only proposing a modest back-scaling of the current system. Either we keep the length of annual leave but cut the pay and benefits in half, or we cut the length of annual leave to half a moon.”

“… We would definitely take the latter option. As far as I know, only a small portion of our workers have used or planned to use the whole moon.”

“Very well. And I also suggest a voluntary reduced worktime scheme to solve the current excess productivity.”

Rarity raised her brow. “I… hadn’t thought of V-time.”

Verna cheekily grinned. “Hey, I’m more surprised that Lady Rarity seems to have known of this concept and even has a shorthoof for it. I only thought that up when I was trotting all over the mines some days ago.”

“And what’s that V-time that you’re talking about?” Sadie asked with a frown.

“Correct me if I misunderstand you, Verna, but V-time as I know it refers to an arrangement which allow the workers to work fewer hours according to a predetermined scheme, and there would be a corresponding reduction in wage and benefits. After an agreed period of time, the worker may revert to full-time status.”

Verna grinned wryly. “That’s exactly what I was going to propose. I should have consulted with you beforehoof, Lady Rarity.”

Rarity smiled briefly and then continued. “As we said, V-time is voluntary, it’s a choice that I’d hope a portion of our workforce would take to lessen the stress on our payroll, while releasing excess productivity.”

After some deliberation, Sadie said. “I don’t see anything wrong with an extra choice for us.”

Verna nodded. “Good. Now onto the ‘cafeteria plan’. I have never encounter such form of benefits in Zebrica, presumably it’s again something that had been introduced by Lady Rarity.”

Rarity cautiously nodded, and Verna said. “This is again a very progressive scheme, but it’s also unmanageably complex at this stage. There are over two hundreds different types of expenses that can be claimed in the plan. Both the net expense and the administrative burden that is becoming overwhelming for our startup. For one, we must reduce the demand for oversight by narrowing down the possible range of claimable expenses. While crutches are reasonable for an injured mine worker to have, I sincerely doubt cosmetic hair transplant or… heck, snake oil should be covered.”

The antelope gave two copies of the proposed reduction to Rarity and Sadie.

Sadie shifted slightly. “I don’t disagree with this in principle. Some of the claims are indeed somewhat wild.”

Rarity looked at Sadie and said. “I’m relieved to hear that. I created this plan not only to give freedom of choice to my workers, but also to allow my ever loyal diamond dog workers to have an easy access to the life above ground.”

Sadie slightly widened her eyes. “If anything, my diamond dog brethren are bewildered at the petty things ponies can claim expenses over.”

Rarity grinned with embarrassment. Verna smirked and said. “Well, then surely you wouldn’t be too opposed to my suggestion to cancel the buggy scheme.”

Sadie leaned forward and said assertively. “This one cannot go forth! We ride buggies everywhere, it’s the single most convenient mode of travel from Raritan to Ponyville and back. Even I came here in a buggy!”

“The maintenance of the buggy fleet was almost 5% of the entire expenditure. How can we justify having so many drivers waiting around just for someone to hitch a hike on their buggies?”

“Are you telling us to walk miles and miles to work? That’s mad!”

“Or you can just ride on the trains and the boats, like how Raritan has been transporting its ores, steel beams and cotton.”

“We are not going to be treated like goods! Also, if you cancel the buggies, where would the drivers go? Some of them are also members of our union!”

“Hmm… Replacing the buggies will free up some funds, which can be directed to organize chartered train rides for the workers. I’m not asking you to sit on top of ore cars.”

“But you still don’t said how you would deal with the surplus drivers.”

“… Well, why don’t we also make the buggies for hire? That way, we can earn some extra cash, and if some of the workers feel rich, they can hitch a buggy for a reduced price, perhaps deducted from the wage directly.”

“Intriguing…” Rarity tapper her chin.

Sadie looked dissatisfied. “It has been free before.”

“Well, we all have to make some sacrifice. Not trying to make a threat or anything, but this is pretty much the only package that can guarantee no further wage cut in the next half year, given the current levels of demand and sales remain the same.”

“… I guess we do.” Sadie looked bumped, but she nodded.

Rarity asked with concern. “Sadie, would the wage cut cause serious problem for any of our workers?”

“The Raritan Chapter of Miners and Millers does have a contingency plan for those who are disproportionately impacted by the wage cut. For those who experience difficulty in housing and food, we will subsidize them up to 30% of the cost for three moons, hopefully by then things would have improved.”

Rarity looked apologetic. “I thank you so much for your understanding. I might also be able to secure for anyone who are in need some housing in the new project south of the town. As you know, Raritan supplies steel for the construction projects there to accommodate for the newcomers to the town, and I might be able to persuade the mayor to assign extra land for some workers’ hostels as well.”

“That’s good news. Is there anything else?”

Rarity turned to look at Verna. “Anymore to add?”

“Nothing at this stage. If this package is approved, then the company should be able to trough through the next few moons.”

“If there isn’t anything else, I’m gonna go back and announce this to the boys and girls. The union needs to get running.”

“See you then, Sadie. Hope we can weather this together.”

“True that, madam boss. See you later!”

After Sadie left the office, a brief silence existed between the two. Rarity eventually glanced at the antelope and said. “Let’s check out those staff and projects which you’ve singled out earlier, shall we?”

Verna visibly straightened herself. “Of course, Lady Rarity. Even though we’ve got the wage level sorted out, the workplace efficiency is still a big concern. And I will not let freeloaders and scroungers roam free.”

Rarity exhaled. “Let’s go then.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Cedar Canopy, meet Verna. Verna, meet Cedar Canopy.”

Rarity gestured to the timid white unicorn with short green mane, who was tending to a half-cleared piece of forest land. He had almost squeaked like a small animal when he saw the approaching pair, until he noticed that it was his madam boss.

“G- G- Good afternoon, madam boss. And n- nice to meet you too, Miss Verna.”

Verna pulled a cool and indifferent face, and simply stared down the meek unicorn like he had beaten up her pet squirrel.

“Cedar, Verna is our newly hired auditor. She would ask you some questions regarding your job.”

As if it’s something physically possible, the white face of the stallion somehow became even whiter.

“Now, Cedar.”

Rarity sighed. “You don’t have to be nervous. Verna is not going to eat you whole. Antelopes are vegetarians as well.”

“Hah, I did chomp on bugs and fishes when I was the most desperate. You might not want to count out a desperate antelope’s voracity.”

Cedar Canopy’s pupil shrunk to pins, while Rarity sighed. “Verna, we’re here to…”

“… Stamp out wastefulness in the Raritan Industries.”

Verna interrupted. “You promised to let me have freedom in this.”

“Yes, but…”

“Lady Rarity, let me judge for myself whether your generosity is also fair and sustainable. I’m gonna talk with him alone.”

Rarity bit her lips. “… Promise me you will let me have the final decision.”

“You’re the boss, of course you have the final decision.”

The white mare nodded. Although left unspoken, she understood that Verna would want her to respect her will to a certain degree and not overrule her. She gave the nervous white stallion a last glance, and retreated from the small clearing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“How was the meeting, Vernie? Do you still want to fire him, still?”

“I never wanted to fire him outright, although I have had strong reservations to both his pay and the circumstances to which you hired him.”

“How so?”

“First, I must make it clear that Cedar Canopy is not a bad young stallion. Actually, he leans towards the good and hard-working side among those I’ve met. Although he’s terminally shy and had a little bit of a stutter, he’s honest and willing to learn. He’s not a scrounger.”

“I’m glad that you see it this way.”

“But the way you hired him isn’t the most commendable either.”

Rarity looked shocked. “How?”

“When a company hires someone, the most important point should be to hire the one who’s most qualified to do that job. I must admit that, as a West Zebrican, environmental protection is a slightly foreign concept to me. But I can see that why it has become so important for Raritan to observe it. Ponies in and around Raritan operations are clearly concerned that the mining and steelmaking would degrade the pristine environment. If Raritan screws up, for instance, by accidentally dumping a load of mining waste into the Saddle River and poisoning the whole of Ponyville, the consequences would be unimaginable.”

“We’ve have many things in place to prevent just that. I can’t shoulder the enormous responsibility if that ever happens.” Rarity said with a shudder.

“But a company officer in charge of overseeing and promoting good practice to prevent damage to the environment is critical. And yet you did not hold due process in hiring someone with such an important role, but rather simply put someone here because he’s the relative of your acquaintance. Nepotism breeds inefficiency and proneness to mistakes.”

“I- It is not fair to say that! He’s involved in forestry management before. Bottom-line, if it’s nepotism to hire Cedar, then we…”

Verna interrupted. “Yes, it’s also technically nepotism to hire me to do this job. It just so happens that I am actually capable, but he barely hangs onto it. Knowing how to move dead branches in a forest does not translate to knowing how to treat polluted sludge. Whatever measures that are currently put into place are the works of you, Miss Pie, and Miss Applejack. This needs not be if he could do his job from the get-go.”

“It’s too harsh to demand our workers to absolutely know about the job they have to do from day one. Don’t we all begin with knowing nothing?”

“Forgive me if I sound harsh again, Lady Rarity. But we’re not a trade school or a university. Some on-job training may be needed, but it’s unacceptable to employ unqualified workers in such important positions.”

The antelope pouted. “Lady Rarity, I can’t stress enough the importance of fielding our positions with qualified applicants instead of whoever close to you. Let me tell you a story about what I’ve learnt from my own experience.”

“Do tell.”

“When I was very small, and we still had a trading company, there was a family acquaintance who was very close to my granddad and dad. I still have no idea how he was able to gain their trust, but he got a well-paid job for it. Then come a time, when we had to build a fleet to brave the cape, my dad was sent to look for someone who can direct the workers to build sturdy ships. Now, if my dad found Mkondo back then, everything would go fine and dandy. Instead, he found said acquaintance and hired him as the chief engineer. When my mom was getting suspicious, she asked my dad what qualification that acquaintance had, she was told that the guy had a degree in theoretical mechanics from Witwatersrand. And when she tried to verify that with that guy, he said he actually had a theoretical degree in mechanics.”

Rarity tried to cover her mouth, but her snorting sound still leaked. Verna showed her a mix of smirk and growl. “Indeed, pretty funny. If not for the fact that his shoddy work likely sunk my granddad’s fleet, I would go tell this to everyone I meet in the pub.”

“I- I’m sorry, Vernie.”

Verna smirked. “I’m just pulling your tail, Lady Rarity. That guy might be incompetent, but his damage is in the past. But we can still deal with something in the present.”

Rarity went quiet with thoughts, and Verna said. “This Cedar guy is at least willing to learn, and is using the bits to attend classes in Canterlot. This is why I don’t recommend a specific pay cut or termination of his contract. I know you want to help, Lady Rarity, but sometimes what’s better for them is to help them help themselves.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Lady Rarity.”

Verna asked as they were heading back to the headquarters to meet the last pony, Thistle Wreath.

“Vernie, darling, what’s troubling you?”

Verna briefly blushed by the casual use of address, but she soon coughed and said. “Although I risk repeating myself, what I’ve seen in the headquarters make me worry about our generous policies again.”

“I know that you don’t like these ponies being paid so handsomely...”

“Lady Rarity, I now recognize that the pay levels certainly boosted the workers’ morale a lot. I wouldn’t do it this way myself, but I’m willing to wait and see how your generosity pays off. For example, look at the acceptance. Even though some of them already caught wind of the wage cut, they still show a lot of understanding. But I’m not talking about those you already hired.”

“Hmm?”

“See the long line of ponies and diamond dogs in the waiting area just now?”

“I did, they’re applicants to the office jobs in the finance department. Ever since you’ve come, I began to realize the importance of keeping a tighter tab on the money, so I posted a job ad in the Ponyville Mirror.”

“And yet there is only one vacancy for such an undertaking. Why is that?”

Rarity sighed. “We can’t really afford to hire more than one employee in addition to those we already have.”

“That’s the problem, Lady Rarity. It’s simply mathematics at this point. If you pay everybody a higher wage, you can afford to hire less workers. Yeah, you certainly treat those lucky enough to get in well, but what about those who are left out in the cold?”

Rarity inhaled sharply. This hit home hard of her long-time worry that her generosity could not cover everyone in need.

Verna continued. “In essence, you’re creating a circle of privileged insiders at the cost of everyone else. Not only the now unemployed, but the consumers who have to pay higher for the same service or goods.”

“I don’t think so, Vernie. There must be some form of arbitration regarding the benefit raising wages can bring and the benefit of employment itself. One always have to strike a balance. So what if I hire everyone in Ponyville, if the pay is a measly one silver bit per moon? I don’t want to operate a sweatshop, and I don’t want to use the financial desperation of someone to tie him or her to my business. This is not ethical in my eyes. I’ve always known a hard fact, that I cannot afford to make everyone’s life better immediately. However, I can always start somewhere, and this is what I’m going to do with my company.”

Verna looked thoughtful for a moment. She eventually shook her head and said. “Even though I have many reservations, I still admire your tenacity, Lady Rarity. Let’s hope the seed of your generosity would indeed bloom into beautiful prosperity.”

“The road ahead is long, darling.”

“Indeed. Patching Raritan up and sending it back onto a smooth track isn’t something that can be done in a day. If you’re willing to take me on despite my thorny disagreement, Lady Rarity, I’m willing to give me my best as well.”

“Of course, Vernie, of course. I’m glad to have you by my side.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Name’s Thistle Wreath, ‘tis good to meet you, Lady Rarity, Lady Ver-”

Verna looked slightly flustered for the first time on their trip. “I’m not a lady. It’s fine to just call me a miss.”

The earth pony mare has a light grey coat, and her mane was of a muted blue with light green streak. Her smile was thin and lopsided, Verna observed. She wondered if the grey mare showed her such an unnerving expression because she was there to slash cut.

“… Miss Verna, I notice that you’re staring. It’s congenital, my face muscles are weak, and I can’t make natural smiles like other ponies do. It’s a bit weird-looking, isn’t it?”

Verna was mortified. “Oh dear… I, uh, sorry.”

Thistle Wreath put her hooves to the corners of her mouth and make a smile there. “No problem, Miss Verna. I suppose you’ve come here to discuss the issue with wage and subsidies?”

“You caught wind of this really quick, didn’t you, Thistle?” Rarity blinked.

“As the boss of the company, your smallest moves are in the eyes of every employee.”

The mare then quickly said. “Let’s say I agree to all conditions, and everypony who are under me will abide by my decision. And we should end the discussion right here and now.”

Verna widened her eyes and said. “Whoa, I mean, really? I debated my tongue off with that diamond dog just to shave a few more percentage off, and you’re letting us have the free rein on the cut?”

“I believe the primary reason those in our department work here is not the bits and benefits.”

Verna looked bemused. “… What? Then what are you working for?”

“We work for and because of Lady Rarity.”

Rarity looked flustered. “Darling, you’re-”

Verna was more suspicious, however. “Sounds a bit hollow to me.”

“Hey, now. We all know Lady Rarity is a generous soul, and this cut is forced by practical needs. No one like pay cuts, but what Lady Rarity gave us are far from only bits. I must get this topic concluded and put away as quickly as possible, because all these talk of money is threatening to change the atmosphere of work here.”

“We need to talk about it, money keeps us, our company, and even the society running!”

“It’s important, but it’s also too contagious and too overbearing.”

“W- What do you mean?”

“Ponies say, it’s the thoughts that count. It’s not telling us to subsist on good will alone, obviously. But we do work because of things other than money. We might like our work, we might like our coworkers, we might like our boss. All these are true here, and this is why we will so willingly accept the cut. But if this drags on, the idea of making money as the only goal of work here will seep into the mind of our workers, and this is far from good.”

“Why? Of course we should correlate their pay with their level of work, huh?” Verna retorted.

“This is not my first job, Miss Verna. In my first job as a middle manager in a trading firm in Manehattan, my boss noticed a thing about my team: Many of them are willing to work overtime and even get back on off-days to help on the project. It turned out that our team also get the yearly award for best sales. And so he thought, hey, how about he paid more for overtime, maybe it will encourage my team to work around the clock more!”

“Did they? I bet they did.” Verna said.

“… Actually, no. The amount of work and overtime hour actually went down drastically.”

Verna widened her eyes in shock. “How come?!”

“When it concerns material goods, the more money of course translate to more goods. But when it comes to heart and mind, good will, and of course, generosity, you can’t count it like goods. Something just turns bad when money is brought into the equation, or even merely highlighted. It turns out that my team works because they appreciate being with each other, the cordial working environment makes them want to work more, both for each other and for me, the project manager. But when the boss explicitly want to encourage working overtime using money, suddenly the whole thing become strictly business. Money just crowds out other intrinsic values entirely.”

Verna looked deeply thoughtful, while Rarity smiled sweetly.

The grey mare then took down a small placard from the wall. “This is the letter of appreciation sent to us by PPRA, Ponyville Physical Rehabilitation Association. It’s a club that advocates for the rights of ponies with physical injuries and disabilities. They only formed after the Mirror covered this seldom mentioned group of ponies, and was disheartened that even with so much promotion, they still find job hunting an impossible task. It’s till Raritan walked the first step and hire them as normal employees. It’s little things like that pushes us forward.”

She then walked in front of a very large and well-drawn wall painting. It was a large group and ponies and diamond dogs in front of the headquarters.

“I know what you would be thinking after reading about the advertising board facing the Everfree – a horrible waste, right?”

“O- Of course!”

“But see, we didn’t spend a bit on this painting right here.”

She pointed behind her. “Artists know who treat them badly and who truly respect their work, and we clearly respect them. That’s why they gifted us this beautiful painting, a symbol of the good we’re giving to Ponyville. And they even give us discount on all the later commissions because they feel so good taking our orders.”

She sighed. “And the fact that Lady Rarity and you are here talking with me is yet another example of something we, as employees, appreciate very much.”

“What’s it?” Rarity asked curiously.

“You actually want to talk with your workers, and care about their opinions. This already set you apart from the Rich & Rich in Ponyville, as well as the MTA in Manehattan, two places I worked with, and certainly many more of other workplaces.”

“You’re too kind, Thistle, I only try to treat my workers as I would treat my friend - with kindness and respect.”

“That’s something we all noticed and wanted to keep it going. Please, Miss Verna, don’t feel bad that Sadie was so adamant about her positions. She’s the union representative, it’s her job to defend her fellow workers’ right. But she too knew about the things I said. Working at Raritan is more than money, it’s our pride. And Lady Rarity, we’re always thankful for you to create such a wonderful place for us to work for, and such a little sacrifice is just something that we can do to help.”

Rarity was moved to almost tears. “T- Thank you, Thistle.”

“So, promise me, Miss Verna, Lady Rarity. Wrap this up quickly and direct us onto our normal work swiftly. Don’t let us fall into the trap of money-talk in the one place I really don’t want it to happen.”

The two bit their lips and nodded firmly.

“Thank you… Now, you can send in the required areas of cut later, and I’ll distribute it to my team later. If there’s any shortfall still, feel free to tell me, I’m willing to take a further pay cut if it helps.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What a character, innit?” Rarity grinned.

“No wonder you hired her as your community manager. She had a teeth of iron and a tongue of eels.” Verna said.

“Is that a metaphor that I haven’t heard of?”

Verna smiled with an embarrassed look. “Oh, I simply mean that she’s very persuasive. It’s a West Zebrican idiom.”

“Ah… But isn’t the only thing that matters whether she has a heart of gold?”

“I get what you mean, but the ‘gold’ part seems a little bit ironic.”

Verna chuckled, and then turned wistful-looking.

“… I guess what she said was right. Money is important, and without money a lot of things become inaccessible. But we might also want to be careful about putting a money tag on everything and talking about bits all day long.”

Rarity nodded. “There’re something that can’t be bought, like love, respect and friendship. You bring money into these at your own peril.”

“… True that, Lady Rarity.”

“So darling, we should always remember this even as we dive into Raritan’s rescue. Don’t ever see our employees as assets and objects to shed off on a balance sheet. They’re ponies, diamond dogs, sapient beings to be treated equally and with respect. We should always use communication and listen to them as we would to our friends.”

“O- Of course I’ll!” Verna pouted.

Rarity smiled wryly. “Good! Let us wrap up, shall we? We still have days of work ahead of us.”

Chapter 7 - An Apple Red as Blood

The news that Discord and Rosencross succeeded in activating another slab gave the apple pony both hope and a big headache.

Already, due to her experiences with building the railroads down south, she was tasked again with organizing the newcomers as several Railroad Corps to work on the Northern Railroad.

However, between her farming businesses, railroad businesses, and now not only having to accommodate, but also to do something with Chrysalis – she presumed, she was out of her wits completely.

She already allowed the changelings to live on her ground, what more did the Tree of Harmony want? What’s up with Pinkie’s doozy that paired her up with the changeling queen herself? Was she supposed to accept her with open hooves?

Twilight’s return, even with her amnesia, was something to celebrate. The orange mare was of course delighted. But she never figured out her friends’ obsession with the one changeling that sent their plans to tatters in the first place.

It was clear there was a ‘friendship lesson’ down the road. But what was she to do? Put up a friendly face and cosy up to her, and act like nothing had happened before? She could never do that, not least because of her adherence to her Element.

At least Discord owned up to his fault immediately, Chrysalis, on the other hoof, was barely apologetic. She wasn’t particularly thankful for her accommodation even.

Applejack grumbled as she punched a red mark on the balance sheet using her typewriter.

The Apples had rapidly grown from borderline subsistence farming to a respectful and vertically integrated business in a little more than a year’s time. It was nothing short of a miracle to an outsider, but she knew well that she’s merely making use of ideas and skills she inherited from a certain amnesiac.

Compared to Raritan’s bleeding financial status, the Apple Company was growing relatively healthily with her prudent management.

But however wondrous the business practices and managerial techniques were, they didn’t solve some very basic problems. When all they did was farming, it was relatively easy to manage. But now that they expanded to more complicated sectors like manufacture and logistics, there were a woeful dearth of middle managerial staff to look after the burgeoning businesses, forcing her to halt or even cut back on the scale in some cases.

And as her businesses grew, it was becoming increasingly hard to track how many bits and assets that she really had – those she could take out to use readily.

The most ominous threat, however, was paradoxically the increase in production. The mass-production of foodstuffs and consumables had driven down the prices and made the choices for the townsfolk much more varied than before. However, the sale was going softer and softer, despite the fact that she had driven the price down to almost its cost. It was apparent that there were simply not enough costumers with enough buying power in Ponyville, despite its boomtown status.

She couldn’t lay off the workers either, and this was not because she had as strong a reservation as Rarity. If she fired her workers, then they would simply left Ponyville. And even if they stayed, they would have even less power to buy her products, her businesses being one of the largest employers in Ponyville.

Suddenly, a burst of laughter rang through the wooden walls. It pulled her mind back from her adult troubles to the reality, and she warmly smiled.

Ever since Rainbow Dash came back, the happiest filly had to be Scootaloo. Her hero finally came back from her ‘adventure’, and lo, she didn’t only bring back somepony who was thought to be dead for moons, she herself even got herself a position of nobility. Above all, her hero did not forget about her at all. She got special tours of the camp, and was introduced to the Cruzesians like she was the Grand Duchess’s daughter.

This injected so much life into the moribund Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the three could once again be seen playing in their treehouse and around her farm.

The orange mare sighed. Their happy faces somehow made her feel a little bit guilty at seemingly putting her attention to her businesses instead of Twilight. She was all too aware that she was running away from the problem.

Not that Twilight had ever pressured them into doing anything, in fact, it was the exact opposite. Every time she visited Twilight, the purple mare was like mortification personified. Twilight was so apologetic about her inability to take action that she almost begged them to just leave her as it was, a demand, of course, rejected right out of hoof by Applejack.

But still, her conscience ate away at her day by day, and she did not know what to do with Chrysalis and herself to help Twilight.

“Hey, chief!” The voice of a stallion rang aloud outside her office.

“Come in!” She yelled back.

A large, panting brown stallion entered her office.

“Howdy there, cousin Styre!”

“Howdy, chief AJ!”

“You look ‘bit spooked. What takes you up north? Somethin’ wrong with the orchards in Appleloosa?”

“Not jus’ somethin’, chief. It’s somethin’ ‘orrible!”

“Oh...” Applejack felt like her eyes were popping out of her sockets. What could have hit the settlements down south? At this inconvenient moment no less? If anything went awry at this moment, then she would be neck deep in trouble.

She prayed to every higher being that would listen that the buffalos weren’t getting annoyed again, and asked. “Tell me… Are the buffalos gettin’ rowdy again’?”

“Nah, chief.”

“Crops failin’?”

“Enope.”

“Then pray tell, what’s goin’ wrong in the south?”

“Our farm workin’ cousins have turned into a bunch of lyin’ mobs and almost burned down Appleloosa!”

Applejack drew in a breath through clenched teeth. “Explain, cousin, what does that mean?”

“Ya see, since a moon ago, we’ve been seein’ a sharp rise of assault and theft on our plantations. It was okay at first, but every time the perp never admit he or she did the crime. Also, the victim one day would suddenly become the perp the next day! The sheriff’s out o’ his wits.”

Styre crossed his hooves and sighed. “Ah was almost framed once! Some silly duds said Ah was out in the field choppin’ off apple trees for no reason. But Ah was out in the pub drinkin’ cider, and the barkeep as well as the customers there proved mah a-li-li…”

“Alibi?”

“Yeah, that’s the word. Our Chief’s always got the right word in the saddlebag!”

“Less apple-polishin’, cousin Styre. This is somethin’ real troublesome. No wonder the Appleloosa plantation was in deep red last moon. Ah will look into it personally.”

“Whoa, thanks chief! Ah can’t express mah thanks enough!”

“Fer now, cousin, you should stay here and keep a tab on things alongside mah brother and granny. Ah would pack things up an’ go south very soon.”

“Cheers, chief. Ah’ll!”

“Cheers, cousin Styre.” Applejack pulled an unconvincing smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“This is no ordinary brawling…” Applejack breathed out heavily.

Ponies acting out of their characters and started attacking each other. There were many explanations that could have fit the bills, but the most likely one was obviously…

“Hey, apple-bucker.”

Applejack turned in surprise. It appeared to be her sister, Apple Bloom, but the irreverent tone was clearly out of place.

She narrowed one eye and glared. “You ain’t mah sis. Which black bug exactly are you, huh?”

“What kind o’ manner’s that, huh? Black bug? Is it what you call yer guest these days?”

“Cut it out wit’ yer phony ‘acksent’ and tell me who you’re.”

“Tsk. I take on this form because it’s the only form who can run all over the farm without rousing suspicion. And who else could I be? The one and only Chrysalis, of course.”

“Still so pompous after losin’ yer crown, huh?”

“It’s none of your concern. I only come here because I heard the news.”

“Sneaky wall-ears again, huh? Ah don’t appreciate being eavesdropped by impersonators, you know that.”

Chrysalis sneered. “I have absolutely no interest in knowing your boring business, how many crates of dang Big Macs from the south, how much are you going to pay the Cherries… yada, yada.”

Applejack said unamusedly. “From yer words, it’s clearly that you did listen up on us these few days.”

“Whatever! I only caught wind of the news of the disturbance down south. It bears the classical mark of what a detached band of changelings would engage – raiding the nearest settlement and cause disruption, but failing to enact love-absorption because of the lack of coordination.”

“… So what do you want from me? Rescuin’ yer kin?”

“Of cour-”

“Hey Apple Bloom-!”

A loud yell boomed behind the two. They both turned to find two eager fillies looking at Chrysalis in Apple Bloom’s disguise.

“Apple Bloom!”

Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “I thought you’ve gone to Manehattan to visit your cousin!”

Scootaloo pouted. “Why are you prancing around here but not coming with me to tour the Ca- Cam-”

“Campo Militar de Fortaleza da Grã Cruzesia?” Sweetie Belle pronounced the Cruzesian word with almost native fluency.

“Tsk, Sweetie, you’re a walking dictionary, of course you can pronounce that ridiculous tongue-twister... But hey! You’ve absolutely missed out, Apple Bloom! It’s loads of fun! Rainbow Dash even let us play hide-and-seek in the giant tent in the middle of the camp!”

Chrysalis looked towards Applejack uncertainly, but the orange pony only gave her a somewhat plastic smile.

She gulped and smiled difficultly. “H- Heheh, Ah’m sorry, uh, Ah’ve come back early, because, uh… Applejack needs me here.”

Applejack slightly widened her eyes. Chrysalis threw the ball directly back to her, and she knew that she hated lying and was bad at it.

Grumbling mentally, she reluctantly nodded. “Y- Yeah, Ah’ve called back Apple Bloom because Ah miss mah sis so much!”

“Oooo-!” The two fillies gazed at ‘Apple Bloom’ with big grins, causing the disguised changeling to furiously sweat.

Sweetie Belle’s grin fell soon afterwards. “Aw… I hope that my sister pay me this much attention! She’s always so busy nowadays, trotting everywhere with Miss Verna all day!”

Scootaloo gulped and kept quiet. Surely Rainbow Dash was too cool to snuggle up with her?

Still, the orange filly was already feeling like she’s in heaven after moons of dejected wait.

Applejack brightly smiled. She extended her hoof and brought ‘Apple Bloom’ into her embrace tightly, and snuggled with her in front of the fillies.

The changeling went ‘eep’. It was less a squeak of embarrassment, but rather horror. She briefly kicked her hoof viciously to get herself out.

“Woooo-!” The fillies again made excited noises at the intimate play in front of them.

Applejack tried to ignore the very physical feelings in her chest. Even though she knew well the one she’s holding was not the real Apple Bloom. But she could swear to the Spirits of Harmony that not only was she physically identical, she even smelled like Apple Bloom. How was that possible?

Still, she turned and said to the fillies. “You don’t have t’ wait, young’uns. It’s only natural t’ be close to yer family, am Ah right, Apple Bloom? Hmmmm?”

“Ah- I- Ah-”

“So!”

Applejack grinned again. “You two would do well t’ just ask the one you want to snuggle with if you can snuggle wit’ them!”

“R- Really?” Scootaloo said.

“Ah guarantee it. Even Rainbow Dash!”

Before Applejack even finished her sentence, Scootaloo already launched herself towards the farm entrance on her scooter, leaving Sweetie Belle to trail behind yelling ‘wait up’.

After the two fillies went off the horizons, Chrysalis finally got out of Applejack’s death grip. She furiously blushed as she complained loudly. “W- What the Tartarus is wrong with you?”

Applejack grinned ferociously. “Said the one usin’ mah little sis’s guise to do yer dirty work! Now you know how Ah feel, huh?”

“I- you-”

Chrysalis yelled in frustration. “It was a mistake to turn to you after all!”

Applejack tutted. “Talk about mistake! Ah wonder if Ah did one in keepin’ y’all on mah land.”

“Enough! I’ll look for a way of my own to deal with this! I’m not going to let any of my hivelings fall foul of you ponies!”

“Do you think you can just go without mah approval?”

“Hah, do you think I need your approval to go?”

Applejack’s tone turned cold. “You can go, but if you do, don’t you dream of a day when we’d welcome you back with open hooves. At least Ah never would.”

Chrysalis sneered. “I don’t-”

Applejack cut her off forcefully however. “Chrysalis! For so long Ah’ve questioned Twilight and mah other friends’ kindness. Ah never really bought that. We showed you grace, no doubt, but in mah eyes, it’s just cheap grace if this goes on.”

The changeling was about to ignore the orange mare and go. But she was somehow hooked by the issue of forgiveness. She gritted her teeth and glared. “What do you mean exactly?”

Applejack drew in a breath. She then slowly said in a measured tone. “We showed Discord grace, as we now show grace to you. It’s unmerited, we don’t ask you or he anythin’ beforehoof. But let me tell ya, our grace is free, but it is not cheap, not something you can just sneer on and cast away. Cheap grace is mercy without accountability, liberty without commitment, forgiveness without repentance, and above all, love without truth. Ah can’t possibly accept that.”

Chrysalis breathed through her clenched teeth. She was still slowly gauging what the orange mare meant.

She always thought the farm mare was the most simple-minded among the six Element-bearers, and she never thought about anything she said in a deep way, not helping by her accent.

But it was exactly what she had just said that hit something the changeling herself had been thinking over since her arrival, since her long talk with Discord on the ship.

“Ponies had made their marks on the world. But clearly, there are so many more sapient species walkin’ the earth, carvin’ out a place to live. That includes changelings, it remains so however many conflicts we had in the past. But Ah always believed there’s one thing that ties us all together. It is a naturally upward yearnin’, a limitless seed of change. For growth, therefore one expands; for grace, therefore one improves; for truth, therefore one learns. And yet your stubbornness made it hard for me to buy into that anymore.”

The orange mare gazed directly into Chrysalis’s eyes. “… Can Ah ever trust you to stop treading on the same step? Can you ever show grace to us as we have shown you?”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “… How can you say your ‘grace’ is no-strings-attached, if you demand us to conform?”

Applejack slightly widened her eyes. She did not expect the changeling to give a nuanced answer. “… Ah don’t want you to just conform, and Ah don’t want you to think that our grace is conditional. Ah just want you to think why. Why Twilight did what she did, why Discord walked on the long road of absolution, why you are here.”

Chrysalis gritted her teeth. “I’m not here to follow your goals, pony.”

“Ah never said that. We don’t see others as steppin’ stone, Chrysalis. Like just now, you’ve put up with the little show in front o’ the fillies, when you could’ve ruined their day by goin’ all out on them. Why did you do what you did instead? You didn’t do that because you fear reprisal, you didn’t do that because I would give you somethin’ in return. You did that for somethin’ else.”

Chrysalis spluttered. And Applejack pushed on. “And if you were to ask me to help you rescue your kin, Ah would agree… For the very same reason, for the very same motivation.”

“Y- You would help me?”

“Ah…”

Applejack gulped. She was incredibly unsure, and she was usually not one pony to bet on something this important. But she felt that she must try to do something both for implausible task of reforming Chrysalis, as well as mission given by the Tree of Harmony. She hesitated, as Chrysalis wasn’t even aware of the latter yet.

She lightly shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Ah said Ah would, and that’s it. But at the same time, Ah want you to catch onto that glimpse of spontaneity Ah talked about. Drill on it, dwell on it, think on it.”

Chrysalis mumbled. Her words seemed to make sense, but also seemed not. She shook her head and instead asked with a low tone. “I might consider what you’ve said a bit. But how are you going to help me?”

“Ah’ll go to the south very soon. Ah originally wanted to bring Rosencross along. But Ah have a naggin’ feelin’ that she might be a bit touchy about helpin’ yer hive. Now that you show up, then great. Ah can organize mah workers as an effective unit. They knew the drill as frontier ponies. If ya want us to bring yer hivelings back alive, however, it’s yer job t’ tell us what to do would be the best.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Speakin’ of which, Ah don’t see you bringin’ any of yer ‘hivelings’ along wit’ you? It’s a-wastin’ mah arranged spaces on the train, which could’ve been used t’ filled wit’ supplies.”

Applejack chewed a blade of grass casually, as she sat opposite the disguised changeling, still disguised as her little sister.

“I can’t help it!”

She said with visible exasperation. “It’s Allela, that heartless traitor of a changeling!”

Suppressing the urge to mock Chrysalis’s choice of words, Applejack asked. “What about her?”

“She was all ‘I want to protect my hivelings from harm’ before, and yet she refuses to lend out any hivelings in our mission! She gave me all kinds of reasons, but they’re so transparently excuses, she might’ve thought me a fool to believe them!”

“Ah guess among all reasons, she claimed that they’re too hungry to do any work? Ya know, the whole thing ‘bout not consumin’ energy from Twilight till she’s better.”

“… Yeah.”

“But what ‘bout you? Are you also fastin’? How can you be all energetic and stuff if you hadn’t been eating sneakily?”

“I hadn’t!”

Chrysalis sounded less like an angry queen, but more like a filly falsely accused of stealing from a cookie jar. “I’m… I was a queen changeling, my energy reserve is much, much larger than the average changeling, it’s almost limitless. When Twilight Sparkle sent large blasts through our links, I can store all of it and use it slowly, unlike the hivelings who unfortunately lose most of it like water off a duck’s back.”

“So Allela has a legitimate concern after all?”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes and harrumphed, turning her head petulantly away from Applejack.

The orange mare smiled wryly. “Well, we don’t really need any more changelings with the plan we’ve discussed. No offense, but changelings are weak-”

“W- What?!” Chrysalis abruptly turned back and angrily hissed. “How dare you?”

“Ah mean physically weak, Chrysalis. Compared to an earth pony-”

“Bah! You earth ponies are dumb muscles anyway!”

The orange mare tutted and let it slip, but Chrysalis continued. “We are a race of superior intelligence, subterfuge and mental strength.”

“Yeah, right. Preach on. The fact remains that changelings lose their disguise easily when smacked lightly. And if you can’t fool somepony into thinkin’ that yer their loved one, you can’t cast yer mind control spell in the first place. In your current level of power, Ah doubt you can even wrestle anything substantial from anyone if you use brute mental force.”

“H- How’d you know about the limits to my power?”

Applejack coughed and began to speak with a refined Manehattan accent. “You should be germane to the fact that I, like most other earth ponies, am not just some ‘dumb muscle’. You may have observed my provincial disposition and rustic articulation, and wrongly concluded that I am lacking in intellectual faculty. That’s patently untrue, as I only speak thusly because I am steadfast to my roots. My fundamental deduction skill is still intact.”

“… You aren’t one of my hivelings just to mess with my head, are you?”

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

She grinned, and then further shocked Chrysalis by speaking in the Trotian tongue1.

“I've always wondered. Do you actually speak Trotian?”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “How do you know about the Trotian tongue?”

“Ah’ll tell you after you tell me why you changelings have Trotian names despite originating from West Zebrica.”

“Nosy pony, you huh? Alright, I’ll tell you. I don’t know.”

Applejack was unamused. “… What.”

“I’m not deceiving you on this one. What good can there be? The truth is, I have no idea. The changelings are much faster language learner than you ponies, and we usually adopt the dominant language in the area swiftly. But our names came from the tongue of the first changelings. They’re, as legend told, born from a very magical pitcher in the middle of West Zebrican swamps, and they spoke their language immediately after birth.”

She looked to the West in thought. “For long, changelings, even though we have largely forgone this ancestral tongue in favor for Zebrikaans and other Zebrican tongue, still thought that it was our own divine tongue, and we use part of it to name our kin. That was until I found out in the invasion of Timbucktu that our names are apparently almost identical to names in Trotian tongue in pony archives. That’s what prompted me to lead an oversea expedition to Trot. We almost didn’t make it, and it wasn’t a particularly bountiful conquest. What’s more, I still have no idea why our ancestor seemed to speak Trotian, as none of the Trotians have a sliver of idea.”

“Ah see.”

Applejack then asked after a pause. “Does the magical pitcher still exist?”

Chrysalis shook her head. “I don’t think so. It’s a long, long ago. If it still exists, we would certainly know it as we swept across West Zebrica.”

“That’s just a possibility, but Ah suppose some past Trotian visitor to Zebrica might be related to the magical pitcher.”

“Maybe, maybe. But I don’t think we’d ever know. I didn’t manage to squeeze anything out of Trotians back then, and surely now the city would just be a shell of its former self.”

Chrysalis then glared at Applejack. “… Well?”

“Fine, fine. My Trotian knowledge came from Twilight.”

Chrysalis raised a brow. “That seems obvious in hindsight. But did she really just… randomly teach her friends obscure language that they might never have to chance to speak?”

Applejack’s gaze flickered. She deliberately avoided the term ‘teaching’, as the thing Twilight did to them wasn’t really teaching. She only muttered with a strain in her voice. “… She also let us know a lot o’ other things, not just foreign tongues.”

“Such as?”

“… Magic, history, government, politics, technology, all kinds of things. She’s a walkin’ almanac.”

“That I won’t disagree. She did have the unnerving skill of knowing things that others would never expect her to know. But why would the other five of you be roped in anyway? Except for her, none of you look particularly like the studious type. Why would you, an apple farmer, be interested in learning about ancient pegasi?”

Applejack began to feel some pressure, as she felt that she had to weave some excuses to explain her knowledge. “Ah… well, we’re the Element-bearers, we have the obligation to equip ourselves with knowledge, both practical an’ theoretical, in order to protect Equestria.”

“… Huh. I guess. Come to think of it, you six are probably more elite and professional than the lousy bunch I met in Canterlot, and before that, in Fillydelphia. Moreover, I never thought I would praise someone for not only for being formidable, but also honorable… but you’re. After all, Twilight Sparkle did force me to engage in one-on-one duel after beating back my swarm on her own, while Celestia let those hapless city guards wore us down before blasting us when we’re the weakest.”

Applejack’s gaze was complicated. “We still drew on the emotional energy of the citizenry.”

Chrysalis suddenly grinned. “Strangely changeling-like strategy, I must say I like it somewhat.”

“We won’t throw away any strategy just ‘cos it has been used by our opponents, unless it’s actively harmful… except to our enemies of course, which is kinda the point of a battle.”

“Ha, I don’t know you can joke, apple farmer.”

“Ah don’t know you can take a joke too, Chrysalis. Yer more touchy than a Macintosh.”

“What does that have to do with your brother?”

Applejack snorted loudly. “Laws a mercy! Ah don’t mean mah big brother! Macintosh is the name fer an easily bruised apple cultivar, and you must harvest it by hooves, not kick it down a tree.”

Chrysalis gritted her teeth and glared at Applejack. “… I’m not gonna prove your point by getting all up.”

“Okay, Chrysalis, Ah’m sorry if you feel offended and all.”

“… Huh? Did you just apologize to me?”

“Ah’ll admit it if Ah’m in the wrong, of course. So far you’ve been quite frank and open wit’ me, and Ah shouldn’t have mocked you.”

Chrysalis gulped. “… Apology accepted.”

“Great. Now let’s return our original discussion. We don’t really need any more changelings by our side. If it really, regretfully, comes down to hoof-fights, my workers and Ah will have ways to deal wit’ impersonators once they know what’s going on. We have the absolute advantage in numbers, and Ah have plans. But of course, we’re goin’ to try diplomacy first, as in any cases.”

“I can’t really complain, since this is about my hivelings. But if it’s about any other creature, I would be questioning your approach given the overwhelming power difference.”

“Chrysalis, mercy and restraint is the privilege of the strong, not the weak.”

The changeling sharply raised her head and looked at the orange mare.

Applejack continued. “Showin’ mercy and forgiveness is not equal to capitulation. You can only afford to pull back when you have the upper hoof-”

A loud blaring horn then interrupted their conversation, and they turned their heads sharply towards the source of the sound.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they both looked out of the window, they discovered that the train had left its semi-desert landscape behind and slowly pulled into a train station with an arched overhead.

The train station had a clean, white façade. Multiple railways fed into the space under the overhead, and there were a few small cranes loading different kinds of crops onto the open cars on an outgoing train.

Their train slowly stopped at the outermost platform, and the two quickly departed the train, only to be greeted by a familiar face.

“Hey, cou- nah, boss! And Apple Bloom too!”

Applejack raised a brow and glanced at Chrysalis, and took a strange amusement at how the changeling was uncomfortable being addressed as Applejack’s little sister.

She then turned to and said. “Oh golly, Braeburn, how come ya know we’re comin’?”

“Actually, Ah’m jus’ expectin’ Styre. He said he’s gonna bring help from Ponyville, Ah certainly didn’t expect he would manage to bring you here!”

“Ah good. Ah suspect what’s happenin’ here isn’t jus’ ponies gettin’ all crazed up.”

“Then what could be it?”

“Changelings, of course.”

Braeburn’s face immediately turned white. “Ch- changelings? Those who attacked Canterlot moons ago and caused a great ruckus?”

Chrysalis pouted, and Applejack waved him down with a wry grin. “Judgin’ from how often the attacks happen, there’re probably less than a couple dozens of them, much less than what we had to deal with in Canterlot. And they’re leaderless, and a trusted source told me this means they can’t absorb love in a mass scale.”

Chrysalis looked at Applejack in surprise when she heard she was described as a trusted source.

“But how are we goin’ to tell if any of us have been impersonated?” Braeburn said worriedly.

“We’re goin’ to hold off work for a day tomorrow to check whether we have changelings among us.”

“How exactly would you single them out, boss AJ?”

“Just in case, Braeburn. Ah’m gonna ask you one thing. Can you tell me what special thing happened when you came to Ponyville the first time after I was born?”

“Oh, Ah see now, a test! That’s easy, AJ, you puked out the entire apple fritter onto my face, because Granny Smith mixed up the sugar for salt.”

Applejack half-snorted and half-winced in embarrassment. “Yer Braeburn, alright. And yes, since changelings can’t access the memories of those they impersonated, and those hungry and disorganized changelings can most certainly do little changeling magic, a simple cross-checkin’ will get them all out. Afterwards, Ah’ll personally deal with them.”

“But first, we must quarantine the entire Appleloosa first.” She narrowed her eyes.

Seeing the concerned look from Braeburn, Applejack reassured. “Don’t worry, it’ll only be temporary.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Applejack let out a phew and leaned back on her chair in the small office.

“Just as Ah thought, no changelings, if any, is going to be stupid enough to be caught in mah face.”

“Or could there be no changelin’ here actually?” Braeburn frowned.

“It’s not impossible, but it’s also worth notin’ that there’s no strange incident o’ assault and theft in the Appleloosa plantation today, when it happens by a daily basis before today.”

“So what should we do now?” Chrysalis asked.

“… Uh, no offense, boss AJ, Ah’ve been wonderin’ since the beginnin’… Why did you bring in Apple Bloom? Isn’t it kinda dangerous for what we’re doin’ here?”

Applejack rolled up her eyes and sighed. “Braeburn…”

“Yes?”

“She’s not actually mah little sis.”

“Y- You mean-”

“She’s a changelin’ that’s on our side, and she’s here to help me double-check whether the pony who came in is actually a changelin’.”

Braeburn stepped back in great suspicion. “Are you really mah cousin AJ?”

“Are you really the cousin who kicked a small foal into a ditch and then pretended that the dirt on me was just chocolate bits?”

“Hey, it was an accident!”

“See, Ah’m AJ, since you lied to Granny and Big Mac’s faces about this.” Applejack smirked amusedly.

“But a changelin’, she’s dangerous!”

“Ah-”

Chrysalis coughed and put up an unamused face. “If I want to act up, it would be long before we have this inevitable chat.”

“She’s a threat if she acts up indeed. But Ah don’t think she will, even though she’s Chrysalis.”

“Wait-” Chrysalis widened her eyes.

“C- C- Chrysalis?! The changeling queen herself?! AJ, have you lost your min- nah, you must’ve been controlled by her because she deceived you with her look!”

“What are you thinking, Applejack?! Telling him just like this? He’s gonna freak out, go out and start a bucking lynching!” Chrysalis almost yelled.

“See, ponies and changelings have some similarity after all, at least in the volume of blowin’ mah ears out.”

Applejack covered her ears and winced. “Can we turn down the volume a bit, since we’re talkin’ ‘bout a very important matter?”

The two both stepped back from touching distance with Applejack, but maintained a highly cautious gaze with each other.

“Okay, cousin Braeburn. Ah’m of very sound mind, and not under any mind control, thanks fer yer concern. Ah just want to be completely honest wit’ you, since yer the most important community leader in Appleloosa other than Sheriff Silverstar, and Ah want you to have some mental preparation comes the day of reveal. In fact, yer the first pony outside of a close circle of Twilight’s friends whom Ah told of this guarded secret.”

“And you, Chrysalis, please calm down too. Ah’m here to build bridges, and Ah’ll not allow anything as horrible as that to happen to either side.”

“… Ah need some explanation, okay cousin?”

“Good, now yer less hysterical, hear me out then…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Applejack looked at her cousin cautiously. She had omitted the most incriminating part of Chrysalis’s wrongdoing, namely how she tried to steal Twilight’s identity.

Braeburn adjusted his hat and said. “Ah appreciate yer honesty, boss AJ. Ah still feel like that if this string of violence is due to these stray changelings, there must be some kind o’ reckonin’ after that. But after hearin’ the incredible journey yer friends made, Ah guess not all changelings are automatically bad, and they can be talked to just like now.”

“Ah appreciate yer understandin’ as well, Braeburn. And Ah think we’ll all understand the importance of kinship. That’s the same even for changelings, therefore Ah’m determined to help them reunite. This way, we can also put a stop to the disruption here.”

Applejack gave a glance to Chrysalis, who was looking at her in a seemingly judging gaze.

Then to her surprise, the changeling looked to the side and said. “I… am grateful, I guess.”

Delighted, Applejack grinned. “See? She’s not at all a bad’un, huh?”

Braeburn scratched his head. “Well, Ah guess if mah cousin AJ says so. But how are we gonna find them out, now that they’ve all hid up?”

“First, Braeburn, Ah want to double-check wit’ you. Are all o’ our workers now fenced in this parcel of orchard now? Buddy system and password system all implemented?”

“Sure do, boss mare.” Braeburn nodded.

“Good, keep it goin’. Based on when and where these cases of disruption took place, Ah’ve asked one of mah friends to calculate where they might be from. And Ah can tell you with 99% confidence that they sneaked in from the west side of the small mesa outside of the town.”

“Well, what are we waitin’ fer then, let’s go get ‘em!” Braeburn exclaimed.

“No, Braeburn, you have to stay here. We’ve made sure that there’s no infiltratin’ changelings here, and we have to keep it this way. She and I will go to check whether there really is some changelings holin’ up in there.”

“Don’t ya think that it’d be dangerous, boss?”

“Ah trust her to offer me adequate protection if anythin’ goes wrong.”

Chrysalis sharply turned in shock, and Braeburn raised a brow in doubt, but he shrugged.

“If you say so, AJ. You clearly have a plan right from you arrived at Appleloosa. Just don’t endanger yerself, okay?”

“Ah’ll try. Ah’ll try.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a dark, windy cell, Chrysalis weakly complained towards Applejack. The former changeling queen had reverted to her original form.

“What the Tartarus are you thinking? Just walking here like that! Now let’s what you’ve got ourselves into…!”

Applejack shrugged. “Well, you showed yerself, and they don’t give a buck. Ah couldn’t have predicted that.”

“You whole plan depends on they bowing their heads down upon seeing me?!”

“Is that unreasonable now? Ah thought they still regarded you as their queen.”

“I- I…”

Chrysalis spluttered. She was also deeply bemused by her former underlings’ action. Why did they act like they’d totally forgotten about her? She could call some of them by name, and yet she was smacked on the face like any other intruder.

Her magic was also strangely suppressed in this dried up desert waterhole, so was her stamina. What could be the reason?

She groaned and said. “But you said you have your strong earth pony workers to help! Why didn’t you bring them along? And what about your waterproof plan, huh?”

“If we came up in a formation, it’s just invitin’ fights, innit?”

“So you just raised your hooves and surrendered? Great! Now we’re caught and I don’t know what they want to do with us!”

“… Whatever happens, Ah want to say thank you.”

Chrysalis widened her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

Applejack closed her eyes and said. “Ah’m not gonna lie, Ah didn’t resist very strongly because Ah want to see how you’ll act in time of distress. Prosperity and care makes friends, but adversity and threat tries them. And you shielded me from the heaviest of blows out there. You can’t fake natural responses like that.”

Chrysalis was livid. “I can’t believe it… You’ve been playing me for a fool, huh Applejack?!”

“You call me by mah name, that’s the first.”

The changeling was stunned for a moment. “Huh?”

“And Ah know you’d think that Ah’ve manipulated you. If so, Ah apologize. Feel free to do whatever you want, Ah promise not to return any blow.”

Chrysalis drew in a breath through her gritted teeth, and sat on the stone floor dejectedly.

“… What’s the point? Besides, I barely have any stamina to move.”

“Hey now. Ah didn’t go into this with no preparation. Ah have set up a fail-safe, and if Ah didn’t report to Appleloosa in a few more hours, they will alert Ponyville and storm this place. So far we only see at most fifty changelings here, and they’d be easily dealt with when reinforcement arrives.”

“Tch-”

The door to the cell swung open, and out there stood an unfamiliar-looking changeling. Interestingly, she sported a mane of bright ruby, indicating that she was not a common changeling. Her spotted shell showed that she was a member of Chrysalis’s hive, however.

However, Applejack was surprised when Chrysalis at first did not quite see her face clearly against the light behind her. She narrowed her eyes and said. “Who are you, hiveling? Why did you attack me on sight?”

“Of course there’s a reason.”

“Wait, that voice…” Chrysalis raised her brows in shock.

“Whoa nelly, Ah got roped into some sort of internal changeling drama, didn’t Ah?”

“I regret bringing you into this, Miss Applejack, I mean you no harm. I really have no choice, however. I know that some of you have been questioning my motives ever since the Chrysalis’s deposition, so I gotta speed up my plan.”

“So you really are Allela?” Applejack asked in part curiosity and part concern.

The changeling looked a bit displeased. “I’m as much Allela as Phalena is Rosencross.”

“… Is that a riddle?” Applejack muttered.

“I don’t mean to be confusing, I just want to use my sister as an exam-”

“Did you just say Rose- Pha- she is your sister?” Applejack was stunned.

“She’s my sister of the same brood, back in the days, when she’s still Phalena, I was called Philyra. Well, until I was forcefully absorbed into Chrysalis’s hive that is.”

She then took out a sharp, black object. It was apparently an obsidian blade, and curiously, it glowed an eerie green even when there was little light.

Then to Applejack’s shock and horror, the ruby-maned changeling cantered towards the seemingly weakening Chrysalis and casually shoved the blade into her underbelly, causing the latter to stumble onto the floor in agonizing pain.

“What the buck do you think yer doin’?! Are you tryin’ to commit murder in front of me?!”

“Miss Applejack, please do not interfere. As you have pointed out, this is internal changeling affairs.”

“Ah don’t care! Ah couldn’t let this go on anymore, she’s bleeding out onto the ground!”

“Don’t be silly, Miss Applejack. Obsidian blade will not kill her... yet. Changeling physiology is unlike you ponies, and obsidian will only seep her strength and prevented her from escaping until I wrangled her life out, after I dealt her sufficient pain and suffering with my own hooves.”

“What for?! I thought you said you dislike her bad leadership, not that much that you’re downright murderous?”

“I wasn’t obligated to tell you everything, Miss Applejack, not when I’m not in a place of relative security and high control.”

Applejack gritted her teeth and turned to Chrysalis, who was whimpering on the floor. “Why don’t you speak up, Chrysalis?”

The ruby-maned changeling waved her mane and only answered her second question. “Well, I punctured her chest. She’d still be able to breathe, but it’s a tall order to have her speak.”

“You shan’t kill someone however horrible they are!”

“How about criticizing someone who took over our hive and brainwashed me into serving her?”

Applejack sharply inhaled, and ‘Philyra’ wryly sighed. “I must thank Twilight Sparkle, without her who disturbed the Green Stigmata, I would not have regained my pre-assimilated memories. In a sense, I was trying to act out how the Allela before that would act, and it was a reasonable success, since she’s clearly fooled, so were all of you.”

She shrugged and hissed. “I don’t want the crown, I don’t want power, I only want to see her suffer, torn carapace by carapace, and eventually left for dead in a forgotten corner no one will ever visit.”

“W- What’s your game?” Applejack asked, spooked at the immense hate emanated from the ruby-maned changeling.

“I’m not playing a game!” Philyra furiously thundered, stunning the orange mare and caused her to stumble backwards.

“This one right here.”

Her fury was quickly replaced, again, by an unnervingly savory look on her face. She pointed towards the half-conscious Chrysalis. “She had the temerity of thinking about redemption. Do you guys ever realize what she had done?”

“Ah…” Applejack difficultly winced.

“Phalena and I was close. It’s quite unusual for a brood of queen candidates. Life in the hive was quiet but happy. But… everything changed when Chrysalis came. I heard that she destroyed countless hives before, and all I had expected was that if she showed up, she would beat us up and disperse us, while claiming those hivelings who were willing to switch allegiance.”

“… That’s not what happened?”

“I was a naïve changeling in many ways. Aside from believing she would show mercy, I also took walk outside the hive without defense.”

Philyra’s face was distorted by hate and anger. “She captured me and turned me into her mind slave in order to infiltrate my very own hive. At the end of it, she even striped me of my own identity and brainwashed me into one of her own because she thought I was a good fighter and quick thinker… My subconscious distaste for her lingers, so I acted out of place at times. But despite my mutated form and mutilated mind, I still worked towards the top, driven by what I now knew as a desire for revenge. Laughably, by the time I rose through the ranks, she had probably already forgotten about how I came to be, because she did the same to countless hivemates of mine, and certainly many more.”

She grinned. “And when my first memories came back to me after we just landed in West Zebrica, I almost flew into an enraged craze. I bit back my desire of revenge though. I was still weak compared to her, and a quick death by ambush would be a mercy to her and a mess for me. So I waited, I planned. I even hypnotized myself into suppressing my rage, because I need her to be weak, isolated and powerless. I still managed to pressure her into surrendering her own crown, which was great. Twilight Sparkle’s blast of power some time ago not only replenished my power so much for me to break the spell and return to my true form, so I immediately set out to finish my unfinished business.”

“Sorry, may Ah ask somethin’?”

“Go ahead, we all have all the time in the world.”

“So you said she… assimilated you, and controlled yer mind. Did she personally…?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care! The end result was I walked around like a brain-dead follower of hers, and this stomped on and crushed my very sense of self!”

Applejack gulped. “Ah see… But if Ah remember right, you’re a squadron leader. It’s pretty important in a hive, right?”

“Squadron leaders answer only to the queen.”

“So yeah, if she had half a brain, she would know that you’d hate her with a burning passion after bein’ forced into her hive.”

“I certainly do.”

“So why did she promote you at all? From what Ah know from Twi and Discord, mind control, while always horrendous and condemnable, is a tricky stuff. I would not place somepony who might slip and would then hate me with the heat of a thousand suns in such important position. And why did she seem to treat you… for a lack of a better word, normally? From what Ah’ve heard from Discord, she said she thought you carried out the coup for what you thought would be good for yer own hivelings, and she didn’t even particularly expect yer ‘betrayal’, so to speak. If she knew that yer a brainwashed bitter enemy, how come she’s so clueless?”

Philyra slightly widened her eyes. It appeared that she never thought of these questions before.

She then tutted and huffed. “Maybe she’s just stupid. After all, she did think me as an ‘independent’ but efficient squadron leader before all that.”

Applejack took note of her answer. That’s one big hole in her story, but the fact remained that she was intently murderous, and she had to talk her out of it.

The orange mare then asked. “You seem to be the one who cause the changelings to act out here, but the disturbance began way before you guys arrived.”

“Huh, Miss Applejack, you’ve had a sharp mind. Indeed, this marauding band of changelings were indeed simply acting on their own, but after I became lucid, I swooped in and took control of them, and kept on generating noise to attract Chrysalis. It’s a shame that it happens to be on Apple lands and attracted your attention, I’m sorry for that.”

Applejack raised a brow on part of her words though. “… Taking control of them?”

“Yeah, taking control of them. I just borrowed their minds using my newly restored power a bit-”

“A- Philyra, don’t you see the hypocrisy here?”

“What, you mean halting their free will briefly to pursuit my vendetta? And you’re equating this to what she’s done?”

“Nopony is doing any equatin’, Philyra. What she’s done had to be judged, but it still had nothin’ to do with what you did, and what you should or should not do. Why do you keep on referrin’ back to Chrysalis’s deeds? Are you’re tryin’ to convince yerself or justify them to me?”

Applejack leaned forward and pressed on. “You know it’s wrong, don’t you?”

Philyra spat. ”Tsk... Like what you ponies say, you can’t make an omelette without cracking some eggs. I want to cut her into ribbons for what she did to us. When she was queen, I can’t do that. When she was outside, I can’t do that. Now that she was here, isolated from all and weak as a hatchling, I can finally exact my revenge.”

“Why is she so weak in here? Why did you do?”

“When I was on your farm, I noticed that a number of our hivelings got sick after roaming your fields. And then I found this.”

Philyra carefully elevated a metal canister out of her saddlebag.

Applejack momentarily thought whether it was a joke.

“… That is a can of pest repellent.”

“Oh, I saw your workers sprayed this incredible poison onto the field, and figured that you probably did that to keep our hivelings away-”

“Actually, this has nothin’ to do with changelings at all. It repels all insect who would eat the crops we planted. It’s all natural, and Ah’m… okay, Ah was sure it was not poisonous to any equine.”

“We aren’t equine, Miss Applejack.”

Applejack gulped. “So, are you telling me that you stole the pest repellent to weaken Chrysalis?”

“We sprayed a can of this on her face when we’re hoof-fighting at the entrance. This darned thing is so potent that the hivelings who used it are still sick in their bay.”

Applejack was still absorbing how ridiculous it was for Chrysalis and changelings in general to fall foul of a mere can of pest repellent. Even with the breadth of her knowledge and visions from a second life, she would never expect it to work at all.

Now she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if she had brought a can with her when Chrysalis invaded Canterlot.

Applejack vigorously shook her head and stopped herself from bemoaning lost opportunity. She couldn’t let the shock of her discovery get to her.

She coughed. “But they-”

“I’ll of course relinquish my control over them once this is all over. I don’t want to squander the energy Twilight Sparkle gave me anyway. I still care about these hivelings who battled with me, and this was why I’ve tried to ensure their safety otherwise. If after that, if they still resent me, I welcome their hatred.”

“And let the cycle of retribution continue?”

“Do you not have canned morals in your repertoire of speech, Miss Applejack?”

“Hey, Ah resent that remark! Canned morals or not, it’s still wrong to take control of other’s minds or take Chrysalis’s life!”

Applejack drew in a breath and said. “We’ve been livin’ on the same farm for some time now, and you know me. I’ll never allow somethin’ like that to happen before mah own eyes.”

“Miss Applejack, you’re making this supremely difficult for me. I respect Twilight Sparkle’s help, so I facilitated the transfer of the changeling crown to her-”

“She doesn’t and she wouldn’t care about the changeling crown, or any crown fer that matter! And speakin’ of which, why did you let Chrysalis go through with the Soul Dust plan and let Twilight fall foul of it if you felt so grateful fer her then?”

“Oh, Miss Applejack, Twilight Sparkle was never in danger of anything, because I’ve taken care of it long ago. I wouldn’t want to harm Twilight Sparkle by accident just because I want to take revenge on Chrysalis, right?”

“… Huh?”

“Real, pure Soul Dust does have the amazing property of overwhelming mental and physical domination. I knew this better than everyone because changelings from Phalena’s hive were intimately familiar with mind-altering substances found in the Great Desert. But before Chrysalis got her hooves on it, I’ve already adulterated it. Even without your intervention, she would eventually lose grip on Twilight Sparkle. And had that come to pass, I would then continue to push her into the hole of powerlessness and desperation. But now that all of you have come into the picture, it’s harder for me to go with the slow route.”

Applejack wryly sighed, as she thought about what Discord would think of this new information that his contribution might be a bit pointless. “Well, Ah… okay, you might have shown due consideration for Twi, kudos to that. But Ah still can’t accept that you’ve made Twilight a prisoner in her own body in order to advance your plan.”

Philyra looked reluctant. “It’s but a small price-”

“A small price to pay…?”

Applejack gazed at the changeling fiercely. “Ah’m not goin’ to be mad at you fer leavin’ Twi to her device. Ah’m not goin’ to argue wit’ you whether it’s okay to control someone’s mind fer a while or fer a long time. Nor am Ah gonna go over yer or her laundry list of questionable behaviors. Those are important, but not fer now. Ah just want to focus on one thing: What do you want to get out from all of these?”

“Revenge, I’ve told you that!”

“Do you think revenge will give you satisfaction?”

“What a stupid question! Of course it would!”

Applejack paused, and then slowly exhaled. “… Ah don’t disagree. Revenge feels good. Sometimes strikin’ yer hated foe right in the face is easily the most satisfyin’ thing you could’ve done, harmony be darned.”

Philyra looked a bit suspicious and surprised at this sudden shift in tone.

“So, what do you want to do after bustin’ her plot?”

“What do I… What do you want to ask?”

“Nah, mah question’s pretty straightforward. Where do you see yerself bein’ after this episode?”

“That depends on your response, Miss Applejack. Would you-”

“What Ah’m goin’ to do matters little, innit? Ah’m not an important pony to you anyway, but fer what it’s worth, Ah won’t hate you. Mah friends won’t either. We would just feel sad and disappointed that you have to resort to taking someone’s life just for a moment of thrill.”

“A- A moment of thrill? How dare you! I- I have prepared…”

“What else is there after takin’ her life? She would’ve crumbled to dust, like we all eventually would. You might feel slightly better to have taken the hated sight of her out of the world. But let me tell you, the respite is goin’ to be short, and you’ll soon be taken back by your regret and anger for the past.”

“How could you tell?!”

“Ah don’t need to be a mind-reader to recognize someone who’s been entirely consumed in her desire to revenge, and Ah don’t need to be a fortune-teller to know what would happen next. Ah’m gonna be blunt here, but yer just livin’ fer her at this point. You’re givin’ up everythin’ just to get back at her, and you have no plan fer the future afterwards. What’s the point?”

“She took away my everything! I’m going to make her pay the ultimate price! Everything else is irrelevant!”

“If you give in yer impulse, you’ll truly lose everything to her. Don’t you still have Phalena?”

The mention of her estranged sister seemed to have shaken the changeling in a way Applejack hadn’t observed prior to this point. She felt that it was a crucial point to cut into Philyra’s psyche, and pushed on.

“Phalena has already come to terms with her distaste with Chrysalis, why can’t you…?”

“Don’t you use my sister as your foil!” Philyra hissed.

Applejack decided to pull the conversation away from direct confrontation. “Ah’m terribly sorry if Ah offended you, Philyra. Ah’m not too familiar about yer relationship wit’ her. How come she didn’t recognize you back on the ship if yer her sister?”

Prodded by the orange mare, Philyra reluctantly said. “My assimilation into Chrysalis’s hive had changed not only my mind, but also gradually altered my physiology and physical signal. Moreover, I was under disguise at the time. So I recognized her, but she didn’t recognize me.”

She looked to the ground with a hint of dejection. “I doubt she remember me that well anyway. We were both very young, and I was only one of her many sisters.”

Applejack frowned. “Not necessarily…”

Philyra shook her head and added bitterly. “… But I’m afraid she and I may be the only ones left. In fact, finding her among Twilight Sparkle’s side during the siege almost stunned me into total confusion. Compounded with the fear and anger of having my memories recovered shortly before that, I had to break away from the command line to calm myself down. Ironically, it’s the reason that my squadron survived the disastrous rout. I’m happy for her survival, but I also see that she had changed, and she’s not the kind and pure Phalena I knew anymore. And thanks to who?”

Philyra gritted her teeth angrily and pointed towards Chrysalis. “Her!”

“… You clearly adore yer sister, Ah can hear that. Ah bet you felt really anxious having to swallow yer desire to reconnect with her.”

Philyra’s anger again subsided when she heard about her sister. “… She always shared the love she earned generously to her sisters. In other hives, lost candidates for queenship were expelled out of the hive… or outright killed, to preserve stability, but she refused to do so. Her own life was threatened in a few coup attempts afterwards, but that didn’t change her disposition at all.”

Heavily sighing, she said with a hint of self-mocking. “Well, her kindness paid off. One of her foolish sisters got ensnared and became the mindless pawn of devious invaders. With her own hoof, she turned against her past sisters and hivelings, and broke her home hive from the inside, opening a wide path for invasion…. I’m a traitor, I have nothing of worth left in me, except for the desire of my liberation through revenge!”

“You won’t find any liberation that way, Philyra. Phalena-”

“She was and is still way too kind. But my hoof is already soiled, I can do this, and I have to!”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. This was going nowhere, and she had to be sterner and firmer.

She got close to the changeling and held her in her hooves. Philyra froze in shock.

“It wasn’t yer fault, because it wasn’t you! Why must you let yerself be tangled in the past? Up until this point, every single one of yer actions is about Chrysalis. If you so resent her forceful influence over yer life, then why do you still focus on her right here and right now?”

Applejack stomped on the floor and asked loudly. “What do you want? Justice?”

“O- Of course!”

“Well, revenge isn’t justice, because revenge is just payback, an animal reflex, it’s just hitting back when we’re hit. You dismissed my notion that it just feeds into the cycle of revenge, but it’s true, and it’s just what it is – endlessly striking each other’s cheek, till one loses all her teeth. True justice brings fairness, and fairness brings joy to ourselves and others. What joy is there to have in senseless torture and killing?”

Applejack then tackled her reckless self-abandon. “And even if you don’t care about yerself, think about the one you love and the one you care, like Phalena! What would she want in this situation?”

“S- She-”

“Ah tell you what, what she immediately wants would not be revenge… or even forgiveness. What she wants would be you, her only living blood sibling, to be safe and sound!”

Philyra trembled, as she began to tear up. “She doesn’t know me, and you don’t know her!”

From the emotional reaction, Applejack knew that she touched upon something the vengeful changeling cared about deeply. “Well, you never asked, did you?”

Philyra turned aside and bit her lips. “I… I didn’t dare to. I must be a terrible traitor in her eyes. She would never care about me however I explain myself.”

Applejack smiled. “Don’t you worry, Ah can see that you have good in yer eyes. Ah will be yer character witness, but Ah don’t think it’s really needed.”

“… Huh…?”

“She might’ve swallowed her pride to beg for love amongst ponies, she might’ve even forgone her name, but she certainly haven’t forgotten the unaffected kindness that made her yer respected sister. She’s even willing to give consideration to the idea of forgivin’ even the most hated enemy of hers.”

Applejack paused to note whether Philyra was listening. The ruby-maned changeling looked a bit disoriented, her fierce look had all but dissolved into immense sadness and self-blame.

She shook her head and said. “You said Ah don’t know her. That might be true. Ah only really talked with her once. It was just after the changeling hive settled in. She came and checked in on… you won’t believe who.”

“You don’t mean…”

“Yep, Chrysalis. The one changeling that destroyed her hive and ruined her peaceful reign.”

“… Why?”

“Ah’ll not say she’s forgiven her. Clearly, what Chrysalis did to yer hive is heinous, what she did to you and yer former hivemates were revoltin’ and disgustin’. Even though we shan’t forget the past, what we can do now is preservin’ the good in the present, and she knew that. To forgive is divine, and so she walked the high road and reached out, and even though it was a chilly meetin’, but it was some startin’ point to peace and reconciliation.”

Before Philyra could ponder and retort, Applejack immediately tagged on. “She also talked to me about what she remembered about her own hive.”

Philyra screeched to a halt. “W- What?”

“To be honest, it wasn’t a long talk. After swingin’ by, she took a rest in one of mah farmhouses. We’re havin’ a family reunion that day, so she threw an off-hoof comment about pony family, and I seized the chance to chat with her.”

The ruby-maned changeling did not speak, although her curiosity was apparent.

“She said she’d learnt to put aside her memories for her hive fer a long time, but seeing the Apples reuniting with each other made her think about her own. Even though changelings and ponies are obviously different in how we’re organized, there’s an undeniable similarity in how living creatures in the world bond with each other. Despite everything, we’re tied together by blood to someone, be it hot or cold, red or blue. It’s from there our relationships branch out.”

Applejack then waved her hoof. “… Under all that weathered look, Phalena was still young. She was forced to grow up by circumstances, and even though she felt that being with Twi and her friends is… well, passable, she still longs fer her old days. Not fer bein’ a queen, but fer how carefree and peaceful it was to spend time with her small hive.”

“E- Even with the attempts on her lives?”

“She didn’t mention the exact details, though she hinted at the fact that life at the hive wasn’t all candies and rainbows. But she had only good things to say about the days. Ah never knew changelings can be as social as she said, because of… no offense, the reputation y’all have in Equestria.”

“None taken. Changelings led by Chrysalis were indeed barely social. It’s not like we’re biologically unable to understand social relationships, it’s just heavily discouraged.”

“Ah see.”

Applejack sighed. “She was sadder and sadder as she went, though. And it’s not just because she thought of how she lost her hive.”

Philyra turned despondent. She said nothing, but she looked like a foal scorned.

“Ah think you might’ve misunderstood. She’s not blaming anyone in particular. She didn’t even directly mention any ‘betrayal’ or sorts. That’s why I was shocked to hear the story from yer side.”

Applejack shook her head. “But now that Ah think of it, what she said had a whole ‘nother meaning. Ah thought she was merely regretful about what she’d done wrong that she lost the hive. But now Ah think that she meant what she’d done wrong to cause someone who loved and cared fer her so much to turn against her.”

Philyra let out a pitiful whelp, and collapsed onto the floor in inconsolable tears.

Applejack again held the changeling with her strong hooves, and forced her head up to look her directly in the eyes. “Now is the time and the chance fer you to tell her the truth, not the time to wander and wallow in yer vengefulness. We all must face the consequence of what we’ve done some day, but fer now, there’re more burnin’ need fer truth in some place other than here.”

Before Philyra gave a response, the ground began to shake with incredible force. Philyra’s head shot up in surprise. She then said fearfully. “E- Earthquake? There’re earthquakes around this area?”

“No, that ain’t earthquake. The Ghastly Gorge is a canyon, not a fault. The south seldom sees a quake stronger than a hoof shake. If the ground shook a lot, there won’t be so many strangely-shaped rock formation out there.”

Applejack smirked. “Don’t you worry, just wait here and see.”

Another series of loud, grounding sound blasted from one side of the wall, and a shower of rocks rained down the cell.

A large, elongated machine fell out with a loud clunk. It had a drill attached to its front, and a long series of tube at its back. There were apparently somepony inside the box, as seen from the narrow visor, but it was too dark to see clearly.

“W- W- What the Tartarus was that thing?!” Philyra yelped.

Applejack, however, just shouted with half-excitement and half-annoyance. “Watch out y’all!”

A muffled male voice came from inside the machine. “Aw, aw, aw! Brother, you should’ve inflated the protective airbags before drilling the wall open!”

Another annoyed male voice said. “Come now, brother, you know well that driving a bulldozer and driving a mechanical mole is very different!”

Applejack turned to Philyra. “Well, they’re Flim and Flam, our resident mechanical experts who work fer us.”

“How do they get… What is that?!”

“We’re glad you asked… uh, madam changeling?” Flim exited the machine via a small side door. He was surprised, but didn’t flinch a bit seeing the face of the ruby-maned changeling. To him, she was just another potential customer.

Flam immediately continued. “It’s a tunnel borer, or mechanical mole as we like to call it. Ever since there was a need to build a railroad in the mountainous north, there’s a practical need fer powerful machine to break the frozen mold and bring much needed progress to our new frontier!”

“And wherever there is a demand, there is a need for supply!”

“And wherever there is a need for supply, there are Flim Flam Brothers!”

“Okay, that was a good pitch y’all.” Applejack chuckled.

“I still need to know how they knew you’re here.”

“We’ve always been lookin’ fer ways to improve communications across settlements. It’s slow and expensive to send out ponies every time. So we’ve been experimentin’ with some new ways. A few weeks ago, we’ve finally cleared the permission and hooked electric wires along the Southern Rail from Ponyville to Appleloosa. Apart from powerin’ the trains, we can also send message over great distance at a blink of an eye.”

Philyra raised a brow and sighed. “Pony witcheries… But I don’t see you holding any… uh, wires?”

“Nah, Ah had a ‘top-secret’, experimental device given to me by Pinkie. It’s something she’s been workin’ on with Twi before… whoa, before the whole invasion of Canterlot took place. It allows wireless transmission of signal over a distance, and it ran on portable power source. It’s a prototype, and it can only send message over a woefully short distance, but it already allowed me to send distress signal to mah cousins in Appleloosa, who then called Ponyville to look fer the Flim Flam from their workshop.”

Just as Philyra slowly took in the new information, Applejack turned and smiled to the Flim Flam brothers. “Thanks a lot y’all, you’ve been great life-savers.”

“Of course you can count on the Flim Flam brothers to deliver, boss AJ.” Flim gestured to himself proudly.

Flam looked more eager. “Well, does that mean we’re getting a raise or bonus this moon?”

Applejack laughed and shook her head. “As if you two ain’t already two giant moneybags from all the patent agreements. But actually, you’ve been doin’ quite well recently, and you’ve been doin’ honest business fer quite a while.”

The brothers straightened their ears in enthusiastic expectation.

“… It’s about time that Ah made good of mah promise and allowed you to spin off the heavy equipment business into a company that you shall own the majority of.”

“R- Really?!” The brothers almost squealed together.

“Yes, Ah won’t lie about things like that. We’re in a pinch here, so before we dealt with the urgent matters, Ah’d be concise. You two will receive a controlling stake that is 51% of the stocks, while the remaining 49% will be held by me personally as well as the Apple Company. I will not make you pay with cash, since Ah know you two probably don’t have enough. Instead, Ah can lend you money that is tied to the future revenue and stock interest of the company, and you can pay me back slowly over the years.”

Flam mentally calculated the trajectory of income, and gasped. “A- Applejack, ma’am, you really want to just hand out the company to us… like that?”

“You two deserve it. Ah always want to make it a point that honest work begets honest rewards.”

She then smirked. “But there’s indeed one string attached. Not that Ah think you two will run the company into the ground, but as a matter of caution, Ah’d like to arrange a buyback option that will activate only if the company sees red fer a whole year or goes busted. You won’t make me do that though, right?”

“O- Of course not!” The brothers shouted.

“Great, Ah’ll go make this formal when Ah’m out. Now please wait outside.”

Applejack turned and gazed at Philyra. “… Ah have some unfinished business here as well.”

The brothers quickly scrambled to the tunnel opening and entered the vehicle. With a simple button press, the tunnel borer retreated back into the tunnel like a lasso, and the brothers soon disappeared from their sight again.

“… You’re a surprising bunch, aren’t you?”

“Ah’d like to keep somethin’ in mah sleeves, even though Ah don’t actually wear any sleeves like that frou-frou Rarity.”

Philyra blinked, and then laughed aloud dryly. “Ha… Perhaps I should listen to someone as resourceful as you.”

“Hmm?”

“I guess there’s a reason Phalena was willing to follow Twilight Sparkle around. If nothing else, she and her friends surely had a tongue of silver.”

“But mine never lie just for the sake to persuade.”

“I didn’t say you did, Miss Applejack. I… guess I should own up to my mistake to Phalena first before I take any action.”

Philyra raised a hoof hurriedly. “Don’t mistake me. I’d still pretty much prefer-”

Applejack suddenly pushed Philyra aside. Philyra widened her eyes, first in shock, then in anger.

“What are you-”

Philyra turned and gasped. A gravely stern Chrysalis stood limply behind her, stepping the obsidian blade on the ground with one of her hooves.

The ruby-maned changeling grunted and jumped next to Applejack, immediately assuming a battle stance.

Chrysalis opened her mouth, but only shrill hissing came from her mouth. With a pained look, she plugged the chest wound with her hoof, and said difficultly.

“… Sorry.”

Like a bucket of ice water, the one single word caused Philyra to froze and gasp at the same time. Her vengeful thoughts were replaced by a miring swirl of confusion.

“I h-”

Chrysalis coughed wincingly, and continued. “I heard everything… While I know that you were a member of Phalena’s hive, I swear I had no knowledge about your… particular situation. I might have threaten to do so as a mean to terrify unruly changelings, and I did briefly consider to act on it when Phalena showed up..."

Philyra snarled. "You!"

"B-But I have never used mind control to force a fellow changeling to work for me! Not least because of my principle, but also because like Applejack said, it’s way too finicky to make sure it’s secure.”

Boiling anger again burst from the surface of Philyra’s mind. “You disgusting liar! Why else would I act totally against my and my hive’s interests?! Why else would I strike Phalena with my own hoof?! I bet you’re trying to salvage your non-existent reputation now that you’re sure you’re under their protection!”

“No! I don’t care what they’ve thought of this particular incident. They know that I’ve done other things, many worse in their eyes. I just want you to believe me!”

Philyra looked darkly amused. “Why? I’m none other than a laughably stupid pawn in your eyes, shouldn’t I be?”

“No! I never said this out loud, because I thought that power and domination is enough to rule a hive. But I would never see any hiveling as a disposable pawn! And you… in particular… I never thought…”

Chrysalis sounded truly sad. “This must’ve been a mistake.”

Before Philyra offered another mocking retort, Applejack lightly interjected. “Chrysalis, you said you’d never coerced her into serving you, but how come she lost herself still? Can you tell me what you’ve done with her?”

Chrysalis sighed. “I dreamt of leading the changeling race to a glorious future of endless sustenance. But since we were disunited, I led a campaign to bring the hive together. And so we did conquer many a hive, and I’d be the first to admit that it wasn’t pretty. The unification had almost bled out the changeling race.”

Philyra glared at Chrysalis. She was angered by the implications of Chrysalis’s words, but she was also surprised at the lack of anger or theatrics that she had expected from her. The former changeling queen was also unusually subdued, making her too confused and suspicious to actually castigate her.

Chrysalis then turned somewhat more assertive, even though it was apparent that her speech was labored and agonizing.

“We’re weak, and so I’d doubled up the efforts to absorb any changeling from the hive we conquered. Usually, we brought in changelings who are captured, but not actively hostile, into our breeding chamber. There we’ll… uh, persuade them to join our hive.”

“… Persuade?”

Not just Philyra, but Applejack was eyeing Chrysalis with doubt.

Chrysalis gulped. “There was certainly a degree of physical threat involved. Why else would we isolate each of them and surround them with our own in our own hive? But I tell you what, there was never a case of explicit mind control. That’s just something I would not do to a fellow changeling, both for practical reasons and out of principle.”

“Then how the Tartarus do you explain me?!” Philyra shouted.

“… I really don’t know!” Chrysalis nervously yelled.

Applejack asked intently. “But can you tell us what exactly you did to her when she… uh, entered yer hive?”

“… For each of them, if they had a modicum of willingness after all our relentless efforts, they will be brought before me, and I will anoint them with the power of the Green Stigmata. This was to change the signal they emanate to match our hive. Afterwards, I would cast a spell to link them to our network of changeling magic. They shall then be recognized as a member of our hive, and promptly assigned to one of the existing squadrons.”

“But was that what happened to her?” Applejack frowned.

“Give me a moment! I’ve had done this to thousands and thousands of hivelings, it’s hard to remember a particu-”

She suddenly stopped and widened her eyes, her gaze turned both nervous and shifty.

Applejack narrowed her eyes slightly. “It seems that you’ve remember somethin’.”

Chrysalis gulped. “… It’s still a mistake.”

“What is it?!” Philyra angrily huffed.

“I swear to the Great Pitcher, I thought you were vetted when you’re brought in!”

Chrysalis gasped for air for a moment and continued. “It was two days before the invasion, and some of our scouts caught you unaware. When you’re brought before me, you were unconscious, probably because they were a bit overzealous and knocked you out.”

She shifted a bit and said. “It’s common changeling knowledge that the queenship candidates were always dumped the moment a new queen takes the throne. In all of our previous encounter, we simply got rid of the queens who always fought to their last breath, and we never encountered the situation of capturing one alive. But we assumed that Philyra was one of the expelled candidates, and would have no issue joining in our attack. So I simply...”

Applejack suddenly thought of something and asked. “… Would you expel Imago too?”

“Who?” Philyra looked bemused.

“D- Discord told you?” Chrysalis looked surprised and a little bit betrayed.

“A male broodmate of hers, they were on good terms.”

Applejack said to the surprise of Philyra, and the orange mare quickly turned to Chrysalis.

“And feel free to grill his loose cannon of a mouth back in Ponyville, but answer me first.”

Chrysalis was shaken, but she shook her head. “Perhaps not… but what’s past was gone. That’s why I now said what we did with Allela was a mistake.”

She bit her lips. “I remember her specifically because when I casted the spell, there was an unusually strong reaction, and it blew up half of the cave we were hiding in. In hindsight, I should’ve been more careful casting that spell on higher changelings like queens and queenship candidates, but hindsight is crystal clear. But seeing how she performed in the invasion, I decided to push on and fully absorb her into the hive, and I thought there would no longer be irregularities, once she finally changed into the form she was.”

“So you’re saying you didn’t mean to distort her mind, and it was just an accident that she became like thi-”

“Liar! You’re a liar!”

Philyra thundered and interrupted Applejack, tears fell off the corners of her eyes uncontrollably. “Are you saying that I myself decided to do those horrible traitorous actions to Phalena and my own hive?!”

Chrysalis winced. “I didn’t mean that. T- That wasn’t you, probably. I don’t know how exactly it could happen, because the anointment spell isn’t otherwise mind-altering. I would wager many of my hivelings remember the time before they join this hive, it’s just that they never speak up about it. And since you never brought it up, I never asked either.”

The green-maned changeling sighed. “Allela-”

“Stop calling me that! I’m not your Tartarus-forsaken Allela! It’s you who gave me that ridiculous name!”

“F- Fine, Philyra! This does not change the fact that I had greatly valued you and your contribution! I- I… You’ve been one of my favorite hivelings, and you still are!”

“… Huh?”

“Yes, I’ve had issues with your seeming abeyance at times, and my words might sound acid, but I chalked it up to the fact that you’re originally from a different hive. I know mentioning this will upset you, but it’s exactly your actions during the invasion that brings you to the forefront of my mind. Your daring actions and intelligent planning helped us through a lot of tight spots, and that’s why I promoted you to such a high position. I never thought your actions are anything but voluntary.”

The green-maned changelings drew in a breath through her teeth. “I knew I’m in the wrong. It’s only natural for you to want to take revenge.”

She sighed again. Then her legs finally shook too much and buckled, causing her to fall onto the ground gracelessly.

She let out a yelp of pain, but she labored on. “I had now been mad at you about the crown. But after hearing all these, I’ve realized that without you, I’d have perished at the gate of Timbucktu, at the port of Fillydelphia, or at the fiery moat of Trot. Even though your goal was to do… this, I still can’t blame you. I owe you for all the help you gave me, and for the… injustice that you endured.”

Philyra was deadly quiet. She gazed emptily at the floor for a good while.

As Applejack looked on uneasily, the ruby-maned changeling muttered with an eerily ghostly voice. “You say these to me now… What do you want me to do?”

Chrysalis shook her head, but stayed quiet. Philyra looked at her with a breathless gaze.

She mindlessly ran through her messy ruby mane and said. “I honestly don’t know if you’re being sincere about your feeling, nor does it matter. What you’ve said about my induction… even though I want to believe that you’re lying to protect your chitinous shell, I must say it makes some sense. I’ve been ignoring all the evidences since I swore to take revenge on you. I… I just don’t know what to do now.”

Applejack poked Philyra, who lightly gasped. “We should go back first. We don’t have to solve every problem in the world inside this damp dark cave. Just remember to release your control over the changelings here, and told them to move north with us.”

Philyra reluctantly nodded. Applejack then smiled, it seemed that Philyra shared at least one thing with her sister, which was her deep-lying affinity to forgiveness.

The orange mare looked to Chrysalis. In a sense, she was even more amazed at the readiness that the former queen owned up to her mistakes. Her tact, sometimes grovelingly apologetic, was almost completely unlike the mocking and calculating character that she knew.

She wondered what had prompted Chrysalis to have such a show of remorse. Was it her abdication, Twilight’s influence, her time on the farm, the shock at discovering the true reason of her trusted lieutenant’s betrayal… or more?

“Uh…”

Applejack turned to look at Chrysalis, who looked uncharacteristically pleading in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Applejack raised a brow.

Chrysalis looked a bit flustered. “I had to channel some energy to heal the puncture, and I have to spare a hoof to plug the wound up. I would be glad if you can give me a hoof on our way back.”

“Psst, just that huh?”

Applejack immediately lifted the changeling queen up. She realized how incredibly light changelings were for the first time.

“Don’t mention it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What do you call me here for, Applejack?”

Rosencross eyed the orange mare strangely. The two of them were not the closest acquaintances, and they met at most one or two times a week.

“Ah have someone Ah think you might be interested to meet.”

“Huh?”

Rosencross was more than a bit surprised. She knew literally no one in this foreign land except for Twilight’s associates, and she thought she had met everyone she would be interested to see. She also caught on the use of ‘someone’ other than ‘somepony’ and began to ponder.

Applejack then went to the door and extended her head through the gap, seemingly talking to someone outside. The hushed voice was somewhat familiar, but it was too faint and nervous-sounding to make sure of.

Finally, the orange mare seemed to run out of patience, as she simply dragged that particular person inside with her hooves.

Rosencross frowned. It was… Allela? What’s so special about a former lieutenant of Chrysalis that she had met already?

Applejack pushed the changeling, cladded in her grey earth pony disguise, in front of Rosencross.

“Applejack, I have met her already. What’s-”

“Shh, Rosencross, let her explain herself.”

Applejack then quickly trotted out the room and slammed the door shut.

‘Allela’ saw her only exit was blocked and gasped. She then gingerly turned towards Rosencross and gulped uneasily.

Rosencross tilted her head and looked at the grey mare uncertainly, when ‘Allela’ suddenly lit up in an aura of green, and transformed into her changeling form. Ruby mane billowed in the soft wind, gently reflecting the morning sun.

The red mare blinked blankly, and then blinked some more. She then wryly sighed and looked up to the ceiling.

“Okay, Discord, the game’s up. I don’t know how you manage to dig up the memories of mine so long ago, also nice try to use Applejack as your front, but you’ve definitely crossed the line by involving those related to my home hive.”

“H- huh?” Philyra was befuddled.

“Seriously, I told you countless times that your pranks are tasteless and not funny. Will you ever learn, huh?”

“I- I’m not Discord, and I’m not pranking you, Phalena! It’s me, Philyra!”

“Now, you’re either really bad at acting, or you’ve missing something in your gross invasion of my privacy. Philyra hated my gut, and she certainly won’t stutter in front of me like some demure debutante. And why would she be Allela? That barely makes sense!”

Philyra felt as if she took a punch to the stomach, as she almost teared up anxiously.

Rosencross frowned. Usually Discord’s pranks wouldn’t last this long, and he would just transform back and tease her. Getting so in-character was not his style.

“Okay… what’s going on in here?”

“I… I’m sorry, Phalena. I am a horrible traitor to you and the hive, I deserve all the scorn you can throw at me. But I just want to say that I was not myself at the time, and it was due to Chrysalis’s warped attempt to assimilate me into her hive using the magic of anointment. Not that it absolves me of any crime, but I just want you to know…”

“… Are you trying to say that you really are Philyra?”

There was not a hint of calculation previously seen on the ruby-maned changeling’s face. Only a sincere pleading look remained. “Yes! Please believe me!”

Rosencross’s gaze burrowed into Philyra’s emerald eyes. She then tried to heighten her changeling sense. And then without a word, she embraced the ruby-maned changeling. Even though the perforated shell wasn’t the comfiest to hug, but that did not make the red mare hold her sister less tight.

Philyra gasped for air as she was overwhelmed by elation and surprise. Her sister simply took her words at face value and hugged her unreservedly.

“I’m just happy to see one of my own with my very own eyes…”

“Y- You just believe me like that?”

“Why won’t I believe you?”

“I struck you with my very own hooves! I betrayed you!”

“You’re too highstrung. Even if you weren’t under control, I will still be unable to hate you now that you’ve come to me with such a candid apology.”

Rosencross brightly smiled. “I’m happier yet to know that you didn’t turn against me because I somehow wronged you.”

“No, never! I… I’m just glad that you still remember me. I love my hive, and I adore you. If I were in any way lucid, I would bite off my own tongue before lifting my hooves against my blood sister!”

“… So Chrysalis took control of you to infiltrate us, and then assimilated you for her to use as her pawn?”

Rosencross lowly growled. “This… I cannot overlook…”

“… Please don’t. I don’t deserve it.”

Rosencross widened her eyes, and she’s more surprised to see Philyra sighing weakly.

“But she had crossed the line this time…!”

“I have already tried to exact my revenge. I planned and waited. I even got myself an obsidian blade, and was close to do the deed if not for Applejack.”

Philyra sadly gazed at her sister. “But I’m tired, sister. Moreover, I’m sad. Not just at our misfortune, but at the change imposed on us by fate.”

Rosencross inhaled sharply, as Philyra continued with a deeply wistful tone. “We are no longer who we were. What I’ve learnt these few days had made me wonder… how much of my change was forced on me, and how much was out of my own volition. My care for you hasn’t changed of course, sister, but I was shocked that I had turned so ready to forgo everything just for revenge, before Applejack reminded me that I should have turned to you first.”

Rosencross winced and lowered her head. “Philyra, I’m no longer the good and upright sister that you once knew. I’ve sold off my dignity long ago, there’s no reason for you to look up to me in any way.”

“No sister, I’ll always look up to you.”

Philyra then wryly chuckled. “… Not the least because I’ve reached the lowest of the low by being a traitor.”

Rosencross frowned. “You keep saying that, but aren’t you involuntarily controlled by Chrysalis? If so, then it’s not your fault!”

“You’re so eager to defend me even though I’m unworthy… This makes me remember the old days.”

Philyra smiled, even though it was full of regret. “Philonia wanted the crown for herself, but you not only pardoned her after she tried to bury you in a rock slide, but you’ve personally cared for her injuries that came from her botched plot. I always thought with bewilderment, like, how could you be this tolerant to such a traitor? And yet, here I am.”

Rosencross lightly knitted her brow. She looked up and away from Philyra. “… No matter what you’ve done, you’re my blood, my brood sister. It’s the same reason I didn’t expel Philonia.”

She then sadly chuckled. “Although come to think of it, she might’ve been better off out of the hive at the time.”

Philyra looked mortified and dejected, which led Rosencross to hurriedly add. “Phily, I’m not blaming you or anything, I’m just a bit caught up in the past.”

“Ph- Phily…?”

Philyra gulped. “… It’s been a long time you called me that.”

Rosencross chuckled. “But you’re always the adorable Phily to me, and I’m glad that you still think highly of me.”

“S- Stop that, sister!”

Although red-faced, Philyra’s gaze then turned inquisitive. “I just don’t understand though, why are you holding onto this particular pony’s identity? I can’t be happier to shed the falsehood that was the life of ‘Allela’, and I couldn’t do it fast enough.”

“It was an accident of fate. I couldn’t quite change my guise after the hive broke down and I lost most of my power. At the last moment, I was taken away by an old stallion. He knew well that I was not his Rosencross, but he still cared for me until he passed away. And after that, I continued to use this form as my pony identity, and worked in inns and taverns, squeezing whatever love I can get from the customers.”

Rosencross’s gaze swept across the ground. “I just got used to my pony identity, since I’ve probably spent a longer time in this guise than in my original form. It’s become my second life. But Phily, if you’re uncomfortable with my form, then I…”

“N- No, sister, I’m okay with whatever form you chose. You’re my sister no matter the appearance, right?”

“… I’m glad you think so, Phily. Sometimes even changelings like us may get a little bit carried away in the constantly changing environment and our constantly changing identities. Even though we can change appearance at our whim, the deeds we do are still a part of us. For me, I had to do a lot of demeaning things just to survive in Timbucktu, because I had no any other skills.”

“… Sister, you…”

“It’s just kind of a slippery slope, a continuation of what we’ve been doing in our hive – pleasing ponies using a veil of falsehood to extract love. But as West Zebrica fell into disarray after Chrysalis’s wars, less and less ponies went to these entertainment venues. The line was pushed farther and farther, and when Twilight found me, I was probably on the verge of breaking down from the lines I had to cross daily.”

She raised her hoof and gazed at it. “But when I look back now, all these bitter days are undoubtedly still part of my experiences. When you’ve been the actor for so long, you can’t help but become the character a little bit. That is not to condone or accept what had transpired, but to come to term and find a way to deal with it.”

She walked to the window and quietly looked outside. Groups of earth pony farm workers worked tirelessly in a field. The smell of freshly turned soil and the sound of farming equipment clanking entered her ears.

“Life in Ponyville is fresh, but also peaceful. I have all the time to think about everything.”

She rolled her eyes. “At least when I’m not annoyed by Discord’s antics.”

“You two seem to be… ‘hitting it off’. I think that's what it's called by the ponies.”

Rosencross did a spit-take, fortunately it was towards the outside.

“W- What?”

“That’s what ponies say, don’t they? You two stick together all the time. I once caught Miss Fluttershy commenting on it.”

“When? Where?!”

“When I was not tending to my hivelings here, I was spying on all the friends of Twilight Sparkle in order to gather information, to see if they have any hidden agenda and also to look for a time to… um, take Chrysalis out without causing major ruckus. While I had failed to do the second part obviously, I did unexpectedly know a little juicy bits about them.”

Philyra clasped her hooves. “For instance, once I knocked out Miss Fluttershy’s bunny in order to do some eavesdropping. Shrinking my size this small was very tiring, but I knew she always talks secret to her bunny, so I did it anyway.”

“… That doesn’t seem…”

“Meh, I got busted by her pretty quickly.”

“Wait, you got found out? Why did I never hear of it before?”

“She was graceful enough to just reprimand me and let me go, and she promised not to publicize my involvement on condition that I do no further spying. I complied partly out of a code of honor, and partly because I’ve already come to the conclusion that they are just this hopelessly good.”

“Hopelessly good…” Rosencross shook her head with a wry smile.

“Still, in the brief moment that she thought I was her bunny, she sadly complained that Discord was paying her less and less attention in favor of spending time with you.”

Rosencross’s face turned a strange shade of red and green.

“If you really want him, go take him, sister. That’s the changeling way.”

“I- I- I think this is enough for this topic, Phily. W- We’ve been losing track of what we’ve been talking about!”

Rosencross raised a hoof and pointed it to Philyra. “Point is, even though my time as Rosencross wasn’t the best of times, I still see it as a time of trial and a time of experiences. Without which I would probably never meet Twilight and her friends, and without which there will be no joy from such a reunion.”

Philyra looked conflicted. “… You sound like you would like me to call you by Rosencross as well.”

“No, Phily. You overthink this. I’m your brood sister no matter what, and I’d be happy whichever way you call me. I said this not because of me, but because of you.”

“M- Me?”

“I always knew you’re a bright hiveling, but you were always quite stubborn.”

“Am not!”

“Yes, you’re. No offense meant, but I still remember you walked out of the hive that fateful day because you were angry about Philonia walking free.”

Philyra lowered her head and went quiet. Rosencross lightly jabbed her side and said. “I know it might be a sensitive and hurtful issue, but can you tell me more about how you come to be assimilated into Chrysalis’s hive? As far as I know, no changeling queen had attempted to assimilate a queenship candidate from a foreign hive before.”

“I don’t know… My earliest memories in Chrysalis’s hive were all jumbled. However, I still remember my last lucid moments... I was walking down the dry river bed, when a swarm of foreign changelings came out from behind a boulder and tackled me. I was knocked back onto the ground and hit my head.”

She paused and difficultly swallowed. “… In my half-consciousness, I was brought before Chrysalis, and she casted her spell on me. She claimed that it was just a common anointment spell, but the fact was it completely warped my psyche. The next moment that I remember was standing in the ruin of my own hive and grinning at the destruction of everything that I loved!”

She deeply inhaled. “… Just after I was assimilated, I had no recollections of my life before. All I felt was a slavish dedication to her hive and her.”

Her teeth clattered in fear and ire. “It was as if she had written herself into my mind and replaced you.”

Rosencross simply looked sadly at her clearly traumatized sister, and lightly brushed her wavy ruby mane.

Philyra looked up and said. “Perhaps fortunately, I was feeling more and more independent of this affliction as time progressed. I began to feel a natural dissonance. My form felt wrong. My lack of memories before a certain point felt wrong. And my respect and adoration towards Chrysalis felt wrong. I began to show some resistance, but it was not until our mysterious translocation back to West Zebrica that I became completely lucid. And that was when I began to plot to get my revenge.”

Her lip quivered. “But if her claim is true, that she had done nothing but changing my physical signal, then does that mean it was all me? I blamed her for my own reprehensible betrayal, but it turns out-”

Philyra again broke down in tears. She was too hurt to keep pondering the possibility that she was the one responsible for all the terrible things she did as ‘Allela’.

Rosencross winced. “My good Phily… If it was you, then what did it mean to be out of its control?”

Philyra wiped her tears, but avoided her sister’s gaze.

“Phily, the very fact that there is a distinction between you of now and you of then means that you don’t need to beat yourself over it.”

“But-”

“I don’t suppose you heard about the story of the Equestrian princesses?”

Philyra widened her eyes at this sudden conversational detour. “I know who they are. The younger princess only came back a year or so ago from banishment to the moon for a thousand years.”

She crossed her hooves and said suspiciously. “The bickering of ponies concerns us not.”

“Your tongue did become sharper much like me.”

Rosencross smiled. “But they weren’t just bickering fools. They were powerful magic users who raise the sun, the moon and the stars, but they were still flesh and blood, bounded by mundane desires. That’s why when they go bad, things foul up very quickly.”

Philyra sensed where her sister was going. She wistfully sighed and said. “… I’ve heard that. The younger princess had been corrupted by dark thoughts and transformed into the so-called Nightmare. A comparison too convenient for me.”

“She fell foul of her own jealousy, but you… Phily, you weren’t even responsible for your own fall. If the elder princess can just accept her own sister graciously, why can’t I?”

Rosencross again ran through her sister’s mane and chuckled awkwardly. “Even though we don’t have a hive or a nation to rule over, the principle is still the same.”

Philyra lightly nodded and smiled. “… Does this make us a poor changeling’s version of them?”

Rosencross laughed aloud. She then jabbed her sister lightly. “Now you know how to joke. Just pick yourself up, Phily, we still have a long way to go.”

Philyra sadly sighed, prompting Rosencross to ask gently. “What’s wrong again, Phily?”

“I really regret wasting the energy Twilight Sparkle gave to me to carry out this plan. Not only I’m going to go hungry sooner, it was simply wrong to squander her gift for my vengeful thrill. Moreover…”

“Moreover…?”

“When I set up the trap in Appleloosa for Chrysalis, I used the mental domination spell I thought Chrysalis used on me. I used them on the small swarm of hivelings there in order to make them obey my orders…”

“Phily…”

Philyra smiled weakly. “Miss Applejack was right. If it’s so bad for Chrysalis to bend my will to her own, then my explicit mind control over those few stray hivelings was much worse. I can’t even meet their eyes without thinking about how low I was, and their scorn once they found out.”

Rosencross suddenly playfully smacked Philyra’s head.

“Aw! S- Sister!”

“What use is there to just sulk? You have to take action! If you’re sorry for doing that, then be good to them!”

“Even if they’re hivelings from Chrysalis’s hive?”

“Chrysalis might be nasty, but her hivelings came from all hives. Even though you think Allela the squadron leader was a fabrication, they still look up to you as a higher changeling. They don’t deserve being punished just because they followed her. And don’t you say you don’t care for any of them. If not, you wouldn’t say those words to me.”

Rosencross placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “You’ve got to go face them. Make up for it and right the wrongs with your own hooves, even if that means taking up a façade. A façade is not inherently wrong, it’s our choice that makes it good or bad.”

“… Sister, you’re so thoughtful and understanding, it’s beyond my wildest expectation before I stepped into this room.”

“Silly Phily, if there’s anyone in the world that we should act understanding towards, it’s always our blood family.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Not disguisin’ as mah sis no more, huh?”

Chrysalis flexed her orange wings. She was walking beside Applejack in the guise she used once on the ship, an orange pegasus with a mane of light green.

“It’s too weird. I prefer being asked who I am rather than having to pretend to be ‘yer sis’.”

Applejack tutted. “Cheeky varmint. Who’s that anyway?”

“I don’t know for sure. I saw it on a wall painting when I sacked Timbuktu. Maybe a relation to the Timbucktuan king? I just think it’s regal enough to suit me. The green mane is also a plus. By the way, if there’s any pony nearby, call me ‘Saiph’.”

“Pardon me, but what on earth is a ‘Saiph’?”

“I just picked the name in some random encyclopedia I found in Twilight Sparkle’s library.”

“Alright, Saiph.”

Applejack tilted her head. “Anyway, Ah gotta say mah impression of you had improved over the past few days.”

“Hah? Your impression of me improved after finding out that I had been involved in slaving one of my hivelings so much she turned against me? I don’t know you guys actually adore so-called ‘evil’ stuffs.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Of course Ah’m not referrin’ to that. Ah’m more about how tactful you’re with Alle… Phily… ugh, ya know who Ah’m talkin’ about.”

Chrysalis went uncharacteristically quiet. Applejack turned and asked. “What’s wrong, huh?”

“I just feel like I have wasted the entirety of my time on earth.”

Applejack frowned. “How come? Even though Ah’d disapprove of yer gloryseekin’ conquests, it’s still objectively impressive to pull off so many military successes. After all, who in Equestria can say, ‘Hey, Ah’ve sacked both Trot and Timbucktu!’”

Chrysalis looked at Applejack amusingly. “It’s funny coming from the mouth of one of the friends of Twilight Sparkle. I thought you guys are all seriously committed to your brand of peace and harmony.”

“It’s mostly a joke to soothe yer nerve. But why would you say that anyway?”

Chrysalis shrugged. “First I lost the battle, then I lost the war, next I lost the hive, and almost lost myself. The garnish on top of all these is to find out that one of my top lieutenants actually hate my guts because of some mind control mishaps, despite my conviction that I’d not use that on hivelings.”

She kicked a small rock on the road. “The last one, though. Allela was a hiveling that I always feel fascinated with. She talked relatively little. In fact, I was a bit bewildered how talkative she became after coming to West Zebrica, but I now know why. Anyway, I always liked how efficient she was. Even though she would increasingly flaunt her disapproval with my order, which I never knew why, but she never did it publicly. Still, when she was tasked with something, she finished it with style and results. For instance, when we were blasted with Celestia’s mega-spell in Fillydelphia, it was her who crafted a way to escape through the impenetrable southern swamps into the open sea. She even stood as our rears to ensure the safe escape of other hivelings. I also relied on her for a lot of tactical micromanagement, and I grew to think of her as a stern but reliable lieutenant and advisor.”

She grinned. “It’s tough being this changeling in my hive, as I was a willful queen, quick to anger and punishment. I had beaten her and order her to hard labor for more than once, and yet she just took it with her usual cool indifference. It was quite a shock when she said she wanted to depose me.”

Sighing weakly, Chrysalis continued. “I thought I had reached such a state of failure that even she felt that I can’t be salvaged. For a time I yelled that she’s a horrible traitor, but it was just to cover up my own feeling of failure. To an extent, I’m relieved that her actions were merely because of her anger of being controlled against her will.”

She inhaled deeply. “But now it’s also clear that my accord with her is but a laughable illusion. I had thought what she did to me was just something we can get over with. But it’s impossible now. A shame really, she’s about the only other changeling in the hive who can spar with me intellectually.”

Applejack lightly interjected. “So can Ah say you saw her as… yer friend?”

Chrysalis huffed, though her tone was mild. “You ponies are quick to push forth your idea of friendship. I never saw her as my ‘friend’, that concept is not necessary in a hive as militarized as mine, and she certainly didn’t in light of what had transpired. But I… like her, I guess. Now I seem to have lost my last vestige of the olden days, I just feel empty and devoid of purpose.”

Applejack took note of her ‘friendship’ speech, but she did not comment on it. Instead, she joked. “Well, if you want purpose, help me buck apples. At least you can find purpose in payin’ back yer back-rent through work.”

Expecting a biting retort, Applejack was shocked to see a limping nod.

“Fine, which field do you want me to go?”

“Wait a moment, Ah was just kiddin’… You shan’t overexert yerself now that you guys are fastin’.”

“As long as I don’t use spells like Allel- I mean, Philyra did, I should be fine. Remember, I have a larger magical reserve than other hivelings. And even they can keep going for at least another moon.”

“Ah ain’t devoid of any sense of morality! If Ah make you work, then it’s just like usin’ slave labor.”

“But you said back-rent. I thought paying for squatting at places is what you ponies do.”

Chrysalis waved down Applejack’s protest. “Fine, Applejack. If you still have any reservation, then don’t think of this as me helping you, think of this as me wanting to do something else for a change and clear my mind up. I don’t want to lock myself up in the damp dark farmhouse any longer than necessary.”

She said candidly. “The gazes from my former underlings were too withering to bear with. At least apples aren’t going to grow eyes and judge me.”

Applejack then watched Chrysalis walked towards the apple fields with wide eyes. Shaking her head with defeat, she quickly trotted and caught up with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two figures, one unicorn and one antelope, were trotting on the newly-laid but already somewhat worn cobblestone road towards the Sweet Apple Acres under the afternoon sun.

“Lady Rarity, you really can leave this to one of the workers in staffing. Your attention can be used better on things larger than procuring food for catering.”

Verna shook her head and sighed. “The larger environs are working against us now.”

“Vernie, I know about all that. But to tell you the truth, I just want to visit Applejack on work hours. I need to let off some steam, so to speak.”

“… Very well.”

“Applejack is actually holding a family day for her workers. Even though it’s called family day, all are welcome. Geuse will be there with everyone else too.”

“R- Really?”

Rarity chuckled. “Look at how excited you are, young doe!”

“Hey, I just miss Lady Geuse for a little bit! I wonder how her life with Lady Pie is.”

Rarity covered her mouth to prevent a spit-take. “L- Lady Pie? I thought you call her Pinkie just like us.”

Verna scratched her head and grinned. “Just my verbal tic.”

After a long pause, Rarity looked up to the sky and sighed.

Verna quietly said. “I see that you still can’t put your mind away.”

“Darling, I have put much faith on the royal gendarmerie before. But after they have achieved precisely nothing in catching the saboteur of our mine, I am starting to feel that they were, frankly, useless.”

“Don’t say that, Lady Rarity. The Equestrian police force is already more efficient and much less corrupted than what I’ve seen elsewhere. If this is in Timbucktu, nopony would care about a wounded doe more than a chipper piece of pebble.”

Rarity wincingly stressed. “Vernie, darling, comparing downwards makes us feel good, but it does us no good. That’s why I sent in the lambasting piece on the Mirror. I know it would offend some big wigs, but if this is what it takes to put some sense into their collective foreheads, then harmony wills it I’m going to do ten.”

Thinking about the media maelstrom it caused, Verna chuckled. “It was certainly something, Lady Rarity.”

“If not for that, we’d still be solely relying on private guards of our own to keep security around Raritan! The sheer bureaucracy and red tape in the Equestrian government is unbelievable!”

Rarity huffed, and turned to the antelope. “So, Vernie.”

“Yes?”

“I must thank you regardless of how Raritan would turn out. You’ve stimulated so much new thought in me, and helped us through this different financial hurdle. You’ve even risked your safety in helping me. I’m glad that you’ve come to us along with Twilight.”

“Don’t mention it, Lady Rarity. You also don’t have to be this grim about the company.”

“I wish I can be happier. The contraction of welfare had definitely impacted the worker’s morale, even though they remain largely content.”

Rarity sighed. “I thought the return of Crystal Empire would stimulate demands and can only be good for us, but I never expect that there would be so much disturbance in the north.”

“I think it’s only natural for some place which had disappeared for so long to be a bit messy when it comes back.”

Rarity frowned in a disagreeing tone. “They kick ponies out! This is no longer the level of ‘a bit messy’. Knowing Cadance, I don’t think she’s the type who would expel anypony from the Empire for speaking up. But the truth is that a good portion of new arrivals in Raritan and Ponyville are crystal pony laborers who have nothing good to say about the government… and their princess.”

“At least they can come to a place with someone who speaks their tongue, Serenità.”

Rarity bashfully chuckled. “I do what I can to help. Props to the Mirror for spreading the news that we’re welcoming them.”

She then turned severe swiftly. “But all of these are already harming the market confidence, and it’s in turn diminishing our capacity to absorb these workers. We also can’t keep on increasing production when there’s no demand to support it, we’re winning through efficiency, not size… If only we can know what’s going on in the Empire.”

“The Empire had been a strict autocracy under the previous king. I guess we can’t blame them for running things tight, even though it was a bit heavy-hoofed.”

“Crystal Empire isn’t supposed to be like that! King Sombra should only be a phase!”

“How’d you know?” Verna asked curiously.

Rarity widened her eyes. “J- Just a hunch, you know? Cadance is a really nice pony, she only has the welfare of her ponies in mind!”

“But they have already explained why they move them away in the Canterlot Times. I know it might be a bit hypocritical for me to say that, but if there really is a shortage of housing and food up there, then it’s understandable for them to move these migrant workers out of the city proper who don’t have household registration first, even though they might be crystal ponies. It’s not like they do it because they are heartless evil-doers.”

“Vernie, they’re migrant workers a thousand years ago. Where do they expect these workers to go? Their homes outside of the city have presumably been turned to dust by the desolation of time. In a sense, they’ve been residents for more than a thousand years, and now they want to throw these ponies out? That just shows a lack of basic decency and really tarnishes their whole claim of being the city of love.”

“I don’t disagree, but to be fair, their hooves might be forced.”

Rarity pouted. “Or it might just be because of the influence from a certain advisor…”

“Consul Sunset, you mean?”

Rarity lightly nodded, and Verna tilted her head. “If anything, I don’t expect someone who vanquished a previous tyrant to be particularly fond of tyranny herself. Surely Princess Celestia can’t be this bad a judge of character?”

Rarity suppressed an urge to mock sardonically, and instead went for a placid tone. “… Maybe and maybe not, but not necessarily.”

Verna rolled her eyes. “Why else would Sunset Shimmer immediately establishes correspondence and trade deals with Vanhoofer and Ville de Platine, as well as diplomatic channels with the Griffons and the Cruzesians? Even the Royal Government published a glowing press release for her extensive diplomatic work. She seems like a bridge builder.”

“I can only hope so. But the tired and fearful eyes don’t lie. I really hope Sunset Shimmer is a good pony, otherwise something might be rotten in the state of Crystal Empire.”

“Howdy do, Rarity. Busy quotin’ famous author Ah see?”

The two looked to the front with wide eyes, and saw Applejack walking with a large group of earth ponies behind her. They were all carrying buckets of apple on them.

“Hello Applejack, how do you know we’re here?”

“Ah don’t know you’re here, Ah just know yer comin’. Ah was just showing these new helpers around.”

“Wait, you’re hiring? I thought you said you’ve got your hooves full when the crystal ponies came!”

Facing the scornful look from her friend, Applejack quickly raised her hooves and said. “Hey now, hey now! Ah’m not a lyin’ sack of apples! These aren’t your run-of-the-mill workers.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes and gasped. She pointed to the three ponies in the front of the small crowd. The disguises were familiar to her eyes, they were Rosencross, Allela and Chrysalis.

Rarity turned to Applejack quizzically. “How do you manage to get them work together and work for you?”

“Long story, Rarity, long story. But Ah tell you what, there might be some hope fer them to integrate into the community here.”

Verna blinked and asked. “What’s going on here? Why are they so helpful?”

She gazed at the red-maned changeling in disguise, who had approached her along with the other two changelings.

She pointed and asked. “Rosencross, I thought you can’t stand the sight of them!”

“That might be true before, but I always have a lot of time for my sister.”

“… Que la Tartare?” Rarity let out a completely befuddled interjection.

“Ah said it was a long story, but Ah’ll try to finish it before we find a shaded place to sit down.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group had settled into a small pavilion next to the workers’ quarter on the farm. A lot of ponies were already assembling to wait for the festivities to begin. Even the majority of the changelings were sent away to ‘observe pony culture’ by Philyra.

As they sat down, a veil of silence persisted between them, until Verna gulped and asked. “So basically, you guys earn the good will from the workers by doing their work for them?”

Philyra said. “It’s not as fulfilling as pure love, and we aren’t equipped physiologically to do such hard labor, but I will take it over going hungry soon.”

“Pfft. This is a blatant understatement. The milquetoast ‘love’ we got from here barely fill the space between my fangs.”

Chrysalis shrugged. “I’m only doing this because I have nothing else to do.”

Rosencross tutted. “She’s not being forthright as usual. She clearly does this to thank Applejack for saving her shell from my willful sister.”

Chrysalis gave a glare to Rosencross, but she quickly turned her head aside. “Tsk. Mock me when I can command no hivelings.”

Rarity chuckled awkwardly. “W- Well, I’m happy for any kind of happy reunion. This is the best case scenario really, nobody is hurt, right?”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes and touched her chest wound, but she remained silent. ‘Allela’ remained one of the sorest topics she would prefer not touch upon.

Philyra also glanced at Chrysalis. She still distrusted her former queen, but at the same time, she felt a great void where her intense hate was. She would never admit it, but her time as Chrysalis’s trusted lieutenant was still sharp in her memories. She really did not know how to view her after the tumultuous encounter. Their current strange bedfellow situation was a jumbled mix of discomfort and readjustment.

Working in the field was a weird but novel experience, and she wasn’t opposed to it exactly, but Chrysalis was not lying about the paltry emotions that they could gather by helping out. Love adulterated by money and rewards was not quite as delectable.

If only love among changelings could be consumed like love from others, she sighed.

Rosencross looked to her sister, then to Chrysalis. “One thing we all agree, it’s that while we’re okay with doing this, both to pay back Applejack for her accommodation, and to earn some bitty changes in good will. This is no way for us changelings to sustain ourselves long-term.”

“Indeed.”

Philyra nodded. “If Twilight isn’t restored to full health soon, we’re going to turn into dried husks before the first snow fell.”

Chrysalis sounded even more frivolous. “And you know, even though I’m not responsible for the hivelings now, I can’t guarantee to you that a swarm of hungry changelings will sit there obediently in your sheds with our very food sources nearby. Meh, even I might fly into a hunger-fueled craze.”

Verna narrowed her eyes. “Is that a threat? Also, you’re going to get into trouble throwing around the term ‘food sources’ here.”

“We can only eat love and affections, just like how you guys eat your veggies. That’s like getting mad at calling the soil you tilled or the apple trees you planted ‘food sources’.”

Chrysalis bent her head backwards. “Also, hypocritical much? At least when we eat, we only leave ponies and others exhausted to the core at most, and they can return to health with attentive care. Try nursing a piece of meat gnawed on by the lions, griffons, bugbears, arimaspis or the assorted Tartarus-spawns south of the border to health.”

Verna frowned, but Applejack shrugged and sighed. “Well, she’s not wrong.”

“Miss Applejack! Are you siding with them now?” Verna widened her eyes. Chrysalis, too, looked a bit surprised at the verbal support.

“Verna, fact doesn’t take sides. And if there’s a side Ah’ll take, it’s the side of peace and harmony.”

“Excellent witticism, Applejack. I better craft one for my own element.”

Applejack sardonically curtsied. “You jest, mah lady.”

Rarity smirked. “You too. But if even you think that they’re trustworthy, then I can’t object. Are they aware of the roadmap to Twilight’s recovery anyhow?”

“Ah was going to ask you three if it’s okay to tell them.”

“What the Tartarus are you two talking about?” Chrysalis frowned.

“… Sister?” Philyra blinked.

Rarity said. “Well, I thought Pinkie’s idea to put you and them together was a bit far-fetched at first, but perhaps her prophetic sense is right on again.”

Verna pouted, but reluctantly nodded. “If that’s what it takes to help Lady Twilight, then I’m okay with it. The most dangerous phase seemed to have passed anyway.”

Rosencross looked a bit flustered looking at the intense quizzical face of her sister. “Um, this is actually a plan to restore Twilight’s health, magic and even memories through a trial given by the Tree of Harmony in the Everfree. None of us had thought it would work, but it turned out that it recognized my time with Discord as well as Rainbow Dash’s time with Mistral Trail, her lieutenant. So far, we’re literally healing Twilight bit-by-bit, waking her up and then returning her hearing.”

Rarity added. “We think that it will take a showing of solidarity and reaffirmation of our Elements to truly restore Twilight. And so we arrange to pair us up to mirror how they did it.”

Applejack stressed. “Technically though, we drew lots from Pinkie’s jar. Ah don’t know why she thought to include you guys.”

She pointed at the changelings and lightly chuckled. “But it’s workin’ out fine enough now.”

“Why didn’t you just tell us before!” Chrysalis and Philyra protested at the same time, and then looked to each other in shock.

“Because we deem it safe enough to tell you. You know, just a few whiles ago we’re enemies! And Rosencross, we all know yer sis was, forgive me, plottin’ somethin’. Now that everythin’ is cleared up, and we’re sure that Twi wasn’t in danger of anythin’, we can and we should let you know. Maybe you’d help us out if you can, hmm? ”

Philyra exhaled. “I have nothing against Twilight Sparkle at all. In fact, with how she treated my sister when she’s down, I really should work on repaying that.”

Chrysalis showed a candid grin and huffed. “Holy smoke, Twilight Sparkle… She literally drove me crazy, but I tell you what, I don’t know what she thought about me, but she’s now alright in my book. Her kindness is dangerously disarming, but I’ve got no qualms with that, now that I barely had any fangs.”

“So how can we help exactly?” Philyra knitted her brows and asked.

Rarity sighed. “Except keep living together in peace, I don’t know for sure. They must have done something right by sticking together and doing something highly meaningful for their lives together.”

Chrysalis looked skeptical. “Sounds a bit like wishful thinking. You can’t mimic someone’s outward behaviors to get the things they got.”

Rarity and Applejack snickered, while Verna sported a mocking glance. “… Are you serious or are you being facetious? No offense, but I can’t tell when that’s spoken by a changeling.”

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “Screw you all. How come I don’t get a pass when I try to be a bit nicer?”

“Alright, alright.”

Applejack made a T-sign with her hooves. “I’m more then glad to make peace with the changelings. This may be as good as a time to announce this, but Ah’ve started negotiating with the Princesses to move the few captured changelings since the invasion to here. Ah’ve also singled out a few places where similar disturbances were detected in Equestria. It might be a tall order to recover all lost changelings, but that might be a start.”

Chrysalis widened her eyes. “Really…? You will help us this much?”

“Ah’m no Element-bearer of Generosity. That’s what that frou-frou over there is.”

“Hey now, darling.”

Applejack smirked. “But Ah’m still always strivin’ to be fair. Of course Ah’m happy to have received help with mah farm work, the more important things are the facts that you guys are willing to resolve yer conflicts peacefully and be candid with me as well. Trust always starts with honesty, and Ah believe it’d be a relatively easy matter fer us to find both the ways to make ponies trust you and make you have your fill liberally without turnin’ everypony into droolin’ fools inside green cocoons.”

Chrysalis exhaled loudly in wry amusement.

Philyra looked conflicted despite Applejack’s upbeat attitude. “No offense, Miss Applejack. I know very well the opposition to changelings in this quarter of the world. Even though we aren’t hated as much in Equestria as in, say, Timbucktu, but to reveal ourselves en masse without getting attacked is rather unlikely.”

“Of course Ah’m not suggestin’ you to show yerself right here and now. There’s a place and time fer everythin’. What the good time will be, Ah dunno, but we have somethin’ in our saddlebag to deal with public opinions.”

“What are you talking about, Applejack?” Rarity asked.

Applejack reached into her somewhat oversized saddlebag and took out an elongated device with an antenna on it. The device was still connected to something in her saddlebag.

Rarity narrowed her eyes, and then let out a yelp of surprise. “Oh my, is that a portable radio transceiver? I don’t even know Twilight has finished with her land-bound prototype yet!”

“Bingo! Well, Pinkie and the Flim Flam has been workin’ on it fer a while now, and even with Twi’s current state, she helpfully dug up some study notes of hers, but what yer seein’ is indeed the newest, proudest and most advanced non-magical communication device produced in Equestria.”

“What is a ‘transceiver’?” Philyra asked, which was corroborated by several others next to her.

Rarity nodded with a smile. “Transceiver is a portmanteau of transmitter and receiver. It emits low-powered radiant energy similar to visible light, but cannot be seen by most of the creatures in the world. It allows the user – any user – to press a button and talk to anyone within a certain distance, if they have one of the transceivers adjusted to the same energy frequency.”

“Whoa.” Verna let out a sigh of amazement, her mind turning to the myriad possible uses of the device already.

“Isn’t that kind of like changeling communications?” Rosencross suggested.

“Yes. When we’re doin’ fine-tuning of the system, we do model after what we’ve already known of changeling communication to maximize radio coverage.”

Philyra smirked. “I’ve had a feeling that attaching to you guys may be a good strategic choice. Now I’m surer than before. Even within the advanced pony society, you girls maintain an edge over a lot in terms of magical and non-magical means such as bits and technology. This can only be good when it comes a time that less than peaceful means are necessary.”

Rarity sighed, her thoughts drifted towards the north again. Applejack chuckled drily. “Let’s not think of that grim possibility first.”

Chrysalis frowned. “But I don’t get it. How is this ‘transceiver’ thing helps to make ponies less hostile to our presence?”

Applejack scratched her head. “Oh well… Ah have yet to talk with Fluttershy about that, eh?”

Chrysalis asked quizzically. “That shy yellow pegasus? What does she have to do with this?”

Rarity chipped in. “You see, a radio transceiver both transmit and receive message. In other words, it is a two-way communication device. But suppose if we make it one-way only, and one transmitter would send message to a multitude of receivers.”

“… And what would that possibly achieve?”

Applejack grinned. “It’ll become a whole new type of media! Think about it, it’s just like newspaper, but it can actually talk and update throughout the day! It’ll another major boost of our presence in media. If we can lower the cost of the receiver unit and improve the strength of the transmitter, we can then immediately start a radio station with Mirror staffs and bring in singers and celebrities to spice things up. I’ll be perfectly honest, it will become an incredibly powerful tool for us to promote our ideas to the public!”

Rarity clasped her hooves. “In short, if we want to include changeling acceptance into one of the issues that we want to push, then it will very likely become accepted by a majority of the populace soon. We will call it radio broadcasting, and this will revolutionize how we spread information.”

Chrysalis widened her eyes, and then began to chortle. “What a wonderfully devious idea! I thought you’re in general overly idealistic and don’t have it in you, but you somehow cook up such a sneakily scheme of subtle mind control. It’s admittedly more artful than cocoons and magic.”

Applejack protested immediately. “That’s not mind control, that’s just plain old persuasion!”

“Call it what you want. And I shan’t be this ungrateful since this is going to benefit us. I’m just pointing out the similarity between blasting an idea to someone’s ear 24 hours a day and plain old ramming open their minds.”

Rarity extended a hoof to stop the irritated Applejack from getting worked up. “We understand. Although we’ll contest that whatever we’ll introduce, we always leave ponies with ample space for critical thinking, we also understand that ponies are hysterical and open to suggestion, so we’d definitely be doubly careful in transmitting our message without turning the whole thing into a big indoctrination session. It’ll be hard, but we’ll always try.”

Chrysalis thought for a short while, and then revealed her fangs in her grin. “Whatever you say, missus. Props to you if it can be done.”

Suddenly, a scratchy voice came through from seemingly out of nowhere.

“Main lounge to AJ, main lounge to AJ.”

Applejack raised her brows and picked up her transceiver. “Go ahead.”

“It’s me, Styre. The pegasus lady is waitin’ fer her antelope friend fer quite some time now.”

“Uh oh.” Applejack glanced at Verna, who was still amazed by this long-distance communication method.

“Tell her we’re be there in a few minutes.”

“Roger that. And also chief, Miss Pie and cousin Big Mac wanted me to tell you that the decoration and catering had almost been done, and the guests had mostly arrived. We can begin the festivities soon.”

“Roger that, Styre. Thanks a lot fer informin’ me.”

“No, thank you fer lettin’ me try out this wondermachine! Ha ha, Ah can’t wait to see the face of Braeburn when he saw this.”

“Ha, we can joke more when we meet, let’s put off fer now.”

“Alright, clear.”

“Clear.”

The voice from the transceiver went quiet, and Applejack gestured the others to get up and move.

As they walked out of the pavilion, Rosencross asked curiously. “So that’s how you use this thing, huh?”

Applejack nodded. “Yep, so far it can only reach about half a mile, and its power source will need to be recharged every two hours. But Flim and Flam is workin’ on improving that, and they’re workin’ on making batteries that go with the units and provide the power as well. It’s a lot of works to do, but with the incentive of havin’ a company of their own hangin’ above their horns, they will certainly throw in more than enough efforts into this.”

“You’re letting them loose?” Rarity asked suspiciously.

“They’ve done enough to convince me they’re fer real. They might’ve got questionable names and a questionable past, but they do have a talent in gadgeteerin’. They’ve even registered the name of the new company, Flim-Flam Industrial Manufacturing, or FIM in short.”

“Heh.” Rarity chuckled in amusement.

“Vernie, bokkie! Come quick!”

As they walked close to the main building, a great crowd had already gathered around. An enthusiastic-looking Geuse waved at Verna, who quickly trotted near the pegasus for some reconnection. The others looked to each other with smiles and smirks, and joined in on the festivities.

Author's Note

1: Greek analogue

Chapter 8 – A Drop of Dark Ink

In the small lounge inside the headquarters of the Mirror, a yellow pegasus sat next to a white bull.

The bull was sitting on the reclining chair with a smile. He had a much stronger build than the pegasus, but every action that he took was gentle and delicate, up to the way he held his cup of tea.

Fluttershy often felt lucky that she was paired up with this soft-spoken bull instead of the more bombastic friends from Zebrica. Although situations often demanded her to toughen up, it was still in her nature to be soft-spoken and be more comfortable around quiet individuals.

Fluttershy warmly smiled. “… This should be it, thank you so very much for coming to this interview, Mister Mkondo.”

Mkondo nodded. “You’re very welcome, Miss Fluttershy. I’m only happy for you to be interested in how the cattle community is doing here in Equestria, and also let me explain our case. I can only hope that my small input will be able to soothe the nerve of our pony friends here in Ponyville.”

Fluttershy couldn’t suppress her sigh. “You’re welcome, Mister Mkondo. It’s a newspaper’s job to cover incidences of injustice in the society.”

“As I said, I believe that the small hoof-fight on the main street is merely an isolated incident of cultural misunderstanding. Bulls are aggressive, sometimes unreasonably even, at the slightest perceived slight.”

“B- But Mister Mkondo, you don’t seem to be aggressive at all.”

“I used to be quite a nuisance when I was younger, but I’ve learnt a fair bit about controlling one’s impulse from a good master of mine.”

“That master must be wise.”

“… He used to say that our minds were like small boats on a fast stream. We must let jutting rocks pass through us peacefully to move forward. Trying to ruminate in stubborn obsession is like aiming for the very rocks in our path. It will only lead to self-destruction and tragedy.”

Fluttershy bit her lips and muttered quietly. “If only everypony can be less stubborn…”

“Give it time, Miss Fluttershy. With time, even the roughest rock can be washed into a smooth pebble.”

Fluttershy smiled, and the two again sipped their cups of tea quietly.

After a while, Mkondo prompted gently. “Miss Fluttershy.”

“Yes, Mister Mkondo? Do you want anything?”

“No, not at all. Can I ask you a question, though?”

“P- Please do.”

“Forgive my brazenness, but I find it strange that you’re working here. You seem like someone who would prefer tranquility.”

Having been asked this question a dozen times, Fluttershy merely smiled and said. “It did come out of nowhere at first, being Twilight’s initiative. Journalism requires a lot of contact, which even though I got used to it eventually, but I never quite got to being completely comfortable. Despite that, I’ve grown to like the way that we can shape opinion and make the community a better place simply using pen and paper. Of course, my kind colleagues shouldering most of the front-desk and fields jobs helps a lot as well.”

“I see…”

Mkondo then shook his head. “But I also sense that you’re a bit tired.”

“E- Eh? Why would you say so, Mister Mkondo?”

“Why, just now Miss Applejack dropped by and told us this wonderful ‘radio’ device. Even someone as simple-minded as me understand that it shall rewrite the rules of spreading information, and yet you look thoughtful and reluctant.”

Fluttershy winced. “I…”

“Miss Fluttershy, I have read up on Equestria and the Elements since my arrival. Yours is kindness, am I right?”

Fluttershy blushed, but she lightly nodded.

“I understand that why you Element leads to a desire to help the weak and the voiceless in the society, but it doesn’t fit with your element, with a small ‘e’.”

Fluttershy blinked, and Mkondo continued. “You look exhausted. I’m not saying that you cannot do your job, on the contrary, you’ve done very well with your editorial career. But like running under water, it’s not like you cannot do it, but it makes you tired, and you can even run out of air if you cannot find your own way to quiet down. And sadly, I have yet to see you truly quiet down and rest while you’re inundated with questions and small talks.”

Fluttershy inhaled deeply, as she gave the slightly concerned looking bull another careful look. His appearance was one of a well-built bull, and his expressions was always simple and gentle, and yet he said with precision and thoroughness what Discord hadn’t observed in the moons they lived with each other together.

With Discord, it was a labored process of nursing kindness and care out of a perennial loner. Without any hint of criticism, she thought, Discord was still relatively unskilled when it comes to sensing delicate feelings in his friends. This was a sharp contrast with the unassuming but highly observant Mkondo.

“I… I thank you for your words, Mister Mkondo. But I must keep doing this.”

“Why?”

“The fulfillment of my wish to help aside, it is Twilight’s wish for us to have a channel to utter our views to the public. With the growing size of the Mirror and the potential addition of a radio service, it’s more important to have somepony at the helm. Each of us six have a role of their own now, I must not leave my post and disappoint the others. If Rainbow left her weather team job to achieve so much, what’s so unbearable with me having to deal with ponies despite not being quite sociable?”

“I respect Miss Twilight, she’s a good pony, a natural leader. Miss Rainbow Dash also, for she’s a beacon of loyalty. But you’re your own pony, and your own way of life is ultimately yours to decide. Miss Rainbow Dash had had the luxury of choice, why do you think otherwise?”

Fluttershy winced again. She had avoided this issue herself for quite a long time. “I’m sorry… But this is no longer a mere matter of personal choice. For each of us, there is always a balance between lower and higher, personal and greater goals. As Element-bearers, we’re given a degree of magical power, but more importantly, we’re living symbols of the ideals of harmony. Living up to it is a prohibitively demanding task, and it requires us to give up a big part of ourselves for such a great goal.”

“I disagree.”

Fluttershy widened her eyes. Mkondo then said. “Elements of Harmony are the highest moral ideals of this land. But they’re not separate from the bearers or the residents here. Instead, like a lot of magical items in this world, they are a lens and a mirror to our hearts. Specifically, kindness is an integral part of you. Fulfilling your element should not be a matter of difficult trade-off, it should be as natural as showing a smile or lightening up someone’s day.”

Fluttershy suppressed an urge to get emotional and tear up, but she was quite shaken by Mkondo’s words.

She deeply sighed. “… But what could I do? I can’t leave my post just yet. I’ve just finished the last dispatch of my report about the Cruzesian journey to Zebrica, but we’re currently in the middle of reporting the lack of progress regarding the Raritan mine sabotage.”

“I don’t profess to know about how a newspaper is run, but are you absolutely sure no one here can fit your horseshoe?”

Fluttershy bit her lips. Was she really this pivotal a pony in the Mirror? Except for the overhaul and new hiring required for the yet-to-materialized radio service, she did not really interfere substantially with the professional daily decisions by Fair Balance. Initially, she did have to stress the impartiality when reporting on things that might implicate their friends, while maintaining a liberal-minded editorial stance.

But Fair Balance already had a highly similar stance to her when it comes to social issues, and with time, there was a smaller and smaller need for them to discuss. Maybe she really should let Fair Balance finally have full freedom to run things in the Mirror?

She had not admitted this to any of her friends, but she dearly missed her old, simple life at the cottage, when she could spend the whole day in quiet solitude with her animals.

She could still exert influence through commentaries as a former editor, without actually having to work in an office. Although working as a full-time animal caretaker paid much less than an editor, she would fell much more at home, literally and figuratively.

Still, she hesitated. “I’m still a bit worried.”

“Sometimes, we just have to let go. After all, the Mirror, as you said, had run fine while you’re out on the sea.”

Facing a reticent Fluttershy, Mkondo continued. “I don’t know how long would it take for Miss Applejack, Miss Pie and their associates to touch up the radio machine. I suspect it would be some time till they make a working prototype and another stretch of time till that reaches a large number of households in order for this ‘broadcasting’ idea to work. If you aren’t sure whether which way is right for you, then you may treat this period of time as a holiday of sorts for you to return to your old life a little bit.”

Fluttershy thought for a while, and then meekly nodded. “That… may be a good idea. After all, Fair Balance had told me repeatedly that I can rest and leave things to him.”

Mkondo smiled. “I’m glad that you think so.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Discord floated before the yellow pegasus, who was busy tending to her crowd of different animals, now reinforced by some more exotic Zebrican breeds brought from the Western continents.

Throughout Fluttershy’s work in the Mirror, she still cared for the animals in her off-time, but her animals were sadly becoming more distant as an inevitable result of less contact.

Rather than becoming dejected and depressed, she did her best to reconnect with her little herd. Fortunately, the willful bunny that had been the chief troublemaker turned out to be the most understanding and resilient of the bunch, as he took up the position to reacquaint her with the animals.

“My dear Fluttershy.”

Discord cooed, however Fluttershy was busy pulling a tray of carrots out of the cabinet and seemed not to hear him.

The chaos spirit raised an eyebrow, and called out again.

“Fluttershy.”

The yellow pegasus dragged a bag of potatoes difficultly out of the room, again ignoring the draconequus’s call.

Discord grumbled with annoyance. Was Fluttershy deliberately avoiding him for some reason? She had the excuse of being tired after a whole day of work in the Mirror and in the animal pens, but what about now, in the middle of the day?

A flare of mischief flashed in his mind. He picked up a carrot from the tray, and when Fluttershy walked past the corridor, he aimed for her back and lobbed the orange vegetable towards her.

The projectile carrot squarely hit the backside of Fluttershy’s head. The yellow pegasus let out a quiet yelp, and fell flat on the floor.

Discord walked near the prostrate form of his pegasus friend, and poked her slightly.

No response.

Discord gulped and swiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead. He lifted the small pegasus up with his claw, and found that she flailed lifelessly.

“Oh come on! I barely used any force on the carrot! Don’t faint on me just for that!”

Discord worriedly shook the yellow pegasus. Suddenly, she flexed her wings and escaped from his grip, and when she flew over his head, she gave the draconequus a gently flick on the head.

“Hey!”

Fluttershy pouted. “I just want to give you a lesson. It’s not nice at all to hit others with things when they’re not aware. You could’ve hurt someone with this!”

“Alright, dear Fluttershy, I’m sorry. I don’t know you had this in you too, heh.”

Facing with an unamused glance, Discord sighed.

“I’m just a little frustrated that you ignored me for the whole day even though we’re both at home. I canceled all my planned activities just to stay here with you!”

Fluttershy sighed. “I have to work hard to reconnect with my animals, I have been giving them less and less attention since I began to work in the Mirror. Now that I may catch a break, I must do my best.”

“But Fluttershy, some draconequus also needs your attention.”

Fluttershy first felt a bit guilty at ignoring Discord, especially since he’s being so rarely candid, but she then thought of something else.

She puffed her cheeks. “I’m sorry, but the animals do need my attention more. On the other hoof, you may want to…”

“Want to do what?”

Fluttershy bit her lips. She was too reluctant to openly display any sign of jealousy. She actually felt horrible that she felt this way towards Rosencross and in a less severe way towards Twilight, but the sheer time he and she lived together after the traumatic experience in Canterlot caused them to bond together deeply, and now that he seemed to have turned into a weathervane of affection troubled her deeply.

“Fluttershy? Come now, I do have some choice activities that we can do today.”

Fluttershy gasped and returned her gaze. She was too soft to reject his proposal after all. She deeply sighed. “… Okay, let me wrap up my work here first. I still have to feed the chicken and comb the bears.”

However, a few hurried knocks were heard from the door. Fluttershy raised her brows, while Discord narrowed his eyes and muttered.

At the door was a white bull, the subdued Mkondo. Compared to a few weeks ago when she met him, he became visibly thinner. However, this only accentuated his well-toned body.

Fluttershy beamed, as Discord gave the bull a suspicious glance.

“Good day, Miss Fluttershy.”

“Good day and thank you to you too, Mister Mkondo!”

The white bull raised a brow. “Miss Fluttershy, what had I done to please you so?”

Fluttershy gulped and beamed a bashful smile. “Your suggestion for me to return from the editorship in the Mirror is great. Fair Balance is managing the editorial team very well even without my input. And I feel so much at ease and happy to have more time with my animals again after so long.”

“Miss Fluttershy, the introspection and discovery is all your own work and efforts.”

“You’re too humble, Mister Mkondo. I have to thank you for your insight and encouragement.”

Fluttershy sighed. “I just wonder why you hadn’t come sooner after the last meeting at the Mirror building.”

Mkondo looked abashed. Fluttershy noticed his difficult look, and gently leaned in. “Is there anything that I can do for you?”

“Actually, yes. I’m afraid that I’d look selfish and purposeful to ask you of this after persuading you to return to animal care, because it happens so that we have an issue with animals on our hooves right now.”

Fluttershy gasped. “Oh my, not at all. Your encouragement had made me realize that I’m needed more at animal caretaking than in the Mirror right now. I’ve understood that it’s not a once-and-for-all decision, and if the Mirror really needs me, I would gladly go back. Kindness is never only about helping animals, but also helping our fellow citizens.”

She gingerly chuckled. “But right now, I can do something that I like and feel more natural at, while not affecting the running of the Mirror. This is really a good opportunity to rethink and recharge. Don’t worry, Mister Mkondo, I’ll never think less of you because you happen to have animal troubles during this period.”

“Thank you, Miss Fluttershy, you’re so very kind. Your great expertise in animals will certainly be life-saving in this case.”

Fluttershy blushed, while Mkondo gently coughed and slowly said. “They had encountered troubles when settling down near the Saddle River downstream, while many of them falling sick.”

Fluttershy covered her mouth. “Oh dear.”

“It turned out that the turbulent water in the middle Saddle River had been a breeding ground for a type of blackflies, which severely affects the livability in the settlement. Fortunately though, some of our brilliant brethren brought with them our good friends, the egrets from Zebrica. They peck away the blackflies and keep the settlement clean.”

He sighed. “Unfortunately though, the egrets themselves are falling foul of some unknown sickness. It cannot be the blackflies, because the egrets also dealt with them in Zebrica. The whole situation is sadly making a lot of suffering there, with some families already petitioning to move away. We beseech you, Miss Fluttershy, to have a look why the egrets are becoming sick.”

Mkondo then stepped back and picked up a giant bouquet of different flowers.

“M- Mister Mkondo?” Not only Fluttershy, but Discord widened his eyes at this sudden gesture.

“Miss Fluttershy, as I said, we don’t have bits or anything to pay you back. So I have spent some time to gather the most beautiful flowers in the southern fields. This bouquet represents our pleading and gratitude for your assistance.”

Fluttershy gulped and nodded vigorously. “O- Of course I’ll help, Mister Mkondo. Treating animals have always been not just my job, but my passion. I’ll never leave the cattle and the egrets in danger by ignoring your plight. I’ll definitely gather up the needed equipment and come.”

“I thank you on behalf of the cattle community in the Stony River colony, may Mehet-Weret bless you and your animals, Miss Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy showed him a polite smile, and then turned severe as she swiftly flew back into the house and prepared for the urgent outing. Discord looked on with a slightly shocked look. He knew it was childish and selfish to feel jealous at being blocked from going out with Fluttershy, but it was undeniably annoying to have his plan ruined by the request from this newcomer.

He muttered and pondered, narrowing his eyes at the disappearing sight of the white bull and the yellow pegasus, becoming irritated at the possibility of their special bond being challenged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Fluttershy and Mkondo arrived at the cattle settlement, she covered her mouth and stared in shock. The little village was clearly in trouble, as the villagers walked around with little stamina. Some of the cows even fell asleep in the middle of the road.

The newly sowed fields nearby, alarmingly, had no one to tend to, as the villagers languished in malaise. If the current situation continued, the village would fall into a famine and could only rely on assistance from the outside.

Mkondo quietly said. “This is the sad reality of our current desperation, Miss Fluttershy. I am not a doctor, so I can only pray and care for the sick.”

“H- Have you ever contacted the medics in Ponyville?” Fluttershy said with a shaky voice.

“I did. But unfortunately, we didn’t have the bits to hire them. Although our cousins who had arrived in Equestria before us, led by generous Miss Daisy Jo, graciously lent us a helping hoof by promising aid, there is another problem…”

“What is it?”

“Many of the cattle from Zebrica felt suspicious about Equestrian medicine. I know that it might sound a bit backwards to your ears, but the Zebrican cattlekind have used traditional herbal remedies for thousands of years.”

“N- not at all. Zecora had used herbs and brews all the time.”

“That’s not the main problem, though. Pills and syrup just seems strange and alien to my brethren. This is not helped by the fear and lack of understanding about magic and technology in Equestria. They have a nagging fear about being enchanted by pony spells.”

Fluttershy frowned in sadness and worry. If the Zebrican cattlekind had such a cultural disparity with the Equestrians, it would indeed lend credence to what Princess Celestia said about integration. Although she was all for increased contact and exchange across races, creating flat-out conflicts and suffering by mashing the races together was not their goal.

She also wondered why Twilight thought that it was appropriate to bring them over given such a hotbed for misunderstanding and conflicts.

Mkondo sighed, less gently and more weakly. “If only Miss Twilight is here with us, the cattle trusted her. I had tried to persuade them to no success.”

He weakly smiled. “I don’t blame them. Cattlekind is wary of ponykind for historical reasons. Cattlekind in Equestria seems to view ponykind much more positively, but among Zebrican races, Equestrians also had an unfortunately dubious reputation of… making their citizens more pliable using various forms of spells and methods.”

“Th- That’s…”

“I know, I know. Miss Twilight had explained this to me. Certain unicorns and magic users in history, as I heard, tended to be a bit careless with massively influential spells on minds. Some of the major incidents in history must have filtered out of Equestria and gave the place a less-than-charitable reputation. Some of them also think the whole idea of Harmony as an exercise to suppress dissidence. I know that most of them are rather uncharitable characterizations, but they have legitimate reasons to worry.”

The white bull stroked his jaw. “I speak out against segregation in different settlements at first since it was against Miss Twilight’s wish, but it encountered great resistance among the newcomers. But I’m slowly realizing that for races this diagonally different, niche settlements, like Equestrians already do with the three pony races, may serve the purpose of reducing conflicts.”

Fluttershy sighed. Mkondo then led the pegasus into a small hut and gestured her to sit down.

“We can wait here. The elders will later bring over the egrets. Again, thank you so much for your kind help, Miss Fluttershy. Your help will allow this small settlement to survive.”

Fluttershy sadly smiled. “… You’re very welcome. I just hope that the cultural differences can eventually be mended and we can live together.”

“I hope so too, Miss Fluttershy. Unfortunately, magic and some form of Equestrian technologies are just something that seems both wondrous and scary to them. From weather and seasons that do not progress until prompted, to the automotive that runs on its own, everything needs to be slowly explained to them until they understand that it was not harmful by nature.”

Mkondo smiled. “It takes time, but I’m confident that the day will come.”

Fluttershy quietly nodded, and then an old bull came in the small hut with a large tray of sick birds.

“Master Mkondo, here are the egrets.”

“Good, thank you.”

“Are you sure about her, teacher?”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but interject.
“I am here to help, mister. I will never intentionally cause harm to the animals or to the cattle community.”

The old bull widened his eyes, surprised at her knowledge of their language. But instead of being impressed, he fearfully retreated from the hut, not bothering to say goodbye to Mkondo.

Mkondo looked to Fluttershy, who was shocked and saddened by the reactions. “Miss Fluttershy, give it time.”

Fluttershy nodded resolutely, and then began to examine the sickly egrets on the tray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The worry on Fluttershy’s face deepened as she examined one egret after another. She then took out a few vials of medicine from her saddlebag, fed the egrets with it and set them aside.

“Are the egrets alright, Miss Fluttershy?”

“… I believe so. The medicine I gave them should be able to neutralize any ailment-causing substances. They should be able to fly again in a little under a day.”

“Oh, praise be. Miss Fluttershy. My brethren and I owe you deeply for your selfless service.”

Fluttershy smiled. “You’re so very welcome, Mister Mkondo. If not for your words, I would still be working stubbornly in the Mirror, not knowing that my editorial team can fully take over my job without deviating from Twilight’s goal.”

“Miss Fluttershy, thank you again…”

Mkondo looked intently at Fluttershy and added. “But I see that your worries have not dispersed completely. Why is that so?”

Fluttershy sighed again. Amidst her worries, she was also again reminded of his observant eyes. “This is indeed not just random illness. The egrets are getting sick because there is likely something wrong with the water from the river.”

Even the ever calm Mkondo looked alarmed. “What makes you think so, Miss Fluttershy?”

“There are multiple telltale signs on their bodies that suggest they have ingested possibly polluted water. The feather on their wings were brittle, and the eggs within their belly were smaller than usual and have softer shells.”

Looking at the concerned face of the bull, Fluttershy added. “I don’t believe that any pollution will affect ponies and cattle, since egrets eat a lot of tiny creatures in the water, which leads to accumulation of unhealthy substances.”

Fluttershy added with an unconvinced expression. “At the current level, at least…”

Mkondo shook his head. “I’m not worried about the water for now. Before we chose this site, we made sure that the muddy river water was not in contact with the underground water, and drinking water from the well causes no ailment. Knowing this now, we will try to feed the egrets with well water and critters from unpolluted streams.”

“This should be alright then. In case of any more trouble, I will leave some of the antitoxin here. They should be enough for all the egrets for many moons.”

“We will certainly repay you once we have the m-”

“Don’t be silly, Mister Mkondo, your beautiful bouquet and your gratitude is the most priceless gift that you could’ve given me.”

Fluttershy weakly smiled, but remained visibly disturbed. Mkondo closed his eyes and said. “I believe I share your concern at the implications of this.”

The yellow pegasus widened her worried eyes, and bit her lips. “If this turns out to be true, then the development upstream will likely be the chief suspect of the degrading water quality.”

“But Miss Fluttershy, if it turns out to be the development that is associated with your friends that causes the water to become unclean, then it would be dire news. Today the egrets, tomorrow it could be others. The reprisal if the larger public know this will be rather severe.”

Fluttershy had trusted her friends to make the right call when come to building the foundation of their future plans, while maintaining the pristine beauty of the Equestrian environment.

But egrets were excellent indicator of water quality. Their symptoms would not lie.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and sadly frowned. How ironic it was for her to leave the journalistic profession, and immediately come upon a major public health scandal only by doing her old job.

“Miss Fluttershy, I know you’re conflicted right now.”

Fluttershy looked to the bull, who looked unflappable as a marble pillar in a rough sea.

“It might seem unkind to your friends, but to stop here and cover the things up is much more uncompassionate. To the animals that you care so much for, and to the ponies, zebras, cattle and all other creatures that might be affected in the coming days.”

Mkondo paused. He took a bottle of dried herbs and poured some hot water from a boiling pot into the bottle. He then poured the herbal tea into two cups and curtly offered one to Fluttershy.

“This is rooibos, red bush tea. Some brethren brought it here for self-consumption. It can calm nerves and soothe minds, try a cup.”

Fluttershy politely took the cup and drank the malty-tasted drink. It was somewhat curiously tasting, with a distinctive cinnamon-like flavor compared to common tea.

Mkondo himself took a light sip and continued. “Even to your friends… Miss Rarity and Miss Applejack are both great ponies. I salute them. They have helped the newcomers a lot to actively supplying food, materials and workers. We all love them as we love Miss Twilight. But it would be a travesty to give them a pass just because of the help we receive. The potentially affected populace is far from only us the newcomers, but everyone downstream.”

Fluttershy slowly nodded, and the white bull said lowly. “At the very least we must be firm and get to the bottom and the truth. If it turns out that the pollution had nothing to do with your friends, then it is doing them a great service and justice. If it turns out that it had something to do with them, then it is imperative to inform them as a compassionate friend. Above all, we must get the information out in order to be responsible.”

Fluttershy suddenly broke into a bashful and sad chuckle. “… I guess I had to become an investigative journalist once more, eh?”

Mkondo, for once, looked fretful with regret. “Miss Fluttershy, I once again apologize, for I have given you the advice to retire to a less hectic life that suits your own personality, and yet I now prompt you with such news that you’ll have to engage so many more individuals to uncover the truth.”

“This is not your fault in any shape or form, Mister Mkondo. In fact, the earlier we discover this, the better. As you say, even though the water might still be drinkable for us, things might become worse in the future. It’s better for us to nip something this bad in the bud, rather than let it fester until someone actually get sick.”

Mkondo nodded. After exchanging a thoughtful glance, the two exited the hut and prepared to go on investigating the source of pollution.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Applejack slapped the desk and gritted her teeth. “What the Tartatus?! This is unacceptable! Whoever did this will definitely get a paddlin’ from me!”

The yellow pegasus was clearly stunned by the sheer anger from the farmer mare. The white bull simply stared silently.

“So do you two have any idea who could’ve dumped those nasty stuffs into the river? And what are those exactly?”

“Um…” Fluttershy hesitated.

“We come to ask if you have any idea yourself, Miss Applejack. Miss Fluttershy have given the water sample over to Miss Twilight, with help from Miss Trixie and Mister Spike, since the Golden Oak Library seems to be only place around here with suitable equipment. But we aren’t expecting any results soon given Miss Twilight’s… current condition. I also understand that as amazing Equestrian technologies are, it might be impossible to determine what’s in the water. So we’re basically just asking around.”

Mkondo then said more pointedly. “This is by no means pointing hooves, but we come to here with a reason.”

“And what would be it?” Applejack raised a brow.

“The Apple farms surrounded the entire upper stretch of the Saddle River. It is conceivable that the waters that ran through your farms contain materials that are harmful to the health of water birds and even sapient creatures.”

Applejack looked incredibly offended. “No! We’ll never put harmful shmucks in our farms to boost our yields!”

Mkondo walked back a step and gave a cursory glance to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus took a deep breath and said. “What about the pest repellents that you use? The changelings get rather sick after walking through your fields, don’t they?”

Applejack widened her eyes and spluttered slightly, but she immediately added. “Okay, first, those pest repellents are made with natural ingredients Zecora and her crew gathered from the Everfree. Given how the Little Saddle River flows through the Everfree, if what we used is in any way toxic, then by Tartarus we’ll all be sick long before that!”

Fluttershy knitted her brows to stress her concern. “But now, the fact is that it is at least harmful to some creatures. The changelings are also sapient, right? And even though the raw materials may be harmless, the products can still be harmful!”

“It’s tested, Ah swear! Ah’ve even drank the darn thing without gettin’ mahself wrecked! Do you not believe me now?”

Applejack raised her voice so much, it’s cracking at the brims. “More so, we’ve stopped usin’ them repellent after the changelings settled in altogether! Now we release ladybugs and praying mantises into the fields as natural pest control despite its cost. Ah’ve literally done whatever Ah could do to not use that, is that not enough?”

Fluttershy winced. “Well… if you say so…”

Mkondo still did not give up. “Miss Applejack, I don’t doubt your sincerity, but we still want to know about what else do you use on the farm.”

The yellow pegasus nodded. “Yes. For transparency’s sake, when we later publicize our findings, we need to make sure the public knows that if it isn’t you who causes the current pollution, then it definitely isn’t you. To do this we must know about all the substances you use at the farm.”

Applejack took a slow and deep breath, and sighed. “… Alright. Fine, Ah’ll go ‘round and ask, and Ah’ll give you a full list of things that we use on the crops at the farm later. Honesty’s the best policy after all. Ah say and Ah swear, everythin’ that we use, we try our best to ensure it’s harmless.”

Fluttershy showed a somewhat forced smile. “Thanks, this would be enough. I trust you fully to do so, Applejack.”

Mkondo looked to the north. “Besides, there is someone much more culpable.”

Applejack arched her brows and said. “You can’t be talkin’ about…”

Mkondo said plainly. “It’s only natural to assume that Miss Rarity’s mines and manufactories may have released some unpleasant materials into the water. Even in cattle settlements, the most polluted water are always those that flows through mines and mills.”

“… Ah really hope that it’s not the case. Rarity’s put even more money and efforts into this sort of things. Dang, she even set up an environmental watch or somethin’ in her company.”

“Of course it would be bad to implicate any of you. We respect and adore all of Miss Twilight’s friends who so graciously help our community settle down. But now, getting and getting out the truth should be the first thing that we do. Water is the fluid of life, we can’t afford to have it being polluted for reasons unknown.”

Applejack bit her lips, and then nodded. “True, true. Ah’ve been overly defensive. Ah’ll catch up with you two later when Ah’ve done the internal investigation. Best of luck, y’all.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Thank you, Applejack, you’ve been most kind.”

Applejack tutted wryly. “Now off you go, inspectors. Ah’ve had mah own detective works to do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Welcome to Raritan, what may I…”

The white pegasus receptionist blinked and lightly gasped. “Oh my, Miss Fluttershy, good afternoon. Are you here to look for Miss Rarity?”

“Good afternoon, Miss Praise. Yes, we’d like to talk with Rarity on a rather urgent matter.”

Flowery Praise looked apologetic. “Oh dear, Miss Rarity had left Ponyville to Manehattan on a business trip. She might only be back in three days.”

Fluttershy let out a quiet yelp of disappointment, while Mkondo asked. “I see. We actually have some environmental issues we want to consult with Raritan. I’ve heard that there is someone who oversees this aspect in Raritan. Maybe we can meet with him or her first?”

“Certainly. His name is Cedar Canopy. His office is at 203, just go upstairs and left!”

“Thank you, Miss Praise.” Fluttershy smiled.

“You’re welcome, Miss Fluttershy, and, uh…”

“Mkondo, I’m a new arrival from Zebrica.”

“Good day to you, Mister Mkondo. You speak really good Equestrian!”

Mkondo smiled. “We seaside cattle speaks some Equestrian because of needs to trade with Equestria. But Miss Twilight certainly taught us much more.”

After greeting the receptionist, the two went upstairs and looked to the quiet corridor. They did not even have to bother finding which office was Cedar Canopy’s, for it was the only one with an eye-catching door design – a door made with dried leaves and small branches chopped into small pieces and glued together into a plank. Painted on it was a giant green recycling logo, no doubt using some environmentally friendly materials as well.

“… Wow.” Fluttershy quietly stared.

Mkondo knocked on the door, and a muffled call was heard. “W- Who’s there?”

Fluttershy tried to speak through the door, but her soft voice did not penetrate at all. So instead Mkondo raised his voice and said. “We’re friends of Miss Rarity, and we want to consult you with some environmental matters.”

The door opened slowly, revealing a white unicorn with short green mane. He widened his eyes, and then closed them tightly and gulped. Suppressing his stutter with difficulty, he said. “P- Please c- come in, my friends.”

The two were led into the room, which had a ceiling made of glass in half of the room. Gentle sunlight also filtered in from the large glass window, casting a long shadow from the unicorn who sat behind his long wooden desk. It was pointedly avant-garde in the otherwise quaint town. If he was not so visibly timid, Cedar Canopy would actually look somewhat authoritative in this setting.

Seeing the rubbernecking duo, Cedar Canopy gulped and forced a smile. “T- This room is d- designed partly by me, but with i- input from Miss Rarity as well.”

“I see…” Fluttershy muttered.

Mkondo nodded. “Mister Canopy, what we’re about to discuss is highly sensitive, it concerns the health of all residents near the entire stretch of Middle and Lower Saddle. Please refrain from discussing around until we find out the whole picture.”

Cedar Canopy carefully nodded, and Mkondo cut to the chase. “The Saddle is polluted with some substances that cause eggshell thinning and various malaise in water birds. If left unattended this might balloon into more serious health issue.”

Towards a wide-eyed Cedar Canopy, Fluttershy continued. “There are a number of possible candidates for the identity of the pollutants. With the help of Miss Trixie Lulamoon, we have already largely excluded magic-related causes, but it could still be anything from run-off from the Apple Farms to mining waster from Raritan mines. We’re not making any accusation, we just want to see if the source of the pollution is from the ponies we’re familiar with.”

“T- This is a very serious matter. F- For your re- record, Raritan had spent a large portion of its resources on m- making sure that there is minimal da- damage to the environment because of the rapid industrial expansion.”

The green-maned unicorn again gulped difficultly, and levitated a cup of water to drink. Afterwards, his stuttering seemed to have subsided, replaced by a veil of assurance. “No one can say never, but I can tell you with very high certainty that we do not pollute the river.”

“How so? Can you explain more?” Mkondo asked.

“Raritan’s core businesses include mining, steelmaking and textile manufacturing. For each of the three business streams, we impose a high environmental standard decreed by Miss Rarity. I learnt both from her and classes in Canterlot as an overseer of this process.”

The unicorn walked near a chalkboard, levitated a chalk and began to draw while explaining. “For mining, gem extraction produces little other than dust and small rocks, while mining of coal and iron ores are more polluting. But we have measures again dumping untreated waste into the open. First, we have completely phased out open-pit mining which allows potentially large contact between water, air and mine spoils. All solid wastes are transported to depleted sections of our mine or designated storage area far away from any groundwater. We have also dammed and diverted certain tributaries to the Saddle to prevent them from flowing through our mines. Whatever small amount of waste water produced are stored in waterproof ponds for evaporation. No discharge into the Saddle whatsoever is done for our mining operations.”

“Okay.” Mkondo nodded.

The unicorn then shifted to the next diagram he drew. “For steelmaking, there are three major steps, making coke, making iron, and combining them to make steel. Water is necessarily needed in quenching the coke, but the water is reused after filtration, not released into the Saddle. We have already eliminated much of the water usage by using non-recovery coke batteries, which burn away the remaining coke slag. We also use sintering to combine the fine solids to reuse at the steel furnaces. Of course, we are the largest user of electricity from the Saddle Dam, as we depends on clean hydroelectricity to power our furnaces.”

He sighed. “Again, there is no a hundred percent guarantee of no pollution in heavy industries such as steelmaking. There are a number of gaseous pollutants that we will inevitably emit into the air in our production, these compounds may hypothetically escape into the atmosphere and dissolve into the river. However, we have used coke battery process water to capture the pollutants so that aerial emission is reduced to a minimum. These water is again captured in domed waterproof ponds. In fact, the combined moonly emission of all our plants releases less harmful pollutants than the smoldering emission from a sleeping dragon in one single day. This is all thanks to our state-of-the-art steelmaking technology as championed by Miss Rarity. Not to brag or anything, in terms of technology, we are far ahead of the Manehattans and the Fillydelphians, who are still stuck to their outdated methods invented by some ancient unicorns. Our efficiency far strips theirs, and they’re only kept in the game by our dedicated adherence to the highest environmental standard, which, to be frank, is almost bankruptingly expensive.”

The two again nodded understandingly, and the green-maned unicorn moved to the last diagram. “Our textile branch is relatively new and fairly small in comparison, consisting of only one cotton farm, a textile mill and a dye factory, all locating in the municipality of Raritan. The management of the farm is handled by a consultant from the Apples with our oversight. Cotton farming is very water-intensive, but harmful run-off in our farm is minimal. Besides, we do not use any chemical pesticides, even though that decreases our cotton yield by a lot. Perhaps the more likely source of water pollution is the dyeing of the fabrics, which produces a lot of harmful effluents. But again, we use a lot of novel methods to clean up the water, like coagulation and evaporation. It’s also very expensive and limits the scope of our production, but it completely eliminates any liquid wastewater.”

Cedar Canopy then knocked on the chalkboard and turned to face the two. “So in conclusion, we release no harmful substances into the Saddle at all.”

The two looked to each other, and sighed. There was little reason to doubt him, but given Raritan’s enormous size and hold on the riverside industrial activities, it remained a culpable candidate for any accidental discharge. There were little other industrial development in the area otherwise, because Equestrian industries were disproportionately situated on the East Coast.

As Fluttershy was hesitating whether to push further, Mkondo already said. “I may not understand all the technical details, but I think that you’ve worked hard on this and you’re being sincere.”

“Not just me, Raritan as a whole worked hard on this.”

Mkondo said. “We still want to check around the facilities by ourselves. Not because we distrust you, but because something of this severity must be personally confirmed.”

Fluttershy eventually nodded. “… If this news is published, as I plan to do so after investigation, we need to tell the readers that we do more than asking the company representative whether they have done anything wrong.”

Cedar Canopy looked very concerned. Running out of his clearly rehearsed routine, his nerve had returned and he began to stutter again. “B- But Miss Fluttershy, t- the factories and mills are ha- hazardous places! We h- have a lot of wo- workplace safety r- rules which will be h- hard for m- members of p- public like you two t- to follow.”

Fluttershy looked hesitant again. She was troubled by his reluctance, and she was unwilling to push him too far, especially due to his amicability.

Mkondo though kept pressing on. “Mister Canopy, if you’re concerned about safety, we’re happy to follow your rules or even follow one of your staff around, if it’s not too much of a dedication of resources on your part. Point is, we must document this ourselves. I have a responsibility to my brethren, and Miss Fluttershy has a responsibility to the whole wider community even.”

Cedar Canopy muttered lowly to himself, and seemed to think over Mkondo’s suggestion over and over. Eventually, he nodded. “A- Alright. It’s my job to oversee this sort of things after all. J- Just follow tight and d- don’t touch anything.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After going around in the Raritan facilities for the whole day, they saw and learnt a lot about the actual production processes. From watching the orderly mining by the hardy and diligent diamond dogs, to witnessing the giant serial furnaces that dwarves the ponies that operated them, they were amazed, but also bemused.

It’s truly as Cedar Canopy said, the production lines represented the pinnacle of technology achievable using the current level of equipment and skills Raritan could get their hooves on. When Cedar Canopy got near the containment pool for liquid waste, he even immediately demonstrated his confidence by drinking some water from a well nearby.

When they got to the periphery of Raritan where the cotton farm was, it was already early evening. The moon was on the horizon, waiting to be lifted to the zenith by the moon princess in Canterlot.

“… Um, Mister Canopy, are you tired?”

Fluttershy quietly asked, which prompted the green-maned unicorn to look back curiously. “No, n- not at all. Why do you ask?”

“You’ve been accompanying us for the whole day without rest. And it should be your off-time already.”

Cedar Canopy shyly chuckled. “After s- so many th- things Miss Rarity did for us, i- it’s only fair f- for us t- to give her more than what w- we signed for on our c- contracts.”

He drew in a breath and continued. “I- If not f- for her help, I- I would be without a job a- and without a m- mean to s- support myself. N- Nopony in Manehattan t- took my ideas about g- green practices seriously. She n- not only gave me a c- chance to prove and improve m- myself, she a- also personally t- taught me a- a lot of things.”

He thinly smiled. “I- If t- tomorrow she t- told me to scale the Everhoof f- for a scoop of mountain s- snow, I w- would not hesitate to do so.”

Fluttershy sweetly smiled. “You don’t have to, Rarity-”

Suddenly, a nervous-looking pony bumped into the yellow pegasus. She let out a yelp, but the one who bumped into her did not even stop to look. Instead, the pony hurriedly went off to the end of the road, and soon into an alley and disappeared.

Fluttershy blinked in slight shock. She could not get a good look in the dark, but she could notice a berry pink glint in the moonlight. The pony also seemed to be carrying something, but she again did not see very clearly.

The same question floated in their minds about the weird pony, but all of them were too polite to utter anything. Eventually, it was Mkondo who politely chuckled and remarked. “What a strange individual. Who might that be?”

Cedar Canopy nodded. “Y- Yeah. I- It should be off-time f- for most Raritan workers. There shouldn’t be anything t- to do in the fields e- except for guards.”

Fluttershy said with a slight frown. “I think… I think that pony might be a crystal pony.”

“Oh?” Mkondo raised a brow in interest.

Cedar Canopy also nodded. “Oh… I see. Then he’s… uh, probably a migrant from Crystal Empire. “

“That I’ve heard about in the news.”

Cedar Canopy shyly chuckled. “Lately th- there has been a s- steady stream of those from there, and we hired them to work t- the fields and whatnot in e- exchange of a living wage and a place to live. I- I don’t k- know the d- details though. They usually keep to themselves and only said t- they’re not allowed back.”

Mkondo nodded thoughtfully, and Fluttershy supplemented. “Crystal ponies used to have scattered colonial settlements outside of the Empire Proper, but they were not numerous because of the naturally harsh environs of the frozen north. Towards the end of King Sombra’s rule, amid the looming threat of war, most of the residents in these outer settlements were forcibly relocated to the Empire Proper to work as hard labor.”

She then sighed with worry. “Now that the Empire is newly brought back, it appears for whatever reasons, the administration decides to expel them rather than let them settle down in the city. The official stance is to send them to rebuild the colonies, but they were provided with little to no tools at all, which is unconscionable given the conditions of the frozen north. The results were that most of them drifted south to Equestria, with the majority coming to Raritan and Ponyville due to the job opportunities. The Mirror panned this decision, as we have clear evidence that suggests the Empire is perfectly able to absorb the small amount of now-homeless ponies. I’m also deeply bemused. Princess Cadance just doesn’t seem to be the kind of ponies who would endorse such behaviors.”

Mkondo nodded again. “Thank you, Miss Fluttershy. I’m just curious and all.”

He turned to the two. “Well. We’ve been walking around for the whole day. Why don’t we just call it a day for now? It’s dangerous to wander in the dark, either in the fields or in the factories.”

Cedar Canopy and Fluttershy looked to each other and quietly nodded. The yellow pegasus said. “I’d have to return to my cottage for the night, but I can come again tomorrow.”

Cedar Canopy nodded as well. “I- I can come back t- the next day as well, I have no a- appointment so f- far.”

The two then started to trot away. But when Fluttershy noticed that Mkondo was standing behind, she paused and turned. “Um… Mister Mkondo?”

“Yes, Miss Fluttershy?”

“A- Are you not going back to your home for the night?”

“I plan to stay over in Raritan. Equestria is so big, and I have only seen so little of it. The younglings back home can handle without me for a night, no?”

Fluttershy chuckled. “If you insist.”

“So, see you tomorrow, Mister Canopy, Miss Fluttershy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the white bull confirmed that the two were out of sight, he quietly sighed.

“Might as well show yourself first, Mister Discord. What I’m about to do requires focal attention, and I could use less careless bombardment in my mind.”

“… Tsk.”

Out of thin air, a draconequus appeared next to the bull.

“How did you notice? And how come you seem to be unmoved at all? What sorcery did you use?”

“Perhaps I should make one thing clear to reduce the hostility between us, Mister Discord.”

“What are you on about?”

“I’m not attracted to Miss Fluttershy in any shape or form. In fact, as a priest of Mehet-Weret, I took a vow not to engage in romance. There really is no need to batter my mind open just for this.”

Discord looked somewhat flustered and annoyed as his intention was plainly exposed. He then covered it with a cough and said. “I don’t care. Just tell me what you did to resist me!”

“I am a guardian of the noble Mehet-Weret. Mehet-Weret taught us to be as unmoving as a mountain, but also formless as mist. Mental discipline is paramount as a Mehet-Weret priest, and I’ve been training for years. I have no doubt you can overwhelm my defense at your full strength, but as you had to do it discreetly, I’m able to hold my own before your probing attempts.”

“That’s still implausible! However you train, you’re just a mere calf compared to my thousands of years of age.”

“It might be true that you’ll remain much more ancient than me, but I’m not as young as you might think.”

Discord was again surprised. “How old could you be? You don’t look much older than Fluttershy.”

“On the contrary, I’m probably much older than her, or all her five fellow pony friends combined.”

“What? That makes you at least a centenarian!”

“My old master from which I learnt the way of Mehet-Weret from said he saw with his eyes the birth of changelings, and I took over his place ever since he passed to the heavenly embrace many decades ago. It might be a long time, but those were simple and blissful days tending to my brethren’s spiritual needs.”

The white bull smiled. “This also probably makes me too old for her.”

Noticing the raised eyebrow and then the stink eye Discord gave him, Mkondo added. “No judgment, Mister Discord. What passes for mere mortals like me can’t be applied to you, of course.”

Discord narrowed his eyes, trying to pick holes in Mkondo’s story. “… What about the whole thing of you being a shipwright then?”

“Mehet-Weret is a master wood sculptor. It was said that the first cow was carved in wood in her own likeness. She was also said to appear in this world firstly on an immaculately carved wooden ship. My old master was accordingly a woodworker in the local shipyard, so was I after becoming his disciple. Wood carving and ship building are both a passion and a duty of mine.”

“Fine.” Discord grumbled.

“Now, Mister Discord, as you’re now here, I’d like to recruit your help, for I have noticed something unusual about… that particular crystal pony just now, for example.”

Discord turned and narrowed his gaze. “What about him?”

“Surely you’ve been following the events unfolding for the entirety of today, right?”

“And your point is?”

“I always felt that there is something unusual about some of these crystal ponies who had been chased out.”

“What, do you have something against the crystal ponies? The girls won’t like that at all.”

“Not at all. But it just comes across as quite strange for the Crystal Empire to send away one of their own in this period of rebuilding and renewal, don’t you think? Even from the secluded little village that we cattle gather, we still heard scattered news about how bombastically patriotic the Empire seems to act recently, with its rallies and celebrations and whatnot. Why would they do something that so blatantly harmful to the theme of national cohesion? The excuse they gave is by no means convincing.”

“So what are you suggesting, huh?”

“These ponies, or at least some of them, are sent down here with a purpose. I will wager that their purpose might not be so pure as well.”

“Whoa, is Mehet-Weret worship some kind of cult? You sound so conspiratory.”

“Alas, Mister Discord, we’re definitely not a cult.”

He then playfully smirked. “A cult by definition must have more than one member, but other than casual laypersons, I’m probably the only Mehet-Weret priest left in the world. All my previous students had failed to prove their suitability in training.”

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to convert Twilight to your weird ways, I’m trying to convert her myself to the delightful chaos instead.”

“Interesting idea, but nay, Miss Twilight certainly had her own way of thinking.”

“Boy, does she have.”

Mkondo grinned. “I began to follow Miss Twilight simply because she facilitated an opportunity for me to craft a grand woodwork for the Timbucktuan crown. Then I stayed because I thought she’s an interesting interlocutor. But things soon ballooned out of control when the changelings invaded. Then I simply let the tides of fate carry me to here. It’s been good thus far. I’m glad to be in service of my brethren who so readily place their trust to me.”

“Yada, yada, yeah.”

Discord yawned. “How about trying to justify your suspicion of the crystal ponies? If you can’t convince me, I doubt you can convince the girls that you aren’t just nutty.”

“What I’ve said remains a conjecture until I saw more, but I didn’t feel any despondence typical of a refugee from the lone crystal pony I just saw. And I’ve seen enough refugees on my travels in Zebrica. Besides, there shouldn’t be any business for them to tread the fields after sundown, and yet he scrambled about covertly.”

“That’s still rather flimsy evidence.”

“That’s why I’m going to investigate more. I plan to do that before I come here, and I’m even surer after the encounter just now. I would be glad if you can help out too, Mister Discord.”

“No! Why would I spend time to feed your paranoia? I’m going to sneak back and go chat with whomever more interesting than you.”

“I bid you farewell then, Mister Discord. I hope that your doubt at me is all cleared, for I have to truly concentrate now.”

Discord gave the white bull another stink eye, and snapped himself out of existence.

“Bless be to Nephthys, here I go.” Mkondo shrugged, draped himself with a cape, and began to sneak into the darkness of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Stop! What are you doing?!”

Fluttershy shouted. The yellow pegasus and the white unicorn galloped to what appeared to be a scene of conflict. Under the gentle morning sun, a berry pink crystal pony was held against a wall by a hooded figure with a thick wooden scepter. He was gasping for air under the immense pressure exerted by the muscular figure.

The hooded figure turned, and it shocked the approaching two. It was the ever amiable Mkondo, who somehow resorted to brute force on that one crystal pony.

“M- Mister Mkondo?! What is this for?” Fluttershy yelped.

“Y- Yes, r- release this p- poor p-pony, Mister, h- he’s s- struggling!”

Mkondo did not bulge at all, white sunlight reflected off his determined face and gave it an immense aura of firmness. “Miss Fluttershy, Mister Canopy, I’ve traced down this individual for the night. Don’t you recognize? He’s the one who ran into us last night.”

Fluttershy widened her eyes and was shocked to discover that it seemed to be the case.

“He tried to sneak back afterwards. In short, the pollution in the river is a deliberate sabotage, and I’ve caught this saboteur red-hoofed.”

“W- What?!”

“Release me, you barbaric bull!”

“I know not why you decide to do this, but your crime must be judged before the conscience and the law of the land.”

Mkondo then swung his scepter. Some white powder was released from the head of the scepter and sprayed onto the face of the crystal pony. The latter let out a whimpering sound and collapsed onto the floor.

“… Mister Mkondo? What was that?”

“Worry not, Miss Fluttershy. It was simply some harmless herb mix which causes short unconsciousness. A Mehet-Weret priest must learn to defend himself and his flock.”

“B- But…”

“Miss Fluttershy, Mister Canopy, look at this over here.”

A bucket of oily and gooey substances lie next to the unconscious crystal pony, causing the duo to wince in worry.

“I’m not one to point an accusing hoof without solid evidence, but this reckless sabotage threatens all lives alike downstream. Mister Canopy, I think you know better than me what would happen if living creatures ingest this raw wastewater.”

Cedar Canopy looked aside with a deep frown, and sighed. “I- It’s no d- different to a m- mass poisoning. I- It might even c- cost lives.”

“See, Miss Fluttershy. This is no time to take concern with whatever minimal force we must use in order to uncover the full picture of this unspeakably evil act.”

Fluttershy looked at Mkondo with concerned eyes, silently wondering if she knew this ostensibly unassuming bull as well as she thought. But she eventually relented and refrained from interfering, as Mkondo wrapped the pony in his drape and carried him away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The head of the berry pink crystal pony drooped, as he was tied to a wooden chair. A table lamp was shone onto his half-conscious face, while Mkondo looked to the pony with a steady gaze.

“So you’ve woken up.”

The pony groaned. “… Where is this? Release me at once…!”

Mkondo remained unmoved. “Mister Vino.”

The pony, Buon Vino, was slightly alarmed at being called his real name. However, he immediately turned aside with a frown.

“I don’t know where did you find my name, but you aren’t going to hear anything from me, dumb bull.”

Unmoved by the casual insult, Mkondo simply said. “I just consulted the roster from Raritan, since you’re all contractors in name.”

“Tsk.”

“I saw it with my very eyes. If you tell us why you did that, and whether you have any partner, then perhaps we can resolve it here.”

Buon Vino remained defiantly silent. Mkondo then stepped back and sat on a seat opposite the crystal pony.

As time ticked past, Buon Vino felt weaker and weaker. The constant light onto his face was preventing him from falling asleep, as was the mysterious dripping sound in the background.

He was thirsty and hungry, as he hadn’t drank or eaten for hours. He squinted his eyes and took a look of his captor, who was simply sitting there like a stone statue.

He finally couldn’t bear it and yelled with a raspy voice. “Hey, finnochio, don’t you sleep in front of me.”

The response was, against his expectation, immediate and without any sign of tiredness. “I was very awake and aware, Mister Vino.”

“Che minchia, what are you made of? How come you are not at all exhausted sitting there without eating, drinking or moving?”

“I was meditating. By the way, you sound like you’d appreciate a cup of water.”

Buon Vino glared at the white bull and hissed. “Mock all you want, I won’t spill any beans.”

“Who said I’m going to deprive you of needs?”

Mkondo jumped down his own wooden chair and went out of the room. And when he was back, he came back with a cup of orange juice and a bowl of hot vegetable stew.

Buon Vino looked with round eyes, as Mkondo held the cup and put the straw near Buon Vino’s mouth.

The berry pink stallion mumbled. “I’m not going to drink this. It’s certainly spiked with poison or some weird voodoo potion.”

“I’ll never do something like that. Mehet-Weret gives milk to her sons and daughters. She is about bounty and prosperity, to deprive someone of their needs is just not something I’d do.”

“Tsk, heathens.”

Mkondo merely smiled. “Heathen or not, I don’t know how to do any ‘spiking’ as well. I’m not a magic user like the unicorns, nor am I a potion mixer like some zebras. The sleep powder I threw in your face was a one-off, because the plant is rare and only found in parts of Zebrica.”

The white bull then put down the tray of food and drinks and stepped back slightly. “Miss Fluttershy will surely take issue with me if I were to lay any harm on you. She will be even more displeased if I were to interfere with your free will using any unnatural means. So my solution is to just wait here with you together until you decide to tell me the truth. You can request anything other than leaving. I’ll try my best to comply.”

Buon Vino glared at the white bull again. He originally wanted to trash talk the bull again, but his stomach revolted at him as the scent of food attacked his nose. Reluctantly, he said. “Hey toro, how can I eat or drink anything without my hooves?”

“… Wait a moment.”

Mkondo walked to the door and barred it shut, and then added a thick padlock on it. He then walked to the crystal pony and untied him.

The berry pink crystal pony immediately took the straw away and took a big gulp of the juice, and then dug into the bowl of stew ferociously.

He then abruptly raised his head and yelled with a mouthful of food. “Hey you, can you point that lamp somewhere else? My eyes are stinging already.”

Mkondo shrugged and moved the lamp away, and then simply sat and watched from his own chair.

After Buon Vino finished his fill, Mkondo took away the tray and stuck it in a bucket at the corner of the room, and then sat back at his own chair staring at the crystal pony.

Buon Vino remained quiescent at first, and then he could not help but grumble. “You aren’t tying me up again?”

“Nah, it’s just preventing you from rolling over and hurting yourself when you’re out.”

“You didn’t eat and didn’t sleep for as long as I did.”

“This is nothing compared to the training I’ve received in Zebrica. I once sat in a cave without food or drinks for a whole moon.”

“Huh… Oh? So you’re among the new arrivals. I thought you are an Equestrian bull.”

Mkondo nodded with a placid smile. After a moment of silence, the crystal pony asked. “What are you doing here in Equestria anyway?”

Noticing that the chatterbox had been opened, Mkondo smiled a wider smile and said. “I’m part of Miss Twilight Sparkle’s entourage. Zebrica is a wild and beautiful place, but life can be harsh there. Miss Twilight promised to bring my brethren to this bountiful land, where we do not have to worry about treacherous weather, farms devoured by desert sand, and voracious carnivores at the walls. Mehet-Weret blesses her.”

Buon Vino went quiet again. Mkondo then looked at the crystal pony intensely, causing the latter to call out with a frown. “What?”

“I don’t think you did that out of malice.”

“I- I told you I’m never going to spill anything, give it up!”

“I’m not asking you to spill or betray anything. I’m offering to help and protect you. There is no problem in the world for which the only solution is to deliberately leak raw waste into a river and potentially harm so many people.”

Buon Vino huffed and turned, clearly not bulging.

“… I see it in your eyes. It’s someone you care a lot about, isn’t it?”

Buon Vino sharply turned back, his eyes betrayed a palpable sense of fear and shock.

“H- How…”

“I just guessed. I’ve seen enough blackmailing in Zebrica to recognize the look of having a mouth but being unable to say anything. That’s also why I didn’t hand you over to the authorities, for whoever coerced you to do this would certainly be dismayed at your failure.”

“W- What can you do anyway! You’re just a dang bull! They have a frickin’ mob of armed hooves!”

Mkondo raised his brows. “I may be a simple bull, but I know a lot of resourceful friends. They include highly proficient magic users, among them the powerful trickster spirit Discord. Some of them know the Princesses personally, and Miss Twilight is the sister-in-law of Princess Cadance herself. By Mehet-Weret, Miss Rainbow Dash actually has an army under her belt. There’s definitely ample capacity for us to do things covertly as well. What is it to fear, my friend? I shall be your feather of justice.”

The berry pink crystal pony bit his lips and gritted his teeth difficultly. He then suddenly leapt forward and clutched the shoulder of Mkondo tightly. The white bull was slightly alarmed, but he didn’t move.

“Are you absolutely, positively sure this is the case? Because if any of them get hurt, I’m so going to choke your life out of you for your lies!”

“We’ll do whatever we can, and whatever you say will be safe with us. Tell me, friend, were you sent south by the order of any sort of authority in Crystal Empire?”

“I- I can’t tell you who they are! They will know it’s me and we’ll all be in deep trouble!”

Mkondo sighed. “Okay, so say, if we mount a rescue mission to save your loved ones, can you tell us the whole picture then?”

Cold sweat dripped from Buon Vino’s forehead, but he eventually nodded.

“Okay. So, are there anyone who’s also been under coercion to do this, or is it just you? We must know in order to keep this secret.”

“I- It’s just me, I think. They pay me to hire some local kiddos as well, but I can’t find any, because there’s no kid in this weird town. But I can’t tell if they have any oversight. I bet they have, they’re darn scary. And if I’m locked down here for too long, you bet your plot they would find out!”

“Okay, we’re going to take this into account.”

Buon Vino closed an eye and huffed. “And I wouldn’t be caught by you if I don’t have to do this myself! The darn safety officer watches everything like a hawk, and I can’t fix up the pipes as I was instructed to do. It’s just stupidly inefficient and glaringly obvious to use buckets, but by golly the goo’s potent enough for it to work already it seems.”

“Why do they want you to do this?”

“Beats me! They just tell me to comply or else!”

“Are the others simply sent down to cover for you?”

“… Maybe. I don’t know what my ‘bosses’ have in relation to the top brasses. Not everyone from the Circonferenza are sent away despite what it says on the paper. Only a small group of them branded as labor saboteurs were ‘repatriated’. Come to think of it, it might make sense, because there’s no way in Tartarus these toolless ponies are going to dig up all the snow and rebuild our former homes.”

He then said irritably. “Is that enough for you? I can’t tell you more before you promise to rescue my family! Those sick bastards locked them up in our home on 24-hour surveillance! If I were to run away, they will do unspeakable things to them!”

“Understood. Tell me where they live, and we’ll arrange for the safe escape. This is an extraordinary undertaking, and we’ll commit to our full, so trust us.”

Chapter 9 – Look North

Chapter 9 – Look North

“It’s been some time since we all gather together, hasn’t it? Haha!”

Rainbow Dash remarked with a rough grin. “Hey, Misty, drink some more cider will ya?”

Mistral Trail looked flustered. “I can’t, I still have to inspect the barracks later, Your Gra-”

“Mi- sty-! Don’t you pull this ‘Your Grace’ and duty nonsense on me right here and now!”

“But you’re our duchess and our savior, Y-”

“Oh, please. It’s been so awful and tiring being responsible all the time, let me breathe for a moment, okay?”

Rainbow Dash moaned, as she chugged down another jug of cider.

“Rainbow, Ah know yer tired and all, we all want to relax fer a moment. But there must be somethin’ important fer Rarity and Fluttershy to suddenly call all of us here. You should probably lay off the cider even if it’s the Apple’s best.”

Rainbow Dash let out a squeak of defeat, as she pushed away her jug with extreme reluctance. “I swear, one day all these responsibilities are going to be the end of me.”

Mistral Trail immediately gasped, forgoing all decorum in a moment of shock and panic. “R- R- Rainbow! You’re the living symbol of the Cruzesian hope for freedom! You can’t just say something like that and give up-”

“Mistral Trail, she’s just kiddin’.”

Rainbow Dash made a face and flicked Mistral Trail on the head. “Geez, Misty, you’re so uptight even in your off-time. Literally every other Cruzesian will cheer the suggestion of more alcohol and less work. You know it, ‘em cadets tried everything under the sun just to get less TF1 and more rum. You should learn to relax sometimes.”

Mistral Trail let out a yelp. Then she massaged her forehead and said wistfully. “Rainbow, my duchess good and true, I know how it looks to you, that they’re a bunch of airy pegasi who only think about shrugging things off their backs, but they actually want to do a lot more, and earn a name for Cruzesia in the world again. And you, Rainbow, your presence alone is a strong reminder that it can be done. If even you say that it’s too much, they will lose hope quicker than a sinking anchor. And if you think that they’re slacking off hard now, wait until you see when they wander around without purpose and goal!”

“I know, I know. I’m way too deep and invested to quit now anyway. Besides, I love you all, I love both the striving and the slacking among you boys and girls, you’re all my own brothers and sisters in hooves. Don’t you worry a bit about me giving up, because I’ll never leave any of you behind.”

“Rainbow…”

The cyan mare held her cheeks and narrowed her eyes resignedly. “Despite so, I’d still very much like a break, if only to recharge myself to face the next challenge for me and for us. However, now we seem to be here just awaiting whatever bad news Rares and Flutters are going to tell us. And I bet you a piece of my wing feather that it will lead to more troubles afterwards.”

“Hey now, how do you know it must be bad news?” Applejack uneasily grinned.

“If it’s good news, would they be so vague? They might as well write in giant letters that ‘Buck! Something went so seriously wrong that we can’t even tell you through messengers!’”

She crossed her hooves. “For all I know, Tirek could have already escaped and currently wrecking Manehattan using the Statue of Harmony like an oversized torch.”

Applejack immediately chastised. “Don’t say that! We’ve talked about temptin’ fate!”

“Who’s Tirek?” Mistral Trail asked quizzically.

Out of the blue, a giant puff of smoke burst out in the middle of the room. A cape-wearing greyish red centaur popped up from nowhere with a huge domineering grin.

“That’s me! And all your magic is going to be mine!” He said with a shrieking but amused tone, causing the green unicorn to shudder and slunk back in fear.

Rainbow Dash unceremoniously pushed Mistral Trail back and got ready to pull a strong punch. But after she narrowed an eye and glanced at ‘Tirek’ incredulously, she shouted with deep annoyance.

“Cut the buck out, Discord! For the thousandth time, we told you to just join in a conversation like normal ponies and not pull any stupid tricks like this on us. Tirek is no bucking jokes, man! He can frickin’ depower and destroy the whole Equestria by taking all unicorn magic!”

With another flash, the visage of the centaur was replaced by a pompously sad-looking Discord. “Ooo, harsh, my dear Rainbow Dash. Is that what I get for taking the trouble to take a detour to Tartarus on my way here just to check on the rabid three-headed dog and his prisoner?”

“Y- You did?”

“Would I ever lie to you, my friends?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes sideways, but she then jokingly poked the draconequus and gave him an apologetic wink. Applejack also shook her head and sighed wryly. “Yeah, you don’t seem to be lyin’.”

The orange mare then turned to the confused unicorn. “Tirek, or Lord Tirek when he’s still a prince, is a dangerous magic-stealin’ centaur now imprisoned in Tartarus.”

Rainbow Dash added. “Yep, dude’s a prince from some kingdom to the farflung east-”

Discord whistled. “The kingdom’s called Lapitha, Rainbow Dash, it’s even older than the first pony nation in the world. You’re going to piss him off by calling it ‘some kingdom’.”

“Bah, who cares if I piss him off, he’s not here and he’s a terrible centaur. He and his gargoyle brother Scorpan…”

Mistral Trail raised her brows. “How could a centaur have a gargoyle brother?”

“Ugh… I have no idea. Maybe one of them was adopted? Maybe they’re just oath-brothers? Maybe magic? In any case, Scorpan definitely burned the bridge with his no-good centaur brother after siding with the ponies.”

“He did?”

“Yep, he came to Equestria sometimes before the banishment of Luna, and intended to steal all unicorn magic. But his brother had a change of heart and told the Princesses about Tirek’s plan. And so he failed and got captured. But we’re worried, because unlike how the Elements’ effect weakened on Discord with time passing, his power actually grows as he recuperates in Tartarus. The only thing that stops him from coming out is the gatekeeper three-headed dog Cerberus.”

Discord raised an arm sneeringly. “I naturally disagree. There’re things other than the dog that stops him from regaining power. But there’s one thing that trumps all fail-safes that you ponies put on.”

“And what is it?” Rainbow Dash arched her brows.

“You ponies’ blatant stupidity of course!”

Instead of getting a rise out of the mares as he had hoped, he only got a round of subdued murmurs and sighs.

“Pfft, rub it in, Discord. Even at this very moment, we’re still patching up for our biggest foul-up this year.” Rainbow Dash threw up her hooves and said.

Applejack added grimly. “Even though we tried our best and had Twi’s smarts, things still turn out to be royally screwed fer the most part. It’s a mighty blessin’ fer Twilight to return to us, but a lot of things look rather dim lately.”

Discord blew a raspberry. “Tsk tsk, you all are too self-effacing to tease. My point stands though, Cerberus might be able to keep him in bay, but what’re you actually thinking when you’re just going to let him stay in Tartarus? Are you expecting him to run his natural cause and rot away himself? Are you expecting him to suddenly become enlightened and renounce his wrongful and evil ways?”

“Are you suggesting that he can be reformed?” Applejack asked with surprise.

“Have that never crossed your mind?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Uh… not really. Like King Sombra, we sort of assume that he’s gone too much off the deep end to be convinced. If his dear little brother couldn’t do so, what could some other random ponies like us do?”

“What about banishing him to another dimension? I mean, Twilight certainly can put a lead lid on him.”

“That’s something that only unicorns do, littering the hyperspace with unwanted nuisances till they get enough power to tear space-time a new hole and come back at the most inopportune time. I bet you fifty b-”

“Rainbow, you’ve got a gamblin’ problem.”

“I don’t!”

Applejack half-jokingly remarked. “And also Mistral, why aren’t you troubled by Her Grace’s casual racism?”

Mistral Trail blinked and recited. “A verdade não se ofusca. O duquesa não se engana.”

Applejack widened her eyes, but they were uneven as she raised her left brow quite a bit. After a pause, she asked. “Is that a poem or somethin’?”

Mistral Trail smiled. “It’s the motto of our expedition.”

“Or your cult, that works too.” Discord slipped in sarcastically.

The mint-green unicorn tilted her head. “A cult? Quer dizer, como, 'culto'?”

Rainbow Dash abruptly turned and nodded. “Uh, yes, Misty.”

“What’s wrong then? If I have my way, I would certainly ‘cult up’ our dedication to Her Grace.”

“You ain’t kiddin’.” Applejack blinked.

“The ancient, prestigious imperial crown of Roaman Crystalia also had a tradition of imperial cult, dedicating the glory of the Empire to the emperor. And why, you Equestrians look up to your Alicorn Princesses in pretty much the same way, don’t you?”

“That’s… complicated.”

Applejack knitted her brows. “Some of us certainly think of the Princesses as livin’ goddesses, but others, perhaps the majority, merely see them as very wise and ancient leaders, as well as invaluable symbols of national unity.”

“And that’s no different to how we in the expedition think of Her Grace. Admittedly, we are just a small portion among Cruzesians, for other civilians have known less about the fantastic exploits of Her Grace, and certain others have their own reasons to disregard those-”

Rainbow Dash sighed loudly, interrupting the green unicorn. “Misty, no religion or politics.”

“Y- Yes, Your Gra-”

The cyan mare waved down the formal address. “For now at least. I’ve had enough of the annoying dispatches from Escarpas.”

“Huh?” Applejack knitted her brow.

“What? You mean ‘Escarpas’?”

“Yeah, what do you mean by that?”

“It’s the new main Cruzesian settlement at the mouth of Rio Madre after the liberation. Nearly all ponies who lost their homes during the war went there to build new homes, and it’s where the former arboreta chiefs and elders live too. It’s basically the new capital of Cruzesia in Amarezons. And where power is, troubles follow…”

“They’re sending you messages over such a long distance?”

“Not quite, I reported back myself. After all, I’m technically using the organ of the Cruzesian nation like it’s my belonging, which must’ve annoyed somepony back at home. So I sent back some Zebrican and Equestrian goods on Alegria and told the crews to hand them over as tribute, hoping to soothe some nerves.”

“When was that?”

“That was already a moon and a half ago, and Alegria just came back with some headache-inducing news… Meh, I don’t want to talk about those right now. Let’s just say I can still stay here for some time, probably until Twilight gets better. After that though, I have to head back and deal with both the troublemakers and other things.”

She reached to her rainbow mane and pulled at the strands inattentively. “By now Cruzesia is certainly my adopted nation, I can’t just sit my plot here and hope everything goes right for them.”

Mistral Trail looked to Rainbow Dash with an appreciative and adoring look, as Discord merely waved. “We’ve literally talked so far that the topic flew across the ocean. I wasn’t kidding about Tirek. You girls should still do something more secure and permanent than locking him up. Locking up powerful immortals without doing anything is like hitting the snooze at 12. You’re fooling yourself if you think it’s going to solve the problem rather than simply let it fester.”

The two grew uncomfortable, but Mistral Trail simply asked plainly. “Are you talking about executing him?”

Applejack gasped, and Rainbow Dash suddenly looked much grimmer. Discord chortled. “Woah, you’re one blunt gal, considering that I myself sort of fit the bill in the past. But that might be one solution.”

“No, no, no!” Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash said at the same time.

“We’re not going there, Discord.” The cyan mare added, waving her hoof.

“Why not?”

“Why not?!” Rainbow Dash bashed her forehead with frustration.

Applejack added blankly. “If we want to be a bunch of do-good fanatics, we certainly can. We can ace that no doubt, sugarcube.”

“Like?”

“Like you. Why bother with reformin’ you? If our goal is to make you no longer a threat to us and Equestria, there are more than one way to do this. For instance, while bother with the Element? Taking a magically-infused sledgehammer to you when you were still a piece of stone would be much quicker. Even if you didn’t die outright, Twi said it would take you at least ten thousand years to become one again, not to mention all kinds of potential harm such as memory loss.”

However frivolous-sounding Discord was, he still shuddered a bit. He temporarily glanced at Applejack to see if there’s any measure of seriousness in her eyes, but all he could see was sadness and more sadness.

The orange mare continued regardless. “Or if we completely go against what we believe and use mind wipe and mind control on you and any villain that we see. No offense, bud, but it does save much time and effort comparing to reforming someone as difficult as you.”

“Bah, no mind control could’ve worked on me.”

Discord boasted, but when he really thought about her origins, his voice turned somewhat uncertain.

“Twilight is no simple unicorn. She know about dark magic, the esoteric principles of minds, and almost all the forbidden mind spells down the ages. If she turns into a villain one day, then maybe only a direct smiting from the Spirits of Harmony can deal with her. Let’s not fool ourselves here, if she wants, she could set it up in under three days and control everyone’s minds within the border of Equestria. Boom, instant ‘harmony’, immediate ‘utopia’.”

“Pfft, even Rarity could probably maintain a Ponyville-sized mindless cult for quite long.”

Rainbow Dash said with a knowing look. “She’s certainly no stranger to magic-boosting spells.”

“… These were discussed at all?”

“That was brought up and immediately rejected. We swore off using what we know and what we can do to do somethin’ so morally wrong from the very beginnin’. That kind of world is not utopia, but Tartarus on earth. Even just for you, Twilight herself went on record to say that she would chop her horn off before casting anything mind-bending on you. Dead serious.”

The only unicorn in the room turned a bit green, and Discord winced and muttered without a hint of mocking. “She’s serious…”

“You’ve gotta ask her. After all, she has the strongest feeling over this matter. Not now, of course, but once she’s returned to normal.”

Discord took a long breath. “… Where is she anyway? Why’s there no one in the library? Not even Spike?”

“Oh… About that…”

Rainbow Dash scratched her cheek. “She’s at Fortaleza for now.”

“Your barrack? Why move her around? No wonder I can’t find her these days.”

“She’s cared for by Spike at first. But he was getting frustrated. Not at being with Twilight, but at his own inaction. He’s been paired up with the zebra colt, but they never really get along... I don’t know why exactly. But a few days ago, the two came to me and said they’re going on a cross-Equestria journey to try to get along by spending more time with each other, and also to find a way to heal Twilight. Since Twilight herself was also okay with it, I moved her to my place, and my girls and Trixie would take care of her when I am not around.”

Rainbow Dash tapped her chin. “She’s certainly still a bookworm though, since she had stuck her head in the pile of Cruzesian texts and records that we brought along just in case. Good to pass the time before we fix her up.”

Discord, however, whistled and jested. “I bet the two marefriends of the little dragon are bumped out.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “You betcha. The unresolved tension from the two are unbearable. Even without the completely incompatible time schedules. I don’t know why they have to go through the trouble of having a three-way relationship.”

Applejack simply shook her head. “Not mah thing, definitely no. Ah’m a traditional pony on this matter through and through… But, eh, whatever float their loveboats.”

Discord suddenly thought about his own romantic quagmire, and rolled his eyes up a bit. He decided to change the topic as well.

“So what about the changelings?”

“What ‘bout them?” Applejack asked back.

“I think after all the hassles, they’re kind of, sort of on our side by now.”

“In the same sense that you’re kind of, sort of on our side?” Rainbow Dash laughed.

Discord grinned back. “I’ll be on your side as long as you all are still fun to watch.”

Sensing the jest in his words, the cyan mare mockingly curtsied. “As long as it pleases our chaos overlord.”

“Har har. You need to work on your theatrics, this ain’t gonna pass in King Discord’s court.”

“Geez, man. It isn’t midday yet, but some draconequus is already dreaming his night fantasies.”

“Pfft, my night fantasies aren’t such tame stuffs.”

“Oh yeah? I-”

“Enough banter, ya two.” Applejack interrupted, uncomfortable at the direction of the conversation.

“Fine, fine.” Rainbow Dash lifted her hooves.

Discord turned back to the orange pony. “Alright, back to my original question. You work beside the changelings the most. How are things panning out?”

“Not bad, Ah guess. Mah other workers are at first a bit weirded out by their droning around the few leaders. The changelings also slipped into Trotian when talking among themselves sometimes, which confused a lot of the workers.”

“How’s that ‘not bad’?”

Applejack smirked. “Meh, they’ve settled down without much hang-up at the end. Ponies just got used to their oddity and all of them mix well. The appreciation they can glean from helping out is not quite true love, as Philyra said, but it is also larger than they originally thought, since mah workers are mostly my cousins and their relations, definitely a charitable and tight-knitted bunch. It’s still not exactly a long-term solution, but it should keep them out of starvation fer another moon, while not harmin’ mah workers a bit.”

“Even though they’re still fooling others using their disguises?”

Applejack raised a brow, but she was not surprised at this line of inquiry. Instead, she crossed her hooves and said. “Tryin’ to bait me again, huh?”

Discord extended his arms and made an innocent face. “Why, oh Applejack, would you accuse an innocent draconequus of that?”

She snorted, and then shook her head with a low voice. “Yes, it is important to remain true to ourselves, but honesty doesn’t mean abandonin’ all tact. It’s like tellin’ a new mother that her newborn foal looks like a lump of rotten hay drenched in tomato sauce.”

Discord laughed aloud. “That’d be so much fun though.”

“What good will it do, though? Honesty should not be brutal. Being brutally honest is less of a virtue but more of being needlessly defensive. It makes you lose sight of bigger things, like whether honesty actually helps the ones you care about.”

She shrugged. “Besides, it’s all fun and games until somepony loses an eye. We’re lookin’ at things at really rose-tinted glasses, and others don’t think that changelings are jus’ some love-hungry bug-ponies who has laid down their arms. In the eyes of most Equestrians, and Ah’ll bet that includes even the Zebricans, changelings are the scourge of the land and ought to be swatted down on sight. Now that Twilight’s recoverin’, we have the will, but not the provision to reveal their presence.”

Rainbow Dash added drolly. “Certainly we don’t want to see something like the hoof-fight between ponies and cattle migrants on the main street earlier this moon, only cranked up to eleven. I don’t want my boys and girls to pointlessly get hurt when trying to pull apart crazed ponies and changelings.”

“Oh well, I guess you might be onto something.”

“There’s some silver linin’ though.”

Applejack smiled in satisfaction. “As the changelings aren’t strong enough to kick the trees in general, they usually help transferring apples from the harvesters to storage. This earn them not only appreciation from the workers, but also a cute lil name – ‘The Apple-bearers’, or in Trotian, melophoroi. They’re gettin’ accepted quite quickly.”

“I’m more surprised that Chryssy and Phily listen to you at all.”

“Oh?”

“In fact, the way you’re able to point them around, and make them do your things make you more of a ‘changeling queen’ than Twilight does.”

“Oh golly, don’t let Chrysalis hear that! What we’re doin’ is more like a, uh, partnership, in her words anyway. She was quite remorseful after the whole debacle, which is surprising but good to hear. Philyra is quite a friendly gal as well, but she has her own way of doin’ things… Eh, but Ah don’t mind so long as it still gets things done in the farm.”

“Yeah, a partnership wherein partner A keeps partner B in a pen to work. May as well be called a ‘pennership’.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes up. “That’s a terrible pun.”

Applejack only sneered. “Come then, smart aleck, how am Ah mistreatin’ them and what should Ah do?”

Discord tapped his chin, and shrugged with a mischievous grin. “Nah, I’m just messing with you.”

“Thought so. Ah’ve tried mah best to treat them with care and respect. They aren’t mah prisoners, it’s only due to Twilight’s situation that we have to make this arrangement.”

“Alright, alright. I was a bit too harsh. I just want you to note that the three changeling head-honchos we know are all quite very willful, and you should be careful in your dealings.”

Applejack’s somewhat annoyed frown turned into a smile. “Thanks fer the reminder, Ah’ll be.”

“So are they coming or not?”

“Nah, Chrysalis and Alle- Ah mean, Philyra-”

Rainbow Dash snickered at her friend’s verbal fumbling. “Gee. I don’t know why she doesn’t just bite the bullet and call herself Allela like her sister does.”

“Ah don’t blame her. It must be a hard time to be messed up by strange magic and act against her free will. Giving people choices are what Twi and we’ve been doin’, right?”

Applejack then exhaled. “Anyway, they didn’t say anything. Chrysalis said she couldn’t care less, and Philyra said she had some unspecified ‘other stuffs’ to do. Ah’m not goin’ to be overly nosy as long as they’re not up to no good again. Ah didn’t see Rosencross at first, since she’s not living on mah farm to begin with, but when Ah saw her this morning, she’s drunk as a skunk next to mah farmhouse.”

“What? Why?” Discord looked surprised.

“I don’t even know changelings can be drunk. Is she falling out with her new sister?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Enope. Ah don’t think so. Someone else definitely has to take the blame.”

Applejack then gave a very judgmental gaze to Discord, who stared back like a dummy. Rainbow Dash looked on cluelessly at first, but she too came to understand what Applejack was implying. Eventually, all three mares in the room looked at Discord like he had committed a grave crime.

“What? Why’re you all looking at me like that?”

“Ah know we’re all adults and the responsibility can’t be dumped on you alone, but sort yer relationships out, Discord. Ah don’t want to see a redux of what happened in the Prench restaurant.”

“Wait?! She’s into-”

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof and stopped Discord. “Ask her yourself, dude. Cadance’s up north, we aren’t your love gurus.”

Mistral Trail looked left and right, and said with a quiet smile. “Good luck, Mister Discord. We Cruzesians often say, ‘Love is blind, so you’ll have to feel your way.’”

Discord briefly smiled in appreciation, and then grumbled to the remaining two. “See? That’s the sort of understanding I would expect from a friend, not immediate hoof-pointing!”

“Well, excu—se me, mister draconequus.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“You want cushioned words, yer not gettin’ them from us. Ah said it bluntly because Ah want you to really think on it and do somethin’ about it. It’s a miracle that things work out Spike and the lots, and you better reproduce that kind of miracle.”

“For real.”

Applejack smirked. “If you don’t want that much responsibility, don’t be a buckin’ Casanova in the first place.”

After another period of relative silence mainly due to Discord’s embarrassment, the quartet looked outside the window, and then to the clock, then at each other with some concern on their faces.

“Do we really come at the right place and the right time, AJ? I thought they said to meet here at 3, but it’s 4 already.”

“Ah’m dead sure, sugarcube. Ah swear Ah heard that from the pegasus messenger Rarity sent out. Ah then immediately reach out to all of you.”

Discord crossed his arms and sneered. “Except me, huh? So much for being friends.”

“None of us couldn’t find you, fer Pete’s sake! That’s why Twi and Fluttershy insisted on havin’ you live with ‘em, so that you can’t just hide in whatever pocket dimension you happen to fancy!”

Discord pretended not to hear the rebuttal. “Tsk tsk, fortunately my dear Fluttershy told me to come, or else I’m so going to be tragically ignored.”

Rainbow Dash raised a brow. “So you saw her? When?”

“Meh, I didn’t track the time. But it’s in the morning. I was getting ready for my trip down the Tartarus, and I want to look for my dear Fluttershy to doubly make sure that I don’t accidentally set off the dog in my entry. And luckily I caught her about to go north on a train in the morning. She advised me on the three-headed dog and also told me to come to this meeting. And man, was her mouth tight, she wouldn’t even tell me what’s up out there.”

“Ah see…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Discord wanted to add something, but the door to the library suddenly opened to the sight of a large group, with everyone looking rather grim.

Rainbow Dash immediately groaned. “Whoa! Rarity, Fluttershy, Verna, Mkondo! What in Equestria is keeping you so long!”

Applejack added with a deep frown. “Yeah, it’s been a whole hour late!”

“We’re really, really sorry...” Fluttershy lowered her head.

Rarity then shook her head. “There is a reason for the delay, darling, this must be sealed as tight as a drum, and we had to go around and take care of the loose ends.”

Discord made a face. “… What, ‘loose ends’? Did you accidentally off somepony and have to cover up?”

“By the stars, no!”

Rarity yelped in shock. “Why does your mind go to places like that all of a sudden?”

Mistral Trail curtsied and said. “To be fair to Mister Discord, we were talking about how to deal with major villains a moment ago.”

“Hey Misty, thank you! Oh, you’re such a fair pony, much fairer than them anyways.”

Mistral Trail quietly gasped, until she realized that the draconequus was not complimenting her appearance but commenting on her fairness. She then hurriedly turned away to hide her embarrassed look.

Discord simply turned to the newcomers and said. “So what’s it that then you have to act like a bunch of sneaking spies?”

Rarity sighed. “If this is leaked early, it will be a bombshell. A lot of things would fall apart, including our relationship with Crystal Empire and public confidence in our environmental protection policies.”

“I’m not followin’, sugarcube.”

“Madam Applejack.”

Verna said, addressing Applejack as so because the orange pony did not like to be called a ‘lady’. “Now that we’re here, there is no need to be covert. We have discovered a strange but highly concerning scheme, in which someone from the Crystal Empire sent somepony down south, in order to sabotage the water quality in the Saddle by dumping raw sewage from Raritan plants in the north.”

Rainbow Dash almost shouted. “Why would someone want to do that?!”

“Has the culprit been caught?” Applejack quickly asked.

“Fret not, Miss Applejack, for I have apprehended the particular crystal pony. We should probably count our blessing, as we would not know so early about the degrading water quality if not for what happened among the birds of my cattle kin.”

Applejack said with a deep frown. “Heck. Surely you’ve already raised this issue to Princess Cadance and Twi’s brother? Whatever the reason, this gang of no-good ponies must be wholly uprooted!”

“... Hmm…”

The four newcomers muttered quietly, which prompted the orange pony to ask in concern. “What? You can’t be thinkin’ that Cadance and-”

“No, darling, it’s not that we suspect Princess Cadance of this travesty. In fact, we’re non-the-wiser about who could have done it. I myself am totally shocked when Fluttershy told me of this… We should have made no enemies in Crystal Empire. Who would be so foul that he or she would want to poison a whole nation of people, in addition to implicate us for no reason?”

“All things aside, if this news get out. Oh boy, would it be a chaotic extravaganza! Pictures the ponies go around and digging their own wells and scrambling for clean water heads after hooves!”

“Stop bein’ so giddy, Discord. Unless you want to implicate yerself.”

“If it were me, I would not hire some nobody crystal pony. Why would I cover my track like that when I can just announce my presence with a marshmallow megaphone?”

Applejack’s eyes twitched. “… Anyway, did the pony tell you the reason or the mastermind of all these?”

“That’s the tricky part, I’m afraid.”

Rarity sighed. “There’s a hostage situation up north that prevents him from telling us the whole situation, it seems. His family are kept under some sort of house arrest, and it would go on unless he creates enough ruckus down south.”

“Aha? Now that seems more interesting.” Discord grinned.

Rainbow Dash looked incredulous. “I’m still confused. Who’s he and who’s the one threatening him?”

“We know little about the mastermind, but the pony we caught is one of those from Circonferenza.”

“… Huh.”

Although Rainbow Dash seemed to understand, Mistral Trail simply looked lost, and she looked to her leader with pleading look. Rainbow Dash looked back and grinned a helpless grin, and said. “Hey Rarity, it seems that a bit explanation is in order for my loyal Cruzesian friend.”

“Oh, my apologies. Circonferenza… it means circumference, and it’s a name given to the small Crystalian colonies surrounding the Empire before its fall. These colonies were solely populated by crystal ponies, and they were forcibly evacuated by King Sombra when the war went badly for him. Now a number of these ponies remain in the Empire proper. Although as far as we know, some of them are settled down in the city, others are ‘sent away’ for reasons that really escape us. They number in the low thousands, and there really are no justification not to let them all stay and become normal citizens.”

Mistral Trail slowly nodded, and then asked. “Wasn’t there a bit of struggle with the labor force up north a few weeks ago? Are these things related?”

Fluttershy quietly shook her head. “While a large number of these migrants are laborers, we don’t really know. Journalists from outside the Empire are restricted from free movement following some accusations of excessive force used by the Brownshirts. They are virtually the paramilitary of the Empire now, touting motto about ancient Roam and such. They are… scary and brutish, but a lot of crystal ponies agree that they do keep the peace after the abrupt transition into modern time. I privately wrote letters to Consul Shimmer and Princess Cadance, but their replies are quite similar – in that they regret the bad conduct of individual volunteers, but they defend the use of these ponies to supplement the police force.”

Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Makes no sense to me, honestly. Crystal Empire could’ve thrived without these clowns running in the streets, and we all know it very well.”

Contrasting to the knowing looks from the Element-bearers and Discord, the others looked quizzical and were about to ask questions. So the cyan mare quickly added with a nervous laugh. “Ha ha, I mean, I am confident of it, yeah.”

Rarity shook her head. “We do know that the dozens of ponies who came to us participated in the protests earlier or were linked to those who protested. So it might really be the case that they anger some big wigs so much they want them out of the Empire. That’s bad and wrong, but it’s their government’s prerogative to confer or take away someone’s citizenship.”

Mistral Trail nodded. “I see, but how is this tied to the deliberate dumping of waste?”

“Again, we have no idea. Buon Vino would know, but he is reluctant to tell more before we rescue his family. Regardless, we have already sent some protection to guard him from a distance. Per my environmental manager Cedar Canopy’s suggestion, he’s to pretend to scoop ‘waste’ from a secure and safe source, so that whomever monitoring him will hopefully be fooled. We hope that he could be kept safe from harm before we manage to get his family out.”

Discord broke his silence. “So you want to land some commandos into Crystal Empire to rescue the bloke’s family?”

“That would depend on what everyone thinks, but yes, I lean towards it.”

Discord laughed. “Okay then. Go ahead. All power to you!”

Rarity narrowed her eyes. “… I sense a distinct lack of sincerity in your voice.”

“Nah, I just think it’s just not very convincing as of yet. How do you know if the pony was telling the truth?”

Mkondo interjected. “As the one who extracted this information from him, I’m pretty sure of his sincerity.”

Discord gave the bull a mocking glance, not particularly inclined to give him the time of the day. “Oh pray tell, mister wise bull, how can you be so sure?”

“Desperation for the safety of loved ones is hard to fake. Mister Discord, the stallion was genuinely scared for the safety of his family.”

“Oh yeah? Then you’re going to burst your way into Crystal Empire and kidnap them out?”

Rarity said with rolled eyes. “Rescue them out, Discord.”

“You don’t even know who’s behind the whole thing! This is like going into battle blindfolded. This has all the signs of an obvious set-up, and you girls can easily walk into some sort of traps.”

“Uhmm…”

“Besides, how are you going to explain this away to Cadance and the lots if any of you is caught in the act? At the very least, they would complain that why you don’t notify them in the first place.”

“This is to prevent alerting the mastermind of this inadvertently. We don’t know who this mysterious enemy is, but this figure must command some power and influence in the Crystal Empire in order to effect this expulsion and use it for their purposes. At the very least we must send someone up to Crystal Empire to gauge the situation, put our hooves in the water, so to speak…”

“Did somepony say spying?”

Pinkie Pie suddenly burst into the library with palpable excitement, almost breaking the shunt lock on the door, the orange pegasus Geuse followed behind, flapping her wings difficultly and moaned. “Pinkie, I told you not to make such a big cake… Eating this much can’t be good for my physique and combating prowess…”

Rarity chided. “Shh! Pinkie, we’re talking something that needs to be treat with utmost care here!”

“Ooo, a super-secret meeting! Wee! What are we going to plan today? A surprise party for somepony?”

“Ugh, I can only wish. It’s something much grimmer. We are going to rescue somepony’s family from the crutch of an evil gang in Crystal Empire.”

Pinkie Pie deflated with disappointment and worry, but this time Geuse lit up in excitement. “Oh hey! Finally, some chance for me to stick it to some villains! Tell me, where exactly are these foul foes that needs a dose of my trident?”

Rarity and Fluttershy gasped aloud. The former yelped. “By harmony, we can’t just burst in and stick a trident in their faces!”

“Why not? Foul villains deserve foul treatment.”

“Ah don’t necessarily disagree, but diplomacy should come first in all cases. We aren’t a lynchin’ mob, and we shouldn’t act like a bunch of vigilantes. Even if we aren’t tellin’ authority fer now out of concern fer his family’s safety, we shouldn’t go out our way to cause serious bodily harm just because.”

“Oh… There’s a hostage situation involved. I see now. There’s indeed need for some discretion.”

The orange pegasus clasped her hooves. “But justice must still be served! Justice delayed is justice denied, and the poor bloke needs his family right back as quickly as possible!”

“Lady Geuse, are you-”

“Of course, Vernie, of course! My hooves are already itching from inaction since the days we have to fight off desert bandits, and now an opportunity presents itself to practice my craft and right some wrongs, of course I’m going to take it!”

“G- Geuse, are you sure that you can do this with enough, uh…”

Rarity looked up and down at the glaringly obvious color scheme of the orange-green pegasus, and gulped. “… finesse?”

“H- Hey! Just because I’m orange, it doesn’t mean I can’t do things discreetly!”

“I don’t mean…” Rarity flustered a bit.

“Sugarcube, it’s the same reason that we don’t send out Rainbow to do espionage. She’s flamboyance personified with her mane of rainbow, and you can’t hide it anywhere except if Discord opens a pocket dimension on her head.”

Discord laughed again, and Rainbow Dash jabbed the orange mare and said. “You’re one to talk, AJ. Your accent is thicker than a bowl of oatmeal.”

“Banter later, tomboy. Mah point stands though. You bein’ a non-crystal pony, a brightly orange pegasus with a black trident tied to yer side is not goin’ to cut it in the discretion department.”

“Hey, hey, I can help!” Pinkie Pie raised her hooves in enthusiasm.

“Pinkie…?”

Geuse turned in a quizzical look. “No offense, if I am too indiscreet in their eyes, a bubbly pink pony with a large puffy mane and a penchant to laugh aloud will be even more jarring, won’t it?”

Rarity explained. “Actually, Pinkie is a go-to pony for any spying need.”

Rainbow Dash added with a laugh. “Yep, her unnatural ability to hide in plain sight and pop up in places where she has no business hiding makes her a natural spy.”

Pinkie grinned. “And no worries about coat color, because that’s easy bitsy! I have a stash of emergency aerodynamic bodysuits and goggles prepared in anticipation of such a need!”

“… Really?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Hey, I won’t be doubting Pinkie about her mysterious stashes. It’s been life-saving several times.”

“Alright, I guess we can go together. After all, we are pretty much the only pair of companions who have yet to do something other than chowing down cakes and chasing away rats in farm houses.”

Applejack scratched her cheeks in embarrassment. “Yeah, about that… Sorry fer callin’ you on such a petty thing.”

Geuse glowered and sulked a bit, but eventually she acknowledged out of politeness. “… Meh, it’s not like the Equestrians are used to the adventurer and bounty system. No one looks to give out quests in this peaceful town. I should thank you for giving me some chance to exercise. Living next to the Sugarcube Corner is making me too fat to fly.”

Rainbow Dash snorted with amusement, and Pinkie deflated a bit again. “Aww… Geuse, don’t you like the cupcakes and muffins and scone I make for you each morning?”

“And afternoon and evening and sometimes in the middle of the night? Yeah… Pinkie, your bakery goods are lovely, and I really enjoyed the occasional performances you gave in the community theater. They are a blast of Equestrian culture that I sorely need to get familiar with. But I’m a pegasus of action. I’m an adventurer, I earn my rightful name by walking the earth and fighting off villains and monsters.”

Geuse stroked the black weapon on her hip and jabbed it onto the ground before them.

“This is the symbol of my resolve. Twilight promised me that there are great things to be done in the land of Equestria. But now the big villain was defeated even before we landed… And now we’re stuck here yet without recourse to return her to normal. This troubles me to no end. Now that I can do something with my rusting skills, I really want to do it.”

Pinkie Pie firmly nodded, as she beamed and landed a hoof on Geuse’s shoulder. She blinked her clear blue eyes and said eagerly. “I will definitely try my best to help, Geusie!”

Geuse showed the pink pony a frank smile, and then turned to Verna, who looked at her long-time partner diffidently.

“Lady Geuse… I’m sorry that I might not be able to follow you up north.”

“Silly Bokkie, what’s there to apologize for? If our coat colors are a concern, you being an antelope will be a walking red flag in the north land. Not to mention the north might get really cold, and your brown deer nose will freeze and shoot itself off in a sneeze before I could say ‘bless you’.”

Verna took at all no offense at her lifelong friend’s teasing. Instead, she smiled gently and said. “I will quietly wish for your safety and success, Lady Geuse, Lady Pie.”

“Thanks, Vernie.” “Thank you very much, Vernie!”

Applejack blinked. “So it’s decided? Geuse and Pinkie will go?”

After a round of murmurs, Rarity nodded. “That might be the best choice for now.”

Rainbow Dash agreed. “Yep. They’re both close to us and reliable. They’re not tied down too much here. And their willingness and relevant skills are going to be a big boost.”

Fluttershy said with a frown. “But it still sounds too risky and dangerous to send them in. We don’t know who might be there… out to act against them.”

Applejack sighed heavily. “It’s the best choice out of no choice really.”

Rarity nodded. “And since they’re rendering our community a great service by volunteering to undertake this incredibly risky task, we will naturally offer as many help in terms of resources and logistics as possible. You have the full support of me, and by extension, Raritan.”

“You can count on us too, of course.”

Applejack smiled. “Our workers are workin’ on the rail line from here all the way to the Crystal Mountains. We can cover yer tracks right up to the heels of the Empire.”

“But what about when they actually arrive?” Verna asked in unconcealable worry.

Discord slapped his claws. “Oh, right. Yeah, the Crystal Empire has a magical crystalline shield that keeps the cold weather and whatnot from entering their border. It’s going to be a pain not to go through the closely watched crystal gate and sneak in, without tearing a hole in the whole thing and alerting the entire palace of crystal ponies.”

The ponies let out a collective sigh, but Rainbow Dash quickly shot up and grinned wryly. “Hey, you’ve been such a voice of reason today, refreshing! From a chaos draconequus no less!”

“Pfft, I was a proper king and I knew my stuffs when it’s warranted. Crystal Empire was originally one of the places I wanted to play around with, but as I discovered that chaos magic will mess up their shield and bury the city in tons of snow, I decided that it was not worth it. Playing with a bunch of frozen mummies isn’t my thing.”

“Uh… good call?”

Discord crossed his arms and looked to the side. “Besides, I don’t want any of you to get into stupid conflicts and get hurt.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Yeah, we get it, you care. You don’t have to say it if you feel embarrassed.”

“I don-”

Rarity blinked and interrupted. “Wait. Did you just say your chaos magic can open their shield?”

“Wow, wow, wow. You can’t be serious, right? I can’t bear the responsibility of destroying the Crystal Empire by accident. Celestia is so going to kill me this time, if Luna or Cadance does not get to me first!”

“So your magic can’t be applied in a smaller scale?”

“Look, pal. This is not impossible, but very risky business. As far as I know, the darn shield is powered by the magic from the Crystal Heart, an artefact some Crystalian princess ages ago brought to one of the coldest spots in far north in order to build that ginormous send-up to Mother Nature.”

“Let’s be fair, I’m sure the Crystalian pioneers chose the site exactly because it’s surrounded by harsh weather and terrain, so that it’s easier to defend.”

“Still stupid. It’s exactly because of the constant cold wind banging on the shield, that they have to keep strengthening the shield using some kind of ritual. Every newborn had to go through that ritual to channel the power to the Crystal Heart. The controller of the city acts as a magical conduit of this process, so that’s why Sombra could so easily manipulate the populace via their magical links, and also why any tempering with the shield will alert Cadance immediately.”

“… Is teleportation out of question?” Rainbow Dash asked resignedly, at heart knowing the answer to that query.

“The unpredictable influence from Crystal Magic will mess you up real good if you try that. Teleportation has always been a precise affair. That’s why I hate doing it too often except when pranking you guys, because I hate its regularity and the need to do so many exact calculations. I can’t even guarantee success if I follow them to the north and do personal adjustment, not to mention just make some gadget for them to use.”

“So… we have to go in through the gate properly?”

“Probably, yeah. The pink pony surely have provision for that though huh?”

Pinkie let out a suppressed snort, and grinned confidently. “You betcha!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The usually tough Geuse was wincing like a foal about to take a flu shot, as she gave a pleading gaze to the pink mare behind her.

“Pinkie… At this rate my wings are going to be unusable when we come back.”

Pinkie Pie tightened the suit on the orange pegasus, and quickly snuck a head mask on Geuse, causing her to yelp out in some pain. Strangely, the voice she let out sounded almost foreign, as it was much bubbly in quality than her own voice. Not quite Pinkie’s yet, but curiously resembling her friend Verna.

“W- What happened to my voice? I sound like a filly?!”

“My wonderfully designed sneaky-spy whole-body suit have a patent-pending voice change function! If you want to know how it’s done though, then I must say sorry, ‘cause it’s a commercial secret! Hehe!”

“Wait! Huh?! Will it stick?”

“Of course not! You will sound like yourself when you take off your suit!”

Pinkie then pushed Geuse in front of a mirror. “Now see how you look like! It’s going to surprise you, teehee!”

Geuse turned to look at Pinkie doubtfully, and then turned to the mirror. She widened her eyes in shock. In the mirror was a plain-looking crystal pony with magenta coat and baby blue mane, entirely inconspicuous and running against her own natural ostentation.

“Whoa, that’s witchery.”

“Heh, you never know. They say I have some non-Equestrian blood in my family line.”

“Really! Oh well, I guess if I continue to be amazed at everything I see and hear in Equestria, I would be out of breath and strength to hold my weapon.”

Geuse inattentively touched her neck, still somewhat weirded out by her completely different voice. “Is this going to fool the crystal ponies at all? I’ve heard that their border control has become really strict.”

“Hmm, it’s not one-hundred percent foolproof, but it should be fine if no one check us with magic spells!”

“How so? I’m not too familiar with magic, and in particular those of crystal ponies that make them look like boxes of glitter.”

Pinkie laughed out a belly laugh, and said wiping the tears. “Ha ha ha! You’re right! A- Anyway, the crystal ponies glitter because of their connection to the magic of Crystal Heart. In theory, if anypony becomes connected to the Crystal Heart closely, then even not by birth, they can still become ‘Crystallized’! This is like Sunset Shimmer, and of course Princess Cadance, whose royal lineage had since mixed with Equestrian ponies.”

“But is it just a trick of the eyes to non-magical ponies?”

Pinkie shook her head with a sad smile. “… I’m not sure, but we think that might be the likely case. Crystal ponies glitter probably only as a secondary effect of their connection towards the Crystal Heart, so it might just be cosmetic.”

Geuse smirked. “You know what, Pinkie, you sound much more knowledgeable about things other than baking than I first thought.”

“Thanks, Geusie! I aim to serve… and make ponies happy!”

Pinkie’s bright grin somewhat faltered as she continued. “Some Equestria scholars assert that crystal ponies are actually ‘just’ ‘Crystallized’ earth ponies… But never, ever say this in front of a crystal pony!”

“Why?”

“Even if it’s true, they have long since been a distinct race since a very, very long time ago… They’re highly conscious of their own identity and history. Think, will you be happy if I call pegasuses ‘just earth ponies with wings’?”

Against Pinkie’s expectation, Geuse just shrugged. “Meh, ponies are ponies are ponies. I feel more connected to my identity as a West Zebrican than being a winged pony. It’s ponies in this corner of the world that are so weird in their dogged insistence in pony racial order.”

Pinkie blushed in embarrassment and sighed. “Y- Yeah, but ponies in Equestria are really used to the idea of distribution of duties among the three races. It’s been taught since we’re very young. It’s a way for ponies from very different backgrounds and tribes to settle down into the defined, more easily managed three-race paradigm, for rulers and later the Princesses to govern. It has problems of its own, but it also separates power and duties in a way that it preserves harmony in our society.”

Geuse grinned. “I swear, I’ve heard Twilight told me that exact reason. You even use the the word ‘paradigm’ like her.”

Pinkie merely grinned back, at heart feeling her heart accelerate as the orange pegasus again hinted at their secret. She directed the conversation back to their original topic swiftly. “Still! It’s bad form to call a crystal pony anything but crystal pony, even if our added glitter might manage to fool them!”

Geuse lightly nodded, and gave a side glance to her new appearance. When she raised her head again to look at the pink pony, she was still looking unsure.

Pinkie patted Geuse on the shoulder and smiled. “This plan is not the making of me only! Rarity, who received some crystal ponies from the Empire, also send me very useful info about the nature of the magical glittering of crystal ponies! Even though I can’t cast spells, I did try my best to reproduce the physical side of things. For the common ponies, they shouldn’t be able to tell the difference!”

The pink ponies then pulled out a batch of old, yellowed document. “See? I’ve even prepared all the forged IDs! Properly aged using my super-secret operative formula!”

Geuse covered her mouth, took in a breath and smilingly shook her head. “Golly, Pinkie, you’re one resourceful pony. It’s hard to stay worried when you’re by my hilt.”

The pegasus shifted uncomfortably. “Although I’m still worried about… uh, my wings. Pegasus wings need stretching and ‘breathing’. It would become rigid if kept in the same position for too long, not to mention all the cramping and feather loss. I’m not a racer like Rainbow Dash, but I would prefer my agility preserved for any possible fight.”

Pinkie sighed. “I understand, Geusie, I understand. But this is but a small sacrifice to pass as crystal ponies when we sneak across the gate. We can take a less restricting disguise when we aren’t around anyone. It should be a short term thing, hopefully…”

Geuse looked at Pinkie for a bit, and then shrugged with a smile. “Aw, well. I guess if even the perpetual party pony gets so serious and worked up over something, I can’t be that petulant and only care about my personal preening.”

Geuse again grabbed the black trident leaning on the wall, and stabbed it on the floor with force and flair. She then proclaimed. “Buck the wings if need be, we’re in this together!”

“Geusie!” Pinkie beamed.

Geuse then righted herself and glanced back with a serious face. “Pinkie, for all your work to prepare for our mission, I m more concerned about you.”

“H- Huh, why? I’m fine!”

Geuse crossed her hooves and sat on a chair nearby. “For a given definition of fine. Ever since Spike left with Kanipha, you look restless… More than usual anyway. You never mixed up my order before, however difficult it sounds.”

“Oh no! Don’t be silly!”

Pinkie pushed a smile up on her face. “Your orders are very thought-stimulating! I never thought to add beetroots and black beans in brownies before, and they are super yum!”

“Hey thanks, Pinkie. Outside of the Hoëwolk, I never ever manage to get anyone to reproduce that, which was my foalhood favorite.”

“Hole-what now?”

Geuse widened her eyes slightly and coughed. “Noth- I, uh, it’s just a nickname for my old home.”

“I see…”

“But that’s not the point, Pinkie! You also forgot an appointment from your drinks factory, as well as that for a charity stand-up in the local theatre for the Zebricans. Having spent some time with you, I know that despite your look, you aren’t a sloppy pony.”

“Hey Geusie…”

Pinkie pouted. “What do you mean by ‘despite your look’?”

The orange pegasus slightly flustered. “I- I just mean that y- you, uh…”

“Ha ha, gotcha!”

Pinkie laughed aloud, which earned a huffing from the upstanding pegasus. The pink pony raised a hoof to pre-empt her protest. “Geusie, if I can be frank, you’re also much more perceptive and delicate than I thought!”

“W- What? Delicate?” Geuse felt bewildered, considering the martial appearance she usually projected.

“Heh, maybe it’s a bit worded in a weird way. I of course don’t mean delicate as in easy to break, but delicate as in sensitive. But seriously, not even my other friends have pointed those out to me, and we have really deep bonds! Not even I myself caught up on my own slipping!”

Pinkie smiled, but this time with more sadness in her eyes. “Thank you for your concern anyway! To be perfectly honest, and ponies always say to me, I tend to be very clingy… When friends and loved ones leave me, it makes me really, really sad! But I’m learning to deal with it these days. I usually try to arrange for more parties, more work and more activities in order to drive my mind away from sad thoughts. That’s what I did when Rainbow left for the south, and that’s what I did wh- when Twilight…”

Pinkie’s voice turned shaky, and Geuse patted the pink pony’s back with a reassuring smile. The pink pony then turned cheery again and said. “Thank you, Geusie! I swear that I’m all well! Raring and ready to go to the north with you!”

“Pinkie, I’m never questioning your enthusiasm. Seriously, no one can out-enthuse you in the whole wide world. You’re a ball of pure energy. Not even Verna at her naggiest can be as enthused as you.”

“Hehe! I’ll take that as a compliment!”

“I’m more concerned that you’re going to overexert yourself or getting too worked up, because you want to direct your mind onto something else.”

Pinkie blinked in surprise, as she awaited Geuse’s explanation.

“During my time as a contracted adventurer, I saw a lot of rookies. Some of them came into this business because of they wanted to put their mind to something other than their current dilemma… something productive. Those were also the ones who came on really hard when fighting, and they’re more frequently injured than the others. I don’t know how comparable that is to this, but I really don’t want you to do silly things because you’re occupied in your mind. There’s need for passion in battles, but there’s also no space for hotheaded errors. You can’t make a second appointment for life.”

“Hey, Twilight sort of got one, didn’t she?”

Geuse huffed exasperatedly. “Pinkie, I’m not joking! Even if we don’t expect to see fighting in this mission, we should always be prepared. I’m telling you to keep a cool head on your shoulder at all times.”

The orange pegasus looked at Pinkie with a sigh. “You’re much more resourceful than all the other ponies I saw. I just hope that you’re at your prime at all time during our mission, lives are hanging on the wire, and I would be devastated to see you hurt in any way.”

Pinkie looked at Geuse, who seemed to have something on her mind. “Me too… Don’t worry, Geusie. I’ll certainly take care of myself… For you, for us, for him.”

Author's Note

1: Treino Físico: Physical Training

A Trixie Epilogue

I was not a big believer of miracles or heroic deeds. I might have boosted about those in my acts, but those were as they were – acts. A magical show is run according to a strictly organized script. Everything has to fall into places and come onto the foreground at the exactly right moments, or else the whole show will fall apart, and there will be no show, only sadness and scorn.

But after meeting Twilight and her friends, I’m beginning to believe that there might be miracles, and if the world’s a stage, then they’re the heroes.

They are very averse to be called that, going so far to say that they would prefer a world without heroes, only courageous common ponies. But the facts are stacked against them. Why? Well, who, other than a hero, can withstand a blast that so devastating that it flattened the entire royal garden? Who other than a hero can survive a trip from the other side of the world and bring in more followers from the distant lands? There’s also of course Rainbow Dash, who’s all but in name a respected leader of a long-lost pony nation because she so bravely fought on their behalf.

Trixie likes to be optimistic at times of this. The triumphant return of heroes, coinciding with the return of an honored pony nation. Everything should be alright in the world again.

That’s why after Twilight came back, Trixie was amazed and overjoyed… until I actually met the mare herself.

She was not quite broken, not in spirits anyway, but physically her prognosis is bad. Ears pierced, eyes seared, legs broken, magic wonky. Even though the power of Elements seemed to have restore her hearing some time ago, there is no further progress on that front. It’s simply disheartening.

The most damning of all is that she has almost lost all her memories. This fact alone casted a dark cloud in the hearts of all that are close to her.

Sometimes I think to myself, carelessly cruel to be honest, that whether the purple mare is still the Twilight I knew.

Don’t get me wrong. I still love her for all the things she helped me with before. I will never leave her for anything that happened. She was selfless and helpful to the point that I think it was unreal. And to an extent she still is the sweet mare in the core. Impossibly tolerant and allowing for those who she loves and cares for.

But it pains my heart even more to think about it. How can something so wrong happen to such a good mare? And more selfishly, I can’t help but be unable to shake off the thought that without the experiences and memories, she was not the same mare I knows anymore.

She was placid, she smiled, and she complied to my every request. That was a far cry to the Twilight of yesteryear. That Twilight was plain-spoken, but also quietly confident. She seemed to have a plan for everything, and she was incredibly prescient. She was almost unswayable and unshakeable in her resolve.

Despite the fact that we two are similar in age, it was never a trouble for me to look up to her as my teacher. She was like a tall tree, impossibly old and gave off an aura of natural protectiveness. I am sure that given time, she would grow into something much more then she already was. An Alicorn Princess, perhaps?

But now… It was like having looked up to a towering tree, and suddenly turned to find that the tree was no more, only a stump with a small green shoot. It was a confusing feeling, and I hate myself a lot for seemingly blaming Twilight for something that she couldn’t control and certainly didn’t wish for. But my irrational bad blood eats away at my heart, finding no escape and only accumulating in my mind.

Twilight’s other friends are working tirelessly at their respective duties or jobs. I also came to know about the details of their plan to use the Tree of Harmony to heal Twilight.

I am delighted, of course, to know about a way that could potentially bring Twilight to health, or if Harmony takes pity on us, also gives Twilight her memories back. However, I am at the same time saddened that apparently I was not in the plan of the Spirits of Harmony. While the others are toiling away in pairs hoping to trigger the next miracle, I am just sitting here hoping. It feels like such an empty gesture, and it tortures my conscience.

That’s why when Rainbow Dash invited me to take care of Twilight when Spike was out on a trip, I eagerly agreed.

I never thought that it would be so emotionally draining.

It’s simply so hard to spend time with someone that you know so intimately know of, and seeing this. I never expect it to be such a difficult task to put up a brave and smiling expression in the face of such despondence. It was a thousand times worse than having to dig gems in the dark.

But all of my rumination changed in one warm afternoon at Fortaleza…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Twilight, Twilight?”

Trixie called out for the purple mare outside the wooden door. Her quarter in this part of the barrack was closely modelled after the Golden Oak Library, with hanging lights and a smaller, similarly crooked and emptied oak tree as its body.

After Spike’s departure, Rainbow Dash felt not at all safe to let Twilight stay alone in her library. Even having Trixie live in with Twilight was not enough for her. At the end, she proposed to move Twilight to the barrack, which sat solemnly on the other side of Saddle River, just outside the expanding city circumference.

This move was not without reservation from Twilight’s other friends. While in the barrack, Twilight did have the constant care from the guarding medics and soldiers, others worried about the effect of pulling a recovering Twilight from a familiar environment.

Rainbow Dash was on the other hand highly reluctant to have Cruzesian soldiers streaming through the main street to reach the Golden Oak, for fear that it would further provoke the local populace. The local Ponyvillians were already wary of a foreign horde of soldiers sitting inside the city, given the reputation of them once descending on and occupying Las Pegasus. The current design of the quarter inside the barracks was the resulting compromise.

Trixie frowned when she heard no response. She turned towards the white pegasus standing next to the door.

“Milly, is Twilight inside?”

The white pegasus, Milestrela, looked disoriented for some reason. Her gaze was tired and wary, although she tried her best to maintain a grin as she saw Trixie coming.

“Uh… D- Dona Trixie! Welcome, she’s inside! But… uh, she might not be fit to be visited right now.”

“Why?”

“She’s not very, uh… stable right now. Just now, I went in with a tray of breakfast, but she refused me. When I insisted, she…”

“What did she do?”

The milky white pegasus gulped and touched her forehead. “I don’t really know what happened. She has always been so sweet, unlike that chateação Chrysalis. Dona Twilight had never done such things before…”

“Can you at least tell me what you remember?”

The white pegasus further massaged her forehead, her eyes moistened in apparent pain. After a labored recollection, she sighed and said. “Well, at first, I went in to check if Dona Twilight was already up. She was, and she seemed to be writing something in her diary. When I called out to her, she seemed to be unusally spooked. When I brought her the breakfast tray, she shook her head and said she’s not hungry.”

The white pegasus crossed her hooves and said. “I can’t foul up again in my new task of looking after Dona Twilight, after letting the changeling queen get the better of me last time! Her health is of paramount importance, and so I insist to have her have breakfast. Dona Twilight looked unusually agitated, but I pushed through. T- Then…”

The white pegasus stumbled forward, Trixie immediately caught her with both her hooves and her magic.

“Milly!”

“Sorry, Dona Trixie… My mind began to jumble when I tried to recall that part. But from the bits that I can remember, Dona Twilight… wheezed at me. I saw a flash of green before my eyes, and I heard some muttering of words. Th- Then, I felt like I was up in the air, it was like I was suddenly plunged into a midday dream. It… didn’t feel bad actually, my head was light, and I felt oddly happy. I then wandered out of the room, because… I don’t know, I just wanted to. But before I passed through the door, Dona Twilight caught up to me. She cried and apologized profusely. But I didn’t really know what she’s apologizing about. I simply bowed and walked out.”

Milestrela tilted her head and frowned. “Come to think about it, I should be reporting this anomaly to Her Grace long ago, but something in my mind told me to just stand here outside of the door…”

The white pegasus sighed and held her cheeks with her hooves. “I must be going crazy.”

Trixie listened and her expression turned very grim. She had heard about the changelings and Twilight’s encounter with them on the high seas, and her subsequent affairs with them in Ponyville. This sounded really ominous.

Trixie gulped again and asked. “Milly, do you trust Trixie?”

“Why of course. You’re a good friend of Her Grace, and you’re entrusted with taking care of Dona Twilight, her most treasured friend. In fact, Her Grace told me that I can take orders from you… if it’s not too outrageous of course, ha ha!”

Milestrela beamed innocently, which caused Trixie to feel bad for what she’s possibly been through.

Trixie took a breath and said. “Do you trust Trixie enough to cast spells on you?”

Milestrela’s grin fell immediately, and it was replaced by a clear sign of unease. “D- Dona Trixie, w- what for?”

“You said you feel funny in the head, right? I’m worried that Twilight might have inadvertently casted a… mind spell on you.”

Milestrela’s eyes went as round as a dinner plate. “… O que?”

Although Trixie didn’t know Cruzesian, she realized nonetheless the universal body language of bemusement. “That’s just what I think based on what you said. I’d need to check by casting a spell on you. There’s no danger involved, as it’s a spell taught to me by Twilight herself.”

The blue unicorn sighed. “Twilight is… not quite herself nowadays. She might have casted a spell on you impulsively. Let me run a check on you and I will go in to check on Twilight herself.”

Milestrela looked sullen. “Dona Trixie… I, uh… I…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I… uh… can’t. I can’t…”

“Why?”

Milestrela maintained a guarded look. “We Cruzesians are very wary of any… unsanctioned spellcasting. Unicorns like Commander Trail are a special protected caste within our society, and we treat every incidence of spellcasting as a very serious matter. If what you said is true, then I must go to Commander Trail and-”

“It will just be a quick spell, please Milly!”

Milestrela closed her eyes and winced. “I can’t! Spiritual cleaniness is a very important matter to us! Our forefathers told us that it’s because we’re impure in our spirits, so that we attract the wrath of the Black Snake!”

“You stil-”

Trixie bit her tongue for almost uttering an insensitive remark, instead she spat and rephrased. “You’re in Equestria! No one has ever been attacked by supernatural force simply because they casted magic or was casted magic on by some unicorns!”

The blue unicorn then nudged further, appealing to emotion. “Are you saying that you think that Trixie’s magic is… unclean?”

Milestrela widened her eyes, and she immediately said with hooves flailing. “N- No, no! Of course not! I… I…”

The white pegasus just sighed. “Please Dona Trixie, I- my head is swirling right now. I can’t even think straight…”

“Milly, you need a check-up on by Trixie. I promise you it would be quick and harmless. I really hope that the spell Twilight accidentally casted, if any, was not harmful. I promise, I solemnly promise!”

Milestrela again tilted her head in a dazed look. At the end, she slowly sighed. “I guess Dona Trixie is a good and upright unicorn. Please, help me so that my head no longer feel hurt and dizzy…”

Trixie nodded heavily. “Trixie will try…!”

Trixie thought for a moment, and then casted a simple inspection spell using her blue magic. Immediately, she confirmed her fear. An unmistakably changeling-tinted magic was inside the white pegasus’s mind. The command seemed to be harmless enough, which was apparently simply just standing outside and not going inside, and its strength was weak. Trixie sighed and used her own magic to dispel its undue influence.

Milestrela gasped, and her cloudy gaze suddenly became clear. She looked up and looked at Trixie right into the eyes, and embraced the blue mare in a fierce tackle.

In midst of a series of rough patting in the back, Trixie closed an eye and said difficultly. “E- Eh? What’s the matter, Milly?”

“Dona Trixie is a mãe-de-santo for sure! Your spell immediately makes me feel better!”

Milestrela then turned fretful. “But Dona Trixie, please don’t tell t-”

“I know, I understand. This is a sensitive matter for you all. Trixie will not tell this to any other Cruzesians.”

“Thank you, Dona Trixie!”

The white pegasus beamed, but it soon dimmed with worry. “Please, check on Dona Twilight quickly as well. I shudder in fear to think what could have happened to my sweet dona to make her act like that.”

Trixie again nodded, and said with gritted teeth. “Trixie will go in now. Milly, please guard the door tight and don’t let anypony barge in while I’m in there.”

“Sim!” Milestrela saluted off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trixie walked up to the door. She attempted to turn the door handle, but it was somehow locked. Trixie closed her eyes and casted a picklock spell she learnt from the days of her magician career, and the meagre lock surrendered to her magic immediately.

Trixie then carefully walked inside the unlit house. The replica of the library was only one storey, with the front as where all the bookshelves were, and the back walled off to form a small bedroom.

Trixie immediately heard something. A low hum, it sounded like.

As she lightly trotted inside with utmost care, the hum became louder, and it was apparently a song. A really sad sounding song, slowly bemoaning her loss of memory, and remembering nothing even seeing the face a loved one.

“Twilight…” Trixie felt wrangled in her heart hearing the dripping sadness in her voice.

She had thought that the ‘new’ Twilight was… for the lack of a better, more benign word, kind… but empty and vapid. She has little to no initiative, and she seemed more than fine to be thrown around like a piece of wash cloth. But perhaps under that placid face hid a deeply fearful and sad soul, lost in the torrents of unfamiliarity.

“W- Who?!” Twilight abruptly stopped singing, and looked back fearfully.

“Twilight, it’s just me, Trixie.”

Twilight immediately attempted to trot back from the windowside and distanced herself from the blue mare, but she forgot to grab her crutch and immediately fell flat on her face.

“Twilight!”

“No, please! Don’t get close to me! You might get hurt!”

“Twilight, you aren’t thinking clearly right now! I’m here to help, you’re my friend and ment-”

The purple mare gritted her teeth and barked. “No! I’m not your mentor, I’m not your Twilight! You clearly think so too, right?!”

Trixie widened her eyes in shock and slightly retreated. Twilight’s words were like a sharp spear and struck right at her pained heart.

Twilight rubbed her eyes, and her strained voice suddenly deflated along with her guarded expression. She sniffled and cried out loud.

“W- What have I done? I shouldn’t have casted magic on Milly, and I shouldn’t have shouted at you!”

Twilight covered her face with her hooves. “I… I’m so, so sorry, Trixie, I…”

Trixie leaped forward and held Twilight tightly with her hooves. The purple mare shuddered in her embrace, but at the end she just cried into her chest.

“Twilight…”

“Please… Trixie, please, I can’t be her… I’ve tried my best to act like the Twilight you all know and love, I’ve tried my best to fit the shoe of a royal student, Element bearer, respected Ponyvillean, and even savior of nations, both here and beyond… But I’m none of those!”

Twilight sniffled again. “I tried my best to help in the only ways that I’m capable of… I read her notes and tried to continue her studies… I smile to her friends and tried to be the kind and smart unicorn that she was known for… But I know nothing about her life, and I know nothing about any of you except for what I’m explicitly told.”

She rubbed her eyes again and sighed sadly. “And I can’t even cast unicorn magic… Ever since I heard about changelings and what they do, I sometimes wonder… am I an impostor as well? Am I just some changeling saddled with this appearance, and deliberately stripped of memories in order to appear as a hapless amnesiac?”

The purple mare grinned wryly, though tears still streamed down her face. “Well, the evidences seem to support my hypothesis, as I can indeed cast some sort of mind-bending changeling sp-”

She suddenly gasped in terror. “Oh my goodness, oh dear! M- Milly-”

“Twilight, she’s fine! I’ve already dispelled any undue magical influence myself. I use a spell you…”

Trixie drifted off in uncertainty, as Twilight began to shake in tears again.

The blue mare went silent. She never thought that she would see the mare she looked up so much broke down in such a fashion. At the same time, a strong sense of guilt washed over her mind, both for neglecting to notice the purple mare’s distress, and privately thinking that this Twilight was indeed not the past Twilight.

For some reason, her mind drifted back to the day when she returned to Twilight. She was the one who shook and cried before the wise and steady Twilight. Now though, the roles seemed to be completely reversed.

Her conscience pounded heavily on her mind. Shouldn’t this be the time for her to return the love and care Twilight once showered on her in her time of distress? Even if she had none of her previous memories, knowledge, or even wisdom, she’s still her one and only Twilight.

Trixie took a deep breath and again went near the purple mare. Twilight recoiled in fear and shook her head. “Please, don-”

“No, Trixie is not going to stand there and leave you alone. If you don’t feel comfortable being called a name, then I’m just going to address you as ‘you’ for now.”

“Eh…?”

“You… Trixie has always been looking at you and treating you as some abnormal version of the mare I know. But now I know that you clearly feel immensely pressured by her mantle. Trixie is really sorry, we all have neglected your feelings in our single-minded pursuit to bring back the mare we know.”

Trixie sighed. “I was already concerned when Spike left-”

Twilight weakly smiled. “Spike was with the Twilight he knows the longest, wasn’t he? He’s within every right to feel weirded out and unnatural to take care of me, a mere shadow of his loved one.”

“No! Of course he won’t think that! Whatever you’ve become, we will love you all the same! I’ve heard countless bashful apologies from your other friends that they can’t visit and take care of you more often.”

“… Please, all your care is making me feel more unworthy. Like, what have I done to deserve your attention? I’m just a placeholder, a nobody…”

“Don’t demean yourself! You have done much since you’re back! For instance, your status as the nominal leader of the changelings placate them a lot while they work for Applejack.”

“By sitting here and doing nothing?”

“H- Hey, don’t you say that you can chat telepathically with them using your magic?”

Twilight shook her head slowly. “Only the changeling lieutenant named Allela ever talked to me after the initial ruckus. And I know while she’s polite and respectful enough, what we’ve talked is simply platitude. She thinks of me like nothing more than a figurehead, and I did nothing essentially.”

“… What about your input when they want to build that ‘radio’ machine? Your help was really important, they said!”

“I’m just someone who happens to sit on a pile of notes. And I did some basic organization before sending them out in bulk.”

She sighed resignedly. “I don’t even get to add to them or anything. The blueprints and commentaries were just there for me to bundle into a pile. I guess they were not implemented for some reason, maybe she’s too busy. Again, I have little to no initiative in that.”

“Now, after you come here, you began to sift through the Cruzesian texts they bring here, didn’t you?”

Twilight’s sullen look briefly thawed, as she sported a thin smile. “… That’s my own idea, yes. I’m surprised, because I’m able to grasp Cruzesian at a faster rate than I thought.”

“That’s because you knew it before.”

Twilight looked at Trixie uncertainly. “But I find it very difficult to read with my bad eyesight. Not even the glasses Rarity got for me helped a lot. There are just spots in my eyesight that cannot be corrected no matter what… As a result, progress has been really slow. Although I did learn a great deal about Cruzesian history, there’s nothing too concrete that I could use to help Rainbow Dash and her followers. Given how I now lack knowledge in even how Equestria is run, I’ve since switched back to read about Equestria first.”

“Just so you wait, they’re working hard to appeal to the Tree of Harmony. It’s their efforts that awaken you and heal your hearing in the first place.”

“I know it’s silly to doubt that, because I know from somewhere deep in my mind that the Tree of Harmony won’t lie. But I still can’t shake off the feeling that I’m useless and phony.”

She sadly sighed. “I bet the real Twilight would never cast a mind spell callously at her caretaker.”

Trixie carefully thought. This was not the time to mention that she heard from Twilight’s friends that the old Twilight really disliked messing with minds. “… Not that I heard of. Though she did once accidentally turn her parents into potted plants during her entrance exam into the School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“R- Really?”

“Nopony is perfect. And you’re comparing yourself to a non-existent ideal that others craft for Twilight Sparkle. Admittedly, Trixie is also one to blame, because I must’ve given off the impression that I desperately want the ‘original’ Twilight to return to us as soon as possible. But this is really unfair to you. You’re what you’re now, and you should be treated as you alone.”

“… What should I do, Trixie? Will I ever become the Twilight you all know and love again? I don’t want to sit here and languish in my self-pity, but I’m confused, and I don’t know what I can do to move forward. Every day it’s like waiting for an opportunity to wake up from a dream that never ends.”

“You don’t have to go out of your way to become somepony that you aren’t yet. Everything is in the plan of Harmony. You must give faith to your friends, and most importantly, yourself. For now, you should just act in the way that is most comfortable with yourself. Whatever comes comes. Even if you stay the way you’re for years to come, Trixie will still stand by you, so will the others. So take it easy, and be yourself.”

“But I don’t know what to do with myself… I’m a unicorn who can’t even cast magic natively, only relying on the green changeling magic… which is proven to be dangerous...”

Twilight looked up to Trixie wistfully. “Will Milly be okay? I hope I didn’t cause any lasting damage with my outburst…”

“She’ll be fine. I’ve already cleansed all remaining influence of the green magic. Don’t worry, even though like other Cruzesians, she’s prone to the occasional unfounded fear for magic, but she’s also the quintessential Cruzesian – light-hearted, carefree and good-humored. She’d forget about all these by tomorrow morning, after slurping a copious amount of apple margarita tonight.”

Twilight’s sad expression gave way to a giggle, and Trixie let out a hoof to stroke Twilight’s disheveled mane. “For now though, you should just relax. Everything will fall into places, just as the way it’s intended.”

Twilight looked at Trixie with two glossed eyes. She winced and tried hard to focus her remaining eyesight, but at the end, she simply shook her head and broke into a soft chuckle.

“… I don’t know why. Even though I’m still as unsure about myself as before, but listening to you calm me down by a lot.”

She sighed with a sad smile. “I too began to calm down when Spike told me stories he read in that Daring Do book, but since he’s not here with me, my worry built up to a point that I freaked out in front of Milly and you. I must’ve appeared to you like a foal.”

“Of course not. Everypony has vulnerable moments, and they need support from the others from time to time. None of us can carve out a place of our own without somepony else’s helping hooves. For instance, if not for Rarity, Trixie could’ve still been slaving away in the dark mines, without realizing that I too have othes magical talents in addition to sleigh of hooves.”

Trixie gently approached the purple mare and softly breathed towards her, sending a shiver down her spine. “Say, what do y-”

“Can you call me Twilight again?”

“… Eh?”

“It’s come to me now… that while it’s an insurmountable task to chase memories which are yet lost, it simply sounds not very personable to not have an identity to call myself with. Moreover, now that you’ve lifted a deep-seated worry in me about chasing her past, I’m now more comfortable to reclaim her name.”

Trixie slowly smiled. “Alright then, Twilight, can you then tell Trixie what you’d like to do? In fact, since Trixie is here, I can help you read the books that you can’t see so clearly. I know a spell that sharpen the outlines and enlarge the font.”

“That’d be great! Heh, in fact, I’ve also been itching to talk to someone about the Cruzesian texts that I’ve read, but Milly… um…”

“Yeah, Trixie knows. Books do bore her mind out of her head. It’s also not really in her nature to listen to old pony’s tales. In fact, she’s told me that the only time she dared to openly complain about Rainbow Dash was when she decided to bring books and texts on their ships instead of more rum. She was so not chuffed to be ordered to do 50 more laps, but now she sees you and she understands.”

Twilight again chuckled, then she began to perk up and said. “Hey, Trixie, do you know that the Cruzesians might not be so alone?”

Trixie leaned in and listened. She did not really have much knowledge about the world beyond Equestria, but she showed an attentive smile anyway. “Really?”

“When I dug into their oldest annals, I saw not only mentions of Crystal Empire, both the old one in the East and the new one in the North; the various nations in Equestria before they unified into one; Griffon chiefdoms, duchies and kingdoms, Camel shiekhdoms and kingdoms… There are also mentions of ponies, apart from Cruzesians themselves of course, that appeared to have arrived in the ‘new world’ before the Equestrians did, and there were also mentions of native inhabitants that they encountered.”

Trixie shook her head. “I’ve heard none of those.”

“That’s not your fault, Trixie. I’ve given a glance to all the common Equestrian history materials I could find, and they mention almost nothing about the time before the official arrival of the ‘three tribes’, which was another suspected myth in itself... But I digress. Even Cruzesia, a veritable nation of its own and a nation that has deep tie to the crystal ponies, received the barest of mention.”

Twilight then smiled curiously. “In these old Cruzesian texts, however, there were mentions of a great rival to the Cruzesians, one pony tribe that rebelled against the old Crystallian Emperor but defeated by the combined forces of Crystallians and Cruzesians. This nation, called Astyria, nonetheless flourished and spread across the seas, but entirely disappeared in a catastrophic event, rumored to be related to their encounters overseas with the inhabitants of the new world.”

“Are you saying that there could be more long-gone pony nations resurfacing, like Cruzesia and Crystal Empire?”

“That’s a possibility, an interesting and highly influential one. Not only pony nations, but maybe non-pony ones that originally inhabited the lands in this part of the world. Incidentally, after the Cruzesians filled the power vacuum the Astyrians left, they consistently referred to certain parts of the ocean as ‘Sea of Miasma’, wherein every entering ship will disappear into oblivion, that’s why the entire Amarezons isn’t mapped yet, because the Sea border a good part of it, and the Cruzesians have long since forbidden any foray. Some insidious forces must be in place there.”

“Whoa, that’s some intriguing mystery.”

“I’d love to know more, but my eyesight and my imperfect Cruzesian is a great obstacle…”

“No worries, Twilight. Let Trixie help you!”

Twilight beamed. “Thank you, Trixie, you’re such a great and valuable friend.”

Trixie briefly blushed, and then broke into a gentle chuckle. Suddenly, she felt not so useless compared to Twilight’s other friends anymore.

Author's Note

This is the end of Book 2.

A Trixie Prologue

Dear Journal,

The Great and Powerful Trixie commands you to write up yourself!

Dang, it’s worth a shot. Twilight is not here to chew me out for messing around in the journal anyway. I do increasingly think that pumping magic blindly into something to make it work remained a privilege for somepony that was so unique like her.

So, it’s been six whole moons since Tri I started this journal. Rarity was right, writing down my feelings do help me clarify my thoughts. But I just don’t have the patience to write something every day, so I guess I will keep writing monthly like that. But this time, since it was exactly half a year since I started, I’m going to write a much more detailed report.

When I first came to the Golden Oaks, I thought I’d just live here for a short while before I get a house of my own. But I never imagine that I would move in again and even take charge of the library. Thanks to Rarity and her friends, I finally got the papers for working as the temporary librarian in Ponyville… Not that I really need it since nopony really minded, but having something official by my side prevents someone else from coming, messing with Twilight’s things, or Celestia forbid, staking a claim to the library.

I now also have a second job at the Ponyville Theatre, thanks to Pinkie’s recommendation! It feels so good to finally get back into performance arts. Playing tricks in Pinkie’s parties is fun, but a larger audience is always nice. The professional setting is even sweeter. Now that I’m without any emotional baggage, I’m sure I can amaze ponies once again. Plus I now know much more spells to crank my show up several notches, haha! Hopefully my audience size could one day match Pinkie’s stand-ups, she’s crazy talented at making ponies laugh.

Oh, and some status updates. Shining Armor and Cadance finally got married. Despite what had happened, they still deeply love each other, and I think it is wrong to let something, however tragic, to delay their union any further. This time though, they wisely chose to conduct the ceremony in private. Some really drunk guest pinched Cadance’s face to see if she’s the real deal. I don’t think it’s in a very good taste, but she took it graciously, which was a good sign.

One thing I didn’t expect was to see Discord in the ceremony. Cadance invited him despite Shining Armor’s reservations. Despite that, they two really are two of the most forgiving ponies I’ve ever met. If it was me, I don’t know if I could tolerate Discord in my sight without giving him the black eye, metaphorically or physically.

But in truth, I myself don’t and can’t really have much gripe with him. He’s been absolutely forthright for a chaos draconequus. Even when he got pelted with rotten tomatoes in the face by somepony, he just shrugged it off and walked away quietly. Of course there is the matter of guilt, but he’s become way too nice for me to think that he’s the same chaos king ponies used to write menacingly about in history books.

As always, despite being largely unassuming, Twilight was an enormous influence. Discord is the best example of how she could help someone to resculpt themselves into a better person. And this too I will never forget.

Alright, let’s move from heavier stuffs and talk more about the recent happenings to my other friends. Fluttershy had hired more ponies for the Mirror, now that it could sell in the capital and beyond. It now has a local edition and a national edition. I never knew Fluttershy as the entrepreneurial type, and I was right. I found out that it was Rarity who suggested her to try some pretty intense business tactics, and Fluttershy herself was not exactly comfortable with all of them, but agreed because her colleagues were intrigued.

I’m sure somepony can write a book about the resulting media war that even caused concerns to the Royal Government. The Mirror is now printed completely in color, with large and smart typeface and imageries on the cover page, which has traditionally been whole-page ads. Last week, it even came with an apple with each paper bought! The price-warring had killed off goodness know how many smaller papers. Fluttershy felt quite bad about it and tried to recruit some of the dismissed ponies. But in any case, the Mirror is on the way to become one of the more circulated newspapers in Equestria.

The Mirror also covers topics usually steered clear by Canterlot Times, like corruption among the upper-class, and shock-horror, the government! It just implicated a nephew of Blueblood for soliciting bribes for royal appointments. I heard that even though common ponies eat the savory news up like no tomorrow, but the reporting angers a lot of important ponies. Even Photo Finish, Fluttershy’s old acquaintance in the fashion industry, had to distance herself with Fluttershy to prevent her own business getting affected. Rumors have it that even the princesses were concerned, and informally asked Fluttershy to tune it down a bit. Fluttershy told me that it did happen, but she declined Princess Celestia’s request citing editorial freedom. I hope she won’t get too much frack from this.

Rarity… I still feel like I owe her a lot. After all, she gave me a job and a place to live when I was most downtrodden. And honestly if not for her, I might still be digging for gems in the mines! Geez, that makes me shudder just thinking about it. To my surprise, Rarity still managed to effectively attend to both her fashion and mining businesses, aside from having to absorb Twilight’s own trading business. I thought it bizarre that she’s managing three industries with hardly anything in common. Well, except that she uses a lot of gems in her designs. But hey, as long as the boat floats.

Sadly, rules and traditions still matter in this world. As her businesses get more successful, some rich ponies and landlords of those mines she operates in feel threatened. Several severed the contracts with Rarity, and others obstructed Rarity’s application to obtain permits and recognition for the miner settlements, which would have allowed her to provide better service and amenities to her workers.

Fortunately, Rarity still managed to petition successfully and turn Raritan into a self-governing municipality. It’s nominally under the township of Ponyville, but Rarity had the final say on a lot of things. She’s got a town that’s named after herself! But she’s running out of favors with the Royal Government, and quite a few high-muck-a-mucks got irritated by how she gave the diamond dogs full citizenships. It’s certainly unusual, but if they can let dragons settle down in Fillydelphia, then why the hay not diamond dogs?

I went to Raritan a few times, and it was a quaint and well-organized community. Besides mining, there have been small-scale cotton-planting. Of course no cotton has been produced in these few moons yet, but this is another sign that Rarity’s businesses are swiftly catching up in terms of size to those tremendous conglomerates in Manehattan.

Applejack was still working on her farm. She seemed to be content to maintain the current size of her orchards. A lot of ponies come from all corners of Equestria to learn about her farming machineries, but she was very cautious in keeping her technological edge. Applejack once told me that she had another deep concerns with further spread of machineries. She didn’t clarify, but I think she’s fearing that with machines that can be operated by anyone, earth ponies may become disadvantaged because physical strength is a lot of time the trait that keeps earth ponies uniquely useful. I can’t say I worry as much as her, but she might be right to be prudent.

She didn’t seem to be too otherwise concerned with her newer role as a railroad magnate. She replaced all the pony-drawn trains down south with either coal-powered or magic gem engines, which did displace a number of earth ponies, but she absorbed them into her farms or factories.

I think she had a whole lot more sway in the south that she would like to publicly admit. She had smaller farms scattered all over the place, not to mention she knows a lot of cousins and old friends there. Together with her wine businesses targeting the high society, she’s connected to ponies both up and down the social crust. I’d say she’s becoming the most influential Apple in recent memory. However, she’s running into a little trouble with finding sufficient farm hooves and railroad builders now that so many ponies have migrated into the larger cities and towns.

As for Pinkie, she’s least involved with being an entrepreneur. It doesn’t suit her personality anyway. She nominally heads a soft drink company, but she delegates most of the running to her staff. She uses the bits she earns to sponsor her tours of stand-up comedy and party concerts across Equestria. Honestly though, I think her stand-up routines are better than her songs. Her songs are just too mushy sometimes, and I like the bites in her jokes. In any case, Pinkie’s a great public performer and I had a lot to learn from her.

And whoa, did Ponyville change a lot since my arrival. The capital as well as the coast have always thirsted after the staples from the south. With the expansion of railway network in the south, a lot of these goods roll into Ponyville from the hinterland and travel to various markets. The market is so busy nowadays that it’s hard to walk across.

A lot of ponies have moved from the rural areas and into Ponyville, causing a shortage of farming hooves in nearby areas, and also housing shortage in the town. The town council has just finish building a new row of three-story houses along the main street. Now Ponyville looks like Fillydelphia’s rural cousin, I don’t know if it’s a good thing as they jutted out from the pastoral scene so much. Also, the newly built factories largely run on coals because cleaner fuels are hard to come by, and the hydroelectric dam is severely over-capacity. The air pollution occasionally cover Ponyville with a layer of grim. The weather team has to work extra hard to wash it clean, but it still causes me to cough sometimes.

And well, Spike. Ah, I still remember the time when he suddenly burst into an angry diatribe accusing me of wanting to replace Twilight. I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Back then we’re really just nodding acquaintance at best, despite me being in the library often for lessons. He looked constantly depressed, and I didn’t really know what to do with him. But then, he went for a moon-long trip around Equestria. When he came back… let’s say we’ve reached an understanding. We were both students to Twilight… sort of, and we’re unique in that we both knew Twilight before her… change. We would trade funny anecdotes of Twilight when she’s young, and we’ve become good friends and partners.

Sometimes though, he still mistakenly call me Twilight. It’s awkward at first, but I’ve learnt to tease him lightly for that, and he’s okay with it aside from getting red-faced. But I am still a bit unused to the fact that he’s dating two mares at once. I mean, is that normal for dragons? Rarity seems A-Okay with this, which came as a shock to me, since I picture her more as the melodramatic type who would push somepony down a river or jump into a river herself when she sense infidelity. Moreover, it seems that Pinkie is the one who’s more uncomfortable with having to share Spike with someone else. I don’t think she’s selfish or anything, but I think she’s more of the clingy type which isn’t happy with having to cut out her alone time with Spike.

Argh, last Tuesday Junebug came in and asked me in a hushed tone if Spike’s getting a third marefriend. When I was just bemused with her sudden query, she surreptitiously asked if I was the third one! Now, I don’t claim to be the best expert on romantic love, because it’s most certainly Cadance, but I seriously doubt that just because I live in with Spike, there must be some romance between us. ~~I’m not saying that the little rascal doesn’t have a way with mares.~~ Okay, that was extremely poorly worded. But if the logic held, then shouldn’t Twilight also be Spike’s marefriend?

Argh, enough with the little scamp’s love life. It’s been half a year since Rainbow left to look for Twilight. After the initial few letters, she didn’t send any more to us. Maybe the places she go to are too far away from Equestria. We all are worried for her safety, but Pinkie’s the one who’re the most visibly concerned about Rainbow. She often asks Applejack if there is any news from the south. She herself also went to the old rock farm of her family south of Las Pegasus several times to try to find out something, albeit without success. I really hope that Rainbow will come back safely, we really can’t afford to lose another of us.

I’m still saddened to think and write about Twilight, but her memorial garden finally opened in Ponyville. It’s bizarre and somewhat infuriating for a memorial place in her adopted home to open so much later than the one in Canterlot. But I went to it anyway. I laid down some Zebrican Violets, since that’s one of the flowers that Twilight loved most according to Spike. I must admit though, the craftwork is stunningly beautiful and breathtaking. It showed an almost lifelike Twilight valiantly standing guard against enemies of Equestria, like a proper lady of war. A lot of well-wisher were also there, paying tributes and occasionally shedding tears. I don’t know if Twilight would like this though, she always struck me as a self-effacing type with a dry sense of humor. This kind of grand display would have probably made her queasy. Eh, what am I writing anyway? She’s gone to a better place… I hope.

Gah, it’s seven already. There is really so much more to write about, but I have to stop now. Spike’s calling me for dinner. If I’m to write more, this would totally turn into a world almanac. Until next time then!

Yours excellently,
Trixie Lulamoon

Chapter 3 – Homecoming

Loud trumpets blasted through the horns on the six Cruzesian ships, signaling the first sight of the Equestrian coast.

If everything was right, the misunderstanding should be cleared by the time they arrived. Rainbow Dash did send in a letter through Spike to roughly explain the situation and their intention to enter Equestrian border.

The princesses knew that Rainbow Dash has pretty much vowed to find Twilight before ever coming back. Now that she suddenly came back, the status of Twilight would be the first thing they ask.

After an intense discussion, the mares decided to tell them part of the truth: that they did find Twilight, but Twilight has become magically deficient, fallen into a coma and need urgent treatment. She naturally neglected to mention the reason of such deficiency. They thought that it would be more prudent to discuss also with Rarity and Applejack, and should they choose to communicate it to the princesses, it had to be face-to-face for security reasons. In the letter, she also implored the princesses to not openly announce the status of Twilight to the public until her condition became clear.

However, somewhat worryingly, no reply was sent back.

Still, the fleet continued eastwards as planned. Originally, they were to dock at Las Pegasus. The fleet was carried a little bit north to their planned destination by the currents. Pegasus scouts were sent out to skim the coast, and it seemed that nothing overtly unusual was going on in Equestria.

A day before they entered the port of Las Pegasus, Rainbow Dash again called for a meeting between the Equestrians and the Zebricans.

After everyone sat down at the round table in the meeting room, the cyan pegasus slickly began.

“Alright, we shall start now. Since we’re close to landing, there must be a plan that we all agree upon, so that we do not run into trouble.”

Rainbow Dash continued. “I had already sent a fast letter to the princesses of Equestria informing of our intention to land, thanks to the help of the fire breath of Spike the dragon.”

“Did they reply then?” Rosencross frowned.

“Unfortunately not yet.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “But according to the scouts, no signs of disturbance were observed on shore. So I suppose the Equestrian government is still running fine. Perhaps they haven’t replied simply because they are busy.”

“Pfft, if I were them, four thousand foreigners at the shore and somepony returning from death would have been my first priority on the agenda.” Kanipha said.

“The ponies in Las Pegasus know us. Hopefully they will understand that we come at peace even if something did happen in Canterlot.”

“Dashie, we have quite a lot of hooves here.” Pinkie Pie said, “How are you going to settle them all?”

“For my own soldiers, I told that after we found Twilight, they are free to follow me back to Ponyville or return to the Amarezon settlements. I made it clear that I would stay in Ponyville for the most part. Although pegasi are not exactly the most agricultural among the ponies, we did have ways to grow food in the absence of earth ponies. The Cruzesians, in particular, were used to the idea of autarky.”

“… What ‘turkey’ now?” Spike asked.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, but Mistral Trail already began. “Autarquia means self-sufficiency. It has been how we do things in the arboreta for millennia. When Ancient Roam soldiers marched, they usually couldn’t source the food locally through foraging or trade, so they would establish agro-colonies in which soldiers were also farmers.”

The cyan mare smiled and shook her head. “Thank you Mistral. I am planning to revive this idea. I have asked help from the ministers and we drafted a preliminary plan of agro-colonies for those who wish to stay, once we acquire lands of our own, which will hopefully solve the issue of housing and food.”

She turned to the Zebricans. “If you’re interested, I can also arrange a similar plan for you.”

Geuse asked. “What would your plan exactly entail? My brothers and sisters might be interested.”

“Basically, we’ll try to arrange lands for farming and assorted industries around Ponyville. Rarity and Applejack should have the provisions for the additional helping hooves. As far as I know, Applejack in particular has a need for farming hooves on her farms and down south as well, for which we can cooperate. Among our own, we will divide the soldiers into corps of fifties, and supply them with seeds and farming tools. We will collect a portion of agricultural product as recompense to the Cruzesian state for ‘lending’ me their army and repaying the fund they gave us, and possibly as rent to the Equestrian government.”

“That’s assuming your princesses would tolerate a bunch of foreigners suddenly squatting on their royal lands.” Kanipha said doubtfully.

“Equestria is not as unitary as you think.” Rainbow Dash said. “Cities always have a lot power of self-determination, especially traditionally sovereign ones like Cloudsdale. If we really can’t get enough lands around Canterlot and Ponyville due to royal objection, we can just move shop to the south, where the royal power is not as strong. Our friend Applejack had friends down there, and surely she could find us some arable lands with some efforts.”

Fluttershy knitted her brows. “It isn’t a good idea to openly defy the princesses.”

“We will try to talk, that’s for sure. Hopefully the princesses recognize this is a golden opportunity to make the Cruzesians less distrustful of Equestria.”

Rainbow Dash then narrowed her eyes. “We should now talk about another important matter, Twilight. We will quickly reunite with Rarity and Applejack, our two other friends and former Element-bearers, and bring Twilight back to research a way to revive her. However, we don’t know how long it would take to succeed.”

The cyan mare then added. “We have already informed the princesses of the relevant fact that Twilight survives but currently unfit to meet anyone.”

Rosencross interjected. “Did you tell them the whole thing? The Equestrian princesses will probably cut Chrysalis to ribbons when they find out she is in our midst. I know I will if I were them. Not that I terribly mind.”

Fluttershy winced. “We simply told them it was a mysterious case of magical deficiency. We didn’t implicate her or any changelings.”

Geuse again muttered in annoyance, while Spike looked up as if he heard nothing.

Kanipha then said. “I hate to bring it up, but I’ve heard some weird rumors among the Zebrican passengers regarding the sudden disappearance of Twilight which coincides with the Cruzesian soldiers’ movement on the black ship.”

He rolled up his eyes. “Apparently they fear that you guys have incapacitated Twilight, and are then going to round them up and ship them off to the highest bidder.”

“What the flying buck are they talking about?!” Rainbow Dash burst in absolute horror. “We are no slavers!”

“Uh…” Kanipha and Mistral Trail both uttered a hesitant tone. The zebra then looked to Mistral Trail with a curious gaze, and the mint-green unicorn quickly said. “Your Grace, although slavery was outlawed from the conception of the Amarezonian colony, other Cruzesians… did engage in the trafficking of quadrupeds in what’s now the Zebrican Ocean.”

Seeing the revulsive look on the cyan mare’s face, Mistral Trail quickly added. “As far as we know, any such unethical activities have long ceased by the time the first great earthquake devastated our ancient capital on the old continent, Tagos, which forced most of the mazombos to migrate to the Amarezons. I profess no knowledge of the Zebricans’ impression on such an ignoble trade, but I must again stress that it was a long time ago.”

“The name of Cruzesia might have been forgotten by most of Zebricans except the West Zebrican ponies, but the white starry tree is still an omen of servitude for some.”

Mkondo looked at the zebra meaningfully, but Kanipha huffed lightly and continued. “Cruzesians were far from the first… trafficker that operated on our coast, but they were certainly one of the most expansive. One rather old theory states that cows were originally brought in from the Far East by the hooves of the Cruzesians and Saddle Arabians, because they were more pliant than us zebras, which made them better workers.”

“Kanny…” Geuse looked at Mkondo and then turned to the zebra colt, who sighed and raised his hooves.

“No offense to you of course, Mkondo.”

“None taken.” He said with a curt smile.

“None-the-less.” Rainbow Dash said with a heavy tone. “I must make it absolutely crystal clear that we abhor such practice and will never do something like that.”

“But the lack of Twilight in public appearances will still be worrying for many of them.” Kanipha stressed.

“What can we do?” Rainbow Dash said with some impatience. “We are already implicated in such outrageous rumor, any attempt to explain Twilight’s appearance away will only be seen as excuses. Our hooves are tied until Twilight herself wakes up and explains things to them.”

“I know this might be a touchy subject, but do you think a fake Twilight would work?”

Everyone turned to Discord with stunned looks.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. Just offering solution to you, it’s all. We aren’t going to mess with Twilight’s real body like a frigging marionette as Chryssy did.”

Discord shrugged. “Since the real deal was in the sick bay and basically guarded more tightly than Celly’s diary, they couldn’t have known about her real condition. And there are more than one of us here perfectly capable of impersonating Twilight, at least for the hopefully short period of time when she’s out of action.”

“That sounds… wrong.” Spike muttered. “But heck, it might just work.”

“Spike?” The mares were surprised that it was Spike that first endorsed this plan after getting stung by Chrysalis’s nefarious bid.

“Everyone here is probably quite uncomfortable with such a thing after what Chrysalis did. I myself still think that what she did now and then was so horrible that your forgiveness is, honestly, misplaced.”

Spike continued to the stunned mares. “But we’re not just ourselves, we have to consider what it is out there for the thousands on the black ship. Applejack, if she’s here, might hate it for the deceptive trick, and we might be in our right to feel wrong and even hypocritical to do so, but if someone could be out there to pacify the passengers until we reach the safety of Equestria, it would be for the good of all instead of us few.”

Pinkie Pie gazed at her beloved Spike. Instead of thinking about what he had said, she was fretful at the change she observed in Spike, which she had not been acutely aware of until his outburst a few days ago.

Since the changeling invasion, Spike was a lot less bubbly innocent compared to before, a fact that both saddened Pinkie, and caused her to worry about their commonality that brought them together in the first place.

On the other hand, the ordeal seemed to have forced the dragon to grow up and mature quite a bit, as he had to fend for himself all of a sudden. The fact that he decided to remain in Ponyville instead of going back to Canterlot was a sign that he was starting to take charge of his life. He had grown grimmer, but at the same time giving out thoughts that surprised the mares from time to time.

Was it what Twilight had always wanted, though? A dragon that was self-dependent and strong-willed, instead of being seen as some insignificant tagalong. Now that Twilight was confirmed to be safe, perhaps it’s all for the better… Or was it?

“Hey Pinks, are you alright?”

“Eh?!” Pinkie Pie was dragged back into reality by a concerned-looking Spike.

The dragon smirked and showed some warmth in his smile. “Is it really this outrageous a proposal? Twi’s alright now, I hope. And if she’s still the Twi I know, she would not mind this a bit since we’re doing this for the good of many.”

Geuse fanned her wings and rolled her eyes. “She didn’t even exactly mind when some evil wisselkind jacked her body for some nefarious purpose. Her threshold of tolerance is a bit too high. I would’ve been screaming bloody murder if I were her.”

A strange glint shone in Rosencross’s eyes, and then she said. “Well, she minded for once.”

Discord turned his head sharply, but the red mare already said. “Before our final confrontation, Chrysalis once threatened Twilight to act against Spike in her guise, particularly, choking him unexpectedly and feast on the shock of betrayal.”

The group except Discord gasped aloud. Spike himself asked with a stunned expression. “…What for?!”

“Just a vain attempt to prove that she’s still in control of her unstable mind.” Rosencross coldly spat.

“Dang, she’s even viler than we thought…” Geuse shook her head.

Spike froze, and then simply muttered something under his breath.

“Dang it, Rosy.” Discord impatiently huffed. “Chryssy’s a bad, vile, calculating bastard of a changeling ex-queen, we get it. Point is, she was just a bluffy windbag that never acted on her little twisted plan. She herself felt so bad she broke down in tears before she even stepped out of the room!”

Rainbow Dash raised her hoof, and then knocked on the desk several times.

“What treatment, and possibly punishment, that Chrysalis and her ilk will face is something that we must discuss, but not without Twilight’s input. For now, I think Discord and Spike’s comments, even though extraordinary, do have their merits.”

Facing the impending retorts, Rainbow Dash stressed. “But-! The goal of any such operation should be to make them feel safer, not to fool them because we can. Any public appearance must be short but to the point.”

“But why did Mister Discord said there are several of us that can do the job?” Verna asked. “Do you mean Lady Rosencross?”

“Me?” Rosencross widened her eyes. “I haven’t transformed into another form for ages. And with my chronic lack of food, my magical conduits have long been empty, this was why I was able to evade detection by Chrysalis and her hive. I doubt I can attempt transformation with or without drawing energy from Twilight anyway, which I promised not to.”

“Well, if Rosy isn’t okay, then Pinkie Pie can do it.” Discord shrugged. “So can I.”

“Huh?” Geuse looked flabbergasted. “How?”

“D- Discord!” Pinkie Pie looked a bit flustered.

“What’s with the reservation? You tugged pretty well in Fluttershy’s disguise back in Las Pegasus.” Discord said with amusement.

“I left my Twilight disguise at home! I didn’t expect it would have any use on our trip…”

Discord’s smirk turned into a suppressed snort, then some chortle, and at last unreserved laughter. “What? You guys want me to do that?”

Spike looked a bit bummed out at first, but he then shrugged with a slight wince. “It’s you who proposed the idea, it’s not that out there for you to carry the idea out as well.”

“I don’t mind it at all. I just don’t know if you guys mind.”

Spike raised a brow, and then grinned toothily to the surprise of the others. “Come on the Lord of Chaos, at least I’m far from this touchy. This is tame stuff compared to some of the pranks you pulled back home.”

“Huh, really?” Discord was somewhat soothed by the easy attitude from the dragon. “Then what about the others?”

The group looked around, and gave him a collective shrug. Verna, in particular, scratched her cheek in embarrassment. “I kinda want to see how a non-wisselkind do it.”

“Hahah. Watch out then!”

With a snap and a shower of flash, a timidly smiling purple mare stood before the group.

“Whoa, Discord, you can pull off such a precise transformation after all.” Rainbow Dash said.

“What do you mean, Rainbow?” Discord narrowed his eyes.

Rainbow Dash gulped at the perfect imitation of her best friend’s intonation. “I, uh, just thought that your transformation might be more… I don’t know, off the mark?”

Discord harrumphed. “Well, now you see my capability is far from limited.”

While the mares and Spike gawked at the exactness of the replication, the Zebrican companions looked a bit frownier, even though their surprise was evident on their faces.

“What’s wrong?” Discord turned and asked.

“Well, let’s say the look and the voice are both dead-on.” Geuse sighed.

“But…” Kanipha said hesitantly. “To the Zebrican followers, she was much more battered-looking.”

“Oh.” Discord nodded blandly and then transformed again, this time much closer to the injury-ridden Twilight they’ve seen earlier.

“So how injured was Twilight exactly? I might have to act limp and stuff.”

“Lady Twilight’s legs, as you saw, were quite injured. She could barely limped forward unassisted.” Verna sighed. “Back in Timbucktu, she basically dragged herself forward with her own magic. But with her depleting magic, we had to build her a clutch and a walker. Her ears and eyes were also seared. The damage was not debilitating but apparent. We all have to raise our voices or repeat ourselves when we talked to her. She had failed to see things that tripped her over several times, which gave us quite a lot of scares that she would injure herself further.”

Rainbow Dash heavily sighed, while Mistral Trail duly reported. “Our medics confirm what Dona Verna has said. Given her condition, the chance for a full recovery is less than ten percent.”

“Well, hot dang.” Discord gritted his teeth, neglecting to maintain in-character anymore. “But her weak constitution can be an excuse for me to use.”

“How?” The cyan mare asked.

“I can just tell everyone that I, ‘Twilight Sparkle’, gotta receive treatment privately because of some magical complication with my existing injuries. With the purple egghead’s ‘personal reassurance’, they won’t be near as suspicious and paranoid.”

“Hmm, well, we don’t have any choice, do we... Hopefully Twilight can be revived in time so that we don’t have to keep this charade on for too long.”

Rainbow Dash waited for the group to raise concerns. When she was met with shaking heads, she said. “So if there is no further issue to discuss, I shall declare this meeting adjourned. We have a lot of things to do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the meeting, Discord swiftly took to action. In Twilight’s guise, he made the announcement to the Zebrican entourage as discussed.

To Rainbow Dash’s surprise, he explicitly demanded the Zebricans to defer to the cyan mare for leadership when ‘she’ was out, an act that briefly worried the cyan mare that it might again raise suspicion among the Zebricans. However, the Zebricans turned out to simply desire seeing the elusive purple mare with their own eyes. As long as that was permitted, they don’t mind some shuffling of the command structure, which affected them not that much.

And so the fleet stayed at the sea for half a day for the restructuring of army organization, and then they sailed straight towards Las Pegasus.

Rainbow Dash was, on the other hand, growing unsettled by the lack of response from the princesses. However, just a few hours before sundown, when they were just about to arrive at the port, Spike had knocked at her door with an especially decorated royal letter and a much plainer one.

She immediately tore them open and read. Afterwards, she knitted her brows deeply and then loudly gasped. She immediately gathered Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Discord, and Mistral Trail to her room.

“Good Afternoon, Your Grace!” Mistral Trail saluted. “The integration of the Zebrican entourage is a bit slow due to the language barrier, but with the help from Dona Twilight’s companions, we should be able to manage it before docking at Las Pegasus.”

“Thank you, Mistral.” The cyan mare nodded and laid out two letters on her desk. “The princesses have replied.”

“What did they say?” Pinkie Pie asked eagerly.

“One of them is a very proper diplomatic note, another one is a personal letter from Celestia. Which one do you want me to read first?”

“Y—your Grace, it’s not appropriate for me to read your personal correspondence…” Mistral Trail shifted uncomfortably.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes up and sighed, “For goodness’ sake, if I think it is inappropriate, I wouldn’t have called for you in the first place.”

“Let’s go with the formal one first, I’m interested to hear what the official stance on the Las Pegasus affair is.” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“Good idea.” Fluttershy nodded.

“Alright, here goes…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“HG Arco-Íris Impeto
Grand Duchess of Novo Esperança
Cruzesian State in Amarezons

HRH Celestia, Princess of Equestria, Most Royal Solar Sovereign, Grand Mistress of the Most Ancient Order of Star Swirl, Head of the Royal House of Equestria, etc. etc. has commanded me to write to Your Grace regarding the extraordinary affairs surrounding our two nations in the past moon.

Her Royal Highness expressed alarm and regret over the unlawful intrusion and occupation of Equestrian territories in the Free City of Las Pegasus. However, Her Royal Highness also expressed understanding of the mitigating circumstances of language barrier and the unfortunate hindrance stemmed from the improper execution of diplomatic protocol by the Equestrian Coast Guard in defense of the City. Her Royal Highness acknowledged the strict restraints observed by Cruzesian troops during their stay, and the generous recompense provided to local affected individuals and businesses. Henceforth, Her Majesty’s Government deems it no need to pursue diplomatic reparations. Nonetheless, Her Royal Highness will be most pleased shall the Cruzesian Government express regret over the incident in similar fashion.”

“Whoa, that’s not even a slap in the hoof.” Pinkie Pie beamed.

“Yeah, this is surprisingly lenient.” Rainbow Dash nodded, and then sighed. “I wish every other news is as good as this.”

“ Her Majesty’s Government respected the equity of individuals who wish to seek better lives in the Kingdom of Equestria. Equestria has always been a land of opportunities. However, due processes must be observed in all cases and circumstances, as a lack of rules on border control will lead to disruption of social coherence. Therefore, we regret to inform you that Your Highness’s request for the settlement of Cruzesian and Zebrican nationals will have to be merited on a case-by-case basis and individually audited by the Council of Immigration and Border Jurisdiction.”

“It’s going to take ages to get through all those red tapes!” Pinkie Pie gasped.

“Not to mention I’m not going to tolerate the assumption that any of my soldiers and citizens are bad apples unfit for living in this land.” Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves.

“Can’t say I’m surprised that they don’t like the idea of foreigners freely walking in and settling down. What sovereignty-loving country does that?” Discord smirked.

Rosencross, however, looked surprised, “Twilight told us that she was very confident that it would be a piece of cake and the princess would readily agree to her request, and there are a lot of lands south of Ponyville for settlement.”

“Your Grace.” Mkondo said. “You are friend of Twilight, what did you have in mind?”

“Don’t mind Misty, it’s fine to just call me Rainbow.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “If you want to glimpse what Twilight might have in mind through what I had in mind, then you might be disappointed. I don’t know what Twilight had in mind at all. Maybe she wants to leverage her status as a national hero?”

The cyan mare then bit her lips in worry. “As for myself, I had never thought that I could find Twilight so fast and then such a quick return to Equestria. Although in the previous meeting, I said there might be some of my soldiers who want to return to the Amarezon, but the truth is that almost all those who follow me heavily dislike either the fossilized culture back home, or the hot and humid environment of the new jungle settlements. Quite a number of them had a bone of contention with some of the civilians who dislike my warlord aura. They would be bitterly disappointed if I direct them back there.”

Rainbow Dash then wistfully took out a pile of documents from the drawer and casually flipped them over.

“So I had to plan for the livelihood of three thousand ponies somewhere else, in wherever we chose to settle. My prime choice is Equestria of course. Back before we left, I had a private talk with Applejack and Rarity. I left them a moderate sum of fund from our coffer, told them to invest them wisely and used the sum to acquire enough land. It was not an easy task, we estimate that we need at least a thousand and two hundred hectares, roughly the size of half of the entire City of Ponyville, in order to settle and feed them all. It was to be a project at least more than a year and a half in length, as many complex deals have to be struck with the hard-headed magnates and nobles, and bits have to be spread around in the bureaucracy to oil things up.”

“You mean bribing them?” Kanipha chortled.

“Ahem, I mean to create a favorable atmosphere in the government for possible Cruzesian settlement.” Rainbow Dash said with a curious glint in her eye. “But now, as we came back this early, I could only directly appeal to the princess to see if she can do something with this herself, and apparently she cannot.”

“Why? She’s the princess!” Spike said.

“Hear me when I read the other letter.” Rainbow Dash quietly sighed. “Anyway,

Her Royal Highness congratulates the courage shown by the Cruzesian nation in their national renaissance. The Kingdom of Equestria wishes to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the Cruzesian State for an indefinite time to come.

On Behalf of Her Royal Majesty,
Lord High Chamberlain,
Purple Cincture”

“Sounds pretty business-like at the end.” Discord said. “I bet the ‘personal’ letter contains a lot more information.”

“Hurry up, hurry up!” Spike gushed. “I can’t wait to hear!”

“Alright… Dear Rainbow Dash,

I’m most astonished at the rapid-fire news that Las Pegasus has fallen, and then that it was merely a misunderstanding. What’s more, one of my former subjects have rescued a long-lost pony nation and been ennobled as a Grand Duchess. I agree with your assessment, that this has been the strangest of time, even speaking as someone who’s pretty old.

Your news that Twilight Sparkle, my beloved student, has not perished, is one of the best gifts that you can ever offer me. Luna and I are absolutely thankful for your tremendous efforts. I can barely contain my joy, which I cannot express in mere words in this letter, I shall come thank you personally and see Twilight with my very own eyes.

As for your requests, I’m sorry to inform you that it is simply too much to ask. Although I’m the princess of Equestria, allocating such a large portion of lands by royal edict to foreign nationals constitute a breach of our sovereignty in many nobles’ eyes and will likely disrupt the fine balance between each of our individual constituent city-states in Equestria, because it will be seen as either setting up a brand new member state which is a complete unknown, or a blatant bias towards pegasi. Also, I must express great hesitation at the potential difficulties of integration regarding the mixed origins of some of your entourage, considering that among other things, it contains a large amount of non-ponies from Zebrica. We are already burdened with heavy noble discontent at the Diamond Dogs settlements on the Upper Saddle River. Further provocations would be unhealthy for the nation’s unity and health.”

“Her concerns are not completely baseless. But I’m still pretty unhappy with the decision.” Rainbow Dash said.

“That’s unacceptable! The land down south is more than enough to hold a few hundreds more zebras and antelopes. They got singled out because they were the ‘wrong’ kind of non-ponies.” Fluttershy showed a rare glimpse of spirited consternation.

Discord simply smirked. “Hmph.”

“ While you were gone, Applejack and Rarity explained your case in front of the court. But shortly thereafter, something unexpected happened, postponing our responses. A thousand-year curse laid down by the evil sorcerer-king Sombra had broken, and the Ancient land of Crystal Empire returned to the embrace of Equestria. We are most in need of hooves to rebuild the infrastructure towards our returning subject nation, but competent hooves are in short supply, so we will be happy if your entourage can help us refurnish the railroad up north. If so, I may be able to secure a half-year temporary collective work-permit for them.”

“See?” Rainbow Dash said, “They want cheap—”

“Wait, the Crystal Empire returned?” Pinkie Pie yelped and Fluttershy gasped.

Discord frowned. “What about Sombra right now?”

Rainbow Dash’s expression turned inscrutable. “… To our delightful surprise, King Sombra had apparently been defeated by a most unexpected hero, and as a consequence never returned to attack Crystal Empire. Her name is Sunset Shimmer, a former student of mine before Twilight became my student…”

Discord looked at the mares, who were either shocked or thoughtful-looking. “Who’s this Sunset Shimmer girl?”

“She was a former student of Princess Celestia. She dropped her study because she was a bit too impatient. When she didn’t get what she wants, she just left.” Rainbow Dash said. Her gaze swept across Spike, and she immediately added. “Twi told me, of course.”

“Whoa, she must be one ambitious punk then.” Discord grinned. “Leaving the dang princess, pretty much one of the most knowledgeable and powerful magic user in Equestria, to pursue her own studies.”

“Good for her, I guess.” Pinkie Pie smiled.

“… I guess.” Spike muttered.

“Okay… I’m most ashamed for failing to nurture her full talents during her time with me, but seeing her doing the righteous work for the good of the nation, I can only feel glad for her.

But I digress. I advise that we should send Twilight to the best physician in Canterlot as quickly as possible, so that we can begin her treatment as soon as possible. The sooner I see my most prized pupil in health, the happier I am myself and for all of you her beloved friend. I look forward to seeing you in Las Pegasus.

With gratitude,
Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

“I don’t think this is something that some common court physician can treat.” Discord tapped his chin.

“She don’t know what really happened. And neither do we to be honest.” Rainbow Dash sighed. “We must also find a way so that we can move Twilight under better care on shore.”

“Well… that’s it then! Nothing more to do really until we dock.” Spike shrugged.

“I suppose so.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Now everyone, go and get a little rest before we land, because it would get really shouty then.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ships had entered the harbor shortly before sunset. The harbormaster was prepared this time, and signaled the fleet to dock at the assigned spots. Then immediately, the workers and Equestrian troops began to board the ships to inspect and help unload the materials. It seemed that the Government of Equestria and Las Pegasus had clear order to welcome the fleet this time.

All others were either busy getting the supplies off the ships to prepare for the night stay on shore, or organizing the passengers and soldiers to orderly disembark. Discord had slipped away. He felt like he stood out like a sore thumb among the shuffling ponies.

He wandered on the Chitona, where almost all passengers had gotten off the ship. He passed through the half-open door on Twilight’s chamber, and to his surprise, not one soul was guarding the place.

When Discord waded into the room, he saw that Twilight was simply placed on the bed unattended. He was a bit dismayed at the lack of attentive care.

He closed the door knelt down near the bed. There Twilight lied, looking ever so weak and vulnerable. And above all, she looked incredibly lonely.

Could it be simply that he projected his feelings towards the purple mare? He didn’t know. Still, he elected to sit beside the bed and be the one who accompanied the purple mare.

“Oh, Twilight.” He muttered. “What were you thinking? Sometimes, I do imagine, if you simply opted to tell me the truth right then, instead of charging madly at Chryssy, then none of these would ever happen. I don’t know if you were afraid that someone would overhear, or that I was not ready. But you are still incredibly silly, everything is incredibly silly and makes no sense.”

He shook his head, “Heck, I make no sense myself. If the past-me saw me now, he would slap me so hard to snap me out of this schmaltzy nonsense. But hey, at least now I know why you are reluctant to tell me the truth.”

“Even after talking with the spirit and your friends, I’m still not so sure. Who was I dealing with? Who are you, Twilight? I thought I knew you besides your one little secret, and once I know it I will see the entire you. But now, I’m even more unsure than before.”

“You are young as a foal but also ancient as a rock. You are a walking encyclopedia but also so naïve to the danger and darkness in others’ hearts. You are such a stretch of a mare, you often look unreal to me.”

After a pause, he asked, “Do you really especially think fondly of me because part of you and me share similar experiences in solitude? Or do you want to dote me because you don’t like how the alternate-you do not?”

“To be honest, I don’t care what had motivated you to approach me. Thing is, you are important to me, and the longer we spend our time like this, the deeper it makes me unhappy, because we are physically close but unable to talk to each other, I can never admit my mistakes to you like this.”

Discord turned, and Twilight was still as motionless as ever, only moving minutely as she weakly breathed. He wryly chuckled to himself. Perhaps he had become too naïve and sentimental, and too counting on miracles himself.

He stood up and closed the chest carefully, planning to stand guard until Twilight’s friends come to move her ashore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“AJ, Rarity!” Pinkie Pie happily shouted, as she almost rammed herself into her friends on the pier against the setting sun.

“Ouch, Pinkie!” Rarity yelped, then looked around, “Eh? Where’s Spike?”

“As soon as we landed, I sent him to the nearest gem store and told him he can eat his fill before sundown.”

“Pinkie, I told you many times that we shouldn’t spoil him too much.” Rarity frowned, and secretly annoyed that she could not see Spike right then.

“I’m not spoiling him! I mean, not entirely anyway.” Pinkie Pie sheepishly grinned.

“Yes, it’s me who tell Pinkie to find a way to distract him for a moment.” Rainbow Dash straightened her ceremonial uniform and walked forth.

“I—is it true?” Applejack asked hopefully.

“… Yes.”

“Where is Twilight?”

“We’ve just transferred her to the medic’s camp on shore. But before we move on, we must tell you more about the particulars of what lead to the current situation, it’s very important.”

She gestured to Pinkie Pie, who promptly nodded. The cyan mare is too conspicuous to be seen whispering to others in public.

As Rainbow Dash turned and attended to her lieutenants, the pink mare surreptitiously led her two friends to one of the secluded corners on the pier. She looked around to make sure everyone else was distracted by the hubbub created by the unloading Cruzesians and Zebricans, and then she immediately whispered something into their ears.

Just after Rainbow Dash finished organizing the main Cruzesian army into ordered formations and returned, the three emerged again. Rarity and Applejack were visibly unsettled and worried.

“Are ya three fo’ real?” Applejack immediately protested. “That varmint almost replaced and practically killed the real Twilight!”

“Shh—!” Pinkie Pie shushed the orange mare in a hurry.

“Applejack is right though. Chrysalis is too dangerous to keep around!” Rarity frowned.

“Yes, but Twilight herself showed mercy on her.” Fluttershy said. “Besides, this matter would be quite sensitive for her… Because it involves the sanctity of mind and selves.”

“Hmm…” Applejack and Rarity widened their eyes, and then heavily sighed.

“… Well, yah. We should at least let Twi have a say on this.” Applejack slowly muttered.

“But shouldn’t we at least put Chrysalis and the changelings in some kind of confinement? Where is she and the changelings kept anyway?” Rarity asked.

“Discord’s keeping an eye on Chrysalis. According to him, she’s being very pliant for a changeling ex-queen. I’m willing to put some bits into his words.” Rainbow Dash said. “A former lieutenant of Chrysalis, called Allela, was in charge of the hive at the moment. She’s an interesting character in of herself… In particular, she claimed that Twilight should be their rightful queen.”

“Pinkie just told us. This is quite outrageous and unbelievable to be honest.” Rarity frowned. “Twilight isn’t even a changeling, unless that Green Stigmata thing can also somehow change species. Why would she want a bitter enemy to be their queen anyway?”

“According to her, it was because Twilight has strong magic… which is doubtful as a reason alone because her magic is faltering in Zebrica. She might believe that Twilight was partial to their plight and can change their luck for the better, but whether this is just seeing Twi as a… useful fool, or a genuine reaction to her kindness, I cannot tell.”

Applejack pondered for a while, and then narrowed her eyes. “Discord is getting too close t’ Chrysalis fer mah comfort.”

“Are you doubting Discord?” Pinkie Pie frowned. “I thought we discussed th-”

“Naw, naw.” Applejack clarified. “Discord’s sincerity Ah don’t doubt. Ah just ain’t sure what Chrysalis’s up to. The last time they two get together, it wasn’t a pretty sight.”

“Applejack’s right. We shouldn’t let them be together alone for too long. Who knows what would come out of it.” Rarity shook her head. “We should keep a tab on them.”

“I already did.” Rainbow Dash’s expression turned a little bit fretful. “The guards I sent to accompany Discord and Chrysalis are actually one of our best intelligence officers. They are all unicorns, specifically drilled in Equestrian language and secretly jotted everything they talk down in quickhoof.”

She threw up her hooves. “I don’t want to do that, to be honest. I was still distrustful of Discord at first when I saw him in Las Pegasus. You know, I left shortly after Twi’s disappearance and didn’t get to spend time with him, so you girls might notice more changes out of him than me. But as we talked, and especially since now that he knows about Twilight and our big secret-“

“What?!” Rarity and Applejack both shouted.

“Pinkie? Haven’t you told them yet?” Rainbow Dash widened her eyes.

“E- Ehehe…” Pinkie Pie grinned in embarrassment, and whispered to them a few more words.

Rainbow Dash looked at the flabbergasted duo, shook her head with a defeated smile. “Yeah, he does now. And from what he did throughout this trip, I think he’s definitely, fully standing on our side, unlike our uninformed optimism at the beginning.”

She sighed. “This is why it pained me to spy on him. I hate to doubt a dedicated friend like this, but his vouching for Chrysalis, while heartwarming in a sense, is also alarming otherwise. We need to sit down and talk to him… and her eventually.”

“Even Chrysalis?” Applejack frowned.

“… I’m angry at her, very angry in fact. She wanted to subject Twilight to a fate worse than Tartarus, and if she had succeeded, it would be an absolutely horrible thing. If I had known that she wanted to hurt a single hair of Twilight, I would have pulverized her immediately.”

She drew in a breath, “But I… no, Pinkie, Fluttershy and I all think that she might deserve a chance.”

“What? Why?” Applejack raised her voice in shock.

“I’d want to say that we are confident that she had truly reformed.” Rainbow Dash looked aside. “The fiasco with Discord had made me hesitant to say so. But perhaps especially because it’s Discord who now comes up and is willing to be her character witness, I’m willing to consider giving her a chance.”

“Our friend-making skills are super-duper good, but for something as drastic as going from sacking cities to happy parties, we need to give her more time.” Pinkie Pie smiled.

“… Sorry, we’re not entirely convinced. She’s still an enormous liability in my eyes.” Rarity said.

Applejack added. “If not for the princess’s intervention and our words, even Discord would be tried in court and probably sentenced to something way worse than just wearing a power limiter. And we’re now talkin’ about someone who almost sacked Canterlot and did sack other cities, committin’ crimes, ruinin’ livelihoods. And now even… turning Twilight into a mockery of herself. In an older age she would be promptly executed if caught.”

“A—Applejack!” Pinkie and Fluttershy gasped.

Rainbow Dash simply nodded. “True, but we’re not barbarians anymore. We punish not for revenge, but to facilitate rehabilitation. And to our eyes she showed some promise.”

“Some is not enough. Ah’ll darn sure keep both o’ mah eyes on her.” Applejack narrowed her eyes.

“Of course.” The cyan mare swiftly nodded. “Anyway, AJ, I’ve heard that some of the Zebricans brought a new kind of apples from West Zebrica along with them. They called it Bigbucks, you wanna check it out?”

“Hey sure, Rainbow.” Applejack grinned. “Yer always thinkin’ ‘bout us.”

“Stop this schmaltzy nonsense, AJ. It’s uncool.” Rainbow Dash grinned in embarrassment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Celestia and Luna had arrived with the blasting of royal fanfare. The Las Pegasus City Hall were booked for the purpose of the unofficial meeting between three head of states.

Although Cruzesia was way less populous as a whole, its military was demonstrated to be strong and capable. The host nation didn’t wish to set the bar too low or appear weak by giving Rainbow Dash a cold shoulder.

“I can see why leaders sometimes want to curb the freedom of press.” Rainbow Dash casually commented as she strode into the meeting room with her mare friends, Spike and Discord. “We can’t talk anything substantial with everyone watching.”

“Rainbow, it’s an improper attitude to have.” Fluttershy reprimanded.

“Yeah yeah, I know.” Rainbow Dash moved her legs to wriggle out of the stiff uniform a bit. “But we have plenty of skeletons in the closet right now. I positively hate it, but before we clear them all out, it isn’t possible for us to talk freely. Besides, it’s not like you would talk about our biggest secrets in Ponyville Mirror just because of ‘openness’.”

Fluttershy bit her lips and went silent.

They walked inside the oval shaped meeting room, and saw the two princesses sat at the round table. Celestia looked expectant and calm, but Luna was visibly unsettled. Curiously lacking were Cadance and Shining Armor.

“Welcome, everyone.” Celestia greeted with an inscrutable expression. “And as the sovereign of the Kingdom of Equestria, I greet you, Grand Duchess A—”

Luna, however, was quite impatient, “Rainbow Dash, is it true that Twilight is still alive?”

“It is true.”

“Luna, you shouldn’t…” Celestia frowned at the lack of formalities shown by her sister.

“No, I don’t mind. I'm still an Equestrian citizen, and this is a private occasion after all.”

“So where’s Twilight?” Luna asked in barely contained concern.

“She is with our medics in the camp. She is under good care, don’t worry.”

“Why is Twilight…? You are rather vague in your letter.” Celestia frowned.

“… Magical deficiency. She’s quite spent from the fight with Chrysalis moons ago.”

“Rainbow Dash, magical deficiency alone does not do that.” Luna said with an unamused tone.

“I need you all to be honest.” Celestia sighed. “I don’t know why you have to hide the true reason of Twilight’s status, but knowing why she fell into this state will help me help her. I care for my faithful student as much as you, so please place your trust in us.”

Rainbow Dash gulped. The reason she hesitated was because she didn’t know what would happen if the princesses knew of the horrible deeds of Chrysalis. The mere presence of changelings in their midst would already be extremely concerning for them.

Last night, when she communicated the idea of hiding the fact to Rarity and Applejack, they slammed it as nonsensical. The two thought that the princesses could help them more efficiently if they knew what caused Twilight to fall unconscious, and that as long as they worded it appropriately, it would not overly incriminate the changelings.

Of course, Rainbow Dash knew that Rarity and Applejack did not trust the changelings a bit. She swept her gaze across her friends, who just gave her uncertain looks. She bit her lips, and decided to push her luck.

“Princesses.” Rainbow Dash said, “We had our reasons not to say what caused this. We can tell you, but on one condition: you have to promise not to punish anyone that might be implicated.”

Celestia frowned deeply. “We cannot tolerate this miscarriage of justice. If someone had perpetrated the crime of hurting Twilight, appropriate punishment has to be applied.”

“I insist, Princess. You ask us to trust your sincerity, we in turn ask you to trust ours. We care for Twilight a lot, so we are not asking for this promise lightly.”

“Do not tempt us, Rainbow Dash.” Luna narrowed her eyes.

“Princess Luna... I assure you, we are not asking for this for any reasons of self-preservation or cronyism. We simply think that this is what Twilight would have wanted as well, and we’re executing her will.”

Celestia looked at Rainbow Dash intently, who did not flinch for a bit.

“What if Twilight herself wants to pursue punishment for the deeds?”

“Then we’ll certainly respect her wish.”

“Deal. You have my word.”

“Sister!”

“Luna, time is of essence. Besides, I do trust Twilight’s friends to have her best interest in their minds as much as me.”

“… We thank you.” Rainbow Dash drew in a breath, and began slowly. “Twilight fell into this state because she tried to rescue Chrysalis.”

“What?!” Both princesses exclaimed at the same time.

“Twilight and Chrysalis had clashed after they both appeared in Zebrica. With her magic and local help, she successfully defeated Chrysalis.”

“Oh, harmony be her shield.” Luna exhaled.

“Indeed, thank goodness for that.” Celestia nodded. “But why would she want to rescue such a… character?”

While Rainbow Dash tried to weave a story that minimize the impact of the changelings’ existence, Discord suddenly interjected. “I’ve talked to the no-longer changeling queen about what happened.”

The mares widened their eyes and turned to the chaos spirit, who simply shrugged and continued. “She’s staying well put with her fellow changeling captives on one of the ships. I’ve casted a spell that would alert me if they were to escape.”

“Discord!” Rainbow Dash hurriedly hushed, but the princesses already recovered from the initial shock.

“Are you saying that Chrysalis and her changelings are right there on the ships?” Celestia glared severely.

“Yep.”

“We shall arrest these villains post haste!” Luna thundered. “Call forth our-”

“Hang on a second, moon butt. You should hear me out before acting rash.”

“Why should I listen to you, you faithless anathema?” Luna narrowed an eye. “I don’t suppose you’re plotting vile schemes again with the accursed vermin.”

“I know you can’t quite stand my sight.” Discord said to the angry Luna. “But don’t you demean my hard work persuading her into being slightly more palatable to you ponies despite being a love-sucking predator. I do it only for Twilight.”

Although the mares were still shocked by Discord’s sudden reveal, Fluttershy still voiced her support. “Princess Luna, it’s too harsh and unfair to call Discord faithless. He had been our staunch champion throughout this journey. Without him and his fight with Chrysalis, Twilight will not be able to return to us at all.”

Celestia muttered something under her breath, and then slowly nodded. “I’m interested in what you have to tell.”

Discord nodded, then began to recount the story of how the hive crossed the desert and met Twilight.

When he got to the part about the Chrysalis’s failed bid to steal Twilight’s magic as well as identity, however, the princesses’ faces were livid with anger.

“Discord!” Luna yelled and interrupted the chaos spirit. “What you’ve just said only add to her insurmountable sin! I shall be damned not to blast her into pieces!”

“Oh, Luna. Be careful with your boundless wrath, for it might consume you instead.” Discord grinned.

“Discord, please do not try to get a rise out of my sister. Like me, she’s simply highly concerned about Twilight, as well as justice.” Celestia said with a grim face. “Still, if what you’ve said is true, then it’d be unreasonable for us not to pursue a severe form of punishment.”

Applejack, Rarity and Spike looked at Discord with some surprise, thinking that the chaos spirit might have changed his idea about covering up for Chrysalis.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, on the other hand, tugged at him anxiously. Discord however just gave them a ‘let me handle this’ look.
Celestia continued. “Banishment and imprisonment are our standard forms of punishment towards villains in Equestria. But with her regretful resilience-”

“What is a promise to you, Celestia?”

“Eh?” Celestia raised her head and looked to the chaos spirit, who was unusually calm and serene.

“I’ve stood by my promise of aiding your kingdom before Twilight herself releases me from my vow for seven moons, and now you can’t even stand by a promise you made to rainbow-mane several minutes ago.”

Stunned by Discord’s accusation, the solar princess winced and stayed silent.

“Now that I got the worst of her deeds out, I must still plead for the case of the changeling ex-queen. At least hear my second half of the story before you rush to your predetermined verdict.”

“… Ex-queen?” Luna, now slightly calmer, asked suspiciously.

“Finally someone caught the blatant hint that has been flying above her head.” Discord huffed. “The changeling hive is now simply a shell of what it was. Chrysalis had lost most of her troops and already been deposed by one of her own.”

“Huh?!” Celestia widened her eyes. “Chrysalis had an iron hoof over her kingdom! This is simply unbelievable.”

“I know you had an altercation with her before. Wasn’t it you that punch those holes on her and her ‘hivelings’ so hard that they still look like cheese ponies now?” Discord said. “So what do you know of her?”

Celestia narrowed her eyes, as Luna also turned to listen.

“The attack on Canterlot was not her first foray into Equestria. Years back, when she first emerged from the shores of Zebrica, she swarmed across the ocean and laid waste to the cities of Trot and Timbucktu. Then she set her eyes on Equestria. Bolstered by her successes, she led a direct assault on our East Coast, only to be repelled by the defensive works that we have laid down in anticipation of her attack. Those physical blemishes on their bodies… only served as a reminder of the futility of her misguided ambition.”

“A course of action most appropriate.” Luna nodded.

Celestia exhaled heavily. “She’s someone that could not be reasoned with at all. Like Sombra, who was corrupted by his singular desire to conquer and dominate, Chrysalis was single-minded in her desire to subjugate peaceful species for her own sustenance… They are changelings, they are by nature predators over ponies. There can be no true peace within such a lopsided relationship as mandated by natural order of things.”

“I’m also a spirit of chaos. Think of how many songs and texts in your fancy little kingdom that praise harmony and demonize disharmony. Shouldn’t I also be the perpetual enemy of yours and everyone of your little ponies?”

“But you… seem to have changed, if subtly.” Celestia muttered. Luna wanted to rebuke, but she bit back her remark.

“Exactly. I still remember how you tried and utterly failed to talk to me at first. Though I maintain that the tone you used was highfaluting, annoying and antagonistic regardless.”

“You subjected the entire land of Equestria to your chaotic whim!” Celestia couldn’t help but raise her voice. “Of course I would’ve been righteously angry.”

Luna added with dismay. “If not for you, Sombra would never find the opportunity to exploit the power vacuum in Crystal Empire and rose to power.”

“Wow, wow, hold on. You’re blaming friggin’ Sombra on me? I only began to really hear about his more exciting exploits after I got out of the stone, and before that I only knew him as an unhinged dark magic spewing unicorn with a penchant for slaves and crystal. For all that is chaotic, that guy was transparently evil even during my reign, before he got close to any kind of power. I mean, it’s your own dang fault for focusing on brainwashing when it’s some poor draconequus that did it, but acted like blind fools when it’s your fellow unicorn. Poor Princess Amore was so right in submitting her empire to your able hooves.”

Rainbow Dash muttered something under her breath, and then jabbed Discord. “Dude, and uh, princesses, we aren’t here to bicker about the old debts. We’re here to talk about Twilight, the Zebricans and the treatment of changelings.”

“Oh, right.” Discord raised his arms and turned to the fuming princesses. “If you would excuse my snark.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “… Say what you’ve got, Discord. Don’t make me retract my generous appraisal on you.”

“Fine. My point is, even though I still don’t see eyes to eyes with you and some other ponies, I still managed to be persuaded to conduct my businesses in a way that bother you ponies less. Heck, although it was mainly my payback for the purple egghead’s dedication, but I did vow to aid your kingdom. These mares all think of me as their loyal friend. Even her little dragon and I came to a mutual understanding on this trip. All from the chaos spirit that you two thought was impossible to get through to or even communicate, that you felt the need to lock him in a stony prison for a thousand years.”

Discord walked closer to the two princesses, and looked at them eyes to eyes. “You might doubt the authenticity of my ‘reformation’, especially you, Luna… Feel free. I myself don’t know sometimes. After all, who can say for sure? No one, however prescient, can have a total foresight of one’s own future transformation, be it corrupting, purifying, or simply life-changing.”

Luna looked surprised at Discord’s words, and slightly lowered her head in thought.

Discord then stepped back and laid his claws on each of the mares, even Spike, who widened his eyes but did not flinch.

“What I’m sure, however, is how these folks around me gave me their firm trust. If it was the past me, I might try to cynically exploit that without thinking. But the things which have happened in this very short portion of my time on earth makes me realize it’s worth thinking.”

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie perked up as they remembered that the chaos spirit did comment on his own changes briefly when they brought up Tirek, but now he seemed ready to discuss and disclose it in detail.

Discord himself magicked a fainting chair for himself to sit on. “Unlike you ponies, I merely came into being from the primordial soup of chaos. From the moment I became conscious, I already knew what I am – a spirit of chaos. This is my inherent nature, and my solitary goal, as well as my only source of joy, was to promote and spread it.”

The mares and Spike more or less knew about or at least inferred this from their interactions, but to the princesses, this confession was wholly new and so unlike the Discord they had in mind. They both opened their mouths and wanted to say something, but Discord waved them down.

“But it took me thousands of years of messing around and an addition thousand years as a statue for a realization to dawn on me – that despite being a spirit of chaos, my nature alone did not completely define me. Outside of my innate connection to chaos, I still have a lot of personal agency. In this sense, I was a fool as well, seeing that I used to laugh at you ponies’ obsession with your plot tattoos, while being blind to my own obsession.”

He shrugged and looked up to the decorated ceiling of the town hall. “It’s perhaps no surprise that someone like I would think everyone and everything can change, but it is Twilight and her friends that reminded me even I myself, and the operation of chaos itself can also change. I still refuse to say I’ve now changed for the better – I merely do the things that would allow me to have someone who could listen to your woes, share your joy, playfully tease you in good fun, and tolerate your flaws, however intolerable they are.”

He then showed a rare gentle smile that surprised both princesses. “Friends, as we all call these people. Even if this land does not react to the mere act of friendship with strange burst of magic, friendship itself is still a game changer, a chisel to sculpt ourselves and others. And I happen to be partial to this little concept at least as much as I towards making things all screwy and stuff.”

Celestia was somewhat taken aback by his candidness, even the antagonistic Luna began to listen with attention.

“Someone…” Discord paused for a bit. “Once asked me rhetorically that if I think friendship is just a roundabout way of slavery.”

Celestia quietly gasped, while Luna looked so shocked that she barely reacted. The sun princess then spoke up sternly. “This is patently false!”

“Celly, of course you would say that. But consider if you were someone who has been branded as a villain his whole life and long got used to the scorn, but then suddenly pulled into a settled life. One that had operated out of the confines of rules and without concern for friends or indeed anyone. This kind of words are like sweet honeydew to your ears, appealing to your raw instinct and luring you away from the restraints of rule-bound inaction.”

“I… I never thought…”

“A chaos spirit can be deep too?” Discord huffed. “Come on Tia, we’re both thousands of years old.”

“No! I wasn’t going to demean you like that!” Celestia felt somewhat frustrated with Discord’s penchant to bend her words. “But…”

She for once smiled to her former enemy. “It was great to hear that you seemed to have dismissed it.”

Discord, however, shook his head. “Truly persuasive words are not the ones that are completely false, but those that hid blades in nuggets of truth. I’ve been thinking since that person asked me this stinging question. Am I giving up part of my freedom in my bid to appease my new friends? No matter how you phrase it, it is true.”

The mares looked at Discord with worry, but he swiftly added with a grin. “But if this makes it an ‘imprisonment in all but name’, then we may as well call the world a giant prison, which is a stupid way to call this intriguing stage of action... In making friends and forming relationships, we are all giving up part of ourselves and in exchange, receive those of the others. These friends around me gave up so much that it both shamed and enlightened me. Twilight almost gave her life up both because of my foolishness at the spur of the moment, and her unwillingness to harm me in any way. Between all these, I learned that there are myriad possibilities to manifest your nature, and holding onto the ones that results in losing the bonds that connect us isn’t exactly wise or liberating.”

“That’s almost transcendent, Discord.” Rarity grinned.

“I am transcendent. I’m a spirit of a friggin’ concept, remember?” Discord chortled, and then shifted the focus of his talk. “But if even I can do this, why can’t some small time warlord queen?”

“Discord…” Celestia and Luna widened their eyes in slight alarm.

The white Alicorn bit her lips and shook her head. “You’ve indeed no longer the Discord we once knew.”

Luna added with some muted regret. “Your tongue might still be sharp and irritating, but… Alas, Twilight Sparkle did work miracles.”

Discord simply shrugged and nodded. “She’s a miraculous existence, yes.”

Celestia then said. “But however splendid your own reformation is, it is no basis or comparison for us to alleviate our distaste or potential punishment for Chrysalis. She is no small-time warlord queen. She violated our sovereignty and placed our subjects in dire danger, not to mention lead her changeling hive and laid waste to nations East and West.”

“You don’t think changelings are all vile by nature, no?”

Luna knitted her brows. “They were brutal and voracious devourers of love, totally incompatible with the Equestrian way of life.”

“Oh… Rosy is gonna be sad that she’s probably going to be deported away from her Twilight.”

“Who?” The princesses looked bemused.

Pinkie Pie interjected. “Rosencross was a stray changeling Twilight rescued in Timbucktu.”

“She was instrumental in, um...” Fluttershy briefly paused to search for a less incriminating wording. “…stopping the worst that could have happened to Twilight.”

“… She might be a special case.” Luna shook her head.

“But she was once a queen too.” Discord said, at the same time pondering what would Rosencross think if she knew she’s being used as an example to defend Chrysalis and her hive.

Celestia widened her eyes. “I thought changelings are just…”

“Changelings? That’s like saying everypony is the same.” Discord smirked.

“No… But I thought they were all led by Chrysalis as one single hive.”

“They used to be much more diverse, until Chryssy unified the disparate hives in Zebrica. In fact, Rosy’s hive used to obtain love using rather benign means until Chryssy’s hive absorbed hers. There’s no reason not to think whatever remained of her hive cannot be directed to become relatively harmless with our prodding.”

Celestia muttered. “Discord, why do you insist that Chrysalis can be reformed? She’s the one who laid harm on Twilight and countless Equestrian citizens. And according to what you’ve said, she’s also the one who drove the changelings onto the doomed warpath.”

“Trust me on this one, even if it might be hard for you. I’ve talked with her, and I knew that feeling very well. The initial tug from the other side, the gradual opening of the eyes to the possibilities beyond the old ways. The recurring hope and doubt and swirling mess of thoughts. As someone who’s been through this, I’m positive that she could eventually be turned.”

He then added. “She also had had a softer side, but her view was then distorted by some rather bad childhood experiences.”

“Such as?” Luna narrowed an eye.

“Witnessing her only friend got murdered in front of her eyes?”

Luna covered her mouth as Celestia winced. The chaos spirit extended his arms and said. “In any case, treating Chrysalis with restraints also has its practical use. The hive is now a shade of its former self. Only one squadron remained, and its squadron leader had deposed Chrysalis in light of her failure.”

“Their internal squabbling concerns us not.” Luna huffed. “We will hold them to their deeds regardless.”

“Oh, but here comes the good part. She then proclaimed Twilight as the new queen of the hive!”

“What?” Celestia asked. “How is this… Why would a changeling want a non-changeling as queen?”

Rainbow Dash said. “Discord is speaking the truth, Princess. Apparently, the changeling’s royal magical signature, called the Green Stigmata, had been wrestled from Chrysalis when Twilight fought her. So Twilight actually did have some claim to the queenship.”

“What she said.” Discord nodded. “Of course I suspect there are some ulterior motives, but at least this Allela’s desire to make Twilight her new queen seemed solid. If Twilight got better and can later incorporate the changelings into our side, then even if we see no need of fighting, we can still hold high the banner and stop the changelings she dispersed seven moons ago from marauding the countryside anymore.”

Discord crossed his arms. “By then, if we have Chrysalis by our side, then even if she might not be a completely reliable advisor, she would still be a counterweight to any particular changeling’s ambition… Twilight would be safer this way.”

Celestia paused for a long while, and at last, she nodded minutely.

“But what about justice?” Luna asked with a frown. “She had committed so many vile actions towards the innocent across the lands. There will be an uproar if we do not deal her and her ilk with appropriate punishment!”

“What is punishment good for?”

To the princesses’ surprise, it was Fluttershy who interjected.

“For those who were hurt, it might sate their desire for revenge, but it neither feed nor heal. For the one who had wronged the others, it might create an illusion of penance, but it changes nothing in the past. If the perpetrator had not the heart to change for the better, then punishment has no use. If the perpetrator had the heart to change for the better, then punishment has no purpose.”

Luna winced. “But…”

“There is no but, Princess Luna.” Fluttershy said sternly. “If back then we had unleashed our anger and sadness onto Discord and chaining him up on the rocks of Everhoof, Twilight would not have returned to us at all.”

She then stressed further. “If you simply let your desire for self-punishment fester only for the fleeting penance it’d have brought, then we might have already been inundated by the product of your own nightmare.”

Luna’s sensitive nerve was touched when her past was brought up. Celestia looked to her sister with concern, but she too merely sighed.

“Celestia, Luna.”

Discord straightened himself, drawing attention from the Alicorn sisters who were unused to such a formal Discord. “What my dear Fluttershy said was what drove them to accept me, even after I made the grave error of turning my back on Twilight, but it is not the sole reason I went soft on my brief partner-in-crime. I am no wide-eyed optimist myself, and I only said Chrysalis might be reformable because I saw something in her, and she also would be willing, if only with some prodding from us.”

Pinkie Pie looked to Discord and turned to the princesses. “The seed of friendship was already in her! But it could not grow because the soil is not right. The pent-up anger towards her lost friend combined with her upbringing made her into a brutal invader... But isn’t it all the sweeter when even such a turn from sweet friendship can be righted if we try, right?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah. She’s a product of her environment, just like each and all of us. We’re already having it easy if she’s all regretful and not vengeful for her own defeat.”

“So you are asking us not to punish Chrysalis or the changelings for their crime, are you not?” Celestia asked in a low voice.

“I prefer leniency because I trust Discord’s judgment, and I’d very much want to hear what Twi think. So I’d say not now. We urge you to wait until Twilight has recovered and hear her own account, and only then make any decision.”

The princesses looked to each other and seemed to be more convinced, but still not enough.

At this time, Spike suddenly said. “I say give her a chance too.”

“Huh?” The mares, particularly Applejack and Rarity, as well as Discord were all surprised at Spike’s proclamation.

“Yeah, yeah. I know you all are going to think it is weird for me to say that. After all, she did go all, um… murder-y on me briefly. But that didn’t exactly pan out, and she stopped herself before she even got out of the room.”

He then bit his lips. “Was I scared? Heck yes, I am still a bit scared. Was it a heinous act? Well, duh! Was she a ruthless conqueror that make ponies and non-ponies alike suffer? Certainly. But if Discord there, who had turned the land upside down, literally, and ruled it in complete chaos for goodness knows how long, can get a pass from us because he is willing to change his ways, then Chrysalis is just some ‘small time warlord queen’ indeed. Of course I still have a personal grudge towards her, but so had I been with Discord, and perhaps things would change when some time has passed, just like what a thousand years did to everyone.”

The last sentence caused several listeners to sharply breathe in.

“As for the changelings, they were certainly a mean bunch. But like Rosencross, perhaps they are not all bad, and can be directed to be a helpful force. I mean, it’s like the diamond dogs, isn’t it?”

Celestia raised a brow. Spike noticed the change in her expression, but he continued. “They were shunned in Equestria, but Rarity brought them out from their seclusion and onto the surface. Now they are productive citizens of Equestria, and lessened our reliance on Saddle Arabia for imported gems and minerals. All these changelings need may be just a healthy conduit to utilize their ability to earn their love, instead of steal it.”

Celestia looked pensive for a moment, then suddenly shook her head and shone them a smile. “Fair enough. You’ve talked me into this, don’t disappoint me.”

“You think so?” “What? Sister, wait! I-“

“Luna, listen to me.” Celestia turned to the mares and lightly leaned forward. “Given if Chrysalis, or any other changelings, do not act out of line in the way that harm the security of our nation, and it was my faithful student as well as her best friends’ ardent wish to preserve them, we shall also strive to accommodate this extraordinary request.”

Luna looked at Celestia for a moment, and then also nodded. “Very well.”

“I thought you would be more opposed to this, Lulu.” Discord smirked.

Luna narrowed her eyes and said. “Don’t get too comfortable with me yet, Discord. I’m not an accursed fossil, I simply take into account of your process of reformation and the confidence Twilight’s friends gave to this decision. I would still monitor their action closely.”

“But of course. My lieutenants will give me near-real-time reports of the changeling’s condition.” Rainbow Dash said.

Celestia looked concerned when Rainbow Dash mentioned her followers, but she nodded regardless.

Rainbow Dash looked around, the discussion seemed to have ceased. She then asked. “Princess Celestia, if the changeling issue is for now settled, then we must talk about how we are going to nourish Twilight back to health. We have a rough idea of our own, but we also wish to hear your advice.”

Luna asked worriedly. “First, I must ask... You mentioned something about the changelings’ royal magical signature. Does that mean Twilight is still magically linked to the changelings?”

“Probably… No, most likely yes.”

“Then is it due to the changelings’ continuous draining that my faithful student remain unconscious?” Celestia asked with a frown. “If so…”

Rainbow Dash reported. “As part of the agreement, the changelings have stopped feeding on Twilight’s energy for the moment, even Rosencross. Although they insist that Twilight’s condition has nothing to do with their feeding, which according to Allela, was minuscule compared to Twilight’s large magical potential.”

“That’s strange. Didn’t you say Twilight’s magic was declining during her stay in Zebrica? Then why…?”

“The comments from Allela, Chrysalis and Rosencross all point to the observation that despite Twilight’s mounting inability to cast magic, they did not feel at all difficult when they want to feed. Since they are hooked onto Twilight’s magical conduit directly to negate their need to feed from love for the moment, their words should be reliable. But it’s still done as a way to ensure Twilight’s safety and, well, keep them weak enough from doing anything stupid.”

Celestia nodded. “This is indeed quite thoughtful and prudent. So what could be the other possible reasons that Twilight couldn’t access her magic?”

“Well, we don’t know. The most recent cause is of course… Chrysalis. But Discord swore that when he and Rosencross extracted Chrysalis from Twilight, it was done with the best care he could give.”

“It’s true!” Discord waved his arms. “Chryssy almost made a mess of the place with her fit, but when I came out, I made sure to check for the integrity of her mental space. Nothing seemed too out of whack to me.”

“Hmm… Then we should transfer her to the royal medical ward in Canterlot for intensive examination.” Celestia heavily sighed. “Hopefully our experts on magic can figure out what happened to my faithful student.”

“Actually, why don’t we try the Elements?”

Everyone turned to Discord with surprise.

“Chryssy mentioned this to me, and I thought about it for a while. Aren’t there six strange slabs near the Tree of Harmony now that the Elements are put back? If so, perhaps in whatever plan the Harmony you all treasure so much has, Twilight must be present, because without her, there will only be like five bearers. Perhaps bringing her to the tree would do the trick and heal her from whatever strange illness she has now. At least, the harmony doohickey can’t be too bad for her magic or health.”

“… Not a half-bad idea, Discord. Good job!” Rainbow Dash slowly smiled.

Pinkie Pie tapped her chin and looked up. “Ah, I wonder if all these is just one big spiritual quest dictated by the spirits of Harmony to make our bonds tighter.”

“All the suffering just for that?” Spike raised a brow and huffed. “Asking nicely would do too, you know!”

Pinkie Pie mildly chuckled and shook her head.

“Indeed, what Discord said made sense. It wouldn’t hurt to try before the formal course of treatment.” Celestia thought for a while and nodded. “If you need any information on the Elements that I have researched over the years, do not hesitate to approach me.”

“Thanks.”

Rainbow Dash’s smile then faltered. “Princesses, now I must ask you something else quite important as well. I know it was a quite demanding request, but we’re quite saddened by your refusal to allow my good citizens and the Zebricans to settle on the empty plots of land down south.”

Luna again frowned. “Rainbow Dash, if we shall allow your Cruzesian citizens to settle on Equestrian lands, then to which nation do they swear allegiance to? Equestria or Cruzesia? If it was the latter, then approving your request is no different from seceding Equestrian lands away.”

“Princess Luna. I assure you, this is never our intent.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “The Cruzesians who follow me merely want to begin anew somewhere other than their old lands, so do the Zebricans. We aren’t going to suddenly plant our flag and proclaimed a Cruzesian state here.”

Celestia and Luna looked to each other and exchanged a few words. Afterwards, Celestia shook her head and said. “I feel bad to say this, but we still cannot grant your request for the same reason I have mentioned in the letter.”

She closed her eyes. “Your Cruzesian entourage are majority pegasi. I do not wish to upset the balance between the three- no, now four tribes. The influx of zebras and antelopes is going to cause problem with integration as well, since they are unfamiliar with both Equestrian language and customs. I oppose any move that might adversely affect our national unity.”

“Princess!”

Celestia shook her head and said slowly. “… Six moons. Six moons are the most generous concession that we can give you. During this time, we shall observe how well they integrate in Equestrian society. Perhaps by then, things would have changed. By then, Twilight herself might be able to weigh in later, giving us her case for the Zebricans. If things do not work out, Equestria reserves the right to enforce her border and repatriate these newcomers.”

Rainbow Dash was disappointed that she could not get a better deal, but she reluctantly nodded.

“Princesses.” Spike spoke up. “Why haven’t Princess Cadance and Shining Armor come to check up on Twilight? This should be pretty big news for them.”

“I’m sorry, Spike. They are having a very busy time up north.” Celestia sighed. “A lot of things changed in a thousand years. Customs, language, infrastructure, technology… everything needs to be reconnected and reconciled. Most importantly, the citizenry of Crystal Empire are restless about their lost years, prestige… and even lands. Cadance, Shining Armor are working closely with Consul Shimmer to deal with the tumultuous situation.”

“Sunset Shimmer is now in the government of Crystal Empire?” Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief.

“She was the one who defeated King Sombra, and organized the provisional government at the Empire’s return. Moreover, she was the one who brought the news of its return to us. She seemed to command a lot of respect and loyalty from the citizenry, so Cadance appointed Sunset Shimmer to the post in order to help her govern.”

Celestia then bashfully smiled. “I was initially suspicious of my former student. But after a few meetings, I believe that she had definitely grown, and my suspicion of her character is unfounded.”

“Interesting.” Discord smirked.

“Well, we can always use more competent and helpful hooves.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “I cannot wait to meet this Sunset Shimmer.”

“We certainly can.” Celestia smilingly nodded. “However, our first priority should be nursing Twilight to health. Before she awakes, we will not announce the news of her return yet.”

Her gaze turned steely. “But now, I must ask you to bring us to Twilight, and then Chrysalis and her changelings.”

The mares looked a bit unsure, and Celestia reassured. “Do not fret, I will keep my words and I’m not going to pass judgment on her yet. I just want to see what she had become.”

Rainbow Dash looked around. She was faced with a series of nods. “We shall lead you to her, but this must be covertly done.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After checking on the physical condition of the unconscious Twilight, the princesses, now wearing sad and weary looks, followed Rainbow Dash to a secluded area of the army camp. They three surreptitiously trotted, as the others had returned to avoid being too conspicuous.

“Your Grace!” The milky white pegasus who guarded the entrance greeted Rainbow Dash in Equestrian.

“How’s our VIP doing, Milestrela?”

“She’s staying put, Your Grace. She had requested me to chat with her, but I refused because it was against protocol.”

The white pegasus then thinly smirked. “She then asked me to bring her some light reading. So I gave her the Enciclopédia das Direito do Mar.”

“This is wicked, wicked.” Rainbow Dash shook her head and grinned wryly.

“What is the meaning of that, Rainbow-” Luna looked to the unimpressed lieutenant of Rainbow Dash and corrected. “Duchess Rainbow Dash?”

“It’s a super boring brick of a book about marine law from thousands of years ago, it’s outrageously bad. Drill sergeants make the recruits recite the books when they go out of the line.”

Celestia rolled her eyes and smiled. Rainbow Dash glanced and felt better that at least the sun princess was becoming less mopey.

“What about the other guests?”

“Under tight guard by the Law and Order Brigade. Commander Mistral Trail had not informed us of any abnormal activities.”

“Very good. Keep on duty, Lieutenant Milestrela.”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

They passed the white pegasus and stood in front of the entrance to the camp. The decoration was minimal. Rainbow Dash gestured the princesses to wait for a moment, and she popped her head inside and entered the tent.

The former changeling queen was sitting inside, flipping the tome with a grumpy look in the form of a golden-orange mare with a mane of green.

“Rainbow Dash... What brings you here? The joke your lieutenant made is unfunny.”

“Celestia is outside. Luna too. Just sayin’.”

“W- Wh- What?!” Chrysalis’s face immediately turned green, as she instinctively grabbed her belongings.

“You tell me on them?! How can you do that? They would positively annihilate me!”

“No, they won’t. Even if they want to, we’ll make sure that you’re safe until Twilight herself woke up to make the call.”

Rainbow Dash then crossed her hooves. “If you and the changelings are to be rehabilitated in the public eyes, the first step must be informing them of your presence and how you come to be with us in the first place. In any case, no panic needed. She’s not coming to punch more holes in you.”

“How do y-”

Rainbow Dash simply cut her off. “She just wants to check on your status. We bargained our tails off, and at the end she agreed to let Twilight pass the final judgment. With how soft and forgiving our purple egghead is, you are basically given a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Chrysalis widened her eyes. Then she looked down, and squeezed out her words in a slightly frustrated and hissy tone. “Why did you all do this? I am a bona-fide changeling! I was a changeling conqueror! I will drain all love from all you silly mares if given the chance!”

“But you won’t though.”

Chrysalis shot up. “How can you be sure?! I even tried stealing your friend’s life once! You should be punching me right in the face whenever you see me, not acting all fidgety or even helping to plead my case in front of the princesses! What’s wrong with you?”

“Good question. I don’t know what come over me too. In case you haven’t noticed, Rarity and Applejack were against helping you out.”

“Maybe they’re not as mad as you.”

“Aren’t you just as mad as me though?” Rainbow Dash raised a brow. “What would the past Chrysalis say to you if she met you now?”

Chrysalis’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

“Admit it. Twilight left a mark on your life so deep, you cannot undo it just like you cannot unburn a searing brand. You do not want to admit it, but you can barely bare your fang without having second thoughts now.”

Chrysalis gritted her teeth and hissed angrily. “S- Shut up!”

“I can’t.” Rainbow Dash blinked. “I’m conflicted myself. I should be quite mad at you, but inexplicably, I can’t really be mad to you… You claim to have acted in this strange manner partly due to the influence from linking with Twilight. If this is the case, I can within my conscience give myself a chance to forgive and forget, because I… let’s say I understand. But I’m never really sure how much you have changed.”

Rainbow Dash then sat on the tarp. “You’re no longer the queen now, but how much Queen Chrysalis remained?”

Chrysalis’s face contorted like a small boat on rough seas, but all she could make was anguished grunts.

Rainbow Dash observed and then sighed. “Celestia will come in a moment. Compose yourself and act calm. I will help you out.”

Chrysalis almost let out another cynical remark, but she instead quietly said. “… Thank you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Princesses, this is Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis felt a mix of anger, disgust, fear – but paradoxically also a smattering of wanting welling up in her heart.

The last time she met them, she stuck them onto the ceiling in two cocoons. The time before that, she was beaten by Celestia so badly that the scars of shame remained on her body. They were lifelong enemies, but now they were to talk in peace.

“No longer the Queen of the Changelings, huh, Chrysalis?” Celestia asked with an inscrutable expression.

“Tell me something I didn’t already know.” Chrysalis huffed.

“Show your form, changeling.” Luna scowled.

Chrysalis blinked and frowned. “I would rather not waste any more energy on meaningless thing like this.”

Luna raised her voice angrily. “When we command you to do so, you shall do as we say!”

“Princess, this might be a legitimate concern.” Rainbow Dash said. “The changelings were only nourishing themselves with what’s left of the energy from Twilight.”

Celestia raised a brow. “Is this true, Chrysalis?”

“… Transforming are very energy-consuming for changelings. That’s why we all prefer to stay in one form for now. I have already made some mistakes towards the purple pony, I’d rather not compound it by wasting any more of her gift.”

“Can you just cast a simple spell to show us your changeling magic then?” Celestia asked.

Chrysalis hesitantly nodded, as a bright green glow surrounded her body, and sparks flew out from atop her head. It was a strange scene to see somepony who was ostensibly a pegasus casting magic.

“Noted. We shall take this and Rainbow Dash’s words for now.” Celestia nodded. “Chrysalis… you indeed look and sound different. For some reason, your gaze is no longer one of lust for conquest and wanton destruction, but merely confusion and longing. Something must have tied your heart down to earth.”

Chrysalis fidgeted and said with heavy annoyance. “This is none of your concern, Celestia.”

Surprisingly, Celestia merely smirked. “Why indeed.”

Luna then added with a sneer. “As long as you are powerless like this, you pose little threat to us, for we can strike you down anytime. Remember this in your every waking moment, changeling. Only Twilight and her friends’ grace kept us from doing so.”

Chrysalis gritted her teeth. Her intense dislike for the princesses did not fade even with Twilight and her friends’ support.

“Princesses. I know she did a lot of… unmentionable stuffs. But in the interest of rehabilitating her, I do not see how verbal threats might help.”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “Rainbow Dash, why are you helping her out like this? Are you bedeviled by her vile magic?”

“For one, I’m not acting like a braindead zombie. Second, I believe she barely had enough power to do so. I merely follow Twilight and Discord’s example in reaching out.”

“Reaching out…” Celestia muttered, and then lightly sighed. “It is a beautiful phrase, but it is not an easy word to implement. Queen Chrysalis had brought so much suffering to the land, I’m really hesitant to let her off simply because she have reconciled with and is in the probable good grace of my faithful student.”

She paused for some thoughts, and turned to Chrysalis. “But I can’t deny the fact that you seem to have changed, and that even Twilight’s most loyal friend speaks on behalf of you… Although we clashed in the past, these facts made me feel that your case might deserve to be heard.”

Luna turned to look at her sister, and then shook her head with a sigh.

“I don-” Chrysalis’s annoyance at being verbally patted in the head flared up into a jab, but Rainbow Dash bumped her side and interrupted her.

“Just say thanks for the love of the dang egghead!” Rainbow Dash surreptitiously whispered.

Chrysalis widened her eyes, and then reluctantly replied, “… Thank you.”

“We will leave her in you care, Rainbow Dash.” Celestia shot Rainbow Dash a meaningful gaze. “I trust you to keep a vigilant watch over her. We will shortly return to Canterlot for our duties, but we’ll soon reunite with you in Ponyville. We hope that you and your friends are right in that the Magic of Harmony may return my faithful student to health.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The train depot in Las Pegasus were crowded with Zebricans and Cruzesians ready to depart for Ponyville.

The giant ships of the Cruzesian Navy could not sail up the narrow Saddle River, so the passengers had to take trains instead. Applejack had diverted some converted train cars to Las Pegasus for this purpose.

The to-be-passengers were not exactly concerned with using a new mode of transportation, but some of them were unhappy to see the lack of comfort and cleanliness. It was to be expected, since two-third of the cars were originally used for carrying fruits and coals, with tops and windows hastily installed.

There were not even proper seats in these cars, meaning the passengers had to stand or sit on the floor for dozens of hours before arrival. The soldiers were used to harsh conditions, but others were more dismayed.

The princesses had left on their own chariot. But the mares themselves did not have the luxury of comfort.

Although Rarity was particularly reluctant, they decided to show a sense of solidarity by staying in one of the cramped carriages. It so happened to be the one that Geuse and her guards stayed on.

They were using the opportunity to practice their newly learnt Zebrikaans. It was becoming remarkably apparent that it was like West Germane with Equestrian phonology and a sprinkle of Zebrican words. The West Zebricans were trying their hooves in speaking some basic Equestrian phrases. Apparently Twilight had taught them some also.

Verna was sitting next to Rarity. She tilted her head at the uncomfortable expression on her face. “You look glum.”

“Oh, no, I’m very fine.”

“You need not to be shy. All of us are feeling the heat in this cramped car.”

Rarity nodded, and then the two went quiet. Amid the intense and even sometimes rowdy chattering in the train car, awkwardness quickly grew. Rarity quickly searched her mind for something to talk about.

“Ah, Verna.”

“You can call me Vernie, like Pinkie does.” Verna smiled.

“O- Okay, Vernie, I wonder how you met up with Geuse. You two look so close…”

“And yet I’m an antelope while she’s a pegasus?”

“No, no! I mean…”

“Don’t have to panic, I got this question a lot. I can tell from your face that you don’t mean it in a prejudiced way.”

Rarity gingerly nodded, and Verna continued. “Let me explain. Antelopes and other land-bound creatures always lived under the cloud district of Timbucktu separately from the pegasi. The non-pegasi quarter is frankly, just a ghetto, and we bore the brunt of attack during the first changeling invasion. I’m honestly surprised at how well the non-pegasi, even though they are still ponies, live in Las Pegasus. They got it good in here.”

“Equestria managed her race relations relatively well… At least for the pony races.”

“Heh.” Verna noticed the implied meaning of Rarity’s comment, but she merely smirked. “Things changed under the current king, who tweaked the law slightly to allow for smoother mixing of the races. It’s only due to this and the money both my mother gave me and I earned with my hard toil, I’m able to afford a cloud-walking charm and enter the Sandcore University, one of the most prestigious academic institutes of West Zebrica. And there, I met Lady Geuse.”

“You two are college students?” Rarity said with surprise, and then covered her mouth after realizing the rudeness.

“Ha, we don’t look the looks, do we? She studied administration, I studied business and trade, just as I’ve always wanted.”

“I see… Well, you’re certainly more learned than me then, I’m just a humble seamstress.”

Verna grinned and shook her head. “You can’t fool me, Lady Rarity. Twilight told me about you, and I also asked around a bit. You’re quite a captain of industry yourself, and you own and manage quite a number of mines and mills. How’s such an entrepreneur less learned about business than someone like me? I’ve always wanted to learn some moneymaking tricks from professionals, and you certainly are one.”

Rarity gulped with embarrassment. “So, uh, you two were classmates.”

“Lady Geuse also defended me from verbal attacks from less well-intentioned pegasus classmates of mine. Being a wingless creature on the clouds is dangerous business, and she saved my life more than once.”

Rarity looked a bit shocked. “Someone tried to…?”

“It’s a fact of life from where I lived. Different races don’t get along exactly.”

Rarity gulped again. “But why… how did you two suddenly become adventurers?”

“She got expelled.”

“Eh? What happened?”

Verna lowered her head and sighed. “It was my fault. A bully tried his usual trick of shoving me off the cloud edge again, and Lady Geuse decided it was once too many. She knocked him out with a punch to the face, and then proceeded to beat him up badly. The university eventually decided to expel her, even though Lady Geuse’s fath- um...”

“Even though her what?”

“… Let’s say Lady Geuse herself wasn’t too keen on the campus life herself. So she took me on as her retainer, and we became freelancing adventurers. I can’t complain about leaving the sterile academic environment to earn money in the real world again, and Lady Geuse is never one to patiently sit down, so we’re both okay with it.”

“Retainer? I hear you keep referring to Geuse as Lady Geuse. Is she nobility?”

“Kinda, sorta… Yes.”

“Hmm?”

Verna shifted. “She’s the only daughter of, uh, a near-extinct noble line, which had fallen into obscurity. But she’s still formally knighted and technically a member of nobility.”

“No wonder she seems a bit fond of seeking fame.”

Verna’s eyes twinkled, but she did not comment on Rarity’s remark. Instead, she leaned back and said. “Lady Geuse is meant for big things, she knows it and have her eyes always set on success. I’m happy to be part of it. I’m glad that Twilight seems to be the answer to our aspirations.”

Rarity was slightly uncomfortable with the implications that they viewed Twilight as their way to fame and wealth, but she stayed quiet. Instead, she asked. “… First time riding train, eh?”

“Yes. Quite nifty a mode of transportation! Twilight described it to us before. If we had this in West Zebrica, then it would certainly be a big boom to trade. And if we can ride this across the desert, then it would save us so much trouble…”

She then beamed. “And personally, I want to ride on one for a long time!”

Rarity smiled wryly. “Are you disappointed?”

“It’s crowded in here, sure. But the feeling of speed is great, as well as the rhythmic beats when the train moves on the tracks, the steam spewing out from the engine reminds me of clouds. It’s all because of Twilight that we can go on this exciting journey, and I’m glad we met her and helped to bring her home.”

Verna dreamily looked outside, and then she took out her lute from her bag, and plucked the strings.

“… Go, steam train, bring her to home
Let your iron wheels roll and roll
Bring her and make my being full
Go, steam train, fast on your tracks
For you bring my dearie love back to me

Where are you on your track?
How far is she from me?
Riding on the old steam train, roll on
Was there solitude in her, through the deserted dryland
Bring her right back here to me, roll on

Go, steam train, bring her to home
Let your iron wheels roll and roll
Bring her and make my being full
Go, steam train, fast on your tracks
For you bring my dearie love back to me

In the homeland she will feel
She comes back where she belongs
Back by her old heath land, roll on
In the distance I hear you
And your old lute sounds like heaven
Here's your destination, but I only just started going, on the steam train.”

When she finished, all the passengers were already paying rapt attention and clapped.

Rarity was smiling brightly. “Was that ‘her’… Twilight?”

“Of course.” Verna smiled back.