“OW! Stop hitting Trixie’s horn!” Trixie demanded.

“Then stop saying to attack Twilight,” Flash said, flicking her horn as she once again tried to charge a spell.

Seriously, why was she NOT learning?

“She’s an ALICORN! You know, the crazy ponies that MESS EVERYTHING UP!? And Trixie is not attacking her, she is just trying to hold her still until she can take her to whoever is in charge, feather bra—OW!”

“And if you let me EXPLAIN things, you would understand that she ISN’T a crazy tyrant like the others and that she is the one who DEPOWERED THORN!”

“As if Trixie would believe your wild tales. You’re a BUTLER, the very tools alicorns use to—”

Trixie was finally silenced as Twilight’s horn flashed, prompting a zipper to appear over the unicorn’s mouth.

Thank you, Twilight, Flash thought as Trixie struggled to try and get the zipper open before finally giving up.

“He isn’t a TOOL,” Twilight said, her voice hard as she glared at the recently rescued pony. “He’s my friend. And he’s not lying or exaggerating.” As she spoke, she pulled back the cloak to reveal the Element of Magic. “I used to be an unicorn like you, but then—”

“You took an arrow to the knee,” Pinkie said, beaming. Flash had a sudden urge to facehoof, but he didn’t know why.

Maybe because it’s Pinkie? Pinkie, who likes to do…Pinkie things all the time?

“What? No, I ended up with the Element of Magic and it turned me into an alicorn.” Twilight said, looking at Pinkie in confusion. “Also, weren't you back in the cave?”

Yeah, it’s just Pinkie. Let’s not question it Twilight - it will be better for all our brains.

“I was, but then Rarity sent me out to see what was taking so long.”

Twilight blinked, and then shrugged. They had been heading back to the cave, but after a strong gust of wind had blown Twilight’s cloak up and shown their new recruits her wings, Trixie had freaked out and the other three jumped back in terror.

Because of course that was their luck..

It kind of reminded Flash of how ponies reacted to spiders. They either shouted ‘AHAHAHA RUN AWAY!’ or ‘AHAHAHAH KILLITKILLITKILLIT!’ Unless they were Fluttershy, at which point she would protect and then hug the spider.

Also like Twilight.

Except this was the former case, only about a hundred times more annoying.

At least the other recruits had calmed down when they noticed none of the resistance ponies were even batting an eye at the sudden appearance of an alicorn. Better Flash only need to deal with one panicking pony than four.

“Right, anyway,” Twilight said, turning back to the muzzled and fuming Trixie. “When I was captured by Thorn a few weeks later, we managed to detain her, and then the Element of Magic judged her and removed her magic after finding her guilty.”

“Really?” Caramel asked in surprise. “That’s POSSIBLE!?”

“You bet it is,” Spike said from atop Twilight’s back. “But didn’t you guys know that Thorn was depowered?”

“Not really. The only thing we knew was that something had happened while she was at a meeting in Canterlot, and it put our Lady on edge so much that she doubled the property’s security. But she never told anypony what had happened, and her Butlers were rather quiet about the whole thing.”

“That makes sense,” Flash said. "After all, how many ponies would run off and join the rebellion if what happened to Thorn suddenly became common knowledge?”

Though, in fairness, it was probably BETTER if more ponies didn’t know just yet. Given how much trouble it had been to accommodate the ponies they had already acquired, Flash didn’t even want to THINK of how much harder it would have been if the recruits and runaways had just kept coming and coming.

Also, having to explain why Twilight, an alicorn, was allowed to be in the village would probably get annoying for EVERYPONY after the dozenth time. Especially for Applejack, who likely had enough stress running the village as it was.

Speaking of Applejack, Flash glanced toward the front of the group where said pony was walking. Despite her bad attitude towards Twilight during their arrival, she had become…at least tolerant of Twilight since she depowered Thorn. No more side-long glares, no more mean words just out of hearing range. Applejack may still seem cold and aloof, but that faint feeling of hostility had all but vanished in recent weeks.

Though why she wasn’t participating the conversation, Flash didn't know.

“But it seemed like Wall Flower’s ponies knew,” Spike said, pulling Flash out of his thoughts.

“Given how big of an event it was, I wouldn't be surprised if every alicorn was informed of the danger by the Queen,” Flash said. That, and maybe to demonstrate how much of an idiot Thorn was for underestimating the Element of Magic and its bearer.

Or maybe the Queen just wanted to shame Thorn? Flash honestly had no idea.

“And knowing Wall Flower, she probably told them once she knew it happened,” Twilight said. “Maybe it was supposed to be a warning of what might be coming for her, but I think she wanted to let them know that Thorn was no longer going to harass innocent ponies, or their families or friends.” That seemed to give most of the ponies around Flash pause, most of them smiling a bit. Given how every pony currently in the village had either know about or had lived on Thorn’s property, it wasn’t too surprising that they would feel happy every time they were reminded of that little fact.

“Also, I think we’re getting off topic,” Twilight continued. “The point is, I’m not your enemy, or the enemy of any non-alicorn. We’re all on the same side, ok?”

She dropped the spell from Trixie’s mouth. The unicorn moved her mouth around to work out the kinks the zipper had left before glaring at Twilight.

“FINE, since Little Miss Alicorn is apparently NOT an evil tyrant, Trixie will leave her alone…for now. But I’ll be watching you…” Trixie said, waving her hoof between her eyes and Twilight’s face in a display that was probably meant to be intimidating, but just made Twilight frown in confusion and Flash raise an eyebrow. Was this mare a performer or something?

“Also, Trixie would like to know why you are bringing THAT with us,” the unicorn added as she pointed to the cart with the cage being pulled by Caramel.

“We need it to get Pinkie into Lady Obsidian’s property,” Applejack called back from the front of the group that had attacked the cart. “She’s gonna be disguised as you, then find a way to draw the Butlers at the perimeter away so we can charge in.”

“Wait, you mean we’re STILL going to Lady Obsidian’s property?” Caramel asked in horror. “WHY?”

“Well, we can’t take her down from right here, can we?” Applejack asked, not looking back as they approached the mouth of the cave and began to file in. “We need to detain her, at the least, then let Twilight and Magi do their thing. Then we grab her ponies who want to come, and go home. Simple.”

As if anything is ever simple, Flash thought. Even Twilight trying to learn earth pony magic ended up being anything but simple. Hopefully things won’t go AS completely sideways like that did at the very least.

“Trixie believes this plan is insane and delusional,” Trixie scoffed. “There is no way somepony can imitate the charm and talent of the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!” She stood up on her hind hooves and fired off a small series of colorful flares from her horn, much to the annoyance of the sleeping ponies who were now no longer sleeping. Well, except for Rainbow and Fluttershy, who rolled over without waking up. Angel Bunny, however, did shoot a menacing glare at the blue pony before diving back into Fluttershy’s mane.

Yep, this mare was definitely some sort of performer. Flash had no doubt in his mind now.

“We don’t need her to BE you,” Spike said, raising an eyebrow. “She just has to look like you.”

“Which is where I come in,” Rarity exclaimed, going from zero to fashion in under five seconds as she leapt up from her sitting position, dashed over to the group, and immediately beginning to examine Trixie from all angles, much to the blue unicorn’s annoyance.

“Trixie demands to know what you’re doing!” she barked, trying to back away from the circling unicorn, only to be held in place by Rarity’s magic.

“I’m examining your coat colors,” Rarity said. “I need to mix my dye to make sure Pinkie’s coat and mane will match yours exactly. That way, with a little fake horn spell from Twilight, she will look just like you when she takes your place.”

Trixie snorted.

“You are wasting your time. You will never be able to match the Great and Powerful TRIXIE’S astounding looks with DYE.”

Yes, because your coat colors have definitely never existed on any pony else before in the history of Equestria, Flash thought, and he just barely managed to hold back a facehoof.

“But you are also lucky that Trixie has just the spell to solve this little dilemma. All she needs is a gem stone.”

“Like this?” Pinkie said, holding up a perfectly round sapphire that Spike had just pulled out of his bag.

“Hey, I was gonna eat that!” Spike complained as Trixie grabbed the sapphire in her magic.

“Ooohhhh. Yes. This will be perfect. Fear not, for in just one hour, Trixie will have created what you need to solve this problem of yours!”

Three hours later…

“Trixie is done!”

“And it only took you two hours longer than you said it would,” Caramel said with an eye roll while Flash just chuckled. He had just been thinking the same thing. Trixie glared at him while the others began to sit up and yawn. Once it was obvious that Trixie would be a while, the rest of the group, save for Flash (who decided to keep watch over Twilight just in case Trixie decided to try anything) and Caramel, had decided to get some sleep.

Despite not getting much sleep the night before, Flash was used to long nights with little sleep thanks to Twilight and her insatiable hunger for KNOWLEDGE! And seeing how it was still the middle of the day outside, Caramel hadn’t been tired enough to actually fall asleep in the first place. So, the two of them had decided to recline in one of the carts and chat. It had been fun, and Flash found that he and Caramel got along pretty well.

If only Flash had remembered to grab a deck of playing cards when he left House Shining Star to save Twilight in Canterlot. Oh well…

“You can’t rush perfection,” Trixie said, walking forward with the circular sapphire in her magic.

But can we rush you? Flash thought sarcastically.

As Twilight yawned and sat up, Flash took a closer look at the sapphire. He realized that is was now covered in a series of runes, indicating that Trixie had turned the gemstone itself into the spell caster. So long as a pony put magic into it, the spell would continue to be cast.

But why did the runes look so familiar?

Before he could ask, Trixie tossed the sapphire to Pinkie, who caught it in her mane. Immediately, the gem began to glow and with a small flash, a perfect replica of Trixie now stood in Pinkie’s place.

Holy cow! That’s ACTUALLY pretty impressive. Even TWILIGHT could never make illusion spells that well…or at least not before becoming an alicorn. Seems this mare might be rather smart after all.

“Ohhhhh, that’s so AWSOME!” the new Trixie said…still in the voice of Pinkie Pie.

Something tells me her voice isn’t supposed to be the same. Still impressive, just ever so slightly less impressive now. But still impressive.

Am I rambling inside my own head? I might be more tired than I thought.

“Oh, darn it…” the real Trixie muttered as she grabbed the gem again and began levitating it back to herself. “Trixie can never get the voice quite right…” She reached out to grab the orb with her hooves, only for Twilight to leap across the cave and snatch the gem right out of the air.

“HEY!” Trixie cried in annoyance, but Flash knew that look in Twilight’s eye. Chances were Twilight barely heard the blue unicorn.

“This…This is ASTOUNDING!” the alicorn said as she spun the gem in every direction so fast that the symbols became a random blur. Her magic began to grow as she instinctively began examine the magic structure created by the runes. “You actually managed to ALTER the Wall Flower spell and make it so that it could COPY an image placed inside the orb, which you inserted using ANOTHER spell.”

“Meaning…?” Rainbow asked, only to find Twilight nose-to-nose with her a second later.

“It MEANS we could have a nearly flawless disguise of any pony we want so long as we have their image, and that, with a few more tweaks, we could have the orb constantly project the image of the pony’s surroundings. This would, in theory, make the disguised ponies blend into their environment rather than just divert the focus of those looking at them like with the Wall Flower enchantment. And if we can improve the gem so that it projects the image on the exact opposite side of the disguised pony, it might even make it possible to turn ponies virtually INVISIBLE!”

Flash could tell that there was no pony in the cave who was awake enough to follow that rant. Heck, even HE was never awake enough to follow her rants and he’d grown up with her. Calm down, Twilight. Don’t make me get a sleeper bomb.

“You make it sound like Trixie hasn't already done that,” Trixie said, smirking as she flashed her horn. And this time, her horn actually became surrounded by a series of magical, holographic rings. They contained the same runes as her spell gem, only with a few modifications. With a bit of straining, Trixie and the glow of the rings vanished completely from sight.

Pinkie clapped. Most of the others’ jaws dropped to the floor.

Ten seconds later, Trixie reappeared, looking quite a bit more tired…and maybe a little bit drunk. “Be…Behold my power!” she exclaimed before nearly falling over. “Ok, Trixie…needs a minute.”

Impressive, but maybe not as graceful as she might have hoped.

“Ok, that was pretty epic,” Rainbow admitted. “But it looks like it’s a lot harder to do.”

“Magic circles usually are,” Twilight said as she began spinning the gem again while Pinkie moved and helped Trixie back to her hooves. “It’s why alicorns are usually the only ones to use magic circles and why other magical creatures use gems or chalk runes instead. The fact that she was able to maintain three magic circles for so long is VERY impressive. It took me years to get that many magic circles active at the same time, and even longer to actually have the stamina to maintain them for more than a minute. And even then, the only runes I put on them were once for shield spells. I never even thought about attempting to use runes to make myself invisible, and figuring out which ones to use would probably take months of study on its own.”

Ok, if it would have been that difficult for Twilight, now Flash was REALLY impressed. Yeah, Trixie was a showboat and maybe a bit of a nutcase, but at least she had some skill, some really serious skill.

There was a small flash from Twilight’s horn, and a few new runes appeared on the gemstone. Nodding, Twilight passed it back to Pinkie, who once again became Trixie. This time, her ‘horn’ had the image of a magic restraint on it.

“Neat!” Pinkie said, her voice now matching Trixie’s so closely that if it weren't for the magic restraint, it would be impossible to tell them apart. Trixie, having recovered, let her eyes go wide in surprise.

“What? B-But how did you…” she stammered, looking between the gem still held in midair by Pinkie’s mane and Twilight. Her expression was so priceless, Flash had a sudden urge to laugh his head off.

“You just forgot to add auditory runes,” Twilight said gently. “They are designed to mimic your voice. As for the restraint, I just used a mental image of it from when you were wearing it in the cart and added it to the image you already inserted into the gem. It’s a simple modification that takes less time then reinserting the whole thing again.”

“B-But that kind of modification would require you to have MASTERED the spell! No pony can just…ALTER the spell like that without knowing it down to the smallest detail, otherwise the ENTIRE spell would collapse and shatter the gem!”

“She spent years studying under Lady Luna and Lady Celestia,” Flash said, flashing a grin in Twilight’s direction. “When it comes to magic runes and spells, she usually can pick them up by examining their structure. Or sometimes just by watching another pony perform the spell, though I have NO idea how she does that.”

Well, maybe he had SOME idea of how she did it, but she was able to do it so quickly that he found it a bit unusual. Not that he really cared one way or another.

“I try and sense the magical essence of the spell and how the magic is being directed and attempt to copy it,” Twilight said. Trixie’s jaw dropped in pure shock, making Twilight’s face turn a little pink. “It…does require a LOT of training to do, and I can only do it because I was such a powerful unicorn, but Lady Celestia was VERY good with learning new spells just by watching them and made an excellent teacher.”

“But-but-but—” Trixie stammered, but Twilight shushed her with a wing tip.

“But that does NOT mean your achievement is any less amazing,” Twilight said, smiling kindly at the unicorn. “Altering the spell like that is something I would have NEVER thought of trying, and the fact that you were able to come up with that without any help or training is…frankly, incredible. AND it means we now have a much better chance of taking down Lady Obsidian.”

Trixie blinked, then looked away…shyly? “W-Well the Great and Powerful TRIXIE can’t help if she’s so talented. Just be grateful it was HER you rescued and not some other, less amazing pony.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled.

“Also, why are we even GOING for Lady Obsidian again?” Trixie added. “It’s not like her property is valuable or anything, unless of course you’re an alicorn in need of gems. And there must certainly be easier targets if you’re going through all this trouble just to get to her.”

“Because we think the Element of Laughter is there,” Pinkie said matter-of-factly, something that immediately grabbed Flash’s attention and filled him with concern.

Turning to look at Pinkie, Flash could see that her mane was deflated slightly, and that she seemed to be trying to avoid looking at anypony around her. If Angel Bunny hadn’t immediately jumped into Pinkie’s mane, pulled out a cupcake, and shoved it into Pinkie’s mouth, he would have likely gotten up to give her a hug.

Actually, he still did want to give her a hug. Eh, why not?

“So?” Trixie asked as Flash got up.

“You do know what the Element’s of Harmony are, right?” Spike asked. “You know, magical gems that can defeat evil?”

“Have a chance of healing Equestria?” Twilight added.

“Will let us kick the Queen’s flank?” Rainbow said.

“Which will in turn break the power the alicorns have over normal ponies?” Flash finished as he reached Pinkie and gave her a quick hug. Pinkie just whispered a quick ‘thank you' before going for another cupcake.

Trixie just blinked.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Flash said while shaking his head. Seriously, Twilight had SHOWN HER the Element of Magic earlier. Did she somehow only know about that one but not the other five?

Actually, given how the other elements had been found hundreds of years ago, that might not be that surprising. The alicorns were likely so focused on finding the Element of Magic that they likely never talked about the other five. Even Lady Celestia and Lady Luna had only mentioned them in passing.

“Well EXCUSE ME for not being as educated as Miss Purple Smart over there. SOME of us don’t have the privilege of being taught and had to learn on our own for years at a time.”

“I think that describes about seventy-six percent of our village,” Rainbow said, nodding.

“True, but many of them know about the elements because they’ve been around for all that’s happened so far, and because of some of the few books in Second Sight’s library,” Twilight said, "So given that she’s a newer member of the village, I think it’s understandable for her not to know what they are. I first learned about them because my dad used to tell me stories about them when I was a filly. And HE only knew because he was a Keeper.”

“Maybe we should set up a school once this is all over,” Spike said. “I remember Second Sight teaching Thorn’s kids about math one day. She’d probably be thrilled to teach other foals too.”

“She would certainly have the books necessary,” Flash agreed. Even if she is only teaching the basics, it would go a long way to helping educate ponies.

“It would definitely help close the knowledge gap, and the new Keepers that joined us after we depowered Thorn would certainly make excellent teachers, but we would need to work out a curriculum, housing, food…”

Annnnnnd yep, there she went, brainstorming and chattering about schools and lessons to no pony in particular. Flash shared a look with Spike, counted to ten, and followed in her wake to pull her out of her daydreams.

“So…what now?” Caramel asked once Twilight rejoined reality, blushing slightly.

“Now we should get some more rest,” Twilight said. “We need to have as much energy as possibly if we’re going to spend all night walking again, and I doubt only a few hours of sleep will be enough. Thankfully, with Trixie’s spell gem ready, we should be all set to have Pinkie infiltrate the land tomorrow morning.”

“Do you need me to bring her in?”

“Only if you want to. If you don’t, we can send other ponies disguised as the guards and cart puller. Unless you think Lady Obsidian would see through that.”

Caramel shook his head. “I’m basically just a delivery colt, so I doubt she’ll notice if someone else goes in my place. I’ll pull the cart. What better way to end my last trip there then to deliver a pony that might be her undoing. Just…can somepony else pull the cart tonight on the way there? That thing is heavier than it looks.”

That night…

“We’re here,” Pinkie said, pointing. There, a few hundred feet in front of them, was the cave she had found so many years ago. Applejack nodded and moved towards it, the caravan of ponies behind them closing in as well.

But Pinkie didn’t follow. She just stood there, even as the snoring Trixie passed on one of the nearby carts, muttering something about peanut butter crackers.

“Pinkie? Are you ok?” Fluttershy asked, walking up to her from the end of the convoy. Pinkie shook her head.

“I…no, I’m not,” she said, watching the ponies of the resistance enter the cave. “I never thought...I mean, when I left, I never wanted to come back. I-It just hurt too much. A-And even now, it’s just…” Pinkie sighed and tried to think of the right words. Fluttershy, however, didn’t wait and instead moved in to give the other mare a hug.

“It’ll be ok, Pinkie.”

“B-But what if Obsidian finds the disguise gem, or tries to take off the horn restraint but can’t because it’s not real and realizes I'm ME! What it she makes me eat the flower!? What if sh—”

Fluttershy gently covered Pinkie’s mouth, causing her to stop.

“I know this is hard, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said, smiling at her. “But I think is is very brave of you to do this. I…I don’t think I could ever do something like this, disguise or no disguise.”

“But what if I can’t do it? What if I fail, or freeze up, or freeze up and then fail because I freeze up and then need to eat the flower and then get even MORE broken and—“

“You are NOT broken Pinkie,” Fluttershy scolded. “You’re just hurt. But you’ve never let that stop you before. You can do this, and we’ll all be right here waiting to come get you. You’ll be ok.”

Pinkie took a deep breath and nodded, leaning into the hug. “Thanks, Fluttershy. When did you get so good at motivational speeches?”

“Oh, um…I saw Wall Flower doing it with her ponies, and…I thought you might need some encouragement. But a bit less…intense encouragement than the kind Rainbow might give you.”

That made Pinkie giggle.

The two ponies made their way into the cave with their forelegs around each other’s shoulders. Already, ponies were setting up sleeping mats or preparing for their scout shifts, although Trixie, Caramel, and the two guards that had been with them were still sleeping in one of the carts.

“Pinkie,” Applejack said, approaching her and Fluttershy. “We're gonna have Caramel leave at dawn, so report to the cart in roughly an hour. Until then…do whatever you need to prepare yourself.”

“Okie dokey lokie,” Pinkie chirped, nodding and trying to sound more confident than she felt. But like with most things, Applejack could see through her act.

“We’ll come for you, Pinkie,” Applejack said, her tone even, yet gentler than normal. “No matter what, just stay safe until we get there. Even if it means you can’t set off a distraction. Just…Just stay safe.”

“I-I will,” Pinkie said, nodding. Applejack returned the gesture before turning and walking back to the busy ponies, issuing orders.

The next hour seemed almost like a blur to Pinkie. She walked around, talked to a few ponies, and said goodbye to her friends (Rainbow had been the most reluctant to let her go). She wanted to focus that entire time, she really did, but the thoughts about what was to come and the memories that came with it were so intense that they seemed to consume all of her attention and all too soon, it was time to go. It wasn’t until she was forced to climb into the cart, reattach the hoofcuffs, and fasten the muzzle that she was finally able to truly focus on what was happening.

She was going back after more than ten years away, and this time she might just be able to save everypony she used to know from having to live under the mare that had hurt her more than she could even comprehend.

Sooooo…no pressure.

“You ready?” Caramel asked as he and two resistance ponies fastened their harnesses. Pinkie shook her head as she placed the gem orb back in her mane, transforming her once again into her Trixie disguise. “Me neither,” the earth pony said, “but we do what we have to do, right?”

Pinkie nodded. Caramel flashed her a small, tight, but sympathetic smile as he and the others in disguise began to walk. The cart slowly started to roll away and Pinkie could see eyes gleaming in mouth of the cave.

“Go get her, Pinkie,” Rainbow yelled out, prompting similar encouragement from the rest of the assembled rebels. Despite the muzzle, Pinkie managed to smile as she waved goodbye, though it was only for about twenty seconds before they rounded the top of the nearest hill and slipped out of view of the cave. She took a deep breath, then turned back ahead to prepare for the inevitable.

Caramel first led them back to the main road before turning towards Lady Obsidian’s property. The ponies walked — or, in Pinkie’s case, rode — in silence. After another ten minutes, the first signs of their destination appeared.

A large stone tower rose out of the barren landscape, its bare and sunbaked structure protruding standing out in stark contrast to the rest of the landscape. As they approached, Pinkie could see a green pegasus mare with a blue and yellow mane sitting on top of the tower. She was watching them, but made no moves to intercept or to stop them. As they passed the tower, Pinkie tried to suppress a shudder.

She was back on Lady Obsidian’s property, which meant it was all downhill from here.

Soon after passing the tower, the rest of the property came into view. The small town where Pinkie had grown up still looked just as it had when she left: Small houses, all looking a little worse for wear, large numbers of ponies working the rock fields around the town, and Lady Obsidian’s tall, five-story mansion casting a threatening shadow over it all. Everything was dull, and no pony looked up from their work as the cart slowly rolled between two fields and towards the town.

“I hate this place already,” one of the disguised rebels muttered, trying not to turn his head as they moved between the fields.

“Welcome to the club,” Caramel said. Pinkie nodded, gazing around. Most of the workers looked tired or bored, but some of them looked…empty. They stared at nothing in particular and did whatever the nearest overseer said. One of them wasn’t even blinking. She gulped, immediately recognizing them as under the effect of that stupid, horrid flower.

If she was successful, hopefully no pony would ever be a victim of that plant ever again.

“You!” a voice called out just as they arrived at the outskirts of the town, drawing Pinkie’s attention away from the emotionless ponies as the cart slowly rolled to a stop. Standing in front of them was an female earth pony Butler with a brown coat and a white mane. “That the pony from Lady Prickly Pear?” the Butler asked.

“Yep,” Caramel answered.

“You’re a day earlier than we expected.”

“Well, our supplies were a bit lower than expected, so we had to rush a bit. Sorry if you weren't ready for us.”

“Whatever,” the Butler said, rolling her eyes. “Just follow me,” she turned, prompting the cart to move again. As the Butler led them, Pinkie looked around the town. It was, again, just like how she remembered it. No laughter, no smiles, no bright colors…she had actually forgotten how boring it all looked. However, it…seemed to be worse, somehow. As they passed, ponies ducked away, giving the Butler a wide radius as she walked. But Pinkie didn’t remember there being so much…fear in the ponies’ eyes. Yes, they would be afraid of Lady Obsidian, as expected, but never really her Butlers. Had something changed?

Pinkie didn't have much time to ponder this as the cart rolled to a stop again in front of a small house. Once stopped, the cage was pulled free from the cart via a dark purple glow.

A very familiar glow.

“So this is our latest project?” Lady Obsidian said, her voice sounding almost bored and uninterested. Yet Pinkie couldn't help but shiver as she was brought to eye level with the source of many of her nightmares.

Lady Obsidian was a tall alicorn with a black coat, a dark purple mane, tale, and eyes, and who had a cutie mark of a perfect square of the very same rock she was named after. She looked Pinkie in her disguised form over before finally placing the cage down.

“Y-Yes my lady," the Butler nodded, her body rigid. Lady Obsidian spared her a glance, before looking back at Pinkie. Pinkie couldn’t help but shrink away a little.

“You three,” Lady Obsidian said, sparing a glance at Caramel and the others. “Gather what supplies you need, then leave no later than tomorrow morning. Understood?” They nodded. “Good. Now as for you,” she commanded, redirecting her attention to Pinkie. “Here’s how this works. You keep quiet, you work and do as you’re told, and in return, I don’t punish you. You talk back, slack off, or try to escape, you regret it. Understood?”

Her voice was so cold, so emotionless, that Pinkie could only nod, partly due to a fear she hadn't felt in years.

“Good,” Lady Obsidian said, using her magic to unlock the cage and the hoof cuffs. “And maybe it you work hard enough, I’ll even think about remove that muzzle,” she said, flicking the metal instrument on Pinkie’s face as she left the cage, making her squeak and nearly fall over. Lady Obsidian smirked, turned, and walked away. As she left, all five ponies breathed a sigh of relief.

“All right then,” the Butler said. “Food is in the supply building over there.” She pointed to a nearby building slightly larger than the others and turned back to Pinkie. “You, blue mare. Follow me.”

Pinkie nodded and slowly followed the Butler as she began to lead the way back to the rock fields from whence they had come. As she walked, Pinkie caught Caramel and the others smiling at her, a small reassurance that she would be ok. She smiled back as much as she could, before turning back and following the Butler once again.

Had any of these ponies looked into a nearby alleyway, they might have seen an intruder in their conversation. It blinked, slowly, before disappearing back into the shadow covered alley without a sound.

Author's Note

Happy Valentines Day 💖

Sorry this took so long. But it's here now, and that's what matters. And what better way to show that I love my readers than to give them a story for Valentines Day.

And at last, we make our way onto the next property, and meet the horror that is LADY OBSIDIAN! Don't worry, I have...PLANS for her (Evil laugh intensifies) What's more, we get to see more of Trixie and how she is actually kinda useful (Just like how the University of Rochester Pep band is actually pretty decent (that's not an insult, that is LITERALLY what we used to say about ourselves when I was in the band (I think I'm rambling again (Does anypony actually read the authors notes?)))), as well as introduce a pony that I am SURE every pony knows even if I don't spell out their name. What will happen next? Will Pinkie be successful in her mission? Has anypony seen my sanity (I know it's around here somewhere)? Find out...NEXT TIME!!!

Next time... Boing, Boing, Boing