That morning started off as terrible as one of Applejack’s patented baked bads. Alternate Dawn awoke dazed and confused as his music alarm seemed to blare louder and louder in his ears as Owly tried to rouse the sleeping unicorn. He groaned, “Owly, you can stop now.”

And almost immediately the music stopped as he was met with the sound of Owly’s voice, “Aww… And I was just about to break out the trumpets.”

The stallion groaned as he rolled out of bed, straining to stretch out his tired and aching limbs as he wondered how he wound up in a state like this… Oh yeah, Surprise, she threw him a party last night and it got a little late.

He sighed as he rubbed the remainder of sleep from his eyes, “Owly, remind me next time not to attend one of Super Surprise’s parties the day before my presentations...”

“Noted.”

As the stallion headed for the washroom to clean himself up, he slipped on his trademarked pendant and asked the castle’s resident AI, “What time is it?”

Her answer came while he was in the middle of brushing his teeth, “It is seven forty seven.”

He spittaked, spraying the bathroom mirror with a mix of water, saliva and his favorite whitening toothpaste, “What!?”

Thirteen minutes to eight? He was about to miss his train toManehatten. He had never missed a deadline in his life, and he would rather go to tartarus than do so today! He tossed his toothbrush back into its cup and bolted out of the bathroom, not even bothering to do his mane like he normally does. Owly kept up with him as he rushed through the castle halls, admonishing him on his poor hygiene, to which he replied he could deal with that on the train. His mother, whom he had blitzed past would have none of it.

Nope, she held him aloft in her magical grasp and straightened him out, “Oh Dawn~ You weren’t about to leave without a goodbye kiss are you?”

The young stallion groaned as he was dragged along the floor and over to the talleralicorn. While her tone was playful, the look on her face was quite stern, so much so that he dared not offer her a retort. However, the mare’s facade broke quickly upon seeing Alternate Dawn’s panicked expression, “Do you know what time it is.”

He relented, no longer struggling to get away, “It’s late, I know… Sorry mom.”

She ruffled up the unicorn’s mane and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “Just remember, being late isn’t the end of the world, there will be other trains.”

Oh no, to him it sounded like she was about to go off on another speech about friendship lessons and not stressing out about deadlines, but to his surprise, she didn’t. No, she teleported the two of them to the foyer and handed him a sack lunch, “But, I do know how important this presentation is to you, so I won’t hold you here if you want to try to make the early train.”

By Celestia’s hot flanks, was his mom actually understanding him?! He grinned widely and hugged his mother with all the strength his hooves could muster, “Thanks mom!”

As he rushed out the entryway door, she called out to him, “Good luck son! Show those ponies that science is a respectable field of study too!”

What followed could only be described as a mad dash to the train station through a horde of shambling ponies as they make their daily commutes. What was it about Mondays that made everypony act like zombies? The monday blues was a myth! He already debunked that pile of cow manure last Tuesday.

By the time he had arrived, it was the last call to board the train toManehatten. He had barely managed to buy a ticket and board the train as it started to roll down the track and out the station.

Occupied, occupied, one by one, he found that each compartment was filled to capacity, that is until he ran across a few familiar faces. It was the excitable LJ and her exhausted looking mother Applejack. LJ longed for action and adventure, but AJ wanted a life of safety, something that the unicorn was not lost on.

He was young when AJ returned toequestriaand LJ was born, but even then he knew that they had been through a lot. And now as he looked over the young mare, he couldn’t help but be amazed by how much she has matured over the years. Though, some things never changed. She was loud, obnoxious, and sometimes too curious for her own good. Just as any child should be.

As he exchanged greetings with his friends, another one made her presence known, making the number of coincidences rise to an absurd amount. Something about this situation just made his skin crawl, but he kept it to himself. Rather, he introduced an old friend from school, Turbulent Quercus. She was a Unicorn Knight In training on a mission to Manehattan.

Before Alter could question her on what her purpose for being there was, she was pelted by questions from AJ on how they knew each other. While Turbulent was being honest, the two of them shared more than just a few classes together in school. Every young pony has to deal with a school bully at least once in their life, and ponies at Celestia’s school for gifted Unicorns are no exception. Even princes…

Alter’s big brain often caught the ire of bullies that wanted to ‘test’ his reaction times by throwing chalk erasers at him in class and pounding away at his shield spells in Alteration class. Pride kept him from telling his mom, among a few other minor reasons, and eventually one Unicorn had enough of the needless violence and stood up for him where he couldn’t. She shattered their shields with only a twig. Alter never had to deal with the bullies again after that, and all she asked in return was some help with her pass her next exam. While Turbulent was great with telekinesis, as her talent with all kinds of weapons would suggest, she struggled with many other kinds of magic and was in need of a tutor.

All those warm memories brought a smile to his muzzle as she showed off her talent to LJ on the train, but that smile was short-lived after she handed off a blade off to her. Curiosity of not, there was no amount of natural talent that was going to save either of them from the rage AJ was going to unleash upon them.

But before AJ could really go off on them, Turbulent noticed that the tracks were destroyed. Despite his best efforts to stop the train, he simply wasn’t fast enough and the train derailed. Of course, this was no random occurring event. No, this was the work of some dastardly bandits as they look for some sword. Judging by the look on Turbulent’s face, he knew exactly what they were after.

He gritted his teeth as he shakily rose to his hooves. It was only a matter of time before they arrived and ‘iced’ them like they did the other ponies on the train and they didn’t have much time to rest. He only saw one option… They must fight. The stallion casted an area of effect healing spell in the compartment and stated, “Turbulent, pick up your sword, we’re going out there.”

The cloaked mare gave him a look that questioned his sanity and asked, “Are you crazy? We can’t take on a squad of bandits on our own.”

AJ coughed and sputtered behind them, prompting LJ to exclaim, “Mommy!”

She smiled weakly, “Ah’m alright sugarcube… Just got the ol’ wind knocked out of me.”

The elder mare tried to get up, but collapsed under her own weight. She was too injured to fight, a fact that made everypony in the car lose a level of confidence. Fighting an unknown number of foes with only two ponies barely old enough to be leaving school was a prospect he hadn’t counted on when he tried getting everypony back on their hooves, but they were out of options.

He Knelt down by the two downed mares and gave LJ a hug, “Don’t worry… We’re going to make it through this. Our parents have been through worse, and we are their children.”

AJ chuckled weakly as she laid her head down to rest, “He’s right Sugar… Believe in him, in them… In yourse-”

LJ cried out as her mother slipped back into unconsciousness, “Mommy!”

“They’re in here!”

They were out of time! Alter gave Turbulent a look that made the hardy mare’s heart flutter. Just where did he get this confidence? It bolstered her resolve and helped her shake off her thoughts of deserting them. As dishonorable as it would have been and a breach of a knight’s code, letting bandits get a hold of the package would be far worse, but perhaps, just maybe she wouldn’t need to leave. She levitated the box over to the prone AJ and LJ and stated, “Keep this safe, please… We’ll be right back.”

She drew her sword and took up an offensive stance beside Alter, who gave her a warm smile, “I am impressed, you are actually going to trust a stranger with your charge. What happened to you?”

She chuckled in response as hoofsteps could be heard just outside the compartment, “What can I say? I trust my friends more than I trust myself.”

“Good answer.”

As the door to the compartment was being forced open by what seemed like black crystals, the two of them rushed forward, blowing through the weakened door and bowling over a pony that was on the other side. The two of them knew what they were going up against from the start, dark magic, but that didn’t let that dissuade them. In fact, Alter seemed to beam with confidence, something that made Turbulent wonder once again who this stallion was and what happened to the scared colt that she knew from school.

In reality, Alter was pretty terrified but had learned how to hide his feelings. It was a fragile shield, but in situations like this, even keeping up an air of confidence can work wonders for the morale of those under your command, and going up what appeared like a group of ten bandits at once with only the two of them, they needed all the morale they can muster.

The first thing the two did was subdue the downed bandit at their hooves. A swift buck was all they needed as their first assault nearly did the job and a quick spell of binding from Alter made sure he wouldn’t be getting up again.

One of the bandits called out to his comrades in an angered tone, “Guards? Alright, which one of your idiots didn’t run a guard check before we came?”

Seizing the opportunity, Alternate Dawn picked up some small stones off the ground and lobbed it at the nearest bandits, catching them off guard and making them drop their weapons in surprise. The stallion had a glint in his eyes as he gently gripped the pendant hanging from his neck and pointed at the offending bandits, “A ha! Just as I suspected. Try not to harm them, they’re under the influence of dark magic.”

Turbulent squinted slightly as she looked them over, “What do you mean?”

He reached up and put a hoof on the hilt of Turbulent’s blade and elaborated, “I mean, I doubt all the bandits are actually bandits. Look closer, some of them are not like the others.”

She wasn’t sure what he just did, but the magic aura surrounding her blade seemed to glow with a strange magic. It was subtle, but knowing her blade and her own magic, she was able to see it. She asked, hoping he would explain, though she knew she didn’t have time for one, “What did you do?”

He chuckled softly, “Just a little precaution. Now let’s move!”

Alter was actually relieved that little trick worked, as the alternative would have been messy. As he suspected, Turbulent’s blade was easily susceptible to holding a magic charge, a common theme among those wielded by Unicorns. It Is supposed to make them easier to weld, and in this case, more susceptible to Alter’s harmony magic attunements. Now she cans wing away at their foes and not need to worry about physically harming them, as harmony magic deals in purification and the banishment of evil.

As the bandits recovered and rushed towards them, the duo prepared themselves for a counter offensive. They had to think fast and move fast as the enemy had them outnumbered and outgunned. Their first order of business was getting past the earth ponies in the front, acting as meat shields while the remaining Unicorns bolster their defenses magically and lob offensive spell after spell upon them.

Of course Alter was able to pick up on their strategy and pick it apart quickly, it was the same sort of strategy he would use, so he would know its weaknesses too. If they could put pressure on the spell casters and break their concentration, the thing would fall apart. One thing that he was sure going to make them nervous would be losing their cover. Alter gave the order and Turbulent rushed forward to meet them, striking with the fluidity and grace of a river as she showed off why she was selected for knight training. One, two, three strokes, and one bandit fell.

Harmony!

That telltale ring of dark magic being dispelled brought a smile to his face as he casted a healing spell to heal turblent’s wounds. As good with a blade as she was, she still needed his support, and as the first fireball spell was launched, he blanketed them both in a heat-resistant shield. Anything to keep them both in the fight longer. Once, twice, three times the cycle repeated and theherdwas now thin enough for a well-timed parry to open up a path for Turbulent to break past the earth ponies and run after themages.

They had this in the bag! Or so they thought. As she drew near, the unicorns tapped into their dark magics and blew her away with dark crystals. Alter should have suspected they would have had a trump card ready for when somepony dared get close to them. The stallion rushed over to her fallen comrade’s side and examined her prone form. Her blade was broke in half as it had no doubt taken the brunt of the attack, but even so, she still seems badly damaged. She suffered a broken leg and a few crystals seemed to be embedded in her side, most likely has a few broken ribs too because of them.

It would take up most of his mana, but he could probably get her standing again, at thevara least, but would that be a good idea? Upon closer inspection, she showed signs of fear manipulation, a side effect of being exposed to dark magic. Even if he did get her in working order, she would still be paralyzed. He grit his teeth and pounded at the ground, “Dammit!”

That was when he heard the most sickening laugh behind him. There was a tall dark unicorn standing there holding a struggling LJ aloft with his magic by the hooves. He was holding her hostage!

His grisly voice and magical aura suggested he was the ringleader of this operation, something that was only confirmed as he made his demands, “I don’t know who you are or what you were doing on this train stranger, but you and your friend there have my respect. Stay down and I won’t need to harm this little one, or anypony else. I just want this sword here.”

A dark magic user making a ‘reasonable’ offer? Something about the situation told him that he wasn’t going to honor such a deal, so instead, he scrambled to come up with something to do, but the more he thought, the more hopeless it seemed. He still had plenty of mages to deal with as well as a few earth pony guards. Not to mention whatever this unicorn really had in mind for LJ.

Speaking of LJ, she cried out to him, “Uncle Alter! He froze my mommy!”

Despicable! Deplorable! A Whole bunch of other ‘D’ words to describe this situation. If he was willing to ice AJ in front of a child, there was no telling what he would do if he got away. He had to save her, but how? That was when he felt something poke his hoof. It was Turbulent, the mare that had been at his hooves the whole time. She had a pained expression on her muzzle as she gave him a cold glare. In her hoof was the half of her sword, namely the hilt and what remained attached to it. She glanced LJ’s direction and wordlessly told him what he needed to do. Her mental fortitude was pretty impressive to have resisted the dark magic for this long.

He took a deep breath and stood up, facing the dark pony and LJ, “Hey LJ, do you remember what we said about carrying the lives of others in your hooves?”

She nodded slowly as the dark unicorn glared at her, “You, what is he talking about?”

That was when Alter made a large gamble. He picked up both pieces of the broken blade and launched them at his foe. As expected, he jerked LJ in front of him with the intent of shielding himself from the attack, just what Alter wanted him to. LJ, being the clever girl she was, slipped her hooves out of her hoof gloves and fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding getting skewered on the pointed end of the blade as it whizzed by and stuck the unicorn in the chest. As the handle approached, it slowed down enough for the young mare to catch it and strike with all her might.

Her natural magic surged as she slashed away at the pony. What remained of the sword was still pretty big for her size, but it didn’t look like it bothered her at all. Such is the power of a Surge, and this one was brought about by obtaining her Cutie mark. It was an apple, bright red and healthy with a sword sheathed within. What she exclaimed was a declaration of its meaning, whether she was aware of it or not.

“I won’t let you hurt Alter! I won’t let you hurt my mother! I won’t let you hurt anypony!”

She drew back and rammed the blade into the evil pony matching the tip of the blade from earlier. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to finish the job. This pony was more far gone than the others as he seemed to have completely given into the dark just then. Whatever dark power that was influencing the other pony bandits seemed to be drained away, all to power up this one, the leader. With An explosion of force, LJ, the mysterious box, Alter, Turbulent… They were all blown away with darkness.

Darkness enveloped them as their minds were assaulted by great and powerful terrors. Alter had some resistances granted to him by his Element and LJ was still riding the high of her magic surge, but these protections wouldn’t last for long. That was when the two of them caught sight of it, a sword glowing brightly amidst the darkness as it rested stuck in the ground beside them. Alter believed this to be the sword that the bandits were after, the one that Turbulent was protecting.

He could feel its warmth, it’s light. He knew what must be done, it was calling to him! LJ seemed to have the same idea as she likewise crawled over to it. The darkness seemed to recede as they drew close, and as they both gripped the hilt, a blinding light enveloped them and banished the dark.

When vision returned to the dark fiend, before him stood a figure about the height of an average sized dresser with the build of a slightly muscular pony. To him, this figure looked a bit like an adult version of the young pony that had futility tried to bring him down just moments ago. Her mane was longer and she was able to heft the large sword Caliburn with ease, even going as far as to take a few test swings with it before taking up a Hassō stance. Gone was the inexperienced mare and stallion before, but that icy cold glare remained. She seemed out for blood after that last attack, and she was sure to get it.

The dark magic wielder didn’t question where the unicorn had gone, much less why his opponent was much taller now, as he guessed it had to be some sort of magic trick. In this day and age, new spells and techniques were being crafted on a daily basis so it wasn’t too surprising. After all, he too was using a few tricks of his own to get ahead. He was confident in his own power, and that would be his undoing. He shot out the blade pieces from his body at high speeds at the combined duo before charging after them. They would make for good projectiles against normal opponents. The poor fool...

LJ calmly stepped forward out of her stance pushed her blade out, delivering a downward diagonal cut and taking out the first projectile. The second she narrowly avoided as it wizzed right by her head. She wasn’t too concerned by it. Rather, she seemed to focus more intently on him, gently weaving her blade in the air in a wide arc in front of her before she settled into a Waki-gamae stance.

She was clearly up to something! It was too late however, as the serious swordswoman was able to quickly overtake the dark mage who tried in vain to stop his forward momentum and retreat. With a flourish, the young swordswoman sheathed her blade, and as she did so the mage split in half, right down the middle. Dark magic erupted from the new wound and as he desperately tried to put himself back together, but the damage was done. He was gone, lost forever…

They weren’t the only ones to split either, as Alternate Dawn and LJ seemed to defuse once the conflict was over, too tired to even move and borderline unconscious.

Looking back later, Alternate Dawn theorized that perhaps the unstable junction was functioning more on fighting instinct than rational thought, which might explain how they could remember so little of what really happened. Regardless, his mother was able to help them understand what happened to them and their body, but as far as why it happened, it was anybody's guess. That was what prompted Alter to begin crafting the gauntlets that LJ often wears in his free time, a means to bring about these junctions safely and reliably.

What had occurred next when the tired was like a blur of events, each one melding together into a blob of hard to discern cause and effect. Turbulent Was offered the position of Bearer of Loyalty after her service on the train, but she declined. She still had a sword to deliver. Besides, she felt that LJ would fit the bill better than she would, after all, she did plan on leaving them in the train once all the conflict started.

He wasn’t sure what she did after she left them in the hospital once she was sure they were alright, but he figured that she had something to do with the wandering swordsman that had appeared some time later in ponyville and started ‘training’ LJ. It wasn’t until AJ had given her blessing for her to actually practice swordplay that she was able to actually take it seriously. More coincidences…

Or perhaps it was fate? The Book of Prophecies in his book bag seemed to suggest that this was all meant to happen. But how? What did it mean?

Alternate Dawn sighed asSparityand LJ called out to him, snapping him out of his memory induced trance, “Come on Slowpoke! Weren’t you in a hurry?”

That was a mystery for another day. As usual...

Author's Note

Due to so few people commenting on what they would like to see next, I'll leave you all a description of what is planned. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think of the story so far.

Aces wild- After Arial Ace strikes out on trying to hook up with Sparity, the two of them makes a bet that the other cannot go a day without something. Ace can't hit on any mares for the day, and Sparity must stay away from books. Loser goes on a date with Alternate Dawn.

Dawn Breaks- Alternate Dawn is assaulted in the night, leading him to chase a dark stranger through the streets of ponyville alone and in the dark. Who is this strange pony, and why were they after the book of prophecies?

A slice of Eden- Apple Eden has always seen dead ponies, but it wasn't until she was forced to come face to face with one on a personal level that she earned her cutiemark and made a new friend. This, is her story.

Feeling Super- Super Surprise tries her hardest to get her friends all together for one big party once all of them have some time off. As one might expect, they all have things they want to do alone. But rather than mope, she hatches a scheme to bring them all to one place. This backfires and she has to clean up the mess she made.

Heated Drakes- Sparity has gone into her first heat, something she had avoided before due to her family’s seclusion, but now that she is surrounded cute mares and stallions, she cannot handle herself. She seeks aid from Alternate Dawn, but what she gets is something much more.