Born For Battle

Chapters

2. Virtue...-Less
3. Nightmare On Ponyville Street
4. We'ew Huntin' Nightmawes
5. A Regular Tuesday... Unfortunately
6. My People... Aren't What I Expected
1. Child of The Last Light (Being Revamped)
HELP

2. Virtue...-Less

(Chapter 2: Virtue… -less)

Two years before Nightmare Moon’s return

As the Princess was finishing up Day Court for the day and was about to return to the throne room in the castle, she was greeted this afternoon by Kibitz, who had some… plans regarding everything that was going on tonight. It had been a long time since she had originally adopted Phoebe and took Twilight Sparkle under her wing and in that time, both of them have grown substantially. Not to mention that they were widely expanding upon their individual talents. Yet, there was still one thing that the Princess believed that they both needed to learn that was a very… important lesson.

“Kibitz, can you call in Twilight and Phoebe please? I have a… task for the two of them.”

“Of course, your majesty.” The elderly stallion replied. He’d aged well over the years, and surprisingly had not one grey hair on his head or facial hair. He left the room to retrieve the girls.

Minutes later, Phoebe and a fully complete and operational Marquis came into the room. Phoebe had grown up a lot since Celestia first adopted the girl. Celestia had noticed Phoebe’s chest, as she grew up, developed an oddly large upper chest, and curves that no being she’d ever come across had. She wore a bright pink and gold puffy dress that didn’t match her at all, which caused Celestia to snort at her daughter's annoyed look. The one thing that she was allowed to have though was a pair of shoes that allowed for her to gracefully move along the floor without much effort since they were designed by her.

“Mother, could you fire the buffoon who made this dress? It’s dreadfully uncomfortable, and doesn’t match my eyes, hair, or anything about my features!” Phoebe said grumpily.

“Now now, Phoebe. This is only temporarily… Have you seen Twilight?” Celestia asked, only for the Unicorn to soon teleport into the room.

“You wanted to see me Princess?” She looked at Phoebe for a moment and then chuckled. “Who exactly designed that dress? It doesn’t match any of your features!”

“Some new dressmaker mother hired last week… It’s not entirely made for me, too. It has this annoying tailhole-” Before Phoebe could continue, Celestia decided to change the subject quickly.

“I believe you two are curious as to why I called you here,” She said, catching their attention for a moment. “I think it is time for another lesson… but before you object… hear me out first.”

“Go on…” Phoebe said, her eyes narrowing. Twilight nodded her head in agreement, insisting for Celestia to continue.

“Both of you have been succeeding rather quickly in your fields of study. Twilight with her study in magic and Phoebe in her study with science… I know that Science and Magic sound like complete opposites, but for this lesson, I would like you to be able to combine your talents and work together. It’s a lesson on teamwork and also to work collaboratively… do you understand?” She asked, trying to see if both of them knew what she was talking about.

“Sounds fun. We’ve never really done anything together.” Phoebe said, then looked to Twilight. “You up for it?”

“I a-am… But what exactly did you have in mind?” Twilight then asked. But before Phoebe could answer, Celestia then spoke up.

“I’ll leave that for you two to decide. Go ahead and get started, but most importantly, have fun.” Celestia smiled, allowing for Phoebe and Twilight to leave the hall and return to Phoebe’s lab in order to see what kind of ideas they could come up with… after she changed her clothes for that matter.

“So, did you have any ideas in mind?” Twilight asked as she looked around the Lab and tried to find herself a place to sit.

“Well, perhaps some form of hovering technology?” Phoebe suggested. “I’ve been having trouble with- Wait… A battle gown! Something that’s fitted with magic and technology!”

“I like that idea,” Twilight asked, before thinking of another question. “But how exactly were you thinking for it to work?”

“May I please interject in order to answer Ms. Twilight’s Question, Ms. Phoebe?” Marquis then spoke up and asked.

“Fine...” Phoebe stated, her excited tone turning flat.

“One of Ms. Phoebe’s ideas that was actually inspired from you, Ms. Twilight, was what I believed she called “Phasegate”. What if that in particular could be incorporated into the gown?” He asked, shortly before Twilight looked back at her.

“I… inspired you? And what is this phasegate?” She then asked.

“Yes, you did. The Phasegate is a teleportation device I’ve been working on, but the technology needed for certain parts may never be created due to lack of said material.” Phoebe said, looking around the lab. “I gave up on it awhile ago.”

“Well, what if we did incorporate it into the gown, but the device itself would be rather small and not require much materials,” Twilight replied, thinking of a possible idea in her head. “Like what if it was something on your… hands that you can easily put on when you need it and take it off when you don’t?”

“Let’s focus on getting a prototype built. I suppose magic could replace what Equestria lacks.” Phoebe stated. “We’d need materials for the gown, and someone who can sew. And finally we’d need a lot more room than my lab.”

“I can help with the prototype.” Twilight replied.

“And I can help with finding the materials and someone who can sew… while making sure they aren’t liberal arts majors.” Marquis said thoroughly, driving home the last point and being very… specific about it.

“Great, and Marquis, please don’t shoot anyone.” Phoebe ordered.

“Ugh, fine…” Marquis replied. “I’ll leave Hoodini to do the disposing.”

“No…” Phoebe glared daggers at Marquis. “I’ll let you chase Blueblood afterwards or something, just don’t kill anyone.”

“Wunderbar, I shall return soon!” The butler declared as he walked out of the room. Only for Twilight to have a raised eyebrow.

“Are you sure that having him be on his own is a good idea?”

“No, but I’m not following him.” Phoebe stated tiredly. “And this way, I see how well he follows my orders.”

“Alright I guess… Now, how should we get started?” Twilight asked.

“Well, let’s start by me showing you the original designs…” Phoebe stated as she started getting things together. It took some time to get everything ready, but soon, Phoebe had the blueprints out on the table so Twilight could look it over. Of course, she was no stranger to schematics such as these, but was quite surprised to see how much time and effort that Phoebe had put into making sure that these ideas of hers were drawn out and on paper.

“Wow… I’m really blown away by some of these designs!”

“I know, they’re amazing.” Phoebe said pridefully, her ego having been given a boost. “I’m thinking the first two and the one at the bottom should be integrated into it. What do you think?” Twilight analyzed the schematic herself, seeing the ideas that Phoebe had drawn. The First two were the phasegate idea she had in mind along with shoes that allowed her to levitate slightly off the ground for mobility. The last one at the bottom though really caught her attention upon further analysis.

“What are these Five Virtues mentioned down here? How do they work?” Twilight asked out of curiosity.

“They’re swords that hover and are controlled by the gloves and the main sword, and therefore obey the user.” Phoebe explained. “Mother told me a bedtime story about the Elements of Harmony, and the five virtues of kindness, honesty, loyalty, laughter and generosity.”

“Wow… Celestia told me that story too. I like it!” She smiled, hugging Phoebe. “I’m glad I got to work on this with you.”

“Same. It’s been too long since we did anything together.” Phoebe smiled in return.

Few days later…

Phoebe sighed contently as she looked at the masterpiece that she had finally placed the finishing touches on. “Perfect.” It took her a lot of time, and in some cases a few sleepless nights, to be able to complete the project that Twilight and her started together. Sure, she had many projects and ideas that she had tried and was mostly successful at, but this one was special to her.

Just then, a faint knock on the door could be heard as Marquis soon walked over. “Should I get the door, Ms. Phoebe? Or do you want to get it since you finished your recent endearment?”

“I’ll get it. Would you clean up and take out the trash?” Phoebe stated, standing up and limping over to the door due to her sitting crosslegged for an hour and cutting off the blood flow, while Marquis easily disposed of the trash by dumping it into the portable incinerator that was used for anytime Phoebe felt as if she needed to start over on one of her projects. Some would call it recycling… others would call it wasteful… Marquis called it ‘hobo decontamination’.

Upon opening the door, Phoebe was surprised to see that Princess Celestia was outside. “Good afternoon, Phoebe. May I please come in?”

“Of course, but it’s still kinda a mess.” Phoebe replied, stepping away from the door and allowing her inside. The mess wasn’t quite the first thing the Alicorn noticed upon stepping hoof into the room. Instead, she soon saw something to the left of the entryway before looking back at Phoebe.

“Uh… would you happen to have made a bookfort in your spare time?” She asked, pointing it out to her as the two of them noticed it. “Or did Twilight happen to spend the night here… again?”

“Slept over again. Why are you here, mother?”

“Well, I was wanting to see the progress with the project the two of you were working on,” The princess replied, using her levitation magic to take off the roof of the bookfort… to find Twilight sleeping underneath something that wasn’t a blanket. “Would those happen to belong to you, Phoebe?”

By the time Phoebe noticed, her butler Marquis was done with the task he was assigned as he joined the two of them. “Ah, pleasure to see you, Princess Celestia… Say, is that Ms. Sparkle sleeping under your design schematics?”

Phoebe’s face turned red as she seethed. “Yes…” The blonde woman tugged the schematic away from Twilight. “Stupid failed project that ran away...”

That… caught the princess by surprise. “Ran away?”

“Another type of Marquis that was designed as a children's entertainment or something, I forgot about it. Built the blasted thing and it ran off to do… Something…” Phoebe grumbled.

“Should I… be concerned?” Celestia asked.

“Not quite,” Marquis interjected. “Unlike me, this other project did not have any form of weaponry equipped because it was designed primarily for child care… almost like a ‘nanny’ if that’s the proper term for it. The name for the bot was suppose to be ‘Kid Ultra’ because of the tagline that Ms. Phoebe came up for it. “Kid friendly, Ultra dependable”.”

“And it’s not programmed to be violent, so it wouldn’t even punch a slug.” Phoebe added. “I keep the schematic in case the damn thing ends up an actual problem, or if I need an example of a failure, however rare mine are.”

“I see… very well then,” Celestia replied back, looking back at both Phoebe and Marquis. “How about you show me what you are working on as of right now.”

“Right away…” Phoebe tapped Twilight’s horn with her foot. “Wake up Twily!”

“W-what?” She said in a dazed slumber. “What is happening? W-where’s my LSBFF?”

“Mom wants to see our creation.” Phoebe answered plainly. “Thought you’d want to be awake.” Twilight yawned a little, shaking her head to make sure that her mane was straightened out.

“I needed to rest my brain. I felt like I overused it after I began studying all those other schematics since you said you would work on the finishing touches…… what?” Twilight asked, before Marquis made a logical guess and asked a question.

“Ms. Sparkle… did you happen to drink Ms. Phoebe’s coffee in doing so?” All that happened next was a blush slowly becoming visible on Twilight’s face as Phoebe looked back at her in shock.

“You drank my coffee!?” Phoebe almost screamed.

“W-what? With how fast you were doing things, I had to find a way to keep up, LSBFF!”

“I’ve heard that saying twice now. What does it exactly mean?” Celestia then asked, a little puzzled by what Twilight was trying to say before the unicorn explained it.

“It means Little Sister, Best Friend Forever… and that to me is how I see Phoebe.” She replied before hugging the blond girl around the waist. Phoebe blushed in embarrassment.

“Let’s focus on the presentation. Is it stable enough to wear… BSBFF?” Phoebe was embarrassed about saying Twilight’s nickname.

“Based on previous test results, it’s functioning perfectly,” Twilight told her in response. “Do you have Five Virtues ready?”

“More or less.” Phoebe stated, before grabbing a long metal case that has a handle on it. She then walked behind a black curtain. “I’m getting dressed, don’t come in here!” Her Butler acknowledged what she said as she turned to both Celestia and Twilight and advised them to please look away in the meantime until she was ready.

Finally, Phoebe came out wearing her new battle gown as it flowed behind her. Trims of grey and gold around her hips, the bottom half of the dress and around the shoulders along with a dark cobalt and grey cloth for the dress. Weaved together to fit Phoebe perfectly and expand if she happened to grow taller.

“Oh my… That is… rather stunning…” Celestia replied, a little shocked by Phoebe’s reveal.

“There’s more to it then that,” Twilight replied. “Phoebe, why don’t you show Princess Celestia Five Virtues?”

That just caused the princess to look back at both of them, confused once again. “Like with the previous phrase, I’ve heard that twice now… I’m very curious to know what it is.”

Phoebe pulled out a rapier that matched her dress. “This is Virtue One…” She started, before four more rapiers, slightly different to the first flew out of the changing area, and hovered around Phoebe. “And these are Virtues Two through Five… Haha! They didn’t kill me! Or mortally stab me!”

“That is… rather intriguing. I’m most curious about why you named them ‘Five Virtues’.”

“Phoebe and I came up with the idea based on the original story of the Elements of Harmony that you read to us,” Twilight beamed as she pointed out each blade with an extended hoof. “The main one she holds is a representation of loyalty, followed by laughter, kindness, generosity, and honesty. They can respond to her every motion and also are synched with both the rings on Phoebe’s fingers and the main blade she wields.”

“That’s not even the best part!” Phoebe said, waving the First Virtue from side to side like a conductor, puppeting the other blades. “I can do so much more than just hover a few blades.”

“This is a very well thought out invention I do say so myself,” Celestia complimented both of them. “But there is one thing I’m wondering about… other than the swords, what part of this outfit is based on magic?”

Phoebe looked past Celestia and held her free hand in front of her as a white sphere appeared in her palm, before opening her hand and outstretching her arm, and vanishing in a white flash. The princess herself looked around the room in a surprised state of shock before she felt something lift her crown off of her head and turned to see Phoebe on the second floor of the room while one of her swords had Celestia’s crown lying along it.

“Teleportation without a horn or magical capabilities. I know, I know, it’s a scientific advancement and wonder.” Phoebe said pridefully with a bow.

“This is remarkable! I am rather proud of both of you with being able to accomplish such a feat as this.” She replied as Phoebe came back down and the princess used her magic to put her crown back on her head.

“There’s a lot more to this, but I’m afraid I need to take care of the vomit I feel coming up…” Phoebe said as she started to turn green from her first teleportation journey. “I think I’m gonna be-” She could finish before she desperately ran to her personal bathroom.

“She’ll get used to the effects of it with time, but for the most part, we were able to accomplish everything that you set out for us to do, Princess.” Twilight spoke up to catch her attention.

“I believe that is the case… In fact, because of how successful this was, I’m considering to have the two of you work together more often,” She replied. “Now once Phoebe is done, let her know that dinner will be in two hours. Dress properly because we’re having a special guest coming over tonight.”

After a bit, Phoebe stumbled out, breathing heavily. “Much better… Uh, Marquis, would you be a dear and flush the toilet?”

“Certainly… also, the Princess is waiting on you. She has something to share with you about tonight.” He replied as she made her way back over to Twilight and Celestia.

“Alright- wait… Hey Marquis, do I have any titles like mom? I remember a Princess was usually supposed to be an unmarried or young queen if I remember correctly. Am I a princess?” Phoebe stated as she started to change.

“I address you as Ms. Phoebe since that is your name. Princess Celestia has not addressed you as such, so as of now, I believe addressing you by your name is the best course of action.” Marquis replied. “My designated function is to serve as your butler and in doing so, I address you as ‘Miss’ out of custom.”

“Damn it, I want a title to flaunt and the daughter of Princess Celestia doesn’t sound like flaunting material. I should be addressed as a princess or royalty…” Phoebe grumbled.

“Sometimes, that title needs to be earned. If you would like, I could address you by your full name if that makes you feel more… flaunt-y.” The butler offered.

Phoebe glared at Marquis. “First, f*ck you Marquis-”

“You do realize that Celestia could hear our conversation… and your language.” Marquis added.

Phoebe continued, annoyed by the interruption. “And second, if my cousin Bluefart get’s Prince as a title, I deserve princess. Not mother’s high status, but some form of royalty so that when mother forces me to go to Blood’s birthday parties he doesn’t order me to call him ‘Prince Blueblood’ saying I’m not royalty but mothers pet!” Phoebe’s right eye twitched. She took a deep breath before sighing. “I just want to have a title better than Celestia’s pet… Monkey.” Phoebe shook in anger at that last word.

“I believe you should ask the princess about that personally… and for the record, everypony that has called you as such I proceeded to shoot the daylights out of with Bindlebane.” He added on the side as Phoebe groaned a little.

“She has enough to worry about.” Phoebe replied with a sigh. “I shouldn’t complain. After all, she taught me that a good deed is it’s own reward! And building weapons for my personal use seems to fit the bill.”

“That’s the Phoebe I know!” Marquis replied happily.

“There’s no other!” Phoebe said, covering her mouth as she giggled. Her joy faded as she remembered something. “Wait… What was I doing again? Marquis, what was I going to do?”

“You were changing your clothes in preparation for supper, Ms. Phoebe.” Marquis reminded her, stepping outside the room. “We’ll be outside when you’re ready.”

“Right.” Phoebe said.

Phoebe entered the dining hall, wearing her usual dinner clothes. It wasn’t fancy, but it wasn’t just random clothes either. She was wearing a very presentable silver long sleeved shirt, with a black pencil skirt. Ponies didn’t usually wear shoes, so she didn’t either. Which was fine to her.

But as she entered the dining room, she happened to notice somepony… out of the ordinary inside the room. A stallion with a mane that had a few shades of blue and was wearing a formal red suit to the dinner tonight. Someone that she had not had seen before previously.

“I hope I’m not late.” Phoebe said, stating her presence in the room.

“Actually, you arrived just on time,” Princess Celestia replied back before turning to the guest in the room. “First Major, I would like to introduce you to my adoptive daughter Phoebe Hemsworth IV. Phoebe, this is First Major Shining Armor of the royal guard-.”

“Shiny!!” Both of them heard Twilight shout out in glee as she raced over to the stallion and hugged him. Causing Princess Celestia to giggle… but for Phoebe to just look at the two of them in confusion, and slight jealousy.

“Who is he again?” Phoebe asked, a bit more snide than she intended.

“Shining Armor… First Major in the Royal Guard… and Twilight’s older brother.” Celestia clarified for her as she began to explain thoroughly so Phoebe could understand. “I thought I would invite him over so I can introduce him to you. I also invited Twilight’s father, Captain Night Light… but he had other priorities to attend to this evening.”

“Twilight, how come you’ve never told me you had a brother… Ever?” Phoebe asked, her eyes narrowing.

“I… forgot.” Twilight replied, looking back at her. “I always forget about mentioning him. Sorry LSBFF.”

That small statement happened to be enough to capture Shining’s attention as he looked back at her before looking at Phoebe. “Wait, I’m the one that calls you LSBFF, Twily… Is there something I’m missing here?”

“Both Phoebe and Twilight have seen each other as sisters since Twilight has begun learning under my wing. She is a really gifted individual, let me tell you that Shining.” Princess Celestia replied before looking back at everyone one last time. “Now, we should begin eating before our dinner gets cold.”

“Of course, mom.” Phoebe replied, walking over to the seat next to Celestia on her left and sat down. “What’s for dinner?”

“Tomato soup and sandwiches for tonight. It was served on the table just before you arrived in fact.” The Princess told her as they all sat down to enjoy their meals. However, the taste of envy still remained with Phoebe as she had her gaze focused on Shining Armor throughout dinner. She could understand that Twilight forgot about telling her of her brother… but what they had between them was special. But Shining and Twilight obviously had a deeper bond.

Of course, it could have just been that they hadn’t seen each other in a while. And it wasn’t like anything could possibly have effect Shining’s opinion on her.

BANG!! BANG!! “Don’t even think about trying to disturb them while they are dining, you disgusting hobo cretin!!!!” She heard Marquis shout as he had brought out Hoodini to chase after Prince Blueblood.

“Auntie Celestia, help me!!!”

Phoebe sunk in her seat, starting to feel nervous. “Ehh… Wonder what that was about...”

“AND NEVER CALL MS. PHOEBE A DISGUSTING MONKEY EVER AGAIN!!!”

Phoebe’s face turning just as red as her soup from embarrassment as she shrank even more. For a moment, she thought that Twilight’s brother would be looking down on her… but was caught off guard when she saw him… laughing of all things. Why would he be laughing at the sight of Marquis chasing after Blueblood?

“Serves him right… I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, princess, but we have been receiving a lot of complaints from Prince Blueblood over the most pettiest of reasons. Most of them being over not doing whatever he likes upon request…” The unicorn replied, looking at her and Princess Celestia. “We’re suppose to be the royal guard and protect everypony, not be his personal lackeys… But I am curious about something… Ms. Phoebe?”

“Yes Captain?” The inventor asked.

“I’m… a little curious about something… Did you create that… automaton on your own? It looks like years beyond Equestria’s current technology and… I have to say, I’m quite impressed by it.” The royal guardspony replied.

“Indeed I did,” Phoebe stated pridefully. “It took me a time before I was able to even start, since many of the materials that were in my head didn’t exist here, so I had to make those from scratch.”

“I see… Ms. Phoebe, can I please talk with you about this after dinner? I have something on my mind that I think you may be interested in hearing about.” The unicorn asked her. Now she was rather curious as to what he wanted to discuss with her. The suspense was killing her throughout dinner in fact and by the time that everypony was done eating was when Shining had finally decided to continue with what he was saying. “I’m going to guess that you already know a bit about the Royal Guard around Canterlot?”

“Of course, mother taught me a bit about how it worked.” Phoebe said calmly.

“Well… If I am to be honest with you… the times back then have changed from how they are right now. A lot of our equipment is old and outdated, plus anytime that we do have to use it for some reason, we get scrutinized for using lethal force on civilians…” Shining Armor told her, sighing a little. “There’s nothing in the royal guard’s arsenal right now that could be used as a non lethal alternative to some of the gear we have currently like swords and crossbows.”

Phoebe turned away from Shining. He was confused at this action. However, Phoebe didn’t want the guard to see her devilish grin. See turned back to him, a polite smile adorned her face. “I believe I can assist. But I’ll need some ponies to mass produce whatever I develop.”

“Would you also need some ponies to test the equipment as well? If that is the case, I can talk to the captain and we can get the help you’re looking for.” Shining Armor suggested. “I just would like to know what ideas you had in mind.”

“I was thinking… How do I explain it to a… Normal pony?” Phoebe said, attempting to not be too bluntly rude to the stallion. “Sticks that stun, shields that are made up of energy and suits that protect the body far more better than your brutish armor.”

“You mean batons?” Shining asked for clarification. “I like the ideas, but when it comes to convincing dad… he likes to see it rather than be told about it… When do you think you can get the earliest version of them done by? Like… what’s the word… a prototype?”

“Yes, a prototype. I can have one by the end of the month.” Phoebe said.

“Thank you very much. I am really appreciative of you helping us.”

“Don’t thank me yet, I might get bored doing someone else's work!” Phoebe said with an evil grin.

“I understand. Thankfully, I’ve been stationed here while dad’s doing the new recruit initiation out in the Badlands. It’s a nightmare… but once you get through that, it’ll get easier-.” He stopped speaking just as he heard the door open and another set of hooves echoed throughout the room. Surprising enough, the pony in question was another alicorn. However, unlike Celestia, she had pink fur on the outside and her mane was multiple colors and did not flow with the wind like Celestia’s.

“Oh… hello Shining.” She spoke lightly. But before Phoebe could say anything, Twilight pounced at the alicorn. Squealing in joy and… also making Phoebe both confused… and jealous once again.

“I’m not even going to ask…” Phoebe stated sourly.

“Phoebe, dear,” Princess Celestia spoke up as she looked back at the young girl. “I would like for you to meet Mi Amore Cadenza-.”

“Aunt Celestia, I thought I asked for you to address me by Cadence,” The other alicorn interjected. “It makes remembering my name easier for other ponies.”

“Right… Phoebe, this is Cadence… your cousin. Cadence, this is my adoptive daughter Phoebe.” Celestia corrected herself and introduced her to the pink alicorn.

“Why haven’t I heard about this… cousin of mine?” Phoebe asked venomously.

“She had visited a few times, but if I recall correctly, they were while you were hard at work at finishing Marquis and also during the time that you and Twilight were working on your project together.” Celestia explained to her. It was then that Marquis tipped his hat to Cadence out of courtesy… and when Cadence planted a kiss on the side of Shining’s face.

“Uhh… what was that about?” Twilight asked in confusion, tilting her head a little.

“Oh… right. Uh, Twily, Cadence and I are… dating now.” Shining explained, a little embarrassed in the fact that he forgot to tell her sooner.

Phoebe groaned as she leaned on her palm. “Mom, why do I have so many cousins that just bother me?”

“Phoebe, unlike Blueblood, Cadence is a lot different in personality. Trust me on this one.” Celestia said as Marquis was holding his hat as Hoodini popped out. It startled Cadence, but she soon was amazed by the fact that Marquis and Hoodini were beings that were entirely mechanical. Something that had not been seen before in Equestria’s time.

Cadence was about to say something, but that was when Twilight had an idea. “Ooh! Phoebe! How about you bring out your gown and show Shiny what we made together!”

“Ugh, fine…” Phoebe groaned at the prospect of going back to her room to change… Again. But when she did put it on… it did give her an idea of making her return more… dramatic. As she was preparing to return, she overheard Cadence asking about one particularly touchy subject.

“Uh, Aunt Celestia… forgive me for sounding so bold, but what exactly… is Phoebe?”

“I was going to ask the same thing during dinner, but I didn’t get the chance.” Shining Armor then mentioned. “What is Phoebe, Princess?”

“Well-.”

Phoebe appeared in between Shining and Cadence, and asked them in a dark tone. “Why don’t you ask me yourselves...?”

“Holy-!” That had Shining startled as he fell backwards on the floor. Cadence just sighed as she cleared her throat for a moment before speaking.

“My apologies, I thought you had left the room.” The alicorn told her. “I didn’t mean to offend you, so let me rephrase my question to you then. What is your kind, Ms. Phoebe? And how did you arrive here so suddenly?”

“To answer question two would give you a headache. To sum it up, I duplicated a teleportation spell with science.” Phoebe stated proudly.

“That is… fascinating!” Cadence complimented her, amazed by her battle gown and also the floating swords behind her. “I apologize for sounding… rude, but you didn’t quite answer my first question.”

Phoebe looked away awkwardly. “My species is gone. I’m the last, so really it doesn’t matter. They’re dead, I’m not, and that’s all that matters to me.”

“Oh… I’m sorry if I brought up a touchy subject.” She then apologized.

“No, really? I haven’t even told mother what I am no matter how much she probes me, so what chance do you think you’d have?” Phoebe dared her.

“Is that suppose to be a challenge?” The alicorn asked Phoebe with a raised eyebrow. “Because I only asked so that way I don’t insult you after I heard what happen to Blueblood for the last dozen times already.”

“I’m Phoebe… Celestia’s daughter- adopted, but nonetheless family. I make things better than you catch air, and that’s all you need to know about me, Hearts and Hooves Day candy reject.” Phoebe said venomously.

“Right…” She replied, taking to opportunity to change subjects. “Speaking of which, I’m pretty impressed by your gown. I take it that you designed it to teleport yourself without the use of magic?”

“Well…” Phoebe looked away. The teleportation was mostly magic with a few of Phoebe’s ideas, so really she didn’t make that. “Yeah… But that didn’t work…” She grumbled the last part under her breath.

“We worked on it together!” Twilight beamed as she appeared by Phoebe’s side and looked at Cadence. “Even her swords are based on the Elements of Harmony!”

“Science was the real benefactor here though…” Phoebe muttered.

“And I’m most certainly surprised by it… I’m really impressed by both of your talents. Twilight with her magic and Phoebe with her technology and science. I expect to hear great things about both of you in the near future…” Cadence said as she noticed that Shining Armor was in a stunned daze. “All while Shining here is still trying to process how his little sister has grown up so fast.”

“I…… think you broke big brother, Phoebe.” Twilight giggled.

“How?” The blonde asked.

“He gets startled rather easily…” Cadence giggled. “Trust me, he did the same thing once Twilight teleported out of nowhere to tell him the news of being Aunt Celestia’s student.”

“So! If me showing off is done now, I’ll be heading back to my room to work on those military stuff.” Phoebe announced, making her way back to her room and closing the door behind her.

Author's Note

Thank you all for the positive feedback. Me and Frost had three chapters prepared before beginning.

All bold errors fixed.

3. Nightmare On Ponyville Street

(Chapter 3: Nightmare On Ponyville Street)

Phoebe grumbled as she sat inside of Twilight’s house, watching Spike finish wrapping a present.

“Is that for that Twilight lookalike…?” Phoebe asked the little drake as she tossed a book she was skimming through.

“No, it was a present I was putting together for Twilight’s friend, Moondancer. The two may look alike, but unlike Twilight, Moondancer wears glasses. It’s her birthday today and I thought that since Twilight had been too busy working on things for the princess that I would go bring this to her.” The dragon replied. “Twilight does have a habit of unintentionally forgetting things, including other ponies. But I don’t think she would want to forget Moondancer… unless of course she wants it to come back and haunt her for who knows how long.”

“Trust me Spike, Twilight doesn’t care. Besides, what’s the point in birthdays?” Phoebe shrugged, standing up and stretching.

“Says the same girl who was completely angry over the fact that she did not want to stop working when Twilight went through the hard work of setting up a party for you.” Spike deadpanned, causing Phoebe to look back at him with an evil glare.

“Birthdays are a waste of time. You go to a social event, get presents, which I have no need of, and get sweets, which once again, I could get any other day. Twilight wasted her time with that event when she could’ve done anything else, maybe something that’d help her.”

Spike now grumbled a little as he stared back at Phoebe. “Nopony can always get what they want all the time Phoebe. Sometimes you have to work for it. Now excuse me while I go deliver this to Moondancer.” He told her as he stepped out of the room, remembering something off the top of his head. “Oh and heads up… Celestia told me to let you know that she wants to talk to you at your earliest… convenience.”

“Ugh, fine. That’ll be next week.” Phoebe tried to dodge.

“No, she want’s to see you now. She says it’s urgent and that if you don’t see her, she’ll take away your tech and your tools.” The Dragon then told her.

Phoebe’s eye twitched. “O-okay! Tell her I’ll be there in a minute!” Phoebe then jumped out of an open window and teleported to the ground. However, in her rush to not be late for Princess Celestia, there was one obstacle that she did not happen to notice in the process of hurrying to the Grand Hall.

The door.

Celestia was sipping her afternoon tea with a peaceful smile. It was interrupted, however, when she head a loud thunk. Sighing for a moment, she set down her tea, got up from her throne and trotted over to the door while also unlocking the door with a quick spell. Shortly afterwards, the doors swung wide open as she soon found Phoebe on the other side with a bruise on her forehead.

“Didn’t I always suggest for you to look before you leap?” Celestia then asked her. Of course, she wasn’t really expecting an answer from her, but Phoebe still gave her one back.

“I was… The handle slipped…” Phoebe groaned. One of the guards, a new one, looked in confusion while his partner looked stoic.

“There’s no handle on the doors to the grand hall.” Celestia reminded her, before clearing her throat for a moment. “Still though, I’m glad you were able to come. I wanted to talk to you about something important.”

Phoebe stood up, groaning as she held her head. “Spit it out, mum…”

“Well, to simply put it, I’m having you go with Twilight to help with setting up the Summer Sun Celebration in the town of Ponyville. I’m going to be there later in the evening to help begin the ceremony for it this evening, but I would like both you and Marquis to go there and help both Twilight and Spike.” She paused for a moment, before adding one more thing. “Please do note to make sure Marquis doesn’t exactly cause any… trouble while you are there.”

“I make no promises…” Phoebe growled, glaring at her mother. “Why do I have to go?”

“Because many hooves… or hands for you… make light work. Plus, it has come to my attention that you seem to be separating yourself from here over the past couple of months. So this would give the two of you the chance to spend some time together.” Celestia replied back.

“Fine… Not like I can say no…” Phoebe groaned, “Anything else?”

“Just keep in mind that Ponyville isn’t exactly the same as Canterlot. Which is why I advised you to make sure Marquis doesn’t do anything too… well Marquis.” The princess sighed before looking at Phoebe. “Think what he does with Blueblood, but apply that to almost everypony in town.”

“Oh fuuu-” Phoebe stopped mid-sentence.

“The carriage for you and Twilight should arrive within the hour. There would not be a need for any weapons at the event, but do prepare yourself in case of emergencies.” Celestia advised her before turning around for a moment.. “In the meantime, I need to talk with Kibitz about the plans for tonight's ceremony and the speech I’m going to be giving. I wish the both of you the best of luck.”

“You tell Sparkle about this, I won’t.” Phoebe said, raising her hands up in the air. Celestia smiled a little bit and nodded in understanding as Phoebe then stormed out of the hallway while she was going back to find Kibitz. “Where should I go to wait?”

“Some of the carriages take off from the courtyard landing zone along the wall. It would be best to wait there. I already informed the guards of your departure later, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.” Celestia promised her as Phoebe walked out the door. She was going to advise her to make sure that door did not hit her on the way out… but unfortunately, fate had other ideas.

Thunk. Phoebe fell to the floor, groaning. “I’m okay…” That just caused Celestia to chuckle a little bit, but it was was unseen or unheard by Phoebe since the door was already closed shut. Now she needed to make sure to get her things together… and tell Marquis what Celestia told her. And only one of those things was going to turn out well.

“She said WHAT!?” Marquis shouted. A few moments ago, Phoebe had to… break the news about where they were going… and the circumstances of they were going to. “Why would she ask for me to not shoot any hobo’s while we are on travel?! The circumstances weren’t the same with those idiotic liberal arts major’s around here!”

“I know, I know, we’re better than them. Well, apparently we need them to make food and keep our economy running.” Phoebe explained. “Plus, she did allow me to tell you that if anyone attacks me, you can shoot that pony.”

“So there are exceptions… Still, why would she have you go here to Hobotown in the first place?” The robot then questioned.

“You remember the Summer Sun Celebration?” Phoebe asked.

“Yeah, what about-.” Marquis flinched for a moment upon hearing that, only to say the first thing that came to mind. “Oh… so is this some form of mandatory community service or some other form of ‘mental torture’ for you?”

“I think it’s both.” Phoebe groaned. Only causing for Marquis to sigh before looking back at her.

“Well, this would give you the chance to get out of the castle. Celestia’s been concerned about you being secluded in your room all the time.” The robot pointed out. “Other than coming out for meals or to talk with your mother, you’ve been in there almost all the time.”

“I’ve not…” Phoebe said, playing with her gloves.

“Remember when you were working on the stun batons and you called them the “Shocking Rod’s”? You could’ve easily asked Twilight or Shining for ideas for a name, but decided to call them that until I told you that “Shock Baton” would sound a lot less… complicated.” Marquis reminded her of the days when she started to work on Shining’s idea for the guard… and also claim that sleep was the enemy of progress.

Just before Phoebe could even protest though, Marquis opened up the curtains in the back of the room to let in the sunlight as Phoebe flinched. “Gaahh! Not natural light! My weakness!” She hissed, using her hands to shield her eyes.

“And I believe that demonstrates exactly what I mean.” Marquis told her, still letting the sunlight in. “Maybe it would be a good idea for you to take a break from your work… even though it’ll take all my resolve to not shoot any hobo-morphic entities we come across along the way.” Her butler did make a valid point. Sometimes, when Phoebe was working so hard on certain projects, she felt as if there was a lack of… inspiration to help her finish what she had started. Even though Phoebe was skeptical that she would find inspiration in a town in the middle of nowhere, the fresh air could help.

“Fine, I get your point.” Phoebe said defeatedly. “I hate it when my inventions tell me what I should or shouldn’t do. Get a coach or something ready.”

“Didn’t the princess happen to make arrangements for us to be with Ms. Sparkle in relations to travel?” Marquis then asked.

“I said or something, implying I want you to do something that doesn’t bother me!” Phoebe said, raising her voice with every word she uttered.

“My apologies,” The Butler then spoke as the two of them walked outside. “I was asking since it seems that Ms. Sparkle has been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. I saw her waving her hooves from the window as we were proceeding through the hall.”

“Oh…” Phoebe turned to the window.

“I guess I’ll make some preparations then,” Marquis added on that note. “Would you like for me to prepare the clothes you would normally wear and have them packed in a travel case?”

“Only get the necessities. I’ll see you in a bit, Marquis.” Phoebe said, before heading out to locate Twilight. The robotic butler nodded, going back to prepare the luggage that was needed for the trip along with other items that may be necessary for him to bring. The most important one being Bindlebane… in case any stray hobo’s happened to spontaneously show up somewhere on their journey.

Phoebe met Twilight outside of the human’s home, an umbrella shielding her from the sun. “Forgive me, I was busy tracking thoughts.”

“It’s alright. I’m pretty excited that we got the chance to go on this trip together,” Twilight replied as she looked back at Phoebe. “I’m really interested to see what life is like outside of Canterlot based on what I have read.”

“Even though I keep having to remind her that not everything is how it’s like in the books.” A tired out Spike panted, almost passing out from having to carry the Saddlebags Twilight needed… along with the extra set of saddlebags just in case of emergencies. When he did catch his breath, the baby dragon turned to Phoebe and began to speak again. “I don’t see how she has the time to speed read the story of the elements of harmony and get herself ready within a short amount of time. I think she gets that from you.”

“I think you’re missing the emergency emergency saddlebag.” Phoebe stated.

Twilight thought that over, before realizing what she was talking about. “Oh hay, you are right! Spike, can you go get those for me?” All that did was have Spike fall face first into the ground. Groaning to himself as he tried to push himself off the floor of the loading zone for luggage. “Nevermind, I’ll be back in a second.” In the blink of an eye, Twilight teleported out of the area, only for the unicorn to return back with the necessary saddlebag. “There. All done. Do you have everything that you need, Phoebe?”

“Marquis handles that stuff.” Phoebe replied. Shortly before noticing her butler carry the suitcase full of her clothes.

“Alright, I guess we’re all set then.” She said, before looking back at Phoebe. “You might want to take a seat and hold onto something.” Phoebe just nodded and complied.

“Why?” She asked, confused.

“Well, it is a chariot… being flown by pegasi…” She said, shortly before the chariot they were on began to lift off the ground as they began to move through the sky. Something that caught Phoebe and Marquis by surprise since they haven’t actually traveled this way before… or traveled at all since they have been in Canterlot for several years and have not gone outside of it’s walls before.

“Get me back on the ground!” Phoebe suddenly screamed, before hugging Marquis’ leg. “I’m afraid of heights!” That just caused Twilight to giggle a little before Spike looked at the robot butler and posed a question for her.

“Is that… well normal for her?”

“More often then you would think.” Marquis deeply sighed. Looking back at Twilight before posing a question of his own. “Out of curiosity, is this the only conventional form of travel other than the carriages we’ve seen around Canterlot?”

“Well, no. There is the trains and railroad system, but it would take us three times as long to reach our destination rather than flight. Just… don’t look down and you should be fine.” She suggested, trying to make things sound less… intimidating.

“Phoebe, you can let go of Marquis now. We’re just about to land.” Twilight assured her as the chariot they were on was beginning to set down. Throughout the thirty minutes it took in order to reach Ponyville from Canterlot, Phoebe’s fear of heights had been gripping at her throughout the flight. Now, as they were setting down, she could finally catch her breath from the horrifying experience she just went through.

The human fell onto her back as she attempted to ease the stress that she’d obtained throughout the flight, sighing and panting. “Ms. Phoebe, you not have to worry anymore. Your half hour nightmare from hell has ended.” Marquis promptly said to her, not even extending a hand to help her up until a few minutes afterwards once Phoebe was not freaking out every few moments.

“Come on now, it didn’t seem that bad.” Spike began to speak before being shushed by Twilight.

“Spike, Phoebe isn’t… well… a big fan of heights so to speak.” She informed him on the side as they looked back at her while she was trying to find her footing on solid ground.

“You think…?” Phoebe grunted feebly, feeling light headed.

“We should be fine now though,” Twilight told her as she looked around for a moment before referring back to a piece of parchment in her saddle bag. “Now… the pony that we’re suppose to be looking for that is awaiting our arrival is Mayor Mare… Perhaps maybe one of the locals knows where she might be right now.”

Spike was going to suggest something, but did not get the chance to speak as Twilight soon approached what was a Pink earth pony with a pink mane and tail and three balloons for a cutie mark. “Excuse me, miss. Do you know where the mayor's office would be-?” Yet, the only response that Twilight actually got was that same mare gasping out of surprise before galloping off at speeds that even made Marquis question his calculations since it was beyond anything he had ever seen before.

“Brilliant… the first pony we meet is a pink hobo who leaves us in the dust… how rude of them.” The butler grumbled as he readjusted his hat.

“At least she didn’t speak to us… Based off of that gasp, she sounds annoying…” Phoebe grimaced at the thought.

“Or if somepony had too much sugar.” Spike then said, looking at Twilight.

“Perhaps there’s somepony else around town that can help answer the questions the pink hobo didn’t.” Marquis then suggested.

“Or they’re all the same…” Phoebe quipped in a cruel tone.

“Don’t be so quick to presume. We haven’t even been here for a few minutes yet,” Spike replied. “We may actually meet somepony that might have a similar set of… standards like you and Marquis do.”

“We could always go back-.”

“The chariot left already.” Spike pointed out, interrupting Marquis’ statement as both Phoebe and her servant saw the chariot in the sky and leaving Ponyville airspace.

“Dam-” Phoebe started, but stopped remembering her company. “Uh, would’ve been nice to see. I heard there was a dam in Pawningville.”

“You mean Ponyville?” Spike asked.

“Hobo’s pawn, right?” Phoebe said slyly, holding out her hand to Marquis for a high five.

“What are you doing, Ms. Phoebe?” Marquis asked, before noticing something. “Now where did Ms. Twilight wander off too?”

“She probably went to go ask somepony else while we were talking,” Spike sighed before looking back at them. “I’ll go catch up, just…… try to not get yourself in trouble.”

“Trouble’s my middle name, Spike,” Phoebe boasted jokingly. “Actually it’s Elizabeth Audelia, but I prefer trouble.” That just caused Spike to roll his eyes as he ran to catch up with Twilight while Marquis was still with her.

“You didn’t answer my question, Ms. Phoebe. What exactly were you trying to do?”

“It’s a high five…” Phoebe groaned. “Or a high hoof. Ponies and my race slap their ends of their arms to signify a positive reaction to something that the one you high five has done, or the opposite.”

“Is this some form of social custom I am unaware of? Because the closest thing that is in my database for that kind of action is for if you were to slap someone… or somepony.” Marquis then stated. “Preferably against hobos within a three to five foot radius.”

“Yeah, well I’ll program it into your database later…” Phoebe grumbled. “So, where are we supposed to stay?”

“I would presume that Twilight might take care of the living situation once she finds the mayor.” Marquis then pointed out, before noticing something that caught his attention as he looked at a sign outside what looked like a carousel shaped building. “Hmm… perhaps this may take some interest.”

“What is it Marquis?” Phoebe asked.

“It appears that this building here is actually a boutique…” Marquis informed her, looking back as he pointed out the sign. “And some of it from the outside has the same particular style that you would find at similar stores in Canterlot, but this one allows for you to order custom made designs for clothes as well. I just figured that after what happened with the last designer sometime ago that maybe this one would see more… fit towards you.”

“I suppose so… As long as they don’t freak out about my appearance…” Phoebe announced, mostly to herself. As she walked over, Marquis held the door open for her as they both walked in. Immediately, they could see numerous different styles and appearances for clothes and dresses on multiple mannequins scattered throughout the room as they happened to hear a voice in the background talk to itself.

“No no no… this won’t do… this won’t do at all! I told Sweetie Belle to get some blue cloth from the market, not cerulean! How am I supposed to make a blue dress when the color of the fabric can’t match the rest of the outfit?”

“Hunh… whoever that mare is strangely reminds me of you, Ms. Phoebe.” Marquis commented.

“Shut up you rust bucket…” Phoebe seethed. Both of them heard a bell chime from the door closing behind them along with the sound of hooves moving across the floor.

“Be right there!” The mare said in a charming tone as she came around the corner. Upon first glance, the two of them noticed that the mare they just heard was actually a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail and a cutie mark of three diamonds as she began to speak. “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! How may I-.” Upon laying sight on them, the mare paused for a moment as she looked at both Phoebe and Marquis. “O-oh my… that gown and suit…”

“I know, it’s unbefitting of a lady…” Phoebe rolled her eyes.

“Not at all! In fact, it’s anything BUT that!” The mare proclaimed, “My, who designed those? They are just a marvelous work of art. Marvelous, I say!!”

“Why thank you for your compliments,” Marquis replied back. “Ms. Phoebe designed them herself.” Personally, Phoebe was a little embarrassed by the last remark, but still, she had some questions for the mare that was speaking to them. Like for example, who was she?

“Who… Are you, again?” Phoebe asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Oh, my dearest apologies, I almost forgot to introduce myself!” The Unicorn replied as she looked back at Phoebe and her butler. “My name is Rarity. I’m a seamstress and the owner of the Carousel Boutique… And who might you two be?”

“I’m Phoebe… I’m an engineer and scientist. You must know of my work, even if you have no clue who I am.” The human stated proudly. “I’m visiting for the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“Phoebe… as in Phoebe Elizabeth Audelia Hemsworth IV, adopted daughter of Princess Celestia and Scientific Marvel of our time!?” Rarity gasped, rushing over in order to shake her hands. “It is such AN HONOR to meet you in person! I have always wanted to meet some of the most well known nobles in Canterlot and I never dreamed or expected for one to walk through my front door!”

“I’m well known?” Phoebe asked, placing a finger to her lips. In all honesty, she didn’t think anyone would know about her. She’d never really left the Castle, and the servants were all level headed not to freak out, even if there was danger. So she couldn’t really gauge her popularity. Never helped that the nobles either called her a monkey like Blueblood, or kissed up to her in front of Celestia. “I guess I never really… Thought that I was well known, to be blunt. Y’know, cause not many people are in my life often.”

“Well, then I would really like to have the opportunity to get acquainted with you,” Rarity chimed, before looking at the robot next to her. “Oh, you forgot to introduce your companion-.”

“That is not necessary,” Marquis interjected. “My name is Marquis D Caliber. Personal butler of Ms. Phoebe, servant, and vanquisher of any wretched hobomorphic entities that may threaten her life and the lives of those that she knows.”

“Uh… I made him when I was angsty.” Phoebe stated. “He’s my butler. Don’t mind his violent tendencies, he doesn’t actually vanquish anypony.”

“I don’t mind. He just wants to protect you, that’s all,” The unicorn said as she trotted over to a nearby table that had a teapot and a few cups on it. “I have a sister of my own I would do anything in order to help her. Marquis just wants to do the same… Would you like some tea? I was going to have another pot ready soon.”

“That’s fine, maybe later. I need to help a friend. We’re Making sure that the Summer Sun Celebrations go off perfectly.” Phoebe said, turning to Marquis. “Hey, you know what we’re supposed to do again?”

“I believe our task was to assist Twilight with preparations for the opening ceremony and-.” Marquis paused for a moment as he looked outside, only to see something that startled him. “Dear god, Twilight’s been hobofied!!!”

Phoebe groaned, massaging her temples as she looked out the window. But when she saw Twilight, she nearly spat any saliva in her mouth. Twilight’s mane was a mass of fluff, split ends coming out every which way.

“Holy bad mane day!” Phoebe nearly shouted, snorting at her “sister”. “That’s hilarious!”

“What exactly is going on over there?” Rarity asked out of curiosity, trotting over to where Phoebe was and looking at her to see if she knew why Marquis was acting the way he was.

“Looks like my friend’s become accustomed to Ponyville, she’s gone wild!” Phoebe laughed, pointing at Twilight. All Rarity personally saw it though… was a complete and utter fashion disaster. “We better help her tho-” Before she could finish, Rarity was already dragging Twilight and Spike into the Boutique and up the stairs. The wannabe Princess got curious and went up the stairs. What she saw though, horrified her.

Rarity was strangling Twilight’s stomach with a corset, and using her weight to make sure it was tight. Phoebe’s eyes were wide with shock as she backed away slowly. All while Marquis just looked at Phoebe blankly. “Is something troubling you, Ms. Phoebe?”

“N-no, just having flashbacks…” Phoebe stated with a nervous laugh before turning around and almost dashing away.

“Hunh…” Marquis said to himself for a moment before looking in the same direction where Phoebe was running off too. “I wonder what that was all about.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know-.” Marquis was startled by that, looking down to see Spike standing down by Marquis’ feet as he was looking back at the dragon.

“Holy-! Where did you come from?”

“I’ve… been standing here the last five minutes waiting on Twilight…” Spike told him as Marquis looked back at him before looking back outside. Something told him that this was definitely going to be a long afternoon.

Especially if they ran into that pink hobo again.

Later, Phoebe floated alongside Twilight’s side.

“So… Care to tell me what’s got you in a sour mood? And who’s the father?” Phoebe asked, pointing to Twilight’s stomach which was much bigger than before. Twilight, in a fit of anger, used her magic to tear off all the clothes that were on her and throw it in a nearby dumpster.

“Everypony here is just CRAZY!! I’ve already had to handle not just what Rarity did… It was also Rainbow Dash soaking me wet and getting me into this mess, but I have been barely able to get ANYTHING done in preparation for the celebration!” The Unicorn furiously vented. “It’s been one thing after another!!”

Phoebe swiped the list out of Spike’s claws. “Let’s see… You only have one more preparation to check, and it’s the music. Apparently, a mare named Fluttershy’s training birds to sing…”

“Okay, at least that sounds simple enough… where would she be?” Twilight asked, taking the list and putting it in front of her face to try and examine it… while also unknowingly colliding into a yellow butter like pegasus with a pink mane & tail along with a cutie mark of three butterflies on her flank.

Almost instantly, Phoebe felt her heart melting at the sight of the mare. She yelped, which caused birds in a tree to scramble away. She looked so shy and insecure, it reminded Phoebe of herself when she was younger. “O-oh my… I-i’m so sorry, are you alright?” She squeaked in a whisper like tone of voice.

“She’s fine.” Phoebe said, waving her hand dismissively. Which only cause the pegasus to notice her, along with a blush to appear on her face and her eyes widening.

“O-oh… h-hello…” She squeaked again, noticing Phoebe as Twilight was getting her sense back in order. “W-who are you?”

“Phoebe. This is Twilight, Spike, and Marquis.” Phoebe stated, pointing to each of them respectively. “We’re visiting Ponyville to see to it that everything for the Summer Sun Celebration goes perfectly. And you?”

“Um… I-i was just walking to… t-talk to the birds…” The pegasus nervously replied.

“Oh… Well, don’t let us keep you… Pegasus…” Phoebe said, looking around awkwardly.

“...... F-fluttershy…”

“Uh, that’s a pretty name.” Phoebe said, leaning towards Marquis. “What the hell do I say…?” She whispered.

“I apologize, but it seems that we didn’t quite hear you. Could you please speak up? Ms. Phoebe has some hearing difficulties because of all the time she spends around loud machinery.” Marquis then said… which was not what Phoebe was going for.

“I will disassemble you…” She threatened.

“F-fluttershy…” The pegasus then spoke up. “That’s my name. It’s Fluttershy.”

“Oh! We’re supposed to see how the rehearsals are. You think they’re ready? Your birds, I mean.” Phoebe asked, a smile on her face. Fluttershy nodded, looking to the nearby tree as a few birds soon flew from it and were beginning to sing in perfect harmony as the pegasus looked back at them.

“W-we’ve been practicing for a while now and we’re really excited for when we get to perform tonight… W-will you… be there?” She asked.

“Of course. My family will be on stage… Never been to ones outside of Canterlot though, so it’s really exciting.” Phoebe said, looking a bit giddy. She spun around to Marquis, clapping her hands. “Alright, I’m ready to have dinner! Or at least a snack, cause it’ll be a long night! Marquis, what are we having?”

“Maybe there’s something back in town-.” Spike said. But upon speaking, that’s when Fluttershy noticed him and then bolted to hide behind a tree upon realizing that Spike was a baby dragon.

“It appears that you somehow startled her, Mister Spike.” Marquis then spoke up.

“That’s kind of obvious, Marquis.” Twilight then sarcastically replied.

“You are welcome.”

“That’s not good, Marquis…” Phoebe groaned. “Uh, Fluttershy, there’s nothing wrong! Spike’s only a baby dragon, and his fire can’t even hurt a fly!”

The pegasus herself soon began to peak her head out of the tree, whimpering a little as she looked at Phoebe. “A-are you s-sure?”

“Yes, his fire only affects wood, and even then it mostly just teleports.” Phoebe shrugged. “Honestly, he’s a very nice drake.” It took her a couple of moments, but Fluttershy was able to regain her confidence and emerge from behind the tree as she looked back at Phoebe and the others.

“O-okay… I-if you say so…” She replied, causing Phoebe to sigh in relief as she looked back at Twilight and Spike.

“So… You paying, Twi?” The human suddenly asked, which in turn caused the unicorn to fall directly flat on her face.

An hour later, they arrived at the library, Phoebe chuckled at the view.

“Hey… Hey Twilight, remember when we used to want a treehouse…?” Phoebe asked, a smirk creeping onto her face.

“Yeah, why’s tha-. Oh dear Celestia, my dreams have come true…”

“A treehouse library… Hell yeah…” Phoebe said, squealing. Marquis himself sighed at the two of them as they soon approached the door. Then, when the doors opened, Phoebe went deaf for three seconds.

“SURPRISE!!!” A crowd of ponies screamed, causing the human to fall onto her back.

“GAH!! Hobo’s everywhere!!!” Marquis shouted, having Hoodini come out of his hat. “You have trained your entire short life for this moment. Now FLY-!!”

“NO!!” Twilight shouted, causing Marquis… and Hoodini for that matter to look at her with a quizzical stare. “Marquis, they just surprised us. They’re not going to attack us.”

“Then why am I seeing an error message everytime I look at the Pink hobo?” He then asked.

“Don’t question it!” A rainbow maned Pegasus said loudly from inside. “Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.” Which lead to Phoebe looking back at the pegasus as she raised an eyebrow, curious and a bit confused as to who exactly was this mare.

“Crazy stuff happen around that one.” The Pegasus elaborated.

“I… don’t think we’ve met,” Phoebe then spoke up. “Who are you again?”

“Rainbow Dash, the one and only fastest flyer in Equestria!” The mare proclaimed. “What are you supposed to be?”

Phoebe’s eyes narrowed. “I’m the world’s greatest mind!”

“And the most fabulous engineer in all of Canterlot!” She heard a familiar voice spoke up as she turned around to find Rarity trotting over to where they were. “It’s good to see you again, Phoebe.”

“Same… How’d you guys even get in here?” Phoebe asked.

The pink one shouted, “I have my ways!” ‘So she broke in…’ Phoebe thought.

“Okay… I’mma have a drink…” Phoebe walked over, only for Twilight to be racing past her in a hurry as Spike picked up what she was trying to drink… or as the label said.

“Hot sauce?”

The engineer winced at that. “I think I’ll pass…”

“Hey Twilight! Come on out, the party’s great!” Phoebe said, slightly tipsy with the top of a lamp on her head. Only to find Twilight trying to block out the noise of everything going on around her with a pillow over her head. Groaning in dismay as well.

“Just… leave me alone…” She grumbled, glaring at Phoebe. “I hate this place…”

“Hey, could be worse. We could’ve ended up skydiving into a desert…” Phoebe giggled. “C’mon, you’re supposed to be the one keeping me and Spike from drinking the spiked punch!”

“Phoebe… I can’t stand this place… Everyone here is SO BUCKING CRAZY!!! I just need some time alone.” Twilight told her, using her magic to push Phoebe out of her room before slamming the door. Before she heard Phoebe shout.

“I’m CRAZY for you! Haha!”

“SHUT UP, PHOEBE!!!” Twilight roared. All the while Marquis was looking at her rather dumbfounded.

“Ms. Phoebe, your blood alcohol level is extremely high… are you alright?” Marquis asked, before saying something on the side. “I knew I should’ve killed those dirty hobo’s when I had the chance!”

“It’s not their fault…” Phoebe grumbled, frowning. “I needed something to help me get my mind off of Twilight’s bad mood… It didn’t work…” She added bitterly, walking through the crowd towards the basement door. Once there, she entered the silent basement and stumbled her way down the steps.

“Ms. Phoebe, do mind the-.” Marquis called out, before he heard her fall down the last few stairs as he finished his sentence. “-steps…”

“I’m fine!” Phoebe shouted, before crawling to a twin bed and climbing onto it.

“Well, do get some rest… The ceremony does start though in a few hours, so please don’t sleep for too long…”

Phoebe sighed as she glared at the wall in front of her. She picked up something she had in case something like this happened- being drunk. It was an injector, with a serum she invented with the help of a magic student. She placed it to her neck, and injected it into her bloodstream. This stuff wasn’t cheap to make, though.

“God Twilight’s such a b*tch…” Phoebe groaned as she laid down and closed her eyes. She then awoke to someone shaking her.

“Phoebe? Phoebe, are you awake?”

“Yeah… Water...?” She asked.

“Phoebe, it’s Twilight… Look, I’m really sorry for what happened but I need you to wake up. We’re going to be late for the ceremony!” She heard Twilight panicking a bit, causing Phoebe to jolt straight up on her bed.

“F*ck!” She swore. “How long until it starts!?” She asked, trying to straighten out her hair.

“Uhh…… F-five minutes…” Twilight spoke, embarrassed a bit. “Marquis’ already there but-.”

“Damnit! F*ck! F*ck!” Phoebe screamed, running up the stairs and tripping halfway.

“... You have a problem when it comes to cursing-.”

“No time for speaking, I’m still detoxing!” Phoebe shouted, finishing her trek up the stairs and she ran over to the door where her boots laid and scrambled to get them on. However, the sound of Fluttershy’s birds and the music in the background did little to calm her down right now. Once Phoebe was ready, she burst out of the door and practically flew to the ceremony, teleporting whenever she could.

Yet… it was when they stepped through the door that they realized that things… weren’t going so well. “She’s GONE!!!”

Both Twilight and Phoebe looked at each other the moment they heard Rarity nearby cry out in panic as an eerie looking black smoke began to fill the room and the candles that were around the area immediately went out.

Phoebe asked Twilight, “Uh… Is mom playing a prank or something…?” It was then that she realized that Twilight herself was shivering in place, almost panicking a little and stuttering at the mouth.

“N-n-nightmare… M-moon…”

The black smoke soon began to change color into the form of what resembled the night sky as a pitch black alicorn now stood above the ponies. “You thought you were going to see your precious sun princess, but it is I!!! NIGHT-!!”

*BANG!!*

“HOBO!!!” Marquis shouted, firing Bindlebane at the figure as she growled.

“Stop that-!” BANG!! “I SAID STOP, YOU MISERABLE-!!” BANG BANG!!!

“Marquis! Let her monologue! She might know what happened to mom!” Phoebe shouted at her butler.

“Isn’t it obvious!?” Marquis replied.

“WITH YOUR SUN PRINCESS GONE, IT SHALL BE ETERNAL NIGHT FOREVER-!!”

“Marquis, continue.” Phoebe said dryly. BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!

“This is fun, Ms. Phoebe.”

“WHY YOU MISERABLE HEATHENS!!! IN RETALIATION FOR THIS, I WILL MAKE YOUR PATHETIC PRINCESS HURT FAR MORE THAN WHAT YOU JUST DID-!!”

“DON’T YOU DARE HARM MY MOTHER!!!” Phoebe screamed, sending all five of her Virtues towards the mare. Having one of them go through her mane, while the rest missed, causing the pony to glare back at her.

“...... Did you just throw a sword through MY F*CKING MANE!!?!” Nightmare Moon growled, before realizing something. “Oh… so ‘Tia is raising a monkey as her daughter… How adorable…”

“I’m not a monkey! And I have a far superior intellect than you!” Phoebe hissed. “Free my mother at once and I may spare you!”

“Yeah! Let go of our Princess!” Rainbow Dash shouted, rushing towards the mare. Only for the shadowy alicorn to grin as she turned into a wisp the moment the pegasus got close, causing Rainbow to crash into a wall while Nightmare made her escape.

Phoebe glowered at the mist, shaking in rage and fear. Not just any fear though…

Fear for her mother.

Author's Note

Comedy chapter with a little bit of character development. Next chapter, sh*t gets real.

Also, what kind of romance do you guys want? I'm not sure who to ship. Plz vote.

4. We'ew Huntin' Nightmawes

(Chapter 4: We’ew Huntin’ Nightmawes)

Moments after what had happened at the ceremony, the news about Celestia’s kidnapping and the ensuing panic rapidly spread throughout town. As for Twilight and Phoebe, she and also some of the other ponies they met earlier; which included Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie (also known as Pink Hobo by Marquis) and one other mare… in which Phoebe never got her name. But it was Rainbow that was the first to speak once everypony returned to the library. “Alright, can somepony explain what the hay just happened right now?!”

“Calm down, Sugarcube. Shouting isn’t gonna help us out here.”

“Applejack, you were there when we saw it! That… thing, whoever they were, kidnapped Princess Celestia and crashed the ceremony!” It was then that Rainbow looked at Phoebe and pointed a hoof in her direction. “By the way, that thing you did with the flying swords was really bucking awesome!!! Well, not as awesome as me, but just as awesome!”

“Uh… Thanks?” Phoebe was confused. “Now, uh… What are you all doing in our house?”

“Well, uh… Well…” Most of the ponies looked at one another, unsure of what to say before Marquis spoke up.

“I think it’s lead to believe that since Ms. Twilight knew who that figure was that she might know a plan of sorts to combat this threat.”

“Well yes… that,” Applejack then remarked before looking to Phoebe, “Not ta be rude, miss… but ah haven’t seen anything like ya before. What kind of creature are ya?”

“... I am not at liberty to discuss my race.” Phoebe said, pointing her nose into the air. “And what kind of question is that? ‘What kind of creature are you?’”

“Well, I didn’t want ta say something that might offend ya-.”

“I think the important thing here is that she is here to help us, darling.” Rarity interjected. “We can spare the conversation for later…”

“That’s right… if we don’t do something, it’ll be eternal night forever! Now… oh, where did I place that book?” The unicorn asked herself, looking at numerous shelves as she tried to find what she was looking for.

“What book!?” The pink one asked, hopping around the room.

“In an old foal hood story that both Phoebe and I were told, it was said that only the Elements of Harmony could stop her. There was a separate book on the elements themselves but-.”

“Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide!” Pinkie announced, which in turn almost caused Twilight to bulldoze the earth pony over so she could pull the book off of the shelf with her magic.

“Was knocking over the pink hobo really necessary?” Marquis asked Twilight, even though the Unicorn ignored the statement and ended up apologizing to Pinkie a second later as she flipped through the pages of the book.

Once she found the page she needed, the unicorn began to read out loud what was on the page to everypony else in the room. “Okay, from here, it says that there are five known elements of harmony. Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and Loyalty… However, there’s one part that even I don’t get.”

“What? Maybe I could assist.” Phoebe offered.

“No, not like that. I can read it just fine…” Twilight told her, looking back at the book. “However, I’m not understanding what’s on the page. It says that there’s a sixth element… but it says that it can only be awakened with a ‘spark’... See why I would be confused? There isn’t enough context.”

“Well, does it at least say where we can find them?” Applejack asked, looking at the others now. “It’ll give us a place to start searchin’ and the more time we waste here, the less time we have to rescue the princess!”

“Hopefully it’s not somewhere so dreadful… is it?” Rarity then asked after saying the last statement.

“Well… there’s only one place they are at and that’s…”

“EVERFREE FOREST!?!!”

“This is the coolest place ever.” Phoebe remarked.

Twilight twitched a little upon hearing Phoebe say that. “W-was that suppose to be sarcastic?”

“No, this place looks awesome! I thought that it was a myth.” Phoebe said, her eyes wide in surprise. Which in turn made a few other ponies a bit concerned by the bladedancer’s behavior. “It looks spooky, like one of those dark stories I used to sneak from mom’s collection.” Although, her words were slightly forced.

“Wait, you stole from Princess Celestia’s collection of books!?” Twilight asked, shocked to be hearing this just now of all times.

“Steal is a strong word, Twily. I borrowed. There’s a difference.” Phoebe stated proudly.

“Right… still, why would the elements be in a forest where every living creature can be extremely harmful to those who dare venture in there?” Applejack wondered.

“Maybe it’s some kind of test, dear. Like to prove we are worthy enough to use the elements?” Rarity suggested. “But why did it have to be in a place that is completely unsanitary!”

“Like you said, a test.” Phoebe teased, smirking.

“Let’s go!” Pinkie shouted. Everypony else soon followed Twilight and Phoebe. Marquis wasn’t currently with them, as he had to recharge, staying back at the Golden Oaks Library with Spike as he slept. But as they were going through the forest, they found that a few of the trees in the area had strange slashes across the bark… in which some had a green afterglow the farther they went in.

“This… Doesn’t look promising…” Rainbow remarked. Fluttershy herself just shivered for a moment, before taking a closer look for herself… and noticing something.

“Uh… g-girls…?” Fluttershy murmured, only being heard by a couple of the ponies in the area since Rarity was trying to not get dirty, Rainbow was in the air and not on her hooves, Pinkie was bouncing around on her hooves and giggling and Twilight was too focused on what was ahead and didn’t hurt her.

“What?” Phoebe asked, looking to the shy mare.

“T-those marks…… aren’t from an a-animal…” She stammered, pointing at the deep green gash on the tree as she shivered in place.

“How do you know that…?” Applejack asked, surprised.

“M-my special t-talent is with animals… T-they’re my friends and I take care of them back at my cottage…” Fluttershy replied softly, before looking back at the mark. “F-for a moment, I thought t-that was a strike from a M-manticore’s tail, b-but the cut’s too small for it to be t-that.”

“Well, let’s hope we don’t bump inta whatever it is.” Applejack replied. “Let’s keep going.” Phoebe personally agreed with that, looking at the mark one more time before the group kept moving. Ignoring the sound of something moving in the trees as she stayed with Twilight and the girls.

Phoebe sighed as they came to a dead end cliff, “Alright, I’ll go on ahead and look for another way.” She then teleported to the ground, and began the search. After looking around, there was a loud noise coming from behind the blonde, and as she turned around she stared in horror as the cliffside broke, causing all of the ponies to slide. Before she was able to react, Twilight fell off the edge only for the pegasi to catch her. Phoebe was at an utter loss for words.

After a minute, Phoebe joined the group. “I swear I would’ve done something…”

“W-well… If Applejack didn’t tell Twilight to let go, then she wouldn’t have been saved by yours truly!” Rainbow Dash boasted, causing Applejack to roll her eyes in response to the pegasus’ ego.

“Yeah, whatever. You okay Twi?” Phoebe asked, feeling her knees shake as she felt a pit in her chest. Almost like dread, but different.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Shaken, but okay… Let’s keep going, girls.” Twilight said as she looked at the others along with Phoebe. The woman stared at Twilight, a mix of envy and concern flooding her thoughts. She almost lost the closest person to her besides Celestia. Anypony else and she’d shrug it off, but this… This was scary to her.

Phoebe shook her head, before catching up with the others. As they continued to proceed, Rainbow Dash had boasted her heroism multiple times over to the point where it came off to Twilight as sheer annoyance… Yet, it was when they went farther in that they began to hear something else… The enraged roar of a beast.

Something that caught Fluttershy’s attention rather quickly.

“I can dispatch it!” Phoebe announced, pulling out her Five Virtues.

“N-no, don’t!!” Fluttershy gasped, trying to get Phoebe to put away her swords in response. “Please, don’t harm it-!” Yet, despite what she was saying, it didn’t help for the matter that Rainbow was trying to provoke the beast on her own.

“Why!?” Phoebe asked, glaring at Fluttershy. “That thing’s trying to kill us!”

“It’s in distress!!” The pegasus shot back, going over to the beast’s back leg and pulling out a thorn that had been in it’s leg… The Manticore roared a Fluttershy, sending everyone at edge, before it licked her cheek with a smile.

The Manticore then began to leave peacefully, not even pay any attention to them. “It wasn’t angry at us… it was in pain because of the bramble in it’s leg…”

“That was… Actually kinda cool for the lame route…” Phoebe said, sheathing her sword.

“Hunh… I have to agree with Phoebe, that was rather interesting,” Twilight added onto what Phoebe said as she looked back at her and the others. “How is everyone doing?”

“I’m as awesome as ever!” Rainbow proclaimed.

“Abso-dootaly-great!” Pinkie shouted as she hopped in place excitedly.

“Not my preferred place to be, but I’ll manage.” Rarity responded to Twilight’s question.

“Ah’m doing rather well.” Applejack added on.

“O-okay, I guess.” Fluttershy said in a whisper like tone again.

Phoebe was a bit preoccupied to respond. She was looking around the forest, memories of her first moments in Equestria flashing in her mind.

Little Phoebe was worn out and starving, looking around in fear and confusion.

“M-mom!? Dick!? Where are you!? I wanna go home!” She sobbed. She’d been there for hours, and had already been chased by three separate creatures. She froze at the sound of a dark, low growl coming from behind her…

Her mind flashed several options, two were suicidal, three were impossible since she was thinking about using… Flying swords, which were ridiculous. Which left two options.

Hide or run… And with how loud and the heat on the back of her neck, hiding was suddenly ruled out. And so, she ran. She used her tiny legs to run as fast as she could, her shoes already soaked from sweat, making her steps slippery and harder to run in.

The monster, a wolf made of branches, howled for a bit, before giving chance, easily catching up to her.

It didn’t help that she tripped. Her shoelace coming undone mid-step as she tried to hop onto a visible root jutting up from the ground. Her sneaker fell off half way, causing her to miss-step and tumble to the ground face first onto a stump, and the little girl heard a crack as a searing pain welcomed her. She cried out with all of her might, until her voice hurt as the wolf creature and it’s pack finally arrived, eying their prey as she sobbed, blood dripping from her nose. One of the wolves clawed at her back, causing a new set of holes as well as another wound. This “attack” sent Phoebe onto her back, looking at the beast that were hunting her. Their fiery green eyes pierced through Phoebe’s soul as she couldn’t even scream… She could only feel the burning in her back and nose. But just as they were about to strike one more time, a golden spear went straight through one of the piercing eyes, causing the first wolf to collapse into rubble. The others soon followed or fled.

At this, Phoebe felt the fear inside of her vanish… Was the nightmare over…?

She wasn’t able to tell, as the world around her faded.

When Phoebe regained her senses again, it was when she heard Twilight speaking… rather… abruptly. “Rainbow, just because Phoebe is in a trance like state does NOT give you permission to whack her upside the head!”

“N-no, I was just… Reliving a bad memory…” Phoebe said with a shake of her head. She’d forgotten that this was where she ended up on arrival. It was a faded pain that years of Celestia’s love had sponged out, even the scar wasn’t visible, as the wolf didn’t go too deep into her, and Unicorn magic does wonders in the medical field. “Let’s go.” She said, a renewed energy in her. She was determined to repay her mother for all of her work. There were more… Obscure memories before that, but most of it was hiding and running away from monsters that never caught up.

“Well, at any rate, we can’t save the princess in this murky forest without you,” Rarity commented. “We’ll go whenever you’re ready, darling.”

“I’m ready…” Phoebe said, narrowing her eyes.

“Alright, let’s carry on now… Oh and don’t step in the mud.” Rarity advised… which didn’t help any when Pinkie Pie belly flopped in the mud, causing some of it to land on her. “What did I just say!?” Despite her statement, it didn’t really help with the matter at hand as the group continued to trek through the forest.

As they journeyed, they found themselves at a raging river and a depressed sea dragon that was causing the rather rapid waters to flow violently. Despite his… dilemma, Rarity assisted him and in return, the one who called himself “Steven Magnet” allowed for the seven of them to cross to the other side by using his back as a bridge. It wasn’t quite Phoebe’s… preferred method for a bridge, but it would have to suffice given the time constraints they had.

She didn’t do much during the event. She was mostly stoic, and uncaring. Twilight herself became worried when she saw Phoebe’s unempathetic behavior.

Even when the trees began to scare the mares, Phoebe didn’t seem to care. At least, outwardly she asked if the mares were fine, but Twilight saw behind the facade. She only cared about one thing. Celestia. It seemed, through Twilight’s perspective, the longer that they were in the Forest, the colder Phoebe got. It scared Twilight a little.

They came across a gorge with a broken bridge. Phoebe glared at it silently, a rage boiling in her chest that even her hatred for Blueblood paled in comparison to.

“Oh come on! How are we going to get to the castle now!?” Pinkie cried out, exasperatedly waving her forelegs.

Rainbow flexed her wings. “Duh!” She then jumped off the edge and flew to the other side.

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie realized. Phoebe sighed to herself, calming the storm of contempt inside of her.

She needed to talk to a shrink after this was all over… Or at least, that’s what Twilight would say.

When Rainbow arrived at the other side of the bridge, a fog began to cover the other side of the gorge. Fog that was so thick that Phoebe could cut with one of her sabers if she were close enough.

“What’s happenin?” Applejack questioned, narrowing her eyes in concern.

“I don’t know…… But I can’t see anything over there or make out anything in the fog,” Twilight replied. “However, I do feel Nightmare Moon’s magic nearby… Once the bridge is up, we can easily cross and get going.” It was shortly after the unicorn had mentioned that statement that the rope for the bridge was soon fastened and the fog began to fade as Rainbow was seen leaning against a nearby tree.

Rainbow then flew through the fog and landed proudly in front of the bridge. “Got it! Weird ponies tried to get me to join them for something.” Phoebe and many of the ponies were confused by this, all but Twilight… And maybe Pinkie.

“What weird ponies, Rainbow? All that we saw was fog…” Twilight told her, causing Applejack and the other ponies to nod their heads in response.

“Some… Pegasi that called themselves the Shadowbolts. They wanted me to leave you guys to join their group! But I’d never leave my friends hangin’!” Rainbow said.

“You know, they most likely worked for Nightmare Moon…” Phoebe stated.

“Black Snooty!” Pinkie interjected, to Phoebe’s confusion.

Rainbow stared at Phoebe dead in her eyes, trying to process what the blonde was saying. “Wha-…?”

“Well, Phoebe may have a point…” Twilight replied. “Nightmare Moon can possibly trick anypony into having them fall for their desires and forget the more… important things.”

“... What?”

“...... Let’s just worry about that later and keep going.” Twilight then said, which soon had everypony else in agreement as they began to cross the bridge… while Rainbow herself was still confused by what exactly Phoebe and Twilight were trying to tell her.

Though, Phoebe didn’t cross the bridge. Once everypony was across, they noticed a lack of a bipedal companion. The first pony to speak was Applejack. “Come on now, Phoebe! We’re waiting on ya-!”

However, all Twilight could do was just facehoof herself. “Oh dear Celestia… I was worried about this…”

“Worried about what, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, just as the unicorn cleared her throat and began to speak.

“Phoebe’s…… afraid of heights.” The single comment soon had most of them look at Phoebe and Twilight with a strange look in her eyes… while Rainbow burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

“She’s afraid of heights!? Bwuahahaha!” The Pegasus laughed.

“Some of us can’t fly you dolt!” Phoebe screamed across the gorge.

“But you can use your Phasegate,” Twilight deadpanned, surprised that Phoebe hadn’t thought of using that in the first place.

“It doesn’t go that far!” Phoebe shouted, crossing her arms and looking away.

“Well walk part of the way across and once in range, then use it.” The unicorn sighed. “Seriously, do you want me to use just use my levitation spell to lift you over here or-?”

“Don’t you dare, Sparkle!” Phoebe shouted, pointing her finger at Twilight.

“Well, do you want to save the princess or let your fears get the better of you?” Applejack asked. “Because that bridge can just as easily be untied as it was fastened… not that I’m suggesting anything of course.”

Phoebe stared at the bridge, weighing her options. “You six got this!” Phoebe said, giving them a thumbs up. Rainbow cracked a grin, before flying over to Phoebe… And then pushing her off the cliff. The blonde screamed, but before she fell too far, Rainbow flew into her back with all of her might…

And then Phoebe was at the other side, cradling her legs to her chest as Rainbow pridefully smiled.

“Seriously? I didn’t mean for you to actually do that Rainbow!” Applejack shot back, glaring at the pegasus. “Geez, going back to Ponyville is going to be much harder than heading here in the first place.”

“With Celestia, she could carry this crybaby back!” Rainbow laughed as Phoebe regained her composure… Mostly.

“I will sue you, swine!” Phoebe hissed. Rainbow just shrugged.

“Hey, you got across.”

As they went inside, Phoebe felt dread form in the pit of her stomach… Not like the one she felt from when Rainbow pushed her into the gorge. Something was amiss.

“Uh, girls… Go on ahead without me… I want to take a look around,” Phoebe said, looking around the room they were in. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a tiny cloud of what looked to be the stars seep into a crack. “Pests are in the walls…”

When Phoebe was gone, Rainbow was the first to speak. “Wow, what a b*tch…”

“I… don’t think she was talking about us, Rainbow.” Twilight said as she and her friends continued forward.

The moment that Phoebe began to follow the small star like cloud into another room, the bladedancer remained cautious. She had followed it into an empty room… with the likely possibility that she might have been lured here. “Well well… Looks like Tia’s daughter came here after all… what a surprise…” She heard the voice echo, causing her to arm herself with Five Virtues upon hearing the voice.

“So, too afraid to face me? Hah! I don’t even need the Elements of Armory!” Phoebe announced, most of the Five Virtues twirling around her, while she waved the prime Virtue like a wand. “So, why are you hiding in the shadows, Moon?”

“Who said I was hiding…? There are two of me…” The voice spoke to her. “Consider it as… magical cloning… I’m a clone of the one who is having to deal with the ponies that intruded the castle of twin sister while I am here to deal with you…” That was when Phoebe noticed the same starry wisp circled around a stone statue in the room. The statue of what looked like a bipedal creature in armor and wielding three oddly shaped blades… but as the magic affected it… the statue's eyes came to life as they glared at Phoebe. Breaking free as it landed in front of Phoebe and it pulled out two stone sabers as they came to life. Humming with Nightmare Moon’s magic.

“Wow, nice trick. But oh look! I have more swords than you!” Phoebe said in a sarcastic manner, aiming her blade, and in sync, her other blades. “And I’m much more… How should I say this… I spent my life fencing… And building sh*t, but that’s not important! All I’m saying is that you stand no match.”

“Yet you have the mouth of a chatterbox.” The Statue grumbled, clinging it’s blades together as it sent a shockwave in the form of an X shape towards Phoebe. The scientist teleported behind the attack in a split second, and in a matter of seconds her blades met with the clones.

“I know! Aren’t I just delightful!?” Phoebe replied snarkily, smirking all the while. “Honestly, I’m in a much better mood now than I was when I waltzed in!”

Yet… Phoebe did not expect for the claymore on the statues back to be slammed down… and the shockwave to send her flying into the air. Phoebe landed on her back, which she swiftly remedied.

“Look… I’m still hazy on the details… Who is Nightmare Moon again?” Hearing that though… just had the statue laugh.

“Are you serious? All of these years and Celestia has not told anypony of her sister, Luna? How hilarious!!!” The statue mocked.

“Sounds like your pride took a hit…” Phoebe snickered. “But yeah, I have to admit… I remember hearing of aunt Luna… Celestia told me some stories about her, and she was pretty cool.”

“Well, let me bring you up to speed… I was the jealousy and anger that your mother had tried to keep away… But all that did was fill her up with more… and just like if you were filling a container of water… you fill up too much… and it overflows.” She smirked. “I possessed your aunt, taking control of her through her emotions… your aunt can’t be freed while I am still here… and only the Elements can stop me.”

“Huh… I always thought that Luna was killed at the hooves of Sombra since mother never told me what happened to her.” Phoebe stated. ‘Distracting her is pretty easy. I know that I’m good and all, but my stamina sucks balls… I wouldn’t last thirty seconds in an all out fight.’ She thought.

“It doesn’t surprise me that your mother has secrets… But how many is another story…” The statue said… glaring at her. “I wonder though… what kind of secrets do you hide?”

“Not following…” Phoebe said defensively.

“I’m surprised that you haven’t noticed… tell me… did you happen to have any flashbacks in the forest?” The voice asked.

“The Everfree’s a traumatic place for me.” Phoebe glowered.

“Not always… but there was a specific reason why for tonight…… have you noticed that along the way here, there was always some form of obstacle blocking the way? Whether it was a Manticore, a distressed sea dragon, the fog or the traumatic flashbacks…” Nightmare’s voice said. “Let me give a secret of my own…… I’m the reason for them.”

“You were… In my head…?” Phoebe asked, horrified. Mind reading and altering was a dangerous form of magic that was banished, and for good reason.

“I’m a living nightmare… the fear that ponies have is my power… and what scares them the most… can cripple even the so called ‘fearless’.” She taunted, which provided a window for Nightmare to attack while Phoebe was still processing. Though, at the last moment, two of Phoebe’s Virtues defended her, while the one in her hand struck out, only hitting stone and bouncing off.

“Gah! Damn it! Cheating mothersucker!” Phoebe hissed, her hand shaking from the vibrating rapier.

“Heh… You kiss Celestia with that kind of mouth? Or is she really your mother?” Nightmare taunted.

“Bet you don’t even have one!” Phoebe shot back, before teleporting out of the statue’s vision. Behind it, so to speak. ‘This thing looks… Human? But I’m the only one who's ever been here...’

‘And you are so sure of that…? What did I say before? How many secrets do you think Celestia is keeping from you-?’

“Shutupshutupshutupshutup!!!” Phoebe screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks as she began to sob. “Get out of my head, damn it!”

And just then, there was a powerful boom, and the castle shook violently. Which in turn… blew the doors off of the hinges as the statue turned to see what happened. “N-no! DAMMIT NO-! HOW-?!!”

“Before you’re destroyed, tell me… Are there any other statues?” Phoebe demanded in a threatening tone, snarling. Which only caused the wisp that remained to laugh in it’s final moment… before saying one final sentence.

“Y-you have seen nothing… When the k-keeper comes… there will be n-nowhere to hide…”

As the wisp faded and disappeared into dust, Phoebe turned to see that Twilight and the others were okay… but now also were wearing what looked to be… jewelry. And Twilight had a tiara.

“What in Equestria are you wearing…? You look ridiculous.” Phoebe stated drily as she sheathed her prime Virtue.

That was when Twilight turned to Phoebe, going over and hugging her briefly before looking at her. “Phoebe… the legends on the elements… they’re true. We bear the elements of harmony.” It was then that beams of sunlight began to shine through the room as all the ponies… and Phoebe as well turned to see the Sun rise in the distance… and also the Princesses dramatic return.

Three emotions crossed Phoebe in those moments. The first was a bitter relief that Twilight and the others came through. The second was that of jealousy, towards Twilight and her friends for being worthy of such a power that was a once in a lifetime opportunity. And finally, happiness at seeing her mother. Safe and unharmed by the nightmare she had experienced. Instantly, she tackled her mother into a hug, quietly crying into the Celestial’s neck. At least, quiet enough so that Celestia was the only one able to hear it.

In that instance, she’d realized something… This was the first time in two years that they’d hugged like this. It was… comforting… but it got to the point where Celestia tried asking for her to let go and Phoebe wasn’t so… quick to acknowledge that. “Phoebe… could you please let go… I need to take care of something first...” she whispered to her. Phoebe nodded, wiping her tears from her face as she got back up and moved to the side, looking away from the mares in order to hide her face. Oh how she wished Marquis was there to either cheer her up or at least give her a cleanex.

“S-sorry…” She grunted, trying to mask her cracking voice. All Celestia did was smile as she acknowledged the newfound Elements of Harmony… but it was also then that she acknowledged somepony else that was now there.

Her sister… Princess Luna…

Phoebe noticed her too, and instantly unsheathed her prime Virtue, readying for an attack. But instead, Celestia raised a hoof to Phoebe. “That will not be necessary Phoebe…” She ushered her, looking back as she trotted over to her. “It has been a long time… sister.”

There were gasps from Rainbow and a, “What!?” while everypony else just stared in surprise… all while Luna looked to her sister and cried tears of joy as she hugged Celestia… Before she happened to notice Phoebe.

“D-deande?” She asked, confused.

“Who?” Phoebe asked, confused. ‘She… Mistook me? So they did know other humans… What’s mother been keeping from me...?’ Something inside of her knew that she wouldn’t like the truth.

“Sister, this is not who you think it is… This is Phoebe… my daughter and your niece… Phoebe, we will discuss this later.” Celestia replied to a stoic looking Phoebe. “Now though, I think it’s time to give Luna a warm welcome.”

“B-but after everything I’ve done!? Y-you’re welcoming me back with open wounds…?” Luna questioned, unable to fathom her sister's words as her eyes began to leak.

“What was done then was not your fault… and no matter what happens, you are still family to me,” Celestia assured her. “Welcome home, Luna.”

Some time after the return of Princess Luna and the party that proceeded shortly afterwards, Celestia allowed for that of her student as well as her daughter to stay within the town of Ponyville as the Summer Sun Celebration had officially gone underway. But it was while the festivities were going on that the sun princess had asked for a conversation with her daughter… in private.

“You have a lot of explaining to do, mom.” Phoebe said, crossing her arms.

“What is it that you want to know?” The Princess asked in response. “Was it based on what Luna said… or something else?”

“Why didn’t you tell me there were more of my kind? Why didn’t you tell me I had a psycho aunt that, oh I don’t know, tried to kill me!?"

Celestia sighed, looking back at her daughter as she spoke firmly. “Because the ones from the past were not the same as the girl I remember you once were… Let me show you something…” With a flash of the alicorn’s horn, Phoebe found herself with Celestia in what looked like a particular section in the castle gardens… and around a pedestal were six different statues… one that resembled the same statue that Phoebe faced earlier.

“The ones from the past once served Luna… but when she had been corrupted into Nightmare Moon and I was forced to banish her with the elements, one believed that I had betrayed my sister and with it, began a rampage that almost put Canterlot into real danger… I had to use the elements on them, solidifying them into stone to protect anypony else from being harmed… Yet, even with Nightmare Moon… there was one who closely resembled you, Phoebe.” She said as they walked around them, before stopping at one particular statue.

The pedestal for it said. “The Spymistress, Deande.”

Phoebe somewhat remembered the name. Even before Celestia. “So… Why didn’t you tell me of them at least?”

“Because they are dangerous… and I wanted to keep you from harm's way. But after the incident with Nightmare Moon, I thought that you deserved to know about the Jennerit Imperium… There were six of them, and each one helped with a specific purpose. One of them was even a priestess that praised the sun… However, when it came to them, they always enforced a code of honor and did anything to serve, assist and protect Princess Luna… However, when I had to banish Nightmare Moon, they believed that I attacked my own sister and not the monster that controlled her… Unlike that of Deande… most of them believed that actions spoke louder than words…”

“How would telling me about them threaten me…?” Phoebe asked, her voice becoming more and more cold.

“Because one who is cast in stone is not stuck there for eternity… eventually, at one point… they will be free… and if they find out about you… they will come for you and Marquis first. To harm you… like what they believed that I did to Luna.” Celestia told her, before looking at Phoebe with a serious look in her eyes. “There are many other secrets in this world… some in which I don’t know myself, as my parents only knew… but I wanted you to at least know so you would be ready, if and when they return. But we are to keep this conversation between us… Do I make myself clear, Phoebe?”

Phoebe looked at the ground. “Yes mom…”

“Thank you… Now, there is something I would like for you to do though…” Celestia replied as she looked at her daughter. “If you happen to come across any other individuals or something similar to that in nature, let me know as soon as possible… Spike’s fire breath can instantly send me any letters that you happen to write, so I’ll get anything if you send it to me that way… I still love you, Phoebe… and the thought of you getting hurt worries me… Please be safe, okay?”

“Alright mom… You be safe too…” Phoebe replied, smiling back. Celestia nodded, before saying something.

“Let me bring you back to Ponyville so you can be with Marquis and Twilight… It would be better that way since I was informed of how much you disliked flying by chariot.” The Princess told her as her horn came to life with magic once more. Both of them disappearing as the shock wave from the spell happened to remove a branch that was blocking what was on the pedestal of one of the statues.

The Keeper of the Blade, Verod Rath.

Author's Note

I shall be adding mini-chapters detailing Phoebe growing up in Celestia's care. Should have the first out soon.

5. A Regular Tuesday... Unfortunately

It’d been almost a week since the Nightmare Moon incident, and Phoebe was lounging on a bench in the middle of Ponyville park. “Hey Marquis, why was I forced to stay in this armpit of a town?” Phoebe asked as she stifled a yawn.

“Princess Celestia thought it would be good for you to stay alongside Twilight and Spike while they lived in Ponyville,” The butler replied, before looking back at her. “She had also taken the liberty of moving all of your materials, contraptions and your… workshop, so to speak, into your quarters and also the confines in the basement of Golden Oaks Library. Out of sight from any possible visitors so no one can annoy you with what you would consider as ‘useless’ questions.”

“Asking me what I’m doing and then after explaining they have no idea what I’m saying-” Phoebe began, before noticing Twilight looking quite irritated. “Oohh~ That looks fun! Hey Twily!”

“O-oh hey Phoebe…” She said, sounding rather stressed for a second before looking around. “Sorry, but today’s been really irritating and I just… need to clear my head a bit.” Before Phoebe could ask though, Twilight just left. Only before noticing Spike nearby as he deeply sighed to himself.

“Man… When can I ever just catch a break?” He said, before Marquis took initiative and decided to speak up.

“Mr. Spike, would you happen to know what is troubling Ms. Twilight?” He asked, causing the dragon to turn and face Phoebe and Marquis before he could bring them up to speed… well, partially up to speed at first.

“Princess Celestia sent Twilight two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala-”

“Why that is an invitation to the biggest social event of the year! How can something like this be troubling Ms. Twilight?” Marquis said, which caused Spike to raise an eyebrow at that.

“Yeah… try telling that to her friends… They all want to go to the Gala and Twilight only has one other ticket… unless if there was something else in the mail specifically for you and Phoebe, it would mean she would have to choose between Phoebe or her friends.”

Phoebe turned away from Twilight, hiding her insane grin. Which… caused Spike to gulp upon seeing it at first. Phoebe then turned back to Twilight, a saddened expression.

“I understand if you want to take one of your new friends… It’s not like I’m as important as the ‘Elements of Harmony’...” Phoebe sighed.

“Hunh… strange… For some odd reason, my BS sensors are peaking at an all time high…” Marquis said to himself. “Ehh, it’s probably not important…”

“Um… I’m still having to think it over… I haven’t even chosen which friend I would want to bring. If I had the choice, I would bring all of you guys…” She said, before running off.

“And the cycle starts all over again…” Spike groaned, chasing after Twilight and leaving Marquis and Phoebe by themselves.

“I’m so not sad. Social events would be the death of me. I’d have to wear dumb crap like a dress.” Phoebe started, laughing maniacally into her hand. “Plus, if I wanted to go, I could just walk in because I’m Celestia’s angel~!”

“And how is this suppose to relate to Ms. Twilight’s current predicament?” Marquis asked her in response, sounding a little puzzled.

“Because, Marquis, I enjoy making Twily stress. I’m her sister, I have to cause a little mischief every now and then. Besides, she’s funny to watch.” Phoebe said, standing up. “Now, mother sent some of the supplies from my lab over. We should pick it up, and see how little Twily’s handling her choice.”

“If I recall correctly, it should already be in the library. All you need to do is just find a place to set it up… with a good amount of lighting from outside of course.” The butler advised her, recalling one time where a young Phoebe called daylight the ‘bane of her existence’. “Other then that, Celestia had already taken care of the hassle with having to… interact with the locals.”

“Oh… Well, why don’t you take care of that. Move it all to the basement. I have something else to do.” Phoebe ordered, turning away. “Thank you for being with me while I contemplated.”

“May I ask what you were contemplating about before I go, Ms. Phoebe?” Marquis asked her. “Perhaps I can think of something to assist you after moving everything to the basement.”

“No, you can’t. This is personal.”

“Ah, my apologies then.” Marquis told her. “Well, I’ll be off. Have a good day, Ms. Phoebe.” Shortly afterwards, the butler went on his way back to the library. Leaving Phoebe to… contemplate on what she was thinking about.

‘There are others of my kind… I might not be the only human trapped here or anywhere else. If that’s the case, and others have a similar power and/or strength, I’ll need to get “friends”... Maybe I can even get one sided trades with their goods.’ Phoebe thought to herself. She’d been contemplating this for the past week, but couldn’t figure out if it would be worth the time and effort she’d put into it. She could gain new knowledge, which would help her gain status with the nobles and cement her importance to Equestria, making her an influential historical figure for the future. Or she could waste years trying to reach other humans that could tear her apart with abilities that she could only dream of. It was an alluring choice she needed to make, else she’d waste her life with stress.

The thing that was slowly making her decide it was worth it was the possibility of gaining immortality. Phoebe was fiercely afraid of death, and the chance that she could attain eternal youth was intoxicating to her emotions. She wanted to find someone who was powerful enough to do this, since she knew there were more humans who gained some form of power like she gained a far superior mind to the one she had before. Her mother might not be able to, but perhaps on another plain of existence, planet in the solar system, or possibly an alternate universe, she could find the solution to her biggest fear.

And now, Phoebe desperately tried to think of a way to find the others of her race. To find those like herself, and reap the rewards of finding gullible or generous humans and/or things that have been stolen from their world. Yet, she had no idea how to even start.

What she needed at that moment was to find evidence of the humans of the past. And she wanted to avoid having Marquis tell anyone. She just needed to find a way to access that information. ‘Mom said that they were around a thousand years ago. Golden Oaks is too small and new, and I can’t check the Canterlot archive because then mom would know what I’m doing… I could try the Everfree Castle, but who knows if they’re rotten or not…’

Phoebe thought long and hard. Until she smiled, an idea flooding her head. ‘Although, they most likely preserved them with an enchantment…’ With her mind made, she made her way to the Castle of the Two Sisters.

It took a while in order for Phoebe to make the same trek that she made with Twilight and her friends on the night that they had to handle Nightmare Moon… but much longer in order to get over her fear of heights from when she had to travel across the bridge again. Since this was during the day, not many of the local beasts were out on hunt unlike at night. Which, Phoebe was relieved about because she did not want to have a mess all over her clothes.

By the time she arrived at her destination… not much had changed. The castle was still the same way as it was before, but with the added light from the sun, it allowed for Phoebe to investigate the old ruins further. See if she could uncover any hidden chambers that wouldn’t be as noticeable the first time around.

Yet early on… hovering around the room with the shoes she had on didn’t exactly do anything that would help. It was only when she actually took a step down and pushed one of her feet down on the floor did the stone slab move down… and part of a wall began to lower itself, revealing a secret chamber… and a couple of books falling out from behind it. Out of curiosity, Phoebe herself walked over to see what fell on the floor… Yet, it turned out that the book was more focused on special dessert recipes than knowledge.

But that was not what got her attention. What really got her attention… was the entire room filled with books that were neatly organized in dozens and dozens of rows and shelves. It was a gold mine of knowledge that she had uncovered… and she couldn’t be able to hold in her excitement at this.

Before she could be able to open any books though, she heard the sound of footsteps and turned around to see Marquis standing not far from where she was. “Uh… Ms. Phoebe… I believe we have ourselves a situation back in town involving Ms. Twilight.”

“What in Equestria are you talking about, Marquis? And how the tartarus did you find me?” Phoebe asked, annoyance evident on her face.

“Well… it appears that the townsfolk in town have gone crazy since news spread all over town about the Gala like wildfire. Now a mob of ponies are chasing after Twilight in order to get the spare ticket she has like shoppers in the Canterlot market district during the holidays.” Marquis told her. “Also, you were the one to place a tracking node in your gown just in case some hideous vandal tried to steal your most prized work.”

“Alright then, smartass. Let’s go get Twily out of her pickle.” Phoebe sighed in aggravation. Something inside of her, though, said that something important to her was in the library. This feeling caused a sharp pain in her chest. When Marquis wasn’t looking, Phoebe let a joyful tear escape her eye. ‘I can finally find them.’

Twilight ran as fast as she could from the mob of ponies chasing her and begging for the ticket. In her haste, she didn’t realize that Phoebe had teleported in front of her. The two of them ended up in a pile.

Phoebe, with the wind knocked out of her, cackled. “Impale me with your horn, please!”

“P-phoebe!?” Twilight stuttered in response once she realized who she ran into. “W-what are you doing here?!”

“Thought I’d save my sister from her new fan… mares? Yeah, fanmares.” Phoebe replied, standing up and taking deep breaths.

“I highly doubt that a mob chasing you would consist of fanmares-” She said, before getting up and realizing something. “Uh oh…”

“THERE SHE IS!! AFTER HER, QUICKLY!!”

“Oh horseapples… Not again!” Twilight spoke up, trying to see how far away she was from the Library in order to keep herself locked up until things died down.

Of course… that was before Phoebe stepped in. “Don’t worry, I’ll hold them off if you’ll give me the ticket~” She said, waving one of the Five Virtues around. Twilight personally wanted to ask why would she want the ticket if she had already specifically said that she wasn’t a fan of royal get togethers, but with the possibility of her getting trampled on her mind, the only thing that she could do was give it to her so she could safely get back to the Library without having to use up her magic to teleport.

“Here, just… whatever you do, don’t hurt them please.” She said, before running off to the library… which had everypony else’s attention now focus on Phoebe.

“Hey, that blond maned monkey has the ticket! GET HER!!”

Phoebe’s eyes widened at that. “Monkey? Monkey!?”

“Yeah, what else are we suppose to call you lady!?” Another pony shouted, just as the stampede of ponies were getting closer.

“Superior!” She swiped the Five Virtues, having herself and her sabers spin around in a circle before backing up a few feet. Before the ponies could even come close to her, swords made of light began to rain down where she was before. ‘Alright, bad idea!’ She thought as she realized it shorted out her suits power. But… it seemed to have done the trick as the mob itself was backing farther away from the swarm of swords that were raining down from the sky and buying her time to get out of there.

She sighed when she made it to Twilight’s house and practically broke through the door with how hard she rammed into it. Inside were the Elements of Harmony and Spike.

“Twilight, I can’t get rid of all of your problems!” Phoebe shouted at her sister.

“Did you… just try to impale a crowd of ponies with a storm of swords?” Rainbow asked, looking at it from outside before the storm soon disappeared. “That… is just as awesome as me.”

“I’d call it a sword storm. And it’s something new I’ve been working on. Very tough figuring out the power problem…” Phoebe replied. “So! You decide who you’re giving the extra ticket to, Twily?” The unicorn, upon hearing Phoebe say that… felt a bit uncomfortable with her bringing up the subject… but after a few seconds, she made her decision.

“I… Girls, I’m sorry… I just can’t decide who to pick… I don’t want to disappoint anypony and rather not want have just one other pony come to the gala if it’s going to upset everypony else…” Twilight then decided to just take a moment to calm herself down before turning to Phoebe. “Phoebe, give me back the ticket. I’m sending them back to Princess Celestia. This whole things been one huge mistake.”

“Okay.” Phoebe shrugged, before she pulled the ticket from her glove and held it out. Twilight used her magic to put the two tickets she had together and had Spike write a friendship report to Celestia. However… it was seconds after originally sending it that the dragon burped out a scroll with the princess’ seal on it.

“Wow, that was fast…” Rainbow replied, looking back at Spike. “What does it say?”

“It says… “My dearest Twilight…… Why didn’t you say so? Enclosed in this letter is eight tickets for the Gala. One for you, five for your friends, and two additional ones if Phoebe and Marquis decide to join the event. Sincerely, Princess Celestia” … Well… that was something.” The dragon replied, now holding eight tickets in his claw as Twilight and the others looked at him.

“I can sell our tickets for a high price~” Phoebe said as she took Marquis and her tickets.

“You do realize it’s illegal to redistribute these for profit under any circumstances right?” Twilight said back to her. “It’s in the fine print on the back of the ticket.”

“And Celestia’s daughter has to abide by the rules… Why?” Phoebe asked, grinning.

“P.S.” Spike began to read from the bottom of the letter. “I happened to have notice a strange flurry of swords rain from the sky earlier. If that were to be Phoebe’s doing, please inform her that if I find her misuse of her technology for ill purposes that I may have to resort to drastic actions if this continues on.”

“Write back to her that Twilight told me to do it.” Phoebe stated before scurrying to the basement. Which, lead to Spike sighing as he did the rather… odd request from Phoebe.

Elsewhere (Earlier in the day)

The Everfree Forest. Habitat to many exotic creatures that call the swamps and trees home. It was in the forest that afternoon that two of the locals were scavenging for any materials they could find. One looking from the tops of the trees while the other looking down on the ground.

However, it was from up above that something caught the attention of the one in the trees. Something that… even they can’t personally wrap their head around in that moment. “Holy-!” They spoke, before looking down at their companion and quickly motioning for them to come see what she was seeing. “Hey, get up here! You gotta come see this!”

Their companion groaned before climbing up the tree that they were leaning against. “Huh… Ponies are weird… All the more reason to avoid them.”

“I highly doubt a sword the size of a building appearing out of nowhere was done by a pony.” The first one then spoke up, pointing out the sight to her companion with what looked like a claw from a dangerous beast. “We should probably tell Zecora for when she has to go to Ponyville. I highly doubt telling Boldur or the others would be good right now. Especially with how scared Alani can get sometimes.” All that she got in response was a disgruntled nod of the head as both of them got back down from the tree and began to walk back down the dirt path towards a hut in the middle of the forest.

Upon approaching the hut… was when both of them got a surprise. In the form of a wave crashing into them, soaking them while also knocking them to the ground. “Cannonball!!”

Which… only lead to severely angering one of the two.

“Alani!!!” The white haired woman screamed.

“Oh… Heh… Sorry.” A blue skinned girl replied.

The first one looked back at the water monk, sighing for a moment before asking her a question. “Was soaking Thorn and I really necessary?”

“Hey, you weren’t in my peripheral vision when I jumped!” Alani shouted in defiance. “Besides, a little water never hurt anyone! And Thorn hasn’t taken a shower in a week, so why are you complaining?”

“She’s just like dad… Argue argue argue…” Thorn growled. “Can I finally snap her neck?”

That just lead to the other figure facepalming herself as she looked back at Thorn. “No, you are not snapping anyone’s neck… How many times have you asked me that now? I’ve lost count after fifty seven.”

“It was less than fifty. She usually tries to shoot me with an arrow, so a neck snapping’s refreshing.” Alani added.

“Oh shut up, no one asked you.” Thorn shot back.

“Can you two please cut it out?” The other asked, “And Alani, are you seriously saying that Thorn trying to kill you by snapping your neck is ‘refreshing’? That’s like saying that Poison Joke has positive health benefits.”

“No, it’s just refreshing that she’s saying that instead of ‘I’m going to kill you’, or ‘can I shoot her with an arrow’. Sometimes you get bored of the same old threats.” Alani replied. “Like for instance, I think your hair looks like a skunk. That’s new, and refreshing!”

Now that she was called out, the aelfrian in particular sounded rather… iritated by Alani’s comments. “I have a name… It’s-”

“Mellka!! You’re back!!”

“-Oh god, no.” The Aelfrian replied, turning around to see a dwarf with a crazy beard and a tree stump on his back along with that of a Zebra near the entrance of the hut. “Oh… Zecora… Just the Zebra I needed to see.”

“Ah yes, you have returned from your stroll…” The Zebra in particular replied back to Mellka. “Come on inside… or dinner will be cold.”

“Dinner!” Alani screamed before rushing inside. Which, only lead to the two coming inside as they set their weapons aside and sat down inside the hut. For their meal this evening, it was an herbal stew that was made up of some indigenous plants and spices that Zecora was able to find in the everfree with the help of Boldur and Alani. Both in which were really eager to dig into this evening’s meal.

Yet, it was while they were eating that Mellka decided to bring up what she had seen earlier today. “So… On our small patrol of the Everfree, Thorn and I saw something that was rather… off.”

Upon hearing that, Zecora paused for a moment, setting down her bowl in order to speak to the Aelfrian. “Off, you say? Then tell us what you saw today…”

“Well… While I was up in the trees earlier this afternoon, I saw what looked like a giant sword of light crash in the middle of that one pony town nearby-.”

“Bah!! That just sounds like magic! No sword, real or magic, can stop the might of Boldur or the Eldrid!” The dwarf that was listening proclaimed… interrupting Mellka in the process.

“I wasn’t done, Boldur… Originally, I thought it would be magic, but then I remembered that anytime I see or feel magic, my bio-gauntlet would react to that by glowing,” She pointed out, setting her left hand on the table, which was the one with the green monster like claw. “However, when this occurred, nothing of that sort happened… and it wasn’t just me who saw it either. Thorn did too.”

“Yeah.” Thorn added in an uninterested tone.

“Swords? What are those?” Alani asked.

“Pointy things that make you a shishkabob.” Thorn replied.

“You’re a shishkabob!” Alani shouted, jamming a finger in Thorn’s face. Which Thorn proceeded to bite, causing Alani to scream and yank her hand back. “Thornie bit me!”

“Thorn, do not use Alani’s words as a reason to terrorize,” Zecora said sternly to the elf. “Now, release her from your bite and apologize.”

Thorn rolled her eyes but let go of the blue skinned girl. Alani then began to nurse her finger. All while Mellka had one last thing to say

“Point is… I’m beginning to think that we aren’t the only ones here anymore…”

In a distant sky stood an old human man with a balding head and a goatee. He looked out of the window of his massive airship and saw the falling swords of light.

“There she is…” The man said to himself, a grin forming on his aging, withered face. “I finally found you, Salma.” He finished, placing a gloved hand on the window.

Author's Note

Next chapter's the mandatory crossover. It's mostly filler, with Phoebe meeting other humans for the first time. If you don't want to read the crossover bit, then read the opening and the end because they're important.

6. My People... Aren't What I Expected

Phoebe sighed as she sat at a booth in Sugarcube Corner. There was a bit of a mess the day before with a Griffon named Gilda, and the woman was a little confused about the tension between two of the Elements of Harmony. Phoebe didn’t partake in much of that event.

In fact, the only interesting thing that happened in the past two weeks was two stampedes, and Phoebe was busy in Canterlot, visiting her mother. So she’d missed a lot. But that didn’t matter, if she wasn’t needed, then that meant more time devoted to her work. Which, at the moment, meant reading one of Starswirl’s theories on time travel.

“Maybe I should hire an assistant… Marquis is great, but maybe I need someone who’s actually alive…” Phoebe muttered to herself.

“Um…” Phoebe jerked her head to the side, where Pinkie was standing and staring at her. “You’re talking to yourself… Sure you don’t wanna talk to me? You’ll look less crazy, trust me.”

The woman stared at the pink pony for a second, before looking across from her where a mare was trying to not stare and keep her son from doing the same. At seeing that Phoebe noticed them, the mare stood up and grabbed her son by his tail and rushing out.

“Bye Button!” Pinkie waved. Phoebe just groaned.

“Just give me my damn shake…” Phoebe grunted.

“Not if you’re going to be a potty mouth~” At that statement, Phoebe teleported to the door and left, ignoring Pinkie’s protests.

Phoebe was fairly moody today. Not like she wasn’t always moody, but she had her moments of pleasantry. But that day wasn’t one of them. She was particularly angry…

For no good reason. And that only intensified her anger. Maybe she was angry at the lack of results or a cohesive idea as to where to find others of her race. It didn’t help that her inventions- the ones that were far past beta- were mysteriously malfunctioning. Phoebe had set up security measures, but the culprit suddenly stopped.

Phoebe was on edge.

So, when she returned to the Golden Oaks Library, she checked the mailbox, as that was her chore. She sifted through the letters until she found a letter addressed to her.

After entering the library, she called out, “Hey Twilight! Do you remember anyone besides mom that would send a letter to me!? It feels like something’s inside of this thing!”

“Not that I can recall, why?”

“Cause someone besides mom sent a letter to me! And I know it isn’t mom because Spike didn’t throw the darn thing up like a belch!” Phoebe shouted back as she opened it up and pulled whatever was in it out and examined it. It was a simple golden key that had a complex build for it’s teeth.

“Did you at least open it?” Twilight then asked her

“Yeah, I just did!” Phoebe rolled her eyes. She then pulled out the note inside.

Dear Phoebe, though I know that isn’t your real name. I’ve heard you’ve been looking for beings like yourself. So, I’ve taken the liberty to procure you with a sample. A key to another world.

-A ruggedly handsome fellow.

P.S I think you shouldn’t clench the key too hard, since it’s set to activate fifteen seconds after you touch it.

P.P.S If you somehow read this part of the letter, then I should mention that you have a certain amount of time before you-

“Wait, what-!?” Phoebe screeched as the key began to glow with a blinding light. “Twiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!!!” By the time that the unicorn realized what was happening, Phoebe was already gone.

The first thing Phoebe saw when the light faded was another human. A scrawny one at that. This, at first, excited her. Until the momentum of her sudden appearance caused her to trip and crash into the scrawny man… And toppling him over.

And if that weren’t enough… what came next surely did not help any for Phoebe’s current position. The scrawny guy groaned, and said, “Ok, what the hell-” He feels something in his hand curious he tries to grip it before realizing his mistake.

And before he could do anything to correct that mistake… Phoebe reacted first.

“AAAAHHHH- GUH!” he exclaimed, as he was imbedded in the wall after being thrown. He coughed up some blood, and whispered, “Ow… Medic…”

Phoebe had already gotten back to her feet and drew her blades, pointing them at Scout.

He holds his hands in front of him shouting, while coughing some blood out every now and then, “Woah woah-*cough*-woah, hold it! I’m-*cough cough- I’m sorry! I didn’t realize that that was what was in my hand… Also… can I have a little help out of here.”

Now using one hand to point to the wall, while holding out the other hand as if in a gesture of asking for help.

“... No. Get up yourself.” Phoebe ordered, glaring at Scout. “Who are you? Where am I? And explain why you abducted me!”

“First of all,” Scout started glaring back, “I’m literally stuck in this wall; and to answer your questions in order, the name’s Scout, your in our base known as Fort Everfree, and we didn’t abduct you, you just appeared in front of me.”

“Here,” said Heavy, who was just to Phoebe’s right, walked up to Scout, pulled him out of the wall like he was gum, and handed him a sandwich. “There you go, sandvich make you strong!” Heavy said, then walked back to his seat.

“Thanks Heavy,” Scout said, then practically stuffed the entire sandwich down his throat, and suddenly looked liked he never even took any damage at all.

“Now answer me!” Phoebe demanded.

Scout looks at her with a deadpanned expression. “I just did,” Scout said in an annoyed tone, “I don’t know how you got here, unless one of the other guys used your token by mistake.”

“What’s a ‘token’? Aren’t those just for slot machines in arcades?” Phoebe asked, narrowing her eyes.

Scout looks at her as if she asked, ‘what was the sun’, “Umm…” Scout then looks a bit behind her, and gestures toward her, “I think you might want to take care of this question, Spy.”

Phoebe heard an noise somewhat like electricity behind her, she quickly turns around to see another man standing right behind her who she knew hadn’t been there before. “Gahh!” She screamed, before punching him square in his jaw.

As his body fell to the ground, lifeless from the one punch, she hears another electric noise a little further away and to her left.

“Glad I always have my deadringer active in my pocket,” Spy said casually, lighting a cigarette, “that would’ve been a lot more painful than it was.”

“Who in Equestria are you all!?” Phoebe shouted, getting frustrated.

“We call ourselves the ‘Red Team’,” Spy started, “a team of men who can do just about anything in the ways of combat. For instance, I can hide in plain sight, take down many enemies, steal any intel, and generally confuse the enemy while giving them faulty information. There are many thing we can do as a team, and I could tell you all of it… but then we’d be here all day. In short, we are mercenaries, but we have hearts and will not do anything we would consider evil.”

“I think that just makes you Bounty Hunters and/or hired help…” Phoebe deadpanned. “Where are we? Planet, solar system, country, etcetera.”

Spy looks at her with wide-eyes, then confusion, then understanding, “Ah I think I know what’s going on here. First off, do you know the country of Equestria?”

“Yes, I was raised there.” Phoebe said, narrowing her eyes. “Then… No, no, how the tartarus would there be so many other humans and I haven’t even heard of!? I spent years of my childhood searching!”

“I’ll get to that,” Spy promised, “Secondly, have you ever heard of the multiple universe theory?”

“Multiverse, and yes… Oh, damn it! How in the vast infinite were there two groups sent to the same world but in different universes!? It doesn’t make sense, unless the multiverse is much more flawed than Blueblood!” Phoebe began to pace, spouting out theories and questions that the mercenaries couldn’t understand.

“Woah,” Spy said, stopping her rant, “the main reason, if I’m correct, is that all the threats that appear in our different universes don’t get too powerful, and also… we aren’t the only two groups sent out into different versions of Equestria, we just happened to be the first Displaced you have met so far.”

“Dis… What?” Phoebe asked, stopping in place.

“Oh, boy,” Spy said, then held to fingers up to his ear, “Engineer…? I need the Displaced lecture in the dining room… Yes… I don’t know… Yes… Ok, thanks Engineer.” Bringing his hand down he looked down and backed away from the section of flooring starting to open up.

Once it finished opening a device that looked similar to a movie projector, but noticeably different in some of its parts. Spy flipped a switch on a remote he held and a screen descended from a slot in the ceiling, as the movie projector started up.

“Hello,” said the man on screen, “I’m Engineer, if you are watching this then you are about to learn about a type of human called… a ‘Displaced’! If you are a human, and you have an amazing ability or power and are in a land called Equestria… then you are a Displaced! Displaced is a term meaning: ‘Dimensionally Misplaced’ which is both true and not true at the same time. Displaced are generally humans who once lived on a planet called ‘Earth’ who, when transported to Equestria, end as whatever character they were dressed up as, as the character relating to an item that they had a hard time finding, etc. etc.

Now how are we transported to an Equestria? Well, the Void Dwellers! Sometimes called a ‘Displacer’ these beings have immense amounts of power to, if they wanted to that is…, destroy entire universes! There is once Void Dweller who seems to be the boss of all of them, that are good anyway, called ‘Author’. Anyways, back on topic each Displaced is sent to a different version of Equestria: classic, anthro, opposite-persona, swapped-position, etc.”

“Now,” Movie-Engie said, “we are onto the token portion of this lesson. Displaced sometimes might find themselves in a difficult position and might need the aid of another Displaced. ‘But, how do we get their help?’ You may ask, well tokens are the answer! A token is an item that represents the Displaced and has a message, whether written down or otherwise, and when activated as instructed the Displaced will be summoned right before you. However there are some Displaced that, depending on your mindset, your alignment, etc., could become your enemy, so when summoning a Displaced, becareful, cause they might just shoot and ask questions later. Now if you want to send a Displaced back to their universe, just say something along the lines of: ‘Your contract is sealed/over/etc.’ Now there are some things that might’ve happened in your universe regarding you, such as marriages, adoption, etc. So, if you have a parent figure in your Equestria, a partner in life, or adopted children and they exist in the other Equestria remember this: you know them, but they don’t know you. That is the end of today’s lesson on: Displaced. Engineer signing off.”

The movie projector shut off and the screen slide backup into the ceiling, Spy looked over at Phoebe to see her response.

“That’s… A lot to take in…” Phoebe said.

“I understand,” Spy said, nodding, “yet… in my world, the adventures of the other Displaced were nothing but stories written down. So… we already kinda understand. Also, there even a few different types of Displaced.”

“Explain.” Phoebe said, pulling a notepad from behind her back and taking notes.

“Well,” Spy said, “there are ‘average Displaced’ who are practically in their universe, no one to talk to about their problems; there are the ‘lucky Displaced’ who are a small group of friends who were sent to the same Equestria; then… there are the ‘split Displaced’, our group is the perfect example of that. Would you like to know why?”

“Uh… Why wouldn’t I…?” Phoebe questioned.

“It’s just…,” Spy said, a small smile on his face, “it’s kind of weird… even for us. You see… ‘split Displaced’ are a group of Displaced who were once, only one person, imagine this: the personality of a single person copied one or more times and each one was changed just slightly to fit with the body the personalities were going to end up in. That’s what happened with us, we were all once one man.

And lastly, there are the ‘amnesiac Displaced’ a Displaced that knows that they belong elsewhere, but can’t remember anything before being in Equestria.”

“I think I fit with the amnesiac, but I can remember faces.” Phoebe said, still taking noted. “Can’t remember names, only faces.”

“Ah, I see,” Spy said, a thoughtful expression crossed his face, “Maybe Medic can help you with your memories later if you wish, but… I’m also curious… how in Equestria did you get here without a token? Do you remember what happened before you arrived?”

“I got a letter with a key in it…” Phoebe replied, pulling out said key. “I think it might’ve been altered to do the opposite of what a token does and bring me to another world instead.”

“...Huh…” was all Spy could say, “well that was most likely our token, given ours is a key… but what would have prompted it to reverse instead...? Wait… a letter… did the letter have a return address? If not, did the paper of the letter seem kind of old?”

“No? Not like it matters here.” Phoebe replied.

“Nevermind then,” Spy stated, then looked to Phoebe, “one question, would you like to stay here and hangout for a while? Or would you like to make a token and head back home? If you want to hangout, I’m sure Engineer would like talking to you, you seem to be the machinery type.”

“I’m sure he would. And I doubt making a Token here would be advisable. I might end up here every time I’m called and dismissed. Just in case…” Phoebe said. “I would like to explore the world a little though… And not being surrounded by only human men would help...”

“Sure,” Spy said, a smile plastered on his face, “though I do have one last question, if I may.”

“Go on...” Phoebe replied hesitantly.

“You said you were raised in Equestria,” Spy started, curiosity noticeable on his face, “so… who was kind enough to raise you?”

“Princess Celestia.” Phoebe replied proudly, smirking.

Everyone else in the room went still and, if they weren’t already staring at her, they turned their heads to look at her with surprise. Spy cleared his throat after a few moments, and everyone went back to what they were doing.

“Pardon them,” Spy said, “so… the adopted daughter of Princess Celestia from across the multiverse… never thought I would say such a sentence- oh sorry, I’m rambling. So your majesty,” Spy said playfully, “where would you like to go?”

“Just show me around,” Phoebe said.

“Well,” Spy started, looking around, then gestured to the room they were in, “Welcome to Fort Everfree, former castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, and base of operations for me and my men. Do you want a tour of this place?”

“I’ve been here. Well… You know.” Phoebe waved her hand dismissively. “I’m a bit curious about Earth. I barely remember my life then, other than having been in preschool.”

“Hm,” Spy hummed, in thought, “well, would you like to see this universe’s version of Celestia?”

“Uh… Sure.” Phoebe replied, curiosity taking over.

“Excellent,” Spy exclaimed, as he clapped his hand together, “I’ll go on ahead and let her know we have a guest going to visit, this should only take a moment.”

Spy seemingly vanishes into thin air, leaving Phoebe in the room with the other guys.

“Um,” Scout started, then seemingly had an ‘Eureka’ moment, “I’m going to get Engineer, he seems to get along with your type quite easily.”

“Hmph! My type… I estimate that I know of not one creature that’s your type.” Phoebe shot back in a huff.

“Wait,” Scout said, hurriedly, “I didn’t mean it like that, I mean, with how you act and all, you seem to be a smarty-pants, you know… the type that is always smarter than me?”

“Just get out of here…” Phoebe growled, a vein appearing on her forehead.

Scout leaves the room, after yelping, faster than fast-walking but slower than running, his voice is heard from the corridor he went but the words weren’t able to be made out.

Suddenly, a small flash of light appears and goes away to reveal a man with a hard-hat, goggle, gloves, tool belt, holding a wrench in on hand, and holding a PDA in the other. He seemed to be looking at the pda before looking up at Phoebe.

“Ah,” Engineer said, “you must be the new Displaced, Scout tends to have problems talking to women like you without saying the wrong thing, last time we nearly had a test for the respawn room.”

“Re… Spawn…?” Phoebe asked, confusion clear on her face.

“Ah, yes,” Engineer started, “it hasn’t been tested, but, in theory, if one of us dies in less than a minutes it will ‘respawn’ us, or bring us back to life, so to speak. It should only work if it isn’t a death by age.

“But,” Engineer said, a nervous smile plastered on his face, “we haven’t tested it yet because we don’t want to. I mean if it fails then… we won’t come back. So, the only way we will test it, is with an inevitable death.”

The room falls silent after that sentence.

“Why not test it on a pony on death row?” Phoebe suggested. “Then disconnect them from it if it works.”

“Because,” Engineer began, irritably, “it is NOT supposed to work on aged based death, only weapon-based, poison-based, or natural disaster-based deaths.”

“You’re clearly unfamiliar with what death row means. Death by electrocution. Why not ask Celestia to use a pony on death row as a test subject?” Phoebe replied as if she were speaking to a child.

The Engineer just looked at her for a moment, then spoke, “Is… is that a thing that happens in your Equestria? Because we have yet to hear of anything along those happening in this country ‘til now…”

“It’s not often, but it does happen with the occasional homicide.” Phoebe responded. “Mom always tried to keep it on the down low since she disliked the entire process. No civilization is crime free.”

“Hm,” Engineer hummed in thought, then looked over see medic standing in front of one of the corridors looking at him seeing make a face that said ‘Well, only if you’re ok with it’.

Engineer looked over to Phoebe, and spoke, “Do you know if the results would be the same between the ponies and us respawning?”

“So you’d rather have an accident happen and pray for the best than get an estimate? I’ll even assist with said estimate based on the results of the attempt. I can do the math if I understand the technology.” Phoebe suggested. “Of course, for a price.”

“Well,” Engineer scratched his head, “considering that you seem to have dealt with machines before, would you take a look at the machine and the schematics,” holding out the schematics to her, “If you want payment, I can either pay you bits from this Equestria, or give you some copies of my schematics, heck, if you want, I could even give you a copy of the respawn schematics.”

“I have no need for bits, as I’m royalty back home. Do you have any rare materials I could take as a reward, or perhaps something special to you. Not something personal, but something I’d not find in other… ‘Displaced’ worlds.” Phoebe suggested with a grin. “The respawner plans aren’t in my interests, as I don’t think that I’d be easy to kill… Or willingly put my life in danger.”

“Hmm…” Engineer thought, long and hard before having his own Eureka moment, “I think I’ve got something for you… but one question, what weapon do you prefer to use?” He asked, as he pulled a backpack from seemingly nowhere behind him.

“Uh… What?” Phoebe asked, confused.

“I asked what weapon do you prefer,” Engineer stated, “sometimes a Displaced is sent here with weapons that they can use or can make weapons that they use, but sometimes we like to use something just a little different, you know? I mean, do you like to use those swords on your back?”

“Yes, I built them.” Phoebe glared at the Engineer’s presumption.

“I could’ve figured you built them,” Engineer stated, “and I didn’t mean to insult you if I did, but sometimes… bah, nevermind, so would you like another sword made with a rare material, usually only found by us?”

“I don’t need another sword. Phoebe said, annoyance clear in her voice.

“Well,” Engineer said, scratching his head, “is there another weapon you would prefer? We’ve rifles, shotguns, pistols, revolvers, scatterguns, miniguns, knives, machetes, and even a wrench; and of each of these items, there are at least two of each made of the same rare material.”

“How about a tool?” Phoebe suggested.

“The wrench could work,” Engineer stated with a smile on his, “it can also double as a weapon, though for some reason any melee weapons made of this stuff, upon killing an opponent immediately turns them into a statue of said material.

“Also this material, known as australium, is extremely powerful stuff, if it comes into contact with someone; it either boost one of the things they have little of, which for that would be strength and stealth, or boost something that have great potential in, which for me would be my intelligence and building my equipment. I have no idea how it will affect you so, just be careful with stuff ok? I also have no idea at all on how it will affect ponies so keep it hidden, locked away, and never speak of the stuff to anyone except to those who you would trust.”

“I have wrenches where I’m from… Ugh, we’ll discuss my payment afterwards.” She groaned, taking the schematics. “Let’s get to work.”

~~~Time Skip: 30 minutes later~~~

Celestia, walking along side Spy, are heading towards the respawn after finding out from Scout where Phoebe went.

“-so I told him they were at fifteenth squad, it took him a full day to find out that the information from his lieutenant, i.e. me disguised as said lieutenant, and they both argued about the info until army arrived!” Spy told.

Celestia chuckled slightly, “My, what an amusing moment in your career.”

“That’s not even the best part,” Spy continued, “after they surrendered, they continued to bicker; that is, until I went in there disguised as the lieutenant and part way through talking to them I deactivated my disguise and they both just stared at me like I like someone would an abomination. It was something alright.”

Celestia chuckled, “Well, I guess you pulled the wool over their eyes.”

Spy smiled proudly, “Indeed, it is my speciality.” Spy then looks around, “It seems we have arrived.”

Celestia looks around, and notices Engineer, next to the one called Phoebe. “Hello,” Celestia greeted, “you must be Phoebe, correct?”

Phoebe jumped up and spun around. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there mo- Princess.” She emphasized this with a courteous bow.

Celestia has a small moment where confusion is slightly noticeable on her face, when Spy whispered to her, “In her universe, her Celestia adopted her and so she considers you, i.e. her Celestia as a mother.”

Celestia’s eyes widen, as she looked at Phoebe, “So, how has your... visit gone so far?”

“It’s… Okay. A little disorienting… Especially since it’s been years since I last saw… Others of my kinds…” Phoebe added sheepishly.

“Oh, I see,” Celestia said with a frown, looking away, then looked back to Phoebe with a sad smile, “I hope that this aids you in your travels, maybe talking with my sister will help you, she… well… you probably already know.”

“I’ve… chosen to avoid Aunt Luna… For some fair and understandable reasons.” Phoebe stated. “I didn’t even know of her until a few weeks ago… But anyways! I can see that my Celestia’s much more experienced than you.”

Celestia lifted an eyebrow, “Experienced in which way?”

“You seem awkward around me.” Phoebe replied.

“Wow,” Celestia said, eyes slightly widened, “I’m that easy to read? … wait… you said a few weeks ago? But she-”

“Got out of the moon months ago,” Spy finished, looking Phoebe over, “you’re not only in a different universe, but technically also in the future…”

“Wow… Can you tell me anything- no, wait, I don’t want to know.” Phoebe said. “Also, I recalibrated your respawner. It’s ready for a test run.”

“Wait, what?” Spy asked, with a bewildered expression. “When were we going to do a test run Engineer?”

“Since Phoebe brought up a good point,” Engineer said, then looked to Celestia, “Celestia… you wouldn’t happen to have… any… criminals… given the… death penalty…?” Engineer asked with a nervous smile.

Celestia stared at him owl-eyed, “Um… why do you ask…?”

“Well,” Engineer said, taking off his hard-hat and held it between his hands in front of him, “there is no easy to answer this so I’m going to give it to you straight…” Engineer looked at her with a neutral look on his face, “We have a machine here that could potentially bring someone back to life, but, we’re not one-hundred percent sure if the device will work. The only time the device will work is if it is a natural death, meaning… anyone attached to it, in order to die permanently, if it works properly, is a death by age.

“But,” Engineer continued, “there hasn’t been a way to test if this works, that is until, Phoebe here brought up an idea,” Engineer gestured towards Phoebe. Engineer sighs, “What I’m proposing to you… is that if you have any criminals put on death row, aka, have been given the penalty of death, we could use them for the tests. If they don’t come back, it would be one less pony you have on death row, but if they do come back, it would mean a successful test, and we would have to to worry less about death.”

Celestia then gained a hard look on her face, almost glaring at Engineer, and just when he thought she was going to tackle him, she sighed as her face softened, looked back up with a sad face.

She looked away in thought, then after a moment, she looked back to Engineer, “You have my permission to use those on with the death penalty, but if, at some point, the test succeeds and the pony does come back to life, send the resurrected pony and the untested ponies back to me, ok?”

Though unnoticeable to anyone who didn’t look closely, Engineers eyes widened under his goggles, then said, as he bowed to Celestia, “As you command princess.”

Then Princess Celestia started to leave the room, a neutral expression on her face, stopped and looked at the Engineer, “Any information whatsoever, regarding this project and test is to be confidential, and any notes that you no longer require I wish to have them given to me personally, understood?”

Engineer did a mock salute, but said with seriousness, “Yes, ma’am.”

Then, she started to walk away, Spy looked at her again as if… as if he was missing something about her, then back to his colleague and fellow Displaced.

“So, is everything in place?” Spy asked.

“Seems so frenchie,” Engineer replied.

“Frenchie?” Phoebe questioned, baffled by the Engineer’s response.

“Frenchie, you know,” Engineer said, gesturing towards Spy, “because he is French? It is kind of his nickname.”

“I don’t get it…” Phoebe grumbled.

“In a way,” Spy explains, “it is a jape towards me, since many things in America, back on Earth, have been named after France, which is where I’m technically from, I hope that helps clear up that bit of confusion.”

“What’s France?” Phoebe questioned, completely baffled.

Engineer hung his head and sighed, then looked back to Phoebe, “Equestria’s equivalent is Prance,” he said, then mumbled something about ‘terrible horse-puns’.

“Wait, what? Equestria doesn’t have France. Or do you mean Prance is the pony version? I’m still not sure...” Phoebe said, scratching her head. “What were we doing again?”

“Prance is practically the pony version, yes,” Spy stated, then gestured towards both Phoebe and Engineer, “and you two were going to work together on testing our respawn room.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, It should work, but we need a test subject. So, have one here asap. Not sure if I’ll be here long enough to work on it again.”

“Shouldn’t take too long with our teleporter system,” Engineer said, “with this system, we can transport anything living or just supplies… except bread.”

“Definitely no bread,” Spy agreed.

“Okay…” Phoebe replied, shrugging.

“Anyways,” Engineer said, “back to the job at hand, we will get Celestia to lend us a few of those prisoners with a death sentence, and then… well… do some testing.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Spy replied, nodding his head, “are you ready Phoebe?”

“I’d rather not see it.” Phoebe said, “But if you can, record the event and focus on the errors. And remember to inject the subject.”

“Inject?” Engineer asked.

“Didn’t we have a thing that goes into the subject so they’re connected to the room?”

“...no,” Engineer stated, “we have a port to put a piece of the subjects DNA into, for which the machine practically turns the DNA into code for the machine to track analyze the subjects vitals and will be on standby to be able to rebuild their body using the DNA’s code… Oh and the code can be deleted at any time using the master passcode to prevent the person from respawning should it be necessary.

“And it also doesn’t matter if the DNA is a flake of skin, a strand of hair, or a dab of saliva, any piece of DNA will do,” Engineer finished.

“This feels familiar…” Phoebe grumbled. “Anyways, need anything else?”

“Nothing besides a few mops and buckets,” Engineer stated, “I remember the first time the original Engineer had respawned and… well… it was like flying for the first time for me, I did not feel well and needed several buckets for every time he respawned.”

“Wait, so it worked?”

“In that universe and time, it did,” Engineer explained, “but that was with the original RED Team that we were turned into, and they had a normal power source, not a gem infused with magic.”

“Well… I suppose that’s it. Go test your machine, I’ll tinker around.” Phoebe said, walking away. In truth, she needed to try to cope with everything that’d happened. She had stopped herself from thinking too much about how she was in another universe, how her mother didn’t recognize her, that somehow a key- token was used to get her into a world where there were others of her species who could reverse death. It was too much for her to handle, or even process. She made a mental note to review each of those baffling discoveries for the next few weeks.

“Okay, so… is there anywhere you’d like to stay?” Spy asked, “Since you may be staying here for who knows how long, I think you’d need somewhere to lay down. If you want I could let you bunk with me, just have to set up the bunk bed, or if you want to, we could also see if Celestia would let you live with her for a while.”

“I’d love the latter, thanks.” Phoebe replied.

“Alright,” Spy said, as he started to leave, “I’ll go check with her, and see if that is possible.”

“Okay,” Engineer replied, “see ya when you get back.”

Spy then left the room, leaving just Engineer and Phoebe in silence.

“I don’t think I have long here… So, can you tell me a bit about Earth?” Phoebe asked. “Culture things and such. I was taken when I was barely in school.”

Engineer’s eyes widened, unnoticably, in realization when told she had not been taken as a teenager but as a child, in preschool no less, then waved her towards the hallway with a sign pointing to it saying ‘intelligence’, and started walked into it.

“Follow me,” he stated firmly and calmly.

Phoebe followed, slightly intimidated by his actions.

“We have all information about what our kind has done in the intelligence suitcase,” Engineer stated, “because that suitcase is the number one thing, besides the respawn room and the generator room, that we will protect with our lives.

“All that humanity has done,” Engineer continued, with a sigh, “sometimes, I wish humanity never even existed, because of all the bad things it has done, not just to itself, but to everything around it.

“Anyway,” he said as he and Phoebe entered a large room, “the suitcase is right here,” gesturing toward the red suitcase with files seemingly just ready to explode out of it.

He opened the suitcase and pulled out some files, all having the same big red wording ‘CLASSIFIED’, and on the tabs of the files, in black wording one says ‘Weapons’, another says ‘Unconventional Wars’.

“I was hoping for more on… well… culture and what not. I never learned history.” Phoebe nervously giggled. “But when you’re a kindergartener, that stuff flies over your head.”

Engineer chuckled, a small smile on his face, “I can understand that, most stuff flew over my head in school… except math, when I get taught how to do it, I could to the same equation without have to write down the work. Sometimes, that was a problem for the teacher when I actually need to write down the work, meaning I had to go over the same equation five to six mentally just to write it down properly.

Engineer then shakes his head quickly, “We have gotten off track,” he said, then looked to her, “say, did you ever learn of the name of the country you were originally born in?”

“I don’t remember… All I do know is that there was someone called… ‘Bush’ running it?” Phoebe shrugged.

“President Bush?” Engineer asked in surprise, “well at least we know you were born in the USA, that makes most of the information finding easy,” he stated pulling out some papers from the files ‘Unconventional Wars’, ‘World Wars’, ‘Terrorist Attacks’, and handed her the entire file labelled ‘U.S. Common History’. “Here you are,” he said ashe handed it to her, “everything about your country.”

“Well… It’s a lot to read. Can I take it back with me?” Phoebe asked.

Engineer sigh, “Sure, as long as you Pinkie Promise to make sure you don’t let a single sentient-” Engineer paused, “no wait there’s also Fluttershy’s....” he mumbled to himself, then looked back to Phoebe, “not one creature, sentient or not, is not allowed to even see these documents, they could make you look… bad politically, or the information could be used to blackmail you.”

“How bad can home be…?” Phoebe asked, more to herself than anything else. “I think this should be payment enough.”

“If I were to tell you right now,” Engineer stated, “you would probably call me a liar, and would get rid of the documents before you read them, thinking I would’ve faked any and all bad information on there. Then again that is just a guess, sometimes… the truth is a bitter pill to swallow.”

“So you wrote this…?” Phoebe asked.

“Had to,” Engineer said with a shrug, “there isn’t exactly any other humans in this Equestria to have this written by.” Engineer looked back to her with a normal posture, “So… are you going to Pinkie Promise to not let another living being see these documents,” he held up the aforementioned documents up, “except any other Displaced?”

“What’s even a ‘Pinkie Promise’?” Phoebe asked, confused.

“Have you…” Engineer then looked around then whispered to Phoebe, “have you met the pink pony who defies all logic, that Twilight has as a friend?”

“Yeah, I recently met her… She made a promise named after her?”

“Eeyup,” he confirmed, “except she makes sure that those promises are kept, even by herself, and nopony dares to break a Pinkie Promise, because if you do…” Engineer shivered, “she will know and she will hunt you down through time and space. Mainly because you broke a promise to a friend, losing their trust-”

“FOREVeerrrrrrr,” said the aforementioned pink pony as she popped out of the files, causing Engineer to freeze up, and Phoebe to scream and fall backwards onto her rear.

“...l-like I was going t-to say,” Engineer said with a bit of a stutter, “she c-can and will b-be quite terrorizing.” Engineer looks over to Phoebe and holds out his hand to help her up.

Phoebe nodded, taking his and and letting him pull her onto her feet. “P-Pinkie Promise… I won’t tell another soul.”

“Good,” Engineer nodded, then walked over to a machine on the other side of the room, “let me give you a copy, after I make the copies.” Phoebe nodded and sighed to herself.

This trip was becoming a hassle to her health.

“What!? How!? Why!?!? I have so many questions!!!!!!!!”

“Uh… Twilight, I think you should calm down a bit-” Spike said, just walking in and opening the door when Twilight just went off like that.

“Calm down!?! Spike, do you even know what just happened?”

“I think I know what needs to happen. Everypony can hear you all over town.” Spike pointed out.

“Spike, Phoebe just disappeared… In front of me… without… a trace!!! Something that isn’t Scientifically possible!!!!”

“Uh…… What?” The drake asked, confused and a little scared because of how Twilight was acting.

Suddenly, a wormhole made of a dark purple energy opened up in the library. It was loud and sounded like a tornado caught in a blender. Which had the baby dragon gripping onto Twilight in fear as her mane was being blown backwards all over the place. Then, to their surprise and relief, Phoebe stepped out carrying a large red suitcase.

“I’m back…” She said nervously once the wormhole disappeared.

“Where the hay were you!?” Twilight shouted, tackling Phoebe to the ground. “Are you okay!? Are you hurt?! What happened!? Please tell me!!!!”

“Uh… Well, for starters, I think I proved the multiversal theory…” Phoebe chuckled. “Either that, or mom has an elaborate way of pranking me…”

“What are you talking about, Phoebe?” Twilight asked. “All I remember you doing was reading a letter and the next moment, poof!! You disappeared without a trace!”

“Yeah… Well, it’s a long story. But before I tell you, let me get some things done.” Phoebe replied. “I need to get my head on straight… And you have a lunch date with your friends.”

That was when Twilight realized that she did indeed have a lunch date with her friends… and by the time things are right now… she was running extremely late. “Oh horse apples!!”

“Twilight, language.” Phoebe said with a childish smile. “Only I swear.”

“Only you, I am close to being extremely late!!” Twilight yelled, before using her magic to grab her saddlebag as she galloped off to go catch up with her… and leaving Spike behind as he just sighed.

“You want me to have Marquis make us some coffee and cocoa?” He asked Phoebe. “Something tells me we may need it.”

“Yes, please… I’ve been away for a while…” Phoebe groaned, tired.

Author's Note

Crossover with https://www.fimfiction.net/user/209764/TheUltimateBrony-Class-S

Next chapter, the plot thickens. After that is when things get real.

1. Child of The Last Light (Being Revamped)

(Chapter 1: Child Of The Last Light)

An old Unicorn stallion with a dirty white coat, light brown mane, mustache, tail and eyes, wearing wearing a dark red coat, a gray cravat, and an undersized pair of glasses on his muzzle was busy trotting through the throne room in Canterlot as he began to look over a particularly long scroll of paper.

“Hello Kibitz, busy as usual?” A soft, calm voice said behind the stallion. Kibitz turned to see a massively tall Alicorn with a white coat, a multicolored mane that flowed in an invisible wind, magenta eyes that were relaxed, and her usual bright, warm, and inviting smile. The mare behind him was the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia.

“Ah, yes. I’m just going over the plans for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration in Manehattan. I’m assigning the roles you specified, Princess.” Kibitz stated happily. Celestia’s smile widened ever so slightly, just as the unicorn happened to notice a purple unicorn at the entrance of the throne room. “And who’s this young filly?”

The filly herself just hid behind Celestia’s tail, nervous and a little intimidated by the stallion at first. The princess she was hiding behind though just chuckled a little before turning to her. “It’s okay. Go ahead.”

“Uh, I’m… I’m Twilight Sparkle… I’m… Princess Celestia’s new pupil.” The filly responded shyly. Kibitz just smiled in response to the filly as he introduced himself.

“Splendid! Pleasure to meet you, my name’s Kibitz, the royal scheduling advisor. If you need any assistance, I’m always willing to help.” Kibitz stated raising his hoof to meet hers in a gentle hoof shake. She was nervous at first, but with the princess’ encouragement, she met the hoof of the stallion and shook it. Kibitz then looked to Celestia, a look of slight worry on his face. “Now, uh, Princess… I have something to tell you that needs your urgent attention.”

“What’s the matter Kibby?” Celestia asked, causing Kibitz to blush in embarrassment at the Princess’ nickname.

The schedule advisor beckoned Princess Celestia away from the filly and began whispering to her. “Princess, that rainbow explosion has scared Equestrians. I think you should hold a conference to calm the ponies and show them nothing’s wrong.”

“Is that all? Kibitz, it was just a rainbow explosion in the sky. What kind of monster uses a rainbow explosion...? But you do have a point. Why don’t you schedule something? Maybe push the Yaks peace treaty to… Next month?” Celestia said calmly.

“Princess, you’ve held off the peace conference for over three years!” Kibitz pushed, narrowing his eyes.

“The Yaks were never my cup of tea…” Celestia grumbled. Kibitz sighed, but nodded in understanding.

“Uh… There’s another thing, Princess… One of the guards found something in the Everfree Forest.” That, got Celestia’s attention rather quickly and had her raise an eyebrow in response to what the stallion said.

“Could you clarify on what you mean by… thing, Kibitz?” She politely asked in response.

“Not sure. It’s a living being, but not a race known to us, the Griffons, Minotaurs, tartarus, even the Crystal Pony records had nothing on it.” Kibitz stated. “But what I do know is that it’s a child.” That definitely got Celestia’s attention as she looked back at Kibitz. Thinking it through, she wondered who this creature might be… and if it was a child, she wanted to do whatever she could to help it.

“Can you bring it here, Kibitz? I would like to see this child myself.”

“I’m not sure, but I’d recommend keeping Twilight away from this new creature. Even if it’s harmless, I just recommend precaution. And this new being might scare the poor dear, if she’s as shy as I think.” The alicorn nodded her head in acknowledgement, only to lift her head and notice that her newest pupil wasn’t in the same room as they were in. She moved her head around to see if there were any clues to help find where the young filly had wondered off to, but then decided to ask her advisor a question.

“Kibitz, were the guards keeping this… child inside the castle?”

“Yes, they put it in one of the guest rooms and locked it down.” Kibitz responded. As the two of them began to walk towards the hallway where all the guest rooms were located, they soon noticed that one of the doors was left ajar… and there was a door lock on the floor.

“I think we now know where Twilight went.” The princess sighed, trotting down the hall and approaching the open door to see her student inside the room… and the creature that Kibitz was talking about.

It was bipedal in appearance with tan colored skin, red eyes and a blond mane. It was only wearing a little sundress, and was cut and bruised up badly.

“It had the injuries before the guards found her.” Kibitz verified for Celestia. “It hasn’t spoken a word.” Celestia heard this and then thought of something before turning to her advisor and asking him something.

“Could you get a quill, ink, a pencil and some paper? I want to see something real quick.” Celestia asked Kibitz.

“Of course Princess.” Kibitz ran off quickly. Within a few moments, he soon returned with the requested items as she looked back at the youngling. Writing a simple message as she showed the paper to her.

Can you read this?

The youngling stared at it for a moment, then nodded. Celestia herself was personally relieved and then wrote something else on another piece of paper, leaving room for the child to respond afterwards.

My name is Princess Celestia and I want to help you. Can you please tell me your name?

Shortly after handing the message, Celestia also handed the child the pencil that Kibitz had given to her to see if it could write something back to her. It seemed too scared to speak, so this was an approach to help make the subject feel comfortable first before they had the confidence to speak.

The child wrote for a bit, then stopped and pushed the paper away from her and to the Alicorn. Celestia took the paper and read it’s content.

Can’t remember real name. Only Phoebe.

That… surprised the Princess. She was talking with a child that could not remember anything about itself, was hurt in the Everfree and seemed alone. But nevertheless, she then wrote down a reply.

Would you like for me to call you Phoebe?

The child nodded slightly, looking down. She then took the paper and began writing again, and once she was done gave it to Celestia.

Where am I?

The princess herself was a bit surprised at that, but in all honesty, she sort of expected to hear this kind of question sooner or later.

You are in my castle in the city of Canterlot… Phoebe, can I ask you something though?

She waited for the youngster to reply first by nodding her head before writing another comment.

Is there anything you can remember? I really want to help you however I can, so do you remember how you came here? Anything at all?

The girl wrote again, and once she was done she set some kind of metal symbol on the note.

Was walking home when man stop me and gave me this. Went home and fell asleep, wake up in forest.

Once more, Celestia did not know what to say, but then she thought of something else.

I feel bad for you being separated from your home… If you would like, you can live here in the Castle with me and my student, Twilight. She already seems to like you, Phoebe.

With it, the alicorn giggled a little as her little pupil fell asleep and landed in Phoebe’s lap. Phoebe stared at Twilight for a moment, then spoke for the first time.

“I’d… Like that…” A small smile came to Celestia’s lips as she realized that Phoebe herself was indeed a female. No longer did she need anymore paper in order to talk to the young girl, and she was proud of that. Turning to Kibitz, she then asked the Stallion a simple request.

“Kibitz, can you prepare a room for Ms. Phoebe? I plan to help raise this child alongside my pupil.” She informed him.

“Of course, Princess. Should I give them separate rooms, or…?” Kibitz left his question hanging, only for the princess to reply back.

“I believe it would be best to have both of them be together for right now,” She said, watching as Twilight slept in Phoebe’s arms like a kitten. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Of course. I’ll have a room prepped for the new additions to the family.” Kibitz joked, before trotting off, a content smile on his face. Celestia smiled as well, seeing the two of them like this made her feel happy… et, she had a feeling that over time, raising Phoebe and Twilight was going to be… complicated.

Two years later…

“... And then there’s the parents complaints about Phoebe being a danger to their children blah, blah, blah…” Kibitz stated with distaste. “Don’t get me started on her tardiness records as well as all of the detentions.”

“Yes, she may not have proper etiquette, but how are her grades? Her test scores?” Princess Celestia asked. She and her advisor were looking over Phoebe’s… success in school along with some other notices that have been brought to their attention.

Kibitz smirked in amusement. “There have been moments where she’s corrected the teacher. Other than those, all top grades. Except gym, she continuously flunks these with a few exceptions.”

The last part had Celestia raise an eyebrow. “Exceptions? What sort of Exceptions?”

“Well, from what I’ve observed of the courses, they’re meant for ponies, not bipedals like Phoebe. There are a few courses such as dodgeball and even some of the ones that are meant for only ponies.” Kibitz stated. “But even then, she’s no stronger than an average Unicorn.”

“Can I see the list?” The Princess requested as her advisor levitated a paper list to her. On it included the exceptions of classes Phoebe did succeed in with physical education. Dodgeball was one, but some of the other ones surprised her. This included classes like dancing and even going as far as fencing. “Hmm… this seems rather… interesting. Kibitz, where is Phoebe now?”

“She’s in her… ‘Lab’, working on some project of hers.” Kibitz stated calmly. Celestia herself knew what that meant. Over time, once Phoebe and Twilight had gotten their own rooms, both of them had used it for different purposes. Twilight used her room as a library for all books on magic. Phoebe though, turned her room into a laboratory to expand upon one of her favorite subjects in school. Science. For some time now though, Phoebe had a tendency to lock herself in her room for long periods of time, only to come out to eat or if Celestia called upon her.

This time though, something felt different. “Let me go check on her then.” The princess insisted, trotting towards Phoebe’s room as she lightly knocked on the door. However, a few seconds later, she heard something that sounded a LOT different than Phoebe’s voice.

“Would you like for me to answer the door, Ms. Phoebe?”

“Go ahead.” Phoebe’s voice stated tiredly. The Princess heard something of an automaton move as the door soon opened. Being greeted by the sight of a metal bipedal figure that was almost as tall as the Alicorn. It didn’t wear any clothes except for the hat on it’s head and also the stopwatch that it had in one of it’s hands. But what surprised the princess even more was that this figure… was a machine.

“Hello… Are you here to meet Ms. Phoebe?” It asked.

“Y-yes… Uh, I apologize, but who… are you?” The Princess asked.

“Ah yes, my name. I am Marquis d’Caliber, Ms. Phoebe’s butler…” It said in a gentlestallion like tone. “Would you happen to be her mother? The one she calls Princess Celestia?”

“Why uh… yes. How do you-?” Before the Princess could speak, the… butler turned around.

“Ms. Phoebe. Your mother is at the door.” He called out to her.

“Be there in a moment, I’m almost done with Bindlebane!” Phoebe shouted back.

“Did you make sure that my cane is also a gun?” Marquis asked. “On both ends?”

“I did, but I haven’t made much ammunition!” Phoebe replied. This conversation was both strange… and startling as well. But it was then that Marquis himself sighed and held the door open.

“Please do come in… with how much time Ms. Phoebe invests into her work, this may be a bit.” The Alicorn obliged, walking inside to find that the lab that Kibitz was referring to was a LOT more than what she honestly expected at first glance. The technology and contraptions that were in here were way beyond that of the items used in everyday society and it really was breathtaking.

Soon though, she heard Phoebe coming down the staircase and turned to see her daughter. She was wearing a grey t-shirt, and dark blue sweats. She had grease all over her and bags under her eyes. She’d also grown up quite a while. Phoebe rubbed her eyes.

“Hey mom! You’re just in time to see my latest invention!” She yelled, seeming to not realize she was inside. The Princess was indeed surprised to see her, but first, wanted to know something.

“Your latest… invention?”

“Yeah, Marquis! Well, he’s kinda my first successful invention.” Phoebe said, smiling pridefully. “I was going to show him to you after I’d finished all of his accessories like his clothes and cane.” Celestia turned to look at the invention in particular to see him take off his hat, the only piece of clothing on him, and for that of a robotic owl to soon emerge from inside.

“Phoebe, this is i-incredible! I’ve never seen anything like this before at all!” She said to her, surprised and proud of her daughter. “How long did it take you to do this?”

“About a year, I started with a basic schematic, then started to play with individual parts and what worked/didn’t, then once I got my room I started building and seeing what, one again, worked and didn’t. I finished him about half a month ago and then I finished the owl Hoodini yesterday.” Phoebe rambled, grinning from ear to ear as she started coating her hands with hoof sanitizer. “Once I’ve finished the accessories I’ll start working on stuff that could help Equestria and not just me!”

“I see…” Celestia replied. “Phoebe, when was the last time you had any sleep?”

“Uh… Three days ago…” Phoebe looked away in slight shame.

“Wouldn’t you think that if you got some rest, you could be able to focus a little better? I’m not trying to tell you to stop. I mean just… take a break. Get some rest. A sound body is a sound mind.” Celestia insisted, going as far as to hug Phoebe in the process.

“Right, right, you’re… That. I’ll get some sleep, mom.” Phoebe hugged back. “If you want, I came up with some blueprints of things I think could help Equestria. I have no guarantee that they’ll…” Phoebe suddenly fell asleep in her mother's hooves. Causing Celestia to chuckle as she and Marquis helped guide her to her bed and laid her down to rest. Not to mention that her butler had also found the recently finished cane. It looked perfect, but he needed to test it on something.

“Hey, auntie. Are you in here-?” Unfortunately for the unicorn named Prince Blueblood, who just had recently came across the ajar door, he was seen as something else by Marquis.

“Begone, you hobo-morphic entity!!” He cried out, firing a shot that sent the panicked unicorn running with his tail in between his legs. “How undisciplined… With the amount of times that ungrateful hobo stallion in disguise has bothered Ms. Phoebe, no wonder he would try to sneak in here while she was sleeping.” Celestia’s eyes just twitched at the sudden change in personality that Marquis just demonstrated.

She was going to have a long talk with Phoebe about him once she was awake.

Author's Note

This is just the beginning.

HELP

I'm back and looking to redo some of these chapters with an assistant. A partner who'll let me do my thing but help with the writing process.

There are a few big fixes I want to implement. I want to course correct the first few chapters and fix Marquis, who was written in such a way that it grated me. Second is to add a bit to Phoebe's early life. I didn't add a lot since I wasn't sure what to do with Slice of Life that early on and I still am not sure, but screw it I'll try. Lastly is a few retcons and added scenes, as well as fixing up some bumps in the unreleased chapter "Boast Off".

Thank you and I'm sorry for the wait.