Twilight Sparkle & the World Eaters

by Jet Magnum

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Other, Adventure, Crossover, Human, Main 6
Length: 29987

A crossover/fusion fic with Soul Nomad & the World Eaters

Two thousand years ago, a powerful, malignant being emerged within the fledgling land of Equestria, threatening to completely destroy it and its neighbors. Thwarted only through a combined effort of the Royal Sisters and their contemporaries in other lands, the World Eaters faded into legend, and then from memory entirely.

Now the World Eaters begin to stir once more, and the fate of Equestria--even that of the very world--rests on one purple unicorn's ability to contain and harness the power of their master.

Provided she can put up with his foul mouth.

***

For my second offering, I humbly present an attempted crossover--or rather, fusion--between MLP:FiM and, of all unlikely things, Soul Nomad & the World Eaters. Taking place after the end of the second season of the former, it's my intention to use elements of the plot of the latter, but for those familiar with the plot of Soul Nomad, apart from approximating a few key scenes I am currently aiming to give the overall plot its own direction rather than scene-for-scene novelizing Soul Nomad with ponies.

Rated for Gig's dirty mouth, mostly. No F-bombs shall be dropped, but there shall be a few S-bombs. Do those merit a 'Mature' instead? I shall correct if so!

On a related note, does Gig count as a human? Tagged as such because that IS technically his shape. Tagged as AU to save headaches and debates on potentially altered history.

By all means, constructive critique--or even better, beta-readers!--is encouraged. Even an unfavorable comment is better and more helpful than an anonymous thumbs down!

Published 2012-07-19 13:14:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-28 21:01:21 UTC

1. My Little Soulmate

1. My Little Soulmate

“Twi, there’s no sense getting’ your tail in a knot,” Applejack was reassuring her for the tenth time. “Ah’m sure that whatever Princess Celestia’s callin’ on us for, she wouldn’t be askin’ if she wasn’t sure we can handle it.”

The grand double doors of the audience chamber boomed closed behind them with an unsettling sense of finality. Even with the familiar presence of her five closest friends trotting confidently ahead, of Spike perched on her back, Twilight couldn’t shake her apprehension.

Ordinarily, visiting Canterlot Castle was a significantly more casual affair for her than any of them. She’d lived there for most of her life, after all, directly under Celestia’s tutelage, and had more than earned her title as the Princess’ personal protégé and most trusted student. But the letter that requested the presence of all six Elements of Harmony had set alarm bells ringing in her head.

Princess Celestia had written to her many times in the past—that in itself was not an alarming thing. But Celestia’s script had been unusually terse in this letter, absent of pleasantries and directly to the point. She ran through it again in her head, the letters on the parchment etched into her mind as if it floated before her still.

My most faithful student, Twilight,

At your earliest convenience, please gather your friends representing the Elements of Harmony and bring them to Canterlot Castle. A matter requiring your presence has arisen and must be attended to with utmost urgency.

~Princess Celestia

The others all seemed convinced that whatever the problem was, the lot of them together could resolve it with relative ease. None of them knew Celestia as well as Twilight, though. They all thought she was just overreacting again, and though they had remembered what had come to be dubbed the Smarty Pants Incident and attempted to be supportive of her, she could tell the five of them were exercising a degree of indulgent tolerance. She was not neurotic, darn it.

Well…not that neurotic, anyway.

At least Spike seemed to be in her corner, if only by virtue of being unusually quiet and clinging worriedly to her mane. Typically the first to make light of a situation, Spike also knew Celestia’s spell-writing quite well, and had recognized the rigid, hasty script for what it was even before showing it to Twilight.

At last, after what had seemed an eternity of walking the plush red carpet—no matter how many times she walked across it, she could never shake the feeling that it was trying to outright swallow her hooves—they stood before her, perched regally upon her throne, itself built into the very top of a two-tiered golden dais. The red carpet continued all the way up the two ramps leading to her seat, and in fact seemed to be part of the very same fabric that made up the seat cushioning and the backing of the throne’s high-arched back. At each side the first tier of the dais, crystal clear water trickled from two wide-mouthed spouts, feeding a pristine blue pool that ran underneath the whole affair. Of note, the two Royal Guard ponies that usually flanked the lower tier were absent.

All this grand, majestic serenity only served to complement the Princess herself, her head held proudly high, such that the long ivory spiral that adorned her brow reached nearly as high as the top of the throne. Her posture only served to make her look even taller than she already was by comparison to her subjects. Her mane and tail, each a rippling cascade of multicolored pastel hues, drifted lazily in an errant breeze that seemingly touched only her.

However, the gentle, motherly smile that she nearly always wore when greeting her subjects was absent, today, her lips pressed into a thin line and her usually laughing pink eyes favoring them solemnly. That caused worried glances to be passed between all six of her assembled champions of Harmony, and turned the alarm bells in Twilight’s subconscious into an outright cacophony of alert claxons, even as she and her friends all bowed low before her.

“Thank you all for coming, my little ponies,” she greeted them warmly nonetheless, offering a very slight smile as she nodded her head gently to each of them, wordlessly prompting them to rise. “I am aware that this is on very short notice, and that I have given you all very little information, but this is a matter that I wish to keep as quiet as possible for now.”

Six heads nodded with varying degrees of trepidation. It was Twilight who dared to step forward and speak.

“Then, Princess Celestia, if I may ask…” she paused to swallow nervously. “What…is this all about?”

Celestia actually gave them a short, tired sigh, as if she were feeling the very weight of her many, many centuries of life in that single moment. Her wings folded at her sides as she rose to her hooves and began to stride down the ramps descending from her throne. The six Elements of Harmony parted for her.

“This is about history,” she answered at last when she stood on level ground with them, turning to face them all. “But before I can tell you the tale, there is something we must do, first.” Celestia turned her head, calling over her shoulder, though even with her voice raised, her tones still sounded serene and soothing. “Please, bring it in now.”

“Aw, man, history?” Spike groaned, sagging against the back of Twilight’s neck. “Can I just take a nap now, then? Twilight already gave me my history lesson today.”

The double doors to the audience chamber boomed open, and the two missing guardponies trotted in. Held suspended between them by large, golden rings balanced on their horns was an oblong golden treasury box, an ivory sun sigil matching the Princess’ Cutie Mark emblazoned upon the lid. Once they had crossed the distance—what seemed like a small eternity later—their heads bowed to allow the golden rings to slide off their horns, depositing the box upon the plush carpet before the Princess and her Elements.

Celestia’s own head bowed, the tip of her horn touching the very center of the sun crest, and with the muffled click of a very heavy locking mechanism within, the chest’s lid slowly opened.

Lying within was something that seemed to deliberately, even maliciously contrast everything that surrounded it. It was a sword, long and slender, that seemed to be forged entirely from one solid chunk of polished onyx-hued metal. The blackness of it went beyond mere coloration; it was as though the thing swallowed all color and even light that touched it, consuming everything within the black void that its outline contained.

Though it never once moved upon the red velvet on which it lay, it seemed almost alive, the three crimson gemstones embedded in a triangular pattern in the hilt glinting like malevolent little eyes. Its grip was very long, likely to balance the prodigious length of the blade itself, but the crossbars were short and squat things shaped roughly like semicircular guillotine blades.

“Now that thing is just creepy…” Applejack was the first one to speak, her green eyes wide and riveted to the weapon.

“Whatever is an unsightly thing like that doing in Canterlot?” Rarity’s right forehoof was lifted in apprehension as she peered at the sword warily.

“I dunno, I think it looks kinda cool.” In contrast, Rainbow Dash was leaning forward, her neck weaving this way and that, trying to examine it from different angles. “Just needs a few minor tweaks here and there to get just the right balance of awesomeness.”

“Ooh, like balloons!” Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly.

"Oh yeah, Pinkie," Rainbow's magenta eyes rolled. "That's totally what I meant."

Her sarcasm was lost on her pink friend, who nodded eagerly. “Oh, oh! Or maybe a rock!”

That prompted several startled looks, ranging through varying degrees of “perplexed”.

“A rock,” Spike deadpanned, eyelids lowered.

“Yeah!” Pinkie’s enthusiasm was unimpeded. “And then you could put it in the gardens and it could be all like ‘The Sword in the Rock’, and anypony who could pull it out would get…umm…a date with Princess Luna or something!”

Celestia didn’t seem certain whether to be amused or appalled. It was quite a unique expression to see on her usually unflappable face.

“O-or maybe, um,” Fluttershy finally spoke up, timidly breaking the awkward silence that followed, “m-maybe we could just, um…put it back. Where it came from. Maybe? If that’s alright…” She cowered back a little from the box.

But Celestia shook her head somberly. “I’m afraid that simply is not an option. In order to do what must be done, a certain degree of power is required. I had hoped that things would never come to this, but I’m sorry to say that our options are extremely limited right now. Even with the Elements of Harmony available to us, for this we need something very…particular in addition.”

She turned toward Twilight, giving her student a long, searching look. The lavender unicorn gulped again, gazing up at the one being in all Equestria whom she respected most. The two shared a weighty, silent moment, Twilight wordlessly questioning, Celestia searching for something none of them could guess at.

At last, it seemed that the Princess found it, however, and with a slight nod of her head, she gestured toward the onyx blade with her hoof.

“Spike, please come over here. Twilight…touch the sword with your magic.”

Twilight actually jumped a little at the sound of her voice. Nervously, she nodded and approached as her purple-scaled assistant slid down from her back, both trusting in their Princess without needing to be prompted. She did spare an anxious glance over her shoulder at her friends, who all edged worriedly closer, offering silent support.

Finally, taking in a deep breath to steady herself, Twilight focused her power in her horn, directed it toward the piece of shadow that mocked the world of color and light around it. She was startled to find that it actually resisted at first, and that pushed her trepidation back as she stubbornly focused harder. The red-violet shimmer of her magic aura surrounded the onyx blade and it trembled where it lay, but did not budge.

Finally, with a surge of power so great that sparks began to jump from the tip of her horn, the black sword lifted from its box. However, once it did so, she found it moving on its own, resisting her urges to direct it as it rotated so that the blade pointed toward the ceiling, and then swiveled until she was staring right into those three ruby chips embedded in the hilt, which pulsed with energy from within.

Worse yet, she found herself unable even to let go, as though the thing had overridden her own magic and reversed the flow to seize her. She tried to cry out, but found her throat unresponsive to any command save breathing. A pulse of dark power erupted from the sword then, a black shockwave spreading out across the audience chamber, rattling the entire room with the sound of a low, distorted chime. Twilight found herself surrounded by wisps of amorphous darkness, drifting toward the ceiling and fading away only for more to emerge from her own shadow, spiraling around her like tongues of cold flame licking hungrily at the very fabric of reality..

Then the most chilling thing happened. The sword laughed.

“Haaah hahahahaha!”

All five of the (un-paralyzed) gathered Elements of Harmony started, skittering back reflexively. The two guards, still flanking the chest, took up defensive postures as their knees tensed and their horns lowered. Celestia, however, only gazed impassively at the black blade as it spoke in a masculine voice that sounded like its owner had scrubbed his throat with sandpaper for hours.

“Holy crap, that took forever! Quit slackin’ off, ya old hag!”

There was a chorus of gasps, ranging from astonished to offended, but Celestia’s only response was for her eyes to narrow almost imperceptibly.

“So, this is my sacrificial lamb?” The sword bobbed lazily in front of a transfixed Twilight, who still found herself unable to speak. “Meh. It’s kinda soft and squishy-lookin’. But I definitely sense potential!” The malignant glee bounced off the pillars that lined the chamber like a tangible thing as the voice echoed around them. “Two thousand years. Two. Thousand. Years, I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

“It has been a long time…Gig,” Celestia pronounced the name as if she found it difficult to force it through her throat, like swallowing an emotional lump in reverse. “Somehow I, too, knew that this day would come.”

“P-Princess…?” It was Applejack, once again assuming the mantle of de facto leader with Twilight seemingly incapacitated. She took a protective step closer to her friend, but her eyes were on Celestia, a pair of wide, round, green saucers. “What in tarnation is it…he...talkin’ about?”

“Y-yeah, what’s up with that sword?” Rainbow tried to sound bold, to her credit, but even she couldn’t quite hide the quaver in her voice.

“And what’s it doing to Twilight?!” Spike, on the other hand, was on the verge of panic and unashamed of it.

Celestia exhaled softly.

“Two thousand years ago, when we thought that the end of Discord’s reign meant an eternal harmony for all, Luna and I gazed into a black shadow. And it gazed back. It very nearly destroyed all that we had worked so hard for, not only Equestria but all the world that lay beyond and all other creatures.” Sadness touched her eternal eyes. “Many lives were lost to the destroyer and his three great beasts, but in the end I managed to entrap him in his own wicked blade, and the behemoths fell silent.”

“Th-then this is…?” Fluttershy clearly did not want to know the answer to her own question, but Celestia nodded anyway, causing her to cringe closer to the floor with a whimper.

Celestia stepped closer, bending her head so that the very tip of her horn touched Twilight’s, the warm, golden glow of her magic mingling with her pupil’s aura.

“Twilight,” Celestia murmured quietly to her student, “no matter what happens, I want you to remember that I care very much for you, and I would never, ever intentionally do you harm. Please…just trust me.”

Even if she could answer, Twilight had no time to try. A pulse of magic from Celestia rippled through her, and the world of consciousness faded to black.

******

Twilight stood in a black void, infinitely vast, utterly featureless. Whatever was under her hooves was solid enough to support her without yielding and utterly flat, but though she could somehow see them, she couldn’t actually make out the floor. It was like standing on nothing, and that alone had fear warring with scholarly curiosity in her mind as she cautiously tapped at the not-ground with one hoof.

Taking an exploratory step forward, and then another, Twilight lifted her head and called out. “H-hello…? Spike? Anybody…?”

“Ahh, it’s damn good to be back!”

That familiar, gravelly voice jerked her eyes upward, and Twilight gawked at what she saw.

The strange creature floating above her was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. He (for it could only be the owner of that voice) was bipedal in posture, like Spike or a diamond dog, but his pale skin was almost completely hairless save for a short, wild white mane that crowned his head.

His face was flat, with no muzzle to speak of, almost simian in appearance but for the shape of the nose. Overall, he wasn’t terribly bulky; his limbs were long and a little wiry, clearly muscled but in a slender way.

Apart from the face and arms, it was actually clothed—which, a clinical, studious portion of her brain observed, made a great deal of sense if the only hair he had really was on his head. A sleeveless dusty lavender tunic adorned his torso, with twin violet wristbands on each arm and a folded down collar and its lower hem split into two low-hanging flaps. They rested against a pair of faded steel blue pants that fitted his legs somewhat loosely, terminating in a pair of deep blue boots whose soles gleamed white at her as she squinted up at their wearer.

Stranger yet, a pair of heavy, metallic blue armored shields floated lazily beside each of his arms, magenta lines running across the surface of each in abstract, geometric patterns. Floating near the pointed tip at the bottom of each of these was a set of three long, bent pieces of darker metal, which waggled independently like eagerly-grasping claws.

“Looking forward to breaking in my new body,” he continued, watching her with eerily glowing crimson irises, a wicked smirk curling the corner of his mouth. “I mean, sure, being a pony’s pretty stupid-looking, but there’s no arguing with this much raw magical power…”

“Who…who are you?” Twilight finally asked, partly because it was just such a relief being able to use her voice again..

“What, me?” the mystery creature inquired rhetorically, a malicious grin splitting his lips. “Oh, I’m just the most hardcore asskicker to ever walk the planet, is all.” He brought up one spidery, five-fingered hand to exhale on his knuckles, brushing them against the collar of his shirt. “The God of Destruction! The commander of the World Eaters!” That name alone sent a shiver running up Twilight's spine. No good could ever come of a creature called a "World Eater". He snapped his fingers, then jerked his thumb toward himself. “But hell, you can just call me Gig. Not like it’s gonna matter for long.”

“Were you really…inside that sword?” she asked him, taking a wary step closer, her curiosity piqued despite her fears.

“Oh, yeah…that.” Gig’s face twisted with distaste. “Yeah, no thanks to that alicorn wench. Had to abandon my body, two thousand years ago…”

“H…how dare you speak of Princess Celestia like that?!” Twilight blurted, incredulous. Gig smirked, shrugging his narrow shoulders.

“Hey, I just calls ‘em like I sees ‘em. She got in a lucky shot, and I thought she was gonna kill me for good.” He snorted derisively. “Dumb hag decided to stuff me in my own sword, instead. No idea why, nor why she kept the sword around, but I gathered my strength, waiting for my chance to get out.”

A terrible, blood-chilling grin spread across his face as his eyes locked with hers. “It’s been two thousand long years, but now I’ve got you! A nice, healthy set of limbs just brimming with untapped magic power! I’m gonna have to do some tidying up, though. I’m cool with purple and all,” he paused to tug lightly at the collar of his shirt, “but the whole ‘pink stripe’ and ‘prissy librarian look’ thing has got to go.”

“What are you…?” Twilight began, confused. But then realization, horrible realization, dawned as her violet eyes widened. “You mean you’re going to…?!”

Gig winked, extending a fist toward her with his thumb pointed up. “Dingdingding! We have a winner! You’re pretty smart, kid. That’s right, I’m taking over your body!” He turned his head up, as though calling to someone else. “Tell ‘er what she’s won, Bob? Yeah, that’s right! An all-expenses paid trip straight to oblivion!”

“What?!” she blustered, stumbling backward as though there were actually somewhere to retreat to. “You’re just…going to kill me?”

“Kill you?” Gig actually seemed honestly surprised, for a moment. Then he sniffed disdainfully. “Feh, that’d be too easy, and I need this body alive. Nah, what’ll happen is your soul will just…disappear.” He made a gesture of one hand, as though scattering dust to the wind, as Twilight’s terror mounted. “And then I can take this meat-puppet full of delicious munchy crunchy magic and blow Celestia straight to Hell! Haaahahahahahaaa!” He threw his head back, his arms crossing triumphantly as he cackled.

“Now…” he began, his gaze turning back to her as his laughter finally died down, “give me dominion over your body.” His voice was deathly serious and cold, but the sick smile on his lips was one of a foal who knew exactly what lay inside the present he was getting ready to open.

Twilight felt like curling into a ball and just willing this nightmare to go away. What had Celestia done to her? Did the Princess even realize? At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to just wake up in her soft, plush bed at the library, for this to all be a terrible dream born of eating too many hay fries during a late night studying binge.

But that wasn’t happening, and if there was one thing she had learned from all her friends and all her studies, it was that she couldn’t just wish for her problems to go away—she had to fight, for her friends as much as herself. Celestia had told her she would never intentionally do her harm. There had to be a reason for all this, and she had to stand up to this…Gig…until she understood what that reason was.

“Never!” she insisted, stomping a forehoof for emphasis. “If you intend to take me over, you’ll have to do it by force!” She hoped she sounded braver than she felt, tried to banish the quiver from her voice by sheer will alone.

Gig huffed, rolling his eyes. “Dammit…I knew this would be a pain in the ass.” Then, however, he shrugged. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. I figured things weren’t gonna be that easy.”

He gave a long-suffering sigh, as though dealing with a stubborn foal. “Okay, here’s the thing. We’re gonna have to make a deal so I can use your body.”

Twilight gave him a deadpan stare that would have made Spike proud, eyelids half-lowered. “Uh, didn’t we just go over this? I’m not giving up—”

His extended palm interrupted her. “Shut up and listen, kid. Do you think that hag Celestia just did this for no reason? Don’t tell me you weren’t even listening to her speech up there. You need me. I dunno why, but honestly, I don’t really care. Fact is, Celestia may be a half-crazed old plow-mare, but she ain’t stupid. She wouldn’t be fusing us together unless she has a damn good reason.”

A soft, melodic chime suddenly rang through the air, causing them both to look straight up, where a soft orange glow was beginning to spread through the blackness. Gig smiled coolly.

“Ah…perfect. Fusion’s done.” At Twilight’s startled jump, Gig grinned at her. “Damn good timing, too. Now listen up, kid.”

He folded his hands in front of his chest, cracking his knuckles like she’d seen Spike do from time to time. “Now that your body has been signed over, you can command power totally unknown to the average peon. And considering how much juice you had before, that’s saying something. That should keep you happy for a while.” He smiled an oily smile, like a used carriage salespony.

But then he spread his hands, shrugging. “But maybe that’s not good enough for you? Maybe you’re really greedy. Or maybe you’ll just need even more power. That, powderpuff, is when you give me a call.”

Twilight eyed him skeptically.

“What, you still don’t get it?” Gig barked a laugh. “I can lend you all the powers of a god!” His right hand lifted toward his face, his fingers slowly curling into a tight fist. Then they opened again, gesturing expansively as he continued. “For a price.” He pointed at her. “The more of my power you use, the more control I gain over your body. You use my power to get what you want…and me? I get a little closer to my own goals. You scratch my back, I crush yours. Pretty sweet, huh?” He beamed at her, chuckling wickedly.

“I don’t want or need that kind of power,” Twilight stubbornly insisted, glaring defiantly. Gig seemed unperturbed.

“Whatever you say, kid.” He laughed a little. “But hey. If you ever change your mind…well, you know where to find me. I’ll be waiting…

“…my little soulmate.”

2. Enjoy It While It Lasts

2. Enjoy It While It Lasts

Consciousness meant bright, merciless light stabbing into her eyes like a…merciless…stabby…bright thing. Twilight squeezed her eyes immediately shut again, giving voice to a soft groan.

“She’s coming around!”

Though sound warped and distorted upon reaching her ears, it wasn’t hard to pick out Spike’s anxious voice, uttering that unbearably trite line she’d read in countless adventure novels. She mused dimly that there was probably something wrong with the fact that her first thought was: Aw, Spike, you really did read some of those books I gave you…

Twilight decided to try that eye-opening thing again, this time much more slowly. The sideways angle of the view, several multicolored legs running horizontally across her field of vision and planting themselves on plush red carpet to the left, told her that she had toppled over onto her side at some point, and she slowly rolled herself upright and tucked her legs underneath her. Looking up, she was met with six worried faces, Spike’s green eyes the biggest and wettest only by a very small margin. The two guards from earlier had apparently taken up their places at either side of the throne again, though their eyes warily observed the situation.

“…are you okay, Twilight?” the little dragon fretted, clutching his tail in his little clawed hands and twisting it back and forth between them.

“My head hurts, a little,” she admitted with a tired smile, looking around at the concerned faces of her friends. “But other than that, I…I think I’m alright.” She tried to look reassuring for their sakes.

Had it all been a dream, after all? But no…even though she was exhausted, physically and mentally, she could feel the new, barely-contained power brimming inside her. Gig hadn’t been lying about that.

But…how could she tell them that? Should she tell them? Her neck craned to try and look past them, her eyes seeking out Celestia.

It wasn’t hard to spot the Princess’ horn high above them, and when she began to step forward, they all parted for her as though by instinct, until she stood directly over Twilight. Her face had an expression that her student had never seen on it before; she actually looked like she expected to be…reprimanded.

“I’m sure that you have many questions, Twilight.” Celestia’s hoof reached out, offering to help her rise. Twilight accepted, climbing to her hooves and giving herself a little shake. That turned out to be a mistake, and only left her feeling more disoriented. Closing her eyes and taking a moment to collect her thoughts as well as her equilibrium, she decided to simply dive right in, her curiosity and confusion overriding any urge she might have had to throw accusations.

“Just…what exactly was that?” she began hesitantly, as her five closest friends clustered around her once more, and Spike hoisted himself up onto her back as though afraid she’d disappear entirely if he didn’t maintain constant contact. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she was too tired to comfortably carry him at the moment.

“I…have joined your soul with Gig’s,” Celestia admitted, a note of guilt creeping into her tone, though she maintained a confident and regal posture nonetheless. “Twilight, I fully understand if you are frightened, and even if you have…choice words for me, for doing this without asking you first, but I ask you to save them until I have explained. I hope that you will understand that there was truly no other choice for us all.”

“First things first,” Applejack broke in before any of the others could speak, taking a step forward. “Can they be un-joined? This ain’t…permanent, is it?”

Twilight shot a look of silent thanks to her orange friend for asking the question she hadn’t been brave enough to.

Celestia shook her head resolutely, however. “Absolutely not. The very moment the danger has passed, rest assured that I will do anything and everything in my power to undo this. But…for now, though it pains me to do this to you, we need Gig’s power.”

“But why?” Rainbow spoke up, her brow creased in confusion. Her wings unfurled, spreading in an emotive shrug. “What could we possibly need that creepy…voice…guy…thing for, that you couldn’t do yourself? Or with Princess Luna?”

“My sister and I are not all-powerful, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia answered with a small, indulgent smile. “As recent events of only the past year have rather sorely reminded me.”

A few winces went around the circle. Discord, the Changeling Queen…she made a fair point, though none of them had wanted to admit there was anything Celestia couldn’t do. The Princess continued, her tone becoming somber again.

“To answer your question, Rainbow Dash…the World Eaters have begun to stir.”

This time, Twilight was the only one to gasp, which drew sharp looks from all around. Celestia gave her a look of sympathy and a small nod.

“Sooo…what’s a World Eater?” Pinkie finally broke the leaden silence with the obvious question.

“The World Eaters were Gig’s underlings—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say his pawns,” Celestia explained, her somber pink eyes focusing on each of her audience in turn. “They are enormous monsters of terrible power, engineered only for the purpose of destruction. I had hoped that upon Gig’s defeat in the distant past they would lie dormant for as long as he remained imprisoned, and so Luna and I left them where they lay and allowed time and nature to bury them. But now, I have begun to sense them shifting in their rest. I do not know the circumstances that have disturbed their slumber, but I have felt the stirrings in the world itself. The World Eaters are waking up.”

“Bullshit.” Everypony (and dragon) in the room jumped with a start as Gig’s voice resounded from Twilight’s general direction, though her mouth hadn’t even moved. As her mouth continued to hang open, he spoke on, the sound clearly not coming from within her throat but simply emanating somehow from the very air around her. “The World Eaters don’t even pick their noses unless I tell ‘em to.”

“Nevertheless, it is happening,” Celestia insisted. She seemed to have no interest in arguing with the disembodied voice, however, and was quick to draw the attention of all six Elements of Harmony (and all one Number One Assistant) back to her. “That is why we need the power of Gig, which I have entrusted to Twilight Sparkle.”

Another collection of concerned glances was exchanged. This time it was Rarity who took it upon herself to speak up. “And so you believe that this…Gig…shall be able to rein in his dreadful pets?”

“That is my hope,” Celestia confirmed, nodding solemnly. “Nothing that Luna or I did—or any of the other brave ones who stood against them—could do more than stun the beasts. Gig’s powers are immense, but what’s more, he had dominion over the World Eaters. I…do not wish to destroy even such frightful creatures, but if they are to be contained, Gig may be our only hope.”

“But why…why me?” Twilight finally asked, plaintively. She stepped closer to her mentor, looking up at her like a lost foal. “Princess Celestia, why does it have to be me? I’d…I’d gladly do anything for you, if you asked, but this is frightening! Terrifying! This is my soul we’re talking about!”

Realizing she may have crossed a line, Twilight lowered her head and backed up again, looking away. After a moment of silence, she glanced up at Celestia, only to see the Sun Princess averting her own gaze.

“Twilight, when I took you on as my pupil,” Celestia explained slowly, “I told you that I had never before seen magic potential as great as yours. In all my many years of life, that still holds true. While untapped, the potential power of your magic is unfathomable. I knew that if anypony could hope to contain Gig long enough to undertake this mission, it had to be you. I am sorry, truly sorry, to have to ask this of you. And even more sorry to thrust it upon you without warning. But the lives of every living creature in Equestria, and quite possibly in all the world, are at stake. I had no choice. Please, try to understand…”

Of course…we could always make her pay, y’know, Gig’s voice echoed in Twilight’s mind, sinisterly weaving between her thoughts. She could feel the sadistic grin. She’s even admitting that she forced you into this deal. Tell you what, if you fork over your body right now…I’ll even give you five whole minutes of my full power all to yourself to punish her, so long as you promise to put on a good show. Hell, if you make her beg for mercy hard enough, I might even extend the time. But I wanna see real tears!

Celestia actually seemed startled when she felt Twilight brushing up affectionately against her forelegs, the unicorn’s neck and back arched as she had the morning of Nightmare Moon’s defeat, what seemed like so long ago. After a moment of uncertain silence, she finally bowed her long, graceful neck, nuzzling her pupil softly.

“I understand, Princess,” Twilight answered at last, when she felt the returning embrace. “I won’t lie…I’m afraid. Gig is…terrifying. But I know you wouldn’t give me an assignment you didn’t think I could complete. I know you’re counting on me, and I’ll do my best not to disappoint you.”

The warm, tender moment earned smiles from all six of her friends, Spike having wisely dropped off her back when he saw her moving. And then Gig seized the opportunity to shatter it like one of the castle’s stained glass windows.

“Oh my god, are you serious? I’m about to puke all over the kid’s inner child, here! If you namby pamby little ponies are done, can we get on with the whole ‘whipping my World Eaters back in line’ thing? I need to kill something now, I don’t even care if it’s just a mosquito!”

Fluttershy gasped, horrified at the very idea, covering her mouth with both front hooves as she fell back on her haunches. As Rarity attempted to console her with soft murmurs and a soothing hoof running up and down her back, Applejack stepped up.

“Now you listen here, ya old goat.” The aggressive, assertive tone of her voice was so startling it shut even Gig up. She stalked slowly, ominously toward Twilight as she continued. “We may need ya, but y’all are still here on our suff’rage, and that means yer gonna play by our rules.” She slowed down, planting one hoof loudly on the floor in another step as she announced each point.

“That means, number one: no killin’. Ah don’t care if it’s a gnat.”

Another step.

“Number two: yer gonna show a lick o’ respect to the Princess. She took y’all outta that sword, and she can put ya back. Ah don’t think ya’d like that.”

Another step, leaving her right up in Twilight’s face, their noses almost touching.

“Number three: that’s mah friend’s soul yer ponybackin’ on, so y’all had better take mighty fine care o’ her, or Ah promise ya, Ah’ll show ya just why we ‘namby pamby little ponies’ ain’t been conquered, invaded or even had a serious trade dispute in a thousand years.”

Twilight’s field of vision was filled with two large, green, angry circles.

“Y’all got that?”

Gig was silent. That seemed good enough for the farm pony, and she backed off with a big, satisfied smile. “Good. Lookin’ forward ta workin’ with ya.” She turned and trotted off to rejoin the others.

Wa…wait, what? What the hell just happened?! Gig’s voice finally resounded in Twilight’s head, so utterly baffled she had to fight very hard to suppress a titter.

I think Applejack just laid out the ground rules, she answered him mentally, hoping that would work—talking to herself all the time would likely earn her some very odd looks, even from her friends. And since this is still my body, I’m enforcing them.

Keep telling yourself that while you can, kid. At least that proved her hypothesis. As of today, this body is ‘yours’ on limited lease. Enjoy it while it lasts. Ever shaved the top off a mountain before? It’s on my top ten list of ‘Things to Do Before Your Soul Evaporates’.

Celestia was beginning to speak, so Twilight jerked her attention to the outside world, striding to stand with her friends and letting her scaly assistant clamber onto her back once more.

“Thank you, Twilight,” she said warmly, the gentle smile that was so much more familiar to them all finally gracing her face. “I have nothing but the utmost faith in you. Please remember that, no matter what.”

Her pupil nodded, pride touching her smile. The fact that she could sense Gig silently gagging was just a bonus.

“Now,” the Princess continued, her eyes taking in the whole crowd once again, “the closest World Eater’s resting place is actually on the fringe of Equestrian territory. Far to the southwest, it lies buried beneath the plains upon which the buffalo tribes now roam.”

Applejack blanched beneath her coat.

“Y-yer majesty, it ain’t…too close to Appleloosa, is it?” She gulped, dreading the answer.

Celestia smiled and shook her head, though. “There was a reason I was so particular about where I allowed your cousin to establish that settlement, despite the difficulties that arose for its orchards, and it was not because I felt like being difficult.” A bit of impish mirth crept into her smile as Applejack looked a bit sheepish. “However, it is the closest settlement to the World Eater, and so the most sensible course of action would be to take the train there. I will see to it that you are provided with a map marked with that World Eater’s location, along with the other two, before you leave.

“The first thing you should all do, however, is layover in Ponyville. Make your preparations, say your farewells and arrange what you must until your return, for this shall be a long journey.” At Rarity’s alarmed look, and Fluttershy’s fretful one, Celestia ducked her head toward the two with a reassuring smile. “For those of you who have long-term responsibilities, royal arrangements will be made. You are serving the crown, after all—it’s the least the crown can do in return.”

Fluttershy let out a relieved sigh to know that her animals would still be cared for, but Rarity nervously spoke up.

“If…it’s all the same to you, Princess, I ah…think that I shall simply close the Boutique and call it a vacation.” She smiled awkwardly, with a nervous little laugh. “I’ve not taken a sabbatical in some time, and as they say, absence does make the heart grow fonder—perhaps that shall hold true for fashions as well as it does for ponies.”

Twilight suppressed a smile. Of course Rarity wouldn’t trust her precious designs in the hooves of anypony else.

“Twilight,” Celestia’s attention turned to her, “I would like to ask you to take Spike along, this time. If he is willing to go.”

“Really?!” Spike, of course, was practically bouncing on her back, making her wince with each eager jostle. Twilight was less enthusiastic.

“But Princess, won’t this be…dangerous?” she hedged, reluctant to argue but concerned for his safety. And for his vocabulary. She would have to have a long chat with Gig about his language, soon.

“There is no denying that,” Celestia admitted, frowning very slightly with concern of her own, but she banished it quickly. “However, Spike’s ability to relay messages between you and I will be an invaluable asset. It may be some time before you are free to return, and even if Rainbow Dash were particularly interested in serving as a courier…”

The rainbow-maned pegasus made an expression of distaste that made Celestia briefly chortle.

“…Spike’s fire is still a faster means of communication. However,” Celestia’s eyes narrowed slightly, turning a maternally stern look on the infant dragon, “I expect you to stay out of trouble, young dragon. This is a dangerous journey, and we expect you to take that seriously. Don’t we, Twilight?”

Twilight had to fight very hard not to smile at the coltishly downcast look on Spike’s face as she looked over her shoulder at him. Still, he nodded and voiced compliance, and that was enough for them.

“One other thing,” Celestia continued, prompting all eyes to return to her. Golden light bloomed around her horn, and a series of melodic chimes heralded objects being lofted from behind the throne, levitated over its back and toward them. As they approached, seven pairs of eyes widened to see Celestia levitating the Elements of Harmony toward them. Five golden necklaces set with gems of varying colors, each cut to match the shape of its representative’s Cutie Mark, and one horseshoe-shaped crown with its gem perched regally at the apex of its arch. The necklaces fastened themselves one by one around Applejack’s, Rarity’s, Rainbow Dash’s, Pinkie Pie’s and Fluttershy’s necks, and the crown settled down upon Twilight’s head, a familiar weight.

“I want you to take the Elements of Harmony with you,” Celestia explained, nodding soberly. “They may not be capable of stopping the World Eaters on their own, but I’m confident they will prove invaluable. In any case, I would prefer that you be prepared. And also…”

Twilight gasped, as Celestia levitated the black sword that had been Gig’s prison from where it had dropped on the floor during her blackout, turning it so that the hilt faced her, the golden glow around it at odds with its impossibly black color. Even dormant, the red gems in its hilt seemed to glower maliciously at her.

“Twilight, you will need this,” Celestia told her softly.

“But…Princess, a sword?” Twilight protested. “I don’t…I’ve never used a sword, I know nothing of weapons!”

“In his current state, I suspect this sword will be necessary for focusing Gig’s power,” Celestia explained, still offering the hilt to her, “and I think you’ll find that Gig knows plenty of wielding a sword. I want you to be able to protect yourself even when magic is not available to you. I trust you to wield it responsibly.”

There was a weight in that last sentence that spoke of more than simply the blade itself. Twilight gulped, but she nodded, her horn glowing and a red-violet aura gradually replacing Celestia’s golden one as she accepted the weapon. For the time being, she maneuvered it carefully to levitate it by her side, out of Spike’s reach, to which he groaned in disappointment.

A pony using my sword? Gig scoffed silently. Oh, this should be rich. Just you wait, kid, I’ll have you whipped into a killing machine quicker than you can say ‘neigh’.

Did you forget already? No killing, she reminded him.

Gig sighed irritably in her mind. What, do you really think you’re just gonna talk my World Eaters down? God, I knew ponies were naïve, but I didn’t think you were all that stupid.

“This is to be a reconnaissance expedition first and foremost,” Celestia was telling them, walking with the group toward the audience chamber’s vast double doors. “I want you to first investigate the World Eater’s location and then report your findings to me before you take any action. Please, do not antagonize the creature if there is any other alternative.”

“Man, you’re such a goddamn killjoy,” Gig griped. “You’re just trying to take all the fun out of this for me, ain’t you, Celestia?”

“Wow, you’re the second-biggest loudmouth I’ve ever heard,” Rainbow Dash retorted before the Princess could, rolling her eyes. “Would you stop whining, already?”

“I ain’t whining, colordump,” he snapped back. “I’m complaining. I’m sick of wasting time, I’ve got World Eaters to beat down and a body to take over, and all this standing around talking is boring the crap out of me.”

“Colordump?!” Rainbow’s head jerked back, and then stretched aggressively forward as she stomped angrily toward Twilight. Despite knowing that ire wasn’t actually directed at her, the unicorn gulped.

“Seriously, couldn’t you even pick one or two?” Gig was clearly enjoying getting to antagonize her. “I know you’ve got a lot to compensate for with the candy-ass girly pastel blue, but lemme tell ya, no matter how many different dyes you use at once, you’re never gonna look half as badass as me. You might as well just suck it up and stick with pink or something.”

“Wh-what the hay?!” Twilight found Rainbow’s hooves on her shoulders, shaking her. “I don’t dye my mane, you jerk! This is all natural! How’d you like a hoof sandwich?!”

“Hey, now, don’t forget whose body this is, colordump.” Gig cackled gleefully as Dash gave a startled blink and then quickly released Twilight, ducking her head sheepishly. When she saw her purple friend still wobbling in place, she reached out a hoof to steady her.

“Uhh, sorry, Twilight,” she mumbled, scowling darkly at nothing.

Y’know, this might be more fun than I thought, Gig chortled.

“I-it’s okay, Rainbow,” Twilight assured her, her eyes still circling lazily for a moment. She shook herself and blinked a few times, until the audience chamber stopped spinning.

Celestia had watched the entire display with indulgent patience—and perhaps, just perhaps, a hint of mild amusement at their antics. When she was sure she had their attention again, she spoke gently.

“Very well. You all know what you must do.” She smiled encouragingly at them. “Take the train back home, get some rest and prepare, and tomorrow a special engine will be waiting to take you to Appleloosa. And most importantly, my little ponies…” She turned her head to each one of them in turn, looking them in the eye with that maternal smile as the great doors boomed open. “Take care.”

That alone was enough to raise every one of their heads just a little higher as they filed out, one by one.

******

The train ride back to Ponyville had passed in relative silence. True to Celestia’s word, the guards at the train station had provided a rather detailed map of the known world to the group upon their arrival, with three particular locations marked with bright red circles, and Twilight spent much of the ride poring over it. Despite efforts to maintain a sense of normalcy, everypony had a great deal on their mind, and seemed content to leave one another to let it all sink in. Twilight was just thankful that Gig decided to remain fairly quiet, as well. Perhaps talking took up more energy than he had to spare just yet, but she had a dread feeling that would change as time passed. It was a short trip, regardless, and it wasn’t long before the Elements of Harmony disembarked at the station, offering earnest farewells and agreeing to meet early the next morning at the train station.

Back in the Library, Twilight heaved a sigh of relief as the door closed behind her, crossing to one of the reading benches and flopping down onto it rather more haphazardly than she might have normally, rubbing a foreleg across her eyes as she magically lofted the black sword to rest on a nearby table.

“Don’t you worry one bit about packing, Twilight,” Spike assured her as he locked the door. He crossed the treehouse’s ringed wooden flooring and reached up to gently pat her hindleg where it hung lazily off the bench. “I’ll take care of it, okay?”

She wanted to refuse, to take care of it for herself, but the headache from the initial fusion simply refused to go away. Or maybe that was just a lingering reaction to Gig’s voice. Regardless, she smiled, though she didn’t uncover her eyes.

“…okay,” she relented a little too easily, she felt. “Thank you, Spike. I’ll make a checklist later of what books I want to bring. Need to make sure we’ve got plenty of reference materials. I want to know about those locations marked on the map before we get there.”

“Don’t worry, Twilight,” Spike assured her, waving the idea off, knowing very well how far Twilight’s checklist-mania could go if he let it. “I can handle this! Number One Assistant, remember? You get some rest, okay? Maybe give that weirdo in there a tongue twister to keep him busy for a while.”

As if summoned by mention of him, Gig’s unwelcome voice spoke in her mind. Heh heh. Little runt’s got some serious moxy, that’s for sure. I could almost respect that, if he weren’t a little pipsqueak taking orders from a bunch of candy-colored ponies.

Spike’s a good friend, and a good assistant, she replied, refusing to rise to his dig. And speaking of which, you’d better watch your language around him. He’s too young to be hearing all that swearing.

Pfft, like I care! Gig scoffed, laughing wickedly. Runt needs a male influence. Hell, if he listens to me, he might even grow a pair and start acting like a real dragon. Y’know, snorting fire, hoarding treasure, blowing shit up!

Twilight grimaced, memory of what that would be like still fresh in mind.

I’ve got a better idea, she retorted, narrowing her eyes. Either you watch that dirty mouth of yours around Spike or I’m going to force you to watch me read the sappiest saccharine soporific salacious romance novel I can find in this library.

Kid…I have no idea what you just said.

Twilight groaned in exasperation, flopping her other hoof over her face and trying to will herself to sleep.

******

In her room on the uppermost floor of the Sugarcube Corner bakery, Pinkie Pie was making serious decisions.

Which meant, of course, that her rump and hind legs were sticking out of a huge chest set against her wall, her poofy pink tail flicking to and fro and the front half of her buried within.

“Too big.” A large canteen, big enough to fill one side of a saddlebag all on its own, flew out of the box and in a graceful arc over the head of the green baby alligator sitting on her bed, who watched its path of travel mutely as it bounced off the wall and landed on the floor nearby.

“Too small.” An eyedropper bounced off the wall this time, landing next to the canteen. “Too heavy.” A paperweight shaped like a cupcake didn’t quite reach the pile, thumping hard against the floor just behind her. “Too awesome.” A plush doll of a black unicorn with a fiery shield Cutie Mark and two-toned blue and orange mane and tail, resembling wild flames, landed on the bed next to the alligator. The reptile’s immediate action was to start chomping on the plushie, but true to his name Gummy was absolutely toothless, so the best he managed was to squish it a bit and leave it a little soggy. “Too squeaky.” A yellow bath ducky arced over Pinkie’s back and smacked against the wall with a squeak. “Not squeaky enough.” A rubber chicken bounced off the wall next to it without a squeak.

Finally, Pinkie came up for air with a gasp and an exasperated sigh, her front hooves folding on the rim of the trunk as her back feet stepped into it, looking at Gummy with an adorable pout. Gummy lifted his head to stare at her, the black plush unicorn doll still dangling from his mouth by its back leg.

“Ohh, it’s no use, Gummy,” Pinkie sighed. “I don’t know what to bring! There’s too much fun stuff!”

Gummy gnawed on the plushie a bit more.

“You’re right, Gummy.” She nodded with renewed determination. “I can’t give up! Twilight’s counting on me!”

She bounced out of the trunk, scattering a bowling trophy, six tennis balls and a slinky across the floor as she emerged. She stood up straighter, squared her jaw, and a glint of light winked dramatically off one of her blue eyes as she reared up.

“Gummy!” she pronounced, pointing a forehoof dramatically at him, “Meet me in the Pinkiecave!”

Gummy tilted his head at her, his gem-like purple eyes staring blankly.

“…well, uhhh.” She raised that same hoof to scratch her head. “…just meet me in the closet, okay?” With that, she bounced toward the open closet door.

******

Carousel Boutique was a whirlwind of activity. Its proprietress was darting this way and that across the showroom floor in a most unladylike manner, pale blue light shimmering around her horn and around the various objects that she whisked to and fro. Mannequins still displaying the dresses she’d showcased on them bumped into each other, into walls and into door frames as she struggled to find places to put them away, banners and large, decorative ribbons knotted in and around each other as she stuffed them into closets. The “Sorry, Darlings, We’re Closed~” sign hung on the door, its elegant cursive script offset somewhat by the fact that it was awkwardly crooked.

Rarity had never closed the boutique for such an extended period of time, before, not since the day she’d opened it. She was quite mortally certain that she was dying a little inside with each hasty, disorganized, unplanned and haphazard placement of her beloved designs. But there was so much to be done if she wanted to be ready in the morning, and she hadn’t even started packing.

What exactly did one pack when one went hunting for World Eaters?

“U-Umm…Rarity…?”

She screeched to a halt, but not fast enough to keep from running right into the two bundles of textile she’d been trying to store away at once, going down in a most undignified pile of silky purple curls and indigo and burgundy fabric. As mortified as she was to hear the high-pitched titter that greeted her head emerging from beneath a fold of burgundy, her outraged flush faded a bit when her little sister trotted up the pile of fabric to start trying to extricate her.

“Ah! Sweetie Belle,” Rarity greeted, still a little frazzled. “Thank you.” She didn’t have the heart to scold the large-eyed little filly for causing the accident in the first place.

“Y-you okay?” The fact that Sweetie was still trying not to laugh almost made her reconsider that, though. “I don’t think you should be trying to do all this by yourself. Can I help?”

“N-no!” When the filly flinched back a bit, Rarity realized she may have said that a little too sharply and she offered a kind smile. “No, Sweetie Belle, it’s quite alright. I’ve things quite under control, I assure you.”

“Yeah…I can tell.” Sweetie tugged at a swatch of fabric with her teeth, but let it go quickly when Rarity’s eyes bugged a little and her white coat revealed a shade of blue below it. “Sorry!”

“It…it’s quite alright, really,” Rarity gasped, still struggling against the cocoon of fabric she lay buried in. Then a hard realization struck her like a blow to the face, as it occurred to her that her boutique wasn’t the only thing she’d be leaving for a time.

Her smile warmed, as she leaned forward to gently nuzzle the suddenly perplexed filly.

“Sweetie Belle, I’ve got to go away for a little while,” she told her little sister softly. “I want you to tell Mother and Father for me, alright? I’d do so myself but there’s simply so much to do, and this is dreadfully important.”

“H-huh? But where’re you going?” Sweetie’s big, shimmering wide eyes very nearly undid her. “Can I come too? I wanna come! I promise I won’t be in the way, and…and maybe I’ll even get my—”

“Absolutely not, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity interrupted her adamantly. “This is an extremely important and extremely dangerous mission for the Princess, herself. I shall be fine,” she added quickly, seeing the worry filling the little unicorn’s big, green eyes. “I shan’t be alone, Twilight and all of our other friends will be along as well.”

“B-But…” It was clearly not enough to placate her sister. Managing to extricate her front hooves with some effort, Rarity sighed and stretched them out, wrapping them around the filly with the pink-and-lavender mane and pulling her into a rather fabric-laden embrace.

“I will be fine, Sweetie Belle,” she assured her again in a soft, gentle tone. “Just a quick jaunt off ‘round the countryside, and I shall be back before you know it. But you have to stay here, lest Mother and Father worry themselves sick about both of us. You know how they fret, so. You’ve got to stay here and help remind them that I’m a big mare who can take care of herself. Can you do that?”

Sweetie nuzzled into her sister’s mane, a little sullenly, but she relented with a sigh. “Okay,” she pouted, her little forelegs wrapping around Rarity’s neck in an answering hug. “Just promise you’ll come back safe, ‘kay? You gotta promise.”

“I promise,” Rarity assured her, smiling and kissing the top of her sister’s head. “Now, be a dear and help me out of this mess, would you? Ah…carefully.”

******

Rainbow Dash had already packed everything she needed to pack—which hadn’t been much—and made arrangements for the weathermare she felt most reliable to take charge in her absence. She always preferred to travel as light as she could get by with. Less to weigh her down meant more glorious speed. And that, she decided as she perched on the puffy white clouds at the edge of her castle-like home, meant there was only one thing left to do. She squared her shoulders, tensed her wings, steeled her jaw as her eyes narrowed in preparation, taking in the small sea of straw-thatched roofs that spread out below her home. Yes, there was but one thing remaining to prepare her for the coming journey.

Serious. Hardcore. Napping.

With a hop in place and a flap of her wings, she performed an easy one-eighty, facing toward her home again and beginning to trot toward the front door. A shrill voice calling her name from the ground far below froze her in her tracks, and her eyes rolled toward the sky with a mixture of fondness and exasperation.

Scootaloo was a great kid and all, but Rainbow really didn’t feel up for it today. She just wanted to curl up in her puffy cloud bed and dream of beating up a black sword with an incredibly irritating voice.

Still, the filly wasn’t giving up, and Dash knew she’d never hear the end of it if she didn’t go hang with her number one fan. Without turning, she backed toward the edge of the cloud and threw herself backward off the edge, eyes closed as she snapped open her wings and let the wind fill them, beginning a tight downward spiral that ended with her striking the ground like a rainbow-colored thunderbolt, posing with her wings outstretched and a smirk on her face.

The tyke was appropriately impressed, her big purple eyes wide and her jaw hanging open in an awed smile.

“Oh, wow, that was awesome!” Scootaloo bounced excitedly, and despite her reluctance, Rainbow couldn’t help breathing on a hoof and polishing it against her chest.

“Yeah, I know.” Dash grinned, reaching that same hoof down to ruffle the orange filly’s wild purple mane. Scootaloo responded by distractedly smoothing the purple mass forward again with one hoof, even though Dash hadn’t really been able to do much noticeable damage to what was already an unkempt mess. “What’s up, squirt? I was just about to catch some shut-eye.”

“W-well, I just…heard that you guys went to Canterlot Castle, today,” Scoots hedged, scuffing one of her front hooves against the grass. “Is, uh…is everything okay? It’s not…y-y’know, monsters again, is it?”

If you only knew, kid. Rainbow didn’t let her smirk drop, however, even as she watched the nervous filly try to look brave for her.

“Nah, nothin’ big like that.” She spread her wings in a shrug, and then flicked one against Scootaloo’s nose, causing the filly to wrinkle it in an attempt not to sneeze. “The Princess just wanted to…uh…give Twilight something, and we all came with ‘cuz she’s our friend. “

Rubbing her still itchy nose with a little orange forehoof, Scootaloo squinted up at her. “Wait, give her what? If the Princess was giving it to her in person…”

Aw, shoot. You’re too curious for your own good, kiddo. Come on, RD, think fast! “Uhh…a book, s’all!” Too fast, RD. She cringed inwardly at Scootaloo’s skeptical frown, but put a big, cheesy grin on her face. “Yeah, y’know how Twilight loves her books. Well, Princess Celestia found this really awesome one—well, y’know, awesome for her, it’s no Daring Do or anything—and wanted to let her have it in person!”

“Really.” It wasn’t a question, and hero worship or no, Scoots did not like the idea of her idol obviously hiding something. Finally, Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Alright, kid, no,” she admitted at last, ruffling the tyke’s mane again. “She gave us a job to take care of. We’re heading out tomorrow, and…I dunno when we’ll be back. It might be, uh…a while.”

“Oh, wow!” the filly gasped, bouncing excitedly all over again. “A royal crusade! A quest! That’s so awesome! Can I—”

“No.” Her immediate response left no room for argument.

“Aww.” Scootaloo kicked at the ground, but she didn’t want to irritate her hero by arguing, so instead she tried a different track, fluttering her wings excitedly. “W-well, um…could you…maybe…bring me back um…a souvenir?” she asked hopefully. “E-even if it’s just a rock or something!”

Rainbow smirked once again, unable to resist the tyke’s excitement. “A rock? Pfft.” She gently mimed a hoof-punch to Scootaloo’s chin. “Like I’d give something that lame to my biggest fan. I’ll bring you back something awesome, kiddo. Just you wait.”

“Really?!” If those wings had been any larger, Scootaloo would have shot straight up like a rocket. Instead, she darted forward and threw her little orange forelegs around Rainbow’s, squeezing tightly and nuzzling her knee.

Rainbow had thought she had it all under control. She really had. But when that kid, that awesome, excitable, adorable little filly who thought she was the coolest thing since breathing was invented hugged her leg…

Scootaloo looked up sharply at the sound of a sniffle, at which point Dash busied herself looking straight up, her un-hugged foreleg rubbing across her eyes and then her nose.

I hate goodbyes.

“L…look, squirt, I gotta finish packing, okay?” She swallowed the lump that was rapidly forming in her throat. “G-gonna be a long trip. Y’know?”

“O…kaaay…” Clearly a little confused, Scootaloo shrugged her tiny wings as she backed up a bit. “I’ll see you when you get back, okay, Rainbow Dash? I’ll make sure the whole fanclub roots for you!”

“…thanks, Scoots.” Rainbow still couldn’t bear to look directly at her, but she smiled a genuine, heartfelt smile. “I’ll see ya around, kiddo.”

As Scootaloo scampered over to her discarded scooter, picked it up off the ground and started buckling her helmet on, Rainbow flapped her way back up to her cloudy home. She was still smiling when she crashed face-first into one of the distressingly hard white columns of cloudstuff, sliding down to land on her rump. Wiping a foreleg across her brimming eyes cleared her blurry vision, and with another sniffle, she trotted into her front door, napping now the furthest thing from her mind.

******

Trying to explain to Granny Smith had been the hardest part. Not because the old mare was as deaf or senile as some liked to think—Applejack suspected at times that her grandmother cultivated that image purposely just to amuse herself—but because Applejack could not bear to withhold even a sliver of the truth from her. She’d always had the feeling, ever since she was a little filly, that Granny Smith could see right through any fabrication she ever attempted. It had had a lasting impression on her, and to this day, she couldn’t even try to give her grandmother any less than the whole truth.

Not that she enjoyed lying to begin with; she’d always been terrible at it. But even a partial truth was not enough for Granny Smith. And so she’d explained everything. Gig, the World Eaters, Twilight’s partial possession…all of it. Even as she’d spoken, Applejack had worried it would be too much for the old mare’s heart, but Granny had taken it all in stride and offered only a heartfelt and sincere voice of encouragement that would have surprised any who knew her. She had promised to tell Big Macintosh and Applebloom what was necessary and no more.

And so the farm pony found herself in her room, her hat hanging from a nail on the wall as she stuffed what bare essentials she felt she’d need for a long journey into her saddlebags. Rope (lots and lots of rope), her coinpurse, some packets of dried fruits for emergency consumption—with extra to spare, for she knew that certain of her friends, like Rarity who would remain nameless, would doubtless fail to pack such a simple yet vital thing—and…

“…Applejack?”

She flinched. Of course it couldn’t be that easy.

“Ain’t it past yer bedtime, sprout?” she asked, though she turned to her little sister with a smile.

Applebloom was having none of it, though. The little yellow filly trotted up to her, looking up at her with big, searching amber eyes.

“Granny says yer goin’ somewhere, but she won’t say where,” her little sister pouted. “What’s goin’ on, Applejack?”

AJ opened her mouth to respond, but before she could speak a very large, very red form stepped into view behind her little sister, making the filly look even tinier than she already was. Applejack’s eyelids lowered as she looked up at her older brother. “Lemme guess. Granny told you, too.”

“Eeyup.”

She should have known better than to expect him to articulate more than that.

“Look, y’all.” Applejack sat back on her haunches, her gaze moving from one sibling to the other. “Ah can’t tell ya everythin’. It’s fer the Princess, and y’all know she wouldn’t ask us to chase no bull we can’t rustle.”

“But Applejack, we’re yer fam’ly.” Applebloom was fighting dirty, and she knew it. “Why can ya tell Granny but not us?”

AJ cringed. That was exactly why she had asked her grandmother to pass on her farewells. Granny Smith was immune to those big, sad eyes and Big Macintosh’s unwavering stare, but Applejack lacked her cast-iron nerves. She struggled, to be sure, but under the double onslaught, her resistance crumbled away.

Just like Granny knew it would before sending them up to her, she was sure.

The orange farm pony sighed, covering her face with her hoof. “Awright. Look. Twilight’s got this…somethin’ inside her now. Not in ‘er body but in ‘er soul. An’ it’s alive, and it’s meaner’n a snake. But it just might be th’ only hope Equestria has right now.” She looked slowly from one sibling to the other, giving that a good, solid moment to sink in. “But Twilight…shouldn’t be alone with it. She can’t be alone with it. Right now she needs her friends more’n ever. She needs us. So Ah’ve gotta go. That filly’s been mah best friend since she came here, and Ah ain’t gonna abandon her when she needs me. Y’all know Ah love ya more than anythin’, an’ Ah’m comin’ back ta y’all no matter what. An’ that’s th’ honest truth.”

The two of them sat digesting that, for a moment. Some ponies liked to think that just because they talked with a bit of a drawl the Apple clan were slower on the uptake, or just plain dumb. It was anything but the truth, though Applejack was the first to admit she’d done some stupid things in the past. Who hadn’t? She, at least, wasn’t the slightest bit surprised how little time it took for her siblings to process her story, and to her immense pride even Applebloom took it better than she’d expected. The little yellow filly with the big pink bow walked up to her and simply leaned against her foreleg, while her older brother closed the distance and bent his head to nuzzle her mane, gently.

“You come back in one piece, AJ, y’hear?” It was rare to hear anything more than a one-word answer from Big Macintosh, and much to her surprise, he wasn’t even done. “This here’s somethin’ only you can do, but that don’t mean we can’t help ya.” He smiled at her. “We’ll keep th’ farm runnin’ and the apples bucked, an’ make sure you have somethin’ to come back home to. An’ that’s th’ honest truth.”

“Yup!” Applebloom piped up from down by her hoof, standing up on her hind legs to prop her forehooves on her sister’s shoulder. “Why, Ah bet’cha Ah’ll have mah Cutie Mark by th’ time ya get back, so ya better make sure ya come an’ see it, y’hear?”

Despite her best intentions, Applejack found her vision blurring, a shaky smile on her lips as she sniffed. “Y’all…thank ya. Ah promise, this’ll be over ‘fore ya know it. We’ll thump them World Eaters back ta wherever they came from an’ be back in time fer supper.”

“…World Eaters?” the two voices chorused at her from above and below. She laughed softly.

“C’mon. Y’all help me pack and Ah’ll ‘splain the rest.”

******

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness…!” Fluttershy’s nerves were wrecked. But considering that was her normal state of being, Angel was only watching her with boredom as he sat in the window sill, his beady black eyes half-lidded as she flitted this way and that around her cottage, a pencil held in her mouth and a notepad and box of tacks balanced on her front hooves.

She darted like a hummingbird from one birdhouse, squirrel nest or mouse hole to another, jotting down little notes on her animal friends’ preferences or special needs on the notepad and tacking them into place. Managing to do all that with her mouth without dropping the pencil was a fine art, one that had to be seen to be observed, but it was something Angel had seen far too many times to find entertaining.

She’d given her rabbit companion a hasty, stammering explanation once she’d gotten in the door, but had quickly set to work, prioritizing the multitude of animals under her care—including a rather long and detailed note that tacked to his bed and rolled out some distance across the floor like a royal red carpet—without stopping to think of her own personal preparations.

With a sigh, Angel shrugged and hopped off toward the timid pegasus’ room. Someone would have to pack her saddlebags for her.

She hadn’t even noticed his departure, and was hovering by the wasp nest tucked into a corner of her living room like a papier mache ornament, when the door to her cottage burst open.

“Fluttershy!”

“YEEEK!” she answered, her hooves flailing wildly. Pencil and notepad plunged to the floor, tacks scattering everywhere as she fumbled in vain to try and catch the box, succeeding only in turning it completely upside-down in midair and scattering its contents all over the living room.

Thankfully, her guest also had wings, and so this was not the disastrous impediment it might otherwise have been. Rainbow Dash flapped into the living room, surveying the damage caused with a critical eye.

“Wow, Fluttershy…redecorating in post-modern ouch?” she asked her fellow pegasus dryly, raising an eyebrow.

“O-oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy whimpered, covering her mouth with her front hooves as she cast her eyes down.

“Oh, for…calm down, Fluttershy,” her cyan friend sighed, her forehoof lightly smacking into her own face. “C’mon, let me help you get these up so we can land at some point.”

“O…okay.” The yellow pegasus nodded, tipping her head so that her long, pink mane would cover one of her large teal eyes. She fluttered down to hover near the floor, alongside her brave friend, and the two of them began carefully gathering tacks and carrying them back over to where the box had landed, somehow miraculously with its open side up.

“So…” Fluttershy began tentatively, talking effortlessly around a trio of tacks—wisely held with the points away from her, “w-what brings you here? I thought you were going to nap after you packed. N-not that I mind! I’m very glad you came to see me, but…”

“I—ow! Ph’too!” Rainbow Dash had not had the same foresight, and she spat out the tacks that had cruelly poked her tongue (thankfully not hard enough to draw blood) and shot them a dirty glare. “I…uh…j-just thought you could probably use a pep talk, s’all,” she explained, a bit too quickly. “And I couldn’t sleep. And you looked pretty spooked earlier today, at the castle. This is big stuff.”

“Oh, yes.” Carefully depositing her tacks, Fluttershy allowed herself the liberty to shudder. “It’s all so very…scary. But it’s also very important, a-and…and Twilight wouldn’t abandon any of us, if the situation were different. So…we need to stand by her.”

“Yeah…yeah.” Rainbow nodded, her voice seeming a little steadier than it had a moment ago, and she tried picking up more tacks, carefully mimicking Fluttershy this time. “ ‘Sides, we’re pegasi. We’re born warriors, s’in our blood. So we’ve gotta protect the egghead, ‘cuz you know she’s gonna get herself in trouble if we don’t.”

“Oh, goodness…” Fluttershy hedged. “I don’t think I could ever possibly fight anypony. Or…not pony, for that matter.”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about.” Dash waited until they had both deposited their tacks before laying a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Look, I know you don’t like to hurt others. Heck, I don’t like to hurt others. …well, not unless they really deserve it,” she amended. “But sometimes, ya just gotta grit your teeth and sock somepony. Or whatever. Like that jerk, Gig. Where would we be if Celestia hadn’t bucked him one way back in the day?”

Fluttershy cringed, not wanting to think very hard about that.

“Listen, I’m not saying you gotta start working out and bodyslamming anypony who gives you trouble,” Rainbow elaborated, smiling encouragingly at her gentle counterpart. “Just try to remember that sometimes, there’s things important enough that you gotta do stuff you don’t wanna, or don’t think you can. I mean, heck, you outran me when you had to, I know you’re stronger than you let yourself be.”

“W-well, that was…different,” the yellow pegasus hedged, looking bashfully away. “and you had Rarity and Pinkie Pie weighing you down…”

“Pfft!” Dash scoffed, causing her friend to flinch a little. “You think I can’t carry Rarity and Pinkie and not even flinch? I carried Rarity and three Wonderbolts and it didn’t even slow me down! And that was while ascending! You may not be up with my top speed, but my point is, you came through when it counted. Just like that day with the red dragon. That’s when I learned to quit underestimating you. Look, just try to focus on the here and now, okay? If you worry about what’s gonna happen tomorrow, you’ll never be able to get anything done now.”

“Th-thank you, Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy smiled diffidently. “I’ll…try to remember that. Now come on…let’s get this mess cleaned up. Would…would you help me make my special notes for the animals? A-and then maybe pack? I’m…not sure what to bring.”

“I…think someone’s already got that taken care of. “ Rainbow pointed toward the stairway, where a pair of full saddlebags was sitting on the bottom step, a gruff-faced white rabbit standing on top of them tapping one foot impatiently.

The two of them shared a laugh, as Angel set about helping them gather up the scattered tacks. Between the two of them Fluttershy felt, for the first time all day, as if all the tension were finally beginning to drain from her. Tomorrow…tomorrow was a frightening thought.

But today…today, she could handle.

3. Someone Steps Up to the Plate

3. Someone Steps Up to the Plate

“Haaaah hahahahahaaa!”

The smell of sulfur and death hung heavy in the air, mingling together in an unholy combination that assaulted the nostrils and the psyche in equal measure. Tendrils of smoke still drifted from the ruined walls of the castle battlements, chunks of stone still glowing with heat where they lay scattered about the courtyards below. Beyond the castle walls, the ground itself lay barren and cracked, void of life and unwelcoming to the very idea of future growth.

Gig took it all in, basked in the atmosphere that stood as mute, stagnant testament to unlife. And he grinned.

“Rivers of blood…mountains of flesh! A glorious world of pain! Feeble meatbags, crushed like the insects that they are!” The floating shields that flanked his shoulders snapped outward, the claw-like prongs at their tips wriggling greedily as he opened his arms, as though to take it all into himself.

Off in the distance, standing against the red-orange sky, three great silhouettes lumbered slowly across the landscape, large as mountain peaks each in their own right. All three stood upright, bipedal like their master.

The one in the center was vaguely hourglass shaped, with four cross-like forms hovering in a semicircular pattern above its form, bobbing lazily as though in time with its breathing, had it a need to breathe.

The one to the left of it was a thing of sweeping curves, its body shaped like an overly elaborate robe or cloak, with its hem sweeping up into hook-like cusps at either side and two long, spindly arms curving down by its sides.

The final one, to the right, was the most similar in shape to its commander, its form that of a wingless upright dragon in jagged, pointy armor. Its most notable feature, however, was that its forearms were detached from its body, hovering at its sides with no apparent need for an upper arm, each surmounted by three long, curved claws.

“Looks like my lovely pets are enjoying themselves,” he mused aloud, smiling wickedly. “Let’s see…which useless relic do I find to be more of an eyesore?” His crimson eyes scanned the bleak, lifeless horizon, and finally lit upon something. He nodded. “Ah! That castle will do.”

The structure in question lay within the barren remains of a dead forest, surrounded on all sides by twisted dead trunks with leafless branches reaching to the skies around them. It was already in pretty sorry shape, but he had a feeling that if he finished the job, its former owners just might take notice.

“Alright, Feinne!” Gig snapped his fingers, as though the far-distant behemoth could actually hear such a tiny sound from so far away. “Do that voodoo that you do!”

From the middle, hourglass-shaped titan, a faint blue glow began to build up in the center, where its torso was narrowest. From where he stood, Gig couldn’t hear the hum, but he knew what was coming. He didn’t even need to shield his eyes as raw, destructive power streaked from the World Eater’s body, ripping into the crumbled castle with such calamitous force that all visibility was briefly reduced to a blinding white haze.

When the light cleared, all that remained of the castle was a shattered, lifeless ruin, only the sturdiest walls of one chamber and a single tower still standing. He threw back his head and roared with triumphant laughter.

“Shattered down to the very foundations!” His hands opened and spread, beckoning as he turned this way and that. “Well? C’mon, you little shits! Humans, griffons, dragons…hell, even ponies! Do none of you have the balls to face me?!” He waited a moment, and then another, and then with a dismissive shrug his left hand dropped while the right raked impatiently through his hair.

“Ah, well!” he laughed. “Then just put your heads between your legs and kiss your asses goodbye while I cut ya down, one-by-one! G’hahahahahahaaaa!”

That was when his crimson eyes spotted something against the burning crimson sky. Two tiny shapes, mere pinpricks against the red backdrop. But more than seeing, he could sense their power.

And he smiled. “Finally, someone steps up to the plate.” His hands opened and beckoned out toward the two flying shapes in the distance, one shining a soft white as it approached, the other a deep indigo. “This better be worth my time, numbnuts…”

******

Huh…a dream?

Lying somewhere in the comfortable haze between sleep and reality, Twilight’s thoughts were nonetheless completely aware as the nightmare lingered in her imagination, refusing to be banished.

Was that…the past? she asked him, already fearing the answer.

Oh…hey, kid. Gig didn’t seem sure whether to sound satisfied or chagrined. Saw that, huh?

You…you’re a monster! She shuddered.

No shit. Gig snorted remorselessly. You’re just figuring that out? You probably saw that because we’re joined. Man, that friggin’ sucks! Next time, don’t look.

That confused her. Why would he care if she saw his dreams of the past? He usually seemed downright proud of his accomplishments.

Regardless, cracking her eyes open revealed the early morning sun peeking wanly through her window. Time to get up…it was going to be a long train ride. Last time they’d ridden to Appleloosa it had been a two day trip even by train.

Groggily dragging herself out of her bed, the cold wooden floor under her hooves went a long way toward alerting her drowsy mind. Her slowly percolating thoughts only led back to more and more questions, and as she half-stumbled her way toward the vanity to start taming her bed-mane, she decided it was as good a time as any to get some answers.

Gig, were…were those the World Eaters? In your dream?

Heh heh. You got it, kid. In her mind’s eye she could see Gig’s sinister grin. Better check and make sure you didn’t wet the bed.

You’re disgusting. Twilight glared halfheartedly at her reflection as she magically manipulated her brush across her mussed mane. They’re huge, though. I’ve never seen anything so big, before. Where does something like that come from?

Who knows? She felt him shrug mentally—it was an odd sensation.

You mean you don’t even remember? she asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Look, kid, I bet when you’re two thousand plus years old, you ain’t gonna remember every little unimportant detail of your life, he shot back, irritated. What’s it matter? They’re mine, they’re unstoppable, and they’re all at least a tenth as powerful as me. Ain’t you seen enough yet to know that giving up your body to me is the easy way outta this?

She ignored his transparent attempt. I just wish there were some record of them I could study. If I could just learn more about them, then maybe…

Maybe you’d know just how screwed you really are. Gig sneered. But hell, sure, I’ll throw ya a bone. Celestia may have been too spooked to keep any records about them—or if not her, whatever pony scribes survived at the time—but ponies weren’t the only little weaklings I stomped into the dirt. If any o’ them other races ain’t gone extinct yet, they might have some records.

Hey, that’s right! Twilight perked up a bit, excitement chasing the sleep from her eyes. Thanks, Gig. Pardon my saying so but I wasn’t exactly expecting you to be so helpful on the matter.

Don’t get the wrong idea, kid, Gig grunted. I only want to see your face when your little ‘friends’ go running for the hills after they find out what you’ve dragged ‘em into.

They’d never do that, she responded automatically, hardly even giving the notion a second thought. She was too busy trying to recall details of Gig’s dream. Hmm, let me see…dragons are definitely out, it’s almost impossible to even hold a conversation with one and I’m not sure they have a written language. Griffons, perhaps… That’s when she remembered a detail that puzzled her. Gig, what’s a human? She hadn’t given it much thought at the time, too overwhelmed by the sheer horrific atmosphere and the World Eater’s raw power.

Just another worthless bag of skin waiting to die, Gig tossed out offhandedly. Fragile, short-lived things. No inherent magic of their own, so they have to use staves or read spells out of books. They look kinda like me, I guess, but not half as awesome.

Now you’re starting to sound just like Rainbow Dash. Twilight smirked, deciding that her mane was as neat and level as she could get it and laying her brush down in precisely the spot and position she’d found it.

Yeah, well, I’ll give the colordump points for guts and attitude, he conceded, but she’s about as badass as a retarded puppy. And half as smart.

Hey, Rainbow Dash is not dumb! Twilight defended her friend, making her way over to her bed and using her magic to fluff her pillows and begin straightening the covers. She’s just…hasty, sometimes.

Oh yeah, she’s faster than the speed of thought, alright. Gig snorted with amusement. Her own.

Twilight gave an exasperated groan as her only response, to which Gig cackled in her mind. She filed the topic of studying the World Eaters away for future discussion. Gig would be no further help in a mood like that, and if she recalled correctly one of the World Eaters had been left buried close to what were now marked as griffon lands.

That was not going to be fun. The Griffon Empire were not on bad terms with Equestria, but their aggressive, militant bent was often at odds with the more laid-back pony lifestyle; the two seldom mingled well, and while griffon lands were not closed to trade or travel, their borders were closely patrolled. If they—if the Emperor—knew about the World Eater, getting close to it would be an unenviable task.

Twilight had no doubt that was exactly why her brother had not been brought into this. Shining Armor would have wanted to send an armed escort with her, surely, if not accompany her himself. That would have been fine within the borders of Equestria, but she had a suspicion it would not have been seen favorably by the griffons.

Speaking of unenviable tasks, Twilight found herself faced with yet another now: trying to wake up Spike before he was good and ready.

“C’mon, Spike,” she murmured, nudging him a little with her nose. “Time to get up. Big day, today.”

“Mwrg,” the little dragon articulated, grumbling softly and turning away from her, tugging his blankets closer to himself. “F-Five more minutes, Princess…”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. She’d known this was going to be the most unpleasant part of the morning. Well, aside from dealing with Gig. Being a baby dragon, Spike needed his sleep, of course, and lots of it; it wasn’t uncommon for him to fall asleep in mid-task or even mid-conversation, when the hour crept past his bedtime. Being a baby dragon meant that waking him too harshly was hazardous for one’s health, and certain extreme measures had earned her a light coating of soot on her face in the past at best.

Hey, hey, I got one for ya! Gig’s malicious glee sounded a little too much like Spike or Rainbow Dash with a new prank in mind. How about you toss him in the squeaky yellow one’s bedroom window? Oh man, that’d be priceless!

Twilight gasped. I would never do something like that to poor Fluttershy! Or Spike!

And that’s why you’re no fun, kid, Gig sighed, disappointed.

Returning to the task at hand, Twilight laid a hoof gently on Spike’s tiny shoulder, shaking a little harder. “Spike, wake up. It’s morning, we have to go.”

“Hazzawuzzah…” Spike mumbled incoherently, flailing his little claws in her general direction. “Mnooo, Twilight, I dun wanna wear the pink bow…”

Twilight blinked, then sighed, rolling her eyes ceilingward. A haze of magenta light enveloped the sleeping dragon, blankets and all, and hoisted him up from his bed to curl up on her back. That whole part about ‘waking’ him could wait until the train was rolling.

From the endtable next to her bed, Twilight magicked another scroll, snapping it open and then lifting the quill that had been lying next to it. Extending her magical focus further, she lifted the lid off the ink well next to that, dipped it in, and took a deep breath.

“Saddlebags?” The saddlebags he’d packed and placed thoughtfully at the foot of her bed came next, lofted into place just behind where he lay, pale blue with a starburst clasp matching the image on her flank.

“Check!” The quill scratched a mark into the corresponding box.

“Reference materials?” One side was laden with several of the volumes she’d requested, though to her disappointment not all of them.

“…mostly check.” Another quill scratch. Admittedly, it was still packed so tight that its seams strained a little, but she still cringed at the missing texts.

“Blank parchment? Check! Quill and ink? Check! Spare quill and ink? Check! Trail mix? Check. Spare brush? Check. Spare toothbrush? Check. Coinpurse? Check."

There certainly wasn’t enough room for books in the other side, for that was where Spike had packed all her travel necessities, well aware that she’d want everything neat and organized and not have such things packed amongst her precious books. The World Eater map was in that side, however, curled into a neat roll fastened with a scroll clasp and poking out of the corner of the closed flap.

“Map? Check…” Tucked below that, against the inside of the saddlebag, she could see the red gem of her Element of Magic glinting in what little light reached it.

“Big Crown Thingy of Harmony? Check!” She certainly wasn’t going to wear the thing for the entire trip.

Much to her distaste, there was one item on the list that she very much did not want to bring along. Still, she was not going to ignore her Princess’s, her mentor’s instructions. She levitated the black sword from the table on which it lay, sliding it with care into the loop of her saddlebag, where the cold black metal rested against her side. She’d have to see about getting some form of harness for it made, perhaps in Appleloosa.

“Creepy black sword? Check.”

An obnoxiously loud snore drew her attention over her shoulder, where Spike stirred and hugged his blanket closer. At this, she smiled subtly. “Dragon…check.”

Her list satisfied, she rolled it back up and dropped it back onto the table, alongside the quill and inkwell.

Okay, okay, you’ve got everything, already! Gig could finally stand no more. Let’s get going.

I didn’t expect you to be in such a hurry to save Equestria, Twilight probed as she began making her way downstairs from the loft that housed her bedroom

The sooner we get underway, the sooner you realize how pathetically helpless you are, the sooner you give in and ask me for power, the sooner I start taking over your body for real, Gig spelled out for her impatiently. I mean, don’t get me wrong. You’ve got a lot of juice, and now that your power’s joined with mine you’re probably more than a match for whatever average trash you might have thought of as a threat before. But against my World Eaters? You still might as well be sneezing on ‘em.

You keep saying that, but you admitted Princess Celestia knows what she’s doing, Twilight countered. I’ll take my chances.

He didn’t retort to that. Taking what small victory she could, Twilight smiled and stepped toward her front door. Stopping there, she turned around and took a final, long look around the library, committing every detail to memory. There was no telling when she’d see all these familiar shelves again, proudly displaying the spines of her beloved books.

But she would see them again, she silently promised herself. No matter what happened, she and her friends would all come home safe. With that silent pronouncement in mind, Twilight turned back toward the door and opened it, setting forth toward the unknown.

******

The “unknown” met her at the train station.

To be more specific, Pinkie Pie met her, having somehow gone from enthusiastically bouncing (threatening to dislodge the contents of the silvery tray balanced precariously on her back) and waving her hoof from the midst of the small crowd of five at the platform to right up in Twilight’s face, during the space of a blink of her eyes.

Gah! Gig yelped, echoing her own sentiments. Holy crap, how does she do that?!

“Hi!” Pinkie chirped, beaming at her as though blissfully unaware of the gravity of their mission. “I brought snacks!” A pink hoof darted back to the surface of the tray and then forward again with a blur, and Twilight found herself forced to chew or choke. Her sense of taste, finely honed during her short time living in close proximity to both Pinkie and Applejack, happily identified chocolate éclair.

“Hey…that actually ain’t half bad,” Gig admitted as she chewed, surprised. “Hey, kid, eat another one!”

“Ooh, he likes it!” Pinkie clapped her hooves, pleased. How she managed to stay upright without her front hooves on the ground, the tray still balanced perfectly, was…well, what Twilight had long ago learned to think of in highly scientific terms as "Pinkie-ism". “Here, try this one!”

No sooner had Twilight swallowed the éclair than she found Pinkie’s hoof stuffing another treat into her mouth faster than her eye could follow it, replacing her attempt to speak with an “mmph!” This time it was a raspberry tart, the taste making it hard to maintain her level of irritation.

The fact that Gig could still talk while she chewed did much to stabilize it, though. “Hot damn, you are good for something! Alright, Pinkie, long as you keep the good food coming, I suppose you can tag along.”

“Oh, hey!” Pinkie Pie bounced in place again, yet somehow still managed not to dislodge anything from her pastry tray. “He knows my name already!” Her hooves seized Twilight’s head between them, yanking her close as Pinkie’s forehead pressed against hers, big blue eyes staring into her own as though they could actually see Gig. “You must be psychic!” Twilight blinked, and suddenly Pinkie was gone and her head released, leaving her wobbling a little in place.

Wait…the hell? That…that can’t seriously be her name…

Gig…meet Pinkie Pie. A deep, dark part of Twilight took an unhealthy amount of pleasure in the idea of someone else having to share in her vain attempts to understand the elusive Pinkius Pie-icus.

“Oh! Oh! Guess Applejack’s name next!” Somehow the exuberant party pony had ended up next to their orange friend, and was pointing a hoof excitedly at her. AJ just gave her a deadpan stare.

“Anyway, can we get a move on now?” Rainbow Dash finally spoke up, though she filched a donut from Pinkie’s snack tray. “Train’s waiting to leave. Funny thing, though, it doesn’t look like it’s admitting anypony else.”

Sure enough, though there were a number of cars trailing off down the track, more than they could see the end of from their platform, not a single face was visible from the windows and the rather stern-faced conductor pony (who bore a suspicious resemblance to one of Celestia’s pegasus guards, it should be noted) was steadfastly refusing entry to the few other ponies determined or deluded enough to be up and trying to travel the rails at such an hour.

Upon seeing their small group approach, however, he gave a curt nod and stepped aside, permitting them to climb up into the passenger car. They filed in one-by-one, Twilight somehow managing not to dislodge her slumbering cargo, and Pinkie inexplicably fitting her snack tray through the door without losing a single pastry.

Thankfully, the car was laid out more like a dining car or a suite than a passenger compartment, which meant there was a table with a fine, gold-bordered white cloth draped over it for Pinkie to deposit her load. The table was partially surrounded by plush semicircular seating, the cushions a rich maroon velvet bordered once again with gold trim.

Further toward the back of the car was a full set of equally plush benches lining either side, of the car and following the walls around the corner to the door that led to the next car. Filling the empty space in the center was a long, rectangular table, with small stacks of pillows to sit upon spaced evenly apart along its length. Lining the ceiling, just above the windows, were storage compartments of varnished wood, intricate abstract swirls and curlicues etched into their paneling.

“It’s almost like a conference room, or something…” Twilight noted as she took it all in.

“Or a party car!” Pinkie piped up.

“It is your conference car, Miss Sparkle,” a gruff voice sounded behind them, prompting Fluttershy to squeak and duck down behind Applejack. The group turned, facing the white pegasus in the conductor’s uniform as he slid the door closed behind him with a wing, barring entry to a disgruntled brown stallion with a curious hourglass-shaped Cutie Mark.

“Begging your pardon, darling?” Rarity asked him, her expression perplexed.

“Corporal Thunderhead, Ma’am,” he addressed her rigidly, snapping off a militant salute with one wing. “Twenty-third Aerial. I’m to be your escort. A full military detachment is, of course, out of the question for political purposes, and so I shall be serving as an incognito attaché. I’ll be overseeing the management of this train.”

“What…by yourself?” Rarity looked justifiably uncertain. “Are you quite sure, my good sir? I’m certain we could lend you a hoof here and there if you—”

“My field experience and training are quite diverse, Ma’am,” he interrupted her dispassionately. “And in addition, the train engine was crafted with numerous safety enchantments. You will find yourselves in more than capable hooves during this trip.”

“Military ponies now?” Gig barked a derisive laugh. “Oh, man. What’s he gonna do? Flap his wings at the big bad monsters until they go away? Or maybe ask them really, really nicely?”

“W-well, it’s always worth a try…” Fluttershy mumbled.

“That would be the infamous ‘Gig’, I presume,” Thunderhead glanced at Twilight, his metallic blue eyes narrowed slightly in a way that made her want to duck down under one of the tables. “I trust that he will make this an…eventful journey.”

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, Private Pantywaist.” Gig’s voice was laden with deadly promise.

“So…escort?” Rainbow looked him over skeptically. He wasn’t a small pegasus, by any means, taller than the average male and half again as broad as any of them. Big Macintosh would have still dwarfed him, of course, but that was hardly a fair comparison. But he was still only one pegasus. “Did she forget about the whole…y’know, ‘we beat up like fifty Changelings and didn’t break a sweat’ thing?”

“I’m sure the Princess is quite well aware of your…prowess,” Thunderhead replied diplomatically. If her words had offended him, it didn’t show on his impassive white face. “However, as Miss Sparkle is technically part of the royal family, it is official protocol that when embarking on a mission that concerns national security she should be accompanied by a Royal Guard escort.”

“…oh, yeah, she kinda is, ain’t she?” Applejack blinked, as though the idea had just occurred to her, and she gave her friend a newly appraising look.

“Never really thought of it like that,” Dash added, smirking as she stepped up toward her purple friend. “How’s it feel to be a royal egghead, huh?” She nudged Twilight with an elbow. “Even get your own personal bodyguard!”

Twilight was too busy flushing brilliantly and trying to think of a spell that would let her sink into the train car’s floor.

Wait, what…you? Gig questioned her incredulously. Ha! Seriously?

Only by marriage! she hastened to correct. My brother kind of married Princess Celestia’s niece, so…

Thankfully, a loud snore from the nearly-forgotten bundle of blankets on her back drew attention away from her.

“Wait, so that’s what that was?” Craning her neck to peer over Twilight’s shoulder, Applejack chuckled. “Aww, lil’ feller’s cute when he ain’t runnin’ off his mouth.”

“Excuse me, Corporal,” Twilight gratefully accepted the distraction, “but my assistant is…a late sleeper. Is there someplace he can…?”

“If you’ll follow me, ladies, I will escort you each to your cars.” Thunderhead gave them another brisk salute, and then he trotted toward the door at the back of the compartment.

“Hey, did’ja hear that, Rarity?” Applejack nudged her shoulder with an elbow. “Yer own private car this time.”

Rarity didn’t even respond. Her eyes had lit up the moment Thunderhead uttered the words “your cars”, and she looked very much as if she were strongly considering the merits of pouncing upon the faux-conductor and kissing him ecstatically. AJ took that for all the answer she needed, and with a chuckle she followed as the group filed out of the conference car.

******

Twilight’s car was at the very back of the group, and by the time they’d reached it she was alone with Corporal Thunderhead, as with each car they passed the group had dwindled as its tenant stopped to settle herself in. Celestia had clearly put a great deal of thought and planning into this; each car was decorated to its owner’s tastes, and the Princess had proven today that she knew those rather well. There was enough room left for personal rearranging and touches to be done, as well, which had left each Element Bearer quite satisfied as they settled in.

Twilight’s, of course, was like a small library wing and study all in one, with twin bunks for her and Spike in the back of the compartment. It even had a writing desk, complete with quill and ink already provided and laying neatly upon its surface. This ride would be a far cry different from their last trip to Appleloosa.

Smiling, Twilight’s first step was trotting to the back and depositing Spike onto the smaller of the two beds, even as she listened to Corporal Thunderhead speaking. The dragon gave a smoky little snort, rolling over and sinking into the cushions with a contented little sigh.

“And if you require anything, just pull on the bell-cord by the door,” he was wrapping up, his face every bit as expressive as a rock. “This car may be furthest toward the back, but the Twenty-third Aerial are known for their excellent response times.”

“Actually, I was wondering about that,” Twilight admitted, levitating her saddlebags and the black sword off her back, hanging the former from a rack built into the wall beside her bed until she had time to find places for the books and compare them to what volumes had been stocked in the car. The latter she propped against the desk for lack of a better place at the moment. “I mean, not that I want to complain, really—no offense, Corporal, but a bodyguard is the last thing I’ve ever really wanted, and I don’t think I especially merit one more than my friends…but why is this car furthest from the engine out of ours?”

“Hah, ain’t it obvious?” Gig broke in before the Corporal could answer. “It’s in case you ever slip up and give me total control. That way they can separate the car from the rest and buy some time to run for it. Not like it’d save ‘em.”

“Oh, Gig…” Twilight rolled her eyes…but she couldn’t help but note the way Thunderhead shifted a bit on his hooves, looking as close to “uncomfortable” as she’d ever seen a Royal Guard. Or a conductor, for that matter.

“The Princess is well aware that you are a studious mare,” Thunderhead explained in a slow, measured tone. “That is also why Miss Fluttershy’s car is between yours and those of your other companions. In this way, you will be able to research as you need in peace.”

“…I see,” Twilight answered, her smile just a little unnerved. Still, she nodded her head gratefully. “Thank you, Sir. I’ll make good use of it.”

“I’ll see to getting the train moving, Miss Sparkle,” he continued with a brisk nod of his own. “Barring unexpected developments, we will be arriving at the Appleloosa station by midday tomorrow. Feel free to use the conference car as you will. You and your friends will be informed when lunch is served—the dining car is two cars back.” The Corporal backed out of the door, sliding it closed behind him, and she heard him trotting up the aisle that passed through the interconnected sleeper cars toward the engine.

With a sigh, Twilight turned and made her way toward the writing desk, whisking a sheaf of parchment out of her saddlebags and availing herself of the quill and ink on the desk.

The hell’re you doing, kid? Gig inquired, only half-interested.

I’m starting a journal so that I can log the progress of this mission for Princess Celestia, she explained. That way once we return I can present her with a full, detailed report.

Ponies. He rolled his eyes, giving Twilight another odd sensation to catalog. You’re always so goddamn optimistic. You’ll learn soon enough, soulmate.

Twilight didn’t dignify him with a reply, instead setting quill to parchment, reading aloud while she wrote as was her habit. “Dear Princess Celestia…”

4. Indestructible Gig

4. Indestructible Gig

The first day of their trip passed largely without incident. Rainbow Dash had been vocally (and rather tactlessly) wary of the quality of meals prepared by a guardspony, but to her surprise as well as Gig’s, the food was not only serviceable, but quite appetizing—and diverse. Lunch had consisted of fruit salads, each bowl filled to the brim, the fruits and veggies all chopped with precision, cool and crisp as though fresh from the gardens. For dinner, stir-fried vegetables with rice and sauteed mushrooms.

After that, even Gig hadn’t been able to complain.

The next morning, the group assembled in the conference car, Twilight spreading the World Eater map out across the center of the long, rectangular table. Pinkie’s snack tray was once again uncovered upon the smaller round table at the other side of the room, and Spike was eagerly breaking his fast with frosted donuts and honey cakes…and occasionally being persuaded to pass a few to the others.

“So the best course of action,” Twilight was saying, “would probably be to purchase some water and other supplies in Appleloosa, and rent a carriage. According to the map…” she pointed a hoof at the dot that marked the western settlement, and then slowly drew it in a slightly S-shaped pattern, following a lightly shaded trail leading to the northwest, “…these should be relatively flat plains, giving a carriage no trouble. We can take turns pulling it to conserve our energy.”

“Ohh, the desert conditions are going to wreak havoc on my mane…” Rarity sighed in dismay, bouncing her curls on a hoof as she frowned at them sadly.

“Ah still say we should see ‘bout hirin’ a guide,” Applejack insisted, tipping her hat back from her eyes with a hoof as she squinted at the map. “That Thunderhead feller may be tough as he says, but nothin’ beats havin’ a local on hoof. Ah’m sure Braeburn’ll be able to find us just the right pony for the job.”

“It isn’t that I don’t have complete faith in Braeburn,” Twilight explained; she hadn’t really gotten to know AJ’s cousin that well during their visit, what with all that had gone on, but he’d certainly been more willing to be rational and reasonable than the rest of his fellow settlers. “It’s just that we’re supposed to keep this mission as low-key as possible. I’d really rather not send all of Appleloosa into a panic by telling them there’s a giant World Eater buried in the desert where they’re trying to make their homes.”

“Aw, why not?” Gig complained. “Sounds fun, to me! Ever seen ponies panic en masse? It’s priceless!” None of them really felt like egging him on by pointing out how many times they had seen just that.

“It ain’t gonna be funny if we get lost out in the desert,” Applejack pointed out, folding her forehooves atop the table stubbornly, patently ignoring Gig. “Ah’m tellin’ ya, Sugarcube, ya can trust Braeburn. If we tell ‘im not to blab, he won’t blab. He can respect somethin’ as important as this.”

“Y’know, I gotta admit, even I might have trouble finding my way back to Appleloosa if we get turned around out there,” Rainbow Dash spoke up reluctantly, rubbing the back of her neck with a forehoof. “Not that I couldn’t do it! But it might take me awhile, and if all of you were in trouble at the time…”

Twilight shifted her weight uncomfortably. She didn’t like the idea of involving anypony they didn’t absolutely need to, not only because of the potential panic, but because she’d seen a firsthoof glimpse of just how terrifyingly powerful a single World Eater could be. She wished the map had names of the fallen World Eaters on it.

At least then she’d know which one would see them encountering that terrifying “Feinne”.

“W-well, perhaps we could—YEEEK!” Fluttershy’s attempt to offer a helpful suggestion was interrupted by the tortured shriek of the train’s brakes applied with alarming suddenness, throwing all of them to the floor and leaving Pinkie Pie and Spike wearing about half of Pinkie’s remaining snacks as the tray went flying off the table.

Pinkie didn’t seem to have any great problem with this arrangement, her tongue darting out farther than it probably should have been able to and slurping frosting and sprinkles off her face…and then off Spike’s.

“Augh, gross!” he complained, flailing at her. She only giggled, patting the top of his green-spined head with a hoof that wore a half-smooshed chocolate éclair like a sock.

“Alright, what the hell?” Gig blurted as Twilight struggled back to her hooves. “Dammit, I thought Private Pantywaist said he knew how to drive this piece of crap!”

“Maybe it has something to do with that!” Still half-coated in multicolored frosting, her head thrust out an open window, Pinkie pointed one hoof toward the front of the train as she slurped the squished éclair off her other.

Five other heads leaned out the window on that side, and a chorus of gasps rose up. Rising up before the train engine was a sheer, solid stone wall. Judging from the twisted, ruined tracks that curled backward from the base of it, one silvery rail’s end still bobbing slightly, it had not been there even a few minutes ago.

“Now, I ain’t been around for a couple thousand years,” Gig’s disembodied voice broke the stunned, baffled silence, “but I’m pretty sure even ponies haven’t become stupid enough to build train track that smack into walls. Not that it wouldn’t be a hilarious idea, mind you.”

“Everypony out!” Twilight prompted, jerking her head back in the window and gathering the onyx blade from where she’d laid it on the long table next to the map. Levitating it carefully into the saddlebag strap by her side, she trotted out on the heels of Rainbow Dash, the rest of her friends following behind.

They were met with Corporal Thunderhead’s back, his white wings spread aggressively and his slate gray tail flicking. From this angle, Twilight could finally see the mark on his flank, a roiling gray storm cloud with jagged yellow bolts of lightning jutting from its depths at four different angles. Glancing over his shoulder at the sound of their approach, he spoke in a gruff tone.

“Miss Sparkle, please retreat to the safety of your cars while I deal with this nuisance.”

“…’nuisance’?” Rainbow’s brow arched. “Last I checked, a big rock blocking the tracks isn’t exactly a—“

“Hmhmhmm…what reckless foals have blundered into my trap, today?” Seven pairs of eyes followed the supercilious female voice to the top of the engineer’s compartment, where they finally saw what Thunderhead had been glaring at before noticing them.

The mare perched atop the car had a rich amber coat, though much of it was hidden by the maroon cloak dotted with gold stars that she wore draped across her back, hiding her tail and Cutie Mark. A large, multi-faceted ruby winked from the clasp at her throat. Perched atop her head, concealing her ears and all but a single auburn curl of her mane was a broad-brimmed maroon hat, similarly studded with stars, which rose up to a point that flopped backward. Her eyes were the same shade of maroon as her garments.

“Does somethin’ look…familiar about this to anypony else?” Applejack inquired, peering up at the sneering mare thoughtfully.

“I should think not, Applejack,” Rarity protested, shaking her head firmly. “I am quite sure I’d be able to recall a hat as dreadful as that any day.”

“I’unno…” Dash stroked her chin thoughtfully with a hoof, cocking her head to the side. “I could swear I’ve seen somepony kinda like her before…”

“Silence!” the mare commanded, waving her hoof—and she actually punctuated her demand with a bolt of lightning that cracked from the clear blue sky behind her. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has heard enough of your insipid prattle. If you wish to have your pitiful lives spared, relinquish all of your valuables at once! If you do, you shall be allowed to continue along to your destination. If you insist upon defying Trixie, then she shall simply have to—”

“You’re not Trixie,” Twilight interrupted dryly, her eyes half-lidded. The mare atop the engine compartment blinked.

“W-What are you talking about?” she stammered, nonplussed. “Of course Trixie is Trixie.”

“You’re not Trixie,” Twilight repeated. “I’ve met Trixie.”

“You know this idiot?” Gig inquired, though he sounded somewhat bored.

“I know the mare she's pretending to be…well, I don’t really know Trixie, I guess,” Twilight admitted, “but I’ve met her before.” Her attention returned to the mare atop the train. “You don’t even look anything like her.”

“…that’s enough of your blather!” the faux-Trixie snapped, levitating her hat high enough to snap a bolt of mystic power from the tip of her horn to the dry, cracked ground at Twilight’s hooves, causing her to skitter back nervously as Thunderhead shifted himself in front of her and pawed at the ground. “Surely none of this lot are fooled by your foalish bluster! Everypony knows of Trixie! Mistress of sorcery!”

But recollection was dawning in several pairs of eyes, along with unpleasant memories. None of them looked particularly intimidated—apart from Fluttershy, of course—nor impressed. Pinkie just looked faintly bemused, as though waiting for a punchline.

“…smiter of the Ursa Major?” not-Trixie tried again, the wind beginning to leave her sails. “…conquerer of the Midnight Castle? Vanquisher of dragons?” She was met with increasingly annoyed stares. Finally, she gave an exasperated groan. “Oh, why did it have to be ignorant simpleton hicks?! I thought for sure a train this fancy would have to be packed full of civilized ponies loaded with bits, and smart enough to recognize the name of the most powerful unicorn sorceress to ever live!”

“We do,” Rainbow Dash smirked, draping a foreleg across Twilight’s back. “She’s right here. And if you were Trixie, you’d remember that.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight hissed, ducking her head awkwardly. She appreciated her friend’s praise, but now was perhaps not the ideal time.

Sure enough, not-Trixie did not appreciate that. “Very well!” she huffed. “Clearly a demonstration is in order. Trixie should warn you, she shall not go easy on you just because you are clearly a…rather…large group of…somewhat dangerous-looking…”

She trailed off, suddenly looking a bit less sure of this plan—and then, she lifted a hoof to her lips, giving a piercing whistle. “GET ‘EM, BOYS!”

Seven ponies and one dragonling scrambled further back from the train as two large, dark shapes vaulted over the cars and came thundering down in the place they’d been standing. Two great, shaggy, dark-haired behemoths towered over them, broad and flat noses set below small, widely-spaced eyes, which in turn lay between pairs of short and wickedly-curved horns. The only feature that served to distinguish the two of them was a single white stripe that ran straight across one’s body, slightly off-center, starting above its nose and following the high arch of his back all the way to the base of his tail.

“…Buffalo?” Rainbow’s head tilted, her eyes bemused. “Hey, guys, what’re you doin’? I thought we were cool now! Y’know, brohoof and all that stuff.” She extended a tentative hoof.

Neither buffalo looked interested in brohoofing Dash. Their eyes narrowed even further, puffs of steam snorting from their nostrils as they pawed at the arid ground. Twilight had a fleeting moment to notice that the feathers that emerged from behind each one’s left ear were solid black, and not the black-trimmed white of the ones she recalled.

Before she could process that thought too much further, however, the two shaggy leviathans charged, sending the gathered ponies scattering like bowling pins. Dash and Thunderhead took to the air, but Fluttershy’s wings predictably locked up immediately, leaving Pinkie to drag her by the tail and dive left with Rarity, as Twilight grabbed Spike’s tail with her magic and yanked him with her to the right alongside Applejack.

Reluctantly, as she shooed Spike toward the relative safety of the conference car’s door, Twilight gathered volatile magic energy to the tip of her horn. She turned to face the two buffalo, who were at present wheeling around to zero in on Applejack, and the Fluttershy-laden Pinkie Pie. She really didn’t want to resort to violence, even without using the black sword. But she couldn’t allow her friends to be hurt, either…

Before she could unleash her eldritch bolt, however, a streak of magical fire exploded against the ground to her side, forcing her to dive and roll. When she came up to her hooves, she found herself faced directly with not-Trixie, who had vaulted down off the train car to stand on level ground with them and cast aside her hat, revealing a rich auburn mane that spilled down her neck in rippling waves.

Magic power gathered around not-Trixie’s horn with a deep blue shimmer. The formless mage-bolt she loosed exploded in midair as it collided with a red-violet blast Twilight had snapped off in a heartbeat, more by reflex than design. Startled, the imposter narrowed her eyes, suddenly taking her opponent significantly more seriously.

In the skies above, Rainbow and Thunderhead exchanged curt nods and veered off from one another, each speeding down toward a rampaging buffalo. White-stripe had taken it upon himself to bear down on the most brightly visible target available: the bushy-maned pink mare laden with a bright pink-and-yellow pegasus. Even Rarity’s telekinetically pelting him with the heaviest rocks she could gather from the ground nearby seemed to do little more than annoy him as Pinkie let him chase her in wide circles, laughing all the way, a paralyzed Fluttershy draped across her back.

No-stripe had his hooves full with Applejack alone, though. His initial charge had been met with a truly terrific vertical leap—followed by a loop of rope dropping around his horns and four hooves planting solidly on his back. He found himself acting out an impromptu rodeo show as he bucked and pitched, trying in vain to throw his whooping rider off.

Diving and rolling away from another blast of magic, Twilight retorted in kind, her shot coming close enough to lightly singe not-Trixie’s mane. Taking the time to return fire had left her open, however, and a bolt of magic grazed Twilight’s knee, causing her to hiss with pain.

Oh, for the love of…kid, stop screwing around and just use my sword already! Gig groaned, not helping the ringing in her ears from all the nearby explosions of magic. This should have been over by now!

I don’t want to kill her! Twilight protested, telekinetically throwing a rock from the ground to intercept another bolt, using the cover of the brief sandy explosion to reposition herself for another shot. I just want to stun her!

She’s sure as hell fine with maiming you, Gig countered. Why not return the favor? Playing with kid gloves is just gonna get us killed.

That doesn’t make it okay. Seriously injuring somepony should always be the absolute last resort.

Twilight was subjected in that moment to the very disconcerting sensation of Gig banging his head against the metaphysical wall of her mind.

It was around that point that the two airborne missiles streaked solidly into their marks, trailing rainbow colors and crackling electricity respectively. Hooves-first, Rainbow Dash and Thunderhead each collided with their mark almost simultaneously, almost as though they’d rehearsed the maneuver. The rainbow-streaked impact carried sufficient force to topple the stripeless shaggy beast over onto its side, forcing Applejack to jump clear and roll across the ground. Collecting her fallen hat first and foremost, AJ gathered herself, her entire body tensing, and with a resounding whoop she charged No-stripe at a gallop, whirling on her front hooves at the last possible moment and hurling both her back hooves squarely into his jaw. His head snapped back with the blow, and then he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

White-stripe proved a little more resilient, however; though Thunderhead’s diving slam had toppled him over, he was already surging back to his hooves, his eyes practically crimson with rage.

“Ohhh no you don’t, you ruffian!” Abandoning her projectile-throwing, Rarity trotted right up to him, her right forehoof drawing back and delivering a startlingly sound blow square between his eyes. It still wasn’t enough to topple him, but it clearly dazed him, set him to wobbling again.

That was when Pinkie Pie’s eyes lit up. Plucking Fluttershy off her back between two hooves, she effortlessly plopped the cowering pegasus onto a flat rock with a beaming smile.

“S’cuse me!” she told her friend glibly. Turning to face White-stripe, she pawed at the ground, snorting steam-jets of her own from her nostrils. Pausing to rear and kick her forelegs dramatically, Pinkie turned—and galloped straight at the side of the train.

Upon reaching it, her front hooves lifted to the outer wall and she actually ran straight up the car, kicking away from the wall and up into the air once she reached the upper edge. In an act of truly inexplicable acrobatics, she tumbled into a reverse somersault as she ascended, straightening as gravity reasserted its hold on her and clopping one hoof against her opposite elbow. She gave an excited “Wheeee!” as she plummeted, her hoof moving as she dropped, elbow-first, onto the back of the woozy buffalo’s neck. The force of the impact sent his face crashing hard into the unyielding ground, and as Pinkie sprawled upside-down against his shaggy shoulder, he too sagged into unconsciousness.

Rarity, Fluttershy and Thunderhead stared blankly at Pinkie Pie, who gave an innocent upside-down wave and smile to them, her hind legs idly kicking at the air. “Kay oh!” she cheered.

Once the faux-Trixie noticed that her underlings had been flattened, her confidence began to falter, along with her aim. Twilight scored a numbing mage-bolt to her shoulder, backing her up toward the train car, trying to hem her in. If possible, Twilight wanted to capture her and turn her over to the Sheriff Silver Star in Appleloosa so she wouldn’t be able to rob any other travelers…potentially ones who would be less prepared for danger.

Nervously, not-Trixie edged back until her rump fetched up against the conference car’s stairway, swallowing fearfully as she watched the rest of the group begin to close in on her.

“V-Very well…” she stammered, trying to hold on to a thread of her haughty demeanor, “you are l-leaving me—Trixie no choice. T-Trixie did not wish to resort to this, buh-but…” Her horn began to shimmer with magic again, albeit weakly.

Suddenly, the ground beneath their hooves began to shimmer with an otherworldly light. Arcane, indecipherable symbols etched themselves into the dusty ground in magic light, forming a series of concentric circles, the farther edge of which was nearly a foot away from the train tracks. The group backed quickly away, but curiously enough, even not-Trixie looked startled that her spell—whatever it was—had worked. The dry, hard ground began to shift, rising up beneath her in geometric patterns, pyramids and cubes and rhombuses formed of stone bubbling up like an abstract artist’s nightmare.

With not-Trixie still in its center, the ground exploded upward, sending her flying into the air with a wail. When the dust and falling debris cleared, allowing Twilight and her friends to stop shielding their eyes, a towering new figure stood in the large divot in the earth where not-Trixie had stood.

It appeared to be composed entirely of stone, the same color as the rocks that littered the area, as though more of them had been dredged up from underground to craft it.

It stood upright on two cylindrical legs; its torso was composed of a series of circular discs, giving it a degree of flexibility, and its spherical head rose higher than the engine car’s smoke stacks, a faceted blue gemstone winking from its center like a baleful cyclops’ eye.

Its arms, noticeably bulkier than the legs, terminated in five-fingered hands that balled themselves into jagged rocky fists as it stared at them. At its elbows, knees and shoulders were hook-like stone spikes, and more burst from its knuckles as it began to lumber slowly but purposefully toward them.

“W-whoa, nelly…” Applejack breathed, slowly backing away with the others. “What in tarnation is that?” She glanced toward the one mare she thought might have a clue. “…Twi?”

In fact, she was right. Twilight did recognize it—or at least, the basic concept of it—from her research, but…

“It’s…” She gulped. “It’s impossible, is what it is…”

“Yeah…” Gig, to everypony’s surprise, was the one who spoke next. “Somebody’s playing with some old magic. Really old. A Golem is serious shit, and takes a lot of preparation and raw power to craft.”

“Whoa, whoa, waitasec,” Rainbow Dash broke in, frowning. “Are you seriously telling me that fake-Trixie just did a spell that Twilight doesn’t even know?”

“Don’t strain yourself trying to think, colordump,” Gig snapped. “I can smell the smoke all the way over here.”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes, a growl of frustration building in her throat.

“It wasn’t her,” Twilight explained for her friend, trying to defuse the situation since they had more pressing concerns. “Someone else did this…she must have other accomplices covering her escape. But who could…?”

“Less talking, more breaking the Golem before it breaks us,” Corporal Thunderhead reminded them curtly, flapping his wings to take to the air again. Not to be outdone, Rainbow took off as well, streaking prismatic colors in her wake.

“Twilight!” Rarity was suddenly at her shoulder, a deep blue eye catching hers. “Shall we?”

Twilight smiled a bit and nodded. Rarity’s talents lay in more specialized magic, with her gem-finding spells and incredible precision for minute stitching tasks, but any unicorn worth their salt could diversify with some effort and perseverance…and having a close friend who happened to be an extremely diverse and capable caster helped a great deal with that.

The two bowed their heads forward, tilting them until their horns almost touched, and their magic sparked to life. Twilight’s red-violet aura mingled with Rarity’s pale blue at the fringe, energy building up like static between them as they screwed their eyes shut and felt out their target with their magical senses. Digging their hooves in, they released the gathered power in tandem, sending twin streams of magenta and cobalt light that corkscrewed around one another, spiraling forward and striking the thing’s torso dead center.

The effect was somewhat less than what they’d desired, however. With a crackling flash, their joined magics dispersed the moment they touched the stone, cascading off its body as harmlessly as though they’d turned a water hose on it. Gasping with dismay, the two dove in opposite directions as a gargantuan fist slammed down where they’d been standing.

Heh. It’s no good, kid. Gig sounded disturbingly nonchalant. Even with the extra juice our fusion has given you, any good Golem is spell shielded. Mages back in the day used these things as bodyguards, and that wouldn’t do them much good if another mage could just blow it to bits.

Any suggestions, then? she hazarded.

Oh yeah, sure. You ain’t gonna like it, though. The sensation of Gig grinning nearly sickened her.

Anything that doesn’t involve you taking over my body?

Yeah, uh, lemme get back to you on that.

Somehow she didn’t think he’d be getting back to her.

While she’d been engaging Gig in negotiations for her soul, Dash and Thunderhead had been harrying the Golem, making swooping dives to strike with their hooves and then darting away from its slow-moving fists. Both of them were far too swift for its lumbering movements, but they may as well have been trying to kick a mountain for all the damage they were doing.

“Hey, Pinkie Pie!” Applejack called to the frizzy-haired mare, who had resumed her task as Fluttershy’s self-appointed caretaker by gently pushing the terrified pegasus behind a rock and out of sight. Pinkie’s head darted up when her name was called.

“Catch!” AJ tossed her the stray end of a length of rope, which Pinkie caught without pause for thought. The farm mare was holding the other end in her mouth and trotting far enough away for the line to go taut. Then she jerked her head meaningfully toward the golem.

“Huh?” Somehow, despite having a mouthful of rope, Pinkie’s voice was fully articulate. “You want to play Jump Rope with it? That sounds fun, but I don’t think it’s in the mood right now.”

Sighing and rolling her eyes skyward, Applejack facehoofed, then jerked that same hoof at the rope, and then down at her own feet, miming the act of stumbling.

“Ohh, why didn’cha say so?” the pink mare beamed.

Applejack did not spare the time to be frustrated. Instead, she started to gallop, forcing Pinkie to run or be dragged. The two spread out, circling the golem’s legs from opposite directions again and again, deftly evading its attempts to slam its splayed hands down onto them. Once they’d bound its lower limbs tightly in several layers of rope, Pinkie literally bounced in front of it, waving excitedly with shrill cries of “yoo hoo!” AJ, still behind its back, vaulted into the air to plant her hooves against the wall of the conference car and rebound off it, slamming heavily into the Golem’s back as it lunged for Pinkie.

Though the impact seemed to do more actual damage to the farm pony than the Golem, it seemed for a moment as though her plan had worked. It teetered, tottered, and then toppled forward, forcing Pinkie to scramble away so as not to be squished. And for a few moments, the Golem lay prone, stretching its arms feebly out to try and grab the nearest of them it could.

However, that hope was shattered a mere moment later. The Golem’s entrapped legs crumbled into so much sand, leaving the ropes to fall limp, only to reform from the ground beneath it, pushing it slowly upright again. Pinkie, still caught up in cheering victoriously, had no time to react to the warning cries of her name that chorused from several mouths. A great stone hand caught her in a backhanded swat, sending her flying through the air to smack into a tall standing stone and bounce off, landing on the ground with a thud.

“Why you…c’mere, ya big stone varmint!” Applejack bounded up its hand before it could rise from the swat, vaulting from one stone foothold to the next. “Why don’cha pick on somepony yer own size?” Despite the sheer absurdity of it, she leaped up to its shoulder and delivered a resounding buck to the glowing gem in the center of its face.

That turned out to be a mistake, however. Her rear hooves were met with a spark of energy, a surge of raw power that rapidly traveled up her legs and through her, and judging from the shriek she let out it’d been like kicking a lightning bolt. With a flash of light, she went flying from the thing’s body, striking the unforgiving ground hard and rolling to a stop, tendrils of smoke wafting from her. Twilight released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding when she saw her friend cough and breathe, but Applejack did not get back to her hooves.

Seeing her friends abused jarred something loose in the purple unicorn. Her eyes narrowed, her right forehoof pawed at the dry ground and she snorted a breath, lowering her head.

You have got to be kidding me…

She ignored Gig, charging blindly forward, magic surging around her horn. When a giant stone fist came down toward her, she repelled it with an impenetrable wall of pure magic energy, causing it to rebound upward. She rained bolts of magic down on its knees, trying to bring it down again. She peppered its torso and arms with destructive eldritch power. She even tried blasting it in that faceted “eye” with a volley of shots. But none of it could penetrate the thing’s barrier; she didn’t even seem to be wearing it down. She groaned with frustration, throwing a glance over her shoulder. Neither Applejack nor Pinkie Pie were stirring, though Fluttershy had bravely abandoned her hiding place to try checking AJ over with concern. Her friends were counting on her, she couldn’t let it end like this…

Damn it, kid, pay attention!

“Twilight!”

Gig’s mental shake and the voices of Rarity, Dash and Fluttershy all jerked her back to the present, but all too late. The Golem’s open hand struck her with what felt like the force of a train engine, sending her sailing through the air in an arc that might have been disorienting if she had been more than barely conscious from the force of the blow. She hardly even felt the ground strike her shoulder, staring weakly up at the cloud-studded blue sky.

Having a little trouble? There needed to be a stronger word for “sardonic”, Twilight decided upon hearing Gig’s tone.

Not at all… she retorted, though it took everything she had just to formulate the thoughts into coherency.

Don’t try to act tough, kid, Gig scoffed. Frankly, you and your little friends are overmatched. They did pretty good against the buffalo, but like I said, a Golem’s serious shit.

We can’t just give up…

She could see him again as her eyes slipped closed. She was once again in that dark place with the infinitely vast not-ground, Gig hovering in the air above her with an expression on his face that was caught somewhere between amused and exasperated.

“Listen, kid,” he told her, his hands tucked aloofly into the pockets of his pants, “You put up a decent show. I’ll admit that. I never thought ponies had it in ‘em, but they actually trounced those buffalo pretty good. But this is the big league. If you can’t handle this thing, even the weakest World Eater is just gonna chew you up and spit you out.”

“But—” she started. He cut her off, thrusting an open palm toward her.

“Just tell me something, kid.” He withdrew his hand, idly flexing his fingers as his mouth began to curl in a wide, twisted grin. “Who’s the baddest of the bad? The maddest of the mad? The killer of kings and destroyer of worlds!” His enthusiasm was such that his voice rose in pitch as he spoke, and actually cracked midway through the word “destroyer”.

“Uh…you are?” If Gig picked up on the less-than-sincere tone of her reply, the way she stared dryly up at him with half-lidded eyes and flattened ears, he ignored it.

“Damn straight! The one…the only…Indestructible Gig! And if you’ll let me? I can twist,” his fingers made a twisting motion, “and crush,” they curled into a fist as though squashing something, “and incinerate this peon,” they opened again, a little tongue of red-rimmed black flame licking his fingertips, “in a flash.”

His snowy white eyebrows arched as he bent forward, his crimson eyes ensnaring hers as he grinned wickedly. “And ya want that, right?”

Twilight gave him a hard, stubborn stare, refusing to rise to his bait.

“C’mooon!” he cajoled her, his hands reaching out toward her and making beckoning gestures. “You waaaant it!” They clenched tightly, as though clutching something heavy in them. “You neeeed it!”

“I…” Twilight hesitated, and then shook her head. “I won’t give you my—”

“Tell ya what,” Gig interrupted her, smirking. “’Cuz I’m such a great guy, we’ll call this one a free sample. I’ll lend you a miniscule sliver of my power, and I won’t even take any more of your body. This time. Then you can decide for real once you’re staring down the barrel of a real threat.”

“But Princess Celestia said…” Twilight hedged.

Gig sighed. “Look, kid. Right now, you can make a choice. You can lie here in a pathetic little heap while your friends all die horribly against a threat none of you was prepared for. I mean, I’m cool with it either way; maybe if they all get squashed into paste you’ll despair enough to just give up your body to me willingly.” He shrugged blithely. “But I’m offering you one shot at saving all of your lives. Consider it a gesture of goodwill…soulmate.”

Twilight’s stare became less defiant, her legs trembling a little.

“Silence gives consent, they say.” Gig’s smile was almost comforting in a warped way, the sadistic glee fading as he spoke to her in an strangely calm, authoritative tone.

“Call for me,” he bade her, extending a hand as though offering it. “Open your mind…and concentrate. Clear your mind of all thought. Forget about the world. Forget about yourself. Reach into the depths of your heart…and embrace that desire.”

Her eyes closing, Twilight obeyed. Desire…what did she desire at that moment, that Gig had to offer? Power?

No. It wasn’t power she wanted. She’d never wanted power. Not really. Power had only ever brought her two good things in her life: her place as Princess Celestia’s protégé…and the ability to protect her friends.

That was it. Her friends. Applejack. Pinkie Pie. Rarity. Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy. That was what meant more to her than anything in the world. She seized on that desire, held it close, lost herself within it. In the waking world, she felt her breathing quicken.

Meh. Close enough.

Twilight’s eyes snapped open, and she surged to her hooves. She could feel it building within, the thrum of energy that started deep within her chest and crept through her veins, to the tip of her horn. Without thinking, her magic seized the hilt of the onyx blade from where it rested in the saddlebag strap at her side, drawing it before her in a ready position.

Several figures froze in mid-movement, several eyes turned toward her in varying states of surprise, including the bleary eyes of AJ and Pinkie. Words flooded into her mind, unbidden.

“F…Flowing…power of the onyx blade…” she mumbled, trying to wrap her mind around them. “Em…embrace me. Appear b-before us. And…and…save them!”

Her eyes snapped shut, and then open again, but now the deep violet of her irises had been replaced by a blood crimson color.

“You’re doin’ it wrong, kid.” Her mouth moved, but it was Gig’s voice speaking, mingled with her own in an unnerving chorus. Her face twisted into a wicked grin altogether out of place on it as he spoke through her again. “It goes like this:

“Flowing power of the onyx blade…”

The black sword swept through the air, manipulated by her magic, as black-and-crimson flames sparked from the hilt and licked up the shadowy length of the blade. Her hooves moved of their own accord, sending her galloping toward the Golem, unheeding of its wild swing despite warning screams of her name.

“Embrace me…”

The swinging arm was met by a swipe of the sword, and against all laws of physics and basic logic, it was the Golem that gave, its arm deflected by the strike. It tried again, and another almost dismissive strike parried its arm, followed by two slashes that gouged deep divots into its unprotected midsection. It brought its fists down together as a great hammer, but an overhead swipe of the sword smashed into them with unbelievable force, its entire body hurtling back from the strength of the impact, lifted clear of its feet and smashing into the stone wall that blocked the tracks hard enough to shatter the obstacle completely.

“Appear before us…”

As the Golem rose shakily to its feet, Twilight’s body surged with unholy energy.

“…and DESTROY!”

Magic, raw and untamed, blazed through Twilight’s body, searing all her nerves as though fire coursed through them. The air around her rocked with a localized thunderclap, crimson shockwaves exploding from where she stood in all directions, and she found her hooves lifting off the ground of their own accord.

“S-such power…!” she gasped, as at her sides the two curved shields she had seen surrounding Gig materialized from nothingness, drifting lazily beside her. The pigmentation bled rapidly from her mane and tail like running paint, leaving them both a snowy white, slightly wild as an intangible breeze ruffled through them.

The onyx blade levitated of its own accord, and a ring-shaped shockwave of red-rimmed black energy rippled outward from it, accompanied by the throbbing sound of a beating heart. Another, identical to the first, followed—but the third shockwave, larger and more forceful than the first two, was accompanied by the sound of an otherworldly chime.

Her magic grasped the hilt again, but not of her own will—nor was the sinister grin that split her lips. A nimbus of black energy, rimmed with a haze of red, congealed around the blade with a hum, and as she swept it in a wide arc toward the staggering Golem, it exploded outward in a series of tendrils, all arcing outward and converging on the stone behemoth from multiple directions. With each one that struck, it convulsed as though dealt a blow, but they seemed to do no visible damage; instead, once the last had impacted, however, a haze of darkness crackling with crimson lightning enveloped its body, levitating it into the air, holding it suspended helplessly.

A wild, menacing cackle that was not her own spilled from Twilight’s lips as she rocketed forward at speeds that left Rainbow Dash gawking, and the black sword began to dance. Slashes, swipes, hacks, thrusts, all faster than her own eyes could follow. She’d zip past the construct with a flying stroke, only to rain more punishment on it from behind and then dart around in front of it with another cleaving blow, repeating the process as chunks of stone and sprays of crumbled sand flew this way and that, Gig’s voice laughing wildly all the while.

Finally, she hovered before it once more, and the onyx blade levitated vertically before her again. The two floating shields unraveled, their metallic blue substance twining around the black blade, adhering to it like a living substance, and from the top where the point had once been, a crimson, crescent-shaped scythe blade emerged. Black flames rimmed with crimson enveloped her entire body, and then rushed up the length of the weapon, abandoning her as they blazed around the scythe’s head.

“Too late for regrets, asshole!” Gig sneered, and in a motion quicker than the blink of an eye, the scythe’s blade cleaved through the thing’s torso, the discharged power so great that all was enveloped in white light but for the black silhouette of the Golem. It hung there for a long, silent moment, and then the top half of its torso slowly slid downward along a heretofore invisible diagonal split, as both halves went crashing to the ground with a series of gravelly thuds. "Haaaah hahahahaaaa!"

When the light faded and visibility was restored, the shields were gone and the onyx blade was back in its former state. Twilight’s hooves were on the ground, her eyes and mane and tail restored to their natural coloration, but her magical grip on the floating weapon quickly faltered and it clattered to the ground. As she turned to gaze tiredly at her silently staring companions, she exhaled a soft sigh of relief to see that all of them seemed to be alive and well.

Whatever they might have had to say in regards to the spectacle they had just witnessed would have to wait, for Twilight had a pressing appointment with blissful unconsciousness, and the ground rushed up to meet her in a most accommodating way when her wobbling legs finally collapsed beneath her.

5. Fringe Benefits

5. Fringe Benefits

The sound of despondent sniffles echoed throughout the vast, vaulted halls of Canterlot Castle, rebounding off the pristine white stone walls and tall, gold-embellished pillars, making it hard to pinpoint the origin of the sound. Under the cover of night, whispers of haunted corridors didn't seem quite so silly or far-fetched as they may have by day; the late night cleaning staff went about their tasks with jittery nerves—at least, those hadn't abandoned their feather-dusters out of superstitious fright.

One late-night wanderer was not affected by the infectious imaginations of the staff, however, and as she passed their spines shored up a little and they briskly threw themselves into their work, trying to look as if they had not been peeking over their shoulders looking for weeping ghost-ponies. Golden shod hooves made the only sound that broke into the soft, echoing crying that floated through the dimly lit corridors, the rippling prismatic tail that flowed in her passage seeming to carry their fears away with it. Celestia strode purposefully through the castle’s halls, her expression unreadable.

It was a little-used guest wing where she finally found the origin of those sounds. Huddled up against a white marble pillar, gingerly rubbing at a hurting foreleg and trying with little success to fight off the flow of tears stinging at her eyes, the tiny lavender unicorn filly somehow managed to look even smaller in the presence of the towering Princess of the Day.

Twilight Sparkle looked up with a start once Celestia’s shadow fell over her. Hastily, she scrubbed a foreleg over her eyes, only for them to mist over again with another sniffle. Her mouth opened, but she couldn't seem to find the words.

Celestia offered her a kindly smile. “Twilight…what’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself?”

Self-consciously looking away, the filly gave a hesitant little nod, rubbing at the little red mark just above her left front hoof. She’d tripped and banged it against something in her room; it’d been too dark to see what it was. Celestia’s head bowed further, the very tip of her horn lowering to not-quite-touch the wounded appendage, and with a subtle shimmer of golden light the mark was gone.

Little Twilight gasped, startled and amazed, but she remained hunkered close to the floor and kept her eyes lowered. Another little sniffle betrayed her.

“Twilight, why are you so far from your room?” Celestia asked her gently. Despite the soft, soothing tone, Twilight cowered against the floor when questioned, averting her wide violet eyes. “Are you lost?” Celestia tried again, this time getting a little nod.

Twilight gasped as the tingle of magic washed over her, a golden aura enveloping her and lifting her off the floor, causing her to flail her legs a little in momentary panic before she was settled down with utmost care onto Celestia’s back, between her wings.

“Come on, I’ll take you back to your room,” Celestia murmured to her. Reluctantly at first, Twilight settled down between her princess’s wings, tucking her head against the back of Celestia’s neck. “Why did you go wandering the castle?” Celestia continued. When Twilight tensed, she quickly added, “I’m not angry. I’m just worried about you. Canterlot Castle is a big place for a little filly to wander at night.”

It was hard to make out Twilight’s mumbled reply, but the words “buh-bad dream” and “mom” squeaked out between sniffles, causing Celestia’s expression to somehow soften even further.

“You’re lonely, aren’t you?” Celestia whispered. The question was rhetorical, but little Twilight nodded meekly into her mane anyway. “I suppose when you’ve lived as long as I have, it’s easy not to think about simple little things like that. You’ve probably never been away from your parents for so long before. Tomorrow we’ll go see them, alright?”

The Sun Princess’ amusement was plain on her face, as she clearly tried not to chuckle at the way those little ears perked up. But then they wilted again.

“Y-you’re not…sending me away, are you, puh-Princess…?” Twilight asked, suddenly terrified as the possible implications sank in. “I’ll be a g-good student! I promise! I-I…just…” Those big, purple eyes were starting to tear up again.

Celestia quickly headed that off. “No, Twilight, I am not dismissing you,” she assured, craning her neck to gently nuzzle the little filly’s mane. “But you’re still allowed to see your family. This isn’t a prison, after all.” She smiled, and a hesitant one crept onto Twilight’s face in answer. “Hmm…how would you like to come sleep in my room tonight? To tell you the truth, I get lonely sometimes, too.”

Twilight’s wide eyes threatened to bulge from their sockets. “Really?” she gasped, astonished by the very idea. To her credit, Celestia still managed not to laugh.

“Yes, really,” she answered, unable to help a very slight chuckle. “What do you say? It’s a very nice bed.”

“O-okay.” Twilight gave a final sniffle, but she was smiling once again. “Th-thank you, Princess.”

“You’re welcome, Twilight.” Celestia smiled as she changed course, turning down the corridor toward her personal tower. “Just remember one thing, Twilight, always: no matter what happens in this world, you are not alone.”

******

Princess…? Light tried to filter past Twilight’s eyelids, but she stubbornly fended it off, squinting them shut tighter. She felt like every muscle and every nerve in her body had been twisted into knots, held that way for about four hours, and then left to unwind on their own.

Ugh. Gig shuddered in the depths of her mind, reminding her sharply of his presence and her situation. So that was you as a little pipsqueak, huh? I think I developed cavities just from watching that. And right after I finally got some real action. You sure know how to bring a guy down. Still, you saw my dream, I saw yours…guess that makes us even.

Then that was…real? She was still trying to chase away the fog of sleep clinging to her thoughts.

Hah! Gig’s sinister glee was a palpable thing. Hell yeah. What’cha think? Pretty awesome, huh?

That was…the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced, she answered bluntly. But what I still don’t understand is…why? You helped us for free. Does that mean you actually…care, after all?

Pfft! Gig barked a dismissive laugh. As if! It’s really simple, kid. Now that you’ve gotten a taste—just a tiny taste, by the way—of what I can do…well, now you’ve got something to think about when Feinne’s all up in your face, don’cha? Don’t go expecting any more freebies like that one. Next time you wanna save your pastel pelted little friends, you’re just gonna hafta pony up. Hehe…‘pony’ up. Get it? ‘Cuz you’re a…oh, screw you, that was funny! Anyway, you’d better get up before they start to think I did take over and shank you in your sleep. ‘Sides, I wanna have a talk with ‘em, myself.

You? Twilight was skeptical, but reluctantly, she stirred. Some minor investigation, once she finally willed her unwilling body to move, revealed that she’d been placed in a plush, soft bed, the covers drawn up over her. She tried to pry her eyes open, but was forced to screw them shut again as her over-sensitive retinas were seared by the light. Attempting a second time, keeping them squinted blearily, she managed to peek about and recognized the trappings of her private sleeper car on the train. She couldn't feel any movement, which hopefully meant that they hadn't fixed the track rather than that they’d disconnected her car and left her behind. She had to remind herself forcibly that they’d never do a thing like that.

Just moving was difficult, her stiff and aching limbs uncooperative as she pushed the covers back, but she rolled over nonetheless and dropped off the bunk onto her hooves, though her legs buckled a bit on her landing.

That got the attention of the other presence in the room, who started awake with a snort. The chair drawn up to the foot of her bunk toppled over, but its occupant scrambled to his feet and over to her side, a blur of purple and green before scaly hands on her foreleg and shoulder steadied her.

“Twilight!” Spike greeted her, his voice a strange blend of anxiety and relief. “Twilight, take it easy! Are you okay? Speak to me!”

“I-I’m okay, Spike,” she managed, though her voice had a quaver to it. She realized suddenly that her throat was completely parched. “Could I have some water, though…?”

“One water, coming right up!” He darted away, faster than she’d ever seen him move when Rarity, a gemstone snack or a large angry monster wasn't part of the equation, and burst through the door, not bothering to close it behind him.

Little runt moves pretty quick, Gig observed dryly. Bet if you put him on a hamster wheel and dangled a diamond in front of his face he’d be able to power this train by himself.

Despite herself, Twilight had to exert a great deal of willpower to avoid laughing at that mental image.

She took the time waiting for his return to try working out the kinks in her muscles, forcing her unsteady limbs to carry her in wide circles around the compartment at a slow walk. She wanted nothing more than to lie down for at least another hour or more, but there was no telling how long she’d been unconscious already, and the others were no doubt worried. She just hoped that they weren't all afraid of her, now.

Spike’s return was heralded by hooffalls filling the passage beyond her door, too many for her to easily recognize the number of visitors. Only one came into visibility on the little dragon’s heels, as he breathlessly offered her a glass with only about half of its contents sloshed out. Deciding not to complain, she instead nodded gratefully to him as she plucked it from his grasp with her magic, taking a long pull from the glass and turning her eyes toward Corporal Thunderhead in the doorway.

“Back with us, then, Miss Sparkle?” His voice was as cool and dispassionate as ever. She tried to read any sign of apprehension or hostility—or even concern—in his face, but he was as stony-faced as any other armored pegasus guard she’d seen in Canterlot.

“Yes, Sir, thank you,” she answered slowly; her voice still didn't feel entirely like her own, after sharing her speaking organs with Gig earlier. “Is…everypony alright? How long was I out...?”

“It's only been three hours. Miss Applejack is still abed, as is Miss Pie—” he began.

“No I’m not!” an unmistakable voice squeaked from behind him, her pink friend’s head bobbing into the doorway (part of her poofy pink curls bound by the white bandage wrapped about her brow) accompanied by a curious boing sound.

“As should be Miss Pie,” Thunderhead corrected as if he hadn’t been interrupted, only a mild edge to his tone. “Your other friends are unharmed. They made quite a showing of themselves, in fact. I've advised Miss Dash to consider enlisting in the Aerial Guard.”

“Pfft, boring.” Rainbow could finally wait no longer, and with a shove of her hoof on his rump, pushed Thunderhead out of the way to permit herself room to enter. The other three filed in after her, Pinkie coming precariously close to klunking her already bandaged noggin against the door frame as she literally bounced in.

“Oh my gosh…Pinkie, are you alright?” Twilight reached a hoof out toward her, and then hovered it near her chin, concerned.

“I feel fine!” the pink mare confirmed, bobbing in place as her slightly-unfocused eyes darted around the room with no less than her usual enthusiasm. “Besides, it feels kinda funny when I bounce now. You should try it sometime!” Twilight cringed a little as Pinkie demonstrated, before Fluttershy gently stilled her with a pair of hooves on her back.

“Hah, you worry too much, kid,” Gig broke in. “It’s not like there’s anything in there to damage, anyway.”

“Gig!” Twilight scolded. Pinkie either wasn’t fazed or simply ignored the insult.

Rarity turned from where she, too, had been gazing at Pinkie with concern, focusing her attention on her purple friend. “Darling, are you alright?” she asked, stepping around the Corporal to get a closer look at her. A hoof brushed the straight-cut bangs back from her eyes, Rarity’s foreleg feeling her brow just under the horn. “You gave us all quite the fright. Especially poor Spike, he was an utter mess.”

Mention of the dragon reminded Twilight of the glass of water she still held in her magical grip, and she downed the rest of its contents before sitting down on her haunches and wrapping a foreleg gingerly around Spike’s shoulders.

“I’m fine,” Twilight assured them, smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring way. “Really, I am. He didn’t take over, or anything.”

“Or did I? Ooooooh…” Gig’s attempt at a spooky noise was cut off as Twilight raised a hoof to cuff herself in the temple. “Ow! Okay, okay, goddamn.”

“He didn’t,” she assured. She smiled at them all with relief. “I’m just glad everypony’s okay. I’ve read about Golems, in old books of magical theorycraft, but the ethical ramifications of crafting one combined with the sheer quantity of eldritch potentiality required to—” She cleared her throat sheepishly at the blank stares she was getting, attempting again with a nervous smile, “—ah, it just isn’t…feasible to really make one in this day and age. So I never really bothered to read up on things like how to shut one down.”

"Yeah, she's fine, alright," Rainbow Dash grinned with a roll of her magenta eyes. "What's-his-face in there wouldn't even know any of those words." She ignored the dry look from Rarity that wordlessly questioned whether Dash herself knew them.

“Obviously somepony did it, though,” Thunderhead reminded them, his eyes narrowing. “And it was shaped unusually, too—standing up on two legs, like that.”

“That’s because a Golem’s appearance reflects the soul of whoever summoned it,” Twilight murmured thoughtfully, thinking back on what details she could remember from the book in question. It certainly wasn’t one of the ones she’d brought with her, but maybe she could scour the books furbished in her car for one that might contain something relevant. In the meantime, however… “I’ll have to think on that some, maybe do some research later, but for now: how’s Applejack? Can I see her…?”

“She took quite a shock,” Fluttershy finally spoke up, immediately wilting a little when all eyes turned toward her. “U-um, but she should be fine. She hasn’t been unconscious like Twilight, and she isn’t burned, but she’ll need plenty of bed rest before she’s able to be up and about again. She…she isn’t going to like it, though.” The sunny-coated pegasus scuffed one of her forehooves against the floor.

No…she wouldn’t, at that. And good luck convincing her to stay in bed if she got herself set on the idea of toughing it out. All the more reason to go and convince her everything was fine, so she could settle down and rest. Gathering herself, Twilight rose to stand again.

“Alright, Spike, c’mon,” she bade her assistant.

“You got it!” He needed no further prompting to climb up onto her back, though she could feel him cringe when her knees bent a little under the weight. “You sure about this, Twilight?” he whispered into her ear, leaning forward against her neck.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she assured him quietly, with a small smile. “Come on, Spike, you’re the one always saying I worry too much.”

You can say that, but are we really gonna lug this heavy-ass pointy rock on our back constantly? Gig complained. I dunno how you deal with it. You could at least wear a damn saddle or something.

She ignored that, turning instead to Thunderhead. “Corporal, would you take us to see Applejack, please?”

“Since you seem to be fully in control of your faculties, Miss Sparkle, very well.” The Corporal snapped a salute with his right wing, turning on a hoof and trotting past the assembled group. He didn't seem like he was about to slow and wait for them, so they hastened to file out and follow.

“While we’re at it, where the hell’d you put my sword?” Gig called ahead as they made their way toward the front of the train. At first, the flicking of a white ear next to his conductor’s cap was the only sign that Thunderhead had heard him, waiting until the entire group had entered the next car before speaking.

“It’s in a safe place,” he replied curtly, not even turning his head, “but after the display we witnessed, it was deemed safest to keep it far from Miss Sparkle in the interest of security.”

“Wishful thinking, Private Pantywaist,” Gig snorted. “If the kid had really given in, you’d all be glue no matter how far away you put my sword.”

“But, still…thank you very much, for saving us,” Fluttershy added meekly. “If…if not for you and Twilight, I don’t know what might have—”

“Save it, squeaky toy,” the dark god grunted, prompting her to bite down a yelp. “I didn’t do it to help any of you little beanie babies. Especially not ones who can’t even pull their own weight in a fight.”

As Fluttershy’s teal eyes drooped to the floor, she attempted to stammer out an apology, but before she could, Rarity’s muzzle lightly brushed her cheek, her friend giving her a smile—and then turning a glare in Twilight’s direction. Even Pinkie Pie managed to look distinctly less than amused, her brows drawing together.

“That is quite enough, you uncouth barbarian,” Rarity snapped, her patience finally worn through. “Say all that you wish about me, but you shall leave Fluttershy out of your petty insults. Just exactly what is it you are trying to prove? Yes, you destroyed an ugly stone toy, how utterly wonderful for you.” Her eyes rolled, profoundly unimpressed. “Without Twilight’s help, you wouldn't have been able to do even that, so the one our thanks go to is her. You’d do well to keep your situation in mind before opening your foul mouth.”

“And you’d do well to remember when you’re talkin’ to somebody who can pop you like a zit soon as he gets outta his squishy purple cage.” Gig’s voice, no longer amused, was dripping with deadly promise. “Don’t get lippy with me, marshmallow pony.”

Rarity was not properly intimidated, however. In fact, she looked rather satisfied. And as well she should be—she had clearly struck a nerve.

Two cars up, they finally reached Applejack’s compartment. Thunderhead seemed content with waiting in the passageway, this time, allowing the rest of the group to pass by as he held the door open with a wing. The interior was, as one might expect, decorated in a simple and artfully rustic fashion, not unlike having stepped directly into Applejack’s own living room at her farmhouse, albeit with a plush—and, of course, presently occupied—bunk set against the farthest wall below the window. Old but sturdy coils of rope were draped over nails in the wooden walls, along with Applejack’s Stetson hat; there was even an old wagon wheel affixed to another wall, and the “tables” in the room consisted of broad, stout wooden planks laid across the tops of varnished wood barrels. AJ’s saddlebags were plopped carelessly atop one such table, and Rarity, unable to stand it any longer, levitated them toward an unused nail on the wall with her eyes rolled toward the ceiling and a long-suffering sigh.

With a private look, Twilight wordlessly urged the others to stand back, not wanting to crowd her orange friend as she hesitantly stepped closer to the bundle of grass-green blankets and straw-colored mane.

“…Applejack?” she tried, tentatively, softly. That elicited a soft, sleepy groan and a stir, but nothing more.

“Hey, stupid cowpony!” Gig attempted a more direct approach. “Wake up, already!”

“Gig!”

It had the desired effect, however. Groggily, AJ’s green, green eyes fluttered open. Though her expression was initially one of distaste as her sleepy mind processed the voice that had awakened her, the sight that greeted her eyes brought a smile to her lips.

“Hey, Twi…” she murmured groggily. “Heckuva show ya put on, out there.”

“Er…heh, I suppose so,” Twilight hedged, smiling a bit awkwardly. “It wasn’t exactly…me, but I’m just glad you’re all safe.”

“Ah’m just glad ta see yer still…you,” Applejack finally announced what it seemed the others had been feeling, judging from their earnest nods. “Fer a lil’ while there…well, we all kinda thought…but the important thing is yer fine.” She smiled. Then, her expression darkened a bit. “Now where’s them buffalo what tried ta bushwhack us?”

“They seem to have slipped away during the confrontation with the Golem,” Corporal Thunderhead finally announced, standing at attention in the doorway. “Difficult if not impossible to say where they fled to; these plains are their territory, and they are exceptionally skilled at covering their tracks. It would be best to assume, however, that they made to rendezvous with their ringleader.”

“Stupid…not-Trixie,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, scowling darkly. “I mean, I don’t exactly like the real Trixie, but at least she wasn't a no-good train robber!”

“Never thought I’d see a pony with the spine to try and knock over a train, I gotta admit.” Gig actually sounded almost impressed. “Sure, she was a joke and a total moron, but I never thought ponies had the stones to go jacking up trains. Which reminds me…now that the hayseed’s conscious again, I think it’s about time I tell you morons about something.”

“Yeah?” Spike’s eyes narrowed as he leaned around Twilight’s head, glaring into her ear as though he might actually see Gig in there. “Like what?”

“Alright, you primitive screwheads, listen up,” Gig continued as though uninterrupted. “You may be a bunch of candy-ass ponies, but you showed out there that you ain’t a complete waste of oxygen. Well, most of you did, anyway. You're all gonna die anyway once I get loose, but I can appreciate a little carnage in the meantime. Buncha little ponies flattening a couple buffalo was the best show I’ve seen in a couple thousand years. ‘Course, the Golem kicked all your asses, but that was totally outta your league…until now, anyway.”

“What’re you getting at, Gig…?” Twilight asked him, suspicion creeping into her tone as her eyes narrowed.

“Kid, I think it’s about time I explained to you about the power of Dominion.” He gave that word a long, significant moment to settle over the group, the weight of its significance falling on them like a blanket. “See, it works like this: just for having my badass self rooming with your soul, kid, you get a few goodies to play with free of charge. Let’s call ‘em fringe benefits of being host to the God of Destruction. The power boost to your magic, you already know about. You can also take more abuse than before, and heal up quicker. And once you quit bein’ a wuss about using it, you’ll be able to get a lotta mileage outta my onyx blade. But wait, there’s more!

“See, here’s the real kicker.” Even without being able to see his face, every pony present shivered a little at the wicked grin that made itself audible in his tone. “You also get the power of Dominion. Anybody you Dominate can be summoned to your side from anywhere in the world, no matter how far away, no matter what they’re doin’. So just hope they’re not on the can when it happens.” Twilight rolled her eyes, but didn’t interrupt. “Even better? Anybody you Dominate and summon into battle gains a power boost of their own, becoming stronger and harder to kill. Not as much of a boost as yours, but enough that even you chumps could have smoked that Golem any day.”

“Hey, who’re ya callin’ a chump, chump?” Rainbow snapped, shaking a hoof in Twilight’s direction with a glare.

Gig ignored her. “Couple downsides, though. First of all, don’t get too excited about the name—you don’t actually get total control over ‘em, apart from the fact that you can revoke the Domination at any time; they’ve still got their own free will.”

That didn’t sound like much of a downside, to Twilight, but she took care not to mention that.

“Second,” he continued, “you can’t Dominate anybody without their permission. They have to willingly consent to it, and they can retract that consent at any time.”

“That’s…amazing,” Twilight finally admitted, tilting her head thoughtfully. “That sounds incredibly helpful, Gig. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, kid,” Gig grunted. “I’m just trying to keep from getting too bored before the World Eaters rip you all new assholes. You ponies get some Gig Points for trashing a couple losers five times your size, but I wanna see just what kinda mayhem you can get up to with some real power.”

“M-Mayhem isn’t very…nice,” Fluttershy mumbled, her wings shivering a little against her sides.

“We are not here to entertain you, heathen,” Rarity sniffed, lifting her nose. She peeked an eye open to look at her lavender friend. “But…if it means we’ll be able to take some of the burden off of Twilight…” She stepped forward, bravely. “I shall volunteer to be, as you say, ‘Dominated’.”

“Are you…sure, Rarity?” Twilight hedged, lifting a foreleg with apprehension. “It might be dangerous, I haven’t had an opportunity to study any possible side-effects, or…”

“Oh, fiddle-faddle,” Rarity waved a dismissive hoof, smiling encouragingly. “We came to help you, Twilight, and we knew there would be risks when we did so. This is for your sake and for all of Equestria. Do your worst.”

“Yeah!” Dash was, of course, not to be outdone, trotting up and puffing out her chest. “Me, too. You need somepony to look out for you, egghead. I’ll show those World…Whatevers what happens when you mess with the best.”

“World Eaters,” Gig groaned. “How the hell could you forget something that important?”

Trotting a step forward, Corporal Thunderhead spoke up in a crisp, rigid tone. “As per my duty, consider my loyalty yours, so long as it does not conflict with my loyalty to the Princesses.”

“Us, too!” Pinkie glibly volunteered herself, Fluttershy and Applejack, both of whom she now held in headlocks under each foreleg, their cheeks smooshed against hers. “Right, girls?”

“You know it, Twi,” AJ chuckled, trying to turn her head enough to talk while somehow managing not to fall out of the bed. “Ah’m in this with ya ‘til the end.”

“I-I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” Fluttershy hedged, “b-but if you don’t mind…that is, if it’s alright with you…”

“Eh…I guess you can Dominate that one if you really want to,” Gig added skeptically. “I don’t see any point, but hey…it’s your posse.”

Fluttershy looked downcast again, but Twilight smiled and craned her head to catch her friend’s teal eyes. “Of course. We’re all in this together, and I need each and every one of you. We’re friends, after all.”

“Ya~awn,” Gig articulated dryly. “Now can we get on with it, already?”

Annoyed, Twilight narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t exactly tell me how to do this, you know.”

“Geez, I gotta hold your hand? Er. Hoof? Whatever.” He grunted, and then gave a mental shrug; Twilight was certain she’d never get used to that sensation. “Fine, fine. Look, it’s easy. Just…open your mind. Reach out with your consciousness, feel their offered obedience and take it into yourself. Pretty soon it’ll be as natural as breathing. Summoning works pretty much the same way, you just reach out for that tether of loyalty and give it a pull. Thing is, they might not necessarily come right away—you give the call, but it’s up to them to answer.”

Twilight nodded, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Now that she knew what to “feel” for, it was actually remarkably easy, not unlike drawing on her own magic from within, or uniting the power of the Elements of Harmony through her own. But now, even without the Elements, she could sense those invisible threads, intangible bonds given imaginary form, all reaching out toward her from six different directions. No…seven. Her mouth twitched into a frown, her eyes opening.

“No, Spike,” she insisted, stomping an insistent forehoof.

“Aw, c’mon!” he complained, leaning against the back of her neck. “You need me and you know it!”

“I do need you,” she explained patiently, “but I need you safe and out of harm’s way. I am not going to Dominate you.”

You could just not summon him into battle, y’know, Gig supplied silently. You don’t have to summon them all at once.

Why does it matter so much to you? she retorted suspiciously. Her answer was a mental shrug.

I just don’t wanna hear the runt whining the whole way, he grunted. Besides, who knows when you’ll need a paperweight?

Twilight sighed. “Oh…alright, Spike. But only in case I need a message sent; you are not fighting.”

The jubilant cheer that sounded directly next to her ear made Gig yelp a vile word. It was almost worth the ringing.

Twilight closed her eyes again, stretching out with her senses, visualizing the intangible bonds reaching out to her from her friends. Each one was offered willingly, stretching out toward her, and she drew them to her as though breathing them in. They came without resistance, and she could feel a sense of contentment as each thread joined with her. There was a faint chiming of magic ringing in the air, a flash of bright light illuminating through her closed lids.

Exhaling a sigh, Twilight opened her eyes, smiling at each determined face in turn. “Thank you all. Together, we can do this.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow snapped her wings open, smirking. “We got this.”

“But of course, darling,” Rarity put in, giving her curls a toss. “Together.”

“Together!” the remaining voices chorused, save the ever stoic Thunderhead. He did nod, at least.

“Yeah, alright, whatever!” Gig hastened to interrupt them, his voice annoyed. “Can we just see about getting this thing moving again? You guys can have your sappy little ‘moment’ once we’re rolling.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but couldn’t argue with the cold logic of it. “Alright, let’s go have a look at the tracks.” She turned a sharp look on the orange mare trying to struggle out of her bed. “Applejack, you stay right there. You’re in no condition to be clearing rocks away.”

“Aw, horse apples,” the farm pony scoffed, already struggling to push the covers back off herself. “Ah’m fit as a fiddle. Little zap ain’t gonna put AJ down fer the count.”

“Applejack, I mean it,” Twilight insisted, shaking her head. “Look, at least stay in bed until we reach Appleloosa, okay?”

The orange mare looked for a moment like she was trying to work up a protest, but finally she gave a disgruntled sigh and sagged back down. “Okay, okay. But just ’til Appleloosa.” She narrowed her eyes, as she repeated for emphasis, “Just ‘til Appleloosa.”

“Don’t worry, Applejack!” Pinkie chimed in, beaming proudly. “We’ve got—”

“You, too,” Corporal Thunderhead cut in, stepping forward and giving her a stern look. “You’ve already been far too active for a pony with a head injury, and basic first aid will only take you so far. You are going to retire to your sleeper car until further notice. Understood?”

“Aww…” she complained. “But—”

“Dismissed!” Thunderhead barked. Jumping with a little yelp, Pinkie snapped off a hasty salute (wincing as her hoof bumped the bandage about her head) and trotted out to the passageway.

“Huh, is it really that easy?” Gig muttered.

From there, the Corporal led the group into the passageway and to the nearest exit, guiding them outside and toward the front of the train. The ground still showed signs of their battle, hoofprints and cracked, displaced stones that would soon be caked in wind-blown dust once again.

Thankfully, the stone wall that the Trixie-imposter had erected to bar their path had been thoroughly demolished by the force of the Golem’s impact with it. Unfortunately, the track was still broken and bent back, and stone debris still scattered across the space between. With the two earth ponies both incapacitated, clearing the track was slow going, though Twilight’s and Rarity’s magical telekinesis made the heavier lifting much less of a chore.

At first, Twilight was especially wary of the gem that had served as the Golem’s apparent “eye”, insisting that everypony keep their distance from it and avoid touching it even with magic. Only after extracting several assurances from Gig that it was by now completely inert did she acquiesce to Spike’s eager suggestions that it would make a very nice dinner.

It was dusty, tiring work for all involved, but eventually the last of the debris had been cleared away. Twilight was not an expert on railroad tracks, but bending the broken rails back down and welding them back together with sparks of magic wasn’t too difficult a task. It was hardly professional-grade work, but it would suffice as a temporary repair to get them to Appleloosa, where they could properly report the damage. Despite her boosted power, Twilight was left as winded as the others by the time all was said and done, and the group wearily piled back into the train.

Even though she’d only regained consciousness a short while ago, a bed had never looked so inviting to Twilight than the one in that sleeper car. She had a feeling that she wouldn’t be the only one sleeping until they reached their destination.